hagler

Hi,

If anyone's interested or perhaps from the Philippines, the embassy is having a party today, with Philippine food and entertainment, it's free to go in I believe. I only know because i live next to them and they've being playing loud music since about 8am this morning

Martin

Watch out for the pickpockets / bagsnatchers from phrom pong and the robbers from silom.

are they part of the entertainment supplied by the embassy to help people attending feel that they are back in Manila for the day?...

Booked my flight to LOS through Flightcentre the other day flying with MAL. Asked the agent why they don't deal with Tiger and got the 'too unreliable, too many complaints' explanation. I've just read in the paper that they don't promote Singapore Airlines anymore either because the 5% of ticket sales deal with them fell through. Singapore owns 49% of Tiger which could have something to do with the agent bad-mouthing Tiger beside the fact that they are probably the worst airline in the world at the moment. Crux is, if you want Sing air prices included in the Flightcentre quote you have to ask.

lol...geez they really pulled the wool over your eyes didnt they . The true reason that the cheap travel agents wont deal with Tiger is that they dont pay commissions to the agents. simple. And Singapore Airlines have cut their comms right back now too. And guess who pays the most to agents...of course it is the one your agent so glowingly recommended. MAS. And why do they pay above what everyone else does at the moment? Cause they have the lowest load factor of any airline operating in SEA at the moment and they are hurting big time. and Flightcentre, known as the "churn and burn" agencies in the indusrty due to their huge staff turnover and relative inexperience of their staff. Ask your flight centre girl or guy to point out someone in the shop who has been with the company for more than 3 years....

Surely among the most ignorant comments I've heard on this forum and that's saying alot....

Should we assume by your post that the chef at the Four Seasons in Chiang Rai must not be a top notch chef or he wouldn't be working in Chiang Rai?

The chef at Anantara at the Golden Triangle must be sub par too if he is working in Chiang Saen!

Oh, and those horrible chefs at the likes of Le Coq dor, Le Crystal and Farong Ses....they deserve to be banished to Chiang Mai too!!!

You are joking arent you? I love Chiang Mai but it is a real culinary backwater in the farang food world. NO decent world class chef in their right mind would even contemplate having ANY establishment in CM on their CV unless it could be shown that it was really short stint with a resounding success and then a quick move on to something more renown. SEA is considered a "backwater" posting for any talented hospitality career professional and that is why you end up some many overated hacks parading around the industry in Thailand pulling the wool over a relatively undereducated culinary clientel. Gawd whats next ?? Gordon Ramsay getting 3 Michelin stars...lol

I do believe "shakedown" is the appropriate word in this situation. 20,000 baht and she would have walked free. Now it's going to cost her a lot more to stay here for the court proceedings and end up with a measly 500 baht fine and deportation.

Corruption pure and simple.

I just asked my Thai wife what would happen if a Thai person was caught for the same offence.

Just a small fine was her response.

Yeah and who thinks that a smart head couldnt have dropped 5 or 10k on a 'fine' and walked if handled right.. Whose betting loud mouth drunk ozzie women giving it the 'you cant do that to me' attitude that comes out when they are on Bangla (or Bali ??)..

Dont forget in her own words (radio interview) they told her to stop, she gave them the bag, then tried to do a runner down the stairs and out into the street.. You do a runner from Thai cops and your going to be in the shit list straight away.. Act like a <deleted> and pay the price basically.

Yes no doubt she was another bogon Aussie "transplant" from Bali mouthing off as usual. Some people shouldnt be given passports.

we are not talking about some 40 or 50sqm piece of cr#p struggle street bar here. The Aussie Bar on Bangla is a very large professionally run operation with solid management practices and proceedures and the falang owner Steve is a good operator who is very, very well connected in Phuket. Having had a chat with him on more than one occasion I would be staggered to find out that there isnt another side to the story that is being sprouted by the Aussie slapper and her menagerie of moronic hangers on.

Hope she gets her passport blacklisted.

After Pattaya, I cannot believe ASEAN is even considering having a meeting anywhere near Thailand.

Curious , Is Burma a member of the group ?

