AsiaCheese

What are "permissible limits"? I wonder if those would apply to an open-air karaoke restaurant/bar in the middle of otherwise quiet non-entertainment buildings on Pratamnak? The owner seems to be the main guest, and the speakers are rock concert grade - as is the noise, somtimes until 1 a.m.

Now there's a good Monday morning laugh: Starmer to the defense of British tabloids.

I would strongly advise to watch this guy here, and what he has to say. As long as there are no clear instructions from the Thai tax authorities, having someone talk about what's not set in any way (by the proper authorities) makes little sense...!

While some fraudsters use these prefixes, they are not by default fraudulent, but used by state-owned telecoms (e.g. Germany, Switzerland - that I know of) to route calls to Thailand through SIP/VoIP. SIP is a key part of Voice over IP (VoIP), which is the term for phone calls made over the internet. That's in fact fraudulent in itself, as they charge for a normal international call, and get away real cheap... At the same time, Thailands national bank wants banks to set the maximum amount for transfers to THB 50k for young and elderly people. What a great idea: not all of us are babies or dement, so it should be that we should be able to decide on maximum amounts. Not nanny.

Tell me: which "human rights NGO" scripted that once again? Everyone (and her sister) are in this business well knowing what it's all about. They're in it for the money. If they weren't aware of what the reality of it is, they'd be working as cleaning women or factory workers, and making a bare fraction of what they're making in this "harsh reality" in Pattaya, and lots of other places in the country. Everything else: delivered as ordered. A transformation from a idyllic village to a metropolitan hotspot is never painless, anywhere, and takes a lot of urban planning and inter-departemental communication (so that roads aren't cut open for long stretches during high season, among many other things). Where's city hall and/or trafic police when baht taxis can't be bothered to pull left, out of the trafic, to let cars pass while loading/unloading passengers? Or pick-ups double parking in neuralgic spots? I could go on for hours. But hey, we have vulnerable individuals to worry about, so the rest isn't really a biggie, is it now?

"Rampant anti-semitism"? It's 90% a product of Israeli think-tanks and propaganda departments. With horrendous daily news about children, women, doctors and journalists killed (to say nothing about the population in Gaza and of a number of countries near Israel), it's a small wonder that people in the rest of the world can potentially grow a dislike of jews, seeing as Israel never tires of pointing out that it is a jewish state (apparently with no space for other religions). I could go on for hours. Behind the scenes, it has to do with zionists help from various large Western countries, and not with jews!! Read up...

So, is the basis for this article yet another go-for-it by a "human rights" / "women's rights" / "protect women" etc. do-gooder organisation? I suspect so. Relationships worldwide exist for massively differing reasons, from pure love to pure monetary interests, the whole spectrum. And it's always and exclusively a matter between the (usually) two people involved, and absolutely everyone else (that includes governments and religions) should get out of the picture. Note well: we're not talking about marrying off children here – that's an entirely different can of worms. When a Thai lady decides to rent out her companion charms & skills to whoever (mostly, but not exclusively, farangs), that's entirely up to her, and no-one else's business. She might be happy or unhappy with the arrangement, or she might have mixed feelings – but the exact same applies for a lowly factory job!! She may be in dire straits and under financial pressure, but it's still up to her to choose her own "solution" to her problems, be it as a paid companion, a lady of the night, a factory worker or whatever. And to all you "human rights" advocates out there: telling a woman what to do and what not to do, and in a sense erecting guidelines and social barriers for her, clashes (in my humble opinion) with all that "human rights" stands for! Okay, you can now start throwing stones from the glass house.

Gang leader?!? Next thing it'll be a successful hit against the white powder cartels...

Oh dear - since when is not being stupid a requirement for upper-level US government official, at both sides of the ailes? If that really is the best selection from a third of a billion people, the best s*cks big time.

We have so much to learn from today's intelligencia, the YouTubers with an urge to prove to the world that they can be more stupid than the scale permits.

Where does "in Thailand" (headline) come into the picture?

From my own experience, the insurance company will say that if drive for doing business, they may compensate car rental costs, but not otherwise, if you're "only" a private person on wheels.

Oh really? What's tourism development? More tourists, more turnover, more traffic, more of everything?

Just like hit & run...!

He was supposed to be there that day, but we must have missed him somehow...

Thanks - brought them there!

Having the thankful task of cleaning out stuff an ex-expat left behind, I'm stuck with a number of boxes of English pocket books. Does anyone know where I could donate those? Some sort of English speaking community center/library would come to mind, but I have no idea where to find something like that in Pattaya.

Wouldn't know, because Switzerland is just West of Botswana.

I'm sure "Business Financing, a British travel and tourism media publisher" is a very relevant and reliable source for how to get the biggest and best dandelions too.

One word (actually two): social media

And in view of that, it makes a lot of sense to abolish that regulation; anything to promote growth of the tourist industry [/sarcasm_off] Like another poster already said: they keep finding more and more "things" to boost tourism, but most of those are at best short term solutions to the forever-growth "problem". How about doing away with double-pricing (oh no, there's an endless repeat), or modernizing public transport systems (or even: invent that in places like Pattaya...) and such?

... or drunk, or confused (mini stroke?), or a number of other "natural" reasons. If someone wants to kill themselves, it should be common knowledge that the "safe" height is on/above 7th floor...

It's a green fact that electric vehicles are 100% CO2 emission free, because after all, electricity comes from a power socket - right? They're kidding themselves and those who foot the bill for carbon credits, and are jumping with joy all the way to the bank. Real world question: what's the carbon footprint for an electric bus - production (batteries) and daily running on electricity, sourced from burning stuff?

The bank letter can't be made online. A detailed bank statement can be downloaded online, but it won't do any good in conjunction with any government requirements, as they all need it signed by a bank person! Getting fast-tracked at a bank when you tell them that you're unwell isn't a problem; getting past immigration queues is.

Plenty of BKK number plates in Pattaya every weekend, and triple that on long weekends, despite the well-planned road constructions during high season that turn already clogged traffic into a nightmare.