farangmick

Even the western people are obeying by some laws and it took a hell of a time for them as well. When did we stop littering streets? 10-20 years ago?

Since Thailand is about 60 years back, you'd probably have to wait for many years or let's say till eternity.

Britain is pretty bad for litter as well. But it's apparently now an £80 fine if caught by the council Stasi. Of course they only go after little old ladies accidentally dropping a bus ticket, or till receipt, not the people dumping old fridges.

If there was an honest official in Thailand, he would be viewed with deep suspicion. No one would believe that he was actually honest, only that he must have discovered a really clever scam that they hadn't thought of.

Just give Cameron a call. He'll soon find a few more billions of my tax money. Make the millionaire PM (ditto Osborne) feel all warm and fuzzy inside in the run up to Christmas.

I think there is an ulterior motive...give the people more celebrations and they'll forget about other things. Not a new ploy...the ancient Roman Emperors did it all the time.

Indeed. Bread and circuses.

Sticky rice and Temple fairs.

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

I hope it takes off. Can't be that hard to make a better beer than those produced by the big two. Although with the heat out here, it is easier to drink ice cold lager than real ale. Wonder how they cope with the concept of sterilising equipment though, when even washing properly seems to be an alien idea here.

A couple of days ago I parked the bike correctly outside the bank. When I finished at the ATM, I saw that the woman behind me in the queue had parked parallel to the kerb, blocking in my bike and two others. To be fair to her, the nearest proper space was nearly three metres away. I was just going to move it a bit, but she'd put the steering lock on. So I waited until her card was in the machine, then wheeled her bike out into the road, blocking one lane, and rode off. A small petty action, but quite satisfying.

So it's not just my town then? If it wasn't for the fact that the car doors were shut, a stranger would assume the town centre was a dumping ground for stolen motors.

The houses of the suspects were searched, and spanners were found. A plot to loosen the wheels of 100,000 bicycles was only foiled by the vigilance of the RTP.

Only 3,000 baht in his pocket ? Last of the big spenders.

When I go out at night (I never go out in the early hours of the morning) I never have more than 1000 Bt on me.

I am not going drinking or picking up women. If you are going for a social drink and not picking up women, then 1000Bt is enough.

Bet you're the life and soul of the party, are you a Mormon?

Actually there are quite a few expats out here who aren't sex tourists or sexpats.

Foolish Indian...

What would he do if someone in his place would sit on his car / bike / veranda ? Ask him to piss off... for sure

foolish thats not what i woud call him never mind sitting on someone's bike. BUT WEARING A 75,000BHT.GOLD NECKLACE that is bloody STUPID.

Scam against his travel insurance anyone?

crikey ! those pesky Indians making trouble again !! .............

Isn't that a quote from Custer?

Long discussion this afternoon over whether Toyota use heavier gauge steel for their cabs than Isuzu, who use economy as a major marketing tool, so want their trucks as light as possible.

John and his wife Gan are both ok, in fact I got the story from him today at the weekly farang get together to drink beer and talk in native tongues. They were driving on the main highway through town, when the other truck shot out of a soi. It smacked John's truck towards the rear. John's truck started to spin, a wheel clipped the concrete strip, and it flipped into the storm drain. They were eventually taken out via a back door, after hanging upside down for a while.

The accident happened outside the police station. When the insurance chap came, police made it clear to him who was at fault.

John had to cough up 3,500 baht to have his truck taken to the main dealer in Phetchabun city, which the insurance man says he'll get back.

The idiot driver got a 1,000 baht on the spot fine for driving without due care and attention, and allowed to drive off. Don't know whether or not the fine was recorded and receipted!

Clinics in my town are 50% corner shop. If a doctor charges more than 50 baht per consultation, he gets no patients.So most sell unnecessary, and largely useless, but harmless pills and potions to top up their income. Punters happily pay another 200 for a bag of rubbish. They never finish it, but they think they've got their monies worth.

Our present doctor opened a clinic a couple of years ago, and it was a godsend with two small children. Both he and his wife speak good English, explain what medicines are for, and only sell proper stuff.

Not really anything to do with the topic, but I asked the doctors father, why his son, who is a Lt. Col. in the army, why he needed to open a clinic. Apparently the army salary is only 20,000 baht per month, same as I give the wife!

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

Since most doctors include antibiotics in the lucky bag of pills and potions every Thai expects to take home with them, who will do the prescribing?

