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Turkish refugees?

That's a new one to me!

If they really are not from the region, I would say they are most likely Syrian - easy pickings for the traffickers who can promise removal from a war zone and work, although they never happen to mention the exploitation and lack of wages and freedom.

Something very strange about the photo - the suspect is wearing a bullet proof vest - Why? Are they expecting a sniper? If so, why are they getting him to wear a red cap when nobody around him is wearing any headgear? Is the bullet proof vest a CYA (Cover your A**) measure because they were expecting a sniper ? This would explain the red cap and the fact that no one else is wearing one!

Be very careful with the conditions imposed on travel insurance. Some will restrict the number of months spent on one trip. Many will only reimburse after the fact whereas most of us would prefer not to have to negotiate a loan while getting treatment for a head injury or malaria or some other debilitating illness! And most of these travel insurance policies will only invoke the repatriation or evacuation benefits after very restrictive conditions are met - it would be no fun to have to pay for that up front and be reimbursed later.

I agree with a previous contributor - better to get yourself real health insurance from a well-known international health insurer that would be recognised by a quality Thai hospital. I use BUPA International which is not cheap but is recognised worldwide - the hospital makes a phone call and gets pre-authorization for the treatment (unless you are in some countries in Africa).

Declaring oneself bankrupt gives you some protection from creditors and places restrictions on you.

In Thailand bankruptcy can't be a voluntary act - you simply can't declare yourself bankrupt.

Having oneself declared bankrupt means going through a legal procedure which in most countries involves a court appearance. At least in some countries, this can result from the acts of claimants and sometimes it can be at the initiative of the indiviual him or herself (that is what is meant by "declaring oneself bankrupt" or if you want to be wordy "having oneself declared bankrupt.")

The process usually involves a division of assets and cash (if any) among claimants. That includes all vehicles and the TV, stereo, jewelry. But once achieved, bankruptcy provides protection against past claims. But the process and the aftermath is not easy - restrictions on bank accounts and even cheque books or bank cards etc.

If there is no way in which a dog or similar animal can get into your property, how about a bird?

Try Western Union - much easier and quicker. THe recipient does not have to open an account.

There is no doubt that certain aspects in Thailand are difficult to deal with - for instance, operating a certain kind of business can be a nightmare if it is perceived by certain locals that you are doing well. And some people find themselves in difficulties when dealing with immigration. And it never helps to annoy someone in Thailand as the outcome is never good.

But has the Thai police every planted a spy in the family of a victim of a murder? Have the undercover police in recent times sent one of their own to cohabit with a left-wing activist for four years so as to spy on them? And does the Thai government as a matter of routine regularly spy on the electronic and phone traffic of innocent people in their own country and in other countries?

The answer to these questions above is of course no. In case you are wondering where these happened, they all occurred in the UK. It has now been reported that the undercover police in the UK placed a spy in the Lawrence family when their colleagues were completely bungling the investigation of the hate murder of their son, Steven Lawrence, at a bus stop in London. Allegations are also emerging of a corrupt relation between one of the undercover officers and the family of one of the suspects.

The left wing activist cohabitation case was revealed in the last couple of days and the equivalent of the Minister of Interior is including this in an inquiry into the activities of undercover officers - there are quite a few allegations of undercover officers using sex to gain access to family circles so as to spy on them. Many of these officers were married and had families elsewhere. It makes the activities of a certain type of Thai bargirl look rather amateur in comparison!

And some of these activities are not designed to catch the bad guys but in fact to cover for the illegal or highly unethical behaviour of colleagues.

And all of us (at least those of us not living under a rock for the past year or more) should know about the level of electronic surveillance that has been instigated by certain Western countries. The only ethical aspect of this is that all foreign citizens appear to have been treated equally, at least in Germany when the USA agency spied on the personal mobile phone of the Chancellor as well as untold numbers of other German citizens.

And just when you say, but in the case of ordinary interactions with the state, Thailand is more venial. Yes, in Thailand you can perhaps make some minor traffic matter go away for ahem a small donation to the police retirement fund, how about my pal in the UK who is disabled and who can barely afford the car he needs to get around but who was fined £100 for being a couple of MPH above the local speed limit on his way from a funeral? In the UK, some slight lapse of memory can lose your license of you forget where the damn cameras are and you rack up 12 points.

And how about the old people who get frightening letters from the tax man even though they have paid at least their fair due?

Do you still want to go back to the grinding work-schedule and stressful way of life?

