dunroaming

I notice that the article is tagged as "entertainment" rather than "news".  I also notice that it is from an article in "The Sun".  So most likely it will be full of holes (possibly 18) and lacking in any credibility.

Having said that I wish him well and a speedy recovery.  

13 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Yes,  I could live like a local and exist on sticky rice and dried fish, but I enjoy a few of the finer things in life and unfortunately I have to pay rip-off prices for them.

Totally understand that.  I used to spend twelve quid on a bottle of wine in Chiang Mai that was a fiver in the UK.  One thing that annoyed me most was paying vastly inflated prices for stuff that was clearly substandard.  Rimping Supermarket used to have the best imported things but at quite a high price.

I guess you have to weigh up what makes you happy.  Having someone else cleaning and doing the dishes and getting a decent massage were always worth the money! 

Well everyone is taking it seriously now.  Just had an email from my son's school here in the UK. Last week was half term and most of the little darlings went away for a short break.  My son went on a school trip to Iceland.  Luckily no cases of Corona there.  However we are all being asked if any of us went to northern Italy or have been in any contact with people we know who have.  Several schools in England have been closed due to the same question.  Obviously the kids at our school are all starting to claim symptoms of the disease but that isn't cutting any ice here.

1 hour ago, recycler said:

Not only cars are ridiculously expensive in Thailand, beer, meat, vegetables, education, etc, etc.

It's about time that people wake up about the way that they are extorted by companies selling products at multiple times the reasonable prices.

Life sucks in Europe, for the price of a Captiva we had to settle for a meager Mercedes Benz ????

A can of Chang beer in Lidl in Europe costs the same as in BigC in Thailand.

CP sells sausages at up to 5 times the price of A-brand sausages in Europe, and they own every step from the pig's food to the 7-Eleven or Makro where they sell them and pay minimum wages in Thailand. They are laughing themselves sick over the profits that they make.

 

It's true that cars in Thailand are very expensive, especially second hand ones and more specifically, cars manufactured outside of Thailand.  But the governments import duty on them is staggering, as it is for quite a few other things.  If you want to live more frugally then just buy local produce and avoid anything that's imported.  Thailand isn't as cheap as it used to be as my wife keeps telling me after visiting her family there.  Our weekly shop in Waitrose is not much more expensive, item by item, than shopping in the local store in Thailand.  Ridiculous when you consider the difference in disposable income.

6 hours ago, WalkingOrders said:

I am out all the time but I wear a mask and dark glasses

It's horses for courses.  When living in Thailand I had a couple of businesses and my wife had a restaurant.  We were also involved in charity work supporting homeless children.  I enjoyed being part of the community and still keep in touch with quite a few people still living where we were.  Occasionally someone would have a go at ripping us off but they were quickly sent on their way.

To be honest there was always far more chance of my wife sticking me in a suitcase and dumping me in the river than anyone else!

4 hours ago, sameasb4 said:

keep up the pretense i am booked on a flight out of here next month I am even giving up my rented condo have 3 months on lease left putting my gear in storage not sure if there will be flights after songkran when i am due back i guess they want to keep the lid on any epidemic till songkran is over

My wife has a trip planned to go to Thailand in May.  No problem with going but she has been warned that she may have to undergo a two week "Self Isolation" on her return.  I have a business trip planned to China in April but have cancelled that for now.  I cannot afford to be locked away in self Isolation when I get back.

8 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

You was talking bout the USA.

True, I was.  Don't know the answer to your question though.  Sorry.

1 minute ago, Don Mega said:

 

Did Toyota ever get the Yaris legal or are they still re-badging Mazda2's ?

Where?  I don't know anyway.  In the UK the Yaris sells very well whereas the Mazda 2 doesn't.  Most people opt for the Mazda 3 which is a brilliant car by any standards.  My last car in Thailand (11 years ago) was a Yaris and was a great little runaround.

I still go to the US quite often but only usually to the New York or New England area.  The vast majority of cars there seem to be European or far eastern.

9 hours ago, Curt1591 said:

The only thing "American" is the name.

