Naam

I came across these huge bearings and was wondering what they could possibly have come from, they were close to 1 foot in diameter.

1 foot diameter is huge? look at this marine diesel and the size of the mechanic as well as the crankshaft extension!

I laugh every time I see fan mist coolers and water spraying misters indoor in Thailand. They DO NOT work because of the high humidity. We are in the tropics not the dry desert.

that is correct. however, even in dry climate evaporation coolers do not work if the air is not continously exchanged.

yes, this tread is about Thai restaurants not a noodle stall. I tip at all Thai restaurants and if it is a bit more for my meal, okay. 25% more, outrageous if you are paying big money, but 25% amounting to 10 baht for a whole meal, give me a break. The thais I know that have the small restaurants are just making enough to keep the family going

"25% amounting to 10 baht for a whole meal" which is

seems to be outrageous too for some needy persons who "vote with their feet" when they are overcharged by that huge amount of money.

p.s. to be fair, the OP did not talk about a voluntary tip but complained that he was charged a "farang or tourist premium" of 10 Baht.

If it has a menu it would not be a food cart. In CM, there are lots of very basic, very cheap Thai restaurants in Chiang Mai that are in shophouses - usually with plastic stools, portable tables, a fan and not much paint on the walls. Those are what I would guess the OP is talking about.

if this is the case is it inappropriate to tip 10 Baht if

quoting OP: "I've always enjoyed a number of tasty dishes that the friendly cook had prepared"

???

The best way for buying and selling gold in Thailand is using gbullion.com.

And why exactly is this the best way? Have you ever taken physical delivery in Thailand from them?

who would transfer his dough to an unkown private company in Dubai? but then... one is born every minute

WOW... it's interesting to note... the room prices at Srinakarin are about half the price of the same level rooms at Samitivej Sukhumvit...where the range for room only runs from 4,000 to 15,000 per night...

I'll take the Presidential Suite, thank you...

I think the 15,000baht a day would cover a semi-private room in the states.

nearly 20 years ago i paid for a private room (nothing fancy) in Florida 700 dollars. 1½ years ago a "suite" in Germany, big room, nothing fancy and a tiny (6m²!) attached room with a second TV, 1,040 EURos (at that time ~50,000 Baht), meals à la carte for two persons included, nursing not included.

OK, you can ignore the video except for the first ten seconds. Can anyone give me a name for theis Bloomberg babe?

http://www.bloomberg...video/61551604/

Ah lanna you old dog, you!

I think that would be Ms. Betty Liu.....

My personal fav is Ms. Melissa Theuraiu, not a Bloomberg anchor but I used to see her on a French channel I got in Hong Kong. GF was not happy, my excuse was that I was brushing up on my French

Hey this could be a good distraction from the topic at hand for awhile!!!

Vive la difference! (except when it comes to the American anchors.... ugh)

Betty is very attractive... until she turns her head and shows her profile. but then 'de gustibus non est disputandum'.

I understand why some people want to tip in noodle stalls, but it can start to set a precedent where they will come to resent foreigners who don't. I have had a good income and a poor income here and it is nice to have cheap places where no one expects a tip when times are tough. I never tip in cheap street stalls, but always in proper farang-orientated restaurants with good service.

I understand your point, Ulysses, and I agree (as I usually do with you). I seldom tip at the food stalls, but I do tip at the little Mom -n- Pop cafes where I regularly go. It's just my way of saying thank you. I sometimes go to the night stall on the inner moat road (Near Loi Kroh) where they serve a tasty plate of Pad Tai. There are always people sitting on the little plastic stools and eating off the portable tables set up on the sidewalk. It's not a cafe, and although I eat there regularly, I seldom tip unless I'm just rounding up the bill. I don't follow any set rules when tipping. But, if someone goes out of their way to help me then I help them in return.

perhaps i am just a stupid farang of german/swiss origin who's english is too poor to understand the discussed topic. would therefore any kind soul tell me whether the original poster meant a noodle stall or a restaurant? do noodle stalls or street vendors have a menu printed in thai and english?

quote: "Several times a week for the past couple of months I've been dining at the local market. The menu there is printed in both Thai and English. And I've always enjoyed a number of tasty dishes that the friendly cook had prepared. That's why I continued to return: good food, delightful cook, oh, and of course, the cost was always only 25 or 30 baht for most things, an occasional 40 baht for something nicer."

