Sydebolle

It shows that the air can be very thin at the bottom as well. The flip side of the coin would be, that the Thai rice farmers would get more for their crop as the Cambodian imports are missing. For sure the retail prices go up, question is only, does that increase hit through to the bottom or does the increase get "stuck" somewhere in the maze of the selected few licensed biggies in the trade?

To cheat money out of an Indian .......... I always thought that they are smarter than most others. Proves oncemore again not to do business with people from a country, where the locals have exclusive rights over all non-locals - like Thailand!

Book the bloke in accordance with the law but then please carry on the good work and book everyone else driving drunk or without driving license by the same standards. I am aware that Thailand would have to increase jail space on a factor of ten but apply, what the Thai constitution says, i.e. that everybody is the same in front of the law 😉

You simply cannot invent such sh1d - honestly "Tensions rose when spiritual medium Bee "the Ghost Ambassador" was accused of stealing donations". I was also unaware of the fact, that abbots can resign once the heat is up 🤒

I am sure he had a work permit, a company legally operating the business of car rental, the insurance company covering the vehicle as used for business/rental ...... the works. If he needed an interpreter, then either the police officer did not speak English - there is most likely no other. Possibly he coughs up a retrieval bonus of, say, 50,000 Baht and wonders happen and the vehicle appears within days. Best to offer the reward to the non-English speaking officer, he might know more where to go with such a request/idea .....

If pigs could fly ..............

Well, if you want to maintain "safety" in the "family resort" then you might want to clear out all those clowns in brown little, usually one number too small, uniforms with (fake officer number) helmets, sunglasses and face masks to absolutely ensure that there is no identification possible. If the (good and clear) law would be enforced by the letter then you could start talking about better safety. Start with moving all those illegal motorbike parkings on public roads, clear up the ladies of the third gender along the beach road and throw them into a slammer for six to twelve months, enforce parking and driving laws which would pour in billions of Baht for a short time until the last of the chosen people of Siam would have understood, that there is a set of laws to be adhered to. Just my little unimportant grain of salt .......

Throwing a tantrum is a kindergartener's way of express displeasure. The grown-up version usually exists only in countries, where face is above everything and that explains the educational superiority of Westerners over the rest of the planet. Ridiculous and not to be taken serious; if either politician crosses the border and gets arrested - good riddance. Maybe there is someone out there to smack these misbehaving id10ts called leaders of a country to remind them, what their actual job is ........

Headless, absolutely headless. They throw apparently six digit numbers of "free" tickets onto the market; the takers on Ubon Ratchathani and/or Buriram will yet have to be seen yet the same country curtails potential visitors with an absolutely hazy maze on visa regulations, too strong currency, less value for money compared to Bali, Vietnam or the Philippines. Unfriendliness starts when bumping into the immigration officer at the point of entry, English is - seriously - still most challenging, rip-offs by cabbies a daily occurrence and two-tier pricing adobo. The only boast on a daily basis is the ever backhanding statistics of arrivals hitting the 20 million mark by the tourism authority, not discounting small border traffic like Laos, Malaysia and, in the past Cambodia and Myanmar. Meanwhile the aunties and uncles on the rice fields of Northeastern Thailand could not care less; they have much much smaller fish to fry with zero access to proper education, fair trade for their produce and a disintegrating society. Money is everything, nobody has it and everybody wants it ....... Those tickets will be taken up for sure but if this campaign really reaches its goal ..... think positive ..... is still to be seen 😉

Wait, until the West has found out, that Myanmar has rare earth and then the race is on again .........

No, unfortunately not, much much worse 😞

Allemachtig prachtig!

Some might have parted with loose change?

You might trawling around the bars for different reasons - like having a drink or so? Just curious 😉

Shows only how narrow-minded those geeks are literally everywhere in this country. Given the fact, that during my working days I sponsored language and computer classes to staff which the company would pay for I obviously had a look at the "schools". For computer classes I ended up doing those in-house with/by my own IT staff - overseas trained and fluent in English; for teaching the English language there was ultimately only one option, the British Council. All other "schools" were too much Thai-style and focussed on everything except the main subject for what my staff went there in the first place. Education and Thailand - please never use these two words in the same book. Having said that, I am sure that there are good teachers but the material is carp and hence the Burmese lady kept immigrant kids off the roads and tried something useful. Good on you, Thai Authorities, I feel soooooooo much safer now after you've booked this alien from different milky ways busying herself in an illegal activity.

