tomahawk

I think the problem will be that whether this proposal is sensible or not, this pay raise is a promise and the majority of workers will consider it broken if they do not get the 300 bt. raise. it is too late to back out of it now, in my opinion. Somebody should maybe have thought this whole thing out better before they announced it. Now it is too late and I think the govt. is going to be stuck with it, regardless of consequences.

Thank you for reply. Funny thing is I asked this question in other forum which is British and every single one said they send cards to mail friends, so so much for this being American thing. However, I do feel tonto and trembly should get together. Send cards, maybe some flowers. This is not first time true love was found on internet.

My friend who is a 65 year old man says he wants to uy a birthday card for another farang guy. I told him I never heard of a man buying birthday card for a man. I suppose if they are gay, but otherwise I never heard of this. My friend says this is common. So I said I will ask forum if people really do this. Also, the other guy, who is Irish, is taking my friend to a restaurant and buying him dinner, even though it is Irish guy's birthday. I should add that my friend is from California, so this maybe explains the whole thing.

I know the people OP is talking about, and while I do not know why these people do these things, I also do not care as it is their life and their choice. The hardest thing for me to understand since I have been on forum is why so many people are so concerned over what other people do and how they live their lives. By your own statement OP these people are not really bothering you or anyone else. I think you have more of a problem than these" why bother" people do. Many people on forum seem to have a strange and obsessive interest in the activities of everyone else. Whether they are tourist police volunteers, backpackers, cheap people, rich people, people with Thai girlfriends, people without Thai girlfriends, Americans, Europeans, or whatever is nobody else's business but their own. If they are pedophiles or some other sort of criminal whose activities harm others, then it is right and proper to criticize. But if people, such as these why bother people, are not hurting anyone, why doesn't forum just leave them alone?

Even though it would seem to be political suicide for PM to contact Thaksin or take advice from him, this is Thailand and in current situation I do not think anything much would happen to her if she contacts Thaksin openly. The majority voted for her and therefore are obviously pro-Thaksin and would love it if he returned to Thailand. Democrats would make a big fuss if govt. has involvement with Thaksin, but I believe nothing much will happen to PM if she does this, which personally I believe someday this will happen.

The kayaks for rent at Wat Faham are 100 baht. They will also teach you how to use them if don't know how. Opens at 4pm, last time I went there anyway. Also if you have a kayak your self they will let you keep it there for a small fee.

Yes JF it was Chiang Mai office where friend got visa extension.

I usually eat wife's cooking but she does not really follow the rules of food hygiene as I have always been taught. Food is frequently left out overnight in heat and she often reheats rice which I read is very unhealthy. I used to refuse to eat this but that lead to so much complaining and nagging I figured food poisoning was better than suffering with this. However despite this I have so far not experienced any major problem with food poisoning in 5 years. I think sometimes I eat too many chilis and pay the price, but this is natural and was the same when I used to eat too many jalopenos and habaneros back in US.

Thank you I will try this idea with bench press machine. Leg press at 700 year stadium goes up to 140 kg and I lifted this and it seemed heavier than the 200 at Home Fitness, so I assume the 200 was pounds and not kgs. However they were different kinds of machines so perhaps the Home Fitness machine had better leverage or something.

American friend just got retirement visa extension last week and everything is same as before. Only need letter from consulate. Immigration officer says there is no plan to change this as far as anyone here is aware of.

I went to gym at 700 year stadium today and I think it is great. Only 30 baht and it had leg press machine and many other good machines and free weights. I went in morning and only 1 other person was there. It is perhaps not as nice as some other gyms but it is definitely a good value for the money.

Thank you finy. I already do pistol squats and also do hindu squats every day. However due to disk injury I no longer do deadlifts or barbell squats. Basically I prefer these to leg press but the leg press is safer for back.

Thanks everyone. I would never expect there to be so many gyms. I will check out all of the ones suggested. Just some information, Home Fitness near Big C has leg press but has maximum 200 lbs. which is not much for leg press.

Does anyone know of gym in Chiang Mai with a good leg press machine? Thank you.

No doubt the maid thought it was a tip, or you would not have gotten it back. Hotel workers are no doubt now talking about cheap farang who left tip and then wanted it back. If I were you, I would not order anything from room service, if they have any there.

I used to go to Home Fitness gym near Carrefours. They have very good equipment but it is a very strange gym. First the little guy who runs place tells me I was making too much noise with weights on lat pull down machine. I did not see anyone sleeping, but I tried to lower the weights silently, which is not always so easy. Plus the clanking weights seemed more enjoyable to listen to than the alleged music they play there. Next thing he tells me I have to stop sweating. First I thought he was joking, but he was really serious. he said maybe I get sweat on other customers on elliptical machine, even though there was no one else even on machine. I told him he could get a spray bottle and rag, like US gyms, to wipe down machines after using them. He says maybe I will spray other people, like a cobra or a giant squid. Then I said it is very hot, so maybe he could invest in air con. he says no one else sweats so much. This is probably true, as most of his customers are Thai and from what I have seen they expend fewer calories than most inanimate objects. The guy was not impolite or rude or anything, but he seems to not grasp the whole concept of what gym is designed for.

