Alf Witt

a bar stool profit of doom.

The choice is yours.....

I'll choose some of that. The profit has always gone the other way across the bar in my experience.

"International Herald Tribune Published: April 19, 2007

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand's powerful army chief has rejected an American offer to help quell an Islamic insurgency in the country's south."

"International Herald Tribune Published: April 19, 2007

Iraq mourns after bloodiest day in months

Grieving relatives retrieved bodies from hospital morgues Thursday, and passers-by gawked at the giant crater left by a market bomb in one of four attacks that killed 183 people on the bloodiest day since the U.S. troop increase began nine weeks ago."

Apologies if this should have been posted in the jokes forum.

Congratulations to Thailand's Army Chief. Who says the Military cannot be diplomatic? Personally I would have told Uncle Sam to stick his offer where his brain resides.

Is there anyone and I mean ANYONE on this forum who is going to criticise the Thai Government's decision on this one?

Excuse me! Is this the thread about the Foreign Business Act?

Is it legal for a farang (alien) to assimilate more than 49%?

I can only think of one response to this topic (with apologies to the Thai's for abusing their language).............Krap.

Q1."Right, so let me do it my way."

O.K. big man, Sinatra, "I did it my way - and slapped a few kids on the way"

Q2."Unless you are telling me that the same liberal hogwash that has created the violent 'don't give a <deleted> about anyone else' societies we now have to put up with should be rammed down the throats of parents on the basis that you regard parental slapping of children to be violence."

Haven't a clue what you are talking about.

Q3."You've had your crack at liberal experimentation with your own kids, don't presume to be experiment with mine."

So non-violence necessarily equals liberal expirimentation in your view? The kind of shallow thinking that permits a kid to "repeatedly" play with electrical plugs and then blames the kid. You don't say how old the kid is. If he/she is old enough to reason with an explanation of the dangers should work. If not, he/she is obviously not being adequately supervised.

Can't really be bothered to argue with you. I'll send the boys round to put a severed horses head in your bed.

#1.1 Child bit other child - This is beyond reason, a slap put an end to that.

#2.1 Child poking cat with knitting needle. Again beyond reason, a slap put an end to that behaviour.

Now you can preach on the ills of slapping children until the cows come home, you aint going to convince me.

Mmm. You teach them not to by violent by being violent. Sensible.

By the Way. My children are already adults. So I know the result.

DGOZ leaving Thailand for Cambodia does have the interesting statistical effect of raising the IQs of both countries. :-)

I had to chuckle at this observation. Three birds with one stone. I salute you steveromagnino.

It is one of those rare phenomena like crossing the international dateline from west to east and arriving the day before you left.

Perhaps instructions should be posted in the bathroom.

If this was the European Community there would be laws requiring such notices e.g.:

ALL PERSONS ENTERING THIS ESTABLISHMENT MUST OBIDE BY THE FOLLOWING:

OFFENDERS WILL BE PROSECUTED AND EXCUDED FRON FURTHER USE.

1. Close door whilst in use.

2. Notice on the water trough and toilet "Eau non potable" - do not drink.

3. in case of emergency ring the alarm bell (or in Thailand shout "chuai duay").

4. do not place banana leaves in the toilet bowl.

5. now wash your feet please.

6. no dogs allowed, except guide dogs.

7. Use only left hand for washing anus. Amputees holding special licence permitting use of right hand are exempt except for those employed in food preparation in this establishment.

8. report all missing hooks to the management. (EC Commission Note: this refers to door hooks and not to hooks worn by amputees. In the case of the latter, engage the services of fellow amputee to use his / her hook to fetch yours from the toilet. _ a "mutual assistance website exists to enable persons affected by this regulation to register their location and mobile-phone numbers - see HTTP://eurononsense/bureau-crap.com)

9. This toilet is inspected every 20 minutes by a trained EC accredited member of staff. It is obligatory for all users to immediately vacate the toilet when inspection is due.

10. Squat on toilet. Do not attempt to sit as this may impede your ability to comply with 9 above.

11. Instruction book which includes full text of EC Law (including amendments) is available from the management. Price 99 Euro.

