Diablo Bob

I think you can forget the bus. Train is an option, and you can change to CM line in Khorat.

Rent a private transport (pick up) will be next choice, but more expensive?

Bergen, the change to the Northern line would be in Ayuttaya.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful write ups so far,

I am beginning to feel that the pluses certainly outweigh the minuses,

only confirming my extensive online search for the best place to live in LOS, matching my kind of place !

the only real concern is still my cat, but I have already had lots of really useful guidance on that through my other posts,

wishing you all a great time out there

Peace ..

You shouldn't worry so much about your cat. Cats are great at adapting. But you should keep the cat indoors and then you would not have to worry at all. My cats stay inside 95% of the time. They only go outside in the garden for a few minutes when someone is out there with them. I live far away from any busy street so no worries about them being run-over. But like everywhere in Thailand there are vicious soi dogs that run loose in my moobaan as well as other cats that will fight and probably have never had a vaccine. There are ticks now... Also my cats are purebred and quite exotic looking so they would be stolen in no time if they roamed the streets. Simple solution. Keep them inside. No worries.

Here is another option for your cat....

Cat Stew

One cat, skinned, pieced

Couple of onions, potatos, other veggies yer

choice ..chop or slice em ....however

1 can of mushroom soup

2 cans of beef gravy

1 can of water

Tbsp each of pepper, garlic salt

Boil the cat meat in a large pot of water

with a half cup of salt for about half a day.

Pour the water out and add all the stuff to it.

Bring to a boil, then simmer covered 4 to 8 hrs.

Serves 8 (or 1 for a week).

Gravy is good sopped up with week-old bread.

You can eat other stuff with it too.

Drink beer

(TIP: 3 day old cat is more tender and

easier to skin) Now you can go out without a worry......

At the risk of sounding cynical you wouldnt like to make a small wager that we will all be here on October the 18th would you?

Don't take my word for it. Here's the proof from NASA Jet propulsion Lab:

C/2010 X1 Elenin is shown on there and the trajectory. They say its a comet, but its no comet... This thing is bigger than Jupiter. If it was a comet, it would be all over the news by now because of the

proximity of which it will be near earth. Yet, you have heard nothing.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=elenin;orb=1;cov=1;log=0;cad=1#cad

To put this into perspective:

The various claims about Elenin include a) it will hit us, it will cause earthquakes c) we will pass through the tail and unspecified Bad Things ™ will happen.

The Earth as seen from Elenin at closest approach on 16 October (in this Celestia simulation)

Elenin will not hit us. The closest it will come is around 0.24 AU (where an AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun). That’s only a little closer than the closest approach of Venus to Earth, and roughly 100 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. That’s really, really far away (you think it’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll, but that’s nothing compared to space*).

As the comet passes through the asteroid belt as it is doing now, and is exposed to the small gravitational tugs its orbit will change very slightly. This is important to us guys with big telescopes who need to point them really, really accurately, but even if the orbit changes by the distance of the Earth the to Moon (which would be a pretty big shift), then Elenin is still nowhere near the Earth. Nor is the debris in the comets orbit going to hit. We might get a decent meteor shower, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. As it is, the comet has passed it closest encounters, and its orbit hasn’t changed appreciably.

Eleinin will not cause earthquakes, as I’ve written before, even at closest approach Elenin has less than a billionth of the tidal force of the Moon. It will do nothing. Passing through Elenin’s tail will do nothing, its tail will be doing a very good approximation of a vacuum (and its not even clear its tail will reach Earth). We’ve been through cometary tails before of bigger and brighter comets (eg Halley), and nothing has happened.

How big is comet Elenin, then. Lots of people are claiming it is “big” for example “..when i look at the size of the orbit that this thing is huge, heavy…”. Well, orbital radius has nothing to do with the size of a comet, lots of long period comets are quite small. In the case of Elenin, it’s around 3-4 km in size, a bit smaller than Halley (6x 16 Km). We have a reasonable idea of its size from its brightness. Roughly speaking, at a given distance from the sun, the bigger an object is, the brighter its is. Of course, this also depends on how dark it is as well. Comets mess things up a bit as they are brighter than you expect from their size alone, as they are surrounded by a coma of gas and dust reflecting the light of the Sun. Now, comet Elenin is currently roughly magnitude 14, if it were the size of say, the asteroid Vesta, with a diameter of 530 Km, it would be at least magnitude 7 at its current distance. So Elenin has to be fairly small.

I feel better........

