Benmart

Those who have lived here a while will know that any form of construction here is pretty poor, and roads and footpaths are the worst, they do not have a clue how to do it properly, compaction of fill is unheard of and correct fill is never used. and most of the cash goes in brown envelopes to corrupt officials.

Let's hope that now "brown envelopes" are said to be history..........all manner of things will improve........for the betterment of all people....

In your dreams Sir

I dream. Others have nightmares. I prefer the good dreams.

incredible how so many situations like this seem to happen same guys over and over!! lol

Not really my business to ridicule others.

Suggesting alternatives, sharing similar experiences or providing support might be an option for those that are capable of such things.

Can't avoid commenting:

1969, a 19 yr old kid with a USAF uniform on, arrived a bit scared. Still remember that DMK smell. Just wanted to go back home to Texas. The girls were beautiful, and most good

people.

Thanks to some great Thai friends, I lived , to return many times. Left in the 70's with a family starting and returned over 30 years later.

Now, as an old fart I still come back often and stay longer each time.

I will always owe more to the country and people that I could ever return.

Nice post. In 1969 I was an 18 year old on orders to Korat and my misbehavior stateside resulted in my staying statewide to face my punishment. I wonder how things might have been different had I been stationed here.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I'm glad they were released and will be able to spend the upcoming holidays with their families.

Not my thing but it is good to see Thailand leading the way in equal rights and privileges for transgenders and the like. Its probably one of the few things I like about Thailand.

Jingthing : Does he have a brother? Hilarious

Thailand is not leading the way in that. Trans people here can't even change gender in their ID cards. They face massive employment discrimination except in a few fields. They have zero legal protection against that. Don't by deceived by a show.

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Change, while slow, is inevitable.

Aside from that, congratulations!

People still believe this religion stuff?

Approximatively 5 billion people?

The commonest form of mental illness.

One persons mental illness is concrete sanity to another. I prefer to live and Let Live.

The number of ladyboys is truly mindboggling. I mean Thailand is famous for them so I was expecting them, but I kinda just expected them in tourist areas and the rest of the country would be more like home. But no, they are present in huge numbers everywhere throughout the country.

Also unexpected, is the number of foreign and Thai men that prefer their company. Their business and I wish them well.

Live and Let Live.

It never ended (the cold war), and that is evident to anyone who visited Russia, post Soviet era.

what ended the cold war and the dismantling of the USSR was the realisation after several well observed conficts in the middle east involving USA and its allies was that the war machine they had accumulated over the years at huge expense was largely ineffective junk and the realisation that the western military and its technology was so vastly superior that it made the USSR war machine redundant over night - their up to then perceived military might was not might at all - it was years of huge wasted spending for nothing

Aside fom the run-along sentence, I agree with some of the post.

Thanks and keep 'em coming.

Putin has the biggest ego of any leader Ive ever seen. I watched him walking the red carpet at sochi its one of the funniest things Ive ever seen. It went on forever and he was walking as if he was the bees knees. I will welcome another cold war that way the NSA and other spy agencies can go back to spying on Russia and leave their own citizens alone.

I love your reference of "bees knees". Takes me back to the old days of Cat's Pajamas, Golly Gee, Bread and Butter, Far Out, Tubular, etc.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Howdy, Doooood. There already is a cold war. Your pal Putin is being shunned for his actions. Oil prices have fallen off a cliff to punish him and the Russian economy. How low do you want to go before Russia is broke? Why fight Putin in The Ukraine or Syria when he can be whipped economically? Does he have enough money to put gas in his car?

Tell your beotch to stop his expansionist plans or you'll go hungry.

Now, go get me a sammich.

I don't agree with any of your post.

Have you any idea how much USD Russia holds in reserves?

They have the power to seriously harm the US economy by merely dumping all their Dollars and switching to other currencies or gold as their reserves. When (not if) Russia gets fully into bed with China and they both attack the USD, the USA will be bankrupt overnight. They have zero mechanisms in place to stop it. OPEC are also on the verge of dumping the Dollar as the global oil trading currency.

