Merylhighground

Hilarious Morakot.

I haven't seen an 'Angry of Tunbridge Wells' post like this for a while.  They used to be a regular thing on here but it seems that the general 'mind your own business' or 'who cares?' type of replies must have created a shift in the attitude.

I could imagine such outrages as reported in the OP must have made his monocle pop out and his huge moustache quiver in indignation......

I suppose the OP is one of those TV members who wouldn't leave the house unless in full Evening Dress, has never done anything wrong, married a Thai/Chinese General's daughter, engages in serious cultural activities at the Siam Society from waking to sleeping...... 

Maybe he should be made 'mayor of all foreigners in Thailand' as he seems to want to dictate his 'standards on one and all.....

As I understand it, volunteers require a Work Permit which is obtained through having the correct visa type.

I've not heard of a volunteer visa before but usually a Work Permit is obtained from the Min of Labour via a nonimmigrant visa and the required official paperwork/documentation from the organisation or company.  

It is on the Work Permit where your tasks, responsibilities will be defined via the paperwork provided by the organisation, or the Min of Labour officials may even ask you about your role when you collect your Work Permit if they are unfamiliar with such a role.

Have a care to read through this section carefully as there are cases of people thinking simply having a Work Permit permits them carte blanche to do anything while at work, however it does not.

You are supposed to remain firmly in the boundaries set out in the Work Permit.

As this part is usually hand written by the issuing official, when you collect your WP, if you feel there has been an omission you can point that out, or if you are lucky like me, and deal with a good, efficient, friendly office they may even ask you to read through the whole thing and make any amendments you suggest. 

For example if your Work Permit does not have 'translation' as one of your permitted tasks and you go and do a load of translation work, technically you could wind up in the soup.....

I hope that is clear though I am certain that others will be along with more 'hands on' experience than I can provide. 

46 minutes ago, gamini said:

Politically motivated?. That's what everyone says after they have been accused of crimes. So according to you, all 17 corruption cases cases against Taksin are politically motivated. So granting a huge loan to Burma (without going through Parliament) on condition they buy his satellite equipment is not a crime. Come off it! do you really know anything about the cases that he's been accused of. If you did, you wouldn't make such ridiculous statements.

 

Well put. Amazing there are still misguided ignorant folks who think Thaksin really was a 'man of the people' and never tried to rip them off. Seems like they have  forgot his ridiculous attempt to raise the funds to buy Liverpool Football Club via a publicly funded 'lottery' which would have given the him the funds to steal the loot and buy the club for his, and his crooked family's own personal gain.

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They were enemies, perhaps you can't remember that far back.

 

Anyway, Thaksin did successfully avoid jail (remember he was allowed to) but his sworn enemy was too stupid to run back to China and  he,  Sondhi,  who has outlived his usefulness gets discarded.

Thaksin is certainly not a terrified rat at all because no country in the world will arrest him or deport him because most foreigners see the case was  politically motivated. Even Interpol would not accept the previous army's request to arrest him so that speaks volumes, doesn't it?

 

Hawk, for many years Thaksin and Sondhi were the best of pals (going further back than you can obviously remember), together pioneering mobile, satellite, mass communication technology in Thailand and Southeast Asia, until their much publicised fall-out. It seems like my recollections go a lot further than your own rather selective memories do.

I don't believe that any nation, nor Interpol thinks the case against Thaksin was 'politically motivated'. I would love to see you provide evidence of a refusal of an extradition request on such grounds.

Still, please feel free to carry on to cherry pick your 'facts' which only serve to make your grasp on this case appear even more flimsy.

1 hour ago, BKKdreaming said:

any tips on cooking Uncle Bens in a rice cooker or microwave ?  how much rice / water ?

 

I am sure my Mom just cooked it in a pot on an oven , but that was decades ago and I do not have a stove

I'm not too bad in the kitchen but for years rice was my downfall,  try as I might I could never get it right until we got a rice cooker. Now I can cook the stuff like a native. I find a ratio of just  under 2 water to one rice. If I'm doing for two or three of us I bung in three scoops of rice to about 5 and a half scoops of water (using the scoop thingy that came with the rice cooker as a measure) with belting results every time....

I can sympathise with the OP here. We all grew up with different produce, many of which become comfort foods to us in later life, more so in expat life.

Thankfully, personally speaking, my wife having lived away from Thailand and had/has similar cravings for authentic Thai food while in the UK, now doesn't go on too much at me when I go 'splurging' at Villa Market and the like, nor even when I 'go big' on Expat Supermarket, British Corner Store and the like.

