xylophone

Jeez..........I know that Steve, and I have mentioned it before, although it's only a made up/fictional series, why would the author/creator decide to create someone as dirty/filthy/unwashed as Jackson Lamb? And supposedly working in a government department, although I'm sure that the creator would have a good chuckle at the posters on here who think, or who think that I think, that it's real! I'll give everyone something else to play around with – – Santa Claus doesn't really exist.

Agree, that's why I bought my Suzuki Swift more than 10 years ago now, and it's been great. Having said that, I did drive from Phuket to Hua Hin a while back, with an Aussie friend on board and it was a good and comfortable ride. Would probably buy another one when/if this one gives up the ghost.

No concerns for me as I have been using a VPN to play NZ Lotto for many years. I have a NZ bank account and credit card and the VPN does it for me......although I have never won anything big, just the occasional few dollars, so will be quitting the NZ Lotto because of this.

I had Surf Shark for a while on my other computer, but discontinued with it because it was not reliable, some days would connect, other days it wouldn't. I now use Smart DNS Proxy and they also have an addition called a Smart DNS Proxy VPN, which I downloaded (clicked on) and it gives you a selection of countries/servers to choose from, which was very handy for me because I wanted to get onto the NZ lotto site to check some tickets I had – – and it worked for that.

You don't say........................

No I didn't miss the description of the department he heads, and one of the reasons why it's called "Slow Horses". All the same it is a government department which he heads up and although he may not care about the Department, surely he has to care about his personal hygiene?? No point in going on about this because it's purely my personal viewpoint and in all of the other many detective series/police series/adventure series I have seen, no one has been this ridiculously filthy.

If only.................!!!

Russians driving cars equals a nightmare; Russians driving motorbikes equals a nightmare; French Africans driving large motorbikes equals a nightmare and danger, then of course once you add in the normal Thai behaviour of driving anything without training or a licence, then you've got – – "the perfect storm". Beware Danger..........................

Oops..............doesn't add to the character series one bit!!

Same, same Lacessit!!

Done! But quite why they (whoever)had to portray the Head of a Government Department as a filthy/dirty/disgusting slob is puzzling. Not necessary and doesn't add to the character one bit IMO. Happy New Year!!

I kinow that but even in fiction the guy is a dirty slob........

I managed to download season three of "Slow Horses", although the first of the series was in French and I couldn't change it, so I had to search again for another download, which wasted quite a bit of time so I only got to see the first two episodes. One thing which struck me this time was that I'm not sure I have met or seen anyone as filthy/grubby/dirty as Jackson Lamb, because he almost makes me want to throw up when I see his greasy hair and filthy clothes, not to mention his habits, and surely no company/organisation in their right mind would employ someone this filthy. Not sure that I can put up with another episode of this filthy individual, so tonight might be the last one!!

Not to mention how the different species of penguins from Antarctica managed to walk all that way to hitch a lift!! Maybe it really is a fairy tale????????????

Something to consider............ "Rational arguments don't usually work on religious people. If they did there would be no religious people!". And anyway what is irrational about, a snake that talks, a woman being created from the rib of a man, a virgin birth, rising from the dead, a man being transported high into the sky, an old man building a wooden ship big enough to hold a pair of every creature on earth and so the stories go on.......... However the upside is that for paedophiles and homosexuals out there, the religious sects provided plenty of opportunity for them.

I am hopeful that I can be in a fit state of mind to transfer funds from New Zealand to my daughter here, this after instructions in my NZ Will for a portion of it to go to my nephews in Australia and Canada. That will leave my daughter here with a sizeable chunk of money, which may mean that she doesn't have to work for many years. I have made a Will in New Zealand and in Thailand to cover everything that I can think of and if I do feel like I am tired of this world/life/health, then the helium gas and a small bucket will be my final act.......in the meantime I will carry on enjoying my food and wine and a little social life, and just hope that I am compos mentis when the end is near.

Sorry to hear that Superal, as the instructions are clearly outlined, and try to follow them for the system/web browser you use AND don't forget to check (tick) the box before you leave the last action/page. Wait a short while and the system will run a check before you can use it. Good luck.....you can also use their help line to get you up and running. PS. I didn't need to select any countries as my set up did not require that function.

I'm not a Merlot fan myself, especially Australian Merlot because to me it seems to have a "toasted" taste to it – – but that could be my ageing palate. I would think that the other poster was referring to a Coonawarra Merlot, which I haven't tried, however if you really want to go upmarket and keep one for a while, then seek out some of the finest Merlot wine in the world, which comes from Pomerol in France....... but it will set you back quite a few thousand baht per bottle! However it is available here.

