planemad

I Like That: You are quite right, but the Irish name you mention is of Gaelic origin, a language common to both Ireland and Scotland but differing mainly as a dialect. Here is a derivation as can be found on your friend Google - "The term ‘whisky’ derives from the Gaelic usquebaugh – itself from the Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha, or the Irish Gaelic spelling uisce beatha. Uisce comes from the Old Irish for ‘water’ and beatha from bethad, meaning ‘of life’. With this in mind, whisky is etymologically linked with a great number of spirits, all of which refer to the origins of the spirit – the quest for the elixir of life."

In the mid 19th century, Scotland was producing a rather inferior product mainly for the export market. The Irish, believing their spirit was superior to that of the Scots introduced the "e" in order to differentiate between the countries of origin.

To Issangeorge, of course many distillers spell the product using the Scottish spelling, however, the origin of whisk(e)y comes from the Gaelic when the Irish used a slightly different translation from Scottish, and so the legend was born, so to speak, whatever, it is not that important. Eezergood, wow, that is still a big question. Firstly, I have no real knowledge of Bourbons, Rye's and mashes, so I will exclude myself straight away. All I would say is that there seems to be a thriving whisk(e)y trade in Thailand, however, getting the decent stuff is quite difficult.

Many of the blends here are only about 2 years old and have not had time to develop a "character". In the UK, respectable blends, Famous Grouse (UK's best seller), J&B etc are required to be at least 7 years old. Probably the best known blend maker is Johnnie Walker who have developed quite a number of products, rather like the Macallan (who are well respected for their range). In Thailand, JW Black seems to be the accepted norm, however, the Thais water it down so far, the local cat could have delivered it and they would know no difference.\

If JW is your bag and you are on a budget, then I prefer the Red, it is more of a Highland whisky, slightly sweeter without the smokey aftertaste you might get with JW Black. The Black label is far more reminiscent of West coast (Scotland) whisky who leave the grain to smoke much longer than their Highland counterparts. Of course this is all up to the individual taste.

Single Malt's are recognized as being the preferred drink of the connoisseur, but they also range widely, try a Glenfiddich or Glenmorangie (probably the best known of the single malts), then sample say Scapa or Laphroig and the peaty acidity is immediate obvious.

So, where does that leave us, a good blend is as good or better than a mediocre single malt. For sure you will pay premium prices for the single malt whilst blends are far more affordable. Taste is the only real test, whatever you drink, however you spell it, if you like it then it's right for you. But to get the full flavour of the drink, over ice or with water will do it, if you want lemonade, ginger or whatever, then don't waste the good stuff, buy something cheap.

I have visited Glenfiddich many times during my stay in Scotland (it was the closest, not necessarily the best), it was sacrilege to see the Japanese filling their freebie tot's with orange or whatever then leaving it hardly touched, grown men left in tears!

Cheers

Wide open question, what do you wish to know? You are obviously not talking about Scotch whiskey as that is spelled "whisky" and it is ONLY Scotch that is (legally) allowed to use that spelling.

Try to be a bit more specific and I might be able to help. I have many years experience as a publican and have a reasonable knowledge of Scotch whisky.

Try me.

Cheers or maybe Slange Var!

Betta Splendens are normally very placid fish, who are members of the gourami family and are bubble nest builders. You will know you can only keep one male in a tank, however, quite the opposite to their name, many of the smaller fish will try to nip its fins. As mentioned, tiger barbs and their derivatives are notorious! Even neons and cardinals have been known to nip at them.

I wish you luck, personally I would not keep this sort of fish in a community tank. There are many varieties of highly coloured dwarf cichlids which can add vitality to your tank and will also live at all depths whereas the betta will live only at the water surface.

KS

I hope you don't mind if I hi-jack the thread for a moment, but we are weeks away from (hopefully) planting our own hedges. I am looking for something substantial, grows from the ground up and is quite thick, enough to hold a puppy until both mature.

I have looked briefly at Chatuchak during their plants and flowers days during the week and found a few that I could do with a little more information on. First is a "Box" like plant, grows very thick and has small glossy leaves, it might even be box!

Another I quite liked had lovely red leaf and stem new growth which also seemed to fulfill all objectives. Lastly, The hedges at the bird farm at Chachoengsao were about 1 metre tall, very thick, small leaves with small red flowers.

