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kaz49
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"The Premier stated in HIS letter" ummmmmmmmmmm I thought the Quessland premier was a Ms Anna Bligh
Absolutely correct. Anna made history on 21 March 2009 when she became the first elected female Premier of Australia (Queensland).......
Long live the King!
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I watched the last footage taken by Mr Muramoto on the ABC website today. He worked for the ABC in Asia in 1983, prior to joining Reuters.
RIP Hiro Muramoto
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I think the caddies do a great job. As a farang lady who often has a game on her own, I find them great company and as I dont take the game too seriously, can have a bit of a laugh and chat about important stuff like cooking recipes.
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Have a look at AngloINFO Bangkok. You can have the current newsletters sent direct to your email address.
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation - The 7.30 Report
Broadcast: 23/07/2009
Reporter: Karen Percy
Thousands of poor families in Thailand are finding it even more difficult to make ends meet as the global financial crisis takes hold. The use of child labour is already a big problem in the region and even the sport of kings is not immune.
Transcript
ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: While Australia appears to have dodged the worst effects of the global financial meltdown, others in the region haven't been so lucky. The Bank of Thailand is forecasting the Thai economy could contract by more than 3 per cent this year. That means thousands of poor families in the kingdom will find it even more difficult to make ends meet.
The use of child labour is already a big problem in the region and even the sport of kings is not immune.
South East Asian correspondent Karen Percy reports.
KAREN PERCY, REPORTER: The Khon Kaen racetrack in Thailand's north-east is humming. In a country where average earnings are just a few dollars a day, turnover at the club tops $130,000 a month.
It's not so much the racegoers but the riders who are attracting global attention. All but a handful of the jockeys here are under the age of 15. Some are as young as nine.
JARANYA WONGPROM, CHILD LABOUR RESEARCHER: The child's growth is unusual, or not the way development should be.
What they eat is controlled so they don't get too big or put on too much weight.
KAREN PERCY: Many of the children are already undernourished as a result of poverty. In research under taken in 2006 for the International Labour Organisation, Jaranya Wongprom also found that some jockeys were forced to live apart from their families. Because they were expected to work full time at the stables, they couldn't go to school.
JARANYA WONGPROM: More than 60 per cent of them don't stay with their parents but live at the stables because their parents are poor and they do not study. Children that live with their families are more likely to study.
THAING KAOBOON, FATHER: Jockeys help their parents make a living - it's better than the kids just hanging around getting drunk.
I don't like it that they are against us because they should be happy with the kids that they can make a living.
KAREN PERCY: Thaing Kaoboon was a jockey and now his son is taking the reins. Since he was 10, Diaw Kaoboon has been training hard. Most days after school he can be found at the local stables assisting with the horses.
DIAW KAOBOON, JOCKEY: It helps decrease my parent's burden, to earn the money by myself so I can save money in the bank. That means that I'll have money to spend when I stop riding horses.
KAREN PERCY: But he's starting to grow. At 14, he's larger than some of his fellow jockeys and he doesn't have many more years left.
THAING KAOBOON: For the first four years of riding he was quite famous. He would ride seven or eight out of 10 races. He was quite good.
But now, younger kids are more popular.
KAREN PERCY: It's little wonder why they are drawn to the track. Diaw Kaoboon and his fellow jockeys are paid about $9 per ride - several times the daily wage in this impoverished region. On top of that, they get a percentage of the prize money if they place or win.
DIAW KAOBOON: I'm glad that I got second place but not as happy as first place. I got less money. If I had won I would have got more.
KAREN PERCY: Young jockeys can ride up to 10 times or more on a weekend. The clubs operate 45 weeks a year, so a child jockey in demand might race 500 to 700 times a year. An adult Australian jockey by comparison takes part in 300 to 350 rides on average a year.
Groups like the International Labour Organisation are trying to pressure communities to bring an end to child labour, allowing children to go to school and essentially have a childhood. But it's no easy task. Employers and even some government officials have a different interpretation of what child labour is and the reality for many families here is they can't afford not to have their children working.
There are many tales of injuries, with small boys handling large horses.
