Wilted Flower of Scotland

18 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Buy an AirCard - plug it in and you're off. Works like a cell phone with either a monthly bill or pay as you go like 12Call.

Why bother with a dongle when a pocket router allows you to connect 8 or 10 different devices with the same SIM card and data package?

16 hours ago, Lampang2 said:

 

Don't know.
Sounds Finnish if anything.
The name of the guy is also anything but Swedish.
But anyone is granted a Swedish passport at the border nowadays.

In Finland there is Finnish speaking Finns and Swedish speaking Finns,like French and Flemish speakers in Belgium.

4 hours ago, Sig said:

That's good way to get yourself into a lot of unnecessary trouble. And if you happen to get a driver who doesn't whip out his machete or otherwise go bezerk on you for your completely condescending, rude behavior that he has had one too many times from farang who think they know better, you will just be cementing the distaste for foreigners into the mind of what otherwise may be a very kind person. Besides that, why would you want to rip off a guy like that? Believe it or not, they have a system, whether you or I like it or not, and it isn't all based on seeing how much they can rip off the foreigner. I talked with a driver for a while about it one day. Maybe you think 20 baht is ok because you have never been outside of the confines of the moat or taken a ride off of a regular route? Your comment helps me understand why it seems that a good number of drivers are not very pleasant to me when first approaching them, but they often relax and open up when I speak Thai with them. I've also spoken with a number of Thai locals to get an understanding of prices. I don't only rely on what any given driver may tell me.

I speak Thai also and do so with the Songtaew driver,never had a single problem,bad look or angry word you are talking total and utter nonsense in a vain attempt to hide your cluelessness,they must laugh when they see you coming!

Just now, smokie36 said:

 

Rossano has excellent food.

Do they do real pizzas in a wood-fired oven there?

Why do these random,unprovoked attacks on foreigners not take place anywhere else in South-East Asia like Indonesia,Cambodia,Vietnam,Laos etc?
It seems it's only Thailand I left after the bombing of the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok and reading about the Koh Tao murders plus the Hua Hin attacks,although that was stupid provocation by the drunken Welsh family but it all goes unpunished.It's unlikely that I'll waste my time with xenophobic,racist Thailand ever again unfortunately for anything more than a short holiday!

On 16/11/2016 at 10:20 AM, lvr181 said:

1 murdered farang = $1546?  I have always thought that life seemed cheap in Thailand. Get jail for feeding fish but a fine for murdering a fellow human being.

 

It must be a cultural trait? 

If you read the further article in the Australian press it seems he has been conned into accepting this 'blood money' to fund the Thai Police's prosecution of the Oxygen thief in the Thai courts,it sounds like an unholy stitch-up to get this pond life off with a much lighter sentence if you ask me?

2 hours ago, ironbark said:

Of course foreign workers are the most likely offenders . no bother to look anywhere eĺse.

No Thai could ever do this,AGAIN?

2 hours ago, MrJohnson said:

Try Rossano off Asoke - great Italian food including great grills, antipasto, pastas, and a really extensive and reasonable wine list,

Signed Giuseppe?

5 hours ago, onemorechang said:

Been  told he is  a Norwegian

 

Oh well,   some idiot gave him the third beer.

 

That's what happens when they don't get their daily helping of herring!

Just now, biggles45 said:

While my GF of 4 years is Filipina I can relate to all the above, it just seems natural for her to do it. It can make me very inactive and lazy though which is not good with the big meals she serves up. I usually divide in half and keep for the next day!

 

This "taking care" attitude seems to be inbuilt to Filipinas, I had a stumble and fell one day and when she told her sister she got shouted at for it as somehow it was her fault !!

Definitely a South-East Asian thing,genuine caring people all over!

4 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

If you want culinary bliss then do not eat there.

 

Seriously. 

Never eaten there but it did seem a little overpriced looking at the menu,no good then can you tell us more?

