MJP

This is just over-the-top harrassment, unless there was a gebuine suspicion, for example if they were expecting a farang supplier to drive past, but then they would have tossed your car asw ell.

I would probably refuse this test at the roadside, or at least have every step of it (and them) videotaped with my camera. Maybe that might have serious consequences, but this is literally taking the piss.

With the exception of driving to the local town (Roi-Et) once in a blue moon now, I take VIP buses and public transport everywhere else. Last time I drove to Patters with sister we got pulled 5 times. She's moaning like hel_l that I only drive at 80 kph too. Guess it was the red plates on a new Honda City that attracted them plus the obvious . . . (her car by the way).

I must admit for a $13,000 brand new 2009 Rio sedan ya I expected more than a thank you. I don't care what your culture is that must have taken quite a bit of control to not jump up and down.

As a Thai, I can tell you that if someone gave me a 13K Rio I would not be jumping up or down.

For a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi maybe. Oh, and a Ducati.

Well mush, no one ever gave me anything past the age of 16. You ungrateful . . . .

Are you really Thai?

I felt that way some years back. I remember sitting in the big bird on the runway at Don Muang and thinking how happy I was to be leaving. I really thought I would never return to Thailand. That was late 1996 and the Thai economy was sinking fast.

I arrived in S. Kalifornia and couldn't believe how much it had changed in only 5 years. Within 2 weeks I was planning how I could get back to Thailand. I lasted two years in So-Cal and could stand it no longer. The grass always looks greener. I plan on being here in Thailand until I cash in my chips. All I have to do is take a short trip back to the US to remind me how good I have it here.

+1 to that! Every time I get a bit tired of Thailand all I have to do is go spend a week or two back in the US or Europe- then I'm reminded of all the GOOD things about Thailand. Racism is everywhere. No place is perfect, but there are plenty of places far worse than the Land of Smile.

Lest we forget!

Yes.

Sometimes when things seem mildly irritating, slight cultural traits that get on your nerves (we are in their country after all), minor inconveniences (could do with a bit of water up here mind), . . . well, we only ever remember the good times don't we?

Last time I was in the UK, it was a nightmare. Ripped off by an insurance company, arrested by an idiot harbour master (over an small oil spill I didn't cause but was trying to clean up), worked 18 hours a day plus weekends, ended up in hospital and took 3 months to recover . . .

LEST . . . WE . . . FORGET!!!

Let's make the most of it! (note to self)

bernanke has said recently that inflation appears to be contained and he must have been reassured with the recent negative CPI number. I am sure the Argentine central banker thought the same thing.

Is this not what they really want? Recapitalize the banks sufficiently with printed money, then open the taps. QE cash hit the banks and stopped there for now, no money velocity, no inflation. How long before they open the sluice gates?

The urine test can give false positives for the following:

Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, propylephedrine, phenylephrine, or desoxyephedrine.

(Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest, Tavist-D, Dimetapp, etc)

Phenegan-D, Robitussin Cold and Flu, Vicks Nyquil

Over-the-counter diet aids with phenylpropanolamine (Dexatrim, Accutrim)

Over-the-counter nasal sprays (Vicks inhaler, Afrin)

Asthma medications (Marax, Bronkaid tablets, Primatine Tablets)

Prescription medications (Amfepramone, Cathne, Etafediabe, Morazone,

...phendimetrazine, phenmetrazine, benzphetamine, fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine,

...dexdenfluramine,Redux, mephentermine, Mesocarb, methoxyphenamine, phentermine,

... amineptine, Pholedrine, hydroymethamphetamine, Dexedrine, amifepramone, clobenzorex,

...fenproyorex, mefenorex, fenelylline, Didrex, dextroamphetamine, methphenidate, Ritalin,

...pemoline, Cylert, selegiline, Deprenyl, Eldepryl, Famprofazone)

Kidney infection, kidney disease

Liver disease, diabetes

A follow-up test by gas chromatograph should be able to weed out the false positives.

At least they don't do a hair follicle test in which case they can detect 60-90 days prior use

That's a little worrying.

You think the local BiB have gas chromatograph testing kit at the station?

I rather doubt it.

Which then begs the question, what happens if you test positive as a result of taking some cold remedy or prescription drug?

Banged up in the local chokey until they send your sample to Bangkok for further testing?

And wait for the results?

You could find yourself getting very familiar with the inside of a prison cell for quite a while.

For no good reason.

