Boksida

Readers would wait with morbid fascination for the Trink Bangkok World restaurant reviews to see how much free food the self-described "trencherman" could put away at a single sitting. He used to supplement "sapid" with "toothsome" where required. There was no greater criticism than being served too small a portion.

I think the Golfers' Lounge guy was Lloyd Thomas. At one stage he also had an interest in the bar next to the Golfers (can't remember the name) and later on, Bobby's Arms.

I found Trink's information on "specials" very informative and was in Bill Book's Cellar Bar several times when he came in to update his reviews. When doing his Nite Owl rounds, he had a photographer trailing around. This guy was equipped with a Kodak 110 camera with the square rotating flashcube on top. It could have easily been operated by an 8 year old so I could never quite figure why he didn't do it himself.

For all that can be said about Bernard Trink, he was a man of the times (Vietnam War) and must have doubled Friday's newspaper circulation. Bachelors relied on it to plan their weekends.

Would you be referring to the 'Cock and Bull', by any chance, corner of soi 19? Great times had by most all who visited in that place

Would you be referring to the 'Cock and Bull', by any chance, corner of soi 19? Great times had by most all who visited in that place

The name might have changed over the years, the last time I went there was 1986. It was run by a Burmese chap called Peter, from memory. The girls all dressed in very modest clothes, and the general air of the place was always pretty respectable. Does any of that ring a bell? Oh, and there was a restaurant downstairs facing Sukhumvit, , the bar was up some stairs off Soi 19.

The way I remember it is:

The Cock and Bull had an entrance off Sukhumvit. The Joker Club was upstairs but with the same owners. The manager, Chris, was Burmese and his partner was Peter, a Swede, whose main line of business was surgical instruments. The place was heavily patronised by seismic personnel. Downstairs was a family restaurant showing movies and upstairs was a place to make families. The lead singer with the band was a Filipino called Freddie.

Chris and Peter went on to develop the JC Condominium (Joker Club) in Soi 15 with seed capital from their seismic patrons. This was then leveraged into the Tai Pan Hotels in Soi 23 and Vientiane. After that, I lost contact.

Country Roads was on the opposite corner with the entrance off Soi 19. The most I remember about that was some very good looking girls but overpriced drinks.

If you've lived abroad the whole time then there are no penalties for not being able to attend, apart from the small fines for late reporting that Samran mentioned.

If you've served in a foreign military under any capacity whatsoever then you are exempt. That means that if someone was was in the reserves (the TA in the UK, for example) just long enough to pass out of training they will have the credentials to exempt themselves from Thai national service.

My dual national son spent 6 years as a permanent member of the Armed Forces of another country but still had to go through the Thai draft formalities on his return to Thailand. There was no interest in his previous service but he was able to get an exemption on the basis of a previous injury (and a couple of brown envelopes).

I remember hanging out in The Pub when Mike Tinker ran it. It was the only thing resembling an expat bar I could find at the time (not counting The Gymkhana).

I have a recently bought one that still has the supermarket label on it - yarng pum hong nam. I think you will have trouble with ลูกสูบ as that is the generic name for a piston in any type of pump or engine.

Was having this discussion the other night a guy sid he paid 1200 in Central. personally i bought some stainless steel small bowls from Big C about 30 baht each perfect size, line with a little butter or oil add eggs. Put water in a frying pan, cover with a large lid and bring to boil works perfect. Only extra expense is little bowls, think they are for buddha offerings.

Putting the bowls in a rice cooker is another easy way to do it.

Go to any town or village hardware store and ask for a "Jop" (kind of long drawn out sound), that has always got me to what I know as a hoe.

I think that the word is Jawk, the asian hoe. But it is not really ideal for weeding.I have kept looking for what I know as a hoe, but I think that I will have to bring one back when I am next in the UK.

Go to any town or village hardware store and ask for a "Jop" (kind of long drawn out sound), that has always got me to what I know as a hoe.

Scoop, I would not be deterred by some of the negative comments. I lived in Chiangmai for about 10 years but commuted to work in Lampang throughout that period and had a second house there. At that time, there were no international schools in Lampang so it was better for my family to be in Chiangmai. As soon as the kids left school, my wife and I were able to close down in Chiangmai and move to Lampang, although we have no family ties there. The main reason was the superior life style, business I had developed there, and the number of friends we had made there over the years. We had heaps of friends in Chiangmai too, but saw less of them as traffic, parking etc have become increasingly difficult. Driving to Chiangmai only takes about 75 minutes anyway so we still go there regularly. I have also lived in other towns for periods of over a year (Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Udon, Korat) and liked them all, with the possible exception of Korat. I have also driven to, or worked in, every province in Thailand except Narathiwat, so feel my qualifications to express an opinion on the comparative virtues of life in Lampang may exceed those of Elektrified.

