Bentley 7

Not knowing all the circumstances of the your dinner invitation, but this is a common ploy of restaurant owners to get customers in, when I first arrived I was invited in similar fashion to newly opened restaurant of a new thai acquaintance - almost felt like I was a special honoured guest.

following proper etiquette I did take a gift only to be sat down as a normal customer and neglected and ignored by the owner and presented with a whopping bill for below average food.

Maybe this wont be the case with you but its a lesson learned years ago that there is no such thing as a free lunch especially if your the only farang at the table.

I suppose a bottle of pepper spray is better than a bottle of lube!!!

I found it difficult to do independently without using my wife's name or another thai with suitable credit worthiness. So ended up paying cash.

It is a difficult process as the dealers dont seem interested in selling you the car, it almost seemed you have to beg them to sell it to you.

Neeranam, I've heard recently that Honda is doing finance for foreigners, might be worth a try.

You've probaly been given the boot because your greedy thai employer has found a backpacker who will work for less money.

When education becomes a commercial enterprise -quality quickly goes out the door in favour of profits.

Ha Ha Ha!

Heard it all now! Made my day with this panic room concept. What a crock of <deleted>! Love the comment that other members had enquired about the plans.

Sorry maybe the real purpose of the room is to get away from the missus (then in that case send me the plans too)

or maybe its just a private wanking chamber, maybe that will get you off doing it in the forum.

Could anyone kindly provide any info or experience with obtaining radio broadcasts from Australia, Uk, Ireland, HK and US stations here in Thailand apart from those offered on the net, perhaps using a XM or satellite based radio receiver.

Also if its possible, what equipment are you using and where was it purchased.

Thanks in advance

Im sure one could get a prostitute, a fake passport and a cheap spa in Europe too!!

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What about a Fake prostitute, a cheap passport, and sauna?

Let them pull that one off as well as we can, and I'll be impressed!

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If were going that way well then get me a passport to a sauna full of pros.

You can shuffle a deck of cards or cabinet as many times you like but there's always going to be a king, some queens and a whole heap of jokers!

My workstation.

Its great for logging into TV!

Apolgies for the confusion on this guys nationality, but thats how it was reported on AAP Reuters.

The point intended to make is that Thailand does cop a lot of crap in the international press. It would be nice to see a story about Thailand that wasn't about spas and cheap resorts etc or worse the ongoing crime, prostitution and now forgery capital of the world.

Is the International media so blind to the problems in the western countries thats its easier to point the finger at Thailand.

Im sure one could get a prostitute, a fake passport and a cheap spa in Europe too!!

Thais Arrest Uk-algerian With 450 Fake Passports

BANGKOK: -- A British man of Algerian origin has been arrested at Bangkok's international airport for trying to smuggle more than 450 forged European passports out of Thailand.

The suspect, identified as Mahieddine Daikh, 35, was arrested as he tried to board a China Airlines flight bound for Amsterdam carrying fake Belgian, French, Portuguese and Spanish documents.

"At first we found 138 forged passports in his carry-on bag," Colonel Chanatpol Yongbanjerd of the airport's immigration command said.

"Then we found another 314 in his checked luggage."

The man was en route to Scotland, Chanatpol said.

The suspect said during an initial investigation that he had bought the forged passports on Thailand's resort island of Samui, where a French woman was arrested in June for selling stolen French passports, he said.

Chanatpol said he did not believe the statement.

The EU has accused Thailand of being a hub for document forgery.

Briton Hamdi Isaac, a suspect in the attempted July 21 bombings in London, was arrested in Italy with false identity documents.

In January, Thai authorities arrested a Bangladeshi man accused of providing a fake passport to Asian terror suspect Hambali, who was captured in Thailand in 2003

--Agencies 2005-08-03

MK is not a favourite of mine either, dont like this cook your own food concept - can do that at home with a decent glass of wine.

Yet thais love it, I take my staff there on occassion - you want my secret for making it tastier - I go to the nearest 7/11 and grab some Maggi chicken or beef stock cubes and dip 2 into the pot, you'll be surprised what a difference it makes - I've even converted some thais .

