NOC

Actually this has been the law for some time. I remember some time ago, when I did my 90 day report, I received a note to give to my landlord that she was supposed to register me.

Same at hotels. Funny enough, if I stay at a 5 star hotel they never ask for my passport.

Maybe they will introduce a law that we are not allowed to live within 300 mtres of government buildings, religious buildings and education institutes.

Why not fit us all with a micro chip so we can be located at anytime?

Please do not give them any ideas.

Internet will be slower starting at 2.!!!!!

I think fiber optic gets a pass on this one.

If it's marble, it should be cut by the company selling it, to your specs. The marble come in large pieces so I can't see someone cutting on site. Not yet anyway.

Make a paper cut out, an exact replica, of what you want. Tape paper together to get the shape and dimensions right. Fold neatly. Take it to the company. When the cutter lays it out, he'll know what to do...

I signed up for an international number on skype that was to cost 13.99 a month.

I just looked at my paypal account and the seem to be charging an 18.00 dollar 3 month subscription fee, on top of the monthly 13.99 fee for the number.

Maybe I made a mistake, but I don't think so. Anyone else have this experience? Was there something in the fine print?

As a side question, does anyone know of an alternative that is cost effect?

I can't see it, but there is a lot of available space in the heads of some people.... Can't say much for the location though.

I see plenty of kids driving around in Glock poloshirts. Does that mean they all have one and got the shirt for free?

They're penis extensions, not shirts. The shirt says, for the wearer, look at me, I'm tough, a man! Next!

It'a too bad that this populous needs to save face at all costs. They all could have easily walked away.

I read this on TV a few years back and thought it was well written, so I saved it.

My guess is that the Buddha taught nothing of face. If he did, it was probably an encouragement to lose face as often as possible, so as to shatter the ego. Face is nothing but ego. It is nothing but a lack of manhood being expressed. It is nothing but extreme cowardice, and in my opinion is the opposite of everything Buddhism stands for. If you really think about it, face is really nothing more that the inability to look within, to introspect, to reflect, and to improve as an individual. It corrodes the soul. It prevents spiritual growth. It retards forward development. It holds a person back, from any sort of advancement. Only when we are able to look within, admit fault with ourselves, take responsibility, and show remorse for poor actions on our own parts, are we able to advance as a people, or as an individual. Face prevents all of that, and serves as a weak excuse for not looking within, and taking blame for anything. It is blight on the face of Asia. Face is abhorrent behavior. So is lying. And if lying is used to save face, it may be the ultimate form of offensive behavior, and a huge spiritual transgression. And from a spiritual point of view, lying might be the ultimate form of laziness. On many levels, it is the opposite of spiritual development and growth.

I know I will hear about all the reasons for face. About all the social implications, etc. I do not give a hoot about the culture behind face. I am simply talking about face as a form of extreme personal weakness. I am talking about the negativity of the trait, and how it holds people back, in regard to the spiritual life, and the precepts of Buddhism, or any other faith for that matter. Face is the very opposite of spirituality, and therefore Buddhism. All those opinions expressed are my own of course. And they are just opinions. But, I think they may have some validity. What do you think?

I can see the teen pregnancy rate increasing dramatically. They'll wonder why...

Bo bay market. Not certain on the spelling.

They flew from Poipet, to Bangkok?

If he thinks he got from the father, and it's done, he's wrong, dead wrong. The boys in prison are going to make sure he gets it, many times over!

What was your first clue?

Considering the alcohol related accidents only run at 30%, why are we not looking at the causes of the other 70%??

This is a band aid, as usual. Idiotic or non existant licencing standards, driver education and vehicle road worthiness need a lot more energy

than trotting out some breathalysers.

Think how many times you see the way people drive here and shake your head or worse.

Or, to look at it another way and apply some logic; 30% of accidents are caused by drunk drivers whilst 70% are caused by sober drivers.

Far safer to drive drunk

says the owner of a bar...

I have a 3 story 4 bedroom 2 bath townhouse with a full kitchen, dining room, living room laundry and storage room for 7200 a month. It's in a moo-baan with 24 hour security, and on the end of a soi with no cross traffic. I'm near the BTS, but no pool. It's out there if you look.

For about 12k you can (cheaply) buy a new fridge, hot plate and sink.

In the OP, sounds like you've never even been to Thailand.

So you were thinking about this "for a while" and randomly chose Thailand as the country from which you wanted to go find a wife and take her back to the USA?

Being a sap is the least of your problems.

not randomly Jay. I read a lot and do my homework. I did not get to where I am without being prpared. I'm sorry to say my experience with Southeast Asia is limited. I'm familure with the philapene and Chinese cultures. I can even speak Mandrin to a degree. I have had it on my mind for at least a decade, but for one reason or another I kept putting it off. Not any longer. I will be decent at speaking Thai inside of three years and I will have spent a lot of time there. In fact, this conversation is part of the leaening process.

