robanywhere

quote; "Having a field trip or educational tour at the year end may help solve the problem somewhat."

Excuse me!?!?!? A field trip to where and to do what?

Yes, it does sound a bit funny! I suppose she simply talks about education, something which is well known to have some effect.

Probably talking about a junket disguised as a field trip i.e. lets take all the committee & their families on a wonderful free vacation.

A field trip to one of the hospices treating AIDS/HIV patients should be a shocker and reality-check for most teenagers.... here's an example http://www.baangerda.org/

But sadly, most HIV-infected persons in Thai schools and society in general are ostracized and quickly disassociated by their friends and families and shuffled off, out of sight and out of mind.... This is one of the main reasons why Thailand has an uphill battle fighting HIV, because of the propensity to avoid unpleasantries...

this incident is typical (although extreme) of how business ppl tend to think they own the areas around their business. ever been told you can't park in front of a shop? or don't loiter in front of their business? thai business owners apparently believe they have rights to a buffer around their shops (and maybe with BIB or mafia tea money, probably do...)

imho, i find the thailand visa system very generous, allowing scofflaws to overstay up to 42 days...

i wish the laws had more teeth wrt re-entry blacklisting, and then maybe bkk/pattaya would be rid of the east european hookers and african drug dealers/pimps starting to control the late night sois in upper sukhumvit....

So sad and tragic...

I last saw Nicole in June when she stopped by the house (she roomed with my daughter on the Koh Samui senior trip)... such a sweet and polite young lady.... and such a tremendous loss.... Ironically, my daughter had wanted to go to NY to hang out with that group, but her university classes started two weeks ago... But from what i've heard second-hand, the partying was not as extreme as the press is portraying it.

Bangkok expat kids have the same challenges, stresses and temptations as kids in the US, but the main difference being that partying and clubbing is more openly allowed by the clubs/bars and their bouncers and the BIB.... usually the first place most kids visit is Khaosan Rd to get a fake ID. But I've seen as many, if not more, problems at private homes than in the clubs. Successful parenting *anywhere* requires honest open communication, fair boundaries and expectations, mutual respect, and interested parental involvement.

Sincerest condolences to the John family

RIP, dear Nicole...

i've lived and worked in China and the FSU, and I have never felt more censorship and fear of the consequences of free thought and speech as I have in my four years of living in Thailand. This country has been losing its democracy ever since the coup, as various cyber laws, martial laws, LM laws, media repression actions are used as political tools.

Thailand may still be an enjoyable place to visit (a la Travel and Leisure magazine's latest poll), but it is certainly losing its appeal as a place to reside.

<P>welcome Ambassador Kinney....</P>

<P>Mr. John's daughter just graduated from ISB, so that might have something to do with it too...</P>

haha, so funny to read the same comments about the HKT tuktuk mafia year after year, with nothing changing....

And so amusing to see the TTs blockading the USN...maybe the US troops in iraq and afghanistan can take some lessons from those three-wheeled thieves...

BTW, i've read alot about the community service work that the USN does while on R&R -- homes for habitat kind of stuff

I've seen the USN ships arrive in Pattaya, too, and they seem to get a much better welcome....

RIP Phuket

it depends upon whether it is a residential long term rental/lease or a vacation rental.

vacation rentals usually include linen and bath/pool towels and weekly maid service.

residential leases are another matter entirely. i stock linen for my two condos from stalls at JJ market, but the prices are NOT inexpensive for hotel-quality thread count linen. for example, the duvet covers are nearly as expensive as the duvets themselves.

Big brother...

Thank you Big Brother get rid of scum like this. Good work!!!

Oh sure giving up freedom of speech to rid the world of the "bad guys" is always OK isnrt it? Other people on here argue that the big brother analogy is a knee jerk reaction..... stop and think seriously about it. There are a few things you should consider first-

How do you define who the "good guys" are. Well in a practical context that is easy - the Legitimate Authorities - but no wait wasn't the the Thaksin government a legitimate authority? - how would you argue his right to have done the same thing and have maybe prevented the "coup"?

Serious criminals employ people to keep their identities hidden - there are 15 year olds in internet cafes who could tell you how easy it is to sit behind an anonymous proxy if you know how - in fact many would be using different interenet cafes for each session to make things even more untracable.

