McMagus

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and with AIS and live in Aree about 500 m from Skytrain so it's not like I'm out in the boondocks. I have had nothing but crap internet service using AIS. In the end they advised me to configure the phone for EDGE. On 3G it wanders about 3G H+ H then loses connection. Edge is more stable but slow as. I'm not a techie so any advice greatly appreciated.

Ok, first off out of the blocks with this one. A number of issues here, not the least of which is the Thai propensity to sue and counter sue like spoilt kids in the sandpit. One may well ask why the concession was just extended for 13 years in one instance and 30 yrs in another scheme without there ever having been any cogent analysis of the benefits from the present concessionaire? At the end of the contract why was it not thrown open for tender again? If anybody knows different please correct me but I am led to believe they eventually ordered one new carriage for each train on the Sukhumvit line (bringing them up from 3 to 4) only to find when they got here that they could not use them because the couplings did not match...<deleted> ? If this is so.. and I stress if, who was the dummy in charge? As for the blaring noise ... don't get me started.

Very happy with the battery life of mine. As for ring tones..I just choose some suitable music from my music file and use that ...

Sarah Vaughn ... 'Broken Hearted Melody'

I even used my Oz drivers license once KK > BKK. Now I have a colour photocopy of my passport and stamp page. Not prepared to carry my passport everywhere.

I had nothing but trouble with SCB, they were tools ! Like 'How many times do I need to give you my frickin work permit, passport, etc etc etc. In my experience they were totally incompetent but do so with a smile and a wai. I have had nothing but good stuff happening from Bangkok Bank.. even though now I do not have a work permit. Passport and some money. As an aside and slightly off topic... for god's sake don't lose your passbook....you know, those things the rest of the world got rid of yonks ago... if you do its easier to just open a new account.

What a lot of people are missing here is a very subtle but interesting point. I like to keep up with current events....but, I wouldn't know off the top of my head who the head / senior / general of the Australian army was, he just goes about his job, low profile, like most western public servants. Here however, I already know of this army chief. This speaks volumes about this society we have chosen to live in / escape to / be a guest of etc. etc. One of Thaksin's greatest crimes in my eyes was to use Thailand's defamation laws to silence critics, particularly the press until self censorship became the norm. It doesn't surprise me given that 'face' is so important here that this army chief is resorting to the same Thai tradition. No wonder the Thai judicial system is dysfunctional with so many cases such as this to deal with. Like a bunch of school kids playing in the sandpit. Only, it is a worry when the sandpit is a country and the school kids can get guns.

Yep agree, when I read this in Bangkok Post, I was sad.. but sadness is really suppressed anger... and that is where a lot of posters to this thread find themselves now. Anger that the low life scum have shattered a family and..most likely will get away with it.

omniscient, interventionist God, who loves us, yet presides over the agonising death of say a child and... 'sorry, you only get one shot at this existence and you've had yours'

Yes and the whole idea is inconsistent and makes no sence. why have it so we get 70 or so years here (1 second for still borns), and the rest of eternity in heaven or hell? and why have 2000 religions each with different stories? Gods are mythological, like ghosts and vampires and Tinker Bell.

I don't get the Bodhisattva thing though. Why does a Bodhisattva eventually decide to be a buddha? why not be a Bodhisattva for eternity?

My limited understanding is that we all have the Buddha seed within.. latent if you like and when attaining Buddhahood, the Bodhisattva, through great compassion for all sentient beings will choose to take another life in order to help others achieve Buddhahood., I am thinking that the key element is .. a great compassion for the suffering of others.

I am pretty useless re internet / computer jargon etc. So I will talk basics. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and 5 gig through AIS. At times it will oscillate between H H+ and sometimes, lo and behold 3G (according to the little icons). However, when set up for GSM/WCDMA (god, sounds like I know what I'm talking about but I don't) it is so unreliable that I was constantly losing internet connection. AIS said I need to change down to EDGE .. which I did and it is more stable but much slower. As for speeds, they are all over the place. I can log on to ABC news Australia and it has loaded almost as I finish typing... other times I just go and make a cup of tea whilst I'm waiting. Over the last 2 weeks I have noticed quite a drop in speed. I'm assuming not enough bandwidth and every man and his dog on their phones etc. I complained bitterly to AIS because I NEED secure and reliable internet for banking etc. But they just smile.

