Dcheech

Did a month long vacation down south, escape from the smoke. I cannot recall a trip where I interacted less with Thai people. It is not like I have great language skills, but I do have them and I enjoy talking with people. I chalk this up to recent events on Phuket, and the Thai media, which has got the ok from the powers that be, to go after farangs westerners. In fact my wife got asked (in thai) point blank if I was Swiss (!) I am not joking. I was less than diplomatic. I got in their face, and told them exactly where I was from, loudly. Not proud of that moment, BTW, but yab to my wife, like I have no clue what pucky you are spilling, you are not going to get a positive response. As stated, I put this on the current media circus. As I have done a couple road trips up north, both early this year and last, which was about the same as years before in terms of interacting with locals. Up here it is about the same. However I am talking with people who for the most part know me. Still, I reckon the longer it goes the more long term damage will be done. Obviously the government is ok with that, which should give you a good idea how much they think of you.

Nanny states .. who doesn't hate em! However when death by non nanny state rears its head, as it does repeatedly in LOS, we seem not to like it. Interesting.

Netizens outraged! They are living the high life. Feeling that righteous anger yet again and what fun! A fascinating & at the same time, disturbing, Thai cultural trait. Oh. no! Oh my.

It's Friday . Get your scooter running head out on the highway

Comprehension issues or trying to re write my post, make a straw man, & do a little soap box preaching? Nowhere do I advocate breaking the law, no matter how trivial & ridiculous. My post concerns the blockheaded & ignorant westerners on Phuket who are oblivious to the fact the plod are looking for any and every transgression they do. It does not matter if the locals do the same every day. More to the point these brick thick westerners have had two months to catch on, but they don't. Pitiful little critters. Perhaps you can help them next time you are down there. Our hopes & prayers are with you.

Mike you are a great shop talker & bravo but really, they need to get that new tax form out which you have stated they are doing ... until then ... I need more ice & lime juice, and need to get that before noon. Aloha

Brits find the mericans constant use of the F--- word upsetting & abhorrent. Mericans find the Brits constant use of the C--- word upsetting & abhorrent. There is more but I can't be a-sed.

Everybody love to shop talk about this. Still waiting for the Thai government confirmation on what the heck they want. For all those who say the laws are already on the books. OK, If that is the case, and I have looked at them. I would be submitting a tax based on the capital gains for this year, which would be an extremely SMALL percentage of the non pension, money I bring in after exemptions. I can prove all that BTW, but the Thai tax system as it now stands would not be able to deal with or process my information. Which leaves it up to the Thai government to clarify what they want or are doing. I am not expecting any answers to those questions any time soon. As for the shop talkers ... eight more months of shop talk to go. Best to pace yourself.

Been that way for two months now. What I do not get is how these prats down in Phuket do not seem to understand this. You do anything questionable, not lawful, you are a farang, you are going to be arrested or video-ed & get smacked. Does not matter if Thais do it everyday, you are going to get singled out and splatted. Still the blockheads in Phuket line up to get kicked. Two months going on three and they have not figured it out yet. How dumb is dumb?

And the Thais will understand that you-we, the firengiee, that remain are the good guys and all will be happy happy joy joy. Bad out, good in. It is always eye opening to realize their are xpats out there that actually believe that twaddle. Stockholm Syndrome ... Call it TDS; Thai Derangement Syndrome. Still this is Thaivisa ... uh er AN, to be expected many here suffer from this delusion. .

For what?

Perhaps the Brits are also tired of two months of 'Farang, he evil & crazy', a Thai media special feature.

Or there was a problem with the wiring and they were electrocuted in the pool. So many possibilities. The article I read stated they had been working on the pool. I also know of another case in Thailand where this actually happend. The problem with Koh Tao & Thailand in general is you are never going to get a real investigation if they feel it might damage tourism. Case in point, and not on Isla de la Muerte. Across the peninsula in the Andaman ocean, the Phi Phi islands had a series of deaths, now known to be caused by aluminum phosphide poisoning. This chemical was being used to kill bed bugs. The police, forensic team, and of course, all the locals knew immediately what had caused it, but a cone of silence descended. Hats off to the Canadian forensic team who were able to prove it. That said, the Quebec sister, the American & Norwegian women’s bodies all had unfortunate accidents while in the morgue. The power went out and was not restored for a week to ten days. You can almost imagine the state of the decomposition after that. It also is a big tell, all was known before hand and all were trying to impede any outside investigation by any and every means possible. Thailand and posters here can spin so many possibilities, great, but with the history of Koh Tao, it needs to be crystal clear & proven conclusively it was an accident, or there will be suspicions and for excellent reasons. Right now the burden of proof is on Koh Tao and I do not see them doing anything substantive to reassure the public, if anything, just the opposite. .

Thipanet Rd, just north of the airport 4 way will have a Foodland in a couple months. Construction is moving along. Another small supermarket that will stock a number of western food items. Unfortunatly as you gain a shop, you lose one. Greens, in Hang Dong, a more Brit food centric shop, is going out of business, if it is not so already.

More like 40,000 baht in Phuket 30,000 in Chiang Mai I thought it excessive but ... 😆 ... not a friend.

Maybe farangs should stay away from Coffee in Pattaya. 😉

Another Pattaya quality guy made the news last night. Wow. The kingdom gets another look at farang amuck. Not posted up here yet. Coffee Conundrum in rat city. 😆 Farang be evil, cruises through month II.

I recall the ring being surrounded by barbed wire in an upcountry boxing match. Fun thing, they were 5 round fights and half had one guy beating the stuffings out of the other for 4 rounds. Then getting knocked out in fifth. Four rounds to lock in the bets and then bingo, 5th round payout. Good thing they had heavy barbed wire up! The crowd was drunk & riled. 😆

Washington Times?! A hard right-wing fringe critter, even more incoherent than FOX.

You will have to go back to WWI, and the Balfour Delaration. When England was so desperate not to lose, they would promise anything to anyone. Still it took WWII to give the jews the population to actually make Israel a state. That because Euro's went full genocide kill crazy. The jews who survived the blood slaughter did not want to return to that cursed continent. The rest is history. Old history. As for your long thoughts ... as Ted Williams said "if you don't think too good, best not to think too much"

Pricey? Well yeah. As posted though you will find most if not all you are looking for at Makro & Rimping. It can be pricey, and it can also be a bargain. No rhyme or reason. What hacks me a bit ... you will find different items stocked at the two Makros in or near CM. Same with the Rimping stores. I assume if one store has sliced Kalamata olives both would. Or say a certain brand of German dill pickles would be found in all Rimping stores, not just one store, but this is most definitely not the case. It's always something when living in the 3rd world. Oh, and no guarantees they will keep stocking an item, even if obviously popular.

Say your neutral, smile, the credulous always buy it. Aid Russia ... smile, say your nuetral. Now repeat.

Outraged netizens keep 'farang be evil, month going for another month. Why stop a good thing?! Impressive work netizens.

Friends helping friends.

Barbados Cooler A lot a different recipes. Best to experiment until you get it right for your taste. 2 or more shots -Barbados Rhum 1 or 2 tablespoons -Vanilla syrup 1 or 2 tablespoons -Lime juice Add ice, soda, or sparkling water in a tall glass. Enjoy Pretty sure this is based on old grog recipes .. vanilla & lime juice work well in a drink. Can't go wrong with dark and stormys, but it's more a rainy season drink. 😉