gummy

Unless any of them have had access to all the preliminary core samples, post construction core samples, detailed engineering caluclations relating to all the specific areas in question and post construction survey reports then to most of us they just continue to prove what most of us already suspect, they like the sound of their own voice, or in this case their words, and will not let any figment of fact impact upon their words of fiction.

Well, if we actually saw evidence such as this rather than proclamations flying around everywhere then it would put a few minds at rest.

My point proven I think unless that is you care to share with us all your Civil Engineering qualifications and specific airport runway construction experiences ?

You have to understand that all the "experts" who categorically suggest that the runway cracks are serious, or those that disparage credible engineering reports, are generally venting their opinions due to extreme cases of flactulance.

Unless any of them have had access to all the preliminary core samples, post construction core samples, detailed engineering caluclations relating to all the specific areas in question and post construction survey reports then to most of us they just continue to prove what most of us already suspect, they like the sound of their own voice, or in this case their words, and will not let any figment of fact impact upon their words of fiction.

I'm not living in LOS now, I will do again one day, the TW will see to that! Now I'm back in the UK, and can see just how far down the toilet T Blair Esq has taken the country, the 'proud to be British' thing is beginning to look a bit of a joke.

At least you are on the South Coast. If you appeaciate the geography of Tony's "down the toilet philosophy" think yourself lucky you don't live in Luton, Leicester, Brixton or Bradford etc.etc. Those areas have been allowed to become totally flushed away from anything recognisable with Britain Fortunatly I don't come from any areas like that so still proud ,to a certain extent ,to be British. If I did however come from those areas I would seriously consider denying it as I would be ashamed to admit it !!!

I purchased two Diesel watches from a stall on the ground floor of Pantip Plaza last week. They were asking 250 baht but after lengthy negotiation l was able to get the pair for 170 baht, a saving of 80 baht. The seller told me they were waterproof to 100m.

Sure you did not mis-hear and they said 100mm ?

Hey

Just spoke to HMCE and the maximum CASH you are legally allowed to bring into the UK without declaring it, is £ 1000 or the equivalent in any other currency. Any larger amount requires a 'paper trail' that can be verified.

OP actually asked how much cash he could take out of the UK.

Yes he did and as what has been said before, there is no limit. However a significant amount of cash will show up in your hand baggage and you may be asked to account for it. Therefore if you withdrew the money from a UK bank then I suggest you keep your stub of the withdrawal slip as it will demonstrate that it was from your own account. You may not be asked but be prepared to answer the question just in case. Once in Thailand do you intend to deposit it in your bank here at one time? Again if you do it is no problem but you will be asked to state where it is from and what it is for as per the banks normal routine process. Again no problem just procedure.

As you queue up at immigration it is on the right hand side.

Has anybody had any experience of exporting a vehicle from Thailand to the UK? If so what are the pitfalls? conversly importing whilst based in the UK from Thailand ?

I'm going to the UK in a couple of months for a holiday and have a money question:

Is it possible to use a "Be 1st" Bangkok Bank ATM card to access Thai funds from UK ATMs?

If so,

• did you get charged an outrageous exchange rate?
  
• did you have to notify your branch in Thailand before you left?
  

Thanks a lot, guys.

Don't know about your bank so can not answer definitively but you can use a HSBC card issued in Thailand in the UK. Costs are similar. Suggest you enquire with your Thai bank

Why Thailand has crap food.

One reason is holding temps. Food cannot be held at room temp. It will poison you. Food should be below 40F or above 135F.

Another is cross contamination. You can't use just one cutting board for chicken, pork, and so on.

Another is three compartment sinks. One to wash, one to rinse and one to sanitize. They are non existent in Thailand.

Next time you eat at a street side vendor look for the above things. When you get sick you can remember reading it here.

Why does Thailand not enforce even these basic standards? Anyone have any ideas? I don't really have a clue.

You happened to work for CDC or something or on cruise ships???

Just for your information the guide lines you just mentioned are only required by vessels (VSP Vessel Sanitation Program) coming from foreign soil sailing into a US port. These requirements do not apply for any land based operation not even in the US. So stop whining as 3 compartment sinks and stuff like that dont even exist in your local McDonalds mister as I am sure that is the food you prefer am I right. Get your head screwed on the right way ( on yourshoulders and not your ass) or another alternative is leave Thailand and never come back so you wont get sick from Thai food no more. Ciao

I have worked in the food business in the US for 30 years. The requirements I mentioned are standard in each and every restaurant in the US and have been for 30 years in every state in the US.

Search HACCP on google for confirmation. In addition to those requirements most states require HACCP training for each and every employee to be employed in a food service establishment.

