silver sea

8 hours ago, webfact said:

 “I was asleep and then woke up because I heard someone scream.”

 

“The van was already upside down, and I did not see what happened.”

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The van turned upside down and that didn't wake him?

Errr… you forget that he is a 20 year old student! That’s what they do.
 

But having woken up, his reaction was immediate and strong: he began to kick the windows and clawed his way out just before the van exploded 3 or 4 times. The only survivor. Amazing

7 hours ago, petermik said:

The gunman has turned himself in to the Police this morning and admitted the killing of Neil due to a road rage incident.

R.I.P. my good friend Neil.

As reported in the UK papers:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11609131/Tuxedo-wearing-gun-fanatic-admits-shooting-British-pensioner-death-Thailand.html

It is now being reported in UK newspapers:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11605829/British-pensioner-70-shot-dead-riding-scooter-Thailand.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490

Does anyone else have experience of transferring with XE? 
 

I am registered with them as UK resident and my bank is HSBC UK. I have just done comparison between WISE and XE and what you receive at the other end in your Thai bank account is similar.

My experience with XE: so long as the transfer amount is over £250 then XE does not charge a fee. My Thai bank account is SCB. Although the transfer from HSBC to XE is straightaway, the money is sent to SCB HQ in Bangkok. SCB will transfer to my account in Hua Hin on a working day and not at weekend or public holidays. So if I transfer on Friday afternoon, I will not get the money into my account until Monday or Tuesday, depending on public holidays. OK for me, so I continue to use XE, but I appreciate other people are not so patient. If I transfer on Tuesday, I will get the money on Wednesday. Again not XE’s fault as any delay is by SCB in Bangkok.

There is a legal requirement to give reason for transfer. I always choose “living expenses” on XE’s drop down list. Never a problem with that.

XE customer care works ok too. I had a problem with a transfer because the WiFi cut out in the middle of the transfer. Their care team member was very quick to answer my questions about whether the transfer had gone through or whether I needed to start again.

I have heard only good reports about WISE, but I am happy to use XE as I am used to their system and screen layout.

XE has app to check currency exchange rates. I use their app to do the transfer as well, but they also have a web page for those who don’t use the app: https://www.xe.com

1 hour ago, Orinoco said:

Should be jail time for that type of behavior.

Especially as his a cop. 

 

 

It happens in Farangland too, although the guy in the example below is not a cop

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11413045/EXCLUSIVE-Pictured-Senseless-irresponsible-driver-avoided-jail-blocking-ambulance.html

1 hour ago, anterian said:

Why the euphemism, did he sleep with or have sex with these girls. 

1 hour ago, Doctor Tom said:

guess

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The man who bought sexual services of children under 15 was Suriyan Rakkapao.

anterian does not need to guess. If he had read the whole of webfact’s report he would have found the answer to his question straightaway.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I am not so sure the drunken f-rang was a tourist, but maybe.

I forget to share my reaction to him which was a surprise to me and probably to him as well. It's not something I thought about before the incident. I acknowledged him and gave him an absurdly large back and forth (I suppose sarcastic) WAVE! As if he had greeted me in a friendly manner and I was waving back enthusiastically, except for the obvious snarkiness. He really looked taken about by that response, so perhaps it was unintentionally brilliant. What did he expect? An argument I suppose.  What would be the point? I already know what he would say.

 

The pandemic is over.

You're a sheeple.

The masks aren't about health but about being controlled.

Masks don't work at all. 

You did well with the drunk. Well done.

In my reply to your earlier post, I was going to include a paragraph which tried to make sense of their hostile feelings but I deleted it because my post was getting too long. I had included words like yours: sheeple and being controlled. 
 

Also I would have included one of Lenin’s favourite phrases: “useful idiots”. Wearing the masks, we are helping the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates and Anthony Faucci to destroy the economic systems with a “reset” where we own nothing etc etc.

These farang maybe in their home country had to stay in their homes in a Lockdown, wear masks and to have injections and boosters. Maybe they spent a lot of their time on the internet discussing the various Covid conspiracy theories.
 

Now finally, after 2 or 3 years they are having a holiday and they are not wearing masks and they feel free again to have some fun. They look at me and I’m wearing a mask and so their instinctive reaction is that I am a threat to their freedom as a useful idiot and a sheeple for invisible members of the Deep State conspiracy.

So I can sort of understand where they are coming from, but I don’t care anymore.. I have spent most of the last 10 years of my life in Thailand and for the last three years as a full time resident. This is my home now. Of course, I still feel ties and affection for my home country but I am glad that I wasn’t there for Lockdown.