Next you will be telling us that your xrse is cracked or that you wife's xussy has a hole in it.

You sure need to see a doctor !!!

i) There are no internal border checks within Schengen countries, so a, for example, Thai national lawfully present in Spain would not require a visit visa to go to Germany for a visit;

ii) Yes and yes.

iii) That's right with regard to the Schengen countries.

Scouse.

Thanks.

I always have difficulty with this concept of "spoilt" (or is it "spoiled") children.

It seems to me that it an expression often employed by the underprivileged to detract from the advatages that privileged children enjoy.

Treat a child well, send him or her to a good fee-paying school, don't over-discipline them so that their own character emerges, introduce them to life experiences by travel, provision of computers, horse-riding etc., don't employ physical punishment (because that teaches that violence is acceptable*) and you are spoiling your child by the definition of some. On the other hand, let a child experience hardship, strict discipline and deny him or her material goods and that child will not be spoiled, by the same definition.

The extension of that philosophy is that the first child will grow into a "spoiled" adult who will have no sense of material value or personal character as everything has been provided for him / her as a child whereas the latter will appreciate the value of things and develop "character".

I say absolute nonsense. It's simply a formula for making the underprivileged feel better about their lot. Children learn and develop through experience, exposure and support. You don't have to scrape a living from a rubbish heap to appreciate material values. The so called "spoiled" children know that they are lucky and appreciate it. The underprivileged kid will learn that his role in life is to be subservian, to obey and to have low expectations.

If the underprivileged kid has the character to succeed he will probably do so (in some measure, shape or form) despite the fact that his or her childhood has been truly "spoiled" through lack of privilege or opportunity. (that definition I can relate to). If the privileged child does not make it it is despite the fact that he has been provided with a formula for success, not because of it. Its simply a character deficiency which would manifest itself anyway. We are not all born equal. A lot has to do with genetics.

*Some adults justify physical punishment of children with the stated objective that they don't want to "spoil" them. That really angers me. It simply means that the adult lacks the character and mental resources to direct and influence the child positively by other means. Also it doesn't work. It simply generates resentment which manifests itself in later years (teenage). When I see an adult hit a child I just wish that someone double the adult's height and weight would come along and give them a good spanking to teach them a lesson. Its despicable.

I suspect that the problem with the OP's Thai relatives is a result of lack of real opportunity, "good" education, and different social conditions and norms. I don't think the concept of "spoiled" is appropriate in these circumstances nor in most circumstances where it is employed.

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/

Word of the Day

Sunday March 25, 2007

Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Previous Words | Subscribe for Free | Help

expunge \ik-SPUNJ\, transitive verb:

1. To strike out, erase, or mark for deletion; to obliterate; as, "to expunge words, lines, or sentences."

2. To wipe out or destroy; to annihilate.

And I always thought it meant a reformed heavy drinker !!!

Another load of stupid <deleted>…after 90 years now spend millions to re-brand an already stupid name TIT

After years living in LOS and having been frequently amazed at some of the apparently loopy things that happen I now have a formula for explaining them. I run it past the following words: "short-term financial gain" and look to see if someone somewhere will be on the receiving end of that. Most things then become clear.

The RTGS has been revised to eliminate one (two?) vowel mergers.

Are there any English language words that have three consecutive vowels? I cannot think of any.

Are there any in other European (Latin based) languages?

If not, how does a word with three vowels assist understanding of the Thai pronunciation?

The perversity in this, as you said, is that every state which has signed these EU and/or EEA (but not Schengen) treaties must, with certain exceptions, issue a family permit to the non European spouse of the citizen of another European state free of charge. However they do not have to do so to the spouse of one of their own citizens; they can refuse such applications and charge whatever fee they like.

OK, that's simple enough to understand, albeit perverse.

So, for example, a UK national can reside in (for example) Spain with his Thai Wife. He also has freedom of movement throughout the EC.

