ableguy

They should just take the money from the crooked politicians and then go and vote for whoever they want anyway...after all, their vote is secret, is it not? Better still, take money from both sides...

My understading is the vote is not secret, money buys anything here and the sooner all us ex pats get used to the idea there will be a lot less suggestions on this forum on how to make the country as we would like it to be , most of us are here for the ladies , sunshine and cost of living, so please stop moaning and get on with the lifestyle you have all chosen, this is directed at all the members who would change things to meet their own idea of jistice blah blah blah.

Anyone remember Softscrub and REAL sponges? Also, Lipton's onion soup (major part of the "GM Diet"). THESE are the items that last filled my bags on my return trip.

Yes lipton onion soup dry mix, mixed with a tub of sour cream is one of the best dips going.

I cannot imagine ever having a craving for Taco Bell. When at our home I pass by a Taco Bell daily, We stopped there once in the past thirty years and did try to eat our purchases, but alas bad food does not go down well

I'll be purchasing next week in preparation for our belated move my very own electric tortilla maker to bring in June. My adorable Thai wife makes the best fajitas going right down to the proper pico de gallo , Her caldo de pollo es magnifico her ranchero de pollo es bueno. My latino cooking is Colombian in flavor arepas empanadas pan de yuca arroz con pollo. So if we don't eat good at home my friends have latino restaurants all over the city

I'd bring them good (not pricey)chocolate maybe Russell Stover caramels, not cream filled foo foo crap, good cheese an extra sharp cheddar crumbly with the occasional gritty crunch when you bite into it, if their southern bring them some grits, some nutella, almonds or pecans or walnuts. stuff you take for granted in the US can be nice to get there.

Can I borrow your wife for a week ?

You must have been a lot of hookers to form this opinion, well done.

Must be the British postal service..

I have given up sending post cards from any where in Aisia as they are often stolen for the stamp, how many would complain to the post office if they never arrive, and who would give a dam_n here anyway.

I left my car there for 5 days a few times without issue, the last time someone hit it (hard) and did 20,000 worth of damage.

5 days is the break-even point for me, any longer and it's cheaper to get a taxi from home, but I'll not be parking there long term again.

Thank's for that going to give it a try, as a cab from my place is 3,500bt x 2 as against 1,250bt + fuel. Any problem's and I'll put in a post.

I use the long term parking lot for every trip at 140 Bhat per 24 hours never had a problem allways lots of room and a free shuttle.

12drinkmore.

re ... Thailand offers the absolute opposite end of the scale to the UK banks, with their pisspoor service, arrogant attitude and restrictions.

is that right ?

i walked into a bankok bank branch in chiang mai a month ago.

i put four ( one very old from 2004 and ALL with internet access ) ) savings account passbooks on the ladys desk .. a 5 year thai drivers licence and my pasport and said i want the same same with you

she looked through all four passbooks balances twice.

and whithout a word ... started typing

20 minits later i was a bankok bank customer and internet access to my new account was up and running in a week : )

i agree with you ... all thai banks are awfull : (

enjoy pic ... dave2

ps ... ive had 4 years of yearly visas based on the 800 odd thousand in the bank every year route in case anyone is wondering ?

Another point, I have a USA private pension from a company I worked for, however they would only pay the pension into a bank in the states, Bangkok Bank has a branch in New York city albeit for commercial transactions ony, went into their head office branch in BKK and within 20 minutes they had arranged for my pension to be accepted in New York and immediatly be transferred to my local branch here, that is what I call service.

what are you trying to say ?

1 Why wasn't the guy who's money it was on the back of the bike ? Just who in their right minds gives 8,500 Euro to somebody else to change ?

2 why did the guy just stop ? I had to go to the bank last week to take out 380,000 baht. If anybody had tried to get me to stop on route home the only place I would have stopped would be the nearest police station and nowhere else. Something just doesn't sit right here for sure. A hard one to prove though that's the problem the police have.

