featography

It's about time!

Obama'a the man. I say scrap all the cold war hardware and built a few thousand drones.

Obama is going to make a speech at 10:30

I firmly believe that bush could have got him early in the game but held the delta force guys back so that bush and his buddies could milk a few billion from the defence department.

I smell manure

I reckon the demand isn't sufficient to import, even among Americans. Really, give it up.

Americans dont give up.

There are several it could be. Most are harmless, but you DON'T want it to be a green tree viper. They are pretty, but deadly.

It was most likely the more common green tree snake that is not venomous. It's also much slimmer and with a smaller head. I don't happen to have a photo handy.

Looks a lot like a Red-tailed racer./(ngu kieo kab mak)

http://www.siam-info..._gonyosoma.html

but then again, there a few different green snakes that look like this, some non poisonous, some poisonous. One note mentioned on this site, is it takes a professional to differentiate between the species.

Transam, never a truer word spoken, skun knuckles and bits all over the place. The b@@@@@@d spring was easy to find, the little filled washers with the slot were the hard bit to both find and fit.

Forgot about those little blighters, yes, the final operation THEN, everything goes sky wards, blood on the floor and words your mrs has never heard before eh.

Which is why I always prefered to pay expensive mechanics back home to do the brake jobs. I found it much less inconvenient to lighten my wallet than beat up my knuckles, and crawl around the floor looking for springs and other rusty parts. Even at the going rates per hour for labor, I factor in time is money. My time is worth a lot. Why spend half to 2/3 of a day doing a brake job myself due to lack of practice, when the pro can do it in a couple of hours?

"And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?"

You can buy a thai keyboard from Lotus for a few hundred baht.

Not very practical as I have a notebook.

I got them off of ebay

buy the thai/english keyboard and plug it into the notebook

Op I know you dont want to hear this and youre very young so you will ignore it but the problem is you are dating a bar girl.... and you are getting all the headaches that come from doing that. You should be dating nice girls whose families will not abuse you. Its your choice and you are making the wrong one...

"You can take the girl out of the bar, but you can't take the bar out of the girl" Age old saying in Thailand and a high ratio of truth. Even if you work this all out, get to stay with the girl, you are attached to parents in the bar business. It is all your girl knows, and down the road, sooner or later, there is a certain probability that she will want to own a bar too, solely based on familiarity with that kind of business. Back away dude, gracefully, with smiles and wai's. Follow the smart advice of those that have been here longer and already posted replies. As mentioned, there are a myriad of available, good looking, educated ladies in this country, with great parents and family. I found mine. You can find one too. Just minimize the emotional roller coaster, think with your mind, not with your "main vein".

I am a US citizen and my wife is Thai. We visited the USA in March and April and went through the US line in customs. Just say you are a family. When arriving back in Thailand, we went through the non-Thai line since there was no waiting at all. We flew on China Eastern which was very reasonable and could only be found on the Orbitz site.

Thanks for the response. I will also check out that China Eastern, too.

"I can't believe that our children can be this stupid."

- again bad English... he should have said 'uneducated', but maybe he thinks that this really is a physical disability that has little chance of being changed. This statement must be a shock to most Thais who think they are superiorly intelligent just because they are Thai. But then again, they probably will just ignore it and think it is incorrect.

I do know that when it comes to accounting, I have never seen people work so hard and long at keeping track of sales in a store. I could only imagine how long they would be at it if they had sales tax to figure into the equation.

I tell you what is stupid, when someone like me who won math contests understands calculus, statistics, differential equations... isn't considered qualified to teach math here because I left University early and didn't finish my degree. You can only help those that are ready to be helped.

Amen to that. It seems that the only respect one gets here, is when they answer the question, "What university did you graduate from?" They are clueless, the value of 40+ yrs of, on the job training, education, experiences, learned information by peers, friends, elders, neighbors, etc, over their life time. I think what Abisit might have meant was how ignorant the children are and how stupid the educational system is.

if ur in Thailand anf flying international and have a thai bank atm or for that matter any atm card the Siam Commercial bank atm gives u US$

USD out of a Thai atm?!?!?! I didnt know that.

It is dollars, 25 if i remember correctly, as people have said get them before you go, Also spend any local currency before you come back as you can not change it back to Baht here.

I didnt know that. Why won't Thai banks exchange VND? As of Feb, 2010 the forms you receive, and must print to take with you, quote $20 visa fee. Upon arrival, they charged me $25, so I confirm what you wrote, and they don't make change. Have exact amount on you. If you have not been to Vn before, we found that the private currency exchangers gave a better rate than the Vn banks. I also exchanged both USD and Thai Baht in Ho Chi Mihn City with no hassle. It was a great vacation, during TET

I am guessing, but I have brought many strange items into Thailand as well as other countries.

Never had a problem.. So bring it on in, wrap it nicely , and check it in..

