Sydebolle

So where is all that NATO stuff coming from? Neutrality with NATO? Explain that to German widows who lost their husbands in Afghanistan ....... during a NATO mission.

The Myanmar air force again - am I glad that the Thai government in its endless wisdom ordered those sub-marines ..........

Published government road 2331 leads through a National Park, which is not indicated as "toll" road. After driving up 20+ kms I hit a toll booth. We were en route to visit Wat Phra Phu Thap Boek. The ranger insisted on me getting out of the car - which I did. Then he told me that I would have to pay 540 Baht; 20 Baht the car, 20 Baht my wife and 500 Baht the dirty farang, a.k.a. alien. He had already ripped off the relevant receipts and that's when I told him to put those up his backside and left. He got furious (as he had already ripped off the tickets and invalidated them) and called me names I cannot put here. We turned around, never having visited Wat Phra Phu Thap Boek.

Well the unofficial casino operators now pay 20% "tax" - go figure!

Excellent and I certainly agree to what you wrote. There is (.... ahem ....) was respective paperwork as it was reported all over the German news back in the day. It cleared the reunification of the latter. Correct is also, that the Soviet Union disintegrated on own behest; a political transitions most, if not all countries went through over the centuries. The UK looked, politically speaking, completely different 500 years ago, 250 years ago the US did not exist. East Pakistan became Bangladesh, Burma became Myanmar and we would live in a country called Siam - if not for historically rooted changes. This all does not mean, that all the previous agreements are nil and void (see 1954 Geneva treaty on the separation of Vietnam; latter having been a three kingdom state 200 years earlier) .... What I miss is the willingness of higher ups (like i.e. US-controlled NATO or even higher UNO) to mediate. Kofi Annan flew to Baghdad and Tripoli and talked to Hussein and Ghadaffi; today we know it was a useless endeavour as the US needed to steamroller the region for cheap oil. Hans Blix did not clear his desk in Baghdad and told Bush to stick it up his bottom. Did not work for the same oil deprivation "mania". With all this tree-hugging and do-good attitude in the West we are not getting anywhere; it takes professional negotiations. One could turn the Ukraine into a neutral, sovereign, independent country and see, if and how Putin reacts. Latter is toast already but he might need a face-saving exit possibility and putting 300'000 NATO troops on alert is possibly only the second-best option. I follow German, French and British news on the subject and the disagreement among the West Europeans in reporting lots of fake news is mind-boggling. The real victims of all this are the Ukrainians who leave their home country (irrespective of name) for survival reasons and that needs to be stopped with all possible means. Warmongering and threatening is only one of the solutions. To this day I - for one - cannot see the Russian script behind all this and hence resort to treaties, written agreements/promises, inked by all the actors at the time and only Gorbachev is still alive today ..........

Is there a way to shut up Thammanat Prompao? A convicted drug smuggler with a dodgy degree of a Philippine University branch in California next to a laundry shop ....... If such slime is not stopped, this country will never inch out of Neanderthal into the Middle Age ........

They can afford two huge cars but no loose change for a kiddies' seat? Having said that, it remains a fact that I brought in three such car seats from Europe for my three children back in the day. Then it was not the duty or (then non-existing) VAT, it was the pure greed of department stores like Central. They offered the same (European) seat for not less than seven times the price I paid in Germany - 30 years ago, when visiting friends there. And, trust me, the Germans are not known for giving away children seats without a profit margin ........

I need some help here. How come it must be lucrative to sell pork from Germany, Poland and Brazil, having travelled around half the planet in reefer containers? Did they steal the pork at its origin, did the pork legs walk on their own to Nakhon Pathom or how come, that this is still lucrative and worthwile. I agree that pricing is going through the unjustified roof but still ......... mind-boggling news! Given the fact, that there is neither duty nor VAT on the "found heist" .........

