Shiver

2 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

Interesting that the artists impressions shows no people ..... I wonder why!

My guess would be that people would just get in the way of the featured creative architecture.

2 hours ago, Metapod said:

Well they got one thing right, there is a hell of a lot less people walking around in the second image.

Obviously the TAT weren't consulted before this image was released.  Do they have inactive posts in Marketing Consultant offices?

9 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

you wear your disguise well, know the Scarlet Pimpernel do we

Yeah, got some on the balcony (no garden at the moment).

4 hours ago, oldlakey said:

YES, a one word answer to deflate the pompous holier than thou

Except... err, atheist though.

Only time I've heard of OmiseGO (OMG) was as an ICO token.  

That aside, a quick search indicates that you can do P2P transfers, which suggests that it is more like a PayPal type compliance than a merchant account for credit/debit cards.  There might be some transaction limits, different cost models etc.

I guess if it allows you to do bank transfers of small sums as you can within Thailand as an individual, except having more convenience and the ability to do international transfers (where T/T is cost prohibitive and too slow for buying a McDonalds or 'cup of coffee' type transactions, then you're probably safe.  That said, you could ask them directly to be sure you're not going to get hassles.

4 hours ago, lvr181 said:

Twerk(ing) is now allowed?  

 

Bring on the 'twerk' 

I dunno, maybe try it in a place of worship, and if you get out alive then they can incorporate it into GTA.

[Edit]:  Sitting at the bar in Suzy Wongs does not count as a place of worship.

2 hours ago, Songlaw said:

How about one bottle of gin, a spirit-chasing bottle of tonic and 3 ice cubes? And you can hail as many maries as you'd like... There, absolved.

 Absolved.... well alcohol is a solvent, as is water.  It's a long 'shot' but it might jus[hic] twerk.

Some gross misunderstanding by the parties in the news piece about others potentially misunderstanding.

Money is the new god ('cos Frankie goes to hollywood said so :o/ ).

Jesus from my schooling days didn't claim to be a god.

The first Buddha never claimed to be a god so far as I'm aware.

I guess you could say they're both 'paths' to the way, the truth, the light, enlightenment or whatever you're intending.  But then so are some martial arts, and they can appear quite violent [confused]

Now that I've said blasphemous things I'm going to have to go out and buy a bottle of red Fanta, a spirit house and say 3 hail Mary's.  Divisiveness, brilliant innit.

My S/O is typical Thai in that somehow 'new' is the only way (for the first two trillionths of a second until you actually get it out of the showroom, but that's another over told story).

For myself I don't care if new or not, but I have to want it to be incentivised to make it happen.

Eg:

Me:  250-350hp (ish), light/nimble/responsive, feedback you can be one with, class leading stopping ability, survivability design over economic.  Not Black/White/Silver, because as I get older I'll still have to remember where I parked it in the car park against a sea of monotony.  - In other words I know I'm going to have to compromise and go more mainstream.

Her:  1. How many airbags?  2. Is colour beautiful?  3.  ...there is no number three, though I know any car that had a sticker/seat cover/furry dice or anything with a picture of a minature schnauser, then I could sell her the idea of it being her idea to choose that particular car.

11 minutes ago, marquis22 said:

Difficult to know about 'elsewhere' as many countries do not allow probably suicidal deaths to be broadcasted like they are in Thailand.

The place where I stay (rental) has a balcony with railings that come to about half way up my thigh.  If I were to step backwards into it (sober or not) I would find myself on the road for sure.  I'd prefer it to be mid torso height since it would not really obstruct the view much, and be one less very obvious way to screw up.

1 hour ago, observer90210 said:

Better change the law in Pattaya and construct hotels with only 1 floor above ground level!!!!!

 

RIP to the poor girl....

Condolences to her family.

As I read the headline and thinking 'oh no, not again', I'm wondering why with the frequency of these events of falling, that balconies aren't modified to make it more difficult to have an accident (an actual or a postured one).

I look at the car manufacturer sites for Thailand and am left wanting, and feel sure there must be someone filling the market gap.

I'm interested in something like a Focus RS or a Civic Type R, but they're not officially on the market here.

Is there a company anywhere in Thailand that can supply that kind of thing?  I'd like a "pay and be done with it" transaction, as I don't know the ropes when it comes to import duty, and only hear horror stories.  Perhaps that's not an accurate reflection of the truth, but bad news spreads further than good news.

