parryhandy

Heres a novel idea.How about getting rid of the 1000s of ridiculous laws that exist and have a police that solely protects people from physical harm and enforces property /ownship laws and NOTHING ELSE.The law and justice system throughout the developed and developing world has turned into an unstoppable money making juggernaut.Just supposing that suddenly everybody became honest and law abiding.Does anybody really believe that the police , courts , judges , lawyers etc will just say "oh well, best look for another line of work".

Its a business and now has little to do with law and order or right or wrong.

P.S. 16000 baht a year !! It costs 16000 baht a week to keep somebody locked up in the UK.

Also finding that my nationwide visa card will not work at the moment with my local GSB atm.

I withdrew 10000 baht with my Nationwide from a UOB atm on sunday and also got 55.38.

Unfortunately, trying to find a Sunday rate is difficult. But it does seem a little strange you didn't do better, as that assumes the rate dipped down to 55.85 on Sunday -- from 56.17 on Friday. And back to 56.18 on Monday.

But, since we believe UOB is not charging an owner's fee -- and since Nationwide Debit card is, for now, charging .84% -- it would seem that the wholesale rate that Visa got on Sunday was, indeed, 55.85.

Anyway, trying to nail down rates is akin to jello. Even doing a counter operation -- then doing something similar with the same bank's ATM -- could be misleading, even when you factor out the 150bt ATM fee. Why? Because ATM/pin operations use a same-day exchange rate, while signature operations (credit, off-line debit, and counter) wait a day or so before using the exchange rate in effect when processed.

So, solving the counter vs. ATM question might be difficult. So far, the only really bad deal I've seen here is with SCB -- where their counter operations use the DCC rate, advertised quite freely on their website. Yes, you can get up to 200,000bt -- if you're willing to pay about a 3.5% add-on fee. I guess, for some folks in a hurry, with large needs, this might be ok.

I think they give a slightly reduced rate at weekends or holidays just in case the rate gaps down when the markets open again ?

I check the rates here http://www.corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_...er_ex_rates.jsp and have noticed that since visa was took over (?) the rates always a nice round number now whereas before it was always to two decimal places.

Never bothered looking at it myself.

very happy at the moment, very rarely goes off, speed could be better but I am only on the basic package so cant grumble.They even ring me up every now and again to ask me if I am happy.

Who are you using? I'm with Maxnet at the moment after having used TOT for 3 years. TOT are totally useless and I was initially very happy with Maxnet (been with them for about 6 months now). They have however gone done the tube the last month or so with internet speed at a crawl. It's also very unreliable at the moment with service breaking up frequently during the day. Calling their service center is absolutely useless, all they say is that a technician will contact you shortly but they of course never call back (I've called them 6 times in 2 weeks now)!

Tompa

Maxnet in Khon Kaen.Used to be with tot when in the family village (1 1/2 years back) and concur they were very poor.Had no problems really by comparison , might be because I am on an estate less than 1km from the head office.

They have just recently increased their advertised speed (basic package ) to 3mbs maybe that has caused some problems.I am a bit of a night hawk myself though and apart from weekends usually am online between 4pm and 7am and do notice it gets considerably quicker after midnight.

Also was the same as Ignis above in the UK i.e. Bt broadband and concur they were useless.

I withdrew 10000 baht with my Nationwide from a UOB atm on sunday and also got 55.38.

bwha ha ha ha

It is taken 10 years for these proposals to get here.

Will take another 30 years to implement...

Actually it just depends how long it will take for Thaksin to come back.

Just look at the new airport. How long did we wait for it ? Then one day Thaksin was elected PM, he said we will have a new airport and then we had a new airport !

But just looking at the result of local election a few days ago, it seems people start to realize who really "rak Thais"

Never did squat with the railways when he was leader.Maybe because he knew there was no easy money to be made,no easy solution and it was a political hot potato.

very happy at the moment, very rarely goes off, speed could be better but I am only on the basic package so cant grumble.They even ring me up every now and again to ask me if I am happy.

Is that his real name lol

So let me get this straight.If you are in an enclosed area (room etc) and the police burst in and find drugs hidden in that room then everybody in that room is now guilty of drug possession ?

It was interesting to note the ThaiVisa legal advisor's comment that being able to prove that a comment made (in an article, etc) was true, was not in itself an adequate defence against defamation.

I can't see where he says that. Can you point me in the right direction pls.

This is what your after.

Justification, where the defendant in a civil action may escape liability if he/she can prove that the statement was substantially justified, i.e. true, but more than just true. There has to be a valid reason for having made the statement even if true. It is not an absolute defense to a criminal prosecution for libel to prove that the statement was simply true.

If the time comes a Class Action Law suit will be filed with whomever wishes be included.