As said, Sir, the Russians are no choirboys either but the canvassing of Europe under the umbrella of NATO; latter securing whatever in this North Atlantic alliance, is a different thing. If such an umbrella keeps inching East despite having engraved 30 years earlier NOT to do so ....... I also query the UN with its Blue Helmets peace force; the structure of the UN with Russia in the security council vetoing everything (like Israel throwing all Palestine resolutions into the shredder) with 25% of the funds from the US ....... another seriously failed organization. Maybe it is time for WW3 to clean up this tremendous mess all over the planet; I always hoped, that it could be done differently though ..........

Years ago they appraised a plot of land in Nong Khai some three times over the actual price which I was interested to buy. The seller was forced to sell it for unknown reasons and we agreed that I pay for the transfer tax. The deal did not materialize as there was no reasoning with the land department - very much to the surprise of everyone present. It was not a matter of bakshish, they just appraised value based on the line-up of stars or something similar. The bank eventually, which had financed the property of the seller, took over the property, the seller lost some money and the land got sold for a fraction of the assessment they wanted from me.

To condemn Russia is one thing; lets see how things look in say, six months from now when Western Europe starts freezing their God-only-knows-what off. Declassified documents show security assurances against NATO expansion to Soviet leaders from Baker, Bush, Genscher, Kohl, Gates, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Hurd, Major, and Woerner. Woerner was Secy General of NATO at the time; the Yeltsin notes as well as the treaty of Minsk all refer to the same - NO expansion to the East. “Woerner stressed that the NATO Council and he are against the expansion of NATO (13 of 16 NATO members support this point of view).” https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/16144-document-30-memorandum-boris-yeltsin) Under the guided baton of the US, inched its way across the East and by 2009 all former Warsaw Pact members ...... were NATO members. This was totally contrary to what was agreed. Based on what else would Gorbachev and Shevardnadze have agreed to the unification of Germany? I disagree Putin's action and I feel more than sorry for Ukraine but it is, once more again, a pristine example of US gunned foreign policy creating disaster wherever they put their big nose in. Unlike some previous, rather costly, cokc-ups, the US can put all the bills onto Stoltenberg's desk in Brussels; the massive bills of the Vietnam disaster, footed by the US taxpayer, taught Washington a lesson ....... The media, then already, and now even worse, is a product which needs sales - nobody visits Pattaya for its orchid orchards. What you hear, see, read is not essentially, what really happens these days in Kiev, Brussels or Washington.

Well, the last group of experts managed to syphon off 600 Million Baht on Na Jomtien - keep up the good work then. Erosions do not need sand being trucked in at premium rates, barriers though will do the trick, if an expert looks at the flow of tides. Disadvantage is, that you put the barriers in ONCE and that's it; no repetitive cash outflow from the governmental horn of plenty ????

May I suggest to create a special forum called "Indian Christmas Tree Bunting Stories"? If those South Asians think, the Thais are stupid - think again. Thais are certainly not all the brightest candles on the cake and Indians are definitely much faster and better in rhetorics but the necklace-snatching Katoey story starts to wear off.

Possibly the agency is owned by some of those immigration "officials". A country like Thailand should FACILITATE matters and simplify their own maze of rules, regulations and procedures on how to treat the "dirty farang", "alien", "Khaek" or "Jeck". It is symptomatic to see, how people resort to costlier/costly "visa" services as the present mess is - seriously - second to none. A linguistically challenged, digital thinking Caucasian, gets completely stucked and cant be asred with providing a full set of photocopies of a passport including the empty pages, all to be signed with exclusively blue ball pens (fountain pen or felt pen not allowed), no two-side copies may be provided etc. etc. etc. They even have forms which are NOT understood by the immigration clowns themselves and subsequently it leaves all sorts of overlaps and blank spots which allow such "agencies" to jump in with a (financially self-helping) hand. I never had an issue as I took EVERYTHING always along, copied it at the immigration (at the inflated pricing of relatives of the immigration officers who ran the copy machines) and I also speak the language ???? Will anything change? No. Will the cheated customers be able to pursue their rights? No. For all those tourists - welcome to Thailand!

The bottle neck is on top of the bottle ...... let's see. But having said that, it is up to the gifted voters to get through the maze and yes, I for one cannot put a timeline on all this just yet ????