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

Since most doctors include antibiotics in the lucky bag of pills and potions every Thai expects to take home with them, who will do the prescribing?

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation, low quality and often fake

due to lack or proper supervision, there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style

back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one,

I just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient...

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation ...

True, government hospitals where patients pay little themselves often distribute medicine of an older generation as this saves huge amounts of money. Generic medicine or an older generation often costs less than half the price while giving the same benefits to the patients and very similar side-effects.

... low quality ...

Incorrect, older generation drugs work very similarly but are of slightly lower quality which is often not even noticeable. Manufacturers upgrade their medicine all the time to be able to market it differently when their patent expires or to differentiate from competitors. Its like a pen manufacturer coming with a new model pen; both the old and new pen write similarly, only the new one feels a tiny bit better in your hand and costs double what the old one costs.

... and often fake ...

Incorrect. No idea where you got that idea from, but it is totally wrong. Maybe you bought some viagra on the streets in Pattaya that did not work, but medicine you get in a hospital is real.

... due to lack or proper supervision ...

Incorrect. Or do you think that Pfizer has 2 factories right next to each other. One producing good stuff for Europe/US, and the other one next door churning out shitty stuff in a rat infested environment because they will ship the things to Thailand? Even medicine produced in Thailand is being highly supervised, also by international agencies, although i can imagine the supervision being lower than in the US/EU.

... there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one ...

No, there are not. There are some "underground labs" producing fake products for sell at Patpong and MBK, but those medicine do not find their way into hospitals.

... i just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient ...

They do in case there are no alternatives. But as mentioned before it is normal practice around the world to go give close substitutes in case it leads to huge cost savings without negative side-effects.

The always cash strapped NHS in England could save billions if doctors prescribed generic drugs instead of brand names. Maybe I am too used to Thai ways, but the idea of mega rich drug companies and kickbacks comes to mind.

All sounds a bit Fishy to me.

Yep, too late to pick up the scent now.

groped her genitals...Isn't this considered normal Thai male behavior?

No.It's normal behavior for a certain class of quality farang tourist in Pattaya though.

Go to the poorest parts of the Northeast, supposedly the driest region of Thailand, and you will not find agriculture at the heart of the economy. While it sounds cute and folksy to call farming "the backbone of the rural economy", the reality is that farming is just one amongst a number of income streams for the majority of rural households. Far more important for most is off-farm remittances from family members working elsewhere and increasingly, other small non-farm businesses, like contract piecework, such as sewing or jewelry making, or local labouring.

Thus to blame drought as the main cause of any downturn in sales is disingenuous and suggests a good cover for other more likely causes, such as higher unemployment on the off-farm jobs or lower remittances sent back home by family members due to higher costs of living, general inflation and downturn in the economy, due to the mismanagement of the incumbent govt. Drought is such an easy scapegoat, because it is mute and will never answer for itself.

You forgot the off-farm remittances from thousands of farang sending money every month to their faithful! girlfriends. A new "farang" house in some small village can provide a few months work for cousins, uncles and nephews.

Easy to forget that a large percentage of the population, especially the older generation are still illiterate, so they still like their local news delivered by the Thai equivalent of the Town Crier.Got to be better than living next door to a mosque, even though the faithful are quite capable of setting the alarms on their smartphones these days.

Wish we'd had a driving school when I taught the wife to drive. Any advice was taken Thai fashion as criticism. Engine screaming in third, or nearly stalling in fifth. Gently suggest a gear change, emergency stop followed by "OK. YOU DRIVE!" She is now an ok driver, but so heavy footed. Given up trying to stop her approaching a line of traffic doing 80 at 120, followed by sudden braking. Just not worth the aggro and silent treatment for the rest of the journey. Not a bad driver really, and very good by Thai standards.

Wish we'd had a driving school when I taught the wife to drive. Any advice was taken Thai fashion as criticism. Engine screaming in third, or nearly stalling in fifth. Gently suggest a gear change, emergency stop followed by "OK. YOU DRIVE!" She is now an ok driver, but so heavy footed. Given up trying to stop her approaching a line of traffic doing 80 at 120, followed by sudden braking. Just not worth the aggro and silent treatment for the rest of the journey. Not a bad driver really, and very good by Thai standards.

Most of the my fellow countrymen I know who have met him think that Mr Kent is ok. Always there in Kanchanaburi on 11/11. Any embassy represents its government abroad. It's not there just for the benefit of druggies who get caught, or backpackers who run out of money.