egeefay

Why can't the Thai government just buy HIV drugs from the drug companies? After all Thailand isn't a debtor nation any longer. It certainly has a positive trade balance with many foreign countries including the US.

And Thailand understands the value of intellectual property rights. Back in 1997 when US researchers came out with a Jasmine rice knockoff, I remember the outrage that Thailand expressed at the time and the anti American feelings.

I can see a poor nation taking this position but Thailand is far from poor. It's government can and should do a lot more for it's people.

Yet in Thailand you will find the poor throwing themselves at the mercy of private organizations for charity and welfare. The government provides scant few services for the poor.

my nephew is moving to from the US to Thailand and wants to take his desktop computer, monitor and speakers with him. It's a newer model (forget the manufacturer) and I understand most computer towers will work on both 110-220 volts.

Question. Are monitors and speakers also dual voltage?

If so would they need to have a switch or can they detect automatically?

If you want to see some countries that have official state religions you need look no further than Malaysia and Indonesia where Islam is the official religion and other religions are treated as second class.

Try converting someone in these countries to another religion and see what the consequences are.

I wonder what Lord Buddah would say to these monks who are clamoring for official status.

I don't think Buddah would ever encourage a monk to get involved in "things of this world".

Monks who march in the streets and hold signs in protest need to go back and read the teachings of Buddah.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Development and Human Security Paiboon Wattanasiritham (ไพบูลย์ วัฒนศิริธรรม), conducted an inspection of pornographic vendors at Pantip Plaza and instructed officers to conduct a sting operation resulting in the apprehension of 1 VCD vendor, along with the seizure of 1 pornographic VCD, 30 MP3 discs, and 2 bags of marijuana.

When my Thai nephew introduced me to Pantip Plaza I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Every imaginable movie and computer program you could imagine. Mac and PC. Programs that costs thousands of dollars in the US....200 baht.

I guess they must have completely sold out of everything the day the Deputy Prime Minister raided the place cause he didn't find a whole lot.

Perhaps if he needs more he could save a trip and just send my nephew to Pantip the next day.

Thanks, Ernie. Did you see any 2-3 bedroom unit of the condo? What do you think about the setting of the whole project?

No. We would have looked further if we were impressed but since we weren't we just said thanks and left. All we saw was the model condo. In fact, it could have been a two bedroom affair with one of the bedrooms decked out like a living room. I can't recall

Boathouse felt rather cramped and all the houses were stacked up against each other on tiny lots.

For the same money I prefer Palm Hills. There, You can design a more spaciou house on a 600 sq wah plot with plenty of room between you and your neighbors. You aren't near the ocean like Boathouse but if I need water I can always put in a pool (besides only a few houses are actually near the water. The rest are way back aways from the ocean edge. The oceanside units are very expensive and already taken)

If you are interested in finding out more about living in Palm Hills check out the residents new forum.

You can find out what people like and dislike about living there.

Can't give you a link on this forum but to find the forum just Google "Palm Hills residents" and you'll find the link.

I've heard about "the Boat House" which is a beachfront housing and condo project near the Petchkasem's tunnel. Equeefay, have you checking this one out and what is your opinion?

We stopped by the Boat House on our last visit to Hua Hin and took a look at their 3 story model homes.

We were not impressed. They made it 3 stories because the footprint of the house is tiny. The bedroom on the top floor was just that...a small bedroom with a balcony and hot tub outside..just enough room for a bed and not much else. . And the price is not cheap.

I'll email you some photos if I can find them

Ernie

monk told me my horoscope I will die and I have to do something for make my self alive. I have to stay in the religious wear white color and do thing about religious or veil for while at the temple for 3 and half months if I don't I might die."

I think any Buddhist monk who tells you he can predict the future and that you can control future outcomes by wearing certain colors needs to go back to school and study the teachings of Buddah again.

