dsprtliving

I'd also suggest using the ant chalk as previously suggested. My partner and I had a condo up in KhonKaen for a while, and only discovered that it must have been built on a giant ant colony to late. Went out and bought some of the ant chalk then went to work sealing the windows and doors with a ring of the stuff. Took some time, but it worked wonders and the chalk lasts a fairly long while. Hope ya have some luck with it, cause i know how frustrating it can be to be forced to share your home with these little beasties!

I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing about hit and run accidents! They penalty for such pathetic behavior should be far more SEVERE!! Perhaps then we would see a reduction in the this cowardly, pitiful practice!

Some people make me sick!

Agreed! There seems to be to much of this sort of thing happening on the roads here. If your driving on the roads after dark outside of Bangkok, then it is certainly every man for himself. I live in Ban Chang, next to Sattahip and my neighbor got the right back end of her car clipped so hard it lifted the whole rear of the car up and sent her swerving off the road. She said the offending driver didn't even tap his break lights once as he proceeded to speed away into the night.

They are extremely over priced versus what we actually get, but the problem is that they've got a virtual monopoly here and know it. I've wished for a long time that there were other providers that could be competitive, but the local set-ups are just woeful in comparison. Might just have to suck it up and get it fixed or have a go at enjoying Thai TV/ get used to buying loads of DVDs.

I don't, and never will, hate the country of my birth for I know that no matter how much the world goes pear shaped it's the only place I have a right to be.

I still very much enjoy going back there for visits seeing friends and family even though two out of the last three have seen me up to my knees in snow.

I also very much like my education, the likes of which stands me in good stead just about anywhere in the world.

The only thing I hate is the use of the word "hate". Isn't the world full enough of hatred that we have to hate everything we, in reality, merely dislike? Try cutting back on the negative outlook and you'll find yourself liking a lot more than you do now.

The best post I've read on ThaiVisa is a long time.

There's nothing new about malcontents getting on a plane and coming to Thailand, ranting about their old life in their old country, only to find they brought their mindset with them and wind up griping about Thailand before they quietly sneak back to the old country.

Very good post indeed, PhilHarries, and so true, GuestHouse.

I lived now almost my half life in Thailand and I never had any negative feelings about my home country in Europe, always enjoyed it, never miss any other place when being there every year. And I don't miss any other place when in Thailand.

Absolutely and spot on! I wonder what the statistics would be like if you compared the number of miserable complaining expats to the folks that have fled their home countries out of disdain and/or contempt for society. Methinks the numbers might just match up quiet closely.

Have to say I definitely don't hate it, and I think it is a common misperception that we have rejected our own countries just because we live our lives abroad. I've been out here just over 9 years now and have found that i grow more fond of home each time i go back for a visit. Actually, for me...I probably would've already thrown in the towel and headed home if it weren't for my Thai partner, but that's a whole other thread...

The knowledge that the possibility of love was there as soon as our eyes met for the first time. Then the mutual emotional connection ( sparks, chemistry, electricity) began to form within hours and it was definitely love within a day or so. 4 years on it is still just as strong, and our mutual affection for one another has only grown with the time we've been together.

So if your neighbor was Thai, instead of foreign she would not report him?

Or how about if he was Asian (not white) such as Chinese, Korean etc...?

My thought exactly. Seems you wife thinks because he's a foreigner she feels he should be busted. If she would be of the same opinion if he was Thai then that's fine, otherwise has a touch of racism in her decision?

My thoughts as well

Easiest to use an automatic bank debit paying those utility bills. Check the paperwork to ensure no "mistakes" but you can be assured of something having been paid on time and therefore no disconnections.

agreed, but only if you plan on being settled into your current residence for a while. I went and had an automatic debit set up a couple of months ago, and certainly glad i did it. It was a pain in the bottom, but well worth the trouble i think....had to go to the electric company to get a form....to the bank to get a signature....back to the electric company to turn it in.

If you go even one day past the due date then you can only pay the bill at the office of the Electric company here during business hours Monday-Friday. So best bet is to make sure you pay on time or set up the debit!

An interesting topic for conversation. I work with a nice group of expats and this has been passed around the lunch table a time or two over the past couple of weeks for sure. Some are settled up with family and property and have started considering an "out" should it become necessary. Some have had enough of the instability and will not be renewing contracts beyond next year. As for myself, I'm not totally sure yet what the future holds but a 'plan b' of sorts surely seems wise given the murky waters our adopted home seems to be wading into...

There is one right at the bottom of the next BTS station up from Siam called Rachadamri. If you get off the train and exit the station on the left side going back towards Siam then it is literally right at the bottom of the stairs. Have used it on several occasions and they've always been really friendly! :-)

When was the last time you used it?

Drove by it today on the way home and it looked fine! I used it to send a package to a friend in Oz at the beginning of May!

You may want to consider going out to the ISAT website and manually going through their member list of school websites. It will take some time, but most schools will having links on their sites to let you know if they are currently seeking new staff or not. Unfortunately though, I must agree with IJWT and say you may have missed the boat already. Most of the big schools that pay good salaries have already completed their recruitment months ago, but you may just get lucky if you search hard enough. Our school head went over to the U.K. back in February to a hiring fair and all our new staff coming in are a result of it. Unfortunately, local hires are a second choice and/or a last resort for most schools. Good luck though, as you never know till you start looking!

