Trip Hop

Actually no and I only had the first ones to protect my elderly parents. Considering my late mother had mid/latter stage Alzheimer's at the time, my father was her main carer and made her a promise that he would never have her placed in a care home, I thought it was the responsible thing to do. Why, do you have any problems with this?

So having not had it, you are effectively commenting in ignorance. Not that I believe it is worthy of the mass hysteria but it is far from just a cold as you state and affects different people in different ways. Having had it myself 3 times (the last time being about 6 weeks ago), it has never really hit me that seriously although the last time/variant, I wasn't capable of anything other than sleeping and binge watching Netflix for a week. On the other hand I have a mate who was a strong fit guy in his mid 30s, who spent 7 days in an induced coma during the early infection wave and states that it has affected him long term. Tell him to his face that he's a hypochondriac and he'd drop you where you stood and most probably send you to ICU for a week.

Strange this as a quick search of the internet reveals that whilst drugs like THC and Ketamine can be fairly easily added to a vape, meth & heroin are not really possible due to the high temperatures needed? Easy solution is to legalise and license proper vapes so that they can be controlled and only sold by reputable vendors, then just confiscate the rest. Vapes have been around in the UK for over 10 years and whilst there are some reports of them being laced with THC and Spice, it's not something that has really hit the headlines.

Yes, perhaps she shouldn't be making money out of being an ex drug smuggler but so was Howard Marks, whom if you had met him was one of the most intelligent, intriguing persons that you would ever come across? However, I find it extremely sad that so many here are quick to judge her without no real experience of exactly how bad a drug heroin is, what type of person it can quickly turn you into and what was her life like before she got involved in it? Having known a few addicts myself over the years, the one common reason given for their use is the escapism it provides from various problems previous or current in their life, as well as the physical pain that they go through when trying to withdraw. No one here knows exactly how she first got involved, it may have been just teenage curiosity/foolishness but there again she may have been trying to escape something seriously bad that had happened in her life? The one thing that I can tell you though is that once you are in, it is extremely hard to get out and therefore people should not be so quick to judge? No one here is perfect and we've all made mistakes in life when we were young, it's just that hers as a teenager turned out over time to be a bit more costly than most of ours. Therefore have some compassion as she's done her time and if her book deters just one person from making the same mistake (regardless of whether she is making money out of it or not), it will be worth it!

Just heard on the local grapevine that there is a curfew in Bangkok for next weekend in the expectation of street protests. Before anyone goes on the attack, I can’t vouch for the truth in it nor whether it is related to this? All I can say is that I was just told by a local tourist restaurant owner.

You’ve hit the nail on the head and exactly my take on this as an ex-smoker who only gave it up because of regular drug tests at work that would show that you were stoned possibly 3 weeks ago at the weekend. This could have been so beneficial to many but the photo at the top with the original post just demonstrates the way exactly not to do it. Wouldn’t be surprised if this is Thaksin’s influence?

If he’s an Irani, there’s not many places that he can travel to without a visa, unless he has a 2nd passport? Red notices normally only work when you’re entering a country. Knew someone from the UK who had one on him but was in LOS for years. His solicitor told him just don’t go travelling to any western countries.

Lucky it wasn’t my missus? He might have died a slow death from either a hammer/large wrench to the head or a quick one from a big knife, depending on what she had stashed under the pillow when I’m not around? It’s even become a bit of a sport explaining to the BiB as to why there’s an offensive weapon under the seat of the motorbike whenever they pull me over!

I tend to agree. A long time ago when I first started visiting, a long term expat told me that everything in Thailand is for sale for the right price. They generally have a different towards this and whilst the majority might not be actively and regularly selling it, it doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t if the price was right? This can be applied to just about any country in different forms though and you only have to look at say supermodels with aging but loaded rockstars etc? Here though the arrangement is just a bit more up front.

