tomjoad56

IMO, price movements can't always be linked to daily news, but I think the theory here is that better US jobs numbers means more buyers for Thailand's goods (the Thai economy being export oriented).

Union Mall Tops. Fon will make you a good iced coffee. Tell her Guy from NY says hello!

I'm very open minded about food. I eat just about everything. I'd have to be dying of starvation to eat at Subway. Why on earth would you want to eat Subway in Thailand? There are millions of people who would just about kill to get their hands on some real Thai cuisine, even the simplest of preparations.

The fact that Subway has flourished is proof to me that the world is in serious decline.

Even the press release on this is written poorly. I have no idea what, "to March 2010" means. This serves as a great example of one of the problems here, the reluctance of locals to swallow a little pride and ask for help (Western, Chinese, I don't care who, as long as they are competent) in doing things correctly. Once you learn the proper way, you no longer need assistance and you can do things without assistance. I guess I'll never understand.

BANGKOK (thaivisa.com): -- Continuing its efforts to expedite the revival of the Thai travel and tourism industry, the Royal Thai government has agreed to exempt the fee for tourist visa applications, effective 25 June 2009 to March 2010.

^ ...and then it won't be Thailand, it will be like where you come from and it will be a boring litigious society with only the only daily shopping choices being between Wal-Mart or Target.

I am sure that Carrefours problem is lack of supervision and quality control of it's vendors since they just buy in the stuff, bung a price tag on it and sell it to dumb farangs in a brightly-lit, air-conditioned environment that they are used to. IMHO, the French are the worst supermarket operators in the world with Carrefour's Brazilian operations being a total disaster and the Auchan hypermarket that used to be in Houston just a license for local employees to steal the stock.

Get your arse down the local market for your FRESH meat, fruit and veggies.

I buy lots of fruit from the street vendors. Nice of you to make assumptions about me. Most of my experiences have been good.

You can't stop "progress", and yeah, I recognize that the word is somewhat loaded. I don't know how long it will take, but Thais will gradually demand more consumer rights. I don't know when MCD, KFC, and other big western chains established themselves here, but I'm pretty sure that people thought that would never happen, until it did. The world moves in the direction of the dominant culture (s), warts and all.

Sorry about the blank previous response.

One thing I've noticed about this place is that there don't seem to be any consumer rights. I've seen so much nonsense in the marketplace that simply wouldn't fly where I'm from, the US. Text on labels is often so small that I can't read it. I'm not blind, yet. On labels that I can read, I've looked at ingredients listed, and the %'s don't add up to 100. Must be some kind of math I'm not aware of. I've purchased ready to eat fruit on several occasions from Carrefour, and it was obvious to me that they packaged it to include some pieces that were flavorful, and some that were tasteless. Pretty clever, huh? "Give 'em some edible fruit and throw in some garbage and they probably won't complain." I rarely buy fruit at Carrefour anymore. Another time, I bought some sliced red pork from the same crooks. At the time of purchase, I noticed that it was packaged in a way that you couldn't really see the meat, but didn't think much about it. I ended up throwing at least 90% of it away because it was not meat.

It's really sad, because there's so much warmth from Thai people, and so much sleaze from organizations and large companies.

To answer your question, yeah, they can do better, but like everything that's ugly and corrupt here, they won't, until nuke the system they're under and replace it with something that approaches fair and decent.

Sometimes I see things in the local foreigner oriented markets that truly mystify me.

At Friendship, they have a couple of types ricotta cheeses for sale.

One brand is on a reduced price, no refunds special. That one is identifiable and I think it has the sell by date (they are pretty much telling you something is wrong with the cheese).

Now they are selling a new brand of ricotta cheese. Its in a small container.

On this container:

No weight or volume information

No country of origin information

No produced date, no sell by date

No producer contact information

Picking it up, it feels like even the small container isn't filled amply

This is one is refundable if it is rotten, but do you really need the stress of bothering with that? If so, would you open it before you left the area, or wait to get home, then you have to immediately lug it back to complain. Your idea of rotten might be different than theirs, isn't cheese supposed to SMELL?

Only the brand and that it is ricotta cheese and the price (about 200 Baht).

If you wanted ricotta cheese, would you buy such a mysterious product?

How do they even know when it is past the sell by date if there is no sell by date?

