simon43

[quote] ... He then had his right pinkie cut off and a video was sent to his Thai girlfriend demanding 150 million baht ransom. [/quote] Thank heavens they included the word 'right'! I thought that perhaps they cut off another kind of pinkie ????. His GF would have been none too pleased... ????

You seem to have misunderstood my words "The true meaning...". The true meaning of the Swastika has nothing to do with the Third Reich - the latter adopted it as their emblem etc. Or are you suggesting from the photo that I posted that the Indian community in Pattaya are promoting fascism and the Third Reich?

I have 6 tattoos, all in areas that I can easily cover. I had a dragon tattoo at the bottom of my spine when I was drunk some 25 years ago in Spain. That hurt a lot! All the other tattoos I have are unique - I designed them and they have meaning only to me. My most recent tattoo is a tribute tattoo on my upper arm. It's an image of my 18 year old niece who died in my arms from TB in June of this year. It gives me comfort to have that image permanently on my skin ????

That's always the problem when they forget to take their sex toys, gimp suits etc etc!

That's 70,000 baht each year for 4 years. No way would this be a full-time course, perhaps 2 days a week. It's an attractive option (IMHO). Yonks ago, I studied for an MA in Thai Culture at Chula, Bangkok. This was a 2 year, 2 days a week course, and a very interesting study course. Although I paid for each semester, I declined the MA award certificate, because that cost about another 200,000 THB for a foreigner! I just studied the course for fun.

The true meaning of the swastika has nothing to do with the Third Reich.

I need to apply/update my police clearance certificate at the Special Branch office opposite Central World. Does anyone know if they have car parking at that office? Last time I parked on the street in Bangkok I got clamped!

Harshly criticized? I see 553 'likes' on that photo!

Last year, I was able to buy years right back to 2004! No idea how the system worked, having been outside the UK since 2002. But I applied to pay the cheapie class 3 (I think that's the correct number for self-employed), and was able to pay about $3,000 to bring my NI contribution years up to about 28 by the time I retire in 2.5 years from now.

And they forgot to mention the car registration number for the lottery....

Thanks for your kind offer, but I leave Pattaya in a few days. I'll order some from Lazada to be delivered to my new location!

Yes, that's what I used to do. However, I left my grains in Laos (not Myanmar as I posted). I left Laos late last year on a "Covid evacuation flight" and we were only allowed to take 1 piece of luggage. I had to leave one of my boxes at Wattay Airport and it had my kefir grains in it (as well as almost all my clothes, a radio ham mast etc etc!!)

Is there a shop? My last batch of kefir grains lasted about 4 years, but I left them in Myanmar! Thanks

I'm moving next week, so no time to order it from Lazada, unless I order it from my new location. From experience, a drone works much better than a crossbow, and less dangerous!

Not for taking videos! I use it to help to install my ham radio wire antennas over tall palm trees >> attach a light wire to the bottom of the drone and then fly it over the tree ????

This looks like fun. Now where is my bikini? !

I found Burmese men far more approachable and friendly, even with a language barrier. They genuinely wanted to have a meaningful conversation with me about subjects other than football. I found Burmese people to be more knowledgeble about literature, and able to discuss these topics. I think this stems from the previous lack of internet access - in 2012 when I first lived in Yangon, there were many street shops selling used books and one saw many people from all walks of life stopping to read and buy books. Update: I found a story that I told on another forum some years ago. This event happened to me when I was sitting in a 'show girl' bar in downtown Yangon. I'll quote what I wrote at the time: "... a sad, middle-aged man sidled up to me for some small talk. It turned out that he was the keyboard player for the backing band. 'Beautiful girls' he said, waving his hand at the ladies on stage. 'Yes very nice' I replied. (Actually - very nice was a severe understatement, and I could have happily banged any one (or two or three) of them right there and then on my table. The man leaned forward and whispered 'I like Longmans'. I wasn't too sure whether this was some covert Burmese phrase for uphill gardening, so I replied 'Ah, which girl is that then?' 'No, Longmans English, very nice dik'. Now I was convinced that he was offering something pink and fleshy to me, so I stared at him, expressionless. He leaned forward even more and whispered 'Of course, Oxford English Dictionary is also very good' <deleted>!? - this guy wants to discuss the merits of English dictionarys whilst there is a parade of beautiful ladies within metres of us? I guess that working as the keyboard player in a bar full of crumpet could get rather boring after a while. ... "

I didn't even realise that companies still make matches nowadays! Can't you use a gas lighter?

I have a Thai Paypal account, and that will soon be closed, thanks to the published requirement to have a Thai ID number. I do have a need to use Paypal from time to time, (I have Payoneer and Stripe, but many online payments really do need Paypal), and one solution would be to register a new Paypal business account in the UK, because I'm British and I have a UK ltd company that is used with my Stripe account to receive WeChat payments from my students in China. But I will need to provide a UK mobile number for registration and receipt of PIN text messages. So I need a solution which will provide me with a 'virtual' UK mobile number that forwards text messages to my Thai mobile number. Does anyone know of such a solution? Thanks - Simon

Let me just say that I had about 6 teaching job offers from international schools in Myanmar (120,000 THB, every school that I applied to made me a job offer), one job offer from a school in Cambodia (100,000 THB, I only applied to one school), and absolutely zero interest from every school in Thailand that advertised for teachers - not one of the 50 or so schools that I applied to replied to my email... I'm 63 years old. These were not international schools, they were low-paying government and private schools, circa 30k - 40k per month. Since it is proving difficult to return to Myanmar (business visa problems - they won't let me back in!), I've decided to go and relax somewhere in Thailand and forget about teaching in this country - ageism is alive and kicking here ????

Now I should actually be teaching at a school in Yangon (Myanmar). That's where I was until a few weeks ago. But I came back to visit Bangkok for a few days and then I couldn't get back to Myanmar! The military junta won't give me a entry visa to get back into the country! So I can't go back..... Friends and family in Thailand have also asked me not to go back anyway, because of the increase in violence, shootings, bombings etc. So, having considered all things, I've decided that my inability to return to Myanmar is maybe some kind of message to tell me not to go back! But where to live in Thailand? I spent several years living in Luang Prabang (Laos), so I like the hills and mountains. Unfortunately, I also can't go back to Luang Prabang, because my (totally legal) amateur radio activities upset the local police chief, who did not appreciate a foreigner operating a radio transmitter on his patch! I have no such problems in Thailand - I've been a radio ham in Thailand for 20 years. So what better than to rent a nice, Thai-style house in the rural Golden Triangle, and relax with my radio hobby ???? But I need to find a house with a big garden, just outside the town of Mae Sai. Of course, I can pass the word around, drive around the area etc. But does anyone know of an agency that might help, or a local individual who could (for a fee), do the leg work to find a suitable property to rent? I'm collecting a rental car in a few days from now (I'm in Pattaya). After loading up the car with my radio antennas, ham radio rig and 24 bottles of M150, I shall make the long drive up to Mae Sai ????

Ha! Amazing Thailand. A nutter who shouts 'bomb' is allowed to go home. He should be locked up for a long time.

My mad ex was great at walking on my back for massage - it really helped to alleviate my lower back pain. However, she weighed 33 Kg. I wouldn't want any of the fatty girls in the massage shop to do that!

Personally I think the old dodderer pooped his pants - Xi couldn't stand the smell and ordered him removed. I'm off to buy shares in 'Certainty' ...

Yonks ago I was a tourist police volunteer in Phuket. A Swedish tourist asked me what my job entailed "To protect you from the Thai police" was my reply!