jaywalker

.......There are plenty of Thais, most I would guess, who do not like noisy hens, chickens etc.

Most Thais I've met are either stone cold deaf or are doing all they can do to get that way.

....HMMMM. Maybe that's the answer. SHoot a .44 magnum a foot away from our ears till we are deaf. Seems to be the only way to deal with noise in Thailand.

Good luck on finding a certified engineer.

According to Col. Sirichan Nga-thong, the explosion occurred while soldiers were attempting to repair a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) inside a workshop building.

Seriously? They were attempting to repair a rocket propelled GRENADE? What sort of a brain dead moron does that?

If it's defective you dispose of it, you do NOT repair it.

Just being frugal ..

They know the US will not supply more unless they hold an election!

You've absolutely got that right.

They got me involved in working on 4 Army trucks that had been demolished in the 2010 (or was it 2011?) riots when the folks with purple shirts were protesting against the folks with oleander shirts over their different tastes in shirt fashion.

The trucks had been mobbed with hatchets and axes and clubs and knives - yes knives...They cut every wire they could find.

Happened in April as I recall.

They got the trucks back to an undisclosed location in NW BKK, called Pathum Thani with no hoods (bonnets) nor any covering over the various gaping openings where water could get in.

A 100 baht tarp would have been good.

They let them sit in the rain till November when the new fiscal budget got approved.

Now, even though the trucks were 20+ years old, to replace them at 3 million baht each would have been 12 million.

I thought they wanted new engines & transmissions & wiring harnesses......probably 800 thousand, maybe 1 million baht per truck.

I didn't get that across though. I just said "Sure! They can be repaired", thinking new factory parts would be installed.

They said "Great! Help us rebuild them!"

The engines and transmissions were 100% FULL of rain water. FAR AND AWAY more damage had been done by rain than by the oleander (or was it purple?)-shirted mob.

I got them running.

They lasted about 6 months.

They kept bugging me to remove the truck bodies from the frames....."WHY, oh WHY? I asked.

"To repair them"......"There's nothing wrong with the frame & we can fix the body right where it's at" I explained.

"But, how can we repair it if we don't take it apart?"

It reminded me of when I was adding a deck to the back of my house & my 3 year old kid would ask me why I cut that board "To make it fit".

Why do you want to make it fit?

So we can walk on it.

Why do we want to walk on it?

So we'll have someplace to stand. You're standing on it now.

Oh. Why are you nailing it? etc...

Safety???

We don't need no stinkin' safety!

I guess you get what you pay for at 300 baht a day.

..... Now a shiny well painted and presented jet ski can probably bring in more renters than a dented banged up jetski so I would be sympathetic to a repair bill being needed

All jet skis are shiny and well painted until the plaster of paris putty & water based paint washes off.

I used to live in N. Pattaya out in the sticks a bit.

Neighbor had chickens.

A large boa came over and was helping himself.

Good snake!

Has he got odd socks on?

I thought the same thing = he MUST be Canadian

"The authorities have been stepping up crackdown on drug trafficking in this popular seaside city..."

Gotta love they way they said that. It's almost a double negative, but not quite.

Bang goes his no claims discount, I'll bet he shit a solid gold one.

which side of the car houses the steering wheel? do they drive left on the road or right?

They (mostly) drive on the right side of the road, but the traffic is a bit like Thailand & there's no telling which side they'll drive on half the time.

Cue the barstool philosophers with their entirely predictable hang-em-high sentiments, their lack of compassion and their comprehension-challenging bad grammar and spelling.

Actually I think it's Queue instead of Cue.

It means to line folks up.

First off, there are no corrupt nations just as there are no fascist nations.

There are corrupt and fascist politicians. Disgusting puppets that are there to expedite the orders of the elite that got them elected.

And when those elites are actually controlling the EU abolishing any sense of democratic governing and looking after only their personal interest, then it's time to run. Run as far away as possible.

So, go Greece and let fourth reich Germany rule over the rest of Europe.

AAAHhh, BUT, unless one is living under a coup-installed government, it was the populace that voted the corrupt politicians in.

The USA is no different.

Corrupt politicians buy their way in one way or another, usually with a promise of something for nothing (Rice Scheme in Thailand - Obamacare - Greek barbers that get government pensions at 50 years of age).

If Greece goes back to the Drachma it'll probably be like Thailand keeling over in 1997, yet it'll be the Euro that dies.

They've painted themselves into regular old corner there haven't they?

I saw another article today that said Greece had obtained independence in 1828 (from the Ottomans???), and had been in a state of default 1 out of 2 years since.

Where's my buddy Costas?

I'm sure he can set us straight.

[@Costas - Love Ya Buddy!]

You can imagine the shock and horror of encountering nudity on a visit to Pattaya.

Shiver me' timbers Mate!

If they want to "Protect" us from unsightly views, how about shutting down the Jet-Ski thugs?

Rather unsightly to see people getting scammed for years on end isn't it?

Let consenting adults do what we want.

I may or may not ever find the place, but if I do, who am I hurting?

The more they try to "Save Face", the more they Lose Face.

Idiots is my opinion.

Do you mean serving SAS members or some of the many that have retired to Pattaya?

Yep.

Need all the retired SAS, Pioneers, Green Berets, & SEALS in Pattaya to join in.

Wish I had 10 baht for every one I've met down there.

At least I'm honest (and had some sense). I started out infantry & moved to maintenance in the Army.

Got out & went to staying in five star hotels & flying business class as a contractor instead of working for Blackwater in Iraq, flying C-147's & sleeping in tents, getting shot at.

I did do a few stints in hairy places, but it's mostly pretty nice as compared to a grunt.

Here's the kind of ankle bracelet they need.

