Changian

( they never mentioned his conviction for corruption or the vote buying)

Looks like you've been reading The Nation too much. No mention of it by the BBC because they are a real news outlet and so know that Thaksin was never convicted of corruption or vote buying.

He was convicted for violating a ban on officials and spouses making contracts with the government. i.e. he was convicted of being a politician at the time his wife bought some land owned by the government. The court ruled there was nothing wrong with the actual land sale, the land wasn't seized, no conviction relating to the bidding process or price paid.

I'm waiting for Thaivisa's media partner 'The Nation' to step in and conduct an in depth investigation to expose the wrongdoings . . . . .

Not only Russians . . . can anyone spot the trend?

http://www.google.com/trends?q=thailand+pr...=all&sort=0

It's on a need to know basis. If you aren't part of the Koh Chang Tourism Safety Commission you don't need to know.

And Wittaya is Chairman of the Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organization. but when the family is worth well over 500 million baht,paying 11 million to get the courts off their back is a fair compromise.

It's a resounding 'No'

A better way to spend the time is to follow some of the small roads that hug the shoreline and beach. Take a day to explore a bit off the main road and you'll find some authentic fishing villages and quiet beaches.

Given the high levels of moderation on Thaivisa, one might almost believe it is enforcing directives from the Ministry of Culture already

No paragliders but there are sometimes paramotors in the air. One is owned by a Brazilian guy who lives here but if you saw one last week that was probably Joey Boy, the Thai rapper, who is into paramotors and came down with his machine and was flying around for 2-3 days. Some of his mates have a small resort here.

A German guy is trying to get a beginners paragliding set up going and has found a hill from which he can take off, that isnt in the National Park, but not easy to get permission and get the hill licensed as a temporary airfield.

Just returned from a great vacation week on the island of Ko Chang and was wondering if there is much of an expat community there. Seems like a quiet island where one might get "rock fever" from not having enough to do. Is there an organized expat's club there? What immigration office do you do 90 day reports at? Where do you shop for groceries and hardware items? In general, am wondering what it would be like to live there. Everyone dreams of living on a tropical island, but is it practical?

You definitely need a reason to get up in the morning. Otherwise the novelty of sitting on the beach all day can wear off quite quickly. If you can keep yourself busy with a hobby/ business or whatever and don't have to rely on someone else to provide entertainment or activities for you to do then you'll like it here. If not then better to look at one of the more developed islands.

No expats club. No form of kindergarten/ schooling for expat kids. I'd have thought they'd be a demand for this but no one has bothered to organise anything yet.

Tend to see quite a few middle aged/elderly expats who stay here for the high season passing the time in the small roadside bars. The appeal of that is lost on me but each to their own.

You buy hardware from one of the builder's merchants and groceries from the supermarket or the market. Same as most places. But less choice. If you want Tesco then drive to Chantaburi. There's a co-op & crap department store in Trat. The international Clinic here is good, but it's aimed at tourists with travel insurance. Bangkok Hospital in Trat is OK but not as good as the one in Chantaburi apparently.

In the rainy season, from June - Oct it rains a lot - it's pretty much the wettest place in Thailand. But there are some lovely days too as it doesnt rain all the time, just very heavily when it does. So use that time to have holidays elsewhere.

You;d use Laem Ngop immigration office 5 mins drive from the ferry piers. Laid back place with none of the hassles associated with Bangkok

I got a fake iphone mini in MBK for 2,700 baht last Friday. Starting price was 3,500 baht before 20 minutes chatting & bargaining. It;s one of the 'M888a' phones. Does the job of a cheap phone fine, average camera, bluetooth, basic touch screen that works but cant pinch or zoom for example. Can play MP3s as good as a cheap brand name phone, likewise movie files. Can set MP3 to be alarm or ring tone. Mine has a 1Gb miniSD card. Two SIMs work fine too, just select the number you want to dial and then click the icon that corresponds to the SIM card you want to call from.

No proper instruction book, ( There is, but it is in Chinese) so you have to figure how things work on your own which can take some time and lots of random clicking an opening and closing of folders to try to turn Bluetooth on and then to find where the files went to and then to figure out how to move them into another folder so they could be used for wallpaper, ringtones etc But I found that the software was very similar to an old i-mobile phone I had in the way that the phone settings worked.

