Mai Krap

RSS is irrelevant today. Why in the world would Bangkok Post be trying to get on that train 3 years after it already left the station? Sure when the internet sucked from a lack of speed getting little text type tickers was very cool and seemed almost "Techie" but not anymore. Twitter is a hundred times more relevant and I dont even see them being around in 2 years unless they completely reinvent themselves. There is always a faster kid gunning for a name when your seen as the old gunslinger.

The problem with Bangkok Post is their content sucks, that comes from poor management. They could turn things around but I dont see it happening as they are now cutting their own throats. In fact the name of the game is getting as many clicks as you can get, asking people to not link to their website and use RSS is totally insane.

This is all pretty funny if you think about it. The Nation would be dead in the water without ThaiVisa, as they had no vision of the future and now have to piggy back off the forum to get more clicks and keep their name relevant. Who in the world looking back would even go with a crazy domain like NationMultiMedia? If they can hang onto or possibly buy out Thiavisa they may be around in a few years but even Rupert Murdock is feeling the heat as advertising changes and its only going to get worse for all the old players. Computers and the internet are just now coming of age, those heavily invested in old ideas, old infrastructure, and old technology are going to find it very hard to compete with some of the new start ups who can do the same thing out of a hotel room with a laptop and no financial investment.

No worries, I doubt Bangkok Post will even exist in another six months, another shame really. They have went from bad to worse over the last few years, so bad I dont even try to read their website anymore. 7 years ago I could not be bothered to buy the Nation, I was a avid Bangkok Post reader. I would even buy the Post 2 days old when I was living out in the jungle and could not get a paper till the next day , I did not own a computer and never had up till then.

Back then there was obvious differences in the Nation and Post, Bangkok Post read more like an American paper. There was the Night Owl to read and other tidbits that added to the daily nonsense, later they would add the Database Section which was great for a couple years. Me and many others were greatly offended at how the entire "Killing Off' of the Night Owl went down, it was so disrespectful to the man and the readers. Nobody is claiming they were not correct to put to bed the Night Owl but they could have at least been respectful, pretended he retired, anything but what happened. Database turned into bunch of nonsense, it seemed to be a bunch of regurgitated second hand stories and week old Tech content that was already irrelevant after 24 hours, yet it was served up there as a weekly. Only in Thailand would someone make a weekly computer section and not realize their targeted audience was tech savvy enough to Google.

The Nation is not much better but I at least click them if I'm awake after midnight when they post their daily. I do that more out of habit than anything else, as any major story will be covered by AFP or AP within minutes. Even Matt Drudge has become irrelevant by 2009 as anyone can do now what Matt was doing ten years ago.

Who needs Bangkok Post when you can be your own news editor? Look in the top right hand corner for controls. To make the image smaller I'm only showing one article per subject when in reality it shows 5 or more, I change the editor according to breaking stories.

The "Saudi, Blue Diamond affair" was actually a gem scam, not a theft

No, a Thai worker in a Saudi Royal Palace stole the diamond and other jewels, shipped them to Thailand and then fled Saudi. He was convicted in Thai court and given 5 years. The jewels were recovered by the Thai Police, but when they were returned, many, including the Blue Diamond turned out to be fakes. 4 Saudi nationals (including 3 diplomats) sent to Thailand to investigate were killed. The Police General in charge of the original investigation was convicted in 1995 of murdering a Thai gem dealer involved in the case along with his wife and son. He is still in jail and will be so for a long time, as he was just given 20 more years in 2006. 6 other Thai police are also still in jail for involvement in the theft.

The Blue Diamond has never been recovered, nor has anyone ever been charged in the murder of the Saudis.

Last I heard was that a jew in New York City, NY, USA secretly purchased and has possession of the Blue Diamond. He had no qualms about doing so because he is a jew and because the Blue Diamond was owned by Arabs. I heard this on the street from some people I know that have international connections...if you know what I mean. That is all I will say.

What is it with Arab, Jew, and religion trashing here? What difference would it make who bought the diamond or who has it if its a criminal act? None of this has anything to do with religion and that goes for the Saudi's too. Just because people hide behind religion and get involved in other things does not mean they are representative of said religion, that goes for Buddhism too.

Three arrested after 'largest in living memory' jewel heist

Meanwhile, police have arrested three Malaysian men for buying electronic goods at Pantip Plaza's Nonthaburi branch, allegedly with fake credit cards.

