connda

Info here in this topic on Chiang Mai forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/795428-work-permit-office-in-chiang-mai/#entry8995408

Your welcome.

Hmmm....there are already Russian combat troops on the ground in Syria.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/10/us-mideast-crisis-syria-exclusive-idUSKCN0R91H720150910

Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday.

The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what the United States fears is a deepening Russian military role in Syria's civil war, though one of the Lebanese sources said the number of Russians involved so far was small.

U.S. officials said Russia sent two tank landing ships and additional cargo aircraft to Syria in the past day or so and deployed a small number of naval infantry forces.

The Russians have had bases in Syria for years. Of course they have troops on the ground.

According to the Pentagon's "official" Base Structure Report, Fiscal 2010 Baseline the US, at that time, had 662 bases in 38 countries. Unofficial sources makes this look rather conservative. Currently the US has approximately 150K troops deployed globally.

By comparison, Russia has about 15 bases in 10 countries, including Syria, with approximately 50k troops deployed globally.

So, of the two countries, US or Russia, which has the most developed 'expansionist' foreign policy? You can't make this stuff up. This is why I don't listen to CNN or Fox News sound bites of the POTUS or any other US officials. The 'sheep' basking in the shade of Normalcy-Bias will consume whatever pablum that is pushed under their noses. It's better to do you're own research.

This is all a game: a deadly serious game, but a game none the less. There are no choir-boys.

That mantra is all but worn out. Considering Obama is a student from the Saul Alinsky school, he should know these point:

• “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
• “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.

Barry should be concentrating on the latter, not the former.

I have always wished that most countries, if not all, should have the death penalty for

crimes such as these. I do not believe in people getting away with using insanity for their

excuse after committing this horrible kind of crime.

I certainly never voted to end the death penalty in Canada, but it was due to our

government, and the politicians in it at the time, that ended capital punishment, and I have never agreed

that this was a good thing for Canada.

Guess I am just a red neck geezer.

If the police would have just backed up for 5 minutes, the crowd would have applied 'sanctions with extreme prejudice'.

I thought Thaksin told the UDD to 'play dead'.

I can't even think what will happened after 10-20 years on this way ...

I could almost write a book answering your question. I have lived in Thailand for going on 35 years. I have seen massive changes to Thai culture, and face it that is what we are talking about here. I don't want to sound like a Thai basher, because I am not. I have too much at stake. I first visited Thailand in 1980 (aged 30) and fell in love with Thailand and the Thai people. I found in the 80's Thais were very laid back, nothing worried them, they had a " it will be right mate" attitude. Then in 1984 they started the first Amazing Thailand Campaign. For me that was year zero. Thai families were very closely knit. Centuries old Thai traditions were paramount. Children were very polite, and assisted the family with chores after school such as attending vegetable gardens etc. They respected the elderly. Most Thais were poor, there was only a fraction of the middle class there is today.

The tourist industry and international trade expanded rapidly, the middle class (the "Chulalongkorn Cult") grew rapidly. Thais now had the taste for money and with that corruption was adopted as the norm. Successive governments obsessed with personal advantage took over, the people (in the Issan and southern provinces) were forgotten.

Now newer generations believe only money can bring happiness. And money buys drugs. Children no longer attend to set chores, vegetables are delivered on the back of trucks. Where water was humped from the dam, it is now pumped.

I first visited Soi Cowboy in the 80's. It was fun, the girls were cheeky, but mainly honest. Hundreds of my generation met girls, married, and left for a better life. The marriages lasted (those that I know). Not now, and your description is fair.

I met a lovely girl from Issan in 1982, we married, and are still happily married.

All I can say is don't give up. Take your time. Be street smart, and very importantly learn and respect Thai ways and culture.

In fact the are two very good books called, Thai Ways and More Thai Ways, that give you clues to the Thai psych.

As a PS, your lucky, you found Thailand early in your life. In the 80's there were extremely few 20 yo guys getting around, why ?, at that age we had no money.

The first shoe dropped in 1997; 2008 was a reminder; the other shoe is due to drop, much likely sooner than later. 10 or 20 years? Optimistic I"m thinking.

Smart phones and internet have turned them into self absorbed <deleted>...like most people outside thailand too.

They dont need to be friendly to you because they have all their friends in their pocket....plus internet has made them lazy....just open a badoo a count and reel the suckers in.

You got a point, especially Smart Phone zombies.

Lol I don't own one; I don't want one. But then again, I'm well over the hill, and although I was an IT professional up until retirement, I decided quite a while back that my advancement with technology ends with my laptop running a version of Linux with a UI (I can choose my own) that doesn't change every time the OS is upgraded (think Microsoft).

Just look at the amount of 'unsecured debt' (credit cards) and household debt (CC plus mortgages, car payments, etc) that the average person or family holds in most developed and developing countries around the world. It's huge! Thailand is no different. Everybody want to live the good life right right now; everybody wants more 'stuff' and the newest gadgets right now! Thailand's official 'household debt to GDP' is 80%, a figure that has approximately doubled since 2008. And that figure doesn't include the poorest segment of Thai society who are in hock up to their ears to mafia loan sharks.