There is a Thai coffee shop I go to on a fairly regular basis which is run by a young Thai couple with two young boys. The wife’s mom and pop are next door as opticians; and on the other side is her elder sister with a husband who is an artist. Three families together and none of them wears a mask although the young assistant, who helps out in the cafe wears a mask, maybe for legal reasons as they sell ice cream too.
 

The young man and his various cousins use the coffee shop to sell cannabis products. Plenty of Thai and farang customers come in and none wears the mask.

Sometimes I meet the young man in the street but he is always friendly and polite to me even though I am wearing a mask. We respect each other’s viewpoint.

So basically I no longer care about the farang negative energy. I refuse to react to it. Initially, I did, because I didn’t understand what the problem was. In Hua Hin, farang tourists only started appearing in large numbers last January, which is when I caught Covid.
 

Over the last 9 months, I have given it a lot of thought and I feel that I have a clearer idea of why they react as they do towards me. Now that I understand, it is not such a problem. Slowly I am reaching the point where I can ignore them.
 

My positive experience with the young Thais who don’t wear masks is a useful lesson on how to behave towards others with a different viewpoint. For me, that’s the way to go in the future.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I want to continue to wear masks (I'm high risk healthwise) but I went out the other night and NOBODY was wearing them and I even got yelled out by a drunken f-rang.

I can only see that getting worse and worse. 

So I guess I will cave and strip it off. 

In fact I started to today.

How many people like me who aren't really ready but don't want to stick out so much?

I am sad to read about your recent experience. He was a drunken farang though; I’m glad for you that he wasn’t violent too.

i have posted two fairly long posts just above yours so I won’t repeat them here, but I want to continue to wear masks too.

But you are right, it may get worse. For some reason, farang who don’t wear masks can, sometimes, glare at me in an unfriendly way. So far, nobody has challenged me, but if they do then I will simply repeat the points I made in my earlier posts on this thread.

I will avoid getting into a long conversation with them about it. I will keep it short and simple. There is nothing I can say that will change their minds but I will remain polite, I hope ☺️
 

I have wondered about this negative energy that they give off. I am glad you have posted your experience because it shows that I am not imagining their hostile thoughts. 

I sense that most of them are tourists and will soon be gone, so, as a long term resident, do you really care what they think? You will never see them again.
 

You say that you have health reasons for wearing a mask. So you should continue to wear your mask. If you are challenged then tell them that you have health reasons; you don’t need to go into great detail about it. Be concise and repeat yourself if necessary. Remember: K.I.S.S., K.I.S.S., K.I.S.S. (Keep It Short and Simple)
 

With drunks, it may be best to just get up and leave if it is safe for you to do so.

I appreciate that if you are the only person in the room wearing a mask, you will feel isolated and alone. That is sad and is not a nice experience. Maybe you need to find somewhere else to hang out.

Good luck

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I am Thai and respect foreigners who don't wear masks, as it's pointless. Hopefully, their actions will convince Thais to see sense. 

Hard to see if someone is unhappy if they are wearing a mask. 

 

 

My experience is that there is more to Thais than the smiles behind their masks; their tense body language is very clear. I sit opposite Thais of all ages every day on the small baht buses in Hua Hin. 
 

More Thais are beginning to stop wearing masks. The younger ones, especially those who smoke or sell cannabis, are not wearing masks and good luck to them.

I am happy to continue wearing my mask each day and I don’t mind the stares I get from farang who don’t.  

A mask is pointless to you I know, but it is useful to me, because it reminds me that it is important to remain careful and to wash my hands; Covid is still lurking in its various sub variants. I have had Covid once, and once was enough, but I accept that I will probably catch it again.

On 9/24/2022 at 10:20 AM, ezzra said:

With daily average of 750-800 COVID infection in this country the right thing to do is still were the masks as i have witnessed my closest friend whom are all vaxxed getting it just the other week...

I live on the edge of Hua Hin, about 10 km from Clock Tower in town centre. I have been living in Thailand full time since September 2019. The Thai and international rules and regulations kept changing and it seemed safer staying here.

Each morning when I leave home and walk to the green baht bus terminal,  I am happy to wear the mask; it has become a habit. The area I live in is popular with long term farang, and farang tourists. Most of them these days, including Thai girlfriends, in that area, do not wear masks. No problem for me; their decision which I respect.

I use the baht bus every day which is 15 baht each way. It is really for Thais and schoolchildren and 90% or more of them still wear masks. Farang tourists get on and don’t wear masks.

I get off the bus in town and walk around the food markets and use the Thai cafes and restaurants (very few farang owned places remain in the centre) 90% + of the Thais in this area wear masks. The last 3 years I have been wearing my mask each day. It is part of my habit of daily living. It is no big deal wearing a mask; it is not like being made to swallow a tablet each day.

