nisakiman

Probably scraping the lower end of the tourist scale, but I love Chinatown early Sunday morning. Hundreds of locals spread a few of their cast-off and collected items in a genuine swap meet/ flea market that goes on for blocks and blocks, centered around Khlong Thom market. I try to get there before 8:00 AM, and be gone about 11:00 when it gets too crowded for me.

Saturday is okay, but not as many "independents" with interesting stuff.

I think I read somewhere that the Chinatown here is the largest in the world. Interesting. I've never been. Even though having lived in Bangkok for several years!

I always stay in or close to Chinatown when I'm in Bangkok. It's my favourite part of the city. Lots of great restaurants, lots of markets in and around. In the evening, Yaowarat becomes a bustling street market with loads of food stalls serving a huge variety of great food.

Hualamphong is close by for the MRT as is the river for the express boats.

Remember animals are here with us not for us!!

Vegetarian, are you?

As I never stay in 5* / Hi So hotels, I don't ever encounter the problem of there not being a bum gun. There's a lot to be said for slumming it!

I believe this movement comes from China. When the Chiang Kong bridge opens it is expected that between 300-500, 18 wheel trucks will cross the bridge each 24 hours. The Chinese trailers are headed to Laem Chabang to ship their goods from Yunnan and surrounding provinces. Changing to engines that drive on the other side is very expensive for the Chinese. This will further be compounded when the 1 million staff of Chinese are occupying the manufacturing facility in Laos across from the Golden Triangle. Thailand is about to allow China free visas and it is the largest source of tourism. God only know what the Chinese will get in the future.

The reason for positioning the driver on the side nearest the centre of the road is that it is much safer when that driver encounters an obstacle or slow moving vehicle to just move a little more towards the centre to be able to see around the obstacle. If his driving position is towards the kerbside, then he has to move the whole width of his vehicle beyond the obstruction to be able to see ahead - a dangerous manoeuvre when there is two-way traffic.

As pointed out already, there are plenty of RHD British trucks plying the highways of Europe, but for the driver of a truck in his elevated position the drawback of being on the kerbside does not apply, since unless he has another high vehicle in front of him, his view ahead is unimpeded. So the suggestion that Chinese trucks will have a problem on entering Thailand is, in fact, unfounded.

They did of course change sides in Sweden, in 1967. There were fewer cars on the road in those days, however, and the Swedes anyway would have been far more disciplined drivers than Thais, so it was feasible. It was nevertheless a massive operation, with all the road signs and traffic lights having to be changed, not to mention the purchasing of 1000 buses with doors on the other side, and converting a further 8000 buses to have doors both sides.

http://www.examiner.com/article/sweden-finally-began-driving-on-the-right-side-of-the-road-1967

Apparently 60% of the world's population live in countries that drive on the right, and about 70% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the right.

The answer is very much depending on your upbringing and on your personality (ego). "Basic life needs" as Maslow put it in his 8-level tree later in his studies depend on what you had in your childhood. The requirements for "social needs" (love, belongings) heavily depend on your personality, loners will require much less. Also depending on your personality, self-esteem might be more important so some people than love needs.

Yes, understood, but the question is not why, because there are as many why's as there are people - the question is 'where to individuals see themselves on the pyramid?'

Personally, I qualify for the "Esteem" level with no intention to qualify for the full set of "self-actualization", as I am happy at where I am right now. And once I retire to Thailand in few years to come, this most likely will not change.

I do however put a very high attention on the safety level. While I am completely safe right now here in Switzerland (with loads of social safety networks available), at present I would not yet feel safe enough for the retirement step, as I have not yet achieved the financial level that I want to achieve for myself before my move.

Why do I mention above? Maslow wrote in one of his papers, that before you can achieve an upper level, you must master the lower level. I therefore think - based on many threads also here on ThaiVisa - that lot of the people who retired to Thailand with not enough safety (money) will drop in the levels once they realize that they are not safe anymore in this country.

On a personal level, I'd disagree with that. The 'safety' level was the one of least importance to me, and for the record, although I don't yet live in Thailand (we may well move there in a couple of years) I am an expat, and have been for years. I work for myself (and have done for 30 years) and have no security of employment. Yet, without any self-aggrandisement (this is the problem with this type of lower - higher position; better it was horizontal) I would say I'm comfortably in the top section of the pyramid. My work is creative, and I enjoy it. All the things in the peak of the pyramid apply to me to a greater or lesser extent. But in the 'safety' level, security of income and work are not a part of my life. I've always lived on the edge in that respect, and that's the way I like it. I'm comfortable not having a safety net.

