Drumbuie

7 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

"rolled forward," so does that mean the props weren't in reverse thrust... I think we are not getting the truth, but hey, this is Thailand.

The momentum of a C-130, reverse thrust or no reverse thrust, is considerable. 

Legal advice on wills, power of attorney etc, is offered by the Office of the Attorney General for free to all Thai residents, no matter their nationality. 

I now understand why from a Thai friend whose family spent decades in litigation after the grandparents died without a will - apparently Thais, especially the older ones, are v reluctant to face up to the necessity. Their case tied up the courts and enriched lawyers for years. 

If you are in Thailand now, go to the nearest Office of the Attorney General and ask them for assistance. It should be free. 

4 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Yeah BKK Bank have not sent me any messages yet.

Had a message from Bangkok Bank last week. I'm in the queue at my branch right now to show them that the bill is aid by my son ( but you can do it at any branch). 

I've used OpenOffice for years. It's free, it's stable, they don't keep changing it for the sake of change, and it's even better now because it doesn't keep pushing AI doodads at me. 

Gradually trying to move everything away from US-based software - for reasons which will be obvious to anyone capable of critical thinking. 

About to try NextCloud for online storage, for example, to remove all my stuff from the Googlesphere. 

21 hours ago, Thailand Tiger said:

I don't think this online reporting is working. I did an application a week ago. I've been logging in and checking several times a day, and it just sits there as pending. I looks like it's not even monotored by immigration.

I would guess that it might be due to the fact that the offices have been closed for three days last week due to Songkran. 

39 minutes ago, Dr. Zorg said:

Nobody was racist. The foreigner said hello. Does it really matter in what language? It is the gesture that counts. At least the tourist greeted him. The tourist wasn't rowdy or anything. Pettiness is bad for business. Or maybe address his Scottish half with Awright? Or Hiya?

I wonder how the Italian tourist would have responded to a Chinese tourist in Italy  saying "hallo" to him in Arabic? Or Hindi? 

Thanks to the internet I can tell you that acetone ( nail polish remover) and peroxide ( hair bleach) combined can be used to make the explosive mentioned above. 

Both are commonly available ingredients and it's not impossible that if some of his Thai friends were female, a drop or two if those substances might have contaminated his bag and triggered the sensor. 

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Duh! He wants a lower $ so the US can sell more stuff to the rest of the world.

 

Next.

That would work... IF the raw materials for the stuff the US makes were sourced in the USA. But.... 

PS Russia is noticeable by its absence from the increased tariff list. Who do you think told Trump to make this move? 

5 hours ago, Andyfez said:

Cracked walls and ceilings doesn't necessarily mean unsafe.

one-up on settlement cracks.

A building is designed to flex, and plaster will always crack.

Suspect this list going round is not very reliable.

Somewhere I saw a note that after 2007, Bangkok buildings were designed to be earthquake- resilient. However, having seen that video of Park Origin's Sky Bridges shearing away,  I'm not 100% convinced, tbh. 

16 hours ago, jacnl2000 said:

 

Agree with previous poster. Given that the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) with a history spanning over seven decades has worked in earthquake-prone regions before, it’s expected that they would have experience in implementing earthquake-resistant designs, including a comprehensive understanding of constructing on soft clay substrates, utilizing various ground improvement methods to ensure structural integrity.

 

Sad that the current situation unfortunately cannot be undone, but that doesn't mean we can no longer share nice moments with each other in Bangkok's highest tower. My apologies to Oliver Zipse for covering his BMW X7—guess even a luxury SUV needs a little privacy sometimes.

 

A picture of shaky buildings perched on a wobbly jelly cake, topped with cherries, is far from reassuring.  Concept of unforeseen seismic activity might be introduced—when the intensity or characteristics of an earthquake exceeds previous expectations or building standards. It was an exceptional heavy one shaking up the design book.

CREC has seven decades of experience of building railways, smoothing gradients, tracklaying etc - but no experience of building high rises. 

