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Groongthep
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Posts posted by Groongthep
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This in my opinion is the final straw. The red shirts and the PTP are so entwined that there is no way the government can claim innocence in this.
Stop and think about it for a moment. Violence is the last thing the government wants. They want elections to be held because they know they are certain to win again. The anti-government camp however, knows that violence is the one thing that will most likely force the military to stage another coup.
Two grenades in two crowded areas in two days and nobody has been caught. Rather fishy don't you think?
Stop and think about it. They do not have enough people registered to have a quorum so what has the PTP to gain by winning a costly pointless election. It is far more than two grenades in two days I don't even know how many there has been today. Maybe they were other type explosives. same same.
It would be to the advantage of the PTP to put the election off but to do that they would also have to back peddle more from Suthep. they reject his demands and then with out talking to him they take a step towards doing what he wants. They are drawing the line here. Like it or not the red shirts are a part of their political machine and have a proven record of violence.
When I say they back peddle from his demands I mean things like the senate not ratifying a bill to make Thaksin innocent. I for one think they had a lot to do with the senate not having a quorum. Refusing to disband the house then doing it. Refusing to step down as interim government and then setting up a committee to do what Suthep wanted. Except that they are going to control it. Little steps towards what Suthep wants. With another three months before the elections as a result of the failed one on the second of Feb. the protestors will be gone. The only ones left will be the retired people who have all the time in the world and do not need to make a living.
If the government did not want violence they would tell the red shirt leaders to rein in their troops.
Don't even bother to ask me why the red shirts would do it. violence is there strong point not logic. If logic was they would do all in their power to make sure the Feb2 farce comes off.
What nonsemse. You haven't a clue about what's going on.
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NOTE! I just visited the Vasu exchange web site and AVG detected and blocked a virus. I don't know if this was a "false positive" or not.
Yes, my anti-virus displayed a warning when I went to the Vasu site too.
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The Green Super Rich outlet at the corner of Rajdamri Soi 1 and Phetchaburi Soi 30 nearly always has the best rates in Bangkok. The good rates are evidenced by the very large number of Thai customers (usually business owners) who always pack this place. You'll need to bring your passport and be prepared to take a number and wait in a crowded line. Sometimes it is a long line, but it will be worth it if you are exchanging a large amount of money.
Here is the link to their website with map and phone numbers: http://www.superrichthailand.com/new/map.html
The easiest way to get there is to get off the BTS Skytrain at the Chit Lom Station, walk west (toward the Erawan Shrine) and cut through the Gaysorn Plaza shopping center which will be on your right. From there go down to Rajdamri Road turn right again, walk past Big C and it will be down the small soi Rajdamri Soi 1 to your right.
A word of caution, there is a orange branch in the BTS Station and another main branch down this same soi 1 but their rates are not as good as the green one in the link, so make sure you go to the one with the green facade. (see map in link). It can be confusing since they are different businesses which have the same name.
Hope this helps.-
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This in my opinion is the final straw. The red shirts and the PTP are so entwined that there is no way the government can claim innocence in this.
Stop and think about it for a moment. Violence is the last thing the government wants. They want elections to be held because they know they are certain to win again. The anti-government camp however, knows that violence is the one thing that will most likely force the military to stage another coup.
Two grenades in two crowded areas in two days and nobody has been caught. Rather fishy don't you think?
It's not about how a govt is elected, its about how they govern once they are in power. Yes PT have a right to govern once they win the election (and they will) but they have an obligation to rule in a manner that benifits the country not themselves. The inept, corrupt, authoritarian, criminal manner of PT's time in govt is what the protesters are against, not elections.
What suthep and his fascist council want is something else, they have their own agenda and have hijacked a protest movement that has genuine grievances.
Blue Spunk, My post was about the violence and who may be behind it and what the major players have to win or lose because of it. I don't need a re-hash of the same old pontifications we have been reading in the newspapers since this whole thing began.
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This in my opinion is the final straw. The red shirts and the PTP are so entwined that there is no way the government can claim innocence in this.
Stop and think about it for a moment. Violence is the last thing the government wants. They want elections to be held because they know they are certain to win again. The anti-government camp however, knows that violence is the one thing that will most likely force the military to stage another coup.
