featography

OK, some more info on this. Profiling is going to happen for travelers coming into the US. This is separate from the automatic increased searching from the selected countries. The criteria for this profiling --

Single Male

Way you bought your ticket (presumably paying cash gives you bad man points, buying at the counter with cash gives you super bad man points, paying with satangs at the counter is unclassified)

Travel patterns (some secret formula they ain't gonna tell you)

So lets break this down. If you have two or three of these going on, wear clean underwear.

...traveling with no luggage, one way ticket, etc etc. Dead giveaways and there are many others. I am all for profiling, so any and all bleeding heart liberal civil right gungho tudes, keep your opinions of me to yourself. You wont change my mind. Dont throw the racist card at me either. Im maried to a Thai, have many black, and Vietnamese close friends in the states. Israel has been doing this a lot longer than we have, and they have always profiled. They have a superior safety track record in their airports too. Profiling works!!

What a terrible irony, he survives numerous war zones around the world only to die at the hands of a careless Bangkok bus driver when on holiday at home, how very sad. RIP

Is it irony? In numerous war zones, your guard is up, all your senses at peak awareness. At home, more relaxed, your guard, your survival sense dulled due to familiarity, and a heightened sense of feeling safe. Most, sad to say, don't see traffic as a war zone, in any country, but particularly here, it is important to keep uppermost in mind, that someone dies every 15 minutes in a traffic related incident in Thailand. My condolences to the family and friends. Everyone else, stay alert when on or by the roads. The public roads ARE a "warzone".

This thread has a bit of a smell to it.

My wife farts loud, I ask, "are you proud?" and she laughs and says "yesssss"

I fart and she says "Impolite"

I do not know much more about the natural "ice" than about this Ice, but it looks to me that this is certainly NOT 42 kg but probably something like 4.2 Kg. But than again, the Nation employs people who are not that good with numbers anyhow. They probably recruited them under Thai teachers.

The fare was agreed. End of story. Passenger initiated the dispute. The driver should have an alternative way of settling fare disputes. Why not simply hand the passenger a ticket with the agreed fare written on it at the start ? Few tourists would bother to argue with something in writing.

TAT, next problem please.

And sybeymai gets bonus points for the shortest, most direct, and thouroughly profound solution.

Moving on to the next earthshaking breaking news story

there is no true value in anything .is only what we AGREE on .

You can choose to refuse service or do not buy it. that why i stand with what i said .

Wait a minute................who ever said he ran away without paying???? The poor guy was ASSAULTED with VIOLENCE by TWO ATTACKERS. Wake up and smell the jabba please.

maybe i should had said walk away from payment .

-- tell me if you are a Taxi driver in your country ,, and a thai . took your taxi .. and refuse to pay full fare as agree between you .

what would you advice . or what would you had done .

-------

and if you are in such a problem what would you had done .

-------

of cos when we talk about it is so easy .. cos nobody was there and we are all assuming . and of cos .. feeding on forum reply for the fun of it .

whahhaha the more we reply the more thaivisa is happy about it . cos is a forum to gain whahhahahha

anyway .

i am enjoying reading but not long as it being drag too long

have a nice night i am going for some great food and i just called a tuk tuk to fetch me

is 100b and i usually tip him 20 - 50b

And this self righteous feel good about oneself, readjusting your halo, attitutde is what encourages drivers to charge MORE. You act richer, you send a clear message. Get a clue!

I am shocked... shocked to see how many people writing in this thread seem to have checked their balls at immigration as well as their decency - rapid assimilation syndrome, I presume. Fortunately the further decisions are now in more competent hands (the Thai police - guys, you have just been insulted).

Good one Orosee!

The pictures may be recoverable

Very true. I had a camera shop plug my memory card into a slick piece of hardware I didnt even know existed, and they retrieved all the deleted shots. I hope the couple think to take it to a camera shop and try, or at least tell the story to enough people back home that one person might know and advise them to try recovering them.

Looks like Kuhn Manit's insistance at staying on to supervise the

Health Minsitry's war on traffic accidents is pretty much meaningless blather...

Oh wait he just wanted one day on the job in 2010

to lock in his pension before resigning in disgrace.

Yes how many traffic deaths in Thailand on a normal day?

Answer: too many preventable ones.

In 2008 I stumbled on to a UN stat sheet. Thailand was listed with a traffic fatality every 15 minutes.

China had one traffic fatality every 10 minutes, most were while walking or bicycle riding.

So, 4 per hour X 24=96/day, X352 days= 33,792/yr.

RIP

Sad story, same thing happened to my neighbors little boy a few years ago in

Pattaya

Electricity and water don't mix and should be kept well apart

But then most people know that

." I turned around and saw him drowning. I quickly dove into the pool and pulled him out."

