Valentine

Work on the water park in Kathu is progressing & original plans showed it could have been quite spectacular. Not sure but I believe budgetary constraints may mean it will end up with inferior & low quality equipment/rides.

I think the other big water park was supposed to be at West Sands in Mai Khao. Does anyone know if this project is still moving along?

There was meant to be a smaller one at an apartment complex in Poonpol Plaza which was being sold in Central early last year but until recently not a sod of earth had been turned. Wonder what happened to all the deposits?

A few months ago I went to Phi Phi. My Thai foreman bought the tickets, mine at the same price as his. Coming back I was spotted by the ticket seller & so my ticket was double price. I was told all tourists pay the higher price. Upon protetsting I was there to work & produced my WP the response was " I don't care you are not Thai". This attitude is extremely distasteful.

In the optical shop opposite Telewiz in Central one of the staff spent 30 minutes repairing my reading glasses & did not want any payment. I now use this shop for others in my family who require glasses.

It is quite normal to get one month after you apply while they supposedly wait on confirmation from BKK. When you get your one year it will be back dated from the day that you applied.

I re visited one of my favourite Thai eateries last night & is still great. It is on Chao Fa East just south of Thanong Kwang traffic lights & almost next door to Master Butcher. I think it is only open at night but excellent Thai food at reasonable prices. Menu is now in Thai & English after many years just being in Thai. Expect to wait a little while for food when there is a crowd which there usually is including those waiting for takeaways. Last night we got there just before 7pm & so not many diners but when we left it was almost full.

Going back to the original post which states the rallies are to bring back the 1997 charter & demand progress on the royal petition. To me it seems the rallies are designed to specifically benefit a single person, Mr T, who instead of upholding the fine spirit embodied in the 1997 charter went on to twist & exploit it to suit his own agenda. The mere fact that his household servants held millions of Baht worth of shares in Shin Corp right at the beginning of his leadership should have had everyone on guard but many, & I was one, in the early days thought he might be sincere when in fact the only sincerity he has is to his family & cronies.

Mr T was one of the first elected leaders who had the means to truly make Thailand a better place & could have set a wondeful precedent but chose to go the route of money & power with no upper limit. A president in waiting?

If the reds were to produce a leader with a good vision for Thailand's future they would have far more credibility but they choose to blindly follow orders from abroad.

The circle was never going away.

It has been the bread and butter for the Chalong police for decades and they will not give it up.

Might as well take down the traffic lights and put them somewhere else on the island.

I think traffic lights have been installed there at least twice & either never used or found to be ineffective. Having a smooth traffic flow does not mean the police cannot still set up check points.

Populism, pork barrel, & vote buying is all pretty much the same. It happens in many "democratic" countries. The problem here seems to be that many of the crumbs thrown out to appease the voters have no long term benefits to said voters. The million Baht per village scheme most likely got people more indebted than they were before through buying phones, TVs, motorbikes etc. Tax money straight into the ruling power's pockets via the voters but the beauty of it is that people believe their lives have been improved even if they are in more debt which they in turn believe will be forgiven one day. Nothing much has changed but the way the money is moved around has become more sophisticated.

Until the people take on honest, ethical & moral role models it will always be this way. The belief that "greed is good" is a big factor.

The Chalong circle saga continues with seemingly another construction in the centre, a big hole is being dug at the moment. Loads of money wasted over the years but I have no idea what the solution is although modifying all the left hand turns so they are not so sharp might help.

The only ideology I see is money & power whether it be a political party or any other politically motivated group. I am sure there are individuals within the various groups who have higher ideals but they get suffocated by the mob. There are many factors which contibute to the continuance of the status quo, the feudalistic patronage system, education, lack of moral & ethical guidance from almost all sectors, just to name a few.

.... Two Cs & a T, what a desperate scenario....l

Yeah my thoughts pretty closely.

Two Zeds and a Naught....

And we think we are seeing lack of action for the people now... ooh just wait.

Or a three ring circus.

The latest plan which it seems PTP have agreed to is that the charter amendment process will go ahead meaning there will be no elections until late next year. The idea of Chavalit entering politics again is quite obnoxious considering when he was PM him & T were in cahoots allowing massive movement of THB into USD before the devaluation. He is also being held responsible for the protest fiasco last year & his army record is not good if one looks back to the Thai - Lao skirmish although there are some who feel his army connections might help. Two Cs & a T, what a desperate scenario.

Upcoming red protests will not achieve much unless there is a plan for them to turn violent which could eventually lead to civil war & this scenario is of no consequence to a megalomaniac.

