jesimps

Oh, I could criticise you all night pal. I could criticise the fact that you hover, waiting to jump on any small part of a post that you can pass a silly comment.

I could criticise you on the fact that you have never offered a helpful comment in all the time I've been coming on these boards.

I could criticise the moderators for not having banned you a long time ago.

I could criticise you on the fact that you think you are a comedian, despite the fact that you're incredibly UNfunny.

etc etc etc

Tell you what though pal, if you promise to pick up my bar tab, I'll drink my whisky in whatever way you desire. I'll even have it in a glass with an umbrella stuck in a cherry.

Pathetic twerp!

Thank you jesemps! You correctly nailed that caustic creep, and psychotic mess. I could puke at the infantile and sarcastic crap she's posted over the years to be that bit better than everyone else; and the mods have yet to ban her. Thanks again!

It isn't funny soft lad. It's big kids like you that stopped me using this forum to obtain advice. Believe it or not, the forum is here to help people, not for you to practise your sledgehammer wit.

Oh, I could criticise you all night pal. I could criticise the fact that you hover, waiting to jump on any small part of a post that you can pass a silly comment.

I could criticise you on the fact that you have never offered a helpful comment in all the time I've been coming on these boards.

I could criticise the moderators for not having banned you a long time ago.

I could criticise you on the fact that you think you are a comedian, despite the fact that you're incredibly UNfunny.

etc etc etc

Tell you what though pal, if you promise to pick up my bar tab, I'll drink my whisky in whatever way you desire. I'll even have it in a glass with an umbrella stuck in a cherry.

Pathetic twerp!

Thank you jesemps! You correctly nailed that caustic creep, and psychotic mess. I could puke at the infantile and sarcastic crap she's posted over the years to be that bit better than everyone else; and the mods have yet to ban her. Thanks again!

Pleasure, just telling it as it is. Nice to know there are people on these boards who aren't sychophants of his. Without his toadies I think he'd have been banished long ago.

you admit that you too are full of wind, p*#@ and criticism. [unquote]

Oh, I could criticise you all night pal. I could criticise the fact that you hover, waiting to jump on any small part of a post that you can pass a silly comment.

I could criticise you on the fact that you have never offered a helpful comment in all the time I've been coming on these boards.

I could criticise the moderators for not having banned you a long time ago.

I could criticise you on the fact that you think you are a comedian, despite the fact that you're incredibly UNfunny.

etc etc etc

Tell you what though pal, if you promise to pick up my bar tab, I'll drink my whisky in whatever way you desire. I'll even have it in a glass with an umbrella stuck in a cherry.

Pathetic twerp!

Sorry, just noticed that it's Nationwide International you're referring to who maybe don't issue card readers, as opposed to Nationwide UK who do.

I take it you haven't got a Nationwide card reader? If you had, you'd be able to change your address etc online using that. It's not a secure item on it's own so they'll send one to you in Thailand, they sent mine here but I had to have my new card sent via my daughter in UK. You can also use the card reader to make transfers.

something to throw in the mix regarding paying pension to Thailand.

I pay funds to Thailand via my Halifax account.

It may be of benefit for those who can open a Halifax account in UK or already have one.

Get pension paid into Halifax account. After 2 or 3 months (or each month or whenever convenient) do an international online payment. THIS CAN BE DONE TO SEND FUNDS IN STERLING, so gets converted here at Thai Banks exchange rate. The total cost for transfer by BACS is GBP 9.95 (that's it! not a penny more) and if over GBP 1,000 is paid in then you get GBP 5 interest, so reducing cost further if it is all you use the account for, as indeed I do.

Anyway once account set up, you can do the transfer online from UK or from Thailand whenever you wish, costs GBP 9.95 or less and choose to send in GBP. Usually takes 3 or 4 days to arrive in my Thai Bank account, but I allow up to 6 days.

They can spot check transactions and a Thai phone number is fine. I have done 5 transfers of funds from UK to Thailand whilst I am in Thailand and 3 from UK to Thailand whilst in UK, none of which have yet been auto phone confirmed, but no worries if they were anyway as it's extra security. It's easy, cheap, sent in GBP and all online.

