Netfan

A senseless tragedy. Studipity. And another item from Thailand in all the "weird news" sites around the world. (last one was Mr. T's "supernatural" rant). This is right up there with the officer who ordered the soldier (or policeman, i forget which) to re-enact opening the suspicious package for the media a few years ago. It blew up killing poor guy.

First, I know this won't change a thing, its just a rant. (And perhaps a warning to those with heart conditions). I've used the HH-BKK mini-van service since it began a few years ago. the driving has always been bad, but in 3 times this week: First trip up- no air-con, no shocks, insane driver. 2nd trip up, insane driver, but just before the Rama 2 mall we're going about 100 and suddenly we drop to 60, then 30. I look over (i'm in the death seat) and our driver has fallen asleep at the wheel. i said, in my most polite thai "excuse me, but is it a good idea to be asleep right now?" loud enough to wake him up (and the rest of the pasengers). after jerking back out of his little dream world he gave me the typical smile and laugh. then to prove he was awake he sped up, got to within a foot of the car in front of us and tailgated until the thai woman sitting next to me told him to slow down. anther smile and laugh. finally, a return trip, in the rain, passing trucks on the left, swerving between lanes, etc. The thing that gets me (aside from my own stupidity) is the complete lack of the any sense by the drivers that "hey, i've got the lives of 14 people in my hands". I mean, i change the way i ride my bike if i've got a passenger on the back.

every time i'm in one of these vans i tell myself "never again". then every time its time to go to the big city its "hmm, blue bus? too slow, southern bus station too far. dusit van? just raised the price to 600 baht, time not convenient. train? ha. taxi? 1800-2000 baht. too expensive."

for price, schedule, location in bangkok - the van has it. but one of these times.....

just wondering if anyone else goes through this....

I've been using the Hutch card for about a month. 4,500 down, 900 a month for unlimited use. Never been disconnected, but the speed can be pretty slow at times. Overall I'm happy. However, the Hutch shop in Hua Hin does not offer the card- you have to go to Petchburi (Big C mall) or BKK to buy one. I live on the 23rd floor, so getting a TOT / CAT line is out of the question.

Putting one casino in a town is not going to change anything for those communites, much less the country. It is going to change a lot for the owner of the casino(geeeee, let me guess who that might be....). That's what has happened in the US. Atlantic City is a place where you do not want to walk anywhere outside of the well-protected casino areas. Very little casino money makes its way into the the actual city. People gas up before they arrive, eat and sleep in the casinos. And before the government stepped in the casinos were refusing to hire local (black) people. Think that will happen here in LOS? HA. Las Vegas works because the casinos are the city (and tourists from Iowa can go see things there that they cant see at home). Casinos owned by indian tribes work because the money goes back to the tribe, where it is split up fairly evenly. Casinos in Pattaya and Phuket will make money off taiwanese and chinese gambling tourists who will not spend one baht outside of the casino. Good for thailand? yeah, right. This guy sees his regime coming to an end and wants to set him and his buddies up for life after government.

<"So, what will they do with her now?">

Probably lock her away in some dungeon.

It made today's BP, complete with photo

Keep keeping us informed George. I didnt see this article as demeaning or bad news about Thailand either. If anything, its demeaning to Aussies, if they care to take it that way.

Look at the front page of today's BP or Nation. How much good news do you see there? If you want The Happy Times, maybe the PM has a website..........

Interesting that the common thread among all paedephiles is that they arent hurting the children. Thats how sick these people are. Michael Jackson never "hurt" any of the kids at Neverland, any molester on trial always has the same warped excuse.

Pele. anyone else is a distant second.

The NFL coverage here isnt bad, considering. I dont remember if all the playoff games were televised last year, though. The conference championships and super bowl are.

BUT - dont count on anything from UBC. I cant think of a worse run, more consumer unfriendly company. I'm a long time subscriber (DSTV gold- 1500 baht per month) and have written numerous times to ask about whats next on pay per view (mostly interested in boxing, but college football would be nice)-- "we hope to provide more event in future" is all they will say.

