funfun

I have been invited by some friends to go stay with them on Lonely Beach in Koh Chang... While they have an extra room and wifi in their place, I hate to impose on people and am more likely to go if I have my own place... are there any decent, not too expensive bungalows with wifi in room on Lonely Beach these days? It has been about 6 years since I lived there(!) and I am sure it has changed quite a bit... maybe that has brought some progress???

i cant recomend a particular one, but wifi is avail all along chang, the new dusit resort whowever is slightley expensive at 500 bhat a dayfor wifi! you can also get it by the hour or 2!

i normally take a bluetooth phone and dial up its cheaper, slower but cheaper!

"It has been about 6 years since I lived there(!) and I am sure it has changed quite a bit... maybe that has brought some progress???"

and some building, you wont reconize it!

chris

Well Mods...please explain!!!!

im not a mod mate, but basically ya started a thread to get up some members nose (like mine) and thats it really, so it turned into a waste of time.

i dont agree with all you say andy, but one things for sure mate, let it go or the next step could be 72 hours, and you dont get a say, ive had it!

chris

right lets start a thread on how nice the chocolate hills in the phillipines are?????

joking

This will attract some feedback I suspect but here I go,

Why are English tourists such bad representatives of an otherwise sensible and friendly race of people. Why does it seem that when an Anglo tourist travels abroad he feels that he has to prove that he is of a superior (angry, disillusioned and aggressive) genetic pool?

Why does the Englishman thrive on pack mentality and enjoy the advantage of majority rules (threatens) alpha male/female status?

These questions came to mind whilst touring Pucket and Pattaya...they were also evident in Khon Kaen but really hit home in Perth , Australia where my wife and I have been for the last week. We have an apartment in inner Perth...the "entertainment" area and I have had the double misfortune of living next door to a large and well run packpacker hostel. The occupents seem to be a 50/50 split of bonofide backpackers and English tradesmaen and women here to work and earn a buck.

The second misfortune has been in simply walking around during the day listening and observing the attitude from a casual point of view...unfortunately this is still full of aggression and "attitude".

What a bunch of foul mouthed, aggresive and basically anti-social misfits they are, they are loud and obnoxious, overheard conversations are crass and raciest.

Happy , loud and angry in a group...ashamed and lonely whilst solo!

WHAT HAPPENED?

no wonder you think that, you must be one of them people who think you are better than the rest, i wont give you it about aussies cos some of are full of it like you, but some are sound!

you need to make more of your life mate, instead of living next door to a shitty hostel, why dont you get a better job a get a nice house in a decent area where everyone will moan about "the new scruffy looking tramp thats moved in" thats you by the way.

hey and what a great post you made by the way, you forgot about abbos though, or is your wife one??

"What a bunch of foul mouthed, aggresive and basically anti-social misfits they are, they are loud and obnoxious, overheard conversations are crass and raciest."

HA HA HA ERE DO YOU AUSSIES KNOW WHAT KETTLE CALLING THE PAN MEANS, DICK!

chris

Long live the queen!!!

Just trying to see whos closing or not over the 14 /15/ 16 in pattaya area really, im aware that the police will normally come the day before, and really after some people in the know who can say its a done deal already, we'll 80% be shut etc.

so if youve got a bar etc in mainly the pattaya area and you are closing either 1. 2, or 3 days, please let me know.

