cophen

i come from Melbourne. when my parents built their house, just a 1 hour drive from the city, it was on a dirt road and we had goannas and snakes in our backyard. now, 40 years on, the house is smack bang in the middle of suburbia.

its just a sign of the times im afraid.

I was a ten quid Pom and where we lived in East Keilor (10 miles from the middle of Melbourne) we had open drains and the Dunnyman 40 years ago. I went back there 20 years ago and it was just another suburb - although a rather nice one.

In March 2006 the OFT won an appeal in the House of Lords against Amex/Lloyds TSB/Tesco Finance. Since that appeal all transactions over £100 on UK credit cards are covered no matter where they took place.

I'm not going to enter the "gays wouldn't make good soldiers" debate because I think that is a load of crap. I've seen some gays who could kick Mike Tyson's arse to the other side of Sunday.

However,

I am a firm believer that any entity such as a business or a public institution should be able to accurately specify the type of personal it wants without some group or organisation pulling the discrimination card.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Exactly The racist card and insult is pulled out way too much and way too quickly. Pretty soon it will be racism to prefer a brunette over a blonde.

cheers also

onzestan

onzestan

Its not about "Transvestites don't make good soldiers, because men are men" Its not about the soldier it's about the UNIT. If I where a general in charge of these sort of things, I would have to ask myself, do I try and change the natural tendencies of 99% of my troops that for what ever irrelevant reason, to find trannies to be less of man then them, and there for untrustworthy and distracting? Or do I just drop that one percent and keep cohesiveness in the unit.

Open gayness in the military has never been a good thing, The Ottoman empire found that out the hard way when mid scale infighting broke out between officers over a who could screw some bath house boy who was good at pleasuring men.

Open gayness doesn't seem to be doing British or Israeli forces much harm.

English teeth, big ears and a great career opportunity waiting for him in the UK.

Good job he's in Thailand where big ears denote wisdom and compassion. He might not have a PhD but being a plasterer is a well-paid trade and they are in regular demand.

Dieter,

You are in luck, since we on the forum are so lucky as to have a resident intellectual, the one and only Mr. Naam (formerly Doctor Naam). Mr. Naam can discuss any topic with a high degree of professionalism, insight and flair, anything from energy conservation to ..... well anything. Mr. Naam is however a very soft spoken and humble person, who will need some time to warm to you, but once going, he is unbeatable. I wish you all the best in your deep conversations with the good Herr Doctor!

it should be added that Mr. Naam is not very interested to meet people of his own nationality in Thailand and discuss

quote: "social science and/or philosophy"

if he has the urge to discuss these topics on a high level Mr. Naam prefers to discuss them with his dog whilst sharing with him bavarian weisswurst and sweet mustard

As of 2000 the population of Isaan was just over 20 million. How many Mercedes did you see?

travelling thru Issaan areas all last week,I couldnt help but see the amount of wealth.

Late model Isuzu cars,Mercedas benzes etc.

I wondered where the "poor" people are,I thought I must be the only poor one there.

The poor people are the ones riding buffaloes

I'm American served in military US Marines,I have always accepted anyone and I don't think I'm better than someone from another country.

But when I meet Brits, always have this chip on their shoulder.Because of George Bush doesn't make it any easier with the Iraq war.

That chip that you appear to see hasn't stopped us being your major ally in both Gulf Wars. Nothing like gratitude, eh?

If you give a gift and expect a 'thank you' as of right, you're not giving it for the right reasons. Gifts are like charity, they should be given altruistically without the expectation of any return.

Here's another. Also Voipdiscount will give you an hour's free calls to landlines and mobiles. After that it will cost you 10 Euros for 120 days of calls - limited to 1000 hours a month.

That should read 'limited to a 1000 minutes a month'

The neighbour possibly saved your life. Is your life worth 2000bt?

Foreigners can own houses - they can't own land.

To conclude,I personally get a tiny bit sad sometimes when I realise that no matter how long I live here or who I've married,....

in 20 years if I walk down Jomtien beach at the age of 55,Thai people will just see a FALANG,pue and simple,cut and dry

A Thai friend of mine has pretty much the same problem - maybe slightly worse. He's lived in England for 20 years. No matter how long he lives here when he walks down the street English people just see a Chinese man pure and simple, cut and dry...

If your machine gives you the option use DVD-RAM disks.

The Siemens 4200 modem has auto MDIX switching so ethernet cable polarity shouldn't be a problem. The user manual is available here.

Is a 60 year old a 'lad'?

Many years ago when I was a sailor we used to visit Singapore on a regular basis - this was in the days before Uncle Lee. We used to go to Bugis Street - some of us for a laugh - some of us for a little more. One time we went to watch a naughty show with a 3rd mate who'd got married before the trip and was due to fly home when we hit the Gulf. He decided he'd have a little more. As a result of his little indulgence he had to return to the UK and tell his wife of 6 months that they wouldn't be able to have sex until he'd rid himself of the syphilis he'd caught in Singapore.

Don't forget he was the Chancellor for the Exchequer (Finance Minister) for 10 years before he became PM.

Nationwide do two different ATM cards on the Flexaccount. One is a debit card which you can use in ATMs but also use to purchase goods in shops. The other is a 'cashcard' which only works in ATMs.

There's a previous thread on it here

"What you see is more a commentary on the state of Thai society and religion."

A-men.....the state of Thai society!! But that is supposed to be tempered by the dominent religion, correct???

It seems to me as an 'outsider'[who has been here a decade], that Thai society is goverened by the real religion here.....'alcohol' as it has more influence on the 'ordinary folks' than Buddhism.

The 5th precept of Buddhism??

please quote for me please....

If Thailand is tempered by their dominant religion then presumably other countries are tempered by their particular dominant religion too? If that's the case name me one country the majority of whose population adhere to the precepts of their religion in the same way you appear to expect the Thais to. If you can't please explain why Thailand should be any different. Why is Thailand expected to adhere to a higher moral standard than other countries?

That "please mind the gap" bit is a bit of all right if you are on a carriage from Brighton to Croydon, but it is a Briticism which has to be learnt by non-Brits who otherwise mightest spit the dummy out of the pram whilst lifting the boot on the drophead. Would "Watch your step" make more sense?

Surely if you watched your step you'd keep banging into people?

Isn't farting in public a capital offence in Singapore?

Isn't everything ??