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xylophone
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Posts posted by xylophone
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5 minutes ago, toenail said:
Reminds me of people who do not remove the cellophane wrapping around lamp shades. ????
My late Mum, for one!! ????
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4 hours ago, Briggsy said:
Ink, ink, ink,.......STAMP.......sign, money in back arse pocket. Because "these people" are the ones who have the power to give extensions.
4 hours ago, Albert Postlethwaite said:So in a nutshell nowts changed then!
The head honcho in every immigration office has the authority to issue an extension irrespective of whatever is presented to him/her, so I would suspect that the agents are going straight to the top, getting that person to issue the visa extension and contributing a little towards the immigration officers Christmas party or pension fund.
So in a nutshell, nothing has changed by the looks of things, after all why would anyone want to put a stop to a fat bonus at the end of the year?
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6 minutes ago, seasia said:
Nice food, bread, cheese, Parma ham, Milano salami.Pasta and Pizza.
Wine also but other countries are better for that.
Summer months there nicer than Thailand.
North Lakes area, Como, beautiful scenery.
Can I carry your bags???
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44 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:
Maybe some more diversity would help
Diversity.........
In my most recent posts about Patong I have mentioned supermarkets, hotels, tearooms, boxing stadiums, bars, restaurants, massage parlours, pharmacies, shops, mini markets, rock groups and so on, along with the state of the traffic and the stupidity of a particular race of cheap tourists.
In addition I have mentioned family groups, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Scandies, the BIB, TAT and a few others so I don't know what else you could want as regards diversity??
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The bizarre behaviour of the the president with the lowest IQ of anyone ever elected, just goes on........
In response to Kellyanne Conway's husband sending out a tweet which included images from the American psychiatric Association's "diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders", which also had pages with diagnostic criteria for "narcissistic personality disorder" and "antisocial personality disorder", this dumb president then decided to send out 52 tweets with a broad range of attacks, in a two-day tweet rampage, which only underscored the mental instability of the orange buffoon.
Just too dumb to understand that he had confirmed what the American Psychiatric Association already knew!!
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7 minutes ago, schlog said:
Siladon Spa up the hill at Amari. They closed the high class spa and having now a cheaper one at the marina hotel. Adaptation to the lower spending tourist level.
Thanks for that info schlog, and I do believe you're right about the "adaptation to the lower spending tourist level" and it is something that many of the posters have spoken about, especially those who have businesses, or who have friends who do (like me), because it is quite obvious that the push for cheap tourists from China and India, for example, will have that effect.
The likes of Big C can show a turnover a few percent above the previous year (when in fact the targets set are much higher) but it does that on the increased numbers, mostly Chinese, and although they are buying cheap stuff, they are buying loads of it.
But this doesn't help many other businesses which don't have the same range of goods to sell.
But what confounds me as much as anything is the fact that building is still going on, and I mentioned a huge restaurant and new bars in OTOP, but think about the foot traffic in the new Central Patong (low) or look at the empty chairs in the huge restaurant which fronts the corner of Beach Road and Sawadirak Road, or indeed the low customer numbers at the newish Starbucks at Banana Walk etc etc..........surely an indication that all is not well with the type of tourists Patong now attracts?
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10 hours ago, heybruce said:The question asked, “President Trump has called the Special Counsel´s investigation a ‘witch hunt’ and said he´s been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?”, is an example of how not to conduct a poll. Reasons why are explained here: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/experts-push-back-on-poll-showing-50percent-call-mueller-probe-a-witch-hunt.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|story|&par=yahoo&yptr=yahoo
In brief, if the question asked had been:
"US Intelligence agencies have said that Russia interfered in the 2016 Presidential election. Do you agree that this interference and any possible connections to the Trump campaign should be investigated?"
the poll results would have been very different.
Polls should be conducted by experienced professionals. It is very easy for amateurs to inadvertently skew the results, and people with an agenda to draw their conclusions and conduct a biased poll to support them.
Excellent response heybruce, and I was thinking something similar myself when I first saw the other post about the "results" of the poll.
There will be those people out there who do not like the "nature" of any such an investigation, even if it is against a lying, cheating, scumbag like trump.
And just to show you how far this goes, even when I posted something which listed his known lies and misdemeanours and Chomper listed a few more, the trump supporters awarded the posts the "ha ha" emoji, showing that they obviously don't care what this idiot does, thereby condoning his actions, so what does that say about their moral compasses or indeed the others who voted for this buffoon.
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1 hour ago, schlog said:
I think you missunderstand xylo. It's not about bars. It's about all small or medium size business.
BTW this week one of the most exquisite and expensive spa in Patong closed its doors forever. Not more enough high spending customers around......sad it was a great spa.
Which one was that schlog??
