12DrinkMore

Thought about putting this in the motor section, but I think it also applies to the aircon unit, the fridge, the TV, the computer etc.

Yesterday took the bike into Honda for an oil change and service.

Oil Change

The grinning spanner monkey drained the old oil, the oil was still running out in a stream, not just dripping, and he started to put the sump plug back in. STOP! It's not empty, so he waited. Then he started to put the plug in again. STOP! The oil filter has to be cleaned. Big smile, (yes, he knew about that but was too lazy). So he cleaned that. The new oil went in and the dipstick too. Then he pulls out a pair of pliers. STOP! I pointed out that the dipstick was plastic, has an o-ring and there is no pressure in the metal crankcase, so finger tight is perfect.

Chain Tension

He then tightens the chain to the same tension as Jimi Hendix's "E" string. STOP! Back it off, otherwise I have to buy three times as many chains.

He was then satisifed with his efforts, but STOP!

Spark plug

He was no longer such a happy grinning spanner monkey. But he took out the plug, cleaned and checked it.

Tyre pressure

Front tyre was pumped up. Moved to rear wheel, valve was in the wrong position so he grinned, hit the tyre with a spanner, "OK" and got up. STOP! Move bike 0.5 metre and now we can check the pressure. No more grins.

And then today I went to fill up the tank.

Male "Dek Pump" started filling, got to around 292 Baht it was almost full, he then turned and watched the dial, determined to sell 300 Baht. At 294 Baht the fuel was running over the tank and onto the engine, I said STOP! it's full! He looked and said "uh, uh", turned back to the pump and carried on filling, fuel was now running down the engine onto the ground. I grabbed his arm and said STOP! STOP! STOP! I paid 298 Baht, which included some 5 Baht of fuel wasted. He would have happily put another cupfull of fuel on the ground to reach 300 Baht.

I despair. It is not the first time and will not be the last time.

To distill a decade of experience, the only way to ensure that things are done properly is to understand what has to be done, and stand around, making sure that is is done.

I could go on and on, but here are a few examples.

1. Earth wire not installed to shower unit. STOP! What are these! Copper earth rod and black earthing wire, why have you not installed them?

2. Replaced cam chain. STOP! What is this left over? Chain guide not installed. Why? "Japanese engines 150% so not necessary". NO! Japanese engines 100% Thai repairs 50%. Real reason? They forgot, so another hour to dismantle covers again and replace guide.

3. The classic, computer broke and was returned with a reformatted hard drive full of Thai software. Now I always remove the disks.

I just don't understand it.

They know what has to be done, and also know how to do it properly. I have seen it, they can do the work properly.

Somewhere there just seems to be the attitude that "it doesn't matter", "I don't care about what I do" and "I am not responsible". And it seems to apply to predominantly the male half of the population. Perhaps the answer I received when I asked my accountant why the office had some 20 female staff and not a single male, "if I emply males I only have problems".

You completely forgot the Farang "bottomless ATM owner" class.

I have heard about these ladies that some how get gold and money from people by putting some cream on their wrists.

Well this happened to my girl friend in Sakon Nakhon yesterday in big C at 5pm.She and her friend went from big C to their car in the car park when 2 well dressed ladies asked them to come back inside to eat with them in the food court....thats all they can remember till the police tried to wake them from some kind of trance.they then realised they had their gold taken 5 baht (75,000baht)in total ,and 20.000 baht from my g/f acc,and 100,000 from her friends acc.the police showed them the cctv from big C and they saw them selves take the ladies to the ATM take money out and give to them.they dont remember any of this.the police told them these 2 ladies had done the same last week in Udon Thani same style and at big C their too.so be warned tell your ladt friends not to wear their gold out in public.they took 200,000baht in less than one hour.

Stupidity rules.

1. Why would they want to go back and eat with the "well dressed ladies", who they presumably didn't know?

2. Carrying large chunks of gold, "I am very rich", is just asking for trouble.

3. I cannot withdraw 100,000 Baht from an ATM in one day. How did she do it?

Is this is scam?

Hope you didn't rush out and buy another 5 Baht of gold and replenish the bank accounts.

"No ploblem, Farang jai dee".

