billd766

A brave man indeed, the trip to KPP does not look so bad now!

Anything is better than going back to Blighty. Personally H/M might even stay in N/Smog for three hour's, on second thought's make that two. England for 3 month's not on your life what ever the reason's.

Your the only one left now Exeter not to lonely I hope.

H/M K.P.P.

H/CITY.

Nah, he isn't the only one as there are some skulkers around down there.

Actually Nong went back to get another Non Imm O visa but only a 3 month one which he will then convert into a retirement visa and live happily ever after in the mystical land of Smog.

That is the end of childrens fairy tales for now.

Good Night children, everywhere.

Our son is 7 and is now starting to do chores around the house.

He and his friends know that at the end of play the toys have to be picked up and put away, if not then they miss the next time playing with them.

There are no servants in our house and they are now learning that if they want a drink they have one AND they wash the cup afterwards.

Trash goes in the bin if not then Daddy uses the loud voice and makes them do it.

He is learning to cook and can make an omlette but my wife has not taught him past that yet..

I used to cut the grass and scrub but at 68 this month I find it is getting harder so we get somebody in. My son will learn to do it when he gets older.

Up until I left school in 1959 my Mum always did everything for me and then I joined the military as a boy and what a culture shock and wakeup call that was.

Over the years I have turned my hand to most things and I can and have cooked, cleaned, looked after myself, done some building and electrical stuff etc and now I am self contained as it were.

I want my son to be able to do much the same as me as he grows older.

A friends daughter was staying with them for 4 months with her boyfriend.

She is mid 20s with a degree and only had 2 jobs in her life and chucked both of them. I don't know if her boyfriend has a degree but his parents give him a fairly large allowance, pickup truck, mobile etc NOT to work.

Where is the self pride and sense of responsibility?

Tommy Atkins by Rudyard Kipling

http://faxmentis.org/html/kipling.html

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,

The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."

The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,

I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";

But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,

The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,

O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";

But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,

The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,

O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep

Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;

An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit

Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"

But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,

The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,

O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,

But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;

An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,

Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",

But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,

There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,

O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:

We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.

Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face

The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"

But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Somsak filed 21 false asset statements while holding various offices between 1997 and 2008

How many infractions does it take to be recidivist, fraudulent and earn quality jail time here?

Far too many, however if a couple of lese majeste SMS are sent from your mobile 20 years is a good bet.

You have to be poor as well.

During the First war an infantryman would be in full uniform with a backpack weighing up to 25kg approx 50 lbs.

Many were lost in the trenches due to shellfire, mines and also to slipping off the duckboards when the trenches were flooded. They just disappeared and drowned in the liquid mud and most of those bodies were never recovered.

Bear in mind you are wearing a full kit and a backpack, carrying a rifle and being chivvied along trenches in the dark while being shot at and shelled, thin, cold, wet, miserable, hungry and tired and the guy in front or behind you just slips and you and your mates can't help him.

What an awful way to die and with no known grave.

Sorry double post.

Who cares about her mistakes! She's pretty,foxy and a women of the ordinary people () and that's what matters! A great representative for Thailand when meeting up with peers from abroad, such as the President of Malaysia and the overcoming of Hilarious Clinton.

Personally speaking I think that she looks OK and as well as any woman with her (family) wealth can easily afford to be, but to say that she is a woman of the ordinary people is absolute bunkum.

She has no perception of the real life that 99% of the population face daily. When the cost of living goes up she denies it as she probably has maids and housekeepers who do all that and are driven to and from the very upmarket supermarkets and high end shops that don't deliver.

She has never had to work in her life and the job she used to have in her brothers company was abolished after she went into parliament.

Outside of Bangkok where Thailand actually is and real people live is a completely different world to the pampered one she lives in.

I think you missed the in KireB's post.

Yep, sorry I did miss it.

Put it down to joy and happiness as it rained properly yesterday for the first time in months.