So, can anyone tell me the Thai names and anything more about their suitability for the task in hand or even suggest alternatives.

Many thanks.

KS

The wife and I are friends with many of the day staff and have been for many years. Things did turn down when the old boss dies a few years ago and the son does not have the character to replace him. Over the last couple of years, rumors from the staff have suggested that the end might be imminent as the bar is on a 2 year lease which might (or might not) expire towards the end of 2014.

There is a belief that a hotel group may want to re-develop the whole area between Soi 7 and Soi 5, that is quite a lot of real estate.

The staff have been told not to discuss matters with customers, so, sadly, I believe there might be some truth in their closure. However, as we all know, things around here can change very quickly and this "institution" would be sorely missed, well, by us at least!

When you guys finish your "debate" regarding what is appropriate (or not) for street traders to sell, we might be able to get back to the topic which was about no traders on Mondays. #9 is correct in that Mondays was set aside for cleaning. Personally, Suk without the street traders would simply not be Suk. It is part of the fabric of Thailand and goes a long way towards creating the character of the place, without it, we might as well be back in any major city in the west. What an awful thought.

Brilliant! Farangs will ensure the safe running for the next 20 years, however, UK (are they considered to be farang?) stop their trains for "the wrong type of snow" or "leaves on the line". Yep, Thailand has so much to be thankful for because of us foreigners.

Cat 1, bordering on 5

Not sure everyone will understand that, but basically, cat 1 is serviceable at flight line level, Cat 5 is scrap or beyond economical repair. I would tend to err on the side of Cat 5 myself.

I think the one wordchild is referring to is possibly a little closer to Ratchadapisek MRT than Sutisan, however, not much in it. It is a very big store (expensive IMO) but lots to see. So take the BTS to Asoke, change to MRT and the whole trip should take less than 30 mins.

Good Luck

There are a few stalls along Suk and the shop I think Shrubbery is talking about is just by the Nana BTS exit (odd number side) just before you turn left for the Ambassador Hotel. They hold many of the major international team shirts (reproductions of course). Inside the shop there is a stairway with shirts all along the side, some with full collars, some with small half collars. Prices about (don't quote me as you might have to barter a bit) 400 - 500 Baht. Failing that, there are large clothing sections in MBK, one is right upstairs one level below the cinemas who also sell shirts, but much the same as you will find in Suk.

Good luck.

IMHO, you have pretty much confirmed what I thought about deposits, but good to get another opinion By the way, a decent used car is what I am looking for. Thaiabcr, I am a very regular visitor to Thailand, I spend 4 to 5 months per year here, and, having just built a house (in preparation for retirement in 18 months), but not yet ready to take up full time residence, a car has now become a necessity as we need to oversee the decoration and landscaping of the place, and sorry, I like large cars, so whilst I have the budget to afford one, a puddle jumper is not our answer, besides, we have a large family!

Hi guys, A little advice please. The wife and I want to buy a car in a couple of months time, but need a bit of direction. Firstly, I have about 400K to buy a used car with cash, however, I would like to increase my budget to about 500 to 550K and use the 400K as deposit and get credit over say 18 - 24 months for the remainder. Here is the pinch, I am not resident in Thailand and the wife lives with me, outside the country. We are able to show a regular income to her account of 20K per month which (hopefully)should be OK for the bank. The wife however has been told that she cannot pay more then 50% of the total value, therefore credit has to be for the remaining 50%, is this true or can I vary the deposit to reduce the amount of credit required?

Many thanks for your time and I hope to get some good advice on how to proceed.....by the way, waiting an extra few months is not really an option.

KS

Thai Watsadu as Bang Na for sure.

Corruption is everywhere. We from the West seem to be far better at hiding it than here in the East, maybe that is why there is such a big stink about it when it gets uncovered back there.

As an aside, I work in Muscat, Oman. A strictly Muslim country but with quite a liberal outlook towards it's expat community. One might think that hearing of the horrendous ways in which Muslims (allegedly) treat their criminals, crime and corruption would be considerably less. Not a bit of it, 15 or so years ago they built a wonderful Mosque, it is quite exquisite, however, it was paid for at least twice over as funds were siphoned into officials pockets. No-one was charged. Where have we heard that before?

You could try ThaiWatsadu, there is one just a couple of hundred meters (on the main road) from Mega Bang Na. The place is huge and rather like the B & Q Depot in the UK (if it still exists!).

