sibeymai

last monthly electricity bill I had was 73 baht.

the muslin prayer call from the local mosque

The usefulness of threads like these is to point out that all those nigling little traits that get on our nerves are quite common amongst the Thai ladies, if the posts are anything to go by.

There's no need to stress about them because even if they upset us enough to find a new lady we'll probably end up no better off.

So best not to worry or stress, after all this is Thailand, and get on with enjoying life and all the good things which make Thai ladies so special.

Does anyone have experience with weed mats to prevent the growth of weeds around trees ?

Usually these are around 1 metre square plastic. They block sunlight preventing weed growth but allow water and nutrients to pass through to the soil.

Are there suppliers in the Prachin Buri area ? What is the cost per mat ? Any web sites showing this product ?

Took my 25 year old Heuer to the TAG service centre at President Tower because it was gaining time. They informed me that there are no parts available to fix it. No complaints about the service from the staff as they have genuinely tried to locate the parts through the Swiss head office.

However, I'm very disappointed that parts are not available. 25 years is not long for a watch brand which portrays itself as upmarket to keep spares. I wouldn't buy a TAG these days as it will eventually be an expensive paperweight when it can no longer be repaired.

My parents Movado watches are nearly 100 years old. Not only can the company repair them, the watches can even be restored back to their original condition. TAG have a thing or two to learn about taking care of their customers.

There's been plenty of worthy contenders mentioned with good claims to the title, but one BIG band conspicuous by their absence.....KISS.

A great stage act (possibly the best of their time) and their music seemed to please a lot of people if record sales is anything to go by.

So own up.....whose got a KISS album or two hiding in the cupboard ?

Eucalyptus can drop branches, mostly during storm activity. Usually it will be a branch rather than the whole tree but these can be very large and heavy in a mature tree. The tree can become unbalanced afterwards and may fall completely, especially if the soil around the roots becomes waterlogged, but any tree can be felled by wind and storm in this way. Similarly, I've not heard of this with teak but it must happen from time to time.

Best not to have large branches overhanging houses, car spaces, or areas where people may frequent.

Eucalyptus will take a good many years to produce usable bole of 30-36cm. If good quality it will fetch a premium price, but over a similar time frame (at least 20-25 years I guess) teak would probably give a better return, again subject to quality. If I had the choice of growing eucalyptus for 20-25 years or teak for 25-30 years I'd choose teak because the forecast return is much better.

Many eucalyptus plantations in Australia have rotations of minimum 20 years and there are a lot of new plantations being established now (growing trees is becoming fashionable since global warming has become such a "hot" topic) so there will be a vastly increased supply of good hardwood in 20-30 years. Overall though it shouldn't affect price too much due to ever increasing demand.

I've seen a spoof of this sticker on the back of some cars, again girl in red and man in yellow, but the guy is holding up the girl's skirt and peeking under.

Makes you wonder.

No being an alcoholic is not the same! An alcoholic still knows what they are doing, they know what is right or wrong. Somebody who has a mental illness can be so detached from reality (im not saying its the case here) they think dogs speak and have no idea about normal human behavior, including what is right, what is wrong, even what they are doing at that very moment in time.

Is it really that hard to understand? I think you would rather ignore it so you can carry on being part of a lynch mob to be honest.

I beg to disagree. An alcoholic may be in a mental state to know what they are doing when they start drinking, but by the end of a binge their mental capability and judgement could be so impaired as to equal the mental impairment of a person with a mental illness.

This guy, from reports, was not in a state of constant mental impairment, although his state of mental illness may have been constant. Just the same as an alcoholic who is always an alcoholic, whether drinking or not.

So no difference as I see it.

I'd be cautious of any software which prevents the recovery of these files through the Windows operating system.

What if EZ Wipe is removed ? Can the files then subsequently be recovered ?

Removal through a software tool may leave the file physically on the disk which can then be recovered through a number of software tools.

If you really want the files to be removed you need a software tool which will physically erase the sectors of the disk where the file was store.

Perhaps the easiest way may be to substitute the contents of the file with meaningless data. I think the operating system will attempt to rewrite the file to the same disk sectors where it is already stored. If this is correct (someone may be able to verify this), then by writing a slightly larger file than the original should overwrite all the previous data on the disk.

Apply the same excuse and alcoholics should not be convicted if they commit crimes (eg. drink driving) because they are suffering an illness.

The line has to be drawn somewhere. Either try him for murder or commit him to a mental institution until medical science can prove he is no longer a danger to society...which I expect will be never.

