dhream

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

    For a few nights Lucky bar stayed open late , I had high hopes for it .

Two nights ago it got "raided" by the RTP at 1.30 AM and everyone got turfed out

 

The 'mega club' called Mandalay was pumping until dawn back in April, havn't been since as I was drinking with a younger crowd, and the entire security are off duty BiB, so it was the place to be back then, is it still a thing?

9 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

This topic feels like an alternate world.. I saw the headline and thought it would be about the large numbers of people around town.    It's a GREAT high season, in face I didn't even notice much of a low season, at all.

 

A smattering of gems:

 

 

Do you believe Flightradar24.com? 

 

Right?  Right.

 

 

Just in the tourist area there are 4-5 places that open very very late (early).  It's well and truly light when I still see some people stumble out of there.  Spotlight is now closing at 4am.  There's a new dance club (renovated Lucky Bar/Club) that stays open super late and is right on the moat.  And many many more.

 

 

So logically, either all of those people building hotels are stupid, or you missed something.  (And I know which one it is.)

 

I'm scrambling myself to grab more property;  in a couple years I will be saying here on this forum how low prices used to be in 2016 (relatively speaking) and nobody will believe me.    It's like free money flying in at CNX every 2-3 minutes and it needs grabbing!

Because property *never* goes down, the banks are too big to fail (only this time we have no money left to bail them in except the population's savings, just like Cyprus) Oh and a million other things stretched to the absolute limit, apart from investing here right now being somewhat optimistic to say the least. Now if you were looking at investments like, medicinal weed, pure water, alternative energy and traffic technology, I might put more faith in your optimism.

It takes an airline about an hour or two to change a route, just saying.

17 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 having to pay rip off taxi fees to get around after dark is a big disincentive to going out as well. In Pattaya the share baht buses run till well after midnight on the standard routes.

Imagine London if they said "6pm" only taxis from now on"!

 

Probably a good time to mention Uber and Grab both started in CM a month ago!

Support them! 

Screw those taxi and tuk tuk mafia jerks once and for all.

8 hours ago, trogers said:

Like I have said, he should just tell the court he needs to visit his grandmother who is going into labour...

'Sick Buffalo' story usually gets a result...

8 hours ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Please give my client bail as he's already been detained for one month and misses his wife and children !

Hardly a Rumpole of The Bailey or a Perry Mason style submission.

A dangerous plea, some sadist could grant him his wish, in a twisted way, and lock up the family with him!

9 hours ago, waldroj said:

It's hard to feel sorry for the protagonists (Jatuporn, and Prayut and his cronies) in this particular "battle" for the hearts and minds of the Thai people.

 

For Jatuporn it's a question of his freedom (because, he "... missed his wife and children so much...").

 

But for Prayut, it must be enough to make him want to bang his head against the wall - a decision where he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't !!!

 

Does he intercede so this "thorn in his side" can gain his freedom, or does he keep him locked-up and risk this becoming martyrdom ???

 

Waldroj, we got off to a rocky start a good while back (and it was my fault) but I appreciate your thoughts on most matters, some of the commentary beggars belief, so thanks for providing a little quality now and then.

Just now, billd766 said:

 

A totally different mindset completely.

 

Do you truly think that the abbot will order ALL his "supporters" to commit suicide or that the Wat is barricaded in and full of armed men just spoiling for a fight with the "government"?

 

IMHO the Thai nation will not tear itself apart because of this abbot as the people have seen too many abbots and monks like him over the past few years.

 

Living in rural Thailand and seeing the Wats around here then comparing them to the "flying saucer" is like comparing apples to motor cars. Out here many but certainly no all (mostly older people) support the temples and monks with food and help and some donations. In the city Wats richer people seem to want to buy their way to a better next life while screwing the poorer people for all they can get.

 

IMHO once again Buddhism in Thailand is going down a similar path that Christianity has gone. More people pay lip service to it than actually practice it fully. Look at all the hi-so men who get caught doing wrong and spending a couple of weeks in a Wat. Does that make them a better person or just saving face?

The waco comment was in context ONLY to how things escalate very badly when a SWAT mentality is used against a cult community.

