somchai jones

Pulled this leopard catfish out of Topcats recently. Not always my cup of tea in the snese that I guess I prefer natural lakes/rivers but still, it's a great buzz when you catch a nice one.

'The best drug for women?'

A nice mellow joint before sex!

I apologize for my frivolity.

I first ran into Luke over a dozen years ago on Samui when he had an outside beer bar of the same name I think it was.

It was always busy and I remember he acted as the cashier taking every not from his bar staff and giving out the change.

It seemed strange to me on my first visit to Samui but now realise it was him being very shrewd.

Anybody remember Tom of the British Bulldog Bar at the same time?

I remember Tom very well. I first him when I was very young (and very green!) in Feb of 1991 on my first trip down to Samui. He took me under his wing and I lived for a month or two next door to him in a little row of concrete one room apartments behind Chaweng Beach road. Very different in those days; I remember pigs and chickens wandering around in front of said apartments.

Met Tom again about 4 years later when he still had the bar. Haven't seen him since. Be nice to catch up with him though if he is still around.

funny, i have been in thailand for over 10 years and none of my friends have ever gotten into a fight (arguments certainly) while out drinking. they have never put anybody in the hospital either. But most here seem to overlook that for some of us violence is not the

"norm"

I am sure they are great guys, the certainly manage their establishment in a dignified and professional manner. As for the two on one thing, excellent divion of labour. admirable

As some have mentioned my friend, probably better nor to cast aspersions until facts are known.

I also never get into fights whilst in pubs, the reason being I'm not inclined to get drunk and make a nuisance of myself. However, there are people that don't seem to be able to hold their alcohol that do make a nuisance of themselves. When this happens, it's a sad fact of life that there will probably be other people in the pub who react violently, because they too are unable to hold their alcohol sensibly.

Ho hum......

I first ran into Luke over a dozen years ago on Samui when he had an outside beer bar of the same name I think it was.

It was always busy and I remember he acted as the cashier taking every not from his bar staff and giving out the change.

It seemed strange to me on my first visit to Samui but now realise it was him being very shrewd.

Anybody remember Tom of the British Bulldog Bar at the same time?

I remember Tom very well. I first him when I was very young (and very green!) in Feb of 1991 on my first trip down to Samui. He took me under his wing and I lived for a month or two next door to him in a little row of concrete one room apartments behind Chaweng Beach road. Very different in those days; I remember pigs and chickens wandering around in front of said apartments.

Met Tom again about 4 years later when he still had the bar. Haven't seen him since. Be nice to catch up with him though if he is still around.

Good idea to wait til the "true" story is on record before jumping to conclutions here!!!

Agreed.

English friends of mine were visiting the island (a married couple) and a drunken Frenchman proceeded to hit on the wife. Persistently. Even after telling him that the man sitting nearby was her husband he persisted. The husband finally had enough when the drunken Frenchman said to her "I want to f*** you". Only thing that stopped him from getting popped in the face was the bar owner coming round the bar and booting the French guy out. Imagine how it would have turned out if the owner hadn't been nearby? And then you could all have only heard part of the story and made comments about the violent English.

So, before assuming that all English are lager louts or hooligans, perhaps its better to know the full story instead of making up scenarios to fit your own preconceived notions

Thanks SBK. You are , as usual, the voice of reason.

Ah, that would be Kammy. Scottish bloke.

I cant see the mafia getting too involved in ferang specialist grafting. No Toyota Hi-Lux's will be pulling up outside Joe Bloggs garden, declaring they are 'going to the mattresses' over a few weeds pulled out and a garden wall painted.

I can almost guarantee this thread will evolve into a mafia issue. 5 posts later and Samui Jens will express concern that Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock will be flying over to place a horses head in Samui Bills bed. The global agriculture mafia in support of Samui agriculture mafia.

I had a smoke tonight.

P.S. Totally agree with you about Blood Diamond - cracking film.

