kmart

Do the hotel staff get any of the 10% service charge? I doubt it but irrespective of that, I won't leave a tip if a service fee is charged, in fact, I won't usually eat at any establishment that imposes this fee.

At a breakfast buffet it is self service except for the person bringing around the extra coffee and the person clearing the plates from the table.

Agreed. I never tip where the 10% service charge is imposed. I don't like this fee too, it is imposed in most tourist-trap places and encourages resentment and bad service due to the surcharge not being divvied up fairly amongst staff by management.

Besides, who else gets pissed off with hotels that boast "English / American breakfasts" that actually serve up undercooked fried eggs; 1 slice of tasteless ham; and an exploded chipolata....?

I'm a Yank, don't have any problems with Russkis overall. Unfortunately, I do exhibit some bias when I see a wealthy Russian (a la Abramovich), I figure they're a criminal of some sort.

Most Brits feel the same about Dick Cheney whereas Russians, or at least very wealthy ones, are welcomed. What Thailand needs is a wealthy one ( Russian ) to invest heavily in Thai football.

I'd guess most Americans feel the same way about Cheney, too. I guess I just presume that anybody who's a billionaire emerging from an economy that was owned by the government/people, must just have done some extensive grey/black maneuvering (euphemisms for extortion/murder) to amass that amount of cash. There have been many avenues to make a legit billion in the West for years. I guess oil in Russia was a chance for legit billions, but I'm guessing he's still a criminal.

I do give him credit for having fun with his money with Chelski, better than running around war-profiteering like some people we could mention from the good old USofA.

Abramovich plundered the Russian oil market with help from his cronies, and has made life very hard for millions of normal Russian folk unconnected with mafias and former Communist cadres.

Abramovich &

partners

He is laundering money through the international football transfer market, and pays over the odds for most players, to the detriment on the game generally. He is a crook.

Progress and democracy is also possible when Church is separated from State. The history of Western civilisation amply demonstrates this.

Yes it is slavery. A lot of Bangkok households employ Burmese / Cambodian maids and servants too. Because of the historical enmity between Thailand and neighbouring countries, institutionalised racism and abuse is common.. The foreign slaves have no legal recourse, usually due to their illegal status here; and its only when rich, supposedly "hi-so" families get caught abusing their Thai National servants that any action is ever taken...

Oddly enough you don't see many Blue Tits here either ...

I've been trying (unsuccessfully) for ages to get my hands on a pair of Great Tits for breeding purposes. Anyone help me out?

There must be some sort of Tit Watchers / Appreciation Societies out there?

did dinosaurs fly in jets,or use microwaves?

They farted quite a lot. Which might have altered their climate. Some scientists say they were wiped out after a meteorite smashed into the Earth, "Armageddon" stylee.... Luckily, if that scenario ever crops up again, we have Bruce Willis to save us.

Didn't they have a "third sex" on Spock's planet in Star Trek?

Sometimes I think Thailand would really like to disappear up its own arse, and become a totalitarian state...

"..become.."???

Jeez, where have you been?

When cctv is installed on every street, and credit card purchases build a profile of you in some local govt file, when state spying becomes all-pervasive; then you have the start of totalitarianism. It does require a level of vigilance and will that Thailand is fortunately too inept to ever successfully introduce.

The UK and USA however, are starting to look like something out of George Orwell's imagination.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

why not simply say Julie Andrews ?

Because I didn't particularly like her in "Mary Poppins".

Amazing to think that we have been on this planet (in our present form) for roughly 40,000 years, and we think we have the power to destroy / save it???? Nope. We only have the power to save or destroy ourselves; the planet and life on it will find a way to survive and thrive in the future. It always has, despite volcanic eruptions; ice ages; meteoric impacts; the production of Oxygen (which wiped out all life before it); etc. etc. The planet is fine, we ain't.

We think of the dinosaurs as a failed species, yet they occupied this planet successfully for nearly 300 million years. Mankind has a way to go to match that.... I'm not sure we will.