All that hocus pocus magic stuff has no place in Buddhism

In a Buddhist country where there are thousands of wats and tens of thousands of monks studying Buddhism constantly, it seems strange that magical amulets would be so universally accepted. It is not part of Buddhist teachings, I am told. In fact belief in magic is contrary to Buddhism.

It's hard to see how you can study the teachings of Buddha and end up thinking you are going to get some kind of magical protection from harm or be blessed with good luck by wearing images of the Buddha.

The same goes for fortunetelling. Nothing to do with Buddhism.

On the contrary, amulets give the false impression that Buddhism is a religion of superstition and magic.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I think monks should discourage this practice. It misrepresents of Buddhist teaching.

My wife and I have seriously considered moving from the Untied States to Thailand to retire and spend the nestegg that we have saved over the years in the land of smiles. We even bought a nice piece of property there last year.

Lately We've been having second thoughts due to the appreciation of the baht, the terrorists unrest, and the new laws that seem to have an unfriendly "anti foreigner" tilt.

This new internet tax of 940 baht for Thais and 1490 baht for foreigners is another bad sign that the welcome mat for foreigners is being withdrawn. It's bad enough that the government is charging almost as much in tax as it is for the service but to charge foreigners more than Thais because, according to Sombat Merou-Ruang, director of the Alien Internet Control Division at CAT headquarters in Bangkok,

"foreigners that do not have work in Thailand only hang out on internet forums, visit pornographic sites and other website lamock, different from Thai citizens who mostly use the internet for banking, ecommerce, and furthering their education" creates an unfair two tiered system based on cultural stereotyping.

I hope this is just another rumor and not really going to happen.

If Thailand really wants foreigners to retire in Thailand and spend their foreign exchange it's going to have to provide more than a tax to lure them

If , on the other hand, Thailand is fed up with foreigners, retirees, tourists and businessmen, it's applying the right measures to scare them away

I make it a practice never to give money to beggars.

When I was in Hua Hin I watched a legless beggar sit in the middle of the walkway in the night bazaar.

When anyone would drop a big bill in his cup, he'd quickly put it in his pocket so only the small change would show.

In the few minutes I sat watching him, a 3 farangs passed by and put 100 baht bills in his cup, not to mention the smaller change dropped

I would guess he made more in an hour than many professionals make in a day.

Begging is an occupation that contributes little in the way of exchange of goods and services but it's sure profitable for the beggar.

Here's the Nation's plea for photos.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/15...es_30029193.php

Sounds like they were not able to take any sensational photos worth printing and are looking for readers to submit photos.

From the replies the Nation is getting sandblasted for being too cheap to send a reporter up there to take some stills.

Other than that...people complaining about the haze but no photos.

Perhaps they will get some from readers. I'll keep my eye out on the Nation to see if they publish anything

Funny how a unprecidented "national disaster" can be so "unphotographed"

Ok. I did a search and did come up with one site

http://76916.homepagemodules.de/t82f31-CHI...kt-im-Smog.html

But I wasn't impressed.

I've heard people complaining they can't see beyond 100 meters.

None of these photos appear to be that bad.

The impression I've been getting that it's like a thick fog.

If you've ever been in a thick fog, Chiang Mai is "clear" comparison

I notice that the "Nation" is soliciting citizen "reporters" to send in their photos.

Maybe they'll get some photos that substantiate the disaster claims.

I've been reading a lot about the haze and smoke in the North but have been only able to find a few photos showing how bad it was up there.

Does anyone have any good links to photos showing how bad the air was

What haze and smoke? What bad air? ... Oh, are you talking about those few extra dust particles that got reported in the desperate news seeking world press?

Sounds like you are saying that all the news about Chiang Mai being declared a disaster area, spraying the downtown area with water, and all the posters on this forum who say they are heading out of town is all untrue.

That's why I was looking for photos.

I read a lot of what is going on but haven't found too many photos to substantiate the thick smoke that everyone is talking about

Do a search on YouTube for Tsunami and you get lots of results. Do a search for Chiang Mai Smoke and you get nothing.

