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Posts posted by Kerryd
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There's almost a cycle to this event.
A couple of years of heavy flooding, especially in the lowlands and capital region. Then a couple years where they are telling the farmers to not plant a second rice crop because the water levels in the dams and reservoirs are at "all time lows".
(Remember the stories of them finding forgotten monuments and the remains of old temples that had been submerged in different reservoirs for decades and were suddenly "on dry land" again because the water levels were so low.)
And then a couple years later, Bangkok is flooding again and they've got special boats in the Chao Praya river using their propellers to try and force more water out into the Gulf because the dams "upstream" are at their limits and have to dump excess capacity "downstream" (or risk a catastophic collapse).
Meanwhile, I rode past the Map Prachan reservoir a couple days ago and I have never seen the water level so low. And that was after a recent heavy rain.
And we are nearing the end of the rainy season.
Remember before the Covid crisis. We had a bit of a "drought" and the place was packed full of tourists.
The water levels were so low the PWA had to start rotating "cut off days" where some areas either had reduced water flows or were cut off entirely for a couple of days.
That was when the "officials" came up with the great idea of trying to channel all of the city's water drainage (from the sewers and run-off from the streets) back into the city's main water supply ! Think of all the crap (literally), garbage, chemical and industrial waste that people routinely dump into the sewers and spills onto the roads every day.
And they wanted to pump all of that into the Map Prachan reservoir to boost the water levels !!
(Note: the city water supply is "filtered" - not "purified". Basically it's run through filters/strainers to remove sediment and "big stuff" before being released into the water mains.)
Probably a good thing the covid crisis hit otherwise they might have gone through with that idea and ended up contaminating the entire reservoir with assorted pollutants.
It does appear that they are doing some dredging on the north-west corner of the reservoir. I hope it's to increase the capacity and not for some building project.
I was actually trying to push that idea back before the covid crisis. Had a presentation sketched out on how they could dredge out a portion of the reservoir that was usually "high and dry" even when the reservoir was nearly full and how much capacity they could gain (while using or selling the dredged material for landfill or construction elsewhere).
What I didn't have was any "connections". Basically the idea had to come from a "local", preferably someone that had some influence, who could talk to the people that knew the people who could make something like that happen.
And none of the people I knew at the time could do that. And then covid came along and without the increased demand for water from all the hotels and businesses, the problem went away.
But it looks like it's back and possibly even worse than before.
Glad I had the extra large water tank installed last year and a good stock of "filtered water" jugs.
I'm guessing we're going to be in for a lot of "cut off" days between now and next Spring.
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It used to be a "brown spot" on Pattaya's image (and Jomtien's) when you could look out about 4-500 meters offshore and see large flocks of seagulls gathered around one spot in a sort of feeding frenzy.
They were after all the fish that clustered around where the raw sewage emptied into the ocean.
I think the old sewage pipe is still visible on Jomtien Beach ? Though they too stopped pumping raw sewage into the water a long time ago.
But every time I look out into Pattaya Bay I see all - those - boats anchored out there. Floating restaurants. Fishing boats. Tourist boats.
Many with people living on them full time.
And not a pumping station for "black water" (raw sewage) anywhere.
Take a wild guess where all their crap (literally) goes. And no doubt a large amount of their day-to-day garbage as well.
One of the reasons I rarely (as in never) go swimming around here.-
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And example of how blind - or at least short-sighted - the people who seemed to want the Chinese to take over Thailand are.
China does not abide by democracy. Look at all their puppet states. Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar. And the ones they have their hooks firmly planted in, like North Korea and Pakistan.
And there's three more things the Chinese do not abide by.
A free press (and freedom of speech).
Religion.
Monarchy.
We can't speak about the last one of course.
It took them a few years after they gained full control over Hong Kong, but they were finally able to shut down the last "free press" media outlet in Hong Kong a few years ago.
And passed a law that all internet traffic would be monitored. (That was brought up when we learned that this site had been sold and was going to be run from a location in Hong Kong.)
It was in the news (last year ?) about a baker in Hong Kong being arrested for making a "Tiananmen Square" cake for a customer and two years ago a prominent Chinese "influencer" had his podcast cut off in mid-stream after he showed an "ice cream treat" that sort of looked like a tank - on 3 June 2022 - the day before the 33rd anniversary of Tiananmen Square.
(It caused quite a stir as the guy apparently has - or had - over 170 million followers. He didn't resume streaming until 20 Sept with no explanation for why he was off-line for so long.)
They actually have censors monitoring live stream podcasts and the ability to shut them down with the push of a button if they think something is being said (or shown) that the Communists don't want the general population to know about.