The three suspects are Ui Kim Chew and Chen Wei Hua, both 28, and Lai Chin Ting 43. Police say they found two fake passports and 10 other fake credit cards in their possession, apart from the one used in the purchase. The three pleaded not guilty and are now in custody of Muang Nonthaburi police.

-- The Nation 2009-09-23

Maybe the Thais should sentence the Malaysians to death by hanging like they do in the islamic Asian countries. It would be somewhat analagous to the Malaysians hanging Thais found with a kilo of marijuana. Thais are a more enlightened and higher class of people than those of the local southern countries... so the three guys will live...which they should.

These Malaysian guys harm more people and than a Thai with a bag of shwag. However, Thais are not barbaric savages like the Malaysians, Singaporians (is that a proper word), and Indonesians whos minds are washed, clouded, and enslaved by immature, primative, draconian ignorant islamic beliefs. Luckily, the Thai system is more enlightened and intelligent than the dreg countries to the south. Throw the Malaysians in prison for about 3 years.

Please keep your own ignorant beliefs to yourself, none of this has anything to do with Islam.

I think the upgrade went far beyond simply changing the skin (colors, fonts, small images that make up the "look").

The problems could be with the new version of Invision board itself, the way it deals with the existing database that contains all the posts and member profiles, with ThaiVisa own addons related to advertising and so on.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the new look, btw. Every element seemed to be bigger and done in pastel colors, not really consistent with new LCD screens and old people's eyes.

You are both right and wrong. It has nothing to do with the new version of IPB and everything to do with way the Thai Visa hacked to death the old version. By changing so many little things on the old version it will be impossible to use them in the new version as they will need to create new hacks that will work in the new software. This problem is compounded by the fact that the new IPB3 is currently the most sophisticated board software available.

Think about it like this, you have Windows XP and you want to switch to Windows 7, you dont expect all your old programs to work as the architecture and way it works is more focused on the future than yesterday. Therefore you start looking for either new or upgraded software and you have to start from ground zero, kinda like a new baby has to learn everything new. Since many of the hacks I have seen here were created just for Thai Visa and are not something you see on many IPBs they will most likely have to create new hacks to work in the new software.

Anyone familiar with IPB3 already knows that programmers are having problems messing around with it as its new and very powerful software so there are no experts created yet. It may take a good year or more for there to be enough hacks to run 3.0 the way some were running 2.3 but then again why would anyone want to do that, why not just set up 3.0 on a private server and exploit the new software then do a reveal? This is all very interesting to watch, very interesting indeed. By the way, I'm a IPB3 Admin and I'm having the same issues just on a much smaller scale.

I got my 2 entry visa today in Vientiane. I have one 3 entry visa from Helsinki and two 2 entry visas from Vientiane before that.

Today I also got red stamp beside my visa:

"Remark: The holder has travelled to Thailand with Tourist Visa 9 times. The Embassy may not accept the application next time"

Classic T.I.T........hey, lets give out free visas to encourage tourism, but we don't actually want you to apply for one, and really we don't want you here at all, we're doing just fine without you!.....hmmm

NINE tourist visa's Hardly a geuine tourist.

Yea, I have upwards of forty in mine, GRINS!

Abandon, If everyone had a friend as good as you the world would be a happier place. Thank you for your charity and compassion and for sharing the story with us.

I sympathize with the parents, although their attitude to Buddhism seems rather UN- Christian.

My heart goes out to the wife and children left to cope and it struck me as odd in this community of TV that no one has suggested some sort of fund raiser to help provide for the family, something that often happens in Australia when someone is taken unexpectedly.

I realize that a lot of TV members are not wealthy, but if Abandon were willing to open an account in the name of the wife or provide her account details I am sure that there would be many on TV that would contribute.

I know it is asking a lot of the Admin team and may be stretching the rules but surely this is a worthy cause and a chance for some of us to give something back to Thailand. I recognize that something like this is open to abuse but if done under the supervision of Admin (George?) we could have some measure of confidence that donations would reach their intended target.

Abandon, please PM me if there is anything I can do to help.

This case has been on my mind since I read it with deep concern for Yeti's wife and children. I'm with midasthailand on this one and will gladly help with a contribution, might just be one thing less for Yeti's wife to worry about at this terrible time.