Well, I did it in Pattaya, Bangkok and Nong Khai and it worked in all three cases without any court orders. Likewise I put my name as the sole beneficiary of an usufruct - arguably all that is quite some time ago. Best is to get some legal advice by a professional Bangkok lawyer; avoid those Pattaya experts by all means. Ask ten and you get 12 opinions ????

Abhisit would be one of the ways out of this mess yet cannot get the backing of all those upcountry grannies and uneducated uncles. It is yet to be seen what happens next as Thaksins path blazing politics of OTOP, the 30 Baht health cost coverage etc. - some 20 years ago - are considered the normality these days. Hence he will be running out of steam which leaves some hope for younger newcomers. Abhisit could play an instrumental role in such a constellation; maybe not as PM but in an advisory board ..... he is definitely one of the better guys ????

Are all these Westerners out of their mind?

Welcome to Middle Age, the Spanish inquisition and the puritan bible belt goons. I wonder, what Pence and all those other old goats and farts would say, if their (grand-)daughters are pregnant by rape or carrying, for whatever other reason, a handicapped, unborn child. My personal is, that men should have no say whatsoever in this matter. Allow abortions within a given, already existing legal time frame allowing women to decide for themselves without ifs, whens and whys. This country here is full of unwanted children, as their mothers - mostly totally uneducated - hop into the sack with pollinating men. Latter bonk around all over villages and then disappear into thin air. This leaves tens of thousands of kids in the skillful hands of their grandparents, aunties and God-only-knows-who to be brought up for monetary reasons by the same old-fashioned manner. Hence the Pope, Pence and all the other geezers should shut up their mouth .........

So, then pending work permit applications can be thrown into the bin and ..... the Board of Trade has to update the "Alien Business Law" then by yet another profession reserved for the semi-divines. It will be good company to "hair dressing" or "ice carving" then ............ Welcome to the 21st century from the Neanderthal ..........

How many such incidents happen to Thais which will go unreported? If that would ever happen to me, I would sue the whole lot; this manure has to stop! Pure laziness and terrible execution of a most likely overpaid public tender of wiring ...... just look at the electricity posts all over town. If my toddler grandchild would be given toothpicks to be put into a chocolate cake, more picks would be straight up than what these goons purposely and brainlessly achieve!

Two comments on the subject: - the Northeast of Thailand, called Isan, has 17 million citizen and quite a few are jobless without any money trickling in from the dole - ever considered enrolling them as oars*people (to be gender correct in the 21st century)? - wondering if, once Uncle Too and his cronies have passed away, their descendants will be facing an invitation to face the music like Samak Sundaravej and his little firetruck stint 20+ years ago? 13 billion is not to be sneezed at, particularly for something which is not only completely unnecessary but ridicules Thailand for years to come.

The headline "Thirty eight foreigners and 14 Thais ......"; wondering why 38 was written in letters? They made 52 arrests of gamblers playing the card game baccarat - 14 Thais, 22 Chinese, 14 people from Myanmar and two Malaysians. Does that mean, that the dirty farang made a runner in time, some boys did not receive their envelopes or was some dirt thrown between the non-existing gambling dens? Asking for a friend ....

Well, screen the background of buildings, owners, financial data as well as have a close look at eventual insurance policies ........

Samak got dethroned over a ridiculous remuneration for a cooking show on TV while the law stipulated, that he was not allowed to attend to any other work. Common sense in Thailand explained and for the lukewarm attempt to get a single Baht back from that heist of almost 2 billion ........ dream on is indeed the theme! If the BMA as well as any other government agency would have to publish their needs, their applications and the people's right to query an expense, the city halls of Thailand would be most likely empty. The corruption is sooooooo rampant and there is apparently absolutely nothing, the Thai people want to undertake to stop getting skinned alive. It is modern looting and the looted victim just watch it happening. Only once the electorate understands, that these crooks are going to town with the taxpayers money, that the government is not earning a single cent, only then there is light at the end of the tunnel which is not the headlight of an engine racing against them. Keep on dreaming, yes, but the day will come and the dam will burst. Certain cracks are already in the dam's wall but the bloody wall is very thick and high; lets hope for the best!