farangmick

Don't really understand this post. Riding in England since 1972. First fairly quick bike in '76 (RD400). Since then I had anything from R80 BMW and a Harley, to my last bike in England, an SP2. A bit of racing in my younger days, did my police training course. So I considered myself an experienced biker. Now after seven years out here on a Honda Wave, and a Chinese dirt bike for a bit of fun on the farm tracks, I'd be starting virtually from scratch if I got a proper road bike. Cruisers don't count, but anything that leans over in corners would now scare me sh*tless out here, where smooth tarmac turns into a dirt track halfway round a bend.

It wasn't our fault for making the cages unsafe and leaving a chair lying around. No! There many visitors and tigers feel nervous. 55555. Just unreal how some people are wired.

And then the parents. Can we blame people who have an IQ of 60? I'm not sure. Thank goodness the little girl got away with a few stitches.

No wonder there are no tigers left in the wild, they are all captive in Thai tiger shows. Where is the law protecting these endangered species? Greed rules again. Bloody disgraceful

It's not that Thai people don't have normal IQ levels, they just don't use the extra +40.

I think it's the same as with not using the headlights on their vehicles at dusk or night, they save electric.

Some of them actually believe it saves fuel.

I had a police Inspector in England who believed the same. Never used headlights where there was street lighting. Often stopped by traffic police, who thought he was probably OPL. Not only a Thai thing. Tight gits everywhere who are happy thinking they are getting an extra 000.5 kpl.

This has got me worried now. I'm sat on the terrace with a beer. Maybe I should put a T-shirt on, just to be safe?

Can feel a bit sorry for the man, apart from however he got his money. Way out of his depth. In an army that didn't have a thousand generals, he would have struggled to make Captain, assuming he got through Sandhurst or West Point.

My wife's taken to cycling big time. The local Amphur organised a ride of about 40 km a couple of weeks before Bike for Mom. We got a cheapo 7,000 baht mountain bike locally. It spent half the ride, and all the uphill sections, in the truck driven by the team support crew, (me). Fast forward a couple of months. The bike now belongs to my 12 yr old stepdaughter. The new expensive bike lives in the house, which is full of the proper cycling attire. To be fair to the wife, she now does 30-40 km morning and evening every day, without appearing to break sweat. That stops me bursting into tears over how much she's spent.

500 kilometers a week?

Why not ?

It's possible with a road bike and no bags ;

I used to cycle about 1200 km a month with my MTBike since 5 years ;

sometimes much more when visiting some beautiful provinces in the north with many mountains ..

I did 2600 km in 19 days in august 2011 with a thai friend and saddle bags

Beginning and finishing Sawang Daen Din in Sakon Nakhon province

Impressed. I'd do that northern route, but only on a BMW GS, or big KTM.

If one (very bad) bombing in a country the size of France has got you worried, then it's probably best that you holiday at home. All you have to worry about then are the thousands of loonies with automatic weapons who can tip over the edge with little provocation.

Why do so many foreigners sound gleeful at the prospect of Thailand's economy falling into recession?

It's weird

The exchange rate..

For me as well. Right now I want the baht to plummet to the 74 to 1 GBP I got ten years ago. But 15 years from now, when I am dead, or cushioned by my state pension, I want the economy to power out of recession, like it did after the 1997 crash, since my sons will be of working age. Selfish, but I've discovered here that family is everything, Something I never experienced in England.

Khao Kho in Phetchabun. Not enough there for a holiday, but great for one or two nights if doing a road trip south to north, or vice versa. Or in my case, a pleasant day trip with some good restaurants. Just avoid the Thai holidays, when it appears that half of Bangkok goes there, judging by the traffic on the 21.

Yes, it's another sad story, and policing in Thailand is a joke. But how many TV members, especially those of us living in the sticks, can honestly say that they have never driven under the influence, given the almost zero enforcement?

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Ah yes Marmite the ultra-conservative and ultra-tasteless centrepiece of British condiments. Invented by a German, given a French name and sold in bottles shaped like its French namesake. Proud to be a happy little vegemite

Just looked both up on Wiki. Never knew it was a German invention. Never knew Vegemite was invented because Australia was running out of Marmite after WW1. Mai bpen rai, my family hate both.

