Guitar God

I've been to two of the three places in Ubon quite a few times to eat, stop in for a cold soft drink and chat with other native English speakers and I've never seen any drunks.

Thanks for posting the "ex-pat" watering holes. I'll be sure to give those places a miss on our next trip through the Issan area. I'm not anti-social but the last thing I want to do is sit in some bar listening to a bunch of drunks. But to each his own.

It's right up there in importance with trying to figure out if Clinton lied about getting a blow job.

I may have just drank the last can of A&W root beer in Thailand. Tesco/Lotus used to stock it, so did TopMarket. It disappeared from there so I bought cans to take home from Subway Sandwiches, they've been out of stock in Bangkok and Ubon for a month. The last source was the N-Joy bar in Ubon, they got them from Makro. I went to Makro today and they said "mia mee, no have".

Maybe they both came from the same importer?

If you were in the process of starting up a company here, why didn't you apply for a 3 month non-B visa?

I did that in Europe by submitting a couple papers from my lawyer and did it a second time (due to delays) in KL. The first time was no problem, the second time they wanted a permission to work letter but granted it anyway after a little discussion.

I am doing a visa-run to KL today, (I'm in KL right now, waiting for my return flight and will re-enter Phuket on a 30-day VoA)....

The part that annoyed me is that he got in trouble for not being completely truthful about something that should have been none of anyone's business except Lewinski, Clinton and his wife.

Whether he lied is debatable. He said he didn't have sexual relations with her ( meaning intercourse). If someone asked if she blew him and if he stuck a cigar in her hoohaa and he said "no", then he'd be lying.

The reaction to the Lewinski affair was purely political, an excuse for the opposition party to further their own selfish interests. Sex between two consenting adults, even if one is married has no bearing on their job. The senate investigation was a big waste of time and money and probably many things which effected the country more than that were probably pushed through during this smokescreen.

Nobody cared when JFK slept with Marilynn Monroe and other actresses. Clinton gets a BJ and the government is derailed for months.

The only aspect of it that disappointed me is that he didn't have better taste. He could have done better.

Some parts of the country are nice for cruising on a big bike, Chiang Mai area comes to mind. Bangkok sucks. A scooter, car, taxi or public transport is more enjoyable. I love riding my bike but I hate driving in Bangkok.

I only saw that it said his ex-girlfriend returned to Pattaya to work, I didn't see that it said she was a bargirl.

It's likely she may have been but I find it interesting that almost everyone automatically assumed she was. I know two women who live and work there, one in a clothing store, another at a restaurant.

I asked if Thailand had any seismic activity and they said "no". No fault lines, no subduction zones and that the country, especially in the Isaan area was the most stable and least likely to have any ground movement caused by earthquakes. They understood the question and I I understood their answer. Odd neither of them knew there was a fault line near Chiang Rai.

I suspect this was a rare occurrence.

.

Just two weeks ago I had two different pool builders tell me Thailand didn't have any seismic activity so I didn't need to consider that when choosing between a pool with tile or a liner.

Wonder what they're saying now?

I didn't feel anything in Bangkok on the 4th floor and this place moves sometimes when heavy trucks speed past the building.

Everywhere can and does have earthquakes but Bangkok isn't a place prone to earthquakes, Northern Thailand is more so. Building codes are different depending on the likelihood of a significant quake .... NY doesn't build to LA standards even though NY gets earthquakes too.

I think you either misunderstood the pool builders or they were telling you something in very basic terms to not make things complicated.

Just two weeks ago I had two different pool builders tell me Thailand didn't have any seismic activity so I didn't need to consider that when choosing between a pool with tile or a liner.

Wonder what they're saying now?

I didn't feel anything in Bangkok on the 4th floor and this place moves sometimes when heavy trucks speed past the building.

Hugh- I watched your brother Mel in MN when he hosted Mel's Matinee Movies. Mel was the TV star but your name came up often too... ;-)

I've been riding big bikes in the US and Europe since the 70's, I rode every day unless it was snowy, icy, below 6C, pouring rain or I had something large to carry. Sometimes I even rode on those days. I wrote in Feb in Amsterdam when it got up to 10 one day but ended up riding back in the snow. I've rode in the Netherlands with the rain, Paris and London traffic the autobahn in Germany, Greek islands, Canary islands, Hawaii, Houston, California, Chicago and the midwest. 1000cc and up, never cared for scooters.

I bought a big bike here in Jan and just downgraded to a scooter. The big bike was like riding an oven, it was too wide to fit through spaces scooters could go when splitting lanes and in Bangkok since I couldn't use the expressways or a lot of elevated roads, I rarely went over 80 kph anyway. The definition of motorcycle here is what I'd call a "scooter" so motorcycle parking was too small, too tight and it was a huge hassle to park anywhere. In other cities you get a tiny bit of respect on a bigger bike, here I've been sideswiped once on the highway by a car passing me going 80-90 and had my footboard ran into by some dildo who was stopped in traffic and turned right into me trying to change lanes where there was no space to do so. I hope he did more damage to his front fender than he did to my footboard because I heard sheetmetal bending and scraping. I didn't bother to stick around, I got the hell away from that yaba-smoking idiot before he rolled over me.

After I move up country I'll probably get a Road King or Heritage Softail Classic where I can drive without baking in the sun sitting in traffic jams and have fewer idiots in cars to ruin my day.