Many Thanks

chris

ps just been speeking to bertie basset, as i always do for advice, and as a little reminder he has been told that suppliers some will be shut for 3 days also, so maybe if ya open or not maybe as well to stock up to limet on 13th.

jasper where are you in Thailand mate and where is the border/ consulete you wish to go to?

chris

im only trying to help here now, this is hearsay , im not old enough to have tried,

a mate of mine dave (who has now died) had the same problem, he went to see a visa guy in jontiem, and it went somthing like this, 700 quid in start of month, then take it out, start of next month, do same and then again for 3 rd month, then you are showing an income every month that way it ok for ya visa.

as i say dont quote me on exacts, but generally thats what he did, about maybe 1 year ago.

good luck

chris

hey up tropo, that time of year again was it, listen you didnt see anything posted about closing dates if any for the 100 day funeral of kings sister (i think) which might affect visas next fri or more?

apparently bars etc must close 14/15 /16 some even say also 17/18/19 nov and gov office although be it outside thailand may do same.

chris

Hi Chris...no, I didn't see anything posted up at the consulate about that.

well if anyones going up there next week, try maybe check and find out or go earlier to be on safe side i looked on there website but nothing listed.

http://www.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/about_officetime.html

chris

It is not shown on Supersports (africa) or true visions!!!! Or is it on gold package??

just been on to ubc/true, its this sunday 9 th nov program starts at 9.00am, so one would think about 10/11, but we were caught out last time, so get there early.

channel 109, on platinum package.

we,ve got it on in pattaya if anyone hasnt got it soi 6 corner bar

chris

hey up tropo, that time of year again was it, listen you didnt see anything posted about closing dates if any for the 100 day funeral of kings sister (i think) which might affect visas next fri or more?

apparently bars etc must close 14/15 /16 some even say also 17/18/19 nov and gov office although be it outside thailand may do same.

chris

Yes I do , I already got a quote today but the plastic wasn't good quality, can you PM me their number and my g/f can call them and avoid farang tax

not in bkk but pattaya i got one from big banner co, top quality, good print and fixing was excellent, i didnt even put me cup of tea down, only joking, they may have a bkk branch or deliver, not sure, but the co are falangs and easy to deal with.

chris

http://soi6cornerbar.wetpaint.com/page/Our+new+signs!

no probs they have forms there anyways, and you just write x 2 at side where you tick. its 60 days you apply for then after that you extend for 30 then do same again on your seconed entry.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Vientiane-La...158561.htmlmany disscused on here all you need,

chris

now also, you might be as well to check your dates, its somthing like the kings sisters 100 days in state 100 days finish very soon for her funeral and i think its 14/15 /16th nov so if ya planning to go around then, just check as im not sure.

not bin keeping up with the news at the border of late and just wondering if everything is still ok?

cheers

chris

Its actually for an off road bike, it has no key / registration. Purely off road use. Its worth over 100k so I just want to have some sort of security. It is kept locked up in my garden but if someone wants it enough I'm sure they can find a way.

oh thats different then, thats easy, small camera activated (pir) movement detector and it turns ya tv on when anyone goes anywahere near it.

unless of course you bike goes out sometimes on its own and you would like to see where it goes?

chris

big tvs are promoting somthing as a rule, advertising somthing, normally aimed at farangs so no interest to thais whatsoever, so staff dont like to switch em on, whoever you turn on thai tv, all staff stop work and stare!!! so boss says NO thai tv, only for falang, so no tv is on!

chris

"'chip' to an item of my property"

are you sure it's "your property"

http://www.advanced-intelligence.com/

chris

"1n ten years time the likes of Massa and Kubica will have been just other also-runs in Formula One, whereas Lewis will be remembered as a great. You'll see. wink.gif

massa, will be remembered anyway as he is a good driver as this year has shown, whist raikonen and hamilton have been fighting massas just got on with it, hamilton was a junior last year and has improved this year and with a bit of luck today he will win, if not i would like to see raikonen win as he is a superb driver whos luck has let him down in the latter halfe of this year, where did alonzo come from?

well whatever happens hopefully it will be a good race today, my moneys on raikonen, my heart with hamilton, and that means it will prob be massa!!!

chris

i bought a 12v compressor for blowing up tyres from big c, only a cheapy one but does job, they solld a lot of tools etc cant remember charger but worth a look.

chris

Do it today. As has been said enter before means exactly that.

No problem to cross border today.

