connda

Banging the 'Drums of Fear' to scare the sheep citizens. Order out of Chaos. Keep the sheep citizens amped up with a constant litany of fear-monger. Study history. Germany's been down this path before in the not too distant past. Same playbook, different boogeymen.

Click on your Start and type in Restore. Select System Restore. At the Restore system files and setting click Next. If you have any restore points set, restore your system to one of those points. If you had malware, it may have reset those points, but it's worth a try.

After today, buy yourself a portable hard drive. 1 Terabyte drives are under 2000 THB. While your computer is running a set up correctly, you should have made a System Image of your system that you can roll back to. Windows has tools to create system images or you can purchase a tool like Norton Ghost if they still support it.

Sorry for your loss. You probably going to have to rebuild your system. Having backups of you system image will save you immense heartache which you are probably experiencing right now.

Just another comment...

Regarding Microsoft's current strategy with WIndows upgrades, they are currently downloading software on the sly in an attempt to force users to upgrade to Windows 10. I'd say that they have lost all integrity.

So it should come to no surprise if they start downloading software to disable non-Genuine systems that were built via a hack, illegal keys, and MSDN/Technet subscription 'test' keys. For anyone that bought what they thought was a valid key: Caveat Emptor, buyer beware.

I've got experience with Windows based systems going back to MS Windows 3 and Win NT 3.5. I'll tell you want I'm doing right now considering I simply don't trust Microsoft -- I'm preparing to fully migrate over to Linux by the end of this year. Although Windows 7 Ultimate has an end of life cycle on 1/14/2020, my guess is that any individual who isn't behind a WSUS server is eventually going to have WIndows 10 dropped on their system whether they want it or not. Once they force you to their 'Free' version of Windows 10, expect to lose functionality that you had in previous versions of the Windows OS. I have no plans to upgrade. Nowadays I vet everything that is released by Microsoft on Update Tuesday prior to downloading and installing updates. I refuse to learn another freaking Windows OS release, especially one that you have to purchase separate applets to have full Windows functionality. Their hubris will lose them customers, retail and corporate, just like IBM in the past.

So Hello Linux, goodbye Windows and freaking good riddance.

FYI, I really have no faith in MS's business model or current practices. Neither should you without understanding what you're purchasing:

Microsoft's new retail model is deceptive. Windows 10 is 'free' my derriere

https://www.hackread.com/windows10-free-microsoft-charging-features/

Then they want to escrow your encryption keys without informing the user

https://www.hackread.com/how-to-delete-microsoft-encryption-keys/

And they are purposefully tracking you with corporate spyware

https://www.hackread.com/windows-10-is-spying-on-you/

...among other privacy concerns.

http://www.alphr.com/microsoft/microsoft-windows-10/1001289/the-5-windows-10-privacy-issues-you-should-be-aware-of

If you don't like the 'hackread' articles, then Google the same topics and you'll find plenty of commentary by PC professional regarding the Windows 10 OS. Don't take my word for it, do your research. Forewarned is forearmed.

This is not a company that I'm going to support as a retail customer. Open Source is the way of the future if you want to maintain a clean, secure system in my humble opinion. You're mileage my vary.

Click on your Start and type in Restore. Select System Restore. At the Restore system files and setting click Next. If you have any restore points set, restore your system to one of those points. If you had malware, it may have reset those points, but it's worth a try.

After today, buy yourself a portable hard drive. 1 Terabyte drives are under 2000 THB. While your computer is running a set up correctly, you should have made a System Image of your system that you can roll back to. Windows has tools to create system images or you can purchase a tool like Norton Ghost if they still support it.

Sorry for your loss. You probably going to have to rebuild your system. Having backups of you system image will save you immense heartache which you are probably experiencing right now.

Journalist's who do present certain facts, which are uncomfortable to some, find themselves in for a bit of attitude readjustment.

Truth.jpg

Unfortunately, Orwell was uncomfortably prescient, albeit, just a few decades off the mark. And I'm not ragging on Thailand, by know means, as this has become a universal reality as humanity races toward a dystopian future led by an elite micro-minority with power and control in their dark hearts, and a vision of the future that advances with an inexorable iron grip on the masses.