My own personal experience in the UK is that everyone treats everyone in a rough and unfriendly way. It is always a charm for me when I arrive in Thailand. Even if I am being charged a higher price than the locals, it is being done for a reason - the people charging are usually poor and I am quite rich at least compared to them. But airlines have been doing this kind of thing for decades with different classes and charging different segments of the market different prices.

I remember meeting two Western men in Chiang Mai some years ago. They were about 50 years old, both married to Thai ladies who looked after them very well. they both lived in nice houses and had relatively new cars. They were retired and were stretching their retirement far better than in their own country. In fact, one of them in an unexpected moment of optimism, said that his house in Thailand was far better than anything he had ever lived in back home and alluded that the relationship with his Thai wife was far better than any previous relationship. But all they could do is grouch, moan, complain and niggle about every damn thing.

Perhaps it is misery likes company or it was because they had nothing to do all day but complain. But here were two gents who were living the life that their compatriots of the same age could only dream of and all they could see was the bad stuff.

Satish said he would need to rely on the court to ensure justice, adding "I believe in the Thai justice system."

Yet he claims:

"I am innocent and they should not have persecuted me. If I did anything wrong, I would have admitted to it,

And that:

He said that he had never been summoned by the authorities to hear a formal charge against him and that he had never been formally notified.

And then he goes to the highest authority of all to request a pardon!

Doesn't sound to me like he believes in the Thai justice system.....

Actually I do not see any contradiction and his position is perfectly consistent. When he refers to the Thai justice system, he probably means the Thai courts system. He is being kicked out of Thailand at the instigation of a minister who happens to be on the opposite side politically. His claim is that if he can get his case heard in the courts, the prosecution case will fail. But he would be a fool not to also appeal to the King, given his position with the pro-monarchy "Yellow Shirt" movement and the tendency for things to happen extra-judicially in Thailand. To not avail of it would be the act of a pedant.

In my opinion, the best drug for fear of flying is Temazepam. It leaves me less woozy afterwards and is more effective in switching anxiety off. But apparently because of the way illegal drug dealers in Glascow, Scotland were able to transform Temazepam tablets into an injectable form which is highly addictive, the drug became much less available.

The next best is Diazepam aka Valium and probably more available. It is also very cheap in Thailand. There are also derivatives, such as Bromazepam, Lorazemam etc.

Xanax is less available probably because of the illegal market for them in the USA where it is one of the most abused prescription drugs. I don't know whether it is indeed more addictive than either temazepam or diazepam but it seems to have achieved that reputation. As I have never taken it, I cannot attest to its effectiveness personally. But as I understand it, it is more powerful than those mentioned above.

It goes without saying that you really need to be careful with any of these drugs as with continuous use they can become highly addictive. Also, be careful about using them with alcohol and other drugs. But if you use them for flying only, they can be highly effective and useful.

In an attempt to prevent the development of a sex trade industry similar to that of Thailand, sexual contact between a Lao national and foreigners is illegal unless the two have been married in accordance with Lao family law. In some cases, the Lao government may not recognize a legal marriage certificate from foreign countries, therefore it is prudent to register the marriage with the Lao embassy prior to entering Laos.

Foreigners who enter into a sexual relationship with a Lao national may be interrogated, detained, arrested and/or jailed. The Lao national can be jailed without trial. Lao police have confiscated passports and imposed fines of up to $5000 USD. As an attempt to enforce this rule, foreigners are not permitted to invite Lao nationals of the opposite sex into their hotel rooms.

maybe why you didn't see a red light district

Actually the law is not written against foreigners but is supposed to be applied to Lao people too. But then, no authority is going to try to apply it to Lao people otherwise it would criminalise huge swathe of the population who are only married in terms of the temple.

The law used to be applied against foreigners in the past but is now seldom applied against foreigners except those who annoy the local headman or police or something like that. At certain times of the year, such as before and during Lao New Year, one may get a tip from the friendly headman or other person in authority to get your Lao girlfriend or boyfriend to move back to the parents for a week or so. But at least in the cities, the days when the local militia show up at 2am to check whether you are fornicating with a Lao national are over.

Where I live in Issan the Thais are of Khmer descent not Laotians. Putting that aside the Thais are accused of looking down on the Laotians, Cambodians, Burmese, Malaysians, Northern, Northeastern, Central, Eastern, Southern, Red Shirts, Yellow Shirts. If I missed any one I'm sorry, Trying not to discriminate.

Many Lao people are also of Khmer decent or Chinese too. And there are Thais who have Burmese or even Malay blood too.

