Aussiepeter

Don't know about the scam, but I just enlarged that picture and if that lady scammer is not from "the Indian sub-continent" some place, well, I am lost in the jungle. Whatever, her roots are definitely not in LOS. Even the darkest Isaan lass has no skin that dark and her frame, well, it sure is not your average Thai lady, not even a fat one.

Many on this forum may not be aware that these alcohol rules started during the reign of a certain allegedly corrupt Telecom king, who now lives in exile. I used to take the wife out for lunch at a Suki restaurant in C Mai at least two or three times a week. We'd relax, cook and eat at the table and I'd enjoy a large beer with my lunch. I am not an alcoholic (though some who remember me may beg to differ). Then came some stupid inane change in law, whereby you could only buy alcohol between 1100 - 1400, then it could not be sold till after 1700. Supposedly, the law was changed to prevent schoolchildren accessing alcohol before or after school, (when parental supervision was minimal). It made no difference whatsoever, other than to destroy the jobs of thousands of Thais who worked in the alcohol industry. As many on here who live in LOS are aware, if you want a drink then every mum and pop shop in the country will sell you one, whatever the hour. Money is the only thing Thais understand universally. Age of the customer seldom even comes into the equation. Sometimes we'd go to Big C after I finished work, at about 1600. The missus would shop and I would enjoy a cold draught beer or two, served by 'pretties' promoting the various brands. It hurt nobody. Instantly stopped by a stroke of the pen and all these folks lost their jobs. As for the Suki place - same deal - I wanted to have a beer with my meal (and still be safe to drive) but now could not. They lost my custom and that of hundreds of other customers. The place used to be packed from 1200 - 1500 and sometimes no table was available. Now it's almost empty all the time. Don't even start me on why I now had to plan on being at Makro at a certain time on payday to get my drink supplies for the house. I miss many things about LOS, but not their stupid alcohol sales rules/hours - or the current people running the place. 

An educated guess would be that as Thai kids can now get their Thai ID card (but-pa-sha-shon) at either age 7 or 8 (it's one of those) years old, they can also open a bank account as I am pretty sure that is all you need to open one if you are Thai. I am guessing that a parent or guardian would need to assist. As an aside, our daughter can't get her first Thai ID card until such time as she returns to LOS, as they only issue renewals, not originals, at Embassies outside of Thailand.

Sorry, but I'm with Baerboxer on this subject "a thief is a thief is a thief" fullstop. An exceptionally good thief, is still a thief. One of my ex BG girlfriends said to me during an argument once "yes, I am a hooker, but high class" - to which I responded "there is no such thing." A hooker is a hooker. Fourteen years after he got away with it, I wish this clown would just crawl off under a rock someplace. The missus' family all live in C Mai and can't stand him. Rare, that, in CM.

That's OK Lacessit, given your age you will remember that Carlton gave Peter McKenna a run in a Grand Final in the early 70's after Collingwood sacked him, when he lost a kidney after being struck and they were scared of it happening again. Carlton took him on - they just put in the contract that 'no pay for kidney damage' clause. He kicked the winning goal in that game for Carlton and they won the Premiership, against Collingwood ! What a star he was, for both clubs.

Geez Lacessit, your life in Oz mirrors mine a lot. I paid off 2 houses in ten years - then I came home and found the ex bonking some thick, uneducated and totally broke loser. I lost one house and had to buy the second one again, in order to pay her off. She and the turd lost the lot. I chuckle when my son from that marriage (who incidentally adores his half-Thai sister) told me they are both now nearly 70 and are in debt for a quarter mil $AUD mortgage. She will be stu**ed when he dies, as they live on his pension. Yeh, it could be a lot worse. Gotta go, my lunch is getting cold. I got a BBQ pork strip (moo-ping) at the local supermarket here in Oz - for $10 (200 baht). Missus nearly had a fit ! You know ... blah blah "you can get about 8 for that price in LOS etc etc."  ('But darling, we can't go to LOS at the moment') ....