For more: http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2011/04/will-c2010-x1-elenin-comet-of-doom.html

Thanks for telling and I will urge everyone to be careful about 747 Airplanes. I recalled when I took 747 China Airline back to US in 1975, it flew so smooth and now 36 years later 747 airplanes needs to replace and I see no one does anything yet? Help? and explain to me please. The week before I heard the New airplane that carried 535 passengers came to San Francisco but, I was too busy to visit the Airport. Hope to see it in service soon. I will report to you all...

/.

You are implying that the Boeing 747's they are using today are 36 yrs old, which is not true. The 747 is still in Production, and are being sold today.

Barry

Even if the aircraft was/is 35 years old there shouldn't be much of a reason for concern, IF the aircraft was properly maintained and serviced it stii has many more years of service life. The main concern is metal fatigue which during an aircraft is x-rayed and anayzed for fatigue. When issues like the Southwest Airlines 737 appear, a service bulletin is sent out and the maintainence crews look specifically for that service problem. Properly mainained aircraft can be around a long time......

Boeing 40C its first ever commercial passenger airplane (1927), is still flying today, not commercially though........

A few more.....

Qantas 747s seem to be going through a rough patch with their engines -- about 2 weeks ago a Sydney - Singapore QF flight had an engine shut-down over Bali, but the crew decided to carry on to Singapore as it was only 2 hours to go.

Thanks for telling and I will urge everyone to be careful about 747 Airplanes. I recalled when I took 747 China Airline back to US in 1975, it flew so smooth and now 36 years later 747 airplanes needs to replace and I see no one does anything yet? Help? and explain to me please. The week before I heard the New airplane that carried 535 passengers came to San Francisco but, I was too busy to visit the Airport. Hope to see it in service soon. I will report to you all...

/.

You are implying that the Boeing 747's they are using today are 36 yrs old, which is not true. The 747 is still in Production, and are being sold today.

Barry

Even if the aircraft was/is 35 years old there shouldn't be much of a reason for concern, IF the aircraft was properly maintained and serviced it stii has many more years of service life. The main concern is metal fatigue which during an aircraft is x-rayed and anayzed for fatigue. When issues like the Southwest Airlines 737 appear, a service bulletin is sent out and the maintainence crews look specifically for that service problem. Properly mainained aircraft can be around a long time......

Boeing 40C its first ever commercial passenger airplane (1927), is still flying today, not commercially though........

I'd be very concerned about swimming in untreated fresh water here, due to concerns about various parasites that inhabit the fresh water of Thailand. I'm not very fond of chlorine or salt water pools, either, but I find that if I shower immediately upon exiting those pools I can avoid rashes. Rashes from treated pool water is better than the other stuff you can pick up from fresh water swimming here.

Here's a description of one of the less lethal parasites commonly found in fresh water lakes here:

http://dermnetnz.org...mmers-itch.html

And here's a more complete description of others from this source http://www.indexmund...s_diseases.html :

water contact diseases acquired through swimming or wading in freshwater lakes, streams, and rivers:

Leptospirosis - bacterial disease that affects animals and humans; infection occurs through contact with water, food, or soil contaminated by animal urine; symptoms include high fever, severe headache, vomiting, jaundice, and diarrhea; untreated, the disease can result in kidney damage, liver failure, meningitis, or respiratory distress; fatality rates are low but left untreated recovery can take months.

Schistosomiasis - caused by parasitic trematode flatworm Schistosoma; fresh water snails act as intermediate host and release larval form of parasite that penetrates the skin of people exposed to contaminated water; worms mature and reproduce in the blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and intestines releasing eggs, which become trapped in tissues triggering an immune response; may manifest as either urinary or intestinal disease resulting in decreased work or learning capacity; mortality, while generally low, may occur in advanced cases usually due to bladder cancer; endemic in 74 developing countries with 80% of infected people living in sub-Saharan Africa; humans act as the reservoir for this parasite.

Most of the well-educated Thai people we know won't let their kids swim in fresh water.

Almost 40 years ago, I contracted what I thought was "Trench Foot" while is the military in this part of the world. I assumed that this was from the constant wading through rice paddies, canals etc.

This trench foot causes my feet to dry out, the skin cracks and nothing will make it go away, sometimes I can't even walk from the pain! After a week or so, it disappears for a few more years. I have been to doctors in the West who have tried to remidy this condition but nothing seems to work.

I would use caution when swimming in the lakes. I do know that my skin condition was caused by a never ending emersion in water where swimming is a totally different set of conditions, but still be carefull.

Beware

Double post

Go to page 8 of this forum, you will find YOUR thread from 2 weeks ago, nothing has changed in the last 2 weeks....

On super highway, opposite side of the highway of Carrefour, is a store called YOK. Basically a baking supply store, upstairs has appliances and glassware.. Give it a try.

