sean in udon

I especially opened this thread to look at the pointing, and I'm not disappointed.

It is worldclass!!!.

+1

That's some serious pointing!

And another resounding endorsement of Prayuth, Prawit and the quisling's favourite, Somkid.

And the hits just keep on coming...

Woot, even the cinema isn't as good as this.

Winnie

Grow up if that is possible. Not everything is the junta's fault. Plenty of other countries are having economic problems. Oh of course you think that is Prayuth's fault too. I am no junta lover but I try to be real.

My arrival here 2 1/2 years ago was a happy time for me, but I was dismayed by the political chaos.

Prayut has brought political stability (of sorts), but economically, things do seem to be slowly going down the toilet for Thailand since 2014.

If I'm reading this correctly:

Exports for April = 15.1 billion dollars.

Exports for 4 months = $6.93 billion baht

(What currency is a dollar baht?)

Imports for 4 months = 6.04 billion dollars

Trade surplus for 4 months = 8.9 billion dollars

Is this what is meant by creative accounting?

First visit to Pattaya was 2013. Tried several gogo bars over the first few nights and then 'discovered' Sugar Baby.

Immediately became my local.

Most recent visit to Pattaya was last year, when friends came over from the UK. Sugar Baby was still a great place.

19 of them had purple urine?

Or urine turns purple with a positive test for ketamine?

The only time I've had purple urine was after eating a load of beetroot as a kid.

Not the same medication, but may give you an option if not available over the counter.

I have an under active thyroid and take levothyroxin daily. I brought plenty of tablets from the UK and a letter from my UK doctor.

Tried local pharmacies and got a mixture of 'no have' and 'cannot'.

Went to the local government hospital, armed with the letter and a strip of tablets. No problem.

They check my blood every 6 months (about 650 baht) and I get tablets every 3 months (about 200 baht).

Also, have a look at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/762176-is-prescribed-medication-in-thailand-available-and-affordable-to-a-farang/

Grilled gecko!

Spot on for my problem.

Kitchen breaker tripped. Reset and tripped again after about 30 seconds.

Isolated it to the microwave.

Before the breaker tripped, there was a crackling noise and a faint glow inside.

Gecko fried on the PCB inside.

Removed gecko, cleaned some 'fluids' off the board and no more tripping.

The microwave was ok as well.

"...observe all traditions and follow the local behaviour."

Which means water barrels on pickups, ice, super soakers and lots of alcohol for about 7 days.

Only one time at a mini market.

Change from a 500 was 100 short.

When the error was pointed out, no apologies, just gave me the 100.

Female cashier, and I only pop in maybe twice a week, but she was new. Not seen her since.

When I lived in the UK, any holiday destination would involve mosquitoes trying to feast on me.

Been here 2 years and they don't bother me as much now.

Can strongly recommend the Boots own brand DEET products and have used the 7-11 repellent successfully as well.

The 7-11 repellent is only a small bottle and they do a 'natural' repellent that looks similar. Look on the back of the bottle and it's all Thai writing, but you will see 'DEET' on there.

Eating raw garlic every day helped when I first came here, but may not be to everyone's taste, especially those around you.

where is the road base, all they have done is rolled the dirt/sand and layed the bitumen over the top, no wonder it has collapsed. This is the problem with all the thai roads, they do not use the proper sub structures before laying the surface material, they allow for it to be done properly but by the time everyone takes their cut they can only do a half ar*ed job so the roads break up/collapse. This will not stop happening until the corrupt practices by those in charge stop, they need to have responsibility all the way down and sampling/inspections done and passed on the construction process and payment only given when the work is passed as being correct.

It looks like a concrete road, and anyway, no normal base prevents 5m of rapid subsidence, this is the result of large amounts of underground water moving, there needs to be an appropriate system in place to allow that water to move without it taking earth with it.

'...this is the result of large amounts of underground water moving...'

Which, of course, makes perfect sense.

Large amounts of underground water during the worst drought in, what was the figure? 20 years?

