joe84330

i'll pass, unless of course there is a segment where she gets to hunt and trap pelosi, barney frank, harry reid etc.

would be the only "reality" show worth watching imo.

my same staff who were kind enough to provide me with a list of telephone numbers that i should not answer (last years mass hysteria), have requested time off prior to the 30th to return to the mainland. i wasn't inclined to oblige. i did however let them spend ten minutes going over an escape plan which included having them conspire to have office vehicles parked in a certain direction (headed towards the nearest mountain, to avoid having to turn the trucks) along with the presence of life jackets in the office which will be worn on the 30th.

think jeeves and wooster.

if local staff has ever been more deserving of a swift boot up their assessments, i've not seen it in my 5 years here. i've got legal burmese, nepalese and indian staff in some roles and thai's in others. thai's as a general rule recognize their deficiencies in comparison but it's the exception to the rule that does anything about it, and they get paid for it.

it's been said that a rising tide lifts all ships. some ships are better off scuttled.

Don't we have enough, without scaring away people with silly rumours? Is that the same bloke that said they were evacuating Chaweng Wasas?

i knew i would get stick from this, but no roo that man hasn,t been brave enough to come back.

ok i think you can erase this post please roo

no, don't. some of us are trying to make our way into bedlam.

right, and teach the local staff not to get insulted, if they treat them like personal servants.

well, staff technically are there to serve. that makes them personal servants. i used to wake up at 3am to deliver newspapers when i was a kid and i can tell the difference between those i served well and those i didn't, that's probably why i'm not delivering papers anymore. i've dealt with plenty of eastern indians and they've not even come close to making my short list. genuine good people that know how to let loose and enjoy themselves as far as i'm concerned. world could use more of that attitude right about now.

that's 12-15k baht per person, by the way.

Wow! I had a figure starting at 2500 bt in my head. Which properties are charging 12 to 15k? We deserve to know.

with all due respect, it shouldn't be too difficult.

i may not be happy with the way that each and every one of them respond to this particular issue but i'm quite happy with the bilateral business arrangements, and respectful of the capital required to bring those arrangements about, thank you.

my thai staff have given me an insane amount of different things to scratch my head over, from inauspicious days for hair cuts and new employment to telephone numbers not to answer because you'll die to specific dates for future tsunami's in areas relatively insusceptible.

personally, i don't think the world offers enough villages...

that's 12-15k baht per person, by the way.

Remember the Millennium New Year prices? That was the turning point, when customers realised the situation and started to stay away. And that's why X-Mas dinner is not compulsory any more , but in most 2-5* resorts New Years dinner still is.

i've been quoted anywhere from 12k-15k baht for the compulsory dinners on new years at various hotel properties. having a (sometimes flexible) minimum room night requirement is bad enough, the compulsory meal is adding insult to injury.

everybody needs to roll with the punches. if your current business plan is based on a revenue model 5 years old then your business will wither on the vine in this middle class price conscious shopping phase.

indians make great tourists, if not great customers. don't plan on them using your girlie bar but you better make sure you have extra bottles of champagne if you offer an upscale environment. i've personally had indian clients that were unable to spend the money they'd allotted themselves on a daily basis for their holiday simply because samui wasn't capable of taking it from them. after all villa and transport expenses, they will spend 1k USD per day to keep themselves entertained but samui isn't capable yet of supporting that. they are insulted by cheap tequila, cheap champagne cheap wines etc in samui's "fancy" clubs. i had a client offer me a 500USD tip if i could bring him 10 bottles of good champagne for his groups first night here. guess what, nobody on the island could produce it and i know everywhere on the island to find it.

so many people trying to cater to the people who don't want to spend any money right now when there are literally tons of people who are loaded with cash and want people to see them spend it.

i scratched my initial knee jerk reaction in order to remain hopeful.

unfortunately, i think the issue of "face" will preclude any significant progress under normal seasonal weather patterns and it will take a mass water borne epidemic to bring resolution.

fortunately for those about to be involved in making this new public works appropriation disappear, 840mio will buy reasonable care.

can't say about the entire upcoming peak season however i can't find any more first class villas for my clients anywhere near bophut/cheong mon/chaweng/chaweng noi. if you have or know of someone who has a superb luxury villa for rent over new years i'd like to know about it.

on a side note, seeing more and more humvee's around the island. if you happen to own one or know an owner please get in touch by pm as my clients would very much like to rent them for their holiday.

i've never tried the black hole but am now expecting several mosquito pheromone based traps from the US. rather than attracting any mosquito with light/Co2, it is supposed to work by triggering the female with pheromones that tell her it is a safe place to have her babies, only problem is that once they are in they cannot get out. theoretically, this should reduce the local population as a whole over time as there should be drastically fewer new ones in and around the yard.

was really expecting to see some sarcastic emoticons after reading this delusional ramble.

And such a display of juvenile graphics would be similarly vapid as your text, above.

