dsprtliving

Likewise....anyone seen it for sale in Bangkok? Would like to get a copy and see it as well.

They definitely have them at the Villa, and I've seen them at Marketplace on the G floor of Paragon as well. Always tempted, but the price is more than double what i'd pay at home for them.

I wonder if the shop you were taken to was on the Soi just down from the Siam@Siam hotel near MBK? There is one of those big "gem" factory stores just behind the hotel that definitely run a racket on whatever unsuspecting tourists they can coax into their store. And there are guys that hang out at the mouth of the soi that will happily shuffle you into a conveniently waiting taxi/tuk tuk for a bit of "free" sightseeing in exchange for a store visit later. I live down the Soi in question and see tourists getting hassled daily.

How about just sitting down and having an honest and open chat with your boss? Bosses are people too! I went through this earlier this week, as i'd like to apply for jobs in Bangkok for next year, but i didn't want to risk asking my boss for a reference for fear of losing a contract renewal in the next couple of months. So i went and sat down with him and honestly explained my situation, and he was very sympathetic and nice. Not all bosses are ogres.

Yeah...don't count on getting a seat tomorrow at a restaurant and the shopping centers will be absolutely crammed tomorrow!

I dont believe this POST. Its impossible. When it rains you get wetter in a TT than simply walking in the rain. There isnt one single positive thing you can say about the worlds worst mode of public transport.

agreed.

double agreed! Tuk Tuks are just woeful and dangerous!

Shame on you. Please do that at your own home, and not Pattaya.

So you are assuming that the other 30 offenders were not Thai? Those sneaky Khmer perhaps?

California Wow at Silom without a doubt.....the one at Paragon is as well, but the crowd there is a bit on the snooty side!

If you want the best prices try Thaniya Spirit on Thaniya Road, a few doors down from O'Reilleys Pub on Silom Road (Sala Daeng BTS). They may not have all you want, but you will certainly save some money on what you do buy. Give Tops and Villa a wide berth unless money is not important to you.

I'll second that suggestion! I've bought stuff from Thaniya Spirit on the odd occasion for parties and gifts and their prices can't be beat!

Tried this in Chiang Mai a couple of weeks ago and had to fight the urge to immediately yank my feet out of the water in terror at first. However, It was an interesting experience to be sure and I wondered if it would be good for people with corns/calluses on their feet as the little fish seem to really go for the dead skin?

I for one love the idea, and sincerely hope they run with it

pathetic!

How did they "know" to go to your home and what valuables you may possess inside? Did they just randomly pick your house of the street or......? That maybe why the police are acting so disinterested, but then again I can sympathize with your theft. Years ago, when i first moved to Thailand I was robbed as well. My first venture with renting a condo was not in the best neighborhood, and I came home from work one day to find the lock pried of and the door slightly ajar. I found my placed completely tossed and they had taken my new laptop my folks had bought for me just before the move. It is a terrible feeling and I'm sorry to hear about your loss. However, sadly...I wouldn't depend on the police to be of any help whatsoever!

Somewhat wary. Mainly because there are so few foreigners here, and the nutcases often tend to think they have a connection with you just because you're both foreign, where as back home the nutcases generally ignore you

Exactly! For me, it's not just cause I"m living here in Thailand but it is because I grew up being slightly wary of others from the onset. Also, Thailand seems to draw the "I know more about the Thais than you" set and I've just really got no time for these characters at all. Maybe you do and maybe you don't ,however they fail to realize just how little it matters to me.

In contrast, I enjoy the way Thai store staff let you alone but are always nearby to help if you ask.

Just my two cents.

Do you actually live in Thailand? ever been shopping in Central / Boots / Home pro etc..

The little f_ckers there follow you around...it does my fruit in.... if i'm in an expat grumpy mood i purposely carry products from one section to another just to lose em off my trail for a bit...its like jungle warfare...hide and seek !

The only place you don't get followed or hassled is in Tops...I enjoy my shopping there except the constant queueing but its like shopping back home, no one follows or hassles you...

I swear Boots chemist is the worse...only a small store but you can have as many as 2 assistants following you around...trying to give you a basket to carry 1 product in....

Favourite has to be Home Pro..play British Bulldog everytime...you against an army of Thai shop asistants...

Grab your product and run with it body swerving, checking back, switching aisles at the last moment, making a dummy turn till you pass em all and reach the goal line which is the till...

It could become a Thai gladiators on TV...farang versus Thai shop asistants!

What he said!!! I love Thailand dearly, but this is one aspect of living here that absolutely does my head in whenever I need to do a bit of clothes or electronic shopping. I'd probably do a lot more browsing in stores like Central or MBK if the Sales staff didn't immediately begin shadowing you the moment your foot strays into their set little area. I've taken to wearing my ipod, as that almost always works in other situations like airplanes....but that doesn't always work with the sales shadows either. I think a good specific example are the sales girls that work in any department store wine shop. I go in with a specific wine in mind and usually head straight to the bottle or section I intend to choose from. Then, almost without fail, a Sales Shadow will appear with some off brand Chateau de Blah trying to convince me that it's obviously much much better cause of that magical 10% discount intended to seal the deal on all products in Thailand. Earlier on in my stay here in Thailand I once asked a wine shop sales girl if she'd indeed tried the wine she was trying to convince me to buy.....her answer....Oh no sir...I don't drink, said with the most sincere smile she could muster.

