samjaidee

To avoid any loss of face why don't they make Laoation their second language then almost every Thai would be able to claim to be proficient in their second language in no time at all.

Nice to see police officials doing something positive. Useless Factoid: Pangolins are actually mammals.

That was my first thought. Headline say reptiles and they show a picture of mammals. Typically Thai.

"... "Flooding on a plateau is a difficult occurrence by nature. This shows that the government has done nothing to prevent it," she said."

Never could understand the logic of a woman - so won't even bother! Maybe she thinks the Government is a god and can direct nature.

I think you misread the quote. She said the government had done nothing to prevent flooding not rainfall.

Obviously it is not possible to prevent rainfall but it could be possible to prevent flooding, don't you think?

Chinese is a better 2nd language for Thailand.

Chin has a stronger economy than the US, does more business with Thailand than the US does, and China will be the sole economic superpower in 20 years.

my kid is learning Thai, English and Chinese.

Regardless of the strength of the US or Chinese economies, Chinese will never overtake English as the world's second language.

It has a big disadvantage over the majority of the world's languages; it doesn't use the Roman alphabet.

Thais already have a unique alphabet; to foist another one on them seems a bit unfair.

An alternative to either Chinese or English would be Spanish. It's much easier to learn than English and would give any speaker an advantage in trade with most of Central and South America.

IMHO

On the issue of Thaksin being a 'financial advisor to Cambo I can understand and his demise accordingly was a good move. Thailand and Kampuchea should always maintain civility and having the red leader in their camp was a poor move and not very smart. Now at least that one is resolved.

The issue of the temple my school of thought is out. There are land boundaries in place and if the temple falls within the Thailand boundaries then maybe it should be a Thailand monument. If however it is actually on Cambodian land then give it over and let's all go home. But from an historical point I understand Thai boundaries were a long way further into Cambodia and Thailand reduced its boundaries in a gesture of goodwill thus putting the temple in a 'borderline' position. If history showed this was Thai land previously then I would think it still is Thailand's irrespective of the third party claims. Food for thought anyway.

It was clearly Thailand's until about 1900 when the maps were redrawn, apparently putting it into Cambodia ... which is where the whole mess is now - arguing over whether the maps were done correctly.

But how many times has the land changed possession over the centuries? When did Thailand take possession? Who had possession before that ... and before that? Where do you want to draw the line?

I agree. The temple was built by the Cambodians before the Thai empire was even formed, it sits on Cambodian soil. So, it's Cambodia's. It just takes a little bit of common sense to figure this one out. Now if only the Thai's can find this little common sense.

Common sense tells me that a temple built on a cliff with the surrounding land all belonging to Thailand belongs to Thailand.

The Normans built many castles in England, does that mean the English should give that land back to France?

I guess you thought that was a clever answer. Wrong!

The Normans weren't French; they were Norman.

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock. The name "Normans" derives from Nortmanni (Northmen), after the Vikings who founded Normandy.

Is that clear?

I just want to make sure I understand this.

It's the middle of winter in Scotland. You get about 7 hours of daylight every day. You have a full time job with possible overtime.

What the hel_l is she going to do in daylight hours when you're not there? Is she going to sit indoors with the heating on maximum watching DVDs or go outside and watch the icicles melting?

Have you really thought this through seriously?

Since when did Monks have Wives, or is this a case of Some Pigs are more equal than others.I'm Shocked.?.

Were you selective in reading the post?

It says quite clearly "Oranuch, who is still legally married to the monk".

The obvious implication of this is that prior to him becoming a monk they lived together as husband and wife but since he became a monk they are married in name only.

I'm shocked......... at your misinterpretation.

I don't know if they ever do a credit check, however if they do and find that you have "a healthy bank account with regular income coming in and not much much going out" but that you have debts which are not being repaid, then the ECO may wonder if you will be able to support your wife when your creditors catch up with you!

As said to you here; if you have debts which are being adequately serviced leaving you sufficient income then this will not be a problem with the ECO, but if you have debts which you are ignoring then I don't know whether it will be or not.

Even if this does not cause a problem with your wife's application, as snuggzzz said to you in this post

For your own sake (and your parents/wife) speak to your creditors to reach an arrangement before it does become a real problem

Your debts wont go away if you ignore them; the last thing you want is a batch of CCJs hanging over your head in two years time when your wife is applying for her Indefinite Leave to Remain!

Wrong. Debts do go away. My 10 grand debt to Nat West Bank was written off after 7 years of non payment. I now have a clean credit rating.

