Andrew65

That's a very good way of putting it!????

In the years that I did them, and looking at it realistically, visa extensions weren't that bad at C W. They entailed maybe 3 hours made up of 2 hours sat in a taxi getting there and back, 30 mins waiting whilst there, and maybe 20 mins of actually doing it. I lived in Pattaya for a short time and actually doing the deed at Jomtien Soi 5 took 10 -15 mins. Bearing in mind that I had absolutely nothing else to do, a bit of a pain in the <deleted>, but not really a big deal.

I'll always love BKK, mainly for the great memories I have from there. Negatives: Sometimes too hot for too much of the time. (Not a well defined cool season). Traffic. Not a very pretty-city, architecture-wise (so much 'brutalist' concrete).

It could end up like Boxing, WBC, WBA, IBF etc.

Many years ago I was stood on the Thai side of the Mekong near Nong Khai. Small boats were crossing the river in a pretty random kind of way. God knows what some were carrying, but no way of checking their cargo was in evidence.

I suggest that they put "Big Sam" Allardyce in charge of it all!????

Not sure of the veracity of this, but apparently there used to be a "Cold-Balls Lottery" in Thailand. That's where the 6 'winning' balls have been placed in the freezer for a few hours before being added to the main set of balls (whilst no one was looking). ???? Then a blindfolded man (not wearing white gloves) picks out said 'winning' balls!????

There was a debate about this many years ago. It was said that one of the reasons that gambling on EPL games was so popular in SE Asia was because the games are at least perceived to be not 'fixed'.

I too am shocked to read this story. I would however point out that at 20 years old the victim is a woman, not a "young girl".

If you complain about noise to the cops in the UK you can get a similar response. "Nuffin to do wiv us guv, better call the council"???? Won't do anything until it has "escalated".????

I remember many years ago an old friend was stopping across the road from quite a new hotel in Bangkok. When he complained to the owner of the hotel about his '3 million watt' speakers out on the pavement, and threatened to call the cops the hotel owned just laughed and said that he would just call the chief of police. Noise is a big problem in Thailand. Whenever I stopped in Pattaya I tried to make sure that it wasn't within about 1km of such places!

They come from a society where espousing your political views can land you in prison. I reckon very many Russians despise Putin and all that he stands for, but would never openly say so.

On the World Corruption Index Ukraine is actually rated as more corrupt than Thailand or El Salvador!

Many years ago when I worked in the Middle East I had a Russian colleague, Mikhail, who was actually a pretty goog guy. He lived in a hotel in Bahrain and I think he diposed of most of his salary through the mini-bar!

I can't say I blame them!???? ????

There's only ever been one woman (or person) that I would ever trust enough to put that kind of money into their bank account. (my mother)????

The Army's too busy being the government, whilst pretending not to be The Army (The tail that wags the dog!?).????

Rolls Royce doing the same thing in the UK.

Talking about energy prices in Thailand. Over here in the UK a few weeks ago, on the radio, there was a businessman talking about his business (including a pub), and energy bills. He's looking at his increasing from the current £16,000 pa to £45,000 pa. Mulling over whether or not to just close down his business!

I recently saw a LHR - BKK rtn flight on Thai advertised at £1350. Pre-COVID prices were £500-£700. And they're wondering why tourism to Thailand isn't recovering fast enough.

The biggest single issue in the Brexit debate was immigration, which is perceived as a big issue in England, but not so in Scotland or Ulster. According to the BBC 95% of the immigration into our country is into England (there are currently 10 million people who were born overseas in the UK).

Whilst an EU member state it's forbidden to sign separate free trade deals with non-member states. Other than that, what you say is true.

Well Sandy, maybe my head's in the sand, but I haven't really noticed anything in my daily life that's changed that much, either good or bad. There was COVID, where almost the entire country was effectively put on the dole for a year or so.

Every single negative thing in the UK is now being blamed on Brexit by Remainers. A month or 2 ago I was reading a report about how many pubs will close in the UK due to their energy bills doubling or tripling. This of course is seized upon by Remainers as proof of Brexit being such a bad thing, when in fact it's more down to the war in Ukraine and it's effects on worldwide energy markets. If Martians landed in Hyde Park tomorrow you would try and make out that it was all to do with Brexit. You will clutch at any straw, however tenuous, to try and prove how bad Brexit was.

I don't know. How much did it cost? Please quote sources.