Ned

10,000 baht! $250....oh no! The cost of a few burgers and a few beers.

You'd think they were talking about dollars or worse, pounds!

Have a wash!

I think we are all agreed that Thailand is a dangerous place and one would be naive to think otherwise.I've only been here since April myself and in that time i have a Thai friend in Krabi who's friend was murdered by the Thai mafia or whatever u like to call it, it's how he described it.At one of the recent Full Moon parties and friend and i saw a guy with a gun to his head, needless to say we made a sharp exit and didn't exactly mention this to anyone (didn't even remmber it till next day).I've been in a bar with a couple of Falangs like myself and sitting chatting with Thai men when another guy from a crowd we had been talking to ealier got pissed off and all ###### broke loose, tables went flying, blood on the walls, thankfully no guns!Spent a good while hiding behind a couch, Thai people are generally quite calm, but jesus if u piss them off they flip.I am by no means making a comment on what the two deceased Britons did, it is none of my business and looks like was a case of being in wrong place at wrong time.However just to be aware that Thailand can be very dangerous.Drink is a big problem, i've had a Thai boyfriend and he was never violent but very emotional when drunk as are many guys i know and u never know where that can lead.

I suppose think is to trust your gut instinct.Never be disrespectful or push your luck like you might at home.It's a totally different society and culture.You just have to be aware of where you are.In saying that i love Thailand and feel extremely safe here most of the time, but it's like anywhere drink and flared tempers go hand in hand and worse here so it appears do guns.

Not sure why my post cam e out as Ned. who the ###### is Ned?Anyway it's not Ned, it's Watdot, an Irish girl living in Thailand.

Last week I bought a papaya at the market in Chiang Mai. The thing didn't have any seeds. Never come across a papaya without seeds before. Is this the sign of a GM papaya? Yes.....I did end up eating the bastard.

Last week after a long delay the local council started work concreting the back lane. I asked a guy from the amphoe office ( a bloke wearing a tie ) if there was a plan to move a concrete power pole from the middle of the track which was difficult to pass before starting the work. He told me that the pole would be removed after the new road was finished. So there it was. Build a new road with a ten metre concrete pole sticking up out of it and later to remove the obstacle after the concrete had set hard around it.

I told him what a ridiculous situation that was. Later I regretted having put my views so strongly to this thai bureaucrat. I know that expressing views or ideas strongly in this country is looked down on but somehow I just couldn't help myself.

The next day at 8 am however, a crew from the local electricity mob were there to move the pole.

It was all a matter of face. The guy's walked away and seen my superior logic (in this case at least) and organised the crew to come pronto. Perhaps he realised it would be better to move the pole beforehand while I was expressing my opinion but to openly change his mind and agree with me there and then would have in his judgement involved a loss of face on his part. If I hadn't said anything the road would now be finished with a power pole in the middle still blocking the way.

People are so easy to offend here. Best keeping your mouth shut I suppose and keeping your emotions to yourself when dealing with them......but do it that way and you end up with a road with a power pole in the middle of it.

It's all too late for Thailand. The entire country has been trashed beyond repair. Those of us who were lucky enough to have spent a lot of time here in the early 70s and beyond know the extent of the environmental destruction which has taken place. Development of factories and shops etc will extend in the not too distant future way out to Jom Thong in the SW and similar distances in all directions. A decent public transport sysytem is decades away if ever. Proper garbage collection services to the villages is not on the cards and the dumping of hazardous wastes will only increase as industrial production grows. Villagers will continue their nightly burns of plastic and orchard waste.The air pollution here in the cool season is a killer. The trashing of the city will intensify with no end in sight.

I've been living in a village in Sanpatong , Chiang Mai for the last couple of years. In the whole place there are only a handful of houses which don't breed pigs. There must be thousands of pigs in the village, most not more than 10 metres from the houses. They lie around in their own filth as most people are reluctant to use water which is another expense. The pigs' companions are chickens and sparrows which hop in and out of the pens all day.

During the last bout of bird flu all the fighting birds and other decent birds were released into the forest on the outskirts of the village and brought back when the govt gave the 'all clear'....."No problem...mai mii panhaa". If I notice anybody selling pigs in a hurry it might be a good time to head for the hills.....but where?

This pig disease thing sounds nasty and you can be sure of another cover-up one way or another.

My Thai girlfriend got a tourist visa to Australia a couple of years ago despite the fact that she didn't qualify for a credit card, was uneducated and didn't own property. It took about six hours to get and her application was accompanied by a couple of reference letters from farang Bangkok residents. I've been here a few years now and have a "Retirement Visa" soon to be extended another 12 months.