What gets me going is that in Bkk (most things) you pay roughly more or less the equivalent western prices for food, goods and services and you get half the quality, 40% of the taste and flavour, 35% of the enjoyment, and about 10% of the customer service and often absolutely no choice in the matter!

B2S Stores have heaps and lots of different brands. All over the place Ladproa Central, Silom, Sukumvit etc

Pedro and Donx have got it right, this Montera's new German boyfriends steroids. She's got herself a real catch there with this guy.

A new boyfriend with tits, no balls and roids rage!

Thais are generally peace loving people particularly with the buddhism aspect of their culture is a great detterant to extreme violence -this beleif that if you do wrong, wrong will come back to you.

However, you are correct in your assumptions that when they blow they really blow.

In my humble opinion I believe that it has a lot to do with three aspects of thai culture

1.This "mai pen rai" (its all ok) attitude, yes it is a great way to be in life yet for example in the west and other parts of the world when something occurs thats not right or just, people vent their anger or disgust or disagreement verbally and physically (ranting and raving -maybe even kicking something) which seems to have a beneficial effect not only in letting the other person know your feelings but also provides some comfort in the form of a release. Often with a thai this has to be bottled inside and taken like a bitter pill stored inside so when something occurs to set them off, then it is like an explosion of pent up anger and negativity.

2.The majority of thais in their day to day lives suffer a great deal due to such cultural issues as the class system and this keeping face concept, they are mistreated and exploited at work, they are put down and humiliated from others who believe that they are superior due to their wealth and or skin colour, even where they were born geographically this all takes a toll on the psyche. How would you feel if you lived in an average thai's shoes for a day? You cant complain about anything, you essentially have few rights and most of the time you just have to smile and take it. It wouldnt be long until you blew up.

3.This ostentatious and often shameless displays of wealth while others have barely enough to eat, really eats away at the souls of most thais. This tacky show of wealth which is linked to a person being superior or better in their minds and then its continually forced down the throats of the have-not's like a big shit sandwich destroying innocent hope and faith in a better future for those who werent fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon in their asses. It sends out a message that if you werent born with money or white skin etc you can work as hard as you want but you aint going to get anywhere in life.

Absolutely soul destroying stuff, imagine yourself being brought up with these social values. Would you be angry?

Sounds like a smart move particularly if your sourcing a large majority your work outside Thailand, if this is the case then arrange for payment for these services into an offshore jurisdiction (many available your choice) set up a bank account to receive monies into and bring only what you need to into Thailand to pay for expenses and wages etc here (including personal). As to your funds leave them in Euros or US and dont fiddle with them trying to get profits by currency fluctuations is nearly impossible unless you do it on currency markets because in bank accounts you have to consider the banks fees for currency swaps and that often puts you already at a loss particularly these days with relatively stable currencies. Its not worth the head aches you seem to be a smart operator in your chosen field dont destroy what you've earned by messing around with your money. Sit back enjoy your retirement in Thailand lead a good life and play with your business here as if it was a hobby and you will do well enough to lead a comfortable hassle free exixtence.

What a croc of @#%$! Are they serious? With the amount of unemployment in Thailand and the desire of these people to obtain secure work, why would this be even considered? Particularly for labour intensive positions which are easily filled due to the high cost of education here.

Let me furnish a few guesses why- are these employers and government sick of mistreating thai workers and paying them low wages and want to have a crack at a few other nationalities and pay them even lower wages or who is the guy(s) who have been able to get this labour contract to import these wretched souls for some huge profit and are paying the correct dues to some crooked official.

Your concerns are correct and justified particularly if you own property in Bangkok. I have seen the results of this sinking effect on properties under our control, the buildings shift and weight gets displaced so cracking of retaining walls and even in the foundations occur. Which obviously doesnt help with future re-sale values. A structural engineer who examined one such building told me it was due to two major causes -one being that Bangkok is essentially built on reclaimed marshland and that there really is no solid bedrock to underpin foundations to, and secondly due to large scale business's that pump up the groundwater to use in their business because its cheaper than buying pumped water.

There has been a bill proposed by a concerned lobby group around for many years attempting to get the problem solved but it has had very little success due to the extreme cost of the exercise to fix the problem and that it would need this money to come from landowners (which many are politicians or politically associated) so it has been placed in the too hard basket and the next generations problem not ours.