Remember too that in Thailand there are laws and protocols, some of which cannot be discussed in this forum, which many people would like to see changed - with these records in police hands who is to say they they wont take the opportunity to go on a cyber shopping expedition to find out who disagrees with certain things

Individual freedom is also at risk in countries where certain basic human rights are breaches of the law - when a civilised society accepts censorship and snooping as acceptable practice then they give legitimacy to China and other counties where it is used for political control. A good example is the recently proposed anti gay legislation in Uganda, no doubt records of who has accessed gay chat rooms will play its part in aiding he government to persecute these people.

It is one thing to seek records in respect of a particualr individual where there is sufficient evidence to suspect a crime, in the same way that phone taps should never be used randomly, and quite another to sieze bul records and sift through them to find if there is a crime.

In the face of things like child abuse, bombings, international terrorism and even cyber bullying - it is tempting to agree to give up freedoms for the greater good - but always remember that it is far more difficult to gain freedoms than it is to give them up.

As with any national security program, the intent may be noble but fail in the hands of those who are unscrupulous or have other agendas. What is the acceptable trade-off between freedom and security? Here's a lesson from the US:

After 9/11, the US lost many personal freedoms under the "Patriot Act", which increased "the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records, eases restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering, expands the authority to regulate financial transactions, and broadens the discretion of law enforcement in detaining and deporting immigrants ..." (Wikipedia) The Patriot Act was to sunset after four years, but was renewed indefinitely by Congress, making the loss of those freedoms permanent.

There should always be checks and balances to insure some level of privacy and freedom. For instance, the Patriot Act basically bypassed the whole review process (search warrants requiring probabable cause under the Fourth Amendment). So basically the US has fallen into the same trap that allowed abuses of power like J Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon... The terrorists have surreptitiously achieved their goals by undermining the whole democractic underpinnings of America's political system...

Thailand must also reconcile how laws that allow the control /eradication of southern terrorists and anti-government groups may ultimately be used to maintain government power undemocratically (such as our neighbors to the west). Another example is how the law designed to protect the monachy have be abused for politically motivated purposes.

Certainly protecting the common good by pursuing threats to public security is worthwhile. However, care should be taken that these laws are not used to silence political opposition in a healthy democracy...

Once the IP if the laptop is ascertained, it can be traced each time it is used.

So a pattern can be discerned and logical repeats mapped and the culprit found.

Your thinking of the MAC address, not the IP Address... IP addresses can change depending on providers etc, True for instance will change your IP address about once per day with an always-on ADSL connection. Its safe to assume that each time you connect to your ISP you will be given a new IP Address from a range of IP numbers they use. Typically you have to pay to use the same IP address each time (Static IP addresses)

Think of the MAC address as the serial number on your Network card/Wireless card - its pretty much unique and is hardware orientated - it is possible to spoof MAC addresses and/or change MAC addresses, but most people dont really know anything about them, so it does take a little specialised knowledge to do this

Thats in lay-man terms and may not be completely 100% correct, but gives you a basic understanding

Besides the IP address and MAC address, your computer also has a CPU ID... this is what Microsoft logs and uses to license its Windows and Office software to unique computers across the globe in its WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) program. Just imagine the huge database Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, etc. have amassed on the global online community... which is available to the CIA, FBI, Interpol, etc. with merely a search warrant... Big Brother has been around a long time, he is just changing tactics from wiretapping of the 70's into internet tapping of the 90's and 00's...

sincerest condolences to the deceased, injured, and surviving bereaved...

driving a paying passenger vehicle (bus, limo, tourcar, etc) should require additional training and licensing. drivers should be held accountable for checking the state of their vehicle before they get behind the wheel at the start of every dutyshift or journey. driving licenses are too easy to get in thailand (i gave a friend three lessons, and she just passed for her auto license!).

i have had "professional" drivers the whole time i have lived in SE Asia 12 years, and few have any sensibility with regard to speed, braking, downshifting, headlamps, etc. only after my company puts them through smith system driving training and installs driver monitor devices do they finally become reliable safe drivers....

