gregk0543

Foreign tourists already pay $20 US to be in the archeological zone. But there is one purpose built private tower that costs another $10.

Maybe they should build a few more fake dummy sunset viewing towers in other places.

Ah for the good old days 35 years ago you got to climb up inside lots of them and outside.

It is still worth visiting though and at least you can still walk around inside these temples. I hope they never stop that, but that is all that is left.

I want to setup something like yours in Myanmar. Hard her to find a DC pump.

Can you give me some details on what you used, where you obtained it and how much it cost. Thankyou for any help in this.

"Now i have only total of 80wp panels and im able to add more lights, pumping from a well with a dc pump tp my watertower-tank and charging a rechargeable fan, laptop and hp's. "

When Donald Trump becomes President of the United states the army there may have to do the same thing and take over to clean up the senate and congress.

Imagine that.

I have lived in Myanmar for most of the past 35 years so it comes as a shock how little Thaksin seems to know about Myanmar and how it was run prior to the reforms.

Thailand is becoming like Thailand and it is a long way from Myanmar except in the most superficial likenesses politically.

Having read the article I see he is being concerned about the new charter. Is he concerned about the country or just concerned about his own interests? That seems to be the question.

Trump won't win the presidency in the US. He may get the nomination from the republican right wing christian fundamentalist lunatic fringe (though as they dominate a lot of the primaries, maybe not so much a fringe as a trump like coiffure) but he won't win over the country.

That said if he did win (he won't but...) I think he'd turn out to be a lot more pragmatic and small c conservative than the tea party fundamentalists backing trump at present would like. Cruz would be a lot worse.

Your point is taken but before we get off the topic. I was using it as an extreme hypothetical example of how sometimes the army does need to step in and is part of checks and balances in politics

So the idea that the army does on occasion have a political function to fix a stagnant political system seems correct. And there have been more coups like this in Thailand than any other country I know of.

But sure this is the longest one I have ever seen in Thailand so there is room for concern that the longer that anyone stays in power without an election and reference to the people then the more opportunity for the rulers to become corrupt and not want to hand over power.

This seems to be a flaw in human nature and not in a system. It seems the opportunity to change a govt. every 3, 4 or 5 years seems to keep those in govt. more honest. The real question is not the theoretical ideal that a return to Democracy is a good thing, but that who are the people vying for the democratic power and can they be trusted. That seems the saddest thing in Thailand.

Sometimes you feel like Diogenes walking round with a lamp in the day. Who when asked what he was doing, replied "I am looking for an honest man."

When Donald Trump becomes President of the United states the army there may have to do the same thing and take over to clean up the senate and congress.

Imagine that.

I have lived in Myanmar for most of the past 35 years so it comes as a shock how little Thaksin seems to know about Myanmar and how it was run prior to the reforms.

Thailand is becoming like Thailand and it is a long way from Myanmar except in the most superficial likenesses politically.

Having read the article I see he is being concerned about the new charter. Is he concerned about the country or just concerned about his own interests? That seems to be the question.

Ok I will give you a hot tip. Do you have a smart phone?

Take a photo of your passport biopage and your visa and your entry stamp.

Maybe two or 3 photos right.

Create a new folder in the gallery of your phone and call it passport. Move the photos to there.

When asked by police you just show them those photos.

Want a copy officer? Do you have Zapya lets just send it to your phone?

I live in Myanmar I visit remote areas often and the police are concerned for my welfare and want to keep a record of my visit in case something happens to me.

I show them the photos or give them a copy from phone to phone.

Everyone happy. On my way.

Lets say something does happen to me? They know who I am and where I was and they wont cop the blame from their superior officers.

I understand that I am a visitor and they are there to protect me and I am here to protect them.

Do you take your smartphone with you when you go out? No need for laminating and photocopies.

And certainly no need for taking your passport with you.

Anyway works fine here in Myanmar.

But they dont in Thailand have a constitutional right to bear arms and all that jive do they?

So that means it can be fixed easier than in USA when the time comes and they want to.

Good luck to them. Glad to see they are not going to waste.

I am more surprised with all the bitter people here reporting destroying the stuff in front of them rather than having someone else get them.

The reason you forfeit these items is because of regulations for your safety. If I have stuff like that I am glad that they are not destroyed and that someone gets to use them. Should not be an issue at all.

Seems the real issue is the small minded nature of travellers who think the rules should not apply to them.

The Buddha explained that it is Ignorance that is at the root of all this mess of suffering.

Blinded by ignorance and craving and clinging we run around in the rounds of rebirth.