So those members who live in Isaan be happy that your properties are safe due to large amounts of limestone and bedrock in those regions and that one day your great great grandchildren will have beachfront properties.

I would recommend if its possible with your daily schedule to get up earlier in the day when its cooler and get any chores done and then take a nap in the afternoon, anything from 20 minutes to 2 hours. Many thais beat the days heat and the exhaustion it brings by doing just that.

In my case it has improved my ability to cope with the daily stresses and given me much more vitality and energy.

A competition was recently held to find out the most embarrassing moments in people's lives. The following are the final three place getters:

Third Place

It was the day before my eighteenth birthday. I was living at home, but my parents had gone out for the evening, so I invited my girlfriend over for a romantic night alone. As we lay in bed after making love, we heard the telephone ringing downstairs. I suggested to my girlfriend that I give her piggyback ride to the phone. Since we didn't want to miss the call, we didn't have time to get dressed. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, the lights suddenly came on and a whole crowd of people yelled "SURPRISE!". My entire family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and all of my friends were standing there. My girlfriend and I were frozen to the spot in a state of shock and embarrassment for what seemed like an eternity.

Since then, no one in my family has planned a surprise party again.

Second Place

While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and started to run amuck. I was finally able to grab hold of her after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons. I told her that if she didn't start behaving herself right now, she would be punished. To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, "If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I Saw you kissing Daddy's Pee-pee last night!"

The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing! I mustered the last of my dignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing that I heard, as the door closed behind me was the screams of laughter.

And the Winner Is....

This one actually happened at Harvard University. In a biology class, the professor was discussing the high glucose levels found in semen. A young female (freshman), raised her hand and asked, "If I understand what you are saying, there is a lot of glucose in male semen, as in sugar?" "That's correct," responded the professor, going on to add much statistical data.

Raising her hand again, the sweet young thing asked, "Then why doesn't it taste sweet?".

After a stunned silence, the whole class burst out laughing, the poor girl turned bright red and as she realized exactly what she had inadvertently said (or rather implied), she picked up her books without a word and walked out of the class. However, as she was going out of the door, the professor's reply was a classic. Totally straight-faced, he answered her question, "It doesn't, taste sweet because the taste-buds for sweetness are on the tip of your tongue and not in the back of your throat!

About time too, feel sorry for these poor buggers.

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I tend to agree as most drivers are at the mercy of the owners of the cabs, who charge 800 baht plus for a 12 hour shift

Another example of the wealthy screwing the little guy

But on the other hand I dont feel sorry for the unscrupulous taxi drivers who spend their time trying to rip people off with meter scams and asking for unrealistic flat fee prices to destinations often 2 to 3 times the original fare.

Dont a majority of taxi's in Bkk run on NPV -natural gas

As far as I can see there hasnt been an increase in that commodity

I think everybody and anybody is looking for a way to increase prices and make more profit.

What about wages for thais are they rising to compensate these rises?

An elderly bargirl was getting on in years and business had been slow, when she decided to conduct a promotion to try to help improve her business.

So she came up with a sign and a concept:-

The sign read " If you can say it in 3 words, I'll do it for 500 Baht"

A thai guy came along and said " a nice blowjob " the elderly barlady said yep 3 words - its done.

Then a farang came along and said " some hot sex " the barlady said yep 3 words - its done.

Then an elderly chinese business man came past and started circling the elderly bar girl examining her special promotion and being very penny wise and tight fisted with his money (cheap) walked up to the elderly bargirl and said

" Paint my House "

Dave came home from a night of heavy drinking at the pub and jumped on his wife, whilst in the the throws of passion, he looks down at his wife's feet and begins to notice that everytime he does the thrusting motion to his wife that her toes start to curl up into a ball, being quite proud of this he exclaims to his wife:

Oh Bev tonight you're gettting some good lovin, see how everytime I thrust my manhood into you your toes curl up in exctacy

his wife looks down at her feet and slaps him acroos the back of the head and shouts at him:

Dave you drunken stupid fool you forgot to take my stockings off!!!