Two grenades in two crowded areas in two days and nobody has been caught. Rather fishy don't you think?
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Thought it was just a short time hotel, as its name suggests. Do people actually make reservations and stay there all night? LOL.
The Honey Hotel is on Sukhumvit Soi 19 and not to be confused with the Honey House on Soi 22. They have the same owners as the Federal Hotel on Soi 11. Although It is not unheard of for some patrons to take temporary companionship this is not commomplace. The majority of guests for at least the last decade and a half are quite mainstream. Rooms are not let by the hour. Lots of legitimate repeat customers for many years, mostly pensioners and overseas workers. In recent years more and more families are staying there too. (Which in my opinion is not such a great thing either but it does indicate the clientele is rather conservative.) It's in a convenient location to the Skytrain and Terminal 21 and as someone else mentioned the rooms above the pool were renovated a few year back. It does not deserve a bad reputation, in fact, just the opposite.
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you'd have to be a merri gun to put up with that twang for ten days. other torrents around with many G of stuff.
Now this I mai kao jai (ไม่เข้าใจ). What exactly are you talking about? merri gun? twang? Many G of stuff? You've lost me.
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I think OldChinaHam's reply answers the original question regarding recommending a book to the OP best. Those books mentioned range from beginner to fairly advanced and levels in between. I would recommend the OP browse through some of these and find the one(s) that best fit his learning style as different people learn differently. The OP said that Poomsan-Becker's Intermediate book looked uninspiring to but unfortunately many are of this same style.
The OP also confused me a bit by claiming to be at the "advanced-intermediate" stage of learning, but then went on to describe Becker's Intermediate book as possibly difficult. IMHO if one cannot easily translate the simple sentences and quickly complete the exercises in that book, then they are still very much in the beginning stage and I would recommend some of the earlier books mentioned in OldChinaHam's quote of Smyth, such as David Smyth's own Teach Yourself Thai and Yates' old but still good Thai Basic Course. I would also agree with desi that Higbie's Thai Reference Grammar is extremely good although some of it might be too advanced for the OP. -
I've been coming to Thailand 2 or 3 times a year since 1988. The most important thing I have learned about living a happy life here is to NEVER have a regular Thai girl friend who has ever been involved in the bar business. I've been there and done that. Don't get me wrong, I am no saint. Having some purely business contacts in the sex business is one of the major reasons this is such a wonderful place for a single guy. But remember, always be honest from the start. Make it clear that, "I am not looking for a girl friend." No dinners out, movies or any other activity that will lead her to believe that you are romantically interested in her. By all means be friendly, kind and if you are made happy enough, generous. But keep it to business only. You will both be much happier for it and you will never have any of the Thai "girl friend" problems that you read so much of on this forum. Life here can be great if you live it right.
Or alternatively just avoid hookers at all costs.
Consider the number of women in Thailand and that the majority have never been anywhere near the sex scene there's really no need to chase after bar girls.
I know a lot of guys genuinely believe that 'regular' Thai girls are not available to farangs but honestly there's a whole host of them out there who are interested in the white man.
You obviously misunderstood the point of my post.
Clearly there is no need to chase after hookers. Unless you're ugly as sin they're looking for you. When the time comes that you are interested in the company of a female companion for just an evening and not a relationship (for the average guy this is not unheard of....), forget about her personality and just choose the prettiest woman you can find. Your libido, your peace of mind and your wallet will thank you for this in the long run.
It also doesn't take much for the average guy to figure out your last point either, but why bother? Being a single male in Thailand is a pretty good place to be. Get yourself a "regular" Thai woman and a year later you'll be posting on ThaiVisa about how badly you screwed up and you'll be asking complete strangers how to get out.
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I've been coming to Thailand 2 or 3 times a year since 1988. The most important thing I have learned about living a happy life here is to NEVER have a regular Thai girl friend who has ever been involved in the bar business. I've been there and done that. Don't get me wrong, I am no saint. Having some purely business contacts in the sex business is one of the major reasons this is such a wonderful place for a single guy. But remember, always be honest from the start. Make it clear that, "I am not looking for a girl friend." No dinners out, movies or any other activity that will lead her to believe that you are romantically interested in her. By all means be friendly, kind and if you are made happy enough, generous. But keep it to business only. You will both be much happier for it and you will never have any of the Thai "girl friend" problems that you read so much of on this forum. Life here can be great if you live it right.