There is something about Pattaya that makes me want to live forever. Dying is the last thing that is on my mind. If the grim reaper tries to come to 306 then let it be known that he will have a fight on his hands.

By God, there's no place like Pattaya is there?

For all its wants & woes, I love the place.

20 knife wounds, 10 gun shot wounds, comment from RTP worst case of suicide i ever saw.

Better than dying from a 2nd story fall.

No reference available but I read about some guy that committed suicide from a 20 foot window here a while back.

He must've climbed back upstairs & jumped out 5 times to be the same as a 10 story fall.

Hopefully this will instigate some Muslim on Muslim Hatred and end this Debacle...

unless I have got it completely wrong - Muslim on Muslim conflict is common place in the middle east - they fight amongst themselves and everyone else on the planet

Religion is evil and should be outlawed and wiped from the face of this planet - it has been the cause of more deaths in human history than anything else we know about

Correct!

Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" should be compulsory reading in all schools IMHO

But if we do not control the hairy unwashed with superstitious fears then what do we do?

I kinda like my Baptist church.

The Pastor is a guy I will call a friend to the day I die.

Blaming religion is like blaming guns.

Religious or not a HUMAN pulled the trigger...not the gun nor the Bible nor the Koran.

While you guys are at it, banning religion, you should also make Pattaya go-go girls wear burkas.

I say to each his own.

I cuss, drink & chase women. I also enjoy going to church & reading the Bible.

It's my choice. You are welcome to go to Church or a Mosque or Synagogue or Temple or do whatever floats your boat.

I don't care, as it's up2u .

Sorry. Some times government final approval does takes years if you do not offer bribes so do not be so judgmental if you do not known when he applied. Maybe when and if you have experience with government licensing agencies you will find out that sometimes you must be in operation before they will even provide a final license, as demanding to see in operation to finalize the process.

Lets use your expat brains and wonder why Nipon Chotibal why might nicely have stated they are in the process of applying.

You bitch they corrupt and then if they are not willing to grease palms, then you scram they are illegal and full of arrogance . You do not always get to be right just because you want to be.

My expat brain says "Why on Earth would I ever dream of farming snakes?"

Then again, why would I ever stick my head into a crocodile's mouth?

I guess it all boils down to a failure to communicate common sense.

A three metre shark is considered a "giant"?

Cobblers!.

I had the good fortune to go surfing with a friendly shark at New Smyrna Beach in Florida once.

It was more of a boogy board body-surfing I was doing. I was neck deep & jumped up to catch a wave & a 1.5 meter (he was 4 or 5 feet long) shark was next to me!

Sum-bitch surfed right next to me down the wave.

Needless to say I rode that wave perfectly all the way to the shore & was walking on what little bit of water I had to cross to get to dry land.

They look pretty big when you're in the water next to him unexpectedly!!!

What possible difference has such knee jerk counter-reciprocity made?

Jordan executes convicted jihadists after pilot's death

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31124900

All this does is justify the barbarous act in the minds of IS sympathizers, feeds the flames of recruitment.

Again! Where's the strategy? If there was a strategy to conquer IS and what it stands for there would not be such knee jerk reactions.

No knee jerk they deserved to be killed, it's just a shame they waited so long.

Bullet between the eye on capture is the way to go.

Would you sooner she spends time behind bar crocheting?

Too simplistic.

Whether these particular individuals already in captivity are alive or dead makes no odds. But in publicly killing them in response to the murder of the pilot simply fans the flames of IS recruitment and further escalation.

IS will not care that these individuals are now dead, in fact it plays into their hands once again. They do kill their own with total disregard in any case.

It's becoming worryingly obvious there is no strategy or global co-operation on strategy with regard to the IS threat.

"I'm so worried". You sound like Obama.

The world LOVED to HATE Bush.

Just can't bring our little pathetic liberal hearts to mouth one bad word about a liberal, black president that couldn't beat his way out of a wet paper bag though can we?

Nah, we'll just be "worried" and "Troubled", and wring our hands.

Obama is a wimp.

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

What would be cool is if King Abdullah got off his ass & did something on his own without waiting for some Holy Hand of Washington to say it's OK to do it.

Thai movies?

Talent pool?

All I see are the very badly acted juvenile soaps on tv.

Soaps are soaps the world over it seems - all crap.

If given the choice of watching soap operas or hot needles under my fingernails I'd go for the needles.

What gets me about Thai movies is when they have an English movie & the Thai guy talks over it (is that called dubbing? I dunno).

It always sounds like the same guy that does them all & his <deleted> must be hanging like a buffalo stud the way he does such a fake, deep voice.

Did the cop say "You just give me a passport and Khap Phom"?

At least he was nice about it.

Its clear the USA would not support this military lead regime.

After all there is no evidence of the USA ever using the military to impose their standards on a democratically lead nation state.

Except for Vietnam, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan etc etc.

Sure the USA would support the Shins, because they have a recognizable dollar amount they can be assured of accepting to support any USA policy, however illegal. (eg. Black sights in Udon Thanee)

Unless the regime is corrupt, the USA can't work with them. That's the real sticking point.

Democracy is a dear concept to the USA, which is why the party that has the most money in an election, always wins the presidency. This isn't policy, its just a fact that has occurred in every election ever in the USA.

The standard that the USA held Iraq to, stopping corruption and human rights abuses, should apply here. So its more than a little strange that the USA don't support this government, which is going a long way to re-righting the problems that have become endemic in Thailand.

Buying votes at 1000bht a day is not democracy, nor is bombing cities and arming a militia if you don't get your way. Its called election fraud and terrorism in every other country.

The USA has a very strange ethos, maybe a tighter alliance with china is a better idea.

The USA is 10 times as corrupt as Thailand = That's why they want to charge us 10 times as much to visit some overcrowded national park!