Aussiepeter

Don't laugh - there was an item on the news in Oz some time ago about vending machines in Japan selling/dispensing used knickers of the female variety. Apparently the person who started the business has found a niche market with high demand. Note to self - be careful if ever visiting Japan with Thai missus, as her knickers might get nicked !

 If this poor animal is still there, the 'owner' should be flogged, then imprisoned for life, just as this poor animal has been. A b/g dragged me along to see this private 'zoo' in 1994. The gorilla was in a huge metal cage with nothing but an old truck tyre to play with. It looked so sad. Buddhist country ? Harm none ? Don't start me on that subject.

I was just wondering about the age of that picture of the blue skies and relatively clean air over CM. I haven't been back there since last year, when the air was putrid,  but to be honest the last time I saw the air that clear in Changers was in the rainy season in 1994. 

I taught 'Business English' to some of the female staff there when it first opened and there were no unattractive ladies amongst them either. It was a grand-enough place but like a lot of Thai-builds, it was let down by shoddy workmanship in many areas that I observed. Staff actually told me that when a certain well-known UK VIP (a prince) was staying there, he had to change rooms because the roof was leaking and, that it was not the only room with that water ingress problem. When you charge top $, customers expect the best. The other thing I always wondered was, why did they build it way out there where it is - in the middle of nowhere ? I doubt the location would be good for a shopping mall.

Kind of makes you wonder who he upset ? When a certain ex-PM who speaks really good Chinese exited LOS using the now failed national carrier rather hurriedly some years back, he was reported as having 27 heavy suitcases. One can only guess just what was in them. I wonder if he paid the excess baggage fee ? 

In 1992 ? (if I am correct), it went ballistic in BKK. I used to have a VHS tape of the Thai cops shooting live ammo at the crowd. Apparently over 700 odd were killed. Truly great BKK police chief back then, a real turd. As an old soldier, I am as glad as all hell that I got my Thai wife and child out of LOS some 7 years ago, before C-19 destroyed the world as we know it and this pack of **** took over. I met a Swedish medical student (pardon me if you read this once before on here, because it IS 100% true) in CM in the late 90's who had been shot twice in the back by an M-16 when he "went for a look" at a protest in 1992 and then joined the throng running away. He told me he actually had just gone to use an ATM. He knew he was shot, then collapsed in his hotel foyer. After 6 weeks hospital (paid for entirely by the Thai govt) he went to the airport with his father, only to be hit with a 2 month overstay fine ! <deleted> = TIT ! As a retired army Officer, I can say he was VERY lucky. I saw his back - two bullet holes - one each side of his spine. The truth. Sadly, ..

Missus is too afraid to learn to drive, although she was OK on a Honda Dream in C Mai. I have driven our 11 yo daughter to school and picked her up daily for seven years now. Been a breeze too, 'cos after surviving twenty-five years of LOS driving thrills we moved to Oz, seven years ago. Safe as Fort Knox to drive here, apart from maybe hitting the odd 'roo if driving at night. Saw more death and destruction over there in LOS on the roads, than I did in 30+ years in the Infantry. I have a photo album of unbelievable accident pics taken during my time in LOS. It never ceases to amaze anyone who views it. Just how do you flip over the trailer of an 18 wheeler upside down on a straight dry road, whilst keeping it connected to the prime mover which is still upright ? Some real skill involved to do that. 

Hi Barnabe - only a few years ago one young German backpacker lass in her early 20's died and another girl suffered horrendously, when they went for a swim, from memory at Samui. Chironex (sea-wasp) or box jellyfish stung both of them. Deadly creatures, well known down here in The great South Land of Oz. Unsafe to swim in the north here in rainy season. No warning signs in any international language in Thailand at the time. Probably still none either. LOS is all about $ and zilch about safety, so you are clever to ask. All you need is a layer of something to stop them. It does not need much. The stingers can get you on any unprotected skin. Rubber booties, a thin wetsuit or even just pantyhose will protect you ! Seriously ! I'd go for neoprene myself though. Don't forget your face - in 1972 I raced a young bloke to hospital on the Queensland Gold Coast, after he and I were surfing and he got severely stung across his face by "blue-bottles" or Portuguese Man-o-war jellyfish. Lastly, don't touch the tentacles either, without gloves ! Enjoy the ocean - I just hope you can find a bit of it in LOS that is not filthy and polluted. 

