Valentine

Anyone know where one can eat toad in the hole?

BTW I just noticed Mr Moo is moving out. New shop will be open on Monday opposite the shooting range on Patak Rd.

One good reason not to drive one of those cheap small cars.. small accidents kill you when they should just give you a good scare

Have you ever been to Kuwait and watched them drive? Some could kill themselves in a tank if they could get it to go fast enough.

Not trying to be callous but what kind of car you are in does not make any difference if you drive with common sense.

The pic does not look like a small accident. I looks like speeding and sliding off the road into a pole.

Sliding into a pole on the opposite side of the road unless the car spun around. Certainly must have been high speed & at that time hardly anyone else on the road.

Cast your mind back & see if you can remember any politicians or public servants actually jailed for corruption here in Thailand as there are not many. There was the ex health minister who was sentenced to 15 years & served 5, a couple of public servants have just been sentenced to 10?? years but no doubt will remain on bail while they appeal, Chalor the policeman sentenced to death a long time ago in connection with the Saudi jewels but has not been executed yet. Feel free to add to the list.

The 2 years Mr T has been sentenced to is minor compared to what could await him if he were to stand trial on the many other outstanding charges against him & this is where the stakes become high. Perhaps he could wait them out until the statute of limitations runs out. The classic example of this was the Alpine saga where the case was conveniently filed away until it was too late as there were just too many high profile people involved.

When Thailand stops modeling itself on the feudal system then there might be some hope for a fair & equitable system. There must be many red shirt serfs wondering just why they are still in jail without access to the legal resources that their leaders enjoy. Double standards?

X-Net opposite Royal Phuket City Hotel.

Could it be that the police are simply not trained or do not have the resources to do a proper investigation?

Are there any restaurants or stalls serving good hot dogs?

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

At the meeting he mentioned under 1,000.

I noticed today my phone showing 3G service in Rawai/Chalong areas of Phuket, I am with AIS and used 3G in Hua Hin previously. Made a speed test and its only 200 kbps, so not better than EDGE...:-) They can proclaim it 3-4-5G but it wont change the fact that the speeds are still dial up here.. Will wait till the end of the month and make few more speed tests.

You will get the 3G speed starting July 28. Until then the network will be only in testing mode here in Phuket, that means that the regular users will get only the throttled speed even though they already see the 3G/HSDPA icon on their device, the speeds might still be faster than the old EDGE speeds, that's what a representative of AIS explained at a meeting in Chalong on Sunday.

Actually speed tests conducted during the meeting were quite impressive.

I wish i could swim with dolphins but im still against this if it can be avoided.

I have had on very rare occasions dolphins swimming with me in my younger surfing days, both body & board surfing. Catch a wave & the next thing you have a dolphin streaking alongside you. It almost appears as if they are grinning with the enjoyment & cheekiness of their act. A truly wonderful experience sharing a wave in their natural habitat.

Go in the morning when they open, always plenty of parking and easy to get into and out

Excluding public holidays

Of course but not always possible with other committments. I have done that many times at Central but if staying too long it can be a traffic jam getting out. The other night at Central I went there around 6pm & the car park was full with quite a lot double parked. I found a park & figured it would quieten down once I was ready to leave but lo & behold it was almost gridlock trying to get out with a couple of whistle blowers adding to the chaos.

Did you consider informing Tesco of your problems, in stead of Thai Visa nd Phuket Gazette?

I have tried talking to a so called manager about parking but it fell on deaf ears. Directly outside the store they have red & white blocks set out about 2m from the pathway, presumably so people wont park there. However it is not enforced which in turn narrows the driving space which further slows movement of traffic around the car park. They should remove the blocks & allow parking next to the kerb.

The exit which serious is talking about often takes a long time to get out of which I thought would be resolved once they widened it. Apparently not. At Home Pro in Chalong there was a similar situation whereby the cars exiting to the right would stay to the left even though it is plenty wide. I mentioned it to the manager & he had some cones placed there to funnel the cars left & right but even after that there were some who still insisted on being on the left side to turn right. However, nowadays everyone seems to have it worked out.