And we know what happened to the Dalai Lama (and is still going on).
(But no worries they'll just turn all the temples into Casinos and no one will say a word.)
And the signs that they are digging their hooks into Thailand are literally in the news almost every day - but are overlooked because most people just ignore any news that doesn't directly affect them. And if it's news that might have some minor impact on their lives it's usually forgotten within a few days - or by the time the next "footie" match is on the tele.
I once had someone try to tell me there was no such thing as a "slippery slope". He was one of those people who thought that - being a (former) Air Force pilot - he was smarter than everyone else.
But he was also one of those people who didn't study any history and often made comments on subjects that were easily proven wrong - but he expected people to just assume he knew what he was talking about.
And in his mind, if something doesn't happen within a week, then that means it's never going to happen. Because he didn't have the intelligence to put two and two together unless they both happened within his limited attention span.
Things these days don't start with a "shock and awe blitzkrieg" like they used to.
They start with slow, planned agendas that can take decades or longer to achieve a goal.
The Russian annexation of Crimea and the insurgency in Eastern Ukraine had been going on for over a decade before the Russians outright invaded in Feb 2022). They started by seeding insurgents, dissidents and even troops (in civilian clothing) into the regions, whose purpose in the beginning was to stir up anti-Ukraine/pro-Russian sentiments, then escalating into violent protests and riots. Russia was able to use their proxies to hold a (disputed) referendum that they claim gave them the authority to move in and annex Crimea in 2014.
They were doing the same thing in other parts of Eastern Ukraine as well but not as successfully so they turned the slippery slope into a cliff and just outright invaded the country.
Most of Europe is on a slippery slope as well. But again, many don't see it because if it doesn't directly affect them, or doesn't happen in the short time span between "footie" matches, then they ignore it.
But when you see all the reports of all the violent protests and riots in so many European cities, it's not hard to identify the slope they are on. One side is trying to make that slope steeper and the other side is trying to stop the slope from turning into a cliff.
The slope Thailand is on is similar, but with a different protagonist and agenda.
But the methodology is the same.
Start slow, dig your hooks in, make the slope steeper and harder to stop. Start pushing your agenda using the proxies you've put firmly in your pocket. Use them to make changes and decisions that favour you while putting them on an even steeper slope.
Eventually they won't be able to sneeze without getting your permission first and by then it's too late.
But I'm sure everyone will be more than happy when Thailand becomes another Cambodia - or Myanmar.
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They left this part out of the OP:
QuoteIt did not appear, however, that deportation would take place with officials choosing to fine the offenders on their first offense instead. The names of the offenders were not released to the press by Chonburi Immigration.
QuoteAuthorities imposed 10,000-baht fines on 9 employees for working without work permits under Section 37(1) of the Immigration Act. Additionally, authorities also issued a fine of 1,600 baht per person on the rest of the workers for failing to report their current residential addresses properly.
And no mention of checking their passports to see if any of them were on overstay.
And if they didn't report their address properly then they probably didn't do their 90 day reports either (unless all of them just happened to have arrived less than 3 months ago of course).-
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Keep in mind that is "his" story and you can bet he's not going to admit that he (or his wife) did anything wrong.
I had a wipe out about 10 years ago on the railway bypass road when a scooter with side-cart in the left lane suddenly decided to cut around the food vendor scooter/side-cart in front of him.
Never signalled, never checked if it was safe. He just cut into the right lane as I was about to go by him. I wasn't going fast as I was turning at the next intersection barely 80 meters away.
I hit the brakes and clutch hard as I could. Couldn't swerve left because of the food vendor and couldn't go right because of the concrete barriers on that side of the road.
I was bracing for a rear-end collision with his sidecart when my front tire went over one of those glossy "speed" signs they'd painted on the roads years ago.
BANG ! Front tire locks up when it slides over the glossy paint and when it made contact with the normal pavement, over I went.
Bike skidded off the road and into a power pole 20 meters away. I stood up in the middle of the road just in time to see the guy zip through the intersection and disappear.
Dislocated knee, broken toe, some fancy road rash and 140,000 baht in repairs.
You can bet though if I'd hit him he'd have had a story about how he never did anything wrong and it was the "crazy farang" driving very fast that just rammed him for no reason.
Which is why I always run with a motorcycle camera system (front and rear cameras) and usually a GoPro running as well.
Because people just suddenly changing lanes without looking or signalling happens so often here you'd think they teach them how to do that when they first start going to school.
And they KNOW there's a good chance that even if they were in the wrong, the foreigner will still get the blame and there's money to be made.