My point, which obviously you missed, is that dressing like a neon light with a flashing arrow that says, look at me, look at me has nothing to do with being gay or transgendered. It's like the white kid that dresses like a gangstah and thinks he's going to hang with 50cent and Snoop. The kid looks ridiculous, but in the kid's head, he's fly. Everyone's laughing at the kid, but he doesn't get it and goes off to sulk saying the world is picking on him, persecuting him because he's ghetto. People laugh at him because he looks like a fool, not because he's out of Compton.

I must confess that i do appreciate and get the point, and if your out trying to have a lovely evening with friends then the last thing anyone wants is some drunken fool making a spectacle of themselves in the same vicinity. This seems to be a case of being annoyed with the behavior of person, as opposed to objecting to the choice of looking like the redneck version of Dame Edna. There is a very flamboyant loud mouthed little dwarf of a man that comes into Telephone often and I find i cringe at the mere sight of him sometimes. It has nothing to do with his choice of outfits, as they are quite banal and boring. It has more to do with his attitude and pompas air each time i see him.

This comment from Geriatrickid reminds me of a time i was sitting out the front of Telephone with a close friend and this vision of loud clashing neon colors came floating down the Soi. He wore a bright neon yellow shirt, neon green pants and an orange neon jacket to complete the ensemble. There was an empty table directly behind us and it was one of those moments where you immediately begin an inner dialogue of "please don't sit behind me, please don't sit behind me, please don't sit behind me!" However, he of course did and within a matter of minutes was trying to strike up a friendly conversation by asking us if we new any drinks he could order that were neon and that would glow in the dark as much as he did. Despite my initial jump to judgement, he ended up being a lovely fellow and we had a nice evening of laughs with him. So, i still say one should not be so quick to judge but I can certainly understand the reflex to do so when it happens.

Not wanting to rain on anyone's parade, but … Last night in the Telephone bar there was what one waiter described as a Farang Katoey. Most people who are that unattractive would have hidden themselves away like the Elephant Man but this creature was an exhibitionist; dancing in the aisles to the voice of the resident singer.

This "Freak-Show" looked more like a 6 foot drag queen (in the Maisie Trollette style but with far less talent) and wore a short dress revealing muscled legs that a footballer would be proud of and a pair of broad shoulders reminiscent of an Olympic swimmer. The ensemble was topped off with shoulder length curly dark hair and hands like bunches of bananas.

He must have been ugly as a man but as a woman he was utterly hideous. If this monster from the deep is pre-op then here's some advice … you need a landscape gardener not a plastic surgeon. And … if you want to be a woman try behaving like one.

It is a shame really that we are our own worst enemies and that even in a happy environment like Telephone that the condemning eyes of the lavender inquisition are sitting silently by passing such unwarranted judgements. The "T" in our GLBTA community stands for all transgendered people, and not just the ones blessed by birth with a cute, petit frames. I remember ages when i finally worked up enough courage to finally attempt a "coming out" and thinking naively that I'd finally become a part of a community that would accept me with open arms. However, the cold truth is that some members of our community are as mean and hateful as those that stand across the divide and persecute us.

My partner really wanted one badly a while back but we had no luck whatsoever finding a reader of any make/model on sale commercially in Thailand. We ended up just waiting, and bought one when we went to the States for Christmas at Best Buy there. He loves it, and rarely goes out without it from then till now!

I also heard that they are going to start charging a hefty fee for adding pages to our passports as well from now on!

Clearly sometimes they score the free money, so of course this is probably happening quite a lot. I have noticed similar on occasion. Its a good warning for the sleep walking among us to PAY ATTENTION, unless you don't mind being played. BTW, if you do walk away and come back, your case is weakened considerably.

Agreed....It is always a good idea to be very watchful and mindful when receiving change for any service in Thailand. One doesn't need a college degree to operate a till, and often it seems service staff are chosen on looks vs. mental capacity/calculating ability. I always carefully watch my change being counted, and then count it once again before i walk away. That goes for anywhere in Thailand, cause once you walk away you've no chance of getting your money back should you find yourself short changed.

My partner and I own a condo in a block in central Bangkok, and we really only know our immediate neighbor on a superficial level. We occasionally nod and say hello, but for the most part the Thais that live in the building completely ignore each other. I'd say that condo living here is the same as it would be in any big city around the world. The more people there are that live together in a given space, the less they want to know each other. That's just Bangkok though, and It is definitely different outside of the city.

