Riley'sLife

Un !@#%@!# believable. Thainess and desperation at its finest.

I thought it was mostly an asian thing to make selfies so much. Although this is a good idea to get people out to different tourist attractions i serioualy doubt it will encourage any would-be travellers to choose thailand as their destination nor do i think anyone visiting already would change their plans just to enter a selfie contest.

More likely this would only encourage people to take more selfies on their pre-scheduled trip

The target is not foreign tourists, it is to encourage domestic tourism by Thais.

KPY island ??

Head for Sapa in the NW. A great journey. Make sure you return to Hanoi in daylight hours early morning using the train as it's an adventure of its own passing through interesting countryside. It will definitely be cool.

Or, south of Hanoi, nearer Saigon is Dalat, also cool and interesting.

With the time you have available you could do both....use the trains and buses, and take in Hoi An which is different!

Maybe post in the SE Asia forum to get more ideas/responses.. this is not really a Thailand travel forum topic

Plastic surgery should never be performed in a clinic. Rather, it should be performed in a hospital with all the emergency facilities available on-site. Of equal importance is the training of the surgeon and his/her medical reputation and speciality.

Start with the doctor (research), then the hospital (international standard only, and in Bangkok). Stay away from all clinics. It would be your ultimate nightmare to be stuck in traffic in an ambulance in Bangkok traffic having to travel from a clinic to a hospital for emergency treatment

Thanks to you all for the time taken to respond and for the clarity of the information. Much appreciated.

Can my Thai wife or myself collect and deliver customers between their hotel and our business using our private SUV? We are contemplating buying a business and the current owner - a Thai - states they do this every day (4 or 5 people collected and returned, twice a day) with no problems (from the Taxi mafia).

Confirmation from someone else already doing this would be re-assuring!

Marriage and parenthood, like work, are highly over-rated pastimes. Count your blessings, OP.

Charcoal absorbs smells.

It's land granted by the Thai Govt (the owner) for occupation by farmers for the purpose of agriculture. Any sub-lease on such land is unenforceable at law.

Keep well away. Dealing with Chanote titled property is risky enough here, especially if you don't have loads of experience.

Time to chill people. We'll all be reincarnated a number of times before things change here. Meanwhile read one of my stories: (-if you can be bothered to wade through it!!) Yes, it is on-topic.

The road from my village to the local regional hospital was designed for travel by motorbike rather than by car. It is paved now, but still dusty from the mud brought onto it in the rainy season by vehicles entering from the surrounding rubber plantations through which it weaves a strange, almost aimless track, with many sharp bends.

To overtake the motorbike I was driving behind in my car would have enveloped the riders in a cloud of dust for a few hundred metres. I held back, as I knew I would have to wait for a while once I arrived at the hospital to collect my in-laws. I was in no rush. On the motorbike a small pair of child’s feet dangled to the right side between the two adults. I hadn’t noticed the child before, but that confirmed in my mind that I had made the correct decision to not overtake.

Without warning, the motorbike driver threw a large plastic cup to the ground. The ice from the discarded drink gave the glistening appearance of glass as it hit the road and I instinctively braked. As we continued, I pulled back slightly, to leave more space between my car and the motorbike. Several bends later as we entered town, just before the hospital entrance, the female motorbike passenger held out her right hand holding her drink. At first I thought she was signaling a turn, as she made no attempt to release her drink, but then, suddenly, she flicked open her fingers dropping her plastic cup of ice which scattered across the centre of the road. She kept her open-fingered hand outstretched, like a dancer would, for dramatic effect. As I pulled into the hospital car park the elegance of her gesture distracted my thoughts before I internally berated the riders for being so inconsiderate both to me, and to society in general for their lack of awareness and disregard for the environment.

I was able to find a parking space, but, as the multi-storey car park was full, as it always is by mid-morning, I settled for an un-shaded vacant bay in the new overflow car park in front of the hospital. This area, bordered by an ancient knee-high stone wall, had always been the parking place of choice before the multi-storey park had been built. The tall acacia trees offered much needed shade. Now, food vendors were forbidden entry by the security staff, the old stone wall had a sparkling new stainless-steel security fence fixed above, topped with security cameras, and more than half the trees had been felled. The dusty, uneven ground with exposed tree roots had been blessed with a modern black tar macadam surface that radiated the heat, but looked smart and efficient with the new parking bays clearly marked out in white lines.

I had called my in-laws to let them know I had arrived. They said they could see my car from the hospital window and would be ready soon.

As I waited for my in-laws to appear I was thankful for my car’s air-conditioning and audio system bathing me in their soothing, soporific atmosphere, isolating and insulating me from the noise of the food sellers on the street and the heat of the tropical sun. I thought again of the discarded drinks cups, and wondered if my car engine was causing more or less damage to the environment than the unwanted plastic seen everywhere.