Up in Chiang Mai area it's probably different but riding a big bike in Bangkok is not my cup of meat.

I'm surprised that nobody has said "western Nakhon Phanom"...

Can't help with Nakhon Phanom, haven't been there yet.

I'm not sure what links I can and cannot post here but if you're looking for other stuff to do, Google "Events and Festivals in Northeastern Region of Thailand" with the quotes and you'll get a calendar of Isaan events. The next one I saw that was interesting was the Nakhon Phanom rocket festival on May 10-12. They also have them in Khon Kaen and other cities.

If you're still here around 12 October you might be able to see the Naga fireballs shooting out of the Mekong river around Phon Phisai. If you're around 7 November there's Loi kraton in Chiang Mai, Ubon and other cites here.

It's not a battle.

It's a street market/street party with recycled speeches for background noise.

What do they expect this final, final push will accomplish ?

I doubt manufactures are putting amphetamines in OTC diet pills, especially when ephedra is legal and has a similar effect. High doses of ephedra can cause tachycardia and other cardiac problems and supplements containing it are no longer allowed in certain countries.

Even if there is a lable listing fat-blocking or natural appetite suppresents or stimulants there's still no guaranty that it also doesn't contain Phen-fen or ephedra.

My wife tried some she bought from a store in a mall and had trouble sleeping and discontinued their use. No stimulants that I recognized were listed on the label.

While I agree that the majority of respondents here slag off Thai women and paint them all with the same brush, if you can manage to navigate around the effluvia you'll also find many examples of farang men in various, happy and successful relationships with Thai women.

You just have to seperate the wheat from the chaff here, and there's a lot of chaff here...

I'm not saying to ignore warnings or disregard advice but you have to consider the source, motivation and backstory of each post.

OP - Given its enshrined on thaivisa that Thai girls are the scum of the earth and anyone is given free passage to say so on here over and over and over and over again, you are coming to the wrong place to ask your question!!

Kamslabob2- Great info in both of those last two posts, thanks.

But unfortunately, I see it also means I'm going to need to pay ฿150 to get our house inspected.

Where am I goiing to come up with that kind of money ? 555

I can handle the Ubon part:

N-Joy bar and resturant N 15^. 14.045' E 104^. 50.247' (gps) Sapphasit road just west of Soi Phalochai 9 on the north side of Sapphasit. Great farang food.

T&C bar and resturant N 15^. 14.025' E 104^. 52.050' Phichitrangsan road just east of Phonphaen road on the north side of Phichitrangsan. Sign says "Good food, Cold beer". Good food, bigger than N-Joy

Wrong Way Cafe Phadaeng road just south of Sapphasit on the west side of Phadaeng road, doesn't open until 6 or so, haven't been there yet.

None of these are very big but you'll usually find a couple ex-pats there, the proprietors speak English.

I see loads of Thai women at Fitness First working out. Whether they're single or there staying in shape for fear their farang bf/husband will leave them is anyone's guess but they are there. I think the membership is around 9-10k a month but it is a nice club with good facilities and many locations.

Shorts on a date. No problem, especially if it's a badminton date. I'm sure they'd rather see knobby knees than pit stains if you're still a heavy sweater by then.

You do adjust to the heat. When I first got here I often felt too hot. After a few weeks I noticed that people younger and in better shape than me were sweating like pigs and I was dry and comfortable.

At your age, bars near universities is also a good option but just remember, not 100% of the college women there are there just to make friends. Some may be paying their way through school.

I'm building a house there too, and I have to admit, my people, and I, often cook on open fires too.

It's most common during the hot months in our country. Usually the Alpha male of the group will build a fire and put on a ceremonial apron and act as the "grill master" for the day. Ocassionaly the entire village shows up.

Sometimes we eat bovine, porcine or cervine flesh, or the ground up muscle of ruminants made into "patty's" and eaten between kanom pan.

Another traditional food cooked on open fires is the grilled intestinal casings of pigs filled with ground up snouts, lips and *ssholes.

The food is usually eaten either on the ground while sitting on blankets or on rustic wooden furniture and washed down with fermented alcoholic beverages that contain yeast poop.

...A cry for help please guys, why am I being told what to do by people who still cook on open fires, when Thailand has the highest incidence of Lung Complaints, in the world ! I have shown them all of the 7 Homes I have Built in Australia, including in Port Douglas which has survived Cyclones, I have told them that if Thailand ever had a Cyclone, they would be wiped off the Map, I may as well talk to the hand.

I think you're referring to "Strain Hunters". That's Arjan Roskam from the Greenhouse, along with breeder Franco who travel around collecting landrace strains (and creatively writing off his vacations as a business expense).

Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

In Holland, legal weed is bought legally from guys who grow it illegally.

That is one of the anomalies of the Dutch system, i.e. that it encourages illegal smuggling into Holland from countries where it is illegal. Morocco is the largest supplier to Europe in general. Most of it is smuggled in boats to Spain and then overland.

There is a series on youtube called "the seed hunters",Three Dutch guys travelling the world to find the purest and most potent strains of pot.They trek to the most remote places to find their pot of gold and simply mail the seeds back home and grow it hydroponically to maintain the different strains in its purest forms.Thailand is in one of the series.