trainman34014

I've found out of date foods in BigC and Tesco over a period of several months and I always draw their attention to it and they remove it right away.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.

Found this bloke hiding in the louvered door under our kitchen sink. I opened the door and he jumped out onto the floor and slithered off under the back door.

OOps; can't upload photo' for some reason !

I think it's reasonable to be dubious of anyone who stops you once you are in the public area.. They have plenty of opportunities to check your stuff while you are airside and haven't had a chance to mingle with the public. Once you are outside, anything in your possession could have been given to you by someone outside and they would have a difficult job proving it wasn't in court.

"Proving it in court" doesn't come into it. This isn't the good ole USA.

I don't see the relevance of the USA, but at some point the customs man would have to know he was on shakey ground. It doesn't make sense for a legitimate customs officer to operate like that unless it was as part of a scam.

You're not concentrating. The men in the little black box in the public area are 'Excise' men, not 'Customs' men. They operate as two separate departments in Thailand and they don't get on with each other well. By the way; this is Thailand and rules used in other countries don't apply. Anyway; in Britain for instance, Customs and Excise have more search powers than the Police do and can pursue you into any public area in the land, including your home. Would imagine they would have similar powers in the US as well.

So much for 'The Party Of The Poor People' !

Does anybody know the name of the resort? I am getting married in Prachuap Khiri Khan in May, and frankly, will want to avoid this hotel.

Why, would you anticipate that the perpetrators will strike again at the same resort. You might be safer there than another resort. Also, would you refuse to drive on a highway that had bus crashes? Nothing suggests that the selection of venue has anything to do with the crime.

You are right of course, but even so, I for one would not be giving any money to a Resort owner that has the kind of staff that would do this kind of thing on a whim. Ok; I know it could happen anywhere but lightning can, and does, strike in the same place twice !

Approaching 35 (continuous) years here in Thailand and I have yet to hear 'I'm sorry' ('sia jai') come out of one of their mouths...not once...no joke...live with it...

I've had a girl bump into me in the market and said 'Solly' a few weeks ago. Well; it's a start isn't it?

When I was a child, you could buy plastic model submarines that were propelled by baking soda or some such goop, when immersed in water. Endless fun in the kiddy bathtub... about Matchbox Toy size. Cheaper and just as useful, maybe more so. A suggested alternative.

I remember those toy ones. We didn't buy them, they came free with packets of cereals, as did Kitmaster Kits later from Nabisco. Reckon this sort of stuff would keep the Thai Navy busy with something they couldn't do any damage with and would provide hours of harmless fun.

The thought of Thai sailors running around under water in deep sea Submarines doesn't bear thinking about. Wouldn't be long before there was a catastrophic accident or a major diplomatic incident. Best for them to order a few more rowing boats for the next floods.

Lets face it; this country is run by a whole bunch of Disney characters !

They will let you get away with 10 * 50g pouches.

Be polite if they ask to look in your bags and admit as soon as they do ask how many you have. Mainly they are looking for drugs and weapons.

You are spot on, admit it as soon as they pull you over-and tell them it is for your own consumption or gifts, they get very upset if you don't admit it and make them work.

just to clarify going into the uk? and this will be ok via india (connecting flight)?

No problem unless you and your luggage are clearing customs in India. Presuming you are in transit, your luggage is checked through to the UK.

Excise department and Customs department are two different departments that have their own stations and their own officers. One or both of them use plain clothed spotters to identify possible suspects for the uniformed guys to pick up in the arrivals hall. The guy which stopped you could have been one of those. While there could potentially be "fake: officers it is hard to tell as you didn't ask him for his ID. You would think official procedure should be for them to identify themselves first, but this being Thailand we can't expect that is going to happen even if it was procedure.

this is highly possible about the excise department. I forgot to mention on my earlier thread reply; the guy peered into your duty free bag -

you had 2 bottles & your partner closed in to check whats going on. He may have acknowledged the fact you were traveling in a pair

with 2 bottles - just random checking. They will fine you for any thing they find excessive or non duty paid over limits once exited from

the airport door exit.

And that's what it's all about....waiting for you to exit before checking you out. The majority of people think that once they have 'exited' the customs area they are out of trouble if they are carrying anything over the limits. Not so; if you look to your right as you exit customs at Swampy you will see a small,black, blanked off area tucked away almost unnoticed and this is where the plain clothed Excise Officers work from nabbing people at random. I've been 'Invited' into their little world twice in the last three years and had everything checked out that I was carrying. I wasn't overloaded either time and they were very polite but beware because they are always on the prowl.

