ChrisKC

My wife forgot to put rice, which had been sitting for only two hours, in the fridge, her mother gave some to our young son who had a night of vomiting and diarrhoea. I always throw it out or fry it in the wok to kill the bacteria.

Eating rice that already may be infected by toxin-creating bacteria and more than 4 hours old unfridged I believe is worth only to be thrown out.

When I live alone I don't use a rice cooker. I cook rice and watch it until it is done and I cook only enough for two servings, one for dinner, fridged and eaten for lunch the next day. I usually make an egg fried rice dish with that. And what is more, always more delicious than from the rice cooker.

I am not sure about other predominant rice-eating countries but Thailand is not one to follow regarding rice hygiene!

In many places I have been and lived in, the family gets up at 6.am and the lady of the house switches on the TV and rice cooker and then they stay on all day. For people who prepare, cook and eat rice just about every day of their lives I am amazed at the number who don't really know how to do it properly.

Anyway, rice is one of those foods particularly prone to bacteria and needs to be fridged - cooling it down quickly - as soon as possible. Like other Posters, I agree that a couple of hours from pot to eating shouldn't be a problem.

In my house the temperature for the last few months has been very high all day and night. I insist that the uneaten rice is fridged and if it's forgotten I am equally insistent it is thrown away.

You can find out more from a google search - how to store (un)cooked rice.

None of us on this Forum ACTUALLY knows what really happened or all of the circumstances on that fateful morning, do we?

First we were told that the Mother left the house, not locking the door as her husband was asleep in the back room.

In another instalment in the Bangkok Post it stated the Mother and Father were out on their rubber farm when the incident took place. Now we are left with an 8 year old being left alone with either her being locked in or the door being unlocked.

Later, we are told that as many as four men might be involved, giving an impression that the girl might have been gang-raped. I think I can just about understand one depraved man, but four seems to me unlikely. Was the father involved in any way? We don't know!

Whatever happened, I hope there is a fair trial. That the total nature of crimes that were committed is properly identified and that the guilty ones are punished according to the Law of the Land and not the arbitrary law of the lynch mob or the wishes of citizens at large.

Can we wait for the inquest, DNA tests and a thorough investigation to make our judgments more in line with the evidence rather than our understandable immediate feelings from suppositions?

You paid for avoiding queue wait (understandable in Chiang Mai) but you still had to appear. It is the same process doing yourself without any extra payment but you may have to sit at desk 5-10 minutes to check paperwork and sign a couple forms.

Yes, I know I had to appear and I make that clear in my post. The OP question asked only of the concept of having to go in person so my post answers that he doesn't have to go to make his application but DOES for the final bit.

Its not only about paying for not queuing. The Agent ensures that all the required paperwork according to what is the current situation at the Office you will apply to is absolutely correct, thus avoiding the possibility of the application being delayed or even unsuccessful. Because we used a recommended Agent, someone who really knows his up-to-date stuff, including his excellent English, we suffered no hassle of any kind.

For those who are not fond of waiting or dealing with Immigration direct, a good Agent will relieve you of that and of course some cash.

This is another aspect of using an Agent: His delivery of the application is in Thai style, in Thai language; the job for the Officer is therefore easier and probably quicker. This has the benefit of processing the application in less time and goes a little way in lessening the queuing time for others.

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, such agents don't exist for Chaengwattana. I'd very happily spend a decent sum not to have to hang around for 7 or 8 hours. It's a real pity they abandoned the appointment system back in 2011 after only a few weeks.

I sympathise with your situation and can only suggest you ask around, even at your Immigration Office. If you have visited the Office often, you should detect Agents - they are the ones looking purposeful, talking with Officers and seeming to know what they are doing.

I also sympathise with those who have to drive a long way, maybe with the whole family in tow, as well as waiting time at the Office.

Ask on this forum. What you believe didn't exist yesterday may exist today.

It is easy to be cynical about Agents but there aren't many trades in which there are no "Middlemen". A good one will facilitate the "deal" between two parties. Their place in Society is assured for ever.

You paid for avoiding queue wait (understandable in Chiang Mai) but you still had to appear. It is the same process doing yourself without any extra payment but you may have to sit at desk 5-10 minutes to check paperwork and sign a couple forms.

Yes, I know I had to appear and I make that clear in my post. The OP question asked only of the concept of having to go in person so my post answers that he doesn't have to go to make his application but DOES for the final bit.

Its not only about paying for not queuing. The Agent ensures that all the required paperwork according to what is the current situation at the Office you will apply to is absolutely correct, thus avoiding the possibility of the application being delayed or even unsuccessful. Because we used a recommended Agent, someone who really knows his up-to-date stuff, including his excellent English, we suffered no hassle of any kind.

For those who are not fond of waiting or dealing with Immigration direct, a good Agent will relieve you of that and of course some cash.

