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One Night In Bangkok by Murray Head was released in the 80's, not 60's...was it not?

Several posters have suggested that the young lad (21 yrs old) may have become so

enamored by life in the LOS that he simply could not bring himself to depart.

In April 1962, as a young (21) military member, I was on my way to a new assignment

and passed thru Bangkok, spending only one night. Suffice it to say, when morning came

and I had to go to the airport to continue my journey, I was filled with great consternation.

God, how I wanted to stay at least a few weeks. I felt as if I had gone to heaven without

dying. About that time a popular song on the radio was One Night in Bangkok. The lyrics

haunted me for years until I finally came back.

I'll never forget that first visit. Maybe this young Brit had a similar feeling about leaving.

I am not implying force would solve the problem (just look at US in the Middle East). I was merely unerring that Thailand has no incentive to solve the problem because it would lead to a consequence they don't want.

Even though appeals may have already been lodged, Thailand has a stronger case if they can still point to Muslim attacks on the locals.

If you know any affluent Thai families who will tell you the truth about the reason the problems in the south continue, they will tell you this also.

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Thailand has the capability to use enough force to secure the South, but intentionally does not.

The reason is because Malaysia (the Muslims) would call on the UN and other human rights groups for help, and it would eventually be found and shed light on what Thailand already knows...the land in question that is being fought over indeed belongs to Malaysia.

Outside pressures would force Thailand to surrender that land, which they do not want to. Therefore, by allowing the problem to continue, Thailand keeps the land.

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I am a professional trader who focuses primarily on US markets and has been living here in BKK since 2004. I am a "swing trader" rather than a day trader, as I find it suits my style more.

The swing trading service I follow is http://www.morpheustrading.com. The blog on that site has lot of useful information for getting started. The company has been in business since 2002.

As for trading software, I recommend http://www.tradestation.com. Hope that helps.

Osten

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For everyone asking how we know that many jumpers change their minds mid-flight...

Check out the documentary "The Bridge," which focuses on Golden Gate bridge jumpers. A small percentage survive, and they nerarly all said they regretted it after jumping and in mid-air.

Fwiw...

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We had this done in our new house.

There were 9 new monks (who nicely decorated the house with string around perimeter of property, which still remains a year later).

The HMIC received 500 baht, and the other 8 each received 200 baht. Wife told me that is fair and too crazy of an amount. Of course, we also fed them very well and gave them each one of those nice monk baskets with supplies.

The best part was the partying with my Thai family after monks left....lots of booze and laughs.

Agree, it must be done or you will suffer the wrath....of your wife (worse than just about any other type I can think of).

Hope that helps.

Edited: asked wife how much we gave monks and listed it.

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My wife no longer works and my income is from overseas. Yet, we managed to get a sizeable mortgage from a Singaporean bank with a few branches in Thailand. PM me and I will give you details that may help you out.

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There was a documentary called The Bridge about Golden Gate jumpers. Many who sruvived said the same thing, but actual data iis indeed on the decline.

[A lot of times people change their mind mid-air.]

Pretty difficult to get data on that, I would imagine.

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My 2 cents...this is NOT cultural thing. To me, it (along with calling their grandkids falang insted of their names) speaks leaps and bounds that are unfortunately obvious.

Like a previous poster said, my Thai inlaws also have photos of us AND the kids all over their house.

Just returned from a visit to the wifes parents house and i'm fuming.

We gave them some framed pictures of their grandchildren and some family pics of us and our children together. So they could hang them up next to their other family pics.This was a few months ago when we stayed for the weekend, they ended up in the bottom of the wardrobe covered with various household items. I offered to hang them next to the pics of the 3 eldest sons on the wall in the main room as they are a similar size picture and frame, which they agreed to.

We visited them this last weekend and guess what my kids pics are back in the bottom of a cupboard, my missus was shocked but kept quite. I feel hurt and insulted but kept quite.

Is this a culture thing? Because the pics were placed next to the pics of the 3 eldest sons, i don't know!

They are good quality portraits but the in-laws dont wish to have them on their walls which incidently i paid for along with the rest of the house. They call our children,their grand-children farang and not by their names.

Are they taking the mick or have i blown this out of proportion? Letting off steam!!!!

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If anything like using gasohol in boat engines, there is only corrosion damage to fuel lines if vehicle not used for long time. Otherwise, no problems.

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I must disagree that the women drop the kids off at mom's house just so they can not take responsibility. Rather, I have found it to be out of necessity. Mom is too old to work, so the daughter is the breadwinner who also takes care of mom financially. I am referring to middle class, Bangkok-bred Thais here, based on personal experience. Country lacks significant social security or pension system so it's merely about survival for many families.

The "infamous hit and run", is so common in Thailand. Why will the Thai men not take responsibility for their actions? Many Thai women tell me stories, after stories of how incredibly weak Thai men are. They sire children, then leave, without any willingness to pay any support to their children. They cause accidents, and then flee from the scene of the crime. They steal, and then when caught they no nothing of the crime. They kill, and then they flee the scene. The cause traffic accidents, due to their lack of driving skills, and flee the scene, instead of taking responsibility. Where is the sense of accountability in this nation? The women seem far more willing to take responsibility for their actions, and in general, seem to be far superior to their male counterparts, in terms of social responsibility, ethics, morality, etc. Am I wrong on this one, or am I seeing things clearly?

