trainman34014

Who is going to pay the pensions if there are no kids???????

We can just up the pension age. Who ever heard of a busy exec getting Alzheimers?

Nobody; but I've known a good few who have had Strokes and Heart Attacks, and some didn't make it to pensionable age !

Considering the deceased's lengthy juvenile offender record and a history of violence, it isn't surprising he met a violent end. The shame is that he had to kill so many before he died.

The question now is whether or not his body is released within 24 hours to respect muslim burial rites and who will claim his body. His mother wanted nothing to do with him and refused to assist the police trying to talk him into surrendering. Where does he get buried? Toulouse where the burial plot risks becoming a martyr's tomb, or perhaps back to Algeria?

I think the Yanks started a new trend of burial at sea for these creeps !

Reagan always had the best answer....'Nuke 'Em '. And why not; before they do it to you....by way of taking Israel off the map first and starting a conflict that will destroy large parts of the planet. You think these people are not mad enough to pull the trigger? I wouldn't trust them any further than I could see them....and from here they are out of sight !

I asked a Thai friend what he thought about this statement earlier today. His answer was... 'Eh? Don't know anything, I not listen to politic all just junk. Pick Bean more important for me and have beer with you later'. Seems the voters couldn't care less !

Thanks for the input Lads; we are thinking of three nights in Macau on the way back, that seems enough on the basis of your comments. Over to Hong Kong first morning for a week before that. Done HK a good few times before but never tire of it as it's always so 'alive'.

(S)he just needs to pass by immigration and get a pass for the border. Only needs ID card and (I think) 20 baht, no hassle. Note that the immigration office is a kilometer or two before the border, so keep your eyes peeled and stop there on the way (assuming you're talking about Mae Sai).

In my experience, for you they will usually insist on 500 baht on the Myanmar side, although several posters have said they used a $10 no problem. Luck of the draw, no harm in trying. Make sure it's 100% clean and crisp.

OK thanks for that, I asked my lady if she had a passport and of course she said yes, my mistake, I should have said 'do you have a current and valid passport?' - no time to renew so I was hoping the ID card was sufficient.

As for the $10, for several years I've had no problem giving them the $10 but I did notice a short time ago a few people complaining that they were not accepting them anymore. Will give it a try as I still have a few pristine $10 bills saved for that purpose.

Slight update....Last week Wifey went to the main Immigration office at Maesai and they charged her 50 Baht which is now the going rate. Don't forget this has to be done at the main office and not at the border. They also stop them as they go through the border and want 20Baht Tea Money as well these days, right at the end on the left just as they think they have got away with it ! As for me; they would only take Baht last Thursday and got quite heavy with the guy behind me who tried to 'impose' his 10 buck bill on them. Seems to be a daily lottery on 'will they or won't they? '.

Considering a few days in Macau now Air Asia are starting direct flights from Chiang Mai.

Anybody been there, had experiences beyond Egg Tarts etc?

Phase 6 just begun at Rungaroon 3, Hang Dong.

Wifey checks all our bills like a mIne detector and we don't move far away from the till until she's satisfied. Only last week she caught Big C out charging 5 Baht more than an item was marked at, so they gave her the money back and we got the item free. She says our Tesco never make a mistake....yet.

Somebody said Trucking Companies instruct their drivers to do this 'to finish the job', as the company will pay a lot less if the victim dies. Until we see it happen....who knows?

Just to give an example of dual pricing I just incountered on the weekend. My Gf needed a wardrode closet. So we went to a furniture store near my house. There was 2 outside the store so we pointed at one and ask how much the clerk said 3000 baht it seemed a bit high for the quality so ask about the other one. 3200 for it. So we decided to go and look elsewhere. When we were leaving the Gf pointed to signs above the items we were looking at. They were both on sale for 1790 baht.

Let GF shop for such things on her own as they won't try to rip off their own kind. You can turn up just seconds after the deal has been struck. I've done it several times and you should see the look on their faces !

I would assume that one morning we will all wake up to be told that Thaksin is back in the country and in a safe house somewhere under the control of 'Immigration Police'. Can't imagine there will be a welcoming circus as among the crowds may be lurking someone paid enough money to take him down. Indeed; I often wonder if he has this in his own mind as he contemplates his return. He could figure that he has to be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life if he returns.

Hmmm; one suspects that other budget airlines are being re-located to DM to make room for Thai Smile operations.