... remember to use rubber flip-flops when taking a shower in a dodgy bungalow, it might give some protection...

and don't forget that outlets with a third ground pinhole may not really be connected to ground wiring....

a couple of observations:

** the transportation system is different in every region/city/island... sometimes it is inexpensive and fair, other places not. every place has its own organized crime elements... the taxi mafia trying to sqeeze the legitimate taxi queue at Suvarnibhum Airport, the tuk-tuk ripoffs in Bangkok (always more than an A/C metered taxi), the lack of public buses in Chiang Mai, etc.

** phuket has had a mafia running the tuk-tuks for ages, and i'm sure the corruption reaches the highest levels of the provincial government. i've heard that nothing happens in phuket without the tuk-tuk mafioso... one time a business owner didn't play ball, so a crowd of tuk-tuks surrounded the business, effectively choking it.

** ever wonder why the phuket public buses run to/from the beaches and phuket town? they are for the locals... the mafia would never allow 10Baht buses to run BETWEEN the beaches, for the tourists to use.

** ever wonder why the cost of transport to/from the airport is so high? you can take the meter taxi from the airport (i did four days ago -- 210 baht to Surin beach), but for most tourists is seems that the only option is the limo drivers that charge 500Baht. and if you go tothe taxi stand, the lady will tell you that the wait is about one hour... there are so few taxis on the island. then back at your hotel, if you call the meter taxi cental phone number, they will say they don't do pick up... simply amazing for a tourist destination! again, because of the tuk-tuk organized crime monopoly squeezing the legit metered taxis.

** there are places that tuk-tuks park... do NOT park there... i was warned once that it was for them, and have respected that ever since (regrettably, i have a condo on the island, so i usually rent a car or motorbike). i remember thinking that the tsunami was a good time for change (i was at kamala at the time), but all i saw afterwards was a whole lot more NEW shiny red tuk-tuks....

the transportation system in phuket needs a total overhaul, but that will never happen in our lifetime... the organized crime element is too strong, the vested interests (BIB, govmt officials, private mafia bosses) are raking in too much of the tourist wealth for any tangible long-term change to occur...

on the flip side, i've heard one big difference between phuket and pattaya is that the local mafia is so strong, that the russian mafia basically gets their &lt;deleted&gt; kicked if they even try setting up in phuket, unlike pattaya....

my condolences...

a couple of observations:

-- drivers in thailand believe they have the right-of-way at intersections and pedestrian crossings

-- traffic cops/rent-a-cops believe their job is to maintain the orderly flow of vehicles, *not* to stop the cars to let pedestrians cross (but they might be useful as a witness when you are run over)

-- try to cross with a cluster of pedestrians... cars are more likely to stop and there is safety in numbers (or at least your odds are better)

-- as a driver (like me), be careful in stopping for pedestrians (i've nearly been rear-ended several times...)

kind of you to take responsibility for your parents...

my thought for your consideration is that you may not want to declare your father's alzheimers condition to immigration, especially for a non-immigrant resident visa. there may be regulations barring entry (for residency) to ppl with chronic illnesses (for example, aids). also, while the West may be benevolent in how it considers alzheimers, to the thai system it may classify it as a mental illness or dementia and therefore blacklisted from an O visa.

i always think about the Chinese visa application that asks the applicant whether he has one of a dozen or so different ailments (eg., TB, AIDS, syphilis, dementia, etc), and wonder why anyone would admit to them, knowing it would automatically exclude them from a visa...

my motto on anything official: generally the less they know, the fewer the questions... good luck!

Well lets see maybe he did get the notes from a bank in Uk and maybe they were real notes.

Maybe he handed over the real notes to the in the Nakorn Luang Thai Bank and as he was probably unable to track the movements of the notes from the time of handing them over who is to say that he was not a victim of yet another scam in Thailand with the bank replacing his real notes with fakes they had inadvertently taken from another customer.

There is no mention of him posessing any other fake notes or otherwise and as has been posted many times already where did he get the bail money.

This is noy making sense really - I guess another case of tourist or farang beware.

Once in Manila I went to a money changer with a $100 bill that was coming straight from my bank. My bill disappeared for a brief moment behind the changer's desk and then reappeared as "it's counterfeit money, Sir". I protested but nothing to do. Nicely done! After that I made a show of writing down the last numbers of the $100 bills I wanted to exchange at money changers.