These three alone will destroy the US. Russia have already threatened to completely dump the USD if the US puts more sanctions on them. It is Russia who actually has the US by the gonads. Not the other way around.

Why do you think the likes of Warren Buffet is moving all his wealth into hard assets?.... He knows it is coming.

This has nothing to do with Ukraine. There cold war will spiral into economic warfare and the US debt will make sure that they have no weapons to fight back with.

Let me remind you the Russian national debt is only about $235 Bn.

The US national debt is just shy of $18 Trillion.

The US gold reserves only total about $347 Bn. Well short of backing up their currency. They have been borrowing and printing money far too long, and hoping that the USD being the reserve currency of the world gives the Dollar strength, but that is going to end very soon.

If anything, it is Putin that is going to sit back and watch the US go down the tubes. They will be far too preoccupied by a massive backlash on the streets of America with the total collapse of society. They won't have time to even think about Russia or the Ukraine.

Russia and China are playing this game like experts, and despite the US administration trying to convince their people that all is OK..... It is anything but OK.

While your post may have some validly, so do the opposing views. The missing factors include significant support of US fiscal and foreign policy by various nations, as well as a distrust of Russian expansionist intentions.

China, while seemingly preparing a cozy bed with Russia as a partner, is well aware of the dangers of choosing sides.

Economics seem to be the Achilles Heel of past totalitarian societies. While the US is not immune, it's democratic principles, while not perfect, may be an advantage in this new era of "One Upmanship".

I, for one, hope that a peaceful co-existence will prevail.

In the end, I don't know more than anyone else.

It will never happen ,

I can't see into the future, therefore, I cannot speak with such certainly.

pushed?

I find that posts such as these are speculative and add nothing to the discussion.

Disinformation and negative posts are often the fueled by an unhappy and disillusioned mind. This combination often makes it difficult to differentiate between the imagined and reality.

Glad the Navy could help and best wishes to the injured person.

Traffic and bicycle initiatives are doomed to failure if there is a lack of support from the police, motoring community, vendors and the public in general.

Education, enforcement and maintenance are the three legs of the stool to make such an endeavor a success. Unfortunately, it seems, many stools in this country are lacking the prerequisite number of legs.

America has long had "Life Flight" available. Not free mind you, better have good insurance. When I lived and worked in the mountains of New Mexico we often joked (job brought out that "gallows" sense of humor) that if shot etc. on the job, just throw me in the back and drive like hell until meet up with life flight, the state covered our job injuries. Good local emergency medical help but a long, long time to respond, not their fault, and nearest hospital was 2 hours away from the nearest clinic. Kudos to the group trying to put this together, life flight is a true life saver. Just a note, helicopters are loud but if you smell oil, fuel etc. there is a problem. I've spent a few hours on them.

Good post. Military aircraft, including helicopters, are used extensively in the USA on humanitarian missions when civilian resources are not available.

I'm glad to see Thailand moving in the direction of helping those that need it most.

But looking at Pattaya, its overbuild. They keep building and very little people buy.

U look at this new projects they empty..

And then 28sqm studio in jomtien cost 50k $, and real value of it is 15k $

In my opinion the bubble is close to burst...

They spend/took loans to build it but not many are sold. And theres many under construction...

Some indicators point to a downturn, such as a dramatic increase personal debt load, significant foreclosures, repossessions and questionable loan and subsidy practices.

That being said, it is purely a quess on my part that the bubble is nearing failure.

I have seen a bunch of Jack Asses in Pattaya. But they are mostly Farangs acting like idiots. They get away from their home countries and they make fools of them selfs. They have no respect for others especially Thais. Some could be classified as scum of the earth. No one would go to their countries and act as fools as they do. RESPECT is a word they know nothing of.

Four-legged Donkeys and asses, from my experience, are better behaved and possess a superior temperament that some of the two-legged species.

Each day that I interact with people, I try to smile, act civil and project that I am neither a donkey or an ass.

The response ismsually very positive.

What Surprised you most

The number of people who deliberately chose to live in Thailand but seem to spend most of their time finding excuses to complain about everything.

I loved Thailand my first day here and still do. Not blind to the problems here, but also do not have some romantic fairy tale notion about how wonderful things are back in Farang Land.

