Sanpatong

It is indeed very much a crisis. I commented on this before. Unless URGENT action is taken, things are looking bleak; this is the potential mia-noi-pool we're talking about for when I'm middle aged!!!!

Never got it.. But then I do take precautions; mainly not being outside at times & places where there's a lot of mosquitos around, especially if they're of the Dengue type.

Yes, the only way Thaivisa.com is still somewhat readable at times: Turn off ads, avatars and limit yourself to a couple forums unless looking for entertainment.

That's where the honorary comes in; you don't have to actually do work.

It's ridiculous the accuser can remain anonymous; from the press: fine. But from the accused himself? Seriously, something is broken in the US judicial system, and not in one place.

There are Thai beggars and there are farang beggars.

..and then there's scum that needs to be thrown off a BTS station face down.

Easy. Money-wise, keep them for a VERY long time. That's always optimum, ESPECIALLY in Thailand where maintenance costs peanuts.

Really, by all means keep changing cars if you fancy something new, but if the key factor is money then it really is a no-brainer. Keep them for 10 years if not longer.

Our trucks are around 7 years old now.. Maintenance costs are COMPLETELY negligible. Maybe 25K a year or so? And that's doing all the recommended stuff prescribed by the dealer. Compare that to buying a new car, when you're throwing 10-25K baht in the sea on payments every MONTH. Once you've paid for it, KEEP IT!

Why do people change cars at all? (In Thailand), well:

1. Same reason people buy a new phone when they feel the desire for a fancy new model.

2. Changing requirements; i.e. job or family status changes now require a different type of vehicle.

All this talk on Pattaya makes me want to book a ticket... It's been FAR too long.

Sorry, why is this weird/strange/undesirable?

Thanks so much everyone! My wife wants a farang name for the baby and I want a Thai name. How can we settle this little problem?

Easy.

* Pick a name that can be both Thai sounding as well as English, and/or

* Add a middle name that's of a different origin as the first name, and/or

* Use a nick-name that's of a different origin as the first and/or middle name

We ended up with 'Nattan' (ณัฐธัญ)

LOL.. That's pretty excellent, fitting just about all of the "weird" Thai consonants into a single name.

Apparently I'm one of them who fills out almost every given bloody space there is, which probably makes me a potential target for stalkers-wannabes and the 3439594 people that I owe money to (to fund my crack).

Give me a call, I'll fund your crack anytime.

(See, I would never have said that if I had filled in my profile. )

the scheduled December 23 poll that will restore democracy to the kingdom.

Under the current constitution & power structure, Thailand is simply not a democracy.

The only thing left to figure out for myself is is Thailand was EVER a democracy. Probably not.

although often it's more like a walkie-talkie (you talk then I talk) rather than a proper 2-way (full-duplex) connection.

If you're NOT using a head-set (ear phones + microphone) then Skype will attempt to 'guess' who's talking to prevent an echo. (Otherwise sound from your speakers goes into the microphone, creating an echo).

Try using a head-set (or ear-phones at least), and make sure you indicate in Skype's settings that you're using one.

I'm in the market too for a reasonably competent plumber. If anyone has a name or contact number for one then that'd be awesome.

But yeah, just about everyone here is a 'jack of all trades', they'd have to be. Even when they don't do certain work themselves, they'll contract out. The interior decorator person I use does almost nothing herself, but always comes up with competent people and oversees their work very well.

I stand absolved

Looks to me you're sitting down having a coffee.

There are a lot more sex-workers in Bangkok than Pattaya and the klongs are not exactly sparkling clean.

Yeah, but most of the people wear shirts on Silom.

Silom/Bangkok isn't a beach resort town. Go check out what people on beach holidays wear, anywhere.

Personally I don't really care what people wear; life is not a fashion contest, especially not after retirement, after officially stepping out of the rat-race, and after having purchased a loud motorcycle.

At this point one is allowed to stop worrying about wearing a well starched collared shirt & tie.

( )

It's intentional.

Thailand is a military dictatorship, my province still under martial law. There is no full freedom of expression.

So either I don't fill in my profile, or I limit myself to the Motoring forum.

