Retiredandhappyhere

Most of us thought that they lived in a fantasy world of their own and this appeal to the UN just proves it.

Alex Ferguson retired when he felt ready to go, but had Manchester United actually sacked him after all the success he had earned for them, I for one would have stopped supporting them.  In some ways, I feel it would be poetic justice now if, following  the sacking of Ranieri after his fantastic achievement last season, Leicester City were to end up relegated after all.  They were a nothing club before he arrived and it should be no surprise to anyone if they return to that status now he has gone.

49 minutes ago, Bulldozer Dawn said:

So based on his fine of 2,000 baht, threatening a single female passenger in your cab is 50 times less serious than feeding some bread to a couple of fish.

That's right,  but at least this passenger was not charged with inciting violence from the cab driver by her action, or with any other preposterous misdemeanour, like playing a game of bridge in the back with a fellow passenger, or potentially causing an accident by making the cab driver turn round  instead of paying attention to the road................ so she was quite lucky really.

9 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Being abusive and a thief, surely this brings Thailand into far more disrepute than many actions.

Should have been banned for life!

You've got it all wrong.  This man is a Thai and the authorities have now decided that it is only tourists and ex-pats who bring Thailand into disrepute.

18 hours ago, Grouse said:

Nothing left about me

 

Funny to see these brave little  Brexiteers nipping out from behind their safety ignore curtain to take pot shots! How heroic!

 

But back to the point, I do think that French have a long history of civilisation (though not of course perfection) I can't see them going with the National Front.

 

BTW we had a great many unfortunate events developing our own nuclear deterrent.

Your arguments are normally well reasoned even if many of us do not always agree with them, but your continual disparaging remarks about Brexiteers, who are also entitled to their honest opinions, do you no credit.

So, this guy has spelt it out quite clearly.  If a referendum were to be held, it would mean that the people's views would have been expressed but they cannot be allowed to influence the decision of whether to proceed or not with the project.   Sounds somewhat similar to the proposed Thai General Election then?

9 hours ago, Happyman58 said:

Ok Has anybody gone for a walk on the road and looked at the rubbish beside the road Lots and lots of plastic bags So imagine what the Gulf is like An idea for the government and this is killing 2 birds with one stone When i walk i see many many people not working Unemployment must be very high here  Get these people to go around and pick up the rubbish and start fining people who throw out rubbish on the road. But i see 2 problems there The people who are just sitting there and not work hate work ( That is why there are Khmer and Burmese workers here doing thai jobs) and the police are to lazy to write out tickets ( They sooner stand at working traffic lights blowing there whistles controlling traffic) So lost cause i feel

Look Hppyman58, you just do not understand.  According to the latest Government statistics, only 1.9% of the people of working age in Thailand are in fact unemployed, so where are all these unemployed workers you speak of coming from?  The other 98.1% are all gainfully employed apparently and, as a result, are presumably deliriously happy.  Still, on second thoughts, if like me you have managed to stop laughing at the so-called unemployment statistics, perhaps you might be able to scour the country for a few people capable and willing to do the job you speak of and at least make a start on reducing the appalling piles of rubbish everywhere.

You only have to look at the superb quality of the artwork performed by the country's electricians and plumbers, not to mention the craftmanship of the guys taking care of the footpaths in the cities, to realise the extent of the tremendous pride that Thais take in the appearance (and safety) of their country.

I believe that in 2017, the errant monk will be imprisoned for life, that road accidents will be halved, the Thai baht will remain strong, the economy will expand by no less than 5% and that the elections will be totally impartial and held before the end of the year.

By the way, I am writing this from my cell in a 300 year-old hospital for the criminally Insane in Bangkok .   

Yesterday, a social worker came to visit me and I pleaded with her that I was NOT insane and was in here by mistake and implored her to help me get out.  She was very sympathetic and said she would do all that she could to get the terrible injustice reversed and get me released as soon as possible.  As she was going out the gate, she was hit on the head by half a brick and she turned to see me waving through the bars at the window of my cell,  shouting "Don't forget!"