Until I see photos, I'm assuming that you are correct. It's just a media event with no truth to it.

I've been reading a lot about the haze and smoke in the North but have been only able to find a few photos showing how bad it was up there.

Does anyone have any good links to photos showing how bad the air was

As the original poster, let me be clear that my Thai relatives are by no means wealthy.

They are middle class: teachers, accountants, tour guides etc. All are either in college or have gone to college. They all work for someone else; none of them is a business owner. Also, they are ethnic Thais...no mix if Chinese culture.

I think "Guest House" may have come closest to the experience I've seen among my Thai relatives.

When he said he had overheard Thai parents talking on the phone to their kids: Your missing mum, aren't you'.... 'Tell me how much you are missing me' .... 'I've been crying all day because I miss you'.

When I read that my first reaction is "wow. sounds just like the way some of my relatives talk to their kids"

One of my Thai sister in laws treats her 21 year old son just like a baby. In fact she keeps calling him by his "baby" name instead of his real name. And she keeps referring to herself as "mummy". She loves cutting up his meat on his plate before he eats. She makes sure to cook foods he likes. He relies on her for every decision....even what foods to pick out a a buffet. She loves that he is so dependent on her.

Another practice that I can't seem to get use to is having adult children sleep in the same bed as their parents. It's all very innocent but many of my daughter's Thai cousins like to sleep in their parents bed.

It seems to me that Thai children are raised as children all their lives.

Whereas we tried to teach our daughter to grow up, make her own decisions and get her own life

Thai parents seem to want their kids to be dependent on them, to rely on them to make a lot of their kids' decisions.

I would be interested to know how they researched and measured corruption in these countries.

And Are they talking about corruption of people high up in government...or the policeman who tires to extort 100 baht from a taxi driver?

Does anyone have any idea how they came up with the figures and rankings.

Not that I question thailand being labelled as one of the worst offenders....I've seen and heard enough corruption stories in the Land Of Smiles to convince me that there is some truth to the survey.

But how would you go about ranking countries based on corruption.

Corruption isn't something you can easily measure...like temperature , disease or poverty.

Did they send 100 people out to bribe traffic cops in each country?

Where are you headed?

I don't like the overdeveloped spots much (Phuket, Samui), and rather fancied Krabi town or Songkla town might be nice. A work in progress. But beaches and clean air would be essential. Good Internet is the only other thing that's mandatory - need a good connection for work.

Try Hua Hin

When I compare our American raised daughter to her Thai cousins I notice that she is a lot more self reliant and independent. When our daughter was growing up as a teenager she was a big headache. But now that she is out of college and supporting herself, we see eye to eye more often.

Her Thai cousins , on the other hand, are well into their 20’s and even 30’s . Most are still living at home (the Thai preference). Their parents who make a lot of the decisions for them. (what to eat, who to date, what to wear and not to wear)

Problem is, many of her Thai cousins are having trouble getting their lives off the ground. Even after college they seem to be floundering around trying to find a career. They seem content living at home with their parents..free room and board.

I have often suspected that many Thai parents aren’t tough enough with their kids. I’ve never seen my Thai in-laws spank their kids or ground them. I’ve never even heard them scold their kids. Whenever the kids do something wrong the Thai parents seem to cover for their kids or look the other way

Which leads me to wonder if a lot of other Thai kids are being raised the same way…too spoiled and reliant on mom and dad for too long

Thailand will be switching to NTSC so we can import all those defunct US tellys

Interesting your comment about Thailand switching to NTSC. I hadn't heard that before and couldn't find any internet related articles. Where did you hear this?

I just had dinner with a guy who is living in Phnom Phen in Cambodia. He likes it there a lot. It's very cheap to live.

Drawbacks:

Medical care is pretty primitive (he' goes to Thailand for anything serious)

They are still years behind. They don't even have a city phonebook

Everything is private...even the schools. No government services.