All of us.

Just calling yourself a Buddhist, a christian, a muslim, a humanist, a sceptic will not instantly impart understanding and overcome that ignorance.

We are born with it and until we correct our behaviour we will remain in its grip. It all boils down to our own actions.

There is no simple cure I am afraid. The cultural aspects and the way that each of us learns about Buddhism and our own backgrounds determine what it means to us. No two people believe the same things even though they claim to be followers of the same view point.

Buddhism in Thailand is so hidden behind rites and rituals it is really hard to find it anymore. The cultural aspects of most Asian cultures also make a point of encouraging people to not examine and criticise others even if it is right in front of them.

Maybe it is the same in the West as well, who questions the cults of football teams, or beer drinking, or drug use in the west? Our films are all about some moral framework of honour that leads us to kill and destroy everything and become a hero. Our heros are always avenging some wrong done to some close family member. Forgiveness does not make a good film script. Eye for eye does though. Bad guys are cruel good guys are just.

How much of these views did we learn from studying religion and how much from the culture we were born in? A lot isnt it. What do Thais see around them? It is not what I saw around me growing up in the West. Thats where we really are formed as humans.

I went travelling and was involved in an accident that required me to be taken to Samui, from KP, where I was given the necessary treatment to allow me to be flown to Bangkok for a further stay in hospital. I was eventually flown home with a medical professional on a flight to England, taking up a large section as I was laid flat on a stretcher. I was taken to the airport in an ambulance, and also met by one. My insurance company covered ALL of it, except the excess part. I dread to think what it would have cost for my care, a lot more than my insurance policy that's certain!

I would feel terrible putting my parents in a situation, where their security and older years would be spent paying for an accident, I was involved in.

I'm of the opinion that, if you can't afford the cost of insurance, you can't afford to go.

My accident was not my fault, I was hit at night by a local riding a scooter. Not only did they leave me after the accident, they also stole my stuff. I was walking between Had Rin Nok and Had Rin Nai at the time. It was not a great time in my life, but I will always be grateful to the New Zealand guy who found me, stayed with me, and also made sure I got the help I needed.

I wish the girl well, and her parents, with both her recovery, and the money issues its caused.

Thats a nice story to hear and I am glad the insurance company looked after you.

I am glad that my premiums on insurance policies I have never claimed on have helped you out.

Uninsured stories happen all the time but lets be honest the vast majority of people paying premiums do not get any benefits.

How many people out of those uninsured are unlucky enough to need it? It is an important question.

So the odds are in your favour that you wont need insurance.

So she was unlucky. Just that. Not stupid and does not need to be blamed.

If you are going travelling for a year or so the cost of insurance is worth it.

But if you actually live here for years then you will find the insurance is a high cost and you will risk living without it.

Or dying without it if that what it takes like all the other people in Asia.

When you live here then the fine print tends to exclude you.

Anyway take into account your situation and chose what is best for you.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/33109003

Bridge and other sports. Fascinating. Chess I can understand.

I wonder what all the owners of illegal Thai casinos are thinking?

Maybe the Bridge clubs in Thailand ought to go to them for legal advice. Oh yes isnt prostitution illegal in Thailand?

What strange sensibilities. Amazing Thailand.

Well done for keeping your cool. Firstly they cant expect you to have Thai baht on you since you have not arrived in Thailand yet.

All you need to carry is $US. Cash. Equivalent.

I would be writing an email to the NZ consulate that issued your visa and informing them.

Maybe would save someone else from the same fate.

Should have also noted the immigration officers details no. etc. But it is hard at the time.

I had one immigration officer here in Myanmar once who would not believe her eyes when I had a one year meditation visa issued from Australia.

She told me they dont give one year visas. I pointed out this is one right in front of you. She started to get upset and tried to ring a supervisor.

I asked her to let me show you something. Showed her two previous ones in the same passport. She still wouldnt believe me.

I said here is another and here is another and here are my entries and exits each over 6 months. She still kept on the same track but they dont give one year visas even with 3 right in front of her. Anyway eventually she could not get through to any higher authority and she gave up and stamped me in for one year.

Sometimes you get some officers who make the wrong decision.

I was even refused $US cash by the ANZ bank staff at Airport when sanctions where imposed on Myanmar. Supervisor agreed. Went to an ANZ $US ATM at Melbourne Airport opposite their counter and pulled out $US. went back and showed them. Still wouldnt help me. Wrote a letter to bank and they apologised and gave me some compensation for my troubles. So people make mistakes.

