ThaiFelix

Dont you just pity these people who dont have the mental capacity to handle both upper and lower case at the same time. These same people also still believe that 9/11 was an Islamic plot (I think its closer to 7/11 than Moslem myself). And why dont we ever read in the papers, or hear on TV/radio that a Christian or Buddhist kills farmer, soldier, women etc........ always Moslem? Remember the crusades!! It all smacks of dollars and hypocisy to me.

I have stayed in a lot of places in my 35 odd years of travelling and I have settled for Bangkok. I guess it depends on what your here for, or what you do with your time. I, personally, have never been happier. But one thing I do find a real bitch here is the amount of farang who constantly moan about the place. 'I dont like the food, I dont like the Thais, its too hot, it smells, the transport system is crappy, on and on and on'. What the ef are you doing here. I even had a farang who came into my soi a couple of weeks ago, was invited to sit with myself and a group of Thai neighbours (not my wish), was offered food and drink, and then proceeded to bitch about everything to do with Thailand. Who's the idiot? I am often embarrassed to be a farang because of you winging lot. Go home and do us all a favour. Go on, get out.

ThaiFelix

Is the same thing you can catch from drinking out of a can without cleaning the rim first?

I have heard said that rats p1ss can contaminate the top?

Yes, I have heard that most things are palletised and while in storage they are frequented by rodents who, while they can smell the contents, therefore attract, but cannot contact the product.

Excuse the ? but I always do what the Romans do in Rome. Use a straw. Ever noticed how Thais walk up stairways with their hands just above the rails but not actually touching them. They are ready if they need them but only as a last resort. Why? The sois around me used to get flooded every wet season and the locals used to get alarmed if they saw me caught out without my wellies and wading bare. Dont forget in Bangkok we live on a fine crust over a large delta, ie swamp. Being fluid everthing becomes connected, including sewerage. Add to that the heat and copious amount of urine and faeces (human, dog, cat, rat etc) a big city produces and you have a potent brew.

We are not locals and therefore not conditioned/immuned to these bugs IMHO. Back in Oz I considered myself completely allegy free, but here its a different story. I am a bit of a gardener but must wear gloves here as I get an extremely itchy rash in the web/sensitive parts between the fingers everytime I touch the dirt. I get throat infections a lot. But I notice that over time (4 years) the incidence and severity of both declines.

At the same time I agree with the earlier writer who said be more careful about the cars and motorcycles. Back in Oz I was always amused by the people who where scared of shark attacks but thought nothing of the trip to the beach. More people die from car accidents or bee stings than sharks. And cars dont spit you out after the first bite!

Its all statistics

Thaifelx

I'm a teacher and have always paid Thai price of 40 bht by flashing my ID card from school. Dont think they know what theyre looking at but I just say ajarn and they never quibble.

As for the OP and Neeranam's wife killing Rat Snakes, well that is just ignorance and a lack of education about the environment in which they live.

Go to Australia and anyone can tell you which snakes are harmless and which are not.

Have you had much to do with reptiles in Oz.??? I dont think so !

We regard everything as dangerous (which they usually are ) until proven otherwise.

Its very obvious that you have never been chased by a bad-tempered venomous snake , or struck at by a Chappel Island Tiger snake or a King Brown,I have and it is not a pleasant experience..

Its a bit late to reach for your Snakes of Thailand book or go Googling after getting bitten.

Nail the suckers first ,identify it later....

I spent over 3 years living in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, I found that EVERYONE knew about what reptiles were harmfull and what ones were not, they all had respect for the wildelife and environment and never killed harmless snakes out of ignorance and mis-understanding.

Totally agree. I come from West Australia and we were always given up to date info re what snake/spider etc was what and whether they were poisonous or not. The school I went to was alive with venomous Dugites and the gardeners were always chasing them out of or from under the classrooms. In fact the mates and I used to steal corrugated iron sheeting from the school demo yard and lay it out in the bush to attract legless lizards for Science projects and would often ponce on a dugite or tiger snake. I also farmed in the southwest which has more than its share of deadly tigers. The last few years I was in Oz I worked in the Northwest and saw many a snake at the plants I worked/lived on..........to cut the story short its like I said to my wife the other day when she wanted to reaarange the front yard after seeing a snake...How many people do you know who has been bitten by a snake? killed by a snake? none! We were always told in Oz that, generally speaking, people were bitten by snakes while trying to kill them or accidently standing on them..so tread noisily and dont try to kill em.

