trainman34014

It seriously irritates me to see the Thais always laughing at the scene of a crime or during a re-enactment. It makes me want to punch them in the face really hard, especially in situations where people have died. They have no respect for anyone or anything other than money.

Well said!!!

Come on, it's a cultural difference. Living here you should know that; it doesn't mean what you think it does. It also doesn't distract from the seriousness of the situation, and the excellent job the police have done in this case. Worthy of respect. Also I appreciate the opportunity these reenactments give the family as an outlet of their sadness, anger and frustration. MUCH better than what victim's relatives have to endure in my own country.

If the Police in our countries did what is done here no case would ever get to court, as even the perpetrator of the crime has rights. In Britain the whole case would be thrown out on the basis that the perpetrators rights had been abused before he came to court. We have a system that says everyone is 'innocent until proven guilty'...even if someone owns up to the crime it still has to be proven in a court of law. Not sure about the US system of justice in such circumstances but would assume something similar. Also; I know for sure that British families who had lost loved ones in such circumstances would not want what they would describe as 'a circus performance' being enacted in front of them. I always get the feeling with the Thai 'performances' that they are nothing to do with justice for the suffering family and friends, or indeed justice for the accused, but more to do with showing what a fine upstanding Police force Thailand has. To me, they are just doing the job they are paid to do and it does not warrant a TV glamour show broadcast on a daily basis. I see nothing whatsoever to 'respect' about such goings on. Yes; I live in Thailand and I have to accept it, but I despise it nevertheless.

I don't know about the U.K. as I have never lived there but cable TV and Internet is indeed cheaper in other European countries than it is here.

WeTV is about 400bht a month ...... what cable TV can you get in Europe cheaper than that?

Hang on I'm behind the times BT Internet and TV .... 18UKP/month plus 11UKP line rental +20% VAT = 1,800bht/month Vs 1,000bht/month for the Thai internet + WeTV.

We TV firstly is ONLY available in central Chiang Mai (the old town and adjacent areas) which makes me wonder Tomo if you are really living in that bucolic state of nature you claim. Secondly, the only English language channel of any note that it has (if you can get the service) is the BBC. I believe that True TV's gold package (their only worthwhile one for farangs) is more than B 1,500 a month (plus installation and extra wire charges). I paid far less in JAPAN for maybe 3 times as many channels (more than 300). I do not know that one can even get the high speed internet you are talking about in countryside/rural areas and if you can, it and the price of TRUE will be significantly higher than B 2,000. So there goes your comparison with prices in the UK. And as other posters have pointed out, cable tv and internet is higher here than in their European countries. Ditto for the USA.

Simply not true as far as WETV is concerned. I've got it out in the Boonies 10 miles South of the City. Several English language channels including BBC, Fox News, Aljazeera, Australian Network, Universal etc and two movie channels dedicated to English language. Just 350 Baht per month for 60 channels. Bargain.

Oh dear; another broken hearted Farang who wants to write a book detailing his experiences at the hands of the evil Thai witch. Reckon he must be No 30,000 and something so far this decade. Don't think I'll be lining up for a signed copy !

I'm a Steam nut from the UK. Going away for a few days; will pm you when I get back.

Have you done the Death Railway yet? Kanchanaburi to Nom Tak is well worth the effort. Time to take in the WW2 Graveyards as well. Brings you to tears.

Branston baked beans are the best. I load up with as many as I can carry from the UK. However; when I'm out Ayam has to do as beggars can't be choosers.

Nobody has mentioned the best chocolate on the planet yet...Cadburys. Never see it in LOS so have to bring back bag fulls from Hong Kong. China has it by the truck load; why not LOS?

Ask them at Immigration which form to fill in, pay 1,900 Baht, passport with signed copy and wait. I think that's it....but I'm sure someone has a very recent experience and will be along shortly.

PC presumably stands for 'Pretty Crappy' !

They aint gonna like US prisons !

The plan is for the kids to get what's left anyway. So I'd see them through to adulthood and then bugger off to some cave in Tibet.

What's wrong with the caves at Chiang Dao ?

One more thing I just thought of. If you are on a non-o marriage visa, and your wife dies, would you have to leave the country and return on a entry stamp. Then apply for a dependant visa, using your son?

Not sure, however if you have a retirement visa, that this is neccersary.

The OP is 68 years old.

If he is presently on an non immigrant O visa on the grounds of married to a Thai, than all he has to do is change his status to retirement within 7 days after his wife`s death at the Immigration department, providing he has the funds and meets the retirement requirements of the Immigration department.

From a strictly legal point of view this is correct. However; I know someone who suffered the loss of his wife which effectively cancelled his marriage extension, but he didn't know the correct procedure and on the normal annual expiry date he simply changed over to a Retirement Visa. Nobody asked any questions because nobody at Immigration knew anything. He owned up to what had happened but they smiled and said they were sorry for his loss and just continued with his new visa. Compassion does exist in Thailand.

The questions should be, how many of you can actually afford to have mistresses or illicit affairs in Thailand, other than going short time on the commercial sex scene?

This practice of having a partner or a bit on the side was probably not unusual 20 or so years ago, but these days the fairer sex is one of the most expensive commodities in Thailand and the luxury of being able to afford more than one partner is not going to be possible for the majority of us.

For these reasons I very much doubt if Mia Nos or sometimes described as second wives are all that common these days, whether the official wife knows about it or not.

Dream on, baby.

