thailien8

How's about a completely new slogan? I suggest 'Thailand, even you can get laid.'

You can get laid everywhere in the world if you have the money to pay - believe me! Harder to find love for sure!

I love the first quote, tho I must admit that yes, you can get laid anywhere in the world if you have the money to pay. Heck, in Amsterdam, you can get a 20-minute short time for the price of a couple of long times in Thailand. In Vegas tho, you may spend all your money just buying an overpriced bottle of champagne, before getting stood up. So maybe the slogan can be: "Thailand, even a poor guy can get laid." Will the TAT ever realize that the only dependable repeat visitors are those who come here to get laid?

I used to be a Yankees fan, way back long before the evil Steinbrenner hostile takeover. I don't quite remember Joe D., (born too late) but when my Pop used to take out to Yankee Stadium, especially for the traditional double header on my Memorial Day birthday, those were among the fondest memories of my childhood. I was there when Mickey came within two feet of hitting one out of the big ballpark. My favorites were Mickey (of course), Whitey, Yogi, Ellie, Bobby, Tony, Clete, Moose, and Johnny (#38). Don't forget Phil Rizzuto, Hank Bauer, Hector Lopez, Ryne Duren, Luis Arroyo, Roger Maris, Don Larsen and Bob Turley. Ah, the Yankees of the 50s and 60s. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Thanks a lot guys, it's starting to make sense to me now.

ชีวิต ดีๆ ที่ ลงตัว A large banner hung on the skytrain structure last month seemed, to my limited Thai understanding, to be extolling the virtues of Bangkok--where life is very good, divisibly; without a remainder. My question is about this last phrase, or is it an idiomatic expression, ลงตัว "long dtua". The website thai2english.com was not as helpful as I'd hoped, only translating "long dtua" as "divisibly; without a remainder" There were no examples of usage given. I don't really understand how this applies in the context of the banner about the good life in Bangkok. Can anyone explain "long dtua", maybe give some examples of usage, as it seems like a possibly useful, easily pronounced, expression. Thanks

What bugs me about MLB baseball coverage in Thailand is that it's almost always a Yankees game. On a recent visit to Japan, the same was true--in the morning a Yankees game, in the evening a Japanese league game. Is this overdose of pinstripes due to the greatness of the team, or could it be because American commercial interests want the rest of the world to become Yankee fans so they can sell vast quantities of Yankee-related products?

As an antidote to the endless soccer and wrestling on UBC, I attended the Bangkok Open 5 straight days last week. To me, the conditions were ideal for watching sports. Ticket prices were cheap--200 and 300 baht; few spectators were there, so I could sit anywhere and not be crowded; the hotel venue was copacetic; three matches were in progress at any time, and from the top of the grandstand I could watch all three; the players, almost all ranked in the top 100 in the world, were highly skilled and very competitive, not to mention good-looking; the weather, apart from a couple rain delays, was lovely.

I could not attend the final match, but was happy to be able to watch on ITV. However, ITV badly botched their live coverage of the PTT Bangkok Open tennis tournament on Sunday afternoon. The final match was between Thailand's own #1 player, Tamarine Tanasugarn, and the exciting prodigy from USA, Vania King. With a good crowd of enthusiastic spectators on hand at Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok, the match began as scheduled at 3:15 pm. Tamarine (Tammy to her many fans) started beautifully, winning the first set 6-2. Vania came back strong in the second set to win 6-4. Then came the customary break before the third and deciding set. ITV cut away to a news summary at 4:55, but I was sure they would return to show the rest of the tennis match. Thus, I and many other tennis fans were shocked to see that a Thai drama started at 5 pm., and the tennis coverage had ended prematurely. This is an incredible insult to Tammy and the viewers. Doesn't ITV know or care that tennis matches can and often do last longer than two sets and two hours?

Reading the thread about the recent Thailand Open men's tennis tournament, I see that this kind of poor coverage of local sports is not unusual.

"Channel 3 is a major sponsor & their live coverage on tv is minimal. Even Paradorn cannot compete with regular evening tv programs!!"

