Tyke

Not to fan the flames, but is it really true that Australia has the Queen of England on their money?

Yeah we lent her our queen temporarily when we let them rule themselves in the hope they could come up with someone eventually to replace her, but it's been over a century now, and we are still waiting. They whinge about her all the time but are too weak, divided and feckless to do anything about it. In any case, they don't have any antipodeans of discernible quality to put on the money if ever they did. Maybe a 'Neighbours' star or Rolf Harris and, as we are seeing now, they don't have any notable cricketers or rugby players anymore do they?

Hi All,

I will be leaving Bangkok soon and I want to give my clothes ( denims +t-shirts, etc.) to a charity shop around central bangkok. Does anyone know anywhere to suggest? Thanks

You could give them to your nearest security man - they are poorly paid and helpful. Problem is most farang sizes are such that whole Thai families can get into just one, which is very cosy on winter evenings.

Hello, I am staying near Chong Nonsi, well that is my nearest SkyTrain stop. I am about 30 minutes walk from there.

Is there anything interesting to do in this area. I have had a walk around and seen lots of good food stalls but not much else.

Any tips?

Thanks.

30 mins walk away is not near at all - I assume you live down Narathiwat road somewhere, where there is even less. You had better walk another 10 mins onto Silom and Suriwongse roads, which is where most things happen in Bangkok, both daytime and nightime.

Info: I am nearly blind and do my best in reading and writing. If I am uninformed then inform me, I thought the only true Australians were Aborigines and the reast British rejects.

Davey, Davey, Davey, have you ever heard the phrase, "Sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to opens one's mouth and remove all doubt."?

Australia, like so many countries was built with migrant labour. Yes, sadly Australia was originally colonised by, as you put it, 'British rejects'. These so called rejects, were in many if not most cases, victims of the economic failure in the UK at the time and were incarcerated for extremely petty misdemeanors. It was their jailers, employed by the British Government to watch over these poor souls, who were the scourge and responsible for wiping out the Tasmanian Aboriginals to all but the last 2 people not to mention so many other atrocious acts on their fellow humans.

Post 2nd World War saw a huge migration to Australia by Europeans, mainly Italians and Greeks but others from almost every nation. These Europeans were responsible for the massive building program that took place at the time and were part of the huge package that made Australia the wonderful multicultural sporting nation that it is today. The Poms continued to find their way to Australia in the 1950's and 1960's by way of assisted passage. They had to pay 10 pounds to get there and eventually were able to integrate themselves into the system. Most of these characters became prison warders, trades union officials and various other jobs where they could continue in their whining and whinging ways. Of course later, in the 1970's and 80's there was the Indochinese migration with 10's of thousands of refugees finding Australia as their new home. Now in the new millennium Australia is experiencing an influx of people from various African nations.

So, little old Australia, with it's meagre population of 19 million souls (of which approximately 25% weren't born there) can find a team of 11 to flog that team from the western extremes of Europe, a team which is made up Indians, South Africans and a few indigenous poms. Should be a good fun match to conclude the series.

What a rant.

Actually, British migrants were highly sought after by the Australian government after both World wars for 2 reasons:

1. The all-white (pref British) policy of immigration at that time (it is now done in a less obvious way by choosing as white an immigrant influx as is possible - almost entirley east asians -Japanese, Koreans and Chinese (obvious to anyone walking around any major city in that place) - a diluted white policy in all but name).

2. After both world wars there was a need for males to do the work and stimulate the economy, as well as screw the local ladies, despite their having hairy feet, because of the shortage of Australian men who had been killed in both wars. In other words, the POMS did your women a great favour and should be thanked for it. It's the offspring of those unions who now make up the Antipod's cricket team.

The Myers-Brigg is a approx. 150 questions that determines your personality type based on 4 areas;...

The Christian Scientists determined my personality type after a similar type of interview. It must have been an unlucky day for all the people taking the test along with me because we all failed! They offered to sell us an opportunity to repair our personalities though which was nice.