And as you rightly point out, a 'cult' community vs the average Wat are apples and oranges, but...

The difficulty with Thailand is they don't yet actually distinguish cults from the 'real thing' so an attack on the UFO compound is basically an attack on the faith, one of the three 'pillars' of the nation. It's almost unimaginable any form of snatch operation will be attempted. 

But TiT it's anybody's guess, really, you could be right and I could lose face

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

 

Huh? Waco times 100? Nation tear itself apart?

Some responses get the responses they deserve...

Welcome to the ignore list, zero tolerance for troll posts, over it.

4 hours ago, freebyrd said:

Buddhism?! - looks more like an Egyptian Pharaoh's funeral - bizarre!

Katy Perry video? (Ask your kids).

4 hours ago, TSF said:

So reading this thread seems like the Chinese have dropped off all over Thailand. I live in Pattaya and have noticed a marked decrease these past few months. I had a feeling this would happen. For a long while there Thailand was the flavor of the month. So the Thais went crazy throwing up hotels all over the place so they could jump on the Chinese gravy train....but no thought to the prospect that something could happen and the Chinese could cease arriving.

And the worst is yet to come for China's bubble economy...

25 minutes ago, FredNL said:

One of my friends moved from Bangkok to S'ville (Cambodia) in 2013. 

In 2013 he bought a piece of land with direct access to the beach. He put 10 cottages on it in 2013, expanding to 20 cottages in 2014 and having guestrooms for backpackers 10 rooms with 6 berths each. In 2015 he expanded with another 20 cottages and this year another 20 cottages. He is fully booked since September 2016 up to March 2017.

 

He told me  a few weeks ago, when I was planning to visit him that he was full till March 2016. Most of the surrounding "resorts" are also fully booked. So business in S'ville is booming. He told me that most guest previously visited Thailand but having a hangover from Thailand right now... It has something to do with a gun and feet....

Not quite ready for Cambodie.

I did a bit of a scout there a few months ago, I have never had to block so many scams in my life!

In one high end burger joint, 'Lone Pine' the Maitre'D tried to steal $20 change, when I pointed out the error, he went away, and came back with $10. I then had some strong words, and got my change back in full, but he didn't even pretend to be wrong, or say sorry, it was all done wordlessly on his part.

That was the most outrageous of the daily capers these dimwits tried.

Also the bar hostesses, are not very hygienic, many cases of bad breath, body odour, oh and girl moustaches, stay classy, Phnom penh! 

4 hours ago, kwak250 said:

"High season" is a bit like 75 baht to the pound ..Both will never happen again..

The pound will be back, I have my money on it! If you are a foreigner who self funds in any other currency, buy it while its cheap.

The THB will plunge within two years, no need for a crystal ball, the writing is on the wall for anyone who cares to NOT watch Bloomberg etc...

45 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

C M nightlife .

It's dead by 10 pm and I gather they have to close at midnight.

I went to the small barbeer complex, but there are hardly any bargirls ( or even ladyboys ) in sight. Not surprising though, as hardly any customers.

Even less surprising given the prices they are asking. One would have to be seriously desperate to pay that much.

Local mentality on doing business is: 300% of nothing is worth more than 50% of something... wait, what?

And in even in the thai Mom & Pop 'sly grog' shops a large Singha is now THB 60. It's my preferred Thai brew, but I am just not wearing that hike in this economic climate, I'll learn to love some other poison.

And in Chiang Mai, there are scores of swish new apartment complexes, that are empty, and have been for years according to my informants, and still they're building more.

It is possible the Chinese are actually buying these, but I have not heard that. (The Chinese tend to buy new apartments, then sit on them, as they have this weird notion in China that a 'used' apartment is like a used car. So rather than rent, they sit on it and wait for a bigger fool.)

My cynical mind looks at this faux boom and thinks, 'drug money laundry'.

Whatever, theyre in a bad way, and it's going to get worse -globally.

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thai economy at work. When times are hard put the prices up.

Also, never improve anything. Just keep using the same stuff till it falls apart, then leave the debris in plain sight.

