Gandtee

Thirty years ago I was advised by a doctor to stop taking anti malaria tablets as the side effects could do more harm than good. I have never taken them since. The best way to avoid malaria is not to get bitten. Use 'Off' repellent sparingly, and wear long sleeves and trousers in the evenings when going out. Having said that my son and family came for a visit and he developed Bangkok Belly and I thought that I had given him medication for it but had given him a previous visitors anti malaria tablets. My daughter-in- law was most upset and accused me of trying to bump off her husband. My reply was 'Well. he didn't get malaria did he'!

Announced or unannounced, my dog chewed off the front wing and radiator of my car to get at what was most probably a snake or rat. My severe face losing experience was when I tried to capture a large spider while driving and finished up hitting a lamppost. The worst animal I had in my car was the P**s artist from my local pub!!!

Perhaps if there was a 24 hour curfew there would be no crime, no traffic violations and no gambling?

What are you trying to do...... turn Thailand into a nation of Buddhists?

Sarcasm! I suppose it applies to both of us?

Perhaps if there was a 24 hour curfew there would be no crime, no traffic violations and no gambling?

If I recall correctly, a late Welsh, Pattaya resident expat by the name of Tristan Jones, navigated the Isthmus of Kra about twentyfive years ago. Dragging his boat with elephants part of the way. from west to east. He then sailed to Pattaya where he and his crew were refused a shower by one of the up and coming hotels management. A heroes welcome? Nothing to do with the Generals declaration. but anyway............

What about letting your dogs off the lead?

Re thumbnail. !!!B******s

After all of the yes-no. Stop-go.. I have Truevision gold package. Can I tune into the football and on what channels?

Also swiftly arrest any ragamuffins, rascals and whippersnappers ASAP!!!

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You forgot the rapscallions!

Where I live in Suphanburi, almost every party for a boy entering the monkhood, no matter for how long, is about the same. Typically, tables seating 10 people are set up and a 7-8 course meal is served, plate by plate, family style. This is called a "toe jin." When you order what you want, you talk with the caterer and select what food you want. This is where the price can vary greatly. What is usually selected runs about 1000 - 1200 baht per table for the food. Then you also pay for Pepsi, usually 2 bottles per table, drinking water, usually 2 large bottles per table, and soda water, usually 4 bottles per table, and a large bottle of Hong Tong per table. You can buy the drinks yourself if you want and save some markup by going to a nearby wholesaler and buying by the case.

In addition to the Toe Jin, you will also need to pay for the following:

- Laymen to help guide your step son through all the ceremonies over the 2-day spread. This usually involves a tip of some sort, say 1000 baht

- Music to accompany candidate monk to and from the temple. This cost varies by the size of the bank you select. Typical would be an organist, drummer, and a cymbal player. That shouldn't cost too much. Getting more extravagant includes adding brass players (trumpet, trombone, etc.) to the band for better sound. We even had dancing women, a total of 4, to head up the processing and get the people joining in to get into the mood. We gave each women a bottle of Hong Tong and they were more than happy.

- Offerings to the monks that participate in the ceremonies at home. This "tamboon" is up to you, but I would guess 500 baht for each monk, probably a total of 4. Plus, one extra envelope for the head monk back at the temple.

- At the party on the evening before your stepson becomes a monk, you typically have a live bank and dancing girls as so many other have already advised. Again, the cost of this varies by what you want. Some small parties have a 3 or 4 piece bank and about 6 - 8 dancing girls. It gets more expensive when you have more musicians and more dancing girls. I would guess the cost for an average entertainment would be between 6,000 - 10,000 baht.

- I disagree with those that commented that if you invite 100 people, 1000 will show up. My experience is the opposite. But, here in Suphanburi, you generally invite everyone you know or deal with. So the parties around here are generally on the order of between 50 tables (10 people per table) to 200 tables. And typically, each party invited will present an envelope with as little as 200 baht upward. We had a friend in our neighborhood who had a party at the temple and, after all expenses were paid off, still made a profit of 80,000 baht. Of couse, a party at the temple during the daytime doesn't include music and dancing girls (maybe just one DJ playing CDs) and, of course, no alcohol was served since it was held on the temple grounds.