OP

There's a lot of cheaper accommodation options here. Try Lanna 3 Serviced Apartments along Huay Kaew Road towards the university. 1 bed, 1 living room on the corner of the building (windows two sides) is/was around 5,500 baht per month.

The walls are paper thin and you get Thai student groups occupying single rooms, which is nice.

hel_l, we gave them their country, road and place names, language, history, literature, sport, their limited cuisine, the Union Jack on their flag, their head of state, what little culture they have and prisons. Then we populated the country with a bunch of convicts who badly mistreated their Abos and turned their country into the biggest slag heap and dust bowl in the world. And what did we get in return? Rolf Harris and his didgeridoo! They have produced nothing of real value or originality to the world, either technologically or culturally, including their beloved pies, chips and Vegemite. Even their Sydney Harbour bridge was built by a Yorkshire company and their Opera House designed by a Great Dane. Who are they? Well, we already have arthropods and anthropods in this world and now we have to put up with the whingeing ozzie ANTIPODS!

Well Tyke, despite your ignorant and inaccurate ranting, the English team will be humiliated by the Australian Eleven, again.

Which word are you referring to, Blinky?

Only those between and including hel_l and ANTIPODS.

I asked which words are you referring to Blinky - not which words you are having difficulties with.

hel_l, we gave them their country, road and place names, language, history, literature, sport, their limited cuisine, the Union Jack on their flag, their head of state, what little culture they have and prisons. Then we populated the country with a bunch of convicts who badly mistreated their Abos and turned their country into the biggest slag heap and dust bowl in the world. And what did we get in return? Rolf Harris and his didgeridoo! They have produced nothing of real value or originality to the world, either technologically or culturally, including their beloved pies, chips and Vegemite. Even their Sydney Harbour bridge was built by a Yorkshire company and their Opera House designed by a Great Dane. Who are they? Well, we already have arthropods and anthropods in this world and now we have to put up with the whingeing ozzie ANTIPODS!

Well Tyke, despite your ignorant and inaccurate ranting, the English team will be humiliated by the Australian Eleven, again.

Which word are you referring to, Blinky?

Only those between and including hel_l and ANTIPODS.

Well I guess if a nation can't invent, create or cultivate, and it has plenty of sunshine in which to practice, guess the only thing is to learn to play a game, preferably one not played by many countries, and brag about beating them - better than nowt, I 'spose.

mmmmm... and then set up a new mongrol game, wearing shorty girly panties and not played by any other nation - that'll show 'em how good we are...

Oh, and then show them playing these minor games over and over on TV, alongside imported programmes, to avoid making anything that might be of a cultural persuasion (apart from those cooking programs starring recipes for buns, fruit cake and different varieties if pies and fish and chips).

hel_l, we gave them their country, road and place names, language, history, literature, sport, their limited cuisine, the Union Jack on their flag, their head of state, what little culture they have and prisons. Then we populated the country with a bunch of convicts who badly mistreated their Abos and turned their country into the biggest slag heap and dust bowl in the world. And what did we get in return? Rolf Harris and his didgeridoo! They have produced nothing of real value or originality to the world, either technologically or culturally, including their beloved pies, chips and Vegemite. Even their Sydney Harbour bridge was built by a Yorkshire company and their Opera House designed by a Great Dane. Who are they? Well, we already have arthropods and anthropods in this world and now we have to put up with the whingeing ozzie ANTIPODS!

Well Tyke, despite your ignorant and inaccurate ranting, the English team will be humiliated by the Australian Eleven, again.

Which word are you referring to, Blinky?

Eggs = loads of cholesterol, whichever way you cook them.

bacon = loads of saturated fat and cholesterol, along with salt and cancer-causing flavours (smoked) and/or preservatives

baked beans - good for you apart from loads of sugar additives.

The cholesterol in eggs does not raise blood cholesterol levels in healthy, non-obese persons.

Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels.

So what makes cholesterol in eggs different from any other dietary cholesterol? It does affect blood cholesterol levels, albeit to a lesser extent than saturated fat. In any case, eaten daily with bacon, you get the benefit of huge amounts of both. Yeah, I like it too, but only eat it occasionally nowadays. But I'll try to find all the healthy, non-obese farangs in Pattaya and let him know.