I agree. It's paradise to me, but then I accept the things I cannot change, nor do I look for and criticize every behavior or situation that does not meet "my narrow minded standards".

Live and Let Live.

The amount of scooters driving around at night with no tail light and sometimes, no headlight either. Damn near invisible until you're almost on top of them. They risk their lives to save the 50฿ A new bulb costs. The indifference of the police towards drivers of cars and scooters with burnt out head, tail and turn signal lights.

The lack of food hygiene, people cook chicken, eat some and leave the rest at room temperature for hours while bacteria blooms and flys walk over it, then they eat some more.

The friendliness of most Thai people and their willingness to help strangers, but that's after living in Amsterdam for 18 years so my perspective was probably skewed.

The way motorists stop at a side street, look and see if road they're turning into is clear, seeing it isn't and then turning out anyway, expecting drivers with the right of way to slam on their brakes to avoid rear ending them.

The cost of tropical fruit, not totally unexpectedly but mangosteen (mankhut) costs 30-40 times more in Europe and the U.S.

The realization that western women underappreaciated just how handsome I am.

Loved your post. Good observations, well written and current. Keep em' coming!

..."Sitting in the skytrain with a date the second day I arrived in Thailand ( I had met her the first day I arrived) when I saw a big fat ugly Farang with a beautiful young Thai girl holding hands together, the first thing that entered my mind was he must be very rich. I knew nothing about the barscene back then in 2001, how it worked, and how any fat ugly Farang could just walk into a bar and barfine almost any young girl for almost any length of time".

.."big fat ugly Farang"...

I see all sorts of people here in Thailand. Some of the nicest were perhaps not what is usually refered to as beautiful. Some of the most narrow minded, self-absorbed, uncivil and crude people were "body beautiful".

Rich in thought and deed, far surpasses material wealth in my opinion. Not to detract from the query, from my experience, not any one can walk into a bar and barfine any young girl.

I've witnessed plenty of passes because the male creature was loutish, top deficient, obnoxious, unwashed and drunk. The abundance of muscular development made no difference on those occassions.

Money does seem to reign supreme, but is not always a quarantee of acquiring one's nocturnal desires.

AjarnMartin, on 07 Nov 2014 - 17:19, said:

Wouldn't it be better if they perfected the roll-out of 3G first? The service is atrocious and often reverts to 'E' with my smartphone and iPad in Phitsanulok. This is despite several attempts by the 'technicians' to eliminate the poor reception.

The problem is Thai technicians are only technicians by name, NOT ability.

I've not spoken to, nor checked the credentials of all Thai technicians. Hence, I cannot make the same sweeping statement.

I am NOT in a position to speak with any authority on the technical abilities of people I've not met.

Dont confuse the value of USD to health of economy overall....you may wish to look at USA debt.

And don't forget to take a peek at Thai debt, as well as the rest of the world.

Good health is beyond mortal control. The same applies for fiscal well being. Various polices, strategies, treatments, ointments and elixirs may be applied. But the end result is impossible to predict, else we would all be millionaires that live to be 100.

Just my Two-Satangs worth.

No way it's an error.

Thais never make mistakes and also never admit them.

I've met some farangs that lay claim to the same. I've done the same before I realized I wasn't perfect and the world didn't revolve around my sagely outlook on life.

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So...does this mean the someone holding a GPS, will go to each corner of each farmers plot and record the coordinates?

If so, then the database should be competed in 2024!.......how many rice plots are there?

Yep that was my thought, speaking out of their backside again.

Many speak from the same and they didn't write the article.

Many are experts in their own mind.

So...does this mean the someone holding a GPS, will go to each corner of each farmers plot and record the coordinates?

If so, then the database should be competed in 2024!.......how many rice plots are there?

Please share how the year 2024 was determined. Thank you.

People still believe this religion stuff?

People still believe this Non-religion stuff?

Comments such as these go no where. Freedom to believe or disbelieve; to practice or blaspheme; to observe or peacefully condemn is the essence of choice and freedom.

Unfortunately, it is a concept lost to some.