Not me though (I was referring with regards to the extent of my resources)

I think it would be better to be ready to act than starting to enquire about how to go about it when it is too late

I still think that some of the members (obviously not you) should get in touch with each other if something is considered abusive

Noone knows what tomorrow is made of, but when when its cloudy out there, plan ahead and bring an umbrella along.

Please don't quote me out of context. There is enough misleading information on this subject without adding to my comments as if you are quoting me directly.

If it ever got to the point of being necessary a Class Action Law suit will be filed with whomever wishes to be included. (I will be part of that group when I deem it necessary).

Any such action might be completely unnecessary. The last flare-up regarding Thai Elite was the erroneous reporting that the government were shutting down the program when in fact they were evaluating the programs business ethics and ensuring protection for the members in the way of compensation if the program was to fail. That topic went quiet due to lack of information otherwise.

What is happening now is a result of the ongoing audit. The outcome as yet unknown will take a couple of months. I may well be wrong, but preparing for a class action law suit at this stage may be letting the foot off the clutch a little early....

lol Just keep kidding yourself.

Can you/anybody give me an example of one successful class action law suit by a farang ? (not being funny, genuinely curious)

Maybe they think you have swine flu ?

Think people are underestimating the raising of the threat , by the WHO , to level 6 and should be aware that borders could be slammed shut at any time, leaving people on the wrong side.

Force Majeure ?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a Level 6 flu pandemic, which may prompt many businesses to call a force majeure on their contracts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_majeure

Force Majeure (French for "superior force"), also known as cas fortuit (French) or casus fortuitus (Latin)[1], is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, or an event described by the legal term "act of God" (e.g., flooding, earthquake, volcano), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract.

The 'renter' is liable for all damage to the owner for the property they rent.

Does this include flood damage in an area/estate that always floods every year.

Is the tennent liable for flood damage to the house he/she rents when there is no way they can prevent it and very unlikely an insurance company would insure against it.

This is not aimed at the OP but a lot of farang Thai wives use the setting up in business angle as just another way of extracting money from the farang and i have even seen the successful businesses given to relatives in the end.

^ nice post, thanks.

I would imagine the older 3 children are probably now adult but the story doesn't say.

There's nothing like a messy divorce to bring out the most outrageous lies from both sides. There are very much 2 sides to every story. If she was 25 years his junior and he was so obese, even 10 years ago when they first met, why did she have sex with him and marry him?

Bottom line - she gets three-quarters of his assets - end of story.

Yep tend to agree, when alls said and done SHE has made this story not him.She could have left at any time.How can a man that can hardly get out of bed be a bully ? Judge is giving an opinion and has obviously sided with her.What went on between them is totally irrelevant anyway.

If I read another story about a misbehaving Aussie I'm gonna puke.

from the article above

His arrest comes as 24-year-old Australian flight attendant Matthew Carney pleaded guilty to "inducing a false belief that an object liable to explode" was on board his Emirates flight EK-011 from Dubai to London in March this year.

Carney said he had suffered a mental breakdown after working back-to-back shifts and could not explain what made him write a note claiming the Taliban had planted a bomb in the cargo hold. The hoax cost the airline more than $84,000.

While most responses so far are concentrating on the fact that falang are perceived as being wealthy and therefore a good catch, I think it is just as important to note that over 50% thought we are kinder and more respectful of women.

Given the discrimination that the darker-skinned Isarn women face in Thailand, The fact that falang are apparently colour-blind is also a powerful factor. It must be empowering to Isarn women to know that there are men in this world who appreciate the beauty of many of them and are not hung-up on how dark or light their skin.

So there is the immediate benfit of feeling wanted but also the benefit of light-skinned offspring in the future. Which is a considerable benefit for those children in colour-conscious Thailand.

To be quite honest, i feel sorry for these Thai guys because, yes, they are discriminated against. They are stricken by poverty and lack of education, that in itself must induce a sence of frustration (banduras frustration agression theory) which in turn filters down to the women in a negative way. Of course there gona belive in the perception that western men are better due to there social conditioning. But when they find out and experience for themselves that a lot of us are just as broke as the Thai men, only on a western level, which still induces the same frustration, helplesness and stress that the Thai men feel, they proberbly wonder what the f~ck their elders were talking about. At the end of the day it crosses boarders. If you want anything in life you have got to work for it. Nothing is handed to you on a plate. and that includes hapiness. Dont be fooled western men, money can't buy you love

Top post and totally agree.

The health ministry is right in telling people not to panic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza

according to the WHO

Typically, in a year's normal two flu seasons (one per hemisphere), there are between three and five million cases of severe illness and up to 500,000 deaths worldwide, which by some definitions is a yearly influenza epidemic.

I am on Maxnet in Khon Kaen and am on the basic package and have no problems at all. FWIW

withdrew from GSB (government savings bank) atm yesterday still no fee....

Sigh. Its becoming ridiculous this is.It seems the banks (here and our home countries) are fighting it out as to who can cream off the most from their customers.