Oberkommando

Thailand bans hookah pipes

Thailand has added the smoking of Arabian hookah pipes to its list of outlawed pastimes after introducing a curfew on a popular internet game on Tuesday.

Correspondents say the pipes, which can be passed around socially, are the latest craze in Bangkok's night clubs after first taking off in the city's Middle Eastern quarter.

The health minister said the habit was harmful and would make it easier for young people to become addicted to a fashionable new form of tobacco - shisha - which often has flavourings added to improve the taste.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3071521.stm

More like buy sexual in Thailand.

Hookah pipes are illegal in Thailand.

Just yet another law that goes unenforced unfortunately.

My family sent a stroller from the USA as I did not want to pay 35,000B for a safe one here the grand total was $150 US and the shipping was close to $50. They forgot to send it as a 'gift' which it actually was but we had to pay 1500B tax. The next time my family sent clothing and toys for our child the grand total was $250 and $60 for shipping but there was no tax due as it was a gift and appropriately marked as such.

I've had gifts sent from my family to Thailand, clearly labelled as such and still had to pay.

farang peeple are lucky, they have choose over where they go to live, when not happy in thailand, why stay in thailand ????

i want to go stay in european country but its difficult, im thai people but not easy for visa so difficult, why farang complain about thailand, they can come here easy and leave easy too, thai peeple cannot have big choice

That's because citizens of poorer countries, in the main, become a burden on our societies while we, in the main, contribute to yours.

Precisely why Thai Immigration cannot be too picky or choosy about who they let in, but European countries can.

It's a question of need.

However that only applies for tourists, and as a Westerner it is virtually impossible for me to legally emigrate to Thailand and become a Thai citizen, with full rights as a Thai person, however tens of thousands of Thais are granted citizenship and full rights to European countries every year.

as another forum member has said, pack up and move on - Vietnam and Cambodia are both cheaper - but remember one thing: you take yourself and your attitudes with you!

We are moving on, and so are the tourists by the looks of it.

Chaiyo!

The answer to the OP's question.

Soon.

I have noticed increasing hostility towards me from Thais when I am in Thailand. Even a waiter at a restaurant couldn't hide his contempt for me yesterday when I ordered the check. The look he gave me was appalling and I would have complained at any establishment in the West. Pointless here as we are all well aware.

Oh well, time to move on. Thailand was good to me for 20 odd years but has been going downhill rapidly recently.

I get items sent to me in my name as a farang = tax or import duty.

Get items sent to a Thai in a Thai name = usually no import duty.

Next time try a tractor or a cement truck for more of a challenge.

Do they have a top speed exceeding a 3.0L TDI pick-up? If so, bring it on!

A good many vehicles have a top speed exceeding a diesel pick-up, after all the gearing only allows 180-200km/h at redline in 5th gear.

I think Korn Chatikavanij doesn't have a clue.

Wait until August when the Q2 figures are released.

I expect 80% will be metallic silver with tinted windows.

Well, you wouldn't want to be seen in one would you?

In that they have at least one similarity with the Fortuner.

Only wigged out expats that think Camel Active is de rigueur think Fortuners are cool.

The roads are already over-crowded and too many cars are appearing on the roads each year for the infrastructure to cope.

On a motor related note, Daimler are closing their Thai factory that builds the Mitsubishi engines. First of many I would imagine.

Yes, it seems it won't be long until we are all driving Toyotas or Nanos.....they may be the only to manufacturers left at the end of this. I prefer bikes anyway.

There is a program showing motor accidents on Ch7 now.

Some of the accidents involving bikes might have you thinking twice about riding one here. It certainly makes me think twice.

Don't take it to heart, thats my opinion, I found the place miserable. I did like the pubs and watching a few drunk louts fight. That was a highlight.

There was an acticle in the Sydney morning herald a few weeks back about alot of tourists from the UK complain about Sydney beaches from having too much sand whats the deal with that?

Also the Scottish, I cant undestand a word they are saying. Its like they are just mumbling all the time, the place is always raining and cold.

Scotland is a fascinating place. One of the World's most beautiful places and steeped in history.

Problem is you need a good education to appreciate what the UK has to offer.

Still, as I said, 34 million people every year can't be wrong.

How many tourists does Australia get every year? 3 million? 4?

I have lived in Thailand for 25 years but my children were educated in Scotland. Arguably the best education system in the World. Educate them in Thailand? No thanks, as someone already pointed out, the elite know the value of a good Western education and send their siblings to the UK or US.

The roads are already over-crowded and too many cars are appearing on the roads each year for the infrastructure to cope.

On a motor related note, Daimler are closing their Thai factory that builds the Mitsubishi engines. First of many I would imagine.

I'd like to buy one & modifiy it with a V8 engine & give a couple of the Fortuna owners from this thread a run or two ....bloody tossers!

Fortuners are slow as and handle like a cement block on logs. Easy pickin's.

You would be able to surprise Porsche and M-Power Beemer owners with a V8 Tata!

When I returned to Australia, I just wanted to get on the next plane back to Bangkok. Its just depressing. I will be going again next month for 2 weeks which im not looking forward too.

I can see why the British people on here dont like going back to the UK. I went to the UK for a 1 month holiday. Man the UK is the most boring place I have ever seen. The people are miserable, the weather i miserable, all the people complain about everything. I now know why there are so many British people in Bangkok that complain about everything, its in there blood.

The UK boring?

There are more places of historical interest in the UK than probably anywhere else in the World.