- There will also be the cost of clothes and things for the monk-to-be, including several robes, towels, monk's bowl, monk's fan, etc. Usually there is a store in the local area that specializes in these things. This cost, even if he is only going to be a monk for 11 days, is about 5,000 baht.

- There will be a cost for lights and loudspeakers. The street leading to the house where the monk-to-be lives will be lighted with poles of colored lights. Sometimes, some fancy light displays that revolve will be set up on the property also. There there is a CD player with large loudspeakers that provide music around the house over the 2-days of celebration. In our area, this music starts around 4:30am to let the neighborhood know that the special 2-days are starting. This cost isn't very much.

Of course, in your area, things may be different than the way they are done here in Suphanburi. But, at least the above should give you a general idea of the overall costs. I don't see a party for 100 people costing anywhere near 100,000 baht. You should also arrange with the family for them to give you back the money they receive from the party attendees' envelopes, so that your overall cost is significantly reduced. If they end up getting more money back than was already expensed, then you might want to let the family keep the profit. Although with only 100 people, I don't expect you'll see any windfall.

Good luck and I think you're doing the right thing to help out.

Rather you than me!!!

I bought a Kenwood mixer in 1973 in the UK and am still using it. OK, I had to repair the blender after it exploded when trying to liquidize rock hard Parmesan cheese. I bought a liquidizer here and it gave up the ghost after six months.I still have my Sony record turntable which is 42 years old and it still works. It plays Micheal Jackson and the Jackson Five from when he looked like a human being!

When my wife and I got married many moons ago it cost me the price of a family meal. My nephew became a monk a few weeks ago and once again it was a simple family and close friends occasion. This last weekend the local neighbours son became a monk and they had all the the trimmings. A pickup truck with the Boom box Ghetto blasters which rattled our windows, Karaoke through the night, until it petered out when the participants legs went wobbly.

In the end, these ceremonies are like some Western weddings, all about face. If you are not concerned with face, then don't fork out a lot of dosh,and accept being called a cheapskate. To pay out a lot of money is as my wife says "Like pounding the chillies and feeding it to the river". I suppose it all depends on the locality where you live. If a big do is the norm, it will be a bit difficult not to conform.

I think if you engage in tourist type activities you will pay more than we as expat residents feel you should.

I remember back in the day when I was a tourist with pockets rammed with drakma, lire, baht, whatever they had in Thailand. Who knew, who cared, it had lots of zeros and didn't have a photo of the Queen, I used to hire a speed boat to take me and mine over to Phi Phi and then back again because I hated the public boats. It was 5000 baht each way. Now that I've been here a week or two would I pay that, no chance. I'd like to go back in time and give myself a slap.

SDM

PS I'm sure you all know this but if you go down the the Aquarium, Zoo and Imany other places and show your Thai Driving Licence you will pay the Thai price. S

I'm sure that most expats did the same in their early days in the LOS. But when you cease to be a tourist and retire here you watch your pennies, and quite rightly so. Not all places are a rip off. Go to the aquarium in Rayong and if you are over 65 you go in for free, and the ticket booth attendant gives you a smile. Well, that may have been just for me?

I found that the quickest way to kill someone is to stop at a pedestrian crossing to allow them to cross. Cars and motorcycles will zoom pass you and the result is some times messy.