The message is clear to those who can see: The 'Truth' published by journalist today must concur and harmonize with the popular narrative expounded by the power elites who wish to exert control over all aspects of society without enduring criticism from those who are awake to the geopolitical realities of this increasingly unstable world.

This again is nothing unique to Thailand. In the Land of Smiles the control is being exerted openly, although veiled in a sort of dualistic double-speak that urges conformity while subtly threatening censure and sanctions for those who fail to submit. Contrarily, in the West, the masses are simply allowed to stew in the distraction of unbridled consumerism whilst bombarded with endless propaganda from an already complicit main-steam media, the narrative of which is controlled by a handful of large corporations who are snugly in bed with the prevailing body politic; corvus oculum corvi non eruit. The populace? Frogs in a pot of cool water that is slowly being boiled.

Journalist's who do present certain facts, which are uncomfortable to some, find themselves in for a bit of attitude readjustment.

Unfortunately, Orwell was uncomfortably prescient, albeit, just a few decades off the mark. And I'm not ragging on Thailand, by know means, as this has become a universal reality as humanity races toward a dystopian future led by an elite micro-minority with power and control in their dark hearts, and a vision of the future that advances with an inexorable iron grip on the masses.

I'd much prefer living in A Brave New World as an Alpha Plus than living in a 1984 world of totalitarian imperatives. Unfortunately, mankind had chosen the later path, as the fiction of the past melds with the realities of the present.

The message is that journalists need to take this to heart or suffer the consequences - INGSOC

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.
--George Orwell

Crushing dissent, one protester at a time.

Thursday the 31st of December and Friday the 1st of January. Or are you referring to 2016?

I am getting a little worried. I mailed my 90 to immigration last Friday and they received it Monday of this week and still nothing in the mail today Saturday. With 2 holidays next week again worried. It seems the turn around time for 90 days is now getting longer and longer. The 90 reporting is our last bastion of hope and it now seems to becoming strained.

Me too. They are now dragging there feet on 90 day mail-ins for whatever reason, they never did before. What use to be a one-day turn-around up to three months ago is now one week+. I fully expect to have to go to the Airport to track down my report on my 90 day expiration date, although maybe I'll get lucky. However, you have 7 days after it expires to report without having to pay a $2000 THB late fee.

If they can't find your mail-in at the Airport office, you may have to report in person at The Promenade within 7 days after your expiration date unless they are willing to process you there. Tywais, please correct me if I'm incorrect on this. I don't know what they do if you have your EMS receipt and copies of your paperwork, and they can't find the documents that you sent. Does anyone know?

Well, good news. My 90 only took 6 days to process and was mailed on Dec 31 according to EMS. Guess someone was putting in over-time during the holiday. I don't say much positive about Immigration, but if they are working during the holidays, I'll give them a Kudo.

No surprise here...Obama has been acting for the past 7 years...some might say more like a single source for all government decisions...rather than the head of the Executive Branch...

Executive Orders are simply dictatorship wrapped in a pleasant sounding package.

The Congress and Senate are the institutions created to pass legislation in the United States. Executive Order was never meant to usurp the power of the Congressional Branch of government. Gun control legislation should rest with the duly elected representatives sent to Washington by each State's constituents.

Sad that the Executive seat has become almost Imperial in it's scope.

The article fails to address the fact that both the British police - who reviewed the case on site - and the families of the victims both seem to agree that justice has been served. Why would that be?

Why don't the families of the deceased expound, publicly, on the facts that led to the conviction?

who's the author ?

Anonymous?

If what one TV member posted about it being a crime to criticize the outcome of Thai Judicial proceedings is true, then it will be the Nation itself that will field the heat. I wonder if they protect their sources or summarily toss them under the bus?

But then again, if it is true, they are going to have to build more prisons.

Just an observation regarding the Thai Judicial System, but there does not seem to be a mandate for proper "discovery" and the sharing of all facts and evidences between the prosecutors and defense teams as is done in US courts.

Just asking, but here in Thailand, can the prosecution legally withhold evidence from the defense team?

Obviously Disney has deeper pockets and a better legal team than Lucas. He's as quick to apologize as a Thai facing a defamation suit.