I've lived in a Moo Bhan (residential neighborhood) for about a year now in staff housing for my work, and i have observed that the neighbors on my soi definitely seem to have an open door policy with those that live around them. Their windows and doors are always open....babies crying....TV's blaring....dogs barking....etc. So, depends on what you want i guess. Both types of living situations can be found in Thailand, but I agree with previous posts that condo living is definitely a more secure, safer option. With most nice condos there is enough visible security to deter would be thieves, but that isn't always the case with the Moo Bahns.

Is it really so difficult to take the trash with you and deposit it in an acceptable receptackle? Trash cans are located in many places these days. If a trash container is not conveniently located take your crap home and throw it in your trash can!

Have you ever seen a public "acceptable receptackle" on the streets of Bangkok?

A friend of mine and I were walking down Sukhumvit away from the Emporium past the park, and he made the mistake of lighting a ciggie just as we passed the little box. Little alarm bells starting going off in my head, so a few steps later I looked over my shoulder to catch a cop on a little push bike slowly tailing us like a hungry vulture or shark. I mentioned it to my friend and he turned to look and the cop was suddenly gone. So we go a few more steps and i turn again to catch the cop peeping around the side of a building at us as he crouched very tactfully crouched in a little alleyway just off the footpath. Was amusing and terribly disconcerting at the same time.

My friend squeezed the but out into a drain and we ducked into a tailor shop that had been our original destination and the nice guys that run the shop were concerned about us getting fleeced once we finished our business there in the store. The guys in the shop informed us that if we quickly exited the store....and made a retreat straight across Sukhumvit to the other side of the road that we'd be safe. Apparently, the opposite side of Sukhumvit is another district and the police aren't as predatory.

Honestly, I'd move if I were you. Thais generally have a long memory once someone has gotten on the wrong side of them and they NEVER fight fair as we understand it in the west. Unless you want to spend the rest of your time in Thailand constantly watching your back, then I'd consider a relocation. The fact that you were in the right.....and I truly think you are.....is beside the point here. The condo management and police are obviously keeping a hands off approach here, and you should take that as a sign. In Thai vs. farang situations....even when we're in the right....the farang ALWAYS is perceived to be at fault.

I have been teaching 5-6 year olds in Thailand for 9 years and i believe that corporal punishment is technically illegal in Thailand. However, having said that, I have witnessed/heard about some extremely disturbing forms of punishment during my first couple of years in education when i first arrived and worked in a couple of Thai schools. Thai teachers are very authoritarian and they are trained/conditioned to maintain an iron fist in the classroom. Humiliation as a form of punishment in front of peers is common, and unfortunately corporal punishment is used to scare children into submission from an early age so they learn not to question their superiors.

Your best bet might be to see if your daughter can be switched to a different class. The teacher may, given that she has shown the propensity to use physical intimidation as punishment, cause further problems for your daughter should you step in and escalate the situation. Children whose parents complain openly are often ignored in class and her educational experience may suffer in the long run as long as she is under this teacher's care. It is of the utmost importance that your little girl develop a positive impression of school at this age, as it will affect the rest of her educational experience in the years ahead. Alternatively, go in and discuss other options available with the teacher for motivating your little one to learn to work more efficiently. I find positive reinforcement works a treat with the little ones in my room such as simple stickers for finishing work on time or even setting up a merit point system to encourage positive behavior in all classroom activities. Sometimes teachers just need a gentle push in the right direction to get em' going and a little memory jog to remind us that we are all still students despite maintaining the facade that we know it all.

This is typical of Thaksin and his ilk and their mindset.

Power at any price and corruption to feather their own fouled nest even further under the pretence of democracy.

None of those puppets that were (mis) leading the Red Shirt demonstrators supporters etc had nor do have any interest in true democracy.

It is all about Thaksin and his malovent desire for revenge upon Thailand and its peoples.Thaksins ego is the cancer that could if allowed to destroy this country.

Thaksin and his allies many of whom are not Thai have been invited to feast upon the carcass of Thailand under Thaksins dream.

These people must be stopped before Thailand becomes a vassal state of a Sino Thai kleptomaniac.

Thats where you are wrong totally.

The problem of Thailand is a small Elite who devour everything and leave the majority of the county with nothing.

Thaksin has no desire for anything but good for the people of Thailand.

However I suspect he has revenge on his mind when it comes to the small band of old corrupt elite who stage managed his fall from power and who have through lies and manipulation dragged his name through the mud.

This is why the people like Thaksin, as he was willing to take on those corrupt old men, and even though he failed he has given them hope that some day soon those corrupt old men who run in privileged circles might finally get removed.

geesh....you seem a tad delusional my friend. Thaksin has no desire for anything but "good" for the people of Thailand????? Really? So everyone has it wrong and he's really just a selfless misunderstood philanthropist?? Give me a break! He's of the same stock and character as the shadowy scary "ruling elite" you purport to despise so much. Perhaps you've been watching to many movies....there is no mysterious "dark side" and thusly your posts come off as nothing but delusional ravings of a brain washed simpleton.