parryhandy

I honestly believe that the world/society could go back 100 years + before the end to this crisis appears.If this was a baseball game I would put us somewhere near the end of the second innings.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian nations will form a $120 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves that can be used by countries to defend their currencies in an expansion of efforts to battle fallout from the global financial crisis.

Finance ministers from Japan, China, South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian nations agreed to the fund at a summit yesterday in Phuket, Thailand. The amount is 50 percent more than was proposed last May, and a broadening of the current arrangement called the Chiang Mai Initiative that allows only bilateral currency swaps. No date was set for completion of the new pool.

A regional currency agreement is vital “in ensuring market confidence in the Asian economies,” Thailand Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told reporters. “It is one of our highest priorities.” ...

One of the first articles I read in the Bangkok Post was a piece about the hypocracy of Thai masters who murdered their Burmese staff (mostly house-girls) and then went to temple, praying, making donations etc. The article concentrated on the hypocracy. The fate of these poor girls was just an aside. mai pen rai.

I did wonder at that point, what sort of a country I'd come to.

Regards

That's what religions all about isn't it ? Do good people need it ?

Thanks for that , just what I was looking for.I think cheap call rates can be a bit of a con if you are forced to spend (top up) every x amount of days.

The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 1 of 8)

This lecture about population , energy, exponential function , steady growth , overpopulation, resources and simple arithmetic made over 5 years ago explains it all IMO .

If you can stick with it and watch all eight parts its really fascinating.

Agree with noahvail human nature means all roads lead to war...

In part 2 he talks about the human dilemma that is all the things we consider good are only adding to the long term problem eg clean air, medicine, peace, health and safety etc

Low package as well for me in khon kaen, no complaints.

price list here

http://www.maxnet.co.th/promotion_inside_en.php?promtid=1

Any chance of putting up the validity period with all the rates/offers.I am looking for a pre paid sim package where i dont mind paying a high call charge but do not want to have to top up every other week or my existing balance expires ? Any ideas ?

Phone not working is ok for me as long as the internet works, just worried if i may get a huge phone bill at the end of the month because of some technical error, best go and see them i suppose.

Tried the phone round a neighbours house and it worked fine.

The other day my internet went off for 20 mins or so (first lengthy downtime in over a year) and now it works fine again but my telephone does not work? Im on TT&t Maxnet standard package - tot phoneline.

Anybody any idea whats going on here ? Recently installed a wireless modem/router but that should have nothing to do with it.

Mr Phrompong said the government acted shamefully by making approval of funds for populist projects, with the aim of strengthening its voter base, its main priority.

Pot kettle black.

Just done the trip and will add that whilst having a cigarette in the smoking area in the consulate , the Thai man who seemed to be in charge was asking me and a few others there for feedback.Very nice man genuinely interested in our experience of the service.

He said later the numbering will become electronic i.e. ticket machine and displays the same as banks and this comes from Bangkok and is quite expensive. I said it would be nice if there was a drinks machine for coffee , tea while we wait and he answered that they are not allowed to do that.

^ nice comeback

The one that annoys me is when I hear Thais refer to white foriegners as "mun" - a pronoun used for dogs. It happens all the time but usually only if they think you don't understand or are not listening. If you hear your Thai wife's family use this, it's time to cut them off. I've even heard guy's girlfriends refer to them usiing this - unbelievable.

"man" means "it" or "that".

In Thailand's country side and working classes they call each others that way quite often. It's not necessarily insulting...

lol being referred to as it is not insulting ?

just withdrew 100 000 baht in the main Khon kaen Bangkok bank near the Charoen Thani using my nationwide flex visa debit card no problems.

Got 48.8 approx, board was showing 47.56 at the time.

Welcome step, but the planet is in a catastrophic deflationary spiral and not enough people have the money for "luxury" items like foreign holidays anymore. IMO

PS anybody know if this will apply to 3 month non o visas ?