NITTAYA TOSCHA, MOTHER: I'm worried when my son is on the horse. I'm afraid he'll be in danger. I'm afraid that he'll make a mistake or the horse will be stubborn, making him fall down. I'm worried about that.
KAREN PERCY: While the locals see this as a family event, non-government agencies worry about the impact of children being exposed to adult pastimes.
JARANYA WONGPROM: Children are at risk in a gambling environment. Children see the gambling at the races and think it's normal, and they get used to it and will more easily become gamblers themselves.
KAREN PERCY: Diaw Kaoboon is proud that he's been able to help his family and buy himself a television and other things that other boys just can't afford.
Now he's saving up for a computer and a camera, and he's already planning his life after horse racing.
DIAW KAOBOON: I will focus on studying. I want to go to university to finish at a high level and then find a job. I want to work, what can I say - to be people's boss.
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As I have not been playing any regular golf lately, (long story), I have had plenty of time to do some reading. Thought I would share the following short article I came across recently.
"Although similar games were known in China and the Netherlands, Scotland is the acknowledged home of golf. It is first mentioned in Scottish records in 1457, but may have been played 200 years before this. Musselburgh Links, east of Edinburgh, claims to be the world's oldest golf course still in use.
The Scots language gave us "putt" from a word meaning to propel forward. "Caddie" came from the Scots form of cadet, a young man. The warning call "Fore" may come from the old habit of employing "forecaddies" to walk ahead to watch where the ball lands.
Golfing terminology is not in fact exclusively Scots. "Fairway" was adapted from the English marine term for the navigable part of a river or harbour. "Bogy" (a score for a hole of one over par) was coined at Great Yarmouth Golf Club in 1890. Originally it meant the target score for each hole and is said to be derived from the mischievous monster, the bogeyman, whom the successful golfer had to vanquish.
With improved golf balls, good golfers regularly beat the bogey so "par" (meaning standard, from the latin for equal) was introduced for a lower target score. Eventually, bogey came to mean a score of one shot over par.
"Birdie" (one below par) comes from the United States. The story goes that,in around 1900, some players at the Atlantic City Country Club in New Jersey declared a shot that led to such a score to be "a bird" (good), and the name stuck. Two under par then became an "eagle", and three under par an "albatross".
(Readers Digest, Australia, June 2009)
"In The Beginning"
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I hear you. I too was at one point advised by a doctor to take borth control pills for premensytrual dysphasia (official medical term ofr what yused to be called PMS). In his defense this was about 15 years ago when less was known about the condition. Anyhow...BAD IDEA!!!!!!! To say the least. I went from having 10 horrible days a month to having 30..it was nonstop. So I stopped taking them and kept researching the matter, and ultimately tried natural progesterone with great results, later adding Zoloft after researchj came out shpwing it was effective in low doses for this condition.
Birth control pills will not help genuione PMD. But I find many women are unclear on the term and use "PMS" to refer to a wide range iof menstrual problems, including problems during menstrauation, which is not at all the same. Birth control pills often are helpful for reducing problems during menstruation (cramps etc) but for anyone with true PMD, forget it....it will make matters worse most often.
That's really interesting actually Sheryl - thanks. I suffer from both PMS and pains and have noticed that being on the combined pill helped the pains, but not the grouchiness, but never stopped to wonder why. Now I know!
Yep, same problems here for years, and now just having returned to the west and approaching menopause I thought I could finally breath a sigh of relief it will soon be all finished. Nope, no such luck. Am on the waiting list to see a gyne specialist after an internal ultrasound showed polyps and fibroids!! blah. If I have to work until I am 67 I am determined to get this sorted out once and for all. My current GP recommended the following website, google Jean Hailles.org.au; has all the latest updates and research and I can recommend some of the recipes too!!
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My wife has used Meliane from thailand but here in the US it's not available so she's now on YAZ. She would rather be on Meliane.I was taking Mercilon21 for 6 years. (I was advised by my doctor)
First I was bringing them with me, then decided to try thai Mercilon21, fortunatelly it was the same as from my home!
One month didn't take the pills and as a result- my lovely baby!!!