The worst ones who make these types of decisions are the check in staff for airlines. Have been refused check in for a flight to Bangkok from Melbourne and onto Myanmar because of slight water damage to Australian passport. They even checked with Australian immigration officials who confirmed the passport was genuine and fine.

Had to talk to a supervisor of Thai airlines and he let me on. No one ever asked about that mark again anywhere.

Have to keep your cool though. No use arguing with the umpire even when they are wrong.

It doesnt matter how much we spend in the country it is never enough and they want more? How many billions do they need?

It isnt much and I can afford it, but the logic of it all astounds me.

Did you mention in your post which passport you are carrying?

On their website they state: http://www.thaiembassy.org/hochiminh/en/services/33685-Tourist-Visa.html

Nationals of certain countries are required to apply for a visa only at the Thai Embassy or Consulate-General in their home/residence country or at the designated Thai Embassy. Therefore, travellers are adivised to contact the nearest Thai Embassy or Consulate-General to find out where they may apply for a visa to Thailand before departure.

Also:

Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa will only be granted to Vietnamese passport holders or Vietnamese Temporary/ Permanent Resident Card holders.

But you werent after multiple.

I just looked through my passport. I have 14 entry and exit stamps for Thailand in the last year. Have never been questioned. But I never spend more than a week there.

Usually just in and out for a few days. So just the number of entries is not a problem it must be the total of days stayed. Obviously my pattern does not cause them concern.

I get 30 days at the airport and 15 days from the border.

In Australia you need to have a separate endorsement on your licence to ride a motorcycle.

I have endorsement for Cars, Motorbikes and Heavy Vehicles. Everything except articulated vehicles.

Also a forklift license.

This would vary from country to country. I have a Myanmar license only lets me drive vehicles up to 3 tons. motorbikes included.

Ok so the IDP being systemised is an explanation of what your home country allows you to drive. And the IDP is standardised across the world.

But I dont understand why they let people without a motorcycle license or endorsement drive a motorcycle in Thailand. Motorbikes take a lot more skill than a car to drive and they should not be assumed skills but tested skills.

I think he is meaning something like that. A check to see if someone has the skills necessary to drive a vehicle. The details are a little vague though.

amazed at the crazy aspects of thai culture?

try comprehending american gun culture

85,000 shootings a year in a country of 320,000,000 = .00027% of the population.

11,000 gun related homicides in a country with 2,500,000 deaths per year = .0044% of the population.

I know it's no use trying to talk sense to the ethnocentric America-bashers on this site, but the "slaughter"--as one poster put it--isn't really a slaughter at all.

Don't let facts interrupt your circle jerk, though.

Yes the figures are so insignificant and really we are happy that Americans get killed like this because it is much better to watch them kill each other than having to plan a terrorist attack. More guns to the Americans thats what we all say. Let them kill themselves off as it keeps down green house gas emissions and is better for the environment.

There are lots of reasons that Americans should be left to kill each other.

But really there are some interesting numbers that dont make sense to non americans. 3 out of 5 deaths from Firearms in the USA are suicides.

Just about as many deaths from guns as road deaths.

Now I watch a bit of TV and I seem to notice that just about all of them feature guns. Lots of them. Everyone is being a hero. Running around dodging bullets from Machine Guns and fighting back with amazing shooting prowess with a handgun. Thats why armies use machine guns isnt it so that they dont kill anyone in battle?

Ok this poor girl lost her life because of a tragic series of events. One of which seems to be the availibility of guns. One seems to be the thought that a gun will stop an eviction.

Whether she was a small percentage of the population she was a human and she would not have died in other saner countries that dont have a gun culture like the USA.

Thats the big difference. Not just low percentages. In other countries this type of death does not occur. So it appears senseless.

It appears preventable. It appears that Americans have a death wish.

No doubt the cause of high fatality is the common use of vehicles designed to be driven on the left side of the road, being driven on the right side of the road like in the US.

Actually Myanmar has some unique driving characteristics. Looking at those stats. Mandalay has more than Yangon because it has motorbikes.

Yangon doesnt have them. We also have very low speeds in Yangon due to traffic congestion.

I think it would be interesting to check how many of the deaths are pedestrian, motorbike, agricultural vehicle etc. That would say a lot.

Seat belt wearing in Yangon would help. And they are putting in overhead walkways for pedestrians. Most people observe that Burmese people are very uneducated even in crossing a road by looking both ways. They drive the same. They dont look much.

So we have a long way to catch up with Thailand but we will get close if we have the same amount of vehicles.