The countryside and wildlife is absolutely fascinating and easily accessible from anywhere in the country.

Only an Australian could make such a ridiculous and preposterous statement about one of the most beautiful and interesting places on the planet.

35 million tourists a year can't be wrong.

Thais like to eat and they aren't ashamed of crapping. They use the words all the time very casually, "i've got to shit, did you shit?" Whereas in the west, we are ashamed of it, we can't even use the words on internet forums.

Thais consume and the waste products of their consumption are tossed about rather habitually, they see no great sin. Whereas, in the west, we consume voraciously, creating mounds of waste, but we think it's ok because we hide it. Our pollution footprint is far greater than Thais, and yet we hide behind our pride that in Aspen or Lyon you won't see the waste on the streets that you do in Thailand. We think of ourselves as more environmentally conscious at the same time as we consciously destroy the environment at a much faster pace.

Bangkok - Bangkok residents in 2007 produced as much carbon dioxide as New Yorkers and surpassed Londoners' emissions by 1.2 tons per capita, a United Nations-sponsored report revealed Wednesday. Residents in Bangkok and New York each emitted 7.1 tons of the greenhouse gas in 2007 while London residents emitted 5.9 tons, according to a report compiled by the Bangkok government and the Green Leaf Foundation, a Bangkok-based environmental group, with support from the United Nations.

Bangkok residents leave New York-sized carbon footprint

Right now you wouldnt due to what has happend recently around the world, but I believe most of the tourists are here for the nightlife, there are far more party animals here then familes.

You of course mean the prostitutes.

Calling it night-life is cute but ultimately misleading.

hardened guerilla fighters like those ex-Khmer Rouge

You realise they are all senior citizens now, don't you?

As the Khmer Rouge was a fighting force throughout the 80's and 90's, until they surrendered in '99, this is hardly the case.

Indeed. The Cambodian military is made up of many hardcore ex-Khmer Rouge fighters.

In order to put security problems to an end, the Government commenced its Win Win policy in mid 1995. The policy was to end the internal security crisis through national reconciliation and national unity efforts, under the rule of the King of Cambodia. Subsequent defections NADK units began in early 1996. The Win Win policy of Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen continued to succeed as the last groups of the Khmer Rouge guerrillas were integrated into the RCAF in late 1998. It historically marked the total dissolution of the Khmer Rouge's political and military organs and the return of all secession areas to government control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Cambodian_Armed_Forces

No need to be afraid of the Cambodian.

The Swedish will be delivering the new planes soon.

In all seriousness, history has shown in this region air superiority doesn't always bring victory when pitted against hardened guerilla fighters like those ex-Khmer Rouge on the Cambodian side of the border.

Thailand can only lose here, in the international media they are perceived as bullying a weaker neighbour and if they engage militarily they could get another bloody nose and lose face.

If the Thais step too far over the line the real military power in the region, Viet Nam, could come to Cambodia's aid and things could get quickly out of hand.

One of the major reasons foreigners choose not to settle in Cambodia & the Philippines and instead choose Thailand is that those countries are not as modern as Thailand.

That's true, but Cambo has its charms.

Cambodia & the Philippines are much more dangerous. Crime is rampant.

Cambodia isn't much more dangerous than Thailand if you use common sense. Can't vouch for the Philippines. Of course the spate of unsolved tourist deaths, murders and suicides all point to Thailand being dangerous enough.

For those who say that the government of Thailand is unstable, it is very stable compared to the government of Cambodia.

Nonsense. Hun Sen has been in power for a while now, and Thailand has had how many coups in the last 65 years? What is it 16, 17 coups now? I've lost count.

The military keeps the governments of Cambodia & the Philippines in power even more than is the case in Thailand.

Rubbish, the Cambodian government was elected.

Thailand is much mored sanitary than are Cambodia & the Philippines. The food is safer in Thailand. Certainly Thailand is much farther from being a Third World country than are Burma, Laos, Cambodia & the Philippines.

The food in Cambodia is perfectly sanitary, and there are some fantastic restaurants in Phnom Penh.

If Third World is a mentality, Thailand isn't far away at all my friend.

You've obviously never been to, nor have any knowledge at all about Cambodia.

yes, way too many farangs on this thread thinking 'if it wasn't for me and my pension, the Thai economy would fall in a heap'.

No but several local wage Thai JOBS for each and every retired expat is not chopped liver.

...and would be more than replaced with increased foreign investment if Thailand wasn't viewed as the knock shop of Asia....

this won't change that impression, but it is a first step....

What an absurd thing to claim.

How on Earth is capping border visa runs a first step to changing Thailand's reputation or the way this country is viewed abroad?

Again, whiners using visa rules as a red-herring for their own deficiencies.

The same goes for people using a discussion on these rules to denigrate other expats and their contribution to Thailand.

Actually i like PP but what comes to basic infra and services i still do prefer BKK for long term stay and when i need a fix of bit more wild scene it's only an hours flight.

I might change my mind in few years though if PP is going to develop as fast as it has been going on last couple of years.

Agreed.

Its come on leaps and bounds recently. I find the people a lot friendlier too.

Have a little winge on the internet, doo daa, doo daa

Ridiculous rules give people plenty to complain about.

They really should stop giving people so much ammunition.

Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao? and Myanmar? there is no entry without visa so you need to get one and pay for it for each visit. Even for a day or two trip.

Cambodia you can get a tourist visa online with minimal hassle.

If you want you can get a business visa on arrival at Phnom Penh airport and extend it for a year, then you can come and go as you please, relatively hassle free also.