I'm still trying to get my head around why the Goons in charge of this rabble would allow 387 Non-Commissioned Officers to all take leave on THE SAME DAY to take an exam? Are the people who are at the top of this mess recruited through Walt Disney or what?

Meanwhile back at HQ, the brains behind this 'crackdown' are already planning the next one because there is nothing else to do, apart from perhaps thinking up how Thailand can become yet another 'Hub' for something. I think it's time for a 'Crackdown on Hubs' !

Depends where you are, how old you are and so on. Would suggest moderators move this to the visa section, but more information needed from you to get satisfactory answers.

'Considering Evacuation' is one thing but actually doing it is another. This is just more lip service in the hope that it will shut people up until it rains or a very stiff breeze blows up.

Talk of 'Disciplinary Action' against Village Leaders if they don't stop fires is just hot air. These guys are virtually untouchable in their own communities and their own skivvies will be burning the bosses rubbish every night.

You won't find them in local markets because the Thai's use Limes. They also often call a lime a lemon and if you look at the latest Makro leaflets they have a picture of limes marked up as lemons !

I buy my lemons in Tops as they seem to have the nicest ones and are cheaper than Rimping.

Definitely clearer. Already seen the first fire lit to celebrate this fact

Just back from the daily Bike ride and five smouldering fires seen from overnight burning in the villages. Air generally a lot cleaner though with a reasonable breeze blowing below the mountains. Just need some of that rain and it will be a perfect day.

if sprinklers were not "adequate", what they were there for ? decoration ? This is insane .... I hope the owner of the hotel will be send to court for obvious negligence in terms of security.

My wife used to work in a resort/hotel. The owner bought sprinkler heads and had them screwed into the ceilings. They were not connected to anything, just looked good!

With all the tourists that come here, the hotels should have to have an annual certification by the fire department or a certified company,which would not only include checks on fire extinguishers and exits but also a pressure test on sprinkler systems. Fat chance.

Yes; I stayed in a Hotel in the South some years back and I was laying on the bed looking at the sprinkler when I realised it was just screwed to the ceiling and not connected. I went to reception and asked why after looking at more in the corridors and finding they were the same. I was subjected to blank looks and wispish 'don't know's' from the staff and nobody cared to go and find anyone who did know. Checked out and moved on, TIT.

As I've said in other previous discussion threads, the Pheu Thai party had no hesitation in making huge promises, despite the financial consequences of the country such as debt and inflation. In particular, the raises to the minimum wages are significant. The tablet PC is also an attractive gift that can be touched and held, unlike other less tangible financial assistance. I am certain that more people based their votes on these populist policies than on political ideology like anti-coupism or democracy, because even with "true democracy" there is no guarantee that the people will be wealthier in terms of money or material things.

Pheu Thai's promises were so huge that it would have been foolish for the Democrats to try to outbid them just to increase their share of the votes, and I would have been critical of them if they did so. Now that Thaksin / Pheu Thai have succeeded in their main goal of re-taking power via huge populist promises, they are faced with the dilemma of honoring such promises. If they don't implement any of the promises, they will be widely criticized for having made false promises just to get elected. If they do fully implement all promises, the country may sink into financial trouble, with Greece being a current example of what could happen.

Try asking a Thai about the situation in Greece and see if they even know where it is, let alone anything to do with the financial problems there. Even if you were kind enough to spend hours explaining the details and telling them it could happen to Thailand as a result of PT policies do you think they would give a rats arse? Thai's are interested in what goes into their pockets,not about the World and its woe's, and as long as anyone keeps telling them they are going to get more they will keep believing it at the expense of all else.

There are any number of Thais -- Muslim or not -- who might be sympathetic to the bombers' cause.

Hard to picture a buddhist thai sympathetic to a Muslim cause

MONEY trumps Thai Buddhism just as it does everything else here.

It not only a religious issue; it is a political one as well. I have met many Thais who have expressed anti-Israel sentiment.

It's beyond me where you must meet these people who know enough about Israel to be 'anti'. I have been travelling this country and living here for many years and have yet to meet a Thai that knows where Israel is, or indeed, even knows it exists ! I often find myself being questioned about other countries by Thai's who are interested in knowing what is outside this country's borders because they are just taught so little at School about the outside World and read so little that may give them any information about the Planet in general. To meet 'many' Thai's who are 'Anti- Israel' must be a very rare occurance.

6 !!!

Chiang Mai accepts Yellow Book no problem.