With all the large amounts of underground water rushing everywhere, expect more 'close to canal' collapses.

Seems to be a bit of a lottery. This has been discussed elsewhere on the forum and some folks (myself included), have had no problem flying to Thailand with a one way ticket.

Others have been refused 'permission' to fly.

From memory, refusal was always by the airline, nothing to do with government bodies (immigration, etc).

With regard to the refills/big packs being more expensive, I got stung a couple of times when I first started buying here.

Floor paint at a big diy store in Udon was my wake up call. Found the small tin (5 litres) and clocked the price.

When I found the 20 litre and checked the price, I got my phone out 'cos I figured my mental arithmetic had gone out the window.

Buying 4 tins of 5 litres was nearly 400 baht cheaper than buying 1 big tin of 20 litres.

Like the op, I now check everything before I buy.

Hi Shuan,

I stand corrected...

It is still early

FD

Was curious as to how you got your figures. It's just occurred to me.

You've calculated how many ml you get for 1 baht

250/59 = 4.24 ml for 1 baht

200/49 = 4.08 ml for 1 baht

So either way you do the math, the refill is more expensive.

Sorry for being pedantic here.

protex-family-liquid-hand-soap-250ml - 59 Baht = 4.24 baht/ml

protex-family-liquid-hand-soap- Refill 200ml - 49 Baht = 4.10 baht/ml

It is not much, but the re-fill is cheaper per ml.

FD

Not quite sure how you got your figures, but my calculations per ml:

59/250 = 0.236 baht per ml

49/200 = 0.245 baht per ml

The refill is definitely more expensive.

On two occasions, when leaving the US, there was a US Customs agent stationed at the end of the jet way, just before the door into the plane. Both times, he rudely asked my wife to step out of line, and get up against the wall. Both times, he shot me a dirty look as I joined her. Several people, foreigners all, were detained this way. When it was our turn on the gril, the agent asked my wife, in a hostile tone of voice, how much cash she was carrying. Both times, she had no more than $40 US.

He seemed disappointed, and snapped at me when I spoke up for her, "You her husband?" "Yes", I said. I thought he might ask me how much cash i had. It was my habit to carry about $1000 US, to exchange at one of the street exchanges in CM.

I saw this champion of justice get real hard with another foreigner, who, in his estimation, hadn't been humble enough in answering his questions.

Homeland Security: KEEPING YOU SAFE!

UK airports have sniffer dogs that signal their keepers when someone has more than about 1000 quid. They're pulled aside in a similar manner for a minor interrogation, and that's with tv cameras recording the bs for "UK Border Force". Quality television...not.

One of those little buggers got me in 2004 at Heathrow. Had £4,000 on me.

His handler had a chat with me and a quick look at my 'wad' and it was all over.

Only interested in amounts over 10,000.

Dog was good. Straight to the pocket with the money in it.

Admitting he made a mistake seems to be problematic for this guy and many other Thai officials. He may be concerned that his underlings now see him as fallible or even a clown.

Also, he may have invested money in the raid confident of netting a handsome profit which has morphed into a net loss. He may now be chasing his losses.

"He may be concerned that his underlings now see him as fallible or even a clown"

And he's probably blissfully unaware that the rest of the world has already realised he is.

Instead of a pointless education program, which will be wasted on a good chunk of the population, put some time and resources into something like this https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/01/29/heres-how-gm-mosquitos-with-self-destruct-genes-could-save-us-from-zika-virus/

If you want peace of mind, take the laptop to a computer shop have the hard drive replaced and a fresh os installed.

Insist that they remove your drive while you wait. Take your old hard drive home and belt it with a hammer - several times. Or drill several holes through it.

It may still be possible to retrieve some of the information from your drive, but the time and equipment necessary is way beyond the capabilities/budget of the average data thief.

This report is just ridiculous, it doesn't tell the whole story!