Sounds like just another spoiled rich-kid brat who might evade justice on medical gronds. With the likes of Khunying Potjaman leading by example in how to use medical excuses to evade justice it's no wonder others may try the same tactic.

Truth is this guy is a cold-blooded murderer and should be treated as such.

The people in power here are much smarter than what many of us, give them credit for.They can do whatever they want,and if theres any doubt,they will put it in writing.The best part is, that everyone will then be happy to accept it,because it could always be worse.Another trivial matter this.But good information.

They are only as "smart" as what they are allowed to get away with from an apathetic and uneducated population. This will change for the better... I hope.

i have my doubts about changes for the better - keeping the majority uneducated and thereby employed at pittance wage levels is after all the utmost priority of those in power

A truer statement I have not seen on TV for some time and one of which I am equally convinced.

Just like years ago when the rich said to the church "You keep them dumb and we'll keep them poor".

I've posted this info previously but will repeat again my experience with BBL.

Asked for a loan to buy a house (house in wife's name, legally married in Thailand with work permit for last 3 years, same company). Bank said yes, no problem based on information provided to them about incomes, assets and the purchase (the bank had full information). Paid the deposit then returned to the bank and applied for the loan. Loan denied (bank only offered 50% of purchase price, not 80% which they had previously agreed to). Lost the deposit on the house and loan application fees and valuation fees not refunded.

I doubt I will ever trust a bank in Thailand enough to ask for a loan again.

Starting point is what qualifies you for a work permit (50K I think). That should be enough to live on until you can prove your worth and justify a higher salary. In my experience expats get around 4 to 5 times what a Thai would earn in a similar position. But you will be expected to also be much more productive than a Thai. If you're not you'll be unemployed soon enough.

"Mr Carpenter said WA's position on Deane-Johns changed after Ms Quirk established how much jail time Deane-Johns would serve in WA and who would pay for her transfer."

How disgusted I am that in my country the decision to repatriate someone from a Thai gaol boils down to bickering between public servants about who will pay the transfer costs. Even worse, initially they just weren't interested.

Just how uncaring are these people, especially someone who has responsibility for corrective services. As if Ms Quirk didn't know what conditions were like in Thai gaols. What utter BS.

Just trying to cover their political <deleted> from the backlash of a somewhat more compassionate media and electorate more like it.

Good luck to her, hope she gets home soon.

how can I get the movie rights ?

I have a good guess as to who he is, and I think this is only the first in a long string.

Who has just lost a lot of money in Thai banks?

Who speaks bad Thai and English?

Who is often seen in white shirts and black trousers?

Who is only 165cm tall when probbed up by two bodyguards?

Who has a popular sport as a very expensive hobby?

I am sure other TV members can add more clues about this person

And who might need to disguise themselves in public places lest they be recognised as "most wanted" ?

Nothing short of excavation, a very high tide and a long tow rope will help this guy out. Might as well sit tight for now until the next spring high tide. Sounds like the skipper could take the opportunity to do some maintenance work while he's "on the hard".

Agree it seems the anchor chain probably broke. Nothing wrong with anchoring on a lee shore such as Patong provided the right precautions and safeguards are observed. However, it seems the skipper's judgment was not the best: only one anchor laid, insufficient watchkeeping and perhaps no means to recover should the anchor break or drag, assuming that such an event would be discovered.

Best seamanship would have been to arrive in daylight with plenty of sleep. Really not too difficult to do with a bit of planning as other posters have already said.

The last port of call was Sri Lanka. Having spent some time there I can underdstand why the skipper might have been in a hurry to reach Phuket.

Like when I donated some computers to the local school in the wife's village upcountry. In 2 days none of them were working any more. Teachers who thought they knew what they were doing were to blame, not the kids.

If only the Interior Minister had the foresight to ban video game stores, especially the 24/7 drive thru ones, then all this could have been avoided. It's all the minister's fault, the young driver absolutely blameless.

Surprising how much darker his skin colour appears in the opening post's photo than in the press release photos.

I don't think a single rotation of eucalyptus will do any significant damage over a short period, say 5-6 years. The stump removal is a valid point, if trees are allowed to grown very large. At least any degradation should not be any greater than growing something like tapioca on short rotations.

If you really want to know about the soil quality take some samples to Kasetsart University's Forestry faculty and get it analysed. It's not expensive. If the land has been farmed for a period of time you'll probably find a PH level in the lower range and low organic matter content. Both conditions are easily corrected over time with a bit of regular attention.

a mint sauce.