On 9/8/2017 at 10:02 AM, Nook225 said:

Absolutely, the are quite arrant professionals over there, targeting your pocket. It is unbelievable how many "falangs" are easily being manipulated by this m. I've known some having 4-5 white sponsors in her phone, all blindly believe that she stopped "working" and waiting for them, of course as soon as they keep sending Thai Baht... All these Skype "me-love-you-you-love-me" sessions and end of the day, she will anyway get upset on some small thing and won't reply anymore, of course leaving bad "falang" guilty . This seems a whole picture.

-----------

But to find an educated, innocent, shy and beautiful girl takes a lot and probably would never happen shall you try to seek her.In bkk, there are really a lot of decent women, with money and without children (and with understandable background). But in Pattaya... 

My chosen of partner is:

Educated?  LOL

Innocent? not really, but no tyre tracks across her back (i.e. not 'working girl' but effed up in different (non farang) ways in her history which are best left unspoken on a forum).

Shy?  No, not any more.  She can be quite demonstrative and gregarious - unless talking to a fellow Issan person in which case the dulcit tones get put back in the box and the screeching begins (urghh).  They don't need phones, they can be heard across the city.

Beautiful?  Yes.  To me very much so, and caring, and helpful, and accommodating and and...

Wrt sponsors and money, it's very simple:  They're using the most basic carrot with the most elaborate tricks to get *Their* money out of the customers pocket.  You might be forgiven for thinking it's your money, but they have a different take on that one.

Just last night I was with a friend and as he paid the bill his wife came and took the receipt and started checking everything.  He said to not do that, we're in a trusted place and I'm paying anyhow so not your problem (or words to that effect).  Today my partner commented on that, asking why he acted crazy.  I said I would do the same in trusted company.  She said to always check before you pay.  I asked why "do Thais not trust Thais?  I thought it was Thai Rak Thai around here".  I didn't get the terminating comment of "are you  hungry yet?" this time as we were on the way to a restaurant, so the conversation ended without a period.

[Going off topic for a quick rant]
At the restaurant I wanted to discuss buying a house and where we should locate.  What happened is she took a picture of her spaghetti and put it on facebook saying "thankyou my love for beautiful meal".  I swear she hadn't eaten a bite, and already it was "phones out" (though she had to ask me how to spell sapag...spaghetti) .  I know if I look there she'll have 20 Thai likes and zero of our farang friends responding.  She had me already set up 'Prime' in money spending mode for her to choose a house, yet food and FB kicked in.  I swear I will never understand, much to her loss - renting for a while longer it seems.  I'm happy already and a house isn't going to improve that.

Use the mythical "white male privilege" .... as a farang.  Giggles....

A gold shop near me has those metal welded box section things painted red/white and chained to the street posts (2 of them), that are meant to allow pedestrians space to get past the parking.  Apparently she rents/buys them from 'the authorities'.  They are most certainly on the road, but because she sought permission then the law is cast aside.

Seems to work.

15 hours ago, oldlakey said:

One would hope you used the words  same scenario very loosely

Loose typing on my part.  I should clarify that I was speaking from the perspective of being the surviving parent.

Tragic of course, and I know that for me I'd be crippled for life losing a daughter, but... I dunno, Thai pragmatism seems way superior in dealing with loss (unless there is a blame and a claim).

The editorial I feel was designed to pull at heart strings.  I'm seriously unconvinced that it was accurate reporting, but then again, a loss for one is a loss for all.  I hope they can deal with this without going insane as I suspect I might, given the same scenario.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

So did u repaint the bike yet or bought a house?

No not yet.  It'll happen, just as soon as she gets serious about it.  The resources are there and she can have 100% ownership and walk away if she likes.

She's too busy working to make any money herself.  I'm fine with all of the above, she pretty much saved me from myself, and nurtured and supported me when the chips were down healthwise, so she can take it.  My only reservation I've stated is that the majority of my cash will go to my sisters and a nephew since both of sisters are heavily mortgaged up (and will have to hope the pension system doesn't fail them) and living in what was England.

I don't much care for having assets in this country that just tolerates me for the moment.  My assets stay in my brain and the financial assets I have multi-signature redundancy of several trusted parties away from banks that don't need her to participate, but she would be a recipient after I pop my clogs.  She's not a money grabber though, and that's weird. 100 baht shoes or new clothes seem to be her level (inexpensive, but frequent, and she enjoys spending more on taking friends to the BBQ down the road or something.