Hint, if you disagree with somebody's points, wouldn't you agree the mature thing to do is to actually RESPOND to the content, rather than just tossing an insult?

if you actually made points i might respond with something other than a point and laugh but you are quite obviously a partisan hack and incapable of holding a discussion where anyone would dare disagree with your far left politics. here's a factoid for you, the vast majority of americans disagree with your politics and having the speaker of the house state that "if you want to know what is in this bill, you must pass it" doesn't count as getting anything done. well, apart from showing utter contempt for the taxpayers.

At least Pelosi is gone. Reid was almost canned too...

I would love to be in the House when Boehner takes over and Pelosi has to get off her "high chair".

P.S. I'm an independent... completely....

Obama got more done in two years than almost any other president in American history and Nancy Pelosi deserves a lot of the credit for that. The public didn't like a strong, brilliant woman. It's too bad because the country would have been a lot better off, even considering Obama's accomplishments, if Hillary Clinton has been elected instead. Farewell to a great speaker, hello to a radical right wing do nothing. The republicans have no agenda or plan, their only goal is to make Obama a one term president, and they will not achieve that.

The American right wing is a joke. They say they want to cut the deficit but instead they want to add trillions to it by restoring a tax cut for the rich only. They say they hate government entitlements, but honestly, tell me, have you ever seen even one teabagger burn their MEDICARE card the way lefties used to burn their draft cards, not to mention their bras?

BTW, the sweep of the congress, which is real, is not a victory for the teabaggers. The teabaggers have peaked (at about 20 percent of the people). Their most visible ditz, the Palin clone witch of Delaware was destroyed at the polls. Palin's very own private Alaska horse in Alaska appears to be LOSING to the establishment republican as a write in candidate. If a write in candidate is even close to winning, that shows just how weak Palin really is, even in her home state, who knows her best (as the BIG QUITTER). Write in candidates almost NEVER win; they almost never are even close, so this is already a rebuke of Palin tea witches brew.

The main reason the R's swept congress this time is the economy, stupid, as Bill Clinton used to say. People are impatient and not satisfied with the progress on unemployment. It's just a midterm, 2012 has already started and Obama will be well positioned, especially if the R's are idiotic enough to put up Palin.

was really expecting to see some sarcastic emoticons after reading this delusional ramble.

i use my american wii here all the time with no problems, just make sure that you have the correct power converter. i do have to get my games sent from the states because the local ones won't work but its not a big deal. you can download a ton of games directly on to the wii anyway as long as you have it connected to the internet. i can even stream netflix through my wii.

just drove the stretch from ban tai through nathon and its quite passable in a truck but if you try it at night on a bike you are trying your luck. dirt and rock debris in the road in addition to the new river crossings.

tesco nathon is now open btw however it was quite obviously flooded throughout so i'd be quite cautious preparing vegetables etc. that weren't pre packaged and sealed.

we just received a call that one of the local speedboats was on the beach in bang rak, by the time we had crossed the street though they had got it back into the water and relocated. they are pretty lucky that it was during the day and not a night time storm.

Just go with Herbert. The guy is the Visa King of Koh Samui and a legend. What that guy doesnt know about Thai Visa's isnt worth knowing. Also his Visa Trips are the best on the Island. No hassle and Great Service. Top Man

hello herbert

is the 30 year storm finally coming. someone told me it was coming 5 years ago.

stocked up....never came there had better b a30 year storm this time . i cannie be bothered to keep going out and buying stuff when the pound is low.

I am all up for a storm. a proper storm. it is myh excuse to run naked through the streets. sorry

i just have the urge to strip and shout like a luoonie an run through the street with a rambo scarfe round my head. sorry. just a re-action to storms. not sure what is worse the storm o my horrible naked body. i can take a picture and post it up here. ladies can be the judge. they can come and interview me if they want to give me a real vilid opioum about my atristic physic

Don't worry mate, that is a perfectly normal storm reaction.

Have you heard that if it gets any worse george Clooney and Mark Warlberg are coming to Samui to film the Perfect Squall.

Perfect Squall? i'd assumed they were coming to educate us on how a carbon tax would have saved the environment and prevented the storm to begin with.

Chill out guys. Its only a drop of water. Anyone would think theres an imminent nuclear strike

Your motorbike will get a wash, your well will fill up, its good for the garden and the ducks like it.

Happy rainy season. :D

I take it you haven't seen the boats which were damaged and sunk in recent storms here in Samui. You may not have noticed but we don't have a decent all weather marina here, so those of us with a vested interest in marine activity need to know in advance what the severity is likely to be.

Never having seen a nuclear strike myself it does seems to be a strange comparison.

was about to say something similar. don't mind the bike and truck getting a wash but several million dollars worth of yachts getting tossed around in those winds and swells is reason to be concerned. vividly remember seeing la fortune beached not too long ago and more recently a cruiser sunk up to its roof in bang rak.

just got a call that one of our 50ft m/y is turning back from a planned trip to tao due to the waves. ah well, 5 days now to catch up on paperwork.

time to hide the boats and get out the kites.

What is "flying kite" in Thai?

no thai on this keyboard, phonetically just like "wow" , staff says "sack wow" with a chuckle.

time to hide the boats and get out the kites.