If you are really worried about the real killers in this world then keep away from bees, dont stand under coconut trees, nor swim with hippos, avoid US military, and most certainly keep your distance from those two and four wheeled machines that whizz down your Soi!! Snakes are too far down the list to worry about.

***But the body needs to be examined in more details to determine if he was murdered or died by hitting the floor.***

If you hit somebody with a stick and they hit the floor and die it is murder. What part of this is unclear?

So by corrolory...you push someone off the balcony is not murder as you did not kill them the fall did...

The medical investigation is used to determine Manner of death, i.e. Blunt Force Trauma and Cause Of Death i.e. Homicide. Not to protect her, but say she hit the man, blunt force trauma, but she did not hit him hard enough or without intent to kill him, yet when he fell THAT action caused him to die it could change how the case is prosecuted. Sure, it is still a homicide which basically means a human killing another human, but it can help or hurt her court case based on her intent. Thats based on the law in the States. I don't know if is the same in Thailand.

If you accidently hit a pedestrian while driving and they die because of their injuries, in essence you killed someone. Would you want it automatically prosecuted as a homicide? In fact it is vehicular homicide, you killed another human or caused their death, yet accidentally. I know it sounds messed up, but thats how they write the laws. So, thats why they have an investigation and collect evidence to prosecute the case.

Yeah that makes sense. Very well written/explained.

So let me get this straight... if I get shooved off the 10th story of a building, and say I die. The cause of death will be ruled, that I hit my head on the concrete and thus died? But the fact that someone caused me to hit my head will not be labeled as murder??

######.. who needs a hit man..

The person who wrote the news article obviously has a good, but limited ability with English. Still it says :"The police suspects that the Dane was murdered by the girl with whom he was fighting. "

The bit that follows was poorly written, but it clearly states that she is suspected of murdering him.

It doesn't matter whether a Thai is suspected of murdering or attacking a farang, or a farang is believed to have murdered or attacked a Thai... On the ThaiVisa message board the Thai will automatically be guilty based on nothing more than a poorly written, second hand news article (and often even less evidence than that) and the farang will always be the victim or else he will have been justified in what he did because of provocation.

Of course On TV, almost all the articles reported involve Thai on farang violence. The daily reports in Pattaya of farang violence seem not to be newsworthy.

Why not more stories like this:

A young Scottish national was drunk and driving a Honda Jazz car around Pattaya on 1st April. At approximately 3.30 am he hit a Thai man who works as a garbage collector leaving the man scarred for life.

The Dongtan police received a report early on Sunday morning from staff from a 7-Eleven stores on Jomtien Beach Soi 13 that an accident between a car and a local garbage truck occurred in front of the store and there was someone seriously injured at the scene.

On arrival the team found that the Honda Jazz car, driven by drunken Mr. Gordon James McCarry, aged 24, from Scotland, smashed into the rear of the garbage truck when the injured was standing behind the truck collecting garbage.

The injured man was crying in pain. He is aged around 50 and could not give any statement other than cry. Both his legs were chopped off from the hit and he had lost a lot of blood. The team had to quickly bandage his legs together and sent him to the hospital.

As for McCarry; he could not give any statement either since he was completely drunk. The officers measured up to 211 milligrams percent in him, which is way over the limit of 50 milligrams according to Thai law.

Probably the response would be that the garbage collector was not collecting garbage in a farang approved manner.

In the proper TV style, I'll speculate that McCarry's family bought his way out of this by giving the poor man's family some pittance. I don't know that that's true, but making wild accusations based on personal prejudices is sure fun, isn't it?

Kaojai thank you! I thought I was alone out here. How many times have we read a news report and had the whole story turned around the next day. And the lynch-mob well....there's egg in ya face!!

My sincere condolences to the family....a tragic loss.