I have had AZ injections x 2 last year and in January I had a booster. Last year there were no foreign tourists. In January, the foreign tourists started returning to Hua Hin and the baht bus was full all the time, and many of the tourists made a point of not wearing masks. They were on holiday and they wanted to have some fun and enjoy their freedom. 
 

It was in January though that I caught Covid. It was a very unpleasant experience but I did not need hospital or ventilator treatment and so the injections had given me some protection. I am pretty sure I had caught it from somebody on the baht bus.

Like everyone else I have read the “literature”, mainly Joseph Mercola, so I am aware of the arguments against wearing masks. I still wear my mask because:

1. I am a guest in this country and the vast majority of the Thais who use the bus and live and work in the centre of town still wear masks. I can see sometimes that they are not happy when people don’t wear masks on the public buses. I live here; this is my home and so I am happy to integrate. After wearing it every day for 3 years it is a habit that I no longer think about;

2. the mask reminds me that Covid variations are still floating around and I accept that I will probably catch it again. The mask reminds me to be careful by washing my hands and keeping a safe distance from others;

3. some days I don’t shave and so the mask covers my unshaven chin. Also although I live in LOS, I can be deep in thought and not be smiling so the mask covers up my unsmiling mouth.

The reason for writing this piece is that there are times that I can sense the negative energy of farang who are sharing the bus with me and who are not wearing masks. They seem to feel insulted because they are having to sit next to a Westerner who is wearing a mask. In their minds, of course, I am an ignorant fool (a ‘sheeple’) For the most part they are short term tourists and will soon be gone anyway.; I will never see them again. I am happy in my own life and respect their choices but sometimes feel sad that I can sense their negative energy, including their anger, being directed at me.

18 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Yes indeed, Prince William (currently the Duke of Cambridge) should become the Prince of Wales, being the eldest son of King Charles, but the final decision is with the King.

 

Before he passed away, Prince Philip asked Charles to confer the title of Duke of Edinburgh on Prince Andrew (currently the Duke of Wessex and the King's youngest brother) on the death of their mother, Queen Elizabeth. This is another decision yet to be made by the King.

Prince Edward is the Earl of Wessex.

Prince Andrew is getting nuffin. He’s Duke of York, but because of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, he may have to give up the Dukedom. He has already lost the Freedom of the City of York

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/04/27/prince-andrew-stripped-of-york-honor-amid-calls-for-him-to-relinquish-duke-title/?sh=5b7881d53c73

On Koh Samui, garbage trucks and motorbikes do not go well together. Some readers may remember this sad story from March 2016.
 

Early morning, young Frenchman smashed head first into the front grill of a parked garbage truck. He was not wearing a crash helmet and so died immediately. 

Samuitimes included photo in their report:

https://www.samuitimes.com/french-man-dies-in-samui-after-embedding-his-head-in-a-garbage-truck/

18 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Whatever problems there might be will be far less than than laws that criminalise people and lock them up. The problems will be outweighed by the benefits.

16 hours ago, JingerBen said:

Yes, I had heard something about that, but they haven't done a complete U-turn and gone back to total prohibition.

   Not yet, anyway.

4 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

If the law is followed, cannabis with 0.2% THC won’t cause a problem. Unfortunately, it’s not being followed and THC content nearer 100 times that is being sold.

 

In higher concentrations (enough to give a high) it can cause mental illness in a significant proportion of people and affects brain development in most young and still developing brains.

 

I am not sharing an opinion, I am stating medical fact.

 

Thailand is ill prepared for mental illness.

This article shows that, in farangland, there is a market for stronger and stronger doses of THC and that when this is satisfied there are serious health and hospital resources problems:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10976437/How-Californias-legal-cannabis-dream-public-health-nightmare.html

1 hour ago, darbyman said:

Met mine through dating agency.  She 40 years younger than me; good looking; engineering degree; good job as QS. I asked her why interested in older man. Answer-Thai men completely unreliable, lazy drunkards. Older westerner more likely to be faithful, reliable and more financially secure. First 3 years of marriage spent in Thailand then came back to UK 12 years ago. Wife has her own care business and works hard. Money saved to return to Thailand in 3 years and she need not work again. Great! her experience as carer in UK means she takes care of me in future. Age difference fully accepted by others both in Thailand and UK. One small exception was when we went shopping  when a little girl came up to me and said " my mum says you are a dirty old man" I looked to her mum and thought "yeuk!!)

Congratulations. I hope it continues well for both of you.

Can work the other way too with a 40 year age difference. A 17 year marriage so far. She’s not Thai but it is another story with a UK background:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11115545/A-couple-40-year-age-gap-celebrate-17th-wedding-anniversary.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed_article&ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

Daily Mail reader has their say:

I live in Hua Hin. We have two immigration offices: a small satellite office in a shopping mall on the main road in town; and the main immigration office which is on the outskirts, about 10 kms from the town centre. The satellite office deals with 90 date reports; the main office grants the extensions of stays.