I was eyeing up a 'modest' island in the British Virgin Islands and mulling over transport and internet solutions, but didn't think she'd want to move there, so I found a small island in Thailand (much less beautiful but in her own back yard.  You'd think anyone would snatch your hand off when offered so much land/trees/fruit/solitude or party island or whatever you wanted to do.  I showed her the picture.  Her take? "But where friends? Not interesting".  I suggested she could invite her friends, but if fell on deaf ears as she'd already gone back to doing the ironing. [shrugs].

She's looking into how to get the keys to view a house in Udon near one of the lakes.  It's alright, but it's the usual single skin concrete stuff.  I wanted to secure a piece of land that had potential to architect something unique and heat/cold efficient with space to grow vegetables and somewhere to put my 'man cave' for tool storage, testing out crazy ideas rather than a series of concrete boxes with a roof slapped on top and enough space between neighbours that you don't have to pretend not to notice each other when brushing your teeth if the door isn't closed.

It's a work in progress...

24 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

Well 100% looks like everyone on the forum sees this as it is.....

LOL, it is only me that finds it odd that TVF members reach consensus with an apparently frictionless vote?  Maybe we should stick to talking about broken relationships and what's happening in Walking Street/Patong/Nana etc

In 'The Art of War' a must have, is a 'competent enemy', and if you don't have one then make one.

The Thaksins being alive and well but outside of the country isn't such a bad choice, and the current incumbents can portray great leadership in the face of 'such adversity'.

Thanks Joe.

I got a strange dilemma presented to me this weekend. S/O getting all those mothering urges going on - clock ticking.  The old story we've all heard is of guy meets someone different, spends his last 40 years of earnings buying a house, car etc, have baby, has financial interruption and baby is taken away as a ransom "Have money can see baby".

I am fortunate in being financially set, haven't bought the house yet, or even the car (she can have one as soon as she can prove she can drive, reverse park and change gears in a manual box without distraction).The car will be CVT with auto parking feature but I 'forgot' to mention that to her (much like we all had to prove we understood mathematics before getting lazy on a calculator).

Anyhow, convo goes "you want baby?  I'll have baby for you".  I'm 48 and enjoying my freedom, and despite my age not being ideal for becoming a father, I would be prepared to foster or adopt a kid to give them a break in life (so long as they get any ideas of univeristy indoctrination out of their head and are willing to learn to be a self starter and self reliant rather than working at McD's).

"Do you really want baby?", "50/50 Up2U".  Don't give me that Up2U BS, its just a way of dodging responsibility for your decisions and it's not what you really mean. Is it.".  "No problem, if I have baby and you don't want then I take away from you" (oohhhh get you with that emotional bribery).  "Okay, well I don't think it would be responsible of me at my age and with my selfish travel intentions to have a baby, so I just won't have sex with you and will take a mia noi instead".  Imagine the pout that produced. "You hungry yet?" (yeah nice segway to different topic)..

So that was the end of the convo for now, but we all know there's a round 2 coming.  As beautiful and caring as she is, and as much as she is unusual in not being a money grabber, it's an aspect I hadn't considered in my cunning plan for happiness.

So it's not a train wreck story yet, but suddenly I'm not comfortable at all.

Back in the days when you could get a passport from HK via BKK, I got mine in the post and crossed the border to Vientiane and went into the small office to the side of the queues and a guy there transferred the stamp.  Gave me some scissors to cut the corner of the old passport, then carried on through as normal.

Need to do it again soon, as very few pages left and need to get up to speed on how to get a new passport remotely or if I have to travel to BKK which would be a pain in the expletive (foot injury making travel difficult). - not wishing to hijack your post, it's just background detail.

Filtering the sand is not a big job.  Stopping trash that floats to Thailand that wasn't created in Thailand is a costly challenge the world over.

100K baht?   How about provide some bins first, then think about charging if they're ignored.

Then there's the other 99% of the issue that he hasn't thought about yet, But hey, a coat of paint to cover foundational cracks is the way it's done here.

Thais will hear 100K baht and pass it into law immediately and ignore the rest of his message..

When pondering if someone is a person of integrity or a shifty, then their national flag isn't really the best way to cut the cake.

Similar to how some people like to defend their cult-ure, others abandon it and look for fresh lands, and others yet travel and try to bring their form of culture with them.  It's not really much to do with nationality, but personal values they uphold (whether self created or they've just rubbed shoulders with their peer group).  Some people just don't have any and are derelict humans. others are silent saints.