nisakiman

For me, the main criterion is whether or not it will fit in my pocket, and the majority of smartphones won't. The last one I bought a couple of years ago (which is my current phone) was a Samsung S5 mini dual SIM. It's big enough for most stuff, and it fits in my pocket. I can't see the point of having a 'mobile' phone that you have to carry because you can't fit it about your person. For me, the essence of mobility is something you can drop in your pocket and forget about unless you need to use it.

20 hours ago, geisha said:

Im spoilt in France with very good  affordable wine. I can’t believe the rubbish they sell here, especially in restaurants.Ive had nice wine in Wine connexion though, and I look forward to some nice wine when in Bangkok.

Likewise here in Greece. My daily table wine is a local (Nemea) Merlot, 12.5% ABV, currently the 2016 vintage, which I buy in a 10 litre box. While not a 'fine wine' by any stretch of the imagination, it is very drinkable, and serves well as a table wine. It's certainly better than all the cheaper(?) end of wines in Thailand. And what do I pay for 10 litres of very nice table wine? The princely sum of 18.70 Euros, about 730 Baht.

The alleged connection between vaping and 'popcorn lung' is non-existent. This is just a click-bait headline generated by the anti-smoking, anti-vaping propaganda machine.

Quote

The most important bit of evidence is that after many millions of person-years of vaping, some unknown but nontrivial portion of which included diacetyl exposure, there has not been a reported case of a vaper getting bronchiolitis obliterans. Those who follow the anti-vaping propaganda will no doubt know that the anti-THR liars have picked up on the consternation as their latest claim — “Vaping causes popcorn lung!!!” Never mind that it hasn’t done so.

https://antithrlies.com/2016/02/04/diacetyl-in-e-cigarettes-what-we-can-really-say-not-much/

2 hours ago, dddave said:

Years ago, I was in the US Navy, stationed in Morocco, a largely Islamic nation.  It was commonplace for Moroccan men to take another man's hand when walking in public places; nothing sexual about it but it took me a long time to get used to it.

I think it must be normal in most Islamic countries. It certainly was in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan when I was there in the late '60s. And as JT points out, not unusual for Indian men to hold hands either. I must admit that I was slightly taken aback when, on my first visit to Tehran, a local lad I'd got friendly with and who was taking me to a vodka bar took my hand as we were strolling down the street. I didn't quite know what to do! I had to make some rapid cultural adjustments! :)

I had a massive problem with pigeons in the house I bought here in Greece, because the old lady opposite (single floor house, flat roof) used to put bread out on the roof every day. My balcony used to get covered (I mean really covered - there were hundreds of them) in pigeon guano on a daily basis because they would roost on the edge of my roof so they could keep an eye on the flat roof opposite. I bought some of those clear plastic spikes and stuck a couple of rows along the edge of the roof overlooking the street, and a row along the ridge tiles. Problem solved. They didn't like sitting half way up the roof, so moved to the house next door. The clear plastic spikes aren't too obvious, either.

3 hours ago, VBF said:

Just found this https://www.tourismthailand.org/About-Thailand/Custom-Immigration

and 

http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/1002-suvarnabhumi-customs-services

 

Looks like my question is answered. 

I didn't check your link, but I'm assuming you're fine to bring in 250g. (It's the amount I always take in with me.) In which case, do not buy it in UK - the tax makes it horrendously expensive. Buy it in duty free Dubai, and you'll pay a fraction of the UK price. Golden Virginia is actually available in Thailand. The touristy bits of Sukhumvit, most 7/11 stores sell it - I think I paid a bit over 400 Baht last March, but I can't remember if it was for 30g or 50g.

6 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

Everything is possible dude .. 

Heh! I bet the steering was nice and light - no need for power assist!

8 minutes ago, transam said:

I put a 5.8 Chevy V8 in a VW....No ploblem.....

What, a beetle? I bet its rear end was dragging a bit...

Having said that, I knew a guy once who had put a Chevy V8 in a Morris Minor, with nitro boost and all the rest of it. Street legal, too. He'd had to shift the driving seat back to the back seats to accommodate the engine, which filled the front of the car as well as the engine bay.

On 12/23/2017 at 4:46 AM, jacko45k said:

That was the problem, they didn't really have a handle on it but it exceeded 5%!

I find modern Chang Classic a bit bland... but of course the price is good!

I remember reading years ago that someone tested various bottles of Singha and found that the ABV varied between 5% and 9% (not sure if those figures are correct, but it was somewhere around there) depending on the batch. How much truth there is in that I have no idea, but it wouldn't surprise me. They don't seem to be big on QC in Thailand.

On 11/4/2017 at 4:08 AM, fry30 said:

That's the first link I found too, it would be interesting to know at which concentration it's not harmful

Always take health advice from government and/or health organisations with a large pinch of salt. Although what they say may well be correct in terms of constituents and their potential for harm, they will always err well on the side of safety, and exaggerate the risks. They will always look at the worst case scenario. They do this because 1) They don't want to be sued for understating the risks, and 2) If they overstate the risks, there will usually be further funding forthcoming for further research, thus ensuring that the mortgage continues to get paid.

