kimamey

There's a new one near where my wife works on the road into Roi Et from the west. I'm sure that's Esso.

I'm not sure it was that unthinkable to anyone who's been paying attention, but I know what you mean. Perhaps now more people will start voting based on the actions of a party rather than who's leading the party. It's not the first time Thaksin has broken a promise and sided with the military for his own purposes.

That's very true. We don't know if there's a medical reason for them smoking cannabis or how many that applies to. But neither do you.

Are the biscuits for dunking in the tea? I assume that's what the tea money is for.

I think the reason for the online test was because it's something they do now, and because I'd been unable to renew my licence for 2 years they just got me to do it. I got a 5 year one as well. The first time I tried it was just a guy talking in Thai for ages, even though it was supposed to be in English. Then it just froze and wouldn't go any further. The next time a few months later it was OK, although I noticed it all seemed to be in Bangkok, so nothing like rural Thailand which is completely different. The reaction test, I understood but the pedal wasn't fixed down so it just shot across the floor when I stamped down on it. There was an old guy one time and he'd tried and failed 4 or 5 times by the time I left. The depth perception test, because it's in a box I hadn't seen before I sat down and it wasn't explained. I guessed what I thought it was but I wasn't really sure. They seemed happy with what I did and I got my licence. I had my wife, or girlfriend at the time with me or it might have been difficult. She also knows a guy who works there as well.

I had heard of it being used elsewhere. To be fair I'm in Mahasarakham in Isaan. No airport, train station, car rental ect. We do have 2 universities where you can watch the future brains of Thailand riding around without helmets but using an umbrella if it's raining so they don't get their hair wet. Particularly the guys. "Behind the times" is pretty much a description of Thai driving from testing to traffic law enforcement. The Department of Land transport and the traffic police could both add it as part of their logos.

Yes there is a problem with over staffing and not only in stores. I wonder what the reason for this is, given the quest for profits. Maybe it's a case of more people at lower wages. That way it's easier to deal with busy periods and any absences. If you get rid of some then the unemployment levels go up which isn't good for politicians, or those who are then out of a job of course. There's also overmanning in government offices. I had to go with my now wife to, I think it was the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but I may have got the name wrong. It was to get an Affirmation of Freedom to Marry. There were several people we had to see, most of whom seemed to do very little. One woman in a uniform just stamped all our papers without looking at them. She'd done them before I could sit down. As for migrant labour, it seems a good idea but there may be problems. I don't know the situation now, but I think the minimum wages brought in under the Yingluck government were only applied to Thais and not migrants. That probably played well to those who are particularly nationalistic or anti migrant, and looked as if it was helping Thai nationals. Unfortunately that just meant that migrants were cheaper. There may well have been less regulations, such as safety laws to follow. I know some factories were built or moved close to the border to make it easier to employ migrants. Employing Thais, would then be more expensive. My main point in my post was that it seems easy to just raise wages, and that does increase spending power but these things are rarely simple.

I don't know but it's made me think, isn't it illegal to criticise the courts? What would that mean for anyone claiming Thaksin's convictions were politically motivated and therefore not valid?

Raising wages seems a good idea but won't it just make costs higher for companies, thus making them less competitive than other countries with lower labour costs. If some of the cost could come from the rich owners of big companies then great, and it would help with the large inequality in Thailand. Can't see it happening though.

Why?

Ok, I've done that. I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. You seemed to be giving what you had to adults, plus yours were obviously new, clean, not for blood samples and not given to children to eat.

I think he said it was to spend time with his grandchildren. I'm not sure how much time he could spend with then if he's in prison. Unless he didn't think he would be in prison for long.

I think it's a bit different when they're sold to children.

Glad you got it sorted. If you've got a UK licence you shouldn't need to do a test. I've had a Thai car licence for over 9 years. When I first got it there was no test at all apart from seeing if I could recognise the could on traffic lights and a reaction test. My licence was due for renewal in June 2020 but Covid made that impossible, and I returned to the UK in September. When I came back in March 2022 I had to take a online test. That taught me one thing. The rules are pretty much the same as the ones I've been used to in the UK for over 50 years, it's just that people either don't know them or ignore them, and that incudes the police. Then it was just the same colour and reaction tests. They have added another one where you have to move an upright rod to be level with another one.

Well if one side gets a knockout, then no.

I thought that was who he was referring to.

It's a funny old place here isn't it. Gambling is illegal but if you walk down the street or sit in a restaurant you're overwhelmed by people selling lottery tickets. Prostitution is illegal but it's a major part of the economy in some parts. In May there was a festival near us where there was a pickup with a huge phallic object on it and another with a model of a woman showing her lady garden. A few years back there was a model of a woman on all fours with a man behind her with his equipment out. It was on wheels and as it was pulled along it did what you'd expect. I've seen pictures of other festivals with people, including a policewoman walking around with pictures, I assume printed from the internet, showing a BJ. I'd never seen a Pornhub tee shirt before I came here, where it's frowned upon.

Maybe it's a marketing exercise by TAT. Look out for a story in the next few days predicting 10 million tourists from Europe and the US. Oh and Australians as well. I'm sure they're up for it. Pun intended

It's difficult sometimes to know if it's someone taking the pi** or they are being serious and don't realise the humour

I'm in Mahasarakham so I can't go. Maybe someone will send me pictures. ????

Or is that chaff? Just to clarify, this isn't meant to be taken seriously and start a long discussion on military anti missile systems

Will it be now?

Not really a subject for here but after a quick read of the story it's not entirely clear that she was at fault. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/19/christine-lagarde-avoids-sentence-despite-guilty-verdict-in-negligence-trial#:~:text=Christine Lagarde has been found,but avoided a jail sentence.

You're missing the point. It's foreign trademarks they don't care about. You try brewing a beer and call it Chong using the same script and design as Chang. Then you'll see the difference. It's the same as flags. It's extremely rude and not allowed to have a Thai flag on shorts as you'll be sitting on it. Similar for a doormat. A US or UK flag is a different matter. I don't care to be honest but trying to explain the hypocrisy to my wife a few years back was pointless. Her argument was "but it's my national flag". I did get some success, although it'll be long forgotten now, with copied CDs we saw for sale. They were all of western musicians. I said imagine they were Carabao. For that moment she understood.

I remember a British comedian, I can't remember who right now, once said, "If a tweet cost a much as sending a letter there would be a lot less complaining". And no you're not the the only one.