sibeymai

marrying a girl for sex is like buying a 747 for the in-flight meal.

try your local Tesco Lotus for cheap bicycles. Ride on the road until your path becomes blocked then ride on the footpath, just as a motorcycle does. Basically, anywhere a motorcycle goes, so can you. You need to be aware that bicycle riders are treated with only slightly more respect than pedestrians by other road users, whether on the footpath or not. No problem taking your bicycle on the skytrain. Not sure about the BTS. Buy a good helmet and good luck.

One piece of advice I may offer is for both parties to have firm agreement on what they regard as a satisfactory outcome

What advice do you give in situations where both parties do not agree?

The starting point is what each party is entitled to under the law (in the Thai case 50% each). If one party thinks they are entitled to more and the other party does not agree then the party wanting more needs to consider:

A. if the amount above 50% being sought is worthwhile after the costs of legal fees, time and effort are deducted, and

B. what are the chances of being successful in the court(s) (be careful not to be led by your lawyer on this, although it's hard to ignore their counsel since you are paying for it)

Having considered these two points it is then a value judgement by the individual.

Judging from the anecdotes one hears it is surprising how much punishment an individual will inflict upon themselves, often for years, in the pursuit of money or revenge, to the point where it totally destroys some people.

Is it worth it ? In the end it is again a value judgement by the individual. How much is getting on with your life worth ?

I can say quite categorically that my "homespun advice" is quite practical having gone through the process myself. Go to any Amphur office and it takes about 1-2 hours to complete. In my case there was a company involved in which my wife was a director and major shareholder, land ownership and also children, but all handled within the document at the Amphur office, not one satang paid to a lawyer.

I post the above information not so mush for you Mobi, since you already appear to have assessed your need for a lawyer, but for other TV members who may have simpler needs.

One piece of advice I may offer is for both parties to have firm agreement on what they regard as a satisfactory outcome and stick to it before seeing lawyers. Don't let the lawyers talk you into something else as it will only cause problems and lengthen the process into a bitter dispute from which only the lawyer will benefit. Stick to what both parties have agreed to and it will be over soon and you can get on with your life.

20,000Bt ?

Assuming this is in Thailand, why the need for a lawyer ? Is the farang seeking more than 50% of the wife's assets ? If not, just go to the Amphur office and sign the papers. All done, no lawyers needed.

Couldn't agree more. $27m houses in HK are much more comfortable than prison cells in BKK.

Assuming you are legally married in Thailand you get 50% of the house/land value on divorce, if it comes to that, but you still loose 50%.

I like the idea of pretending to upgrade to a more expensive place as a pretext to sell and get access to the money. This I feel would have a good chance of success if the girl is really playing you for money.

anyone spotted or ridden in the BMW 3 series painted up in green and yellow in BKK ?

good on ya Damian. The world needs more heroes. Takes the pressure off me having to be one.

It's reasonable to expect Thaksin may not make it out of Swarnabhumi. A fitting resting place, surely ?

Good advice Ulysses. Unless you really understand the situation it's best to do what you can to speed the arrival of the police, or see if you can get other Thais to take an interest. Other people's problems are seldom worth dying for.

a cracking good idea from a bunch of bright sparks.

why do people use this thread for deep and meanigful philisophical expression ?

So now this drunk Brit doesn't deserve what's coming to him because he was using a murder weapon that didn't belong to him ? The chances of a judge regarding that as a mitigating factor are less than zero, and not just a judge in Thailand but anywhere.

Mr. Barrow, your motives may well be good and honourable in trying to educate expats here about some of our countrymen who have fallen foul of the law. However, they are still law breakers and subject to the full extent of the local laws. Coming to Thailand is not a free for all party where anything goes. In fact, in some respects, while there may seem to be less personal restrictions/greater personal freedom here overall than in some of our home countries, often, the penalties for overstepping those freedoms can be significantly harsher.

Perhaps it's possible to walk out of the duty free forgetting to pay, but I would think King Power would be happy to receive payment if offered, plus perhaps a bonus for not involving the police. Seems like those who end up charged were either doing some serious shoplifting, or perhaps weren't convincing enough of their genuine mistake and didn't have the needed "negiotiating" funds at their disposal.

Anyway, anyone who makes a "genuine mistake" in Thailand is dealt with very leniently by the courts, even if they make such mistakes repeatedly. Some may say it's a prerequisite characteristic for holding high public office.......

I don't know what barrow Mr. Richard is trying to push here, but I must say it's great so see "newbies" to TV posting such drivel....otherwise I'd have to go to the local shops and buy an expensive imported UK Sunday tabloid newspaper to amuse myself.

Thanks to the generosity of the OP in sharing this on TV forum I can now save myself the time and trouble.

Have just fitted air horns to my Vigo, but now need to install a compressor and pressure tank and the wiring to run them.

Anyone know a place in BKK who can do this ? Possibly a good 4WD shop or good auto-electrician should do.

Ideally, I'd like both the existing electric horns and the air horns to run off the steering wheel with a dashboard switch to change between them (electronic horns for use in BKK and town areas, air horns for the highway, and for using when you're really p#ssed off with someone and want to scare the cr@p out of them).

Have been told the police won't look kindly on my Vigo masquerading as a bus/truck. Any idea if this is true ?

the best pool you will find at any gym or health club in Bangkok is at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel's Olympic Club which is attached to the Rama IV end of the MBK shopping centre building. The pool is 25 meters and 6 lanes on the roof of the building. The membership is about 30,000Bt a year, not cheap, but the best ones always are. The staff are nice, do regular fitness assessments and set programs. Have good equipment in a nice environment (not over-hyped like California Wow), have squash, badminton, tennis courts with a minimal fee. Also have the usual aerobics and class based sessions, even a bicycle workout. The place was never crowded and there are off-peak memberships for use between 9am and 4pm. On top of that it's easy to get to by BTS. Also includes discounted hotel rooms and restaurants. Highly recommended.

Her parents do not know about her having HIV, only him and her 2 sisters.

Are the sisters infected? No? Hittable? If so, throw in one or both as 'warranty replacement'.

I have it from a reliable source (ex IBM employee) that the poor girl is now so traumatised she can't get in a taxi any more. That's pretty tough in a city like Bangkok. Her father now escorts her to and from work each day. Hope she can get back to normal eventually.

The Prince Hotel is pretty low class. The only redeeming factor for short term visitors to BKK is that it's walking distance to the Siam Hotel. Most memorable feature about the place last time I has the misfortune to visit someone staying there was how my shoes stuck to the carpet.....

"Execution ?"

"One cross each, first door on the left, thank you."

BENDIX, yes, the Thai soaps are exaggerated and no less so than soaps in western countries. The difference appears to me to be that these types of programmes are overly represented on Thai tv.

Nowadays when I sit down and join the wife to watch I ask "has the hospital scene been on yet ?" such is the predictability of the plot.

BAR GIRL ACCUSED OF "FREEBIE" WITH POOR CLIENT

New pigs at the trough. So what else is new ?