Burma is a member of ASEAN as is Laos, which makes the organization a joke

why does having Myanmar and Laos as members make ASEAN a joke ? I dont understand your reasoning

I made my living in the medical profession and I see a Chiropractor regularly. Much as the author above I am young beyond my years unlike the many I know who had back surgery and are now collecting disability. Trained "medical professionals" are trained to do medical procedures,ie; surgery. The training received by Chiroprators, Accupunturists or other "NEW AGE WHACKOS" is no less rigorous but it's focus lies beyond surgery and drugs.

Without knowing what your problem is, it is difficult to make a suggestion. MRI's are a fine diagnostic tool but the treatment afterward is up to you. Like others here I can say I'm happy with Dr. Cracknell and I would add a Thai Therapist trained in NY who works out of Phuket Town. He is very busy so make an appointment. 076-2171345 open mon-sat

As ?? Very obtuse statement that one.

You sound a little obtuse. If you want my resume PM me. I was offering my opinion as everybody else on this thread did without providing their life story. What is about web chat that brings out the *** in people?

Oh well I guess the little man who pushes in the trolley from the back of my factory to the front all day with boxes on it for the last 5 years could call himself a logistics and transportation expert these days too. More power to you.

I made my living in the medical profession and I see a Chiropractor regularly. Much as the author above I am young beyond my years unlike the many I know who had back surgery and are now collecting disability. Trained "medical professionals" are trained to do medical procedures,ie; surgery. The training received by Chiroprators, Accupunturists or other "NEW AGE WHACKOS" is no less rigorous but it's focus lies beyond surgery and drugs.

Without knowing what your problem is, it is difficult to make a suggestion. MRI's are a fine diagnostic tool but the treatment afterward is up to you. Like others here I can say I'm happy with Dr. Cracknell and I would add a Thai Therapist trained in NY who works out of Phuket Town. He is very busy so make an appointment. 076-2171345 open mon-sat

As ?? Very obtuse statement that one.

Yeah sorry guys.

Shall we say Ao Nang then?

And November

Uncle haglers niece is off on her first big trip to Thailand and it has been decreed in the family that as Uncle Hagler spends an inordinate amount of time in SEA for business he must be the font of knowledge in all matters petaining to LOS. Now unfortunately for good old Uncle Hagler what the family dont know is that he tends to stay in places a tad more "upmarket" than the salubrious digs that a 20 year old gal and her pals can afford. ( never let the relatives think you have any money than you can possibly get away with).

So the big question is. Where can the little darlings find a decent place for around 1000 baht or less in Krabi? Doesnt have to be super flash of course, just clean and tidy and the kind of joint you would be happy recommending to your niece. They are good kids, just out and about for the first time in wide world.

How about doing the boring and staid old school medical method and have a cat scan and maybe even a MRI done on the affected area and then have a specialist give you an opinion on what is the cause of the pain. From there you can make an informed decision on the best cause of action, be it physiotherapy based rehabilitation or surgery. I have experience with serious lower back injury and believe me if you want to see how things can go "pear shaped" with quacks and chiros and New Age wackos poking and prodding about the spinal area then take a visit to a spinal injuries unit and talk with the staff there about their opinions of untrained charlatans playing around with your spine. I know all this will probably set the ding dongs off but I am just and old fashioned guy who tends to place his trust in trained medical professionals. But as they say "up to you".

Hi,

What advice would you give to a Thai teenager with an IB diploma about what to study at university to secure a well paying job in Thailand?

No different to any other country with the rider that the employment field should be "transportable" ( ie. able to be practised in another country with only a small bridging course if desired). If technically skilled then go for Dentistry related field. If not technically minded then go for medicine with a view to practising as a GP or a radiologist ( can always specialise along the way into a field of their liking)

Keep away from "wishy washy" studies that every man and his failed dog gets entry into like journalism, law, the arts, business studies ,teaching communication ect ect. Complete wate of time and the kid would be better to just get out in the business world and learn "on the street". If they are only able to get entry into one of these courses then in the long run would be much more profitable to have them study something in the technical skills area like aviation engineering or even a trade based course such as mechanics ( but must be apprenticed to a quality outfit like BMW or Mercedes ect ect).

The Nation lost all credibilty as an impartial news reporting medium so long ago now. It really is just a propaganda tool for the powerful elite clique who really run Thailand behind the public face of "politics" in the Kingdom. As for those who continue to "cut and paste" the diatribes from it and pass it off as news; well.... nah wont waste my time.

opium

Don't you understand that by paying ANY amount of the gisol.com charge you admitted you were wrong and it was a legitimate charge. If you dispute a charge you don't pay ANY PART of that charge. You can pay your bill but exclude the amount in dispute

Where do you get that from?