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Remind her Australia is expensive. Double the cost of living from the US. Plus she'll only get a visa for a max 3 month visit anyway.
I'm an American who has been to Australia several times. (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide). Unless something has changed drastically in the last year this statement is absolute nonsense. Overall, Los Angeles is a more expensive place to live than all four of these Australian cities.
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Girls work the touirist areas for 3 reasons.
1. They know most farangs are naive compared to Thai men.
2. Usually too ugly for Thai men.
3. Too land a farang to pay for them for the rest of their lives as they know no Thai man would.
Start flashing cash about and it just screams soft touch to them.
As one poster said.
Naive.
What on earth are you on about ?
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What a ridiculous and dangerous waste of time. You're American! Just show up! You get a 30 day approval right at customs, on the spot! For your return flight info - just list the same flight (mil-air) you took coming in. You don't need a return ticket in hand - I never have mine nor have they ever asked for proof of return ticket (though I have the print-out E-ticket if I ever need it).
This doesn't do you any good if you're staying over 30 days.
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For perspective: I always deal with the honorary Thai consulate in Portland, Oregon, USA and they are extremely competent and friendly ... and I always get a triple-entry tourist visa with no questions asked.
Ditto on Portland. Quick turnaround and she replies to email as well. - Grin
I third that. I've been using Portland for many years and have never had the slightest problem. I do however, double check and make sure that everything is included before I mail anything, i.e.) passport, money order, photos, computer printout of flight itinerary, pre-paid overnight self-addressed envelope etc. Also, make sure your application form is filled out completely and correctly and that it is signed and dated.
I almost did not post this for fear that Mary Wheeler who is the woman running the place will get overwhelmed with applications. She is very competent, polite and helpful. Her Honorary Consulate in Portland is far better than the "official" one in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, not all visa types can be handled there. Check the website or call if in doubt: http://www.thai-or.com/
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and they know what fat means, lets cut the BS if we are to chat.
But being fat is cherished in Asia, at least it's not the negative that it is in the West, it's a sign of affluence and wealth because the person is well nourished and has plenty to eat, really.
This is really an archaic assumption. It was true in the past and still may be in a few of the poorest regions, but today asians want to be fat no more than westerners do. Being fat no longer means you're well -to-do; it means you're overweight and is often a subject of ridicule just as it is in the more traditionally affluent societies..
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Sounds like cheeryble knows what he/she is talking about and I defer to his greater knowledge. I would add only that as well as caffiene Thai Visa forums, especially the political ones should be avoided at all cost as they routinely cause intense feelings of great confusion, panic and anxiety.
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When used correctly and only as perscribed they can work wonders. Don't dismiss them out of hand.
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I have a friend.......who was a senior clinical psychologist himself......who was long ago prescribed Ativan for a type of palsy.
It worked, but now years later he is addicted.
We have discussed this and decided that at his advanced age he may as well stay addicted all his life.
One of the most sensible things I've read for ages.
If you are advancing in years and medication gives you a better quality of life, so what if it's addictive?
Yes, I think most of the clinical data supports the notion that even if the patient isn't elderly, if the benefits outweigh the side effects, including dependency, then by all means continue the medication. Many people will take heart and diabetes medicine for the rest of their life and be the better for it. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because a disorder is of a mental nature that some sort of social stigma should be attached in which the medication for that disorder is somehow "bad" but heart and blood sugar medicines that don't involve behavior aren't.
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cheeryble's post makes sense and I would agree with most of it. I would only add that sometimes panic attacks can last much longer than an hour or two and can be extremely debilitating and terrifying.
I was probably still typing my post above as his/hers was added. -
"If you start off with a pyschiatrist you are going to be put on medication for sure."
This is nearly always true. As Sheryl has said best results are obtained when medication is used in conjuction with education and therapy.
"Be aware that many (tho not all) of the medications used for anxiety are addictive and that it is not unusual for people with anxiety disorders to develop drug addicition in the course of treatment which of course multiples their problems."