They do have Mel Gibson, but he is getting a little long in the tooth.

He's quite short and stumpy and believes in God.

hel_l, we gave them their country, road and place names, language, history, literature, sport, their limited cuisine, the Union Jack on their flag, their head of state, what little culture they have and prisons. Then we populated the country with a bunch of convicts who badly mistreated their Abos and turned their country into the biggest slag heap and dust bowl in the world. And what did we get in return? Rolf Harris and his didgeridoo! They have produced nothing of real value or originality to the world, either technologically or culturally, including their beloved pies, chips and Vegemite. Even their Sydney Harbour bridge was built by a Yorkshire company and their Opera House designed by a Great Dane. Who are they? Well, we already have arthropods and anthropods in this world and now we have to put up with the whingeing ozzie ANTIPODS!

I ate at Crazy Daves one time. The cottage pie was absolutely horrible! I would descibe it as over heated, microwaved, canned dog food with dried out instant mashed potatoes and brown pond slime gravy. Save your money and just buy dog food at Lotus.

If English breakfast was all that was available, I would skip it! Clogged arteries and heart attacks just waiting to happen.

An English breakfast doesn't have to be high in saturated fats, scrambled eggs, grilled bacon and tomato and baked beans and mushrooms being a healthy way to start the day.

Sure, give the fried bread and sausage a miss!

Eggs = loads of cholesterol, whichever way you cook them.

bacon = loads of saturated fat and cholesterol, along with salt and cancer-causing flavours (smoked) and/or preservatives

baked beans - good for you apart from loads of sugar additives.

The only healthy part of those ingredients are the tomatoes and mushrooms (unless fried). Don't get me wrong - delicious yes, 'healthy' on a regular basis - definitely NO.

On a regular basis, for a healthy breakfast, there is nothing like porridge and/or muesli, maybe sweetened with dried or fresh fruit and yogurt. I know it sounds PC but you need whole grains at least once a day and that is the best way to get it, along with wholegrain bread. Also avoid just fruit and yogurt - your tum-tum needs fibre and some substantial solid food like whole grains in the morning.

i can't believe peeps recommend the continental

i can't speak for the new place but i'm suprised they have one since i sampled their first cafe's efforts

the food was well below par and if u are unlucky enough to get a seat outside u have to sit dodging dripping drain water or swatting every fly in thailand....and we all know what attracts flies

best breakfast i have in pattaya and one i'd recommend is "Jeeds Bar" opposite the 24 hour supermarket in view talay 1 it's run by a thai woman with her english "wife" julie

jeed and julie are good for a laugh and serve good english/thai grub :tup:

Agreed - always flies around inside the restaurant and the kitchens don't look hygienic to me. They also advertise free Wifi but just tray asking for the password and after they've told you 'mai mee' and gone home to get it, try connecting. They also don't seem to provide newspapers.

I prefer Papa David's nearby - good selection of breakfasts from around the world, good freshly-baked bread, free newspapers and a good open ambience.

Hi,

For the first time, ie. I'm a 60-year old virgin in these matters, I need a proof of UK pension amount for extending my current retirement visa.

Can anyone tell me:

1. What documents I need to take to UK embassy to get their letter?

I have two components to my teacher's pension - a 'Teacher's pension advice of payment' which looks very similar to a P60 and states what I get each month from 1 component. The other part of my pension is from additional contributions with Prudential and I have a letter with 'Payment details' showing how much I get each month. Are these sufficient or does the embassy require some other specific documents?

2. Does the letter/Thai immigration use gross income figures or net after tax?

3. How much does the embassy letter cost?

4. How long is the letter valid for? Ie. can I get it now for my visa extension application in December?

Many thanks in advance.

He must have graduated from the same school as the SA clown who advocated beetroot & garlic to stop HIV/AIDS

BR>Jack

He recommended people drink coconut water, which is alkaline, and therefore could be used as a herbal medicine for the prevention of pandemic A(H1N1), along with orange, lemon and pomelo which, despite containing citric acid, were very rich in potassium and therefore, would not disturb the body's immunity.