"Fewer Banknotes ! Lower gold Gold prices ?"

and perhaps less global warming? i can only shake my head

Yes Naam !- Central banks are not helping - One Tree = How Much Paper? http://www.greenatworkmag.com/gwsubaccess/03sepoct/special2.html

the question "one tree how much paper?" is not really relevant Churchill. only for the increased cash money supply virgin raw materials for paper production are needed. and it is not always trees as a number of countries do not use paper to produce banknotes but textile fibres and anorganic material.

how a glitch in the banknote production of an insignificant currency like GBP can influence the price of Gold is beyond my comprehension.

Thais don't tip at street restaurants. Neither should we.

<snip> deplorable and based on thai-phobia suggestion as the majority of Thais are forced to make ends meet with an income of 200-250 dollars a month. i agree that Farangs having that princely sum available for total living expenses should not tip when eating at street restaurants.

At street stalls, Thais don't tip. ALL kinds of Thais eat at such places and they DO NOT TIP. It is not the local custom. If you want to be a deviant with your Thai-phobia schmegegge schtick, be my guest. This Thai-phobia thing you are directing only at me on various posts, I get what you are doing and I do not appreciate it.

-whether Thais tip or not was not questioned by me but i think a 10-Baht tip is appropriate when one is happy with the food.

-your Thai-phobia is well known from countless postings even though you try to present it as your reaction to the alleged xenophobia of Thais and the Thai government towards Farangs. i have not singled you out but voice my disgust when i feel like whether it's you or other TV-members. perhaps i should refrain from presenting (what i think are) valid arguments and post (as others do very often) "if you don't like Thailand then LEAVE!"

-i couldn't care less whether you appreciate my opinions or not.

"Fewer Banknotes ! Lower gold Gold prices ?"

and perhaps less global warming? i can only shake my head

"1] with my proposed system [charger, batteries, and inverter], I would wire mains going into the inverter and out of inverter to the circuits I want to protect....pcs, routers, tvs etc. 2] That will give me steady 240v with no interuptions??

and switching would be fast enough to not shut down equipment??

3] Is there any danger of frying the charger/inverter with voltage spikes and low voltage??

4] and would my big UPS protect the equipment from voltage fluctuations????"

here my answers which are not academic but based on experience:

1/2] steady voltage and extremely fast switching without any equipment (even PC holds) shutting down.

3] i have never experienced voltage spikes but until several months ago the voltage of one or more of the three phases dropped considerably or the phase(s) were gone completely. as i paid a fortune replacing burned pump and aircon relays due to low voltage i had a protection system installed which switches off any phase having less than 200 volts. therefore i can't answer the question. the resident experts Crossy and El Kangorito are more qualified. that also applies to your question #4.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article21281.html

China Has A Painful Surprise For The Global Economy

Prechter+marketoracle =

"Well you know what this means eh? Fractionals will be worth even more"

spoken like Churchill a true gold bug.

gold will become more valuable

because:

-it might rain tonight

-Mrs Naam is buying

-an insignificant central bank has bought an insignificant amount of gold

-"Sokal" of the Austrian School of Economics says so

-Joe Sixpack prophesied it a long time ago

-the Chinese and Indians are buying left and right

-crosseyed Jesse has a sign in his café

-it's the only real money

-central bankers get a hard-on when they count the gold in their vaults

-gold lovers understand macroeconomics

-german citizens buy goldshops empty

-a gold coin might (any time from now) buy a bakery

-Dyler Turd submitted ample evidence

-the chinese government advised its citizen to buy gold and silver

-nothing shines like gold

-it can only go up, up, UP

:jap:

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.

This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

'What goes around - comes around' Wonderful expression Ian!