This thread is very timely (again) because I posted on another VPN thread and recommended Smart DNS Proxy as my go-to solution, and in the main it's the best one I've tried, although just occasionally the picture seems to get a little fuzzy. And just yesterday I couldn't get onto the BBC iPlayer with it (first time this has happened) so I thought I would switch back to Nord VPN, because I've still got a few months of subscription left, to watch Match of the Day, so I did that and all was fine, HOWEVER when I tried to switch to another program on iPlayer, I got the usual dreaded message about this content not being available in my part of the world (or similar). So back over to Smart DNS Proxy and all was fine, so overall this is still the best bet for me, and cheaper than most. Just one question for the more knowledgeable folks here: – I've noticed many advertisements for a little circular plug-in device for the TV which enables it to access hitherto "un-accessible" websites/channels, and was wondering if it was worth buying one to try to see if I could get onto the likes of Stan (Australia) without a subscription??? Anyone have any ideas on this?

Different perspectives I think, because if the girls said they were drinking orange juice or coke, but the bar wanted to charge 220 baht for it then the punters would still get upset! No win for the poor girls. In effect one is really paying for the company of the girl with that 220 baht drink and providing the bar with a profit and to help pay the girls wages/overheads, so the argument for or against it is rather circuitous IMO. I had often thought that the amount of alcohol that the girls put away in a month, in the old days, would soon lead to their demise, much earlier than nature intended, so I have no problem with a girl drinking whatever she wants – – her choice.

Some bars operate that way, others don't, although the girls at Suzie Wongs have to get their quota of drinks in order to get paid.......also many of them opt for just Coke (for example) and tell the punter that it is a "real drink". No problems with that as in many cases thay are looking after their health.

Good old Norman!!!

One for Christmas time................

They had been reading the thread on here, entitled: – "do you believe in God" and were hoping that they would be lifted up into the skies by the great redeemer – – yeah right!

I played the white man and picked up the tab and luckily it was only B400........ That was a very noble gesture LL, and I would be inclined to do the same as you in that situation, and also like you, I now refrain from buying lady drinks at 220 baht per drink, and give them 100 baht in their hand. I was out last night and the traffic was absolutely disgustingly horrendous, and that's putting it mildly. In fact my motorbike taxi driver came to a halt just outside of Makro in Nanai Road because the traffic was backed up nose to tail from Soi Banzaan, and nothing was moving; oh the joys of high season in Patong. I arrived at the Italian restaurant Amena e Core at 7:30 PM to meet up with my recently arrived UK friend, and when he arrived an hour late at 8:30 PM, I already had my entrée and unfortunately polished off probably three quarters of a bottle of very strong Italian red wine, which didn't bode well for my evening, or my sleep for that matter. However that was made up for by the fact that the food was good and plentiful. We had a drink in the Blue Lotus Café and wandered down Soi Freedom to have a look around, but once past a few bars at the front, the rest of the place was dead – – plenty of girls and persistent lady boys but no punters. Then on to Soi Sea Dragon to a bar managed by a lady I have known here for perhaps 12 years or so, and I didn't mind buying her a couple of drinks because she was good company and we were able to talk about mutual friends and old times, which helped pass the time and also assisted me to down a few rum and Cokes, which I swore I wouldn't do as I had a hospital appointment the next morning – – but the best laid plans of mice and men (you know the rest). Bangla was busy and so were a few of the bars, but for me the biggest turnaround was that Soi Sea Dragon had gone from somewhere which had virtually no punters in it a few months back to a place that was very crowded indeed. Happy for the bar owners as things were looking pretty grim for a while. As I wandered up Bangla, people-watching to a certain extent and slowing down to take a look at a lady boy, who was quite attractive, trying to coerce a youngish Asian man to come with her/him to the short time hotel in Soi Sea Dragon. He looked a bit bemused to start with, but he must have been interested because I heard him say the dreaded words, "how much?", So he must have known what was going on! As I passed Red Hot I had a thought of going in to belt out a number, but was worried that I might be tempted to have yet another drink, however in that indecisive moment, I listened to the band which was playing at that particular time and it was nowhere near as good as the band I used to sing with in that place, so I gave it a miss. Not only that, it would appear that the punters were not that enthused with the band because there were not that many in attendance, nowhere near the number which used to swell that place in the past. Something else which came to mind whilst walking towards my motorbike taxi and seeing the diaspora were the words to a Joe Jackson song:- "Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street........" , but having thought that, the reverse could have applied in some instances because every now and then I saw an horrendous female on the arm of some poor, probably desperate, farang. New Year's Eve is fast approaching, however I won't be visiting Bangla at that particular juncture, mainly because of the drunken idiots who seem to relish squirting all sorts of coloured liquid and plastic spray in the eyes and faces of anybody who passes by – – I gave up that sort of thing 70 years ago and have no wish to partake of that lunacy again.