HACCP is also the recognized international standard and says that improper holding temps cause 90% of foodborne illness.

I was going to tell you all the places to eat in Pattaya that use these standards but since you all never get sick I guess I will keep that info to myself. Happy eating.

And I guess you never put your bare arse on a toilet seat either and what about toilet door handles do you sterilise them before touching ? - enough bacteria on them to worry you surely ? Guess you only eat and don't crap or pee anywhere?. Do you know Weho ?

Are you from Australia? That would explain it.

Food borne illness costs Australia 4.2 billion a year.

No I am not from Oz. However that is an amazing statistic. Can you quote me please where that data was gained from so I can review it, and is that AUS $, US $ or THB ? Asuming it is AUS $ and given that just recently the entire population has just passed 20 million that works out at 2.1 million AUS $ for each person, far far in excess of the GDP per capita, perhaps your figures shall we say are a slight over inflation?

Started new topic as the other thread was specific about US television so did not want to drift of that topic.

So, as Freeview in the UK, is exactly that free, albeit you have to buy the set-top box. Would I be correct in assuming that an enterprising individual with a decent broadband connection could sell a service to those of us in Thailand who wishes to participate?

I mean by this that for an agreed annual service fee say, would it be possible for this service supplier in the UK to have installed multiple slingboxes so that each subscriber in Thailand would have their own internet acces to their own slingbox back in the UK ? Any IT gurus out there advise as to whether there would be sufficient bandwidth available for multi boxes to transmit concurrently for this idea to work?

Why Thailand has crap food.

One reason is holding temps. Food cannot be held at room temp. It will poison you. Food should be below 40F or above 135F.

Another is cross contamination. You can't use just one cutting board for chicken, pork, and so on.

Another is three compartment sinks. One to wash, one to rinse and one to sanitize. They are non existent in Thailand.

Next time you eat at a street side vendor look for the above things. When you get sick you can remember reading it here.

Why does Thailand not enforce even these basic standards? Anyone have any ideas? I don't really have a clue.

You happened to work for CDC or something or on cruise ships???

Just for your information the guide lines you just mentioned are only required by vessels (VSP Vessel Sanitation Program) coming from foreign soil sailing into a US port. These requirements do not apply for any land based operation not even in the US. So stop whining as 3 compartment sinks and stuff like that dont even exist in your local McDonalds mister as I am sure that is the food you prefer am I right. Get your head screwed on the right way ( on yourshoulders and not your ass) or another alternative is leave Thailand and never come back so you wont get sick from Thai food no more. Ciao

I have worked in the food business in the US for 30 years. The requirements I mentioned are standard in each and every restaurant in the US and have been for 30 years in every state in the US.

Search HACCP on google for confirmation. In addition to those requirements most states require HACCP training for each and every employee to be employed in a food service establishment.

HACCP is also the recognized international standard and says that improper holding temps cause 90% of foodborne illness.

I was going to tell you all the places to eat in Pattaya that use these standards but since you all never get sick I guess I will keep that info to myself. Happy eating.

And I guess you never put your bare arse on a toilet seat either and what about toilet door handles do you sterilise them before touching ? - enough bacteria on them to worry you surely ? Guess you only eat and don't crap or pee anywhere?. Do you know Weho ?

No problem getting my Hotmail, although it is thro' Outlook. I'm in BKK on True. There are days though when for a few minutes, apparently at random, the only emails I can send and receive are my Truemail account, after a while it all go back to normal.

I am not sure that is correct to say that the central bank is lifting all control measures insofar as the 30% witholding will still remain. At least 'till next week. But I stand to be corrected by the financial gurus

Sounds like

White man speaks with forked tongue

No.

The man speaks with a justified fear, knowing that Surayud is the far lesser of the available evils, who most possibly does want to bring back some sort of democracy.

If Surayud is forced out now without a direct return of the '97 constitution and immediate elections, then there is an opening for the hardliners in the military, and then things will indeed turn from bad to ugly, not just for TRT members.

Been reading to many Clancy books my friend. Need someone with more balls to nail Toxin and his left-overs for good.

Actually, Clancy is not in my library, though relevant here several books on recent Thai history. They are rather enlightening about issues such as what happens when hardliners in the military come to power. May i direct you you to read up on especially the incident of the 6th October 1976, and the regime that came to power afterwards.

I do not think history will repeat itself, however that was a similar scenario that Toxin and his corrupt cohorts were trying to instigate before he was kicked out. Given his other agenda it is fortunate I think for Thailand that he was relieved of his duties sooner rather than later. However like a virul infection, a course of penicillan has to be taken completely, not just stopped after the symptom subsides, as it will surely return, most often in a more virulent form.

