Oberkommando

To call MK a restaurant is an insult to proper restaurants and the talented staff that cook and serve in the good ones.

Boil your own stringy meat and cabbage? No thanks.

Western food doesn't have to be unhealthy, far from it, although by the popularity of turgid fast food in Thailand among the locals and the generally poor standard of Western food available here, including the inability of Thais to cook it, I understand why some posters have got that misinformed impression.

all those applying to stay in Thailand long term should be imposed to use the non Immigrant visa process with a requirement that each applicant has a police letter from their home country confirming what is and what is not on file about them.

You'd trust the Thai Government and Thai Police with this kind of information?

Beggars can't be choosers.

I was told by a high-ranking policeman in Chiang Mai that refusal to take the breath test means a mandatory blood test.

Good luck trying to enforce that one on the local puyai.

I saw a motorist physically struggling with a Policeman at the Pratunam intersection in Bangkok yesterday. He was apparently trying to film the Policeman on his mobile phone while asking for a bribe for a minor traffic violation. Policeman got angry and started to get physical with the guy in the driver's seat.

Unfortunately the lights changed and I couldn't stick around to witness the outcome.

A friend of mine now living in the US got even with Thai Customs by mailing a package of well wrapped dog excrement to a former friend in Bangkok, marking the item 'gift' and 'jewelry' with the value at over $1000.

Suvarnabhumi Airport 3rd place on Skytrax best airport dining list

It didn't get anywhere near the top ten best overall though.

Maybe it's like a Beta - use at your own risk.

Hopefully it won't crash in the first week of operation like the MRT in Bangkok did.

Anytime industrial production is down it's good news for the environment. Let's hope there is more good news coming.

yeah lets cease all industrial production down and see what happens, hope youre perfectly ok with living in a cave

As long as everybody is sufficient.

He should have gone to Taiwan, where Raluek Leekpai (Chuan's brother) fled to after embezzling millions from Thai banks.

Wait a few years until the statute of limitations expires and return to Thailand.

Helps if your brother is Prime Minister I guess.

Exactly

If City hall and the "traffic"police were really serious about safety.................This would be taught properly when you get/re-new your license.

Having done the test I can tell you that it is taught, however no-one listens and certainly no-one obeys the laws once they get behind the wheel, that's if they even bother with a license.

The biggest problem is arrogance and manners. Thai drivers simply have none of the latter and too much of the former.

You can't change this overnight in a culture that traditionally dictates the more status and money you have the less you have to obey laws. By driving a motor vehicle you automatically have more status than a pedestrian and it is the pedestrian's responsibility, being on foot, to avoid your shiny Mercedes, not the other way around.

Killing a pedestrian would cost less than a new set of tyres let's not forget.

Thais population don't want to fight but some Thai fascist officers mastermind this "war" because they need troubles inside and outside the country to justify the enormous budgets they have (30% of them are misused).

Who is asking the status quo on the border is Cambodia.

Cambodia DID NOT apply with the Unesco BEFORE to have signed an agreement with the Thai gvt in April 2008. They would not have applied if Thailand had not agreed first. The problem is that Thailand did not keep its word and changed his mind in June 2008 for internal reasons.

Yes, Cambodia demands sovereignty on the disputed land and BEGS Thailand to speed the process of demarcation. If no agreement cannot be found, Cambodia agrees to ask help from a third party. Thailand refuses to settle the problem because it wants to keep this area in high tension for obvious reasons (troubles = big military budgets).

Good post. Ignore the revisionist mate.

I seem to remember a certain group of paramilitary fascists wearing yellow shirts trying to force the Thai government into rescinding their promise to honour the Cambodian UNESCO bid.

They tried this before in Bangkok a few years ago with flags at zebra crossings for pedestrians to wave when crossing.

What happened? Two foreigners were using the flags to cross at a zebra crossing when they were crushed and killed by a fast moving truck driving illegally in the opposite direction in the bus lane.

Another step closer to the return of the Great One.

as an airport link, it will probably be a waste of time, except for the people who work there.

Fortunately there will be a bog standard metropolitan service on the line, which will be another welcome addition to BKK's public transport network. With the service linking to both the MRT and BTS, alot of people who live along the route will be able to easily commute into BKK. That will be a huge success over time.

It isn't linked with either the BTS or the MRT except by footbridges and walkways and only at the terminal station in the city.

The three train systems are all incompatible with each other.

Given that the PAD are little more than fascists themselves the 'soft swastika' logo is entirely appropriate.

Not sure if I want to settle down on either of those places. But regarding visas, you may be right. But I guess they don't let you buy their land as well.

You guess wrong. Malaysia a couple of years ago introduced a land purchase opportunity for foreigners to own enough land to have a house.