200,000 Baht is around 3,000 Quid. That is the sort of thing that would end up in the UK national press, "Drugged women relieved of 3,000 Pounds in shopping centre". I didn't see it mentioned in the Bangkok Post. Maybe we just don't need to know about these things here?

Why is english so important, i am english but i am in thailand people should learn to speak thai.

I am not suggesting that English is the all important language, but if it going to be spoken by a native English speaker, then at least it should be spoken correctly.

I only speak Thai to my GF, which at the beginning she liked, as we could communicate, and then she hated, because she couldn't understand when I spoke to my mates, and now she reluctantly accepts. She thinks that it is much more important for her (or Thais) to speak English than for foreigners to speak Thai. I don't agree, when in Rome etc.

The Vulcan 900, Custom (black) and Classic (black) available now, 460,000 baht

If you want a blue Custom (which I am interested in, 3 months wait), have put 1 on hold.

And the price in the States is 240,000 Baht, new.

http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/detail.aspx?id=273

Dream on, dream on.

My FIRST camchain tensioner broke at 43,000 kms. Complete rebuild, new pistons, valves the lot. The SECOND broke at about 47,000 kms, luckily only needed to replace it and the camchain. The THIRD broke around 56,000 kms, another complete rebuild. The FOURTH broke around 64,000 kms, the garage wanted to replace the camchain as well, but I was well fed up with the whole issue, so just a new tensioner.

Maybe I have just been very unlucky, but I now have no faith in the ability of Honda to fix this and will NEVER buy another Phantom again.

The tensioner is basically a spring loaded device which pushes out a piston onto the camchain guide. The problem is that it jams, allowing the loose camchain to slip over the side of the guide. The chain then eats its way through the tensioner and eventually slips a notch or two, causing an expensive collision beween the piston and the valves.

The tensioner is not checked as part of a service, and I doubt whether it would do any good anyway, as I would guess the time between jamming and engine failure is fairly short. If you are lucky, you will notice a "tink tink tink" noise coming from the chain. This means URGENT ATTENTION is required.

My recommendation would be to replace the tensioner at 30,000 kms (end of Honda guarantee) and every 2 years/15,000 kms afterwards. It is easy to replace and costs a couple of hundred Baht. A rebuild like I have suffered will set you back around 8,000 Baht.

And how many speak like Tarzan?

"I, Tarzan, me go home, you, Jane, your sister you go buy beer more"

I HATE hearing this, especially from native English speakers. I have even had the idiots, no insult intended to TV memebers, even turn around and speak Tarzan English to me.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop speaking like an uneducated farm girl and use decent English. Maybe, just maybe, it might raise the general standard of spoken English too.

HELLO KAWASAKI!!!

I have the money ready for this bike.

WHEN can I have one?

Nobody knows, tiddly pom, nobody knows...

You have to read every docket you get, its happens in Sydney with the scanner scans products sometimes that werent even scanned or scans a different price. If it happens where with better technology then its no surprise it will happen in Thailand. They say it happens with 1 in 10 purchases here, I bet the odds are alot worse over there

1 in 10?? Rubbish, that level would be totally unaccepatable.

I buy my "convenience stuff" and pay my bills in 7/11 at least 300 days/year. Average around 7 items or so. Over ten years that must be 20,000 or so items. I always try to keep my cells occupied and add up the purchases mentally. Never a problem with the bill, but often the brain plays up.

So I reckon in 20,000 purchases I have a zero error rate from 7/11. My brain error rate probably runs at the 1 in 10 visits though.

Am thinking exchanging my pounds into baht. Is now a good time or should i wait a bit?

yes or no, depending on the fluttering of a butterfly's wings in South America. But possibly the wind eminating from Samak might have a more immediate influence.

But IMO

Yes, if you need the Bahts tomorrow. And No, if you need the Bahts in five years.

7%+ interest in GBP tax free, <2% taxed in THB, with the added bonus of wondering where the Thaitannic is heading. Same applies to the UK, but I have a little more faith over there.

Well, that's it. I have had enough. The TV has been turned OFF.

These mind numbing seemingly never ending Thai soaps day after day after day after day. Just had to put up wth two unbelievably pristine brats in an unbelievably pristine house having an utterly inane conversation about whether she had spots on her face or not. It would take an electron microscope to discover any blemish on her perfect visage. I suppose it was a break from the unbelievably pristine brats in an unbelievably pristine house screaming at each other and providing the perfect role model for the infantile Thai population, ie everybody under the age of 40.