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

B.S.? I don't think so. Kids who read books or listened to the radio back when I was a kid were not addicted to it. Nowadays the majority of kids seem to have become addicted to hand held electronic devices and to a lesser extent, television. Look around you. Everywhere you look there are kids, and adults with mobile phones stuck to their ears or mesmerized by posted photos of themselves on Facebook. Anytime you are in a restaurant look around you and observe how many diners are indulging in conversation and how many are in their own little world with their phones. Who knows, one day in the future the art of speech will be lost. Certainly the art of written longhand has been diminished. I gave a note written in longhand to a young man to read and he said that he could not read 'joined up writing?' I would suggest that if batteries were unavailable the world would come to an end. Very few people would be able to calculate numbers without a calculator. And none would be able to write using proper language, as the text shorthand has taken over. UR well aware of that. Yes, I'm grumpy, and so should more people be when they observe the decline in social behavior.

I am with Truevision Cable Public Company Ltd. A few months back Truevision stopped showing International rugby matches on Setanta as they had 'lost the concession' Yesterday evening, after trying to stream England v All Blacks unsuccessfully, I accidentally went to Setanta, and there it was, with England 3 up. Obliviously Truevision has done a new deal with Setanta or the new Truevision has. Whatever. I am happy with that but a bit tight top lipped about the final result in the rugby. As the old saying goes, "Good game! Good game"

As I see it, existing viewers just have to phone the number which is in the English version of instructions at the bottom of their screens and their contract will be transferred to the newly named Truevision company.

Here is the English written test

www.safedrivingforlife.info/official-theory-test

You probably should have said 'Here is an English written test' as it is a UK test and quite a bit not fitting Thailand. Just to clarify to members who may think it is the Thailand version of the rules of the road.

And that is also the problem with most UK and Aussie drivers here who assume the rules back home apply here. Although most do, some very important right of way rules are opposite in Thailand. Thai rules were most related to New Zealand rules, until they changed them in NZ in 2012 to be more like Aussie and UK ones.

One of the opposites is the British one of flashing your headlights to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass in front of you. Here it means I am coming! Get out of the way and the devil take the hindmost! A very dangerous mistake to make!

In Australia the pest exterminators are prevented by law from using the powerful chemicals that work so well. They use mostly pyrethrum based sprays, which as noted may not be effective for termites in ceilings or established colonies under the house.

BUT they also have a system that is used when spray would be ineffective, and that uses tiny amounts of powdered arsenic. They carefully make a very small entry to an active termite tunnel, so as not to scare the termites into deserting that tunnel. Then they puff some arsenic powder in. The worker ants remove this from the path by eating it. When they die, their bodies are taken back to the nest for food. Eventually, the tiny amount of arsenic kills the whole nest. Very safe. You could probably find more accurate info by googling, as it was nearly 20 years ago when I had it done at my house in Australia.

the op.lives in Thailand.nothing is banned.

unless the system that ayg.advises that was laid under the house before the build you will need the pest control.

as I live on a moo-ban this was done and we have the treatment done every yr.

Some things are banned here. Borax for instance. I was told it is effective for killing termites. As with arsenic it is carried back to the termite mound and eventually the queen dies. Unfortunately borax is banned and difficult to obtain. The problem was, or is, that vendors put it into their produce to make it crisp and fresh.

Is there anywhere you can buy or download an English version of the questions? What would be the Highway Code" in UK.

Haven't found the questions yet but here is the Land Traffic Act B.E. 2522 (1979). Don't know if there is a more current version.

Something like this? Does appear to be the old version though, only 30 points on the practice test.

http://apps.dlt.go.th/driving_hp/ELearnning/E-Learning2.swf

I did the test on the link provided and got only 20 out of 30. My ego has been deflated as I have been driving for 65 years. Obviously I need more practice.

If it bothers you, than you are living in the wrong country - move to Switzerland.

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As the man said 'If the Swiss had designed Switzerland they would have made it flat'. It is much more exciting here, having a mental bet as to whether the visitor will be on time or not. Most times not, but then you start getting used to it. After many years I am nearly getting used to it.

What happens if when having a visa based on marriage the wife snuffs it?

So, other than that, everything was hunky dory. The mysteries of the Orient>

I expect they will do what they usually do, dumb it down and make the test easier.

When will we hear similar reports about Koh Samet?