Hang on mate, didn't George Bush graduate from Harvard Law or business school, not sure which - supposedly the best in the country, and look how his ideas on abortion, stem cells, war and gay marriage were screwed up by his arrogant belief in God. And then there are the people who voted for him - twice over......

After reading so much about scams from vendors, scams from police, scams from Shops, the upswing in visitors being robbed, mugged and killed. I have decided to put off my visit to Thailand to a point in time when there are more people there.

On my last visit, I had to ask a lady to stop trying to pick my pocket. That is when times were good and there were many tourist there for the folks to choose from. Now with the tourist numbers down, I think it is more likely that I would be set-upon by those who are looking to steal, mug, rob or kill.

So it looks like I will have to wiat for that Green Curry Chicken with rice.

When Thailand residents ask me if I feel safer in Thailand compared to my home country (UK) I need them to qualify their question. They obviously refer to street crime, but in fact there are many more less obvious dangers in a country like Thailand that I think are more important and insidious. They stretch from being overhead and underfoot, including dogs, crumbling infrastructure, road dangers and builders incompetence, to poor food safety (especially green curry chicken with rice! ), lack of police control (or even interest) and institutional inadequacy. These are the hidden and unquantifiable dangers that are almost certainly more prevalent here than in the West. In more developed countries if the many legal, social and infrastructural preventative measures fail then there is a higher probability that if anything untoward happens there is at least a chance of getting some recompense and/or justice. In Thailand you can bet there is none. This doesn't mean you should go around being afraid of doing anything - not at all, but it's a question of keeping things in perspective. But do I feel safer in Thailand than the UK? For street crime - definitely. But not when everything else is considered. I still love it here and in fact the other dangers can give you quite a rush!

What next ? They will give candy at the immigration

Free spending money ?

Free !!! such a word do not even exist in the thai language

Actually it does. You see it everywhere written on adverts - it looks like a 'WS' and is always writ large because it gets a Thai's attention toute suite. However, getting the 'free' thing is something else. The word is there, but it is often meaningless.

Damned right he has! - nothing like a quick downloaded, unreferenced, unexplained 9 year-old graph to sort things out eh? That's done the trick. Where is Pattaya on this scale?

Chon Buri is Pattaya (it is clearly marked) and the graph is dated 2009 although it begins in 2000. In other words, it is current and pretty easy to understand. Thanks; I thought that I was statistically-challenged

Too many assumptions. The graph on its own is not very intelligible. and should have been better presented. It reads "since 2000' and there's another date at the bottom - you ssume it presents data from 2000 up to 2009 - 2009 could be the date it was accessed/downloaded. Only reference to original source could determine that. 'Chonburi' could be the town not the province and the pollution levels could very well vary between Chonburi town (highly industrial) and Pattaya. If you make fewer broad assumptions then you might be less statistically challenged.

This goes to show that you have to be careful when you read ThaiVisa posts, some posters just don't have a clue what they're talking about

You'de be better off in Bangkok or Pattaya - the air in Chiang Mai is lethal and there's nothing to do unless you want to spend the rest of your life walking aimlessly around 105 temples (at the last count). Forget anything cultural in the western sense, unless you like really boring polite chit chat at wine tasting sessions, or maybe chess or darts.

Here is a comparison of average pollution levels (Particulate Matter, PM<10) between Chiang Mai, central Bangkok (Din Daeng) and Chon Buri (Pattaya):

This goes to show that you have to be careful when you read ThaiVisa posts, some posters just don't have a clue what they're talking about As I pointed out earlier in the thread, late February and March are really bad but that's about it.

/ Priceless

Damned right he has! - nothing like a quick downloaded, unreferenced, unexplained 9 year-old graph to sort things out eh? That's done the trick. Where is Pattaya on this scale?

One thing about the CM lot is that any slighting of their little northern comfort zone soon brings out the knives

Hi,

I recently realised that my Sophon TV sub has no CNN. Have Sophon got rid of it? I have a condo in Jomtien Viewtalay 5D. The Sophon sub I bought a few months ago when it first started in my block had CNN but I can't seem to find it any more. Anyone know more?