Most of these seem aimed mostly at British expats, however I am sure there must be equivalents aimed at the US expat. This is the direction I'd point the OP at, though certainly the most expensive option these sites are also the most certain way to get the goods to your door you simply can't find in Thailand. This is the only surefire way of ensuring you satisfy those urges even if it is (at times) ludicrously expensive.

Failing that, if you are lucky enough to have people visiting from home regularly, you could always put in a shopping list with them for goods to bring along and drop with you upon arrival. I am fortunate in this way that I have a reciprocal agreement with British pals who live in the UK with Thai spouses that when we visit the UK we bring Thai goods for their spouses and in turn when they visit the Kingdom they come bearing goods from the UK for me.

I also have a niggling recollection that while in one or other of the import supermarkets, (either Villa or TOPS) before we left in March, I read a blurb in, if I recall correctly, one of those advertising sheets they hand out, which offered a service where you can ask for specific items to be imported. Whether or not they choose to import your specific desired item might be a totally arbitrary decision, especially given the nature of your wishes - would they import rice to Thailand on the whim of a 'crazy Farang?'*

Apologies for being so vague but those last few weeks were so hectic they are somewhat of a blur now. Also apologies for rambling like an senile old man but the kids have fried my brain with various homework today...

* - I am in no way suggesting you may be a 'crazy farang' merely hypothesising as to what a Thai Supermarket manager's thought may be to seeing such a request, given that, as mentioned elsewhere, Thai rice is (yet another) source of Thai national pride.

Good luck. Hope you find some Uncle Ben's soon.

1 minute ago, Hawk said:

I bet Thaksin is laughing.

Why? he still has his sentence hanging over his head, Running off hiding like a terrified rat overseas doesn't cancel the sentence out you know....

Well while I at least grudgingly applaud him for not fleeing and cowering from justice as certain others have done using/abusing their status, wealth and influence to have done so, I'll also wager he won't be in one of Klong Prem's infamous, inhuman 30 men to a cell, cells but a nice private air conditioned room with all mod cons, hookers, booze, good food on tap. 

19 minutes ago, MyFrenU said:

There really are,it seems the majority of expats are total and utter scumbags it's something that puts me off wanting to live in Thailand!
The rest of South-East Asia the expats are reasonably normal compared to Thailand it seems to attract the dregs from every corner of the globe!

Yet, clearly something attracts you to a forum for ''total and utter scumbags' and 'dregs from every corner of the globe'? 

I doubt very much this pervert is an 'expat' in any true sense of the overused word, nor are many long termers in Thailand though I'm sure that as usual some will post some spurious 'dictionary' definition which meets their own shaky claims to 'expathood'. 

How's the 'good guys in' thing going on? News of life sentences being dished out to drug dealers and now this deviant is pinched, along with reports of wrongdoing 'foreigners' on a daily basis.

I'd love to read a statement of 'progress' from Immigration six months on.....

6 hours ago, gbswales said:

People on here are always so cynical - because someone worked as a pornstar - they are "bad" - and because she married and maybe fell in love with an older man she is nothing but a gold digger. My partner and I have posted facebook pics when each of us were in hospital but oh - that's wrong too.  Maybe the attitude has as much to do with the reasons some ex-pats went to Thailand in the first place!

Best post of the day.

Some (most, if not all) of the 'whore/prostitute' comments here come from men who were drawn to Thailand for that very thing, have probably married similar themselves.

They would probably faint if this lass approached them to replace Harold, should God-forbid, the worst happen; though seeing as Harold is/was a success in life and most of the hypocritical,  bitter, warped, old snipers on here, could only dream of calling themselves that, as they express such envy through their keyboards, that seems highly unlikely to happen.

I suppose they have to have their daily keyboard vent before expressing horror to their Thai/Chinese MBA wives whose high ranking army/police fathers own half of Bangkok...etc...keeps down the high BP I Understand.

5 hours ago, joeyg said:

Deal hard drugs.  Should be executed.  Now before you jump on me.  Think of how you'd feel if one of your children got addicted or died from his drugs.  That's what I thought...

 

I'm a responsible parent who wouldn't let my children get into a situation where they were exposed to such things. Are you? Thought not. What a dumb post you made.....you were probably slumped on the porch over a bottle of Lao Khao when you wrote that drivel.....

