Tango7

MBK is probably the best place. There are a number of specialist camera shops. Foto File and Foto Thailand are two goods places. Foto Thailand is probably the best and very reliable as well as helpful and happy to let you "play" with the equipment. http://www.fotofile.net/newproducts.php is the website for Foto File with current prices.

The Bangkok Shopping Guide shows places via photographs and descriptions of places in MBK and Central Rama 3.

Hope this helps.

I tried the email address provided earlier: [email protected] but it bounced back.

I've written to the embassy, tried a letter to the times and will try other means too.

Thaksin in the UK, for good ? Please tell me our government has more sense than to give it to him.

Saddam Hussein was hanged for his part in the death of Kurds and yes, the numbers were large, but in principle, isn't Thaksin guilty of something similar in his purging the country of 2,000 drug dealers etc ?

My "facts" are sketchy, but my point is sound. How can we condone the hanging of one political leader and then entertain the idea of providing political asylum to one who is similar and wanted for serious tax evasion ?

I watch am "forced" to watch channel 3 in the morning and I count the number of times people send in an SMS message stating how much they love the king, love Thailand and love Thai people..

These SMS messages flood in daily.

I'm thinking this: If Thai people love the King so much they sure don't show it by putting him through yearly stress as he sees the politicians tear this place apart.

It's the same bunch who wear yellow to show their support of his majesty and yet they repay him by letting him watch another fiasco which ruins his country and makes a laughing stock of it.

How sad it must be for his majesty to build this country up, bring his people together and then watch as the slimey politicians fight over which corrupt group lines their pockets the most.

I feel sorry for his majesty and wish his people could feel enough love to let him see out his years in a country no longer tearing apart the hard work he does for this country.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it something like 12%

Mama Mia 54 %

The Dark Knight 94%

Hancock got 38%

I saw Mama Mia and loved it.. thought it was great and so Rotten Tomatoes was out on that one.

Hancock sucked and so 38% was about right, so, a score of 12% means I will not be going to see it on the big screen. Even if you trebled the score, it still comes under Hancock and so it seems like a no brainer. Wait until it goes to DVD, scrape some money together with your mates to rent it...make sure you're not paying more than 10 pence each ( so make sure there's a lot of you ) and you might get your money's worth.

My apologies if this has been mentioned already but there are too many posts to read through to check...

One thing I am surprised by is the way the developers advertise the properties, throw up a nice looking show room and when you start making enquiries, find out that they want you to book now but the project won't be finsihed for something like 18 months down the road.

Basically, they are asking you to finance the project.

I went to one on Sathorn road, across the river and right opposite the last new BTS station. It was a shell of a place but the sales room was teaming with people. Most units had sold out and at pretty steep prices but then to find out you have to pay a deposit and then 18 monthly payments before the project is even completed seems a bit thick. This seems common place too. Maybe not to the tune of 18 months but not far off either.

I also went to see the "twin tower" apartments on Naratiwas, slightly up from Empire tower. 5.1 million for 65 Sq M and 9.4 for 121 Sq M.

Expensive but not insane but my wife made an enquiry to find the land was leased land and after 57 years you'd have to renegotiate your contract.

I'll be dead in 57 years and so it's a mute-ish point but 10 million and not to own it ?

Final "issue" is the design of these places. How many times have you gone to look at a 120 Sq M apartment to find it's a 3 bedroom affair ? Miniscule living area, open kitchen and three bedrooms ??

Is there somewhere that has something in the region of 150 Sq M.. 2 bedrooms... separate kitchen and a nice large living area ? I find those nigh on impossible to find..

What's more annoying about tipping is that in places like the Food Court in Emporium, not only is there a service charge, there is also a "tip box" at the cashier's desk. I see almost every person dump their coins into that box even after paying an extra X% for service. It's pretty cheeky to add it there.

Now, I do tip and tip what I and my wife consider to be an accapetable amount for the service. However, a 10% servie charge on a meal of 5,000 baht is 500 baht and is more than double the minimum wage.

Without getting into an arguement about minimum wage, it does seem odd that the 'tip" or service charge is more than that waiter's salary for the night.