God you need help, walk into a police station carrying 380,000 bhat ?

So how many CRACK DOWN's is that for 2011? Somebody should keep a 'tally' record of them

I have long advocated for a crack down on crack downs.

By the way one comment did strike me as something worth getting some more information on - from those that know!

Where does Bangkok's rubbish go?

Nana and Soy Cowboy.

Is there such a word/phrase in the Thai language as Environmental Concerns? Why am I not suprised about this report.

rural thai- every street is a tip, countryside is used as a tip, local people try to burn bottles and tins with the rubbish, thinking it will-burn. school education, enforce the law on sugarcane burning, black bits falling from the sky, we call it black snow, again police nowhere-no patrols, not care, dog sh--t everywhere. Kids throwing plastic out of cars-learn from mum. unclean houses and kitchens-outside most houses are like gypsy camps. This is a disaster--Bkk-canals--under the noses of the mayor and officials. Food markets stink, no health checks on sellers. all rivers polluted-so the fish for sale are full of poison. this is last years report-and the years before. No one is doing their job properly-goverment departments are using money allocated on other money making contracts. I live in a rural village, if anyone dissbelieves me then he has blinkers on. It is serious, but like everything reports and a news splash and its forgot. Sustainable-was a word we used in helping other countries-AID- if it wasn't no money was forwarded. This government should follow -sustainable.

We need a crack down on these people. problem solved in four weeks.

Wow, Thai complaining about working on a farm with low pay or no pay. I can see the no pay being a crime, but low pay that's standard for any migrant laborer in any country.

I never once seen Hmong or Vietnamese complain about low wages as they picked strawberries in California fields.

Next thing you know, Juan Valdez will be bitching about him getting low pay and extreme working conditions to pick each individual coffee bean for you and I to savior.

Mexican labors don't sue for low wages for picking grapes for your wine or Oranges, apples, vegetables, etc.

Just tell Thai. If you don't like it there, then point to the ocean and say, Thailand is that way, enjoy your swim.

A little harsh, but funny.

Very harsh and off point. Mexicans don't sue because they are typically illegally there and have no status to sue. There have been many Hispanic groups in the past that have brought many lawsuits on their behalf in California and elsewhere. It's also not the low wages, it's the entire fraud of luring them on false promises and the subsequent treatment here and not just the wages. It was a total scam to get these people to work for virtually nothing knowing they had no power to do much. Oooops! Wrong! Falang go jail now!. I've seen too much of this in AZ with the human smugglers and it's not pretty and no one deserves to be treated like that. I remember a few years ago the same kind of scam lured a bunch of Thai teachers to Lousiana where a similar treatment was awaiting them. Dispicable on any level. My father in law is a Thai farmer and I can't imagine allowing him to be treated like that.

If they recruitede Thai teachers then they probably got paid what they were worth.

they were real policemen, one in uniform, with badges and guns.

why they didn't stop at the journalist's house to check his passport (foreigners are obliged to carry their pass at all time - or at least a cophy of it) is a little strange, probably they decided, that wallets/ring/mobiles would be an easier prise, than entering the house and leaving empty handed.

What we need is a crack down on fake police men and also on real ones.

In Udon province they have a planning office, 1-you register with the local head village, 2 get licences from the municipality (town) 3 Udon for the main trading licence to operate only when photos are supplied of the premises, and its not near residential areas, (music/Karaoke) 4 tax to be paid at the town and registered. Now are they saying (10 businesses) dont have, and have been operating for some time.....had Phuket admin had done their work properly then the business would never have been able to open. Why for h--l sake do they advertise a crackdown. if they have the manpower for this then they have it to prevent businesses opening without licences in the first place.

Never forget TIT! I suspect they were allowed to operate unhindered without the necessary licence because money changed hands and the owners paid their protection money. Of course, that is only a suspicion.

have to agree, all I can say is crack downs crack me up, cuurent crack downs in BKK, on street people, on drugs, on noise. on young kids, on not wearing a helmet for bike, on bus drivr[ers and mini bus drivers, on fake red plates, on putting police flashing lights and signs on you car it goes on and on, why the media even report on the crack downs beats me.

