Valentine

Levelhead gives us a clear understanding of exactly why these demonstrations are taking place.

A massive and sustained propaganda war of lies, half-truths, hyperbole, and sprinkled with a few facts, has been waged for over a year in nearly every northern/northeastern village. People have been whipped into a frenzy and the truth no longer matters.

Not just a year, the Yellow side have been spreading the lies and half truths since before the coup. The people in the North and North-East have got sick of the lies and half truths and hyperbole spread by the Yellows since 2005.

They see the truth every day and are fed up of the Yellows control of the media and of power.

They want Democracy back.

Gordon Brown did it, you can too Abhisit, dissolve the House and call an election in a month !!

It has been going on since time immemorial as the plebs continuously get used & abused. It will only improve when you have a well educated & informed electorate who have access to all sides of the story & not have it stuffed down their throats by the local & national vested interests. Until then forget about having a fair election.

It seems obvious the reds are desperate to have the authorities resort to crowd dispersal in order to attract more attention to their cause. The government are playing a great waiting game in that the heat, draining of financial resources & Songkran will eventually wear the reds down. The more desperate the reds become, they will resort to more radical means to provoke the government. If the government stands firm the reds will look more & more like the bad guys.

There are tons of them but try Salvatore's near the fountain circle at Rasada Road.

So is Salvatores the only one worth trying?

Highly recommend Ellis in Rawai although the restaurant itself is pretty basic.

Samkhong Steak at Home Pro Village is OK for reasonably priced English food. You have to walk around the kiosk to view the menu though until they get menus printed. Pleasant dining in an outdoor setting.

I have a 4mtrx4mtrx1mtr above ground pool which leaks. It is a tiled pool and leaks out about 10 cm a week. I had it drained and re grouted but still leaks.

Is there a product like a sealer that can be painted on over the tiles and joints to stop water getting through the grout? I live in Chiangrai.

I assume as it is above ground you can see all the piping & know there is no leaking there. Are you able to see any wet spots on the outside of the pool? There are grout sealers but unsure if they will work in a pool considering all the chemical reactions. Was a waterproof membrane applied prior to setting the tiles?

Another fortuner story

Coming round the bend from freedom onto Wiset Rd I am following a water tanker doing about 40kph in my fortuner. I am about ten yards behind and not overtaking as there is no clear line of site, there is an old thai truck on the inside doing maybe 5kph less so no undertaking.

A farang on a honda wave comes up behind the the thai on the inside lane and swerves in front of me literally 3ft off my front bumber, didn't look, no indicating nothing. There is a vigo tailgating me. I have four options.

1. Brake and get hit from behind.

2. Swerve left and sideswipe the thai truck

3. Run over the biker.

4. Swerve onto oncoming traffic not knowing what is coming.

I took option 4 thank god the road was clear.

I gave the bike driver a toot [small one to let him know there was a three ton truck there] and he just let loose with a lot of gestures and mouthing.

The question is if Karenbravo and the fortuner bashers came along a minute later if had turned out badly what would the conclusion be that they would jump to?

They would have seen either a thai truck bashed into a ditch, a dead farang on a Honda wave or a head on with oncoming traffic with the fortuner in the wrong lane.

No prizes for their conclusion and comments on here. Facts don't matter, only a black fortuner in an accident.

<deleted> drivers come in all shapes and sizes, you don't have to be in an accident to cause one guys.

Most likely in all cases the police would have concluded you were in the wrong as I seriously doubt you would find anyone willing to testify about the real situation at the time.

But anyone that thinks they are going to keep getting DSTV by any system in the next few months is looking at some physical impossibilities.

It could possibly be pirated through the internet but then that would involve having 1st class broadband at both ends & currently this end fails to reach that standard.

Not Fortuner bashing but just another observation from yesterday. Chao Fa West, black Fortuner driving very slowly in the outside lane & as usual not easy to get by on the inside lane due to motorbikes. When I did get past I noticed he was on the phone & seemingly oblivious to the large number of vehicles behind him also trying to get by. This type of situation can be dangerous in that frustrated drivers wanting to get past will then take risks.

BTW the telephone thing is common to most drivers who talk whilst driving in that they meander along slowly totally unaware of others.

I don't know how PG or any other news agency get their reports but I do know many years ago I reported a fairly spectacular accident on the bypass road to PG with the reporter stating they did not have time to go.

What is the difference as I thought all keyboards were based on the QWERTY system from typewriters of old.