From my vantage point I watched the comings and goings. The occasional ambulance arrived, a line of vehicles endlessly circled the car park waiting for a bay to be vacated. A family emerged from the hospital and slowly wandered into the car park. An elderly lady was trailing behind the main family group, holding the hand of her very young grand-child. Both were eating ice-cream. The other family members - one early teenage boy, two older teenage girls and mother and father - were all sipping drinks. As they reached their pick-up truck, the father gave the keys to the teenage boy who opened all the doors of the vehicle to allow the heat to dissipate, before returning to the group who were now all standing in the shade of the trees.

I saw the father hand his empty soda bottle to the teenage boy, who placed it at his feet. One by one as each finished their drink, their plastic cup or soda bottle was placed on the ground at the boy’s feet. As they departed I was amazed to see the father instruct his son to place all their drink containers on the old stone wall, below the stainless-steel rails. The new car park had numerous waste bins. Two bins were closer than the wall! This country will never be environmentally friendly if parents don’t teach their children to respect it, I thought. Why not place unwanted items in the waste bins provided?

Twenty minutes later I was exiting the car park with my in-law passengers. As I passed through the security gate and gave the car park token back to the security guard in return for a smart salute, I looked left and right waiting for a gap in the traffic on the busy main road. It was then that I noticed to my right, a frail and very elderly lady, almost bent double, walking slowly behind the food vendors and alongside the stone wall of the car park, dragging a huge sack behind her.

She stopped, reached carefully through the rails of the new stainless-steel security barrier above the stone wall, and retrieved all the plastic cups and bottles, one by one, before placing them in her sack. Behind her, all the containers had been collected, but, ahead of her, were many, carefully placed, used plastic containers. I looked left to see even more containers awaiting her on the top of the stone wall. In my rear view mirror I saw the security guard stiffen to attention and give his best, white-gloved salute as the old soul passed behind my car unseen except for the slow moving sack of plastic waste.

I smiled to myself as I drove off into the crowded street of cycles, motorbikes, overloaded pick-up trucks, and handcarts. I wondered how many other times in the past I had wrongly judged people.

Surely it is exactly these kind of people who should be banned from any political activity for life. The laughable sentences dealt by the courts are only exceeded in comedic effect by everyone knowing that no prison time will be served at all.

Known as "drawing the tiger", this ridiculous Thai custom does not work to prevent crime, rather it encourages corruption.

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

Well, maybe.

I don't know about Rimping market, but several “organic” produce suppliers are actually selling fake-organic produce in order to rake in extra profit.

For example, I have seen produce on sale that had the appearance of having been eaten by bugs – proof of organic growth, proudly stated by the vendor. However, the holes had been made by sprinkling very hot sand over the produce.

Growing your own is perhaps the only way of being sure in Thailand

I feel for the Thai guy.

It is a very unsettling experience to observe one's culture being undermined - especially by hordes of insensitive foreigners.

Fortunately, Thai culture is largely ambivalent, although that fact should not be taken advantage of by foreigners. Education is the key - by the foreigner in this case.

I think if you asked him "why", it would be him thinking you were odd. Are you serious OP? You don't know why people do that here?

Clue: It is often a cultural requirement to remove shoes before entering certain buildings or rooms within a building.

My understanding is if you invest 10 million baths (I prefer this spelling) and employ Thais, you can own the investment. True?

On! (I prefer this spelling).

Are you serious? Many Thais rent a room monthly. When they move they take their junk with them. They are either moving room or going back home, with the help of a truck-owning family member. They aren't taking their possessions on holiday!!

Why do Thai blokes flush the urinal before taking a piss?

Funny man, I was curious also so I have asked one friendly Thai guy in tennis court's toilet.

He answered he doesn't know why he does it but he remembered this came in his primary school, where the school teacher told to pupils, they have to do this reason their own health and hygiene.

This is a huge wasting of water cause in "man" section all of them do it.

Thai kids are taught at primary school that a typical Thai squat toilet must have water poured before a crap. (It helps prevent the crap sticking to the porcelain when it is flushed).

Because this is inculcated from an early age it sticks in their mind to do it, but the reason for doing it has been forgotten. Hence they often will be seen flushing the urinal before use.

This is a prime example of just how effective brainwashing is when started at an early age. It becomes automatic throughout life. The Roman Catholic Church used this technique to great effect. "Give us a child until it is 8yrs of age and we will have it for life", was their mantra.

My local Macro sells dry spice Indian Curry mix (Korma, Biryani, Masala, etc.). The brand is "Shan", and they are from Karachi. I bought a load of them but have only used the Masala, and the Vegetable Curry so far. Both were excellent.

I hope the OP's business flourishes. Brave man starting a business in Thailand.