Just one little addition to this one, they have an offer on at the moment, you can make three transfers with a reduction of 2 pounds per transfer. You get a reference number from the website and type it into your transfer instructions. I've made two transfers so far and have cost me 7.95 pounds each. I'm in the process of having my pension paid into Halifax instead of Nationwide, then I can get the 5 pounds interest each month, makes the transfers cheap.

Don't normally contribute to this forum because of the idiots who frequent it waiting to snipe, so any comments from the Klingon and co won't receive a response.

See you in a month or two maybe.

Whisky snobs are very much like wine snobs, they like to tell everyone else how to drink their's. I don't drink

blended whisky neat, I prefer it with soda. Single malt I drink with a small amount of ice only. Because I

can only afford single malt on special occasions, most of my whisky is taken with soda.

I know guys who drink beer with ice, but I don't criticise them for it, if that's the way they like it then good luck to them.

Why should they change their drinking preferences for me?

If you pay for your drink, whatever it is, you take it how it grabs you. Ignore the neat whisky tough guys, they're

full of wind and p*#@ Most of them probably aren't even regular whisky drinkers anyway.

...then 70 end of 2011 and 95 end of 2012

Rude Old man, im thinking this is rubbish, or is it your devastatingly witty humour?

Now write something constructive or go away old man, youre boring.

Don't expect to receive a constructive reply from idiot child Naam, in all the years of reading this forum I've never know him to

offer a helpful or constructive comment to anyone. He seems to take immense pleasure from ridiculing posters.

Obviously thinks he's a got a vastly superior intellect and it's below him to be helpful in any way. Also fancies himself

as a something of a comic although in reality he's just a pathetic, incredibly bitter individual.

I try to ignore him and do so most of the time, but there are occasions when I wonder why he's still allowed by the mods to

use these boards and feel moved to pass a comment.

I doubt he has many friends on TV.

Scotch and soda in French bar last week = 5.5 euros! First night back in Pattaya tonight I paid 75 baht for same, a wee bit cheaper I think. Seeing that my main outgoings are for liquid refreshments, it's still an awful lot cheaper for me to live here.

Well 4 hours is better than 8 or 12 hours.

Maybe it helps them to keep some of the Reds of the streets and to catch them if they are thinking of doing terrorist stuff.

Pity they didn't do it when the yellows were doing their terrorist stuff against the ELECTED government.

I slightly gave up on this thread because it seemed I couldnt adequately explain a concept that is so inherently simple.

So I will try again....

Here is Wikipedia on sterilization....

Sterilization in macroeconomics refers to open market operations undertaken by a country's central bank (CB) whose aim is to neutralize the impact of associated foreign exchange operations.[1]

Most often sterilization is used in the context of a central bank which takes actions to negate potentially harmful impacts of capital inflows, such as currency appreciation, loss of export competitiveness and inflation. Occasionally it may refer to any form of monetary policy which seeks to leave the domestic money supply unchanged in the face of shocks or other changes, including capital outflows.

Central banks use sterilization to eliminate negative side-effects of their intervention in foreign exchange markets. For example, assume that a country's currency is depreciating. To prevent this the country's central bank may decide to intervene in the foreign exchange market of the country. To prop up the value of the nation's currency the CB may resort to creating artificial demand for its currency. This it may do by selling foreign exchange reserves and buying local currency. The resultant demand stops the currency's depreciation but decreases the amount of liquidity in the local economy (the amount of local currency held by banks, credit unions, businesses, individuals, etc). Hence, to offset this negative outcome the CB may engage in open market operations that supply liquidity into the system (by buying local-currency-denominated bonds), thereby "sterilizing" the negative effect of its foreign exchange intervention

Now simply reverse the last paragraph....