The law is very vague, and yes there is a big long list of jobs that foreigners are explicitly prohibited from doing whether for pay or for free.

For example; the way the law is written a "retiree" could be arrested for gardening in his own back yard (the law specifically prohibits foreigners from doing gardening work (manual labor) and as written in the law, could be interpreted as taking a job away from a Thai.

Ehm.. No. Gardener is not a restricted profession. Actually very few of the restricted professions impact Western foreigners at all, the main one being 'tour guide and tourist organising agency'. All the other ones are in the category of manual labor like brick laying, hair cutting, alms bowl making and so on.

See: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/160.php

So no need to feel worried about planting some petunias in your property owner's garden.

Also the list of restricted professions does not apply in this particular topic; it is not that 'musician' is a restricted profession, the issue was that playing music was deemed 'work' (which is what most of the debate has been about) and that the performers did not have a work permit for this particular activity and location.

Anyway, the above is mostly to add some facts on the specific example you stated. The larger point you made that there is a massive gray area and indeed a slippery slope that relates to doing just about anything in Thailand of course stands.

I don't know Winnie, legal and litigation are also prohibited, seems like a lot of "Legal" opinions on this thread. Are they breaking the law????

Who do suppose actually builds the homes for Kensington? Sure as hell isn't a Falang! It is Thai construction workers with Thai supervision..... Inasmuch as your criteria for a quality home is the foreign ownership of the developer, then try Jasmine (Very high quality) and there are quite a few more companies around town.

A previous post recommended a Falang supervisor, won't happen, construction & engineering are prohibited fields for Falangs.

the guy is english hes from Cornwall hes name is graham i know him and he does over see every thing spends most of his days driving from job to job

checking everything

Get real, he isn't supervising the work, he is acting as QC/QA for the work something that any responsible company would do...... the work is still be performed by Thai's.

Or look at it this way, IF he actually had a "Good" team he wouldn't have to spend "Most of his days driving from job to job checking everything" it would already be done correctly!

I found the referenced article/opinion to be over the top.....

I agree that there might be a segment of the expat community in Thailand that exists just to hit the night spots, but I personally think that this is a small segment of our community.

Prior to getting married, I ventured on occasion into the nether regions of Bangkok and Pattaya, have nothing but good memories to reflect on about those times. But I don't think that would qualify as being a sexpat!

I have mixed emotions and thoughts about Thaksin. Having lived in Issan you can see not only the good but the bad that his policies brought to the area. The "Main" good that I saw was the improvements to the highways and roads during his tenure, which I must admit has continued since his departure. I think that his pandering to the population of Issan with policy was good for this region. I think that the reason Issan supports Thaksin is that they don't want to see a return of the attitudes of previous governments where they were ignored and forgotten.

I really despise Thaksin though, for all the good he might have accomplished, his quest for power & enrichment no matter the consequences, for his own benefit over rides everything that he ever accomplished.

The election coming up reminds me of elections in the USA. There are only two choices and if "None of the Above" was on the ballot, which would win?

I'm quite surprised that TV allows such blatant anti-Thai posts.

Several posters think they have the right to take jobs from 'poor Thais' and look down on 'poor Thais'.

Decide which Thai laws are correct and which are unjust, and then complain about the Thai police.

Those foreigners who know better than Thais how to run the country aren't welcome in Thailand by anybody.

Go home!

In my opinion any foreign musician who works illegally in Thailand should be deported and never allowed to return.

Ignorance of the law has never been a valid excuse for breaking it in the west, why should it be any different here.

Foreign musos who play for FREE in a restaurant are not taking jobs from Thais. They are in fact creating jobs for Thais if the ambience attracts additional people to enjoy the music because obviuosly the venue needs more Thai staff to serve food and drink.Nobody is telling Thais how to run their country and if you speak to any intelligent Thai person they will tell you the same ,they are frankly embarrassed by this ridiculous knee jerk reaction from Thai immigration.One restaurant I have just left tonight, and who used to have music, is now having to lay off staff. Thats the stupidity of this argument, everyone loses.

Well said; Sarah's joke...er bloke should goose step his way back to 1930's Germany. Unbelievable.

Much ado about nothing! I agree with Sarahsbloke. We have 5 musicians who broke the law.... It doesn't matter if you agree with their interpretation of the law, bottom line is that immigration say's they broke the law, end of story. It doesn't matter IF every other country in the world accepts jamming, here it is against the law!