Who cares about her mistakes! She's pretty,foxy and a women of the ordinary people () and that's what matters! A great representative for Thailand when meeting up with peers from abroad, such as the President of Malaysia and the overcoming of Hilarious Clinton.

Personally speaking I think that she looks OK and as well as any woman with her (family) wealth can easily afford to be, but to say that she is a woman of the ordinary people is absolute bunkum.

She has no perception of the real life that 99% of the population face daily. When the cost of living goes up she denies it as she probably has maids and housekeepers who do all that and are driven to and from the very upmarket supermarkets and high end shops that don't deliver.

She has never had to work in her life and the job she used to have in her brothers company was abolished after she went into parliament.

Outside of Bangkok where Thailand actually is and real people live is a completely different world to the pampered one she lives in.

I'm not sure what size eggs we get, but our eggs are 105 Baht/tray,

Class 1 (largest) are 87bht where I buy. Look elsewhere for your eggs.

Not that easy in the sticks, nearest supermarket is a 70km round trip.

I live about 65km from my nearest supermarket (BigC, Makro etc) in Khampaeng Phet but I mainly use it for bulk shopping of toilet rolls, laundry products and most other consumeables but for fresh food which we mainly eat we go to the local markets 3 times a week, Monday afternoon, Wednesday morning and Saturday afternoon and yes the prices are higher there as well.

The difference is that I pay the same price as the local Thais and most of the stalls have their prices marked out for all to see.

Do you have the helmets up on a website so that I can see the stock.

I live about 400 km north of BKK.

Cheers

I know it spoils the fun but what is the definition of a drought disaster zone?

13 posts on this so far and nothing of any worth.

Burberry and boats.

Is the problem too much retention of water in the dams or the fact that there has been so little rainfall?

I live in Khampaeng Phet province and it has only rained here for about 10 days since the start of the year.

Our government water supply comes from Klong Klung and the Mae Wong national park.

Actually it used to but with the lack of rain it has been more than 2 weeks since any water came from the pipes.

Also the current government ordered the dams to lower their water levels to around 30 or 40% just in case of flooding.

In Pattaya ToT international traffic is still not working. My Router couldn't even get an ToT Ip Address for about 30 Minutes.

All Ping Requests to International Sites Timed Out but http://www.scb.co.th and other in Thailand hosted sites are accessible.

I think it is a lot to do with the international gateway in/out of Thailand.

Perhaps TOT don't have enough bandwidth paid for but I suspect that the CAT is the problem as they control the gateway and they may not have paid for enough bandwidth.

Time for another Tiger Fred and dont forget to go to church tomorrow its sunday! Hold on that calender I bought in KPP is useless, best have another Tiger and then go to wave Nong off to the Land of the GRIM !

Nong is a braver man than I am, Gunga Din.

I haven't been to the UK since 2005 and though I would like to take a trip back with my wife and son to show him where I am from it won't be the end of my world if I don't make it.

My first car was a 1939 Standard Eight with a 3 forward gears and 1 reverse, floor mounted'

I laso had several Vauxhalls and a couple of Fords with 3 and 4 speed column gear change.

I also drove an Austin J2 van that had a 4 speed column change gearbox and getting the right gear at the right time was like winning the lottery.

Going from 3rd to 2nd gear without getting 4th or reverse was pure pot luck.

It's not buying the bike that you need this but when you register it. Many dealer do that for you and want that information. So have your passport and maybe your sister in laws house book. and yes, sometimes they will ask for a letter from immigration but not always. She does not need to be there, just a note from her for immigration + copy house book + copy ID card.

This assumes new bike at a dealer.

Second hand is more easy, hand over the cash and worry about it later when it is registered.

On the other hand a second hand bike may not have a green book or it may be a dodgy one and when you register it you may have to pay extra to get it done.

The safest way to buy second hand si paying for it AFTER the book is transferred into your name.

Actually Bill needs a 12 volt, 12 amp battery for my motoerbike.