Reds, yellows, blues all pretending they are fighting for the well being of the populace especially the 'have nots' when all it is really about is a power struggle between two groups of 'haves' who want to keep all the power & money in their hands. Although money is certainly a driving force I believe it is the seduction of power that truly drives them. After all they are mostly filthy rich.

The dream is for a group with a leader to emerge & become a strong force & actually work for the benefit of the people. This type has emerged in the past all over the world but, & I hope this is the correct definition of the old saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Not bad, but distinctly average i'm afraid. Dough made from cardboard and extremely thin toppings. B220 is reasonable though. Like i said, 'not bad'.

If pizza is your thing, then i'm qualified. The Phuket Gazette said so, so it must be true.

Try, Capanine in Kata, Salvatore in Phuket Town and Il Capricio in Kata. Yes, they are 50 baht or so more expensive, but they are significantly better than La cosa nostra da zio Vanni. Trust me, i'm an expert.

You must be part of the pizza club on facebook. If I buy pizza it is from Patak being close to home but would prefer something better in the Chalong/Rawai/Nai Harn area if you know of any as I don't fancy going to Kata or Phuket Town unless it is for a night out.

Does anyone remember the little place on the way to Chalong pier, run by an Amercian couple, which sold really good burritos & has been closed for quite a while now. Would like to find something of the same standard.

Most of the pool companies in Phuket should be listed in PG under swimming pools. I tired inserting a direct link to the swimming pool header but it did not work.

http://phuketgazette.net/guide/

Good to see the police on the job trying to apprehend the perpertrator(s) but they could help deter crime by being more visible. It is quite possible the reported crime statistics are just the tip of the iceberg. Catching a few people playing cards may help the numbers but going after the owners of the big gambling dens, bringing to justice the drug overlords, the murder for hire masterminds, etc would bring the police more kudos.

I am looking at models with automatic ice maker now. Mitsubishi has 2 models that look great, cost is about 20k baht, 350 liters. samsung also has one, its called RT37MCSS1. If anyone has seen or own the latter, i would be grateful for advice.

The 19CF Hitachi model I have has a semi automatic ice maker - you fill container with pure water in refrigerator section and it draws that to make ice. Works great and have enough ice for 10 person home. No ice cube trays needed after that was bought.

Thanks for the hitachi tip. I did some checking and found this model, R-Z440TX, its 15,5 q (440 liters). It looks great, with automatic ice maker etc. They do have some bigger ones too as you say with the same design. but i think 440 liters is big enough. also, i dont want a refrigerator that i dont use the whole space in. Bigger means more electricity, but i am not sure how much more. So, if anyone knows how 2 models with the same specs but different size (440liter vs 556 liter) will differ in use of electricity, i would appreciate it.

If you want a huge refrigerator at around 25k baht, and dont want to step up to the french door 40k baht class, hitachi seems to be a very good choice.

http://www.hitachi-th.com/hitachi_new/prod...ameEn〈=

cheers, chr

The energy rating sticker on the fridge states the cost of electricity for that particular fridge so very easy to compare. As I said earlier the inverter models are cheaper to run.

I have not been to M & M for a while bit always thought their pizzas were OK. A couple of days ago their new location did not appear ready for opening. Italian place at the entrance to Patak Villa makes similar type pizzas. Has anyone tried pizza from Da Vinici's as interested to know if they are any good although I imagine pricing could be a bit high.

I recently purchased a Panasonic refrigerator with freezer on the bottom which I find much more user friendly (I have some back & knee joint problems) given that it is easy to access the items. My old fridge ended up with a lot of out of date products simply because I could not see them or forgot about them. The rest of the family although aware of expiry dates just simply do not think about them. It is also an inverter system which cuts down on electrical costs & have just witnessed it with our latest electric bill.

When pushed the sales people in every shop seemed to think the compressors on Samsung were not as strong as the other models & so not likely to last as long. I do like their LCD TVs though.

If you are also looking at air conditioners check out the inverter models as they too save on electricity even though the initial cost is higher than standard models. However as more of them come to the market prices should drop.

The English video is only on in the mornings so get there early & get your paperwork sorted. There is also a physical test upstairs where they test eyesight, colour blindness & reaction times. Not sure if this can be done before or after the video.

When you first enter there is or was a desk on the left side which should be the first place to go. Middle aged lady there speaks English. Any required photcopies can be made there. No need for photos as they do it themselves once you have passed & is embossed on plastic which costs an extra 100 Baht plus 10 if you want the little plastic holder. Medicals are not required for renewals but should be for first timers. I forget the fee for the licence but think it was around 500.