KerryK - you for real ?

Yes - entertainment venues are lifeblood to resort areas. One has to wonder when the powers that be, will get it through their thick skulls.

thailand has to be one of the only places in the world where people come and cant get a drink after 1am legaley (sic) they will stop coming like they have almost in samui

Every few weeks the resident gurus predict that the tourists will stop coming and that the economy is in dire straits.

Apparently the tourists never seem to subscribe to these views. Coups, tsunamis, bombs...and the tourists keep coming in record numbers.

The baht continues to strengthen. Analysts appearing on Bloomberg continue to suggest that Thailand offers great investment opportunities. Major corporations contemplate opening billion dollar industrial operations.

I can easily see why some of Thai Visa message board's most vocal commentators want alcohol available 24 hours a day...and it has nothing to do with helping the tourism industry.

Watch Pattaya People Channel on TV for a few days. The continuing parade of drunken farang misfits getting into brawls, jumping from condo & hotel balconies or being mugged because of their drunken state of vulnerability is just amazing. Who needs that? If all the tourists who absolutely need to drink between 1:00 am and 6:00 am never came to Thailand, it would be no loss.

I totally agree with you, Kao Jai.

I think they should have a place for Slobbering drunks, but lets not let it be Thailand, please. Pick a place in your own country guys and leave us in peace. I'm sure Thai people are getting tired of being the dumping point of American and European misfits (just to name a couple). We have enough Thai drunks here to carry the breweries and distilleries. We don't need foreigners to come over here and act like idiots. There are enough idiots here already.

I know people (mostly young people) need a place to let of steam, but let them do it in their own country. Don't pollute beautiful Thailand with your attitudes and behaviors.

We have Raves and such in Canada, where people can party their faces off, stay up for days at a time and do all kinds of other stuff, which is great, for people who want to do it. They are usually held in remote areas, which has practically no negative impact on the community.

Maybe they should create a "party zone" in Thailand, but please let it be away from where local people live, who mostly work 12-14 hours per day and need their rest.

I see it up here in Chiang Dao already, when some idiot opens an outdoor bar or Karaoke place and nobody in the neighborhood gets a good night sleep anymore. My neighbors get up at 5am to go work in the fields (mostly farmers around here) and work until sunset. They don't need crap like that.

When you stay up all night and party every night in a neighborhood where people live and sleep, you are asking for problems, because people will complain and when they finally had enough of local corruption keeping the doors open, they will go above their heads and bring in someone from Bangkok to close them down.

The wheels of justice might grind slower here in Thailand, but eventually one will get crushed by them.

Totally agree. I have been coming to this country frequently, for over 20 years and I have seen some disgraceful changes. No I am not talking 'the good ol days', I expect things to change...it is the only constant. Now I live here and have done so for two years, but now I dont like going to the tourist areas because I feel ashamed to be a farang. I have seen the same thing happen in Bali and was ashamed there.

And yes, maybe we should be getting our priorities right, thinking about the violence and the encroachment, but are they not intricately connected?

When I first came here there was ganja everywhere, and a bit of opium. But the result was a few very relaxed smiling faces ( and some nodding). The farang brought the 'fast' drugs and their money, and the locals want to be like the oh so lucky farang. The fast drugs bring the violence and Taksin put the prices up so they had to turn to crime to support their habits. The straight locals want the farang money too, and destroy the environment in building what they think the farang want.

Yes quality not quantity, I personally think the authorities have the right idea, not exact, but on the right track.

And Virgil, your so right, you should stay 'out'. What a statement!

Quite agree it is time for quality not quantity. Although back to your comment on Bali, Nusa Dua has benefited from the quality folk rather than the riff raff type

White man speaks with forked tongue

No.

The man speaks with a justified fear, knowing that Surayud is the far lesser of the available evils, who most possibly does want to bring back some sort of democracy.

If Surayud is forced out now without a direct return of the '97 constitution and immediate elections, then there is an opening for the hardliners in the military, and then things will indeed turn from bad to ugly, not just for TRT members.

Been reading to many Clancy books my friend. Need someone with more balls to nail Toxin and his left-overs for good.

White man speaks with forked tongue

Yes and his wife is Thai so she can legally own any property here. Further no such underhand tax as Council Tax either.

After that will they add more toilets?

I know you are trying to be funny....but I'll answer the question. From what I read, they expect to finish adding toilets in about 6 months from now.

To me the Airport symbolises everything that is wrong with the nation. Had the money that went into peoples pockets gone into the construction you would have had a fine Airport, but what you have now is a complete joke.