That raises a question or 2.. cable still in the water, why didnt he get electricuted too? Was someone crazy enough to pull the cable out of the water first? Wet swimmers, wet deck, live cable, that should have toasted someone too.

It is better to be homeless in Thailand than in Sweden , I guess...

LOS is nice and warm, alcohol is cheap (go for the Lao Kaow) and the police is very friendly (according to them!) I doubt if the Swedish embassy pay for tickets; normally they will not!!!

So, they will probably stay a bit longer in Thailand (but not in Phuket!)

Well, after reading 100 posts on this breaking news I am signing off. I have had all the Christmas spirit I can absorb from you soft warm cuddly members.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer couple!

This is the quote of the day! Couldn't be nicer...

maybe they'll develop a different kind of bond in the Hilton

I keep reading this <deleted>, make it all free and there will be no criminals, no crime, no prison. Apply this to all drugs, of course. we end up with with a world full of spaced out, or pissed up, addicts, destroying themselves and everyone around them. But of course, me and you keep working to support their free drugs and re-hab programs.

Well if that's what you want, you pay for it. Personally, I believe in self responsibility. Countries make laws to restrict the damage done, not always wisely, but that's how democracy works. You want to break those laws, and get my sympathy, you're bang out of luck.

Also, if you want people to respect your views, learn how to spell.

....spell....and punctuate

600 still isn't that much, but you gotta love the Thai style increase, not 10% or 20%, but 500%

You farang. You rich. You pay.

600B is nothing! Employers have to pay 40000B a year for each Burmese refugee they employ. Admitedly they only pay them a cup of sugar and a bag of rice a day but looks like the Ferrang have it good to me? Don't quote me on that I heard it from a Thai guy!

My wife owns her own business, manages and works it, and pays her sister and sister in law when needed. When I found out 2 yrs ago, that I needed a work permit to assist her, even though I took no income from the business, I made the decision not to lift a finger inside the shop. She was not happy, but understood grudgingly that I refuse to pay to work for free. I remain the domestic engineer. That in itself keeps me out of trouble. Thank the gods I have my own retirement income to contribute to this marriage. I read in other posts that a work permit is required even for volunteer work, be it at a Wat, with the neighbors' personal projects, a school helping students with english, or whatever. With laws like these, the Thai populace, not knowing these laws, wonder why so many farang sit on barstools every day, and the govt employees think we know how to do nothing, or are lazy, living off the lower cost of living here. Go Figure. For the smart a## that questions my paying a rediculous 100 or now 600 baht, the answer is; Its the principle.

Thais like learning about their history - yes but they get taught a lie

How about a nostalgia tour re WWII and the truth about thailands part in it!!

How about life before thaksin!

AMAZING FARANG. subject; Nostalgia Tourism, and it only took 17 posts for someone to drag Thaksin into it.

This case is just hilarious!

It shows the thinking of it's inventor,

cause there is such an incredible sort of "coincidence"

involved that this could not have been just an "honest mistake"

by the Khmer Justice System as well as this incident was staged at

the time his "excellency from Dubai" was on his road trip to Tango with Hun Sen!

But it shows the blind desperateness of this man, who dares to move anything,

even get some innocent Engineer arrested,

causing much unnecessary harm and stress to completely uninvolved

people. He looks more and more like a really poor loser!

The big question, after al remains unsolved: was it all set up right from the beginning for some nice bonus?

The paralells to the mans very own pardon is just breathtaking, looks like someone is going to lose his marbles...

getting more desperate, day by day - but then who could ever again trust someone like him?

You abound with so much insider political information and intrique, you should set up your own blog to impart your wisdom to a wider audience.

This is a pretty good example of what Thai say; "Don't think too much" It does show an example of what Thai shake their heads at, concerning Farang...a over zealous, high strung imagination running amok between the ears.

It would be very interesting to see what you don't blame on dear old Takki

Laffinoutloud, yes it is amazing isnt it? I sometimes think the Takki bashing is more amazing than Amazing Thailand.

I think that this was the generally anticipated outcome and of course much the same as the predicted outcome for Thaksin's money trial- he can wave it goodbye.

TV members must be psychic or is it physic.

....Or septic??

Update:

Thai engineer pardoned

PHNOM PENH: -- Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni has pardoned a Thai man who was convicted earlier this week of spying.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, said Sivarak Chothipong would be released Monday.

Sivarak was arrested in mid-November after the authorities accused him of passing on flight details of Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to a diplomat at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

"This is a humanitarian gesture," Khieu Kanharith told the German Press Agency dpa. "For us this gesture is not to please Thailand, but for humanitarian issues, and we know that the man executed the order (given) by Bangkok."