My very deepest sympathies to the family, friends and classmates of the victim.

This happened in the neighborhood where I live and work and is quite upsetting. A few months back, two colleagues were on a bus on that route (maybe the same number--I don't recall) and were held on the floor at gun point along with other passengers. The young men who had them get on the floor, did so for their own protection. It seems they had fled a fight with another school (or gang) and some of the students from the other school were approaching with guns out, so they told everyone to get down on the floor. When the bus stopped, the students fled. No shots fired on the bus or at the bus, but still a little too close to home.

Scott is a hero.

.

Actually Scott's colleagues are heroes. :D

Post #6 - cup-O-coffee, on 2010-09-02 15:21, said:

One of the best thought out posts I've seen on here for a long time. If you missed it, go back and read it.

Thank you.

For the record, Abhisit is generally recognised as a politician with a good conscience, integrity and clean hands, as opposed to others in the coalition and opposition. He has a strong sense of purpose, with a determination to succeed as the chief executive. He is the only person with any credibility left to ensure a fair degree of public support for his administration. The rest are regarded as a gallery of rogues, and many are crooks.

This is the same problem PM Chuan had, but I think that Abhisit has more moxie. He is the best politician that Thailand has to offer and he needs support rather than constant criticism if he is going to change anything for the better.

Both the red and the yellow leaders are mostly unprincipled opportunists looking for ways to enrich themselves at the expense of the Thai people. Abhisit is not perfect, but he is the closest thing to it around these parts politically .

Spot on, Ulysses. I couldn't agree more.

Ulysses you've summed it up perfectly.

I wish Thaivisa forums had a "like" button to show you like a comment rather than having to reply or quote.

Are these statistics based on people passing into Thailand through any/all immigration posts? If that is the case then all people doing visa runs would be considered as tourists since they re-enter the country through immigration.

Thailand is a main hub for flights from all over the world to South East Asia. Visitors to Cambodia will more than likely arrive first in Thailand and then transfer either by air or land to Cambodia. This applies equally to Laos or even Vietnam.

Living in Ho Chi Minh City, I've met many tourists who have first flown into Thailand and then moved on to Cambodia immediately and then on to Vietnam. There are many who used to be regular visitors to Thailand but have become rather disillusioned by the state of the country. (I'm not talking about "sex tourists" in case there's some doubt).

There is a quote frequently attributed to Benjamin Disraeli which has some relevance here: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'

Not sure what you are trying to say here that hasn't been said over and over again on this thread. Are you saying that these tourists had bad travel agents and didn't know how to fly them into Cambodia's international air port.

No, that's not what I'm saying. That's only your interpretation of what I said.

I think it's fair to say that many, if not a majority of people nowadays use on-line services not travel agents for booking flights.

Flights to Thailand are considerably cheaper than flights direct to Cambodia due to the fact that it is a hub. Does that clarify my post enough for you?

Are these statistics based on people passing into Thailand through any/all immigration posts? If that is the case then all people doing visa runs would be considered as tourists since they re-enter the country through immigration.

Thailand is a main hub for flights from all over the world to South East Asia. Visitors to Cambodia will more than likely arrive first in Thailand and then transfer either by air or land to Cambodia. This applies equally to Laos or even Vietnam.

Living in Ho Chi Minh City, I've met many tourists who have first flown into Thailand and then moved on to Cambodia immediately and then on to Vietnam. There are many who used to be regular visitors to Thailand but have become rather disillusioned by the state of the country. (I'm not talking about "sex tourists" in case there's some doubt).

There is a quote frequently attributed to Benjamin Disraeli which has some relevance here: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'

If it is your wifes business, as long as she employ s a minimum of 4 Thais she can emply you as as well. If you are married you can declare her income for joint taxation purposes.

I must admit I've never heard of Farang being arrested as long as they didn't go behind the bar or do abvious work activities like taking orders. But there is a concerted effort by the Democrat government to get rid of as many of us as possible- an effort that makes Thaksin's puny attempts look like chicken feed!

Poorsucker: Ok technically you pay the same as a Thai, but it will be assumed that you are earning 50,000 baht a month, even if you arn't - that's the minimum a Farang can earn, so effectively you do pay more tax than a Thai: It's all part of the wonderfullly efficient racism that makes up this country!

It's amazing, isn't it. We're only 15 comments in and already the "Democrats" and "Thaksin" have been brought up.

It's a forum about work permits NOT party politics.

Why don't you start a new "party political" thread.

I thought 10 person was the maximum in a lift?