Yes, you are kee niow, congratulations. I cant help but feel abit sorry for your wife truth be told.

yeah what a cheap skate.

Whatever happens, the person(s) that hired these scum should get punished to the full extent of the law ( like that will happen)

and, with all the tourists, no one got a video of the incident?

What law ?

...I think 30.000 people gathering is a very impressive number...

and no doubt they all got paid plus gas money and food.

Going back many years I can remember when the first Indian immigrants arrived in England.

At first the very few that lived mostly in the big cities including London were mainly Indian restaurant owners and workers and was considered somewhat of a novelty and the native white population tolerated them and treated these people with respect.

Then during the 1970s the British government relaxed it`s policies on Immigration and suddenly brown people from all over South Asia and many from Uganda began immigrating to England in droves.

Then everything changed, the unions called for strikes fearing the loss of jobs to Asians and there was frequent and violent attacks on Asians including actual riots in many parts of the country.

My point is that I don`t believe the permitting of too many people of a different race and culture into a country is a good thing. It has been proven that multiculturalism doesn't work and will lead to conflicts.

During my time here in Thailand I am seeing more and more farangs even in the most remote areas and as I see the situation, this can only cause problems for the farangs already living here, the same as what happened in the United Kingdom 40 years ago.

it worked in the USA ?

This morning's other thread on the upcoming Red Shirt rally showed this portion of the equation:

Red Shirt = Thaksin

and now this thread shows this portion of the equation:

PTP = Thaksin

which just confirms that equation

PTP = Red Shirt = Thaksin

rolls on

Let's continue your equation.

On the other thread you suggested that the red shirts are communists.

Therefore Thaksin = communist.

Woooooow.

Thaksin is many things, mostly bad.

But a communist?

Living in Thailand can deminish the capability for logical thinking.

Also the ability to spell correctly

come on the op was in los 15yrs and went native, i am amazed his liver still works after 15yrs of bad booze, and lets be honest his choice of Houston is not the model of what the USA has to offer, it is hot, stinks, and is full of red necks with 2 first names i.e. billie bob. I have been in the los for 11yrs and have no desire to ride a motorcycle taxi, drink beer loa, or eat fresh road kill. Is America for everyone? No! Does America offer the ambitious, hard working of any race, education, sex or sexual prefrence an opportunity to see their dreams come true? Absolutly! If you have Child where would they have more opportunities to succeed? los or USA?

Right on bro.

can you tell me where / what 3 pagoda pass please

NW Thailand close to bridge on the river Kwai, infamous death railway built by allied pows under the Japanese ww2. hope that helps.

Hi guys , going to three pagoda pass and will take advantage of 24 hour pass to cross the border, mixed party farangs and thai, I know we need a passport but can anyone tell me if Thais do, thanks for any info.

How does one blow into one of these bags to check for possible leaks?

with vigour.

Thailand's prison is culturally self-imposed. Most Thais are uninterested in anything outside the borders of their own country. The vast majority have never left the country and have no real interest in doing so. Many are brainwashed by their education system to believe Thailand is superior to the rest of the world, so there is no need to learn of other cultures. To some extent, Thailand is a paradise, and there is little reason to leave. However, travel abroad is important for personal self-development. When I lived in Hawaii I saw the same thing. A beautiful place, and many of the native-born inhabitants never had left the islands (and those that did only traveled to Vegas). While there is some censorship of the press and internet, it is of little consequence. There is a lot of freedom and democratic spirit in Thailand, but many of the Thais simply aren't curious or sufficiently interested to exploit those freedoms.

Most of the masses do not travel because they have no money to visit foreign lands, they cannot afford to take time off work, they probably dont own a suitcase, passport. Try offering to pay some persons way to the USA , they would snatch your hand off.