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On 3/15/2019 at 6:08 PM, somelikeithot said:
just back from Phuket and i dont think ive seen it as busy in years
Sad to see the following...........
The huge new seafood restaurant at OTOP has been empty on the two occasions I've seen it and just yesterday there were only half the amount of "fish tanks" that there were previously, and the place has a different name........and if I had to take a guess, I would say it was struggling big time!
Having said that the plethora of new bars in OTOP had no more than a scattering of patrons in them and this has been the case on the three occasions I've been there for one reason or another, yet other bars are still being built there?
I did spy four people in the burger place in Nanai the other day, and a couple the day after, so that would probably double the monthly takings, as it just does not seem to be taking off, just as the predecessor bars didn't.
A Family Mart shop at the south end of Nanai, just over the bridge has closed and is up for sale and likewise for a pharmacy further north on Nanai.
I did spy a person, whom I would consider to be the owner, of La Drinkeria standing outside of it on Friday with a sign stating that there was 20% off drinks, but with just about no foot traffic I would suppose it was finding filling the place quite difficult, although I did see two bogan-esque fellows sitting outside of it today enjoying a drink and a cigarette in a very confined space.
Now I sincerely hope that I've got this wrong otherwise it would be a very sad sight indeed.......I saw a guy walking down Nanai, South from Pen & Franks Bar and restaurant, looking very dishevelled and carrying a plastic sack, as well as a couple of old tins, what looked to be a broken fan and a little bit of plastic pipe, and my first thought was that he had been scavenging some of this stuff because he had passed a little place where rubbish is usually deposited and was heading south of it.
If he was looking for a place to deposit the rubbish, then he had just passed it, so perhaps he was doing some "scavenging" and if he was, then that is sad, and the new immigration rules certainly won't help him.
So perhaps Patong is busy in some parts and not others and as many other posters have said, it is all over the place at the moment, and even if tourists are on the increase, then it is not universal and spend is also down according to many friends.
So Patong could be labelled "a place of mystery".............queue Austin Powers!
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Some posters seem to be relying on conjecture in order to paint a picture of Trump or to add to his list of faults, however surely that is not necessary because there are facts that we know about this orange buffoon, so no need to go out on a limb with conjecture.
We do know that: –
– He lies often and there have been thousands of lies he has told since his inauguration, all documented.
– When challenged on these lies, he then lies again to cover them up, despite the fact that original lies have been documented and recorded.
– He has been bankrupted several times, not a good look for a supposedly successful businessman.
– His organisation has employed immigrant labour and paid them well below the going rate.
– He organised payments to a couple of hookers to cover up his indiscretions.
– He stated that he only employs "the best people", and look what has happened to a few of those!
– He openly criticised an American war hero, John McCain, or should I say insulted him.
– His misogynistic tendencies were obvious when he was speaking to a colleague about what he can do with women because he is famous (grabbing pussy for example).
– It is obvious that he does not have a grasp on trade and economics when he thinks that tariffs are the answer.
– He has denied that global warming is real, despite the fact that the position of the Academies of Science from 80 countries plus many scientific organizations that study climate science state that humans are causing global warming.....a 97% consensus. Yet this scientific genius, who can't even spell, knows better.
– Has leanings to the far right and these become very obvious not only with his links to Bannon, but on the campaign trail in 2016, Trump followed such statements as, "I think Islam hates us", with an effort a week into his presidency to ban citizens of several Muslim majority countries from entering the US. After court challenges the administration revised the policy.
I'm sure that other posters can add more to this list, but even this list shows that electing this orange clown clearly shows something is wrong in America, because what sort of country which would elect an idiot like this – – sorry if I have offended my American friends.
The facts speak for themselves, no need for conjecture, although I do suspect there is more to come to incriminate this overweight, lying, orange buffoon.
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Air quality in PM 2.5 this morning on my balcony in Patong was in the 70s and haze was easily visible in the treeline.
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On 3/17/2019 at 8:38 AM, phuketrichard said:
you can rent a house anywhere on the island for 10-100,000baht/month
You can live very well on that salary UNLESS u like drinking and not sleeping alone
I live a very good lifestyle in kamala for half that. for 2 of us
You could easily live on that salary and less, after tax, and I know a few who do now.
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22 hours ago, Badrabbit said:
Feel sorry for the Tigers, I've seen some disgusting Zoo's here, one had otter type things swimming in pure poo water!!
Sent from my SM-G610F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
Took the g/f and daughter to Phuket zoo and thought it was disgusting.............filthy water, small dirty cages, rotten food lying around. Never went again.
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On 3/14/2019 at 3:39 PM, johng said:
On 3/14/2019 at 3:31 PM, NCC1701A said:Thailand is Bizarreo world and the Twilight Zone combined.
Hmmm........quite a few like that where I live as well as completely empty blocks which have been finished.