Or one more thing to worry about. As long as they are perceived as being broke they will be left alone by the money grubbers. A new bank account could bring the worst kind of people into their lives. For sure they are going to need money but its a delicate balance as I have seen plenty of kids dragged off and held hostage at some village because certain people became beneficiaries of monthly payments.

There are many Christian grave yards in Thailand, its not necessary to go back to France just for that. I would hate to second guess exactly what the parents motivation was but I suspect they just wanted to buried with him themselves as they are old and know they do not have forever left in this life.

If they have strong religious beliefs that does not make them anti Buddhist. For that matter Buddhism was spiritual thing in the beginning but now its idol worship with statues and amulets and things, this kind of thing is against the ten commandments of Christianity so its normal for some people to really freak out about it. They may even blame the little amulet thing in the bed as the cause of their own prayers not being answered. My own mom believes Thailand is a completely evil land full of devils and tells me as much every time we are on the phone and she does not even go to church but Easter in a good year. I can imagine how horribly she would behave if I were sick and she came to be with me, for that matter I doubt she would even come.

Many of my friends are well on in years, the topic of death and burial is a regular subject. My biggest fear is not dieing itself but having my body held for ransom by some Thai hospital while they are running up a bill for my family here, its a regular scam. I have sat down with family and gave them very specific instructions on what to do if I happen to make a early exit as many of my friends have made. If any good at all come come out of this horrible nightmare, maybe some folks will get their houses in order while they can.

I should say that none involved can really fault the hospital. It was top quality care - as good as you will get anywhere. It's one of those things .... there was no reason for a healthy young guy to react so badly to a flu, or to spiral down the way he did. His entire body was kept going by machines - I am sure that even 10 - 15 years ago he would have died pretty quickly from the condition he was in. Yes, I'd have thought a Dr should be there (for that money) through the night when he obviously needed it. But it seems pretty clear there was nothing they could do.

This is not necessarily correct as there is no oversight in Thai medicine. They could have easily given the wrong medicine combination or a overdose that caused his kidneys to work to hard which led to failure. If a patient dies and the doctor cannot tell you why or what had transpired to cause the death I would not say its not their fault. Its not like the hospital has any legal obligation to tell you if they made mistakes and certainly there is no moral obligation as they were making money, in Thailand that is often the bottom line.

I have heard hundreds of these nightmare stories here in Thailand and yes they can happen in a western country too. It seems here they are more frequent and many times the doctors do not have a bit of beside manor. Maybe that's a transference from the same attitude one sees at roadside accidents and in cases where the driver always runs off.

In this case the kid was laying there in the care of a doctor who could not even be bothered to do anything but talk to nurses on the phone. I have had that very same thing, just laying there with high fever, waiting on some doctor who may or may not have cheated, lied or pulled a VIP, to get a medical license as you never know here. I have had good doctors and I have had doctors who could not even be bothered to open a chart when I was a inpatient being treated for a long term illness. In that case had the doctor bothered to open the chart he would see that I was taking a maximum dosage of antibiotics yet he prescribed me a second maximum dosage which may or may not have shut down my kidneys and killed me. Once I took the issue to the director of the VIP hospital he pretended like nothing was wrong and that was the end of the story, no telling how many people this incompetent fool killed over the years. Later another doctor quietly told me to never let that doctor treat me, the entire hospital knew he was incompetent but he could not be fired or even complained about. That incident left me doing a complete rethink about medical care here. That and the fact a Uni Professor told me that he had caught many students cheating their way to degrees and when he tried to do something he was told "<deleted>, not good for school reputation!"

As for this young mans kids and wife, hopefully the parents will help them move to France if the kids are French Citizens. If he had any good friends maybe they can help with that or at least see that the family can somehow stay together here in Thailand but I suspect the bill has been ran up at hospital and money collectors will be up to the usual things regarding the mans assets as they will quickly disappear as if he was never even here.

Nobody can predict what is going to happen after a accident in Thailand unless a bus is involved, then the driver will run away if not dead.

Its been a interesting week in the news. First there was the horrible story of the woman being mugged who has passed and now comes A war of words and possible law suit between Andrew Drummond and John Le Ferve.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Le Ferve as his writing is sometimes off in my opinion he is a boots on the ground journalist who has certainly been down the road. His recent photos even if people disagree with them certainly show he was on the scene at the recent story which has now turned into a public feud with Andrew Drummond who was not on the scene of that story.