"The only way to see the tournament is actually to go there! I went on Wednesday, which was too bad. Even when watching the Safin v Merzca match, they took it off at 16.30 to show some recorded rubbish, I do wish the tournament would get a better TV deal. I recall three years ago we did get to see some of the evening matches, and even yesterday evening, at 23.00 there was no recoreded tennis, on, the internet has been the only I have been able to follow it! "

I have loved The Nation ever since I started living in Thailand in 1992, and saw how superior their political reporting during the Suchinda crisis was to that of the Bkk. Post. When I want sports or Database, I buy the Post. For everything else, esp. political clarity, I buy The Nation, the last outpost of press freedom in Toxic Thailand. If The Nation is successfully censored by Toxin, I and my expat money will be out of Thailand. I will also do my best to warn off any other farangs from giving their money to Toxicland in any way!! Get rid of Toxin and watch the Thai economy, and smiles, bloom again. I pray every day that the Thais will be strong enough to throw off their wannabe dictator.

"Is boycotting elections legal or not? True, it's up to the court to decide on that. My point was that it's a made up charge. Consider this - boycott was declared on Feb 25-26, four months ago, but we never heard anyone questioning it until last Monday. Who brough up this charge? Some faceless, ad hoc EC panel? Why so late? When was it formed? I think only after charges against TRT were made public - to retaliate."

Exactly, Khun Plus. The Toxic political crap going down now is so transparent. Retaliatory charge #5 (out of 6) against the whistle-blowing Democrats, that they encouraged voters to check the no-vote box on a legal ballot, is utterly farcical. If this is illegal, why then was this option on the ballot??? Toxin has been angered, his minions are cowering, and the toxic political poison is spewing wildly.

We are all insane. No one can exist in this bizarre "civilization" we have created and not be insane. It is essential for survival in our asylum. Religion is mass insanity, as is nationalism. We are human animals, nothing more. If our insanity does not kill us off, we may continue to evolve. White skin is not better than dark skin. Male is not superior to female. Money and power does not make a person better than another person. Your god is not truer than someone else's god. Sexual pleasure is not a crime. Suicidal bombing will not get anyone into heaven. Neither will counting rosary beads, stroking a crucifix, or memorizing the Koran.

> I'll stand behind you whilst you try get your 990 baht

> change from a baht bus driver.

Why not make it more interesting and stand in front of the baht bus while paying with the 1000 note?

Anyway I received 10 baht change from my 20 last weekend, I'd say that's about par. I did make sure to rush out, overtake the geezer getting off at the same spot, made it to the truck window before him, then triumphantly waited for the change to materialize while blocking the other guy expertly until I received my golden coin.

Cheers,

Chanchao

Thank you Khun Chanchao, and Mr. Mighty Mouse, for neutralizing the (IMHO) ridiculous blurt from English Noodles about this thread being a non-starter. I am so happy that E.N. has never had any problem with changing one of the Thai ATM 1000 baht specials. I can only hope that his luck continues. For the rest of us, out here in the big, bad world all by ourselves, trying not to get ripped off in this big, bad world, I started this thread, which I think embodies a valid concern. If English Noodles could care less about getting ripped off by having his 1000 baht note magically shortchanged into a 500, more power to him. Personally, I do care, and believe others do too. So far, I'm surprised that no one has offered a sad tale about the King's Group bars on Patpong, as I've noticed they now ask punters to sign their check-bins, in order to avoid ripoffs, much to the obvious chagrin of the waiter guys. I can't help but believe some 1000 baht note ripoffs were involved in this unwelcome development.

In answer to this topic, I would just like to copy the Chang Noi column from yesterday's Nation, which IMHO is one of the best opinion columns I have ever read. I thank the editors and writers of The Nation for educating this, and many other, farangs about Thailand for many years; and for bravely upholding the imperiled principles of free speech and free press in these Toxic years.

Thaksin's persona blown away by Shin sale

Published on Mar 6, 2006

How did the opposition to Thaksin blow up so quickly and so dramatically? Only a few weeks ago, Thaksin announced that he would ignore politics for the next three years until another election approached. But now he's swamped by politics, with competitive street demos, a snap election, constitution amendments, fierce emotional exchanges and a game of blind political poker.

Have we learned anything new about Thaksin recently? Is that what has suddenly impelled people to call him a thief, liar, cheat, dictator and so on?