The best thing about Chiang Mai is the burgers.

I respectfully disagree. It has the best Mexican food in Thailand .

You haven't eaten at Big Chili in Korat. The owner cooked Mexican food in the US. Excellent.

Okay, I'll wade into this one. I live in a moo ban 18 klm east of the city. 100 houses total. No club house or pool. No big deal. We've been in this house (bought it brand new) for over 7 years, and I can't think of any place else I would rather live. Only one other farang in here. A German guy that no one likes. I know everyone in the 14 houses on our soi, and am friends with all of them. Everyone always smiles, waves, and tries to talk to me. Last night the man and wife 2 houses down personally came to our house and invited us down for their NYE party. They jokingly refer to me as "The Dog Man" because I make daily rounds to go see, pet and play with every dog on this soi. Two+ years ago, when I had my stroke, every neighbor on this soi (and a couple of adjoining soi) were coming to see me, check and see if I, or my wife, needed anything.

As for Chiang Mai itself, yes, it has definitely changed over the past 7 years and, to me, the biggest change is the number of "farang" now living here. I can remember when I used to go to Immigration at 8:30 for my yearly renewal, and be done by 10:00 or 10:30. Now you have to get there at 04:00 in the morning and HOPE you get a good, early queue number, and still plan on making a day of it. But what the hell, I'm retired, so it's not like I have something else to do.

The traffic, especially in town, has become a nightmare, so I do my best to avoid it. But even where we live on the Outer Ring Road, sometimes you can sit for 5 minutes just trying to get out of the moo ban because of the traffic. They have started making 121 4-lane, but it will be a while before it get's to our area.

The bad air? Yeah, when we first moved out here, there were only 2 other moo bans near by, and lots of rice paddies, so it could get really nasty. Now there are about 7 moo bans, and some major stores, and the inevitable 7-11's, so no more burning in the fields, as there are no more fields left to burn.

And if I get bored, I simply get on my new CB300 and I can be on Highway 11 in about 5 minutes, and head out for a 2-3-4 day road trip.

Is Chiang Mai perfect? Not by a long shot. Is it better than any place else I know? Hell yes! I have no intentions of every leaving.

I too was invited by a neighbour to his families New Years Eve party. I was ready to go, but the wife say no. It was about 9pm and we had already settled in for the evening, but the offer was nice.

Thai people are very friendly and have made us most welcome here especially in the community we live in

I have found my neighbors in the mooban -- a small one -- to be aloof and snobbish. They have been here forever and think that myself (and maybe the other two aliens in the area) are interlopers. I have never had anyone say, "Hi" to me. And before you jump to conclusions, I am quiet and unassuming and polite. If I dropped in the street of a heart attack, I doubt anyone would give a shit.

The Thai "friendliness" is a hoax. I was recently in the US for a month and the people there ... no, any high school student could give master classes on politeness.

One neighbor up the soi has a small ma and pa shop and they have put in a pipe along the outside of their wall that takes their kitchen and cutting waste and funnels it to the next house down from them. They toss rubbish in the (now) dirt gutter and have a nice colony of rats there. The woman who runs the place and lives there is a true earth pig. I have heard that their neighbors across the soi have complained to the tessaban and they come out and waggle their finger, she tidies up and then pollutes as usual.

My landlord, after owning this property for 29 years, decides that the mango trees are "too big" and severely pollards them. He wanted to cut them down at the base, but I dissuaded him. He cut down completely a large longan tree because he could.

On my soi and the next one there are six houses vacant and either for sale or rent. One is a "condo on the ground" with a small carpark; no soil only the house. She is firm on 8,000 baht a month, which is laughable. Probably why it's been for rent for years.

The "superhighway" is undergoing massive refurbishment and the Maejo road intersection is being converted to an underground throughway and that's supposed to take three years. Haha...

If you want to own your own house, not possible (that means the land too -- who the hell would spend the money to build a house on land they don't own? "My wife/girlfriend loves me! I trust her." Oh boy. ...)

Thais are if nothing else, largely selfish and don't care about you. If I had a nickel for every Thai who gave their word to me (time to meet, work to do, etc.) and then broke it, I'd be rich.