Utter nonsense.

The governing rule is the contract under which the card was issued - I would be extremely surprised if any clause of the form above is included. Clearly there are cases where the card carrier is unable to check a bill - for example on an extended business trip in which s/he has a standing order to pay the full balance.

To suggest that the card carrier paid the bill therefore accepted the fraud is rot - Reporting a fraud when you become aware of the fraud is still a report of Fraud - Not spotting a fraud does not mean you accept it.

----

OP where was your card issued (udner what jurisdiction is the contract)?

I'd start by getting the contract out and reviewing your rights under the contract.

Actually its not utter nonsense. The poster is correct.

One of the basic precedent laws of contract ( torts in the English based legal system) is that part payment of a debt outstanding is an admission that a contractual arrangement was formed at some point between the creditor and the debtor. By paying even a small proportion of the debt without an accompanying denial of liabilty then the debtor is in effect saying, "yes I acknowledge that I owe you a sum of money for something you supplied but I may not be in agreement about the amount". The onus would come upon the debtor to prove that the amount outstanding is not due and payble by him to the creditor, who, in law, is justified in saying the payment recieved is a part payment with the balance being due and owing forthwith. Legal precedent shows that judgements usually fall on the side of the creditor in cases like this.

Moral of story : NEVER make any payment ( no matter how small) of any disputed debt outstanding without an agreement from the creditor that it satisfys the debt in full. On the other side of the coin if you are a creditor and the debtor sends you a cheque or makes a payment by other means and there is an accompanying note saying that this satisfies the debt in full then return the cheque and refund the monies and if they can be refunded then place them in trust or escrow pending further action to recover the debt.

As to the "assistant" making part payment and having access to the cardholders account. dont even get me started on the legal black hole the OP has dug for himself on that one.

Whilst I can understand your disillusionment about the situation I would have throught that this has happened to enough people on innumerable times over the years for folks to have realised that the chances of getting your bond back is zilch in 90%of occasions and so factor that into your initial negotiations.

Rental asked = 10 000pm = 120000 PA + 2 months bond = 140 000

Rental counteroffer = 8333pm = 100000 PA + 2months Bond = 120000

And if you cant get a discount then dont think you are paying 10000 Pm but just take it that you are paying 14000 per month.

Either way if you get any or part of your bond back then it is bonus.

I do have javascript enabled, and i'm testing with both IE and Firefox.

When i change the country to "United States" the state list remains as:

Johor

Kedah

Kelantan

Melaka

Negeri Sembilan

Pahang

Perak

Perlis

Pulau Pinang

Sabah

Sarawak

Selangor

Terengganu

W. Persekutuan, KL

W. Persekutuan, Labuan

W. Persekutuan, Putra Jaya

Others (International)

and that would be the one you would press. I book about 5 flights a month with them and thats the one I press

I read that in ancient times the king of Ayutthaya used Japanese samurai as bodyguards, so this is not new here.

The best bodyguards in the world are US Secret Service. Perhaps these guys are former secret service agents.

As for Blackwater protecting diplomats overseas, this is no slap in the face to US armed forces. They are under contract with the state department, and it is a bureaucratic issue, not that armed forces are unqualified.

and that statement is based on ??

You aint in Kansas now Dorothy.

Yep you can go down the "death by a thousand cuts" legal path and waste 5 years of your life and still get nowhere.

Or you can pay a contractor in CM 5000 baht or so to "negotiate" on your behalf. Ask around when you get into LOS. You'll find someone who knows who to contact.

If all those round bellied, soft palmed keyboard warriors out there in TV land think that the dispersal of the Reds by the army this afternoon will mean that the rural disaffected will quietly slink back to their paddy fields in the North and East never to rise again they are sadly misguided. The genie is out of the bottle now and a diet of insects, the odd bottle of Mekong and a twice a year subsistence level crop of rice isnt going to keep them placated anymore. Thaksin gave them a small taste of what the rest of the country takes for granted and they want more.

Detractors of Thaksin should be greatful that he is the one who is leading them at the moment because God help the country when someone more socially motivated is bought to position of leadership amongst them. Then blood really will flow in the streets and the Revolution will really begin.