Hardly. We have known ever since the assets-declaration case of 2001 that Thaksin has a pretty cavalier attitude towards business law and ethics. We could see his readiness to use violence rather than the law since the murderous anti-drug campaign of 2003. We have watched the checks and balances in the Constitution being undermined since the first reappointment to the Election Commission in 2002.

We have admired how state power can be used to assist business since the deals over ITV, Thai AirAsia, the investment privileges for Shin Satellite and the telecom concessions. We have smelt the stench wafting from Cobra Swamp. We have heard him disdain democracy, claim infallibility, appropriate sole ownership of the nation and insult his critics countless times. What has made 2006 any different from the past five years?

The first reason is that Thaksin has completely lost control of the noise level. For five years, he had the media bottled up tight. The English-language press was allowed some freedom, with just occasional bits of intimidation, so foreign readers easily got the mistaken impression that things were not too bad. But the Thai press (save a few brave exceptions) was kept on a short leash, and the broadcast media were treated as propaganda arms of the regime in true authoritarian style. But this grip has now been loosened.

Suddenly there was a community of defiance. Against this background, Sondhi Limthongkul made a public show of turning against Thaksin. Over the last month and a half, the mainstream dailies have become virulently critical. In the last week, we have seen things on the TV screens that have been absent for five years - protest leaders being interviewed, academics giving independent analysis, and (my god!) debate.

This change in the public sphere has been critical. When you control the media tightly, you can fool most of the people most of the time. A few days ago, Thaksin told his audience quite brazenly that he wanted to pay lots of tax on the Shin deal but the Revenue Department would not accept it. This line is so preposterous it takes your breath away. But it's also very instructive. Thaksin had got used to saying such things with impunity, because there was no alternative voice that got through to his mainstream audience.

But as the grip on the media has loosened, such thick-faced behaviour has become less effective. The rapid spread of distrust in this government is related to the wider spread of information. More people are dissatisfied because more people know what is going on. And with more criticism and debate swirling around the public sphere, critics and doubters of the government no longer feel so isolated.

The second reason for the rapid spread of distrust comes from the Shin deal. Thaksin has been clamouring that he had no liability to pay tax, and that the law is the same for him as for others. Many letters to the English-language press have made the same point. They say it's just a business deal, he hasn't been found guilty of any serious lawbreaking, so what's the problem?

All this misses the point. While he may have committed no crime, he made a huge cultural blunder.

Since coming to power in 2001, Thaksin has adopted a tough-guy (nak leng) style of leadership. He acts as if he's in sole charge. He makes decisions quickly. He bullies opponents. He deliberately abuses critics in foul language. He disdains rules, institutions, procedures. It's a leadership style that works well, because it's rooted in the culture. It's the style of the local boss who gives protection and gets things done. Thaksin didn't behave like this five years ago. He learnt this style because people understand it, and it helped to make him popular.

But there's a catch. One key element of this style is that the tough-guy leader must be generous. He can use power to benefit himself, but then he must have a big heart to share that benefit with others. He can break all the rules, but he must make this acceptable by showing that he is at heart a good man. But the tax exemption on the Shin deal made Thaksin look mean and greedy.

An upcountry vendor said to Chang Noi a few days ago, "The only thing this guy ever gives us is our own tax money back." This vendor had formerly been a strong Thaksin supporter. A business friend recently asked, "Suphan Buri is smothered with hospitals, schools and bus shelters supported by the charity of Banharn [silapa-archa] and his wife Jaemsai. Where do you ever see something sponsored by Thaksin and Pojaman? They don't give, they only take."

The tax exemption may have been legal, but it made Thaksin look the very opposite of generous. Suddenly people noticed the corruption, conflicts of interest, violence, hogging of opportunities, earlier examples of tax evasion and general lack of moral principles.

Many of the people at the anti-Thaksin demonstrations come from a lower-middle class of small business owners, shopkeepers, minor officials and salary folk. They have a moral sense that they apply to themselves and their leaders. And they're offended.

You can fool a lot of people for a lot of the time, but only if you control the noise level, and only if you really are the character you're playing.

Chang Noi

Reading this letter from a recent Pattaya Mail reminds me of another scam that I fell for years ago, but have since taken care to avoid:

Dear Editor

The first time this happened I thought it was a “one off”, but the same scam was attempted on me yesterday for the second time.