Tips are for the people that give the service and I generally take the money out of the little folder and hand it to the person directly.

What about Destination Air ? The Air Shuttle service that flies from Phuket to Phi Phi and other areas ? Anyone know about this one ? It's website is http://www.destinationair.com but not sure if it's legit or not. Will this or has this survived the fuel issue ?

I don't think I can actually find any pubs or bars. All those bill boards lining the roads in the thousands showing the smug faces of those next in line to screw up this country, have blocked my view of anything off the road and it's going to get worse.

Don't forget, you CAN buy alcohol at any time of the day as long as you are buying a huge amount ( unless this has changed recently ). One or two small bottles to wash down your evening meal is illegal if buying between 12 am and 11 am and then 2pm until 5 pm BUT, if you roll down the isle with enough alcohol to get the USS Enterprose plastered for a month, then it's OK. Just make sure you show you are intending to get well and truly blotto rather than indicating you are just after a quiet private drink.

3 months after working 2 years sounds fair enough... the fact that you only received the standard 5% increase a year should have had the alarm bells ringing already..

It's a very odd company... it basically borrows money from rich employees and promotes them.

It is not run in a normal way and so it's never easy to read what is going on. In a way, I'm quite relieved to be out of there, but the way it's been done is what miffs me.

I find this link useful: http://www.thailabour.org/law/thai/code.html

It sounds fair, except the monthly payment of the severance pay. It should be done in one go.

Unless you have some special clauses for severance pay in your contract, you can't really expect more than this.

Good luck!

Thanks for the link. I know it sounds OK, it's tough accepting the reasons and the justification for it.

This isn't a case of " you've screwed up the network and we've lost millions" which I could accept, this is just no good reason and I'm out on my ear even though I've been doing my job properly.

Severence if I'm kicked out for good reason, but damages + severence if for no good reason ?

anyway, thanks again.. I'll read your suggested pages.

I have just been terminated from my position with no good reason except the petty whims of the boss.

I have worked for 2 full years with no warnings and yesterday was told that because I'm not director material I have to leave. This was said to me even though it was mentioned to me roughly 3 times that in the new year, there was a probability that I'd be a director. So, from being told a directorship was on the cards, I'm nw out of a job

I am being "told" that the deal is this:

2 months working ( takes me until the end of January )

3 months severence after that period with payment to me being made monthly thereafter until end of April.

This sounds OK as I have my work permit and visa for a further 2 months and then salary for a further three but this is totally unfair dismissal and I'm furious that I was enticed into the company with promises of greater resonsibility and payment as the company grew. I left a very stable position to join this company that clearly lies and cheats its employees ( It's had roughly a 200% staff turnover in the time I've been there ).

The company grew and my work load tripled but I received no extra money except the standard 5 % annual increase that everyone got.

I have greatly improved the company's system and they have got what they want ( and more ) except the fact that even though I'm in IT, I'm not driving the company forward and generating money. That wasn't my job but it's the reason being given for my dismissal.

So, do I take the "deal" or do I push for damages and see what I can get as I'm 41 and recently married ?

I was on 105K per month with an annual bonus of one month.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

HI

I got married last month..Chinese style more than Thai but it's similar from what I understand.

The morning ceremony is where special guests are invited to witness the "marriage"... the bride should be in the house and you should turn up to collect her.

You need to pass through "gates" made of thin gold chains held at either end by her friends or family. You'll have to pay a toll to get past. This toll is in the form of an envelope with money inside and inside is usually 100 - 300 Baht ( depending on how rich you are and how many of these gates you have to go through.

When I got married, I had a "best man" typ of figure who was a friend of my wife's dad. He prepared the envelopes and the money inside. I was later told he handed out 120 envelopes but at another wedding there were only thre gates and only 9 envelopes... it's down to money and what you or your best man can afford... but it's a case of going through the motions and how comfortable people feel.

I was lucky, my wife's family is great and we get along very well and so the atmosphere was excellent and very lively, but again, it's down to how well people know each other. I loved the morning part as it was lively and fun.