We have 10 pages dedicated to a subject that all the bitching and moaning won't make a difference. Maybe someday they will interpret the law differently, but until then it's against the law......

david oxon

re ... The river's looked very high the few times I driven by this week

uhhhh ... what ?

no offence but

pic 1.. taken 3 days ago

pic 2 .. taken 20 sept 05

so i dont think we or gonzo need to worry yet ..

regards ... dave2

These were taken on September 2005 down Charoen Mueng. This was just the begining of the flooding.

All you self rightious cry babies that act like,think they know Thailand get a life. The bars owners were knowingly breaking the law. This one guy talking about guitarman was bad while the jaz place was different is absurb. A very simple concept in that the men were playing music with no work permits to the benifit of bar owners selling their wares and both therefore were in fact breaking Thai laws,No matter what you say they were taking Thai jobs away from the Thai people that were born here,that live here and need the exposure and to make a living.. Stop with the writing books of driveling on this topic of how you want it to be,how you think it is and how upset you are,nobody cares and it changes nothing. . The guy comparing Rosa Parks to these bar loosers may well take the cake!. Sorry folks but here 'white doesn't make it right" so get over it and turn the page!

. I know you all think you are somehow special and yes we are all so special as God children but here we are visitors, guest of Thailand so stop crying me a river... it is getting old.

Thank you yesterday, my sentimants exactly.

...there are good ones and bad ones. I think it is probably the same everywhere and a bit of a gamble, here or in any other country...

That is not true. In places like California, Germany, Japan, etc. there are strict building codes. It has to be built properly to begin with. There are inspections, liability insurance, criminal liability and so forth. The builders, electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc. all have to be licensed and bonded.

Most of the buildings where I lived in Prague were 300+ years old. Some of the buildings where were almost 1000 years old and still standing! It was due to the quality craftsmanship. Newly erected buildings were built to the highest possible standards.

But I do agree that there are some excellent builders in Thailand. But there are too many 'builders' here that have only the most basic construction skills and no theory or formal education of how to do it properly or safely. Many use the cheapest materials that don't last.There is no oversight by anyone to assure safety. If you want quality you have to pay for it. But it is here. All you have to do is look.

While I agree with you on the standards of construction in the West. I think that you should be forthcoming about your 300-1000 year old structures.

These structures were typically constructed out of quarried stone, typically took decades to construct. The typical end user was the church or gentry of the land. The fact that these structures are in use today says more about the structural additions and upgrades that have been made in the last 100 years then the original construction.

The reason many old structures in SE Asia and elsewhere in the world have not received the same care is more about the end user (Religion) no longer being around than the quality of the work.

Finally, your assertion that it takes theory and formal education to properly construct a structure, well many if not most of the great cathedrals of Europe were constructed and designed by masons with absolutely no formal education. The true barometer in that day and age was "If it doesn't fall down, we are good to go!".

Unfortunately, most of the structural inovations that we see today are based upon the failures of the past. It isn't until a structural analysis of a failure is performed do solutions become developed. The Northridge earthquake in 1994 destroyed a lot of Masonry structures, the analysis of what happened during the quake, how the structure failed led to a total re-write of the building code in Los Angeles for masonry structures. In addition the new code mandated the retrofit of ALL masonry structures in LA County.

My take on it.....

I discovered a new bar last Friday

Live Thai band playing Thai rock

First 3 large Changs for 100bht (140bht for 3 after that)

3 Coyote dancers on stage with the band (shorts and crop tops)

15 serving girls aged 20+ all wearing high heels and short shorts (men don't pour drinks in Thai bars)

I really don't understand why anyone would want to go to a 'farang bar' pay for overpriced beer and listen to white men playing music badly.

The music scene in CM rocks, and it doesn't involve white amateurs.

Making a good point BUT missing THE point completely...

Totally correct , you failed to give us the name and address of this new bar.....

theres no such thing as a good thai builder talk to Kensington owned buy an english guy graham

they have a web site look them up forget thais there just farmers with a hammer

That is a lot of crap. There are many skilled Thais in all areas of construction. Most of the best houses in Chiang Mai are 100% Thai built.

well the 20 or so i looked at when i was thinking of buying one was not one of them shabby rubbish knocked up by farmers damp ill fitting doors

tilling that a drunk monkey would be ashamed of the plumping has more silicone on it than homepro has on its shelfs because they dont use plumper tape just

over tighten everything so its cracks and leaks so i dont take back what i said at all

they could not build a dog kennel fit for a soi dog

talk to Kensington the only building company in chiang mai thats has the first idea of what there doing if you want something from 5 mill up

and dont want a swimming pool in you living room every wet season that is you get what you pay for buy cheep buy twice

Who do suppose actually builds the homes for Kensington? Sure as hell isn't a Falang! It is Thai construction workers with Thai supervision..... Inasmuch as your criteria for a quality home is the foreign ownership of the developer, then try Jasmine (Very high quality) and there are quite a few more companies around town.

