thecyclist

In PP it's better to go through an agent. Or you could buy a dummy ticket for around 400 Baht. They provide you with a genuine booking that is good for a couple of days. The PP embassy likes giving people a hard time. I am not sure, but kinda doubt they accept a bus ticket.

Yes, you try to stop a fight between Thais, you have basically started a fight.

A smiling donkey pulled by the nose by temporarily "imprisoned " squared-faced abomination.

Yes, remember a certain minister condemning Farangs as filthy. basically saying that most of them are of the Kee nok variety.

The crucial question here is was the wife Thai or British?

Yes, true, although there is difference between Thailand and the Philippines. The majority of Thais, especially educated Thais, got wise to these kleptocrats, as the recent election showed. The Pinoys seem to keep falling for the false promises of the 'populist ' elites.

What shooting incident in Pattaya? Do they mean the Paragon shooting?

2 Christians were handing out Jesus DVD's in Vientiane.???????????? Jehovah's witnesses or Mormons ? Jesus DVds?? So, basically 2 nutcases were shown the door.

West coast route is more scenic, and more challenging. I would go via Satun.There used to be, and probably still is , a boat from there to Kuala Perlis, and then a very scenic route ,partly along the coast, to Penang.

Cambodia and Vietnam are probably better alternatives.

End of an era.

Kind of agree. Yes, a cold beer, and for a little while longer a nice joint

These Hamas 'faces ' won't be alive much longer, let alone come to Thailand. Israel is not going to rest until they have wiped out Hamas completely.

Red Bull had to pay the cops and the judiciary a lot of money.

Essential for what?To learn how to read a language is essential for reading the language, obviously. It's helpful, but not essential to converse with Thai people. I have met lots of people who were able to do that ,but couldn't read a word. There might be individual differences in how to best approach a tonal language like Thai. In all my years in Thailand I have come across two Farangs who mastered Thai with a native proficiency. One said it is absolutely essential to first master the tones. The other said the exact opposite, don't bother with the tones.

How do you separate reading from writing? You learn how to read a language, you learn how to write it at the same time ,at least to some extent.

I wouldn't say that reading and writing is absolutely essential. It certainly helps, but you can manage without, at least I did. Get a girlfriend that can't speak English, so you are forced to speak it all day, and you will be able to learn it fast. That is the most natural approach of all.

He took part in the murder. He goes to a canine prison.

It's a farang. You can defame Farangs.

Pattaya is one of the driest locations in Thailand. I would often ride my bicycle across the dark side into the hills surrounding Pat, and encounter heavy rain, then return to Pattaya, and not a drop had fallen there.

Both were great in the seventies.

Yep, me too.Junior Wan is trying on the Adolf Hitler look. Suits him just fine. All we need now is his other offspring, forgot his name, the fellow who shot an undercover cop in a nightclub because the guy stared at him (actually Wan and his brother, the cop killer, had been in the habit of beating up people in nightclubs for staring before the fatal incident ) ,fled to Cambodia, till his dad arranged a short stint in the clink ,with a quick release. Isn't there something similar going on with the Shinawatras at the moment.

Wow, quite a tour de force, from gun control to weed, on to brothels to elderly tourists and to spousal visas. You would make a great politician. If you are American, there is an opening for you in Congress. Get in touch with a certain Floridian.

That's because most of the 27 million are here on a short vacation, probably half of them first time visitors, who see only the facade, the smiles, and who don't want to spoil their annual holidays by digging a little deeper and taking a look behind the veneer. If they were to stay here for years like most of the posters on the forum do, they would come to see the reality behind the smiles, the greed, the corruption, the rip-offs, the xenophobia.

I have never tried it, but carrying the bike around the entrance should be possible. Regarding Khao Yai, I regularly biked back and forth through the park when it was still 5 Baht for everyone. Did it once after fees went up to 20 Baht for Thais and 200 Baht for farang..I put 20 Baht on the counter, and he pointed to the sign saying 200.I told him in Thai that I was not interested in the park, only wanted to bike through it, and would be out the other side in a couple of hours, he said Oh, and accepted the 20.if he hadn't I would have turned around, and done my biking somewhere else.