I went around a few places including a quick jolly on the back od David's young ladies scooter but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

The closest I got to it was in Lat Yao but they were out of stock though offered to get me one next day but it has been so hot lately I bludged the car off me trouble and strife so it is not yet vital.

I will back up to KPP and I know at least one place there I can get one and Fred (thanks) has tipped me to another place.

Be careful Fred thinks you are talking PP9's!

Fred needs the PP9 batteries for his pacemaker.

Billd, nice to hear something positive. Oh, and by the way, he must be really smart if he understands the English sense of humor....I sure can't get it!!

His only other choice is a Thai sense of humour and I certainly can't understand that.

He knows his way around a lot of internet sites and one of his favourites is Mr Bean and Thomas the Tank Engine is another.

Where are you located? There was no problem with TOT in Ban Chang at all yesterday.

Oh, I see from your name you're in Phuket. Maybe TOT don't feel they need to announce to the world that Phuket has a problem with internet?

DONT FORGET; NAMES ARE JUST SMOKE AND MIRRORS .:-)

The outage occurred in Thailand´s second largest city Chiang Mai which means TOT was down all over the country. This no bashing,

it is just factual and we are entitled to our grievances. For some it is hobby, surfing the net, for others there some vital interest at stake.( I admit ,I need to get a second provider) BTW, TOT line was unreachable.

I called the local Khampaeng Phet number of the guys who supplied and fitted my system and they explained the problem.

I also spoke to their line manager a couple of months after it was installed and told him that he had a good team and that they were extremely helpful.

He got a little confused and said that I was the first person to say that about his staff.

Now if I have a problem it is usually dealt with quickly and efficiently and I also called them back and thank them too.

The difference between Thai and Vietnamese rice prices is "only" $110 per ton which is nothing IF you only want to buy a ton of rice.

However if you want 1.000,000 tons of rice that then turns into $110,000,000 which is a vast saving and if I were in the position to require that much rice I am certain I would buy Vietnamese rice over Thai rice at those levels and prices.

That Thai rice may be a little better doesn't count for much if you have to import using precious foreign currency to pay for it and if some people want Thai rice then OK buy some and charge the end user the much higher price too.

The problem of losing market leadership is that you have to work much harder to get it back and if your export sales drop by 50% for 2 years in a row that is the equivalent of losing a whole years exports in one go. How many years will it take to get that back.

Appease the elite? This government *is* the elite. What a crock of shit.

I think that this government is merely a cheapskate clone copy of the elite.

The poorest families just get deeper into debt when it comes to the uniforms. What is it, a different uniform for every day of the week ? Different colour shoes, scouts or girl-guide uniforms too and sports kit. Families with several children are not allowed to ' hand-me-down ' uniforms, every child must have new uniforms. How often does the Ministry change the colour of the uniforms ? They may not put the prices up, but they sure know how to make the parents have to go out and buy all new uniforms. AND of course, they can arrange a loan for those people that do not have the ready cash -- no hurry to pay it off either, just let the interest build up.

I send my son to school 65 km away in Khampaeng Phet and pay 30,000 baht a year to do so, but he is in an Englsh language program as well as Thai and has an air conditioned classroom and some genuine expat teachers and is in a class of only 23..

He wears white shirt and blue shorts on Mondays and Thursdays, white scout shirt with blue neckerchief on Tuesdays, blue tracksuit on Wednesdays and blue shorts and patterned shirt on Fridays.

We pay 2,000 baht per school month for transportation though that will probably go up next month when they go back to school

He has been there for M1 for a year and likes it a lot.

I nearly always speak in English to him and my wife talks to him in Thai.

His English must be reasonable because quite often I will tell him and his friends to do something and he will translate it into Thai for them.

He is quite a smart little bugger at times and I am very proud of him.

He also understands my English sense of humour at times.

Actually Bill needs a 12 volt, 12 amp battery for my motoerbike.

I went around a few places including a quick jolly on the back od David's young ladies scooter but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

The closest I got to it was in Lat Yao but they were out of stock though offered to get me one next day but it has been so hot lately I bludged the car off me trouble and strife so it is not yet vital.

