JensenZ

3 hours ago, nofarang said:

That would have been an appropriate face-saving behavior. It is clear that when there is no receipt, the amount is free for negotiation.

It's not clear at all - you're just guessing. It's quite likely they will wait for you to get the shortfall.

1 hour ago, sungod said:

Telling someone you only have 500 in your pocket is not putting them on the spot, you have given them the chance to take it or come back with the rest.

You are putting them on the spot if you demand a receipt, which is what I was referring to.

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Again, the highest court in the land, has proven they prefer to be a kingmaker, over an impartial judiciary. Nobody can doubt where their loyalties lie, nor their allegiance. History may show this court to be one of the least impartial, and one of the most morally bankrupt, in our nation's history. This is a sad moment for America, when the court becomes the hand of the king. The Supreme Court's liberal bloc issued blistering dissents Monday in the Trump immunity ruling, arguing that it "reshapes the institution of the presidency" and "makes a mockery" of the constitutional principle that no man is above the law.

 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, reading her dissent from the bench, said that "relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom ... the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more."

 

She added that "because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent." Sotomayor said that the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, invents "an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law."

 

Their ruling, she went on, makes three moves that she said "completely insulate Presidents from criminal liability." Sotomayor said the court creates absolute immunity for the president's exercise of "core constitutional powers," creates "expansive immunity for all 'official acts,'" and "declares that evidence concerning acts for which the President is immune can play no role in any criminal prosecution against him."

 

Sotomayor warned that the ruling "will have disastrous consequences for the Presidency and for our democracy" and that it sends the message: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends.”

 

She added, “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

 

In her own written dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the majority's ruling "breaks new and dangerous ground." "Departing from the traditional model of individual accountability, the majority has concocted something entirely different: a Presidential accountability model that creates immunity—an exemption from criminal law — applicable only to the most powerful official in our Government," she wrote.

 

Jackson warned that under the majority's "new Presidential accountability mode," a hypothetical president "who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics...or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup...has a fair shot at getting immunity."

 

The chief justice dismissed the dissents, suggesting that his three liberal colleagues had misinterpreted the majority's opinion and were engaging in "fear mongering." Roberts argued that they "strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today." He wrote that "like everyone else, the President is subject to prosecution in his unofficial capacity."

 

He also appeared to scoff at Sotomayor for what she included in her dissent, saying that her "most compelling piece of evidence consists of excerpted statements of Charles Pinckney from an 1800 Senate debate." He continued, "But those statements reflect only the now-discredited argument that any immunity not expressly mentioned in the Constitution must not exist."

 

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in a concurring opinion that she agreed with some of the majority opinion but not all of it. Notably, she said she agreed with Sotomayor that Trump’s immune conduct should still be allowed to be used as evidence in his trial.

 

“The Constitution does not require blinding juries to the circumstances surrounding conduct for which Presidents can be held liable,” she said.

If you insist on copying and pasting editorials, you should do the right thing and include a reference to your source.

4 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Indeed!

 

If the powers that be can't stop the 'inflation', then it is up to us to show them the errors of their ways.

 

I'm saying that we must show the way. If we do that, the more observant Thais will follow suit.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely not! 

9 minutes ago, sungod said:

 800 is the most I have ever heard of, 300-500 is the norm.

 

Maybe apologise, cheeky smile and say you only have a purple persuader on you.

The OP made it very uncomfortable for the IOs. He knew what it was, but they were forced to come up with a reply that seemed genuine. Putting the IOs on the spot is a bad idea when you already know the deal.

18 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

My immigration office takes 500 baht for the paper, but why have a problem. Yeah, it´s supposed to be free. However, we chose to live in Thailand, we are aware of the special rules made up and corruption. We stay here because of many reason, where one is that it´s much cheaper than home. Then it´s not such a big deal to pay a little extra sometimes. It´s like taking the good with the bad, where the good is holding the power. Otherwise we would have left.

Also, the payments make their processing a lot faster.

27 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

A matter of opinion like most things, it's saturated fat, i avoid it

Your choice is based on uneducated opinions. Mine is based on facts.

There is only one fact to consider here. The more saturated a fat is, the more stable it is when heated. 

Unsaturated fats should be consumed cold. They should not be used for frying. Have you ever heard of cold processing of highly unsaturated oils? There's a good reason not to apply heat - they are easily oxidized, which is not a good thing as it produces toxic byproducts.

