serpentine

Too true mate. It is like booze is been used as a weapon. everyone can piss it on at home if they feel the need.

I would like to know some reliable figures about hospitality figures in Thailand. I believe this ban on booze will financially effect possibly half a million people. Taxi drivers to bar girls. Suppiers to importers. It's Xmas for god sake. I hate Xmas but I know Dec is themost important month of the year entertainment wise as many (non christian thais) soak up the wealth. Businesses throw parties, bonases are paid etc. It's generally a happy time when people socialise nore than ever. This is gonna cost Thailand a fortune.

This thread is amazing. Thankyou for pointing out the obvious mate.

Is it necessarily a good thing when people are told they can, can't booze? I live here 10 yrs. I respect the thai laws. Farang may be pissed off about this as we can see on TV. Believe me my thai friends and business partners are pissed off too. Except they don't winge so much because they are used to the powerful playing them. Such crackdowns are not new.

That doesn't mean they are good.

By the way the international perception of Thailand is very import with regard to tourists. Closed for a night is fine. Closed for almost a week in tourist resorts in high season equates to massive lost income for the bar owners and their staff.

It will have negative repercusions for tourists, bar owners, thais and the hundreds of thousands of unofficial burmese who are the backbone of a lot of hospitality businesses. This is not an issue of pissheads going without a beer for a day, it is about jobs and lost dollars. Thailand will loose hundres of millions of baht everyday bars are closed. That will hurt working thais more than winging farangs. It just makes the country look unpredictable. And all political forces have it in their best interests to keep this country moving forward.

Democracy. Freedom of choice. Most people enjoy a drink sometimes and deserve to be allowed to without the authorities enforcing laws that bascally say "we don't trust you!". Thais can feel insulted that in what is a young democracy, they are told they can't drink in public because they may run amok a week before the big day.

It's about freedom. This looks a little like a dictatorship controlling the masses. And bless the current regime. They did get rid of Taksin, but I feel they may get more credit by not using such treconian(sp??) laws. They may look better to thais by showing them the respect they deserve. Turning off the booze the eve of the election is fine. In Aus bottle shops and bars can't open a couple of times a year (some christian reason). And we never worked that one out.

Bottom line. Businesses need to be open to pay the bills.

And this sucks.

I don't mind losing profit. I worry more about staying afloat. Just got back from my first month off in 2 years to find out that I will be closed for 4 or 6 days in the peak month of the year.......... I can't afford to be closed. I felt worse for the new thai casual worker who just started last week and will be layed off now I know I can't afford them. In tourist areas many bars are owned by farang but employ mostly thai staff. It is difficult to pay wages if we can't be open obviously. I guess these crackdowns will happen under any government trying to show that they have everything under control. The bottom line is businesses have huge overheads in tourist areas and even succesful bars need to be open everyday of the month to make ends meet.....let alone a decent profit.

Winge winge. I'll get over it tomorrow. Maybe enjoy a few days off. aaaaahhhhhhhhh!

Unfortunately many "rich farang" work for a year or two saving for that legendary thai holiday. Beaches, temples, elephants and tigers and all. It will definately leave a confused taste for those who took their holidays before NY to make the boss happy. I guess most decent people can have fun without booze, but if they spent many a weekend staying in at home saving their cash for a thai holiday they may be peaved? So my staff have a few days off. They are happy like I am too. A weekend of no drunken louts. Cool. But it makes it difficult to run a business when we don't know we have to close until the cops come in.

Where I am the police seemed a little upset about it too. Although I am trying to work out now if anyone thai or farang knew this clampdown was gonna happen.

Should we have known?

Unfortunately a lot of bars not attatched to international hotel chains are desperite for the Xmas trade. I will have to lay off my casual staff. They will be pissed off. They get paid very well for short weekend shifts. Tourism in Thailand is generally booming but I fear polititians are forgeting that the thai experience for even wealthy tourists is often most enjoyed in small businesses where farang and thai meet and communicate on a personal level. I will now try not to go bankrupt before Xmas.

