edwinchester

1 hour ago, ukmark67 said:

I have just returned and there were no problems at all for this visa. No financials needed. 

A word of warning tho......Get there early as it was packed...Well over 100 people.

The person behind me when collecting had ticket no. 119 and i'm sure that wouldn't have been the last ticket issued!

Good luck.

Thanks for the warning, what day of the week did you go?

59 minutes ago, Caps said:

Glad the kids are all reasonably ok, they were very lucky

"Two of the children - girl guides aged 12 and 13 - were seriously injured. "

3 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Excellent example.  It was tried here and didn't work.  Other than a few thousand dead people.  And who knows how many were really drug dealers.  Nobody.

I'll never forget one evening during the killing spree here in Thailand.

My wife and I were travelling back home from a friend's along a track through the sugar cane.

Up ahead a pickup blocked our way and several high powered torches were shone through the windows and we heard shouting.

I wound down my window and a pistol and some sort of automatic rifle was pointed at my head.

Almost to a man the guys in the pickup appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.

Luckily they recognised my wife who used to work in the local Police Station for they were all Police Officers.

What are you looking for asked wifey?

Drug dealers to kill they laughed and with that we were allowed on our way.

Next morning a 16 year old was found shot dead in the local market.....he was a yaba user. Guess they couldn't find their dealer.

50 minutes ago, lovelomsak said:

you mlssed the point he is saying to the criminals that if you live outside the law then laws will not protect you this is the way it has to be dealt with no more mister nice guy there may well be some innocents die but many many more will be saved it is real life shoot out war and does have collateral damage

Ahhh.....the old 'can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs' argument.

Thailand tried the same thing years ago under Thaksin. Ever noticed how drug free the Kingdom is now? Thought not.

One of my best ever managers told me that performance targets should be both realistic and achievable if they were to be meaningful to both myself and him.

If this guy thinks he can deliver immediate solutions he's either super human or ill prepared for the tasks in hand. I know which one I'd pick.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how all these people who are ready to 'prove their innocence in the judicial process' seem to do their utmost to delay, obstruct and avoid that same process?

58 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It is 450 baht for the transport across no mans land, 500 baht for the Myanmar border pass and 10 baht for a copy of your passport.

You pay the 960 baht at the travel agency just after you clear Thai immigration.

When I went recently I only gave the agency 10 bht for the passport copy. When we reached Burmese Immigration I gave the minibus driver 950 bht, 500 bht for Burmese stamp, 450 bht for transport. Stayed in the van the whole time.

"....which are reportedly invisible during the day and only illuminate when the car behind it has its high beam lights on."

Hate to let the writer of the OP know but if they look very closely the photo was taken during the day.

"The prime minister, however, noted that the last thing he wanted to see regarding the Dhammakaya affairs is internal conflict among the Buddhists."

No problem then as some of the players seem as Buddhist as the Pope.

No wonder Scania and Volvo had to pull out of the bidding process, no way to compete with this level of deception.

I went this year as interested in buying a new car and motorbike.

It never ceases to amaze how little discount, haggling and extras are on offer. Small wonder sales are down.

Just God being mysterious.

20 hours ago, Alainpm said:

Hmm is this exactly the perfect example of "discrimination" towards foreigners ? We can find  many examples, but here I dont know.. It can depend also on what tone the waitress said it to her.  I can understand her  feeling, if she was discriminated previously, which could be why  she overreacted (emotional tensions linked to a previous unsolved situation) -->"...Near ruined her day"...  Maybe she had not a lot of money and could not afford to buy this pizza if not at the reduced price in which case the attitude of the waitress is poor. In such instance, talking to the waitress about it in a kind way may have helped her change her mind and have her offer the special discount on the kingsize pizza.  

But if we consider, cold headed, that special case as example, I would say this kindly  to her that although she seems emotionally linked to pizzas (which I am too ! ), Thai people themselves are linked emotionally and symbolically  to their Late King, so if this "only for Thai people" promotion was offered to anyone regardless of nationality it would lose of its reason to be as just a little gift for Thai people at this Nation's time of mourning....  I'm not Thai but  I can understand that. And by the way, maybe this was a crypted message to her that she may be better feed on something else than pizzas (how much does she weight)? 

Whatever , if I were Thai, this post would make me see her as another farang whiner. Spilling hot oil on a pizza is a rich idea, but using it on a fire to extinguish it is not the right solution : even if her hope to get a juicy pizza slice at the bargain price offered was legitimate, I think  the effect on Thai people who read this story is just COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.  Better take the Mai Pen Rai attitude then go and get a pizza or something lighter elsewhere, the Thai way.  