I/we are riding it out just fine, given that my retired (ex-Army) pension was designed to support one person, not three. Wouldn't have it any other way though - 20 years married to a Thai - we both should get a medal of some sort ! I agree with you Lacessit, I love AFL but as I'm a life-long Carlton supporter, the last 25 years have been lean, to say the least. When hit with the "you get a point for missing" thing, I always respond with "toughest game in the world - no other type of footy makes you play for two hours a game" ! I like reading your comments too Colin, plus I also like rugby - took the missus to the world rugby sevens in Chiangmai about 15 years ago, - she loved it. If there is nothing else, I like soccer too and am a lifetime supporter of Liverpool. Waited 40 odd years and then Covid comes along and robs us/me. As someone else said they are all football - just friendly rivalry between codes. As for Covid 19, my 98 y.o. ex WW11 fighter- pilot dad says "the chinks have a lot to answer for." He thinks the whole world should declare war on them but at his age, I suppose it would be exciting. He is going bonkers on his own during lockdown (pi**ed every day). 

Not entirely relevant, but one of the missus' friends in C Mai named her daughter 'Beer' and her son 'Soda'. Nong 'Beer' is a uni student and is more than a bit "fresh" - or to put it better, is rather pleasant on the eye so to speak. She also doesn't mind enjoying a beer with a farang, as long as he buys it ! 

I don't know why, but after reading all that I recalled a sign I saw in a butcher shop when I was a child. It read (in small print) 'Pleased to meet you' and under it (in very large print) 'Meat to please you.' Methinks this is what 'Tinder' is all about - is it not ?  

I too frequented Lucky Bar in C Mai for years and I have known the lovely lady owner since 1989. She is a close friend and she speaks English and several European languages fluently - my first Thai wife was her best friend. (She did say it would not last - sadly she was right). A skilled businesswoman, she would probably see the funny side of what she would no doubt call "free advertising". She did say one interesting thing to me some years ago though - (we were talking about all the filth and corruption and how polluted the air in C Mai had become) and she commented that "Thailand is a throw-away country, a place just-for-fun, - as a Thai you make all your money here, then you just retire and go live some place better." The thing is though - she could have retired and left LOS many years ago, but she still lives there. Chog Dee little lady.

I think the poster's just lonely, but I have to look at the irony of this from a personal point of view. I once had a landlady in C Mai decline to renew my lease on a condo, just because I had developed the habit of bringing home several different pussies each week. These pussies only ever stayed one night, never damaged anything (except perhaps my wallet) and they all left in the morning. Guess it's all in the interpretation ?  

A lot of valid comments on this post and a few a little off topic too, but I'll add my bit. I think Spidermike is spot on, along with a few others. I used to visit the particular hotel on this thread for a feed when in Bangkok and a good one it was. No-one is going to be travelling anywhere at any time, for a very long time (or they wouldn't all be parking-up their aircraft in Australian desert airports) and all because of C-19. Added to that, there are enough very credible Thai horror stories on the internet now to make a best-selling TV series that would run considerably longer than MASH ever did ! My Thai wife says she is never going back. (First time she's made real sense in over twenty years). She said she never wants to risk her life or that of her family ever again just by going outside and being asphyxiated by air pollution, or risking death or injury just by driving in to town. No more BIB b/s, no more visa runs - just lots of lovely clean air and safe food. She's a farang now, after seven years out of LOS. I'm not sure I like it, but she is. Thailand - the one I fell in love with over thirty years ago that is - sadly, is finished. 

Many thanks Berkshire for the prompt response and as an ex UK soldier I/we love your user name. Cheers, - I'll have a cold ale for you, especially as I hear it's getting a little difficult to imbibe in LOS at the moment. For the record, no case of C-19 within 60klms (35 miles) of our little town in NSW Oz, but hundreds elsewhere in the State. Killed almost all elderly residents in one aged care home in Sydney. Nothing like the UK though. Thanks again.

Can anyone, particularly in the Mae Hia market area, confirm that the Bangkok Bank is still open ? The MIL is fast running out of cash and we want to send a few baht to her but no point if she can't go to the bank ! (We are in Oz). Thanks in anticipation.

