Sydebolle

Visiting in-laws?

Point taken yet I just fell off my office chair when I read "there is no insurance coverage to rely on.” I had 17 minor accidents by third parties who hit my car; bikes, cars, pick-ups and a truck. And, guess what, only two had insurance, five made a runner (got all of 'em thanks to a dash camera) and the remaining ten tried all possible hat tricks to get off the hook. No insurance coverage to rely on - made my day, thank you for that!

Does SHE know who stands to her left?

If the passport copy is insufficient, then just leave the package and FedEx will return to sender

Start with cleaning up this over-bureaucratic pain of immigration please

Less systems, less working groups, less forms, less paragraphs, well TM1-TM9999 ......... would be the answer. Look at Singapore, look at Europe - they managed immigration issues without all those police generals, police lieutenants and what-else-you-may-have. Completely overloaded bureaucracy ...........

"Lax Law Enforcement Cited for Alarming Road Fatalities in Thailand" Wrong headline - should read "Absent Law Enforcement" - and in other places, where "Lax Law Enforcement" is applied, it usually gets bent more often than not with some contributions to the "look the other side fund". You're welcome!

She thinks (and is mostly right) that she marries an ATM. The social values of a Thai compared to a Caucasian is mostly diametral but the Caucasian does not realize this most of the time and if so, it is too late. Many of these girls got bonked as teenagers on the social behest of the grannies and uncles to marry (not legally but just traditionally with lots of Sinsot/Dowry) and then carry on and produce offsprings. Testosterone-loaded boys hammer to no end until "Bingo" and she's pregnant. Boy makes a runner, is legally not bound and is not taken to the cleaner for child support as he is busy impregnating the next sweetheart in another village and has no money to start with. In addition the loss of face of the pregnant girl's family is not to be overlooked as well. That explains, why each and every department store must be having tens of thousands of cashiers on the payroll and, my boy, those paychecks are fantastic as they result in gold necklaces the size of a huge motorbike chain, the brother gets a motorbike and daddy if not uncle roams the village in a pick-up. Mama sees some gold as well and everything seems to be restored. The cold truth is, that the girl plies the trade of "les belles de nuit" which she shares with hundred thousand other girls. Irregular payments to the village for the offsprings upkeepinig, frequent hair dressing, lots of alcohol and other pops, gambling and the notorious boyfriend-cum-motorbike-delivery-boy ensure, that the bottomless pit stays bottomless. Comes along Khun Farang from faraway lands, funny language and funny food, but who cares. Off she goes to farangland, no sanook, but far away from all the misery and all those people leeching off whatever they can. The farang usually has a story of his own being divorced with some kids in the ex's custody and life is miserable as well. Ideal fertile ground for such relations. It usually works though only, if the farang does not have too high expectations or is not the sharpest tool in the box. In most cases it does not work in the long run. He met the girl in a bar and fears that whoever spills bigger banknotes will take over the bounty. She, on the other hand, does not trust Khun Farang either as he paid/pays for her. If he finds a better deal - not essentially financial alone - then she's past history. Vicious circle indeed; and if he's a tourist living outside Asia, then he will learn pretty soon, that you can take a Thai out of Thailand but you cannot take Thailand out of a Thai. You're welcome!

Read the finer details - if you can. There is a distinct difference between Jews and Israel and my lines were addressing the official Israel and its government. Nothing to do with my Israeli and Jewish friends so stop throwing manure at random if you don't know the difference

Yeah, the Alien Business Law - a ridiculous listing of professions which may, by all means, not performed by non-Thais. Ice carving, hair dressing, massage and other such stuff ......... Of interest is i.e. tourism; I've come across the most terrible tour guides - only interested in the 30% - 50% commission from sellers of overpriced stuff, poor command of the visitors language and almost zero clue of their cultural background. But the semi-divine have the licenses and hence cultural, historical or architectural elements of tour programmes are seriously short-changed in many cases. Only once Thailand understands, that everybody is same in front of the laws and regulations of the country, only then Thailand might be considered a valuable member of the business community of the 21st century. If you cannot beat them, then join them. Do away with all those governmental quotas and stop hammering it into the brains of Thais, that Thais and non-Thais are completely different. Everything else is backtracking in the long run

Prostitution, drugs and absolute ignorance towards the law - welcome to Thailand. The first thing to do when a new law is published - try to find out how to circumvent it or who is there to bribe. As long as there is very little to no law enforcement ..........

Reality draws a completely different picture to your statement - regretfully. Innocent people are killed on a genocide level and this is a Palestine statement and not a splinter group like Hamas alone!