IQ 5.1.a available at Fortune Town, cost about 6800 baht

"Ahh, but what of the neighbour who opems a small slaughterhouse upwind or a bordello in close proximity? Wouldn't be a pleasant location then would it?"

I can see the problem with the slaughterhouse but fail to see the objection to the bordello

Yooyung, you do not say where in Thailand you will be visiting, however, assuming you will be in Bangkok may I suggest you consider VASU as another option. Google it, it is on Suk around Soi 7/1. The rates are about 2 Satang below Superrich but much better than the banks will offer, and for me at least, much more conveniently situated.

I first assumed you meant blades for cutting plastic but I think you might also mean blades for R/C helis. There is a Tamya model shop on RCA (Royal Central Avenue) who sell simple models up to quite large R/C stuff, worth a try.

macksview, I had a very similar experience at Kanchanaburi. About 11 years ago, a lady friend invited me to visit the place as I had told her that my Father had been in Burma (non-captive) and had recounted many tales of the inhumanity of the Japanese. On the day of the visit, she turned up with a bloody Jap in tow, he was a former boss of hers!

I will give the guy credit, once we visited the main cemetery he left me well alone which was just as well, I loathed his company just for who he was, I know, childish, but I couldn't help it.

I had been to many war cemeteries around the world, but Kanchanaburi did leave a lasting impression. For one, I was not aware of the number of Dutch buried there but the solemnity of the place and the peace and beauty will remain in my mind forever. It is a place for quiet reflection, where the past seems to meet the present, where unashamedly I can shed a tear for all those young lives cut so tragically short.

I was a service man for 25 years and still work for the military, but I so wish we would all be unemployed very soon. It will never happen, but we can dream.

Yes KW, another year has passed yet the numbers of those killed in war continues to rise. When will we learn?

For those who choose to wear a poppy, wear it with pride!

PLEASE WEAR A POPPY

"Please wear a poppy," the lady said

And held one forth, but I shook my head.

Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,

And her face was old and lined with care;

But beneath the scars the years had made

There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street,

Bouncing along on care-free feet.

His smile was full of joy and fun,

"Lady," said he, "may I have one?"

When she'd pinned it on he turned to say,

"Why do we wear a poppy today?"

The lady smiled in her wistful way

And answered, "This is Remembrance Day,

And the poppy there is the symbol for

The gallant men who died in war.

And because they did, you and I are free -

That's why we wear a poppy, you see."

"I had a boy about your size,

With golden hair and big blue eyes.

He loved to play and jump and shout,

Free as a bird he would race about.

As the years went by he learned and grew

and became a man - as you will, too."

"He was fine and strong, with a boyish smile,

But he'd seemed with us such a little while

When war broke out and he went away.

I still remember his face that day

When he smiled at me and said, Goodbye,

I'll be back soon, Mom, so please don't cry."

"But the war went on and he had to stay,

And all I could do was wait and pray.

His letters told of the awful fight,

(I can see it still in my dreams at night),

With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,

And the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire."

"Till at last, at last, the war was won -

And that's why we wear a poppy son."

The small boy turned as if to go,

Then said, "Thanks, lady, I'm glad to know.

That sure did sound like an awful fight,

But your son - did he come back all right?"

A tear rolled down each faded check;

She shook her head, but didn't speak.

I slunk away in a sort of shame,

And if you were me you'd have done the same;

For our thanks, in giving, if oft delayed,

Thought our freedom was bought - and thousands paid!

And so when we see a poppy worn,

Let us reflect on the burden borne,

By those who gave their very all

When asked to answer their country's call

That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy! Remember - and give!

Handwritten in pencil, and on two sheets of foolscap, Don Crawford turned this poem in to the The Perth Courier one morning in the early 1960s, where it first saw print a few days later. For the next several years, and by means unknown, “Why Wear A Poppy” appeared in nearly every weekly newspaper and magazine, including LEGION, in Canada at Remembrance time, as well as foreign publications like Australia’s Anzac Appeal and Scotland’s Claymore magazine, copies of the same being sent to him. Some years ago, Dominion Command of The Royal Canadian Legion, produced it on slides and tape for television and radio. Schools have used it extensively for their Remembrance programs. Donald J. Crawford died in hospital at Perth on Saturday, October 7, 2000.

Pantip Plaza, MBK floor 4 or Fortune Town at Rama 9 subway station.