fxm88

My one humble suggestion is to teach them how to read first before you teach them any conversational english or grammer. Spend at least a month or two mastering the sounds of vowels and consonants and how they form words in the English language. After you finish the reading part, move on to speaking.

This is very good advice for students or babies or anyone. I taught my son using this method and it came as no surprise that his first spoken word was "ambidextrous". On the minus side he didn't speak another word until he was 17.

Wow, I'm surprised The Nation would publish such an obvious propoganda piece! Clearly this was planted by some group of investors wishing a dip in the market so that they can snap up lots of property. I've always put more faith in The Nation than in, say, Pattaya City News but now I guess I'll have to reassess that opinion.

Just out of curiosity does anyone know the laws for houses built over the water? What kind of ownership issues apply to that? Can one (Thai or otherwise) own submerged "land"? Do these houses come with registries (for marriage, birth, voter registration, etc.)? What about houses built over inland lakes?

I am reminded of some American states that allowed "riverboat" or "dockside" casinos -- in practice it was usually a floating barge semi-permanently attached to a riverside dock. Some clever operators started building inland lagoons, pumping over some river water, floating a casino on it and calling it a "riverboat". But America is a nation of laws and lawyers and they're still fighting it out in the courts. I think in Thailand it'd be a little harder to quote the law at some powerful local autocrat.

My Thai makes the (Thai Logic) case that we should pay for the repair because we are the ones using the AC unit...!  I don't agree.

I don't agree either. These kinds of costs are supposed to be accouted for in your rent. If anything your cost to repair it should be no more than proportional to how much you've used it by its total lifetime use (including before you got there). But I don't think it's the Managment Office's responsibilty, unless you're saying that they're the owners. Who do you pay your rent to?

If the rich, advantaged twerps can't set an example for the rest of the country, they deserve everything that's coming to them.

Wow. A cold but understandable sentiment. Perhaps you might enjoy watching these (the first half of the first one and the last half of the second one):

http://www.pbs.org/media/commandingheights...3_11_qt_300.mov

http://www.pbs.org/media/commandingheights...3_14_qt_300.mov

You should be aware that this man has since gone on to become a minor success again, mostly from the lecture/motivational-speaking circuit, but that shouldn't spoil it for you.

I will be needing to get a broadband connection soon, at the moment I am using a friends TrueDSL service and it sucks as I am constantly fiddling with websites and the true Proxy is annoying as hel_l when checking the changes I have made are OK.

Is this a government filtering proxy of some sort? I knew that they were monitoring International faxes -- try sending a fax with "objectionable" content and it'll get cut off every time -- but I wasn't aware that they were censoring the Internet.

How do Thais view white gold?

Thais don't like white gold because it makes their skin look black(er). Same goes for platinum which is also more expensive but also harder to sell/pawn. I'm surprised (black) Onyx jewelry isn't more popular.

a) the hospital's local Amphur office mispelt my middle name in Thai on the Birth certificate

You're farang right? So how do they mispell your middle name in Thai? When we were putting my name on my baby's birth certificate we just made up a transliteration of my name -- were we supposed to do it a more official way? We haven't applied for any passports yet.

He will be given 30 days. But will not be subject to overstay fine next time he leave Thailand.

But what happens if the police stop him for whatever reason and find that he has overstayed as per http://www.thaivisa.com/303.0.html ?

Pattaya City Suspends Municipal WiFi Project

Pattaya City has cancelled a pilot program that offered free wireless Internet access to visitors, saying that the service wasn't popular enough to justify the cost. The cancellation may give fuel to opponents of municipal wireless deployments.

The project was launched in May 2004 and provided free Internet access to computer users in beach areas including Tops Plaza and parts of Walking Street. It was designed to support as many as 200 users at once, but only about 2 people a day were using it. City officials kept the system running for 17 months--long past the initially planned six-month trial period--but eventually concluded that low user rates didn't justify the 72000 baht per month it took to keep the system running.