My daughter worked her way thorugh "high school' and later Uni to support herself - as a waitress, working on minimum wage. As is often the case, both in North America, Europe and here in Thailand, (my wife being an example), folk that serve the food depend upon on tips to supplement their meagre wages. Mnay times my daughter would serve a table of ten, with great service only to be left the equiv. of a 10 Bhat tip. For this reason, if the service and the food is good, I always plus up the bill 10%, and hand the tip to the person who has served me..

a 10% tip is not necessarily appropriate. there are a couple of restaurants in Pattaya where i paid for a dinner with a bottle (or two) of wine (4 persons) 8, 10 or even 12,000 Baht. tipping 10% in these cases would be sheer nonsense although 15% would be appropriate (and demanded!) in the United States no matter what fancy amount the bill shows.

p.s. bitching about 10 Baht makes me...

Assuming he beats the charges (there are strong hints in this latest news that he will) and he is kicked out Thailand, won't he have to forfeit all his massive assets here? Do the math.

Pattaya Immigration will take care of that

= mere assumptions, not based on facts but on thai-phobia

p.s. please list all those "massive" assets.

Thais don't tip at street restaurants. Neither should we.

<snip> deplorable and based on thai-phobia suggestion as the majority of Thais are forced to make ends meet with an income of 200-250 dollars a month. i agree that Farangs having that princely sum available for total living expenses should not tip when eating at street restaurants.

electricity

is certainty not cheap in Thailand, it is 2 to 3 as expensive as most industrialized countries due to the obvious and often mentioned on this site problems with procurement in large and often bloated capital budget projects.

electricity in Thailand is half the price of that in Germany.

p.s. i use infinitely less heating oil in Thailand than i did in Germany

are you sure it was the tape water? I traveled extensively everywhere around Thailand since over 2 decades and lived in PTY for 2 years and everywhere I and everyone I met used the tape water for brushing the teeth. Never ever felt sick.

So it could be something else or the tape water from that hotel was poisoned somehow...

6 years of permanently living in Pattaya, before that a zillion times holidaying in Pattaya... never any problems. of course i wouldn't drink tap water anywhere in Thailand no matter how it was filtered or treated.

I can imagine that the Russian embassy will have something quite strong to say about this, and that Colonel Somchai with his deportation stamp may well get into some private poop over this one.

and i can imagine that the Russian Embassy (which most probably arranged the "elegant" face saving deal for all involved parties) will have not much to say. that he could leave the country posting a peanuts bail amount speaks volumes.

would any of us mortal Farangs be allowed to keep his passport and leave the country if accused of a crime that might carry a 20 year sentence?

Gospodin Pletnev must be a happy man now.

as the ECB starts buying gold ! Eurozone central bank gold holding srise 1m euros in 1 week

wrong conclusion again. the value of the ECB gold holdings is expressed in €UR, id est the "gold holdings" fluctuate based on gold price in Dollars and exchange rate €UR/USD without a single ounce being bought or sold.

"Gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks rose by 1 million euros to 352.093 billion euros in the week ending July 16, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday.

Gold holdings rose because of a purchase by one euro zone central bank, consistent with the latest Central Bank Gold Agreement.

the increase by one million EURos is absolute flabbergasting! it represents what percentage of 352,093 millions? let me get my calculator... push... push... tip... tip... hmm... can this be right?... 1% of the total = 3,520 million, 0.1% = 35.2 millions, 0.01% = 3.52 million, 1 million = wait... tip... tip... tip... = 0.0028409% = an incredibly huge percentage which most probably will cause global gold prices to skyrocket.

besides, "ECB buys Gold = false!" "one eurozone central bank buys Gold = true!"

as the ECB starts buying gold ! Eurozone central bank gold holding srise 1m euros in 1 week

wrong conclusion again. the value of the ECB gold holdings is expressed in €UR, id est the "gold holdings" fluctuate based on gold price in Dollars and exchange rate €UR/USD without a single ounce being bought or sold.

You guys just make sure you're in the union.

and refrain from having sex with your wife without a work permit