Sydebolle

Well, what was the US air force doing in this part of the world during WW2? 82,000 MIAs Americans; anybody ever counted the MIAs of the Indochina desaster and I mean Indochinese (Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese) MIAs?

Well, home work not done - or just to please Prayut for a maiden flight some time ago? Have a look at the map and you'll see that there ARE alternatives without flying into Betong. Just wondering who signed off the work sheet for the construction of this airport. Betong is 160+ kms away from Narathiwat or 140 kms away from (Malaysian) Penang ........

I use a lot of domestic flights and one thing, irrespective of route or airline have all of them in common. NOBODY listens to the crew on safety, nobody pays attention to anything the cabin crew says, be it "switch off the phones", "no outside food" nor "keep your seat belts fastened whenever seated". Thainess at its very best, rules are here to be broken or at least bent and if the proverbial manure hits the wind-moving machinery ...........

Call Beijing for the next set of orders but "endemic" will be the case once the brethren in the red North have done and dealt with Shanghai and their other little issues of "trouble"!

Well, maybe it will improve the stinky water with tons of residues which are all washed into taps, heaters and pools whenever the supply goes off and subsequently is going on again.

Came across that situation countless times. ATM out of order, out of cash, out of paper, out of everything. In Europe, they have had drive-through ATMs for the last 50 years with a red lamp indicating, if the machine was not operative. How frustrating is it when you park the car (best even in a shopping centre with an open bank counter of the very same bank) and the frigging machine is not working. You then troll back five minutes to your car, drive on to the next one and ZANG, the next broken machine. If you withdraw anything below a certain limit, then you can resort to a competitor's machine though - against a fee ............ medieval, to say the least! Customer comes last; as always!

Without the bureaucrats, the Thailand pass, the insurance and all the avalanche of paper before you would have passed the 5 - 8 million mark by now already! But explain that to all those generals ........ ahem ....... politicians and health experts with construction background!

Get her a pair of reading glasses and note down the entire happening - perfect material for yet another episode of a Thai soap opera. Poor wife, caring helpless husband, confused waiter and arrogant pr1ck of a hotel manager/owner. Next please!

Given the benefit of the doubt; the last four days were holidays and nobody answered any phone nowhere as "not being in". I had deliveries with stickers on the outside referring to the "need to video make open backage" and ever since we're doing that. COD does not leave a paper trail, CC and bank transfers do.

So, and what exactly is the autopsy for? Just wondering .......... did he die from a shot or a shock over the way his "student" is handling the Glock?

No, that is just the border post for those taking the intercontinental high speed express, running twice daily (at least they did that in the past) from Nong Khai/Thailand to Thanaleng/Lao PDR ????

I took friends from out of town to the Nong Khai immigration post and it always worked. A smile here, a "sorry, me fool forgot" and you're sorted. The fee was (beware "past tense") 1,000 Baht single and 3,800 Baht for multiple re-entries. Just don't lose your temper ???? 106 Moo 7 Chalermprakiat road Meechai / Muang Nongkhai 43000 phone numbers: 042-420-242‬ and 042-420-244 042-990-935 and 042-990-941 GPS Navigation coordinates: 17.859662, 102.728092 For sporty chaps, the distance between the Immigration and the border offices at the bridge head is a mere 1.2 kilometres - just in case you cannot get a rentable vehicle like a motorbike or a TukTuk. I also attach a blank TM8 Form, the application form for a re-entry visa. Complete it, possibly in the comfort of a home with a desk rather than a windy window-sill or the bonnet of a car and use a blue ball pen (they have this thing with blue!). Don't forget the passport pictures as that sends you on a lunar orbit here in Nong Khai ???? Good luck. TM 8 Re-entry application.pdf

One senile fellow was given the opportunity to walk the secured garden while the other one should have considered seeing a professional tailor above the porky pig niveau ???? Wondering what they discussed and just hope that the did not get "lost in translation"!