I'm getting to the stage of not bothering to reply to the ill-informed crap that masquerades as comments here. Especially #2, #3, #4

Well then, what would you do if a dog that you owned, fed and kept safe, attacked you?

Pray tell, I'm all ears.

Goddam its like feeding the pigeons on this site. I have owned heaps of dogs. Against the advice of brother, mother, father we got a beautiful Dobberman bitch. Everyone said it would eat our young children, was aggressive dangerous, a killer breed, unreliable, not trustworthy etc., etc. She was the most devoted, gentle, protective, intelligent family companion. My father and I wept when she had to be put down from cancer of the jaw. The vast majority of dog owners do not have a clue about dog behaviour. They see them as playthings, accessories, status symbols, little dick compensation etc. They fail to realise they are pack animals and as such need the love of discipline and knowing their place in the 'pack'. Time and time again it has been shown that dog attacks are often precipitated by their owners' poor handling. I know "The Dog Whisperer" is a money making programme but interesting that his two most reliable dogs which he uses to help other aggressive dogs rehabilitate are .. American Pitbulls. What would I do if one of my dogs attacked me ... ? Can't happen, or shouldn't happen. Would have to look at my actions.

What attracts me to Buddhist thought is the denial of an interventionist God. It requires us to take responsibility for our thoughts and our actions and recognises that those thoughts and actions have power and can and do affect our existence. The concept of taking on a new life seems pretty sensible. I could never reconcile the Christian belief in an omniscient, interventionist God, who loves us, yet presides over the agonising death of say a child and... 'sorry, you only get one shot at this existence and you've had yours'. Yes, yes I know, I have had discussions with learned clergy who, when pressed will say 'It is the will of God and man cannot know the mind of God we need faith'. That kind of unquestioned blind faith does not work for me, but works for millions of others. In that sense, Buddhism seems more rational in that there is a cause / effect relationship. Unfortunately, most major religious constructs have been highjacked by man to meet his own needs, Buddhism included. However, I have yet to be stopped by a Buddhist zealot on the streets of Sydney haranguing me about his faith, so that draws me to its quiet public stance. I like the Tibetan or Mahayana schools (Big Boat) because of the belief in the enlightened being (Bodhisattva) who chooses to return in order to help others. This concept would recognise not only the Buddha, but also Jesus and Mohamed as enlightened Bodhisattvas. The Thai Theravada school or (Small Boat) looks more at looking after one's own enlightenment. Is it a religion? probably.

I have observed that Thais have no experience in modulating their anger. No doubt because in Thai culture anger is suppressed. There have been a couple of times I wanted to just deck the little prick... but I've been here long enough to know that one night, or one week, or one year later, he and his mates will get back ... just can't lose face. Good that a police complaint is being made.

I'm getting to the stage of not bothering to reply to the ill-informed crap that masquerades as comments here. Especially #2, #3, #4

Wake in Fright, Metropolis, Rear Window, Cinema Paridisio, Sophie's Choice, The Green Line, Pulp Fiction, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Alien (Original), To Kill a Mockingbird, Apocalypse Now, Samson & Delilah (2009) directed by Warwick Thornton.

Sweet Jesus I must be bored to read this crap.

In answer to brewsterbudgen

What harm do they do?

Well I guess you are right inasmuch as it is a symbiotic relationship... but it strikes as me as strange that it is in the poor areas of the world where women turn to this. Would be a good thing if they had some real life options.

' Goddam ! ! ! the goong is still alive, pass me the salt and the Uzi please...' <deleted>..

I am truly sorry for the death of an innocent but ....... firstly to own one, secondly to carry it in your car, thirdly to take it to the restaurant, fourthly it was loaded.

A hint an old photographer gave me...if you can't get silica bags, use tea bags. Keep your gear out of dark dank places. I use heaps of tea bags...never had a problem. I prefer an Oolong / black tea mix myself :-)