Have you seen the size of some of these Pattaya tourists? That lift could well have been carrying 4800lbs or 2177 kilos or 2.177 tonnes.

Here are the workings:

Arithmetic mean average weight of Pattaya tourist: 300 lbs

Number of Pattaya tourists in lift come Disneyland ride: 16

16# x 300lbs = 4800 lbs

1 kg = 2.20462248 lbs

4800/2.20 = 2177 kgs.

1 tonne = 1000 kgs.

2177/1000 = 2.177 tonnes.

Falling lift

The above link is the whole story.

16 Thais at a work seminar.

It was a mix of men and women so lets say an average of 70kgs.

70 x 16 = 1120 kgs.

The lift would have been designed for 10 large western men. Lets say an average of 100 kgs.

100 x 10 = 1000 kgs.

So 16 Thais is not really that many.

Yes, your gf would not have to pay 2k because she doesn't need a visa.

By the way, sorry - I didn't take into account the fact that your gf would be going with you when I said it would cost you more to drive there. I guess it depends how economical her car is.....

I think it would cost me about 2500 baht in petrol to drive there and back from BKK so I've never bothered to do it.

The visa bus service I used before would charge your gf 800 baht if she waited on the Thai side (about 2 - 2 1/2 hours) or 1000 baht if she comes across with you. If you get an ordinary bus and do it yourself you can be across the border and back a lot quicker than that, at the right time of day.

thanks very much for the reply once again.

my girlfriend said it will cost about 1000 baht in petrol to go to cambodia and come back. No idea about cars + petrol myself though. Honda jazz if that makes it any easier?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet so here goes.

The visa for Cambodia is not 1,000 Baht. That is 50% more than the real visa cost which is in fact US$20. By not using one of the visa run companies you're already saving yourself US$10. Food for thought.

If this story is in fact true, it makes a total mockery of justice in Thailand. Might this be because Pletnev has shown he will fight the case in Court and the authorities are so incensed by the international media response (which has highlighted the fact that Thailand is a haven for pedophiles rather than the efforts of the country to clean up its act) that they literally want the case and Pletnev to disappear? Wherever he is now, he cannot get back to Thailand and report back to the Court as ordered. So he is doubly damned. Accused of being a pedophile and treated as one without any shred of evidence being brought out in Court! Yet not even allowed to prove his innocence (if that is the case). What makes this even more disgraceful is that the Immigration Chief has acted before getting a reply from the "Child and Women Unit". I am shocked and appalled.

MAYBE WE SHOULD WAIT UNTIL HE IS CONVICTED ? JUST A THOUGHT LA !.....

Perfectly fair point. But it seems the Thai Justice System will not even give him that opportunity! I hope there is an international outcry over this.

I think you may be looking at it the wrong way.

They've stopped his visa so he can't come back and face charges.

What if influential people from whichever country have found a way to let him go free without Thailand losing face.

The Thais can't prosecute him because they've put him on a blacklist and won't let him back into the country.

I wonder who gets to keep all the guy's assets in Thailand. Hasn't he got houses and businesses all over the place?

Makes you think.

a law enforcer (FROM ANYWHERE) that's HONEST....... whoever told you that LIED.

None are honest, never have been and NEVER will be. remember that `lawmen' were killers, theives and bandits first, that's how they got to LAWMEN. They are still the same today, except they now have uniforms, badges and guns. And the courts always sides with the crooks. This has been true from the start of time and it has not changed nor will it ever change...

What a pointless first post.

Worldwide law enforcement did not start in the States in the 1800s. There's more to the world than the "US Wild West". You've been watching too many westerns.

When Sir Robert Peel started the Metropolitan Police in London in 1829, do you really think he chose to only employ criminals?

By the way, in the UK the police don't carry guns.

Not been back to the UK lately then, when you do i wouldn't pull your plastic toy gun out on any airport police for starters you may end up with some extra holes that weren't there before. Some UK police do carry guns .

Yes, I am aware that many police at airports carry guns.

There was also the case of Raoul Moat recently when 10% of the trained firearms officers in the UK were tasked to find him.

That having been said, your average bobby on the beat does not carry a gun, unlike the majority of countries around the world.

The point I was trying to make, but obviously not very well, was that that "facts" stated in the post I replied to were less than accurate.

Sorry Scott it won't happen again.

a law enforcer (FROM ANYWHERE) that's HONEST....... whoever told you that LIED.

None are honest, never have been and NEVER will be. remember that `lawmen' were killers, theives and bandits first, that's how they got to LAWMEN. They are still the same today, except they now have uniforms, badges and guns. And the courts always sides with the crooks. This has been true from the start of time and it has not changed nor will it ever change...