I met a charming Russian couple on the plane here from Schipol airport a couple of years ago. They were extremely drunk before boarding, and after takeoff just kept ordering vodka after vodka from the poor harassed stewardess. They seemed friendly enough, albeit in a slurred, pissed-up manner, and presently fell fast asleep..... Fair enough.

I just heard that Boris Yeltsin died yesterday, and was reminded of these two...

I use Skype. Works great.

Weather conditions change all the time, and have done ever since the Earth cooled.

The only thing that never changes is people moaning about it.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

I'm sure that there must be forums for real rocket scientists, to exchange propulsion formulae; quantum physics; and the like...

Bet they don't discuss mia noi's; fashionable teeth braces; and how much they pay their girlfriends...

But I have heard that Stephen Hawking joined tv recently.

This thread is taking a turn into the surreal...

Seems rather a backward step. Western civilisation took a massive leap forward after separating religion from state affairs; and kicking the fundamentalists out our classrooms, laboratories, bedrooms and Parliaments.... Why does Thailand need a state-sanctioned religion?

hmmm I aint seeing even an indirect Thailand connection ... unless a study of bees has been done here!

what about : "no money - no honey "

cheers

onzestan

*arf!*

There is always some nabob of negativity postulating about the end of the world, and omens/ portents of Doom; Nostradamus said,..., blah blah blah.

They obviously should move a bit nearer to a Blowjob Bar, methinks.

Ousted Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra plays soccer in Bangkok, Thailand in this 2004 file photo. Thaksin, the toppled Thai leader, who earlier made an unsuccessful bid for Liverpool, is planning to pay more than 6 billion baht (US$185 million; euro136 million) for the Manchester City Football Club with partners from China and the Middle East, according to a Web site close to Thaksin.

AP Photo

====================

Looks like a youthful Pele' during his prime in that photo.

I bet he only ever passes the ball to former classmates, the greedy b@stard.

Sometimes I think Thailand would really like to disappear up its own arse, and become a totalitarian state.

But then again, that would take will, organisation, and a measure of competence.

You might open a whole new can of worms with the highlighted question, Guesthouse. I personally never give [money]to the beggars on Thai street corners, as they are part of a group of usually illegals put there by local mafiosi. I usually offer a cool can of orange or a yoghurt that might benefit the poor soul, however.

So when I when I gave money to a little old lady begging in a market up in a village near Surin, she was working for the local Maffia?

Or is the accusation that the local Maffia running beggers a simply a reason of convenience?

And is the legal status of an beggar reason not to help them out with a few coppers? Should we be asking to see their visas before we slip them enough Baht to buy a bowl of noodles?

Not really, but I think there has been a bit of info regarding beggars and the people who operate them (as a business) given out in the local media in the last few years. Charity and alms is entirely up to the individual also.

Assimilating into the TV forum is more of a challenge for me. I never knew just how miserable I was here in LOS, until I signed up here... Being right all the time is a terrible burden.

Well, condo owners in the Chiang Rai area will be sleeping like babies tonight...

Given the percentage of cement content in most construction projects, and the way a lot of contractors skimp on cutting corners, you might as well be living inside walls of tissue paper and spit.

Lets hope that earthquakes don't hit anytime soon.

Huh! Samud Prakan, Samud Sakorn and Mahachai is teeming with illegal Burmese labourers manning the factories and fish-processing plants there. They are brought in by the Thai cops / military and sold to factories like cattle. Obviously, some local coppers thought they haven't yet extorted enough money from the poor b@stards, or made them miserable enough...

The reason we often hear for not donating to charity is that 'funds are not used for the stated purpose'. I wonder though, how many who give this reason also refuse to give to a beggar?

Charity is encouraged by all the world's religions (very much so by the three most prominant religions in Thailand Buddhism/Islam and Christianity), it is wisely recognized and supported by many governments.

Of course wherever money is available there are those who will thieve it, but their failings are not an excuse for not joining in sharing a bit of humanity.

You might open a whole new can of worms with the highlighted question, Guesthouse. I personally never give [money] to the beggars on Thai street corners, as they are part of a group of usually illegals put there by local mafiosi. I usually offer a cool can of orange or a yoghurt that might benefit the poor soul, however.