The reality of the situation is that since man discovered fire, he has been crouching over open wood fires for both cooking and warmth, and over the millennia has evolved lungs that can easily deal with quite high levels of smoke without damage. So wood smoke from next door, although it may be annoying, is very unlikely to have any detrimental health effects. Fumes from plastics will have a much higher level of toxicity, but unless you are being constantly subjected to them are also unlikely to be damaging, not at the levels you are likely to get in the open air where the smoke becomes very diluted. The first rule of toxicology is that the dose makes the poison, which is something that many of these studies deliberately don't make clear.

41 minutes ago, London Boy said:

Champix is available in Thailand, I've bought it before from a local pharmacy in Silom, Bangkok. Very effective drug. In fact won the Prix Gallien price for an inovative pharmacetical agent. http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/champix-receives-top-honour-with-2009-innovative-product-award-538990311.html

Its well documented that its the withdrawal from nicotine that causes the side effects, not the drug itself. Take it from someone who is very familiar with the drug.

That's wrong. Champix is designed to suppress the pleasure centres in the brain, thus removing the pleasure of smoking (and other things as well), which is why in many people it leads to depression, and that in turn drives quite a few people to suicide. It's the drug itself that does it. It has nothing to do with 'nicotine withdrawal'.

Withdrawal from nicotine is a minor and easily dealt with situation. It's not the reason people smoke (although it is a part of it) and it's not any more addictive than caffeine. The reasons smoking is habit forming are many and complex, and nicotine is only a small part of it.

I've read quite extensively about Champix, and I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. If you want to give up smoking, get an e-cig. It's by far the best and most effective method. Yes, I know that Thailand, in its deep wisdom, has made them illegal, but they are still available, illegality notwithstanding, and personally if I was giving up smoking I'd rather take my chances with the law than with a potentially lethal drug like Champix.

34 minutes ago, Crossy said:

He did say it was half-cream

 

My Uncle John (now well into his 80s) always made tea with Nestlé "Ideal" milk and sugar. Sweet, syrupy and delicious.

 

When we got married back in the UK we went to see him, he made tea as usual with Ideal although I did persuade him to put only one spoonful of sugar in. It was still sweet, syrupy and delicious. A memory of 1960's summers at granny's house. Even Wifey "liked" it (ok she drank it).

 

 

That reminds me of the tea they brew (or at least, used to brew when I was there in the late '60s) in India. Tea leaves, sugar (lots), buffalo milk and water all went in a pan and were boiled up together. It sounds awful, but in fact it was a great brew. It was the normal way to drink tea on the street. It was only in 'HiSo' homes that you would get what they called 'separate tea', which was the English way of making the tea in a teapot and combining the tea, milk and sugar in the cup afterwards.

Here in Greece, it's only fairly recently (past ten years) that anything apart from Yellow Label (yuk) has been available. Now the supermarkets stock a good range from Twinings, Dilmah (?) etc, as well as a range of local herbal teas.

My first drink of the day is coffee brewed in one of those little espresso pots you cook on the stove, but the rest of the day I tend to drink tea, usually English Breakfast. Too much coffee gives me the jitters these days.

I've found most of the beds I've slept on in Thailand over the past twenty years have been like bloody mortuary slabs, with absolutely no give in them at all. Perhaps it's because traditionally they slept on the floor, so when beds and mattresses started to become the norm, they opted for a similar firmness. Whatever, at my age now, I prefer a nice soft sprung mattress. Hard ones just give me backache.

16 minutes ago, tryasimight said:

There is one working there currently with the full on Muzzy outfit...can only see her eyes.

That's interesting - the ultimate 'surprise package'! I wonder if you get to unwrap it back at the hotel, or whether she just lifts her skirt? Still, one to appeal to those with a gambling instinct I suppose...

43 minutes ago, superal said:

 One alternative is a new concept under the trade name of  IQOS ( apparently stands for I quit ordinary smoking ) . It is allowed in Thailand and does not used any liquids .  Google to get the full info . Risks are similar to vaping  and a user tells me tastes better than vaping , more like real cigs .

'Heat-not-burn' technology like IQOS are supposed to be very good (I've not tried them myself as I don't think they're available here in Greece as yet), and the governments like them because they actually contain tobacco (albeit in smaller quantities than normal cigarettes), which gets round the pesky problem of being able to tax the sh*t out of them, something which they haven't yet worked out how to do with e-liquids. They don't come cheap though. An article I read from the UK had them priced slightly higher than conventional cigarettes, which isn't much incentive for people to switch. Particularly if those people are in the habit (as many are) of buying their smokes on the black market for half the retail price.

The Thai approach to e-cigs is stupid, but they are taking their cues from the WHO and its totalitarian FCTC treaty. And the FCTC is funded largely by the big pharmaceutical companies, for whom e-cigs are a direct threat to their sales of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT - patches and gums), which they've built up to a multi-billion dollar global business on the back of the smoking bans they've lobbied (and paid for) the WHO to mandate via the FCTC. It's all very incestuous.