I thought Fuel hedging was used by all International Airlines. Have Thai only just found out about it?

Security should be equipped with Stun Guns; that would be fun !

Good article and valuable info' if you are living Stateside but maybe not so valuable to those of us living in Thailand. I've grown frustrated with Thai travel agents who in most cases don't seem to be able to beat online prices and want extra dosh for booking with Cards etc. I find Matrix very good though and would recommend anyone to try them.

Coincidently, i was sitting in a restaurant today when the recycle man came, dumped his scales on the footpath and then the staff brought out the weeks collection:

48 empty bottles of chang-boxed

12 empty leo boxed

2 bin liners full of plastic bottles, water, milk, juice etc

an arbitrary pile of cardboard.....

at this point all the tourists were now having to weave on the road around motorbikes!!

The restaurant was paid 61baht..i thought what a big pile of effort for that..

then the girl from the shop next door brought a bag of aluminium cans, cokes etc and she got 23bt.

i asked on the rates, and plastic was paid at 3bt a kilo, the empty bottles were 8bt for 12boxed but the ally cans, big money 20bt a kilo.

so the worthwhile collectable are the ally cans.

as for my collection i am still a long way off being able to take the lady out for a slap up at the food cart

They were way underpaid. Each Beer box will get you 10 Baht...and that's empty, These people who pick up stuff from the door don't pay as much as the ones you can deliver it to because they have the cost of running whatever machine they use etc. Plastic needs to be sorted to get the best price, clear getting the higher price.

I had mine done when it was new three years ago and we paid 20,000 Baht. That was a 3 bedroom Bungalow with 11 windows, a large front door area and a routine back door. There are many designs to choose from and they are all different prices so some of the cost depends on your choices. I shopped around for a couple of weeks before I chose and I was quoted between 18,000 and 38,000 Baht, so there is plenty of choice.

Why do you think he was fake? Little paranoid are we?

"A guy dressed in a black uniform with gold epaulettes" sound more like a hotel Doorman or limousine tout, than an official in "Thai Official Brown", hence we call them lovingly BiB.

If he was wearing a "Uniform" why did he not have a name tag like everyone in the airport, from Immigration, Customs, Shop assistants right down the ranks to Toilet Cleaners.

If you ask for ID they open their jacket and show you their name tag on their shirt. They are plain clothed Excise Officers and I've never met one wearing Epaulettes.

The most sensible idea would be to demolish DM and build a new Airport on the same site up to international standards (better than Swampy) and use it for International and Domestic. In my opinion all Airports should be able to cope with all routes and Bangkok needs two Airports doing this if one cannot cope. Of course; this should have all been thought of in the planning of Swampy, which should be twice the size it is now !

I've always loathed Heathrow and prefer Gatwick but hey; seems you missed the fact that there is an underground train runs between Terminal's 3&4. You probably missed the signs because it isn't signed particularly well but I've never heard of anyone having to leg it before. Better luck next time if you have to use this Godforsaken Cattle Station they call an Airport.

What I read in the paper today stated that the Chiang Mai - Singapore route would be replaced with a Chiang Mai - Macau route.

That will be two for Macau starting this year. The new 'Thai Smile' budget airline starts this route on June 1st.

I've found out of date foods in BigC and Tesco over a period of several months and I always draw their attention to it and they remove it right away. Always seems strange that they reduce certain items on a daily basis but seem to ignore large area's of dated produce. In house education problems me thinks.

Wifey insists we do it and I now know how they want it sorted before we go. We usually get around 300 baht every three months. Loads of places to sell it all over the whole area.

Welcome to the World of plastic ! Great idea and will hopefully mean bigger orders for those who want to freeze.

A trip of interest. Went to Maesai on Friday and it was quite a clear day, even up there. However, woke up Saturday morning and there had obviously been fires during the night over the border as a heavy and dirty air scene greeted us. On the way back Saturday afternoon by the usual main road route I noted three area's where brush fires had been lit to clear undergrowth, and they were all producing a lot of smoke, particularly one large area on a Mountainside. Also noted the usual small fires in backyards that people start to light early evening. Unless the Authorities start dealing out really tough penalties to these people I can't believe it will ever change. Seems to me that Farmers who live way out in the sticks are most probably completely unaware of any problems caused by burning. The only thing that concerns them is doing what they have always done,and, in their minds, doing what needs to be done.