Beach vendor Khun Sirivet Sarumpatchnatree was quoted as saying "My customer [enjoys using this service to read] email and surf [the Internet]. [Without this] service why [would] my customer come to [the] beach?"

A spokesman for the city says they're going to explore other options about how to fund the network, including corporate sponsorships, and that it might bring the free network back at some point in the future.

Networks like these have come under attack from citizens who don't want tax dollars funding the projects, as well as from telecommunications providers who say the cities are competing with private enterprise.

The Manfarang -- Thailand's Finest Newsource

Monday 31st October 2005

Are there GP's (general practitioners) here as well as specialists?  Does one visit a GP first, like in Europe, and then go to a specialist if required?

Without insurance there's no gatekeeper granting or witholding access to the costlier services of specialists. You can get any service you want... as long as you pay for it.

Not many couples at it then? 

No, not a lot of breeders here. Perhaps it's something in the water -- like all that whiskey!

Did really want to know if anyone had used the Banglamung Hospital

All my Thai friends are too scared to go to Banglamung Hospital. I have no direct experience.

I remembered an article yesterday mentioning that you could go to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital on Saturdays and perhaps even Tuesdays for breathing exercise classes in the morning period, possibly 10 am if I remember rightly.

I wish I'd known that 2 months ago!

I told GF about this and she told me absolutely no way she's interested, charming!

Yes, well Thai girls are generally clueless about childbirth -- Whaddya mean it hurts? Our obstetrician preferred to not show my wife any childbirth movies. For a C-section under optional general anaesthetic breathing is moot. I've only been through it once but Pattaya International seems OK. C-section and 3 nights in a private room, 24 hour care for mommy and newborn, you won't even have to change a diaper. Everything included (except for husband's meals) for 44K baht. Oh, and don't even ask about diaper services unless you want to get your head chewed off.

Aren't you that troll-admin from the Cambodian teachers website (Irate & Co)?

As a matter of fact... no. The closest I ever came to teaching was when I accompanied a friend to a poor, rural Thai school. After the requisite "Good morning teacher [it was afternoon]...How are you...Am fine, thank you" I was at a loss. I couldn't even get them to sing Do ron ron's for me. And that just about wrapped it up for my teaching career.

If i remember rightly, you said Thaivisa website is for losers and boozers, other?

You'll get no disagreement from me there. ;-)

Weren't you banned from Thaivisa 4 profanity & vulgarity once 2 years earlier?

As a matter of fact I was banned -- and let's be honest, who hasn't been -- but for an entirely different matter.

You didn't state your preference but to many girls "engagement ring" means diamond ring. First you should be aware that diamonds, no matter where you buy them, are a rip-off, and can be especially so in Thailand. If you can keep it a secret then I suggest you buy a used one. Look in the classifieds, or maybe ebay. Pawn shops & jewelry shops will pay about 20 cents on the dollar compared to the retail price so you should be able to get one that had a retail price of around US$8000 -- a pretty nice ring.

Never tell your fiance about this.

28,000 Baht for flowers?

I actually have no idea of such costs but that seems way too much.

I don't know about weddings or arrangements or lilies or other flowers but I do know that a single long stem red or pink rose in decent condition costs 5 baht from a street vendor. Bought in bulk 28.000 baht would surely get you at least 6K roses. Heaped in a big pile in the middle of the room might make them an impressive "arrangement".

All,

The good news: a Thai friend surprisingly has all of her teeth. The bad news: she may need to have her wisdom teeth removed. Any recommendations for or against any D.D.S.'s / Oral Surgeons in Pattaya? (Or barbers?)

D.D.S. is Doctor of Dental Surgery, maybe also called a D.M.D. Might this degree go by another name is Thailand? Google isn't turning up a whole lot. If there aren't any good ones in Pattaya, a trip to Bangkok might be possible.

Thanks!

I see a lot of local people walking around bangkok with bandages & patches over one of their eyes... What's this about?

Well, you know Thai people: anything for a baht. But I was in Cambodia the other day and it was like everyone was walking around with metal hooks instead of hands. What's up with that?!

