BritManToo

YUP, correct, and for the many Thai apologists here, what if the customer was a Thai and not a farang ?

Not many Thais use exchange booths in Thailand.

Mostly foreigners.

I love KFC in Thailand, have it at least once a week.

Couldn't stand it in the USA or UK, too slimy.

Have never eaten KFC in my entire life.

Who the heck would put that junk in their body

Me, I love it.

(6ft tall and 74Kg, exercise is the key)

Apart from the already mentioned cycle of poverty it perpetuates, the already mentioned fact that grandmum is worn out and doesn't make a good parent for these kids, it increases the odds of forcing the 15 year old into prostitution and she certainly isn't skipping off into the sunset to have adventures with unicorns and rainbows for the remaining years of her childhood.

What do you think normal teen life in Thailand (or anywhere else these days) is like?

Hmmm, me that far back, 1960s, I seem to remember bullying and gang fights, that was inner London.

Not to mention a few memorable beatings from my school teachers.

I'd love to know the age of the (presumably male posters) who say that it is "nature's plan" for 15 year olds to have kids. Yeah, maybe when humans lived in caves and didn't live much beyond age 30.

60, and well beyond the age of wanting sex with anyone, of any age.

Having babies at this age is normal and natural.

Only our twisted western society sees it as wrong.

Sarcasm or troll?

In case you are in earnest... Our western society deemed it "wrong" when we started to see the value - or better, necessity - of education in modern society, which requires being in school well past the age of 15. Thailand has modernised quickly and the "breeding like cats" mentality in the countryside hasn't entirely caught up with modern society. Fine if you want to be stuck being a rice farmer and a "frog under a coconut" for generation after generation.

Having spent a lot of time in the western education system (UK branch) I would like to point out continued education for many over the age of 13 is completely pointless, and more to do with keeping them off the streets than anything else.

Modern western society IMHO is largely a failure.

In Thailand kids can leave school at age 13, many more are thrown out at age 15.

I believe less than 20% of Thais finish high school.

95% of Thais are "dirt poor", that is how the Thai rulers like it.

Should we really be trying to force the failures in our society onto other societies?

If you are working in Thailand and already in the health system for six months, you can keep the cover (forever) even if you give up the job.

You just have to keep paying the premiums yourself, about 500bht a month I believe.

from the point of view of exports then yes she is right, in other respects we have yet to know just how much of an effect the rice scam will have on the value of the currency. But for us expats it's good news. we get more baht.

Here's a clue, the rice scheme fiasco will have absolutely no impact on the value of THB, why would it!

Because its bankrupted the country and brought it to the point of civil war?

No, because the relatively piddling monetary amounts of failed government polices, tend not to have much impact on the value of a closed currency, especially in a country where the foreign currency reserves are greater than the UK or the US.

Given your infinitely superior knowledge on the GBP/Thai bht exchange rate mechanism, would you care to remind us what exchange rate you were predicting for the end of last year?

from the point of view of exports then yes she is right, in other respects we have yet to know just how much of an effect the rice scam will have on the value of the currency. But for us expats it's good news. we get more baht.

Here's a clue, the rice scheme fiasco will have absolutely no impact on the value of THB, why would it!

Because its bankrupted the country and brought it to the point of civil war?

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

the cheapo Thai restaurants normally give free RO water which costs them less than 1 baht per liter

there are very good (non-economic) reasons why higher quality establishments do not provide this

1/2bht a litre where I am, I drink it all the time.

Not dead yet!

16 and married?

You can get married at 13 in Thailand, it's fairly common.

Also to point out home made bombs and guns are constructed fairly often by kids at tech college.

Lots of (school) gang wars all over Thailand, a homemade bomb was thrown outside a club in ChiangRai last week.

If you are not paying for the water and bread who is?

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266177/Diners-fury-refused-glass-water-posh-restaurant.html

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

The point I was making is this:

The restaurant/hotel owner has to pay for the water and the bread. The water bottler and baker do not give it away. Even the tap water has to be paid for.

This cost is passed on to the customer, either as a visible item on the bill or hidden in the cost of the meal.

So, there is no free water or bread (or salt & pepper, napkins, toilets...).

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

I usually agree with Transam and disagree with Jingthing.

In this case Transam is wrong, nothing wrong with a naked body.

This guy looked OK, wasn't doing anything obscene, and appeared to have no bad intent.

So just a victim of circumstances, get him dressed, get him sober and let him go.

I read the piece and thought to myself, I wonder how soon will the "another quality tourist" comment be posted. Bit slow off the mark today, it was the 7th comment, not even in the top five! All these people with their instant judgements from their little "thrones" never cease to amaze me. Do they ever stop to think that maybe the guy had been a victim of a rohypnol style robbery?

I wonder what quality people those proclaiming "another quality tourist" are?

The government buys rice with a promissory note.

The government fails to pay.

Happens in business all the time, a risk you take when you give a buyer credit.

Note to farmers, learn from your loss, don't sell to anyone without them paying cash again.

I've also lost money from trusting people, nobody offered to bail me out.

Why should farmers be in any different position.

Their greed (we will pay you more than the going rate) cost them money, learn and move on.

While being Thai confers many advantages, being only Thai would be a complete disaster.

So hopefully OP will get the chance to live in the UK with his boys for the required 5 years.

My cousin in the UK killed himself at age 16 while making a pipe bomb in his garage.

He had previously lost two fingers making bombs. That was 50 years ago.

Not just in Thailand!

(OK, so he didn't have a wife and kids)

I just shared an Orange Fanta with my friend at a Thai roadside cafe.

1 bottle of Fanta 12Bht, free ice, free water and two cups to make a fanta/water/ice mix.

wow,she's your wife and she wants to have a home of her own just like many other women on this planet,She will need you more now than ever for support,i don't think she will do a shifty on you as she would have made you pay for the home,It is nearly every woman dream to have their own home.

Quite a lot of women appear to dream of having their husbands home!

Thai goes on forever.

But your grandkids won't be British unless your kids go and live there for at least 5 years.

Ain't Britain great!

Why all the hate for the Duke's on TV? I don't get it.

Not me, I love the Dukes, best Pizza ever.

Mikes Burgers

Didn't like them, Sausage King and Gekko better.

I am not saying that she doesn't deserve respect - she just doesn't deserve any more respect than anyone else

I understand where you are coming from. I was pretty surprised to see the death of a daughter of a sort-of-famous musician getting so much attention.

It might be because dad and his pals have a lot of political clout in the UK.

(Bob, Waheed & Charlie funded and publicized Tony Blairs Labour Party election and win)

Most cheap charlies will say its not the money its the principal, after they have complained about the price of something.

The world is being slowly destroyed by wasteful people.

I don't want to be one of those people. That is my principal.

I use 1 tea bag to make 2 cups of tea!

(Dilmah Ceylon tea bags from Makro @129Bht for 100)