Contracting them was a bit like asking a bus driver to tailor your suit. 

CREC was the company whose railway tunnel collapsed last year in Nakhon Ratchasima. Some of their officials were caught yesterday trying to remove files from the Audit building site. 

On 3/25/2025 at 11:48 AM, Woke to Sounds said:

This was positively methamphetamine abuse, or kratom, or maybe Red Bell w/ ciggies and laced pot.

 

No one -- and I mean NO ONE - just drops dead at 28.

 

He wouldn't even acknowledge the translation app on the mobile handed to him, clear signs of a drug induced stupor.

 

RIP young man.

Actually, young people *do* sometimes drop dead. A friend's 18yo son collapsed and died during a school sports day race, due to an undetected heart abnormality - she and her husband were watching. 

In this case, the erratic behaviour would tend to indicate drug use, and the nose bleed could relate to a head injury when he fell on the pavement, or to overenthusiastic restraint. 

Whatever the cause, it's a sad waste of a life.  

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Another enjoyable experience...

I didn't have to fill in a TM6 when I came back to Thailand this week, nor the last time I flew in, last year. Immigration have all my info from my visa extension ( retirement) so once they've scanned the passport and checked the biometrics,  it's all linked up in their database - and that's that. 

Presumably the new Eform is only for visitors and tourists. 

Incidentally last week,  a S African friend of my son's was refused entry at Suvarnabhumi last week and had to fly home. Reason given: "too many tourist visas". I'll see if I can get more details. 

17 hours ago, auntyedna said:

Thanks guys.

BenQ - I tried signing in from Firefox "private" - the login page just froze again, couldn't even complete my email address.  Stocky - I don't use a VPN.  Oldcpu - I don't possess a smartphone.

I guess I'll have to try a different browser.  Everything was fine last year.  When I started my career in software development (in the 70's) one of the golden rules was to make software updates backwards-compatible. Those were the days.

You might try Waterfox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfox

instead of Firefox. 

(I seem to recall reading somewhere that there are issues with FF these days).

Also Ecosia as a search engine, if you like software  with a handcrafted feel rather than the mass produced stuff. 

1 hour ago, Thumbs said:

Hire more staff then you just sold the embassy grounds and made a tidy sum of money, 

It would be fascinating to know exactly where the £420 million raised from the sale of the British Embassy by the last (Conservative) government went. And how much renting part of an office block in Silom and a duplex condo for the Ambassador is costing them. 

Meanwhile the face the UK lost in Asia by selling that land is incalculable. 

The budget the FCDO allots to Consular services each year is cut and then it's cut again. They do the best they can. 

The Consular offices are not a nanny service, there to wipe people's noses after yet another idiotic, predictable mistake usually caused by a cocktail of  ignorance and arrogance. 

16 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Debatable. If you pay tax in your home country or most of other countries you will get some benefits. In Thailand they only take the money and give you nothing. Do you see that as criminal as well?

You, like so many, are forgetting all the public infrastructure that you benefit from every day which is paid for by taxes. 

13 hours ago, ravip said:

 

I thought as much.

But, why was the OP charged 15 Bhat for a 250 Bhat transaction?

Bangkok Bank deducts 15 baht from all its savings accounts every month. If OP checks the phone app,  he might find the words " Annual Fee" next to the 15 baht debit. 

Scotland was for many years my home; I lived mostly in the Highlands and Edinburgh, and in Glasgow (where, incidentally, I have never eaten a bad meal, and have frequently eaten world class food) every January for Celtic Connections.

There are many different Scotlands. The Highlands are not the same as the Borders, the islands are definitely different from the mainland, especially the Northern Isles ( Orkney and even more so Shetland), the cities are different from the rural areas. 

Nowhere have I ever seen anything remotely resembling The Wicker Man - except at Edinburgh's Beltane Festival.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane_Fire_Festival