At least with the cameras I stand a chance of proving it wasn't my fault. Not that it would make a lot of difference anyways I suspect.
Like the time I had an old geezer on a scooter cut from the "shoulder lane" across 2 lanes of traffic and then turn and stop in front of me because he wanted to cross the road.
I was explaining to the cop what happened while I was trying to call the Insurance rep. The cop pointed at the insurance tag and asked "1st Class ?" and as soon as I said yes he closed his notebook and walked off.
Investigation was over. I had 1st Class insurance so that would cover everyone's expenses no matter who was at fault.
The old geezer and I ended up getting 400 baht tickets for "being involved in an accident" and that was it. Other than my insurance rates being doubled the next year of course.
Got to love that scam. Pay them for 10 years and if you make a claim they double your rates to make back "their" money faster.-
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17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:National Anti-Corruption Commission
Senior policitians and generals would apply for that post for the same reason countries like Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Somalia and Sudan are on the UN Human Rights Council.
And why the UN's Commission on Status of Women is now chaired by a guy from Saudi Arabia - whom not one single representative of the 45 countries present opposed.
And why Saudi Arabia (again) was able to secure the post of Chair of the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) Advisory Committee.
What better way to limit investigation into your own suspect activities and be able to deflect/delay/cancel any investigations that might be "problematic" to you than by being the person in charge of the very organization that would conduct such investigations.
It was noted a few years ago when Saudi Arabia (again) was Chair of the Human Rights Council that the council had approved hundreds of complaints against Israel - and not a single one against any of the major Human Rights abusers, including the ones on the Council.
Funny how that works eh ?-
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There are lot attendants in the parking areas for Phaya Thai Hospital in Sri Racha. Been there many times. Usually see 2-3 attendants and the "conveyance trolleys" that circle the parking areas to pick-up/drop-off passengers.
The first thing he would have/should have done is get the WIFE to help him. One has to wonder WHERE she was when he was going to the police and signing documents he didn't understand.
Failing that and KNOWING you don't speak, read or write a single word in Thai, you should enlist the help of someone who does.
He's got to have some friends who may have wives/relatives/friends that speak the same language.
Even Google Translate on your phone is better than nothing thought it often has a lot of problems translating Thai. You have to really pay attention to the translations and often have to guess what it's trying to say because half of it is gibberish.
I often find myself typing something into Google Translate - looking at the "translation" then editing what I typed and checking again until the translation matches what I'm trying to convey.
Not the easiest way to do things but hey, if you wanted "easy" you'd be living in your home country where most (some, a few) people still speak your language !-
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There are a couple other temple sites along the Thai/Cambodian border like that as well. Like Prasat Ta Muan Thom. (The south side of that temple has the largest laterite stones I've ever seen. They must have used elephants to get those into place.)
You park outside the military guardpost, get your ticket (I forget how much - not as bad as at Phrae Vihear) and walk down the lane towards the temple.
I noticed half a dozen soldiers sitting along the side of the temple and someone said something (to the other soldiers) and one of them got up and started trailing me. Far enough behind to not be in the way, but close enough to make sure I didn't "go the wrong way" or take photos of something I shouldn't - like the camouflaged bunkers dotting the area on the south side of the temple (facing Cambodia).
(Funny enough - or not - Google Maps shows also shows that temple as being on the Cambodian side of the border.)
And there was a small dirt path on the South side that went through some trees about 50 meters and then opened up onto - a Cambodian military post.
Which I suspect was the main reason that one soldier had been dispatched to keep an eye on me. So I didn't accidentally wonder into Cambodia and create an incident of some kind.
That is actually a nice temple to visit as there are basically three temples along the road within a couple kms of each other. (I think the first one technically was originally what they called a "hospital".)
The first building The soldiers sitting around the (third) temple
You can see a soldier looking towards the path
that leads to Cambodia. Those laterite blocks are HUGE !
Note - the (current) Thai-Cambodian border was surveyed by the French when they still controlled much of the area. Generally, borders will follow major natural features (rivers, shorelines, mountain ranges) and in many cases are based on the "watershed".
Which way the water flows from a certain point. Basically, if the streams/creeks/rivers flow from a peak (or range of mountains) down one way, that side of the mountains belongs to (those guys). Meanwhile, as the water on the other side of the peak flows the other way, that side belongs to (the other guys).
(Years ago a friend of mine had a running - or flowing - joke. His trapline ran up one river and mine ran up the other.
We stood on the side of the road above the "forks" where the two rivers met and took a piss.