I don't see moving to Thailand having any effect on my life (apart from the change of culture - something I'm accustomed to) at all.

don't know about you all, but it made me feel hungry, I got a sudden urge for a bowl of porridge.

Maybe his idea is to sell it to Quaker Oats for a fortune...

You missed the boat by a couple of weeks matey - the FBI shut down Silk Road. I could have made lots of suggestions for that site!

On a more serious note, as mentioned already, it takes a while to get established as a trustworthy seller on the internet. Actually, the Tiger Balm idea was a good one. Ok, it's work for no profit, but it establishes you.

You don't have to use ebay - small traders are leaving it in droves because their commission charges are so high. There are plenty of alternative marketplace sites out there catering to different types of goods. My wife has been selling stuff online for three or four years, and it's only now starting to actually produce profits worth having. For her, that fact hasn't been a problem, as it started off more as a hobby, so if she wasn't making money, it didn't matter. But she is now fairly well established as a trusted supplier, and is actually making money. Not big money, but money. And it keeps her out of mischief!

Poor sod. What a bloody waste of a life.

I'm afraid I find it difficult to understand what depths of despair can drive a man (or woman) to see death as preferable to life. Most of us hit some pretty low points in our lives - I know I have - but it surely can never be so bad that it can't get better?

I suppose there is always the possibility that he was suffering from clinical depression, which I understand can make people quite irrational. Whatever, it really is a tragedy, both for him and for his family who have to pick up the pieces of his life. RIP.

I wonder if the boarding airlines will be asked to assist in the pre-screening?

Given that a fairly high proportion of air stewards are gay (just my observation - I may be wrong), I rather doubt that any assistance would be forthcoming!

It is a landing zone for alien spacecraft that are going take the Dhammakaya sect to a new sin-free world on the edge of the universe.

Hey, cool! Amazing Thailand!

I thought the recent derailments were blamed on the use of cheap Chinese steel for the rails. And they want the Chinese to build a high speed rail link? In exchange for rice? Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Is it April !st? I seem to have lost track...

I'm struggling to believe that even our muslim brothers are capable of quite this level of asininity.

On second thoughts...

ignoramus detected. quit pretending you have an inside track on something you know nothing about.

and ecstacy and yaba should not be discussed in the same breath

oh yeah I've heard this story so many times!

"marijuana is not same as hard drugs (means it's a marijuana consumer)"

"ecstasy is not same as hard drugs (means it's an ecstasy consumer)"

"alcohol is more dangerous than amphetamine" (means it's an amphetamine-user)

"smoking meth is not the same as injection" (means this is a meth-smoker)

don't lie to yourself

Oh serenade me again you ukulele playing songstress of wisdom...

Heh! This guy doesn't know when to stop digging, does he?

JJJJJJJJJtttttttttttttt whatever your name is, (sticky keyboard matey? You should cut down on the porn...), your self-righteous smugness is only exceeded by your ignorance. When you join a thread discussing a subject, it really does help to have some knowledge, if only very basic, about that subject.

So the owners of pubs are all bad as well... don't forget alcohol if classed right is a hard drug. Only difference is its legal. I know of plenty of people who took xtc or weed and led a perfectly normal life had a job and so on. Its only a small portion that goes down and becomes a real addict. Kinda like alcohol not everyone becomes an alcoholic.

Drag-user detected.

Nice try to indulge your habit, but we both know you lie to yourself. I've seen many times somebody started to take drugs, saying: I control it, it's just for a recreation.

But the truth is if somebody starts to take hard drugs (xtc, yabba etc) there are just two ways:

1) addicton and death

2) sobering. and every day of taking drugs it becomes harder and harder to stop, but a drug user just keep telling himself (herself): "I control it, I can stop now but I just don't want"

If you take drugs less often you walk in the same direction, but slower.

What self-righteous pontification. You obviously know absolutely nothing about the subject, so I would suggest you don't broadcast that ignorance.

Judging from the force of the collision, it is believed that the driver was not aware of the steel beam.