Safety guarantee pigs' bottom ! I'm with you Caine - I have no intention of returning to LO Sh*t ever, & Mrs P feels exactly the same. I like beer or wine with my meal, (or any time really) and the stupid and senseless liquor hours that idiot Taksin brought in never cut it with me. Our daughter doesn't speak a word of Thai and has no interest in learning it. She's already learning two other languages (that she chose to learn) as several of her friends at school are also doing. Aged ten, after seven years in Oz she already knows exactly what she wants to study at Uni (Science) and she has read enough about her birth country to know that it is (a) extremely dangerous and not just on the roads, (b) has both filthy air and no food safety or chemical standards whatsoever and (c) is a place where corruption at all walks of life is considered normal. Wifey loves Oz, as the police in our little town still patrol several times a day, the air is 100% clean and it is incredibly safe - there has not (so far that is) even been a case of C-19 within 50 miles of here. I don't drink-drive either, as I love my family and I am a responsible person, something too many Thais are not. Yes we have lockdown, but I can go out shopping any time I want. Add to that what someone else posted - if you have money, LOS would be the last place you would choose to visit. I served my country proudly for over thirty years, invested wisely but still banked over half my military pension whilst living in LOS. We are now quite well off. We will most certainly travel again when it is supposedly safe to do so, but never again to Thailand. That being said, I'd go back to Laos in an instant. No stupid beer hours there, heh Mr Caine ! But that's just me ...

To the TAT - "good luck with that one". I don't envisage anyone wanting to travel anyplace for at least a year or even longer and the worlds' major airlines are surely of the same opinion. Major airlines have begun mothballing or 'storing' their fleets with many of them putting their aircraft to sleep in the desert at Alice Springs airport in Oz, or other similar places well away from the heat and in particular the moisture of SE Asia that can rot an aeroplane in months. No one had ever seen an A380 or a 747 jumbo arrive at 'the Alice' before but a load of them from Singapore landed in the desert to go into long-term storage earlier this week and it even made the ABC news. The cost is said to be a minimum of $25K USD to keep one mothballed per month, as they have to be started up every two weeks and moved around too so the tires don't go square. I can only see airfares going one way when this is over and only the big names surviving. Didn't see any TG planes arriving to be stored here tho' - guess they'll just park anywhere 'Thai style'. Maybe the end of TG ? 

The lockdown in Oz has finally started to get to me. I can't believe that I just wasted half an hour reading 16 pages of this drivel. Get out MrMilk, while you still can. As many on here have alluded to - there are a lot of younger and much cheaper models available out there - you are in a position to choose whatever you want when you are under 40 ! Unless you are legally working in Thailand - my advice would be to try next-door in Laos. If I had my time again, I'd have chosen a Lao wife. They don't spit the dummy when they don't get their own way and, the love will be for real and for ever. Make sure that you speak some good Thai or Lao though. Just a suggestion, as I get the feeling that LOS 'ain't cutting the metal for yuh' any more.

We live in Oz now but the missus called the MIL today - she lives in Mai Hia, C Mai, near the airport. The old girl is over  70 y.o. and went to the 'mini' or-por-tor (govt office) today for the third time in the last three months, to get her massive 500 baht a month old-age pension ! Just as happened the last two months, they told her that they could not give it to her this month, because "they are saving it for those with Covid-19" BUT "that they will pay it back to her when the C-19 thing is over". What a crock of sh*t ! She is HIV+ and very unwell and for sure would be dead, if I didn't send her a few $ every year. She lives a very frugal life and rides an old bicycle. No air-con, zilch. If her daughter had not married a farang 20 years ago, she'd be totally stu**ed right now. It is more than likely that her meagre 500 baht a month has been nicked, permanently. Thai govt help their people ? What govt ? Pathetic ! 

With you cats4ever,  - can't believe I forgot "Zulu". Must have seen it a hundred times. Reason ? I was a corps training officer at the School of Infantry in Oz for several years during my time in the army. Believe it or not, all new soldiers who join the Infantry Corps in Oz are still shown this movie as part of their training, on about day 2. It is used to instil the importance of obeying orders, remaining confident and not panicking, amongst other things. Michael Caine is a newbie in the original "Zulu" so I guess that makes me rather old now too.

With you toolpush - Kelly's Heroes. On a posting to Greece 1987/88 we had a VDO player but only had 2 movies, "KH" and "The Blues Brothers". Next best (and surprised nobody mentioned it) is "The Magnificent Seven". Lastly, "The African Queen". Luckily, got all four on DVD in Tachilek market for 30 baht each when doing the ubiquitous Non-O visa runs about ten years ago. I also like the original B/W movie "Dunkirk" which is far more believable and much better watching than the new Dunkirk (I hate computer graphics).  

P.S. They also make it as a hatch - forgot to tell yuh !