Gone. Traded for Al-Jazeera.

Thanks but I could have sworn Al jazeera was on at the same time as CNN. Al Jazeera is great though - one of the best news channels but I will miss CNN for some shows.

I am 54 recently left my company and looking at what retirement might look like. I have been a working drone for 36 years and the idea of retirement is a little daunting in a way. My wife and I recently separated and per my previous post I have a friend telling me I need to seriously look at Thailand. So with that in mind I am wondering:

-I know what life is like in Canada, but what do the early retired folks in Chiang Mai fill their time with?

- What are the educational opportunities like?

- What about English books or Book exchanges or libraries?

- What about English movies and TV?

- Do people play badminton in Thailand?

- What are the popular activities? Golf (costs?)

- How risky is it to ride a motorcycle in Thailand, I have heard different cautions that it is much more dangerous than in North America. Why would this be?

- Are there opportunities to meet other English speakers other than the famed bar scene?

-Are there times of the year when the weather is unbearable?

-Someone talked about pollution / bad air what is the cause of that?

-I have been reading more in the news that Thailand is becoming increasingly unstable politically, I know the news can distort reality so it would be nice to get some idea from people on the ground so to speak

- Do they offer classes to learn Thai? Is Thai a difficult language (like I found Mandarin)?

What sorts of things can a Canuck like me anticipate to find a bit challenging to adapt to in the Thai society / way of life?

What is it that keeps you living in Thailand? What do you really enjoy?

Thank you in advance for your assistance and participation. Who knows perhaps I will meet up with you in October if Thailand turns out to be a viable option.

Cheers

You'de be better off in Bangkok or Pattaya - the air in Chiang Mai is lethal and there's nothing to do unless you want to spend the rest of your life walking aimlessly around 105 temples (at the last count). Forget anything cultural in the western sense, unless you like really boring polite chit chat at wine tasting sessions, or maybe chess or darts.

Hi,

I recently realised that my Sophon TV sub has no CNN. Have Sophon got rid of it? I have a condo in Jomtien Viewtalay 5D. The Sophon sub I bought a few months ago when it first started in my block had CNN but I can't seem to find it any more. Anyone know more?

I have white tiles in my shower which over the time get dark brown stains all over them although they get scrubbed weekly with vixol or a similar product.As they look really ugly I was considering replacing them because I thought the top layer was gone with the time.

Then the other day I tried as a last resort to have such a very hard nylon 3M brush in the drill machine and polishing the tiles with it.To my surprise all the stains came off and the tiles turned white again so clearly the toplayer hasn't worn.

As this is a really time consuming and hard job to clean them one by one I thought I should ask here if somebody is aware of a chemical product available in thailand that could do the job for me.

I assume the problem must be with the water,my village uses well water,as the rest of the bathroom has the same tiles and these are still white.

I use bathroom duck - available everywhere. Bit nasty if it gets on your skin but cleans very well. An alternative is household bleach. Again be careful and use gloves.

any information on which school ..

Yea, why are they so secretive about the name of the school - maybe the owners warned them off - too bad for business. Surely neighbours of the school have a right to know.

Hi,

Anyone know what works best for sponging down painted walls - the paint is that silk type - half-way beween gloss and matt so it is washable. There are residues of sticky tape I have used for hanging posters as well as loads of dust. I have tried warm water with Vim, Mr Muscle for bathrooms and kitchen cleaner and although they remove the dust, don't work very well for the sticky residues. Anyone got any advice? In the UK we use 'sugar soap' but I have not been able to find any in Thailand.

Try WD40 or sonax spray a little and rub in circle motion with your finger... dont have to use much elbow grease. Can even try peanut butter as it too is oil based.

Thanks - just tried it and it does work well for the sticky residues - but you now got any suggestions for large areas covered in dust?

I just tend to repaint, average size room only takes a couple of hours.

thanks but that's not answering the question I posed. In any case, if you repaint then you should always clean the existing paint or the dirt just comes through the new layer eventually.