Both Lotus & Central now have parking problems in that there are just not sufficient parking spaces most of the time. Serious also mentions about how some turn & I reckon many do not understand full wheel lock, are too lazy to use it, or do not understand the turning capability of their cars. You just have to watch cars entering both Central & Lotus from the bypass road whereby many will swing out into the driving lane, without any warning, to effect their turn which can be quite dangerous to the vehicles coming up from behind.

Just went to central where are these cars?

They were there yesterday in the grand concourse next to the coffee shop.

I like some of the programming on True Visions - BUT I DON'T LIKE HOW THEY CLUTTER UP THE VIEWING AREA ! ! ! ! ! ! !

They not only put 3 large logos in the corners of the viewing zone, they also have an immensely annoying dialogue bubbles (Thai font in rectangular squares) that pop up non-stop on the bottom of the viewing area. It's particularly crappy when that intrusive crap covers key info from the program (peoples' names, translations, qualifications).

Altogether, ABOUT ONE TWELFTH OF THE TV PICTURE is covered up by their crap at any one time. It's very crass and low class. Although I like some of the programming, I instead switch to other programs (non True Vision) where the video isn't cluttered up.

Not only 3 logos when one will suffice but also the things like the 3 in 1 coffee ad in the corner. As long as they continue monopoly status True will never take heed of their customers cries for a better quality.

If any of you are interested there is a display of some top end cars in Central Festival including a 4 door Porsche, there is also the 2 door version. I did not check the price as my finances are limited to pickups but good to dream.

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

Totally agree. Also previous governments under Mr T's stewardship did nothing to upgrade the education system whereby people can think & make rational decisions instead of just blindly obeying.

i just wonder why there is such venom in the hate of thaksin, is it simply the rich and powerful feeling more vulnerable?

No, not that simple.

He was turning into an autocratic dictator in the style of Hugo Chavez. To think he was cementing his power for the sake of the "poor" is naive beyond words.

as i clearly said "i don't know every detail about thaksin" and "i'm sure it's not that black and white" ie Not that simple!

also, no i'm not that naive to think ANY politician would cement their power solely for the sake of the 'poor'....as i clearly stated he lined his own pockets and looked after his own

so please don't try to pigeonhole me on a point i wasn't making

i was basically saying that despite whatever personal gains he made, when he was in power the poorer people had a better quality of life....i think that's a fair assessment , hence the outcome of the recent vote

plus my point was about why he was removed and not what his real intentions were

and i have read up on thaksin, so please explain to me how you could say he was turning into a 'dictator'

Check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland_Plot which may or may not be true but as Thailand still seems to be run like a medieval fiefdom with courtiers & conspirators everywhere anything is possible. Mr T has also stated that he planned to rule for 20 years.

Peter, if you want to venture out of Rawai try Dasandro, they open at 5.30. They have lots of variety including pasta with chillie (which your missus might enjoy) plus some good blackboard specials including roasts & fish. Just opposite the entrance to Land & House on Chao Fa east. As someone else mentioned Fatty's is nearby & has good western & Thai food.

Thanks Val, We usually eat out twice a week in the mid to late afternoon and are looking for a place

with a pleasant outlook and decent food both western and Thai

I like Friendship Beach resort but Mrs PCA says the food is to expensive and will not order food there

When i point out when we travel on holidays the same type of food is a lot more expensive her answer

is, this is Thailand, How can you win

I too like Friendship & the outlook is nice but the last couple of times there the service sucked & yes it is a little expensive. Have you tried Lighthouse, great outlook, but I have not been there for ages so cannot comment on quality, pricing etc. I think there is also a new place just opened up by the pier.

Peter, if you want to venture out of Rawai try Dasandro, they open at 5.30. They have lots of variety including pasta with chillie (which your missus might enjoy) plus some good blackboard specials including roasts & fish. Just opposite the entrance to Land & House on Chao Fa east. As someone else mentioned Fatty's is nearby & has good western & Thai food.

Voting is compulsory here but generally not enforced. In the past it has been demonstrated that many of those who do not vote are in actual fact Democrat supporters.

Oh well ,they must be pretty apathetic about the state of the nation.

Only got themselves to blame.

BTW Editing posts has been disabled for some reason.Anyone else noticed this?

Or it could be they don't get paid & transported to the polling station.