Recently brought a Scythe in to cut my grass / weeds , cuts in both directions.. Very useful, sharp and lethal,, definitely not available in Thailand, no one batted an eye at this..

Just a note for people who wonder " Why not just buy one here ? "

Brought in a Bolo Machete years ago , great weight and balance and a contoured, comfortable handle, much better than anything available here ,

BEWARE - US Customs may not like this in their airports.. That may be an issue...

Gone are the days when I took my hunting rifles on as checked baggage, barrels sticking out of the duffel bag by 6 inches ( Wrapped of course ), for those great hunting trips in Northern Canada....

Five years ago I packed all my hunting knives, some being over 15 inches in length, in their sheaths, inside checked luggage,with hand tools I could not find in thailand prior to that trip. Included in the luggage was a letter stating that all were personal property and for personal use, not for resale. On arrival in Bkk, I retrieved my luggage and went home. Inside the luggage was a paper with TSA letter head, acknowledging that exray left questions with the screener, so it was opened and inspected. No items were removed or confiscated. The TSA note ended with Thank you for inserting a check list.

2 yrs later, my adult daughter came for vacation, bringing with her in checked luggage 2 cast iron skillets, along with various items filling my wish list. She also had the TSA note inside the luggage, and nothing removed.

Having a eu visa is not the same as being a eu resident.

You can travel with here true the non-eu booth. Other way around is normally not possible.

Rubbish (the 2nd sentence).

We have entered and left the UK through Heathrow 3 times (the 1st time was before we had children) and have always used the EU passport holder's channel. On each occasion my (Thai) wife was treated with more charm and courtesy than I have ever been when going through UK passport control on my own - although that may be because she is rather easier on the eye than is her husband!

Now you all got me curious. I wonder if thats possible going through US immigration? Any Americans in TV have an opinion or experience?

'Bilateral talks best way to resolve conflict'

By The Nation on Sunday.

Thai government figures yesterday accused Cambodia of trying to internationalise the border dispute between the two countries by starting a new round of attacks.

"All of sudden they fired at us," Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

"It could be that they wanted to internationalise the situation to attract a third country [to intervene]. We do not want to fight but have to retaliate when they fire at us".

The defence minister also called for the resumption of bilateral talks to resolve the territorial dispute. "We have to put pressure on them to go back to the meeting table," he said.

Acting Government Spokesman Panitan Watanayagorn said that Cambodia was trying to involve a third country in the border dispute by requesting the United Nations Security Council to act. He said that the UNSC was waiting for information from Thailand before making any decision about the matter.

"Thailand insists that both countries can solve the problem through the existing bilateral mechanism. We are determined to work with Cambodia in solving the problem but we also have to protect our people [at the border]," Panitan said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security affairs, yesterday said the border row must be solved by the two countries without intervention by a third party.

-- The Nation 2011-04-24

"Cambodia also accused Thailand of using 75mm and 105mm "heavy guns loaded with poisonous gas" and said in a defence ministry statement that Thai military aircraft flew "deep into Cambodia's airspace". Colonel Suos Sothea, said the gas caused some soldiers who inhaled it to feel weak but did not cause serious injury." maybe they got weak from the lunchtime refreshments

Thaksin, apparently avoiding causing Pheu Thai legal problems, called his phone-in today a special address (not policy declaration)

Thaksin said Thais had been supposed to b all rich two yrs ago but dictatorship postponed it. - @nnanews

Thaksin has vowed to pursue & upgrade village fund as well as 30-baht-per-hospital-visit scheme. _ @jin_nation

/via@tulsathit:

How do hospitals stay in business with a customer base of 30 baht per person? Is this why the most common remedy in hospitals are antibiotics and Tylenol? And they over charge for those too

They dropped the 30 baht few for hospitals a few years back

and replaced it with ah 30 hour wait to be seen, or treated.

good one

Thaksin, apparently avoiding causing Pheu Thai legal problems, called his phone-in today a special address (not policy declaration)

Thaksin said Thais had been supposed to b all rich two yrs ago but dictatorship postponed it. - @nnanews

Thaksin has vowed to pursue & upgrade village fund as well as 30-baht-per-hospital-visit scheme. _ @jin_nation

/via@tulsathit:

How do hospitals stay in business with a customer base of 30 baht per person? Is this why the most common remedy in hospitals are antibiotics and Tylenol? And they over charge for those too

For the majority of academics, farm price guarantee schemes are more efficient and cost-effective than crop pledging schemes, which are vunerable to corruption.

The rice pledging seemed to benefit millers and distributers and not at all the farmers. Guaranteed prices for farmers at the mills benefited farmers, and caused much less wastage.

256 baht or 300 baht a day. 256 or 25 is manageable for most companies, but much more and it will cause a significant price rise.

But someone has to pay for this wage for the poor, someday, sometime, better to let it be companies and a limited markup in prices of some products. Competetiveness in Thailand will remain the same, since all will rise together. External competitiveness will always be a crap shoot because of exchange rates.