The phone itself doesn't say 'Iphone' on it anywhere just 'Mini' and whilst there is a logo of an apple, it is different to Apple's logo in that the apple has a small stalk connecting the leaf & apple. The real logo has an apple and a small leaf but no stalk.

But all in all a nice toy for the money and if it breaks after 6 months I dont really care, not as though I've spend 25,000 on a real iphone 3G

Doubt you will find anything on the beach in that price range as anything good value will hve been booked out months ago. Could try Alina Grande on White Sand beach in your price range if they have rooms available. Or Thai Garden Hill Resort in Chai Chet, about 400 metres walk to Klong Prao beach - 1200-1400 baht/night at the moment but will increase for Songkran.

You can get from Siem Reap to Koh Chang by bus the same day without too much hassle. Leave Siem Reap as early as possible, if you want to spalsh out or if your Dad isnt into riding in the back of a pick up for long distances on an unmade road, then get a taxi to take you to the border.

From the border you want to get a bus to Chantaburi, try to get to Aranyaprathet Bus Station as most buses that are at the border crossing are going to Bangkok. From Chantaburi get abus going to Trat or if you are lucky you might get on one that is heading to the ferry piers.

Had guests at our place who have done this trip in this way in the past month.

Anything else you cant pay with?

Joining the dots . . .

True is owned by CP.

CP is a supporter of PAD

PAD is a supporter of Dems

Dems help their mates.

(And of course there is a director of CP company in the Cabinet)

Normal thing. Usually with the oldest daughter or the last o be married off. Mother makes them feel guilty. They dont really have their own life. I know mid/late 30s women with good jobs in multi-nationals who cant have a boyfriend because mother doens't allow it, who give their salary to their mothers ( who then give them a few thousand baht allowance) and who have ot get permission to go naywhere other than Central or Fashion Island with their friends. Nothing you can do about it.

^ His brother. Jon is ( or was ) a Senator.

Anyone else having this problem with TOT ADSL? Can look at Thaivisa and other sites hosted here, but nothing outside the country. Has someone inadvertently flicked a switch or unplugged something vital at TOT HQ?

This paragraph from a Bangkok Post report on the Pattaya Volunteer Tourist Police last month includes all you need to know about the mindset of people who join up to serve and protect:

Mr Miller says new recruits undergo three days of training before the three-month probation period and are from countries as diverse as China, India, Norway and Pakistan. Some undergo further training to qualify as parachutists and undergo a practical pistol shooting course, said Mr Miller, although these skills are not necessary for the job. A few of them even sported badges showing they had qualified in these areas on their uniforms.

Badges, cool. Couldn't hack it as a Boy Scout, then join the Pattaya Tourist Police.

I went to Tesco a few months ago, they had a 2 for 1 deal on something or other. I forget what now. But the point is I got 2 for 1, probably on something I didn't really want or need. But as it was half price I must have thought 'Why not?' and got it.

Anyone else successfully shopped at Tesco in Thailand or elsewhere in the world recently?

Thanks for that. Looks like there's nothing to worry about. Got a new pet now.

Any idea what this is? Photo taken in a house by a river estuary on Koh Chang. Looks like some kind of water snake but different from those here: http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_natricinae.html

Only thing we know for sure is that either it doesn't eat cats or wasn't hungry yesterday

Someone's down here on Koh Chang on their nice orange ER6n. Normally orange doesn't do anything for me, but the Kawasaki paint job does look good in the bright sunlight.

On Koh Chang, 1 Rai of beachfront, and the neighbours house in the past few days. A few months ago a couple of small riverfront plots.

Tke the 7.30am or 9.30am bus from Ekkamai direct to the mainland ferry piers at Laem Ngop. Around 250 baht on a new AC bus. You should be on a boat to Koh Chang at 1pm or 3pm. try to go to Koh Chang Ferry pier ( Ao Thammachat) better ferries and more frequent sailings than Centrepoint Ferry.

White Sand, where the Toxic Koh Chang video was filmed last year is the busiest beach, a beer bar enclave at the southern end of the beach try Klong Prao if you want the longest beach on the island that rarely gets busy. Beer bars in Chai Chet a few hundred metres north of the beach or Kai Bae where there there are quite a few mid range bungalow resorts and also a selection of bars in the centre of the village.

If you have Firefox downlaod the 'Morning Coffee' add-on. Probably the best thing since sliced bread. And in itself a reason to use FF. Been using it for 2-3 years or so, no problems at all.