I visited a popular chain fast food restaurant in the shopping plaza on Beach Road. I received my food and offered a 1000 Bt note as I wanted some change. The serving girl handed me 80 Bt as change and just stood there. When I didn’t walk away without the remaining 800 Bt, after some seconds, she handed over the cash.

I asked why she had only given some of the change and she claimed she was “sort cash”? So why give me some change and not all?

She, as on the first time this happened, had written her name on her badge in Thai. I asked for her name (very politely) and was given the full formal name of my little thief in very strong “Issan” which I could not understand even though I can understand a lot of Thai.

I expect such scams now as a matter of course, but not in a big company like this, and it would seem, not a “one off” but involving other staff.

I had a word with the manager who seemed to think it was not possible to get cash out of the till without being seen so staff would not benefit from the theft. It doesn’t take a mastermind to work out that a quick call to a friend and the issuing of extra change with a small order by that friend would get the money out of the till and into my little thief’s hands!

Whenever I need to break a 1000 baht note, I am careful to do it in a hopefully safe way: (1) recharge my Skytrain or Subway card (2) pay the bill in a place where they know me (3) buy something in a reputable business, especially where I can stand next to the cashier as she changes my money (4) change the 1000 baht note in a food court while buying 100 or 200 worth of food coupons (5) pay the check-bin for my drink(s), lady drink(s) and her bar fine in a gogo bar or beer bar, which will total up somewhere between 500 and 1000 baht.

So the questions are: Have you any stories or advice to tell about how to avoid being ripped off when you are stuck paying with a 1,000 baht note?

I just want to express my admiration of, and support for ColPyat's posts on this thread. Here is someone who knows what he is writing about, and has the personal experience to back it up. I was esp. interested in your accounts of gov't. pressure on you and your family to go along with TRT's schemes to get everyone into debt, and your resistance to this. Good for you! Any more details you would care to provide would be of great interest to Thai residents like me, who don't have this personal experience, but can read about what is going on and hope Toxin will soon be gone.

For every puppy that got lucky, there's a thousand more that don't. Meanwhile, they itch and they scratch and they sh1t. Spaying and neutering are well and good for the future. For now, euthanasia would put the unlucky mutts out of their pathetic misery, and reduce the amount of dog sh1t on the ground to step in and in the air that we are breathing. Street dogs are a shame, and could so easily be eliminated.

"He is our Prime Minister and if me and the Thai people decide that we dont want him any more then we will VOTE him out."

Ah, the charming innocence and beauty of the Thai people comes through again.... They have nearly as much simple-minded belief in democracy as George W. Bush, who rants about bringing democracy to the Middle East, then is horrified when Palestinians vote for Hamas. I'm afraid that Toxin has entrenched himself far too deeply in the Thai power structure, with all his friends and relatives in key positions, to ever be simply voted out. He has closely copied marvelous role models in perverting democracy such as Lee Kwan Yu of Singapore (his favorite), Mahathir Muhammed of Malaysia (a close second) and other democratic dictators like Hun Sen of Cambodia, the long-lasting Suharto of Indonesia, and of course the ultimate wet dreams of the dictatorial nutcases, the democratically-elected Hitler, the slimy kill-em-off approach of Stalin, the popularly-acclaimed madman Mao, the vicious outbursts of mass murder of Toxin's good buddy Than Shwe of Burma, and let us not forget the loser of the popular vote who was selected by his friends in the Supreme Court, Bush of the USA. In other words, folks, get rid of power-monsters like Toxin by any means at any opportunity, or be prepared to suffer at their hands for many, many years to come.

Yes, whenever the government's in trouble, a good old-fashioned crackdown on sex 'n' drugs will do the trick to distract the public. By the way, anybody checked those sidewalk tables displaying porn videos on the odd side of Sukhumvit lately? A month ago, last I looked, there were 5 or 6 of them with displays of tits, pussies, and anal sex for all the children of the "quality tourists" to see as they walked along this marvelous shopping street. I'm sure the dads and moms were thrilled that their youngsters got to see this porn on the street, while the cops in Nana Plaza made sure that no such sexual displays were to be seen anywhere in those adults-only bars....