Andrew Drummond has written a very accusatory posting on his blog which had to be edited (available in cache) and now Andrew Drummond is quoted as stating he received news from the Malaysian Press that John Le Ferve has "Psychiatric Problems" on his blog.

people who should know about this man do now and that a report from the Malaysian press states medically that he has psychiatric problems.

This is the most interesting story in Thailand for me at the moment, anyone else watching?

footnote link to quote

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2009/09/05/...as-thaivisacom/

While Howard came out looking pretty good and basically saved a loud mouthed drunk kid from probably getting beat to death, the show overall paints Thailand in a very bad light. I suspect if anyone from the Gov happens to see it they will ban the show.

As far as it being real, Yes, I think it was real. Of course they had to shoot hundreds of hours of film over a unknown period of time most of which would be unusable. They did come up with some interesting footage after all the editing. If the show does anything but entertain people who will never come here anyway, it will be to attract more of the kind of tourist Thailand already has to many of, drunk idiots.

Good luck on shutting this guy up!

How much smoke can they blow up the backside of anyone that is not illiterate in one day? Most recently I was advised that it was not a problem if I were to dumb to pass a driving test, just go around back and pay 500 baht. The lady saying this in Thai had never been able to pass one and commented "its much faster too" as apparently the line was shorter.

Appreciate the information, it was a good read. I do find it very strange any Expat in Asia would be surprised that Thais bully and cheat in a Cambodian Casino. Poipet is well known as one of the dodgiest places on earth, the border crossing gives a good picture of how things go there.

Secret prisons. From which era might we be refereing to? The secret prisons from the 1950s? 1963 and 1962? 1973? 1976? 1992? Thousands were missing and unaccounted for.......does antone know our contemporary history?

Not Talk That!

These guys who killed this are mindless idiots. That snake was not a danger to anyone where it was and should have been left alone. I'm really surprised to see Ian has posted this here as if it were something to be proud of. Its no surprise at all to see that Sabay Bar played a roll by purchasing the hide so they can show it off to drunken idiots at their bar. Its not a surprise to hear of a resort paying for the meat and encouraging this kind of thing as it has gone on for years. Its normal for the animals on Ko Chang to get killed and served up for dinner even though it is 100% illegal to do such a thing.

Many would have loved to seen the pictures of this wild snake alive, they would have lasted much longer than dinner and whiskey for mindless idiots. The more I think about it the more it pisses me off this snake was shot and killed for nothing, WHAT A FFFFING WASTE!

Trying to deal with some of the staff at Home Pro can be maddening but the same goes for Global House. Both tend to hire people off the street who do now have a clue as to whats going on. I love it when somebody tries to sell me items they have no experience with. People following you around and getting between you and what your looking at is also a comedy. I just start walking fast and try to loose em in the isles.

Home Pro was cool about replacing a exspensive fan for me last year. At first they wanted to send my fan to Bangkok for a month but after talking to the manager they decided to give me a new fan and there was no paperwork involved. The bottom line is if they have what you need and the price is OK, go for it. The problem with the bed was one the OP should have seen coming but it was a learning to buy in Thailand thing, could happen any Expat in LOS.

There is not much need to boycott them, they have few customers as it is. One thing I do like is the big empty cool space to browse around in but they tend to have less and less items I need or want. In fact I have had several conversations with friends wondering how they are still in business as the place is empty most of the time.

Sounds like they are sending smoke signals. The condo markets in Pattaya and Bangkok both suck right now. Maybe if you buy now and hold for ten years it will actually be worth what you paid, then again who knows if Thailand will even be a country in ten years the way things are going. As for speculative buying, its just gambling as there is no science involved with the current political crises and 0 stability.

UPDATE FROM PATTAYA PEOPLE:

American commits obscenity in spa

Police were called to a massage shop on the afternoon of the 22nd July when they were notified that a tourist had committed an obscene act there. There at the Number 2 Beauty and Spa they interviewed American tourist Stephen Morefield about the incident.

Apparently, the 44 year old from Tennessee went into the shop for a massage but not realising that this establishment did not offer extra services other than massage and spa treatments. His insistence of receiving hanky panky from his masseur and her refusal led to him getting a bit niffed and started shouting obscenities at the frightened girl and forced her to do disgusting sexual acts to his oily body parts.

Not to turn your stomach with the details, the police were called and he was taken away to answer questions at the police station. Later he offered to pay compensation for the ordeal he put the young woman through, which she accepted and no charges were made against the pervert.