The issue has really nothing to do with ethnicity. Thailand has managed to create a social structure that makes the ability to speak Thai a badge of status along with white skin. The ability to speak polite Thai puts you up a few notches along with extra white skin (helps if you have a Chinese grandfather).

I experienced the linguistic aspect when I visited Issaan with a Lao speaking Westerner. He could be well understood by everyone but no one would speak to him in Lao/IIsaan in public. Isaan people use Thai in their public dealings, especially with people they do not know. Their Lao/Isaan has become a language of intimacy, to be used in the home among family members, with children or lovers/spouses or parents.

When Thais go to Laos, they look down at the fact that the Lao speak Lao all the time and in public.

Of course, the Thais who think that Lao cannot speak any other language are uninformed because any young person and no so young person in Laos where they can receive Thai TV will at least learn to understand Thai. Every kid learns Thai in school too. Many Lao with some education will speak Thai.

Thanks for the links. I'll take some time to read.

Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason why you dont want your newborn child to have the shot?

All the wise acres here with their various suggestions and attempts at humour will not help this patient one bit.

His symptoms and the fact that he admits to being bedridden for 4 days indicate that he does not have common diarrhea but something far more serious and potentially fatal or with a possibility of permanent morbidity (such as brain damage).

The best advice for him is to get a blood test and have it interpreted by a qualified clinician.

I wish that he had provided his location so that someone could provide local advice on local hospitals or clinics or even help him out.

4 days now in bed, aches on every part of my body, vomit, shits 40 times a day, fever, doc in clinic gave me an iv drip 4 days ago but she didnt finish bottle and threw me out as she was closing up clinic, charged me 1500 baht, i thought it was expensive.

what can help me ? on vitimin c pills, sponsor, electrolyte drinks.

thanks

You are not dying.

You need Vitamin C, chicken soup, muti-vitamin if you have it, Ibuprofen, ice packs, Gatorade

Stay hydrated with Aura or Nestle's Minere.

Activated charcoal, bananas, chilled watermelon pieces,

Look online for more info.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

None of this will help him if he has dengue. He needs a blood test first and now

Dengue?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

If so, you're on the right medication, you can add paracetamol, nothing else.

Actually there are other treatments for dengue too - including IV drip that can be essential especially for some patients.

Best thing is to get a proper doctor. If you have the money/insurance, get yourself to one of the best hospitals in Bangkok - preferably somewhere like Bumrungrad.

If you don't have much money, you can get treatment locally. The treatment you got from the doctor you described was not correct and the charge sounded high (especially for that treatment).

You could have any number of illness - possibly malaria or other blood borne parasite. Best to get your blood tested at a proper hospital/clinic. Even the larger public hospitals in Thailand will be able to help you - go for one that has a lab attached or ready access to a lab.

Best to do this ASAP

Phimosis.

Can't believe nobody mentioned it - OP, incase you decide against circumcision, make at least sure your son does not have phimosis, i.e. is unable to uncover his glans without pain.

I know that the initiator of this discussion required answers from those who have had one or more half-Thai half-Western children. But since the issue of Phimosis has arisen, I thought I ought to reply, for reasons that will become apparent below.

Phimosis is the constriction of the foreskin such that it cannot be drawn back over the head or glans of the penis. Since phimosis is actually a natural occurrence in newborns, infants and young children, this should not give rise to any concern to the individual or his parents at that stage.

However, phimosis may be deemed "pathological" when it interfers with the normal function of the organ. Although circumcision is traditionally recommended in such cases among adults, there are other approaches - look up phimosis in wikipedia for the options.

In the case of a newborn or young child, pathological phimosis will usually only mean that there are problems with urination or if there is pain or infection.

In my own case as a newborn, I suffered from pathological phimosis that radically restricted urination. Within hours of my birth, the very nice young surgeon used a scalpel to very skillfully release the constriction at the end of my foreskin. The relief was so great that I peed into his face with gratitude. I never had any problem with the foreskin since then and was eternally grateful to all concerned that I was not circumcised.

As far as I know, circumcision is not normally practiced in Thailand. Nor is it normally practiced in Western countries, with the exception of certain religious minorities.

It really depends on how well you know this lady. Even if the husband is sophisticated, she may not be. If you know that she is sophisticated, I would suggest a bottle of wine (they may decide to share it during dinner, which would be nice). Otherwise I would suggest a box of chocolates but not a cheap one.. It would always be nice to bring something that they do not easily find in Thailand but nevertheless would appreciate. I would stay away from anything that is durable - vases, household items etc as people can be funny about this. If you bring flowers, get some advice on what kind of flowers to bring - the florist could help you with this, if you trust them. Good luck!

