topben

Howdy folks!

Big Bagel fan here and I was just wondering if anyone knew a place which sells good decent bagel.

Not just Bagel wanna be..

Thanks and have a good day!

Au Bon Pain

i only know the one at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital

there used to be one in Royal Garden

maybe it moved to Central

they offer at least 5 types of delicious bagels

yes, n they are good too. berlin cafe at south pattaya too at one time. don't know if the place still exist. last i saw a massage parlour took over the place. one of the condos in jomtien has a good bakery own by a european . can't remember which condo, though.

only six months??????

after thousands of tourists were assaulted?????

n, after costng thai tourism millions n millions of thai bahts????

n, soon he will be relased early from prison for good behaviour after wining n dinig well in prison with visitors n well-wishers in tow??????

wow!!!!!!!!1

The field marshal was a dictator as Young fully admits,

but he admires not the man, but the works for the people he DID

accomplish; roads in particular, and water and infrastructure in general.

Disliking Thaksin was not a difficult thing to do.

Hate is far too strong a word, I leave that to the more often injured locals.

Total distrust and fear of his return to vengeful power is an completely different thing.

It's hard to see how the best interests of Thailand are properly served by Thaksin in power again.

That would be just a new dictator, with a jiggered pseudo mandate. Non-starter.

Field Marshall Sarit is in the top two of most corrupt and self-serving dictators this country has ever seen. He makes Taksin look like a fluffy bunny rabbit. Thousands of politcal opponents murdered and jailed. To put it into modern day context, his behaviour was very much similar to the generals running Burma today.

Buliding a few roads was the LEAST Sarit could do (no doubt the contracts to do so lined his own pockets).

But that comment doesn't invalidate what I said.

Sarit managed to do more on the said than most had up front, till that time.

Neither I, nor Young, said he was a nice guy,not corrupt, nor a tyrant.

why scutle when one is scratching your back whilst you're scratching his. silence is also a key to riches. ask the average thai. he knows n understand the implications - with or without any brand of politics.

Actually, I thought most of his comments regarding Thaksin, while nothing new, gave a good overall picture of the current crisis. Although I don't think he really touched on the underlying issues, as they would not be favourable to the old elite who he obviously wants to keep sweet.

his, young's, silence on the old elite still in power speaks volume of himself as relative to an ex-ambassador to thailand.

like george bush ,jr. to his george bush,snr.

"pahk wan" - sweet mouth" - is the word here.

apart from some "insights", nothing is new to the average thai who needs no ph.d. to understand thai politics.

I have a page or two about Singapore on a website .. writing about it favorably as a possible place for retirement. I realize it is not Thailand or Laos, or ..

But for city people who want the kind of lifestyle, that Singapore offers, it would seem to be a reasonable place.

Not too long ago, an Irish chap took severe exception to my even suggesting Singapore was priced reasonably enough for mortals or anyone " .. other than a Sterling millionaire."

Of course, he was also trying to peddle "fully legal" houses in Phuket based on "legal because his law firm said so" 30+30+30 leases and land owned by "companies registered offshore".

But is Singapore strictly for richies?

The Irish chap is probably correct that you'd need to be a Sterling millionaire if you will be retiring at a fairly young age. What's expensive is rent and automobiles; if you're a barfly, that's going to be really expensive too. However I find that I have no need for an automobile when living so being forced to not have a car saves me money compared to many other places; the rent is the real killer. I'm finding that overall my monthly expenses are about the same as what it was costing me to live in rural Pennsylvania if (which was the last place I lived prior to Singapore) if that reference is meaningful to you, it's just that the money gets spent on different things. So I guess what it boils down to is that if you have enough money to retire to a locale in the US where costs are near the national average, you'd also have enough money to retire in Singapore.