Half of my wife's family lives in the US. The other half in Thailand

There is a family history of diabetes and the grandmother is in nursing home in Bangkok now partially blind, unable to walk, kidney failure...some of it due to diabetes which she has had for years.

Here's some of the differences between the Thai half of the family and the other half, living in the US.

The US relatives exercise a lot more...either daily walks, tennis, golf. Sports plays a big part in their lives.

The Thai relatives live in Bangkok where it's not practical to walk due to traffic and sports costs a lot of money. Exercise is a hit and miss thing. They do a lot of sitting

The US relatives eat plenty of fish, vegetables and fruits. They are conscious of their diets and try to eat "healthy". They buy whole wheat breads, eat "brown rice", limit their intake of deep fried Thai foods...even watch their consumption of coconut milk recipes (although the jury is still out on whether coconut milk is good or bad for you) They drink wine occasionally. Plus they have a yearly checkup and blood work done so they know what their chlorestoral levels and blood pressure are.

The Thai half eat out a lot or order their foods precooked. They have no idea what's in the foods they buy since they don't have time to cook from scratch. They eat whatever tastes good without much thought for calorie content, saturated fats, transfats etc. A lot of what they order is deep fried. They only visit the clinic when they are sick

As the two sides get older it will be interesting to see how their health and vitality compare.

I came back from a month's stay in Hua Hin in January. While there I stayed at Palm Pavillions Condo along the beach in Cha Am, north of Hua Hin.

The condo was about 60 sq meters and they were going for 7 million baht or so. You can probably find out more on the internet

The location was great. Right by the beach with an infinity pool

When we were there the sea breeze blew almost all the time. We kept our condo door open and seldom had to use the aircondition.

I'm not sure what it's like at other times of the year and during the hot season.

The condo was spacious.

The construction was mediocre...as are a lot of condos in Thailand

A lot of Thai condos don't have built in kitchens...so most people install a small kitchen area with a microwave or small hot plate.

Other than the pool, though, there's not much to do but swim and walk along the beach.

Another condo that my wife stayed in was at Palm Hills. They have several condos on their property. Since you like golf this would also be a possiblity for you since the Condos are right next to the Palm Hills golf course.

Palm Hills is nice because there's a lot to do. They have a sports club which you can join. It has a pool, wight room, snooker tables, badminton court etc. You can also buy a golf membership so you can golf all you like

If you are into bike riding or jogging, the road in Palm Hills is not heavily travelled so you can bike or jog

That's all I know.

Maybe someone else has other suggestions

There are lots of recipes for Larb

Here's one you can watch online

http://www.thaifoodtonight.com/thaifoodton...yGroundBeef.htm

Here's a bunch of Thai cooking videos my wife and daughter made

for the more popular Thai dishes

http://www.thaifoodtonight.com/thaifoodtonight/recipes.htm

Hi,

I quite fancy taking the train this time!

Anyone know the timetable / official web site? Has anyone ever done the journey from BKK to Hua Hin by train? Is it reliable? What was your experience?

I am in the UK and want to reserve the tickets for my wife and child before getting out there. We will be travelling out 1st April!

If I go for the road option, what is the going rate from BKK Hotel to HH? anyone know of any good offers?

I took the train from Bangkok to Hua Hin a couple of months ago.

They have different trains throughout the day. Some of them make a lot of stops so try to take the one that get's there fastest.

I'm not sure we got on the right one but I seem to remember it took about 4 hours

Here's the State Railway website for info on trains

http://www.railway.co.th/english/index.asp

The trip was very enjoyable. comfortable seating. Great views of the Thai countryside. And no crazy freeway drivers to contend with. They feed you a box lunch

If you have a lot of luggage you have to stow it behind the last seat in the car.

My only complaint is that our train got stuck outside the station for about an hour waiting for something. But I think that was unusual

I prefer it to taking a taxi or minibus. I've heard horror stories about how badly they drive. Don't need the stress to save an hour