Tonycheston

just in from another member about 10 minutes ago on a different forum:- (hope he doesn't mind)

There's a serious standoff going on right now in front of the Century Park Hotel. I live near there and just got back from a walk over there. You've got hundreds of red shirts standing in front of the hotel, facing north, and hundreds of soldiers 50 m away facing the redshirts and they're just standing there staring each other down. A lot of foreigners at the hotel are standing out front watching the action. Bad scene indeed. I heard what I thought was a gunshot and started jogging away, but I guess it was something else though, as nobody moved. Startled the crap out of me. I'll be staying close to home for the rest of the day I believe.

Is sky-train running as normal?

I live on Theparak road, a large dual carriageway coming off Sukhunvit towards Samut Prakarn. Usuall the road is always very busy. Today it is very very quiet. Traffic is still flowing but the seongteaws are almost empty and very few busses.

A reminder for those of you looking for English news broadcasts of Thai News you can look here.

http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/

GREAT thanks just what I was looking for

IS IT POSSIBLE TO START A NEW THREAD WITH NEWS ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING?????????

Sorry for being rude and using capitals but.......... there are poeple who live here and need to know facts about the actual situation, NOT speculations, NOT what anybody should do, NOT who should kill who.

Please moderators start a new thread with actual up to date info, so we know if we can safely go out or not. I am constantly watching the Thai news but understand nothing, I am sure there are many people in the same situation

Let's try to have a thread without all the bullsh*t PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Wow Tony!

Take a chill pill, or go play some Songkran! You're pretty stressed for 8am on a National Holiday!

Okay, a new thread right? For what news? If you take time to read this thread, you'll see people are adding news when there is news......

As for the 'speculation', it's not shit. It's people expressing their opinions. I am in your situation like others too, however I've been learning alot from others opinions and thoughts on this thread. At least people here can discuss.... not shout Tony, which begins to lead to the kind of problems we are seeing now.

When there is news, we will post it

In the meantime, chill; jai yen bro

I want to see Songkran yes, that is the whole reason I sent the message. Sorry(honestly) for "shouting" but that seemed the only way to get any attention here.

I am not complaining about people expressing their thoughts. They should do that, that's what I am doing also. I just think that the topic theme should be kept to. It is after all "News clippings" forum. I am relieved to see that other people feel the same as I do. I would start a new thread but the computer will not allow me to.

Anyway I had my coffee and a smoke and am "chilled", still a bit worried about what is happening.

Welome. Thai Visa is a forum of free discussion not a news outlet

go to....... www.nationmultimedia.com/index.php

or Channel News Asia from singapore which generally has good information on news about Thailand with a strong bias for bad new about the country. Or learn the local language then you can watch the local Thai news on channel 3

Songkran celebrations in Bangkok have been cancelled

Thanks. I am aware of what the forums are. Your remarks about learning the language are correct but that doesn't help people who haven't been here long and are at the beginning of their study. The forums have many topics but they all come down to the same, people using them for their own opinions and not keeping to the subject. If someone asks "well, what do you think?" then ok but News forums should be kept as NEWS and not personal thoughts. Have you tried to find news in the news forum today? IMO the forums do a good job on the whole, they are informative, and that is the idea. Surely it is the objective of such forums to inform people of important things and up-to-date information from people either here, seeing things first hand, or in the know. Most foreign news channels are hours behind in what they report. A forum is the best place to get "NOW" information.

Hi, being someone who is living in Bangkok and doesn't speak the lingo. I would like to know what is happening. Is the sky-train still running? Is it safe to go into the city? What areas should be avoided? Any information to help us keep safe and find out what is actually happening.

The "news" forum is just getting full of arguments about what is right and wrong, who should kill who, what the police and army should do. This is completely irrelevant to our safety. We need to know facts, we need to know what we can and cannot do. Please use this "topic" to give information to help others and NOT use for personal aggro or meaningless thoughts. It is difficult enough to search through other topics to find USEFUL information. I wanted to so to Samut Prakarn today to watch the festival, does anyone have information if it is still on?

Still no answer. everybody is too bust thinking about where and how much beer and girls to get

Sad sad sad

IS IT POSSIBLE TO START A NEW THREAD WITH NEWS ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING?????????

Sorry for being rude and using capitals but.......... there are poeple who live here and need to know facts about the actual situation, NOT speculations, NOT what anybody should do, NOT who should kill who.

Please moderators start a new thread with actual up to date info, so we know if we can safely go out or not. I am constantly watching the Thai news but understand nothing, I am sure there are many people in the same situation

Let's try to have a thread without all the bullsh*t PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

I have just heard about the SOE in Bangkok. I live in Samat Prakarn with is also included. What exactly is State of Emergency? What should I not do? I have just walked down the street and had dinner at one of the many restaurants here. I read that groups of 5 or more are forbidden, how does that work? The restaurants had many guests? Is there some sort of curfew, not allowing us to go out later at night? I find no details as to what SOE exactly is.