About time, too! I've long wondered why we've been expected to faff around with money orders, whereas it was possible to pay by credit card in the days when income confirmation letters were obtainable in person from the Embassy.

I only hope that the amount charged to my UK credit card when I next apply for an income confirmation letter will be the actual GBP fee stated by the Embassy without any surcharge on top.

Got my letter a couple of months ago and it was cheaper than the quoted GBP cost. Only a couple of Leo's worth, but every little helps.

And Britain doesn't know how many illegals it has, where they came from, where they entered and where they are now. They'd struggle to find 500, who'd then go missing whilst their appeals were heard.

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

But your pies are ace. Don't want to start an online spat.

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Always get the odd farang on TV who is cynical when a Thai does something decent, yet are the first to type TiT when Thais shoot/stab/run over each other. Yet they still live here.

After reading the comments to articles in the British press along the lines of Russia's actions, I found a large majority of readers to be in favour of Putin. Maybe a reaction to the vacillating weakness of Obama and Cameron. The ME only seems to function under a strongman dictator or monarch, and attempting to impose a democracy just sets all the tribes and religious factions at each others throats. Putin has cut through all the crap, picked a side and is bombing the rest. Good on him. Not like the sneaky Turks, only attacking the Kurds, possibly the only half-decent ME mob fighting ISIS.

Well that tears it. I thought Buddhism was the one religion I could have some respect for, but now I'll stick to my convictions that religions are the scourge of humanity. They dictate how people will believe in God or whatever power they believe in and they end up killing more people than all the wars of history. Organized religion is like organized crime or worse.

Try looking at Buddhism as a set of values and principles to try to live by on a personal level. Every religion or belief will have people who twist it's precepts to suit themselves.

More than 30,000 police for a bike ride? How about a "Solve a crime for Dad" day for all these under employed officers?

It seems like every time i look on this site there is someone jumping to there death?

What a sad way to end one's life.

why is it sad? at 74 probably just has enough and jumping gets it over with quickly.

What, we should have a special zone so "the elderly" can jump ? Some kind of Logan's Run scenario?

At least it would reduce the risk of innocent people on the ground having to break their fall.

Is a balcony jump "sadder" than a long, drawn out painful undignified death with lots of hospital tubes stuck in every orifice?

It shows a lack of consideration for those who have to clean up, and for whoever has to do the ID. I attended a dozen or so as a police officer. The scene, I got used to, the ID, if with a close relative, I never did.

What a waste of tax-payer's money.

What will he bring from it? What will he take to it?

Nada. Zip. MAI MEE ARAI.

He'll take about the same as the 150 other "world leaders" and their 40,000 gofers. Sod all. America and Canada have already said they won't be bound by any agreement. China, India and the other mega polluting countries will never cut back. The whole subject is a joke. But a good excuse for some western governments (Britain) to put taxes up. A good chance for politicians to have a junket and forget about minor problems like terrorists and a billion economic refugees.

Be a lot worse if other countries imposed tariffs on Thai goods the way Thailand does on imports from them.

Always walk in pairs in BKK. One negotiates the perils of the "footpath", the other scans for jumpers. Stay safe.

The article is about an active military colonel (and therefore a government official) who says:

"Don't worry about the legal stuff ..."

I just don't know what is good about that. Yes, I love beer and would would appreciate legalisation of microbreweries - but isn't democracy (which requires the rule of law) the higher goal?

Let's fight for legalisation before we decide that we follow only the laws we like. Otherwise, we will end up in a lawless country. I am

Bad laws are there to be ignored. I was a totally honest police officer for 30 years. For the last 20, I only bought tax paid tobacco twice. The government got enough out of me with income tax, National Insurance,VAT, fuel duty, council tax, and more. To pay for the workshy and the immigrants. One small victory every time I lit up. Sadly, no really trustworthy source of red diesel on a regular basis.

Given that this climate suits lager, I hope some enterprising Czech will start brewing something close to Budweiser Budvar.

back the front.[Normal ale fermentation temperatures range from 68 to 72 °F (20 to 22 °C) and lager fermentation temperatures from 45 to 55 °F (7 to 13 °C)

Back To front. But I was talking about the drinking, rather than the brewing. I've tried the latter, with mixed success, but I have far more experience with the former.