Taffyfromflint

Another, much less known way of contracting this disease is by drinking from cans or bottles. How? Pallets of cans and bottles are stored in sheds / warehouses etc. The rats / mice run across the pallets and piss on the tops of the cans / bottles.

Shops and supermarkets and anywhere else do not wash or even wipe the cans/bottles before shelving/storing them so to be safe, 1) wipe the top or 2) pour the contents into a glass first.

This was a problem on a construction job I was on in Australia last year.as the old saying goes, wipe it first.

I see you just joined Thai visa today. How long have you lived here. It is obvious not that long if you don't realize the traffic gets busier this time of year. It has been my experience that most people not all get use to the noise and automatically tune it out after a while. Give it time.

Seems too much information here re comings and goings of air traffic. I know that most of this info is readily available but under the present circumstances (global), vigilance may be the better side of caution, who knows who we are talking to?

Took my Thai girlfriend to Singapore last year with no problem. In fact immigration there were so surprisingly friendly, polite and welcoming. The complete opposite to the miserable and surly Thai immigration at BKK.

Ditto, went to Sind 2 months ago with my wife, who has refained her pre marriage name. No problems at all.

Far too many assumptions here. Asian tourists account for the majority of swimming (sic) related deaths in Australia as well

Is there any restrictions on time between 3 month visits.Eg,quick trip to NZ.

Once you leave Australia e.g. for a quick trip to NZ, then when you return from NZ as long as your Aust visa has not expired then you will be granted another 3 months from the date of entry from NZ.

I use to spend 30k baht every 3 weeks on thai flights for 12 months ... I stopped using them ..

tickets prices way too high

food is crap

service is crap

I was doing the exact same for 2+ years. I now use Cathay Pacific Premium for less cost, better service and no hyper inflated prices between December and February. Loyalty does come at a price, but not here anymore.

Controversy started after a group of scantily-clad female dancers climbed onto the pick-up trucks and started dancing in a sexually-suggestive way. Some of the dancers and onlookers were also seen drinking alcohol.

Scantily clad females are EVERYWHERE. So what's the big deal?

Oh, and some dancers and onlookers were drinking alcohol? So what's new? In fact, at what events in Thailand are people NOT drinking alcohol? Just wait, New Years is only a few days away.

Yes. Really. I've seen shows that looked similar to the picture on the grounds of a Buddhist temple during their New Years celebration.

And its one of the many really nice things about Thailand. Thais are very easy going about people enjoying themselves. Maybe that's part of why they're so tolerant of all the crazy

We must be careful when we check the like button else we be hung drawn and quartered

Maybe they should put an extra box alongside "like" saying "Agree", then the reasoning maybe a little more level, or is that mrs level. leveller, mostest level etc.etc

I wonder who gets the reward for finding him? Maybe he was having a quick smoke while texting and it got lost in translation.

When we get a case of Thai belly the Thai's say we have week stomachs. Wait till you see the processed / cooked meat on the same shelf as raw. Perish the thought, I've done more HACCP audits than I care to remember but never would one pass here.

People have to be told to do this ?

Just as bad as the proposal to hold ' parenting ' classes.

And people wonder why I refuse to eat pork here in Thailand.

Because you are Muslim?

Do you think chicken is any safer?

Exactly! I used to buy chicken tenderloins etc at Macro "fresh" meat display. Now, after seeing on near every occasion, one or more of the locals digging through the portions, often 2 handed, sorting out which ones they want,with their bare hands [even tho' gloves are supplied and i not plastic bags are can be used] i started buying only the factory pre-packed frozen stuff.Bit inconvenient, but less so than the likely effects of eating multi-handled "fresh" meats.

I have watched these people rumage through the meats, going from one to another,and off to seafoods still bare handed and then wipe their hands on their pants, and off they go.This meat juice is then transferred from hands to shopping trolley and money and anything else these dirty bastards touch and eventually the good possibility to you indirectly...

Of course we farangs have weak stomachs, or so the Thais think. Like all other H&S standards, weak as the proverbial piss

I went to one of the larger well known nationwide supermarkets where raw meat is on display in open stands. Yes the stands are refrigerated but the meat at the bottom is semi frozen whereas the meat at the top of the pile is not near cool enough. I picked up a selection of pork ribs and the smell was awful. Standards, what standards. What is to say that the meat is also parasite free? It's not only the markets that do not know how to store meat correctly.

Correct I only buy the cold stuff as some of the stuff on the top of the pile has changed a bit.

Then with chicken I freeze it before using it.

Same in this household, without exception.

I went to one of the larger well known nationwide supermarkets where raw meat is on display in open stands. Yes the stands are refrigerated but the meat at the bottom is semi frozen whereas the meat at the top of the pile is not near cool enough. I picked up a selection of pork ribs and the smell was awful. Standards, what standards. What is to say that the meat is also parasite free? It's not only the markets that do not know how to store meat correctly.

Lots of differing comments here, but the underlying theme seems to be cost restraints in the "west"

I worked in Australia until I was 67 but came to LoS 4 years ago.