My best man dragged me through all the shouting women and eventually placed me on the sofa where I sat and was photographed by all present and then my wife came downstairs looking stunning and it was all right again.

We knelt in front of a table which had three "things" made of banana leaves...these things held money..( 1 million Baht ) gold ( 200,000 ) and rings ( whatever )

But this isn't really important...well, the amount anyway. Just have something prepared.

Now, sometimes the money and gold goes to the parents, but in my case I got it all back..it was just for show.

Then, special guests are asked to sprinkle some seeds or flowers etc over those items and bride and groom..for good luck's sake... about 8 people did this.

We then had to kneel down in front of parents, aunts, uncles and brothers / sisters to receive gifts from them and give a small guest.

Her mum and dad gave us watches and gold and we gave some ok quality glassware...again... a bit of a token.

Chinese style involves drinking tea with each person as a good luck thingy but this isn't a Thai part.

This lasted longer than I liked. I was getting hot and bothered but it was simple enough.

To be honest, I organised nothing. Her family organised the lot, from cars picking me up, so money being given and flowers, cars etc back.

Your wife ough to be ensuring that she or her family is preparing this. It's not your responsibility, it's her side of the family's job..BUT...don't let that start an argument.

You can't possible know what you need or how to prepare.....

The evening is a breeze.

Book a hotel, determine how many guests there will be, decide whether you want a buffet or sit down meal and choose a package. The package will include food, free flowing soft drinks, a cake and some flowers, but you'll want extra flowers and don't let the hotel tell you only they can do it...

I could go on for ages here, but the best thing to do is to email me at [email protected] and I'll answer as many questions as I can...

BUT..get a good photographer...I can recommend a good one or two, but of all the things that were important, the photos were the most... memories !!

Make sure she looks stunning, make sure you feel comfortable, do your best and mak sure YOU are as happy as she is.

Anyway, feel free to email me.

sorry.... Thailand

Is it illegal to record a conversation if the other party doesn't know ?

A friend has been harassed at work by their boss. The boss is an ogre and is so two faced that my friend decided to record their conversation during a meeting,

The boss found out and is threatening to get my friend arrested.

It doesn't matter about the job, my friend had already quit but has a few days left and just wants to know the legalities involved.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Tango7

Gents, I just went to the UBC time-table and saw:

ENGLAND Vs S. AFRICA Saturday 8th September

Time: 08.03 on channel 66

No idea if this is correct or not but if not, it casts some doubt over the rest of it....

ALSO:

08-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07001 : FRANCE VS. ARGENTINA :

08-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07001 : FRANCE VS. ARGENTINA :

09-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07002 : NEW ZEALAND VS. ITALY :

09-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07003 : AUSTRALIA VS. JAPAN :

09-Sep-2007 15:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07004 : ENGLAND VS. USA :

10-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07003 : AUSTRALIA VS. JAPAN :

10-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07003 : AUSTRALIA VS. JAPAN :

10-Sep-2007 09:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07004 : ENGLAND VS. USA :

10-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07005 : WALES VS. CANADA :

10-Sep-2007 18:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

11-Sep-2007 01:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

11-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07006 : SOUTH AFRICA VS. SAMOA :

11-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07006 : SOUTH AFRICA VS. SAMOA :

11-Sep-2007 08:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

11-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07007 : SCOTLAND VS. PORTUGAL :

11-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07008 : IRELAND VS. NAMIBIA :

11-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07002 : NEW ZEALAND VS. ITALY :

12-Sep-2007 00:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07009 : ARGENTINA VS. GEORGIA :

12-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07009 : ARGENTINA VS. GEORGIA :

12-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07009 : ARGENTINA VS. GEORGIA :

12-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07009 : ARGENTINA VS. GEORGIA :

12-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07003 : AUSTRALIA VS. JAPAN :

13-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07002 : NEW ZEALAND VS. ITALY :

13-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07002 : NEW ZEALAND VS. ITALY :

13-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07010 : USA VS. TONGA :

13-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07011 : JAPAN VS. FIJI :