Is it true that getting a visa the second time around is a lot easier than the first time? Anyone out there with experience in such matters?

Much appreciated.

What's so hard about getting to an Immigration office on the stated day? ....ie the 90th day. Simple as that. Why do people look for hassles. Just do what the Thai man in uniform says.

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of the existence of a skin cancer specialist or clinic here in Chaing Mai. Perhaps one of the private hospitals specialises in skin cancer problems?

Thanks.

The celebrity kamnan's appeal may take years or perhaps decades to process. Convicted of murder but out and about having fun. Can't expect the authorities to lock the gentleman up in a prison already overcrowded with petty crims!

There I was expecting 50 ads per game and channels 3 and 7 have done themselves proud and avoided commercials during the Portugal game last night. Well done fellas.

Mikeyboy01.......Stay at home and watch it would be my advice. Unless of course you want to watch 40 or more TV commercials every game on Thai TV channels who have exclusive rights to all games. Maybe you can find somewhere with a dish that can get ESPN in India or some other channel. The coverage here on local channels is hard to watch and get into because of all the ad breaks.

Euro 2004 coming up and nothing on UBC apart from a few highlights. Looks like I'm doomed to watch hours and hours of shampoo and skin whitening cream adverts during the games on the Thai channels who have exclusive rights to the coverage. C'est la vie.

I saw last night that all games at Euro 2004 are to be shown live in India but no mention so far about the situation here. Rumour has it that we'll have to watch the tournament on Thai channels only.......ie ads every few minutes with the picture reduced to postage stamp size in the top right corner of the screen. Please tell me that replays of games will be shown on UBC later on the same day. Cheers.

Taxexile.......I couldn't agree with you more. 'Freedom', Thai style.

Chances are not one of us really knows what really happened last Wednesday nor since Jan 4 for that matter. In the meantime try to avoid the coming onslaught of the martyrs.

What happened in 1997 to foreigners' savings accounts in Thai banks like the Bangkok Bank? Did they lose all their money? If not, why are so many people so worried about putting money into such uninsured bank accounts now?

I was in Hua Hin once and there was a restaurant with two large menus out the front, one in Thai the other in English. Fried rice on the Thai menu was 20 baht and 30 baht in English. I ordered a plate of the Thai stuff. Here, being able to speak and read Thai was an 'advantage'.......If you spotted a 10 baht coin on the footpath would you pick it up? Hasn't helped me though at national parks or zoos to be able to speak the lingo.

On another matter: I wonder how all the Japs, Koreans and other assorted foreigners such as Indians and Malays feel about having to pay ten times the Thai price?

Why is it that the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala happen to be some of the poorest, if not the poorest in the country. Could it be that the current troubles have their roots in dissatisfaction with an economic situation which sees the wealth of the area being pillaged by the Sino Thai cabal running the country from Bangkok?

I know it's a long shot but does anybody know if it's possible to get health insurance for myself and my non official Thai wife as a 'family' or will we both need to get separate policies? Is the cost of the premiums the same for farang and Thais? Cheers.

And the situation is going to get much much worse as the city expands, the numbers of vehicles increases and the attitudes of the rural folk living in villages ringing the city think it's a joke to worry about the smoke from burning leaves and plastic bags which shroud their villages morning and evening every day. It really is a sad, pitiful situation. Meanwhile the govt has big plans to expand polluting industries and even talks of a steel industry for Pracuap Khirikhan and Kanchanaburi. Polluting industries like petrochemicals and paper mills are slated for expansion as well as further cement expansion. Car sales are soaring and smoke belching vehicles choke the streets of Chaing Mai. The whole country is going downhill so fast environmentally and my plans to stay here long term really are looking a bit uncertain I must say. The place really is filthy and getting worse. What do you reckon?

What's it like up in Laos over Songkran? Can you escape the madness in Vientiane?

Are we talking about the national anthem ie the one played at 6pm or the royal anthem ie played at the cinema?

An article in yesterday's Nation said that money placed in a bank account for the purpose of getting an extension for Non Imm visas is not to be touched as the amount has to remain above the required figure. eg 400,000 for a marriage visa,.If you happen to get checked and are found to have less than this you will be deported, according to the Nation. My impression was that this money was to be used for living expenses and needed to be topped up when next applying for a visa in a year's time. Which is correct?

As I said earlier.....it all depends on how much you've got. Myself, I've got to watch my finances and will be able to survive any nasty turn of events. I also know where the closest airport is so when the anti foreigner pogroms begin I'll hopefully be able to get out. Darling.....where did you put my medication?