Well, I have to be honest your product sucks just like all the rest of the products I have used here in Thailand and the USA. I just finished the patch treatment and ran to the store for a pack of smokes last week. I woke up yesterday morning and said to myself I can do this the reason I have failed so many times is because I trusted that replacing the inhaled nicotine in my system with one through a gum or patch had to be better. It's like anything when you set your mind and realize the truth about the situation and you really want change and are willing to change without excuse you can do it. I haven't had a craving yet which I did on the patch and I don't want to waste any more money on things that don't work or cigarette's this time when I feel like wasting money I take my daughter to buy something she wants. If your a sponsor of Thai Visa I'm sorry I just made that all up the lack of nicotine got to me.

Yes, IMHO you hit the nail right on the head there. The best stop smoking aid is your determination to stop. I think you are only fooling yourself by relying on a product (a crutch) to make it easy. When you fail you can blame the product..oh no I didnt fail. I would like to tell you my story to prove it.

I was a heavy smoker, 30 to 40 per day for 30 years, and decided I couldnt keep walking the white lines in the middle of the road without suffering the consequences one day. I have had quite a healthy life and I guess thats one of the reasons I kept up the filthy habit for so long. It just didnt seem to affect me. But at the same time I knew it could bite me any day. I had given up before but not for me....you know, the wife at the time, having kids etc. And oh I craved and thus was only successful for a while.

About three years ago I decided to give up (for me) again. It was around New Year. I have seen lots of people make New Year resolutions to give up smoking. But they resolve to give up for the New Year. They wake the next day (New Years Day) with a hang over and too tired to resist the urge. I had heard of people having success by resolving to give up at a nominated date that year, or even some time that year without giving a date. So I made a promise to all and sundry at the N.Y. eve party that I would give up some time that year.. Two days later I had a very bad back accident, and was confined to lying on my back for about 9 months. Now I had nothing else to do but smoke, read, smoke, sleep, smoke and watch TV while smoking. I had months of going to physio's and chiro's, ct scans, spinal injections etc...lots of fun things. As I was still telling myself that I was quitting later that year I found I was really psyching myself up, the cigs and my room etc started to stink more and more. Every time I lit a smoke I was sickened by the stench and found it hard to believe I could persist with such a filthy habit. My bed stank, the curtains were foul, everything stank.

After 8 months, as I (my back) was getting slowly better and I was able to walk somewhat again, I decided to nominate September 19 (Quit Day in Australia) as the date I would stop.

This also coincided with the time when the specialists were telling me to start getting in the pool and get some exercise to build up my back/stomache etc. By mid September I was swimming again and, funnily enough, the day before Quit Day I ran out of smokes and couldnt be bothered going for that last packet, so gave up a day early. It was so ###### easy I couldnt believe it and find it even hard to explain today.

I think the ease was a result of a combination of the long term brain washing I had been giving myself plus the need to get myself back into physical shape. I also think the swimming, (1 km every day for a while and even twice some days) plus the resultant endorphin effect, had put me into a very positive state of mind, making the whole thing so much easier.(fags also get soggy in the pool and wont light too good).

I had a strong desire to feel fit and healthy, which left no room for smoking.

Now I did stumble for a while. Not long after arriving here in Thailand (6 months after quitting) I was captured and led astray by some local women content on forcing me into a life of depravity and sordid behaviour and I was also tempted into smoking again for a while as it seemed to be the least of my concerns at the time. I did however manage to escape after a month and stopped smoking again, and as before, with the aid of the swimming pool. I have continued smoke free since and swim about three times a week now.

So I guess what I am trying to say is you have to be determined, give yourself a good reason to quit, concentrate on the negative side of the habit, over a period of time beforehand, and replace the filthy habit with healthy one that makes you feel good.

I wish you all the best in your determinations.

"What's your favorite piece of advice from your father?"

One of my father's classics was:

Son! Buy as much land as you can and keep it for as long as you can

I wonder if you have been given any pearls of wisdom to say pass on to your kids

Lets hear them

If its got tits or wheels, its bound to cause problems.

"What's your favorite piece of advice from your father?"

One of my father's classics was:

Son! Buy as much land as you can and keep it for as long as you can

I wonder if you have been given any pearls of wisdom to say pass on to your kids

Lets hear them

"Before borrowing money from a friend, think what you need the most."