Every day is school day, specially in the Land of Smiles. I - for one - never heard, that any other senate has an "Ethics Committee". The face is more important than the rotten character of the unknown senator. The committee's duty is, most likely, only the possible …. breaching of the “upper chamber’s code of conduct” …….. What kind of animals lure in the halls of the government of this country; how terrible for country and its people!

I am all for positive news, trust me, but the way the tourism promotion board is blowing continuously its own trumpet is second to none. Quality over quantity was the doctrine in the past and it worked very well. Today it is quantity which comes with the usual range of problems due to the lower education and interest level of the visiting avalanche of (mostly) Asian tourists. The average spending must have nosedived. Quite obviously the only increase is the sheer number of arrivals. As a non-Thai citizen I dilute the arrival figure by weekly crossing into neighboring Laos and the weekend shoppers from Laos and Malaysia are also in those figures 😉

Next to this motorbike incident and the tuktuk case you can add jet ski operators as well. A bunch of cheaters, liars and undercover supporters of the boys in brown. The other way round when a foreigner is ground to toast by a bunch of innocent sons of the Land of Smiles ..... There is a reason behind all this but the majority (i.e. the host country's citizens) are not interested and hence just drop the whole story - there is better news of more attractive content - me thinks!

Thailand's immigration = the ultimate IT hub of the universe 😉

THB 10K (USD 300) as "pocket money" without work, everything paid? This is above the private allowance of what Western married women get. Latter do (mostly) much more if not all housework, bring up kids and are seriously busy most of the time. If it is a serious relation, then share a common account (test the water first with limited balancing of the account to see, if she can handle that); for a girlfriend I suggest she carries on working .... Latter mainly for her to understand, that having money means work and not a Western ATM machine with endless refills

Shame on Kamol Rodklai, what kind of beast is chairing the Senate Committee on Education! Explains the human quality of such pr1ks; this human manure exit should be thrown out of any political office for life. Irrespective of anything; a child has the right to education, free from any pressure (financially, ethically or religiously) but as long as education costs a single cent, the future is questionable if not doomed. Certain countries in Europe, Finland and Switzerland spring to mind, provide absolutely free education to the level of a PhD to the gifted which allows the brightest minds to carry their country into the future while brainless rich kids ......... Here it is the opposite, spoilt brats linger around in all sorts of private schools, unable to provide for themselves as grown-ups simply because the parent(s) spend (sometime ill-gotten) funds on school fees and generous contributions to underline the promotion into the next higher grade with the kind support of teachers and headmasters alike ..... I hope, for Kamol Rodklai, that I never meet him - for his own advantage!

Now that is a very interesting way to put it - "a significant factor in the profit surge was favourable market conditions". I hope that the consumers are aware that they are skinned alive with such monopolies, the CP conglomerate controls the entire line from animal feed via poultry production to Chester grill. Makro, Big C, Lotus's, 7/11 - go and have a look who owns these "independent" players in the food range. Some time ago I drove along the Mekong and saw farmers harvesting tomatoes from "floating markets", sorting them into stackable crates by size of the tomatoes, carrying those crates up to the road level for collection. In asking they told me that they would get 5 Baht a kilogramme; while I bought a few hours earlier tomatoes at 41 Baht. The farmers surrounded me and shared their misery while stating, that nobody else would buy the tomatoes and selling them directly was not an option either due to lacking staff and knowledge. But Dhanin is a very generous man, on the other hand. Some years back the media covered his generosity in handing over a certified bank check over 800 million Baht 😉

Sicks minds - very worrying indeed. It highlights two problems; the first one is the dumping of animals at temples, remaining not neutered and continue to do what every living species on planet Earth is doing. Apart from a countrywide programme to neuter stray animals there are also possibilities to vaccinate them to avoid rabies and other diseases. The second, actually much more worrying problem is the mindset of these teenagers. What is going on in their minds to not only torment a helpless animal but to also tape this for social media exposure? Don't tell me that this is borderline normal; they need to be not only properly smacked but re-educated in working in a morgue or something similarly unpleasant with the stern message that if there is a "next time" they will be locked up in the slammer and the keys are getting thrown away.

It is for exactly this reason that I do never prepay anything on Lazada. If COD is not available, then I do not buy it - simple as that. Shopee is, as mentioned, no frills and the refund either instant or the payment gets released only upon the buyer confirming having received the merchandise.

Tip of the Cambodian iceberg .......