7 hours ago, VBF said:

Rapeseed oil, widely available and cheaper than olive oil in UK, but I don't know about Thailand.

I've now got to where I prefer it for cooking. It's also much easier to clean from utensils which, to me, shows that it's lighter.

The best cooking oils are ones that are stable at heat so it doesn't break down into toxic chemicals.

Overheating certain oils can create byproducts such as acrylamides, toxic aldehydes, hydroxy linoleate, free radicals, and trans fats. The more saturated the oil the better. Coconut oil is one of the best and we are lucky to have such an abundant supply of it at a cheap price.

I never have problems cleaning pans after using coconut oil.

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Oils are liquid at room temperature, fats are solid.

 

Fats are usually higher in the glyceryl esters of saturated fatty acids such as palmitic and stearic acid. Oils contain more unsaturated fatty acids, variations of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acid.

 

Liquidity also depends on whether the fat/oil has differing proportions of  monoglycerides, diglycerides, or triglycerides.

 

I have found a low fat option in cooking is an air fryer. I line the cooking basket with aluminium foil, and spray with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. No mess, no fuss.

Going into the properties of different oils and which is healthier was not necessary and I said as much. I was replying to the comment "a lower fat oil".

However, you are wrong about oils not being fats. Oils ARE fats. It's the state of the fat that had you confused.

Oils are liquid fats. When they are solid, they are solid fats, but they are always fats.

Of course, coconut oil is confusing, as it is solid below 24C and liquid above 24C. Should we call it coconut fat at lower temperatures due to it being solid? I don't think so - even when solid it's still called coconut oil.

When we put solid fats such as butter or lard in a frying pan and it melts and it becomes a liquid, we don't call it oil.

Fat is a macronutrient which provides 9 kcal per gram of energy. The state of it is irrelevant, whether it is solid or liquid.

22 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

A lot of Thai dishes are cooked with palm oil, which is high in the wrong kind of fats.  If the cook uses a lower fat oil, like coconut oil or light olive oil, many of the standard stir-fried dishes would qualify as low fat.

That was quite funny: "a lower fat oil".

All oil is 100% fat which produces 9 kcal per gram.

What oils are healthier is a different topic, but the OP is looking for low-fat meals to reduce calories.

On 6/25/2024 at 7:43 PM, BangkokReady said:

 

But you probably know better than to publicly call them out on something.

This is beside the point. Expats know, but tourists don't, and they outnumber expats by a large degree.

You can't have mafia gangs running rife on the streets here. That being said, the bad motorcycle taxi riders are a small percentage, and you can't paint them all with the same brush. There are plenty of hard-working, polite riders out there.

Some people here suggest that Grab, Bolt and Baht Buses are adequate and motorcycle taxis are redundant, but this is not the case. If you want to get somewhere fast from any street, they are the best form of transport. Car/van transports will spend most of their time sitting still in traffic in Pattaya Central. A 5-minute trip on a motorcycle could take an hour in a car. Also, consider that Thai people constitute most of their business.

On 6/24/2024 at 1:44 PM, Thingamabob said:

Mugged twice in Manila, never even remotely threatened in Bangkok. Also, the food in Manila is dire, and nowhere near as good as Bangkok/Thailand.

In Manila there are plenty of good places to eat, especially in the malls. Good food costs a bit, so maybe you were looking for good cheap food?

Have you really been mugged twice in Manila? What happened? Care to elaborate? There are areas you shouldn't go to, such as Tondo, but around the Central areas and in Makati it's ok.

One time I had a cell phone snatched from my ear while I was talking on it. I ran after the guy and was accosted by a gang and had a gun pointed at me. I told them you're welcome to keep it and walked away. I've never been physically assaulted in many years in PI, but I'm careful where I go and the time that I'm going. I've never been much interested in walking around dirty polluted streets and don't like walking around Bangkok either. I tend to hang out in the shopping malls and get taxis back to my hotel, or even better, stay at hotels very close to the malls.

I was extorted by the police for the cool sum of 300k pesos back in 2006 in Angeles City. The police "asked" me to leave - that's when I came to Thailand. That just made the decision to move quicker and easier as I had plans to move anyway.

21 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

What is Long Covid? More made up BS

Isn't it weird how only the SARS-CoV-2 virus (long handle for Covid 19) is the only virus we've ever heard of that has a long version? I've had lingering colds and flues, but never a long version of them, one that goes on for years.