On the nation there are several news about the protesters blocking the streets with cars, buses motorbikes.

Any army guy here??

When the army has tanks, no mater how old they are, this shouldn't be a big issue or?

I saw a few pictures of tanks going over cars and it didn't look very difficult so what is the issue on that???

Most the Army foot solidiers are from where most of the rural and poor population are........the normal recruitment area. Thats the North, the NorthEast and the East. This is where the majority of THAI people are.

Their brothers and sisters and fighting for Democracy, are the foot solidiers really going to stop them.................

It would appear by most of the comments here that people are seriously underestimating the support the "reds" have in the North and East of the country, where indeed the majority of the nations population resides. They have a HUGE support base that will come out in full force if things escalate much further and the end result will indeed be full blown civil war including a split within the security forces, Interesting times ahead...

Thailand analysis: 'land of smiles' becomes land of lies

Thailand, sad to say, is in a terrible mess. With the very future of the monarchy at risk the stakes could not be higher. The country is deeply polarized with goodwill, moral authority and the truth itself in desperately short supply. Thailand could be heading for a very hard landing.

By Thomas Bell in Bangkok

Last Updated: 6:38PM BST 05 Apr 2009

One side is led by Thaksin Shinawatra. The former telecoms billionaire and deposed prime minister is a dubious champion of democracy. During his six years in power Mr Thaksin launched a "war on drugs" in which up to 2,000 alleged dealers were summarily executed by the police.

In government he was dogged by corruption allegations, apparently unable to distinguish his own business interests from those of the country. He was no friend of the free media, although censorship is worse now than it was in Thaksin's day.

On the other side is... who? Mr Thaksin has many vehement enemies among the middle and upper classes. It is difficult to tell how many because in Thailand opinion pollsters never ask the only question that really counts – who would you vote for?

They particularly object to Thaksin's alleged corruption and his government's challenge to Thailand's rigid social hierarchy. Qualms over the deadly "war on drugs", on the other hand, are mostly limited to hand-wringing foreign liberals.

These well-healed opponents control most major institutions. They also claim they are acting to "protect the king", and this is where it gets difficult.

Strict laws make any criticism of the monarchy punishable with up to 12 years in jail – in practice almost any discussion of the monarchy is prohibited. Last week a man, the breadwinner for his family, was jailed for 10 years for posting "insulting" pictures of the royal family online.

King Bhumibol, 81, is "above politics" and he is widely and sincerely loved. Many Thais credit him with steering their country's modern development and intervening to solve periodic crises. The country's official doctrine of "sufficiency economics" is the king's own invention.

When politicians claim to act in the king's name they often accuse their opponents of disloyalty, potentially punishable by 12 years in jail. That can make politics very hard to talk about. Bhumibol, for his part, has been mostly silent.

In 2006 Mr Thaksin was accused of disloyalty to the king and overthrown by a military coup. Nevertheless, with Thaksin in exile, voters returned his supporters to power in elections at the end of 2007.

Mr Thaksin's one great virtue as a democrat is that he and his supporters have won each of three elections so far this decade. He is popular because for the first time in Thai history he campaigned on policies aimed at the rural majority – and then delivered. He earned massive admiration for schemes such as affordable health care.

The pro-Thaksin government elected after the coup lasted less than a year. Protesters, some of them armed with golf clubs, bombs and guns, overran first Government House and then both Bangkok's airports, costing the economy untold millions. They wore the royal colour, yellow, and claimed they were acting to protect the king from Thaksin's alleged republicanism. The movement received the public endorsement of the queen.

The People's Alliance for Democracy, as the movement is misleadingly called, argued that democracy does not work in Thailand because the peasantry are too simple to vote. They want a "new politics" in which 70 per cent of parliament is appointed.

Last year's protests found widespread support among the conservative media which, in its rush to finish the Thaksinites for ever, abandoned factual reporting.

Thaksin denies that he is a republican, although some of his supporters undoubtedly are – or they are now.

At the end of last year a court dissolved the elected government and the army brass summoned political bosses to hoist a new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to power. The leaders of the airport protests were never punished – one even became foreign minister.

Now Thaksin has dropped his bomb. In live video addresses to rallies around the country he identified two retired generals who are close advisers to the king and a small group of top judges as the conspirators who plotted his 2006 ousting and have allegedly been invisibly pulling Thailand's strings ever since.