Hey Meatgrowler.... Thats not a bad idea, I think we should embrace Jenstrals idea and lower the tone of Samui. We could start by indulging in your initial suggestion... that evil, demonic practice of, erm... finding cool bars to drink in with nice people to chat with. Nasty barstards, the pair of us for daring to consider such a thing as, erm... having a drink in a bar. I mean, that realy is Samui going to hel_l, isnt it?

Roo - very sore, but fair point. We are utterley crap at Cricket and in fairness, I wouldnt have it any other way than the ozzies winning it. You deserve it. From our performance, it will be a cold day in hel_l before we desreve to hold the ashes up again. RIP British sport!

oi oi my man,seems like were the the new best of pals according to a very few sour formers...bless em...i genuinely didnt think i was doin nowt wrong by tryin to socialise!appparently im now a timeshare seller! i couldnt give 2 fooks bout the ashes anyway.....reckon a samui expats footy team much better!.....

<snip>

p.p.s watch blood diamond...quality,di caprio for an oscar

You misunderstood my whinge about time share sellers, Meatgrowler. I wasn't calling you one. Just an aside really, the dislike stems from an incident 20 years ago in Mijas when I had to chase one down the road.....

you know what i mean roo!... The established ,cool samui residents....

Sorry, MG, but that is highly amusing. UK/any farang bar patrons that are established and cool residents? Oxymoronic, dear.

Try Red Fox in Lamai unless you need big screen sports coverage. Ting Tong is filled with time share sales people.

Says it all, doesn't it. Time share sales people in Thailand. How sad.

Had an appointment after prices were discussed. Sit in the chair and she qoutes me a completely different price.

This is the crap I hate.

And why charge the farang more to clean teeth? My teeth are pretty clean compared to those nasty looking teeth in most thais mouths. Im sure cleanng mine would take half as long as cleaning the average thais mouth. I just dont understand. They would rather have me walk out of the office and make zero baht then clean my teeth for the same price as Thais. Oh well, this is Thailand afterall.

Several of us have already suggested the Nathon dentist. As I mentioned prices on dislay. No two tier pricing.

It's only twenty minutes from where you live. Why don't you just go there?

There's a restaurant as you enter the Fishermans' Village on your right that has classical Thai dancers. Can't remember the name but you can't miss it as the front is fairly open.

Haven't eaten there, just seen it in passing.

Can anyone reccomend a nice and affordable dentist in samui for basic teeth cleaning.

Whats the going rate these days anyways?

What about laser whitening, anyone had it done in samui?

Hi.

Had a basic scale and polish in Nathon recently. Good dentist and very thorough; he took longer and gave far better results than the dentists I have used in Kuala Lumpur where I usually get it done.

Bht 700 was IMHO a very fair price as when I get it done in Malaysia it works out at around Bht 1000 and in UK now around Bht 2500.

As you are about to leave Nathon on the main ring road going south (towards Lipa Noi, etc ) instead of continuing, turn right at the little roundabout so that you are coimng back round the one way system towards the beach. It's on your left not too far down.

As far as the laser/whitening costs there, I can't remember but the good thing was, he had all prices on display on a card at reception.

The amount of imbeciles using the Samui ring road is staggering, whether they be the pissed up holidaymakers on choppers, quads or mopeds, the holidaymakers on mopeds who are obviously baffled as to how to ride said mopeds, those local moped riders who have a complete lack of awareness of any other vehicles around them or my favourite, those locals in oversized 4 x 4s that have a complete disregard for anyone else on the road.

Because of this I'd never dream of hiring a bike of any description. Also, after hiring a decent smart saloon car recently, I wouldn't go down that road again as it was 'too decent' for the state of the ring road.

Do what I usually do, hire a jeep for Bht 500 per day. They're safe, fun and (as long as you don't hire the open top version) great when you get caught in the middle of a torrential rainstorm/flood!