And to top the lot, and like NCC1701A has said, it's a completely different world here in Thailand as far as property is concerned, and as for buying off the plan, well there are a couple of "developments" which have been sold off the plan now for two years, and which haven't been built, or even started, although from time to time someone drives a digger onto the land and turns over some soil, and that's it – – probably to keep the investors happy.
According to a friend in the business, these will never be built??
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20 hours ago, murraynz said:very good post made by capt jack. i agree with most of the points he makes....however younger people need to learn from this..
there should be more education about preparing for retirement...especialy now that many people can live well into their 90's...
governments world wide, can not afford to fully fund our retirements...
we all have 40yrs+ to save for a decent retirement, if healthy...most people fritter their money away, then 'cry' later....
to any body thinking about retiring in thailand---dont do it, if you have insufficient funding...stay in your home country.
sure, thai imm. regs are always changing---but i think the 800k requirment , is very realistic--
stay away, if you cant do it....dont cry-- you have had many years to save a pittance like 800thb.
many of us have had business problems and marriage failures---not an excuse for lack of savings.....
G'day Murray,
I agree with some aspects of your post and not others, but there again that's the way things run on forums like this!
I totally agree that young people should be taught at school the benefits of investing and how compounding interest etc can work in one's favour over the long term, and of course how share markets work and so on, but they aren't unfortunately, and nor were we in our younger days (or at least I wasn't).
On the other hand, saving for a "decent retirement" can be very difficult for many everyday folk, because there just is not the surplus cash to be able to put to one side for this. A perfect example would be when I ran an investment seminar for the New Zealand Navy at Devonport and it was primarily aimed at those servicemen who would be leaving over the next six months or so and there were scores of them, as well as many others who wished to attend.
Cut a long story short I ended up sitting down with many of these guys and their families to try and plan some sort of financial future for them, but it was damn near impossible to save anything outside of the everyday expenses, and they weren't squandering anything, they were just scraping by, and I think that's the case with many average New Zealanders, and Brits by the sound of it (and some of those whom I know live here).
On top of that I helped launch the ASB Bank "Easyplan" retirement savings scheme and again, it became obvious that the average New Zealander found it very difficult to save much for their retirement, and that was reflected again when I ran the ASB Bank Investment Advisory service..........there just wasn't the amount of surplus cash/funds to invest that would make much of a difference, and even if some did start off early, at the age of retirement $50,000 or $60,000 was not going to be of great help over time.
On another point, like you, I don't think 800k is too much to put aside for most folk, but it is for others who are just on government pensions and who didn't really plan for this sort of thing, and I think that's the crux of the matter (which you refer to) for many folk here.
A little story for you: – I was born in England and my mother used to put aside some money in her Prudential savings account, ostensibly for her retirement, and she put away the grand sum of 3p per week! Anyway she did this for most of her life and when she wanted to cash this up at the age of about 65, she received the grand sum of £80.
The sad fact is that many people just cannot afford to put away enough (and this is the key, enough) to make much of a difference when they retire.
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7 hours ago, Kerryd said:
People will distrust and fear everything that is "strange" to them. This is an animal instinct that goes back to the very beginnings of life on this planet. Among early humans it was "tribalism". "Us against them".
Back in those days, strangers often were a threat as tribes/clans fought each other for territory and resources.
Totally agree and have posted something very similar in the past.
The problem is that the occasional atrocity is then seen as the norm, by both sides and so the carnage continues.
See it, accept that we are different in many respects, but learn to live with it in a peaceful existence, knowing that wrong will be done, but uniting against it on all fronts.
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7 hours ago, Spidey said:
New Zealand is a First World country whose civilization is supposed to have taken them beyond this kind of base hatred and bigotry.
True and it is a lovely and peace loving country, but how can you legislate against a nutcase from another country causing this carnage. As one of the many messages said..........."this is not who we are".
And note the outpouring of sadness, grief and indeed kindness from the good folk in NZ.
This whole thing fills me with sadness.
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12 hours ago, rooster59 said:
Rescue workers rushed Mr Pakasit to the Accident & Emergency Centre of the yet-to-open Chalong Hospital, but he was pronounced dead.
Not surprised that he was dead if they were high-voltage overhead lines because very rarely do people survive that sort of voltage flowing through them – – anywhere from 4.4 KV up to 11 to 33 KV and even higher in some instances, but not wholly aware of actual voltages here in Thailand.
I have worked on high-voltage overhead lines when they were still alive, and I was absolutely terrified despite working out of a fibreglass cherry-picker bucket with all the other safety features in place, because you can still feel a "tingle" despite all of the insulation.
Don't think this poor guy stood a chance. RIP poor fella.
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14 minutes ago, giddyup said:
Been out quite a while.
Yes and I thought Christian Bale was very good in it and I enjoyed the movie as a bonus!