In the USA the American car industry has been dying for years as people move on from the metal dinosaurs that they all used to drive.  People now prefer modern cars that are actually enjoyable to drive, hence the amount of Japanese, German and other far eastern  cars dominating the market.  However all of this is fairly irrelevant as we move towards the age of the electric powered cars of the future.  All of the petrol powered cars will suffer massive falls in value  as people realise they will have no chance of selling them with all the restrictions being put in place.  

I quite recently bought a petrol powered BMW knowing that this would be my last chance to own a "proper" car again.  I am already seeing the re-sale value tumble and I have faced up to the reality that my next car will be either a hybrid, or a full electric powered piece of !!!!.

Like those gas guzzling pieces of American <deleted>, I fear us petrol heads are heading for the same scrapheap!

Yes it will interesting to see if and how the Conservatives raise taxes.  Their commitment has always been low taxes and pay the workers peanuts.  But we are still in transition and we will be for some considerable time yet.  The bickering over any potential trade deals with the EU is only just starting and that uncertainty will keep the pound low for quite a while yet.

Need to sit and watch and see where we end up at the end of the year.

3 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

Terrible news! 

 

I've lost a good friend who had a heart problem and was then in a vast room of Sappasit hospital Ubon R. with around 20 other patients who had almost all contagious diseases, including lung infections.

 

  He died on the same day after he received urgently needed blood that we found from donors through TV.

 

  It turned out that he had four different types of lung infections, and even one of the doctors told me that I shouldn't come to visit, it would be too dangerous.

 

The irony was that we found a single room for him, but he had to be in intensive care after the second lung infection.

 

We had no other choice. I wish I'd have known that before. 

 

  "My country doesn't have enough money to separate patients with contagious diseases" were the doctor's words.  

 

I've even seen a live operation in the middle of the night, right in the middle of the room, done by an Indian doctor who seemed to help out. 

 

I hope that he'll make it.

 

Thai hospitals are in no way up to international standards when it comes to hygiene. 

I have only had good experience in hospitals in Thailand, specifically an international one in Chiang Mai.  However many friends have not been so lucky with a lot of them being wrongly diagnosed or treated ineffectively.  Being as seriously ill as this man appears to be makes it hard for him or his relatives to get him out of there and at least a second opinion.  

17 hours ago, Nakmuay887 said:

First begging backpackers and now this. 

 

What does he do, rent a kid for the day? 

Maybe learning from the locals.  Nothing new for them.

On 2/20/2020 at 12:16 PM, plumberman123 said:

i dont think so

 

hes a pretty straight person

 

 

Or just stupidly naïve!  Nana Plaza is notorious for it's pushing "the envelope" shows and services supplied.  The moment you walk into the complex you are aware what the place is all about.  Easy enough to turn and walk away but obviously your friend wanted to sample what the place had to offer.  He should just hope that the story doesn't make it into the British gutter press.  They would have great fun with it.

3 minutes ago, URMySunshine said:

The Breibartian ethno-nationalists and their fellow travellers keep spewing out their hate fuelled bile. It comes as no surprise that Thailand acts as a honey pot for so many of them. And with a beautiful irony their counterparts in Thailand sees them in the same way as they see 'foreign' i.e with thinly veiled contempt. 

 

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Well said 

5 hours ago, BestB said:

Seriously , thai cops are way too easy and too lenient . Anywhere in the world , both would have been arrested on the spot and charged with assaulting police officer and refusing to follow directions 

The thing is there are a lot of people with "connections" or are related to people of influence.  My brother in law is a police major and everyone in the family have pretty much free rein when it comes to minor misdemeanours.  Drink driving charges would be ripped up and binned and just about anything up to bank robbery would result in nothing more than stern look and wagging of the finger.

Totally wrong I know and thankfully most of my wife's family members are law abiding and decent people.  They prefer to be respected members of the community rather than just strutting around arrogantly shouting at people.

9 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I've always said to my wife, we will wait a few more years until I reach full UK retirement age, and then sell my house and buy a nice big house in the UK countryside somewhere, with a nice garden. Then we will just live in the house and order the food in, watch the tv movies and relax, knowing that the bad stuff is hopefully on the outside. Wife is more than happy with that. World's just not what it was these days. (Burglars and mad house breaking Islamic nutcases aside !)