Cheers. I'll check that out when I'm there.

Thanks

I am looking for recomendations on titles covering thai superstitions and local folklore. Particulary in regard to thai culture and the roots of such fears of snakes and monitor lizards as well as urban legends based in old mythology. Sorry if I have placed this post in the wrong place.

Thanks

Where did yu get that photo of the roo and snake? I'm aussi and I've seen some huge King Browns and Tigers but what on earrth is that thing?

True. Another excersise in mindless commercialism of and consumption. "Samhain" is however heaps of fun.....definately better than Xmas. Dressing up like ghouls etc, and we know how thais love their "naa gwuar". Heaps of fun Halloween Parties here in the islands. I'm just pissed off I can't get to Central Dept Store cause they always sell heaps of pointless but fun Halloween dress ups and cheap.

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH!

That's one thing that can always be said about a tokay. "Always on time". They live like clock work. Same place everyday. They wait by the light globes at sunset knowing when I'll get home to turn the light on. A globe is like a Mc Donalds to these things.

Anyway. Fot the person who want's more.......you can have mine. All of them. We usually masacre them at the end of Oct before we go away on holiday. Send us yu address. Rather than choppin them up I'll put them in a box and post them to you. They won't need any training because they are already hardened from a year of me smashing them with brooms and our dog stomping them when they fall. On the subject I got a few interesting observations about the gecko family (of which the green spotted tokay is the largest member).

The mystery of their gravity defying foot pads has only recently been solved. There was speculation amongst scientiests for years that they could actually charge particles on the surface they stuck to creating a sort of magnetism. This is a genuine theory and is still been studyied.

When you belt them with a broom they fly thru the air.......but they can actually change direction mid flight, as I observed last week. Papa was cruising at an altitude of 4m a foot from the house wall outside and managed to actually turn mid flight and grip onto the curtain inside the house. I was flabbergasted. The dog was pissed off because she was waiting below the balcony for her part in the action. When I eventually thumped it off the curtain from the inside in abruptly feel onto the dog attaching itself to her nose. It was hilarious as the dog is a big tough wild thing and not used to losing battles.

On a similar subject, the golden monitor (water monitor) has a very interesting place in thai folklore. Known as "tor nong-tor tong" these freaked out lizards are held very auspiciously by thais, but not in a nice way. They are believed to be bad ass. They bring bad luck.

Don't make the mistake of taking one into a thai business as I did recently. I caught one living in my closet (we never worked out how it got there as these creatures are wild and prefer jungle). Apparently they destroy businesses. My wife is not incredibly superstitious and refused to believe me that there was just no way a lizard could bring bad luck to a business.

Anyone got any info on the history of the fear thais have for tor nong tor tong?

For those who don't know what I am talking about they are clawed lizards that grow to 3 meters here. Related closely to the australian goanna and distantly to the Komodo Dragon. They can run at about 50 kmh. Very scary critters. Beautiful too.

Do you have a better picture? There are some very venomous snakes in Thailand but apart from the cobras, kraits and vipers I believe most of the others are not dangerous. Very few snakes will actually chase a potential victim unless they are cornered. Cobras will and are therefore more dangerous than most. They do exist in Bangkok and all over Thailand, however this one is not a cobra. Unfortunately the flying snakes are always chopped up by the locals here in the islands. It is sad because they are beautiful, harmless and most importantly a very important part of the ecosystem. Some which were common are becoming very rare in the last few years.

Where are you living?

Excellent observations re the dreaded tokay. They infest our houses here in the islands. The have got bigger, stronger and more intelligent over the years. I believe this is due to the proliferation of electric lighting. More light-more bugs-bigger feasts for our little green and red spotted friends.

I have no doubt the species will mutate and form a government soon.

I once cornered a specimen so large that we mistook it for a crocadile. It escaped and roams the jungles here. I still freak out when I hear it's ominous call.