I will back up to KPP and I know at least one place there I can get one and Fred (thanks) has tipped me to another place.

Mr Phil - if your idea of romance is paying a monthly salary to a wife then you should reconsider. It is well known in Thailand among Thais that a farang man who has to pay a Thai wife is a man a Thai wife could never love. Such a man who thinks he can find love by paying is an absolute joke of the local community. She has a Thai man on the side for this and pays him part of the farang monthly salary to him. You are also in great danger with a woman who demands a monthly salary from violent retribution from the pimp husband which I have seen so many times before with colleagues and news reports. I know of many farang who pay this monthly salary and I know their wives all have Thai husbands (the locals are only to happy to tell a farang and share a laugh with you ) who are in great need of beer money

I could just call you a total idiot, but I'll be more polite and accurately state that you are overgeneralizing.

The situation you describe does happen, but it's certainly not true for all, and IMO not even most.

What is your nationality? I need a convenient pigeonhole for my mental picture of you.

He needs to go back to his home village as there is a vacant post for the village idiot (since he left).

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

Good to see that some farang are not paying the pimp husband his monthly salary for his beer money and karaoke girls. You have set a good example for other farang. Good on you. If more farang act like you farang will start to get respect and they will no longer call us bufallos. It is some relief to hear this story after hearing so many farang paying 10K to 100K baht to pimp husbands indirectly through their wives of course.

So yo are saying that all Thai wives married to farangs also have pimp Thai husbands. Is that correct?

If it is not correct please tell me how someone who lives in Laos knows that every Thai wife is a bigamist and that all their farang hsbands are blind and stupid.

d and stupid

If you don't know the truth then either put up or shut up.

I, for one am sick to death of you slagging of Thais and Thailand in every post you make.

If you have nothing constrctive to add to any thread then please crawl back into your fortified bunker and close the door behind you, quietly.

On the first day of every month my wife hands me her wage packet. I put the money into my wallet and then transfer the equivalent amount from one of my bank accounts into hers. Every ten working days I give her 1000 baht cash. Her days off are not taken into account as then she is out and about with me and I make with the readies - for everything. She also has another source of spending money by way of her share of the staff tips box which varies from 60 to 150 baht per day. When we set up her bank account we stipulated that we did not require an ATM card so that she would have to invade my 'holy of holies', my desk, to get hold of her passbook, and she is fully aware of the dire consequences of that.

Initially I handed over 100 baht per day but we are now progressing towards her being and acting responsibly with money. Although a devout Buddhist she now accepts that Buddha will not provide and that she is solely responsible for her financial situation. It is rewarding to know that she is spreading that gospel to her family members. They have known from the outset that I will assist them in obtaining the things that they need, and never what they want, or think they want.

When we instituted the measures to bring her spending under control there were a few long faces initially but now she becomes almost orgasmic when sighting her bank credit balance. One of the tenets of my life has been that it doesn't matter how much money that you have, it is what you do with it that matters. The majority of Thai people need to learn this lesson.

This made me laugh, she gives you her salary in cash and then you transfer the equivelant to a bank in her name that does not have any way of withdrawls, you also give her 1,000 Baht bonus every ten days, then you say she is responsible for her own financial situation...thats funny man!!!

What's funny about that?

It's an effective way of saving for the future and there are many time now that I wish I had listened to my wife over the years.

What would happen to his wife if he were to die suddenly and she had little money to live on.

Legally she could access the bank account and know that she wouldn't starve.

We are educating our 7 year old to save money so that if he were to need some it is there.

He gets pocket money every week and puts into a piggy bank and he can physically see his money grow.

Every so often it is put into the bank and though he knows it is there it is not the same as actally seeing it.

Instead of buying some cheap toy that will break in 20 minutes he can decide to buy a bike for 1,500 baht for example and doesn't need to borrow to do so.

Credit is fine if used sensibly but at the end of the day you always pay more for something that loses in value.