...the medical bills, if you're above 50, may just drain you dry, if you're at all a pennslyvanian millionaire.

besides, if noodles and rice are not your fare, prepare to live on steak once a week.forget the wine....

they are just too expensive at almost 150% tax on all alcohols and cigarettes and all imported goods.

remember, more than 90% of all products in singapore,edible or not, are imported.

singapore has no land for farming whateversoever like thailand or pennsylvannia.

it's just a concrete jungle where her singaporean people have been quoted to say why they must must be condemned to live in very expensive public housing of the chicken-coop type. private housing??????if you're are not bill gates, warren buffet or oprah or donald trump or anyone of them, forget singapore before you just rush into a nightmare.

fear small spaces or cubicles or chicken-coop housing? if so, go elswhere...singaporeans are crammed in their chicken-coops. wonder why singapore was suggested to you when singaporean birthrates cannot even cope with their own singaporean emigration rates for the last 20 years average.

Fair enough if you don't like Singapore. Some people do, some people don't - though I'd bet that a person who would inquire about the financial feasibility of retiring there would be one of those that do. I'd also wager that there's very little crossover between people who like Pattaya and people who like Singapore.

Most of your points are valid opinions, but one thing that you say that is incorrect is about import taxes. Alcohol, tobacco, and automobiles are taxed heavily but most other imported items are not. There are items that are taxed at the roughly 150% rate that you mentioned, but there also are categories of imported items that at taxed at 0% -- that 150% rate is not an across-the-board thing..

should it not read "all 'similarly liked' items????(yarm, are u there?)

also, don't see "across the board" mentioned by yarm. (are u there too, originalposter????)

whatever, some luxury items, as i have been told, are taxed at some 300% in singapore. is this true??? e.g.sports cars???,pls confirm

.

how come imported items are not be taxed???? then, what's the 7% vat tax (like in canada and most european countries) for?????

I have a page or two about Singapore on a website .. writing about it favorably as a possible place for retirement. I realize it is not Thailand or Laos, or ..

But for city people who want the kind of lifestyle, that Singapore offers, it would seem to be a reasonable place.

Not too long ago, an Irish chap took severe exception to my even suggesting Singapore was priced reasonably enough for mortals or anyone " .. other than a Sterling millionaire."

Of course, he was also trying to peddle "fully legal" houses in Phuket based on "legal because his law firm said so" 30+30+30 leases and land owned by "companies registered offshore".

But is Singapore strictly for richies?

The Irish chap is probably correct that you'd need to be a Sterling millionaire if you will be retiring at a fairly young age. What's expensive is rent and automobiles; if you're a barfly, that's going to be really expensive too. However I find that I have no need for an automobile when living so being forced to not have a car saves me money compared to many other places; the rent is the real killer. I'm finding that overall my monthly expenses are about the same as what it was costing me to live in rural Pennsylvania if (which was the last place I lived prior to Singapore) if that reference is meaningful to you, it's just that the money gets spent on different things. So I guess what it boils down to is that if you have enough money to retire to a locale in the US where costs are near the national average, you'd also have enough money to retire in Singapore.

...the medical bills, if you're above 50, may just drain you dry, if you're at all a pennslyvanian millionaire.

besides, if noodles and rice are not your fare, prepare to live on steak once a week.forget the wine....

they are just too expensive at almost 150% tax on all alcohols and cigarettes and all imported goods.

remember, more than 90% of all products in singapore,edible or not, are imported.

singapore has no land for farming whateversoever like thailand or pennsylvannia.

it's just a concrete jungle where her singaporean people have been quoted to say why they must must be condemned to live in very expensive public housing of the chicken-coop type. private housing??????if you're are not bill gates, warren buffet or oprah or donald trump or anyone of them, forget singapore before you just rush into a nightmare.

fear small spaces or cubicles or chicken-coop housing? if so, go elswhere...singaporeans are crammed in their chicken-coops. wonder why singapore was suggested to you when singaporean birthrates cannot even cope with their own singaporean emigration rates for the last 20 years average.

Fair enough if you don't like Singapore. Some people do, some people don't - though I'd bet that a person who would inquire about the financial feasibility of retiring there would be one of those that do. I'd also wager that there's very little crossover between people who like Pattaya and people who like Singapore.

Most of your points are valid opinions, but one thing that you say that is incorrect is about import taxes. Alcohol, tobacco, and automobiles are taxed heavily but most other imported items are not. There are items that are taxed at the roughly 150% rate that you mentioned, but there also are categories of imported items that at taxed at 0% -- that 150% rate is not an across-the-board thing..

