Dogmatix

I am not sure if submitting certificates for universtity courses that are not degrees are worth the trouble, if you have to get them certified. They tend to just tick the boxes and ignore everything else. For something which is not a degree, they have no box to tick. It might be more worthwhile if it is a professional qualification or something directly related to your job which relates to how you can bring expertise and training to help Thai colleagues. I remember being told that submitting my certificate from the Ed Ministry for passing the Por. 6 exam for foreigners that used to be required for foreign teachers to teach in Thailand (most failed and had to resit over and over, meaning that they could only get 3 month visa extensions and WPs) would make a big difference in view of the Thai language requirement. In fact the other just said, "What's this?" and when I explained she just dropped it on the pile without comment and went on to the next question, obviously uninterested because it was not a masters degree.

https://www.freshmediq.com

Ha ha. Boots does seem to be the worst offender. I never go to a small Boots for drugs because its usually a waste of time. I expect they will take the pharmacies out of the all the smaller stores and be like Watsons and probably close some of them altogether. When they first set up in Thailand during the 1997-98 financial crisis, they opened lots of stores around the country to see which worked best and closed down the duds when the leases ran out. Now they've expanded a lot again.

When I first came here, you get amphetamines in the form of slimming pills, codein mixed with paracetamol, tramadol, tranquillisiers pseudoephedrine etc without prescription, Some of it like the codeine was openly out on the racks.

I went to a ganja clinic in Bangkok as I was curious to try CBD oil to help with sleep and hoped to get the government produced GPO stuff which is the purest and cheapest AFAIK. The doctor told me CBD was useless for insomnia and gave me some THC oil for 600 baht for a small bottle but it turned to be not GPO but the original cannabis oil in Thailand, Acharn Decho's, which is a low dose of only 2mg/ml (vs 81mg/ml in the GPO THC oil) that I think was the original concentration approved by the MoPH in 2019. It seems to have some dark green coloring and strong bitter flavoring added, probably to stop patients from downing the whole bottle in one or smoking it. Unadulterated THC oil AFAIK has very little colour or flavour. I haven't noticed any effect from the drops which are very nasty to take at bedtime due to the horrible taste. So rather disappointed in the final result but I got talking to the doctor about extracts and the law and he expessed the opinion that edibles that use raw but decarbed weed, rather than oils or extracts are legal because they just basically throw the ground up plant matter into the mix rather than extracts. On the same basis it could be argued thatt hash is still raw plant matter, if it made by applying a little warmth and pressure to kief but no chemicals. On the other hand it might be difficult to prove that no extraction was used in the production of edibles or hash.

Does that mean that all our communications will be monitored by Chinese security services.?

Somkid was never an economic wizard and did a lacklustre job as the junta's deputy PM for economic affairs in charge of all economic ministries. Better for everyone if he just plays with his grandchildren and great grandchildren and gets his cataracts done or whatever.

Legalized pot with no restrictions whatever; legalized abortion; same sex civil partnerships on the way. Junta rules OK.

Well done Canada! But I wonder if she had been a 50 year bloke with nothing much to recommend him, would they have scooped him out of the airport or told him to wait in the queue which is several years long?

They should also put a load of navy river launches there with their motors on driving the waters faster to the sea. That really helped save Bangkok in 2011. 555

I expect the HH course was operated by SRT originally and then rented out for a song to Singha. When the railway was planned royal grants of land were made to SRT, then SRS (State Railways of Siam), so that they could make HH into a destination for greater numbers of railway travellers, who didn't own their own land and villas like the nobles who previously came by boat. Obviously a hotel and a golf course were essential. Hence the Railway Hotel, now rented out to Central as the Centara Hotel, and the Royal HH Golf Course right behind the station. I think you could use a membership to the golf course, just to save costs, if you played in HH often enough, without worrying about the snootiness of other members. Loads of tourists there in normal times anyway.

