WISteve

Very sad event.

And the consequences to the smugglers.........?

Likely nothing. Too much money to be made with the cheap labor.

5,000 baht to get them across the border? They would be working for more than a month in some fish processing plant just to pay the fee.

Life must be incredibly bleak over in Burma for these people to take the risks they do.

My heart goes out to them.

~WISteve

Seems things are greening up and growing up in Nong Bhua Lamphu Province as well.

Two weeks ago the Cicadas were singing and the locals were feasting!

Then it was fresh rat out of the fields nearby.

Last week papa brought home a big supply of frogs for everyone! (Joy eats the "tiny frogs" and the "bull frogs" but the REALLY BIG ONES make her sick. She doesn't eat those.)

This week it was lizards.

If it flies, walks, crawls or hops it's on the menu!

Joy said there was lots and lots of wind with the storms lately. TV "no good" at night because the antenna must sway in the wind too much I assume?

~WISteve

My heart goes out to the victim of this horrible crime.

I hope her and her family are receiving the best in care and counseling.

Crime in Thailand is not just in the tourist areas and big cities by any means. Rural Isaan is just as bad or worse. The teelack is 28, fit and very athletic but she is too frightened to drive the 10 klicks between the village and the nearby market town on her motorbike alone anymore. Even during daylight hours she always has family or friends ride with her. "Kamoy (thieves) too much" these days for her comfort. If I am driving the car after dark she always warns me never to stop for an accident or someone laying in the road. Life is cheap and robbery, assaults or murder aren't so uncommon anymore.

It seems "civilization" is finding it's way to Thailand all too quickly......

~WISteve

What a timely string!

I was just talking to the teelack on the phone last night and she was struggling to tell me what she had for dinner.

"You know, Mickey Mouse? Papa bring home from farm last night."

Seems there is a bumper crop up in Nong Bhua Lamphu Province this spring and papa is trapping them along the edges of the fields.

Protein is protein up in Isaan.

A week before it was Cicadas. It seems that chirping in the woods is a dinner bell of sorts to some people.......

~WISteve

Hummmm... Soi 15.

Beach Club.

Angelwitch and RockGirls.

What's Up and Fantasia (if it's still open).

Venus.

It's not the nicest area for sure.

Sorry to hear about this tragedy.

Fun Town stops being fun when there is blood in the streets.

My sympathies to the families.

And justice to the perps is probably more than we could hope for.

~WISteve

The teelack was telling me the other day on the phone about a guy in her small village who used to work in construction in Bangkok and brought a nasty "surprise" home to the thai wife. She left him but not until after he had infected her. He was the village idiot before that, and now he's just death on two legs.

Unless you are certain about the health of your partner it's a wise choice to use protection.

If you are partaking in commercial sex you have to be prepared for the worst.

~WISteve

- We have the shooting victim in the hospital stating a very believable version (far more believable than "my gun went off accidentally THREE TIMES as stated by the police officer),

- We have the thai boyfriend sitting next to the shooting victim in the hospital, and

- We have a bar owner who says they weren't arguing in the bar or outside that bar (as the policeman claims).

The thing that really bothers me about this whole affair: the cop is out on bail. Up in that country it's going to be so easy for him to step across the border until a deal can be cut with minimum consequences to him.

What are the chances that justice will be served?

Well said Kat.

~WISteve

"Uthai initially fled but give himself up to Pai police not long afterwards."

Correct.

If it happened as he stated there is no reason for him to flee the scene whatsoever.

Getting drunk and arguing with your wife is not a capital offense.

The article is written like a television soap opera script.

In a domestic situation you want back-up every time if possible.

You never brandish a weapon in the hope it will cool off the parties involved; it only escalates matters.

My condolences to the Canadian's family and hoping for justice is a long shot.

~WISteve

said more in just...jai yen yen Steve even you, must admit, that there are some wolves up there (and everywhere), however

Yes, caution is a good thing on behalf of all concerned.

Take a cruise on some of the mongering forums and besides all the stereotypical knocks on the thai ladies (wolves) there are also a whole lot of dreadful people who would enjoy nothing better than a couple weeks of "free stuff" at the expense of a sincere person looking for something other than a casual fling.

Some good advice shared by guys on the ground.

Thanks guys.

-WISteve

I genuinely would love to introduce these and indeed other suitable women to foreigners with a view to creating Joy and happiness in the world...

Any opinions??

Yes, spare all those potential farang sheep from being sheard by all those Issan wolves

If you think they are all wolves, why would you choose to read this section at all?

Being from a rural area myself, I'm hoping that I am suited for this type of life in the future.

I know the bright lights of the seaboard are quickly losing their appeal.

~WISteve

ANYONE even joking they have a bomb or a gun in any bags should instantly receive a big knot on his noggin from a officers night stick and promply be trotted off to the local lockup.