It doesn't sound like you know much about either place, both are very similar to Thailand in many respects but all have their positives and negatives. You'd probably be much more secure "settling down" in Malaysia than you would in Thailand though.

Thai Culture, What is it?

Mostly misappropriated from the Khmer.

Ar Khun Giran.

What galls me is the arrogance of the Thai against a much poorer and far more needy neighbour. The temple is Hindu and was built by the Khmer, so it de facto belongs to them regardless of changes in ownership throughout the years. Additionally, the border has been demarcated and the temple currently sits on Cambodian soil.

You'd think this would be enough but the Thai have to object out of a misplaced and arrogant nationalism they are all too well known for, and being the big power in the region they think they can bully their neighbours into submission.

They've stolen most of Khmer culture and attributed it as their own; martial arts, dancing, costume and many other things, do the gracious and right thing and allow the Cambodians to have this temple as a UN World Heritage Site and stop being so petty and arrogant.

Please.

If you compare to all the other Asian countries around here, you will find that Thailand is probably the most generous and friendly country in the region when it comes to visas

Malaysia and the Philippines are far more visa friendly than Thailand, especially for retirees, and Cambodia you can get tourist visas online, and extend business visas for a year for a fee without having to leave the country.

Swine-flu cases in Thailand will still be caused by farang backpackers, it's a tradition !

If only they could attract a 'better class of tourist'.

Expect these shakedowns to become more common with the slumping economy.

but they feel that their race should be dominant. This is why they don't want to allow foreigners to own land.

No it's not.

It is beneficial for the elite ruling class to keep foreigners from owning land. In this manner they can amass large amounts of land for themselves, fix prices and keep tenants. The typical feudal model.

Foreigners push up prices, increase competition and bring unwelcome attention to things like laws, human rights and other unfairness. In short, they are a nuisance.

The biggest landowners in the country make a lot of their billions from rent and while they are in control or remain so influencial the laws regarding foreign ownership aren't ever going to change.

They don't pay any tax either.

The game is loaded.

Xenophobia and Nationalism are merely used as tools by the elites to control the populus and to support their premise that 'evil foreigners' shouldn't own hallowed Thai soil.

Of course the benefits of allowing foreigners into the market are kept quiet from Somchai the farmer and as such he must continue to tend to his rice paddies, borrowing money he can never repay using his land as collateral, until the fateful day comes when he loses his land to the rich landowners and moneylenders.

Viva la revolution.

None of these mafioso moneylenders are ever brought to justice. They are too powerful and operate with full knowledge of and consent of the Thai Police, sometimes even Police are directly involved.

The poor woman in the story is lucky she didn't lose a finger or toe as that is their usual modus operandi.

is that the dicta...err..."democratically elected president" of Kazakhstan on your avatar ????????

Close, it is Turkmenbashi, leader of the Turkmen, prophet and author of the Holy Ruhnama.

He shares many things in common with another leader, not so far from home, although his revolving gold statue that always faced the sun has now been removed I believe.

Strange that. Thai Airways were ofering the CHEAPEST option from UK this year.

Cheaper than £279 return on Emirates?

kasikorn and bank of ayudhya ATM's don't charge a dime on foreign CC

They both now charge 150thb per transaction for all foreign bank cards.

Additionally, both Kasikorn and Ayuddhya give poorer exchange rates than Bangkok Bank and SCB so are best avoided.

This has already been talked about here, but what about the charge of 150 baht per ATM withdrawal on all foreign bank accounts? Used to be free. My American bank charges me just $1.00 to make an ATM withdrawal. I am not a tourist. I live here full time as an expat. Sure, I have Thai bank account as well, but rather than transferring large amounts of money from my American bank to my Thai bank account I'd rather take the maximum amount I can take out of my American bank which is 10,000 baht at a time. That way I dollar average out meaning I won't hit the highs and I won't hit the lows on the exchange rate. I'd hate to transfer $10,000 to my Thai bank account at 34 baht to the dollar only to have the dollar go up to 38 for example. Let's say I used my American ATM 8 times a month, this means I'd be paying 8 times 150 baht or 1200 baht each month to use my American ATM. I've heard this surcharge is being canceled. Well...it hasn't been.

I have found a UOB ATM near me which I now use instead with no 150thb charge.

The exchange rate is slightly worse than Bangkok Bank for example but I will not give Thai banks the satisfaction of getting 150thb from me every time I use a machine.

So it evens itself out in the end but I stand firm in my principles.

I've also stopped tipping altogether, leaving small change when making purchases or eating out, and various other small losses that all accumulate. They don't bother me financially but Thailand has made it very clear to me I am fair game for these sorts of charges because I am a foreigner so now I keep my money in the pocket and no-one gets it.

Who hasn't seen this coming since the 2006 coup?

Sufficiency economy.

Tourism not important.

End of.