The other day I was in Mandalay in a car being driven by my Myanmar friend. As motorbikes cut in front of us and nearly killed themselves he kept saying. "Their life is cheap" sort of meaning they dont value their life. Its sort of true. I think you can apply this attitude to Thailand. They dont worry so I guess we dont need to either?

Or is it just showing us how much of a different value we place on life and safety in developed nations? It was like this there once too. Just a lifelong exercise in education.

For instance look at road accident to gun death stats in the US. They are almost equal now. Which says a lot about road safety and disregard for gun safety.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/americas-top-killing-machine/384440/

What is really tragic is that two young English backpackers were murdered and raped in a very cruel and evil way, by person or persons who must be some of the lowest form of humans around.

This is something there is no getting around, is beyond doubt and they had their lives and futures taken away from them and their families.

The next tragic thing is that we will never know with certainty who did it unless they have the remorse and integrity to own up to their actions.

But few people who do stuff as senseless and cruel as this are going to come clean.

This trial and story is not over yet. It will go to the supreme court of thailand in the end.

The story is tragic beginning to end and for all involved. May they all attain peace.

Obviously they have done a lot of illegal actions. Why else do you need a law like that? Scared of their own kamma?

Good on you for finding the fault. Sorry it took so long. I have had similar experiences. Sometimes the dealer gets it right sometimes wrong.

They make mistakes just like doctors and every other professional. I have had this in so many fields where they just get it wrong.

Even I have guessed wrong with the educated guess. It happens. But never give up and keep going and you can work it out.

If you dont try yourself you will never know how hard it is to diagnose some problems.

My worst was a rough idling Toyota landcruiser. Would not idle at correct speed and would die when you braked at random times.

I spent a year trying to work it out. Computer showed no errors except low idle speed. Then one day I decided maybe some sensor is just dirty because it was so close to working. Put some carbon cleaning foam through it and it is still going strong 2 years later. It is a great feeling to finally nail the problem.

Yep i am making 10 % less this year too. Tough times for everyone. He is the same as us just different scale.

They say the same thing twice per year and it is forgotten about in a week. Just a nice thought. Wish them all the best. But we know they will not be successful while wrong attitudes are so prevalent.

Need to make it socially unacceptable to drive drunk. Drive without seat belts. Speed. Ride without a helmet.

Well at least they are not in denial about a problem existing.

A crackdown is a great idea. Is there a list of Thai crackdowns somewhere? Is this crackdown #300.

It is hard to eliminate crime so I wish them all the best and I know that we will never know if they are succeeding until the next crackdown.

Must make a small difference and good on them for trying.

Well the mood her on the ground in Yangon is that we will have to wait and see.

Thein Sein has generally kept his word and has acted quite well over the last 5 years.

Obviously the govt. has a bad track record of telling the truth and acting according to what they say.

So we all hope this time is different but actions not words are what is needed now.

There are 3 months till the new Govt gets in. So dont expect any quick changes and there are many many unknowns to be decided in the meantime.

For the moment though there is a long journey ahead to try to bring about reconciliation. To bring peace to ethnic disputes, to remove the corruption of govt. processes, to reverse and repair the damage of 50 years of dictatorial rule. If all parties are on the same page in this direction then that would be good. I dont expect it will be long before the mandate of the people is tested by those who have vested interests in keeping the country from achieving peace, and prosperitory and under a rule of law.

So if I was carrying a handgun I could have easily killed these guys with military rifles.

I see it in movies all the time. The good guy has a handgun and no one can shoot him with a machine gun.

Sounds logical. Thats why armies use rifles and not hand guns right?

So we should all be packing rifles like umbrellas just ready for the one time in my life it may be needed.

I picture a cartoon with all people in the concert room with their rifles pointed back at the attackers. Hmmm.

Ok next level down would be teams of armed police with weapons and how long do they take to respond.

Thats what happened. Not lessoning the deep respect for those who have lost loved ones I think this is actually the most effective system.

The element of surprise is always going to win. But I dont get Trumps idea.

In the end we outnumber the terrorists by huge factors and they will not defeat us. They can find holes in the armour but they cannot defeat us.

The maths is against them. They can never win but they can continue to cause terror. I think we should teach people more maths and that would be very helpful in these debates. Study the numbers they show the less guns the less problems. Not no problems but less. There is no maths that supports Trumps views. None whatsoever.

And maths has no fear or emotion and is not illogical. Lets follow the maths. We will be better off.

If I owned samsung I would be giving him a new phone for free. Great luck for him. I am glad his phone saved him.