Surely it's just used for screening, prior to full blood tests. It's probably ELISA test kits, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Prone to false positives.

I commend this post to the house.

If you're going to drive in, take one of these.

But will I be able to get it insured?

MJP: You selling? How much? You got more than one? Might get one for the missus too. Be good for persuading people to pay back the money they've borrowed from her.

Be great for upcountry here.

I can think of nothing at all positive about Thailand anymore and especially so now that I have kids to think about.

nothing positive? sorry I don't get that at all... even when it drives me crazy (and it does!) there are always positives... Wats, people, nature, Buddhism etc.

I would not swap economic collapse, PC madness and material selfishness back in Europe for Thailand despite it's faults (it can get draining which is why I travel every few months but I enjoy coming back) but to say nothing positive is rather sad.

I've never been excited by Wats. After I'd visited half a dozen or so that was enough for me.

Are Thai people really so friendly? Maybe they are, but back home I always find the people more friendly and more genuinely so.

Nature? If there is any nature worth anything the Thais will find some way to either eat it or make money from it.

If Buddhism results in a lack of common sense, an unfounded reliance on amulets and blind devotion to old men in robes I'd sooner give it a miss.

Most Thais would be better off living an a post economic collapsed Europe than their impoverished own country.

I think the average Thai has the average European beat when it comes to material craving.

A little unfair. The average European has ready access to material goods, they're surrounded by them . . . hence they don't crave them. The average Thai worries about the (small) electric bill.

Many problems here. But it is still the developing world. Some of are their own making, but so are ours.

Apples with apples . . .

It's a good idea. I've lived in apartment buildings in the past and break-ins were rather common.

It has little to do with how you look, what you have, or some of the other remarks. Thieves target places and farangs are good targets. A security door is a good deterrent.

Sister has them fitted to her rental apartments. Brutal looking things.

Also, think about the padlock. I recommend one like this, difficult to smash off.

Sorry but this looks like a cheap pressed steel casing lock similar are sold in the UK by Squire. Put it this way a decent lock will be about £50+ in the UK and look like this and about 14-16mm shackle case hardened

Well, that style of padlock. We always used them on site, never had a problem. The one time I had to use a normal one, came back on Monday, everything gone. I have more faith in this design but yes, it does need to go inside one of those awkward box things that covers it.

Can be hellish to open.

BAD FOOD ? are you for real, adios, bye bye , good ridance im sure you wont be missed !!

I only get bad food here. But then, I'm doing the cooking. Never was the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I still can't fry rice. I have no idea how this magic is performed.

Information fatigue.

Becomes like X-Factor.

I hate X-Factor.

A few people with half a brain will continue to compare notes on internet forums. The rest will be telephone voting for some fat woman that can almost sing.

It's only when, and if for that matter . . . people are sat there in the dark, no TV dinner and no power to turn the TV on to at least watch the fat bird sing . . . will chickens actually return to roosts.

Then the halfwits will simply turn on each other.

That's Susan Boyle, right?

I'm writing a piece tentatively called "Secrets of the credit crunch" about staggering facts that were slipped into the bottom of the news pile unnoticed during the GFC. Either there are brilliant spinners in authority who know how to cynically play the rest of us or we're all so dim that we don't see what's in front of our eyes. I suppose a 3rd possibility is that both contentions are right. That'd be really worrying,

Paul

I've no idea of the names, sorry.

The whole things such a complete fiasco, not even the 'experts' know, or really want to admit the whole thing has been a gigantic, catastrophic fiddle.

Fear not, life goes on.

It's only when, and if for that matter . . . people are sat there in the dark, no TV dinner and no power to turn the TV on to at least watch the fat bird sing . . . will chickens actually return to roosts.

Then the halfwits will simply turn on each other.

That's if they can lift their fat ars-es off the sofa

Seriously, humanity has become a heard of cows, mindlessly consuming and multiplying for corporations/government to farm. Eventually the field will become barren of grass, our population will collapse and we will return to some semblance of subsistance living with the elite orbiting in space, whilst watching some fat bird sing for an extra bail of hay.

Oh, that's so deeply cynical . . . yet disturbingly true.

This all sounds very encouraging.

I've heard from folks on the eastern seaboard that trade has picked up suddenly. All seems to be well.

The real truth is you cannot find true and complete happiness in 'another' only within yourself - and, seriously, that really IS the trick.

Oh that is so, sooooo true.