He was at the right place, "# 2 Beauty and Spa" but had the wrong girl. Just when I thought I had seen it all, a nice surprise and a good laugh.

Was that an intentional Red Herring "Mai Krap"?

Cholera? Really?

Please reread the entire thread to see that the symptoms of Cholera have nowhere been evident in either of these cases.

"Exhaustive Diarrhea" having never been mentioned in association with these cases or the pathologies that led to these deaths.

Furthermore IF it were Cholera that killed these folks the Thai investigators would have been able to report the presence of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae with much gusto and vindication.

I think it is fair to say that the cat is out of the bag.

Organophosphate pesticides are cheap, readily obtained and are among the most poisonous compounds used for such purposes.

For my part with nothing sought to gain, will not let this fade into silent obscurity.

Justice for the victims.

Not intended as a Red Herring, I would like to see this resolved as much as anybody. I will not be writing off cholera so quick though, will wait and see what medical testing can be done to prove it Cholera or not.

I suspect that if it is Cholera that is all the more reason for a large scale cover up as it is very scary for tourists. It would be easy to write off a couple accidental deaths. The Gov could even throw the guesthouse staff in prison and make a good show for the press. If it were to prove Cholera, there is no simple clean up as you would need to build a new infrastructure to dispose of waste correctly on Phi Phi and in Phuket.

May all the victims rest in peace as those of us who are still outraged by this tragedy search for answers.

You should live in Isarn a minimum of two years before you spend money and build. If you drive around much you will find many a farangs broken dream in abandoned and empty houses. Anything but sitting on top of your project as it goes up is guaranteed to end up with cut corners leaving you a unsatisfied customer. No need to believe me if you don't want to, just ask around.

Currently there are many beautiful houses on the market for 2 million and no takers. There are also many homes for rent from 5,000 a month on up.

Cholera?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera

Cholera

Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.[1][2] Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients. The major reservoir for cholera was long assumed to be humans themselves, but considerable evidence exists that aquatic environments can serve as reservoirs of the bacteria.

Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacterium that produces cholera toxin, an enterotoxin, whose action on the mucosal epithelium lining of the small intestine is responsible for the disease's most salient characteristic, exhaustive diarrhea.[1] In its most severe forms, cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal illnesses known, and a healthy person's blood pressure may drop to hypotensive levels within an hour of the onset of symptoms; infected patients may die within three hours if medical treatment is not provided.[1] In a common scenario, the disease progresses from the first liquid stool to shock in 4 to 12 hours, with death following in 18 hours to several days, unless oral rehydration therapy is provided.[3][4]

The majority of reported cholera cases worldwide occur in Africa. It is estimated that most cases of cholera are unreported due to poor suveillance systems, particularly in Africa. Fatality rates are 5% of total cases in Africa, and less than 1% elsewhere.[5] For a map of recent international outbreaks, see:[3]

Treatment

In most cases cholera can be successfully treated with oral rehydration therapy. Prompt replacement of water and electrolytes is the principal treatment for cholera, as dehydration and electrolyte depletion occur rapidly. Oral rehydration therapy or ORT is highly effective, safe, and simple to administer. In situations where commercially produced ORT sachets are too expensive or difficult to obtain, alternative homemade solutions using various formulas of water, sugar, table salt, baking soda, and fruit offer less expensive methods of electrolyte repletion. In severe cholera cases with significant dehydration, the administration of intravenous rehydration solutions may be necessary.

Antibiotics shorten the course of the disease, and reduce the severity of the symptoms. However Oral rehydration therapy remains the principal treatment. Tetracycline is typically used as the primary antibiotic, although some strains of V. cholerae exist that have shown resistance. Other antibiotics that have been proven effective against V. cholerae include cotrimoxazole, erythromycin, doxycycline, chloramphenicol, and furazolidone.[6] Fluoroquinolones such as norfloxacin also may be used, but resistance has been reported.[7]

Rapid diagnostic assay methods are available for the identification of multidrug resistant V. cholerae.[8] New generation antimicrobials have been discovered which are effective against V. cholerae in in vitro studies.[9]

The success of treatment is significantly affected by the speed and method of treatment. If cholera patients are treated quickly and properly, the mortality rate is less than 1%; however, with untreated cholera the mortality rate rises to 50–60%.[10][11]