Also true. The drugs perscribed for anxiety and panic disorders are more often than not benzodiazapines, such as diazapam (valium), alprazolam (xanax or xiemed) and clonazapam (klonapin) among others. These drugs may be habit forming if taken in large doses over long periods of time. Generally, upon being prescribed these drugs the patient will feel a euphoric effect (i.e. get "high") from them. This is the dangerous period where the patient must adhere strictly to only the amount perscribed by his/her physician. It is not uncommon for severe addiction to occur and for patients to begin buying additional benzodiazapines by "doctor shopping" or getting more of them illegally on the black market.
If however, the patient is closely monitored and it is made sure that only the small amounts perscribed are not increased these drugs can enormously improve the lives of the patients that need them. The euphoric effect quickly ends over time until he or she no longer feels "high" from these medicines but the intended effect of eliminating anxiety and panic disorder continues and a patient can live a normal happy and relatively anxiety free life. Yes, the patient will usually develop a dependency to these drugs but once the mental side effects of euphoria and lack of coordination dissapate the positive effects of the elimination of the anxiety and panic far outweigh that dependency.
To make a long story short these drugs can be dangerous if abused but if used properly by patients that truly need them they can be life savers.
Too often I see on these boards people who have suffered from addiction from these drugs write that the drugs are evil and should even be made illegal (as they have alprazolam).These statements are almost always made by the people who have increased their dosage without their doctor's knowledge.
When used correctly and only as perscribed they can work wonders. Don't dismiss them out of hand. -
The only decent album this bore ever recorded was caravanserai in 1972, the guy is a dinosaur.He's just lucky he did not die out years ago and that there are still people who want to relive their youth by paying to see him. There are Thai guitar players far better, but falangs are usually too lazy to find out about them. He's well teamed up with carabao though-two boring old farts together for the price of one.
I went to the show last night and it turned out to be much better than I had expected. In fact, it was great. Well worth the price of admission.
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Based on hundreds of similar posts and my own experiences, AIS/One-2-Call is very responsive in stopping spam SMSes. You just need to contact them.
I think a call to 1175 costs 3 baht regardless of the duration of the call. They also have chat contact points and even email: [email protected]
Are those features available on my 19 inch B&W TV
Just kidding.
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Call their call centre 1175. They will sort you out.
Cheers
Thanks George. That was one of my first thoughts as well but having used the call centre helpline before I know it's expensive. I was hoping someone else may have had this same problem and had it straightened out without the service charge. Calling them is probably my only recourse though. Thanks again for the quick response. Cheers.
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Forgive me if this topic has been covered before but none of my searches bring up anything understandable. I use the simple AIS One-2-Call service via pay as you go SIMS card. I've had this same number for years and don't want to change it.
Nearly everyday especially around noontime I get unwanted spam SMS' of a sexual nature written in Thai. I can read enough Thai to understand 90% of it and it is real trash. No number or any other info on where these are coming from are displayed so I can't block them, or at least I don't know how to block them. All it says is that it comes from InfoPack whatever that is.
Can anyone help me get these stopped. Any and all help greatly appreciated.
Easy Question
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted
I have been coming to Thailand for 26 years and have been a member of this forum since 2005 but this is the first time I have needed to ask a visa question because I usually have all that worked out before I come. This time however, in order to get a very good airfare, and because I wanted to leave right away, I simply came and received a 30 day visa exemption stamp.
1.) I am an American 58 years old.
2.) My visa exemption will expire at the end of next week.
3.) Can I simply fly to Yangon (or anywhere else outside Thailand) stay one night, fly back and get another 30 day exemption stamp?
4.) I have no interest in a 10 day extension, especially with the trouble around Cheang Wattana.
Sorry to trouble you guys with a question whose answer I should know but as stated earlier I usually have more time and get a regular tourist visa before I come but that was not possible this time due to time restraints.
Any recommmendations on which city to fly to? I mentioned Yangon because it is the closest and cheapest (cheapest I think), but I will consider anywhere that others can recommend as being quick and cheap too. All I plan on doing is flying in, staying overnight in a hotel and flying back the next day. I'm not looking to make a holiday out of this.
Thanks in advance.
Groongthep