23 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Problem with the 100 baht places is they tend to be busy and too much talking by ignorant customers

In some places, the girls talk too much, which is also off-putting. Sometimes they answer their phone while massaging. There's not exactly a code of conduct in these places.

2 minutes ago, susanlea said:

The cheapest ones in CM are in temples. No funny business. All out in open.

Never tried one, but whenever I go for a 300 baht oil massage, and tell myself all I'm going to spend is 300 plus tip, I end up paying 1000 or more.🤣

9 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

I like the Philippines, but I stay in Thailand. Why?  Internet, hospitals, roads - basically infrastructure. I have been to the Philippines 53 times - I would move there in a flash if the infrastructure were the same.

You bring up one good point - Internet. If you want a good Internet service, you have to be near a major city and it's going to cost you more than it does in Thailand for a similar speed with unlimited data.

6 minutes ago, susanlea said:

5 on 1 almost nobody can win against the numbers. Best run.

Unless you are James Bond, of course.😁

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Still 100 in Pattaya is some places, same quality as 300 places

The quality doesn't have much to do with price, but the skills of the massage therapist (PC for masseuse LOL).

There's a reason why they are cheap. They work very hard to convince you to pay for extras, which the girls keep. They can be very persuasive.

4 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Did you see Eddie Hall fighting those 2 small guys? Smashed them.

Yes, I watched that, but that's fighting with rules. Street fighting is different. Anything goes. Eddie Hall is one of the world's strongest men, which helps. We're talking over 400lbs at his peak.

1 minute ago, buick said:

BGC is the place in Manila.  everything is walkable until you need to go to P Burgos, which is only a 10 minute taxi ride if you leave after 8:30pm.  i always stay at the F1 Hotel.  two good restaurants for me are Agave (mexican) and Va Bene Pasta (Italian).  for lunch i enjoyed a salad place, SaladStop!, which has a bunch of different salads to offer or you can customize your own.  there is also a Shake Shack next to SaladStop.   another one is Brotzeit, a german place, nice outdoor seating - had a great pork loin there.   there are a bunch more restaurants in Burgos Circle (which is in BGC, not P Burgos), including another outlet of SaladStop!  the High Street Mall is a good place to walk around, Burgos Circle is at one end.  sometimes you spot some freelancers.

 

my first visit to MNL was in 2008 and i had real problems with the food selection.  i did find some decent offerings at the Green Belt Mall and that helped me survive.  but i found MNL to be pretty dire at that time.  a friend of mine lived in La Union, a couple hours north of Angeles and he bought a condo in BGC around 2012 or so.  that's when i got introduced to it.  it is the one place i'd consider living if i needed to depart Bangkok.  i like Saigon and Danang but couldn't live in either one.  i like Hong Kong but too expensive.  i go to BGC at least once a year.

 

my understanding is there is an immigration office in BGC also. 

 

 

The big shopping malls have a huge selection of restaurants for every budget. Finding good quality Western-style food is not a problem, but it can be expensive; the same is not cheap in Thailand either.

4 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Brock Lesnar 265lbs. He wasn't the biggest fighter.

17 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Brock Lesnar 265lbs. He wasn't the biggest fighter.

Yes, that's the UFC limit for title fights. He didn't spend long in MMA with a 5-3 record, and he was fighting one other heavyweight, not a bunch of nimble-footed Filipinos coming at him from all directions.

35 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

I have spent time there & cannot disagree with this synopsis....

I have a friend, a Marine Corp Master Sergeant that is half flip & half US....Also versed & teaches martial arts + built to match....The Marine Corps did not allow him to go to the PI. - they assessed it as being too dangerous.....

If he weighed a muscular 280lbs as mentioned in the "synopsis", he'd be far too slow to deal with a gang of Filipinos. That's far too heavy to be an effective street fighter. That's the weight of the biggest bodybuilders on stage.

19 minutes ago, Tod Daniels said:

I think you're confusing leaving the country by land to get off a valid Non-O visa/extension and on to a new 30 day entry stamp at a land border where they 'charge a fee' to let people out on valid visa/extensions that aren't cancelled with being denied entry into the country 

Those are two completely different things and the border bounce companies up here in bangkok also tell you that the border will charge a 'fee' to let you out on a Non-Imm visa/extension you're trying to get off of

It sounds more like you are confused. I'm not confused at all...

The situation is exactly as I stated. You can contact the First Class Visa service in Pattaya to confirm. If you're on a non-O, and want to get back in with a 30 days stamp, it will cost what I stated. I will be doing this next month so I have gone over the details already for a trip.