Saladin

For those of you who are too young to know much about WWII here is some Nazi ideology. Can you see the parallels with current Israeli thinking?

Lebensraum (=West Bank?) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=lebensraum&atb=v51-4&ia=about 

Blitzkrieg (=Israeli reaction to provocation from Gaza?) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=blitzkrieg&atb=v51-4&ia=meanings 

Master Race (=Israelis?) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=master+race&atb=v51-4&ia=meanings 

Untermensch (= Palestinians?) https://duckduckgo.com/q=untermensch+meaning&atb=v51-4&ia=definition

Ghetto (= State of Israel?) http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ghetto

Racist State (= Israel?) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/israel-racism-law-160224111623370.html 

I have a Bangkok Bank Debit card and found that I couldn't make online payments with it. I went into the bank who did something quick and simple and now I can,

Heaps of good live music (which by definition excludes Hip Hop and Techno) but they all close at midnight. Try Anusarn Market and Straw Market at the Night Bazaar for starters. Also CU Corner Bar Soi 1 Moon Muang (for American Country music), and Villa Duang Champa in Sunday night Walking Street (has 4 bands from 6PM on).

I live in Chiang Mai. What public transport is he referring to?

I am surprised to find that many Thais pay more for a songthaew than my friends and I would - we play the game well. It should not be a matter of screwing the driver down to a rock bottom price but rather paying what is fair under the circumstances. Obviously if 3 or 4 people are travelling together the fare will be more negotiable than if one person travelling alone. And while 20 baht is standard on the main routes during normal hours you should be happy to pay a premium late at night or if you want to go off the beaten track where the driver is unlikely to pick up another fare. I always decide beforehand what price is reasonable and pretty much stick to it. If I think 50 baht is reasonable and the driver wants 100 baht I will offer him 40 (not 20) and we will usually settle at about 50. If he won't budge I wave him off politely and calmly wait for the next one (I think Buddhism is creeping in).

Farangs need to have more frequent reality checks. So many of you whinge about paying $2 for a trip that would cost you twenty times that amount back in your home country.

I am a CM resident and frequently use songthaews (red buses) that at a base price of just 20 baht provide a very convenient and inexpensive service - and there is one every minute. Recently I have used Uber a few times,. Their service I found to be very good and comfortable, and for 3 people costs even less than the songthaews. There is room for both. The bandits are the tuk-tuk drivers who expect 100 baht minimum just to say good morning, and so are avoided like the plague by the locals.

I have found both 'The Nation' and Bangkok Post' to be quite credible and unbiased reporters, and have been quite surprised by their frequent criticism of the government and bureaucracy where such criticism is deserved. Give them a break.

There has been no attempt whatsoever to reclaim the sidewalks in ChiangMai. In Nimmanhaemin, where there are condos and hotels going up in practically every Soi and old shops are rapidly being redeveloped as McDonalds, up-market boutiques, and modern coffee shops, the sidewalks are not navigable and are in a poor state of repair. It seems that while private enterprise here is on the ball the government authorities are quite incompetent, which surely can't be due to a lack of funds given the rates and taxes that the many new developments must be bringing in. At the very least the bureaucratic bosses deserve a good kick up the ass, if not dismissal.

I can never understand why the police can't get everybody wearing a helmet. Offences such as running a red light can be defended and require evidence but a rider is either wearing a helmet or not. It would be a simple matter to station police checkpoints along the major roads and whacking EVERY transgressor,with an on the spot fine or taking their keys. If this was an intensive blitz EVERYBODY would be wearing a helmet within a week or two. Imagine how much revenue they would raise.

Australia will probably take all those affected and send them to Nauru or Manus Island

Have sex

The problem with CM is that there is too much to do every week. Suggest you look up Meet Ups as they have numerous groups interested in all sorts of things. You might also find the Expats Club a good source of local knowledge.

Were these matters brought up?

1. Why is there such inconsistency with issuing visas from one Thai Embassy to another when presumably the rules are made in Bangkok? I have had double entry Tourist Visas from Sydney and Kota Bharu with no problems but in Saigon I could only get a single entry plus they required me to show an air ticket out of Thailand.

2. Why a 3 months Tourist Visa is only good for 2 months and then the holder needs to waste a day at the notoriously inefficient Immigration Office to extend it for the last month. If it's a matter of making more money they could just stack the up-front fee. TAT would be well advised to do a survey to ascertain how many tourists opt instead to move on to a neighbouring country and spend their final month's tourist dollars there.

I find coffee from espresso machines too bitter and so I make my own - and very simply. I live in Chiang Mai and get freshly roasted coffee beans Turkish ground (the finest texture), put a heaped teaspoon in a cup together with a spoonful of raw sugar and pour boiling water over it. By the time it is cool enough to drink the grounds have sunk to the bottom so can be easily avoided. It's deliciously smooth and not bitter. I got used to drinking it this way in Indonesia but they couldn't grind it as fine as Turkish so we were always picking bits of coffee out of our mouths.  

You might find it interesting reading on Google about the Trobriand Islands (part of New Guinea) - like nowhere else on earth.

Dear Donald, I am really confused. Who's running for President - Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton? What have Bill's past indiscretions got to with anything?

Roses are reddish, violets are bluish

If it wasn't for Christmas the whole world would be Jewish

Nobody has addressed my fundamental question. How can we take US concern regarding internationally illegal settlements seriously when only two weeks ago they gave Israel $30 billion in military aid? Methinks they speak with a forked tongue.

I am Australian and don't have a horse in the race, although what happens in America affects the whole world, and God help us all if Trump gets the guernsey.

I am surprised that neither candidate has defended their position in words of one syllable that the voters will understand. What are their speech writers doing?

In Trump's case re not paying tax it appears his company lost $1 billion twenty years ago and has, perfectly legally, carried forward these losses, which is accepted practice in many countries including Australia. It means that a company can make sufficient profits in the following years to offset this loss before additional profits become taxable. Quite common and quite legal, end of story.

In Hillary's case re destroying thousands of emails, don't we all do that? I do, not because I am trying to hide anything but simply to clear the decks and get rid of spam and anything that is not worth keeping.

If they simply explained this they would spike the guns of their opponent.

Bangkok would have to be the high dive-capital of the world. Hardly a week goes by without reports of somebody 'falling' off a balcony whereas in other international big cities it is fairly rare. Are the balconies too low or are these incidents assisted by others? 

But where do they get these whacky ideas? Did Buddha decree that alcohol was off the menu on certain days? I doubt it. These rules and regulations are imposed on the populace by bureaucrats and religious witch doctors who know best how we should be living our lives. I am against drunkeness and unruly behaviour but where's the harm in enjoying a quiet drink in a bar or restaurant?

Nobody has addressed my fundamental question. How can we take US concern regarding internationally illegal settlements seriously when only two weeks ago they gave Israel $30 billion in military aid? Methinks they speak with a forked tongue.

What is the relationship between religious holidays and enjoying a drink? Does abstinence somehow make one closer to god, if there is one? Is it showing respect? Will it make me a better person? This is just another example of 'religiosos' imposing their childish beliefs on the masses, as they do all over the world.

Then why did the US give Israel billions of dollars in military equipment only a couple of weeks ago? I don't get it. Isn't it time the US played hardball with Netanyahu? These fascists are going to keep taking and taking and giving nothing in return until somebody (the US) makes them an offer they can't refuse. The actions of Israel exacerbate anti Semiticism, and Jews throughout the world who are not responsible must pay the price. 

Why aren't there any Family Marts in Chiang Mai?