Send me a PM, I may be able to help (no, I'm not a seller, only a user of an alternative service).

If I recall correctly from one of your posts a long time ago you had a satellite receiver installed. This is well & good but the current issue with this type of installation is that apparently DSTV is moving to a different type of satellite which uses KU band from the current C band. KU only has a small footprint & will be directed at African countries only which means whoever is supplying the DSTV channels in Thailand will no longer be able to do so. This has already been discussed in the internet forum. The change is supposed to happen around the start of the World Cup.

If you have another way of getting all those great sports channels, BBC E, & associated entertainment I will be happy to know how.

This fortuner bashing is so crass, perhaps based on the fact most of the bashers can't afford one?

Why not jump on an underpowred bike you have never been trained to drive, drive in whatever lane you like, don't observe lane discipline, drive on the wrong side of the road, ignore traffic lights etc. Or get a Jazz and tootle along in the outside lane at 30KPH keeping pace with the bikes in the inside lane giving no opportunity to overtake? Indicate left then swing out to the right to allow the toy car to get into a soi a bus could get in?

I might not be the worlds best driver but I have been police trained in driving, done skid pan training and drove fire engines for thirty years, quite a bit bigger than any SUV I think you would agree.

Guess what, I have a fortuner, they are value for money and for me quite a small vehicle.

Whilst I agree with your observations about the many other indiscretions on our roads I still feel the Fortuner mindset exists in the sense of rude, aggressive, dangerous driving but of course not all Fortuner owners drive like this. It is just they stand out as being more prevalent in this bad driving behaviour along with the mini buses & airport taxis. Concrete truck drivers could be added to this list. This is not Fortuner bashing, merely observations from my frequent forays on our roads on a daily basis.

In relation to the subject of this thread it is quite obvious the majority of accidents do not get reported, even some serious ones. One only has to look inside the car repair shops to see the enormous amount of accidents that occur on our roads.

I have noticed an increase in the number of young, motorcyclists (without helmets) recently which I put down to it being school holidays. They seem to ride without a care & can be quite erratic.

Do you have the bandwidth to stream video?

From internet speed reporting to San Francisco I generally range from 1.9 to 2.6MBs, download speed. I plan to upgrade to the 4MBs service from my current 3MBs.

I agree as most cars have film on the windscreen which it makes it even harder to see at night.

I must have slept through it but can see water on my car here in Chalong.

There is a banner link at the top of the Thailand News Clippings forum advertising software which enables viewing of 3,500 channels from 80 countries. Has anyone used it & if so can you receive any good quality channels considering many of them are routinely scrambled? On the website they show Australia as having 331 channels & New Zealand 76. I seriously doubt these numbers.

It's interesting the difference between western journalism and Thai. An article like this back home would have included a vehicle description, direction of travel, and a way for witnesses to report if the have information. Not sure if its the bad journalism or bad police work, likely both. If I see "two men in a car" I will be sure to call.

And it's very unlikely the found a "9mm bullet close to the body" More likely they meant 9mm cartridge casings.

They have with an update...

Doctor Somchai’s buddy, Somchai, told police that two Somchai’s pulled up in a bronze Toyota sedan without a license plate and stopped in front of the clinic, one Somchai gets out and pumps two slugs into Doctor Somchai. Doctor Somchai killed and the two Somchai hitmen leg-it. Case solved...

A sad & tragic event for the family of the deceased. Constructive & sympathetic comments would be in order, really not the place to try & make jokes using racial, derogatory comments.

It was in reference to the way they drive & just a generalization as with the mini buses e.g. not all mini buses tailgate, queue jump, speed, make dangerous overtaking maneuvres.

OK, so no evidence as such, only some kind of prejudice. Yes, I'm a Fortuner owner, and yes it's large, but I need to put 2 large dogs in the back, occasionally tow my boat, and sometimes even manage to get off road. Nothing touches a Fortuner for it's combination of capabilities and comfort, with reasonable fuel economy (in the diesel version).

It is not prejudice, just observations as I drive around. From my post " Apologies to any considerate Fortuner users". One reason I do not own a Fortuner is because I need a pick up for my company.

And just like Thaksin, I read today that Suporn has had an arrest warrant issued to him today.

Seems Suporn failed to show up for a Supreme Court hearing he had on his conviction appeal. He had been sentenced to 12 months in prison by the Criminal Court and that conviction/sentence had been upheld by the Appeals Court. He had made a further appeal on that to the Supreme Court, but then failed to show up for the appeal hearing, hence he's now a fugitive.