I think it is about self hatred a lot of the times on a personal or private level, but with these guys i'm not so sure if that's the case. Generally, I'd say that if one is taking every chance one gets to point out or highlight the perceived flaw in others, then there is less a chance the public will notice me. It is about not being noticed, but these guys seem to thrive off creating/feeding the hatred. They seem to enjoy the spotlight, get on their pedestals and make entire careers out of persecuting our community. Maybe a some some sort of narcissistic reward for self hating behavior?

Well, the red shirts will tell you they are about the poor and about democracy, and about getting their leader, Thaksin, back into power to look after them.

They say that their leader is the first person that looked after them, that he made their life better and he cared about them.

They are angry that their leader was ousted in a coup, and his puppet party was disbanded by the courts.

Ofcourse, in reality, that's all BS, and they are simply trying to get Thaksin back so that he can continue his raping of the country with his corrupt policies, and they can get their little bit of it.

agreed...which is why they were so pissed off when their puppet leaders finally gave up. They suddenly realized they wouldn't be able to collect on a promised salary for sitting on their bottoms for 2 months in the hot sun listening to the equivalent of a hellfire and brimstone preaching 24 hours a day. Thus, they blamed the government for their not being able to collect and the burning of key buildings in Bangkok was the back-up plan to make them feel like they didn't loose face.

There is one right at the bottom of the next BTS station up from Siam called Rachadamri. If you get off the train and exit the station on the left side going back towards Siam then it is literally right at the bottom of the stairs. Have used it on several occasions and they've always been really friendly! :-)

Forgive me if i'm wrong, but didn't the government explicitly forbid foreigners from participating in a political rally quite recently with the punishment being deportation? That goes for publicly being involved either way i think?

Wish you the best of luck with your decision to move on to greener pastures. I've been here about 10 years as well, and the surrounding S.E. Asian countries are bound to move ahead in the game if the Land O' Smiles continues down this destructive path...which is a shame cause I do love the Thais and their country. Please stop back in and keep us updated on the adventure!

The hospital are saying they may have to move every patient to Siriraj. One would hope they are safe there.

I can guarantee with 100% certainty that the "reds" will not be storming Siriraj in the same manner as they did last night. The security staff stationed at that particular hospital are neither the military or the police. The royal guard stationed there would definitely shoot first and ask questions later!

Hmm, now let me see. What is the date today? Why it's April 1. How foolish of me to forget. I thiink we've been rimmed.

Yes indeed....read this in the morning and went to lunch grumbling about it. Then we got to talking at lunch and it hit me what today is! Good one guys! Much better than last years!

I usually try to schedule a yearly out of country trip this time of year to avoid this particular Thai delight...off to Hong Kong this year to avoid the mayhem.

Live here in Ban Chang, Rayong as well and had a friend get done by these same cops a couple of weeks ago on his way back from Pattaya. There are a couple of different ways to get from here to there, and wondering if one route is better than the other for avoiding them?

fugitive for some - not fugitive for most.

Do you honestly live in Thailand...It doesn't take a rocket scientist to open your eyes and see that the "reds" are a small minority...no matter which side you make the choice to believe!

these are great! Really appreciate you sharing the links!

Like I said ... getting sick of it ... see post #99 ... there is also a couple of other posts explaining how the elected Democrat MPs formed a coalition with smaller parties.

Dear Anotherpeter,

I share your frustration.

But I guess the bottom line is that some people just want to add 1 plus 1 and get the answer of 3, and no matter how you explain, rationalize, share facts, they will never see the correct answer, for a very simple reason - because they don't want to.

Also frustrating for me, is the way people just see red or yellow and simply won't look at the whole big picture and won't realize (because they don't want to) that many people don't sympathize with either group.

Also frustrating for me are the posters who believe that whatever is good for them should be the law. Plus all the claims of double standards when in fact all the parties are guilty of double standards. Not good, but let's please move on.

Also frustrating for me is that so few people will recognize, as nicely put "The Abhisit government is legit and decent. There's no real groundswell against him and his administration". In fact they are doing very well and have outlined a much better deal for all Thais. But I must be honest, I believe they need to be a lot more visible about what they are doing.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

absolutely agree with ya, but remember.....

"Never argue with an idiot. They will only pull you down to their level, then beat you with experience." Mark Twain

There is a catholic all girl's school on Soi Convent in Bangkok that is quite established, but I've no idea about the quality of the education delivered there. Out of curiosity....why an all girl's school? That really limits your choices here in Thailand as there are no all girl's schools at all at the International level. I think your only options are going to be Thai schools, which is fine if you are ok with that.

I've found that Thai's are unable to understand the concept of causing inconvenience to others. Whenever it happens (often) all you get is a blank stare of incomprehension.

You know i have found living here to be mostly pleasant most of the time, but this one negative trait that is seemingly ingrained in Thai culture is extremely annoying. It's not always the "HiSo" drivers that do this sort of thing. Happened to me last week coming out of the 7-11. Dirty, grungy old pickup truck had double parked right behind me and i had to wait till he shopped for his piece of piping from the hardware store and then take his time to mosey back out to his vehicle again without giving me so much as a nod of an apology. If I'd have said anything at all to the jerk, then i would have been seen as the one with the problem.....or get the famous "blank stare". I just don't get it!