Well, well, the US is aware of the fact, that they sit on lousy card at the Indochina poker. The US' oldest friend in the region - yes - but this friendship was bought after WW2 to put a military supply foot into Indochina in the early 60s of last century. The US alliance was never called for; Kennedy should have taken the North Vietnamese infiltration of the (neutral) Kingdom of Laos to New York and address the United Nations (like what should be done now with Russia and Ukraine). Their so-called "alliance" brought trillions of dollars to Thailand; some of it went into military infrastructure like highway grids and all the airport in Northeastern Thailand. The rest went to line pockets of the men in uniform; unlike other places of conflict, where the US had put its nose in, they could not put the bill onto any Vietnamese desk for payment (unlike Irak paying in oil and Brussels is footing the war mongering in Ukraine). In their failed foreign policy arrogance since 1945, the US has not realized that it had lost the grip on Asia in general, except some spots and tens of thousands of American troops in South Korea, Japanese, the Philippines and Taiwan. The Chinese were and still are of the arguably understandable opinion, that the US had plenty of other higher priorities to attend. In diplomatic terms the US' involvement everywhere was and still is "c'est malvue" and, despite his fourth attempt in visiting the region, this part of the world tilts towards China - for countless reasons. Anyhow, the official doctrine anywhere outside Thailand is, that Prayut and his cronies are meanwhile lame ducks in the departure lounge of power but, as protocol commands, the Americans in this case show them the way out ????

Makes me wonder; how much is the governmental tax mark-up in Europe? The petrol comes from the same non-local sources and as things stand, the Thai government is still making a (slimmed down) cut on tax income on fuel. Obviously here in Thailand the government - for once - has hardly any choice as the voter base runs on diesel vehicles and agricultural machinery. Touch the diesel price and the boys in Bangkok are toast - simple as that!

Well, at least the Indians are back. Unclear though is, what these fellows are doing - decorated like a Christmas tree with all that gold buntings - and then run around and complain being robbed. They come from a "rob" society; whoever travelled in Southasia has stories to share. Hence why on Earth run around like a gold shop display - for what? All this of course on the assumption, that our little friend from beautiful India indeed left home with it ????

Looking forward to Level -4; no nothing and the usual traffic jams on Thailand's road ????

Well, the fruits of his service to the country might have even rewarded him with a maiden flight on one of the three B777's as recently delivered to Thai Airways; despite having B747 and B737 distributed all over the Land, parked for (non-operative) restaurants and other funny things. Well, if you want to shop till you drop then you have to clear the shelves back home first to make space for the new goodies and toys.

No money for kiddies seats? Reminds me of the day the mandatory bike helmet was introduced and they moaned over 400 - 600 Baht for a (more than questionable) helmet. Now it is the same song again, no safety belts and no money for either safety belts nor children seats. Maybe you should only those drive a car who can afford to pay cash in full while putting up steep fines for breaking the rules. But the helmet law saw a juicy increase of 50 Baht notes changing from drivers to law enforcers until Covid 19. Now they drive around with a mask but still no helmet - go figure!

As long as you run a monopoly provider for stamps, approvals etc. you literally can charge what you want and treat your victims likewise. Having said that, there are nice[r] offices than Jomtien but it might have to do with their clientele. Some service seekers are really off the scale and should be sent home to dress properly, get a shave and leave their catch-of-last-night at home ..........

So this little sweet heart of Thai politics is still on its "dirty Farang" and "alien" rampage ..... at least he is consistent!

Why should today's kids get a fair deal when their parents and grandparents were already short changed back in the day? The Thai education ...... too many articles were written and spoken about; changes have to come from within but for the time being those who could change anything are those who directly benefit of the status-quo of uneducated electorate sheep ....... all the rest is smoke-screen!

Apart from blocking it through your phone provider there is another interesting trick. Tell the caller to stay on the line and not go away as you're so interested in what they have to say. Then just put the phone to the side and carry what you've been doing. I had callers from all over the planet's call centres, the most patient one stayed online for staggering 48 minutes. After the second or third attempt ...... silence and I have not been called ever again. With your 'stay online' please you're burning the time of the caller who, in turn, have to call as many as they can to sell whatever stuff they want you to buy. 48 minutes waiting for nothing ....... go figure!

One for the money, two for the face ....... nothing changed.

As long as they have money, the Thais will continue to do so - keep an eye on the governmental kindness of subsidy as you're paying it through your tax money. As long as the access to Thailand remains plastered with typical Thai bureaucracy, funny ideas of landing tax of 300 Baht, two-tier pricing, a visa mess of the finest order and corruption literally almost anywhere you look ..... Embassies do not answer phones nor reply to emails and the aliens and dirty Farang are looked down upon. As long as that prevails, yes, indeed, Thais will be the majority clientele - maybe you keep it that way round. This bunch of money-loaded customers you do actually not like has found alternatives in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Senegal and many beautiful, partly less expensive destinations in Europe. There is a message somewhere but it takes an IQ above the shoe size to understand, accept and work on that!