You can not educate pork. As Covid-19 destroys the worlds' economy, the missus' best friend - a former "Miss C. Mai" -  is posting hundreds of photos of her and her hubby (read Chinese-Thai and rich) touring LOS. He drives OK, but she is 'dodgy' on the road. Safe ? Hmmm. Ignorant of the Highway Code ? Hmmm. Why are you driving in third gear on the highway (says me) ? 'Only three in the car', says she. Use gear 4 when 4 in the car. Yeh, that's ok, says me. Strewth ! This woman has ha ha ha 'a degree in finance from C Mai Uni' and used to work for a bank ! Her husband sells fertiliser and they own at least ten houses in LOS. Unbelievably wealthy, BUT thick as, both of 'em ! They tried to show off their new BMW to me last year when I visited LOS, by taking me to a new restaurant in C Mai. They got there too early to get a "special show off that I am a f***ing VIP with a new Benz or BMW" parking spot (as the Burmese staff were not at work yet), so they made up some BS excuse to buy more time and then drove me around for the next hour, until they could park and get a "VIP" spot. The joke was on them. When we left much later in the night, theirs was the only BMW sedan in the entire 'VIP' area. Every other car - twenty-seven of them - were brand new Mercedes. They drove me straight through a red light, back to my hotel. When I asked (in Thai) about the red light, the answer was "nobody there, so it's OK to go straight through in LOS". "Mai pen lai. No problem". Unless, of course, you are a driver on a green light and approaching the same intersection on Hang Dong Road (a major crossroad) at 100 kph. I have a photo album with over 300 horrific pics of accidents I saw in the nearly 30 years I lived in LOS. I'm too old to handle "Thai driving" anymore. Scary stuff. REAL scary !

I think that a line from my all-time favourite movie, "The Magnificent Seven" covers this situation quite well. Calvera (the Mexican thief and outlaw) says to Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen "we have a saying here" (in Mexico) - "a thief who steals from a thief, is banned for a thousand years". Could be a bit of a worry in LOS, especially if you believe in reincarnation. Certainly, back in 1995 when I was dating a C Mai lass and her younger brother had just become a cop in Lamphun, she asked me if I could help him 'to get kitted out' as his first salary was only about 6 thousand baht a month. Oddly, they had put him straight into the murder investigation squad, but he had no gun. I was a serving army Officer at the time - it was only then that I realised what she meant by 'helping him get kitted-out'.

My post on this topic was deleted by the mods and perhaps rightly so, but for the record, I never had any intention to suggest any conspiracy about C-19 reporting in LOS. Quite the opposite. I speak to folks there very day - I think it is a non-event in LOS. My post was more about how safe the system here in Oz is going at the moment, but I do accept the mods decision, as my post could have been misconstrued. I was talking about the MIL being ill at age 70 in CM and having 5 vials of blood taken today. I have since managed to get Mrs P off the 'games on her mobile' and, she called her mum in C Mai. The MIL now says that she is just 'sick' from the cold season arriving early, but is otherwise very well. It turns out (and Sheryl especially will be interested in this) that the hospital (the big one at Mae Rim, I forget the name) took 5 vials of blood because the old girl  has survived for 27 years on Thai made retro-virals, as she has been HIV+ for that long ! She has NO symptoms of C-19 at all. They simply wanted to check "everything" which I can understand, at her age of 72. My own belief about C-19, given that I have a real Uni-degree with a major in Chemistry is that viruses, any viruses, can't survive in heat. Last time I looked, LOS wasn't cold. Ever. It just makes sense. I apologise again to the mods, who do a great job, under stress too.

As lujanit has said, I can assure you all on TV that (apart from Victoria which is run by an idiot) Oz has its sh*t together pretty much re C -19. I am in a small country town in Nthn NSW, about a hundred miles south of Brisbane. No virus here - but our friend's half Thai daughter age 8 got sent home from our daughters' school yesterday with a fever and a runny nose (not been out of town for 9 months) and has to get a Covid test and 'safe' result before being allowed to return to school. There has not been a case within hundreds of kms from here. No masks - no social distancing. Like another planet. A plane load of Aussies from London came into Oz yesterday from London, into lockdown for 14 days in Darwin. And yes, they are allowed to have alcohol ! Tried to tell the wife tonight about this headline, but all I got is "I'm not interested - that is Thailand - I'm never going back there" but yet she'd only just finished a long call from her very sick mum in Chiang Mai, who at a govt hospital today in CM had to give 5 vials of blood, to find out 'just what is wrong with her' ! Never happened before, she said. Aged 70, she lives near the airport, for those locals. Guess we will know soon.

I arrived in LOS in 1987 and read the Trink column from then right up until his services were terminated. I'm glad he made old age and he certainly could tell a story. Although I never lived in BKK, I tested a few of his theories (when I still had a prostate gland) without repercussions and whilst I did not agree with all of his writings, he was writing 'from the coal-face' as it were. He was certainly a character and his would have been a hard act to follow. The front page, his page, the Andy Capp cartoon and the crossword were the only reasons I bought the Bangkok Post, for a great many years. RIP Mr Trink.

Almost thirty years riding all manner of motorcycles in LOS, including a Kwaka 900 and a Yamaha Genesis. I put Michelins on all of them, plus several Honda Dreams belonging to Mrs P over the years. I admit that I am biased, - I put them on a brand new Triumph Daytona 500 in 1971 in Oz at the suggestion of a professional biker, after the original Dunlops wore out in weeks. We shipped the missus' 125 Dream here to Oz when we moved away from the Chiang Mai smoke pollution (and Thai driving) a couple of years ago. Put new Michelins in the spares box, plus a chain and sprockets etc. When I registered it a few months ago, I put the Michelins on. The bloke who passed it for rego in Oz said "why did you put them on - they are worth more than the bloody bike" ! He services the 'postal-bikes' (<deleted> Chinese-made single-seat copy of a Dream) and took ours for a spin. He said the Michelins made it "corner on rails". As someone else said - they are the most important part of the bike. 