This is another aspect of using an Agent: His delivery of the application is in Thai style, in Thai language; the job for the Officer is therefore easier and probably quicker. This has the benefit of processing the application in less time and goes a little way in lessening the queuing time for others.

Are there Visa Services people who can do this for you, so you do not even need to go?

Extensions need to be done in person

There ARE agencies that do everything for you. My wife and I did so less than two months ago. For the first time my wife suggested we use an Agent. It costs, but comparing it with ten years of doing it ourselves I was amazed at the result. We had only to go to Immigration together to have our photos taken and to pick up our passports.

We found an excellent Agent - Chiang Mai - who was thoroughly professional and proficient and I am happy to recommend him if you would like me to. He is actually an ex-Immigration Officer at Chiang Mai.

Neither my wife or I spoke a single word to Immigration Officers (and they didn't say anything to us) and the process for us was less than 30 minutes.

I think it is impossible these days to avoid going to Immigration in person. But you certainly don't need to go there to apply if using an Agent.

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Like the OP I have had my fair share of waiting over the years getting extensions and it is irritating and sometimes uncomfortable. I accept it readily though as I receive a whole year of benefit. Seems to me that a few hours for a year is a good investment. How many people complain about waiting at Immigration but will waste four or five hours a day sitting at a bar with very little actual benefit? It is a matter of perspective.

The term 'Alien' was used for many years in US, UK and other immigration law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28law%29

As for the OP's dilemma over what we should be called - I think the term "Migrant" fits nicely.

We can't be "migrants" can we? We can only get NON- immigrant visas??

Are we Visitors or Guests? Well, to Immigration we are neither - we are aliens!

When we first came to Thailand we were Visiting the Country and we were Guests with a very nice family who Hosted us and took care of us. When we go anywhere we are Visiting and often a Guest at an hotel and then we go home or visit somewhere else and are guests in another hotel or a friends place.

This is not an accurate way to describe many people who actually live in Thailand and have no intention of going anywhere else. This is my situation and many others and the word I use for myself is: RESIDENT. I don't pretend I am Thai but having lived here for so long, the words Visitor or Guest do not differentiate me from a Tourist. I live in a house that I call home and I don't have a home anywhere else. All of my activities of daily living are similar to that in my home country and there I would be considered a resident. Now, I am NOT resident there; I think I am entitled to say I am (a) resident here in Thailand. Can I say that?

Apart from the obvious Immigration limitations, I cannot justify claiming as others, that there is a law for indigenous Thais and another for "aliens". I CAN sympathise that in some cases there is evidence for interpretation of the law being discriminatory but I myself have never come across it - apart from dual pricing at National Parks and Museums.

On a train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok my wife and I were exchanging pleasantries with a Thai policemen. On leaving us he said, "Thank you for using my Country!

All other matters aside, what is the real risk of two girls together in a public place in broad daylight being molested or even raped?

It would have been more appropriate for the Policeman to say, "sorry, I have to ask you to put on your clothes, it is our culture to be modest in public"

Please! It's another privileged foreigner talking for all of humanity. Of course it's peaceful for the privileged. What about all those suffering in wars? Or the impoverished? Billions of people are suffering. I watched this TED talk with Pinker years ago and I laughed. It's the view of a privileged westerner who uses some fraudulent statistics made up by the elite(UN, Amnesty, Bilderberg) to give us the impression that everything is just fine. Stop buying into this brainwashing and do some real research. 1% of humanity now own more than all of us put together so how on earth can this mean progress? Wake up

To whoever wrote the above:

And you think I accept the points you make rather that of an acknowledged expert at delivering authentic material? I want to hear your evidence, not prejudicial remarks and conspiracy theories that violence happens only to those less privileged and using "fraudulent" statistics to make his case. Pinker has already referred to all those in wars and comparing them with wars of the past. Also, who owns what is irrelevant to the argument of the "decline in violence" Yours is a cynical, NOT a respectable refutation of Pinker's work, and unless you can prove it, there is little point in you pursuing it.

I was unable to add my reply to those already in place

The percentage of human garbage inhabiting this planet is increasing.

It is only increasing as the population is growing exponentially. But going by ratio person to population as a whole, we are living in the most peaceful time of humanity. Sure there are real pieces of work and evil out there, but there always has been, only in this day and age we hear about it a lot of thanks to the media.

RIP to the poor girl and I hope the family and find some peace, their lives have no doubt been ripped apart and turned upside down.

The most peaceful time in humanity? BS. People are more and more selfish and separated due to technology, money and greed have speeded(sped) this process up and turned people into sicker beings than before. Perhaps it's nice and peaceful in your life, moo baan or village but Europe, Africa, The Middle East and North and South America are burning.

I'm pretty sure that this piece of human excrement that did this to this little girl was himself the victim of something similar or either extremely abused as a kid. The world is indeed a very sick place and those who deny this and say it's no different than before are the true ostriches among us and rather part of the problem instead of the solution.

RIP little girl.