I am not aware of any kind of retirement visa for Singapore. They want expats to work. You might consider Malaysia, similar food anyway, and they have a formal retirement visa that provides alot more security than Thailands; however the application process is more onerous.

I checked into it a little bit because I am working in Singapore now and getting to be old enough to start thinking about retirement. If you are over 50 years old, a foreign national can retire to Singapore if you are prepared to invest S$1,000,000 in the country. If you are less than 50, there's an additonal option in the sense that it's pretty easy to get an Employment Pass to work in Singapore, and after working there for awhile you can apply to become a Permananet Resident. The PR needs to be granted before you are 50 though. It looks as if once you have PR status, you could quite your job if you wanted to and still remain in Singapore without needing to in invest S$1M.

My husband works at singapore. He ha been working there for two years.

Now he had applied for PR.If we get PR for my son (He is now 3 months

old.)and give up PR after 6 years without commiting for National Service!

If we return to our motherland after 6 years for his secondary education.

Shall getting PR for my son will affect his future? Kindly make a good advice

I do not think kids on Singapore PR are liable for National Service - only citizens.

wrong! he is liable for national / army service.

it is your sons singapore wants. the singapore army does not have enough soldiers to defend the country.

many conditions apply before you can have your sons surrender their/ his pr status.

do not for once you can run away from singapore so easily once you as parents pick up the pr status.

many malaysians n chinese n indians who have picked up their prs are regretting it.

singapore is playing geo-politic games with INDONESIA n MALAYSIA - both MUSLIM majorities countries by granting prs to indians n chinese nationals who are mostly non-muslims. malaysian n indonesianchinese are treated similarly by being granted pr easily. INDONESIAN n MALAYSIAN MUSLIMS are NOT KNOWN TO BE GRANTED PR STATUS IN SINGAPORE.

Remember, SINGAPORE is a very small PREDOMINANTLY CHINESE country - no bigger than some very small islands of indonesia , bali included.

singapore is relying on india n china to come to her "rescue" in the event war breaks out with her muslim neighbors.

why do you thnk singapore behaves like an american lackey n was once branded a running dog for america????

(this reply here is in need here though out of main topic. it is posted here to reply to an erroneuos info posted here about pr status n a child's liabilty to compulsory non-lottery (unlike in thailand) army service in singapore once someone picked up pr status in singapore. mods , pls do the needful .)

beware of merry-go-round taxi-drivers from singapore airport.

singapore is full of surcharges, taxis included. the island is not that big so every hotel is practically near everywhere.

take the skytrain from end-to end on a loop round the island n you have toured the whole country in less than three,3, hours.

remember, singapore is small island/ country n very very humid n is very crowded like hongkong.

beware of picpockets n syndicates.

expect nothing for free in singapore. why should anything be free when singapore is a very expensive country in the first place.

expectn new york, paris, london, tokyo downtown prices for most things. never drink ice-cold drinkks peddled on the streets or smosd courts.

thieves abound everywhere n are mostly non-locals n illegals in the country - not much different from thailand.

never get drunk alone in singapore n do not talk to strangers. remember, "midnight cowboy"?

etc.,etc.etc.

Hello,

I missed my Air Asia flight, they said they would book me on the next flight (have to pay for difference in price of course) but I did not take them up on the offer as I had to get to Bangkok immediately so I went and bought another ticket from 1-2-Go.

My question is, is the money I originally paid for the Air Asia flight still available for future flights? They were obviously going to apply it to the next flight of that day, but if I book a flight next week can I use the unused money and apply it to a new flight?

Or is the money just simply lost?

BTW, I think it is ridiculous and a scam that they close the counter 45 minutes prior to departure. Especially if have no luggage to check. I got there with 30 minutes to go and could see the plane still sitting there but they would not issue me a boarding pass. Seems like a scam to get people to lose money.

Thanks,

many readers of this forum will like to know the outcome of your plight as amny have similar if not worst experiences.....with most budget airlines......

unlike you, i had my boarding pass on hand and ready to board... yet they refused to let me board the airasia flight......!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, be specific. i have been coming in and out of thailand for yonk years and met all kinds in thailand, or almost all kinds at the airport.

be specific. it will help many other travellers to learn from your experience, especially so with this forum.