As I understand it, US citizens are given visa exemption. That means she can exit airside with no problems, and re-enter via immigration when she likes. The only pain is that she'll have to do immigration, and the queues that involves. If her luggage is checked through to her connecting flight, she won't have to worry about that, just carry her hand baggage with her.

I can't see any problem at all. On one occasion when I was travelling with my daughter from BKK to LHR, we had a ten hour stopover in Dubai. We went out into the city to do some sightseeing, and then returned to the airport to catch our connection. We didn't need a visa, so it was easy and straightforward. It should be the same for your cousin.

8 hours ago, becbec123 said:

I have now received another email from 'Chris Williams'. They have created a html page with my photo pretending to be me defaming the king. they also included my address and work address on the page. 

 

I am genuinely scared now in case he makes it public. What kind of crazy guy does this??

What should I do?

You need to preempt the situation. Get a lawyer to accompany you to a police station, show them the emails and let them take it from there. If you do that, then any further action from the scammer will only serve to get him into deeper trouble, and you will be in the clear. But you must grab the bull by the horns and neutralise the threat, and the only way to do that is to get one step ahead of the guy. You might want to bring a case of defamation, too, and reverse the roles.

Good luck, and don't delay. The longer you leave it, the more difficult it becomes.

5 hours ago, fashionablesally said:

I have nothing against smokers...i am an ex-smoker myself but i promise you the e-cig is better...way better. I used it for a year before officially quitting. The most vivid change has been that my taste buds are way better and hence gaining weight has become a real problem. I don't know. I somehow always managed to stay trim under the Cig. Are there any scientific facts behind this phenomenon? Sometimes i get so tempted to just have one..or two..or three

Smoking is an appetite suppressant. It's very common for people to put on weight when they quit smoking. This is one of the reasons that type 2 diabetes is also common in ex-smokers.

Buy local. I've been wearing the Gambol brand flip-flops (thongs) for years (can't remember exactly how much they cost, but less than 200 Baht in Big C - 169 or thereabouts?). They are comfortable, well made, last for ages, come in a huge range of colours and materials (I have some with suede straps, which I think were a bit more expensive than the fabric strap, but not much), and they are cheap. I must have about a dozen pairs in various stages of decrepitude, from almost had-it to almost new. I probably get at least a couple of years wear out of them. Nice soft sole and well designed insole shape.

3 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

if you had children in your home country would you be happy with random adults either from your own country or from other countries approaching and trying to interact with them?

And therein lies the rot that has set into our society. The 'precautionary principle'. Wrap 'em in cotton wool.

The attitude of "...would you be happy with random adults either from your own country or from other countries approaching and trying to interact with them?" is borne of reading the gutter press and believing every word. According to the papers, there's a paedophile lurking under every bush, and for that reason we shouldn't let our kids talk to anyone, in case they're raging paedophiles.

What rot. It's attitudes like that that have created the current 'snowflake' generation, demanding 'safe spaces' and 'trigger warnings'.

I've found when in Thailand that kids react well to me, and many times I've had teenage (and younger) girls or boys come up to me and practice their English. It's great. Where I've lived for the past 15 years (Greece), it's the same. There's been no 'Paedophile Panic' whipped up by the gutter press, and kids roam freely. And it's not unusual at all to be sitting in a café and have some kid from another table come and chat. And mum will just look over and ask if he / she is being a nuisance. If not, she'll just go back to her coffee and friend(s) or smartphone and leave me to chat with her kid. No big deal. The kid learns how to deal with strangers, and mum gets five minutes peace.

And I say this as the father of four (now adult) kids who were encouraged to interact with other adults. Of course be sensible, but don't be scared. There's a big world out there full of all sorts of people, and kids need to learn how to deal with that.

What I did when I had this problem with a fan was to cut a couple of thin strips (5mm wide, about) of some aluminium sheet I had (about 1mm thick) and cut those into pieces about 15 - 20 mm long. I then folded those small strips in half, and started crimping them with a pair of pliers to the webs at the back of the blade hub. It was trial and error, but I guess it didn't take much more than half an hour of jiggling around to get the blade balanced, including all the removing and replacing the blade each time.

I quite enjoy little challenges like that. I must be getting old.

3 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Only 2 large companies and one medium-sized company have government concessions to produce, distribute and wholesale to the mass market in Thailand.

 

Their relations with lawmakers remains very tight. They have considerable input in any government decision that affects their industry.

 

The reason is of course protection of a lucrative cartel.

That there is collusion between the concessionaires and the government departments concerned I accept, and it doesn't surprise me, but it still doesn't explain why the taxes are so high. If they have the sole concession anyway, it would be in their interests for the endpoint price to be lower, as they would sell far more of their products. They make nothing from the taxes, as that money goes directly to the government. And lower taxes on their products wouldn't affect their grip on the industry if, as you say, they are tight with the government departments that give the concessions. So I'm still baffled as to why wine, and not other alcoholic drinks, attracts such a ridiculously high rate of tax.