My husband cheated me out of our business when he met a Thai woman. He illegally deregistered me off our business and forged my signature. He is now trying to take the apartment that I bought before I married him. It is not in his name it's in mine. I paid for it as well. He says he can take everything from me because that's Thailand.

Was it just you and your husband who owns the business? No Thai nominee? You guys met and got married in Thailand? Are you guys still married? How can he possibly go after your condo if it's in your name?

Your lawyer did something clearly unethical, if not downright criminal. You'd have grounds to sue her for malpractice. And if your husband forged your signature, he can and should be criminally prosecuted. But you can't do anything from overseas, you really need to be in Thailand. Surely, as a business owner, you must know some Thai folks who can recommend a good lawyer. There's plenty of them around, decent, ethical ones.

It was our business with an unknown Thai nominee. I think his girlfriend is now the nominee. I had no idea he took me off the registration. This lawyer was supposed to help me with what he did but after being paid she did nothing.

We met and got married in Australia and moved to Phuket together to live the dream. He found her after 4 months.

I do have friends over there but I need to report her as she is now representing him.

He still claims he can take the apartment even though it is wholly in my name. He can't can he?

Does he have any assets or income in Australia? If he does, you could take him to the cleaners there.

They should have deported him because he was working without a permit

Which planet are you from? Would love to know which country considers begging a "job"... do you get social security with that "job"? what diploma's are needed?

almost like saying you need a work permit to breathe... you are converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, so technically you are working :/

In many countries on planet Early, for the purposes of a work permit, work is considered to be any activity that involves moneymaking even if no job was ever officially applied for etc. This is to include all those who work in sales as contractors on a commission basis only. Begging would easily fall into that category especially if it involves, as it does in the case under discussion, the exchange of trinkets for "donations."

The Daily Mail in the UK is the source for the Obama-Beyonce story and no quality newspaper has taken it up. That should tell you everything about the veracity of this story.

The only source in the media for Obama being gay is Fox News. That should tell you everything.

For me, I only really care about whether the president is good at his job. Whether he gets into men, drugs, other women or whatever in his spare time is not my business and frankly not the business of anyone else.

If we are to insist that all politicians must be straight, white, married, monogamous, have the appearance of religiosity, never having smoked anything let alone marijuana etc., we are likely to get the worst, unimaginative individuals with the least amount of leadership.

The way the story is reported, it looks like the Australian died from something other than choking as a result of food stuck in the throat. But if not, I hope it was not because no one knew the Heimlich maneuver. This is something anyone can learn in a few minutes and it gives you the gift of saving the life of someone else.

Glad nobody was hurt but either these M79 grenade launchers / grenades are past their sell by date or the operators are completely incompetent.

Or perhaps it wasn't grenades at all?

The M-79 grenade explosive head is rather small..

It has an explosive inside and there is a piece of brittle wire wound around the explosive with small nicks in that wire.

When the explosive goes off all those nicks in the brittle wire make the wire fragment into small pieces of wire that act as shrapnel.

The purpose of an M-79 is to cause casualties in a crowd by shrapnel wounds from those small pieces of fragmented brittle wire.

Quite often you won't see much of anything obvious where a M-79 has exploded, mainly because the pieces of wire are so small.

it won't show much a crater because all the fragments are small pieces of wire, hard to see, but they are more than enough to cause wounds in human flesh.

M-79 grenades are really designed to cause casualties in a crowed area, if it is fired into an open area, without a crowd of people in that area, the results are very unimpressive to see afterwards..

There are very little large pieces shrapnel to be found because the wire fragments are so small.

And often there is not much of a crater because the M-79 warhead explodes on contact and most of the blast only goes into fragmenting that wire up and out to cause wounds to people in the crowd near where it lands.

If there is no one or few people near where the warhead lands, often no one is hurt.

So that just shows the warhead was fired away from a crowded area and not really intended to hurt anyone.

if it had landed in a crowd, the casualties from shrapnel wounds would have been much worse.

Excellent assessment from someone who knows what they are talking about. Many thanks.

Returning to the attack, either it was meant to be a warning or a show of strength without the fallout or the guys who fired them were amateurs.