1) my house was rented out, but negative geeing doesn't do much good with no income.

2) Australian pension sux

3) Private funds depleted following divorce

4) Rising cost of living in Australia (as many will testify)

Since here have built a house, which would have cost 5 times as much in Oz. Continue to travel. Cashed in old house.

Can live on 50k Bht pm.

Since the OP seems to have unlimited funds, he has the choice that few can afford. Good luck wherever he chooses to plant himself down. I'm happy here but must admit if I had that kind of $$$ it would be 6 month in TL and travel for 6.

No complaints, just don't try and tell your Thai wife how to drive :-)

With that kind of money try north Queensland Australia

Happens in Oz too

and only after a number of similar deaths did the gov toughen up on legislation and tighten the diving Code of Practice. However this still doesn't stop get rich quick operators and staff (usually itinerant) who are not trained or don't follow protocol.

Weight up and down like a brides nightdress for 50 + years,( 68 next birthday) don't drink as much here as in Oz, gave up smoking years ago but still have a hankering for a drag now and again, The upstairs "gym" keeps the exercise regimen on track. healthy outlook, keep away from fast women and slow horses.

I;m surprised "Ponzi" schemes are still going. The latest scams to flood the net are " earn $M's in profits" usually about a Singapore based so called millionaire. Just google Profits for Cash schemes.

You know what they say " a fool and his money are soon parted". Scamwatch is also another good site to get info.

Although, only 35 baht, add that to the millions of passengers we are talking about lots of Baht. When I purchase a ticket departing from Thailand the taxes are already 50% of the ticket price.

Agh!, the airline is the defactor tax collector for the upper eschelon but 35 Bht? at what point, check in, ticket purchase, will it apply to all people or just farang? What a bunch of cynics are we, added security, streamlined processing, friendly IO's.............Welcome to/from the LoS

Living in the North it amazes me that ordinary people here, some of who originated from BKK cannot see any wrong in the Shin family, no matter what is said. The question is with all the spin and lies that have been bantered around, who is one to believe. Jury is out for me on that one. One thing is certain, military rule without opposition never benefits any nation, only those who hold the power., you only have to look at history to see that. Some say true democracy will never work in Asia, I wonder why.

Have't you heard the latest. Australia is granting residency visas to Chinese as long as they fork out $1,100,000:00 AUD and buy shares when they apply. Talk about one rule for the rich and sod all for others. It takes $7,000:00 AUD and two years of red tape to get a spouse visa (and there is still no guarantee). Thailand is by far the cheap option here.

You have a point, but there should be some sort of visa to allow the under fifties to retire here provided they are

contributing to the economy.

The elite visa is only for the rich who can afford to lose 500.000 Baht every five years, not fair I would say.

What sort of visa is there for the under fifties to retire here, that is nothing to do with tourism, and they don' want to get married.

Thailand needs to have a big rethink about this.

Why do they need to do anything? People who have a legit job can get a work permit and visa. Tourists can get a visa waiver. Longer term tourists can get a METV.probably a reason for that staring one in the face.

If there is no visa type that suits someone's needs there is

OB

Longer term tourists can get a METV. It is totally unreasonable to expect the average person to pay out the equivilant of 100.000 Bt per year with nothing in return.

What is OB?

Don't they get a visa? What are the monetary requirements for somewhere like Australia? Much much more. 100k is actually pretty cheap for residency.

OB

Yes, but the difference being this is probably one in 20 years whereby in the LoS it's more like 20 in 1 year.

Once again, absolutely no condemnation of these jihadists from the muslim population. Not a single word. It should not come as a surprise, because the muslim population tacitly supports the jihadists and have exactly the same goal, converting the country to an Islamic state in accordance with their holy book. I feel fortunate that I am able to see the wood for the trees, and refuse to be silenced by being called a bigot for having the stones to state the obvious.

Today in Beirut dozens of Muslims killed by fellow Muslims in a suicide attack. No world wide protests those are reserved for serious issues.

There are Shiites and Sunnites in Islam, just to name the biggest ones, and there's conflicts between those Muslim branches.

Also, there's a geopolitical conflict about who should have control on which territory. Quite likely religious issues are only being instrumentalized for geopolitical interests which are just about money and natural resources. So, little if not nothing to do with Islam, but lots with those who want to take advantage of political unrest. Guess who it is.

I don't suppose for one minute it would have anything to do with "I'm a Christian, with ancestors in muslim Africa"?

Of course not silly me.

Not to mention the lack of damp proof course. Notice the rising damp flaking the paint on the lower reaches of rendered walls. Coupled with the fact concrete rarely sees a vibrator except on prestige construction jobs, e.g. Hospitals and malls.

I would actually like to see a green building revolution here. In my mind, this relies heavily on building a superinsulated building and relying on passive cooling technologies.

I paid a lot of attention to passive when building my home and there many benefits. Cooler both with and without aircon for starters..

Still for the life of my I can't understand why proper ridge and soffit vents are not designed into roofs here. Many locally designed brick and cement homes are basically unlivable in the hot season.