Yeah, I've heard of that scam. It also happens with shopkeepers, too, when they switch their own currency. But even ATMs can spit out bad bills. I got stuck with a bunch of bad Chinese RMB 100s and 50s, which came from an ATM in Guangzhou...

yeah, three warnings is ridiculous. anyway, are the warnings to the mahout or the elephant? unless they track the animal (microchips), then the mahout can just be swapped out each time.

it should be ONE warning (and microchip the animal), and the next time confiscation and sale to the above animal welfare agencies. in most civilized countries, animal abuse is dealt with rather severely.

what kind of excuse is plausible for being caught again on the streets of bkk ("oops, i took a wrong turn at kanchanaburi and ended up on soi 4 again"?)

LivingLOS has a very good point though- if there was some reasonably priced public transport on the island this kind of tragedy wouldn't happen anywhere near as often. The tuk-tuk mafia have a lot to answer for.

Choosing to ride at night after a night on the town is really encouraged by the poor transportation in Phuket.

In comparison to Phuket, one of the great things about Cancun is that there are free shuttle buses (recycled RTD buses from LA) that run the whole 15 km length of the beach road.

In Phuket, the problem is that the public buses run between the beach towns and Phuket Town, NOT in between the beach towns, and they end early at night.

Even Pattaya has the songteows that run between Pattaya and Jomtien for about B20 pp, all night long... but I guess the tuktuk mafia doesn't want to let songtheows cut into their lucrative inter-beach routes...

Although I usually rent a car, what also gripes me is at Phuket Airport, where the private transportation stand charges 2X than walking 50m to the metered taxi queue booth. Another major ripoff by the Pearl of the Andaman....

Phuket is really tourist unfriendly and a major ripoff when it comes to transportation.

following a night out drinking with friends at the Roxy Bar in Phuket City

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-05-22

as has been pointed out, friends don't let friends drive drunk, but in this instance it appears like everyone had been drinking... if the whole lot were drinking, then *all* of them had lost some capacity of rational thought and decision-making... maybe all the others rode off on cycles too. this points out the need in many cases for a "designated driver", or in this case someone in the group to drink lightly and make the right decisions at the right time.

Mr Mussell's bike lost its grip on the road near the entrance to the Phuket Villa 3 housing estate. It was raining heavily at the time.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-05-22

weather has a tremendous effect on motorcycle safety! i find it dangerous to ride a motorbike when the roads are slick, or where there is loose sand/gravel, or in poor visibility (like having your glasses/visor fog up or have rain on it). the heavy rain may have been a critical factor here... this gentleman may not have been drinking much at all!

No motorcycle helmet was found at the scene, Capt Kitthiphum said.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-05-22

riding without a helmet is clearly not a good idea... but there are lots of issues here (time for another thread!)... peer pressure, lack of that helmeting habit, dislike of the feel/fit (especially on a hot day), and lack of local police enforcement (nearly everyone wears a helmet in bkk!). i think anyone that has been in LOS long enough has seen at least several motorcycle accidents and should realize the benefit of wearing a helmet. tourists are another matter -- they seem to think the normal rules of safety back home don't apply while on vacation. (and the poor helmets that the rental shops offer are another issue -- i always bring my own!).

we all have made poor decisions, especially after drinking. by the grace of god most of us survive those judgment lapses. everyone should take note and remember that there are always options, like leaving the bike overnight and taking a taxi home.

i think it really depends upon what teaching you plan to do... teach at a private language school, or a regular thai school (usually ESL class), or an international school for thais, or an international school for expat kids (in that order of qualifications rigor).

my daughter goes to ISB, and i have known some highly qualified experienced teachers not able to get a job there. however, my wife works at a middle tier international school in bkk (now undergoing WASC approval) and she is only one of a few teachers that actually has teaching credentials from the West (many others are getting Thai teaching credentials at night). getting a job at this school is relatively easy.

i think for the thai international schools and language schools should be no problem for you. you should also be able to qualify for most of the middle tier expat international schools (particularly british curriculum). the handful of top tier schools may be tougher because for these schools, it depends more on who you know (from working with other teachers/principals around the globe) than your qualifications.

i hope this helps. cheers.

actually, i am rather glad the sex party got busted.

a few years back i stayed with my family at the soi 33 novatel, and all night long all we could hear were moanings and thumpings from the next door sex tourist. my wife complained to the desk the next morning and just got a shrug in return.

that was just one couple.... i can image the soundtrack from 23 ppl...

i believe in the 'States, the justification for police entering would it would be disturbing the peace... maybe the circumstances they witnessed added charges of pimping, prostitution, and drugs...

it's nice to know that these cops weren't on the take, at least in this instance...