So, here is the poll.

Does being glued to the TV watching this drivel turn brains into rice soup, or were the cranial contents comprised solely of rice soup beforehand? To introduced a regional difference, please subsitute "rice soup" for "papaya salad" in areas east of Suvarnibummer.

Commerce Ministry mulls controlling profit margins

By Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation

Published on July 25, 2008

The profit margins of consumer-goods manufacturers could be controlled if the Commerce Ministry gets its way as part of its plan to curb inflation and relieve consumers' cost burden.

The move followed requests by several companies' to raise prices. Internal Trade Department director-general Yangyong Phuangrach said the ministry was studying three scenarios for controlling goods prices. "Under the worst-case scenario, we would limit not only the price ceiling of essential products, but also profit margins, in order to ensure fair practice for consumers," he said.

Previously, the ministry calculated the price ceiling of essential goods but decided to leave profit margins intact.

He said the ministry would also introduce other measures to help reduce costs.

Unbelievable, well maybe not, this is Thailand after all.

This will only result in HIGHER prices. Why?

It will reduce competition, as nobody will want to invest in a business if the government controls profit margins. Without competition there will be a monopoly, the existing manufacturers will have no incentive to reduce costs and improve efficiency, as this would increase profits, which will be controlled. So prices will RISE.

Really, I wonder if anybody in the Commerce Ministry has ever studied economics?

If they were interested in reducing prices then they should stop all price controls and market distorting subsidies, and allow other companies to enter the market. However, this would be contradictory to the overall policies and planning in Thailand, which are to hinder competition and keep the wealth concentrated in the three dozen or so families at the top of the food chain.

Phuket Gazette:

http://www.phuketgazette.com/issuesanswers...ils.asp?id=1038

"The retirement visa prohibiting employment means that you cannot do any kind of work "for anyone else" even if you don't receive pay or any other reward for it.

For example, you cannot be a writer who sends your stories to publish in journals or newspapers, even if you don't get paid, or work as a volunteer translating documents free of charge.

However, this doesn't mean that you cannot do work for your daily life at your home. You are still able to clean the dishes, cut grass, cook or whatever in your home, just as anyone does in their normal daily lives."

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Janya Yingyong, an officer at the Phuket Provincial Employment Office Work Permit Section.

SO YOU ARE ALL ILLEGAL WORKERS SENDING IN COMMENTS TO THAIVISA.

No, no, this is where you are wrong. Thais have a very profound understanding of cause and effect.

Absolutely, foreigners and foreign countries are the cause of all problems in Thailand.

Most apropriate in View of their past record

"One 2 Dead"!(Since the terrible Phuket tragedy I have renamed them!R.I.P Those We lost!)

This "1 2 ..." phrase comes from "want to", as in "1 2 fly" or "1 2 call".

So I suggest "1 2 Die" as the new name for the arline if it opens again.

Thanks for that.

If the BIBs got around to applying it we would have traffice free roads in Thailand inside of two weeks.

And now I know why Farang are targetted and what our main offence is:

2.3 Driving a vehicle in an abnormal manner or contrary to usual driving habits.

According to an ABAC Poll conducted in 2006, most people, 88.6 percent, were in favor of the designation of a No Alcohol Day, and 61.6 percent were of the opinion the first day of Buddhist Lent should be proclaimed No Alcohol Day. The anti-alcohol campaign has received a positive response from the general public.

Plainly Thai Visa contributers were not included in the poll.

Whi is going to pipe up and shout, "they can't do this, it's against the new constitution!"

Must go and check if the 7/11 is going to sell me my daily ration, otherwise there is always the Chinese store around the corner.

So, the "filip" will cost about 50,000,000,000 Bahts, and is to benefit 10,000,000 poor households.

Q. Why can't they just hand out 5,000 Baht directly to each of these poor households?

A. Because the rich households will benefit to the tune of 60,000,000,000 Bahts.

And how does that work?

Because the poor households will be 70,000,000,000 worse off.

I can do maths just as well as the Thai politicians.