14-Sep-2007 06:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07012 : ITALY VS. ROMANIA :

14-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07012 : ITALY VS. ROMANIA :

14-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07012 : ITALY VS. ROMANIA :

14-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07010 : USA VS. TONGA :

14-Sep-2007 21:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07012 : ITALY VS. ROMANIA :

15-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA :

15-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA :

15-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA :

16-Sep-2007 00:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA

16-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07016 : IRELAND VS. GEORGIA :

16-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA :

16-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07013 : ENGLAND VS. SOUTH AFRICA :

16-Sep-2007 08:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07014 : NEW ZEALAND VS. PORTUGAL :

16-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07018 : SAMOA VS. TONGA :

16-Sep-2007 23:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07016 : IRELAND VS. GEORGIA :

17-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07019 : FRANCE VS. NAMIBIA :

17-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07019 : FRANCE VS. NAMIBIA :

17-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07019 : FRANCE VS. NAMIBIA :

17-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07017 : FIJI VS. CANADA :

17-Sep-2007 18:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

18-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07018 : SAMOA VS. TONGA :

18-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07018 : SAMOA VS. TONGA :

18-Sep-2007 08:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

18-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07015 : WALES VS. AUSTRALIA :

18-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07015 : WALES VS. AUSTRALIA :

19-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07020 : SCOTLAND VS. ROMANIA :

19-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07020 : SCOTLAND VS. ROMANIA :

19-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07020 : SCOTLAND VS. ROMANIA :

20-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07021 : ITALY VS. PORTUGAL

20-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07021 : ITALY VS. PORTUGAL :

20-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07021 : ITALY VS. PORTUGAL :

21-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07022 : WALES VS. JAPAN :

21-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07022 : WALES VS. JAPAN :

21-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07022 : WALES VS. JAPAN :

21-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07022 : WALES VS. JAPAN :

21-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07022 : WALES VS. JAPAN :

22-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07023 : FRANCE VS. IRELAND :

22-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07023 : FRANCE VS. IRELAND :

22-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07023 : FRANCE VS. IRELAND :

22-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07023 : FRANCE VS. IRELAND :

22-Sep-2007 23:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07023 : FRANCE VS. IRELAND :

23-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07026 : ARGENTINA VS. NAMIBIA :

23-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

23-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

23-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07024 : SOUTH AFRICA VS. TONGA :

23-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

23-Sep-2007 17:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07026 : ARGENTINA VS. NAMIBIA :

23-Sep-2007 22:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07028 : SCOTLAND VS. NEW ZEALAND :

24-Sep-2007 00:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07027 : AUSTRALIA VS. FIJI :

24-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07024 : SOUTH AFRICA VS. TONGA :

24-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07024 : SOUTH AFRICA VS. TONGA :

24-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07027 : AUSTRALIA VS. FIJI :

25-Sep-2007 01:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

25-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

25-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

25-Sep-2007 08:30 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS :

25-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07026 : ARGENTINA VS. NAMIBIA :

25-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07025 : ENGLAND VS. SAMOA :

25-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07028 : SCOTLAND VS. NEW ZEALAND :

25-Sep-2007 22:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07029 : CANADA VS. JAPAN :

26-Sep-2007 01:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07030 : ROMANIA VS. PORTUGAL :

26-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07027 : AUSTRALIA VS. FIJI :

26-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07027 : AUSTRALIA VS. FIJI :

26-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07029 : CANADA VS. JAPAN :

26-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07030 : ROMANIA VS. PORTUGAL :

26-Sep-2007 22:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07031 : GEORGIA VS. NAMIBIA :

27-Sep-2007 01:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07032 : SAMOA VS. USA :

27-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07030 : ROMANIA VS. PORTUGAL :

27-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07030 : ROMANIA VS. PORTUGAL :

27-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07031 : GEORGIA VS. NAMIBIA :

27-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07032 : SAMOA VS. USA :

28-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07032 : SAMOA VS. USA :

28-Sep-2007 11:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07030 : ROMANIA VS. PORTUGAL :

28-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07031 : GEORGIA VS. NAMIBIA :