I just got a rude suprise from CHINA AIRLINES.

My wife and daughter already bought their summer tix back the States. I was waiting to buy mine. Then I read the following on their website:

*. Weight of each bag may not exceed 70 lb (32 Kg) for ticket issued before April 15, 2008

*. Weight of each bag may not exceed 50 lb (23 Kg) for ticket issued or reissued on and after April 15, 2008.

http://www.china-airlines.com/en/check/check_ba2-1.htm

I'd like to change carriers, but my family has already booked, so it looks like I'm stuck with the reduced baggage allowance.

Think twice about China Airlines. Is the trend with other transpacific carriers (Eva, etc.) with regard to baggage? I know AirAsia now charging per checked bag....

We just came back from Ko Mak near to Ko Chang and had 3 days of rain showers!

What a waste of the May-holidays.

Wonder whether this has to do with the weather conditions over Myamar?

Likewise. Just returned from 5 days in Phuket, the last 2-1/2 were raining. We booked a snorkel trip for yesterday, but cancelled due to the sea state. 2-3m waves (later found out that the operator, Island Hopper, was not sending their boats out). I've never seem this much normal surf action down there, it looked like there might be some beach erosion as well. There was water spilling over the beach road north of Patong on the way to Kamala.

The Thai gvmt meteorological modeling shows a gradual decrease in the waves over the next few days. Good thing Nargis took a left turn in the Bay of Bengal (my sympathies to Myanmar, however). http://www.weather.go.th/en/

I'm not registered in Thailand, but I have been in other countries. I suspect it is more for the gvmt's convenience than ours, but ideally it would make liasoning with you if you are incarcerated or traveling/living abroad alone. If you don't keep relatives abreast of your location or travel plans, then registering is probably a good idea. I always lodge my itinerary with relatives and work admin assts in case I come up missing or there is a transportation "mishap". This worked well when I was in Phuket during the tsunami, and flying 12GO when it crashed (I was on a different flight). During the tsunami, my relatives contacted the State Dept, but didn't get very far.

My only embassy "need" was when I was in China during the riots resulting from the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The consulate was torched and mobs were banging on our housing compound gate. The consulate did absolutely nothing to advise on recommended action, facilitate our evacuation, or otherwise check-in on our safety or whereabouts.

Bottomline, registering depends on your circumstances -- if you are solo, if you have a need for their other services (adoption/greencard, etc), if you travel alot, and if you keep others up-to-date on your movements, IRS excepted ;-)

Just curious but do many make 4 million baht a year in Thailand? What line of work is that?

I was just surprised to see that. .....That is like 126k USD which is a pretty good income here

The was majority of expats in the Thai O&G game are on around US$ 150,000 per year upwards, as if their packages are structured right, will be paying very little tax on this amount as well

I think that this is normally done by paying the expat from his home country, by his home country employer. The home country employer is not required to make a declaration to the Thai tax authorities, and so it is up to the employee to declare all his earnings to the Thai tax authorities. The fraction that is paid by the local Thai subsidiary is declared to the authorities, and is the minimum necessary to justify a work permit. Housing allowance, school fees, travel allowance are all taxable.

And I imagine that they rely on being able to bribe their way out of trouble if the tax authorities ever come knocking.

I would be interested to know any legal ways of reducing the tax burden; maybe by getting some of mysalary paid in my wife's name? but then difficult, since she doesn't have a work permit...

SC

I work for a MNC in the Oil/Gas business, and have worked in several countries over the years. My MNC has always used the tax equalization scheme (paying theoretical taxes equivalent to what we would have paid had we stayed in our home country) while the MNC paid the host and home country taxes on our behalf. I generally have to sign off on both the home and host country tax returns, and they always are a full disclosure of my income -- wages, benefits, any housing/cost-of-living allowances.

I know of some contract service employees that have the arrangement mentioned above, whereby they are paid by the contract services company in both Thailand at local wage levels and also a greater offshore supplementary wage into an offshore account. This seems like a bit of a sham to only report the Thai wage amount, and I don't believe any large reputable MNC would pay compensation in this manner.