If the water flowed towards "his" river, then that was a part of his line. But if it flowed towards "my" river then it was "my" line.)
Much of the Thai-Cambodian border followed the edge of the mountains with the "mountain" side belonging to Thailand and the "valley" or "lowlands" side belonging to Cambodia.
Which is why there are (or were) so many Khmer temples along the (current) border. Because they were built on the edge of the "highlands" overlooking those "lowlands".
But for some unknown reason, the French cartographer that did the mapping, through oversight or laziness, drew the border with Phrae Vihear being on the Cambodian side despite it being on a ridgeline overlooking the lowlands like so many other temples.
And both sides (Cambodia and Thailand) accepted his map when it was first completed in 1907, with no disputes about the territory - or the exclusion of the Vihear temple from the Thai side of the border.
It wasn't until the 1930s when Thailand did it's own map of the border that the error was discovered. Since then it's been a flip-flop issue with Thailand controlling it then having to hand it back to Cambodia then occupying it again and having to give it up again.
But the International Court of Justice decided for Cambodia, claiming Thailand had "waited too long" to notice or try to correct the error (which means the court knew the border was drawn in error).
Thailand has lost it's case at the ICJ every time as they are biased towards helping "poor" Cambodia.
And to this day it is a still a sore spot in Thai-Cambodian relations and a potential trouble spot in the future.
Sheesh, during WW2 Thailand "owned" much of Northern Cambodia down past Angkor Wat (Siem Reap)
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2 hours ago, rocket2 said:
also is the sisaket border open for westerners for day visits to the large border temple (preach vihear) I am getting mixed answers on this.
I've heard it's open and that it's not open.
I went there once in March 2019. It was a cool, damp morning (light off and on drizzle).
Got to the park gate and spoke to the old guy in the ticket booth who assured me I would be able to see the temple and the other attractions.
So I paid the 400 baht foreigner price (40 baht for locals) and rode in.
Shocker - I could "see" the temple - from about 500 meters away, across a triple roll razor-wire fence with a soldier standing 5 meters behind me in case I tried to do something stupid.
I had to walk past a small military camp (about platoon sized) to get to where you could see the temple on the rise across a small depression. There were numerous holes in the ground from mortar rounds when the Thais and Cambodians were shooting at each other in 2011.
Around the far edge of the camp you could see the stairway leading up to the temple and that's when someone yelled something to someone and a young soldier started following me around. It's not like I was going to try and breach the triple razor wire fence (I know how nasty that stuff is - makes barbed wire seem tame by comparison) but maybe they were worried "something" might happen.
I also picked out a number of machine gun bunkers around the area and - lol - all the "trash receptacles" along the roadway were made of concrete on three sides with slits so you could drop garbage into the can - or so the can could be removed and a soldier could use it as a "pillbox" to shoot anything coming from the Cambodian side.
If I recall - I went to look at the "Twin Stupas" and was stopped by yet another triple roll razor-wire fence which was very annoying. I could see camouflaged bunkers facing Cambodia around that area as well.
I was able to see the "bas relief" - sort of. It's a group of "Buddhas" carved into the side of a cliff. It's a wonder how they got there or why they chose that spot. You go down a couple long stairways bolted to the cliff and end up at a locked gate. There are small holes people have cut into the linked fencing so they could get their hands/cameras through to take photos.
(The gates also keep thieves - and id-io-ts from trying to climb out onto the cliff face and then falling about 300 feet into the trees below.)
A bit of a disappointment overall. 10 times the entrance fee for locals. 2 of the 3 "main attractions" were off limits and in total I took a whopping - - 14 photos.
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It happens so often here.
People will just cut across lanes of traffic with no signals or even a glance to make sure it's safe. Like they expect everyone else on the road to just make way for them even when they don't give any indication of what they are going to do.
No helmet and no identification ? Seriously ? Who leaves home without some kind of ID on them like a wallet with a driving license or ATM card at least.
(Unless it was "thrown" into the grass before the police arrived. Do you think anyone checked ?) -
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There are dozens of old Khmer era temples, shrines and monuments in Sa Kaeo and Buriram provinces. Not so much in Chon Buri/Rayong/Chanthaburi/Trat/Prachinburi or Chachoengsao provinces for some reason.
I've been to 9 in Sa Kaeo province though most are (now) just a few stones scattered around or well off the "beaten track".
Prasat Sadok Kok Thom is a small but not too bad temple (though the reconstruction seems kind of amateurish).
It's an 11th century, nearly complete temple complex (thanks to a lot of restoration work in the 1990s).