Problem was i was only looking at my previous 30 day extension stamp and didnt even think to look at my "Enter Before Date" until Saturday evening..tried to call many visa companies but they were not answering, and i posted this thread after midnight...so i guess tomorrow is the day and i hope they dont reject me...which im sure they will =/ my fault i guess....should have done it on friday

if ya dont go today, ya tourist visa tommorow will be out of date and i would think it would get the officer in trouble to give ya 60 days which ya can top up, so spend a litle cash now and jump in cab, lil,lil!

chris

'The result was a fiberglass puncture -- an irregular hole about fist-sized.'

this whole story doesn't make sense, to create a hole that big in a jet ski takes some doing at some speed, they are built to withstand a serious pounding.

If it's just a post to have a go at the tourist police leave the jackanory bit out.

exactly, correct,

1 if it was his jet skis he would have wrote a post of why the silly french lads wernt locked up for a week, each! tisk, tourist police, never around when ya need one, getting like london this place!!!!

Thanks for the ideas. I had been meaning to try Bobs but wouldn't have thought of some of these other places. BTW, does anyone else think the patty on that Queen Vic burger looks kind of strange? Maybe it tastes better than it looks.

Fries looked over done ,

fries look to me to need oil in fryer changed, they get a bit like that after a while, they need a drain, clean out, refill new oil, bit like soi 6 really, anyways tropical bert does some really nice burgers wi allsorts on, he made a new burger menu to celibrate siagon girl bar opening, so they all got funny names, we sell a lot of em and never had a moaner yet.

chris

well just come back from another meeting and happy to say all can open again although we have to tone it down a bit and girls should not be on the outside so much, but basically the council/licence people lisstened today and with the help of some thai local buisness owners we got a deal.

and the lady who runs pook bar, did most of the footwork, so shes to thank in all this!

chris

Looks like it is there to stay.

The Chonburi governor denied any compromise as mentioned above, 6 PM strictly it will remain

It does seem to be contained to soi 6 at the moment though...

Remember this is not some silly shady long forgotten law they are enforcing, the 6 PM till 2 AM opening is clearly noted on the entertainment license the soi 6 bars are operating under!

"It does seem to be contained to soi 6 at the moment though..."

I sure hope this crackdown (rule enforcement) stays confined to Soi 6. I hope it's not the beggining of a city-wide "plan." When I come to Thailand for my two-week holiday, I like to have the option of hitting a beer bar (or wherever) whenever I feel the need. I fear this action could very well be the phased implementation of a city-wide rule enforcement to inlude soi 7, soi8, soi new plaza, etc...that would be terrible.

All residents of Patters - keep us updated.

"Remember this is not some silly shady long forgotten law they are enforcing"

the few bars open daytime in the soi that can serve beer are back to the 11am to 2pm can serve beer then 2pm to 5pm cannot.

"I sure hope this crackdown (rule enforcement) stays confined to Soi 6. "

so do i, as i wouldnt wish this on any other bar or customers, having said that, rhoumour on soi 6 is its going everywhere, but speak to anyone else and they aint even heard of it, so as usual we have no idea, there is yet another meeting today, where i expect to be still none the wiser

as of now, the 4pm open 5pm sell beer, 6pm girls, was changed again yesterday to 6pm open???

chris

In any country staff are usually the biggest headache for any manager and here in Thailand it is no different. I am looking for advice from people who employ thai staff as to how they motivate them and keep them.

I run a small business (similar to a resort but not reliant on tourism) and employ 14 Thai Staff;

We pay 25% more that other resorts

The hours are good

They recieve half yearly bonuses and commission

The work is not too hard as we only have small numbers of guests

Given those working conditions I would have thought we would have little worries about staff retention but that isn't the case. In the last month 3 staff have left, giving no notice or reason. One was not up to the job anyway but the other two were good and hard working. They all seemed happy and my Thai wife had no indication that they were leaving. We found out after that one just didn't feel like working and another wanted an extra day off so, rather than swap with her colleague or ask (she would have been given the time off) she left.

