monkeycountry

And to answer your question. If you want to find friends who do not only drink, fuc_k and do drugs go to sportsclubs or similar as someone already mentioned. There you may find people who share your interests or hobbies and asking them if they want to play a round of whatever game they play in the club is a great ice breaker. Remember though, as you seem to be looking for young people, you will most likely only find single guys or guys with Thai girlfriends. There are very few young foreign couples who stay permanently in Bangkok, simply because they usually can't make ends meet, and even if they can, odds are the girl will eventually leave as the guy starts to find the local girls interesting.

Bobbysamuels: "ok i haven't lived here that long, but i am half thai with a big thai family who have lived here all there lives. They have been teaching me thai and from their social circles as well as the thai english teachers thai i have met, they all say that most 25 year old girls who are with older men are generally bar girls without much education (of course there are exceptions o the rule). You should see what is said about the older farang men with girls that are 25."

Just out of curiosity, what did your Thai family say about the older, rich and/or influential Thai men in your family (the socalled Puh yai), who often also enjoy the company of young girls? (I assume there are some, as you mention that you have a big Thai family). Do they avoid these men and call them names as well, or do they respect, bow and wai to them as most Thais do?

Assuming they do the latter, then what does that tell you about your Thai family? Are they really against old men being with young girls, or are they really just against old FOREIGN men being with young girls?

PS: Just in case your big Thai family have never seen an older rich/influential Thai man with a young girlfriend and subsequently paid him respect, then I apologise for my assumptions.

NOTE- not to op but others- dont do business with people you see nude!

I do business with ppl I see nude all the time, and so do most of my male friends. Except for a few odd experiences it generally seems to work out just fine for everyone involved. In fact I seem to have more luck doing business with ppl I see nude, than with ppl I don't see nude!

Your best chance of getting your money back would be to lend her another 50k, but tell her that this time you will gamble together at a casino. Then play on red (or black) at the roulette. There is almost 50% chance that you will win, and then you will have your money back!

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It seems to be just an idea, not something that is actually being built. I think it will violate several building codes anyway - the building height code to start with.

One last thing. The withholding tax has nothing to do with foreigners or whether someone has a WP or not. Legally withholding tax also has to be deducted when Thais do contractual work for eachother. If a company for any reason decides not to deduct withholding tax when it contracts someone to do a job, the company will not be able to declare the job as an expense when calculating the corporate tax due at the end of the fiscal year. It is therefore very much in the interest of any legally operating company to deduct withholding tax.

It is actually called withholding tax, and it works like this.

There are different rates of withholding tax, but in the case of contracted work it is 3%.

The employer will withhold 3% of the amount due, and pay this amount on behalf of the employee to the evenue department before the 7th of the following month.

The employer will issue a "receipt" to the employee, which the employee has to keep.

At the end of the fiscal year when the employee has to calculate his final income tax, he/she can deduct the withholding tax from the tax due. Ie. If the employee has to pay say 10.000 baht in income tax, but has withholding tax "receipts" worth 3.000 baht, then he will now only have to pay a further 7.000 baht in income tax, as the other 3.000 baht has already been paid on his behalf by the employer.

In other words, the money paid as withholding tax is not lost, it is simply a form of prepaid tax. In the case people cheat and do not declare their income and therefore do not pay income tax, the money is of course lost.

I hope this cleared the issue.

Remark: I am aware that I use the word employee above even though the person is not actually employed. I just don't know the right word to use - sorry :-)

Finally someone stands up to all the ridiculous dog owners in Thailand. If you all love your dogs so much, then why is it you only seem to care about what happens to them after they die? (Obviously there are a few dog owners, like the German in the story, who do care about their dogs, and my message is not meant for them)

The most important part seems to be that the German will not be charged with killing the dog, but only with carrying a knife, which suggests that it is legal to kill stray dogs. (In my opinion any dog not on private ground and without a leash is a stray dog)

There are usually guards at all entrances to an airport. A simple approach would be to make sure that everyone who enters either have a valid ticket (travellers) or a valid ID issued by the airport (for authorized personel). If taxi stands are needed inside the airport, then the staff there should first apply for an ID, and if they are found to violate the rules once they get it, then simply revoke their ID - problem solved.