Been here 17 year off and on and I have to say you are correct, except the women are also same. Women drop the kids off at moms house and go about their lives. It's a Thai thing and is about looking out for number 1...live for the moment. Sad to hear about anyone who has an accident like this RIP.

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Download a free software app named Connectify. It allows one laptop to function as itw own wifi hotspot using just one one main wifi connection. As such, you can then connect as many devices as you like to you laptop. I use it and works great.

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i second the milk thistle. I swear by the stuff for keeping the liver healthy.

If you a do a quick google you will see you are not alone with elevated liver enzymes and the use of Anavar.

As long as you have discontinued usage your liver should return to normal over time.

You could also start taking milk thistle and some cleaning fresh veggie juices and general diet maitenance if you want to hurry the process along.

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For Mr.RealDeal...

I suggest re-reading my post...don't recall seeing where I wrote I was worried about anything...just explaining why i rarely post...and you help make my point, thanks.

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I am not afraid to post, but often don't see the point. I often want to post something helpful to the community, but it seems most people only sit around on their PCs waiting to flame every poster (such as when I tried to simply warn everyone about my mugging on Sukhumvit in 2010). Ironically, I would guess most who "know it all" do not even live in Thailand.

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39...soon to be 40. Living full time in Thailand since age of 31.

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Beetlejuice,

Thanks for the idea on insecticide. I was about to buy a Taser, but your idea has me reconsidering. Neither will do much good against a gun, but both are more effective than a knife.

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Actually, Asiana is about the only site that allows you to check Award availabilit for the ENTIRE Star Alliance fleet, including flights to buy. Yes, you can check routings from bkk to lax via ANY connection as well.

The trick is yoy first need to sing up for their free frequent flyer program, then log in before searching. After doing intl. Flight seacrh with Asiana, then click on blue button on bottom of site that says "INCLUDE STAR ALLIANCE PARTNERS." Then, you can search all routing. Weird and inefficient, but it works.

Osten

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Refreshing to hear this, as I agree with you. I think it depends on where one spends one's time and the company one keeps. If, for example, one never sets foot outside the expat areas and expat bars, then one would be forgiven for thinking these things. But with broader experience comes the proving of many maxims to be false...thankfully.

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Definitely agree that First class domestically is muc worse quality than Business out of Asia. However, i believe the OP was referencing a free ticket using miles. If this is the case, there are many more flights to West Coast with award availability.

If I were going to the east coast of the USA (especially in Business Class), I would not consider flying to the west coast and then taking a domestic flight across the country. Even flying domestically in first class, the experience would be way lower than flying international business class into the east coast. Thus, I'd take whatever international connection was necessary to get to the east coast on an international flight.

For all you guys who are saying THAI has dropped their direct flights to Los Angeles, you need to brush up on your airline-speak. THAI dropped their nonstop flights to Los Angeles, and replaced them with direct flights via Seoul. Since it is the same flight number all the way through Bangkok-Seoul-Los Angeles, airlines call this direct service. If the flights changed flight numbers in Seoul, it would be considered connecting service.

Obviously, not much difference between a direct flight and a connection. Both involve at least one stop. Historically, direct service was considered better than a connection because you didn't have to go to a different gate at the airport to continue on a direct flight (and sometimes could even stay on the plane during the stop.) Also, in the pre hub-and-spoke days, before flight banks were timed for connections, you probably waited much longer to make a connection than you would to make a stop on a direct flight.

Today, the term direct and it's meaning (a flight that stops along the way) seems illogical. But if you understand the difference in the terms direct and nonstop in the context of the airline industry and advertising, you'll avoid confusion and disappointment later in your travel experience.

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It is simply the way Thai language is (improperly) translated to English, as this is how they refer to themselves in Thai as well. Every member of my Thai family speaks the same way.

Not really a language question, but I thought this is the best place to ask.

Sometimes Thais will speak about themselves in the third person, for example someone named Noi saying something like "Noi is very happy now".

What's up with that?

Is that normal, or a sign for a personality disorder?

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Oops...I got the OneWorld and StarAlliance airlines confused...I apologize for any confusion.

Anyway, with StarAlliance, my preferred choices are ANA or Asiana, both great airlines, especially in business class. The rest I said about flying to LA and then carrying on to NYC is still the same deal.

Osten

I fly to USA on Star Alliance business class (using miles) once or twice per year. For me, I try to avoid Thai and opt for the much better service, nicer seats, and newer aircraft of Royal Jordanian or Cathay (if you're lucky).

I always end up on East Coast as well, but no need to fly to NYC. As you mentioned, flying to LA and then transferring to another carrier works.

As for car rentals, i personally opt for midsize and always find best prices on hotwire.com or kayak.com.

Hope that helps.

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Neither of those 2 airlines are Star Alliance?

I fly to USA on Star Alliance business class (using miles) once or twice per year. For me, I try to avoid Thai and opt for the much better service, nicer seats, and newer aircraft of Royal Jordanian or Cathay (if you're lucky).

I always end up on East Coast as well, but no need to fly to NYC. As you mentioned, flying to LA and then transferring to another carrier works.

As for car rentals, i personally opt for midsize and always find best prices on hotwire.com or kayak.com.

Hope that helps.

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