What happens if he wants to travel with his family whilst they are resident in Spain?

i) he wants to visit another EC country (for example, Germany) with his Thai wife. Does she have to apply for a visa to visit Germany and if so where? The German embassy in Spain? Would that be a Schengen visa?

ii) he wants to visit his family in Woking, Surrey (in the UK) with his Thai wife. Does she have to apply for a visa? Presumably to the British Embassy in Spain?

iii) In my experience there are usually no passport controls on the borders between European countries anyway and sometimes even when travelling by air from one EC country to another. So there is no-one to inspect the visa anyway.

ZY, I see my prediction about your having a tough time in life unless you become more tolerant is coming true already. I think the posters who discern that either you or your wife (or both) have provoked this situation by your attitude are spot on.

You would do well to review the responses of others, older and wiser, to your posts on the other issue (see below). I think you will find that the answer lies there and within yourself if you choose to open your mind. Good luck. (typos edited)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...p;#entry1216605

ZY, did you read in this thread my earlier message to you about generalisations? You have not responded to that.

What's this "I think we can all agree" nonsense? Have you failed to detect that a large number of people do not agree with you? Are you living in some sort of state of self delusion? I pity you with your narrowminded outlook. So far in your posts on this topic you have been dismayed, vomiting, crying, depressed and in pain. You will have a tough time in life if you don't get a little wiser and more tolerant. Oh, and by the way, the old men who "aren't dead yet" have survived to reach that status. they have been there, seen it and done it. Has is occured to you that you have no guarantee of doing the same? You are probably relatively young, but to be frank, you are more of an "old fart" than the majority of elderly posters here. Also it sounds suspiciously like you are not getting enough, for whatever reason.

Another shopping experience I'd like to share. This time the location was HomePro.

Previously I had seen a water tap (faucet) that I was tempted to purchase as I liked the design but the price was too high. The next day I was in the same store when I saw an employee placing "price reduced" stickers on some items. I watched and waited and was happy to note that he placed one on the item in which I was interested. I decided to buy and told the shop assistant.

His immediate response was: "Not have".

I asked why he had just place a "priced reduced" sticker on an item that was not available.

He just laughed.

I asked if I could order the item. He said, "No, cannot. Now, not make".

After some further discussion he agreed to telephone another branch of the same store across town. The good news was that they had the item in stock and would hold it for me. I made my way there and presented the assistant there with a piece of paper from the other store with the stock number of the item and mentioned the fact that the other store had called to reserve the item.

Her response was, "Solly. Not have".

After discussing about the other store having called to confirm that it was in stock (now with about three other assistants in attendance) the response was still, "Solly. Not have".

As the prices were reduced also in this store I decided to choose another tap and after browsing the display selected an item, asking if it was available.

"Have. Have." came the chorus of voices from the assistants obviously pleased to have a solution to the problem.

One of them dived under the counter and came out with a box which he opened with a flouish in front of me.

Its contents? The tap I wanted at the beginning.

The reaction from the assistants? Again, laughter, accompanied by "Solly, solly".

I had to laugh with them but my thoughts were what an incompetent bunch of clowns.

If I'm in a store and it takes more than 3 workers and/or 15 minutes to do something fairly obvious (like verify whether a specific known item is available or in stock) I smile politely and don't go back to that store. If they can't handle a simple request for an item in their own store (in their own language, for the most part), then what are you gonna do when there's actually a problem?

I understand your sentiment but you are likely to run out of places to shop.

Here is just one experience in "Homeworks" whilst a shop assistant was showing me a number of products that were available only on order:

Self: I'd like to order that one, please.

Assistant: Yes. (no other response or action)

Self: (after a minute or so) I'd like to order that one, please.

Assistant: Yes. (no other response or action)

Self: (after a minute or so) I'd like to order that one. (now jabbing at it with my index finger so there could be no misunderstanding)

Assistant: Yes, that one. (still no other response or action)

Self: (after another minute or so) I'd really like to order that one, please.

Assistant: What, today?

Self: Yes, today, if you don't mind.

Assistant: Yes. (still no other response or action)

Self: (after another minute or so) Are you going to take my order?

Assistant: (suddenly enlightened) Oh! You mean now?