Being a sap may very well turn into an asset. Being a sap is not being stupid, but yes my tendency to give does have to be tightened up a bit around people that may be out to con me. I'm aware of this.

The standard rule here is, 'be worth more alive that you would be dead'. Read that statement exactly how it is written.

If you do find a girl that you think is compatible, test her!

Sounds like some gang bangers from Oak Town,fled back to the hood,once they hit bridge, they were done,CHP,don't screw around

Oak Town; a gated community.

In and Out Burger!

So we will have Thai students speaking English with a Thai accent on top of Filipino mispronunciations? What fun!

...on top of Filipino mispronunciations and a lack of a subject in their sentences? What fun!

^ Not trying to put your down but generally speaking, people who are brought up in a relatively gun free culture do get spooked with gunfire. As a Scotsman, I recall when I relocated to Houston, even after several years I still found random, night-time gunfire rather disconcerting.

I shared a house with a fellow engineer out in Sugar Land after I moved from Sharpstown and he from Fondren. As we sat on the front stoop having a beer after emptying our U-Hauls he asked me, "D'ya hear that?"

I heard cicadas and asked, "What? The crickets?"

He countered, "No. No fricken gun fire!"

And he was a Texan!

You bring back memories! When I lived in the Sharpstown and Fondren areas, I had a .30 caliber, pistol grip, carbine with a 30 round clip. Now that was a gun! Being an adventurous young man, I had it with me one day while driving up 45 north. A constable pulled me over for an illegal lane change. I didn't have my DL, insurance or reg. with me. I walked back to him and told him that, and that I had a gun on the front seat. He got out of the car, walked over to mine, looked at the gun, then back at me... He ran the 11 and 12, saw I wasn't a criminal, wrote me a ticket and asked me to put the gun in the trunk in the future. End of story.

I know this is a controversial subject, but the reality is this; People of the world need a way to protect themselves from tyrannical rule. Guns are the answer. Killing innocent people with guns is not.

all you experts jumping in here and critisizing but not offering a solution need to <deleted>

I am no fan of the Thail police and I find them seriously lacking in trainging and the level of corruption we all know about

That said - I can see no way they could do much better than they are doing now, big city, swamped with tourists - seriously what would you have them do ?

so they could have done a little more at the crime scene and I agree with that, but at the end of the day some skinny coward walked up to a popular tourist spot with a bomb in a bag- left it there and calmly walked away - wearing possibly a wig and other stuff to hide his identity supposed to be talking English, but the biggest clue to this event is the fact that nobody claimed it

As long as we're using trite phrases, like 'the end of the day', lets throw some reality into the mix.

At the end of the day, more than one country has offered to assist in the investigation, and I'm certain you'll agree they need it. What did they do, here and on murder island? They turned it down. How smart is that?

The only logical conclusion a reasonable person could make is they don't want to admit, or they're to stupid to admit, they are bumbling fools.

Ah! Thainess. Velly velly good thai people.

Ah! Some ThaiVisa posters velly velly clever, in Western countries no murders no rapes no burglaries, only velly good people.

In the west, you don't have an entire culture portraying themselves as sweet, kind, loving Buddhist's. Said, differently; the west isn't fake about it.

To be fair, the us coppers were dumb enough not to have security at one of the world's major sporting events, and capturing two dumbasses was not the greatest police achievement. (If memory serves, they were identified by civilians.) Whereas this bombing seems better planned.

Mixing a bit of detail with your hearsay, usually makes for a better read.

Prove it.

With all due respect I think the average US consumer is stupid. Blunt but there you go!

An ex US girlfriend (in her 40's mind you) went into shock when she saw the cattle trucks going to the abattoir (slaughterhouse) in OZ.

She really did believe that meat came from supermarkets and didn't realise cattle had to be killed for her to chew down on her favourite cuts of beef.

The only people who win in this legal nonsense will be lawyers (as always).

The losers will be the consumers who will end up paying for the litigation by way of higher prices. And the many fishermen and their families unjustly forced out of business.

I'm not suggesting that there aren't some dodgy operators out there but this subject has taken on a persona all of it's own as though subsidised by some very rich entities to prove the existence of something that may not exist for their own purposes.

The rabid anti coal movement come to mind.

Meanwhile ISIS captures, rapes and beheads real slaves....and we worry about cat food.

It's not cat food that concerns people. Go read the New York Times article about the 'sea slaves' in the fishing industry here, then rethink what you wrote.

“I don’t believe Thai people are the perpetrators … because the incident is a behavior that is too cruel for Thai people with Thai hearts to do to their fellow Thais,” Deputy Police Chief Chaktip Chaijinda said yesterday.

Yeah, right....