Only time will tell on this one because nobody knows their full intentions but they appear to be getting desperate for cash lately with all the recent changes to tax legislation? I can understand them wanting to clamp down on cheap imports but I think taxing everything imported including what may just be a simple present from a relative abroad is going a bit far?

I don’t really know enough to comment really but the Mrs was telling me yesterday that the natives are calling for Prayut to return? 🤣

Not unless Lazada sets up a system similar to what Amazon & EBay have whereby if you’re ordering from a different country, they charge you any import duty/VAT and then passes this directly onto the treasury. Your parcel is marked that all duty has been paid so it doesn’t get held up at the post office or wherever waiting for you to pay.

It looks like someone at FETTA or TCT has been looking at the news in Europe, seeing what's going on in Spain/the Canaries and thought we'll have a bit of that? Goes totally against what TAT is continually spouting though! Flip-flop!

I think the one time that I made the mistake of going to the Bangkok Samui several years ago, the security guard had a gun? Followed me everywhere until the insurance confirmed that they would cover the cost. For that reason alone I went elsewhere for the follow up rabies shots.

Unless you buy your way out at the roadside? The slammer and magistrate is a lot cheaper though!

The last time I got done they wanted 800B for no IDP (had my international license) and 800B each for no helmet, although it was just post lockdown so the tea money was most probably running low? Upon the advice of the win rider I didn't go inside the station, waited around the corner and let the Mrs sort it. She managed to barter it down to 2000B all in on the basis that she only had 2400B and had to pay the win. When they asked where I was she told them that I was back on 3rd road with the bike. Still a bloody rip off but I was flying out the next day so had no time to argue and had only ridden 300m to a clinic to get a Covid test so I could transit through Doha.

As far as corruption in Ukraine is concerned I think this stems from it formerly being part of a communist country where there will always be a black market etc. However having worked with quite a few Ukrainians over the years I have always found them to be decent hard working respectable people. I’m sorry that I can’t say the same about my experience of Russians.

Yep, just use the lane nearest the beach and avoid eye contact. Dolphin roundabout/Terminal 21 can be a little bit trickier though!

Not in my experience. Last time I got fined for no helmets and IDP they stopped us on 3rd road, confiscated the keys/bike at the roadside and sent us off to Soi 9 on a motorbike taxi, 3 up with no helmets. 🤣

Agreed, normally reserved for in town on a Saturday night!

I totally agree with you and never seen the attraction myself. It's hardly just this generation though as MCs have had their part in some European music scenes since the late 80s?

Nothing missing at all, he was French, had a big mouth (spoke fluent Thai) and refused to back down, so the Bib refused to lose face and done their worst. The woman concerned is actually my sister-in-law.

On the face of it to someone like yourself, he undoubtedly does stack up quite well. However if you had family that are familiar with the under workings of the capital and you visited them fairly regular, you would see and hear not so white a picture.

This is Thailand, the police can and will do basically what they want. A know of a Thai who used to run a small garden centre. She came back from the wholesalers one day and her farang boyfriend of several years at the time proceeded to help her unload a few things from the pick-up. A plain clothes officer took a photo and demanded 30000B hush money for him allegedly working even though money was obviously never going to change hands. He refused and got locked up in IDC before being deported at his cost and blacklisted for 5 years. This despite the best efforts of a lawyer. Admittedly he didn't help himself with his big mouth but testimony not to assume that the law has to be followed in the same way as it would be in farang land. MC stands for Master of Ceremonies and is basically someone who hypes the crowd, ad-libs to the music and forms part of the overall performance of the DJ. Their roots in Europe trace back to the rave/hardcore scene but are common in both the Drum & Bass and UK Garage scenes.

I don't think that they would be quite that naive but most probably never thought it would ever get to his stage either? The most probable reason for it actually getting this far being the bar was doing well and jealousy caused someone else to file a complaint, so the BiB had to act. Especially if any subsequent hush money claims were refused.