I sometimes wonder how they succeed in selling anything.

Another frequent scenario which readers may have experienced when waiting (sometimes with a few others) to pay for a purchase. The store has about 5 or 6 assistants but there is a customer who has a small question about an item he intends to purchase the answer to which is not known by the assistant and not immediately obvious without reading the instructions.

Result: All 6 employees will stand together discusssing the question and ignore all the other customers waiting to be served. This will continue indefinitely until one of the other customers coughs loudly or asks to be served.

I have to assume that the employees receive no training. Apart from the poor customer service, their behaviour presents a golden opportunity for shoplifters.

So can we expect an immediate change in the name of Suvarnabhumi as that English spelling is nowhere near how the word is pronounced in Thai?

What is the AOT policy on this? To be the hub of inconsistent and confusing policies?

.

<font color='#000000'>Bangkoktonight.com is your friend in this matter. Have fun! :cool:</font>

Read your rules lately George ?

Lately? Did you read the date on George's post? 2003 !!! Get right on his case there.

I allways stay in the post office/agency untill the stamps or franking sticker and air mail stickers have been put on whatever i am sending.

You might get some weird looks and the odd "stupid farang" inuendos , but at least you know that everything is corect at that stage.

Very wise, Cobber. It's not unknown for them to pocket your money and throw your letter in the bin. Postcards and birthday cards are particularly susceptible to this. Always see the stamp you have paid for stuck on the envelope. If they don't want to do it in your presence you have to wonder why? It's not exactly a time consuming task.

I find no difference in the way that I'm treated by the Thai people in general. Most are friendly and try to be helpful.

I have more issues with the poster on this web site. Most I find to be self rightous !!!!!. I first came to Thailand it was for dental work. I fell in love with the place. the peole were friendly, the weather was good and living was inexpensive.

I wanted to move here buy land etc.

I was told that in order to buy land I had to form a company. Which I did. No one mentioned the fact that it was bending the law. It was just the way it had to be done in thailand. Now two years later some of you self rightous !!!!! on this sight are faulting people who purchased this way as you are with the border run crowd. I find many of you offensive and self rightous because you think your better. You bitch about Thailand, do us all a favor and go back where you came from. Why are you here to make Thailand just like the place you left, so you can be unhappy here too.

The Thai government new for years about the border runs and the purchasing of land through a Thai company and did nothing to prevent or stop either practice. So get off your high horses please. The recent publishing about weird Phalangs and who is acceptable is appauling. So who is it that gets to decide who weird and who's not. Me thinks I would rather hang out with some of the undesirables you speak of than a self rightous hypocrite. Thanks for the many amusing hours.

Aloha

I don't know what you said rken to merit the foul-mouthed abuse from ourmanflint.

By self-rightous you are probably referring to the cynically wise who think they know everything there is to know about Thailand from "wisdom" acquired on a bar stool.

Take comfort in the fact that the popular wisdom about company land-ownership is not necessarily accurate in law. Wait and see. Those who castigate you about buying property probably don't have the financial resources to do so anyway so their knowledge is "academic" in the loosest meaning of that word.

Hey samran,

Do you know if Thailand has any whistleblower incentive programs or whistleblower protection laws?

Pumpuiman?

Actually, I do know people and I used to work for one of them.

I'd say in all honestly, there is about a 50-50 split between the genuine honest ones, and the not so honest (or at least those in situations where they are not empowered to do much to stop it) So make it 50% clean, 40% compromised but redeemable, 10% the rotten apples.. This is in a normal elected government.

Thanks, Samran for some informed analysis.

Of course, Thailand has problems with corruption etc. but gratuitous "off the wall" comments with no factual basis (like that of Pumpuiman) I find disturbing as they serve only to inflame negative attitudes all round and add to anti-Thai and anti-farang sentiment.

Maybe Pumpuiman will counter your analysis in some detail from his widespread personal knowledge of all Thai politicians and all upper class Thais. What really surprises me is how he managed to get so well acquained with those persons to be able to acquire the "facts", given his perception of them. He must have kept very quiet about what he was really thinking.