People that defend the police/police system here need to take a long look at themselves in the mirror

http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2121

When Kietisak was 16 years old, he was charged with motorcycle theft, and despite his claims that he had been tortured and his confession forced, was sentenced to one year in jail. After serving his time, he returned to Kalasin and went to live with his grandmother, Sa, not far from the local police station. On 16th July 2004, when he didn't come home, a neighbour told Sa that he had again been arrested for motorcycle theft. The next day, the police took her to watch Kietisak being interrogated at the public prosecutor's office. That was the last time she saw Kietisak alive. The next day, the police called her to say that his bail had been posted by a municipal official. She went to wait at the police station for her grandson's release, but at around 5 p.m. the police told her to go home and that they would contact her when he was free to go. Roughly an hour later, Kietisak called her and told her in a trembling voice: "They didn't tell the truth to you Grandma. They are going to take me away and kill me. Hurry come and help me, I'm on the second floor." After that the line went dead.

At the police station, Sa was told by a high ranking police officer that Kietisak had already been released. She could hear her grandson crying out from above, but the police refused to allow her up to the second floor.

A few days later, on July 26, a police officer came to tell Sa that Kietisak's body had been found some 30 kilometres away. Witnesses who had seen his body being recovered said that the boy's feet were not dirty, despite the fact that the surrounding area was muddy due to the monsoon weather. Sa took the body to the Central Institute of Forensic Science in Bangkok, who told her that Kietisak had been tortured to death. His body appeared to have been dragged along the ground by the neck and by handcuffs, causing deep cuts on his wrists. His body was covered with wounds and his testicles had been crushed.

On 29th July, the police phoned the witness whose phone Kietisak had borrowed to call his grandmother. They told her that the phone was police property and that she was to tell that to anyone who asked her about it. When she replied, "I'll say whatever I saw," she was told "Go ahead. If you talk, you'll hang like that kid."

If I were Thai, I would ruefully shake my head & vote for 'none of the above'.

On one hand you have elitists whose ultimate goal seems to be the establishment of a benevolent dictatorship. On the other hand you have an opposition whose leaders are corrupt, violent and dishonest, but who pay lip service to democratic ideals and social reform.

IMO more important in any society is the rule of law and the fair implementation of the law. Democracy is just a word and is not necessarily the right way

of government because it turns into politicians having to promise to give away more and more perks to the voters which in turn means they have to lie as

said perks are unsustainable or undeliverable.

The only difference between Thaskin and current /post politicians is how he spent heavily on PR and threatened to sue anybody who spoke bad about him.

Cant remember which famous person said it but it was words to the effect , that any ruler should be killed after serving one term in office because they will

never give up power voluntarily.A bit drastic but the message rings true.

Now that the global money supply is drying up , just what do pro Thaskin people think he would be doing now to stay in power if he had never been removed ?

What bugs me is that people on this forum are quick to condemn farang when reportedly arrested by such a police force ?

A+L debit cards charge 2.95% conversion fee + 2% withdrawal fee = 4.95% of whatever you withdraw.

List of Uk BANK overseas charges for credit and debit cards here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/ov...as-card-charges

If you are in the UK. Open a Nationwide account, Transfer your money directly into the account and use the ATM's over there to draw your money when required.

You will get the better rate and there are no charges to worry about.

I would also back it up with some high denomination £ TC's as a back up in case of emergency.

My Main bank (Lloyds TSB supply £ TC's free of charge so you cannot lose. )

Forget Cash. It is utterly gone if you are robbed, you get a worse exchange rate and it is more bulky than TC's.

This is definitely your best option if you have time.

yes working for me again now, worked Friday, forbidden yesterday and ok today. (scratch head emoticon)

Thanks to the new blocking crackdown on internet sites I cannot access the Royal Trophy website .

Somebody should let them know that their tournament website is blocked if their going.

Sorry Dave, but they (again) changed the rules. We ("married to a thai") are back to 400.000 bahts in Thailand, or proof on more than 40.000/month of personal income somewhere.

So the question is a "currency question"

Have you got a reference for that? When did it happen? Certainly slipped under my radar.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Regulations-...ig-t227532.html

Just been xmas shopping earlier at Big C and tried to withdraw 15000 baht at 4 different machines on my Nationwide flex card with no success.Phoned them in the UK and I have to speak to the special investigation team who are on holiday untill Saturday Nothing untoward on checking the account online and have been withdrawing regularly in Thailand for a number of years.Got 300 baht to my name now , so looks like i will have to tap the mrs and/or MIL up till Saturday , bloody great

PS. banks are definately becoming more vigilant about withdrawals here. Had the right run around trying to use my credit card to withdraw cash a few months ago , the excuses they came out with for my withdrawal attempts failing were comical really.