Another alternative might be with broadband expanding here, you might be able to get games over the net. I know the NBA has a subscription, not sure about a college football plan.

Just had to add another American opinion. Drunk driving is one of the more serious problems in LOS. and thai society in general has the old "mai pen rai" attitude about it. its a shame. the attitudes in the u.s. started changing about drunk driving around 20 years ago. used to be the cops would let you sleep it off in the car, or even follow you home to make sure you made it. not that way anymore. you want to drink and drive, fine, but you better be willing to pay the price, which is now suspended license at least, and if you are in an accident, jail time. there are some alternatives to jail- working in hospitals with people injured by drunk drivers for a couple of years, putting a bumpersticker on the offenders care that says: "driver has killed while drunk driving before", speaking at schools...but kill someone? years of jail time. but here in thailand there is no deterrent for drunk driving. every songkran there are a few articles in the paper or on the news about it, but thats it. the biggest shame in this case is the loss of life. second is that every rich thai kid has just had it reinforced that he or she can get blind drunk and climb behind the wheel of their benz, bmw and if the worst happens, well, just head home and mom and dad will have to pay a few hundred thousand baht. no sense of responsibility here, whether its littering or drunk driving.

That immigration office in BKK, located in Suan Plu, sucks. With all my respect to you all fellow board members, that's all I gotta say. I remember going to that office and having to wait hours, besides having to face the fact that I could see those bitches (the girls who work there) playin with kids while us poor farangs waiting in line for the ###### sake of the help and attention. And the worst is that we can't complain to/about these individuals, as they are hired by themselves basically they are their own bossess. It seems like they are on a holiday enjoying a drink and watching TV while we wait like dumbasses.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Last time I went to Suan Plu was for 1 year extension, beginning of June. I was polite, smiled, said thank you and was in and out in 19 minutes. The guy next to me kept looking at his watch and staring back at the officer processing the paperwork. He would stare at his watch and sigh, tap his foot and mutter under his breath, tried to stare down the paperwork guy again. The officer calmly took this guys papers, turned around and placed them on the desk behind him where no one was sitting. I would have done the same thing. It's my experience that if you walk in with an attitude, the immigration people pick up on it, just the way I do. If you are polite and respectful there usually is no problem.

I can tell you what I did- my daughter attends a Catholic run school where they do use corporal punishment. However, I wrote a letter to the head sister telling her if there were any problems they were to contact me- not to take any action themselves and i would deal with it (not by hitting or pinching- talking seems to work pretty well). I dont want some sadist getting their kicks from hitting my daughter. Why do I say this? I worked for 3 weeks at a Thai government school. One day I saw several girls (12-13 years old) lined up in front of a male teacher. One by one they walked up and bent over his lap. He had a big smile on his face as he gave them each 2 or 3 whacks with a ruler. That was my last day at that school.

I've been looking into ordering tickets for the Malyasian MotoGp online. It all looked good until I saw the price to mail tickets - $20 US. Seeing as how the tickets themselves are only 500 baht, and are unreserved, it seems a little crazy to order online (the deadline for pick-up at the box office is September 1st). Anyone been before and bought tickets on Friday at the track? I know it doesnt sell out, but I would like a grandstand seat with a view of the screen.

Not sure what's happening with the project, but I too need to quit. 53 years old, stopped for 13 years while in the states, started again within 6 weeks of moving to LOS 7 years ago. Tried a few times to stop. I smoke about a pack a day, but non-filters (break off Marlboro lights). I have a target date of the 30th July - going to visit my Thai daughter who I have already told that I quit.

You are joking with this one, right? Do you watch baseball? Have you followed the career of Jason Giambi? How about the American football player Lyle Alzado- he died about, oh, 20 years prematurely due to steroid use. You still have to go out and run the 100???? You dont think Ben Johnson's 100 meter record wasnt aided by steroids?

Ali fought:  Sonny Listen, Frazier, Forman, Norton, Shavers,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't forget Cooper, Chuvalo, Bonavana, Quarry and Ron Lyle. All tough guys in probably the best era of heavyweights.