"With the yanks as your friends, you dont need an enemy"

"DONT SMOKE!" (But I did of course)

and for marriage..."Why buy a cow when milk is so cheap"

I caught dengue last year in pattaya, it was the most miserable and painful periods in my life, all my joints ached all my muscles ached, a deep depression and the worst part of it was that there is no treatment, it took 12 weeks to clear up and i have had small recurrences ever since maybe 1 or 2 days each time, this apparently was the weakest or less debilitating of the various strains of dengue.

A very horriffic thought is that each time you contract it, it increases in severity finally ending up in a haemorragic type disease similar to ebola, to which there is similarily no treatment and eventually death.

Mosquitos breed in stagnant water, i have ensured that none equists around my house, even down to long lasting puddles on the road, we make sure that we put small fish into any other water collection or pond to eat the larvae. Half a cup of kerosene floats on top of our water supply has the same effect as does a similar amount of salt. we also have UV zappers in each room.

So far so good and since then ,there does seem to be a noticeable decrease in mozzies.

Maybe these precautions seem extreme, but if you are ever a recipient of this disease you will not disagree.

---------------------------

I have also had dengue. Four years ago in Samut Sakorn. Similar symptoms to yours I was in bed for three weeks. For a good part of that time I was dreaming that I was floating on a raft in the ocean, burning up under the sun.

Excrutiating joint and soft tissue pain. I'm not sure what my temperature was but I'm sure it was the highest fever I ever had. My Thai relatives were "taking care" of me. They thought I had SARS.

I tried to explain that it wasn't but it was impossible to convince them.

EVEN THOUGH I'M A PHYSICIAN. Once a Thai doctor made the diagnosis they believed it. No cough duh!

Very,very, nasty. Even worse than ameobic dysentery contracted in 1974 in India which almost killed me...

Ah yes, amoebic dysentery, I remember it well.....Morroco 1976. The very best delirium money can buy (or not) !!!

I checked with the wife: she says she didn't feel a thing

That's funny as she told me she certainly felt the earth move....

Nah, it was only with 'margin' that she didn't feel a thing

[ you having a laugh right thai buddist peace loving. not the ones in Samui. Muslim relegion is also a peacefull religion. good and bad in all religions

Did I just wake up in another world? Do you watch TV, read the newspaper, know what even goes on in the world nowadays?? - The only thing that was even close to the truth was the "good and bad in all religions" - but more more to the point I would say there are good in bad in all peopl eof all religions. The people are the ones that make the bad - religions are good, it is the interpretation and implementation of the tenets by PEOPLE that destroy it.

Good that there is some common sense here as well well, and not just the hang 'em brigade.

The problem down south is highly complex. The insurgents are everything else than "animals", and escalating the situation, as some here seem to demand, is exactly what the insurgents intend with those atrocities.

This is war, and the insurgents don't kill indiscriminately, they have very clear tactics, and choose their victims carefully for maximum effect. They kill a Buddhist woman to escalate the situation into a religious civil war, a few weeks ago they have had a round of killing army and police in previously quiet districts to disrupt the security forces.

These are so far very successful tactics that give them the initiative, and the lead in the conflict. The government is still struggling for an answer, experimenting with different strategies, which are so far not very successful.

The insurgents are highly organized, with combat units, bomb units, propaganda squads, intelligence units, etc.

Every war is ugly. What in the wars led by western nations presently is termed "collateral damage" are also civilians, women and children, mutilated and killed.

No, the majority of the Muslim population is not on the side of the insurgents, they are terrified. But they are not on the side of the government either. And that is entirely the fault of the government. Decades of oppression resulted in that mistrust. The last opportunities to bring the majority of the civilian Muslim population to the side of the government have been given away by Prem's rejection of the recommendation of NRC to allow using Yawi as a second government language, and by Surayud not arresting and trying the officers responsible for Tak Bai.

There are many soldiers and police officers on the ground who try to do the best they can, but that work is somewhat boycotted by the block heads in the higher ranks and the government, and by the endemic corruption of others in the military and police, who are directly benefiting financially from the war and the huge government funds of which lots can be channeled away.

And no, Buddhists are not that peaceful either. There were already revenge killings by local Buddhists against innocent Muslims, and the Dahan Praan have a terrible reputation down there, not entirely undeserved either.

The only possible solution is on the negotiation table. But i fear that a lot more blood has to flow until both sides are ready and willing for substantial negotiations. All out war might satisfy the bloodlust of some here (most of those will never have to directly deal with that war as well), but it is no solution. At least that the government understands, and has a hard time to hold back extremists out for revenge.