For example, assume that a country's currency is appreciating. To prevent this the country's central bank may decide to resort to intervene in the foreign exchange market of the country. To depress the value of the nations's currency the CB may resort to creating artificial supply for its currency. This it may do by buying foreign exchange reserves and selling local currency. The resultant supply stops the currency appreciating but increases the amount of liquidity in the local market (the amount of local currency held by banks, credit unions, businesses, individuals etc.). Hence, to offest this negative outcome the CB may engage in open market operations that decreases liquidity into the system (by selling local-currency-denominated bonds), thereby 'sterilizing' the negative effect of its foreign exchange intervention.

Simply the BoT is short baht - long reserves. It can only unwind by issuing baht into the domestic MS and creating inflation or allowing the baht to appreciate as others buy US dollars and sell baht to repay the bonds.

Sounds logical to me, why can't the UK do this, or do we want our currency to remain weak?

Forgot the mention, I'm on a 12-month retirement visa.

I had my Thai lady friend (now my wife) and one other lady with property to sponsor me. I also used my condo as collateral. The finance people at Toyota guided me through. I had to pay a deposit of 25% I'm repaying the loan over five years. Any good?

Main reason IMO why the Banks were bailed out rather than give freebies to back to customers:

The World Banking system is like an intertwined spiders web/pack of cards,all heavily trading with, and loaning money

to each other,pull one piece out of the pack and the whole lot collapses,which will have a knock on effect around the Worldwide Banking system.

So World Banks and their Governments had no options but to bail them out,and head off a possible Depression on top of the already arrived Recession.

Thailands Banks had very little exposure to so called "Toxic loans" so came through the financial crisis reletively unscathed.

But my point is the Banks would have still been paid back, so pulling one piece out of the pack and the whole lot collapsing would not have happened?

Peoples mortgages get paid off so a win win situation for them and a win win situation for the Banks?...and a win win situation for a stimulated World economy.

Winners all round, however it still doesn't explain why Governments didn't do it?

Because this way the banks get paid twice, once by the government bail-out and once by the people with the mortgages. If the money went straight to the people who then paid the bank, the bank would have only got one lot of money.

Sounds like a yellow shirt sponsored thing to me, they stand to lose the most in a November election, because the people will vote for the PPP as usual. It's a good deal for the redshirts so I can't see them being daft enough to scupper it.

Now I am sure that many of you who did not understand before are getting a more complete picture....

The Yellow shirts the minority by far will not relinquish control to the red shirts who are a majority of this country's population.

The Yellow shirts know that they can not win an election....

The Red shirts know that who ever they elect will get thrown out for a multitude of reasons...

Maybe a cooking show..

A corruption charge....

Can be anything....

So again the tail wagging the dog in this country there is no doubt.....

There is a solution but .....no one can talk about.

It's funny how a majority of the country's population can only get 40% of the vote.

And it's amazing that you are still painting Abhisit as a Yellow shirt. If you missed the OP, the yellows are telling Abhisit to step down.

edit: and if you want leaders that break the law (having 2 jobs while PM, electoral fraud), you're in good company with the reds.

So why are the yellow shirts anti a November election? I'll tell you why, they know they'll lose heavily, that's why. As an outsider looking in, I don't blame the redshirts/PPP one iota for being aggrieved, I'd be b....y livid if I was a PPP voter. The yellow shirts will do everything in their power to prevent a November (or whenever) election, including re-occupation of the airport, so if you've got any trips planned, make them quick. The yellow shirts, in my opinion, seem to want the poor of this country kept in the gutter while they cream off anything that's going at the top.

This impasse can be ended very quickly by accepting the majority vote in an election and letting the party voted in by the people govern for their legal term of office. If the yellows feel that they're that popular, why the objections and calls for Abhasit's resignation?

Don't forget, the army at the instigation of the PAD and the yellow shirts, forced a legally elected government of the people out of power. Then, despite the PPP being voted back in after the army stepped down, the yellow shirts occupied the airport until the judiciary forced the PPP government out. Only then did the yellow shirts give up their occupation of the airport. If the red shirts accept the November 14 election, with amnesties for both sides, I think that Abhasit has got a damned good result.

