SDM0712

Is there smoke without fire?

It is reported there is a new English slang term being used by people in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The phrase is "Don’t Thai to me". It means don’t lie to me or cheat me. There’s a bit of a controversy...

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Everyone I know that has ridden with a European lid has found them too hot.

Don't ask for a white coffee. Ask for a black coffee with milk.

SDM

The normal fine for driving without a license here is 500 Baht.

The rental shop won't care, their bikes probably aren't insured anyway. You will have to pay personally for any damage yourself.

SDM

I'm not trolling. What is wrong with learning to ride a bike?

You know you need a licence too?

That's the easiest part of it!!

S

Toyota would have been cheaper.Freangs have this strange idea that MAIN Dealers cost much more.

In fact this is normally quite true because the labour charge is higher at a main dealer as their costs are higher. The parts cost remain the same.

My feeling is that while the car is on warranty take it to a main dealer but otherwise take it to a small garage by recommendation. If the small garage cannot be vouched for then stick with a main dealer.

I have never had work done that was not authorised by me first, but having said that I normally tell them that if they do anything extra not agreed by me or the mem, then we won't pay for it. Never been a problem.

I always have a boot full of old parts that have been replaced, this seems pretty standard practice. Also it seems the Thai way to fix a problem is to replace all parts that might be causing it until they strike lucky.

In terms of wanting repeat custom it is Thai mentality in almost every aspect of their life to only think on the short term, so whether or not you come back is not considered, or if it is nothing is done to facilitate that.

S

Depends on the size of the bike. My Ninja is too big to stay on the left with the scooters and much quicker than the cars which allows for much safer overtaking.

I'm sure the OP doesn't need to learn to drive a Ninja, when he says he doesn't know how to ride a peddle bicycle… He just may be an interesting person and a bit of a challenge, but at least he admits he doesn't know how to do somethings and wants to learn. Good luck "fixer." Thailand is the land of instant karma. Be careful of whom you invite into your life here.

And nor would anyone get near my Ninja, or any of my scooters, or cars! He'd have to have his own. In terms of inviting into my life I'm probably one of the few on TV that actually has genuine contact details anyway on my bio. Most "keyboard warriors" here prefer to be anonymous!

It's a shame that we live in a country where it seems the native population and rules make it hard for us as foreigners, and we don't even want to help each other. For shame.

I read a stat last year that said in Phuket there are two roadside fatalities (not including subsequent in hospital) every three days. From what I see on the roads I would guess it's those who have never ridden a bike before.

As foreigners we should help each other more and group together, exactly as our hosts do against us.

SDM

Depends on the size of the bike. My Ninja is too big to stay on the left with the scooters and much quicker than the cars which allows for much safer overtaking.

When you say learn what do you mean ? The mechanics a of running through the gears ?

If you can operate the bike, ie move off it's just about observing everything around you, same as you would in a car.

What kind of bike do you have ?

Certainly happy to help you out.

SDM

Shame. RIP.

There is only one fact that is relevant.

He was able to bring what appeared to be a gun onto a plane. Fact.

The rest is irrelevant.

SDM

Terrorism overhyped in my opinion.

An interesting view, it depends if you at talking about numbers of aircraft involved or people.

The issue really is the amount of death that can be caused by a single act. If it's just the aircraft then we are talking hundreds of people, if it hits a building in a city centre we could be talking thousands of people.

Unfortunately aeroplanes have become both amazing forms of transport and potential weapons of mass destruction.

Can the risk really be "over hyped " when it only takes a single person to cause this amount of devastation and loss of life ?

SDM

Now we will all have to put up with more intrusive inspections until this dies down. Thanks so much to this dolt.

Perhaps they should be more intrusive, they are clearly in adequate. We are not talking a bottle of aftershave.

I really can't understand why some people here are so against this guy. Let's forget the word fake, that was only known later and is irrelevant. If he held it against a pilots head and said divert this plane the pilot won't know and if it was a real gun or not. Firing a weapon in a pressurised cabin would result in the plane losing control anyway.

Let's say it again, he carried what appeared to the naked eye to be a real gun onto an aeroplane, through security. This should be impossible, there should be an investigation of how it happened although anyone who flies a lot, even not a lot already knows how. Incompetence & apathy all on the part of the security. And this is all in the shadow of MH370, who knows what happened there. Maybe someone put a fake gun to the pilots head and ordered him to fly until the plane ran out of fuel.