Colpyat, I don't always agree with you, but this is one of the most sensible posts I have seen. The idiots who want to slash and burn down South are no better than the terrorists and are just playing into their hands. Why do they think that kind of tactic will work anyway? Can they share with us where that has worked? Iraq, Afghanistan...??

Absolutely agree. IMHO counter-insurgency only creates more insurgents. Imagine if it was some of your relatives who were stacked like bags of rice in trucks and dying slowly and painfully through suffocation. I am sure you would be more inclined to join the insurgency then. This is what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan every day. And so the problem keeps growing.

I tend to think the solution to the southern 'problem' has been seen before in Northern Ireland. I'm no expert but it seems to me that the Northern Ireland economy got the the stage where it had nowhere else to go but up. Pouring money/industry into N.I. created employment. Unemployment creates boredom and frustration. I think those who were unhappy before are now too busy working to pay off their new car/tv to go out and plant bombs. Although I dislike many facets of capitalism I believe it keeps people busy, provides them with incentive, and therefore contentment.

Such butchery! If the allegations are true, then justice must be seen to be done!

How can Thai people just stand by and tolerate those in authority to 'get away' with it?

This poor young lady has this experience to last her a liftetime. I just hope that there is some charitable organisation that can help her and her family in some way. The Thai Police Benevolent Fund, if the accused is found guilty?

Now that would be a novel idea.

The thing I cant believe is that there are 1000's of people reading this forum (including a legal team) and no-one can help us organise a charity for her... I bet if it was something that money could be made out of we would get an immediate response.

Maybe Im just a member of the wrong forum. Sleep well, the lot of you.

(I feel a holiday coming!!!)

Australia is having another crack at ruining Thailand's tourist industry, by putting the frighteners on traveling in the Kingdom. The second time in only a couple of months.

australia has one of the worst human abuses records in history; they have always been Asia's natural enemy, the yellow peril and keep australia white policies. It is only in the last few years that they have come to realise the importance of good relations with it's Asian neighbours, especially after being dumped by Britain & Europe who no longer require importing in bulk australia`s lamb produce.

In these troubled times, it is no longer absolutely safe to travel anywhere in the world, including all major cities. It appears that australia still regards many Asian countries as backward, dangerous and of inferior infrastructure.

Sadly australia is a leopard that cannot change its spots.

You have forgotten to take your medication again hav'nt you. You silly little boy, go and take it now otherwise their will be a nice little white van come for you. They have a lovely back-to-front jacket for you so you dont have to put up with that dribble running off your chin and down your chest.

I guess your forum name says it all...'distorted'!!!

This thread seems to have reached a dead end......the poor girls been forgotten already!

Seem to be a lot of jobs advertised on the ajarn job board at the moment. Is that unusual or just this time of year?

Next month is the beginning of the school year for a lot (not all) of schools so the demand is usually higher now in my experience. Some schools put off hiring until after the holidays are over so they dont have to pay newcomers for the break. IMHO it is usual.

But on the general topic, the streets around my joint have been quiet the last couple of weeks (Thaiwise) but my wife tells me a lot have left already for the Songkran festival. Some restaurants in the nearby market have closed till after Songkran because its so quiet. This indicates to me that things cant be too bad for the average if they can go away early or just close down 10 days before.

I grew some potatoes in Huai Rat, Buriram. I was late planting so heat eventually became a problem and because of that the potatoes were small. But I planted 4 potatoes from Twickets supermarket (they had started sprouting when I bought them) I kept them in wet straw for 2 weeks, then cut and planted them in buffalo excrement, rice field soil and garden centre compost that isnt like compost as I know it. I was pleased with the results, but next year its going to be planting earlier in raised beds next to a wall to give extra shade.

I think you will find a good fertilizer is the secret, apart from the right time of year. High in phosphates if I remember correctly. An NPK mix (N = nitrogen, for leaves. P = phosphates, for stems and roots. K = pottasium, for flowering parts).

I used to grow em at home in old car tyres, but maybe a bit hot here.