My favourite aircraft too. Flew to LOS umpteen times over thirty years in 747's with Alitalia, Thai and even BA once. I was lucky enough to be the bod in charge of taking Australia's last 60 WW1 Gallipoli Veterans back to Turkey for Anzac Day 1990, in a QANTAS B747 when I was still in the military. One of the perks was that the Captain let me sit in the "jump" seat just behind him on take-off from Sydney. Absolute thrill. Never be allowed to do that these days. Several years ago I got a load of spare 747 windows and other aircraft bits 'dirt cheap' at an auction as one 'lot'. Still have about a dozen windows but so far, I've never really worked out what they could be re-purposed for. We have re-purposed a Lockheed Tristar seat tray though - it is in our bathroom. Always gets comments. 

Many thanks to 'DavisH' for the info on my work status - I did wonder for years just what the schools were doing about my paperwork - but whenever I asked, it was always "may pen rai" so, I didn't worry ! We left Thailand in 2012 and my wife says "we are never going back" and that's good, as there are not too many teaching jobs around for a 70 year old in LOS ! Good luck to all you young 'Ajarns' ! 

I taught English in Chiang Mai for many years until 2012. For the record, I never ever wanted to be a school teacher in LOS and I never ever needed the money, as I have a good pension and I invested wisely in the real world. A retired Army Officer, I taught several senior Army Officers in the current Thai hierarchy, when they were Officer-Cadets during my army years. Married to a Thai, university educated and well versed in all three dialects of Thai, namely Cum-Muang (northern dialect), Phaasa Lao (north-eastern dialect) and Phaasa Klang,  (central Thai) which is that taught in schools, I was (after my retirement from the army, or rather my wife was, when I moved here, if you get my drift) 'actively encouraged' to 'apply to be a primary school teacher', at a school owned by none other than a Generals' wife. After that, it was simple and I taught at several of the best schools in Chiang Mai, for several years. To the best of my knowledge, I never once had a work permit. Legally married to a Thai and thus 'allowed to work', it worried me for years - but the best was when a senior Thai Immigration Police Officer asked to see me, only to thank me for "teaching his twin daughters" to speak English. I love kids and have half-Thai daughters of my own. Only then did I get the plot. I had finally fitted in, perfectly. Or so it seems. TIT ! 

Go to Chang Puek gate, go straight on and then turn right at the main lights, onto the super-highway. Head towards Makro. Used to be a big place on the left, a few hundred metres down after you pass Lanna Hospital. Another place is turn left to San Kampaeng at the lights, just after you go past Makro. There used to be several places in the first or second sois on the right. A few of them only cater to one or two brands, while some want you to buy the entire front or back half of a car ! Mostly Jap import stuff. Some of them may have closed, as no customers during Covid. Good luck !

I had a Honda 550/4 that did this after a bloke took it to fit new tyres and crashed it. It was the steering head bearings. I replaced them and the problem was solved. Seems several were crushed a bit when the clown dropped it. Is this a new model ? I am not up on new Kwakkers, but the early two-stroke triples, especially the 500cc model, were known as 'widow-makers' as there were no gussets in the frame joints. They would develop "drunken camel syndrome' with no warning and cause the rider to drop it or even fall off. I seem to remember that it was more often at speed in a straight line though. Anyhow, they solved it by welding in extra gussets wherever the frame tubes joined together. As this is happening only when cornering, tyres or steering head bearings are my best guess. As others have said, get the mechanic to ride it, as it may be a common fault. Been all over Laos on small bikes and many roads are very average. 

I lived in LOS for years. After getting typhoid fever a third time, I asked the best GP I have ever attended (those in C Mai will know Loy Kroh clinic and, I hope he's still alive) "we get local bottled water delivered - do you think it's safe ?" to which he replied "over 75% of all bottled water sold in Thailand is unfit for human consumption." Next he said - "I sincerely hope you boil all of it" - to which I replied "I will be, from now on." He had no reason to lie, - at that time he was head of the biggest government hospital in C Mai - the clinic is/was his way of giving back to the community and, farang are welcome. Long queue, but dirt cheap. He said that "In C Mai, the bottled water companies have their own wells, but in rainy season the water table rises up and what happens is their 'safe' well is now getting ingress from the next-door neighbours' "bore-key" (septic tank), which is spilling into the water table. After learning this, we boiled all our home delivered water for the eight years we lived in Saraphi - you expats will all know the stuff that comes in re-fillable bottles in a crate. For ex-UK lads reading this - I am a big fan of "Minder" and "New Tricks" with both series starring Denis Waterman. Our water-delivery guys were forever totally 'smashed' on lao-cao' (moonshine) whenever they delivered our crates and, they reeked of it and tobacco. Which is why I nick-named the boss man "Denis" - it was always "Sawatdee Khun Denis" but, I suspect he didn't really get it. Wifey did. She translated it as "Denis," "the water man."