Duh...ya think so ?......cant get much past Thailand's finest's highly tuned powers of deduction can you....they should all go and work for Scotland Yard who needs Sherlock Holmes when you have Lieutenant Somchai on the job...

One thing that is puzzling me is what in God's good name was that steel beams' purpose ? It looks as if someone has just made a steel girder gate for no apparent reason.

Somebody please enlighten me.

Can think of several reasons. 1° Avoiding heavy vehicles going on the bridge, beyond its structural resistance limits; 2° Avoiding high vehicles at a higher risk of toppling on the road under the bridge.

Yes, fine, but it would be much more sensible to make the beam either from a softer material or not solidly fixed so that if someone hits it it won't shave off the top of the vehicle, as it happened here.

All max height beam warnings I've seen, in garages and the like are a tube or board hanging from chains from the ceiling, it won't go unnoticed if hit, but it won't rip the vehicle roof neither.

Yes indeed, that is the way it is normally done - something deformable and suspended to act as both visual and audible warning of an approaching height restriction, so any driver hitting it is made very aware of the impending height limit without destroying his vehicle. Years ago I used to pull pantechnicon trailers, so became pretty familiar with height restrictions.

It's so damaging to the reputation that no one had heard of these suicides?

1mn USD for some hardened glass walls. Right oh....

I read a million BAHT not $

Airports of Thailand has allocated a budget of Bt30 million to build a glass wall at Suvarnabhumi Airport to prevent suicide attempts.

30 million Baht is about $1m

If it isn't addressed in the lease agreement then you need to ask. People claiming that holes are easy to patch and invisible afterwards generally have very low standards or simply don't know better.

I'm a professional carpenter and work to very high standards. I've filled countless drill holes in walls that you would need to inspect with a magnifying glass to even suspect that a hole had ever been drilled. It doesn't even require any real expertise, just a little care and attention. And a few drops of matching paint, perhaps if the wall isn't white.

Like Furbie says, drill the holes and fill them when you leave. No-one will be any the wiser. A small tub of filler will only cost you a few Baht ay the local hardware store.

Wouldn't it be cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing to string some decorative netting across the area? All this penning us in to save us from ourselves is getting a bit tiresome.

The point about REAL science is that it is permanently skeptical.

Indeed, never a truer word was spoken. Which is why when AL Gore and his acolytes were shouting loudly "The science is settled!" they were simply illustrating that their main concern was to shut down debate. Which suggests that they were well aware of the weaknesses of their "Global Warming" (as it was then, until the globe inconveniently failed to warm) theories, and didn't want to be challenged on them.

Unfortunately you don't seem to realise how facile your post is............AG is NOT the scientist. Cherry picking opinion is not scientific either.

Al Gore was the AGW poster boy, the spokesman around whom all the 'climate scientists' rallied. (And the one who made millions out of it.)

Who would you prefer I quote? Michael Mann, with his notorious 'hockey stick' graph? He was also one of the "the science is settled" adherents. Or perhaps Phil Jones and his 'Hide the decline' emails, which unfortunately (for him and the church of Global Warming) were hacked and published. Facile? I think not. There has been a litany of lies and corruption at the very heart of the Global Warming scam. It will go down in history as the most expensive con ever perpetrated on the human race.

The point about REAL science is that it is permanently skeptical.

Indeed, never a truer word was spoken. Which is why when AL Gore and his acolytes were shouting loudly "The science is settled!" they were simply illustrating that their main concern was to shut down debate. Which suggests that they were well aware of the weaknesses of their "Global Warming" (as it was then, until the globe inconveniently failed to warm) theories, and didn't want to be challenged on them.

^^^

Did you ever read the story about the boy who cried "wolf!"?

People get wise to the charlatans who constantly cry "apocalypse" in pursuit of their personal agendas. And of course one mustn't forget that all those in the IPCC and the ragtag minions hanging on their coattails would be out of a job if 'global warming / climate change / global cooling' (or whatever it will morph into when the next predictions don't materialise) ceases to be an issue. That's a powerful motivation to keep the gravy train rolling.

And I don't believe I indulged in any "conspiratorial theories, as hominem attacks and stereotyping" as you put it.

When organisations lie and cheat and manipulate the figures, it's no wonder that all but the gullible dismiss their exhortations to don sackcloth and ashes to avert the alleged impending armageddon.

Just a thought - why on earth is this thread in the Travel forum?