Varawut Silpa-archa might be very, very well advised to put his foot down. Get externally appointed fact checking and arrest the culprits. Same to those in charge of "screening". Once all identified, book them and throw away the keys. How sickening is that, what is going on in those people's minds?

Book him into a psychiatric facility and throw away the keys - everything else might result in a disaster and you do not want to take that risk.

It's called a lawyer working in a law office ........... and is a matter of common sense - me thinks!

Well, well, since the envelopes from RR dried up and RR was subsequently fined for non-receipt able money transfers between RR and Thai Airways, things seem to have soured up somehow. But then there is Pratt&Whitney, General Electric and if you look carefully, you for sure can find a Chinese alternative. If I look at all those airframes standing around at various airports of Thailand, some 5 - 6 A380 permanently parked for years, then I might assume that RRs service intervals and time frames might be the lesser problem.

The visiting competition did not know that they have to pay rent to the coppers for using the semi-divine streets of Patong. But I am sure that this matter will be solved "amicably" and to the happiness of all concerned.

Perfect wrap-up and to the point "we do not want American (proxy) wars, never wanted and never want them in the future". Might stop only, if American tax payers have to pay for the destruction their fellow country man under the baton of the official Washington DC warmongering gang!

6 million Jews were victims of genocide some 80+ years ago and each and let me be crystal clear; every loss of life was certainly one too many. Germany has been reprimanded and faces the Nazi titles, to this very day, each and every time something does not fit into the "political correctness" mould. Nobody held the Soviet Union (with 23 million lives lost) or China (with 70 million lives lost) responsible for their genocides - but that is another story. I am not surprised, that the official Israel now has to warn its people as the official Israel practices genocide while you read these lines. Unclear remains, why Israel seems to get away with almost everything on this subject, while i.e. Germans - in meanwhile third generation after WW2 - are still blamed for their past. Today nobody is alive anymore who was able to make a decision during the NSDAP days. So if Israel starts to try to become a member of the world's community, does not shred each and every UN resolution ..... only then there is hope for peace and young(er) Israelis will not have to be warned about anything. My criticism is on the official Israel and not the individual Israelis of which most are not aggressive invaders to enlarge "the promised land"!

Thailand looked upon domestically does not essentially correspond to the picture seen from an outsider looking in?

Central Europeans brought the hotel management levels to Thailand and did VERY well. In the past, any decent 4*+ and 5* hotel was managed by a graduate of a hotel management school in (mostly German-speaking) Europe. As the levels dropped all over the planet, the few selected surviving premises remained keeping their extremely high standard, the rest went "normal". Today, after 40 years in the realm, I find it disappointing and frustrating; you can hear the quarrel of occupants next door, amenities are missing, basics are not working (flat batteries on TV remote controls and broken light bulbs). Check-in sloppy and absolutely disinterested focussing on Line, Facebook and whatever else phones offer today. Breakfasts are inedible with coffee in glass pots simmered for hours, fried eggs - cold - swimming in oil, ham swimming in brine and cheapest palm oil margarine replacing butter. All this a higher prices than ever before. Bottom line is, choose a boutique hotel off a platform (booking.com, Agoda.com etc.) - forget the brekky and have that separately in a restaurant. Travel with ear plugs and shades (the ones you also use on airplanes) and Bob's your uncle!

Surprise surprise. Apart from making sure that a builder puts in the cheapest of the cheapest brands in most cases the copper diametre is insufficient. A good report would list those brands which passed and a skilled electrician (yeah, I know, Thailand.....) will not only insert the third yellow/green ground wire but also ensure that normal sockets run on 4mm coppers and heavy duty equipment (oven, stove, hot water heater, air conditioning etc.) are wired with 6mm copper wire; solid copper and not threads. The colour of the casing is also not for funny decorative reasons but of life-saving importance. In a previous house I built, the electrician wired rooms per colour, i.e. light blue was one room, solid red another room and the kitchen got green. Education is the key as well as the liability issue by the people doing the job!

This governmental hot air released through the backside means, that the private industry pays for more holidays. The end is, that the industry makes less money due to higher costs for the same output and that means less tax income with then is whined about in connection with the purchase of most essential stuff for the country, i.e. three submarines. You simply cannot make up such nonsense; it happens here on a daily basis for decades already ...... and everybody is a bystander and watches silently - how pathetic!

Not in this context, no!

They will be reassigned with some more interesting bureaucratic f-a-rts, the 90 days might be boiled to 30 days or someone has to check, if all the photocopies are signed with exclusively blue ink. If I see, what the immigration madness has resulted in this country ...... the sky is the limit!