Most of the other sites wouldn't be worth stopping at though unless you were a die-hard Khmer temple fan.
In Buriram are some very nice sites.
On the way from Sa Kaeo is Prasat Nong Hong. Not far from the highway (1.8 kms) and next to a school. Not a large site (probably less than an hour to see it all from the time you park until you are back in your vehicle).
The "Big 2" are Prasat Muang Tam and Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung (or just "Phanom Rung).
Prasat Muang Tam is on the flatlands not far (8kms or 5 miles) from Phanom Rung - which sits on top of a large hill (or wee small mountain if you prefer).
Muang Tam is very nicely preserved/restored and fairly large. It's in my "Top 5" Khmer-era sites in Thailand.
(Give yourself at least an hour for this site.)
Phanom Rung is (arguably) the #1 ancient Khmer temple in Thailand. (Phimai in Korat may disagree.) For me, it's definitely Top 3. (Phanom Rung, Phimai, Muang Tam for the Top 3, plus Kamphaeng Phet and Prasat Mueang Sing in Kanchanaburi for the Top 5).
Warning - Phanom Rung is a large site. If you park in the "East" (main) parking lot, you have to walk up to the start of the processional path and then it's 500 meters of (stone) path and a lot of stairs to get to the East entrance !
(But it's worth it - if you're into that kind of thing.)
If walking isn't for you - there's another parking area just "West" of the main one (about 700 meters further along the main road) that takes you to a spot where it's a small flight of stairs and you are at the temple.
(At the West entrance, where you can see straight through the temple to the East entrance. It is a popular spot twice a year (3-5 April and 8-10 Sept) as the sunrise shines directly through the temple. Loads of people make the trip and sit/stand at the West entrance to photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)
I did the Sunrise Ceremony last April. Spent the night at a cheap resort and was up the mountain at first light. The West parking area wasn't opened yet and there were a dozen cars outside waiting.
I went to the main (East) parking area and walked to the "ticket booth" to find out I wasn't allowed to go any further until 05:30 so I sat on the stairs for 15 minutes.
However that meant by the time I got to the West Entrance (after that long walk and all those stairs) there were already 80+ people there.
(Khmer Temples are noted for all having their main entrance facing directly towards the sunrise so people gather at the West entrance to try and photograph the sun rising through the East entrance.)
I've been to 7 temple sites in Buriram and have 5 more on my "to do" list but they are small, out of the way places and mostly just overgrown ruins.
This map takes you to Sadok Kok Thom, Prasat Nong Hong, Prasat Muang Tam, Phanom Rung and to the "replica" Phanom Rung they built at the Chang Stadium.
453 kms total.
Takes me (on a motorcycle) 3 hours from Pattaya to the Sadok Kok Thom temple in Sa Kaeo.
It's about 66 kms from Sadok Kok Thom to Prasat Nong Hong.
39 kms from Nong Hong to Prasat Muang Tam.
8 kms from there up the hill to Phanom Rung.
62-68 kms from there to the Chang Stadium.
https://www.google.co.th/maps/dir/PTT+ปตท.จิฟฟี่+ชลบุรี-พัทยากลาง…/RPVP%2BCWJ+SADOK+KOK+THOM+HISTORICAL+PARK,+Khok+Sung,+Khok+Sung+District,+Sa+Kaeo+27120/''/''/Prasat+Hin+Khao+Phanom+Rung+Park/Phanom+Rung+stone+castle+replica/@13.9370205,102.3719134,8.71z/data=!4m40!4m39!1m5!1m1!1s0x3102be1d7342dacd:0x6df1647e3cd9c4a3!2m2!1d100.9044285!2d12.9453967!1m5!1m1!1s0x311b03e818a47959:0xfe04b5cb40e5ccb!2m2!1d102.7372428!2d13.8435815!1m5!1m1!1s0x311bb578703a4a5b:0xdb46ce385cddfc87!2m2!1d102.7605818!2d14.3022973!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2ff148cd2c25:0x9e24d39cea40ab86!2m2!1d102.9824029!2d14.4961986!1m5!1m1!1s0x311a2eaf58d467c9:0x5e018c585006c382!2m2!1d102.9399423!2d14.5319866!1m5!1m1!1s0x3119951566a74933:0xbd2510f67c89a76b!2m2!1d103.0898051!2d14.9659033!2m1!2b1!3e9?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDgyMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
The "been to" (circles with white squares) icons are mostly ancient Khmer temple sites I've visited so far in "Isaan" (that small corner of it at least) and a few resorts/hotels I've stayed at along the way.