Indeed I'd go so far as to say my long suffering wife and I have a wonderful time sat in our jeep watching the chaos unfolding around us! An integral part of Samui life (and death!).

Thats SIA for you. One of the best airlines in the world.

Agreed. Without a doubt my favourite airline. Singapore Airport superb too.

In SE Asia IMHO Malaysia comes a very close second both with their airline MAS and KLIA airport.

Jesus! The person asked about Lamai vs. Chaweng, not Nathon or some other place.

Go to Lamai. It is better in every way.

Calm down my friend, it appeared that the poster wasn't too familiar with Samui and so some of us (politely) threw in some other suggestions that he may not have been aware of.

I'm single, but not looking for too much 'action.' I love relaxing on the beach. Which is the better place for a couple of days?

Also, what should I pay to rent a bike? In Patong they're 150-200B.

Thanks

IMHO you should avoid both.

I love Koh Samui but dislike the two areas you've mentioned. I find Chaweng anonymous in the sense that it could be any seaside strip in any continent. I dislike Lamai because I find it sleazy and scruffy.

My favourite town is the capital Nathon which IMHO still retains some semblance of a Thai town and makes for an interesting visit, whether it be watching the pier activity or wandering around the shops (which offer far better value than those on Chaweng).

The beaches found on the west/southwest are my favourites but may be too quiet for you.

Maenam and Bophut provide a good 'middle ground' between the tranquility of the SW beaches and the overkill of Chaweng.

As far as the price of renting bikes is concerned, as far as I can remeber from conversations with friends, I think it's roughly the same as Patong - don't take my word for it though as I always rent a jeep (mainly because I value my life!).

Chok Dee.

I spend the time amusing myself by playing 'spot the female office worker with the shortest skirt'.

One saving grace would be that at least if the Malaysians commissioned the masjid, it would be impressive!

KLIA, Petronas Twin Towers, KL train station and the Shah Alam masjid are all among my list of worlwide favourite constructions!

Why don't you fly Malaysian Air instead, my friend.

Flown them for years without a problem and guess what, the air crew are amongst the politest I've met.

Or would the fact that a third of the crew are Malay (and therefor Muslim) bother you?

It is a fact that migrants coming into the UK are mainly far more motivated and appreciate the opportunities handed to them in the UK than the white underclass. This is not surprising considering their respective backgrounds. To actually make a huge decision and come and live in a strange and foreign country for the betterment of their family takes guts and should be applauded. Those 'indigenous' Brits living in deprived areas tend to come from generations of underachievement, where there are fewer role models of success, where there are no aspirations to do better than the previous generation. This section of society has always historically blamed immigration for their ills- from the Huguenots arriving in East London in large numbers from 1670 onwards, Russian Jews in the late 19th century to the post war immigration of South Asians and Caribbean to Eastern Europeans today. The fact is however social mobility although difficult from the bottom of the pile is easier (and thus happens more) today than it ever was.

And those blaming immigration for the rise in taxes to cover social security costs are simply wrong. The recent increase in immigration from Poland, Slovakia etc has boosted the economy, filled the jobs nobody wanted (agriculture, cleaners) as well as provided much needed semi-skilled and skilled work in other areas. Also, please note - immigrants from Eastern Europe are not entitled to any benefits for at least a year - so they are obviously coming here to work!

No one is suggesting the UK is a perfect country, and certainly some policies can be improved. But people running the country down on this thread should really take a proper look around them. Yes maybe things are better for you in Thailand - but that's because in economic terms you've moved somewhere from the middle to the upper end of society. And instead of abuse and criticising comments from GH and others - and using the odd anecdote to condemn a nation of 60 million people - perhaps Robski and others could attempt to properly explain what their point actually is other than - "4.4 million Brits living else where must be coz Britain is going to dogs" and "its all them immigrants and third worlders taking our jobs and claiming benefit" which might do for the letters pages of the Sun newspaper but after any kind of analysis doesn't stand up at all!

Good post. Sums it up really.