This guy should get a medal I agree, well done.

SDM

dick heads like this make air travel more invasive and difficult for all ..I hope he gets prison time as it was obviously pre-meditated to show he could post a selfie doing so ...A1 Pratt

I see your point and agree but this person also show how crappy the security really is Iso I have to say this incident maybe make the airport security wake up and do there damn job. How the heck can anyone get on a plan with a gun in his bag?

He's not a "dick head" nor a "clown", he is someone who has done all air travellers in this country a massive favour. The "dick heads"and the "clowns" are the idiots in charge of airport security. They should wake up or one day it will be a real lunatic with a real gun resulting in a crashed plane with all dead on board. Anything that forces the so called airport security services to tighten their obviously very slack act gets my vote.

SDM

I've found the best daily lenses are Acuvue Moist, which although high end opticians sell them for 1000 baht a box, Top Cheoleorn ( cant remember how to spell it, the 69 shop) sell them for around 790. I've been wearing lenses for 35 years and these are by far the most comfortable I had.

SDM

PS sorry just read that again, I don't think there is a Toric version to the Moist brand.

Why people lift up their windscreen wiper?

To stop the rubber melting onto the glass maybe.

SDM

If you really wish to have pleasant stay in LOS, throw the "Why" question out the window. They do it, accept that and move on.

The best advice for any foreigner in Thailand, eliminate the word "why" from your vocabulary! It is not required here and only leads to frustration.

As a Thai lady of my aqaintance would often respond sharply to a "why " question in a dalek-esk tone she didn't want to answer "not why", with no further comment or explanation.

SDM

Considering the the crap quality of batteries in Thailand that die without warning and need replaced every two years, it makes it much easier to jump start the car with cables.

In always wondered about that and whether it's the weather conditions or the quality of the battery. At home I get five years but as you say here me, and most of my pals, only get one or two.

SDM

Because it's easier to drive straight out when it's time to leave rather than wait for some bugger to let you to reverse out which they will normally only do if they want your space. Anyone in Phuket that goes to Central over the weekend will know exactly what I mean.

SDM

My boy goes to Kajonkiet Kathu and loves it, his learning is going ahead leaps and bounds, the teachers are very friendly and seem to be very good at what they do, the place has a great feel to it, I've never heard of them hitting children(if it was a slap on the hand as mentioned above i wouldn't have a problem with that at all) and think it's probably just a sour parent making up stories,it'd be guaranteed to suck some in.

Any time we've emailed the school we've been answered promptly.

As for the teachers being stressed, if they are they don't show it and the students seem to have a very good rapport with them.

Forgot to mention it has a really nice coffee shop and food court, even does sushi !

If you are prepared to work hard and treat it as a proper job you will do well.

SDM

Just press and hold app in menu and drag to trash on top

In the version of Android used by Samsung, probably all of the versions, all this does is remove the icon, it doesn't remove the app. As far as I know only my method works. However sometimes apps are bundled in with the OS(such as Chat On with Samsung) and cannot be removed.

sdm

Wrong. I got S4 and it uninstalls apps

Make sure u got latest firmware update.

I got 4.4.2

U can check and update in settings

Wrong? An unusual concept for one. *

I am running 4.1.2 so accept what you say. I'll do the upgrade later, thanks for that.

Can you remove the bundle that came with the phone like ChatON etc. Like the OP I don't want them either.

SDM

* Yes it's a joke for the guys who love to jump on comments like this.

We chose not to send our kids there on the basis of the rumours that 1. the school was more interested in grades thanlearning and 2. That the teachers hit the children and 3. they could not be bothered to answer emails!

I believe that a slap on the hand is sometimes given by the Thai teachers in EP, can't speak for International or ESC, they are mainly interested in grades, but so am I, EP has very good SA coordinator that has introduced a Western discovery type of teaching rather than the Thai "just do it like this with no questions". My emails have always been responded to within 24 hours.

I agree it is a high pressure school that expects results, just like the real world really.

My boy loves it there.

SDM

My boy goes to KJ in Kathu, and I'm delighted with the school. It is however a business and the kids results are really what the school is interested. From what I know of friends that work there this translates to pressure on the teachers of any of their kids are not doing well. My friends who work there say that they have heard the moaning of former failed teachers and feel that they just weren't up to the job. They feel that many teachers to there expecting an easy ride, which it is not. Like any normal western job, do well and everyones, so badly and it's time to look elsewhere.

SDM