Don't forget the right wing nutcases that are the bigger threat now.  Fastest growing problem for the security forces according to reports.  Not on the same scale as in Germany at the moment but still growing rapidly in the UK thanks to the current morons in Downing Street.

Interesting take on your idea of your ideal scenario though.  You will need somewhere on high ground and those places will be costing more thanks to the continual flooding.  Food deliveries will be easy enough because they will arrive by drones.  Does beg the question, why the UK?  If you are just going to stay in your own personal castle and watch tv movies, why not somewhere warm and friendlier like Spain?  Houses are less expensive, the hospitals are good and you have the weather to really enjoy your garden.  That is where I will end up and I am really looking forward to it.  

Thank goodness there is no such thing as global warning or climate change eh!

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Why is it such a problem for some? I simply say " Gep tung khrap" or "Check bin khrap" and I get the bill in the next 30 seconds. My Thai GF does the same.

If I get bad service or bad food at a restaurant, I say nothing. I never go there again, and tell my friends.

 

That's fine and what we all do, if you can get a waiter to come anywhere near you.  Often though they manage to avoid customers like the plague, or coronavirus maybe now!

2 hours ago, song0674 said:

Typical Thai resturant with poor service and lack of attention to customers. Notice that they are no staff taking of customers when they the Chinese tourists. 

 

If more Thai restuarants staff took care of their customers and waiters stood around to anyone needs anything (instead of playing their phone, chatting to other staff, staring out in complete opposite direction where everyone is sitting) - then maybe something like would be completely avoid.

 

Not saying that this was the logic of the Chinese tourists, but if i wanted to pay my food bill and there no restaurant staff in sight and had to wait for someone to come back - i would could consider packing up and leaving too

Really annoying I agree.  Happens almost every time I go out to eat in a busy restaurant,  Mainly in London but also locally as well.  Don't find the problem much in Indian restaurants though, as they tend to be far more attentive, but Italian ones are a nightmare!  Chinese restaurants seem to be pretty efficient but the waiters are usually surly, just as they are in China actually.

Maybe us complainers should just stick to McDonalds and KFC where the service is always slick and quick ????

Actually what we do in Thailand, when eating in local cheap places, is simply hand the money to a member of staff on the way out rather than sitting there getting hot under the collar, waiting for them to come to the table.  That's my wife's logical way of dealing with it.

3 hours ago, Jaxxper said:

I thought the compulsory insurance covered loss of a third party. Was the bike not taxed and insured ?

seems odd unless the family are asking for significantly more than the insurance covers.

When I was knocked off of my motorbike by a hit and run driver, all my hospital costs (in a private room at Chiang Mai's Lanna hospital) where paid by my bike insurance.  At that time (14 years ago) the insurance cost 350 baht a year.  Does help if you have a Thai wife though.

6 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Where is the "Public Sex" ??????

 

A female sat on a male lap is ALL that is seen here. Blown totally out of proportion, in my view.

Still photograph will show a static view.  I guess you would need to see the video to judge what was going on.  Either way it is just another non story about nothing.

2 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

Oh really?! A friend has a restaurant in Chiang Mai. He said Chinese pay 800 pp, farangs 200 Baht pp. The sellers on the markets say that Chinese are the people they spend most pp. And many little massage parlors they are closed now because no Chinese in town pay nothing to agencies because the Chinese are individual travelers. 
Yes, the Chinese stay only a couple of days. Same as Europeans visit Paris, London or Barcelona for a couple of days because these cities are only a few hours away.
 

I still visit Chiang Mai and Bangkok on business and stay in hotels rather than with friends.  The amount of Chinese staying in the hotels has increased enormously and where I stay they are all independent travellers.  Usually young professionals with their families.  They are polite and friendly, speak English well and I imagine they spend well on food and souvenirs, judging by the amount of bags they are always carrying.

It is true that there are flocks of Chinese tour groups that will outnumber the independent travellers but I can assure you there are an increasing amount of those too. 

8 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

And I bet there are more people "behind the scene" that want their share of the 200 000b cake....

After accidents like this the police negotiate the compensation with a generous cut for themselves.  That is the normal procedure in these cases.  Obviously the amount of compensation is based on how much they think they can milk from mark.