Unless you have kids. Then it's all about them. Actually makes life complete.

Mark45, Absolutely irrelevant. Culturally back then men were aware of the reality of the situation. So no harm done. Today, we send completely unknowing and naive men into sitiuations and cultures they are unfamiliar with. Then we have trouble.

And UG, I am alone and lonely now, I know I'll eventually meet someone and no longer be alone. I'm just saying men are forgetting that "too good to be true" means just that, if they find instant love easily, well there is something wrong. With patience and work you hopefully find someone true.

You all misunderstand me anyway, nothing wrong with paying for it, nothing wrong with buying companionship. The problem is falling for the illusion. Getting your heart involved when you should not. That is why I don't like the whole mess I see here in Thailand. Thai men dont seem to have a problem falling in love with and marrying prostitutes so why do we? Because we havent a clue.

Laughing man I assume you have little education about cultural awareness, like no formal education in sociology, cultural anthropology, history or anything that would make you aware of the history of the human race more than 20 years ago.

100 years ago or 200 years ago or 500 years ago men were still wondering about if the earth was round. My grandfather thought the moon landing was faked. You can read the dairies of WW II soldiers in Singapore, Burma and Thailand. They didn't have a clue what was going on here.

The current person coming to Thailand with all the information on the net and books available would have to be a buffalo not to know about the bright light girls in Thailand.

Laughing man, it is you who doesn't have a clue but the problem is you don't have a clue what you don't have a clue about.

What you don't have a clue about and what everybody else who is sane here has a clue about including the Thai guys is this, "you are always going to pay for it. Maybe now, maybe later. Maybe in money, maybe in blood, sweat and tears. The only person who ever loved you was your mom and even that is was not a sure thing."

Stop worrying about paying for it and start worrying about how much it costs. That is something you can deal with. Marriage has a different price than short time. That's a fact. I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

Some guys like the installment plan others like the pay as you go plan. Some guys lease some guys buy. That is the way of the world. Always has been. Unless you are really lucky or like to live alone you will end up giving all or most all of your money to a woman. Don't feel bad about it. Try to have some fun spending it.

. . . or forget all about it and become a monk . . . or a gardener . . . or buy a big motorbike and ride that instead.

8 >< SNIP ><8

Hey! That's me right now!

1. It's like a bag of chips, seems like a good idea at the time, but it's always a greasy disappointment.

2. Can't be bothered.

3. Can't get it up anyway and it's only small. Pretty pointless really. Not like in those films.

4. . . . ah, it'll come to me.

1. But it tastes good at the time... there's nothing like a bit of sauce to liven things up!

2. So pay someone else to do all the hard work.

3. So long as you're satisfied...the customer is always right.

4. The pearls of strong drink.

SC

I see MJP has responded while I was typing, making this comment superfluous and inappropriate, but I'm so pompous and full of my own wit that I'll post it anyway

Great quotes there. Ketchup's real cheap here. 3.6L for 85 Baht.

See? I can't get past domestic normality.

I was thinking about this recently. Chemical castration. Perhaps thats the route to true happiness. Like going to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, only for your nob.

You would desperately want sex, but not be able to fuction. Castration is no answer!

Hey! That's me right now!

1. It's like a bag of chips, seems like a good idea at the time, but it's always a greasy disappointment.

2. Can't be bothered.

3. Can't get it up anyway and it's only small. Pretty pointless really. Not like in those films.

4. . . . ah, it'll come to me.

Excuse me for being personal, but most people get bored of marital sex after a while and that sounds like your problem.

As far as having a miniscule member goes, sex workers could care less as long as they get paid. That is one of the many reasons that they have so many happy customers.

Oh, that finished years ago.

It's no big deal any of it.

I was thinking about this recently. Chemical castration. Perhaps thats the route to true happiness. Like going to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, only for your nob.

You would desperately want sex, but not be able to fuction. Castration is no answer!

Hey! That's me right now!

1. It's like a bag of chips, seems like a good idea at the time, but it's always a greasy disappointment.

2. Can't be bothered.

3. Can't get it up anyway and it's only small. Pretty pointless really. Not like in those films.

4. . . . ah, it'll come to me.

But I would rather be in pain alone, than seek comfort in a lie and an illusion.

That is your choice, but don't expect everyone else to be miserable when they have even a slight chance of happiness.

It's not wrong. He doesn't need to be miserable. No one does.