Interesting re how his children have made out. Purachai obviously didn't see improving Thai education as an issue to push for when he was in the cabinet as he had already voted with his feet as far as own kids were concerned. However, he understood very well why foreigners were interested in the security of PR since he enjoyed that privilege in NZ without being willing to reciprocate NZ's kindness himself. Not sure where he got the money to buy a house and move his family to NZ. He was an academic at NIDA before Thaksin discovered him. He cultivated this image as a Mr Clean, fair, straight shooter but it is far from clear that he was devoid of corruption or how he could have been appointed as Thaksin's interior minister without a clear understanding to pass slush up the pipe (same applies re Chartchard as Thaksin appointed transport minister under Yingluck) The foreigners whose PR and citizenship applications he knocked back without cause didn't see him as fair. He signed almost zero citizenship approvals,. whereas they were running at around 300-400 a year before he took office. HIs clean image was given the lie by his mealy mouthed excuses as minister in charge of the Land Department for failing to take any action over the flagrant criminality of Thaksin and Snoh over the Alpine Golf course land scandal which surfaced on his watch. (Eventually someone in the Land Dept took the hit with a prision sentence for this malfeasance.) It seemed like he was trying to outdo and eclipse Thaksin in onservative popularism with his ridiculous 'social order' campaign that went alongside Thaksin's murderous war on drugs. Exits to pubs were blocked causing serious fire hazards and patrons were obliged to take low quality drug tests that showed positive on menstruating women. But Thais thought this was all great, as they love a strongman type like Sarit trying to discipline their wayward kids, at least until they get bored of him. One of Purachai's attractions to Thaksin was that he had no faction supporting him in TRT and was actually hated by all the party's faction leaders, not least because he took the lucrative and powerful interior portfolio from under their noses. Having no faction to placate made Purachai dispensible to Thaksin, should the need arise, but Purachai, being a naive academic, didn't seem to really grasp this. Before long, like Icarus, he flew too close the sun and when media started talking him up as a potential successor to Thaksin (of course laughable with no MPs behind him but unacceptable to Thaksin), Thaksin acted fast. Purachai's feet didn't touch the ground when the boot connected with his rear. He made a feeble attempt at a comeback in 2011 as leader of an obscure new political party that quickly fizzled out, proving that he was actually just a political force created and shut down at will by Thaksin. Finally a thoroughly unpleasant, hypocritical, self-seeking,. narcissistic man was dumped for good out ofThai public life.

I don't think Brits and Americans, the largest providers of farang applicants, have ever had more than about 40 applicants in a year.

The guy who deserves the kudos for thinking up the LTR visa scheme is ML Chayotis, the investment banker who was CEO of JP Morgan Thailand and SCB Securities. He is an advisor to the minister of energy and deputy PM, who is a former CEO of PTT. Hence the connection. He probably did a lot of pushing to coordinate with various agencies to get it done. Obviously he realised it should not be given to Immigration police to handle the applications and that probably involved a fight with arguments about national security raised. Although most people in this thread are interested in PR, it is good to provide other options that may suit some people better. The quota of 100 per nationality per annum for PR was introduced in the early 50s when they decided it was time to curb mass immigration from China due to fears of a communist fifth column. The fees were also raised four fold. To this day the quota has only consistently inconvenienced Chinese applicants, although India may have hit the ceiling a couple of times too. No other countries have ever hit the quota to my knowledge. One interesting question that comes up quite frequently now is, "Will LTR visa holders be eligible for PR and citizenship". Theoretically yes, if they are working and paying Thai taxes but the answer may not be that straightforward. Since there is no residence requirement for LTR, there may be crossovers to PR and citizenship once LTR holders meet the residence requirements, if it is allowed.

The Thai language requirement for PR was introduced by Thaksin’s first interior minister, the nasty and xenophobic Purachai. It is not in the Immigration Act. That is obviously off putting for many and may make it a less suitable alternative to LTR.

I think it would have to be like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A big enough nuclear response to make the surviving Russians want to give up.