This joking "I have a bomb/gun" bullshit is the epitomony of ignorance and makes a mockery of thousands who have given their lives to prevent just such acts from plaguing law abiding nations worldwide.

Doubled and trippeled!

This forum has once again become a place where idiots and ignorance gather together to beat each other in demonstrating their intelligence.

No matter what Thais do or not do it's always wrong, it's always useless, stupid, laughable, rediculous, unprofessional and, and, and....

Happy New Year to everybody and if for any reason a bomb goes off somewhere may some of the super funny jokers in this forum be the victims instead of security guards or innocent people.

Fully agree,nothing to add!

ok - I won't say anything out loud.

But I carry my own bomb with me , because as we know the chances of there being two bombers at the same time are astronomically high.

A bombing scene is an incredibly sickening event. These crimes are committed by cowardly people and the victims are arbitrary. Women, children, fathers, sisters..friends. Imagine your loved ones or even yourself lying on the street with a limb or eyesight gone. In fact just lying in a Bangkok street is a nasty experience. These events and the chain of events that lead up to the act surely are no joking matter. People that joke about or belittle victims, first responders or others that put their lives on the line to predict, prevent and mitigate terrorist events should be locked up. They are in my opinion no different that the heinous sick individuals who commit the act itself.

I fully agree Bangkok has a long way to go in the prevention dept, but I believe progress is being made albeit slowly.

I wish all the expat's and other people that frequent this site a wonderful and prosperous 2008. Be safe, care about each other.

BD

Well said.

Some people seem to care about one senseless death but not another?

They are making an effort, which is far more than can be said for the foolish and foolhardy who think it is cute to joke about life and death matters.

Encourage the use of designated drivers; that's something we can all do on an individual level.

And voice your opinion for the betterment of Thailand instead of always finding fault with what they do.

Have a safe and prosperous new year.

~WISteve

Talk about a Grinch!

I was hoping to sneak back to Nong Bhua Lamphu for a couple weeks in early January before my busy season set in, but troubles abound!

Good employee was hired away last week.

My # 1 person is back in the hospital now with some complications after heart surgery this summer. I'm off to visit her in the hospital on Christmas day in a few minutes.

Looks like I will be minding the office instead of enjoying a short visit to Isaan for the New Years.

The teelack is off to a wedding in Khon Kaen and Loei for the next few days and I'm going to have to call her tonight and give her the bad news!

Looks like a long wait until April for me at this moment.

~WISteve

I think geriatrickid is simply warning us that rumors and gossip about a relationship can be wrong on a regular basis.

I've been divorced for a dozen years and if I'm seen anywhere around small town America with a female friend or employee the tongues immediately start wagging. I've learned that if I wish to go out for dinner I need to make sure there are three or four of us and I'm careful to drive separate cars and if possible leave at separate times. I don't give a hoot what they say about me, but I don't want them talking badly about a friend.

As for the OP:

IF I was absolutely certain that something nefarious was going on and,

IF he was a close friend, and

IF he could be materially harmed or was in physical danger because of the sideshow, then

I would speak up in a private situation and with clear evidence of why I did it.

Anything short of that and it's mind your own business.

~WISteve

I bring a dozen movies back for my help at the office almost every trip.

I list them at $5-6 each on the immigration declaration card when I'm entering the US, even though I paid 1,000 baht for the dozen from a street merchant. They have never asked about them or wanted to look at them in over 20 trips. They are usually in the clear cello wrappers so obvious knock offs. I always list them along with the odd shirt and pair of pants so I'm just a tourist like so many others.

I would be cautious of bringing back 200 of them. Bound to raise curiosity I think.

~WISteve

While I was having lunch outside the house with some local boys in Amphor Si Bun Ruaeng, Nong Bua Lamphu in mid-November one of them spotted a snake in a palm about twenty meters from us. It was probably 20-25 feet up a large coconut palm and I didn't see it move the entire time. It was probably about one meter in length or a bit more, and judging by the pictures in the earlier link (thank you!) I thought it might have been a green pit viper.

Two shots of it with my telephoto lense:

I got the expected response from the teelack about whether it was poisonous/non-poisonous :

"If it bite you, you die for sure!"

Any guesses gentlemen?

I moved my car just to be on the safe side, since I was parked only feet from the base of the tree!

~WISteve

Open the Western Union site here:

Western Union

Middle of the page is a find an agent location hotlink.

When the window opens scroll down and choose Thailand and press continue.

It will list a few hundred agents in Thailand.

The whole notion was very new to Joy when I sent her some money this fall, and she thought I was a little crazy telling her to go to the Thailand Post office in Si Bun Ruaeng with a ten digit number and her Thai ID to get money.

She caught on rather quickly though!

The worst part for her was that the office locally is only open for limited hours, the lines are long and people show up very early in the morning to get in line.

