prk888

just had an SMS from Kasikorn offering 4% - don't know all details yet but maybe worth looking into. as we shall.

from today's UK Independent newspaper ...............

As many as one in seven hospital procedures are unnecessary, leading to "profligate" waste in the health service, a senior NHS official has said.

On the topic of peanuts, what would some of you more affluent members have done here:

Going through the checkout yesterday at Tops Central, one of my items was scanned at 92 baht, but the item was clearly marked at 86 baht?

Would you have let it go, or brought it to the attention of the checkout lady?

I would have brought it to the attention of the checkout lady.

likewise.

And would have waited patiently & silently & smilingly for her to sort it out - not my job. B6 or B600, mai pen rai.

Ah, but then I am retired and rarely have a schedule to maintain.

Any subsequent customer queues which form can blame their 'systems' and not the customer

still hungover at noon on a Sunday Alex ?

I had a friend hit by a thai , he was hospitalized and died ,the Thai tried to sue his familly for his injuries , no one got anything in the end . TIT.

Ok, with a wonderful young family I am here for the (my) duration but the above frightening post is soooooooooo familiar ............ why do so many want to live here?

why rooftops? Try DRIFTERS on Na Jomtien beach - feet in the sand and cold beers looking directly west to "bum island" with wonderful sunsets. K. Mon serves a fair home made pizza too.

I think the OP's original point was that there are more important matters that the committee should be attending to at this time, rather than worrying about issues regarding the car park which apparently don't inconvenience anybody. The trouble is that residential committees usually like to feel that they are doing something useful, but many of the matters they perhaps should be focusing on are complicated and difficult and will take a long time to sort out, if ever. So the tendency is to avoid these things and focus on simple stuff, like stopping people from parking their jet skis in an otherwise almost deserted car park. Perhaps if the OP gave us some examples of the issues that he feels the committee should be concentrating on rather than the car park then people here might be able to tell him if they agree or not?

no washing of dirty linen in public Guderian but ............. e.g. how about focussing on a 7-figure amount of outstanding annual fees?

Thanks for all the views expressed so far some of which include simple but effective suggestions.

Concerns a 400+ out-of-town condo building with a very large car park. Car park usually 10-15% used (and that's at weekends).

Only time it was full was at the time of the BKK floods some years ago.

A very few co--owners (some of whom have multiple condos) park their jet-skis or small dinghies to the very rear of the car park. I am not one of the owners

Someone seems to have had a bee in the bonnet and now The Committee has told these few owners they must move their 'vessels' or face million dollar daily fines, eventual boat confiscation and then a lifetime in a Thai jail .................

They say it's in the Rules & Regs. which well it may be.

There are in my view many important issues The Committee could be handling and many, many more serious R & R broken by other co-owners

So the LAW threatens to disrupt this now tranquil & exquisite condo complex !

Many co-owners, including me, think it is absurd to create this mountain out of a wee molehill and corners have been backed into.

What say you and by 'you' I really mean clear-thinking TV members who have a sensible contribution to make? I'd certainly like to read such comments.

Who knows, if there are really some intelligent views expressed here then even The Committee might have a rethink and maybe keep their eyes closed until it becomes a real issue.

It's something that was caused by Friendship "customers" in the past.

Loads of people were complaining about the fact that they could hardly park at Friendship, because the parking was full.

80% of the parked vehicles belonged to Soi Bhuakow market-visitors and that's why they "invented" this unpopular parking-fee.

Whether it's about THB 10, THB 20 or THB 100......a rule is a rule and a principle is a principle. I would complain as well even if it was about THB 10

I certainly do not complain at this "invented and unpopular parking fee". It is neither. It is totally pragmatic and more than realistic. Parking for free or at minimal cost in the centre of a tourist town. Great value - cannot be beaten anywhere in my opinion.

as with most sporting events the host broadcaster can sell the rights to everything on an individual basis e.g. commentary language, crowd noise, half-time analysis, screen graphics (scores, times etc), post match highlights so as always "you pays yer money and takes yer choice"

I believe the T&C are also on the back of the ticket.(spend over B300 and 1 hour free or somesuch)

Can you imagine the value of that parking lot?

Without some sort of charge you'd never be able to park

Maybe the fees and T&C should be much more but also clearly displayed

But then customers wouldn't read them either and still complain

" deliberately fathering a child when there is a much higher chance of bringing a handicapped child into the world is just irresponsible, "

This is a perfectly reasonable point from Thai Beach Lover.

But, when I consulted two doctors about the odds of dwarfism, both said it was caused by a genetic disorder in men whose probability increases in old age. They both said that dwarfism is extremely rare, and much less likely than having a baby with Down Syndrome from a 35-year old women. That correlated with my own research on the net.

When asked to quantify the odds, one said 1 in 10,000. The other said: about 1 in 60,000. One said that the odds with me were even lower since I didn't used mutagenic (gene disturbing) drugs such as pot or LSD. And both cited the fact that I had just fathered a healthy baby as lowering the odds.

A Taiwanese midwife, who I had used in one birthing and who said she had delivered 3,000 babies, said "Don't worry. You're not using drugs are you?"

With odds like that, I went into the project enthusiastically.

Both late arrivals, by the way, are extremely intelligent. The older one, is partially home schooled by me, and partially schooled at a good private school in Bangkok. She was so advanced in reading that I had to go to her school principal and tell her that she (my daughter) was complaining about the reading assignments because they were too simple. The school, to its credit, started a small "advanced reading" group to accommodate my little girl and two other young girls.