What a pointless first post.

Worldwide law enforcement did not start in the States in the 1800s. There's more to the world than the "US Wild West". You've been watching too many westerns.

When Sir Robert Peel started the Metropolitan Police in London in 1829, do you really think he chose to only employ criminals?

By the way, in the UK the police don't carry guns.

Most countries have a problem with "homeless" street people and how to feed and house them etc. I guess as this is Thailand, it's only natural to have homeless street elephants. As to feeding them and getting fined for it......their handlers/owners are most probably making a needed buck or two off the sympathetic tourists. But I seem to remember that elephants eat a huge amount of fodder each day. How do they get that here in Bangkok? They 'are' on the street and if the bib arrest the owner/handler, who then will be responsible? I would imagine it would cost quite a bit too, to send them all back to the parks or jungle or whatever. Who is going to pay to do that? Is it even the right thing to do, as these "street Elephants" are now "City Elephants".....could they cope with the Low tech wilds any more? How did they even get here in the first place??? Where do they bed down even? This has been going on for years now, but there seems to be an increase in numbers in recent years, so someone must be making money out of it. Thai folks are not stupid, contrary to popular thought on this forum and very seldom do things for free.....Just a thought. Another thought, is what is standing near all the traffic here in Bangkok, doing to their health? Put a white mask on for a day here and see the color of it at the end of the day. In the long run, does all this really deserve so much attention here on TV? It will go on no matter what we say. It has to be said, that if they really wanted to stop it, they could - I mean where do you hide a 3 ton Elephant in the city? Lets be real about this.

Thank you 'newtronbom'. It's refreshing to see someone adding an insightful comment for a change rather than the misspelled rant of many posters.

I don't like these elephants, I find them annoying at best. I don't like it when they come anywhere near me.

The last thing I need is some great lumbering dinosaur chasing me down Sukhumvit while I'm half drunk. Someone told me he saw a full sized adult elephant do a runner down Soi Cowboy a few years ago.

I remember sitting outside a bar smoking a cigarette and an elephant was manouvered into the parking space just in front of me only for it to crap all over the road a few feet away from where I was enjoying my beer and cigarette. The jockey got down, collected the crap and put it into a plastic carrier bag and took it with him, very strange behaviour.

I remember rag-and-bone men (scrap merchants) in London collecting the manure after their horses dumped in the road. (by the way, I'm only 48, not 108 years old). They sold the manure on to the public. I would have thought that, even in Thailand, there's a market for quality manure in cities. Another way for the elephant handlers to earn a living.

People...and tourists...luv elephants. Now we can get a 10000baht fine for helping keep them alive. That sucks!

if you really love elephants u should do your part to protect them and ensure that they can live where they belong to.

There are parks in Thailand where they can live in a naturally perfect environment and not on streets where they suffer from many diseases, often treated badly.

Information is all: elephants back to nature

I 100% agree with you, the elephants belong in their natural habitat. Keeping them in the city is helping to kill them, not helping to keep them alive.

If an elephant is born and raised in captivity and has spent its life doing things at the behest of men then what is its natural habitat? Should an orphan Orangutan be returned to its natural habitat to fend for itself when it reaches maturity? Sometimes its a tough call isn't it?

If you do the maths (maths with an 's' for all you North Americans!) 600 billion divided by 15.5 million tourists - kinds leaves you gasping at how much TAT worked out they spend per capita?

Why would you be gasping at less than US$ 1,200. Not exactly a lot is it?

Lordy, lordy, when will they ever learn. Well, probably never because new ones get off the planes everyday with an absolute certainy that "they are just like us, only shorter". And nothing short of divine intervention can convince these men otherwise.

I have taken to telling newbies (and some longer term guys who get carried away) to read Stickman's wonderful treatise on "Why I will never marry a Thai woman". It is without doubt the finest paper ever written on the subject. It was written by an American half-Thai man who came here in his twenties to go to University and stayed and has been here for decades. Very valuable insight and information. And it's free.

People, you are in Asia the name of the game is Money and Fear, at every level.

Suggestion to the fool that made this video is to get back up on the horse and try again. Better yet get up on the horse in another country with different women as the mentally of the women here are obviously way to alien for this man.

Regards

Suggestion to the fool who believed this video was a real plea for help. Don't believe everything you see. You're not as bright as you think you are.

Folks, it's pretty clear someone is taking the piss with that video.

Couldn't have put it better myself. lol