I just went back to Ban Chiang. When I went there 43 years ago, there was no electricity, no flush toilet, and if you needed hot water, you had to boil it. Chicken was too expensive. You had to eat little fish from the pond. Today there's electricity, flush toilets, hot water and ATM machines. Most of the houses have Internet.

He should try going to a real rural Isaan village.

Agree.

Strange to see such cheap argument used by such intelligent and skilled man.

My wife's home willage:

Prox 3000 people I guess. No ATM, not much internet, hardly any flush toilets (by choice I believe).

Electricity yes.

The only biggie is mobile phones.

Seems to me that Prof. Y think the people in the countryside is supposed to be greatful or something like that, because they do not live in the 19th century anymore.

my first memory of thailand was at bangkok when she hosted her first asian games. a little baby , no more than one year old was sleeping on the silom road pedestrian walkway next to a charcoal firestove with her mother furiously cooking away and serving walk-by clients for a pitiful less than one baht pack of thai cookies. of course i spoke no thai then .

today, the sprawling metropolis speaks volumes and the vendors are still there ekeing their livelihoods but in more less dangerous fashions .

yes, thailand has come a long way. if anything, the emancipation of the thais with the advent of thaksin on the scene may perhaps be attributed to the omnipresent mobile phones and of course the internet .

it is easy to provide "instant" observations of a society with a stroke of a brush - but such analysis lacks depth. why????? consider the scholarly western traveller to 5000 years old china in times past. in one journey or few, they return out west and write volumes on the chinese like they know china too well .

to give so much "credit" to thaksin alone for the present thai dilemna is to say one knows thailand better than the thais. that's quite erroneous thinking.most societies are more complex than that. the average citizen of thailand , espcecially if they have access to the computers, are more savvy than presumed - thais are not mucht different then their country cousins in the suburban corners of their western counter parts.

if any simplistic explanation is to be used, all the credits should go to bill gates and his internet, the most instrumental icon of the century if not the millenium.

thais may appear non-sophisticated to others, but explore deeper, they are a very profound people like their western counterparts .

to expect them to be forever subservient to anyone, that's history. the sooner the thai authorities - or for that matter any other authorities out there in the world who think they will always be one-up on their neighbors - think again what was once well-said:

you can bluff all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time.

america, in voting in obama, is one very good example, just like when no one believe an irsh would become an american president in times past. the power is in the education of her people - in any nation.

to blame thaksin for all the follies of thailand today, well, not quite right, one must say ......thaksin does not deserve the credit for the emancipation of the average thai. at best , he can only be attributed with the cataclytic "charisma" of sort towards the next level of emancipation. thaksin's "management" style of thailand as ex-pm is still very highly suspect as his modus operandi fringes on those of a chinese despot of times past as well noted QUITE ACCURATELY by SY......a past the chinese government themselves today are trying to distant themselves from.....

power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. a brilliant perspective by S>Y> on thaksin's chinese imperialistic attributes. surely thailand will change like the chinese government is trying to do so arduously these days.

with more big trouble to come......??????

tourism to rise???????by how much compared to previous years when thailand is up-side down with political turmoils, speculators from abroad on board in its prime land areas, aids on the rise in scary proportions, education at an abysmal low priority, senseless killings and murders of one kind and another and an absolutely corrupt elite cohorts?????????

D-day for thailand seem more likely to come sooner than expected......????????

if a multiplier of 9 is added to the present hiv population of thailand, thailand may well become the next africa.......person per 100sq. m. of land.....???????

empathise with your plight.

s.e.asian, if not most asian nations like most developed western nations, require you to enter politics to make any dent on the existing government system. otherwise, you are a nobody. and, when you enter the political fray, remember presidents nixon, regan,clinton,et.al.

no matter how well you may document your complaint, you are merely one voice in the wilderness . that makes no iota of a difference to the authorities as they themselves, like pm's thaksin and abhisit are overwhelmed by their bureaucrats each of the latter of whom have their private agendas to meet before the next election.

even in some very transparent bureaucracies in asia, you will learn that the the bureaucracies are served by self-serving bureaucrats whether in the legislative, the judicial or even the executive arms of government.

solution: walk away like someone did and shake the dust off your feet from that said place.

regain your composure and regain your peace of mind and tranquility and stay far away from these abominations of the human kind.

if it is any consolation to you at all, worst have been known to befall others with absolutely no justice regained. know at least you are still alive and kicking in this world of killing fields, betrayals, liars, con-men, et.al.

may the good lord or buddha be with you.