After birth the doctor advised to use NuvaRing ( vaginal ring) by Organon, but I couldn't find it here. And as before, I brought some with me.
Hi gals, another option for us ladies to consider is having a Mirena coil fitted, prior to leaving your home country. Not for everyone of course, but just another option. It is both a contraception and for women approaching menopause.
cheers
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And yes, they will accept Thai bhat. cheers
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I bought a nice bottle of Australian red, and some Jazz CD's when I went there. But there really is a lot of junk, fake Chinese stuff and copies. Interesting though to look around. There is a more detailed thread on what there is on sale in the Chang Rai forum.
I had a Thai guide with me, he spoke Burmese and he kept telling me how everything was expensive there and it would break after two minutes, and I would be better to buy back on the Thai side, but that stuff just looked as bad too me.
Also you will see illegal shops openly selling bear paws, and all sorts of rare animal parts. (They are used in traditional Chinese medicines) beware, do not take a photo of any of these shops, the owners are likely to become very aggressive and may even grab your camera.
Check your new date stamp, very carefully. They had stamped mine with the wrong year on it. The officials on both sides, very chatty and friendly though. Hope I haven't turned you off, just my experience.
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Dishwashing detergent neat. Use sponge that has a rough side (to clean saucepans). Trim nails and cuticles, apply nice smelly hand cream, and Bob's Your Uncle.
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You definitely deserve to give yourself a pat on the back now - your doing so well.
Hope that you are sleeping better now
Thanx loong
Physically I feel fine.
Sleeping is still a problem. The wife tells me I am very restless like I am having nightmares. Luckily I don't remember.
The worst thing is in the mornings. I really feel like I've got a huge hangover! No headache but I takes me a good hour to centre myself and 3 strong coffees.
I know this will pass with time.
Today I was driving home with my wife and son. Suddenly my wife looked at me and started chuckling. I asked what she was laughing at.
She said "Nothing, I'm just happy to have my husband back"
She was really happy and it really warmed my heart
Hey, Livinginexile, well done. It surely takes strong resolve and motivation to give up the booze, especially here in our Oz culture..."one day at a time, sometimes one hour, even one minute".
Just a gentle reminder, your wife (if she isn't already doing so) may like to attend an Al-Anon meeting for support, fellowship and recovery. Their are many meetings held during the day and evenings in and around the burbs of the Gold Coast and Brisbane. She will be made to feel very welcome, I can guarantee it!!!!
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MPT Travel Trip Co Ltd
Managing Director Pinpet Tratichotipan
Phone 0 2679 3044-6
170/12-13 Soi Suan Plu South Sathorn Road, (same street as Immigration, if they havent moved!)
I used this company heaps for booking flights, the last time being January this year. They did not except credit card payments, only cash. I had better service by visiting the office, in person, to make arrangements, rather than phoning or emailing for quotes. (I think this is because they are a busy little office, not because they cant be bothered to phone back). For trips to Laos, Singapore etc. they can organize to have a visa ready for you for an extra fee. You can also have passport photos done.
I have also used Thaivisa travel, contact Guy as mentioned by another member, booking done online and paid via credit card.
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Can recommend Allied Pickfords - contact Michael for a written quote +66 2 361 3961
50/808 moo 3 soi la salle road Sukamvit
Cost also depends on the following:
- your shipment delivered port to port, or door to door.
- they pack for you, or you pack yourself
- if you pay by credit card (fees) or cash (currency)
- insurance
Also try Crown Removals.
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Yes, thank you have just been browsing and I think its back to the computer man tomorrow. Did have Nortan installed maybe something happened there (maybe cornflour virus?). Cant keep searching though, too "pen maark, maark"... AUD 2.00 for fifteen minutes using this internet in a hotel.
cheers
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Hi, my laptop (Vista) completely crashed and has a message BOOT MNGR MISSING, press control, Alt, Delete to restart. Well have been doing that for a couple of hours and its still missing, nada....is there anything I can try again myself before I take it back in to the computer man for the third time???