My misses is still trying to get me to marry her sister (and we will all live together).

And I'm not loaded.

Go for it. They obviously think you are all loaded up in the right area's !!

I have thai friends who have very long outstanding debts, they do not care.

when the debt collectors call they simply hang up, change there number and relocate, they say the companies dont really care and only call once or twice a year, so most times they dont even bother changing the number.

Sounds like life on the run !

I like a pretty face.

So do I...providing it's on a woman !

In the villages around me there are plenty of new cars and motorcycles parked outside of dilapidated wooden or tin shack style houses, so one is bound to be surprised that the people who live in such homes can afford them. However; although it may look like the arse is hanging out of their trousers a lot of them own substantial chunks of Land/Paddy's etc and the banks loan them the money for all their worldly desires on the strength of said land. Even the tin shack is sitting on ,quite often, a fairly large area and although they appear to have no wish to build a new house of buy a tin of paint they still want all the gadgetry they see the Hi so's using in the Soaps. One can only guess what the bill comes to for credit in any one village but we are talking huge amounts.

In one recent case I know of a couple of Thai's bought a 3.5 million home in a Moobahn with a Bank Mortgage. Not satisfied with the original design out front they got some further builders in right away to build very ornate structures right across the front of their patch using Stainless Steel and good quality Hardwood etc etc and it must have cost a packet. Next thing a new Honda appeared followed by a giant Merit party with a live band and enough booze to sink the Titanic all over again. Three weeks later a big 'For Sale' sign appeared quoting phone numbers for Thai and English speakers, so I asked the neighbour what was going on. She replied ''Huh; big house, big car, big party, big face, BIG DEBT '' ! I was told in the nine months that they had 'owned' the house not one Satang had been paid off of any of the debt and the Bank had now told them they had better sell the house or it would be taken off them. The Honda has already vanished.

When I was a kid we stuck Lead Soldiers up our nose instead of Cocaine !

The head of the Thai paint industry is blustering back "there should be tighter controls on the raw materials that are imported." Well who but him is in charge of that? What a preposterous response from an industry leader. He wants "them" to clamp down on the raw materials his industry members import and use in their production. What an ass backward way to think about an imminent problem for kindergarden age children in Thai schools. He really cares about the children sidestepping the problem.

The usual response blaming Foreigners. Can't be Thailand's fault as everyone and everything here is perfect, right?

My motto: "If it ain't a Boeing, I'm not goeing!"

Check the statistics a little closer and I think you will find there are far more prangs with Boeing's than there are with Airbus's. But hey; I have a relative who was a senior Airframe Engineer with BA for more than 20 years. He wouldn't fly at all and when asked why, he would only say, ''if you knew what I know, you wouldn't fly either''. Now that's quite something from a bloke who could have quite a few free tickets to anywhere each year. Did I heed his words? Nah; I'll take my chances and die when it's my turn.

My Wife was a Midwife at State Hospitals for 25 years before retirement. They have to do the 25 years minimum to obtain their 10,000 baht per month pension. They work them like slaves with many a double and triple shift, unkind working conditions, quite often no breaks for many hours, and of course, lousy salaries. They get a maximum 10 days leave a year and if they don't say they are going away then the Hospital will call them and ask them to return to work as they are short handed. No days off in lieu will be offered later. Basically they have a work, eat and sleep life with time for little else, that's why there are large numbers of 40 something Nurses that remain unmarried. In my Wifes former Hospital there are large numbers of Nurses who have never even been on a holiday outside of Chiang Mai, and those that have normally travel on arranged tours with their workmates, so as my wife put it, it's kind of work away from work, as you are not meeting anyone you don't already know from the daily grind.

Meanwhile; the Hospital management are having a great time doing next to nothing apart from appearing at sporadic interludes when they are not running their 'on the side' business's. Many of said management don't even appear at their desks in their Airconned offices for days on end whilst the Nurses put up with the stifling heat of Un-Airconned Common rooms. Only the wards where the babies are have Aircon, the Mothers live with the heat for most of the day as the Nurses do.

Another problem is the number of Admin' staff. There are offices galore all around Hospital complex's and dozens of 'civil servants' doing very little occupy them. Many of them will be seen walking around with one piece of paper, in many cases going nowhere, other than to stem boredom of find someone to have a chat with. Nurses complain bitterly about these armies of useless jobsworths being paid more than them whilst doing far less work of any use to anyone. To make matters worse, should a Nurse need assistance of some sort and actually require these people to do something they are met with derision and downright hostility in some situations. The attitude is ''how dare you come in here and expect us to do any work which may involve the use of a brain''.

I know the medical services in the countries we come from are not perfect but at least medical staff have decent working conditions, plenty of vacation time and are fairly well paid. Yes; this is Thailand and this is just another example of how ordinary working folk are trampled underfoot on a daily basis by their own succeeding Government's, no matter what colour flag they fly. Maybe the Nurses will be the first people to stand up for themselves, and I hope a good many others follow as Thailand has a long way to go before it can ever call itself 'Developed'.

Things could get worse if he doesn't pay up for the other guys car or the restaurant damage. Upon leaving the Hospital after his 'repairs' he could find himself re-admitted with some worse injuries. I would think the best thing he could do is go to the BIB and let them 'negotiate' a settlement with all concerned. That way they get their slice and everyone is happy.

This is all very well, but do they have the 'Kiss me quick' hats and the Candy Floss?