3 minutes ago, seajae said:

anyone living on Thailand knows that thais simply throw everything on the ground when finished with it because they are too lazy to put it in a bin if they can find one. Anything made of metal is stolen that fast it isnt funny, still doesnt excuse them for being pigs though. Just goes to show how little regard thais have for their own country, can be seen absolutely everywhere in Thailand, they really need to learn respect for their country but I doubt it will happen anytime soon

On the ground, in the canals and rivers, out the train window into prime jungle or unspoiled countryside, into the sea, all over a place of national beauty or natural importance, anywhere but the right place......and they claim to be proud of their country, seems to me like they can't wait to turn it into a total shythole....those found responsible should be very publicly  shamed and named, and shown all over the media labelled as 'Un Thai' (or similar) and the problem would end...

^ba-dum-tish! 

It does me bloody good. The wife knows exactly how to get my heart racing and get me out of bed all inside of five minutes and walking the hounds or tending to the sprogs, especially of a Sunday and Saturday Morning.....

In fairness it is an excellent, if rather pessimistic, article....

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

The spotlight of world politics has swung to Laos as world leaders gather in Vientiane...

I got this far before laughing myself silly; I think I've done meself a mischief.....

13 minutes ago, 212Roger said:

I can name two: bungee jumping from a 50 meter platform in Chiang Mai with "high anxiety" while having Dengue Fever and having a son with a Thai bargirl.

What did the bargirl think about giving birth on a 50M drop?

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More stupid than adventurous however....not to be recommended.

I think there are a few folks confusing 'adventurous' with 'stupid' here, myself included...

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Cool. If you're interested in wildlife-themed adventure, here's my favorite story.

It wasn't really an adventure. We were only in the area to (hopefully) see or get first hand accounts concerning the crocodiles recently found in the NP, as a keen amateur herp, I have visited many times and have made a few contacts in the area. This being Thailand, hospitality was naturally offered,  booze followed while the talk turned to recent tiger sightings in the area. Not wanting to miss such a golden chance of maybe seeing an Asian big cat in the wild, my pal and I set off against the stark warnings of our hosts. I still get savage grief off the wife more than ten years on....

The rest of your post is fascinating, if poignant reading. Bangkok used to be rammed full of such characters when I first arrived in the 1990s; some claiming spurious links to involvement in the Indochinese conflict and in Special Forces from other nations, some were quite believable, others not quite so convincing. In those times, you couldn't throw a half brick in the Sukhumwit area without beaning someone claiming to be ex SAS.

I understand that a Sumatran Rhinoceros was sighted in Kalimantan this year which can only be encouraging news

When staying near Kaeng Krachan NP a good few years ago, going for a mildly drunken walk in the jungle when locals had strongly warned us against it as they were adamant there were supposedly Tigers around as well as it being the King Cobra nesting season, not to mention the myriad Kraits, Common (Siamese) Cobras, Russell's Vipers, Spiders, Scorpions, Scolopendra, countless ghosts and spirits and many other nasties allegedly. Needless to say we were a tad jumpy like Shaggy and Scooby and turned back after 20 minutes of jumping at every sound, hardly evoking the spirit of Wallace.....

The next day we followed the path we'd taken, now innocent and friendly in the sunshine, only to find that about two hundred yards from where we turned back was a sharp drop which could have seen us plummet several hundred feet and become a Thai Visa news story as there was every chance that our torches wouldn't have picked out the danger...

While he may be a nut job, he is one of the few/the only regional leaders unafraid to highlight some members of his country's elite to be directly involved in the regional drugs trade. Beats putting a bullet into lowly mules...

Unfortunately for the handful of 'expats' with seemingly perfectly 'legitimate' reasons for being in the country, the climate of attitudes towards foreigners is now such that the hoops are going to get higher and much, much harder for 'normal' folks to jump through, especially with elections/more political turmoil in the offing...whoever can puff their chest out the furthest claiming 'Thailand for the Thais' etc will have the biggest advantage.

I'm glad/lucky that when I have to do the visa/WP stuff, my employers are pretty clued up and efficient at providing all the relevant paperwork as and when needed. Even after a twenty year working history in Thailand I do wonder how much longer it will be before my luck runs out.....so much for all this 'good guys in'  nonsense........

Perhaps you could get your company to provide you with the necessary documentation to show Immigration you are in the country for legitimate reasons or to get you the relevant visa and if needed, a Work Permit. Even maybe to the extreme extent of opening up a Bangkok office with you as manager??? 

Good luck but expect things to get a lot worse before they get easier.....

13 hours ago, Quack said:

 

What a ridiculous, naive comment. I've had plenty of "respectable" Thai girls come to my room alone, some who got their kit off and some who did not. The notion that "good Thai girls don't have sex" is totally absurd, they like it as much as anyone. Or maybe you're just really ugly?

Oh dear, another sucker who can't tell the difference between a 'respectable lass' or a hooker.....or another ramapant fantasist.....