What you are saying is ridiculous because I doubt whether all of those people you mentioned would have there votes bought.Yes they may have been paid to VOTE, however i doubt whether you could buy someone's vote unless you had Thaksins foot soldiers peering over your shoulder at the ballot box.

Most of those taxi drivers,street vendors etc would have voted For Thaksin anyway.Some political parties in the US pay people to register to vote.If it were up to me I'd make voting compulsory just as it is in Australia where you get a fair and balanced outcome.

Dems are just lucky voting Isn't compulsory because the result would have been a lot more catastrophic for them.

Just let it go!

Voting is compulsory here but generally not enforced. In the past it has been demonstrated that many of those who do not vote are in actual fact Democrat supporters.

I think Animatic hit it on the head with his first post. It may just be another method of removing Mr T completely out of politics in Thailand. There must be quite a number of reds who would welcome not being associated with him anymore & if that came to pass then their policies & actions will carry more weight. Surely running a political party from abroad while being a convicted criminal & banned from all political activities must be a serious offence although I have no idea where the law stands in terms of punishment if convicted. It does seem that one has to actually be in the country & appear in court in order to be tried which leaves many felons enjoying a luxurious life overseas.

Great idea as long as they have continuous follow up to ensure the areas are kept tidy. Proposed construction budget seems rather large.

The Thai version of George Carlin's American Dream should be obvious to all. The Dems have had chances to implement education policies that will serve them well in the future but they never did, so the other obvious point is they continue to have far too many members who want continuation of the status quo. They should also fire their PR/marketing group who seem to have no idea about how to conduct an election.

The dems did implement education reform in the public schools. My 2 kids go to thai public school and i saw it all. The principal of my kids school voted Dems and is disgusted that the parents of the kids that are benefiting from the educational reform voted for thaksin. When thaskin was in office the english teacher at our school could not speak english. Now she can and so can most of the other teachers. The kids have computers in the classrooms and the kids know how to use them. The teachers teach the kids how to figure things out for themselves by interviewing people in the community and researching on the internet. We have free tuition, free books, free lunch and an allowance for uniforms. It is much easier now for kids to get an education than ever before. Of course you guys that are pro thaksin will give him all the credit for the improvements in my kids school and will applaud when all of these improvements are rolled back to keep the kids uneducated.

I have kids at school so know exactly what is going on. All the free things are fine but the education system is still lacking in many areas & as I said there are too many in power & striving for power (on both sides) who prefer the status quo as it is much easier to manipulate the people when they do not have the power of reasoning inherited from a faulty education system. The only time I was pro Mr T was when he first came to be PM but my enthusiasm was short lived after he got off the assets concealment case.

The real truth is right there for all to see.... The Democrats, did not want to win this election, why do you think they did not try... something is brewing..and a lot of passengers are on this Kamikaze Kruang Bin... I nearly fell off my chair laughing... thank God I am a Farang and I can leave whenever I feel the need.... and I will be joining that A380 with a passenger list of rich Thais....heading for sanctuary....with suitcases of moneys... Hello Los Angeles...Goodbye Hell.................

You know I too had that feeling in the back of my head but could not pinpoint exactly why they did not want to win. The possibility of civil war, the passing of someone high up, ever rising food prices (rice is & will continue to be artificially high due to price guarantees to appease the farmers who would get more than enough money for their produce if you took out the middlemen & allowed farmers co-ops to run the mills). These are just some of the potential scenarios the new government will have to face as they are already showing their hand. The classic I saw which seems to have been overlooked was the setting up of a sovereign fund (similar to Tamasek) to buy interest in gold, diamonds, oil in Africa.

The Thai version of George Carlin's American Dream should be obvious to all. The Dems have had chances to implement education policies that will serve them well in the future but they never did, so the other obvious point is they continue to have far too many members who want continuation of the status quo. They should also fire their PR/marketing group who seem to have no idea about how to conduct an election.

The Dems did implement their Free Education policy.

Let's hope this government do more to improve education than all the governments over the last 10 years.

The free education for 12 years was a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done such as students allowed the option of thinking for themselves but imagine the shock horrors that would ensue when teachers lose face. The newly elected government had their chances to improve the education system in the past but failed to do so & I think Mr T may have been education minister at one stage.