Thais have a litter mentality (not as bad as the Indians or the Egyptians) and my mooban is always gathering rubbish. Just last week someone dumped a bag of trash by the side of the road, by a house, and the solution? Pick it up? No. Set it on fire.

The list goes on.

I stay here because it happens to be where I am now; things are cheap; you can rent companionship for a song and then tell them to get the hell out and do another; there used to be a cool season but that's pretty much gone now; and you can break the rules in SE Asia and pretty much nothing happens.

I am thinking of an exit strategy even now. It's an interesting place and if you don't give a shit about your environment and the year after year of humidity and oppressive heat and a people who have an average IQ of about 85, then it's great. You can get a girlfriend who is massively out of your league and you can even marry them, but you will never know if it's true or you are just a "big customer." I've seen several "solid" years-long relationships dissolve because the woman just got bored, or sick of the guy or found a bigger fish. "I will stay with you because you 'take care' of me and I don't want to continue working in some pissant job making nothing or working in a bar. I love you!"

Most of the foreigners I see have women who can't speak English to save their life. Then the foreigner dumbs down so now he's speaking like a knuckle-dragging neanderthal. Loneliness is one thing, but having a person around you who can't discuss current events or even locate England on a map is mindboggling. But so many men don't recognize this as a downside. Sex soothes many evils. So that's a plus, I guess.

Chiang Mai is fine if you don't care about the downsides. I know some men have "gone native" and move to some shitkicker village and live with the extended family who don't speak English (and most foreigners can't seem to be bothered to learn it, let alone read and write) and have fun counting chickens and setting traps for catching frogs. Hoo ho! My retired life is so good!

Oh yeah, and there's Kad Suan Kaow, where you can have fried rice and a Chang in the food court. All that's missing is the pigeons to feed.

I have found my neighbors in the mooban -- a small one -- to be aloof and snobbish. They have been here forever and think that myself (and maybe the other two aliens in the area) are interlopers. I have never had anyone say, "Hi" to me.

That's truly sad. The mooban I live in in Lamphun Province is the exact opposite of what you described. I'm one of two farangs living in a mountain valley that spans at least 30km. I'm accepted as well as any Thai can accept a foreigner. Considered a bit of an oddity? Sure! But accepted as part of the village and greater Tambon. People know me by name, they say hello, I'm invited to their homes. The neighbours where I use to live in the US were by all means much colder and more distant. Considering you are renting and not tied to your home, I'd really consider moving and finding a better place to live in rural Thailand.

The best thing about Chiang Mai is the burgers.

is the water still free?

Big C and Dukes it is.

At Big C Superhighway, one has the choice of gourmet KFC Zinger burgers or McDonald's Fillet of Fish cuisine. Walk past Dairy Queen on the way out and pick up a 10 baht ice-cream cone . All come with free water. Personally, my fav is the beer garden - 1 litre of Chang for a smidgen over 100 baht plus lots of free up-skirt and down-tops perving. No free water, but the ice cubes dropped into your beer by a smiling beer girl is gratis.

Ask for a second glass. Have the lovely young thing drop ice cubes in the second glass. Smile, wink, ogle as she walks away. Drink two beers slowly whilst enjoying the view. Check second glass. Free ice water. Bob's Your Uncle!

-Dirty old men don't look; they proudly stare.

Its past.

I entirely and absolutely disagree. I'll refer to the OP message as follows:

It's getting more and more crowded, traffic-jammed and polluted: Agree

The agricultural burning during the dry season is still done openly and thus won't stop any time soon. Correct, but I am sure that it will be at list reduced and limited in them coming season.

The weather during April-May-June is insanely hot. I agree, but where is it cool in April - May in Thailand. I maintain that it is more pleasant in Chiang Mai than in Bangkok and the south.

House prices and rents are soaring--rents being asked for some CM neighborhoods are higher (as in >US$1K/mo) than in some nice small towns in the US. Entirely disagree. Prices of houses and condominiums are reasonable compared to Bangkok or Hua Hin or Pattaya, let alone Phuket. Rents are also reasonable - one can get a one bed room flat for about Baht 20,000 p.m. in a good and central area. If one goes out into the suburbs, one can get a 3 bedrooms nice house for about 30,000 Baht p.m.