28-Sep-2007 21:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07032 : SAMOA VS. USA :

29-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07033 : ENGLAND VS. TONGA :

29-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07033 : ENGLAND VS. TONGA :

29-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07033 : ENGLAND VS. TONGA :

29-Sep-2007 13:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07033 : ENGLAND VS. TONGA :

29-Sep-2007 17:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07034 : NEW ZEALAND VS. ROMANIA :

30-Sep-2007 01:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07037 : SCOTLAND VS. ITALY :

30-Sep-2007 06:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07037 : SCOTLAND VS. ITALY :

30-Sep-2007 07:03 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07037 : SCOTLAND VS. ITALY :

30-Sep-2007 14:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07036 : WALES VS. FIJI :

30-Sep-2007 19:55 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07038 : FRANCE VS. GEORGIA :

30-Sep-2007 22:00 66 RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 # 07039 : IRELAND VS. ARGENTINA :

The searches go dead after that.....

APRIL 1st...is it ?....it IS !!

blast it...I was on a roll then...now...back to that hole in the sand where my head has just been....( I hate you all ! )

Sombat is clearly an idiot and a racist if he believes foreigners use the Internet in the manner he expressed. And to state that Thais use it for banking, ecommerce and furthering their education is a load of old twaddle.

As an someone who controls the IT system at the company for which I work, I spend much of my time trying to control access to MSN chat, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, and all number of rubbish sites from which they just useless screen savers, ring-tones, games and other non-banking, ecommerce and educational sites.

From my Internet logging programme that logs over 150 users, I've never once seen a log for an educational site ( Thai or english ) or ecommerce / banking site.

I have seen hundreds of unproductive sites and I have had to caution over 50% of the staff for sending pornographic / gruesome material and a few have been dismissed for continued vilolation of these rules.

I have never had to warn a foreign employee. So, Mr. Sombat, come and take a look at my log files and ask why I lock down all computers operated by Thais. ake a look through my firewall blocking policies and ask why all the sites blocked are THAI language sites.

What a complete plonker. I'd love to go through his computer logs and computer history files. I bet that would show some interesting things...

Is there anyone here experienced in how to best save money for retirement ?

I have roughly 20 - 25 years left to work before retiring and I need to start thinking about saving for my retirement.

I will have inheritance money which I know about but I don't want to rely on that. I want to have my own savings.

What should I be doing and where is the best place to be puting my money ? I don't have a lot to save each money. Maybe 50 - 70,000 Baht a month at the moment.

I also want to have some kind of life insurance that will payout in the event of my death so that I can leave my wife with money. Maybe pay off the mortgage and have money on top.

Any advice will be most appreciated.

To be honest, I don't mind what they do to protect the non-drinkers, but I do care if it starts to interfere with my drinking.

The issue of not buying alcohol at certain times is a farce because the other day, at Silom Complex, down in the Tops supermarket, I was refused a beer at 2.30 but another guy was at the counter with about 20 bottles.

He was OK. I wasn't. I just wanted a cool beer with my late lunch at the weekend, this guy was potentially ( although unlikely ) going to go and get himself and a few friends totalled, go on a drunk driving spree and etc etc.

It would be more sensible to have the law state no more than 2 bottles of beer ( example ) between those times rather than saying "you can only get yourself completely S**T faced".

Laws are all good and well but they must make sense and do what they are intended. Trying to curb road deaths and improve people's health by stopping a person buying one bottle but allowing the purchase of over 5 litres is just so waay off the charts of sensible law making as to be a complete and utter farce.

It's as if they are saying "we don't make enough money from one or two bottles, so we'll ban it, but if you put a lot of money it our pockets, we'll ignore it.

Quando podeces te regi eorum fecerunt?

Noli nothis permittere te terere

13) English language is the only acceptable language on thaivisa.com, except of course in the Thai Language Forum where Thai is encouraged.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?act=boardrules

Would you 2 care to stick with the Forum rules re: language? or just translate?

Sorry...will stick to English..but will that require my saying things like napkin instead serviette ?

