leftcross

cut some old clothes up and put those inside.

i was charged 800 baht at jomtien for half an hour earlier this year. after about 10 minutes the engine cut out, so i swam back to shore

and went to talk to the boyos, in broken thai, about what had happened.

they went and got it, and started us up another one and let me have the rest of the time on that, no problems.

i say STAY! don't be caught in the headlights of the cash figure. next thing you know, you'll be waking up on a cold, rainy morning going to work and doing 12 stressful hours a day.

take life easy when you can and enjoy thailand now.

i had a simliar offer earlier this year and ended up saying no, after initially thinking yes.

my life here is good and easy. it wouldnt be the same working in the uk.

i don't know how i would act until the situation arose, and neither does anyone else.

we are talking her about how someone actually did react to a real life situation.

Maybe you should then apologise to Ulysses for calling him a coward and not having faced such a situation yourself.

i have been in similar situations. once i was with two friends in the street when i saw a gang go up to one lad with a girl. one of them headbutted the lad and when he went down a few kicks went it.

my two friends stood still while i ran up to the gang (six or seven lads about my age) and punched the one who had headbutted him. i hit him so hard his shoe came off as he went straight down on the floor. he smacked his head on the road and was out cold.

it took two or three seconds for the rest of them to realise what was going on then one of them laid into me. i started to fight him and then the others joined in. i was outnumbered.

next thing i know, some bloke has seen what was going on and wades in on my behalf. between the pair of us we managed to get these lads on their toes. they legged it. the kid who had been attacked first and his girlfriend thanked us both profusely. they were really shook up.

the bloke who stepped in later said he had seen me been attacked by a gang and wanted to even up the numbers. if it hadnt been for him i would have taken a hiding.

we all went on our seperate ways. the whole thing had only lasted five minutes or something.

my so-called friends did nothing and i asked them why. they said it was nothing to do with them and they might have got hurt trying to intervene. but as soon as i saw that gang attack the first lad i knew what i had to do. he was in trouble and needed help. i could have phoned the police, but it would have been too late.

i don't know how i would act until the situation arose, and neither does anyone else.

we are talking her about how someone actually did react to a real life situation.

who knows? if i saw a young girl being killed then i'd like to think i would still have a go. probably has something to do with being a father.

no, when someone is immediate and clear physical danger then the only acceptable option is to make an intervention there and then.

who knows, he may have told the kids to leave her alone and they might have.

ulysees' actions were complete and utter skin saving cowardice. to see a young girl being beaten by a gang and then not intervening is low, very very low.

you use your age as an excuse but perhaps your age would have been a help. thais respect their elders and seniority and the teenagers may have backed off.

it's not clever to use violence in the street, but you had the immediate chance to save someone from potential death and you skulked away 'to be a coward another day'

if it was a gang of men fighting then perhaps you would be justified, but a young girl????

when i was at sea i knew a lad, gyro, who was seven stone wet through. every time we went out drinking and fighting this lad used to duck out of the way because he hated it. we all used to say he had no bottle.

one night we were in high seas near iceland and someone was washed over the side. without a thought for himself, gyro jumped into the seas to try and save him. it was suicide, but it was the bravest thing everyone who saw it said they had ever seen. that lad gave his life to try and help someone else. that is true bravery.

i'm sure the cowards among you will say 'live to be a coward another day' but the world has been shaped by people like gyro, who selflessly give their lives for another cause.

As someone who spent an entire career at sea, I'd say "gyro" was not very bright and very poorly trained. You should have thrown a life ring with emergency light attached instead, whilst calling the bridge to execute a Williamson Turn. In those waters the life would likely still be lost, but certainly not two.

as someone else said on this thread - people often act with selfless bravery as a reflex action, it is not something they think about.

for example, if you were walking down the street and you saw a kid playing and a truck hurtling down the hill towards it you could A) dive into the road and throw the child to safety while getting yourself killed

do the Ulysses thing, say to yourself 'i don't know the kid, someone will die and i dont want it to be me. i will live tomorrow'

my point about gyro is that you may be seen as a coward, you may be scared of violence, of trouble or of getting hurt. but when something happens in front of you that requires an act of selfless bravery you may act in that manner by reflex, even if it means you sacrificing your own life.

others do nothing and think of their own skins.

ulysees' actions were complete and utter skin saving cowardice. to see a young girl being beaten by a gang and then not intervening is low, very very low.

Nice and safe in your hotel room isn't it?

Another internet hero.

you neither know whether i am a hero or a coward, as i have not told you any personal experiences from which you could judge.

you, however, have described your gutless actions on the forum.

ulysees' actions were complete and utter skin saving cowardice. to see a young girl being beaten by a gang and then not intervening is low, very very low.

you use your age as an excuse but perhaps your age would have been a help. thais respect their elders and seniority and the teenagers may have backed off.

it's not clever to use violence in the street, but you had the immediate chance to save someone from potential death and you skulked away 'to be a coward another day'

if it was a gang of men fighting then perhaps you would be justified, but a young girl????

when i was at sea i knew a lad, gyro, who was seven stone wet through. every time we went out drinking and fighting this lad used to duck out of the way because he hated it. we all used to say he had no bottle.

one night we were in high seas near iceland and someone was washed over the side. without a thought for himself, gyro jumped into the seas to try and save him. it was suicide, but it was the bravest thing everyone who saw it said they had ever seen. that lad gave his life to try and help someone else. that is true bravery.

i'm sure the cowards among you will say 'live to be a coward another day' but the world has been shaped by people like gyro, who selflessly give their lives for another cause.