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19 minutes ago, bristolboy said:
In fact, he's already claimed that Mexico is paying via increased tariffs which is utterly moronic.
Yep, fits in nicely with his level of intelligence.........dumb-ass that he is!
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On 3/14/2019 at 11:02 PM, CaptainJack said:I really was not planning on posting on this topic, but I figured I owe it to those who have treated me kindly.
Good day Capt Jack,
I have read quite a few of these/your posts and have to say that I concur with a lot of what you've written (and others have written) and I've had similar thoughts of moving locations, but am wondering if I could start again somewhere else at the age of 71?
I've been coming here for 14 years, and living here for 12 now and can just about put up with the heat, but the latest immigration rules have become a bit of a fiasco, especially as different offices will have their own interpretations and that will cause quite a bit of stress for a lot of expats.
Having said that, I have made quite a few friends here and I believe that is important as one gets older, especially as I live alone (my choice) and I was lucky enough to get onto health insurance when I first came here, so although it costs me about 100,000 baht a year, at least I'm covered.
I did have a lovely ex-girlfriend here, who I could catch up with on a fairly regular basis, and more importantly her/our daughter (unofficially adopted by me) whom I thought the world of, but they have both moved away to another country, at least for the time being, although I'm hoping that my daughter will come back here in the not too distant future.
So moving countries would be a major for me, but have not ruled it out, so, to get to the point, I can completely understand your rationale and would love to hear how you are faring/how you find the other places you visit, especially Panama as I've read quite a bit about it being retirement friendly.
In the meantime all the very best and I wish you safe travels.
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10 hours ago, usviphotography said:And while there absolutely no evidence that Trump lied about anything, he is under obligation to tell the truth to the media.
Cant believe you wrote that............trump lies about everything, and that is PROVEN FACT.
He lies consistently and when challenged lies about that also. This poor excuse for a human being then stated that he only hired "the best people"............and look how that has turned out!!
How everyday folk can support a dumb, racist, misogynistic liar is beyond me, but then they probably admire those traits in a person, so it says a great deal about them.
And this from the dumb orange clown gives a clue as to his "leanings"...........
US President Donald Trump has now deleted his first tweet in response to the Christchurch mosque massacres, which was posted around 8.15pm last night NZT.
The tweet featured no words of condolence - or any words - just a link to a story on the tragedy posted on alt-right site Breitbart News.
AND……Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's former counsellor, has voiced admiration for a racist French novel called "The Camp of the Saints" that imagines France being overrun by non-white newcomers.
Trump himself has expressed support for Le Pen; said "Islam hates us"; praised white supremacists as "very fine people"; and warned of an "invasion" of undocumented immigrants.
It is deeply disturbing that the purported Christchurch attacker said he supports Trump "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose,"
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1 hour ago, usviphotography said:
Note the subtle shift. For over two years these loons have droned on and on about "Russian Meddling" but now that the report is about to drop that will no doubt vindicate Trump completely, they are moving on to "Shady Financial Dealings". The Left is utterly dishonest to the core.
I don't know what planet you have been residing on, but the accusations against trump have always included shady and perhaps illegal financial chicanery, general dishonesty as well as benefiting from public office, and also hiring illegal immigrants, as well as................take your pick, many more.
trump is utterly dishonest to the core and has been since his "bone-spurs"days!
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23 minutes ago, attrayant said:
That's interesting. Maybe I never got a passbook because I didn't ask for it. I'm referring to the transaction register - what do they call it here... a bank book?
Whenever I have wanted to deposit funds into a long term deposit they have opened up the account with another account number (under my base account) and issued me a book accordingly so I have a record of it..........
Writing this has just prompted me to get my passbook and look at the details for you: It is actually called a "Fixed Account Passbook", and I can fix the account term, but can withdraw at any time and just lose a bit of interest if I do, conversely I can leave the funds in it after the original period and still get some interest.
Suits me fine and I like BKK Bank in the main.
Patong - The Wake
in Phuket
Posted
I do much the same if I'm taking my car or motorbike and I do like walking around enjoying the vibrancy of the place, that's one of the reasons why I stay here.
As another poster has said, I think you may be missing the point, because the many businesses I speak to, and they would include many in that list in my previous post, state that they are struggling, or that spending in their establishment is down, in some cases quite markedly.
If you've been following the thread you will notice that it has mentioned the tourist scenario, whether the spend is up or down, and if businesses are struggling or succeeding, unrestrained building, empty buildings and so on, along with many other aspects of life in Patong, because that's what the thread is all about – – it follows on from an original thread entitled something along the lines of, "Patong is dead/dying", just to give you an idea.
So it is nothing more than a thread about Patong and my posts are about the feedback from businesses I know, things I experience and see and also the thread contains similar posts and experiences of other posters – – simple really.
If it is of no interest to you, then no need to read it!