The "starred" icons are the sites on my "to do one day" list (as well as a few gas stations from previous trip planning).
Sadok Kok Thom Prasat Nong Hong
Prasat Muang Tam Prasat Phanom Rung
I've also got a number of sites visited and "to do" in Surin and Si Sa Ket (as well as other places).
I once did what I called a "23 temple tour" - in 3 days.
I started from Pattaya and stopped at a couple small places in Sa Kaeo, then into Buriram and Surin.
Next day was Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen
Day 3 I travelled to Yasothon, Roi Et and back to Surin and then on day 4 it was straight back to Pattaya.
That trip was mainly about visiting Ubon, Amnat and Yasothon as those were the only 3 provinces in "Isaan" I hadn't been to yet.
Many of the "temples" were little more than a few old laterite stones sticking out of the ground. Some were just a single Prang (or Chedi) in the middle of what is now a school yard. (That was a hoot, pulling into a school yard in a remote town in Roi Et on the Harley drew a crowd by itself. Taking off my helmet and listening to everyone when they saw I was a foreigner was good for a laugh.)
Phrathat Chedi - Hua Ton village, Roi Et
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13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:
According to a report on Amarin TV, the incident did not involve Thai women on Soi Bangla, but rather four Kuwaiti nationals and three Thai women.
So it involved women who were not women - or were women - or men - or inbetweens (katoeys) ?
The "Kuwaiti" woman (in the short leopard print dress) in the clip did not really look all that Kuwaiti to me.
(Keeping in mind that Kuwait is a fundamentalist country much like Iran and Saudi Arabia. Alcohol is illegal for followers of the religion of peace. Foreigners have to get a license to drink. Full Muslim dress for women is common - but not mandatory - though they are expected to cover most of their bodies so no short, tight mini-skirts.)
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19 minutes ago, Luuk Chaai said:notice how quickly they moved when Brutus beefcake in the short black nightwear got in the mix
She identifies as a Main Battle Tank (MBT) during her day job.
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1 minute ago, BangkokReady said:
Nice that she did that for a foreigner.
She probably knew what was going to happen next if she didn't call the police.-
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This is at the Boonsamphan/Railway Bypass (Lieb Tang Rodfai) intersection.
A popular spot for motorcycles to try and avoid the traffic jams by roaring (both ways) down whichever lane is open to the point oncoming traffic nearly has to stop to avoid getting hit.
And where, everyday, all day, it's a constant game of Thai Roulette where cars/trucks/motorcycles try to push into oncoming traffic so they can finally try and cross the intersection.
(Most of the intersections along the Railway Bypass road are like that actually.)
I'm surprised there isn't a dozen accidents everyday at that spot.
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So Indians can sell food from moto-sidecars without work permits or visas ?
Note it said "Indian national" and not "Thai of Indian descent". There are a lot of Indians in Thailand who've descended from families that have been here for generations (or longer).-
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Well, just did my 90 Day report this morning.
The girl started taking passports around 08:10. There's a stack of blank TM.47s on the counter-top.
A British chap I chatted with had a slightly different version and the one I photocopied from my last visit was also slightly different.
I remembered the last trip when I used the TM.47 I'd downloaded from the Immigration website and when I got to the 90 Day counter they told me I had to fill out a different version of it.
So this time the old chap and I decided to be safe and fill out the "new" version but when the old guy spoke to the girl she didn't seem fussed about which version was handed in.
I handed my stack of paper (with the "old" version of the TM.47 from 3 months ago and signed copies of all the passport pages) and she didn't even look at them. She paperclipped a number tag to my passport and stuck the paperwork inside with the (old) 90 day slip and put it into the basket.
She told us "1 hour" though it was just past 08:10. I suspected they'd be back sooner than that and sure enough, about 08:45 she came back with a stack.
And you have to love seeing the stacks and stacks of "90 Day Reports" piled on the floor around the counter.
Reminds me when Immigration announced they were doing away with the TM.7 Arrival Cards because they just ended up getting boxed up and put in a warehouse (and they were running out of storage room) so they decided to stop using them.
At the airports. For some reason it seems the land crossings never got word about them not being needed anymore. Maybe they have larger warehouses to store them in, in case someone 20 years from now wants to find an arrival card from 20 years ago or something.-
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Harley's "made" in Thailand are not "manufactured" in Thailand.
Thailand's Customs charges nearly 200% Duties and Taxes to bring a new Harley into the country and register it (properly).
But ! They only charge about 40% for "new parts".
So Harley imports the "parts" from America, assemble the bikes in Thailand, then pays to "register" the bike (and get the green book).