God Bless America! This is truly a great day. It would be great to be in NY right now. This day came because of Guantanamo and waterboards and all the other stuff that US bashers whine about . Where did the information come from that made this possible? Only thing I am sorry is that Bin Loser died too easy, and now US will probably have to pay a fine for polluting the ocean. Today I am very proud of America and US Navy and now conspiracy nuts can drone on but nothing can change the fact that this is a great day and justice is finally done.

Thank you all for kind words. Strange thing about all this, is that if it happened back home no one would even mention it, as it is basically common courtesy. It is sort of sad to me that in Thailand it is considered out of the ordinary to help an injured person. I am not bashing Thai people here, but one has only to read this thread to see what I am talking about. Basically I love Thailand and Thai people, but to be honest, how many people on forum would really say they would rather be lying on the road injured here than they would back home, wherever that is? Unless maybe they are from Cambodia.

As for h2o dunce statement about badge, which actually is called a shield, when people retire from law enforcement in US they generally are given a retired police shield. It says retired clearly, along with rank you retired at, which in my case was lieutenant. Yes i know I am not a cop here and have no authority. However the fact is this shield has been every useful. It has gotten me out of two potentially costly situations while driving, where what with me being a farang and therefore always at fault, nevertheless the other parties, who in both cases were Thai, upon seeing the shield in my wallet, just ran away from the scene. I guess this is due to the usual Thai reluctance to get involved with any kind of police. Also, since it is NY police shield, I usually get decent treatment from Thai police and immigration, since they all seem to like American police tv shows and movies. I am not saying this is right or wrong, it is just the way it is.

Thank you for kind words. About neck injury, I think problem here is I did not explain fully. Victim was raising his own head off ground, so I put bag behind his head. I did not raise up his head myself, as I know this is bad practice.

I was driving northbound on Maejo Road in Chiang Mai when I saw guy fly off motorbike in southbound lane. I know people say to keep driving but I could not live with myself if I did, and plus I did not know if anyone would stop to help. I am no doctor but I am retired from law enforcement and have witnessed many injuries, Also have certification in first aid from red cross so I thought at least maybe I could help until ambulance arrived. Other people did stop to help and also people came out from factory nearby. Victim was young male, teens or early twenties. he was wearing helmet but it fell off on impact. He had blood coming from his nose and forehead. His knees and hands were scraped up, and he was semi-conscious. it was very hot and could not find something to cover him, but put shoulder bag behind his head. He tried to raise up but I told him to lie still. Luckily there was Thai man on scene with walkie-talkie and he called ambulance. Two nurses showed up, and both of them did nothing except wave smelling salts under victims nose. They did nothing to check his pulse, injuries or anything. What was worrisome to me was he never moved his legs at all, and when I asked him if he could feel anything when I pushed his legs, he did not answer, but perhaps he could feel and was just in shock or something. Ambulance showed up and as this is busy highway cars kept coming. I flashed my retired police badge and stopped traffic so ambulance could get to victim, but was not sure people would not just run me down. Anyway they didnt and the ambulance left. I hope the guy is okay. I never did see what caused accident.

One bad point of this episode to me is how poorly trained these nurses seemed to be. It does not make one feel very confident of what will happen if one has an accident. I am glad I stopped, even though i did not really do anything. Not surprisingly, no one said thank you or anything at all, but I am just glad I did not get charged with causing the accident.

I did ask about home visit but is not feasible as they all live long distance from my house and some do not even have transportation. Sad thing about this, I have learned since first posting, is that the main reason for closing is that the masseuses there will not do the extras or "happy ending", and Marisa does not allow it either. This policy she says has caused them to lose several customers. I am not real surprised by this really, but it is too bad that it is apparently difficult to make a living in massage business and maintain moral standards. I am not looking down on anyone who does the extras. I do not blame them or judge them. However it is unfortunate that these masseuses, who are all not only nice ladies but very skilled masseuses, cannot make a living. There are many places to go for customers who want the happy ending massage. I went to maripaun to relieve my pain, not sexual frustration. There are other places to go for that.

I am sad to say my favorite massage shop, Maripaun Salon and Traditional Massage is scheduled to close end of this month. I have recommemded this shop many times on forum because they basically cured me of pain from herniated disks and torn shoulder, which I suffered from for many years. The owner says they are closing due to raising of rent for building and decline in business and also because masseuses get higher salaries than most masseuses. The good news is that they may possibly reopen in Mae Rim, perhaps at new Mae Rim Plaza, once it is completed. Although it is inconvenient , I would gladly travel there as it would be worth it to obtain relief from back pain. meanwhile I will now start looking for new massage shop, which fortunately forum has excellent list of recommendations. Anyway, best of luck to Marisa sasshe is lovely lady, as are all the masseuses at the maripaun.

Can also get army hammocks at army surplus store near Chang Puak gate.

I had a 53 pound kettlebell back in US which I loved but was too heavy to take on plane. I had idea at one time to go to blacksmith village and have one made. I hear there is one near Ban Tawai. Locksmith I know who is also blacksmith made his own back in US.

Not for nothing but I borrowed a pair of official police handcuffs from a cop here and on a bet I broke them. Now I am pretty strong, but there is no way I could have busted a pair of Smith & Wesson or Peerless cuffs, although I have heard there are people who can do it. I believe the locals get their stuff from China, as another guy stated.