Why the need to retrofit? This costs considerably more, and shouldn't be needed so soon after opening. To forget to put enough toilets in is shameful, they were so busy worrying about who would get $ from the various concessions that they completely forgot about planing the interior. Walk around it and it is so busy, some areas are so thin you can barely get two trolleys side by side past each other.

By the way i'm not knocking your country merely the individuals that hold it back at the expense of all the decent people.

Until there are enough politicians that truly want to help the country and not themselves things will never change.

Your last para defines nearly every country in the world. Those politicians who are truly dedicated to helping their country and not themselves, or else on an ego trip, can be counted on one hand in most countries I suspect.

Anyway back to the topic I came back in from Singapore Sunday evening, very nice smile from immigration, even advised to avoid the limo touts so must be improving. I parked my car there so no worries, but i was only approached once this time from a tout so I wonder if we are seeing a real crackdown ? Time will tell.

Personally I think Suvarnabhumi is much more preferable to Heathrow, just an opionion of course. And when T5 opens there, eventually, it is purported to have the largest airport shopping mall in Europe - shades of King Power here perhaps?

I agree on the most part .

No public playgrounds around or very few with crappy and old swing sets.

Trying to cross the street with your kids is a joke as your average driver is a total moron who could care less about letting a person with a child cross.

The school system is a joke and I think the term "Thai Education" is an oxymoron, even if you're paying for private school.

As much I disliked living in the USA after discovering LOS as a single man , may well end up back there for the sake of my son.

Yes....it looks more lile that for our family too. And the visa, property hassles, chance of a looming battle as rich thais fighting among themselves, etc, all helps make the decision easier to make.

I want to run around in a park with my kids. I want them to learn to skate and play hockey, build snowmen and see a 'real' christmas. But most of all, I want them to learn what life is really like, without all the bowing and scraping required in Thai society (but I don't mean they shouldn't learn manners or worry about offending the feelings of others - these are great Thai qualities). However, I also don't want them to sit around playing computer games after school and turning into the fat little morons I see in the Soi..

Mostly I want them to learn to question "Why" things happen or work...instead of just learning the emphasis on "How" (e.g. to copy things..)

I agree..it's probably time to think the unthinkable and bear the unbearable - on behalf of my kids. At least til they are around 12 or 13. Then it might be a good idea to actually move back to LOS..to re-learn manners, their Thai language, and to look for opportunities that their dual-language and heritage may offer in Thailand that they would have trouble finding in the west.

Easier said than done though if you are a salary-slave.

You may be surprised to learn that those "fat little morons" as you describe may, just may, also appear in many other nations. Lets just guess now how many people can answer this question; What is the nation with the highest percentage of obese children and adults ?

Something of further of interest is that any children, irrespective of whether they have dual or sole Thai nationality, are excluded from serving in the armed forces and Police if they have a non Thai Father.

Gummy, I have been looking for information on just that subject. Could you clarify the source, please? My son is only 2.5y.o. and I am probably jumping the gun a little but as a divorced single Dad living in the Kingdom it is nice to have as much information as possible stuck up one's sleeve.

Unless Gummy can provide some evidence or a link for his statement, i would personaly take it with a pinch of salt as it is the exact opposite as to what i've always believed.

BB

No proof I'm afraid, just always took it as "gospel" when told by my Thai Father-in-Law. Although he passed away some time ago, being a Thai diplomat I never had any reason to doubt or question it's validity. One of my Brothers-in-law who is still in the Thai military is also under this impression. We do not see him often but when I do I will enquire further as to where it is stipulated.

Don't like Rugby never have never will but just listened to the opening anthems. Considering the history between the English and Irish how nice was it to hear both Irish and English national anthems sung with the crowd showing respect for both nationalities. What a pity that respective teams anthems, anywhere in the world are normally subjected to booing or whistling.

It is a pity that not more nations and matches followed this example of mutual respect, it was a pleasure to hear irrespective of the match outcome. By the way, why do they play with a mis-shaped ball?

A Thai minor can legally be the owner of land irrespective whether or not he or she has dual nationality, but would need to be of legal age to sign documents relating to development or sale of said land. The laws is that if your wife buys freehold property then you, as an alien, have to sign a disclaimer stating that you have no claim to it as a alien irrespective of whether or not you or her provided the funds for a purchase. Something of further of interest is that any children, irrespective of whether they have dual or sole Thai nationality, are excluded from serving in the armed forces and Police if they have a non Thai Father.

Daihard, you know and I know that the return of the cane won't happen as the country is run by a bunch of politically correct do-gooders. Just hope they don't come to Thailand.