richard_smith237

Plenty of restaurants that serve a 'seafood boil' out on the table... ... its a bit of fun. There is (was?) one at the night train-market behind Seacon Sq. in Bangkok, and there are some around town (BKK), called Holy Shrimp... I'm not sure what the point of the thread is... asking how you would react - quite odd. How would I react ?: Answer, by eating !!!

The Thai roads point is a valid argument... and as you mentioned, there was a clear comorbidity in the two cases discussed in the article. That doesn't diminish the validity behind the ideology to take an Influenza vaccine, while the flu may not kill us, no one wants it, and if a vaccine reduces the chances of us catching influenza, then it's a good thing - I've had too many holidays ruined by contracting something cr@ppy on a flight !...

After the world (mostly) isolated for a while it was a couple of years there was a divergence between the antigenic drift of influenza and human resistance... I suspected it was a matter of time before there was an influenza outbreak which kicked our backsides after a couple of years of no-exposure (thus antibodies waned). On the back of that, last year we each took the influenza vaccine and I'll do the same again this winter. In the past, a couple of times we have flown back from the UK after Christmas and found ourselves struck with a stinking cold (or flu) - If the vaccine prevents a couple of weeks or misery, I'm for it. There's no telling if it worked last year... but If I take the Influenza vaccine for a 10 year period at winter and do not catch a serious cold or influenza then I'll consider the vaccine a success... In the past with frequent travel to various areas exposure is simply expected.

It continually astonishes me how a monetary value is so readily placed on life here, and when it is, it's an amount that could considered quite insulting. I have to wonder what the thought process is behind this ??... empathy to help the victims families with funeral costs etc ?... compensation for losing a family earner ? Is the act of providing compensation some form of admittance that authorities made mistakes, or is the compensation beyond that and simply an act of benevolence ?

One would have to be outrageously stupid and completely disconnected from reality to make such moronic comment so juxtaposed from the emotional temperature of the nation.

I know there will be a few 'tin-foil-hatters' out there who get triggered by the word 'targeted'... however, IF an Emergency Alert system is to work anything like it does in Japan, it can only be a good thing. For example... a couple of years ago landed in Japan... dumped bags at hotel and went out, a few beers later I was back at the hotel taking a shower and suddenly felt dizzy.... (I thought it was the booze!)... After stepping out of the shower and saw the EarthQuake alerts on my phone... My Japanese friend called me up and asked if I'd felt the earth quake. I was data-roaming on Thai Sim... so the alert didn't come in via any registered number, it was targeted to 'all cell users' - an excellent system. This would work well for Tsunami's any other natural disasters and of course terrorism which triggered this announcement.

Being smart and repeatedly having to tell everyone how smart you are is also somewhat questionable...

Are we going to see a knee-jerk reaction from Authorities banning first person shoot'em'up computer games ?????

Thats not a starter pistol.... Thats a Replica gun which fires blanks. These are starter pistols.

The joke went write over your head. Haha. Nevermind. Erm... going gramma nazi is a joke ?? Is Fruit pudding the same as Fruit-Cake ?? quite apt.

Your 43 year old super white Chinese wife is no where near as hot as her ?

Then that would be prejudice (not racist)... Racism is a form of prejudice based on skin colour (race) Preferences can also be racist... but, you are not harming anyone by not choosing them as a date, so thats not really discriminatory. On the other hand, not employing someone because of a specific trait such has hair colour, eye colour, skin colour etc is discriminatory - height and physically fitness is somewhat more of a grey area because some jobs require specific physical attributes, for reasons of safety or simply to do the job at all.

I've been asked why I have a Thai Wife... my answer, because I'm in Thailand and there was a higher probability that the person I meet is Thai.. If I were in Brazil, Nigera, India, Japan, Ireland etc... there would higher probability I'd be married to one of those nationalities... had I stayed in the UK, I'd probably be married to a British woman, although because of multiculturalism she could be from any number of ethnic backgrounds. Attractive is attractive IMO... obviously I'm not implying that I don't see race because everyone does... but beauty and attractiveness crosses all racial boundaries IMO....

So your measure of someone’s character is how well made up they are…. You project that someone well made up is of poor character?… … yet in the above projection between the lines perhaps imply that a Pattaya BG is of sound character ??? Is it not possible for a well made up woman not to have character & class ??? … probably of more character & class than the ‘barstooling boomers’ on here passing judgment out of some distorted & unhinged allegiance to their limited choices !!!