I went on a short "river cruise and temple tour". It was so bad it was almost laughable. The boat was dirty and poorly maintained. To get out to the decrepit and dangerous pier at the temples I had to crawl on hands and knees to get out of the boat. The temples themselves were run down, the information signs hard or impossible to read, the "guide" didn't speak passable English, and there was rubbish everywhere. To add insult to injury, the river tour itself took half as long as advertised, and the van to and from the hotel was a wreck with no AC.

All this in a town that advertises itself as a tourism hub.

I for one am NOT surprised that western tourists are staying away in droves. it's just not good value, and the traffic is insane.

Sounds like a nightmare, God help them if things really take a downturn, like another GFC.

One day they soon they will understand the meaning of price ceiling, but not before it is too late.

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

Ah the smell if diversity is in the air. 

Seems I copied the wrong post, but I will continue (apologies elgordo).

Grubster, you are on to something with your golf comment!

If they did a marketing campaign based on golf, they'd reach a brand new audience of raving fans, and go a long way to fixing their woes.

Instead they get another 'committee' to 'investigate' tourist jewellers? (Drawing unwelcome attention to one of their worldwide well known scams!)

Well, Whisky Tango Foxtrot!

They're having it in Bali this year...

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

Actually you should announce it then dont bother. Do that 5 or 6 times and then simply go in unannounced.

 

By that time his "supporters will be so tired of waiting they wont be aware of what is happening.

 

Get some Thai music trucks to drive around 24/7 playing VERY loud music for a few days, that should drive them crazy.

 Waco, Texas worked out well, didn't it? Times that disaster by 100 then sit back and watch the nation tear itself apart.

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Prayut had no problem arresting two eight-year old girls for violating the Referendum Act, but he can't take action against Dhammakaya Abbot because it might disturb the public. Where are the moral ethics of this government?

Disturb the public? He'd kick off the revolution his enemies are itching to have!

It's one thing to shut down the opposition by abusing certain sections of a certain law.

It's quite another to be seen to be attacking one of the 'pillars' of Thainess; Religion.

Yes we all know Dhamma is a naughty boy, but, again, they created this situation by creating a societal framework that the rule of law MUST subordinate itself to.

In 'The life of Brian', the ridiculous scene where the Pharisee stones himself for saying 'Jehovah' this is the farcical situation the PM has put himself into here.

I'm no Thai expert, a little reading (of quality external media) goes a long way.

11 hours ago, baboon said:

I am inclined to politely disagree.

If this monk is the demon he is alleged to be, why not draft clear charges against him, invite outside observers to ensure there is no kind of brutal or unnecessary force used in his arrest and then allow the said observers to witness and report on any subsequent legal action to both Thailand and the outside world?

Obviously face is an important cultural issue, but what face do the authorities have left to lose the way the situation is now?

Because, your reasonable sounding plan would not work.

As any experienced police commander/negotiator knows, outside observers (press or otherwise) would actually encourage his people to play up more! 

It is one of those situations where the authorities would look bad even defending themselves.

As I said they lose face either way. And as I also said, the Thai way to avoid face loss, or further face loss, is to stall. So they can and will stall until some other agency, such as death or whatever, overtakes the current situation.

You are underestimating the power of 'face', particularly the higher it goes, the further to fall.

Life lesson learned.

He's still streets ahead of millions of louts and vandals his age.

Best of luck to him going forward.

In just two years from now the world will likely be unrecognisable.

TWENTY years is an entire generation away, even the plodding Communists had enough sense to look no further ahead than 5 years, and that was a glorious fail too.

They seem obsessed with putting impossible restrictions on themselves, which come back to bite them time and again. 

A pinch of shards pushed up his corn chute will do the trick... he'll bonk like the Energizer bunny until lights out.

When will they realise they need a well paid foreign think-tank to deal with foreign tourist marketing.

They. Have. No. Clue.

My Pubcommitte could do a better job.

Now I know who buys all the drugs flooding across the border, they're off their tatas on something!

Can it get any more ridiculous?

Yes it can, more details in tomorrow's headlines.

Street corner shills have been 'promoting gemstones with the use of storytelling' for decades.