I have to get a Re-entry Permit soon. I prefer to get it a few days in advance of my flight. I noticed on the Thai Immigration website that you can email the completed TM-8, then go to the office the next day:

Quote:

For a re-entry permit,if you are in Bangkok area and you have an Internet access, you could fill in a TM. 8 form and send it to [email protected]

— You should e-mail the completed form 1 day in advance.

— You have to submit a 2" photo and pay a permit fee at counter 7, the Immigration Bureau (soi suanplu office.)

— Fee for re-entry permit:

1,000 Bahts for single

3,800 Bahts for multiple

I'm curious if anyone has done this and if so, do you have to wait long, or return a 2nd time?

In my experience (albiet a year ago) it is far easier to get it at the airport on your way out. I found it a lot less time consuming than putting up with the traffic getting to and from Suan Phlu. By all means download it from the internet and complete it on your computer beforehand...they seem to like it if you are all prepared and dont waste their time doing something you can do beforehand.

What happens if you miss a 90 day reort ??

My current notification slip does not mention it but I'm pretty sure my previous (renewed last week) said it was 500 baht per day till you do with a max of 20.000 baht fine (similar to overstay).

I haven't had a chance to look at thaivisa.com for a while and have noticed the new notification process for staying in Thailand for longer than 90 days. Is this just with reference to people with VOAs or does this include proper tourist visas, work permits and everything else to do with any type of farrang visa?

I have a triple entry tourist visa, which was activated on 6th or 7th January, when I returned to Thailand from England, so I have to do a border run evey 60 days. I did read that if you leave the Kingdom the count will restart from 1 again on your return. Is this definately the case?

Also, I have made a few friends and they have work permits and therefore do not need to leave the Kingdom and they are non the wiser about this 90 day reporting. Should they be reporting to immigration?

Any feedback on this will be greatly appreciated!

cheers

If your mates have work permits they should have Non Imm B visas. If the visas are longer than three months they should, I think, have been given a slip in their passports advising when they have to report. I just did mine the other day at the new airport. The guy told my wife (in Thai) that he was really impressed that I was organised enough to have downloaded the form off this site and had it already completed, compared to the throng who just come in and present their passports looking dumfounded. It was a painless, pleasant ordeal (as usual) that took no longer than ten minutes. The airport office is always very quiet too (no waiting) but that depends if you are closer to Suan Phlu (which I have never had a problem with bar the traffic).

your 10 and another 5 from those that have pledged here is 15 ,

must be able to double that easily if we knew how to proceed ,

come on folks this is real money to this unfortunate girl ......................

i think we need some direction from the mods on this.

or would thier hands be tied, with a threat of a reaction from our freindly bib

Lucky they've got two hands to be tied together! Just sit back and imagine the terror this poor girl must have gone through in those final minutes, chased by 'public protectors', one arm lopped off, trying to ride one handed and still pursued! Gets through all that, and then has the worry of a child and sick mother to support with only one arm and a broken leg... while she waits for some kind of compensation.

Somebody out there reading this must be able to connect us.

I'm not much of a nature-boy, but when I've gone to national parks, etc. I have mostly been with school groups- kinda hard to deny I'm working here in those situations! Otherwise my various papers have always been accepted in other touristy places to get me the local rate.

Yep, I just flash my school ID card (teacher) and dont ever have a problem. I also try to be as Thai as possible. I cant speak Thai but try to and I show respect. Its usually works for me. When it hasnt it has been because I havnt been able to control my temper!

[

I thought it was a very interesting article/interview. I have always liked Noam's work.

Why could we not just send the money to one of the mods on here. i dont not see why we should wait till the outcome of the case . Or wait to see how much money she gets in compo,The point is she could do with it now or asap.

For the members overseas like me , ie back here in sunny warm England lol not .We could just send the money through weston union,If we have somwhere to send it .

It cant be that hard to get the money to her ,Cant somone who speaks thai call a paper .Or see if there was a local paper maybe what has done a story on her. As they may have the contact details for her,and maybe they will even be willing to help .

Anyways i have got a bit i am willing to send , so hows about we get the ball rolling if we can .I dont like the idea of paying money into her bank acount i must say though,I could send it even to my other half and she could give it to somone over there . i would rather it be given to her in person if that was at all possible .

Tried that. Unforunately because of forum rules, legal problems etc, ThaiVisa cant help us out here.