???????????????? of course you have… ‘cos those women could have been models, but, were hookers out of choice right ?!!!! Let me guess… you prefer an accessible Isaan ‘beauty’…. ????

Why laughable ?? If someone has nationality they can represent that nation. The competition wasn’t ’Miss Caucasian Ireland’ !!! Your comment verges on racism & ignores multiculturalism that goes back generations. Go back far enough & see how all of our ancestry overlaps.

A perfect example of ‘eye of the beholder’…., Some of those are Porsches, others are farming machinery !!!!

Yet some prefer a tatted splay toed farm girl clutching a pole…. & then justify their limited choice with too much plastic, looks like a LB !!! ???? … as if they ever had a choice !!!

What on earth would give you that assumption ?

Make sure he doest go to a Tech college.... Maids son is in Hospitail after being stabbed and slashed across the forehead by gangs (I don't expect he was wholly innocent either).... ... the Thai news is full of the violence in Thai schools and colleges here... Edit - not 'in the schools'... but outside the school gates...

Anecdotes & experience varies of course... a long time ago in a galaxy far far away none of those issues really existed in the school I was at (a normal comprehensive), none of my Uni mates ever mentioned bullying or the horrible 'stuff' we hear of today. My Nephews and Nieces don't have much to say on such issues either... many friends in the UK also don't mention any such issues... bullying, beatings, drugs... I think the drugs thing is there... nephews mention there is a bit of dope about, but that seems about it. There are also 'county lines' (an organised drugs trafficking through the UK) is also a problem for those kids who could get 'dragged in'... An average kid in a Thai Government School is not going to do as well as an Average kid in a British Comprehensive school... a high achiever will do well anywhere, but a high achiever will do better in the UK as there are better resources. If you are going to discuss bulling and beatings etc... look at all the issues with Tech colleges here... The same issues you described, occur here, we just hear less of them because we are out of that loop.

Well... I've been riding a motorcycle in Thailand over and over and never had an accident.... Should I expect different results, or is that the definition of crazy ???? ------ Of course, motorcycling comes with elevated risks compared to a car, but, the risk to us (sensible riders) is not as elevated as it is to those who speed, ride drunk, at night, without a helmet or gear etc... Nothing is perfectly safe, but for sensible riders, riding motorcycle in Thailand is not quite the 'death sentence' the aggregate stats suggest - that does not mean its safe, just not as un-safe as some believe.

Ops a bit of neurotic fruit-cake.... asks a ridiculously naive question, then claims he's not naive and gets upset when people point out the ridiculousness of the question in the first place. Its not the first time... in the past gullible people have posted similar questions... i.e. "had an argument and ex says she got me black-listed".... this must be something that goes around the BG networks... girls telling each other if they threaten a foreigner with Black-listing we guys will poop themselves....

Nope, not international. Just one of the most sought after Thai schools in the country. The most sought after schools in Thailand 'used to be' the Triam Udom Suksa schools. And this was where a lot of the wealthy, connected and so-called elite would send their children, i.e. Primeminsters children etc... But that was decades ago and times have very much changed as pretty much everyone is well aware of how poor the government education system is. No Thai Government schools are 'sought after' anymore and the desirability has shifted to the top international schools for both education and connections (I'm referring to Patana and Harrow). The Top Bilingual School in Thailand would be Amnuay Silpa school which remains popular but not as sought after as the Top International Schools. I very much doubt any government school in Thailand matches an average comprehensive school in the UK. Obviously, the situation people are in varies and some may have better opportunities and be in a better situation here than they would be in the UK, but still can't send their kids to good international schools so they compromise, thats understandable. But, there are also those who stay here for selfish reasons and pull the wool over their own eyes to justify why they are selling out their kids and sending them to a Thai School when they'd have a better opportunity at a school in their home country. That is not going to be a popular opinion - especially by those described in the last sentence where a 'raw nerve' is likely to be exposed.

I was in Emporium shopping mall at the Oriental Cake / Coffee shot at 10am the other morning... ... and there was this old guy getting upset because someone was sat in the seat he normally sits in every day... (those who know, know !!!)...