I have an extension of stay (retirement) on an OA non immigration visa. A brief history:

(a) OA visa started 29th August 2018 from London;

(b) OA continued a second year in 2019;

(c) 1st extension of stay (retirement) granted 19th August 2020;

Immigration also granted new 90 days at same time.

(d) 2nd extension of stay granted 19th August 2021

Immigration also granted new 90 days at same time.

This year, I will be going to the main Immigration office for my 3rd extension of stay on 19th August. I prefer sticking to the exact same date each year so I don’t forget the need for renewal.

This year, my latest 90 day report is due on 26th July. As I understand it, the report must be made within 15 calendar days before, or within 7 calendars days after, the 90-day period expires. To make sure there are no problems, such as forgetting it, I always go to Immigration well before the due date.

So today, 20th July, I went into the satellite Immigration office. I pointed out that the current extension of stay expires on 19th August, and so she can’t give a new 90 date beyond 19th August. The main Immigration office can issue a new 90 day date when they issue the new extension of stay.

She then said that she could deal with my request today, but it would be better to do it on 26th July. Her English was not very clear, made worse because she was wearing a face mask (I was wearing one too). I know she was trying to be helpful but I did not understand her explanation. She also kept mentioning something about 45 days which was not clear either.

Excluding today (20th), 19th August is in 30 days’ time. Excluding 26th July, 19th August will be 24 days afterwards. 

All I was asking for was for her to note that I had done my 90 days report as required within the current time limit, and for her to cover me until 19th August on the basis that the main Immigration office will grant a new extension of stay together with a new date for the 90 day report.

Can someone kindly explain what I have misunderstood. I know that she was trying to be helpful but her explanation was not clear.

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The woman was hit by a pickup driver travelling at speed who failed to stop on time after honking at the woman as she cycled her bike across the road behind her husband.
 

6 hours ago, bbko said:

Traveling at speed?  Is that a UK term for speeding? 

 

If I walk in my garden I'm traveling at a speed. am I not?

Yes it is used all the time in British English and is automatically understood to mean “at high speed”.
 

See Collins dictionary: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/at-speed

However, so that your readers know that you are writing in BritEng, with BritEng meanings,  you have to say, as webfact did in OP: “… travelling at speed…” with a double “l” in  the word “travelling”

Please don’t confuse us with your AmeriEng spellings ☺️????????

But very sad story. Kind and gentle thoughts to husband and the family.

On 6/6/2022 at 11:30 AM, webfact said:

She has recovered now and posted that she had eaten the durian three hours before the beer and "forgot herself".

So it was not a case of having durian and beer at the same time, like you might have a bag of crisps or peanuts with your pint. Three hours is a long time gap before having the alcohol I would have thought. Watermelon takes about 30 minutes to digest, while other fruit like bananas and oranges take about 1 hour.

4 hours ago, Mark Nothing said:

Hidden in plain sight.  The fountain of youth, strength, vitality and good health for those who desire it.

 

Nfl football player Chad Ochocinco Johnson soaked his body in urine to reach peak performance and maintain an injury free body.  Movie stars soak face in urine to maintain youthful skintone.  Indian prime minister Morarji Desai drank his urine and lived to be 99 years old.

 

I have learned to do the opposite of what "science" says with excellent results. Free.  Readily available.  No side effects.

Good luck. You are at one with Madonna too. It goes back to Ancient Egypt and the Bible but drinking it may cause trouble with your family.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10762707/Man-34-drinks-month-old-URINE-daily-reveals-sister-hates-habit.html

And Quote from medical experts ^^^:

“Health expert Aisling Pigott, dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, added that urine contains toxins expelled from the body and kidneys, and drinking it could therefore be harmful and cause infection.

Dr Jeff Foster, a GP in Warwickshire, said: 'There are no known reported health benefits from either drinking or rubbing your own urine onto your body (or anyone else's urine).

'Orally, it is much worse – it can actually speed up the dehydration process and potentially introduce bacteria.

'Bottom line is if you would not eat or rub in your own faeces, then don't think applying the same principle with urine is any healthier.

'Waste products are waste for a reason.' “

On 5/9/2022 at 9:04 AM, webfact said:

The weird cult thinks that by eating urine, feces, phlegm and skin scrapings they can cure all sorts of diseases, reported

Can they cure thyroid cancer and Parkinson’s disease? If so, he’ll be Putin it in like there’s no tomorrow

5 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

In regards to this threads headline .

Which press/media in the UK are they referring to ?

Who reported this issue ?

This is the report in the Daily Mail:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-10735831/Frozen-overseas-state-pensions-Nurse-aged-100-Australia-gets-just-46-week.html