TPI

Living in the "North" is an exercise in balance, while the living costs are low travel is comparatively expensive. TESL teachers are pretty thin on the ground and their income is never more than 40K a month....they all seem to have a pretty good lifestyle, while the ex-pats on 30K and less have to live a little less flash, they still have a lifestyle that is the envy of their friends in their home countries!

Ex military bods have the best lifestyle of all, they all seem to do a few hours a month teaching to keep up interest and to help pay for the beer!

In my opinion, from my experience, every expat I've met has molded his lifestyle to suit his income, by doing this they are generally in a very positive mental state having much more control of their lives than would be possible in their home countries.

IMHO :jap: :jap:

People! How can you expect any common sense or logic from any member of Thai politics!

People under 18 can't vote so blame them for everything, what can they do? If the fortunes of Thai Buddist Nuns is anything to go by women have absolutely no say in what they can do with their bodies...if the boyfriend wants to make love without a condom what can a young girl do in this society? Nothing! And if the girl gets pregnant? The only steps the boy takes is bloody big ones out of town!

His father, brothers, mates...even his mother will wish him well and usually blame the girl for not taking precautions!

All pride, no shame!

Really? Or I should perhaps ask for a breakdown of income-groups creating this high average.

Sadly, most Thai people I see couldn't manage their money out of a toll-both on a highway due to lack of budgetary planning...and even the decently well-paid staff around me all seem to be broke the days before salary is out (yes, mostly men, but even they should be able to pick up some pointers by their gf's?).

u ask for a breakdown of income-groups... It is a study from Credit Card data.

U gotta give the ladies some credit for money managment.

Guys will gamble, drink and have as many girls untill the pocket weeps.

I love this unresponsible life.

Sure is better than topping up the fat western bitch's extravance CC expenditure.

Well said that man! Do I detect a trace of bitterness here??

Another Thai piss head bus driver too drunk to stay awake. Driving pissed most likely, maybe even driving with chang in hand as many do here. How do they get away with it ? Because the police are too busy collecting bribes and the owner of the company has already paid the bribes needed to be able to operate the route so the police don't stop the buses/coaches. Obviously they know this so have absolutely no concern to anyone else and carry on driving drunk.

Hang on Arthur, how many millions of miles do Thai buses do in a day...every city has a bus terminal that must see 20-30 buses a day! Work it out, about 2000 towns times 20 (for instance) = 40,000 buses! 4 accidents a day is only 0.00001% of the total! Not bad when you look at the percentage most developed countries run too. (bad English I know ) So I think that everyone should lighten up, haven't you every drifted off while driving and watched the movie behind your eyeballs??

How the hell can the weapons go missing, surely they have an Armoury?

It would appear that the new CO having taken over in the middle of January decided (for some strange reason) to do an inventory check (how bizare!) . Sgt Blogs, in charge of the armory was well known to be stealing weapons and ammunition from his store (he probably gave really, really good parties?). The previous CO was obviously on the take as he would have known of the discrepancies, via his own stocktake, before leaving the unit?? What sort of army doesn't do a daily stocktake of weapons and ammo? Surely somebody must have had a slight suspicion of wrongdoing when loading all of this or even some of this gear into a truck, or did he steal it over a very long period of time, a piece at a time??

Sack/retire the Divional General, hang every corrupt officer for treason, counsel every pvt. and NCO on their duty to King and Country! :annoyed:

In case anyone really cares, this is what started the American Vietnam war. Ho Chi Minh took the land from the wealthy Catholic land owners and gave it to the peasants starting the largest resettlement of people in history. All the Catholics left North Vietnam and moved to the South. The Americans moved about 310,000 people and the French 500,000 1954/55. Probably another million wanted to go but were prevented from doing so by the North Vietnamese. One thing led to another and eventually a war started. The original reason was land reform.

Weeell you're almost correct! My wife was moved from Ha Coi in the north to Sung Mau in the south because the Americans told everyone that the communists were going to rape all of the women and kill any man who had had anything to do with the French...basically it was all a load of dingo's kidneys! The real reason it appears was that their was to be a referendum about reunification and the Americans were terrified that the people were going to vote to join Ho Chi Minh! So they moved as many people that they could coerce to the south and then refused to take part in the plebicite. When the north saw that the US via the CIA was prepared to finance the entire southern government and army they then turned to the military option!

Of course they instituted land reform, the The French and Chinese absentee land lords had no intention of giving up land that they had stolen from the "peons" over the previous 100 years (does this ring any bells in Thailand?). It was only by the use of force that some sort of equality was created in VN. "The only people who are proud of once being poor are the rich!"