The big problem in my mind is what is going to happen when the PPP is overwhelmingly voted back into power by the people, as it surely will be? I can't see the PAD/yellow shirts taking it graciously. My bet would be that the whole business will kick off again.

There'll be no peace in this country until the army and the people learn to accept the wishes of the majority and let a fairly elected (as fair as is possible in Thailand) serve it's full term of office.

I hope the reds are very proud of what they have achieved.

My late father in law spent time in that hospital for cancer treatment. Knowing how ill he was, my thoughts go out to all the patients who now have to be moved because of this reckless act of terrorism.

Coming close to where all embassies will be telling their citizens to return home since it is clear NOBODY is safe in Thailand anymore due to the red mob.

At least people CAN return home because the airport is still open, unlike when the government-backed yellow shirts occupied it. By the way, their leaders are still walking around free so less of the indignation about the red shirt leaders please.

Anyone with half a brain can see that there'll be no peace here until a government, democratically elected by the people, is allowed to serve it's full term of office without interference from the army or anyone else.

I am supprised there are so many still comming to Thailand "Rubber neckers"

I think we have to be quite about the fact tourist still go to south and enjoy the beaches. Because if the Red figure this out they will also try to destroy south tourism how small it is.

They just hate Thailand

Unlike the good old yellow shirts who only closed the airport completely thereby stopping all tourist air-arrivals. What blatant double-standards by some of the people on here.

Of course it was the reds. They have threatened this. Red shirt apologists, you should be ashamed.

How do you know soft lad? Practicing mental telepathy again?? You've got more nose than a lorry load of fish wives. Keep it out pal and let the Thais get on with it.

it's amazing that this army can't even surround a hotel and remove some fat middle aged men from a room without incident. If the army can't protect the country against a bunch of farmers with sticks, what the heck would they do if say someone like Cambodia decided this would be a nice country to have? I wonder how many countries out there are looking at Thailand as possible fair game, seeing how helpless they really appear. Maybe the moral of the story is, image is just that, all show and no substance. Time to get it together and prove it has what it takes to protect the women and children, or maybe the women and children should do it instead?

The problem is that the government and the army/police are trying to avoid mass casualties. If the Cambodians (in an extremely hypothetical situation) were to invade I think the Thai army would have no qualms about slaughtering them. On the other hand, you have to wonder how they are unable to arrest even one of the crooks calling themselves "leaders" of the red shirts. Personally, I think Abhisit is making the best of what is an impossible situation, and I'm sure he wishes he had something more effective than the Keystone Kops to rely on.

Unfortunately, this will likely all end with Abhisit resigning and probably moving overseas where he can probably make a good living under far less stressful circumstances. Thailand will have lost one of it's most intelligent, and educated Prime Ministers in decades and will end up with someone of the caliber of a Samak Sundaravej or a Chalerm - just what the country really deserves, so it can remain the underdeveloped, corrupt, laughing stock it seems to want to be. I used to love Thailand and respect its people. The last several years since the election of Thaksin have made me reconsider.

There's the reason, you just said it, "the ELECTION (my capitals) of Thaksin". The reason for all the trouble over the last few years is that Mr Thaksin was elected overwhelmingly by the people in a fair (as you can get in Thailand) election. The PAD encouraged the military to stage a coup causing Mr Thaksin to flee the country. After a couple of years of military rule elections were held and again the PPP were voted into power. The PAD didn't like this and started court proceedings against the PPP. In the meantime, the yellow shirts occupied the airport with no police or military intervention and said they'd remain there until the courts approved the case against the PPP. When this happened the yellow shirts gave up their occupation of the airport.

This is when the country should have called a new general election, but didn't. Instead, they lit the touch paper by handing power to the PAD and installing the unelected Mr Abhasit as prime minister. Is it any wonder that the majority of the Thai people, the voters for the PPP feel compelled to take action? They see the party they voted for displaced by the military and their man forced to flee the country; witness the yellow shirts occupy the airport with no intervention from the military or police; their party forced out of power by the judiciary and the PPP man installed as PM. They can't take it to the courts because the courts are perceived as being pro-PAD, so they assume the only course of action is to take to the streets.

