DualCitizen

Well, much of the "Hi-so" set are pretty dam_n superficial. And this attitude spills over to the soap operas that dominate the airwaves, and consequently gets programmed into the minds of the masses. You would be surprised by the inane behavior mechanisms that get programmed into Thai women from these dam_n soap operas!

The Thais seem to only broadcast the events in which their countrymen (women) appear to excel in. And that being boxing, weight-lifting, etc.... For the USA athletes, we seem to excel in almost every event, thus the reasons why more events are displayed.

Can't blame the Thais as it is their television networks.

GO USA!!!!! Bring home the GOLD!

Well, I find that the Thais, in general, don't really care about the games, except for the Cinderella stories of winning a medal and making money that way. So, yeah, I can't blame them for only showing events that Thais are good at... too bad those events are as boring as sin! After decades of only watching dull events, I don't blame Thailand for showing general apathy to the Olympic games as a whole. It's just sad that the games will finally be in the same general time zone and all we will get is the same crappy coverage

And yes, goooo USA! (Although China looks dominant this year, yikes)

No one from the US calls themselves a "Yank". If you really are an American, and I have doubts, Cathyy, you have some self loathing issues it seems

You can complain all you want about US coverage of the games, but I'm sorry, I am sick of watching only boxing, taekwando and women's weight lifting that is shown exclusively on Thai TV. Several years back, though, it was only boxing, so I guess there has been some progress made So much for gymnastics, track&field and swimming.... you know, events that are actually fun to watch?

If she is a Thai national, she can claim that her passport was lost by going to the police and claiming it as lost and have them fill out a report. Then she can bring that report as proof to the passport office, and have a new passport in about three days. The new passport system is completely computerized and it was super easy for me to get my Thai passport renewed. My girlfriend did not like her old passport picture, and simply got a new one by claiming that she lost her old passport.

Now, if she is not a Thai national, this is a completely different situation

I find it odd that people seem to only equate "safe" with food poisoning. There are many things that they could put in the food that would never make you get food poisoning but is definitely unsafe. Such as the woman who used bug spray in her marinade for grilled skewered meats to keep flies off. Or how about the fact that all soup stock pots used by the vendors use lead soldering to make the different compartments? This leads to lead contamination in the stock, which you would never notice or get sick from immediately. And how does the meat stay in the sun all day without going rancid? In nearby Vietnam, their solution is to mix the meat with formaldehyde, a preservative and known carcinogen. Are Thais also using formadehyde? Maybe, maybe not. But if you were to ask me are Thai vendors scrupulous enough to not stoop to using chemicals as preservatives? No, they are not.

Restaurants are not immune from this problem either, and although related, is not what the topic is really about. This is not a restaurant vs a roadside food stall issue.

I would also be hesitant to take the advice of a local Thais as to whether a place is healthy or not. I find that in general, the education system does not teach a good foundation of the sciences nor health and food safety. I also find that most Thais don't bother to ask questions regarding health, and they don't' know much about the food supply chain. "The food is cheap, and tasty, so why ask questions when you have a limited budget?" seems to be the logic employed. Yes, there are certainly enlightened individuals amongst the local population, but I find these are more the exception than the rule.

Keep your wits about you, and take the time to ask questions about the food you are about to eat. Also, be aware that there could be far worse things in the food than a simple matter of food poisoning.

I've lived in Bangkok coming on seven years now, and I have considered getting a scooter for some time now. I drive a normal car, and I always look on with envy at the ability of bikes to bypass traffic jams. However, I never get around to buying one, because I generally don't trust people on the roads of Bangkok to not hit me. If you follow the traffic laws, it is not enough, as other drivers will not follow the laws and they will do the dumbest most unexpected things. You also have to be very aware of your surroundings, as buses and other vehicles just don't care about your well being and will have no qualms about bullying you out of a lane or simply running you over (I saw a motorcyclist go underneath a car when the driver of the car wasn't paying attention and just ran them over!) Remember, this is not the US where people generally follow the rules of the road. Bangkok is a chaotic swarm of all manner of vehicles jockeying to get to the next red light, and they generally will break laws left right and center to do so. Be warned!

I can see how a bike would be useful to get around to the local store, but if I were to drive crosstown, I would use a normal car instead. Taxis are, if anything, abundant in Bangkok, so I would recommend those if you can't drive a car of your own. There is also the skytrain and the subway if you happen to have destinations close to them.

In other words, I echo the sentiments of others that driving a scooter (moped, motorcycle etc) is a risky proposition. If you are prepared to take that risk and understand the consequences, then it can be a thrilling way to get around.

-Dualcitizen

P.S. - Remember, it's not a matter of if, but when you will get into an accident. Be sure to have all contingencies and paperwork (hospital, insurance etc) ready to go when the inevitable does happen.

I am need of an accounting firm for my company so I can setup my VAT and Social Fund, etc and what I have found on the boards has been an old recommendation from 2004. Can anyone give a more updated idea of what firms are good to use for business accounting? My location is in Bangkok, and I would need them to speak fairly good English, as I am the type who likes to ask lots and lots of questions. Thanks in advance!

Same rules apply as for any other foreigner:

at least three shareholders, majority must be Thai.

So if 2 Fins want to be shareholders, they would need 3 Thais. The Thais must own 51% of the shares. If they want to work in their company, they would need a WP and employ 4 Thais per foreigner.

What is Airsoft?

Airsoft are realistic looking guns that shoot plastic bbs. They come in both Electric and gas varieties. As for the OP who asked if Airsoft is legal, they have stores that sell the gear, and even have their own trade magazine in the Thai section of bookstores/newsstands. They do coverage on some of the meetings and operations they conduct.