I am sure an amateur forensic scientist learns the difference between wounds caused by an AK 47 round and and M 16 round.

I am no ballistics expert, but a complete amateur should be able to tell the difference.

You don't have to be a ballistics expert to know that a M16 fires a .556mm (.223) projectile and a AK47 shoots a 7.62mm (.308) projectile. Usually the entrance and exit wounds with a .223 are vastly different from a .308, while both are full metal jacket the speed of the .223 (3200ft/sec) causes the projectile to fragment and spin inside the body whereas the .308 tends to make a clean hole.

An AK47 is only accurate over relativly short distances as is the M16, an FN rifle now (as issued to army snipers etc) is the same calibre as an AK47 but is much more powerful and has deadly accuracy over a far greater distance.

The Army should show courage, admit they did the shooting but plead that in all of the firing it would be impossible to identify individual shooters! The fact that the Canadian reporter can identify his shooter is beside the point of course??

In the latest report on the death of the Japanese photographer, the DSI said (it appears after discussions with the Army) that on examination of the bullet, they believed it was fired from an AK47!

An Army spokesperson reportedly said that the Army had not issued AK47 rifles to any troops during the troubles therefore it couldn't have been them....fair enough!

The problem is the AK47 fires a 7.62mm round, so do the FN rifles issued to snipers in the Army!

It's puzzling to try and understand how the DSI and the Army can tell the design and maker of a rifle by looking at the projectile (which is the only evidence)? Both the FN and the AK47 fire a 180 grain 7.62 mm projectile, the AK47 has an effective range, for accurate fire (in this case very, very accurate) of 100-150metres. A scoped FN will shoot up to 1000metres and at distances less than that is very, very accurate indeed!

What bothers me is while the Army prides itself on its honour it has all sorts of problems "manning up" to the obvious (IMHO) problems it has in controlling its snipers when they are not under close supervision!

A simple "Yes it was one of ours but we can't identify who it was" would solve all sorts of problems that are going to arise in the future with the Japanese Government!

So what are the suggestions - visa options - for my fiance to accompany me to Australia for a couple of weeks in June on a family visit?

Maaaate! The fact that you have a partner application in cuts no ice in the embassy...If she isn't working then they're going to hit you up for the $15,000 security bond and the female officer dealing with the application will instantly assume that she's a "working girl"! Better to wait until she has her temp marriage visa then there is not so much nonsense!

Remembering that Bkk is a "hardship posting" for Foreign Service junior mandarins so they tend to get pedantic about paperwork and missed telephone calls.

My advice (for what it's worth) is to start on your joint story with many, many photo's and letters of support from Ozy and Thai friends all going back to the year dot! You can't have too much paperwork or photo's!

When my wife and I submitted we handed over 4 x 2 ring binders and continued to include photo's and letters (even after we submitted). The result was that we got approval 13 days after my wife's last interview!

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

In the old days (about 5 years ago) we travelled by rice barge to Pak Beng, the only people who felt pain (sunburn) were the backpackers sitting on the roof, then on the next day on to Luang Prabang...the only scenery was to watch the "Moo Par" looking for fish in the river? We couldn't travel from LP because the locals said that the "bandits" would get us on the way to Vientianne! I've always wanted to travel from LP to Phnom Phen via the Mekong, any info or advice would be most welcome.

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

In the old days (about 5 years ago) we travelled by rice barge to Pak Beng, the only people who felt pain (sunburn) were the backpackers sitting on the roof, then on the next day on to Luang Prabang...the only scenery was to watch the "Moo Par" looking for fish in the river? We couldn't travel from LP because the locals said that the "bandits" would get us on the way to Vientianne! I've always wanted to travel from LP to Phnom Phen via the Mekong, any info or advice would be most welcome.

South Korea and Indonesia could kick Thailand's arse.

Thailand could kick Malaysias, Cambodias, Burmas and Laos' arse.

My understanding is that Thailand and China are building stronger relationships. If the USA and Thailand fought in 15 years time, who would Thailand side with?

Since you're obviously an expert on armed forces in Asia; any idea how Thailand would fare against Vietnam? How do their armies, navies or air forces compare?

My friend! You would feel like the man who had to clean up after the elephant in the parade if Thailand (In it's insanity) took on Vietnam. Even if its armanents are 20 years out of date they would give Thailand such a flogging that 6 katoey's with gucci handbags could take over the country!

Vietnam gave China a very serious defeat in its northern provences after the "American war", prior to that they gave the French and prior to that the Japanese trouble. Ever since the French tried to conquer the country in the middle 1800's they had only a very delicate grip on Vietnam.