It used to be the city of "bang-bang" but now it's bang goes the city.

On 2/22/2017 at 3:47 PM, gdgbb said:

She hasn't received any penalty yet, she has to appear in court first for that to happen.

 

Excuse me!  She has already spent 2 nights in jail and had to part (even if just temporarily) with 100,000 bahts, suffered some unjust humiliation and is not allowed to leave the country until the court hearing in March.   Unless she was intending to stay in the country longer anyway, she could be involved in additional living expenses, until her passport is returned and in any event her holiday in "Amazing Thailand" has been ruined.

Whatever the outcome of the TRIAL, you can be sure that she will never come back to Thailand again and the resulting publicity of this ridiculous case will deter many more potential tourists from coming as well.

Thailand has an uncanny knack of spending millions advertising for more tourists and then by one stupid "over-the-top" act, undoing the planned good work. Publicly arresting the elderly bridge players was another classic example.

Wow, many of the derogatory comments on here seem to me to be way over the top, for what is a petty theft (if proved)  at worst and certainly not worthy of some of the drastic punishments proposed by some posters.  I believe a certain monk is accused of many serious offences involving at least a couple of hundred million bahts and I seem to recall that nothing has happened to him yet and that thousands of his fellow monks are protecting him.  Many more have been in the news over the past year or so for varying activities which have not been in accordance with true Buddhist tradition, so it is not always easy to be in complete sympathy with them.

My ex-Thai wife paid 500 baht for a form of fortune-telling from a monk in our local temple and while we were there, I counted 27 plastic buckets containg robes and toiletries etc. piled up in his small chalet.

Where I now live next to a Buddhist temple, it never seems to exhaust its funds for never-ending building on its (about) 3 rai of land and also helps itself to free electricity from a nearby electricty pole with coloured cable and no meter.   I doubt that is legal even for a temple in Thailand, which means they are stealing from the electricity company and ultimately from ordinary poor people who end up paying a bit more for their own supply.   If temples are entitled to free electricity by law, perhaps someone in the know would kindly inform me.

11 hours ago, Dustdevil said:

As a normal American (i.e., hates Trump) I agree with those who don't want Trump on any state visit. After all, they didn't invite Truman or FDR or even JFK until they'd been in office a while. On the other hand, also as an American, I am not impressed with being "granted" a visit with any ****ing queen. We are not subjects of any monarchy and unlike the self-righteous Canadians, we don't have a state with the name "British" in it.

So, Trump hater,  and British hater as well as not liking the Canadians very much?  Who do you really like?  Come on, do tell!  Presumably, a pretty short list?

The majority of my neighbours in my village in Thailand are from Sweden and most go back home on a regular basis. either short or long-term   All those I have spoken to are horrifiied about what has happened to their country over the past few years and are fearful for the future.  Many do not like Trump but feel that he has the right attitude towards this problem, as otherwise today's troubles will soon escalate out of control.

RIP to the poor guy, although he must have been one hell of a shot to hit such a small target.

It's about time they found some use for those bases and all their equipment.  Trouble is that a few tourists might make a good excuse to buy more carriers and submarines.  Thailand must be almost the only country in the World that buys all this stuff purely for tourism.

16 minutes ago, pokerface1 said:

At least he didnt accuse the media of making up false news. He makes a valid point though the media are only interested in reporting and sensationalizing the bad stuff.  

Tell me about the good stuff then!          Preferably on the back of a postage stamp.

I think that TAT should insist that, in its efforts to clean up Thailand, all bars should close at 10pm, and all sex establishments be closed down.  Then the PM would never have to follow Trump's example and consider building a wall around Thailand,  as nobody would be trying to get in.

If TAT has its way, the Government would never have the cash to build a wall anyway.