regards
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I also had a terrible embarrassing altercation with the older guy when I applied for a visa last year at that embassy. The lady wasn't very nice either, questioning about my intentions going there without a tour group and I kept pointing to the fax sent through from my family member who works in Egypt....I was dressed very conservatively and I spoke to her politely saying that I had been in Egypt 25 years earlier and was looking forward to going again...blah blah. She was very nice to all the young boys in there I noticed. Anyways, they kept telling me to come back, once on a public holiday and she lost face when I pointed this out. The guard down stairs kept asking me when I got there why I was coming back so often, and he was laughing and apologizing. Anyway, the day before the flight, go back in and no "not ready, you come back tomorrow morning". My flight was leaving a 8.00am. I told him that would not be possible. He answers back, "why do you live too far away at Koh San Road." I was coming down with the flu, and this was the fourth time they asked me to come back, and I just lost it. All mae pen rai, out the window. "How dare you speak to me in that manner, I have a condo at Sattorn" by this time I am in tears and sobbing, everyone heads down, including the Marg Simpson look alike with attitude. I went outside the office and started calling Egypt to tell them I wouldnt be coming, no answer of course, it was the middle of the night there. Meanwhile, the consul, and other staff were in the office and their was some raised voices. I went back in and the consul handed me the visa, nobody said a word. I didnt write a complaint, as I met up socially with embassy staff over there and told them directly about my experience.
Later that evening I did see on CNN an aussie woman in a cowboy hat, yelling at the camera "we dont want em here" in protest to a Muslim school being built in country New South Wales, so I understand raggys point with regard to how people from certain countries are treated in Australia and it makes me very sad.
I had a wonderful trip there, always discovering something new to see, a country so rich in interesting history. Cairo iteself has become quite international, even went to a Thai restaurant. The egyptian people just as friendly as I remember from my last trip. I hope to visit again someday.
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Quite a nice feel good story from
The Courier Mail, April 25; Sonia Campbell; Bittersweet Homecoming
A Cairns teenager who was saved from a life of poverty in Thailand in 2001 will see her parents today for the first time in 10 years.
Pharm Pongprom was nine when she was rescued from the streets of central Thailand by her grandparents who brought her to Australia on a tourist visa.
A frightened little girl abandoned by her drug addicted parents at the age of six, she was living in slums and selling water on trains to feed herself.
She was facing a life of destitution and likely prostitution, if not for her grandmother Sunanchk and grandfather Ken Ritchie who lobbied federal immigration officials for more than six years to secure her a permanent visa.
The case gained national attention as two successive federal immigration ministers rejected the visa application. But on May 23, 2007 after the case reached the High Court, then immigration minister Kevin Andrews approved her residency, allowing her to live with her grandparents in Cairns.
Now 17, the bubbly teenager has been studying beauty therapy part-time at the Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE since February.
Despite being abandoned by her impoverished parents, she works two casual jobs so she can send money to them and her 11 year old brother. "It's kind of my parents fault for abandoning me but I don't blame them. It's life, you know, when you are there," she said.
With much of her extended family gathering in Thailand for a significant religious festival this month, Pharm made the decision to revisit her country of birth for an emotional reunion with her parents.
Flying out of Cairns airport yesterday, she was both excited and afraid.
"I'm very, very nervous. This morning my grandad came to me and said. "Pharm, do you want to go?" I said, "I don't know". "It's weird. I do want to go....but I don't. I'll cry first. I don't know what to say to them."
It was Pharm's grandmother who convinced her to make the emotional trek. "I want her to be happy. And her mum and dad can see what she look like," Mrs Ritchie said. When Pharm returns to Australia in a month she will be eligible to apply for Australian citizenship.
"When I come back, that's the first thing I will do. I am very excited".
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Well, I was certainly shocked when for some reason I didn't feel quite the hansum man that I do when I'm in Thailand Maybe the ladies all need glasses.
I need glasses and wear them all the time now I am back. Sooooo many hansum men!! Everybody into fitness, jogging, bicycling around the place and never appreciated before I lived in Thailand just how polite and couteous western men can be! Appreciate them more now I have returned.