"Giss a job, I can do tha"

Police warned not to pocket money from motorist

(BangkokPost.com) – It's the first day that police will be keeping a close eye on motorists who talk on the phone while driving.

Spokesman of the National Police force, Pol Lt Gen Watcharapol Prasarnratchakij said motorists who violate the new law from now until June 19 will be given a warning. However, starting from June 20 onwards, violators will be fined between 400-1,000 baht. They will also have points taken off their driver's license.

As for concerns that the new law may give police officers another reason to put money into their own pockets, Pol Lt Gen Watcharapol assured that these officers will face severe punishments. He urged anyone witnessing police officers committing a wrongdoing to immediately report to the National Police force.

Do we have a points system in Thailand? The report mentions that points will be taken OFF a license, how do they organise this?

How many points do I start with? I have two licenses, motorcycle and car. Presumably if I can get caught drunk in the car x-times and loose it, I can also get caught x-times on the bike before loosing that too?

And as I can pop into any licensing office in the country, inside of a day I would have a brand new license anyway.

Thai Royal anthem was composed by a Russian (or German).

The royal anthem, “Phleng Sansoen Phra Barami” is a song honoring the king. In use since 1871, the music was composed by Pyotr Schurovsky of Russia. The current lyrics were written by Prince Narisaranuvadtivongs, around 1913 and were later revised by King Rama VI. “Phleng Sansoen Phra Barami” was the national anthem of Siam until 1932.

Thailand’s national anthem is called “Pheng Chat” The melody was written by Peter Feit (known in Thailand as known in Thailand as Phra Jenduriyang), the son of a German immigrant and royal advisor for music. When the nation’s name was changed to Thailand from Siam in 1939, the government held a competition for new lyrics for the anthm. Luang Saranuprapan was awarded one thousand baht for writing the words we still sing today.

If the female population of Thailand was comprised solely of ugly fat mingers, the Thai Visa forum would not exist.

You can still get an abortion, if you can persuade the girl to have one.

It's illegal so you need to find a doctor prepared to do it. Just keep asking around. And don't delay, the price and risk goes up with the number of weeks.

Phuket Gazette 14th July:

Bars asked to observe alcohol ban

PHUKET: As a mark of respect for Asarnha Bucha and Buddhist Lent this Thursday and Friday, respectively, bars and other sellers of alcohol on the island are being asked to observe an alcohol ban on the two Buddhist holidays.

Businesses are asked not to serve alcohol from midnight on Wednesday night until midnight on Friday night.

Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnak told the Gazette, "It is not illegal for bars to sell alcohol, but like other [police] superintendents around the island, I have received an official letter from the local District Chief asking the police to try to ensure that alcohol is not sold on both days."

Similarly, Chalong Police Superintendent Col Samarn Chainarong said, "I have received a letter from the District Chief asking me for co-operation from bars in my area to show respect on these important days for Buddhists."

---

Hang on, so this means that the BIBs are religious police as well?

If it is not illegal to sell alcohol, then the police should not get involved. How many of the other, far too many, "bans" we have are not the result the law being enforced, but on the whim of some big wig? Does anybody know?

I live about 900 kms away from where my bike was first registered. Every year I go to the local vehicle registration place and obtain a new piece of paper for the next 12 months which I stick to my bike.

Recently the peice of paper disappeared. OK, I thought, we'll go and get a duplicate. Off I trot to the vehicle registration place and they said, yes, the duplicate costs 25 Baht, BUT I WOULD HAVE TO GO 900 KMS TO WHERE THE BIKE WAS FIRST REGISTERED....

DUH....

Yes, the bikes are available, but twice the price of the same bike Farangland.

If they can sell a Phantom for 85,000 Baht, then why can't they sell a 400cc bike for around 170,000 Baht? I have a major mental block, or rather wallet block, when I see the price in Farangland at 240,000 Baht and then in Thailand they want 500,000 Baht.

On another note:

As a replacement for my dated and clapped out Honda Wave, I wanted to buy the new Yamaha 135cc Spark with the decent no-innertube tyres, as promoted by Yamaha since early this year. Shop price a little pricey at around 55,000 Baht, but can you buy one? No, it's always "next month".

Come on Yamaha, get your show on the road.