And yes, we thought there'd be a huge price discount over the imported bikes but I remember checking and it seems they dropped the price - on the few models being assembled in Thailand - by about 100k for the first year.
And the prices have steadily gone up since then.
The shift to producing more bikes in Thailand could very well be the result of a larger demand for the smaller bikes (like the Sportster/Nightster class and the Pan American adventure bike) in the Asian markets (Thailand, India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc).
Gas pricing and bike size leads many in those countries to prefer smaller, lighter, cheaper to operate motorcycles while in "Western Countries" (America, Canada, Germany, England, etc) they like the "big beasts".
And the engine for the Pan American is made in China anyways so probably cheaper to import them into Thailand than the USA.
(Wish they'd bring back something like the Dyna again though. Not sure why they stopped making them.)-
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Many site use cookies and algorithms to track users "preferences" and so they can load faster if you return to the site because it already has some of your "preferences" stored.
Sites like Facebook and assorted travel sites, knowing what you've clicked/liked/shared before, will automatically put more of the same in your feed (or search results) because the algorithm thinks that is what you are interested in.
I heard about how travel sites (Like Expedia, Kayak, Agoda, Booking(.com) and others) will remember what you searched for (for example, a flight from London to Bangkok) and then when you go back to the site (hours/days/weeks later) it will remember that and show you flight options that suddenly got a lot more expensive
But the trick is - clear your cache/cookies/browsing history and then do the search again and don't be surprised if those same flights are suddenly cheaper. (And then look at which airline it is and go to their website to book the flights and find them even cheaper than the "cheap flight" sites.)
See an Ad on Facebook ? Linger with it centered in your screen for more than a few seconds and Facebook's algorithm decides you must be thinking about that (whatever) and will start pumping more Ads (or "sponsored" posts) into your feed.
If you actually click on one or "like" it or just "tag" someone in the comments - that's as good as gold to the algorithm. It knows something about that Ad tweeked you - even if all you thought was it would be something someone else would find interesting or funny or whatever and you have zero interest in it at all.
And your feed will be pummeled with similar Ads/posts literally selling/sponsoring/memeing the exact same thing.
And it will last for a couple weeks - assuming you don't linger over another Ad or whatever or click on one.
That algorithm is the same reason why some people (the kind that vote for Trump usually) think Facebook is "censoring" posts from people in their friends lists.
It doesn't. It notices that you never "linger" over posts made by (Bloggins) and never click on or "like" posts by "Somchai" and never comment on posts by "Grandma" so it stops putting them in your feed and puts other things in there instead.
And one day you go to Grandma's page to see why she isn't posting anymore and find out that she has been posting a lot !
And you scroll down all the posts she's made, never stopping, never clicking "like" or "heart" or whatever and then whine that Facebook is "censoring" your feed.
Like they have a billion people monitoring 3 billion user accounts just so they can deliberately censor posts from your Grandma.
But that's the mentality of people like that. They never consider that maybe it's their own actions - or inactions - that are the cause of the problem.
Be that not seeing posts from dear old granny or getting too many bikini-clad cute Asian kitty videos in your feed.
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Just curious if anyone in the last 3 months has had to do the "90 day bank book check" recently.
I did my most recent Extension in late May and they didn't give me the "form" explaining the financial requirements with an "appointment date" 90 days later.
The IO wasn't the guy that normally reviewed my Extension Application and he seemed "pre-occupied" with whatever urgent matter was on his phone so I didn't pester him.
I don't know if he forgot to give me the form or if they've given up on checking.
It was kind of redundant anyways. If they look at your bank book after 90 days and your balance is under the limit, my understanding was that they wouldn't renew your Extension next time.
But as they check your balance when you do your Extension, they can easily see if the balance went below the limit and deny your application then. No need to check it twice.
I have to go anyways to do my 90 Day.
Curious if that's changed as well or if we still have to submit a TM.47 each and every time we go.
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The "peasants" (the poorest demographic in the country) will vote for whoever pays them the most.
That's how Thaksin got into power in the first place. It was widely "rumoured" that the "poor people" in the rural areas were told they'd get 100 baht if they voted for him.
Gee, take a guess who won the election in a landslide ?
And remember the "30 baht healthcare" scam ? People flocked to him because they thought they were getting "healthcare" for 30 baht when all they really got was being able to wait in huge lines, to see overworked doctors that graduated at the bottom of their classes, who would give them a diagnosis or prescription.
And that was it.
(A lot of Thais I talked to said it was easier, cheaper and quicker to just go to the pharmacy like they'd been doing before.)