You can wash duck down pillows in a washing machine on a delicate wash of 30-40 degrees no problem,you just have to dry them for a few days and better in direct sunlight as they can begin to rot otherwise and grow fungus on the outside.

4 hours ago, smokie36 said:

Yet another option is the lamb shank at No Idea on Suk Soi 22.

 

Its delicious and good value as well....always had a good portion size here.

No Idea the Kiwi restaurant I was just trying to think of the name and up it popped!

5 hours ago, Sig said:

Did you happen to read beyond the first sentence I wrote? It appears not.
I don't know the place you mentioned, "Kad Luang", and have no idea how far that might be from Mae Jo University, but perhaps it could be a local songtaew on a regular route that had that price (5 years ago). Try going off of a regular route outside of the center of town. It won't be 17 baht. I gave an example of how much cheaper Uber is than the songtaew already, that you don't appear to have read. But I'll give another that is even worse. I tried to get a songtaew from the Arcade Bus Station to Payap University, a 3 km, 5 or so minute drive, and nobody would go for less than 150 baht. I asked 4 songtaews and 2 taxis. 150-250 were the insane prices they wanted. It was a slow time of day and no traffic. They seem to prefer sitting around picking their noses than making a reasonable fare. A motorcycle can be rented for the same price for an entire day!
One more. The regular charge by songtaews at the gate of Payap University for bringing students to BigC, about a 15 minute walk or a tad over 1 km, is 80 baht! These guys are nuts and deserve to be driven out of business by Uber as far as I'm concerned. 17 baht.... dream on.

You do realise that you NEVER ask a Songtaew the price,just where they are going then give them 20 baht when you disembark?

22 hours ago, elektrified said:

Songtaews are pricey? The last time I took one (about 5 years ago) , it cost 17 Baht to get from Kad Luang to Mae Jo University! Are you joking? I'm fairly certian the price has not gone up.

The only time I ever thought they were expensive was to go to the airport,which seemed a standard charge of 150 baht from anywhere around the city!

11 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Stopped by Central Chidlom on the way home today, and two things:

--1. They're having their Thai turkeys on sale (no thanks, I'm going to pass).

--2. Finally some explanation of just who and where these Thai turkeys are coming from.

 

(I don't think I want to know what "local food" these scrawny birds are being fed with...)

 

 

 

Pad Thai?

The Gate by Francois Bizot :
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jan/12/biography.highereducation

I dropped True Visions after they lost the Premier League football to CTH yet refused to knock even a single satang off their already overpriced Platinum package,they deserve to go to the wall more than any other company in the World!

I'd up your budget to USD just to be on the safe side!

Western culture is all about selfishness and narcissism and it's getting worse not better,it makes me wonder why the Hell anyone would want to live there anymore?

4 hours ago, rott said:

You limber up by posting on TV?? What is the main event, the Beano crossword??

How do you limber up,by swilling last night's warm Chang Export as you wipe the previous evening's meal off your wife-beater?

This is what you need a MiFi or pocket WiFi router :

https://3g.vivaonline.biz/product/pocket-wifi-4g-3g-zte-mf90/

On 13/11/2016 at 11:39 PM, faraday said:

Complete with a Dog Tag to suugest a military background.

SAS Seal Team Delta I expect.

Pretty sure it's a Buddha but at least it's only a single one,not like the 27-Buddha idiot Farangs you see walking around Bangkok!

On 13/11/2016 at 11:55 PM, Naam said:

what's so special? i am getting up every day between 0400 and 0430hrs and that since 40 years. but i never caught the proverbial worm.

There's nothing wrong with being a postman,salt of the Earth!

The Holiday Inn Chiang Mai is in a quite spectacular location on the River Ping and just on the outskirts of the main city so quieter which should suit you.It's a five to ten minute tuk tuk ride in to the city centre also so very convenient :
https://www.agoda.com/en-gb/holiday-inn-chiangmai-hotel/hotel/chiang-mai-th.html