I want to fly in October to Frankfurt. The travel agent give me 3 airlines to choose from: Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air.

All about the same price range. Which airline would you recommend?

Helmut

all three.....equally good service...first class, of course.

breaking point for the low salaried overworked workers???????

go for it.....or build your own gym if it costs too much for you....v

From the photos, from where the truck and bike are stopped, it looks like the truck was traveling on the left-hand side of the road. I don't know what the writer means by driving against the flow of traffic (but that's nothing new with these reporters).

Too bad for the biker...there is no reason to be renting these high-powered bikes in Pattaya but I guess there is too much money to be made to stop it.

.....there are many errors in the report , like in previous others, i believe, by the same writer whose first language is not likely to be english. it is therefore a bit confusing to read between the lines of this writer's reports..... ....

let's wait and see what other details may follow to this tragic incident......

one thing for sure though ....lots of testorones to burn and adrenalin rushes in pattaya .....though both thais and locals are equally culpable these days......

do Norwegian drink more than other nationalities?

How is that relevant? Even if he was drunk, this Norwegian doesn't represent all Norwegians.

...true.. but apply the same law....justice is blind ....hang him......

Pattaya, September 5 [PATTAYA ONE NEWS] : Late on Friday Night, Police from Banglamung were called to the scene of a hit-and-run accident on the Sukumvit Road in front of the Toonglat Village involving a motorbike and an 18 wheel truck which failed to stop. Police began by inspecting the mangled wreckage of a motorbike and its driver, Khun Jaranyar aged 18, a local food vendor who was apparently hit from behind by the truck and dragged under the truck for at least 50 meters before the vehicle came to a stop for a time and then drove off. Police have received details of the truck which would have undoubtedly sustained serious damage to its front.

Source:

http://www.pattayaone.net/news/2009/septem...5_09_52_3.shtml

...savage! hope the mods get the culprit and hang him in public for leaving the scene ....and dragging her 50metres....otherwise, drag him under his own truck and drag him along the same road......heard of the biblical injunction of an eye for and eye....the motto of some israeli leaders in times past.....or have him pilloried like in ye olde england....or even be heheaded in public like the japanese did to the chinese in southeast asia during the wwII....

Qatar English language newspapers are suggesting that upon arrival back in Iran that they will both be arrested.

The 'stoning' stories are exaggerated though, it looks as though they will both receive a lengthy prison sentence and (financial) seizing of financial assets.

nawwgghhh...they will off and on their power drills at the temples of this couple after stripping them naked in prison....remember what the usa soldiers did in guantanamao prisons....iranians and many middle easterners learn fast and furoious , you know.....they know the un charter too and the death penalty abolition advocacy of the the latter.....

I would say this official has a serious homophobic bee up his butt. No big loss, as those bars are the dregs of Sunee anyway...just glad I was at the Plaza Monday nite so that my evening wasn't disturbed by all the commotion.

So were you at the Plaza or not?

You make your sexuality very clear I must say with your colourful avatar.

Although I am straight, I have a number of homosexual friends and I am certainly not homophobic. However, this area has always been a sordid little s**t hole and should be closed down in my opinion.

your surprising conclusion from the color code of an avatar of "pattayabunlover" is preposterous.

notice the tibetan flags anytime, anyday,anyfestival? does that mean all tibetans are similarly inclined sexually?

does that mean richard gere is similarly inclined since he is a follower of the dalai lama?

the only thing i can agree with you here is areyoureading too much into the colors.......

wonder who made the colors of the rainbow the way it is in the beginning and wonder also if he is also similarly inclined, sexually speaking of course .........

stay away unless it's small change for your friend .......

seems like many have bought n sold properties here. so, what's the trend ?????? time to buy or sell????say, in the coastal areas????