I was thinking about this recently. Chemical castration. Perhaps thats the route to true happiness. Like going to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, only for your nob.

How many other countries in Europe have been helped by Goldman & Co ?

Wall Street helped dig Europe's debt

"Wall Street tactics like the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in the U.S. have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts.

As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street's help, the nation engaged in a decadelong effort to skirt European debt limits. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the European Union budget overseers in Brussels.

Even as the crisis was nearing the flashpoint, banks were searching for ways to help Greece forestall the day of reckoning.

In early November – three months before Athens became the epicenter of global financial anxiety – a team from Goldman Sachs arrived in the city with a proposition for a government struggling to pay its bills, say two people who were briefed on the meeting.

The bankers, led by Goldman's president, Gary Cohn, held out a financing instrument that would have pushed debt from Greece's health care system far into the future, much as when strapped homeowners take out second mortgages to pay off their credit cards."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n2.4c5ae02.html

goldman faces special audit and possible ban in Europe

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2...es-special.html

Last thing I heard was GS were 'doing God's work'.

Some cheek innit?

I thought that this was already quite widely known? It's good that this is becoming more widely known but for me the big questions are[/size] 1) what else is out there?2) how will "we, the people" react when the press continue to lift these lids (there are a lot of them!!) ?

Information fatigue.

Becomes like X-Factor.

I hate X-Factor.

A few people with half a brain will continue to compare notes on internet forums. The rest will be telephone voting for some fat woman that can almost sing.

It's only when, and if for that matter . . . people are sat there in the dark, no TV dinner and no power to turn the TV on to at least watch the fat bird sing . . . will chickens actually return to roosts.

Then the halfwits will simply turn on each other.

8>< NESTED QUOTES DELETED ><8

No this is completely wrong. You and UG are denying the fact that most men that come here seem to NOT be able to differentiate between illusion and reality. I disagree completely which is why I think its so dangerous for men. Why do we have a new daily horror story of some falang getting fleeced or murdered by his bar girl girlfriend if so many men are capable of telling fact from fiction. they all WANT to believe the lie and that is what makes it so dangeorus. They wont even pick up on the obvious signs they normally would becuase they dont want to.

Dont misunderstand, I am not some old guy that got burned by my multiple attempts at marrying bar girls and has become bitter and cynical. I never let myself get into a position to get bitter and cynical, I never dated bar girls and do not partake of their services even on a purely business arrangement. I am no Don Juan either, I am in fact very alone and lonely, because I will not date certain types of women that leaves me with very little options in a country I find full of racism, the girls I would date, would not date me simply because of my race.

But I would rather be in pain alone, than seek comfort in a lie and an illusion.

You're missing out on an illusion that beats David Copperfield hands down.

And I think your prejudices mean you are really missing out socially as well. If you follow the field sports threads, there are plenty of chaps with constructive advice on snaring respectable girls, catching them with nets, stalking them through shopping malls and so forth - to the point of making you a hunt saboteur...

On a statistical point, I don't think you should use the term 'most' (my bolding) based on a few anecdotal horror stories; better to say 'some', or 'a few', although that undermines the advice you have given yourself...

Anyway, sitting as you are with your heartache, what I would recommend is a bit of joy and illusion, leading up to trouble and woes - woes by any other name would smell as sweet...

If you want to carry on resisting temptation, Take a ladyboy dancing, and enjoy the innocent fun.

Remember: Stiff upper lip, and look on the bright side - at least you don't have nails in your feet!

SC

Not all fellas are that sexually motivated, for one reason or another. There are other interests, other ways of life, having a circle of friends . . . not all divorcees race out to find a new partner, or try and compensate by having multiple sexual partners, paid for or not.

I't really no big deal.

They are bonkers. They do talk very loud.

But okay . . . I can't help but like them. We may piss and moan sometimes, we do back in our own countries, everyone does it. Web forums are often sounding boards for when people have minor gripes.

There is a liveliness and zest about these folks you do have to admire.

Agree with the earlier poster that its best if people who constantly complain or don't like Thailand to just leave- if they stay here their negative attitude is picked up by thai's who then may lump all farang's in the same boat. So to the OP, good move- makes sense for the OP and good for those of us who live here.

But i hope you are moving to a large city wherever you come from..the racism your half asian son will get in a rural community in the West is likely to be far worse than anything he experienced here.

"likely to be far worse ???