I have just heard about the SOE in Bangkok. I live in Samat Prakarn with is also included. What exactly is State of Emergency? What should I not do? I have just walked down the street and had dinner at one of the many restaurants here. I read that groups of 5 or more are forbidden, how does that work? The restaurants had many guests? Is there some sort of curfew, not allowing us to go out later at night? I find no details as to what SOE exactly is.

Serious question! Whose side is the army on? When the "yellows" took over the airport, they let them through. Now they are seen stood allowing the "reds" into the hotel hotel yesterday in Pattaya and today smiling with the "reds" on top of their armoured vehicles. I don't want bloodshed but I thought they are there to do something against the protesters. It is Songkran, water cannon would be ok, or not?

Earlier there were reports that 2 or 3 "reds" had been shot, what is the news about that?

Serious question! Whose side is the army on? When the "yellows" took over the airport, they let them through. Now they are seen stood allowing the "reds" into the hotel hotel yesterday in Pattaya and today smiling with the "reds" on top of their armoured vehicles. I don't want bloodshed but I thought they are there to do something against the protesters. It is Songkran, water cannon would be ok, or not?

I'm very confused. What is the army supposed to be doing, celebrating with the reds?

Chances are you will succeed in opening a sauna if you have enough money, but you will probably not retain ownership of it for long. Not recommended.

Can you explain why you think that?

Thanks

One word of advice, If you want to help people learn English, you will need a work permit, even though you said "at no cosy" It is still classed as work. Thai people cannot be trust, there are good and bad and unfortunately bad people who think they are good in that they will report you. End of story - good-bye to your retirement visa and a ban from re-entry.

I only lived in HHin for a year. Met very few gay folks. I was surprised when a straight guy told me a few weeks ago that he was walking in some soi near downtown and found a few gay bars. There are gays in HHin, but I doubt enough to operate a sauna.

Thanks PB. I think you are looking only at "Farang" gays. In Bangkok most of the saunas have regular Thai customers. I am enquiring about gay generally not just "Farang" Do you have any contact to gay people in the area? If so I would love to meet up with some, especially Thai's who can speak English. I will be visiting the area after Songkran for a week or so.

Hello, maybe some of you read my previous post about opening a gay sauna in Krabi. Well, the more I think about it the more it seems that Krabi may not be the best place. The people of Krabi is so widely distributed, I see a problem for people to travel using public transport especially at night. I still haven't ruled out the idea completely, but..........

I have now been thinking about Hua Hin. What do you think? Is there an active gay scene or a need for a meeting place for gays in Hua Hin? Your thoughts would be most welcome.

My first Songkran in BKK. Anyone have any ideas where to go and what to see, I don't mind joining in the fun and learning something new. Is it safe to take a camera with me without it getting soaked?

Thanks to any TV member who gives information.

thanks for the great response, and thank you Jetski for the link, That is a great site for explaining what the fruits are. I now know what a magosteen looks like. Will do some shopping today and have fun trying some of the fruits.

Nearly everyone seems to be talking about "bad habits", "self Infliction" or "back up plans" I am sure that some people who need financial help may well have had a back up plan that went wrong. I myself thought I had covered everything. I have 3 different bank accounts with 3 different credit cards. I organised online banking. I brought enough cash in USD and GBP to cover any disaster that might occur. I do not drink, I do not take drugs of any kind and I do not pay for sex. I have been to some of the bars just for the experience. It is all part of Thailand and something you should see. However I now have a problem. Chinese New Year I went to Chinatown to see the celebrations, I had only been there 10 minutes when my wallet was stolen. I DID take the precaution of not having a lot of money on me. I was stupid in that I had all my credit cards in the same wallet also my pins for doing home-banking. That means that I now have a problem, I cannot get new credit cards here, I have to travel back to England or Korea where my bank accounts are. I cannot do money transfers because I have no "pins" to do home-banking. 4 weeks ago my condo was broken into, my iPhone and some other personal things were stolen, fortunately the thief/thieves didn't find the cash that I had left. If the had, I would have been left with only 2000 THB (that is the most I take with me when I go out, safety reasons-being careful) I would have been right in the sh*te.

Please people, do not always judge without thinking. There are definitely some people who are seriously in need through no fault of their own. Go back to last November when the airport was taken over by demonstrators. The British Embassy was one of the few countries who did NOTHING for their citizens stranded here. It is good that there are donation boxes. The problem is who is entitled and who hands it out?

Thanks Ignis. Those are just the remarks I expected. Some of us are not familiar with exotic fruits. Some are not quiet as intelligent as you seem to be. For some of us, and I think most, the fruits I added as pics are strange. As for your suggestion to visit farms, good idea, please inform TV members where those farms are and if the owners speak English.

Interesting. I just started a new thread about "what is this fruit?" Here there are many names I never heard of. Some people have done a great job describing but....... Someone posted a lot of nice pictures, great but I don't know what is what. I would love to try all of them. Someone asked about star fruit in Bangkok, I have seen them at some food stalls on the side streets.

If anyone is interested in educating me please send pics and a description to my thread. It would be greatly appreciated not only by me.

Thanks

sorry, I don't seem to be able to upload any more pics Will try again later

Let's see what happens about the first 2 pictures.

pic #3

Maybe someone could explain the price. Is that each or kg. or what?