-- Deutsche Presse-Agentur 2009-12-11

There it is; the way out to save face for the Cambodians. They put responsibility on Bangkok, not the 'spy'. Cut him loose and hold a grudge with Thai govt.Works for all and a man goes home.

The actors in this stage play have flubbed their lines for Act III, Scene 2

They've jumped ahead and are reading the lines from Act IV, Scene 1

The pardon has been granted before it was even requested.

Duh, thats because its Cambodia, not Thailand. They practice smarter politics, at least by this example.

Oh..... oh am I wrong and youre an expert on Cambodian politics tooooooo??

What is the goal??? Sounds more like actions of the oh so proper America. Not that I drink or smoke, but people will get what they want.

Correction here partner....England is oh so proper. America has become oh so liberal and politically correct, gag me with a ginsu, and choke me with a chainsaw

No the hardcore alcoholics think ahead and either have a fridge full of Lao Khao or get to 7Eleven 3 minutes before prohibition starts. I know that the clock in my local 7Eleven has been 12 minutes slow for about 2 years so I use that to my advantage. In unfamiliar minimarts that display the correct time try setting the time on your mobile back 10 minutes and insist on being served, it has worked!

Another alternative is make sure you have exactly the right notes and change for your 4 beers which you bag by yourself at the counter. Before the cashier has the time to explain the house rules say "yo no habla ingles?" slap the exact money down and walk out then look back to see the cashier going to the fridge to get the barcode!

Tescos is easy! Drink while shopping during prohibition and turn up at the checkout with a few empty cans of beer and a few full ones.

They'll tell you "you can't buy beer" and confiscate it and then spot the 3 empties and the one your drinking. This stumps them so the manager is called and you end up giving the exact money for what you've consumed which is kept out of the till and registered after prohibition ends.

If all else fails go local as granny don't give a sh!t about some dumb ass prohibition law!

Happy Drinking

Most would read thru this and not give it a 3rd thought, but it strikes me as funny as h@##. I have seen this methodology practiced at local mom-pop mkts in the village, and it tickles my funny bone that farang have figured out "thai way". Thanks for the belly shaking laff.

Just remind me again what is actually achieved by restricting alcohol sales in the afternoon?

I am wondering the same thing, when I read that. Why no sales from 2 til 5??

For years I've been listening to Farangs badmouthing Thai drivers but I don't think they are really that bad when you consider that there is little or no threat of being stopped for any moving violation or drunk driving. What would it be like back in Farangland if the police suddenly announced they will no longer be stopping people for DUI, speeding, reckless driving, etc. ? ....I submit the streets would be flowing with blood. The Thai's are actually rather laid back and well behaved when you factor in no police cars in the mirror or cameras everywhere like the UK for example. One thing I immediately loved about Thailand is they rarely honk their horns. I remember many years ago driving in circles around the coliseum in Rome honking our horn, waving our fists out the window while laughing our heads off....no one even noticed because they were all doing the same thing!! Meanwhile it seems like almost every Farang I know here in Phuket has had at least one accident and they were always at least a little drunk. So we have no room to criticize.

I am Italian and agree 100 per cent. Thais drive very slowly compared to Italians and are more polite drivers. If in Italy we had the big roads they have here, 3 or 4 lanes, and not so many controls by police, people would just drive as fast as they can.

I didn't mean to pick on Italians, I am from Miami and trust me the drivers are crazy there also. Miami is now mostly latinos from South & central America and they tend to be a little hot headed or maybe coked-out. I remember when my friend came from Miami to visit Phuket he commented to me that he didn't think the drivers here where that bad. It's all relative to what your used to. I would be happy if they would just fix the lights on their motorbikes...no excuse for that.

Yes laffin outloud, fix the lights on their motorbikes, so they can cover them with plastic bags of food loaded in the basket. I've been shaking my head over that one for years. Baskets in front of the headlights, and is no one selling small saddlebags for that task??

maybe if the took everyone off the road who didnt have a "real" driving licence or insurance, that would be a start, then stop them riding and driving down the wrong side of the road, what about driving with their lights on or replacing bulbs in the rear lights, I wish I had 10 baht for every car and motorbike i have seen driving at night with no rear lights. and explaining that the rear view mirror is for checking behind you and not for checking your hair or make up. but my favourite must be the ones who have their whole family on their motorbike and they are on the phone or even sending a text while driving one handed............. that should hit the target of a 5% reduction in accidents........ to reduce accidents is easy, just teach the new generations to drive or ride a bike, and make them take a test with an honest instructor/examiner then make them all pay insurance to cover the unexpected............. and when that happens, wake me up cos i will be dreaming....

While youre dreaming, estimate how any additional BIB would be needed to enforce all that nationwide. I dont think all the farang combined have enough money to pay the tea tax for that many BIB