Wrong Turn

As if Thailand's tourism industry wasn't already in trouble, now this stupidity we've seen in the last few days.

However, this countries loss will only benefit the tourism industries of neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam.

If you've invested in Thailand, start divesting or start preparing for losses.

Whenever there is a bump in the road there is a call to move funds out of Thailand. It all depends on what business a person is in.

Tourism will dip, temporarily, and then the fans of LOS will be returning. I wouldn't let any domestic issues keep me from coming.

As long as the airport is operating - I'm good to go.

You are an idiot if you bought property in the last 2 years in Bangkok, get out now ! 100 000 up oer sq m has no relation to the Thai econmy or current unstable position, yes you have been mugged !

I believe people should only buy property/condo if they can afford to lose it, and not lose any sleep.

Many expats think they need to "buy."

Why not just rent? To each their own of course.

Absolutly correct, they seem to come to thailand with the "put your money into bricks and mortar " mentality when in fact it dosent apply in thailand,. the buildings themselves are substandard and not an investment in most cases,.of course there are businessmen that will do it and make money.. but seems to me a lot give retail and sell for trade ! ( if they can sell ). to live in fine, saves rent i suppose, but is it worth the headaches we read about all the time,.?

I know people going through issues first-hand from this. I'll rent. I'll also keep my funds invested in my home country where they cannot be stolen.

hi

Im heading to bangkok next monday for my honeymoon and then on to phuket 3 days later

was just wondering if its safe enough i have seen on the news about the Protesters and phuket airport shut

also rioting in bangkok

cheers.

The situation can change either way, on a daily basis, IMO. You'll have to keep checking, daily.

Best of luck.

I just downloaded Firefox 3. Can I expect delays in downloading and other problems related to it?

TIA.

You are an idiot if you bought property in the last 2 years in Bangkok, get out now ! 100 000 up oer sq m has no relation to the Thai econmy or current unstable position, yes you have been mugged !

I believe people should only buy property/condo if they can afford to lose it, and not lose any sleep.

Many expats think they need to "buy."

Why not just rent? To each their own of course.

They voted for the PPP because they were promised more "village

funds."

Sounds like Congress in the good 'ol US of A. Deliver pork to the home state to get re-elected and then work with lobbyists to fund their next re-election campaign......and other things

This is the primary arguement of the PAD, I believe. The western style democracy of one person-one vote means the power is held by the rural and uneducated poor, who are susceptible to bribery and pork come election time.

If Samak steps down, will things change? I doubt it. There have been these issues before and there likely will be them in the future. All in all, hopefully the economy can chug along and people can be optimistic about their futures.

I just saw the headline on Sky News.

Confirmation here. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/529580-abu-...ster-city?ln=en

So where will he invest the money now???????????????????

My question is, will he be granted asylum in the UK?

well i suppose we will have to wait untill september the 10th .......

What's the story on this?

Other media outlets have not reported on it.....therefore......

Many settle, just as many become disenchanted.

What makes them keep coming, despite the hurdles?

Wouldn't it be easier to break new ground in neighbouring lands nowadays.

There are negatives in any country and/or city. No place is 100% perfect.

It depends on the individual. I add up all of the positives and the negatives and if the positives outweigh the negatives then it's fine where I'm at.

I got an email this morning, our annual Petroleum conference that was scheduled for Phuket next month has been moved to Malasia, it got me to thinking, are you looking at putting off your plans for a Thailand holiday until this blows over? Are you worried about violence towards foreigners in connection with PAD? I live up Khon Kaen way 50% of the time, and no one i know has experienced any problems yet, just curious!

Thanks

In releation to your OP, jimmyyy, should someone keep their flight arrival plans to arrive in Bangkok in 2 weeks.

How is the current airport situation?

TIA.

I always pick up coins I find on the street. But I get the impression that the Thais will just walk past and not bother, especially for 1 Baht coins.

I guess it all depends. It depends on how cheap or in need one is.

stop eating cheese ,way over priced now ,1 kg ,and i could eat thai food for a week for what it costs

I have stopped eating certain foods because of the price increases. Cheese is saturated fat, anyway. Thais don't eat it that much. Farangs can go without it in LOS.

Yesterday, I went to Chesters with my wife, and a young Thai couple came in to the restaraunt carrying their young girl. The girl looked to be about 2 years old. The child had a pair of glasses on that were the thickest I have ever seen in my life. The child had to have been essentially blind.

So the parents of the child see me, and began with the usual chant to their kid.... " Look, Look at the Falang."

I thought to myself.... I wish my son was here with me now, so I could say to him.... "Look, Look at the Blind kid."

I wonder how that would have gone over?

Probably nothing meaing to be rude, but it is, crude behavoir.

I've experienced this in small towns. If in BKK or another big city or town, I'd consider it a very stupid attitude to make know out-loud.

I believe that for decades, the literal immigration law, written by Congress, assumes that the tourist will try to overstay their visa. Congress mandates that the applicant must present clear evidence or proof that they will return to their home country. If that is true, then that law binds the officers to demand clear proof.

Yes, but even when proof is provided a Thai can be denied a tourist visa.

My friend (before he married her) wanted to take his TGF to the US for 3 weeks. She had a solid small business, she owned property, and had a 14 year old son. My American buddy also proved that he had money in his bank (for the financial help/support or whatever).