If Putin is rational, he would have to think that, apart from any potential retaliation from NATO, the use of tactical nukes would make it a lot more difficult to get continued support from China, India, Brazil, South Africa etc as they will start to fear NATO sanctions themselves. But, if he is terminally ill, he might choose to let everyone go with him in a big puff of smoke, rather than lose face.

What would be the response to tactical nukes in Ukraine? Some have suggested NATO would respond with an large scale attack with conventional missiles on multiple locations in Russia identified as launch pads or otherwise connected with tactical nukes. That probably brings NATO into the Ukraine conflict and they would probably start by establishing air superiority. Non-tactical nuclear strikes on NATO members, I assume, would be countered with nuclear strikes on Russia with a view to ending things as quickly as possible. Putin always mentions the UK as a target due to its support for Ukraine and its vulnerability to massive missile attacks from Russia with and without nuclear warheads. The Uk decommissioned its AWAC fleet to save money and has to rely on the US for that. Otherwise it’s defended by a small number of Typhoons in scattered squadrons in the few remaining RAF bases that have been spared sale to developers of Wimpey boxes. There are a few land to air systems but all would be quickly overwhelmed by a massive Russian attack without a lot of American airforce assistance. Presumably the USAAF bases in the UK would mobilize pretty quick as they would be obvious targets.

It's a great idea for tourists. I went to the opium museum near Chaing Rai and found it very interesting. Tourists will be interested, even if they have never tried cannabis and have no intention of doing so. I hope they put in a lot of historical stuff like the Opium Museum. This is exactly the sort of thing Thailand should be doing for tourist post-legalisation.

Poor girl will see the error of her ways and run away from this drunken sod before long, hopefullly before he knocks her up. Then she will be off to Pattaya to make money doing what she did for free in the village, joining other Isaan girls who made similar mistakes.

What an amazing survey! Nothing has been done to prevent Bangkok and surrounding provinces sliding under the sea since the dire warnin signals given off by the great floods of 2011. The Yingluck government had 3 years to work on it and claimed an emergency budget which presumably disappeared into Thaksin's pocket but nothing was done. Prayut and Prawit followed the same trend and have done nothing to prevent flooding in eight years in power. And yet a survey found that nearly half the people are satisfied with this. God help us.

I recall the fitness manager at the British Club, a personable Kiwi or Aussie (I forget which), having an altercation with a taxi driver who declined to take him to his appartment after a night out. He was leaving his job to go home to get married and had a big night on the Pong combining leaving party with stag night. He did the usual dumb thing of leaving the rear door open so the driver had to get out in the rain to shut it. As a result of this decision he went home to his wedding almost unrecognisable to his fiancee, his face was slashed so badly by the taxi driver and made into a patchwork of stitches in nearby Bangkok Christian Hospital. Needless to say the tourist and regular police who hang out at the Pong didn't see anything and the taxi drivers who pay them to be allowed to wait in the queue night after night didn't see anything either and no one had any idea which driver might have been involved. So no one was prosecuted.

Great idea. They can call 1155 after they they have been to the Emergency Room to get patched up after the traditional machete attack by a taxi driver, or perhaps from the morgue.

The cannabis shampoo goes straight to my head.

It's funny that the first reading of the Cannabis Bill, which only set out licensing details for vendors, growers importers & etc and didn't even restrict sales to minors and preganat women, sailed through parliament. Now this version that amended by the all party parliamentary vetting committee for the second reading has bombed. The idiotic Democrat Party leadership that still can't see anything wrong with appointing a known rapist as deputy leader and putting him on a women's rights parliamentary committee, was quite happy to vote for the first reading. Much as I dislike Anutin for other reasons, he is right about this one. It has become overly politicised. The Democrats are under threat from Anutin's BJP in their only remaining stronghold of the South, having been already wiped out in their former Bangkok stronghold with no chance to recover there. The Democrats are also eyeing a possibility of kissing and making up with Thaksin after the next election to keep all potential routes to graft open.