Lower rises upcountry may well send companies to build up there looking for workers and this is a good thing if it can balance well vs transport costs.

With a long history of all sides accusing the other sides of vote buying, I read this report and can see Pheu Thai making campaign promises to get elected, but I have to raise a question regarding the Dems. They are already in control, so why have they not instituted these promises into policy before now? To make these campaign promises for re election, how different is vote buying, from bribery for votes for re election?

'Most foreigners are robbed here at one time or another'...any stats to back up that comment?

A new study published this week found that Britons travelling to Thailand face the highest risk of theft, food poisoning, traffic accidents and loss of belongings.

http://www.telegraph...zard-table.html

Happy to help.

that is dated 2006, but read the last 4 paragraphs, and just try to keep a straight face.

Thai ecomonics 101 raises its head....less growth...so lets increase the prices to make up for the short fall....

Thai economics 101 point fingers at other countries for the cause in low numbers/money in Thailand.

Like mom always said, "when you point a finger at someone, there are always 4 other fingers pointing back at you."

I believe these girls are hit with 500 Baht fines most evenings.

As for this reflecting badly on Thailand - that's what my (Thai) missus said. I asked if she thought this really was a reflection on the whole of Thailand or perhaps just a reflection on a drunken girl?

It is after all just one or two girls getting drunk and showing their bits. The rest of the 60 million managed to keep their kit on, so I don't see how this reflects on anything other than the fact the chicks are tarts.

I live outside Bkk with the 60 million others, and I miss all the excitement.

Personally, I like Israel's approach. If I'm not mistaken EVERYBODY goes into the military for 2 yrs. I wish this was true in USA. And Thailand certainly might benefit if more Thai "men" went in. Currently it seem most Thai men are spoiled as hell and know nothing of taking responsibility for "little" things like their offspring.

And yes, I'm a US veteran.

Blah blah blah. "Farang" men good, Thai men bad.

Never heard of an American man abandoning his kids or being in arrears of child support.

As a matter of fact, those minority of men in US that dodge responsibility for their offspring, sooner than later get caught by the law, drug into to court and pay arrears, and sentenced to continuing payments until said offspring reach the age or ages of 18.

I am acquainted with many single Thai mothers, and hear stories about a multitude of others, that Thai fathers, do as they please. You dont see Farang fathers, run off and move in with mia nois, or marry a 2nd or 3rd wife.

Your turn

A good idea is to take all the Technical College students, who like to have gang wars with other Colleges, and suspend their training, so they can direct all their aggression in a controlled setting. Might turn out find with the correct discipline.

It has worked in the past in other countries.

I like the way you think.

they are obviously not trained in hostage response or any situation for that matter.

i,m glad the lady has survived and i hope she sues their asses.

Just like the Manila police...The Hongkong tourists held by a lone gunman...

I take it no Bkk police dept has a police helicopter?? Most if not all the departments on the US west coast have policies against firing weapons at moving vehicles. Better to follow, with a copter overhead and wait for the perp to lose control of his vehicle, enabling the squad cars to close in on all sides, then drag him through the window, face slamming him to the pavement. If he has a weapon and uses it, THEN standard operating procedure is open fire, empty all guns on him. Taxpayers money saved. No court costs.

Cambodian loggers should not be in Thailand, and should not have AK47's.

How else you gonna mow those trees down?!?!?

The photo IS a dramatization....take a closer look EOD

Dramatization or not, I'd say the police affect (smiling) is very inappropriate and very disturbing. I have been to many countries but have yet to observe such affect displayed by police. Certainly not Japan police, nor Hong Kong that I have seen.

Perhaps the inability to extort money from drivers would elicit sadness.

It was a test to see how many sober farang in TV noticed the re enactment, and how many emotionalizing, high falutting drinkers there are to spout off about it. I found it humerous, but for serious impact, I prefer Thai Rat for the real pictures. Real photos, real blood, real mangled bodies instill real impact on the living, and has some degree of positive effect. Thats just my opinion, and if anyone doesnt like, worry not, it all comes out in the wash later. You got opinions I dont like, but I respect you and yours. Do the same.

What do you think a law suit normally entails? You calculate lost and go after it. I am not understanding where these comments are coming from, expand a bit.

I will elaborate on this.

Instead of taking out criminal action against the girl driver and her family for criminal negligence, man slaughter, driver being under aged, having no driving license, no insurance, irresponsible and negligent parents, the plaintiffs are indeed putting a price tag on the value of their son's life.

For example, if one of the victims was killed on a motorbike, only earning 3000 baht a month as a noodle seller, his/her life is worth nothing?

And why has this girl and her parents not been locked up? This is a criminal case, so what involvement have the police in all this?

This is justice for the idle rich that can afford to take out a civil case; the whole thing is a farce.

Even for a 3000/month noodle maker, that would be 720,000B over 20 yrs, for the next of kin. That is better than 62 wais and 30,000B