- Stay clear of girls from Isaan

- Get a girl with at least a bachelor degree that is working and supporting herself

- Stay clear of girls that were married or have babies

- Try to talk only with girls that are looking for "friendship", not those "Looking for Marriage". The girls that marked "friendship" are actually interested in a relationship but are more reserved (no bargirl type)

- Don't even think to talk about sex or anything of the like, just have casual chat and have a good time, the rest will follow if you click with them.

- Use sites like www.thai2english.com and Skype to send Thai SMS to her mobile once in a while. She'll appreciate the effort and it's a nice way to make her smile

Good luck!

while i dont think you need to go on the internet to find the right girl, this check list is pretty much spot on.

cartoons are for kids FACT.

my favourite cinema is the one at big c, rajdamri.

it has the biggest seats and the air-con is just about right.

the air-con at mbk is way too low....

paragon is nothing special but central rama 3 is a decent choice too. it's got plenty of screens and you can normally get a good seat at the back with extra leg room for 140 baht.

it may sound crazy but i feel like more of an englishman now i am abroad than i ever did at home.

if you put a st georges cross up outside your house in many parts of england the council tell you to take it down and say you are racist.

i can fly my england flag proudly in thailand without any problems. i also love seeing how patriotic the thais are, they have flags everywhere and the yellow t-shirt thing is fantastic. that's how a country should be.

in england, you can't display a christian cross while working for british airways, the national carrier, in case it offends other minority religions. can you imagine thai airways telling their staff not to wai anyone? or the government telling monks not to collect their alms in the morning in case it offends muslims etc??? it's laughable.

In england, some councils even tried to ban the word 'christmas' because they thought it would offend the minorites.

england has tried so hard to accomodate all out of our sense of fairness that the country has managed to alienate the people who are actually born and bred english.

i love england dearly, and i love to visit there occasionally but i wouldnt want to live there right now.

In Thailand the vast proportion of British expatriates are lower or lower middle class, and this is reflected in forum membership.

How do British members of thiis forum feel about being described as lower class or lower middle class and a little short on polish?

MM

im working class and proud of it. there's no such thing as lower class in the uk.

as for being lacking in polish, well that probably applies to me too. but then polish wasnt something that did you any favours where i grew up.

i think a lot of this thread is about perception. you look at someone with short hair and a few tattoos and brand them as yobs but that's ridiculous.

it's the british working class style, most of the lads are sound. i live in bkk but the first time i went to patters it was like being in a uk seaside town again. it was great to be around so many brits on the lash.

last time i heard, having a few beers and a laugh wasnt a crime. as for scrapping, well it seems people on this forum are scared to death of their own shadows.

one minute we have threads about how thai men are psychos after a few drinks (one wrong look and you're a dead man) and now it's about the brits.

if you actually think how many times you go out drinking in thailand and how many times you have seen punches thrown from any nationality then the figure is really very small. stop blowing it out of proportion.

brits are among the friendliest and most polite people on the planet. fair play is our national characteristic.

some people are cowards, yet they would be sickened if their child was assaulted in this way and no bystanders helped.

you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. how far can a man fall to ignore a young girl being hurt? no excuses can be made for not intervening.

most people, of all nations, try to give themselves the best possible advantage when fighting.

that means striking unexpectedly, using weapons and outnumbering people.

it's not just thais.

look for trouble and you will find it, anywhere in the world.

we are bigger than thais so it is only natural that they use weapons to even up the balance.

i have never felt an air of violence in thailand, unlike in the UK.

walking past a group of teenagers at night in bangkok is nothing, do the same in the UK and you have to be braced for trouble.

thanks kayo.

as an aside, the hospital where my son was born provided the birth certificate and a few photos in a booklet for free.

because they know i am british they also typed up a letter in english on headed hospital note paper saying my son was born at the hospital at the specified time.

they, bless them, thought i could take this to the british embassy and get a passport/real birth certificate.

unfortunately they dont know how painful, longwinded and usually expensive even the most basic administration task turns out to be when it involves the UK.

the thais dont fuss about and there is never any undue bother, they do things on common sense. the uk would do well to learn from them.

cheers fella.

Heard there are pics of Stickman on the net? Where? Or what should I write in Google Picture Search? Cheers!

He looks a bit like stickman

on john galt's site ... and yes there is a strong resemblance!

my half thai baby son has got all his thai paperwork now and is officially a thai citizen.

i want to get him a british passport too, yet a look at the british embassy website says i need to pay 8000 baht for a birth certificate (great british rip-off) AND have my full birth certificate too (never seen it, just got the smaller one)

do i need a birth certificate to get him passport? or can i apply for the passport using my documentation to prove he is half british cos of me?

the embassy website isnt particularly clear so someone with some practical experience would help.......

I just don't get it there seems to be a spate of random bullshit threads going all along the same lines with the same result.

The OP asks a bloody ridiculous question, where can I can get a pepper spray in Bangkok? say no more. then all the Travis Bickles come out of the woodwork getting all technical with their woopass.

how many of you lot have had to use the shit your talking about?

If you don't feel safe where you live move somewhere else, if you keep getting in scrapes change your lifestyle.

Dealers and muggers carry c.s., pepper and knuckle dusters. your just <deleted> and your dangerous.

my wife has, thank god, never had to use the pepper spray in self-defence but she feels a lot safer carrying it about. i feel better knowing she has it too.

i do feel quite safe but you never know what is going to happen. it's better to be prepared.

you can buy from the street vendors on suk road between soi 7-9.

they have two types of spray. one is about 15o baht and the other was about 500 baht. the more expenisve looks very sturdy and is a green bottle.

i bought some for the wife and got a discount for a telescopic baton and knuckleduster for the car.

the wife decided to show off in her office and sprayed it in an enclosed room. all six staff were incapacitated and had to rush outside into the fresh air. ###### good stuff and thoroughly recommended.

taxis dont use petrol, they run on LPG