Cell life is about 9,000 hours. The OP should be able to work out if his cell has run its course or not aside from the bucket test.

The Thais seem pretty good at concealing their emotions but the problem is these can build up to an explosive point. Combine this with so called loss of face & access to a gun then you have a very dangerous situation.

I have been here many years & have multitude dealings with the locals both through business & socially. On occasion I have lost my cool but have never felt physically threatened. Mind you my drinking days in Patong were from an earlier era when it was a much more user friendly place. Keep cool & keep smiling, usually works.

With the fans could it have been a case of faulty wiring as it seems strange that all 4 fans would burn out.

Silly question but the photo shows the knob to be fully turned around but is it actually fully turned? You could also try a bucket test. Turn off the pump, place the cell in a bucket of water from your pool just covering the cell, turn on the salt chlorinator. If it is working you should see loads of gas & white colour in the water.

Required salt content varies depending on the brand, some 3,000 ppm, others up to 6,000 ppm. The only time self cleaning cells would need cleaning is if the water hardness in the pool is high for a long period of time. Stabiliser is a suspected carcinogen & is not needed if the salt chlorinator is configured to produce enough chlorine to allow for depletion by UVs from the sun. A good example is if you have a 100m3 pool you should be producing 400 grams of chlorine per day which should leave a chlorine residual of around 2. It is a good idea to have the system running before sunrise to build up a residual. The pump & filter should also be big enough to turn the full volume of the water over twice in an 8 to 10 hour period to minimise wear & tear, prolong the life of the equipment, & keep electricity costs down.

Salt chlorinator manufacturers usually have recommended pool sizes for a particular unit & many of the sellers follow this religiously but the recommendations are based on the assumption that stabiliser will be used.

Occasionally the pool should be superchlorinated, some salt chlorinators have this option or you can run the system for 24 hours to give it a chlorine boost or simply add some chemical chlorine. Heavy rains do throw things out of whack & extra care is needed at this time.

So on Saturday when we were waiting to watch Premier League football on Sophon channel 36, which is Supersport 3, it was showing Cricket on Supersport 6 I think it was.

Is the Supersport 3 channel on Sophon (and also Banglamung TV) illegal?

The trouble not knowing if the football is going to be on despite it being advertised as being shown - means its useless - as people need to head into Pattaya to watch it there if its not on cable.

Fair enough, I dont mind heading into Pattaya, but a couple of friends came to watch it as well and had some beers etc.. the evening was ruined. We actually had to talk to each other

As you are probably aware there are 7 S/S channels but the cable companies choose to show only 3 & sometimes 4 one of which may not be S/S but Astro Sport. This means it is at the whim of the cable operator as to what sport is shown although as DSTV have shown (all S/S comes from them) they can switch satellites or change the scramble which throws a spanner in the works of the cable operator. It is not clear if the sattelite operators are having similar problems but to be sure you should plan to go the bar in future.

Is it the same John that had the Kiwi bar in Patong anout where Two Black Sheep is today?

A few months ago when the Twenty/20 series was on in SA quite often the cable broadcast was switched over as the game was about to start & show some other non interesting (to me) sport. As I was channel surfing over the coming days vainly searching for the live cricket I happened to notice many reruns of an interview with a disabled swimmer whereas to me the live cricket would have been much more appealing.

It may well be a case of technical snafu but in reality I feel it is more like the technical staff at the main centre do not really care what sport is on. The cable TV companies must make a huge amount of money considering their costs must be low as much of the cable was already in place from back in the Thai Sky days. If a new cable has to be run up the soi to reach your home then you are required to pay for it.

I subscribe to cable TV mainly because it has Australian Network & the Supersport channels. S/S comes from DSTV in South Africa & possibly acquired illegally & redistributed which I understand is also the case with the satellite systems. In the past couple of days some of the live cricket broadcasts have disappeared just as they were about to start & last night the F! qualifying went off after the first round. All channels from DSTV suffered a problem at one stage yesterday.

Did the satellite subscribers have the same problem? Is DSTV actively trying to combat piracy here in Thailand & elsewhere?

I would happily pay for a legal DSTV subscription that does not depend on using an internet connection or the vagaries of the cable TV network who can choose to change the S/S channels at their whim as there are 7 S/S channels but the cable only shows 3, sometimes 4 one of which is usually Astro Sport for which I have absolutely no interest although it does appear quite good for the soccer fans.