?/ what planet are you living on.

caf

I've never seen this. This racism towards half farang kids. Never even knew it existed. It's certainly not the case up here with us. Daughter is a bit of a local celebrity in many ways, very much adored.

New to me.

A list is forming . . .

1. A woman that understands home economics.

2. A woman that understands the nutritional and moisture requirements of plants.

3. A woman that understands that I too like to do the washing up, clean the floors, the kitchen, do the shopping, mow the lawn, clean the windows (actually I hate that), load the washing machine and hang out the clothes.

4. A woman that treats you as an equal and doesn't subscribe to this subservience nonsense, actually I quite like them o be a little bit feminist and a free thinker.

5. A woman that doesn't beat the hel_l out of her kids.

6. A woman that can drive with me as a passenger not having a heart attack.

7. A woman that likes stability and likes to make real progress in life as a family.

8. A woman that has a mild mannered temper.

Just a nice, ordinary person really. Don't care about looks.

To tell the truth, not tell you want she thinks you want to hear.

Yep! Sexy as hel_l!

EXCUSE ME--ongoing

when i first read your post, it gave me some real funny feelings....

some groups of selected people who genuinely do not like thai food because they think thai food is not spicy enough for them in comparison with their own country food.... perhaps you are one of these person.... on the other hand, there are thousand upon thousands of people who come to thailand just to sample and fill their already buldging tommies with different kinds and varieties of thai food.... and many on thaivisa would swear by it....

but when i came across your last post, it is an entirely different story.... and i quote verbatum....

I can understand that alot of the people who do get agnry have sent there life savings here on a failing business.

ongoing.... perhaps you spent too much time with people of the same feather for too long.... lol

there are plenty of farangs on thaivisa here who invest their money wisely and profitably for more than your residence here of 15 yrs.... they are doing well and they are having the best time of their lives with thai wives and children.... and none of them agrees with everything that happens in thailand and to thailand and to thai people....

but i can tell you that each one of these people is a realist--changing whatever they can, that is within their power.... and accepting things that they can not change.... whether they like it or not....

i am very sorry that you suffer the way you do in thailand and that our delighted thai cuisine displeases you so....

in parting i can tell you that with the kind of attitudes you have, your own son will suffer even more than you do in the long run.... may i be wrong and totally wrong.... for his sake....

whever you decide to resettle, friend, you still have different kind of people you have to deal with, be it in the middle east, near east or european countries.... and many more countries that i know are much more inclined to violence than thais....

for your information.... most of the farangs that i know.... they do not want to leave thailand.... as imperfect as thailand is and as lousy as siam has been since sukothai era.... the majority of us still think that siam is still a rare paradize on earth....

IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.... AND

CHOOSE WHERE TO SETTLE.... AND

APPROPRIATE YOUR REMAINING TIME AND ACTIVITIES WISELY ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN PERSONAL PREFERENCES AND RESOURCES....

THAILAND CAN AND WILL ALSO BECOME YOUR PARADIZE ON EARTH AS WELL.... IN MY HUMBLE OPINION

wish you the best of life, wherever you choose to spend it.... but do not be too negative and selfish....

you also need to think of what your young son needs for his own life.... OK?

do not destroy his life time opportunity to become the best that he can be.... because of your own grossly negativities in your own life style....

CHEERS ongoing....

You say about me 'destroying ' my sons life. Did you even read my post ? I said my son want to leave thailand himself. If you are not half thai/ half farang you will not know or understand anything about how he feels. The treatment for half Thai/ half farang children is getting worese as alot of Thai people are jelious of them for there wealth and also looks. The thai's love to see them on TV but when it comes to meeting them in the street alot of Thai people will try to mock them in someway ( alot more in tourist areas ) . Alot of Thai's dont treat them as thai people ( even throw they were born here and have thai passports and can speak thai ) . That is how bad racism is getting here.

That is how alot of thai people think of half Thai / half farang people. So what they think of farang people is even worse than that.

I could cant understand why this country is so racist. It has never been ruled in a empire ( not like india or malayisa by the british or cambodia by the french ) So where did the racism and hate for farang come from in thailand ???

Please dont say is from tourists. I know there are bad tourists here. But there are many many more good tourists who come here and dont do anything wrong.

I totaly agree with the half /Thai half /Falang racisam, And yet the Thais spend a lot of baht on western style nose jobs, To look westernized,

I have a half Thai/half falang daughter (only 6), I don't see this. Everyone up here adores her.

This is Issan though.