I spent over two years looking over a rifle barrel at these little guys...they frightened the Sh#t out of me then! I also saw the Thai "Cobra" division in operation! Oh me, oh my!

They did not fair so well during WWII.

They faired better than any of the other countries who declared war on the allies.

That is because when the Japanese were about to attack they sided with the Japanese, when the Japanese were losing the war they sided with the Allies. LOL!

Not True. The Thai's had quite a big underground movement against the Jap's, when the Jap's were coming into their country via Burma.

Well no, the Seri Thai (free Thai movement) which was based around Den Chai in north central Phrae provence wasn't all that large, it was constrained by the OSS as they felt that they were more useful for intelligence gathering that for creating a fifth column, the only thing that saved Thailand from the War Crimes Commission was the fact that the Thai PM was also the leader of the Seri Thai. IMHO :jap:

Thailand was "asked" by the Japanese to "invite" them in; otherwise they would be attacked.

Actually the Japanese invaded at several places and were meet by the Thai military which resulted in several hundred Japanese soldiers being killed before the Thai PM called a cease fire the same day and ended the shooting. That same PM later declared war on the US.

TH

In fact wasn't it the Thai Navy officer cadets who resisted for 10 hours and were then ordered by their leaders to cease fireing? the leaders shirts wern't completly yellow then, just a little stripe down the back?

[quote

I buy bulk as mined Calcium Bentonite for B900 / ten wheel truckload.

At 15,000 kg that comes to B0.06/kg.

Soaked in water it absorbs water until a slippery grease.

I've line the bottom of one pond and it holds very tightly.

I applied it thick, but I'm sure far less would work just fine.

I happen to have 5 dumptruck loads standing by on the farm that I'm in the process of losing.

Should there be a steady market for it,

I'd gladly clean up the run of the mine material

so that it is also in powdered form in a nice clean bag.

The process of cleaning it up is simple enough,

Soak and periodically stir in a volume of water so that it forms a slurry,

which then allows any heavy solids to sink to the bottom of the vessel.

Then sundry on a plastic sheet, and hammer mill the shrunken tiles to dust.

If any are interested

I'll inquire what it takes to ship bulk loads to your location,

as a good friend is a truck company owner.

Calcium Bentonite as available here is also the stuff used as vegetable oil filter, skin treatment, and digestive tract cleanser.

Love Bentonite! We used bags of the stuff wildcatting in Oz. I've been looking everywhere for it, can you send 10 wheel trucks to Phrae....say 10 trucks??

Hey folks! Don't complain, isn't this why you came here to live? Dumb kids, dumber adults and laughable government officers! Where else in the world...apart from Iran, could we feel so intelectually superior, so amazed by the ingrained stupidity, so boggled by government announcements?

Gosh! I love this country, it gives me a smile every day in every way! :jap:

Well you could always try "Thepvong Place ", it's a hotel ran by a Falang (Carl) and his Thai wife (Mam) of one of the main streets, it has an outside bar and restaurant and a good, if crazy, cook! If you call him I'm sure they can either direct you or pick you up from where ever?? His number is 08 3478 1244. I'm not Carl by the way, just a happy customer! <IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt= src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif">

Despite the doom and gloom, there is a strong likelihood the girls will receive some help. Strong clues are the fact that the tip off came from the Paveena Hongsakul Foundation and the involvement of the special human trafficing taskforce from the Children, Juvenile and Women's Division (CWD),

The task force doesn't screw around. They take their jobs seriously and have not been implicated in any significant wrongdoing, The task force has a good professional relationship with the groups that help people like these girls.

I believe Mrs. Paveena Hongsakil is a Bangkok MP of and general secretary of the Chart Pattana Party. She is a trained social worker and has a pretty good reputation. Back in 2006, the Nation said she was voted the female politicain with the best moral image. (The same poll said PM Abhisit was the politician with the best moral image.) Anyway, this woman is one heavy duty hitter and if her foundation is involved, you can be assured something will happen. For you trivia lovers she's chairwoman of Thailand's Fire & Rescue Association. (What woman doesn't like a fireman? )

Have some faith. Not every Thai public official is corrupt. Some really do have a heart and do care about people.

Thanks for that, it's not everyday that TV has some truth among the "dross" :jap:

I love it when people "DEMAND" Funny thing is they will eventually get an escort, from the Euro's, definitely not the RTN.

Well they are Dutch after all! From people of no other country on earth would such a request be made.