Of course respectable Thai lasses have sex but usually with some firm bodied, well monied, young Thai bloke, not some fat, bald, sexpat scraping by on a meagre pension or paltry TEFL 'wage'.  

9 hours ago, peeba7 said:

 

In all honesty this applies more to non sex workers than sex workers who can always find another 'luk car'.' unless of course they can not due to age looks or location. For the time being at least. I thought I had outgrown these kinds of gals but i think it is more about the culture than anything else. Thanks!

Deluded....

4 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

If I ever moved to thailand Id have two pads…one where i took no one….and one for shagging...

PLAYA!!!!

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I can see they come because they care, like you or need money.  Curious others experiences with this and suggestions to avoid or deal with when/as it happens besides moving to a place they simply can not access.  Also feel free to comment on the endless missed calls they make, and other 'stalking' behaviors, so different from the west, quite challenging at times.  

 

OP, If by 'Thai gals' you mean sex workers, then they are merely protecting their meal ticket and making sure no one else is getting a slice of their action. Don't delude yourself that there may be any other motive for their visit. There isn't.

Most 'respectable' thai 'gals' wouldn't set foot within 100 yards of your place alone, invited or not....

I once had a colleague for a few months who rather enjoyed having women (hookers) turning up at his place unannounced at all hours of the night and day as in his own mind it made him feel like some sort of 'playboy' 'livin' the Bangkok life' until he  1) realised he had blown a huge stack of cash*, and 2) got caught out and bought a whole heap of shyt on himself in spite of repeated warnings from the more experienced that he was playing with fire.

Every morning we would dread his dreary tales of how XY or Z he'd met at the Novotel (yep! I'm going back to that era) turned up at 4am and shagged him silly 'for free' etc......but he wasn't too suave when we found him half asleep in the foyer of the office building in a state of fear after one of his 'free Girl friends' had turned up asking for cash and upon his refusal had returned with a few of her motor cycle taxi driving 'brothers' to aid her request. If you're going to 'play' in Thailand and don't want to pay, do as Holmes says above....but the only snag is they'd just stake out the shagging pad which could have worse consequences if you arrive with 'company'. 

29 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

...... The "Thailand is Polluted so its ok for me to smoke anywhere" argument is as unintellectual and as boring as the "go home if you don't like it" argument... as is the idea that someone who uses their own vehicle as a mode of transport actually "sets out to pollute the planet".... 

 

Winding down the window does not remove the stink of cigarettes...  But because I consider someone who smokes in a Taxi as Antisocial - I am now myself considered "Anti Smoking"... with "pasty, sickly sensibilities" and a "feeble, self obsessed, mealy mouthed, hand wringing zealot".....  

 

Thank-you for providing an example of the level of Antisocial, self-centred behaviour of an addict.... this is the behaviour I'm referring too that many find objectionable in smokers....

 

 

 

For the record: I'm not anti-smoking...  I'm anti-antisocial behaviour... I support smoking, people enjoy it and I support the freedom of choice to smoke.... What I don't support is the is the freedom to smoke and impact those who don't.... much in the same way I support the freedom to drink and get drunk but not to the degree that it negatively impacts others.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My, a fine example of the pompous zealot trying to put words into other people's mouths ( "Thailand is Polluted so its ok for me to smoke anywhere" - where did this appear in my post?) and merely brushing asides arguments as 'tired' and ironically 'unintellectual', without a single stroke of effort to address them, merely droning on about oneself and one's own (assumed)  attributes shows an utter lack of any understanding of the topic.

Fine, you wanted to state your viewpoint and air your 'open mindedness' publicly, though failed on both counts.

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as is the idea that someone who uses their own vehicle as a mode of transport actually "sets out to pollute the planet".... 

The intention is not the point but the indisputible fact that they do,  to far greater detriment than smokers do. 

You can bleat on about how 'many but not all' smokers are 'anti-social' until you're blue in the face.

Thankfully you're not the  'Magistrate of the World' you think you are, setting such criteria only in your own mind which seems so full of self importance there is little room left for much reasoned thought.

42 minutes ago, Fookhaht said:

You da man!    

(This poster talks like my neighbor, who blathers his epithets about non-smokers between fits of coughing his lungs out, and will soon be headed for the cancer ward.  Deluded.)

 

Deluded maybe, but it's a question of choice. You may be headed for the cancer ward yourself. That sad fate isn't reserved for smokers.

You may choose to bang hookers without a condom, filling orphanages for fun, drink deadly Lao Khao straight from the village bootlegger before hopping on the bike or in the car to drive home, but thankfully when people do such things they don't come under the microscope of social judgement as smokers do.