I would love to know whether this is commonplace or are we doing something wrong. I tend to leave all the Thai staff to my wife whilst I deal with the UK staff.

Has anyone got a magic wand answer please.

"Has anyone got a magic wand answer please."

its you that needs to change yourselfe, scary, but true, and good luck!

chris

Funfun makes my case for the need for interactive tourist police. He presupposes that I didn't talk to the Thai side (the Thai man who told the youth to cut the engine didn't dispute that this was the cause of the accident, nor did he hesitate to ask for "opportunity costs" for the loss of rental that he would have because the jet ski was out of service -- even though this was clearly not in the contract signed by the renter. I know this Funfun because I looked at the agreement.).

The Thais demanded a pie-in-the-sky compensation and the foreigner, in spite of arguing that were it not for the Thai shouting to stop the engine, this wouldn't have happened, said he'd pay half.

As for the crack Funfun makes about the maturity of the French tourists, I can attest they they acted in an exemplary manner, even though they knew, and the police knew and the Thai jet ski owners knew that the end result was a shakedown and in all likelihood if it had been another Thai involved instead of a foreigner, the outcome would have been much different (like, for example, getting an actual quote on the repairs before pulling some figure out of the air regarding how much the damages would cost to fix).

As for Funfun's remark:

as for the police, i would presume they were having a drink in a nearside cafe watching it all, laughing thier heads off, guessing how much they would end up paying, as i would have been doing the same.

Why would you be doing this if you were a law enforcement officer? I imagine you'd be singing a different tune if, God forbid, you ever had an altercation with a Thai and needed help.

But all of this is tangential; the nut here is this: for the purpose of this thread, it doesn't matter who was "right" and who was "wrong." The point here is clear: this was a situation that could have been addressed by the tourist police, yet they were not reachable on two different phone numbers.

Do the "tourist police" actually exist? Is it actually just a facade to give the impression that there's a helping hand for tourists who find themselves in accidents or disputes while on the island?

Where are the tourist police?

(By the way, not that it matters, but what if I was using a rented chain saw -- me not being familiar with their operation much -- and while I am cutting a tree, the owner of the saw shouts to turn it off. Even though I am halfway through my cut (and had no intention of shutting off the saw until I was finished cutting the trunk), I turn off the machine and in doing so, the chain breaks. Apparently this can happen if you stop in the middle of a cut, but I didn't know that...however, I would expect the owner of the saw to know that.but what if I was using a rented chain saw -- me not being familiar with their operation much -- and while I am cutting a tree, the owner of the saw shouts to turn it off

I wouldn't have turned the saw off if it weren't for the owner telling me too, but now he says that I broke the chain and that I have to pay what seems to be very much more than a new chain might cost because "I" broke it. He doesn't get a quote, he just comes out with a figure, and then calls two police who don't speak any English to "assist" in the "problem."

Sure would be nice to have some decent arbitration right about now, don't you think?)

listen, you speak like some sort of bar room lawer, why? no idea, now lets just look at what you wrote,

"but what if I was using a rented chain saw -- me not being familiar with their operation much -- and while I am cutting a tree, the owner of the saw shouts to turn it off"

he didnt say turn it off where it is, did he, he sais turn it off, that means make it safe and shut it down, same as a car or a jetski,

if your stupid enough to turn it off in the tree beacause "not being familiar with their operation much" thats your fault and so back to the jetsking french, its thier fault, and yes i would have been laughing!

chris

My wife heard that there is no sale of alcohol 14-16 Oct.

This because of the royal cremation.

She asked me if this is only limited to Bangkok or enforced country wide.

First I here about this, anyone else here anything?

I believe it's November.

i heard a bit yesterday but im sure it was somthing about the end of buddist lent or somthing on them lines, however we have not been told not to sell alcohol yet???????

chris