This is very reasonable

Medical costs are rising quickly too. Also here I can't agree. Admittedly with the opening of the Bangkok Hospital in Chiang Mai, prices have gone up - but only there. Prices in Chiang Mai Ram, in Suan Dok (Government) and in the many private clinics remain stable and very reasonable compared to the USA, Europe and Australia.

Noise at night is often at stupidly high levels even some ways distant from the city. I have been living in Chiang Mai for quite a few years now and I have really not noticed the (increased) noise during the nights.

Labor costs are way up. Many housekeepers think they should be paid B100/hour, which is approaching a US minimum wage level. Nannies often want B15,000/mo and up, plus lots of time off... Labour costs have gone up everywhere in Thailand with the introduction of the Baht 300 per day minimum wage. However, if one is prepared tp pay about Baht10,000 p.m. plus accommodation and ( full board and lodging) one can get good housekeepers or nannies.

[because] CM is increasingly filled with expats who are content to pay that. See above

So what does everyone see in the place? What is the spark, the charm, that I'm missing? My point isn't to whinge (nor should yours be that I should hit the road). One could find fault with any place. My question is why Anglophone and European expats choose to come here and stay here even though it's far from their homelands. What are the positives I'm overlooking? Because Thailand is a charming place ( with all its shortcomings!!), Thais are very friendly and welcoming (apart fro the immigration hustle..), the weather in Chiang Mai and surroundings is pleasant and the cost of living is still comparatively reasonable. Obviously it entirely depends on the lifestyle one is looking for. Obviously if one wants to live in a place comparable to New York, London. Paris or Berlin, one should not be in Thailand. However, if one prefers a quieter life style (compared to a small town in the US, or Europe) then Chiang Mai could be the right place for some.

House prices and rents are soaring--rents being asked for some CM neighborhoods are higher (as in >US$1K/mo) than in some nice small towns in the US. Entirely disagree. ...one can get a one bed room flat for about Baht 20,000 p.m. in a good and central area.

Wow! Where do you rich farangs live? I pay 2,000 THB/mo for the one bedroom flat that we maintain in Chiang Mai for our occasional visits to the 'big city'. And it too is located in a good central area. If I had to pay 20,000 THB/mo, I'd say that the OP has a valid point. Actually, the OP does have a valid point.

The best thing about Chiang Mai is that we have a interesting city to visit when we get tired of the quiet rural life in NE Lamphun Province.

Other than that, much of what you mentioned were the primary cause for the wife and I to abandon the city and move 60+km away from the hustle and bustle of 'big city' life. Chiang Mai now? Nice place to visit but I'd rather not live there.

What's so great about Chiang Mai?

Ahhh, their World Class Immigration Services?

One half of myself likes the idea of law and order while they address the social issues on hand while publically agreed upon needing to be addressed.

Thailand is amongst a long list of countries that are trying to be all the more diligent and vigilant about the contentious social issues regarding alcohol use and alcohol abuse and the social ramifications of wide spread alcohol consumption and everything entailed....including the contentious social issue of drinking and operating a motor vehicle of any kind while intoxicated.

Alcohol and motorcycles and motor vehicle operation are common place everywhere in the world while the public at large and or the government authorities more or less rely on the participants to carry on with a practiced degree of accountability and or responsibility and certainly all the more caution.

However, it does not work that way all too often and the ramifications begin to effect all too many other people and eventually there develops a need for some attitude adjustment practiced upon the percent of people that are obviously conducting themselves in a far too liberal way and all too often ruining it for the rest of the citizens with their brazen and often irresponsible conduct.

On this one I support the Police as these existing laws and the law enforcement efforts of police forces around the world are very active and very diligent ...and for good reason....while Thailand is not doing anything unusual while many other countries have been enforcing the same laws for 50 years now.

There is no room for argument or excuses on this particular contentious social issue.

On the other hand, this is going to be a significant money maker for the numerous police officers that are assigned the task of apprehending those that do drink and drive and street race as we all know well how good intentions usually run amuck here in Thailand.