Must say I am pretty impressed with the elevated connection from Asoke to Lumpini park, though.  Great for cycling from Sukhumvit to Lumpini withough being exposed to traffic.  Once you get used to smell from the open sewer on the Asoke-Soi 2 Section of the path, that is.

Yes!! You got the stink of the sewer coming from the one side and the stink of whatever they're spraying on the tobacco at the Monopoly coming from the other. When you pass out make sure not to fall in the water.

Yeah see the point BT, and as I say for me its no problem as I only come here for the pattaya news, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the pattaya residents agreed with you.

Only come here for the news? Wow, that's really not saying much about this forum. If you're really only interested in the news perhaps you should go straight to BM's sources at http://www.pattayacitynews.net/, http://www.pattayapeople.com/. You'll get just the "news", albeit without BM's commentary -- oh wait! there is no commentary, unless bold or the occasional smiley is commentary. Plus you'll be supporting those websites by viewing the advertising.

Magic button - Ignore button

I agree that the Ignore button is indispensable. However, it does not keep an ignored posters threads from showing up, which would be a nice option.

do they still make the satang coins ? and why ?

One-satang coins? No I don't think so. But the 25 and 50 satang coins are fairly common. Some shops still have prices with [50] satang e.g. 7-11, Big-C, and some of the bus routes. Perhaps it helps keep inflation down? Or maybe it allows inflation it creep up, slower than consumers would otherwise notice. Without satang visiting Wat Pho's Reclining Buddha and its 108 alms bowls would be 4x more expensive.

I've got a a plan to get foreigners to protest farang pricing by paying the overage in satang. (But who wants to carry around pockets full of satang?)

I'm waiting to see the 99-baht coins.

Will the 2-baht coins still fit in my ear?

Could we please bring this forum back to being about Pattaya and not pattaya news and it's over exagerrations and lies.

Man, you've hit the nail on the head!

What's the over-under on how soon before he starts posting transcripts of PMTV's "International News"?

Your title mentions Visa On Arrival and your post mentions Stamp. Please note that these are different things. The 30-day stamp is technically not a visa. The Visa On Arrival is a visa you can apply for and get at the airport but it is for people of nationalities that cannot receive the 30-day stamp. It can be confusing when you arrive at the airport and see the signs for Visa On Arrival.

See http://www.thaivisa.com/274.0.html for a little more info

Anybody know where the Golden Beach Hotel is on second road? Looking to stay there but don't want to be too far away from the centre.

With a name like that I know where it's NOT: anywhere near the beach! I'd stay away from any hotel with Garden, Beach, View, Sea, etc., or any combination thereof, in its name.

30 baht per person in a fairly comfortable air-conditioned busis not a bad deal if you've got time and the bus is going where you want to go or you want to do a little sightseeing. But since they have no customers and Thailand being Thailand I expect they'll soon hike up the fare.

yep for aircraft. Helicopter traffic mainly.

This must be quite expensive for the 1 or 2 helicopters that fly through Bangkok in any given month. Or do building owners have to foot the bill for these? That's quite a subsidy to the aviation community! Do they turn them off at night to conserve energy? All Season's Place/The Conrad must be especially concerned about stray pilots -- I think they've got about 50 of these on their towers.

Anyone with a barber pole fetish would do well to visit Hong Kong. Or Poland.

Just a bit on the "corn fed" cows. I'm pretty sure that in the states and europe they grow "forage corn" and the cow is fed the whole plant, either just chopped up or made into silage. I dont know weather this would make it a "corn fed" cow or not really....there is probably some legal defination of it. I would of

"Corn fed beef" is almost a euphemism. In the States, and maybe Europe, corn is highly subsidized so it's cheap. It's also easy to transport and high in calories. If not for the cheap corn it would never be fed to cows. I don't know if corn is similarly subsidized in Thailand. Maybe rice could be used instead. In any case, corn or any grain is hard on the digestive tracts of animals evolved to eat grass so lots of antibiotics must be mixed in with the feed to control the overgrowth of bacteria. Some gourmets prefer the taste of grass fed beef.