soalbundy

Cockney slang is generally well known in the UK.

A sign of our times, perhaps violence goes hand in hand with despair, fear of a future without hope. There does seem to be a general lack of respect to others, especially in the Anglo-Saxon communities. I once saw short interviews of WWII pilots in England, lads of 18 to 20 years old, what surprised me was the obedience they showed towards their parent's wishes, even far from home they obeyed their parents. There is a lack of discipline in society, not just among teenagers, adults don't exactly show a good example, public drunkenness and drug taking, violence at football matches etc bare witness to falling standards generally but I am also aware that even in ancient Rome similar complaints were made by the educated elite concerning the plebeian members of society, I am looking at the world through the eyes of an old man, raised in a different era where double standards was the norm but one still showed deference to one's 'betters'.

But you do like electric light and busses and trains and electricity to run your computer and mobile. It has been shown that while making great strides in renewable they aren't enough to power our civilization. Oil as an energy source will be needed until we get cold fusion working, the Chinese are ahead of us in this respect. Anyway they aren't targeting oil companies they are attempting to disrupt the lives of ordinary citizens (that will make everybody sympathetic to their cause).Trying to destroy old masterpieces is a sign of savagery.

As a teenager on a camping holiday in Cornwall I met two young Germans also camping, we became friends, they invited me to Munich the next year, the life style fascinated me. When I returned home I started learning German, I picked it up quickly, the first German book I read, Der Pater, 'the Godfather' with a dictionary and a German girlfriend to help. Later I found work in an office designing air conditioning layouts for factories in Fürstenfeldbruck, I knew nothing about air con and had to learn on the job, Germany was booming and finding work was easy, the rest is history, I never returned to the UK.

You have also left, why didn't you stay and share the joys of being British in England

They are dead and like the rest of my family they too saw the writing on the wall and left.

and all because of an 'o'

It was never an option when the UK was wealthy, certainly not now when it is broke. The West is floating on a sea of debt, I fear that the methods it will use to solve this unfortunate state of affairs won't be to our liking. It is said that the future belongs to Asia but they too have their own problems. Until there is cohesion in the world, until we can throw away old concepts we can never be without fear and poverty. Energy and fresh water are going to be key points in the future. Expat pensioners are very low on the sympathy scale anywhere, we aren't even a problem to be solved.

You mean crunch? what would that be? nuclear missiles and a 5 minute warning, or hoards of Cassocks storming Beachy Head. I'll be in Thailand, popcorn in hand.

You are correct, having left the UK 50 years ago I don't have any personal experience and can only go by what I read, I'm sure some parts of the country are better than others. A feel good story from a German colleague of mine ;- He went on a canal boating holiday in England with his family when his son (12) broke his arm, he was taken to hospital where it was ascertained that it was complicated and needed metal plates and screws. They told his father to continue his holiday as his son would be in hospital for at least two weeks. Upon his return he was told everything was finished and he could take his son back home. When my colleague produced forms to fill out from the German government health insurance so that the hospital could be paid, the doctor waved him off and said its OK he was a good patient. My colleague was surprised and impressed, even more so when back home his son had an exray, recommended by the British surgeon, and his doctor told him the work done was of the highest order. He still can't understand why they didn't want any money (this was around 45 years ago).

Because they build hospitals and Autobahns and pay for a well functioning police force, things people need.

I don't know but my ML has had cataract surgery on both eyes (government hospital) for free, 3 weeks after her doctors recommendation, with follow up care, I know because every two weeks I have to drive her 15 km and wait 4 hours for her eye inspection.

Indeed, the NHS was a source of national pride. The youtube programs one can watch about hospitals in the UK show competent dedicated staff working under difficult constraints, more money is needed to bring it back to its former glory but nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers are more important.

I would hope there is.

Depends what the op is for but I think a 4 week wait isn't good. 50 years ago when the NHS was still a good service I was given a 2 year wait for a severely broken and off center nose due to a car accident, I was told it was cosmetic surgery to put it right. Before that date was up I was working in Germany and went to the doctors for a bout of flu, he said I could get an op within the week as the nose was interfering with my breathing, he considered a 2 year wait as negligence on behalf of the NHS as it certainly wasn't just cosmetic.

How are you better off in the UK than here regarding treatment? in the UK you can wait 2 to 3 weeks for a doctors appointment and in some cases a year or more for an OP.I went for consultation here and had an OP straight away (not an emergency) Yes I am insured here for a moderate sum, it has served me well twice.

Paying tax in Thailand and living here doesn't seem so bad now does it, imagine feeling hungry and freezing in the dark in merry old England and paying for the privilege, would make one want to meet a caring thug with a knife on a crowded street and have done with it.

I think those 4 years in prison as a child sex offender will feel like 100.

No but since yesterday I can no longer 'save as' documents sent by email, I get a "Your account is temporarily unavailable" but I can get and send emails normally and everything else works fine. I now have to copy a doc and open it with 'word' to save it to my memory stick.

The ghost is keeping quiet about the whole matter.

Dam was jealous because the monk was getting all the good looking ones.

It says in the bible that it's better to give than receive.

The market town 17 km from me, 50 km from Surin seems to be bustling, Tesco is full of Thai shoppers, new cars on the road, lots of shops doing business, lots of new buildings going up, the large government hospital has just had a big extension added and accommodation for staff has also been added. Not a tourist in sight.

That was true years ago but now it would be unusual to find a young person who can't read, in my Isaan village I know only of one young man who can't read, a tear away criminal who has already had a stint in prison. They even have informal classes to teach some old people who can't read. Thai is a difficult language to read, it took me about 5 years to master it and even my British/Thai son (17)says he finds reading English to be easier than Thai.

My experience is just the opposite but I find the thanks embarrassing especially within the family. To have my son and step children with their children on their knees giving me a wai on fathers day for instance where my wife thanks me for the support I give them makes me so uncomfortable that I have forbidden it. I have helped my ML once with 50k, (her husband was responsible for her trouble) but she is a a proud down to earth woman, she didn't offer any exaggerated thanks but I found out later by accident that she had informed the whole village and the pu yai and my status in the village had a meteoric rise, my wife told me that after I had offered physical help at some social event and someone mentioned that I probably won't show up the pu yai retorted, 'don't doubt him,he is honorable, what he says he will do'. I for one, feel appreciated and liked.