"Put into Administration a few Farangs that know better then the authorities here"...???? Please. Please look at the obscure ordered; crime ridden; rude; and plain ignorant Western World. The selfishness and envy alone is enough to put Westerners behind the eight ball in their own Country.

While I applaud the management of this forum for allowing those that need to vent a great opportunity to do so, I feel that many do not take into consideration that they ( the farangs ) are actually guests only in this wonderful Country; a Country that if you are honest about it is far more advanced in politeness; friendliness than where-ever else you originated from.

Need a whole heap of Road Rage; Holdups; abuse; car theft; etc. etc..?.. then go home and enjoy it.

Want to become a successful and contented Visitor / Guest of this Country, then try desperately to learn the rules of how it is done here; accept them and live by them.

Turning, or trying to turn these beautiful people and their rules into something akin to that of the Western world is in my humble opinion disastrous to all concerned; both them and the Farang.

This Country of Thailand is a place you have chosen to live; you want to live here because of what it is and how it is. Please don't try and introduce backward measures.

What a load of cobblers! Tell you what, you lot all toddle off to Europe and the States and we'll all come here. We aren't in Thailand because it's the land of smiles, the only time they smile is when they're taking our money. We're here because of the warm climate and the cheap sex. There are plenty of cheaper, stable places to go where they aren't all money grabbers; the roads are safe; the political situation is stable; people don't litter the place; the entry price for attractions is the same for foreigners as for locals; the police aren't corrupt etc etc. Get with it pal and bin your rose-coloured specs.

""If they want to clear us out of [Rajprasong intersection] too then we'll bring the whole country to ruin - end of story," said a woman, anger in her eyes.

"I don't know who [the men in black] are but I thank them for without them, many red shirts would have been killed," she said."

Seems that she has no doubts whatsoever.

If she doesn't know who they are, how does she know they didn't kill red shirts? At least muslims promise their martyrs 72 virgins, what to the red shirts expect to get to die for a rich old fool.

Either way, she seems to be contradicting Nattawut and saying that the 'men in black' we're active and armed combatants.

well spotted Neurath, its clear that the women thinks that the men in black were working for the red shirts and that is the likely concensus of most ground level reds

she is just way off base as to what they were actually doing for the reds

it will come as shock to her when they actually catch one, make an amnesty deal with him and find he was there to kill red shirts rather than save them and that the red leaders, Seh Daeng and Thaksin were the paymasters

its only a matter of time before the truth will be out and the red menace will self destruct.

They won't self-destruct, they're over half the population and they have grit because they're the common people. As for the black shirts, maybe they're another version of the blue shirts who caused a lot of the problems in Pattaya during ASEAN.

I'd imagine they'd freeze your account if the government told them to ie if you owed tax for a long time. In that instance though, I'd have thought they'd have sent you several warnings first.

They block your account as a matter of practice and there's nothing you can do about it except to ring them; they'll normally lift the block straight away.

When describing a naughty child my mother used to say "He/she is very willful" and that's the word I'd use to describe Thai drivers. I used to think they were just stupid, but they aren't, they know they are are driving incorrectly (going the wrong way against traffic etc) but do it anyway. Perhaps it's laziness, but seeing it's the motorbike or car that does the work, I can't see why.

My wife, who is Thai, has recently passed her test. She took the car out for the first time recently and had a prang. One drive, one accident. Last Friday she and her brother left for Sisaket (brother driving), I had a phone call a little later, they'd had a collision with a motorbike, no one hurt thankfully but front of car dented and they'd had to pay the motorcyclist 1000 baht. Wouldn't mind but it was 4am, hardly any traffic on the road. They're returning tomorrow, let's hope they (and my car) arrive in one piece.

I've lived and driven in lots of places around the world and in the bad driving league, Thailand has to be Premiership, top four standard.