Sondhi's great achievment on Feb. 4, or any day, will be if he can find a way to explain in simple, memorable, sound-bite terms to the average Thai Somchai rice farmer, just how Toxin's selfish, complex, financial tax-evading shenanigans have screwed the likes of Khun Somchai.

"However, despite his behavior, I remain confident in him as prime minister, because this deal will give him the ability to help the country progress"

Pansak Puripan, 29, engineer.

From The Nation, paper edition.

This is the kind of blind faith that Toxin is counting on from his loyal subjects. It didn't hurt that they just watched him on TV for five days, handing out 1000 baht notes to a lucky few. Now the complexity of his financial shenanigans will have them dazed and confused. And of course his well-bought coterie of money-sucking ministers and experts will run interference for him all the way to their banks.

Second quote of the day: "if so many people were trying to get rid of her then she must have been doing a good job." I think that is the crux of the matter. More power to you, Khunying Jaruwan. Thailand desperately needs more people like you to slow down the runaway corruption. BTW, I'm glad to see her website, www.corruptionwatch.net back up again tonight, tho who knows for how long?

To my overjoyed surprise, www.corruptionwatch.net, which was closed down on Jan. 29, now seems to be up again on Jan. 31. So maybe Toxin doesn't yet have 100% control, tho I'm sure he's still working on it. Surely he will not let his censorial grip on ITV slip from his grasp. It is wonderful how terrified the corrupt Thai guys are of Khunying Jaruwan. Any real challenge to the guys' corrupt good-ole-boy system of I scratch your crooked back and you scratch you scratch mine scares them to death. Their desperate, pathetic attempts to stop Khunying Jaruwan from doing her job as Auditor General, because she was doing it all too well, will hopefully yet backfire on them. Still, it's only too obvious that Toxin has no intention of stopping any real corruption, since he is the main facilitator of it now. As Khun Burin Kantabutra keeps emphasizing in his frequent letters to Bkk. Post, no serving military officer, MP or Senator has yet been jailed for corruption. Until some big-shot's face can be sacrificed to set a good example, the Thai guys' corruption party will just keep rolling along its merry way, to the detriment of all the rest of us.

"Don't see the problem with taxi bikes. You got to be aware they are dangerous right?"

I think you questioned your own answer.

Potted plants will only grow in Bangkok if they are put in large pots on the sidewalk where they can serve their intended function of blocking the way for pedestrians.

Ah Chuwit.... now there's a real love-hate relationship for farangs like me. First he was a massage parlor king--loved him. Then he was the head thug responsible for the overnight destruction of the lovely beer bar complex at Sukhumvit soi 10--hated him very much. Then he turned to politics and dared to join a non-TRT party, and even make amends, slightly, for the soi 10 destruction by funding the now-completed, and fairly pleasant, Chuvit Garden--liked him again a little. Then he joins forces to fight corruption with a real Thai heroine, Khunying Jaruwan Maintaka, the chief auditor who was doing her job much too well of exposing corruption by the Thai guys , so she was ousted by the corrupt politicians whose livelihood she was threatening--like him again a lot. Is it any wonder or coincidence that, like Jaruwan, Chuwit has been kicked out of office?

phukt siam's mention of the one-baht tip seems particularly appropriate here.

I'm still waiting, as I have been for years and years here already, for any kind of Thai police to do anything about providing security at popular tourist nightspots. As khall64au mentioned, zero security in Patong makes him "relieved to leave." I've often felt the same way about leaving all the soft targets in Bkk. and Pattaya. I get very nervous about spending time in Nana Plaza, the perfect target. I will start to believe Khun Pracha Maleenont's hot air when I see real security efforts at the entrance to Nana--none now; I will kiss his exalted feet when Soi Cowboy is securely blocked off from traffic and made into a walking street every evening; I will even __________ (fill in your own epithet) when Patpong 2 blocks off motor vehicles. Walking streets are a very good idea. They encourage tourists (as in Pattaya) and discourage vehicle bombers. If Mr. Pracha could possibly manage to focus some of the Thai cops' attention on matters of real importance to security and promotion of the all-important tourist trade; and reduce the cops' eternal vigilance regarding whether or not the gogo dancers are wearing the requisite clothing while dancing, Mr. Pracha will go down in history as one of the great Thai ministers ever.