My best guess is that are less than 200 farangs living in, or near, the city itself. I probably see about 40 of these regularly on a social basis. Our main problem is the social life being a bit too hectic as we go out 4-5 evenings per week. I think people get together so often as travel to anywhere is approximately 15 minutes and going out is cheap. It would probably depend on your personal interests on where you would fit in. The group is pretty diverse with the normal quota of teachers, retirees, working people and diverse nationalities. My after work hobby is drinking beer and bullshitting so I get to meet lots of folks.

Real world is between 8-9hrs

That's my experience as well. Have done the trip to Udon scores of times and that is about 7.5 - 8 hours driving in any conditions. I usually use the road from Phu Reua to Wang Saphung to bypass Loei and shorten the trip.

You are driving around blind to their presence!

I regularly see cars and bikes clamped around town, especially on busy roads such as around the moat and Changphuak Road.

The GF always goes on about the time she stopped for 2 mins on Changphuak Road and got her bike clamped, the BIB would not take payment there and then, she then had to take a tuktuk to police station, pay fine, then tuktuk back to her bike and wait for an hour to have the clamp removed!

I get reminded EVERY time we see the policeman who clamped her!

Did you even read my OP ??? I said it was NOT a police officer. It was a parking infringment officer in a different uniform. Some people are unbelievable.

The guy was probably a "tessagarn". They are municipal employees and usually do low level security duties such as parking enforcement or security at events organised by the municipality or revenue collection due to the municipality . They are in every city and usually bumptious police wannabes.

Petercool

Did you play the drums with the Dixieland Jazz Club back in the 70s at the Napoleon?

I think the place you are looking for is Ban Ma - just north the traffic lights on the main highway south of Lamphun.

U.N. Irish Pub is showing it.

http://www.satellite...3c1b1ba23590677

and

http://www.9sats.com/product/product.php?cat=55&

I have a steerable dish system which failed due to water in the actuator motor. I bought a Superjack 18" actuator with motor from an online site in Bangkok (1,000 baht). They sent it by EMS and I just installed it in the system in place of the damaged one. It was not very difficult, just a little bit of fiddling around to get the limit switches set.

There's a Ban Don Daeng in Amphur Arkat Amnuay in Sakon Nakorn Province. It has a reputation for woven goods and would be about 8 hours drive from Bangkok - could that be it?

Loi Kroh Massage (loikrohmassage.com) teaches nuad karsai. Maybe worth checking to see if they are looking for victims to practice on.

The standard water tests done in Thailand are as per the attached sample. Additional testing can be done on request. There are several places in Bangkok doing this.

I don't know anybody who is not doing it (except Postman Pat). Actual cost is 700 baht per month, which is how your mate is making 400 from the 4 boxes. I don't know if it could be called totally legal as it involves telling a few porkies, but it is not illegal either.

My son was in a similar position. I don't know about the situation at Ranong but what he did at a land border was:

1. Got stamped out of Thailand on a valid visa in his foreign passport to avoid any overstay complications.

2. Used a ploy to turn around and wander back into Thailand without going anywhere. He has a Thai ID card and a new Thai passport.

He had already received an exemption from military service.

He has since traveled from Thailand by air on his Thai passport without any problem.

There is a Facebook group called SECONDHAND CHIANGMAI and it usually has household goods listed.

Years ago (late 70s?) there was a windmill manufacturer in Thailand, but I cannot remember their name. They were for pumping from wells and were only partially successful. There was only a crank at the top and no gearbox as found on more expensive overseas models.

For the OP's application, he may want to consider the windmills used to transfer sea water to different evaporation ponds as per the salt farms in the Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkram areas. This a paddle wheel arrangement and only good for moving water to ponds at the same elevation or lower. The salt farm ones made here are of totally non-ferrous parts - tower and paddle wheels are wood, sails are canvas, spars are bamboo and drive is by a knotted rope.

20071230_02241 Flickr - Photo Sharing!.htm

As an historical footnote, Silom Road got its name from the windmill that used to be there.