Quando podeces te regi eorum fecerunt?

My 2 cents worth.

Any time anyone says anything negative about Thailand, someone always posts a "If you don't like it..P*ss Off" kind of message.

In all reality, people just want to vent their anger and get some kind of feed back rather than some petty retort that just equates to "I'm alright Jack..sorry you are not...now...P*ss off".

A chat forum is for chat, discussions and somewhere to let off steam, but there are quite a few here that just belittle anyone who has a negative comment about Thailand…maybe they are on Taksin’s books too.

I’m sure these people find no issue with paying to enter The Grand Palace when Thais go for free. I’m sure they are happy to pay all fees applicable to farang only.

These people must enjoy reading ( if they can ) the signs in Thai that say “we respect Thai people”.

These same people will love the fact that only limousine services run directly from the new airport and that anyone wishing to get a taxi needs to lug their bags onto a bus and travel to the taxi stop.

These people will rejoice at the new drinking laws.

These people must clap and applaud the judges who make a farang pay for an accident irrelevant of who caused it.

I could go on, but we get the picture, so if anyone posts a comment asking if anyone else feels the same, the replies should generally come back from those who do. Anyone else can ignore them because the question isn’t asking if there is anyone out there who feels like posting sarcastic comments. Nor does it ask if anyone knows what that person can do if they don’t like it.

Read the question carefully..think about whether your comment is constructive or not and if not, just don’t post.

Now, in reply to the person asking whether anyone else feels the same, my answer is “yes”. The whole deal P****es me off, but….I’m sticking around.

I went off to Wat Po today to take some pics and play around with the camera. Looking through the LCD made the images look very dark but I took my smaller CanonA95, swapped the car and took a look through that LCD and the images looked a lot better.

Having said that, the sun then came out and it was a glorious time for taking pics and on full auto, the flash still popped up and went off on most shots even though the temple was fully lit by bright sun light.

I got home and took a look at some shots and they look OK. Not very sharp, not the crisp and clear images I see from other people but I'm guessing this is me not used to the settings. I'd ay 20% were decent but a little short on colour. Many seemed a bit dull ( see attached ) but others came out ok ( see attached women praying ).

How can I bring colour and feeling to the images ?

I mainly used Manual mode, kept F stop at f3.5 / f.4 and then adjusted shutter speed until wite balance was about quarter way along the + scale past the center point. If I kept it at zero, the images were generally too dark.

Thanks for the postings and the links. I will certainly take a look.

I've had my camera a week now and I think the rain gods just KNEW I was going to buy it and held off the rainy days until I had it in my grasp...typical !!

As you might guess, I've not had a chance to really try it except continual pictures of my coffee table and stolen pics at work but it's not subtle lugging a Nikon D70s out of your bag and snapping the girls in the office...

I'm waiting for this weekend nd good weather to try it out for real but I have to say that it's frustrating as all.....to take a few hundred images with 99% being too dark, not sharp enough and so on. Getting the setting right is certainly going to take time.

In fact, the pictures are so dark that I'm wondering whether or not something is wrong. To get any light in at all, I either need flash or I have to reduce shutter speed to so slow I will certainly need a tripod.

I bought this to take good photos of places liek The Grand Palace, Phi-Phi, Kao Yai and so on but right now, all I can imagine is dark images and my getting out my Canon A95 to complete the job.

Is this all usual or could I have a "duff" camera ?

Thanks for the long post and the suggestions.

I went out and bought myself a Nikon D70s which was a split second decision over the Canon 350D

Not sure it was the right thing to do but it's what I did. I have been going round the house doing tests using different F. settings and shutter speeds and so on and I'm getting used to the camera, but understanding why it is behaving in the way it does is also important so that I can get the setting right more quickly.

I know that by doing the saame thing again and again will make me get better but a few pointers, tricks etc from those who know would be great.

I know a new lens is not important just yet, but I'd certainly like to get into wide angle lenses and lenses that will allow for close up photography of insects etc.

I agree about the clubs being for those who want to brag. I did attend one once and it was also a case of " look what I've done" and not " Here's how I did it".