Now I just use an HSBC savings account and she has an ATM card to access it.

It's cheaper and since she has savings, checking and credit cards of her own she's quite familiar with using an ATM.

~WISteve

I have lived in Thailand for over 6 years and have never seen an electric space heater anywhere...not in people's houses and not in stores and not for sale. This is the tropics. There are probably a few for sale somewhere but genereally speaking, no, they are not available. If they were commonly available I'm sure that the posters here would have the intelligence and ability to walk to the local hardware store and buy one.....in some cases maybe not....but most would.

I'm not questioning the intelligence or abilities of the posters, some of whom I respect very highly

Surprising that none are available and it does sound like a market that could be tapped in my mind.

The basic "barn heater" types that I see in my neck of the woods in the Midwest are simple and inexpensive devices and would fill the bill quite nicely for occasional heat sources. Small and yet warm a room quickly.

It would be a niche market restricted to the north and northeast for a few months of the year but I can imagine some enterprising person would give that a try.

~WISteve

They don't have electric space heaters available in the building supply stores?

It would seem the least expensive and dangerous option IMO.

Pop it on for an hour in the morning when you get up and warms the room nicely until the sun takes over.

I wouldn't expect it would be needed for more that a dozen or two mornings out of the year?

Take heart. It's supposed to get down to -9 F, -22 C here in Wisconsin tomorrow night.

A bit early this year for the really cold weather to start.

~Steve

The mainstream western media never misses a chance to throw sh*t in the direction of Pattaya or Thailand in general it seems.

No one is questioning the South Korean school that employed him or the other locations where he was a teacher. I wonder why?

Could it be it doesn't suit their agenda?

~WISteve

".....tug driver and wing walkers should all get a kick up the a-hole over this."

That's why they have wing walkers.

They are supposed to warn the driver BEFORE he bangs up the loaner!

I can see it now.

Somchai the walker was too busy ordering lunch on his cellphone to notice the imminent collision.

"Not my fault. Airplane too big!!!"

This can ONLY BE HUMAN ERROR but the THAI official is already denying responsibility.

Says a lot about the airline I'm afraid.

~WISteve

Not to mention the fact that me and the Mrs pay them 150 baht to take us direct from walking street to our hotel at night so we don't have to share with lagered up scroates They do all right.

So you're the guy inflating their expectations?

In the past it was never a problem to charter a baht bus for 80-100 baht from Walking Street to Soi X-Zyte area.

In May I had a couple of drivers make a play for 120 baht and they weren't budging on the price.

Just walked up the street a bit farther but still...............

As fast as they drive late at night, they make do quite nicely with a few of those........

~WISteve

"There were several warrants out for Ekkarat's arrest on rape charges and numerous complaints from irate farmers that he had assaulted their cows and banana trees. A 5,000 baht (147 dollars) reward was offered for his arrest."

My condolences to the human victims.

But I wouldn't expect the cows were very pleased with him either?

~WISteve

My new favorite spot on Soi Chaiyapoon is Canterbury Tales, the double wide next door to CDs.

If you walk in the back entrance to the establishment you go right past the kitchen, and I've never seen anything off-putting.

Regular english breakfast is 75 baht and the big one with the black pudding is 95 baht as I recall.

I've eaten at both places dozens of times and never had a problem.

Doesn't mean the guy making the complaint didn't have some merit to his claim I guess?

But this goes back a while so maybe nothing came of it?

Neeroys and Seasider (is the later still open?) had good fish 'n chips when I visited them.

~WISteve

"Is that 20 baht in the evidence bin???"

Isn't it strange that every time they bust a gambling ring (this bunch looks like the hardenned criminal type to me! ) there always seems to be twenty baht in the kitty?

Good to see the BIB are on top of things and keeping the streets safe for society!

~WISteve

Well done to the crew who controlled an unexpected situation with skill and professionalism that resulted in no injuries to passengers or crew.

Everyone here is more concerned with the lack of reporting / damages to aircraft / airport facilities.

At the end of the day you want a skilled pilot who will get you to your destination safely even when unexpected emergency situations arise such as this.

Alright so protocol was not followed correctly post event but no one was injured / died during the event which is the main thing and shows the professionalism and skill of the flightdeck crew DURING the incident - WHICH IS WHERE IT COUNTS.

I would not hesitate 1 sec to get on a airplane with the same crew tomorrow. Well flown guys!

You're joking right?

The pilot and co-pilot are trying to cover up an incident, breaking major rules of their profession, but since there is no blood in the streets you're proud of them?

No thoughts for the planes that are landing on that muddied runway and potential of an accident because the THAI pilot was covering his bum by not reporting the incident?

Professional ethics be dam*d as long as he somehow keeps the shiny side up?

And a company VP who has a penchant for stonewalling on safety issues.

I think the air crew will have some answering to do after this one. And hope they never fly again!

~WISteve