Very, very sad how immigrants to UK are being blamed for just about everything at the moment.

Whilst listening to a radio talk show yesterday, several callers tried to link the fact that there are immigrants living in East Anglia to the recent spate of prostitute murders there.

Seems to be human nature that if one has a scapegoat available, they'll use it. Currently, immigrants are that scapegoat. Interestingly (or perhaps predictably) though, those Britons who are successful (and thus don't need a scapegoat) don't keep harping on about immigrants.

Another sad fact in the current climate is that in the eyes of the uneducated (i.e. Sun readers) or little Englanders (i.e. Daily Mail readers), the lines between illegal immigrants/refugees/immigrants have become blurred to the extent that they have all been lumped into the same catagory.

Very, very sad.

Minnie Mouse, another from your private collection of photos that you feel compelled to share with us. From what I've seen of your past posts....men in skimpy underpants, half naked men flexing their muscles...I don't think you care whether it's an Aussie or a Brit, you're obsessed with the male form. Freud would have probably said that you see yourself as a sheep. Baaaaaaah.

Somchai Jones, you are indeed a funny person. I like your style.

Just for you I thought I'd post a couple of pics of your good self. It seems that you like to show a bit of leg and flex your muscles too.

Is that pic in the middle a demonstration on how you embrace your fellow Brits?

Apart form the fact that no one outside Oz can understand their 'sheep shearer' accents, they're seen by many nations as imitation English, i.e. not quite up to the real thing.

Let's do a visual comparison.

Here is your average toffee nosed Pom, who speaks with a plum in his mouth.

...and here is a rough and tough Aussie shearer...

For an Aussie, fleecing sheep is as easy as fleecing Poms of The Ashes.

Minnie Mouse, another from your private collection of photos that you feel compelled to share with us. From what I've seen of your past posts....men in skimpy underpants, half naked men flexing their muscles...I don't think you care whether it's an Aussie or a Brit, you're obsessed with the male form. Freud would have probably said that you see yourself as a sheep. Baaaaaaah.

I used to say the further I got away from England the more I found people liked the English......

It's still true, Robski.

Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.... all these nations still respect the English as the true gentlemen that we are.

Walk into any office in Asia and see the admiration on the faces once they know you're an Englishman.

All these nations still tend to think of the Aussies as slightly backward, uneducated and uncultured.

That's probably why in Thailand for instance, an Aussie will always be pushed behind an English or American applicant when applying for a teaching position in a school or university.

Apart form the fact that no one outside Oz can understand their 'sheep shearer' accents, they're seen by many nations as imitation English, i.e. not quite up to the real thing.

" long live the Queen "

"a faschist regime"

Thanks to messrs Vicious and Rotten.

Thanks my friend, glad you like it.... not only do we have the greatest monarchy in the world, the greatest punck rock group too!

Hey, 'Mighty' Mouse, keep looking at the pictures, sweetie...

" long live the Queen "

She will live on in the hearts of all Australians for as long as they continue to have her picture on their monetary coins. Yes, that's right, they still have the Queen's head on their coins.

As has always been clear to me and has probably become abundantly clear to all over the course of this thread, they do indeed still bear an allegiance to the mother country and sceretly wish that they were Brits. Quite touching really.

What's not so touching and indeed a little disturbing is the fact that 'Mighty' Mouse is so obsessed with the Brits that he's taken to putting up posters of Englishmen in skimpy underpants on his bedroom wall. An example of which he felt compelled to share with us in one of his earlier posts.

And the Canadians have our dear Queen adorned over their money.!!!

I really do believe that they too wish they could be Brits

Very possibly, and the fact that they are of better stock than the Antipodeans (convicts to a man) would mean that we could indeed welcome them back to our shores.

Perhaps for those Aussies longing to reclaim their lost Brit nationality, we could put in place some sort of scheme whereby they could work for us for a certain number of years until they earned the right to call themselves Brits. Rather like their ancestors working for their freedom.