19 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

There are 2 types of dog in this world :

Number one is the spoilt , soft dog who is afraid of his own shadow.

 

 

 

Then there is Chuck Norris’s dog !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're a male dog, and your loving lady owner is gonna cut something, I understand why you might get nervous.

16 hours ago, andy72 said:

 

Synchronicity or what, 10 mins ago I was looking at this. Slow walking in Thailand is obviously a climate thing, watching the Farangs rushing from air-conditioned environment to air conditioned environment is a bit of a spectator sport with me, it gets especially interesting when they meet that motorsi coming down the road the wrong way. Ten years here has made me a sloth, a lizard; do I lose by it, probably not. Like, as a retired guy, I have all the time in the world. Now ain't that strange, as a young guy, with all the time in the world, almost immortal really, I was rushing everywhere; and as an old guy, with mortality pressing on me, from deaths of family and loved ones, I take my time.

More fake news. Personally, I don't care what they do. I'll <deleted> off to Cambodia or somewhere, sunk costs or no sunk costs, up to her.

I'm into Latin at the moment and the phrase "Nullum unquam exstitit magnum ingenium sine aliqua dementia" springs to mind.

Bring in a bunch of guys from war torn areas with PTSD what do you expect - chocolates and roses? Ha!

Well, soon you won't have any risky long stay visitors, as those with sunk costs die out, and new guys don't come. Problem solved.

Personally, I'm always amazed at how cheap the taxis are here. Basically, you have to know the route to where you're going, but with google maps that's not really a problem anymore. 10 years and only one bad experience, and that was a guy who'd previously worked in Phuket, enough said.

'A senior UK Government source, closely involved with this, said: “We’re stuffed”.'

Per Andrew Kerr, Scottish Political Correspondent.

"The Supreme Court has overturned the ruling from the English High Court and determined that it can rule on whether the suspension was lawful.

Lady Hale says the decision is unanimous.

The prime minister has lost the first stage but not necessarily the whole case."

'This was not a normal prorogation' - Lady Hale

No justification' for suspension - Lady Hale

Not looking good for Boris

PRIME MINISTER LOSES PROROGATION CASE - **UNANIMOUS JUDGMENT** OF THE SUPREME COURT'S 11 JUSTICES. Jaws are dropping in court.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-49807552

3 hours ago, SheungWan said:

No-deal Brexit now 13/4

Forgive my ignorance but would that be a reference to MEP's voting in support of a Brexit extension? Where'd you get the date?

Yeah, let's use an industry specific acronym and not explain its meaning. I clicked just to find out what it meant and I still had to Wiki it. Just to put a gloss on beechbum's comment:

"It is a niche area of tourism that is focused around the planning and booking of groups for large events, conferences or seminars."

On 9/8/2019 at 6:05 AM, Samui Bodoh said:

I started to carry my own plastic bags to the market a few years ago

Now that's a good idea. I carry a cloth bag but it's not suitable for wet goods. Silly me, bl#*dy obvious really.

16 hours ago, Naam said:

Wiki entry is correct.

 

 

Yeah, you're right it seems; at least I understand now (I think) what's going on, thanks to the various posters. 

The statement  "there is now no significant difference between offshore and onshore exchange rates"  is misleading to a layman like me though, as the reality is that there is a significant difference between the onshore and offshore rate I can actually get, or am I missing something.

Yeah, the reaction seems a bit OTT at first glance, but I suspect the real problem here is not that they received donations, but they tried to conceal that they'd received donations. 

Thanks for that ukrules. Someone should amend the Wiki entry as it's obviously inaccurate. "Don't Believe Everything You Read on the Internet". Ha!

I'm just curious. Wiki says:

"The Bank of Thailand adopted a series of exchange controls on 19 December 2006, which resulted in a significant divergence between offshore and onshore exchange rates, with spreads of up to 10 percent between the two markets. Controls were broadly lifted on 3 March 2008 and there is now no significant difference between offshore and onshore exchange rates."   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_baht 

So why the difference?

7 hours ago, webfact said:

it was already so badly decomposed that officials could not determine its ... cause of death.

Really? Plastic doesn't decompose, that's the problem. So was it's stomach full of plastic or not?

Quote from the turtle story below:

"Officials found no traces of wounds or injuries on the shell of the turtle and suspect that it died after it had swallowed plastic waste."

Yeah, seeing the headline two questions sprang to my mind - which regiments are getting them and where are they deployed. Ha!

The great Melton Mowbray pork pie debate is currently raging in the UK:

"Melton Mowbray pork pie makers and No 10 clash over Johnson claim

The humble Melton Mowbray pork pie is at the centre of an unlikely political dispute about British exports.

Boris Johnson had said pork pies are exported to Thailand and Iceland, but cannot be to the US due to red tape.

However the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association said the pies were not even exported to Thailand and Iceland." (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49470831)

Reading this inspired me to post as I've always had a great affection for this UK delicacy, which was local to me in the UK and has Proustian childhood associations; I even worked at the Melton Mowbray factory making the things for a brief period in my youth. It is, however, the one personal epicurean delight I've never found here. Just wondering if anyone has ever come across them.

Yeah, photo please.

Well, apart from charging for single use bags, which probably isn't gonna happen (even though it makes commercial sense, e.g. Makro), I suggest compulsory graphic warning images on all free single use plastic bags, as with cigarette packs; or, as an alternative to wasting money on funding plastic free days, which merely act as "feel good" advertising for the companies involved, activists, and others who are really concerned about the problem, could fund a disingenuous "kill a dugong day" ad campaign- a day where single plastic bag use is encouraged, maybe then the message will get through.

I renewed my UK passport in 2018 in Bangkok. The guys acting for the Embassy automatically provided this letter so, as Worgeordie says, it's been a thing for some time, at least at some immigration offices; not notarised though, just the consular officer's signature and stamp, as per Ubonjoe.

Just an example of bureaucrats going for apparently easy targets (i.e. those who actually report) so they can meet their quotas, rather than dealing with the real problem (those who've gone underground). Quite ironic this one blew up in their faces, some little scribbler's gonna have to put in some extra work on this one.