My other daughter (the dwarf), doesn't have the same advantages. She lives with her mother up-country. The mom is loving, caring, and intelligent, but unable to home school. Too tired after farming (her own farm) and holding down a second job selling insurance. It never ceases to amaze me how much parental involvement means to the mental development of a child.

I don't know for a fact, but I don't think it's the Thai schools that hold kids back. It's the lack of parental involvement. The old sister of my last daughter (the dwarf), is not my child. But she chose to stay with me in Bangkok for 4 years, going to a Thai school. With just a little bit of help and push from me, she rose to the top three in her class in math and English.

Now, she's back in Ubon with her mom and wants to come back here for that help and push -- even though I don't let her wear those tight-tight shorts that the young Thai teens seem to love.

I guess to her I'm just a grumpy old granddaddy but she loves me anyway. And vice versa.

Just having fun (in Bangkok)

P.S. For those of you who enjoy words, "granddaddy" is only English word I've found with two double "d's". Can you find another?

how about the one word that has three consecutive double letters ........................

I believe tropo is correct. So if we are saying that the market might be changing (or has changed) then how do we (and maybe the advertisers also) think TVF should adapt ?

I agree 100% with justhavingfun

"Wow (Mr Faz) , so much hate and anger. You have a lot of problems to work out."

But very difficult to change a nasty bigot's attitudes.

Don't think time of year is why.

could be a more deeper issue.

yes, my thoughts too .......................

is it my imagination but are the current threads getting far less views and many less replies than typical ? Is that because it's low season ?

I am sure you are quite right Mr Faz (well you must be right as you state "the truth is ") but how do YOU define cradle snatching ?

Do you have specific ages in mind or age differences for example ?

How old is my wife do you suppose? Ahhh, so is that cradle snatching ?

Charles and Diana say? Michael Douglas and Catherine? Charlie Chapiln and various ? Bernie Ecclestone ?

So, frowned upon by whom and also useful to know in which countries please just so your assertion can be examined?

Nope the question is how is it

that those guys were able to

get young women while

remaining firmly anchored in

the West but you had to come

to Thailand to find a woman of

breeding age?

Why is it that you feel able to make such bold and totally erroneous assumptions Mr Yeah Siam without knowing anything about me or my background ! Somewhat audacious (or even stupid) methinks. Better to keep your mouth shut and save the embarrassment.

Neither you nor Mr Faz it appears can answer civil & logical questions either

sorry I forgot to ask Mr Faz - what's cradle snatching (once defined of course) got to do with the price of eggs or this topic ?

I am sure you are quite right Mr Faz (well you must be right as you state "the truth is ") but how do YOU define cradle snatching ?

Do you have specific ages in mind or age differences for example ?

How old is my wife do you suppose? Ahhh, so is that cradle snatching ?

Charles and Diana say? Michael Douglas and Catherine? Charlie Chapiln and various ? Bernie Ecclestone ?

So, frowned upon by whom and also useful to know in which countries please just so your assertion can be examined?

I think you have to ask yourself ( and other pensioners ... ) that if you were in your home country would you be thinking of having children at 66 years old? ( probably not..) so why because you are in Thailand are you thinking of doing it?????????

Farang Jaidee x

the truth is canarysun that 'back home' as you put it the only ladies that would be interested in me (irrespective of my available funds) would be those well past child bearing age and/or inclination. That's the way of this world. I stated this beautiful creature was my first child. I had thought about this for many many years and by meeting the right person (I've been here for nearly 15 years) finally fulfilled my long-held dream. That's the way of this world.

We pensioners as you seem to so disparagingly but correctly refer to me and others of my vintage were and are able to spend all the long days with their kids.

How much time did you spend with yours ? Climbing the career ladder; leaving home before they woke up; getting home after they were in bed; knackered at weekends; struggling and arguing over finances; no time to swim every day after school; no time to help with homework.

Incidentally she adores me as much as her mum - how bad is that, .

I think it is YOU and not I that has to ask & question yourself

My daughter at nearly 5 already speaks IMHO beautiful English (maybe better than her mum's who only started to learn English later in her life and still sometimes struggles with plurals, tenses etc. AND certainly better than many posters on TVF) and good Thai. Oh and learning Mandarin also

Poor little soul indeed.

think about this ................ my good friend (university educated and CEO of her own companies) very recently passed from cancer aged very early 50's leaving 3 kids at Universities. Such events happen all the time. We will all have our own examples Cant predict much can we?

My mates tell me they have never seen such a happy contented bright young toddler as ours so she's on the right path as far as we are concerned.

I am always totally amazed at why others truly believe that what they think and say has to be the only truth

my Thai wife is a much younger, educated and good wife and an excellent mother. We both agree that our daughter will not miss out on such issues you mention

I had my first and only child at aged 64.

She is now almost 5 yrs old.

Absolutely & unequivocally the best thing I ever did (and I've done a few things)

Absolutely no regrets

Of course it's expensive but hey ..................

Every day is a sure-fired bonus

Entirely your decision & up to you (as they say) so maybe go for it !!

more fool you ............

They don't. Just lightening up.

I ordered from UK having bought my first one in UK.

The wider community might choose to view and then order as I did maybe

So basically your contradicting your own statement by suggesting that a completly false statement is positive of which it isn't.

absobloodylutely sir!