She needs a schengen visa and that could be a problem ,

i used to travel with my thai wife Dover calais in my dads car with schengen visas sourced in Bangkok from the french embassy regularly and tour in europe for 2-3 weeks until 3 years ago now we cant get them for this type of travel ,, even though my wife has 10 years UK visit visa and previous 6 schengen trips ,, we travel to uk twice a year , now to get a schengen visa YOU have to have air tickets into a EU country , UK does not count and pre booked holiday/ hotel plans and ferry trips and car holidays dont count , Its not the French , Belgian , Dutch or Spanish embassies in Bangkok that make this stupid regulation It is VFS companies and Brussels bureaucrats that have caused this anomally.

Try all the ways of getting the schlengen visa for your wife, including making the application in London as well as in Bangkok. It would help if you could get a written invitation from a relative or old friend in France.

In making the application on each occasion, make sure that you do it in person and bring the whole family along with their passports - of course, everyone should be super polite and well dressed but if the youngest should feel the need to cry because they wont get to see grandma/best friend in France, that would be OK too.

Make sure you document everything, dates of visits to visa section of the French Embassy, if you can, get the name of each official spoken to, what they said and any grounds provided for rejecting the application. Always ask for the right of appeal, if any, and complete the appeal process to the letter. Make sure to write an official letter to the head of Visa section and a separate letter to the Ambassador. You and your wife should sign those letters.

If none of it works, start by contacting your local Member of European Parliament in the UK and complain, making sure to document the problem. Then go to your local newspaper in the UK, making sure that the newspaper calls the embassy in question and France Tourism (French Tourist Board) and office in Brussels that deals with Schlengen. (You can do the footwork yourself by calling the offices for their response and just provide the newspaper with the numbers and the quotes fr them to check). Then send copies of the newspaper article to all of those plus the usual large outlets for news, such as the BBC, ITV, the big newspapers etc. If you are really industrious, you can prepare a stock letter and press release with photos all written up in French and send them and the article to various media outlets in France, showing how French Tourism is losing out. Make sure that you have originals and photocopies of all correspondence to hand if anyone wants to read them.

Newspapers often publish stuff that does not require much work on their part - well-written press releases are often reproduced word for word even in qualify newspapers. As the French economy is not doing so well right now, you might find that the issue gains traction there. If you do all of this, you should be prepared for you and your family to appear on any TV or radio program or newspaper interview at the drop of a hat.

The "dog days" of July are probably the best to pull this stunt as it is before the big shut-down in August and yet most of the parliament and other institutions that feed the news media are shut - therefore more likely that your story gets on the air or in the newspapers.

Yes, this is a bit of work and it is only for the type of person who is patient and who gets a kick out of making those bureaucrats' lives a little bit uncomfortable.

If you are not that type of person, don't try to do it.

Alternatively, if you have a lot of money, you could consider taking a legal case, claiming that your human rights and that of your family members have been affected as has your rights under EU law to go anywhere with your family in the EU. THis will cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars, if not over a million in legal fees. If, like the rest of us, you dont have millions and are not the kind of person mentioned above, just give in and forget about visiting the Schlengen Area until someone else makes a stink and the stupid rules are changed.

Good luck

I have indeed given this a lot of thought, sound travels better over water you know, so I had plenty of time to plan the demise.

there is a book known as the cookbook. It may anarchist cookbook. It provides you with instructions on the boombox, you set that up next to the temples sound equipment then run.

I like the pin in the wiring though, I read about that before in a number of novels and think it would work. Just careful you don't shock yourself.

Speaker wire is low voltage. No problem with shocks.

Another suggestion is, if possible, to turn the speaker to face upwards towards the sky. Before long it will fill with water and cease working.

The same problem occurs in Vietnam in cities and towns - first thing in the morning (often just after 5am) you will have the local government/party/peoples committee announcements usually accompanied by some really awful music. Invariably the house rented to the foreigner will hold the speaker because no one else on the street wants it. The foreigner would eventually kill the speaker and in most cases that was that. But sometimes the repair crew would be out to repair the speaker. One very intrepid foreigner connected an electronic box to the speaker wire - the box allowed him to control the volume via a remote that he kept in his pocket. He would switch up the volume for when he was away or when the officials came around for their inspection. Variations in volume were explained by "wind direction."

For several years I lived in Vientiane, Laos. Because the Lao permits took so long, for two of those years I had to go to the Friendship Bridge each month, exit Laos, cross the bridge and enter Thailand, exit Thailand and re-enter Laos on a month tourist visa. Getting the Thai stamp was a condition of re-entry. The Thai immigration officers never asked me a question or bothered me as it was plain that I was playing by the rules, which was not overstaying the 2 week limit on visas granted at land borders.