What on earth are taxi staff and booths doing inside the terminal to begin with? Simple solution is to kick them out of the terminal and let them wait for the passengers in an orderly taxi queue outside the terminal. This works in Bangkok and it works in most airports around the world. Why are Phuket and for that matter Samui taxis given so much power?

If I was Mr. Abhisit, I would go home, take a shower and go out and have a beer.

Who cares abut a silly military rank and some pocket change he may or may not have to pay back.

If PTP has a case and want something from Mr. Abhisit, then surely they will sue him. If not, then it will probably end with the loss of a rank that noone should care about. Indeed, considering the corrupt state of the Thai military, one should be proud NOT to have a rank there :-)

Perhaps the driver could let us know how fast he was going? The vast majority of big busses seem to go around 120 kmph and always in the outer lane if there are more than one lane (120 kmph for a bus is both illegal and insane)

I wonder, will he do anything for the many non-farmers in Thailand, or is he working only for Thaksin and the farmers?

I think all this borrowing is a great idea no matter who steals the money. Once Thailand reaches the debt level of Greece and the country can no longer borrow money, half the country will be laid off. My guess is that a large proportion of the laid off female workers will then go find a job in Nana, Cowboy or Pattaya - and I will be there to welcome them :-)

G'day CHUCKLES !

Did the surveyors say why the airport runway could not be extended ?

G'Day Oldsailor

I did some research a few years ago, which is where I picked up a link to the length of the runway at that time. Perhaps it has been extended since?

At one end of the runway are 2 temples, a drainage area and a built up area. At the other end is a beach road and a boat pier. I used to live in an area adjacent to the runway and it was clear to me that not all the take off and landing slots are fully utilised. In the low season it is quite common for residents to arrive in Bangkok mid morning and be told there is no flight until late afternoon, as the airline waits to fill enough empty seats to justify take off.

As far as riff raff goes, it is the drunks who live on the steps of 7/11 and renew tourist visas every 7/14 days that really annoy me. The soi dogs contribute more than these low life scum.

The runway cannot be extended much at the Chaweng end, but at the bangrak end there is only 3 obstacles. The beachroad, the pier and an old run down resort which I believe is owned by Bangkok Airways.

The resort does not have much value as it is, so could easily be removed. The pier is relatively small, and it would be fairly simple to move it elsewhere. The beachroad could be made to simply go under the runway - flood control for the lowered beachroad is not a major problem. As it is covered by the runway anyway, all it needs is to rise a bit at both ends, making sure no floodwater runs downthere.

Then the runway can be extended into the sea until it hits Big Buddha which is about 1300 meters from the end of the existing runway. As the fishermen there have completely ruined the beach and the surrounding area as far as tourism and nature goes, environmental issues should not be a problem either.

Sounds like the Ombudsman will be "promoted" soon :-D

"He (Science Minister Plodprasob) said he would send an official note to city administrators demanding that they explain the sandbag flood-prevention technique in detail and disclose all locations where sandbags are being placed."

Perhaps he can in turn explain the "water pushing machines" in detail amd disclose all locations where they have been placed?

As always not a single qualified engineer is involved, just politicians without any relevant education whatsoever :-D

Unlike most other officials in the PTP government, Mr. Paradorn actually sounds like a very sensible guy. Like most others here, I do not like his ties with Mr. Thaksin, but I will give him the benefit of doubt for now, and wish him good luck!

Just to add a little further info to the story. The local police was not interested in the rape complaint, which prompted the consul to contact the governor of Surat province, who then sent a group of police from Surat to investigate the case.

There is 2 reasons why the local police are hesitant in registering or investigating complaints.

1. They are usually busy running their own private tea money businesses, paid for escorts etc. etc. In fact they do not even pickup the phone if you try to call them (try yourself at 077414567). Further, they know nobody is going to complain about them or their lack of commitment to their job, as most people wouldn't know how to complain, and those who do, also know it would be fruitless.

2. They (or more likely someone higher up) don't want this kind of news to get out, as it is indeed bad for tourism.

The latter is the biggest problem, as those who commit crimes are well aware of this, and therefore know there will most likely not be an investigation, hence no punishment. The only reason this case is now being investigated, is because the consul himself has the right connections. Had the girl been alone when trying to file a report, it would have ended right there, together with most other cases on Samui Island.

Besides the governor of Surat must himself wonder what the Samui police is actually doing, since he has to send Surat police everytime he hears of a problem on Samui.