Compare them to the guys Tyson fought- Trevor Berbick (yeah, i know he beat Ali, but Ali should never have been allowed in the ring for that one), Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs, Marvis Frazier, James Smith, Tyrell Biggs, Mitch Green.... Only Holyfield, Lewis and Razor Ruddock could be considered in the class of the guys Ali fought, and Tyson lost to Holyfield and Lewis.

Tyson was the best of his time. Not his fault, but the 60's and 70's were the decades of some great heavyweights, not the 80's and 90's. Like it or not, fighters are judged on who they fought wars with- Frazier lost 2 out of 3 to Ali, but his reputation isnt diminished by the losses, its enhanced because of the heart he showed. And take a look at the left hook Frazier knocked Ali down with in the 14th or 15th round in their first fight- part of the Ali legend is that he got up after that punch. Holyfield's fights with Bowe- he lost 2 of 3, but those were classic fights. Tyson was awesome, he just didnt have many fighters of real quality around until he fought Ruddock and Holyfield. Again, not his fault, but...

I loved watching tyson years ago. but it was obvious after the first holyfield fight that he was not the guy he was. layoff in prison? ali missed just as much time and came back to fight some off his greatest fights. and ali NEVER quit. unfortunetly he fought too long. he should have quit after manilla. do you want to see tyson end up like ali? Tyson he has lost 2 in a row, 3 of his last 4. that would seem to be a liitle more than just a mental thing. he will be 39 years old in 2 weeks.

i know he did a lot of good things for kids, was always respectful to the "old guys", and a lot of his talk was to sell tickets. but its time for him to hang them up. it looks like he knows it, too. for his sake i hope so. or else he's gonna see more articles like this one:

boxing scene

At the same time the freak show was going on, there was a real fight in Madison Sq. Garden. Miguel Cotto, who can really fight (24-0, 20 ko's) beat Muhammad Abdullaev in a jr. welterweight championship fight. 9th round tko. in the prelim joel casmayor had a great fight (or so i've read on the net) that ended in a draw. not that we would have known it here. instead of showing either of the fights (yeah, i know the freak show was on ch. 3) the UBC sprts stations showed re-runs of golf, aerobics and cheerleading competitions.

It's been a long time since Tyson was Tyson. His life started going downhill when Cus D'mato died, then after Kevin Rooney quit (or was fired), he started slipping in the ring. If you remember when he fought Bruno the first time, he won but he did get rocked by Bruno. Then a few fights later Douglass took him out.

Tyson has always been a bully- D'mato got him out of juvenile prison, moved him to quiet upstate New York. I know people who lived in the same town and they said tyson was always in trouble witht he cops, but D'mato got him out. He was a great fighter. Fearsome. Other fighters had good reason to be afraid of him- remember the Spinks fight??? But when Rooney left he just seemed to be lost in the ring. Any fighter who has not been intimidated by him has given him problems. Holyfield, Lewis, even Botha. ....and now McBride??? It's time for Mike to give it up. Sad to see. But who is going to pay to watch him fight now? I hope for his sake he doesnt go into K1 or UFC, i dont want to see him become a freak show.

Not sure what happened to original post--- but here is what it was supposed to say::

I am a big boxing fan and just sent an email to UBC complaining about their coverage (or lack of). i hate UBC as much as anyone, but they actually answered within hours (i did threaten to disconect my service). Anyway, they said will be televising Hopkins-Taylor next month, and Tarver-Johnson this month. AND they say they are "working on the right" for Gatti- Mayweather. If you want to see more boxing on UBC- especially Gatti-Mayweather- send them an email at: [email protected]

if they realize there are fans out here, they just might listen and actually do something. its worth a shot.

Just want to get my 2 cents in. I thought Kosta would win early. Same as you all have said- hats off to Hatton. Big time win. Question: was this fight televised anywhere in Thailand?? i've got ubc - nothing, of course, and sat and watched ch. 3 and 7 hoping they would pick it up- nothing. i am a big arturo gatti fan and the fight on the 25th is not on ubc's schedule...any ideas where to see it???