The mayor reason that Thailand sided with Japan was that Japan promised to get Thailand back the land France had occupied from Thailand for their colonies in Cambodia and Laos. And the Brits had taken parts of Thailand to their colonize of Burma and Malaysia. Saying that Thailand should have sided with the allies is the same as saying that France should have sided with Germany when they invaded!!!

I believe that this is one of the reasons why we as foreigners can't buy land in Thailand today!

Not exactly. You fail to mention how Siam had originally come by much of the territory it subsequently lost. Remember 1767, when the Kingdom of Ayutthaya was defeated by the Burmese? Much of the country of Siam you claim was stolen by foreigners was never held by the Siamese and was in fact taken from others. Ever hear of the Kingdom of Chiang Mai? Do you even know how the British allowed Siam to annex that kingdom? Chiang Mai's Princess Dararasmi was made a concubine of Chulangkorn's brother. That was in the late 1860's. How about 1909 and the British transfer of the three independent sultanates on the Malaysian border? That bitter land dispute is still going on today.

In plain language, the Thai actions were a self serving land grab meant to expand Thailand. The reference to a greater Thailand including parts of China is prescient, as it will be China that annexes part of Thailand over time. The USA blundered when it blocked the British efforts to change things in Thailand, but then the USA never had an intelligent or an effective policy in SE Asia.

"...but then the USA never had an intelligent or an effective policy in SE Asia."

I would like to expand on that a little and say "the USA never had an intelligent or an effective policy anywhere."

Certainly not in my lifetime.

Enjoying the history lesson about Thailand's involvement in WWII. Thanks to all contributors.

I saw an accident happen right in front of me while I was walking down the street. A car cut from the inside lane to turn into a lot. Pulling right in front of a motorcycle. The passanger, a girl was thrown 10 feet and landed on her helmetless head. The driver of the bike wanted to kill me. Attacked me swinging his helmut and kicking.......

Off the OP topic, again. Are you stating that the motorbike driver attacked you, despite the fact that you had absolutely nothing to do with the accident? Huh? Please tell me it ain't so!

I read, and then reread NickJ's post, as I figured I missed something the 1st time.

Doesn't make any sense.

Would appreciate some input from the pool of knowledge on TVF.

My knowledge of the Thai economy is limited, but with a 6.6% reduction in exports, shouldn't the GDP be shrinking as well?

Or is the manipulation of statistics i.e. using percentages, hiding the truth of poor figures?

Hopefully the Canadian authorities know about this.

Now all you Canucks know as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

US Intel: ISIS May Have Passport Printing Machine, Blank Passports

By MICHELE MCPHEEBRIAN ROSS

Dec 10, 2015, 5:56 PM ET

With the U.S. and other countries on high alert for ISIS attacks, American authorities are warning the terror group’s followers may have infiltrated American borders with authentic-looking passports ISIS has printed itself with its own machines, according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News.

The 17-page Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Intelligence Report, issued to law enforcement last week, says ISIS likely has been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian passports since taking over the city of Deir ez-Zour last summer, home to a passport office with “boxes of blank passports” and a passport printing machine. Another passport office was located in Raqqa, Syria, which has long been ISIS’s de facto capital.

“Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and Deir ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria with passports ‘issued’ in these ISIS controlled cities or who had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.,” the report says.

Read more here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-intel-isis-passport-printing-machine-blank-passports/story?id=35700681

Info has been in the public domain for quite a while, so god only knows why US security has only just circulated a report on the issue

"...god only knows why US security has only just circulated a report on the issue."

Agreed. 17 months is a ridiculous amount of time after a passport office has been available to IS.

Perhaps an indication of the intelligence gathering and processing skills of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department.

I'm sure lots of folks in the U.S. will feel so much safer having read about this.

"The government has however been criticised over its decision to exclude unaccompanied, heterosexual, single adult men from the programme over security concerns."

I guess women and children first does not sit well with the PC crowd.

Presumably crappy reporting (for a change).

Are single, unaccompanied males who claim to be bisexual or gay being allowed passage?