In my experience they are to be feared. They are smart and vicious when cornered. I have chased them around my walls for hours. If they fall onto the floor they will defend their territory. I have watched my dog fight for ages with them, and come off second best. I was bitten years ago and once one stuck itself to my face. it was like that face hugger thing in the film Alien. My friends were screaching with laughter and fear and I was simply taken so my by surprise that i didn't know what to do.

One or two is a nice number to keep the home free of too many bugs, but my home seems to attract a colony (at least 14 presently).

I know of no mystical way or ridding the house of them, apart from beating them with brooms. Even this can have little effect. Once the posse expands to more that half a dozen they get really out of control and tend to take over. They shit everywhere which is pretty disguisting. Unfortunately we have been forced to have a tokay massacre every year to try to keep the resident family at an acceptable number.

They are sold in Hong kong restaurants along with cobras and are considered a delicacy. I believe munching on a chunky tokay there is the poor mans cobra. They were surprisingly expensive considering they seem to be everywhere in S E Asia.

And no they don't taste like chicken.....

I think the magic number of tokay chirps is 8. If you ever here more you are very lucky. Sort of the thai equivalent of finding a four leaf clover.

There is an unusual thai myth involving a fight between a tokay and a long nosed flying green tree snake. Apparentley if the snake jumps down the tokays' neck it rips out one of it's vital organs, and if you witness the event you are somehow cursed or something. I have been trying to find an accurate account of this legend for years.

Anyone know?

I realise it may be too early to say, but I was wondering if anyone had any information on the situation at the Anderman Club for visa runs at the moment?

This is probably covered although I heard nothing lately. Has anyone heard (from reliable sources) if it is going to be unlocked anytime soon?

On my way to Malaysia (pref Penang) with valid WP and company papers. My lawyer advises my that because my WP is not "brand new" (it is in it's 5th year) they will PROBABLY not issue me with the 1 YR NON B. I have not had difficulties in KL before.

Any one have any difficulties with everything in order in the last week? And are the price rises effecting the availabilty. Sorry if this is covered already. Any advice appreciated.

Surely this censorship will blow over. Won't such information control effect Thailand's image, and business here.

Is there any realable news of how long this is likely to last?

Is google video also blocked by the government as well as youtube? I am now unable to watch videos thet come directly from google, as well as youtube.

I'm not getting the thai gov warning, the page just won't load. Is this a technical glitch or a block. Has the current gov ever blocked YouTube? I am in the south. Is this relevent?

Rush--------Dunno if it can be directly fatal. It was availablee in sexshops worldwide (and last time I heard was a class A in Thailand)...........think! glue sniffing/ paint stripper. Definatly potentially fatal if you are behind the wheel...........and from what I've heard kills brain cells. It is a common cheap street rush for teenagers.

Whether you like "those" people, or the new Taksin "vision" of Thailand don't like them, I can say after many years here that they are a cross section of tourists from all over, a few working illegally perhaps. Any BAD stories of what happens to any single one of them will makke the foreign media, and generally only BAD stories sell as big news, so it will be detrimental to Thailands' image...........rightly or wrongly.

That water in infested with bull sharks. Really. Not a problem really but ask the average fisherman. You don't swim in clouded fresh water estuaries with fishing industry...........then again could be better than been stuck for weeks in no mans' land!

I got a bunker full of canned beans and dried chilli...........just in case...........jokes aside Burma was in the 1950's the wealthiest country in S E Asia. Things can go wrong. Luckily this is looking like a very peaceful event.

I can see the ad now...

He's over reacting. I wont join the NC slag sess. He did star in some excellent films in the 80's. (Wild at Heart?)............then <deleted> for years.........but "God of War" is quality and important.

Perhaps if you remember the opening sequence, in my opinion the most brilliant opening of any Hollywood trash, maybe made him understand the danger of bullets. Apparently he did a lot of research to understand who he was playing, and doesn't want to be seen amongst guns and tanks. ...........Just a thought. He is an actor, not the real deal. That's why he is (sometimes) a great actor.

Sh*t! I always wondered if you could travel overland from there. That could become tedious after a few hours, let alone days. I suppose most foreigners can got to the Anderman Club. It must have ATMs