So to be honest, it's not just 'Thai ladies'. It goes much deeper than that. What's driving rampant materialism? Definitely a tectonic shift in cultural attitudes. Why? Good question.

I agree with this and feel the same way. I often think being a single father would be much easier and less stressful.

I was a single father with sole custody of my daughter. In retrospect, it was much easier. The real fun started after I got remarried.

Kids can be a handful, especially at certain points in their development (terrible twos, rebellious teenagers pushing the edges as they experiment with independence as they prepare to move on to a life of their own), but overall they are easier to be around and manage. Marriage? To keep it together can be a lot of work. It can have some major ups and major downs. Some people are lucky and have a marriage partner who is very similar in temperament and ideals as themselves, but then some of us aren't quite as lucky - and marriage can become work, or heart-breaking (divorce ain't fun, especially when you've trusted your wife for well over a decade just to fine that she one day decides the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and the 2000 sq ft 4 bedroom house, two car garage, new cars, and plenty of toys just isn't enough - the ex just needed to have "More, more, more".. Now after divorce and remarriage, her new soul-mate got himself fired from his high-paying job and is and has been a house-sitter and recluse while the ex-wife brings in the bacon, as they are well under-water on the mortgage of the custom built home that the ex just had to have. Ain't karma fun).

Now remarriage to a Thai, the current wife decided to have a gik a few years back, I told her to practice safe sex, and let me know when she gets bored. Lol. That lasted until it didn't. Fast-forward a couple of years and her health becomes an issue and suddenly she 'needy'. Yeah marriage is work, it can be a rocky climb up a steep mountain, but at the end of the day I'd rather be married to my wife than single. It has it's peaks and valleys. I've downsized my life (I was never the collector of "more stuff") and I'm happy with less stuff and less complications. Life is simpler. Karma, Life...it's just the way it is. Fight it and it's a fight; Find some acceptance, and it can be fine.

Article from The Guardian - Australia set to abandon opposition to Assad as part of Syria settlement

Between that and Australia's refusal to become a refugee dumping ground, I'm sure they are now on the US's 'defecation' list.

He reminds me of a throwback to the era when their were Statesmen negotiating foreign policy. The Cuban Missile Crisis sort of opened the lines of dialog when MAD almost became a reality.

Time flies and the West forgets. Seems Moscow hasn't. Dialog is good; letting the Nuclear Genie out of the bottle again isn't.

We still haven't heard from Netanyahu on who he wants. Best wait for his endorsement and opinion, GOP.

Perhaps Putin gave Bibi some suggestions last week. Lol

I'm wondering if he's having a David Cameron moment?

Opiate addicts are naturally going to retch during their withdrawals. Idiotic. Compassion. Yep.

Ahhhh, Big Corpa and friends has found another way to cull the herd.

They probably controlled it before the Trillion dollar push by the West to stabilize the region (like they didn't learn anything from Russia's experience). However, defense contractors where a happy bunch. Probably still are seeing that this will give the West cause to go back in and 'stabilize' things again. Another Catch-22 moment in history.

Ever notice how the words 'refugees' and 'immigrants' has now changed to "Migrants" - like people are a flock of birds or a pod of whales. New PC terminology.

No duhhh. I don't think that's much of a revelation.

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

Police Link Bomb Attack to Uighurs, Deep South and Thai Politics......

...the Blood Moon, Sunspots, Climate Change, and ghosts.

The 2013 number was what immigration told me in an email. But I have two problems one is the entry date and a new passport.

I think the earliest I have seen is 2009 but not sure about it.

The best way to know is try to do one. If you get the message to contact your local office and you have an old entry that is likely the reason.

I'll give it a shot. It it doesn't work, then back to mail-in.

I was verbally told the same as Joe by an IO who used to work at Suvarnabhumi, 2013.

Someone I know told me they entered Thailand 2010 and did an online report last month.

I was confused because I know he went to Savannakhet with his friend last year.

'Yes' he said ' but that was only a trip across the border........I entered Thailand 2010'

A guy from Belgium was also changing his stamp over to his new passport at Amnat.

At the same time the IO said he was entering his details on the new system, took 30 mins.

So I know they can manually put you into the new system,,,,,just takes time.

I have no idea if he tried, or was successful doing an online report later.

Ah-hah.

I see the PTB have found a new way to compensate themselves. Expect a ramp up of, hummm, 'national incidents'. Imho.

The Netenyahu/Putin visit probably was productive.

The Obama/Putin visit? Probably will be unproductively frosty.

Someone should pen a book in the fashion of A Game of Thrones in the A Song of Ice and Fire anthology

by JRR Martin

Call it:

A Game of Chess - Book 1 of the anthology: A Song of Icy Cold-war 2.0 and Thermonuclear Fire

by CFR Brzeziński