She was still denied a tourist visa to the US.

Later, they married, and after the legal marriage documentation it was easy. They both live in the US, now with the son.

Ignoran question here, so apologies in advance.

I've never been to a spa, but want to go to one within 2 weeks. How much are they? What packages are offered? What is "detox?" Sweating out toxins, or fasting, or both.

TIA.

nothing bad with this word. since i'm thai...

we cant tell which nationalities u guyss are ...

so all caucasian are called Farang... cos we cant say chao tang chad all the timeg

unlike we got a word to call chinese....

You note calling Chinese, chinese (I think). What about Koreans, or arabs, or Africans? Just curious. Farang means "foreigner," correct?

i had a weird incident the other day at an ATM on the ground floor of Paragon. it was the turquoise and blue one in the long line of them- Krungthai Bank i think. i got money out but then it didn't give me my card back, the screen just went blank. i waited a few mins and then walked over to the info desk and asked them what i should do. i could still see the ATM and no one went near it. a security guard walked back to the ATM with me, and after a minute it spit my card back out and the screen went back to normal. it took about 8 minutes total for it to come back out. the guard just shrugged and i left, but i thought that was very weird.

today i got a call from my bank that someone was trying to charge over $4000 worth of fraudulent travel reservations from china on my card. this incident was the only time my card was ever out of my possession in the past couple of weeks.

the only thing i can figure was the ATM was somehow rigged to copy my card?

I don't know if someone was rigging your card to copy, but fraud and theft, related to ATMs in LOS seems to exist.

I don't use ATMs. I take out cash withdrawals for a week or two, and hide the rest of the money at home.

To each their own, of course.

Is it polite to call myself "black", even though I'm not? Perhaps you should have asked your "4th year, university Sociolgy Students" for the polite term.

black and white are not negative, IMO. I use these terms.

As for the term "farang," I think it depends on how it's used. This word won't be going anywhere. It's here to stay.

I use "farang" rarely, and usually say "expat."

You ever notice that when you make a post and someone disagrees with you or perhaps you just 'tweaked' them off by saying something the wrong way that they are the next ones who have checked out your profile?

Wonder why this occurs? Perhaps they are hoping to find something in your profile? Maybe where you live so they can stalk you? Perhaps a picture of you so in case they run into you on the streets they can tell you to kiss their arse or buy you a beer? Maybe your real age so that they can tell if you are old enough to be their daddy or so young that you shouldn't have your own Internet connection.

I just think it's amusing to see who and when others have checked out my profile. Thanks TV for proving this function.

What’s your thoughts?

People check profiles out of curiousity, I think.

My thoughts? I don't care.

I suggest that you not let it bother you, do not let it affect your relationships with your coworkers, and just get used to that gap in communication while working on your Thai language.

Great advice here.

This is work. It's a professional situation. Yes, it's be nice to communicate more as you'd like to, but I wouldn't let it bother you.

About 10 milligrams of valium will give a slight, pleasant buzz and allow one to sleep easily.

Agree. I might sound paranoid, but where I live I can get Valium over the country (OTC). But if I bring some valium in my pocket w/out a prescription that could be a problem with authorities? Even just 10 MGs?

Is it easy for a doctor to prescripe valium in the West and in particular, the US?

In my view they've made some fundamentally flawed decisions regarding readership and targeted groups. Many readers enjoyed their hard hitting style in the Thaksin years and their pool of journalists\analysts such as Thanong, Tulsit, Thepchai, Sutichai won many readers.

But faced with the more popular BP they went for the yuppie Thai sector, big photographs, more entertainment news, alienating the seasoned foreign and Thai readers. Then they switched to a business paper! Do they think there's enough English speaking businessmen in Thailand to sustain that? In addition the free Express was poorly laid out with contents all over the place.

It's a fact many journalists there are fearful for their jobs and are busy looking elsewhere.

Still we can enjoy free all the contents on their website, in my view their regular columnists frequently beat the BP regarding Thai issues for interest and incisiveness.

I think they should go back to their old format, cover all the news, improve their distribution network, make their advertising section more efficient and shake up their outlook section.But is there enough potential readership for 2 English language papers in Thailand?

The paper seems to have change. Why are journalists fearful of their jobs? TIA.

aiianian101, Best of luck. This is a terrible happening, but could have been worse.

Sports yes. But also -- I hate to say this but there is no getting around it -- do not live and work in a place with high air pollution. e.g Bangkok

Many people find that simply moving from Bangkok to a place with good air quality makes a world of difference.

Lacking that you can do what you can with air cleaners, masks and the like but.....

And this, is me.

I have a very sensitive throat and also sensitive lungs, IMO.

I wear a Neomask when I drive my bike, but when I walk down the streets I feel the pollution. Also, sitting outside in a sidewalk cafe or open area near traffic aggravates my lungs and throat also.

When I go back to the Pacific Northwest (USA) to visit, my lungs clear right up. I can breathe better, and I think deeper. My lungs feel clearer.

My question:

Will long-term living in the city catch up with me? Kill me? Reduce my life expectancy, as I'm in my late 30s and have breating breathing steady pollution for 6+ years.