A previous post recommended a Falang supervisor, won't happen, construction & engineering are prohibited fields for Falangs.

Bin Laden Given Religious Funeral Prior to Sea Burial

Published May 02, 2011

Osama bin Laden was given a religious funeral prior to his burial at sea, senior

military officials told Fox News.

Religious rites were conducted on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft

carrier at about 1:10 a.m. Monday in the Persian Gulf.

In accordance with Islamic practice, bin Laden was washed and wrapped in a

white sheet before buried at sea at 2 a.m. local time, senior U.S. military

and intelligence officials said.

Then, "In accordance with common US Navy SEAL practice, the Team pissed on him, stuck a pulled pork sandwich in his mouth and a kosher hot dog up his ass, and pushed the Mother fuc_ker overboard with the other garbage," a senior SEAL officer said.

As you leave Nakorn Ratchasima going South on Hwy 304 (Towards Hwy 24) there used to be lot after lot of used cars for sale, I mean thousands of cars. This was around 5 years ago though, things might have changed.

When I had my wedding, MANY years ago, we had a catering company come to Buriram from Poi Et. They provided all the tables & chairs, food & booze. Each table for 4 had 2 bottles or booze, beer on demand etc. Cost for the 150 guests was 30,000 baht.

I would check on the beef, many people in Issan won't/don't eat beef, either because of cost or for whatever reason,they prefer pork. Before you purchase a lot of beef confirm that it would be appreciated and eaten.

Life is what you make of it, right? If you want to relax and have the advantage of going to a beach where you can swim and walk around, then Koh Samui is the place to go.

Sure JomJom offers lots of things to do, but you might as well head to Brighton or Wildwood or Acapulco. Koh Samui lets you have access to western advantages but it also allows access to some uniquely Thai things. The point of coming to Thailand is to have a pleasant change right? What's the point of living in a high density western enclave? That's my biased view. Whether its JomJom or Samui, crime is crime, touts are everywhere and obnoxious hookers infest most bars, but a bit of common sense serves one well.

One of my favourite spots on Koh Samui is its airport. I'm sure this will bring out the sarcastic comments, but its the most beautiful airport in Thailand. A delay there is like a stay in the lobby of an upscale hotel. It makes the Phuket airport seem like a visit back in time.

I raher like the Umphang terminal myself, scary approach but the waterfalls are well worth the flight.

El Diablo is most authentic (and very friendly and good service)), homemade chips and pickled veg for free!!! Miguels doesn't understand Mexican Comida, putting lettuce in a burrito and then toasting it like a panini?!? Salsa Kitchen not bad for some things.

What's the relationship between Comida and putting lettuce in a burrito etc.? Comida in Mexico means "Main meal" not a dish....

Well someone figured out why I mentioned Halliburton/buffet. For the non believers, today's military often have a choice of food which could be called a buffet. The next question for the all knowing ones, that originally mentioned Halliburton on this topic and yesterday, may be, what does Catholic, mentioned in my post have to do with Friday?

OK, I'll bite, should probably know but don't so ........ what is the answer?

Whether the Friday buffet at Holiday Inn is the brain child/result of American, Pakistani, Thai, Catholic or whoever, it is a good experience for what you pay. Halliburton was mentioned and they also have vast experience in providing buffet selections around the world (they may have Texan cooks for all I know), but they are known for Friday night steak and tail. For TV members to judge food/buffet by the nationality of the owner, cook, etc, of any establishment would indicate their lack of adventure, culinary tastes, and even knowledge, if I may be so bold as to suggest this.

If our resident expert on food in CM, (where art thou UG) based his opinion on the various nationalities of the owners, help,cooks, etc, we could revert back to the old food ratings/guide.

I went to Sunday Holiday Inn buffet , so they have one Friday night as well?

I have to ask what are you talking about Halliburton buffet?/ The only buffet they offer is a buffet of death using their paid private army as they search out oil fields around the world.Halliburton is an oilfield serach out develope company huge. I have no clue why the other TV boy or girl brought up halliburton but now you do the same...what gives here anyway?

All In favor of a steak with some after dinner tail but never heard of Halliburtan buffet in Texas or eslewhere . It doesn't exist.

Rather simple.... Up to 2007, Halliburton owned KBR, KBR had the LOGCAP contract in Iraq & Afghanistan, under this contract they were serving almost 150,000 troops and an unknown amount of civilians 3 meals/day buffet style in the DFAC's.