We've come a long, long way since Thailand's least corrupt elections ever in 2001*.

It's obvious that the Thai people's lack of concern as to where their vote goes is symptomatic of the lack of respect the Thai elite and their military lapdogs give the to the votes of the Thai people.

The Thai poor, which is the majority of the population know very well that their vote is de facto meaningless in this coming sham of an election so they will make their vote count the only way it can - financially.

Make no mistake, the coup has set Thailand back 25 years. We are now seeing the effects.

Hear hear.

ABAC poll: 65% of respondents ready to sell votes

Enough said. Corrupt people deserve a corrupt government.

Now do the survey in other countries.

Yes, preferably while recognizing the different vote-buying strategy employed by politicians in the West.

I am of course talking about the following:

* Thailand: Vote for me, I'll give you money before you vote.

vs

* Everywhere else : Vote for me, I'll give you money after I get elected.

LOADS of people vote because they expect to get paid. If not in red notes on the spot, then in tax breaks or other cleverly conceiled hand-outs.

This is democracy; two wolves and a chicken voting on what's for dinner.

If the referees are wearing or displaying a logo associated with one teams owner, that at least raises the question if the they are truly un-bias or have they been bought off.

Don't be ridiculous. They decided to have shirt sponsoring for referees because they're a visible surface in the games. It just happens to be on the shirt of the ref but it could easily be something else that the FA controls. In fact, the FA sells loads of ad space but now that it's visible on the ref's shirts it somehow affects the individual ref's?

And secondly, Frank sold Shin Corp, last time I checked.

And thirdly, City are playing well enough not to be bothered about ref's decisions!!

We are the lads who are playing to win

City - the Boys in Blue will never give in!

* His truck is not a very high off-roader.

* They gotta be mounted a bit lower than floor-level, otherwise they're not functional as steps right? Then they'd be wings.

* You're right that they don't lower the lowest point of the vehicle so indeed the ground clearance is the same; what I mean however is that they ARE likely to hit something when driving over rocks or other pointy terrain, especially combined with the truck's long wheelbase.. Like: Front wheel drives over big rock, down again and then BAM the rock scrapes or dents the side step. I've had this happen with a Suzuki SJ 4x4 with those factory mounted chromium steps. They're significantly lower than floor level, and (on that vehicle) didn't serve a purpose.

* Note that very high actuall off-roaders are better off using small steps near the doors, where they're actually needed as steps; they typically don't run along the side of the vehicle.

* You seem to have mis-spelled my name. The nature of a discussion forum is that not everyone agrees with you all the time.

I came with a tennis shoulder bag with clothes, and a a towel.

I still recall the moment I first bought something that WOULDN'T fit in there and would therefore always remain a part of 'my life in Thailand'. I DID actually realize it at the time: I'm getting settled, the nomadic days are over!!

The ones you pictured are available from 4x4 shops for the expensive ones, but as you will have seen, also anyone who's anything in cabbage-hauling as them fitted to their trucks.. That probably would work out a lot cheaper, just ask around at Kad Muang Mai I'd say.

The one most recently pictured on the back of that Toyota Tiger isn't very heavy duty. Those are literally all over the place at just about any car acessories shop on Charoen Muang road.

The side-steps I don't think are very useful.. They reduce ground clearance and don't really serve any purpose.

It's almost ironic that if you go to a BACKPACKER forum, the consensus is now mildly positive about Pattaya, as a place to stay or transit through as an alternative to Bangkok for transit on the way East. When there's some newbie trowing a tantrum on the usual stuff then he's usually quickly put back into place.

You see it time and again, the world over: There's people making a trend and people following a (yesterdays) trend.. The trend-makers seek out the places 'with a reputation' and go live/stay there, and not before long the vibe changes. But then others choose to be stuck with their own pre-conceived stereotypes. To each his own.

The only advantage of an auto box is in traffic.

Hm... That does happen to be the situation in which I mostly drive my car actually...

Anyway, I like manual, because I'm not in Bangkok. Also for mountain driving I think auto is especially ludicrous. But then when you drive in Bangkok rush hour.... ouch.. Never mind your arms, you start to feel your left knee after an hour or two of stop & go traffic.