 

More generally speaking, not necessarily linked with that case, if you want someone to improve his attitude toward you, there are 2 steps : get back to your inner Self first to  find peace or alternatively   indulge in a good rest(aurant). Then you can talk to the person gently without anger about the issue that affects you, but also   focus on the person's qualities and not his defects, even if you see them , as anger (coming from tirednessj distraction,frustration,...) cannot bring any productive results. Also, it's not about being right, it's about creating a friendlier attitude from others. Some attitudes of some Thais (and anyone on this planet) may be immature and ego(is)tic, but any harsh critic should be mitigated with some words on the good aspects of the people. That would make them happy and be better toward you. Thais are particularly sensitive to that. And is a law of nature. The mirror effect. This is deeply linked with emotions. Emotions are located in   the "second brain", in the abdomen, the seat of empathy, emotions (whichever ), one of the reason why people are so obsessed by food and filling up their stomach. To come back to the subject, Thai people read this forum as you know,  and I'm sure they talk with each other about the alleged grumpiness of some foreigners by reading their posts. Some will remain either   neutral or react negatively...  I know it can be hard to suppress.. Even if you feel/know you are right,  before writing  or saying anything, wait till any anger has faded because frustration makes us focus on the negative things. Don't underestimate the power of words in this world of fast transfer of information to anyone, anywhere... So choose them well. And get back to your inner Self away from outside interference and take your time before taking any important decisions or saying/writing anything to others, whether in real life or on the internet.

I'm outta here and back to Bangkok on dec 20. Yatta ! I invite you and your friend for a pizza and a drink.  Happy Birthday to her !   cheers  Al 

Thanks for the invite but unfortunately we'll be in Laos.

My that was a long write-up but I must clear up a couple of points.

It was my(the farang husbands) birthday.

"She", is my Thai wife.

"Near ruined her day", that was a light hearted quip by me as hers was mild irritation to be honest. My wife genuinely does believe it to be discrimination against me and doesn't like it.

She'll argue the toss too when we visit a National Park, long after I've given up :)

I've said it before, one of the complaints I hear from our Police friends is about the annual amnesty system here. Time after time career criminals like this one are released way too early in what appears to be simply a way to get the appalling prison population numbers down.

Driver public vehicle training scheme and registration.

Forward facing seats with individual seat belts.

Passenger safety cell with side impact protection.

Alai wah!

3 hours ago, Richard-BKK said:

 

I'm sure the Zongshen RX3 standard comes as 250cc liquid-cooled and has standard the adventure outfit, 160K THB is ridicules the actual price is probably around 120,000 THB

Hi, maybe I misremembered the cheaper bike but it was definitely an adventure bike with the standard plastic boxes.

The one marked up at 160k had much better addons. The panniers and topbox were all good quality aluminium.Other items such as the wrap around crashbars, 'Barkbusters' etc were much better quality than those on the cheaper version.

Edit. Just had a word with a friend who reckons it was an rx1 at 80k bht.....my bad.

The rx3 at 160k is known as the 'Top' according to him.

40 minutes ago, papa al said:

~B100K

I'm pretty sure it was marked up at 80k bht at the Motorexpo although I stand to be corrected.

There was another version, 250cc(?) watercooled fully kitted out in adventure bling for 160k bht which was alot better finished.

3 minutes ago, evadgib said:

If this means you stayed and supported their racist policy there was little point in starting the thread.

It didn't phase me too much but my wife(Thai) was the one irritated by it.

Consider this a way of highlighting her irritation and that not all Thais support what you call their racist policy.

31 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

So can I ask why you need to get your wife to talk for you? Are you just off the boat?

 

I'd say if you can't be bothered learning how to say, "It's my birthday, can I get a free pizza" then you don't deserve one and they were right to tell you where to go.

My wife walked in about a minute before me and asked about the deal.

She was the one irritated by the refusal.

I have learnt what happens here sometimes.

36 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Thai people doing what they want in Thailand? Yes, that's fine with me.

 

Now, what about the OP's pizza choices?

I had the Chicago and a Lasagne.

They were both fine.

1 hour ago, Johnniey said:

What language did your wife speak to the staff in?

She's Thai so no misunderstanding.

55 minutes ago, claffey said:

I've never had any issue receiving similar offers on father's day, as long as I had my son with me. Is your wife Thai? If not, maybe it was lost in translation. You would need your passport to prove it was your birthday.Did you have it? 

Wife is Thai and also showed them my passport.

Went to Pizza Company and wifey got all excited when she saw the signs for a discount for those who share the same birthday as the previous King, December 5th.

"Thai people only" was the short reply to her enquiry. This farang has the same birthday and didn't qualify for the discount, near ruined her day.

On 13/10/2016 at 8:19 PM, Rhys said:

Any reason for the firesale.. good looking bike.. I hope it goes fast for you.. Cheers mate

Well equipped bike although obviously in need of a good service.

3000 rai spread amongst nearly 9000 farmers......hardly worth having.

Much better to give a thousand 3 rai each.