Can't they do better?

As an example, Asiana has a r/t originating in San Francisco, to Bangkok, that goes for under $740 US. They won't even sell you a ticket if you want to originate your travel from Bangkok. I also suspect something other than economics at work here. Why shouldn't I? TIT.

Julie's correct. The fares out of here are outrageously high. Something's askew (big surprise for Thailand). This is not an efficient market at work.

I think I have a point and that it's that you get what you pay for in this world. It's not always the case, but generally it holds. I've been here for 3 years and I've witnessed first hand what it's like to see the traditional clash with the modern. It's ugly.

Dare I say it? Ok, I will: I'm here because it's cheap, not because it's good.

The idea of a sufficiency economy is simply not viable in the modern world. You can't keep tempting people with all sorts of material goods and then ask them to reject all but the basics. You can't make it really easy for folks to buy cars (because that's good for the economy) and advocate a simple life at the same time. I live in Bangkok and I would describe this place as the poster child for how not to build a city. Where is the leadership? How bad does the traffic have to get before restrictions are placed on driving? I don't understand anyone who owns a car here, but that speaks volumes about how silly a notion a "sufficiency economy" is.

You can get a single entry non-o since you are over 50 at any of the nearby consulates. That would give you 90 days.

The cost will be 2000 baht. Which is less thatn getting a single entry tourist visa and a 30 day extension. Plus no trip to immigration for the extension.

Is that generally a same day process? Thanks, again for your help!

Hi! My retirement visa expires on November 30. I'm not going to renew it, but I'd like to stay an additional 2 or 3 months in Thailand. Anyone have an idea of what my options are? Thanks!

I've lived in Bangkok for 3 years and I'm irritated so much by the mindless whistling that is allegedly done to assist in traffic control, that I'm thinking about leaving the country when my retirement visa expires in 6 months. The whistling is just getting worse and worse. Have you ever watched these guys? They accomplish nothing with the whistles other than adding to the noise pollution that is already way over the top. I actually avoid going to certain malls and places where it's especially bad, and in my search for a new place to live, it's a key.

Ever ride on the skytrain or in the subway? I think they're both fine systems, albeit limited in coverage, but again, the ear piercing signal they employ as a warning that the doors are closing, baffles me.

Am I asking too much for a kinder and gentler approach to this?

Thanks for listening.

I like what you wrote. I would add that the Thai system needs changes that allow for investigating and ousting a leader who is found to be corrupt, or not fulfilling his/her obligations for the betterment of the nation. IOW, removing someone via coup or any other method that relies on deals, coercion, etc., is unacceptable. How you accomplish this in a tradition that seems corrupt to the core, is beyond me.

There are solutions:

Firstly, both sides have to accept certain truths. Abhisit could have done much to prevent the current problems had he told some truths and accepted reality. Truth is that the chances of privy council interference is very high. Another truth is that such interference from "higher"authorities has very likely been going on for decades. Basically, what was the point of the 1932 revolution if we have a kind of quasi-system between an elected (or military) and privy council running the country today? Abhisit also has to address progressive changes in society. The Les Majeste law needs serious improvements. Yes, royalty is Thai culture just like it also is in the UK, but culture is permitted to change, and does so by itself. Culture does not mean being stuck in the past. Almost all Thais want to see society progress, however most are also prepared to show a great deal of respect to HM the King -- this is for Abhist to work out. However, as he was brought to govt. partly PAD and with the help of the military he really isn't free to address these issues.

On the side, the Thaksin supporters need to face the facts about their leaders. Thaksin is pure and simply mafia, and so too are most of his work mates. The man orders killings for heaven sake. He really isn't a suitable person to lead a modernizing country like Thailand.

However, I suspect it's not about their leader though. It's about social issues and the poor but sadly there isn't a better or stronger icon that Thaksin so its a kind of mutually beneficial relationship. Thaksin also needs the red shirt to fulfill his plans to remain at the forefront of politics, etc.

Eventually the reds will win whether under their current guise or another in later years, as they most clearly represent social change in the country in terms of everything, not least the finding of their own political voice.

The job of the elected government to help resolve tensions is to be totally unbiased and truthful, but right now the government isn't. Elections may not be the answer until both sides are prepared to accept the truth.