I eat subway quite often, but I have noticed that quality of service has gone down a lot. I frequent the Subway next to Villa on Sukhumvit, as well as the Silom one. I usually go in during the evening (around 8-9pm) I'm not sure how the staff are trained, but it seems the latest crop are not good at all.

The other night at the Silom branch, the girls behind the counter did a bad job at making our sandwiches, and they even gave my friend the wrong sandwich altogether! When we got home, we noticed they had given him the sandwich for the guy behind him

The girls at the Sukhumvit store are simply terrible, they made my sandwiches with half inch thick beads of mustard and mayo...we might as well have called it a mayo and mustard sandwich because there was more of that than meat! Then we saw that a piece of cheese had all this crud all over it (ie, DIRTY), so we asked the girl to not put it on our sandwich. She picked it up off our sandwich after putting it on the bread (she didn't listen to our protests beforehand), looked at it, and tossed it back into the cheese bin! That was a stomach churning sight.

Then there was the time we ordered a steak and cheese sandwich, and then we noticed that the meat was completely RAW (as in red, not pink!) after we bit into it. When I complained, the staff simply said that that was the way it came.

I think I'll have to resort to making my sandwiches at home if this keeps continuing.

I was hoping someone from this board would have some advice regarding what parts of the government or what sort of hoops one has to jump through to find out when was the last time a certain individual came into and left Thailand?

Basically there's a farang guy who took a bunch of sizeable "loans" from people here and then skipped the country. I was wondering if there was anyway for me to know if this guy really left, and if he did, did he ever come back? If someone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

I would just like to write this information as it seems it was not newsworthy enough to make it to any sort of media, but she was someone I knew.

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According to many Bangkokians these days, the area of Thong Lor is one of the hippest streets in all of the city. With its vast array of bars, clubs, and chic shopping venues, Thong Lor is one of the hotspots where young people love to be seen.

Thong Lor is also the street where a young girl named Cartoon was shot to death. On Sunday, April 24, 2005, after a night of partying at the club Escudo at Thong Lor Soi 13, Cartoon was waiting at the curb for her boyfriend to bring the car. A car pulled up to the front of the club and one of the passengers opened fire with a firearm. Cartoon was hit by one of the bullets and died a short while later. Whether Cartoon was the intended victim or merely caught in the crossfire was undetermined.

No witnesses came forward that could identify the shooters, the license plate, nor the make of the car that was used in the shooting. Police have no leads as to who shot the girl, nor why she was shot. This is despite the fact that the car would have to pass in front of the police station as it sped away from the scene of the shooting.

As for the poor girl, no one at the scene tried to rush her to the hospital which was a mere 200 meters away. If someone had taken her, she might still be alive today.

This is not the first time I have seen the police at the Thong Lor station being direlict in their duty. About six months ago, while accompanying my friend to the police station at 4am in the morning to make a report of a traffic accident, a motorcyclist was lying dead in the street not 10 feet away from the station. When we informed the police, they gave an apathetic look at us and eventually sent someone to take a look.

One would think that for such a busy street, both during the day and especially at night, the police at Thong Lor would be more alert. The street is lined with a high concentration of clubs and bars and its popularity among the Bankok youth can not be argued with. With such a large amount of drunken revellers on the streets after all the clubs close, one should expect the police to be patrolling around and making sure nothing is amiss. Sadly this is not the case.

The most tragic part of this tale, though, is that if this girl came from a rich family, a huge ruckus would have ensued and probably a large showing by the police would be put into place to show how good they are with a possible shutting down of the venues on the street for a short time. If any of you remember when RCA was shut down after a politician's son got into a fight and was beaten up, this is exactly what happened.

However, Thong Lor is still the same, and the police continue to do what they usually do, which is not much. Maybe if they did their duty and made sure that Thong Lor remained a safe place, Cartoon would not be dead today. I will miss her.

PS - As a side note, I am rather ashamed of my fellow countrymen for at least not trying to get the girl to the hospital. I guess you can't expect much from drunk, apathetic Thais, can you?

So this is going to help warn people on a beach that a tsunami is coming how? At least for myself, I don't particularly like to carry my mobile phone into the water. Not to mention that most foreign tourists are probably without a cell phone in Thailand altogether. Oh, of course there is International Roaming...but this service is only for AIS.

But I must admit that at least it is better than nothing. Now all the government would have to do is make all the mobile carriers utilize this service, as opposed to trying to only propping up AIS (and we all know who owns that company) as the only carrier who cares enough to provide this. It's wonderful to know that the PR machine is still rolling along at full steam however.

Although I agree that this will not stop people from using mobile phones as remote detonators (some of the methodology was was already touched upon by ovenman), it is by no means an unreasonable request to have an ID with a SIM card purchase. If anything, I am surprised they don't already require this.

Of course now and then, criminals can be very careless/idiotic, so maybe they will catch the occasional bomber.

I don't believe that there is any country that says that their citizens have a right to utilize telecommunications in absolute anonimity (If someone out there knows otherwise, please share with the rest of us, as I would love to know). However, if the Thai government resorted to listening in on phone calls for no justifiable reason, which they probably do anyway, then that is a different matter altogether.

In other words, asking for IDs for SIMs is not an issue of invasion of privacy.

Stumonster - I am puzzled as to why you are so fixated on the imei number. If anything, the criminals would just throw away the phones after they have used them. They could even burn them, since people seem to be free to privately burn trash as they see fit. Also, there is still the issue of stolen phones, fake IDs, ect... Or is there something in your posts that I am missing?