For those of you that don't believe we live in the most peaceful time in Human history, I suggest you watch this video by Stephen Pinker who is actually educated and doesn't make arbitrary statements about anything. You will be surprised! It's only 20 minutes for you to adjust your perspective as it did for me when I first heard it a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk

Lets hope the bastard is not rich with a posh name

I thought I asked for no cynical remarks about corruptive influences in this case!

Do you have something sensible or positive to say?

Do people really do this sort of thing? Yes, they do! Very distressing!

The father was sleeping out the back and didn't hear anything of this horrific incident? If it is correct that the rapist knew the layout of the house it seems likely he knew both mother and father. He would wait until the parents left the house but if he saw only the mother leave he would know the father was still in there. Strange to me.

Please, nobody say this evil man will get a slap on the wrist; he surely will be properly punished.

There was a passport in the car but does that mean the Owner of that passport was actually in the car? Was he the driver? Was it HE that fled the scene either alone or with someone else? has it been established that the Brit was the registered owner of the vehicle?

I have looked in many stores all over Thailand and never seen what I believe are the real deal at 70% off. "Old stock" shouldn't mean it is inferior in any way and for most runners, the comfort and the proper support they give is more important than the new "faster-striped model"

For all runners the shoes are worn less than the time they could be stored in a suitable place less likely to be affected by direct heat.

I bought many genuine running shoes in UK but since being in Thailand bought only cheap trainers B500, wearing them nearly every day but not for running. They have lasted me a year without falling apart.

If the glue issue is that common, I am surprised to hear the problem still exists.

I wrote this in 2008. Do with it as you will. What is LOVE.docx

My apologies -I thought you had a sense of humour. Obviously I'm mistaken.

I DO have a sense of humour. But the words you used leave me having to perceive them as perhaps, sarcasm, wit, thinking I am stupid, a friendly joke - how do I know?

Apologies accompanied by another insult are perceived as insincere!

Sigh. I suppose it is inevitable on TV there are a couple of stuffed shirts.

Three tries to be pleasant. Consider yourself as having failed. Any other attempt at a put down will be ignored

As I understand it, a dowry can neither be demanded or expected if the girl is not a virgin or has previously been married. I haven't tested this understanding. Anyone care to enlighten me?

A Thai virgin? What planet have you come from?

If you don't know the answer why do you reply with an inane remark? You know ALL Thai women past and present, do you?

My apologies -I thought you had a sense of humour. Obviously I'm mistaken.

I DO have a sense of humour. But the words you used leave me having to perceive them as perhaps, sarcasm, wit, thinking I am stupid, a friendly joke - how do I know?

Apologies accompanied by another insult are perceived as insincere!

As I understand it, a dowry can neither be demanded or expected if the girl is not a virgin or has previously been married. I haven't tested this understanding. Anyone care to enlighten me?

A Thai virgin? What planet have you come from?

If you don't know the answer why do you reply with an inane remark? You know ALL Thai women past and present, do you?

As I understand it, a dowry can neither be demanded or expected if the girl is not a virgin or has previously been married. I haven't tested this understanding. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Yes, of course a dowry should be paid if a foreigner is marrying a Thai lady in Thailand, unless the family of the bride has waived the custom for some reason. It is expected and customary.

Of course there are many here who resent a custom not their own in a country not their own, especially so if it costs them money. - though I doubt if they were to be getting paid rather than paying that they would not find it a quite charming idea...

How much did you pay?

Btw, original question is somewhat irrelevant as sinsod is always returned to the couple. The cost of parents wedding should be covered by guest "donations".

So in reality, you don't really pay anything.. It's money for the show.

So if the money is returned and you pay nothing why not just write out a check

for like two or five million baht and they can frame it and hang on the wall.

That way whenever they have visitors to their home they can pat themselves

on their back.

It's a Thai visual thing, the cash on the table, they actually know it is a show thing but don't give a stuff about who gets what...Just show..

It is often the practice to have donations broken down into B20 notes so the amount has more piles for purposes of "impressiveness"

I read on Thaivisa every day , it keeps me busy . On Thaivisa I get drama, soap operas, crime, fiction , facts, politics , and jokes.

Who need books ?

There aren't that many literary geniuses on here!

In any case, quality authors know how to tell a story, whatever it is about.

I for one, really enjoy reading similar type stories but differing styles of English. That's why there are the "Classics": Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Enid Blyton for children, not to mention the King of them all - William Shakespeare.

It is possible that the couchsurfing idea has created a set of people these days who want to abuse it. I did it for two years but my last time was about 7 years ago. Then I had guests just about every week from all over the world. Young people, old people, couples, backpackers, intrepid explorers.

I never had any problems and gave freely my time and attention. I vetted carefully before I accepted them as guests and tried to establish what they wanted from their visit. When I went as guests to them, they gave me the same in return.

I tell a lie: I remember now a South Korean who did abuse my hospitality but this was an isolated case and did nothing affect my opinion of the idea.