As a banned former MP of the notorious Thai Rak Thai Party, he shares quite a bit with the former Party Leader Thaksin.

Additionally, he had a co-defendant in the case, a banned former MP of the equally notorious People Power Party, Theerachai Saenkaew, who also failed to show before the Supreme Court on his lesser conviction and 6 month prison sentence. He also is a fugitive now.

It sounds like Dubai is going to get a few more "investors."

By the way, Suporn may be more widely known by his moniker, Issan Rambo.

Although he doesn't have the physical build of a Sylvester Stallone (actually being obese, he's a polar opposite), but he shares a fascination with weapons and gun shoot-outs.

Why did you need to put an obviously modified photo up to prove your point. Anyone but a blind man can see it is not his hand holding the gun.

I totally agree about the Fortuner mindset as it seems they are vying with the mini bus drivers for the most rude, arrogant & dangerous driving awards. Apologies to any considerate Fortuner users but the evidence is out there for all to see.

Evidence where to see?? I see plenty of body damaged Vigo's and other marque pick ups, but in truth can't recall ever seeing a Fortuner outside a body shop (not that I'm in the habit of regularly touring such premises, only in casual passing). Also the accidents that I read about (at least the ones reported in the English language press), and unfortunately because of single or multiple fatalities, usually involve pick ups.

It was in reference to the way they drive & just a generalization as with the mini buses e.g. not all mini buses tailgate, queue jump, speed, make dangerous overtaking maneuvres.

Abhisit is playing his cards well. However, I'd suggest that he do one or two tangible things for the types of people who are attending the rallies. An example within the education sphere; allowing last year's books to be used by current year students. Currently, all students in Thailand must purchase brand new books every year. What happens to prior years' books? I don't know. Just by allowing books to be carried over, would save each student's family about Bt.1,200. Same could be done for uniforms and shoes. Additionally, nearly every family with school kids is essentially forced (peer pressure) to purchase brand new uniforms and shoes each year for school. By allowing 2nd hand uniforms, that would save each family about another Bt.1,200/year per student. A poor family with 4 kids could conceivably save around Bt.10,000 annually by just those two measures.

School children already get an allowance for uniforms & text books are now free as part of the new education policy. I feel improving the quality of teaching & stopping rote learning would pay handsome dividends in the future. They need to arrest the declining average IQ, provide more moral & ethical guidance (after all the leaders in society are generally not ideal role models).

Television is an invaluable tool & if programming could be geared to reinforce the positive qualities rather than the mindless greed & power plays that pervade in the current entertainment model there would be a gradual improvement (anything like this would need to be sanook in order to maintain interest). Most importantly provide the poorer sections of society with good programmes that will enable them to stand on their own without having to resort to free handouts or be at the mercy of loan sharks.

Great effort by the beach guys. It was lucky they were on the beach at the time just as it is lucky that, on occasion, a jet ski operator, surfer, or an expat who is a trained lifeguard, happen to be on any of the beaches to rescue someone in difficulty. It further highlights the need for trained personnel to man the beaches. I don't know how pro active the Phuket Lifeguard Club are being in trying to further this cause but they seem to be the ideal vehicle for having the beaches manned although it could be the infamous "vested interests" are thwarting any decent plans.

If the accidents involved serious injury & damage to property they surely would have been reported to the police.

I totally agree about the Fortuner mindset as it seems they are vying with the mini bus drivers for the most rude, arrogant & dangerous driving awards. Apologies to any considerate Fortuner users but the evidence is out there for all to see.

2 years seems to be the standard battery life regardless of brand. A couple of years ago I used the guy on Chao Fa East (recommended by a friend) & he came to my place with the battery & installed it. You could consider a sealed battery as they never need water but not sure if their lifespan is longer.

I thought this topic was about some weird german sex act?

No brit, thats Pattaya where that happens & just about every other strange sexual act.....according to the news

Years ago in the Rock Hard two Germans, father & son, had two full operation katoeys stripped naked while the two Germans performed what can only be described as cunnilingus.

I still enjoy living in Phuket & seriously doubt I could live in Pattaya. One must remember that that the unofficial population in Phuket must be around 1 million which can bring all the frustrations that come with big city life such as the aggression on the roads. If one makes an effort to keep cool & mellow then it is far easier to see the good side of life.