The government is in a funk, panicking about how to block the transmissions. The army is said to be furious: Thaksin has broken the omerta and the government could not stop him. Commentators say he has gone too far and newspapers are openly demanding censorship to stop the revelations being heard.

Yet although the people Thaksin named have offered desultory denials, no one is seriously disputing the truth of his revelations. Apparently that it is not the point – in Thai politics the truth is not meant for public consumption.

Thailand aspires to be a serious country, a Western ally and a destination for tourists and investment, yet in the past few years the "land of smiles" has been more like the land of lies. A light cast on what takes place in the comfortable sitting rooms of power is long overdue.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...nd-of-lies.html

At last someone with a concise, informative, balanced and perceptive view of current events in Thailand. Contrast this article with 99.99% of the posts on here and it makes the other posters look like bonehead neanderthals. I guess that is why he is a paid journalist for a reputable newspaper and the rest are just "would be if they could be's" full of bluff, bluster and b*lldust.

got this from another site. Add for sale.

This one maybe Simons ?

Located close to Jomtien Beach, in Pattaya, this Traditional British Fish and Chip Shop can seat 34 customers, but benefits from extensive takeaway trade. The shop sits on the ground floor of a four storey building with 130 square metres of floor space, with the top three storeys currently unutilised. Around 1,800,000 baht was spent on assets and leasehold improvements when the shop was opened almost three years ago, and the kitchen is fitted with good quality stainless steel equipment. The owner, who is a member of the National Federation of Fish Friers in the United Kingdom, will provide training, and is prepared to listen to every serious offer. In the last financial year the shop saw receipts of approximately 4,500,000 baht yield net profits of roughly 2,000,000 baht after the deduction of all expenses, and cash flow continues to rise. The major overheads, after food and beverage costs, are monthly rent of 18,900 baht, and monthly salaries totalling 30,000 baht for four full time employees. Asking price: 3,900,000 baht.

This is a great opportunity for Jinthing to take over or at least be able to go again

RAOTFLMAO. gawd almighty I wonder if the kids who deep fry the chips at KFC have a National Association of Chip Fryers too? Is there no limit to the madness that pervades the Western World. It aint some secret ancient culinary art form this Fish and Chip caper. It is as difficult as having good clean oil at a temperature just below smoking and then sliding ( not dropping you buffoons) the batter coated ( at least 20% and no more than 30% mill ground cornflour in the mix of course and iced water to mix) fish fillet of indeterminate origin into it until it is cooked. Take it out, let it sit for 2 minutes and then LOOSELY wrap in vapour permeable paper.

The National Federation of Fish Fryers. Do you get a badge and certificate with that? ......5555555555

Those peanuts who advocate the OP just "doing a runner" back to his home country and forgetting about the debt are the stereotypical low life losers that LOS draws like bees to honey. Waste of bandwidth and oxygen.

If OP is indeed in such a pecarious position you need to talk with your creditors now and sort out a payment plan. If it was you owed the money you would expect payment so why should it be any different when you owe the dough. You were a big enough boy to spend the dough now it is time for you to be a man and face up to your responsibilities.

I have used Asia Rooms in the past but stopped using them about 2 years ago after a similar incident which was never resolved to my very reasonable satisfaction. No hard feelings on my part, just took my business somewhere else from then on.

Asia Rooms is owned and operated by Tui Travel PLC, a London market listed company with over 200 different travel brands of which Asia Rooms is just one.

http://www.tuitravelplc.com/tui/pages/brands

So good luck trying to get personal attention to your problem

That is NOT business, it is theft

If they copy the website word for word then yes.

However, an ex employee setting up on their own, using their experience gained to help set up their own business, NO!

How do you think industries advance in the world?

Totally agree. I learnt my business working for someone else for 6 years and then left and set up my own practice. And yes I did approach all the customers to try and win their business and yes I did manage to get some to come over to my company. The ones that came over knew that it was me that had made the busines relationship work before and they wanted that to continue. 7 years on my company is the market leader in its field and demographic. And yes I do know that 2 of my current employees will go out on their own at some point in the future and will try and get some of the custom base to go with them. Thats business and thats why I employed then in the first place. They are hungry and driven and while they work for me they make me good money. Rather have people like that working for and with me than some dumb robot slave who just "punches in and out" every day.