Cheers

All very good points. Saying you are going to start enforcing existing laws, and doing what needs to be done, to make sure existing laws are enforced, are gulfs apart. This administration is world famous for its proclamations, declarations, announcements, and clampdowns. All are in word only. Very few actually see the light of day. Very few are even stated with intention and volition. Very few are implemented, and the few that are implemented do not seem to be followed up, a sign of weakness, incompetence, lack of will, lack of intention, and poor planning. So, while Thailand is continually embarrassed internationally (second worst road fatalities in the world, air safety issues, etc.) they continue to jawbone, and rarely act on the words. Words that are not followed up by action is a cry in the wilderness. They do not mean anything, to anybody.

There is a lot that can be done to improve traffic safety here, something that is NOT taken seriously by either the police or the government. Some real effort in that direction, by a means other than hollow proclamations, would be appreciated by most of the population, and would go a long way toward saving a lot of lives, that are destroyed by the mayhem, and near chaos on the roads. I believe the best place to start is by sending hundreds of highway patrol vehicles out onto the roads, and beginning by issuing speeding tickets and reckless driving tickets, and getting serious about drunk driving, with real fines, and mandatory confiscation of the vehicle and jail time, for people engaging in very reckless driving, like I see almost every day on the roads. The word would get around, that the police are finally getting serious about traffic safety, in no time at all. People would talk. People might be less careless, out of fear if nothing else. A deterrent can be a very good thing for a society. At the moment, there is little in the way of a deterrent, on so many levels of Thai society. And it hurts the public. It hurts the morale of the people. It tears at the fabric of society.

You said it HIGHWAY PATROL. Thailand has no Highway Patrol it has Highway Police 4-fat asses in a car either parked along the side of the highway or crawling along.

Until Thailand takes a page out of the book of the Highway Patrol in Europe were there is one (1) car with one (1) Highway Patrol officer in it supported by several Highway Patrol officers on special build for Highway Patrol Honda , Kawasaki, BMW, etc. motorcycles. When the motorcycle officer needs a driver taken to jail he request the car officer to come and take the person to jail. Other reason for the car is if there is an accident the car and/or cars is used to block the road. Reason for several motorcycles per car is that motorcycles officers can move ahead were the car officer is limited in moving ahead because he has to content with all the other cars and trucks ahead of him while the motorcycle officer is not restricted he can work his way through the cars and trucks ahead traffic and get to were he sees a traffic violator way ahead.

Over the years I have brought this to the attention of the person(s) in Thailand concerned with the subject but being typical Thailand NOTHING has ever come of my trying.

Happy New Year with the old year chaos continuing on the roads in Thailand.

The Highway Patrol is a special branch of the police force with the mandate to escort VIPs transiting the Highway system.

Pull people over for moving violations? Lol. Are there laws on the books governing moving violations? Don't think so. Most violations can be found at road blocks: not wearing helmets, not wearing seat-belts, drunk driving. Those are the 'real cash cows'. There is only one moving violation: motorcycle street racing. And you don't need a Highway Patrol car for that, just an officer on the ground with a baseball bat.

Not maintaining your lane, not yielding the right-of-way, speeding, reckless driving, passing on corners: All Thai drivers do it so it must be OK! If everyone does it, how can it be a problem?

So Highway Patrol are scarce resources in limited supply that are needed for the tender loving care of VIPs. My teerak verified this, so it must be correct.

Things the PM has learned from Obama and the 'exceptional' US political system, and the Roman Empire. You can't fault the PM for being a student of geopolitical history and a fast learner.

It's quicker and easier to invoke 'Executive Power' than it is to wait for the legislative body of the government to pass laws.

There are them that accept that global warming is a reality and there are those that don't. Nothing much will change that.

A few hundred million years of paleo-climatology and solar-cycle data on one side; a few hundreds of billions dollars to be made in carbon credit trading on the other side.

What's to understand?

Too bad about the north pole hotting up. I can't wait till it hots up here in Thailand.

CNN has a Special Report broadcasting now. I just watched it. I wanted to be in his corner, even halfway through it. Hate when the media tries and convicts a person even before a trial.

GUILTY in the court of popular opinion.