But those two things got Thaksin the support of the "red shirts" who were mostly made up of the poorest, least educated segment of society.
Despite Thaksin himself being a HiSo member of society like most of the top "yellow shirt" supporters.
So you can imagine that whoever offers that "demographic" the best deal will get most of the votes, regardless if it's a criminal who fled the country to avoid going to prison, or the criminal's sister who fled the country to avoid going to prison, or the criminal's daughter who will no doubt do exactly what her father tells her to do.-
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Countdown until she tries to have the charges against Auntie Yingluck dropped so she can return to Thailand as well ?
The corruption just doesn't stop. It just gets more and more blatant.-
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I guess that's one way to keep your name off the radar.
No rental contracts.
No lease agreements.
Constantly changing addresses.
Yep. Nothing to see here. Move along. -
Throw it into the bucket of examples of China's slowing growing control of Thailand.
As mentioned before, people see one story like this and ignore it as a "single little thing" that isn't a part of some "greater plan".
Because they've forgotten (or never paid attention to) all the other "single little things" that China has done, or is doing, or wants to do.
Chinese investors want to build new super hi-rise condo buildings (that was a few years ago).
China wants to build a high speed rail line from China to Thailand (that China will own and control for a very long time before eventually turning over the Thai portion to Thailand).
China wants in on a proposed "land bridge" linking the Andaman Sea with the Gulf of Thailand. (To be owned and operated by China - probably for a period of 55+ years like their deals in Cambodia for the new airports they built there.)
Thailand grants China full "Visa exemption" privileges.
Thailand - coincidentally - increases the "Visa Exemption" period from 30 to 60 days.
The Chinese love gambling. Thailand has strictly forbidden it for ages (probably before the days of Rama I).
Thailand busts top money-launderer connected to numerous online gambling sites.
Suddenly, Thailand wants to legalize gambling.
Remember the story and scandal about finding Chinese police officers - in uniform - "working" in Thailand ?
(Canada and other countries also found that the Chinese had "unofficial" police stations running in their countries, looking for dissidents and keeping tabs on Chinese citizens in those countries.)
Sheesh, that makes the "all Chinese" advertising billboards offering to sell passports seem inconsequential by comparison !
Remember the condos ? Suddenly Thailand wants to change the "49% foreign ownership" rules which will allow condo buildings to be "majority owned by foreigners".
Thailand says it's because there's a glut of unsold "high end" condos (from between a couple thousand to a couple hundred thousand depending which "official" is making an announcement it seems). Apparently they are all in the 20-30 million baht price range !
The officials are saying that the "new ownership" rules will only apply to condos in certain "zoned" areas.
(Sounds like a plan for Chinese condos, built by Chinese "front companies", in "zoned" areas where they can control who buys those condos and give them 99 year leases to ensure they maintain control of the buildings.)
(Funny, how did all those thousands and thousands of supposedly unsold high end condos all end up in the "zoned" areas that haven't even been approved or designated yet ? Unless they already know where those zones will be and are just waiting for those "high end" condos to be built ?
Some might good fortune telling going on somewhere !)
99 year Leases - almost as good as ownership (depending on the details and costs of course). And a useful way to get around the "51% Thai ownership" issue.
Simply sell 49% of the units in your new Condo building to "foreign" owners/companies (that you control), then lease the other 51% - to the same owners/companies (or different owners/companies that you also control).
Essentially the building and the land are now yours for the next century.
And you can make sure no pesky "non-Chinese" gweilos (white devils) move in !-
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Paetongtarn's Leadership Under Scrutiny Amid Ethics Allegations
in Thailand News
Posted
Remember, this is Thailand and people, even "influential HiSos" have to tread carefully when making statements/accusations as they could easily be hit with Defamation lawsuits, even if they are speaking 100% truth.
And the media has to be careful as well.
Which makes it difficult for people to call a Durian a Durian even when everyone absolutely knows it's a Durian because the Durian might be offended at being called a Durian and file a Defamation lawsuit against those who claim the Durian is a Durian.
Not to mention the danger of violating the Lese Majesty laws - which apply to more than just discussions of those we can't discuss.
As Thaksin himself will soon have to go to court about as well. He still has those charges pending.
And remember how not long ago he tried to flee the country (again) by claiming he needed to go to Dubai for "medical consultations" ?
His request was denied (lol - I wonder if they too thought he was going to do a runner) - and then the whole "medical issues" he needed to go to Dubai for apparently cleared up all by themselves.
(Unless the media missed him going to a local, private hospital for treatment ? It's not like he'd take advantage of his own 30 baht healthcare scam anyways !)