I am not sure how this couple met but the bride's "wrong button" tour suggests she was an Internet bride. I don't think she should knock the concept too much, just because it didn't work out perfectly for her. She may still hit the jackpot in her divorce proceedings and, judging by the wedding photograph, both bride and groom are singularly unattractive, distinctly "on-the-shelf" specimens who couldn't expect to find any one to marry them in their home cultures. Why knock this last resort option which might work out well for some and may still work out very well for her financially? Clearly the chances for compatibility are very low in this sort of transaction and a modicum of common sense should prevail, as in the case of the old geezers coming to enjoy the dolce vita in Thailand on their basic state pensions who marry the first brassy old tart they meet at a Pattaya beer bar.

Well said!

A number of friends in Oz have "internet brides" and are very happy!

Pity the "poor geezers" who pick a "bad un", the many relationships that are very successful never seem to be reported? Many of these guys have no experience or at least very little in their own country with women, what chance do they have when they run into a "money vacumn cleaner" in deepest darkest Pattiya?

Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware!)

You would like to blame Halliburton for BP's taking shortcuts & behaving in a hugely unsafe manner as well.

Once that cement goes below the rig floor - it belongs to you. A subject you know nothing about.

Gently my friend, gently! Not everyone has spent their life offshore, some of us have spent a large proportion of our lives wildcatting onshore. Be nice to the people, they're the ones that buy the product? Or are you shi##y because you're too old to "spud in"??

Check in at DM was no problem, the desk opened about one hour before departure. There is a smaller than usual baggage allowance, but I cannot remember the exact amount. No overhead bins in the plane, your bag is either on the floor between your feet, or on your lap.

On boarding they hand out a little bag containing a boxed fruit drink and a couple of buns.

Getting to the plane is fun, they call the first four rows to get on the minibus to the plane and then the remaining ten passengers on the second run of the minibus.

The flight is the most convenient and safest way between BKK and ROI but not sure how many times I will be able to take the noise on the plane.

I've used the plane to Phrae a couple of times, apart from the noise, which you can block out (a little) using the earphones and recorded music, I found the trip to be quite enjoyable. Every seat is a panoramic window seat and the one and a half hour flight time is sooooooo much better than the bus or train. I liked the 0700 ETD and the 0830 ETA perfect for my business. My only complaint is the schedule...once a week up and once a week down....come on now!

Many Thanks Lopburi,

I was hoping you would reply as your replies appear to be the most succinct and helpful.

You've put my mind fully at rest. "The visa itself does not have to be valid."

Sorry, I should have been clearer (I was just using the month/year) - my visa was issued 19th Feb 2010, and "must be used before 19th Feb 2011". My curent permission to stay is 18th March 2011.

So I apply for a 365 day extension, for reason of retirement, and I assume I need to report to immigration every 90 days thereafter? And if I want to leave Thailand for ANY reason, I'll then need to complete a TM8 (Application for re-entry) prior to leaving.

Beware if you are dealing with the Nan office of immigration, the young captain there wants a map of where you live, a medical certificate, money in the bank (via bank book)(even if you have the correct monthly income) a copy of your partners details (ID card, house book etc) and finally the receipt of payment for the embassy stamp on your documents....by the way, something dropped on the floor,say ฿1,000, wont go astray either! I'm not the only one!

Idiot. Someone should give him a job in the foreign ministry.

This comment:

7. Think of the good old days when we helped you fend off the Vietnamese.

shows how delusional Thai thinking is on Cambodia. They helped the evil Khmer Rouge, along with the US, to fight against the Chinese-backed Vietnamese, who entered the country and toppled Pol Pot. This Khmer Rouge support still rankles with Cambodians today and underpins their animosity towards Thailand, yet this muppet lists it as a reason (even in jest)why Cambodians should be grateful to the Thais.

Presumably they don't teach regional history in Thai schools. (they do, you just didn't go to school here?)

I know it's difficult but, take a little look at Thai/ Cambodian history and you will quickly see that prior to the idiocy of the 20th century the Cambodians were a vassel state to Thailand....In fact Tak Sin (Rama 1) was on his way to help Cambodia when he had to.......ah forget it, if you don't know, who am I to tell you!

My experience is that you can't claim your super until your are 55 then you must have a disability and then the tax office will take 15%. On top of that you can't retire in Thailand until you're 50-55!

I'm afraid that you're stuck with your nose to the grindstone for a few years yet! Don't worry your time will come! The girls will still love you, the beer will stay cheap and the cigarettes under $2 a pack....don't tell anyone in Oz what your plans are, they will immeadiately brand you as a child molester....been there done that!