I have given up smiling at everyone, as they truly think I am mad. Everybody is so serious, no time for a chat while working. Everything really expensive, meals are so huge I can never finish, Thai food is terrible here so far, haven't found a decent restaurant, but am able to access all the ingredients for Thai food, as its popular, so am cooking my own dishes.
On the positive side, I am able to drink the tap water, great coffee shops everywhere, beautiful clean city, no rubbish around, great beaches and plenty of outdoor stuff to enjoy.
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Its safe as long as you aren't a "fan room" Khaosan road tourist running around Bangkok with a camera like you are on some kind of National Geographic assignment. And you have the common sense to avoid any problem areas.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith has just been on the ABC news in Australia, warning all Australians both expats and tourists to stay indoors whilst in Bangkok at the present time with the current escalating violence.
Register your details at: smartravellor.gov.au to receive travel alerts.
Keep up the good work Thaivisa, and stay safe everybody.
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agree with FBN.
get it checked with an ENT.
Hey John, replying a bit late to this I should think, you are probably all mended by now. If it is the swimming that is the cause try ear plugs you can buy at the pharmacist, waterproof, made especially for use in the water and helps alleviate "swimmers ear".
cheers
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The whitegoods manufacturer announced last April it was moving offshore because of rising manufacturing costs.
More than 300 workers will finish up at Brisbane's Fisher and Paykel factory today as the company prepares to move its operations to Thailand.
The whitegoods manufacturer announced last April it was closing its operations at Cleveland on Brisbane's eastside and moving offshore because of rising manufacturing costs.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) spokesman Andrew Dettmer says Fisher and Paykel could not be persuaded to stay.
Read more at http://www.abc.net.au/news
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Hi,
I urgently need some help. I bought 3 plants a couple of weeks ago and now they are looking very ill. 2 of them I have repotted into a new terracotta pot. I have read some information about them on the internet - water enough so that they are not water-logged or dry out, a light feeding (I used that fish liquid you mix with water), new pots have good draining soil. They are outside and get good sun exposure. They are in the wind a little and it is cool at the moment so I am not sure if this has anything to do with it.
Hi Makyai, I recently bought a whole lot of different bamboo and palms (Greater Buddha Belly, Bambusa Vulgaris) to place in my courtyard here in Brisvegas to remind me of Thailand. Mine also looked a bit shabby after a week or so, but I moved them into part shade, and they seem to need a lot of water as its been raining here the past four days and they have really come on well. I would be reluctant to repot into terrecotta pots, as these type of pots, can be very porous and water evaporates very quickly. Having said that your plants look quite exposed to the sun and elements in your photos. Try clumping a few together, a bit of shade cloth? large outdoor umbrella? A large palm in a pot close by? Also I would only feed the variety I have in spring or summer here. Are you overfeeding your plants perhaps? At the top of the container you could put all the long narrow leaves that have dried out and died to keep some of the moisture in the soil? Terracotta also can stain your pavers after some time, and so your pots dont get waterlogged at the bottom you can buy small feet to place under the pot to keep it up an inch from the pavers, assists with any water log problem/and the possibility of roots going through the pot into the pavers over a period of time, if your plants are invasive variety.
Good luck
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I currently have items held by Australian Quarantine that must be destroyed or re-exported to Thailand (Description of Goods = Bag and Paper,Elephant Dung)
Please check before going ahead as it would be just terrible to have all this good work come to a halt due to strict regulations in Aus.
You can check Online Import Conditions Australian Government database, at
www.aqis.gov.au
cheers
Maybe the ladies all need glasses.
Deaf People
in Bangkok
Posted
Hi Robbie
-Try World Federation of The Deaf - Thailand, 144/9 Moo Ban Thitiporn; Pattankan 28 Bangkok +66 2717 1902 (1903)
- If interested google UCANews.com, article referrring to Narang Thanomlek, translates mass every Sunday for about 30 deaf catholics at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Bangkok.
- There is a tour organized Bangkok/Cambodia 12 to 23 October 2010 "Discovering Deaf Worlds". Even though your trip is in January it might be worth contacting them prior to get some possible contacts for day tours etc. Email [email protected]
Good luck, and have fun!