Bday Prang

Meanwhile back in the UK We may end up with the political party that we vote for BUT, there is no obligation for that party to follow their pre election manifesto, they can and will, just do what they want . Same Same but different?

"transactions via mobile banking" so that would imply its just the app

Well that is one of life's mysteries, Similar to "why do we rarely see dead rats or pigeons" or "what do immigration do with all the copies we give them" In this case she probably just got carried away on her mobile phone and lost track of time, or was it time to "gin khao" and she didn't tell you she was going to lunch

That's good to know, Its years since I called the UK. I'm sure it was a lot more expensive than that

Isn't that only for those who use the "app" ? or is it now for everybody

I don't think a random unconnected photo enhances a story anymore than a video enhances a song

Slightly off topic but whilst on the subject of banks , I attempted to send some money over from my UK account to my BBL account on monday. something I've done dozens of times with out any dramas but which I never really relish doing just because of the potential for something to go wrong All went well until I pressed the confirm button, then the screen on my laptop seemed to freeze, I instinctively knew something was wrong, and sure enough a few seconds later a banner flashed up saying "transaction unsuccessful please contact your bank" I then tried to view my statement online, just to be sure, but another message flashed up telling me that internet access to the account had now been locked. I then received about 4 text messages one after the other telling me that they were carrying out checks and would contact me within the hour, and then a few minutes later a text asking me to call the anti fraud hotline. About an hour later when I had finally edged my way along the queue an anti fraud woman asked me some security questions, quite a lot actually, and ostensibly tried to engage me in conversation. Whilst "chatting" to her I tried to ask what the problem was but she was pretty evasive, mumbling something about suspicious activity, sending money abroad, she asked if i'd sent money to Thailand before, I told her she had just asked me when I last sent money to Thailand as one of the security questions, she ignored me and asked why I did so ! I just told her I was married and had the normal responsibilities and she hummed and haad in agreement, but all the time I could hear her typing away in the back ground as if she was typing down everything I said When I asked her about that she denied it and claimed she was just filling in some details on a form After 10-15 minutes she lifted the block and all was sorted but I still think there was something strange about the whole experience, luckily I'm in the UK at present , had I been in Thailand the phone call would have bankrupted me, although she did say that I might have been able to claim it back from the bank.

i don't think it matters when you actually do it , but its a lot easier if you have your old passport as well as your new one when you eventually do. Personally I don't like dealing with people like bank employees , I put them in the same group as the "uniformed people"a little authority goes to their head, and they will make up imaginary rules to suit themselves, or just out of spite. I have never been able to master the art of grovelling to those who feel they are superior in the way that Thais have, so I try to keep my banking activities limited to the ATM whenever possible

Well in my misinformed and totally unqualified opinion correct vocal delivery and enunciation are all part of fluency when it comes to speaking , but, maybe all these hi level Thai speakers are concentrating on the wrong aspects of those rather complex details That would go some way to explaining why a seventy year old with no teeth having consumed a bottle of lao Khao or a 6 tear old kid in the midst of a screaming tantrum is still more clearly understood than the best non native speaker There may be something in what you say about voice box development but i think on the whole I think its brain development that is the biggest hindrance as it becomes more difficult to think in a foreign language as ones thought processes get more deeply ingrained. Either way youth is a huge advantage When I think back to how they tried to teach us french at at school and the way they try to teach kids english here I think that traditional teaching methods certainly need to be looked at. Nobody learnt to speak their mother tongue from a book , or from sitting in a class room in front of a supposedly highly qualified Dr of linguistics, endlessly conjugating verbs. They learn the essentials from their mothers, and are pretty much sorted to a level a foreigner will never reach, by the time they start school at 4 or 5 years of age. They make a big fuss about language teachers needing a degree or whatever, I reckon they would be better off just employing mothers

Nah, it was a brave attempt but the dementia was too far advanced for that

You've bought a tank? nice one

And all whilst refusing to return to the office, Well done ! But , what level of scrutiny do these applications actually receive (at a rate of one every six seconds), whilst working from home , which actually really just means whilst watching porn at the same time

You don't get it at all, the concerns about immigration have little to do with "colour" and everything to do with the uncontrolled invasion of unidentified military age males who are all followers of the religion of peace that we are currently are experiencing. Thai females are not military age muslim men, and historically, have never instigated a terrorist attack in the UK. So, no debate needed at all is there. Or, do you still not get it?

Ok then , what makes a drugs bust "major" and why ?

What on earth are you talking about, Road Safety and appeasing Thaksin are the responsibilities of different government departments. Do you not understand that the two issues are completely separate matters, and in no way mutually exclusive.

No shortage of reports about the new hospitality initiative https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/labour-accused-of-putting-illegal-migrants-ahead-of-britons-in-housing-queue/ar-AA1okxfM Personally I don't think its anything new, its been going on for years. I think the "government appointed contractors" are struggling to find suitable accommodation. Nothing but the best is now acceptable for our guests following complaints about standards by people who appear to have left a life of luxury behind them to get to the UK. or rather complaints made on their behalf by the lawyers we provide for them

Starmer always has an expression on his face that implies he's just poked his finger through the toilet paper

You can probably google it , they have even given it an official name "operation scatter"

True of course, did you think otherwise?

Drink some chang and then urinate in the San Mig light, should improve matters

Yes, Speaking from experience , It's one of those things that one eventually forgets to do without any consequences and then something happens making you wish you had sorted it out at the time. If for example an ATM machine swallows your card you'll need to visit a branch to sort a replacement , they will want to see your passport and if the number doesn't match the one on their system they will want to see the old passport and the new one when they update their records. The sooner you do it the less likely you are to have discarded or disposed of your old passport When it happened to me I had changed passport twice since opening the account and my old passports were back in the UK. The people in the bank were very reluctant to issue a new card, Fortunately my brother in law had needed a lift to collect his car which was in for repair, and had accompanied me into town that day , even luckier he's a cop and he had his uniform on, Him vouching for me being who I said I was made all the difference.

What kind of "piece" are you normally packing ? or do you prefer to carry a blade ? The Thai females in Soi six are prostitutes, Whether they "prefer" American and European men is neither here are there, but those nationalities form the majority of the potential customers in that particular Soi. I doubt very much that there is ever any jealousy at all at the root of incidents like that

That doesn't look like your usual tipple, are you "drying out"? Or are you on penicillin ? (been a naughty boy?)

This is due in part to the epidemic of "health and safetyitis" that has infected the west. Legislation and regulation are now the main factors influencing peoples behaviour. Common sense is pretty much a thing of the past, and acting upon it is not really encouraged anymore. Fine whilst people remain in their highly regulated countries and their lives are micro managed by the authorities Not so fine though, when these people travel to a more "natural" environment, were they are not permanently protected by rules and regulations. As they have no common sense to fall back on. Caving, ? underground? In Thailand? In the Rainy season? What could possibly go wrong? Did none of the tourists think like that ? Probably not they just trusted the guide, because that's what one does "back home" It makes me think of a family's pet rabbit being let loose in the jungle

i cannot believe the word 80llocks is banned, WTF ! I'm sure I used it before, is there some sort of "crackdown" in operation ? Is it in response to somebody being offended?