Clean up Pattaya but hoping to retain the same or more tourist numbers?  Somehow, I do not think so,  Look what is happening in Phuket where the business people there are claiming to be seriously affected by the decision to close bars early and are campaigning for them to be allowed to stay open until 4 am.  

Imagine what would happen if the sex industry there was curtailed as well? 

1 hour ago, loong said:

I have seen many Thais lounging in a hammock and completely un-bothered that the soles of their feet are pointing at someone. Nobody takes it as an insult. You know when it is intended as an insult, that is when someone raises their foot and deliberately points at you with the soles of their foot. People who complain about this are just looking for something to complain about a foreigner. Morons.

But...but...but,  This incident is damaging the image of Phuket.   Seriously, of all the things that need to be done to improve the image of Phuket, this supposedly negative incident pales into insignificance.  

I do not think that 70 is OLD.   I am 76 and I am still active and aiming for 100.  My Thai wife firmly believes I will make it and is hoping that I will outlive her (unlikely) as she does not want to be left on her own, even though she will be well taken care of when I am gone.

Of course, in the West wives normally outlive their husbands by a few years.  When one guy was asked why he thought men generally died before their wives, he replied "because they want to".  

Comprehensive investigations by his officials into his officials' affairs by next Friday.  Wow, if only the police could do that.  I suppose the extremely short time cycle allowed for the investigations is not too surprising when the result (clean bill of health all round) is known in advance.

Wow, everything in the garden is rosy then?     Except........ for the possibility of frost, mildew, excessive rain, drought, invasion by dogs, cats, moles, caterpillars, and/or vandals,  Still, look on the bright side....or else! 

A safer form of U-turn, recently installed on the dual carriageway (canal road) from Hua Hin to Cha-am is the one where a separate U-turn is provided for vehicles in each direction.  This means that vehicles using their U-turn coming from the opposite direction do not block the view of those using the other U-turn, placed some distance apart.  However, this does not stop inconsiderate vehicles and motor cycles from drawing alongside and in front, again blocking your view of oncoming traffic.  

So far, I have found the few round-a-bouts installed here to be a hazard as many vehicles simply ignore all the road markings and drive straight across at speed, not appreciating that vehicles already on the round-a-bout have preference. As in the West, they could work well, given proper education of all drivers.

As an aside, also a major hazard here are the number of  scooters without rear lights, even when the driver has a couple of kids on board. Do these people have no regard for their safety at all?  In most cases, a regular inspection of their scooter and a few baht for a replacement bulb is all that is required.  Last night, when travelling into Hua Hin from Palm Hills (about 9 km) I witnessed 7 scooters travelling without lights and the drivers with no helmets and often moving at speed.  One of them drove straight through a set of traffic lights showing 57 seconds before a light change.  Probably in a hurry to get home to his hammock but possibly heading for permanent residence in the local temple following cremation?

I am sure that the poster is a troll.  

However, having given the OP the benefit of the doubt, one poster suggested that Hua Hin was a possibility as a good place in which to retire.  Normally I would agree as I have retired happily here in Hua Hin, but then I am not wheelchair bound.  Everybody has to be carefull when WALKING around Hua Hin as the pavements are in a dreadful state, with missing pavoirs and missing or broken drain covers, plus low-hanging electric cables and exposed electric boxes.  Most tourists must find the lack of maintenance and resulting danger to pedestrians (and motorists also) an unwelcome revelation and quite shocking (sometimes literally).

How much would it cost to remedy most of these problems, resulting in a much more attractive town centre for locals and tourists alike, which would also help the tourism industry and this particular OP with his disability in particular?   We are constantly being told by TAT how much money tourism is raking in, but there is not too much evidence of much of it being spent on infrastructure, other than on the larger projects, which create good publicity.from the Junta's point of view.  The smaller but nevertheless very important items, such as pavement (sidewalk) maintenace never get mentioned and are rarely attended to, presumable because they are not newsworthy projects and because in Thailand there is daily evidence that safety considerations come almost last.