joe84330

i just called them to put a stop to the spam on my cell and they were very polite and professional about stopping the messages. even apologized for the inconvenience.

"Joe standby, I'm trying to arrange an invite through an old sailing buddy, Warren Blake ( his brother Peter Blake was murdered on a Greenpeace boat up the Amazon 20 years ago ) will let you know."

thank you. sorry to hear about your friends brother. amazon is still a dangerous place today, 20 years ago i'd imagine it was pretty crazy.

if you intend to use them for actual training rather than for example something that the kids can play around on, you should call in at superpro and ask robbie where they got theirs or ask another gym owner. i don't think you can buy training mats anywhere on samui unless they are used and bought from a gym going or gone out of business.

good thing i've been a native speaker of english for over 40 years (for free, not like those esl graduates). i like schooners and tall ships a lot, i've been aboard 3,4 and 5 mast schooners everywhere from lake erie to roanoke, boston and ocho rios. if there was a schedule i might even tour this one (for free, not like those charter and tour boats).

Tour a vessel, for native speakers of English, means a tour of a vessel, not a tour such as going to Koh Tao on board a vessel. I hope to see it under sail from where I live when it sails South, sorry if that was confusing. This is an unusual situation where the general public is invited to to go on board. I don't doubt that it is possible to ask individual boat owners if you might board their craft, and that some of them might give their permission. If you are an owner of multiple yachts yourself you are part of the club and probably won't get turned down too often. Hard to see my comments as bizarre, and nothing in my post made a comparison of morality between charter ships and this one. The Samui Regatta provides opportunities to see beautiful racing yachts, but as stated, we rarely see a three master in these waters.

MM:

i hurried back to lotus and all the cashiers looked the same to me so i went to each one and asked if i had left a bag

Oh I loved that. Made me laugh out loud.

You can just hear the British colonial in India saying, "I say, all the cashiers look the same to me, I dare say...."

Yep, all those cashier girls look so much alike, well, who can possibly tell them apart? Like swedes, sort of, wouldn't you say, old chap?

pretty sure if they were in the states and returned to kmart after leaving 30 minutes they would probably say the same thing. as a matter of fact i sometimes worry that i will not recognise my wife on flights arriving from hong kong, i have hard a hard time telling her apart from my maid, and that has gotten me in some trouble and i can hardly tell my sons apart but they are 6 yrs apart so that helps if they are standing, i agree sweeds do look alike as well.

i'm willing to wager one beer that your wife didn't hire that maid. it does get difficult for me to tell the thai girls apart though, after one or two dozen beer chang they all look like my girlfriend. for some reason the hotel rooms all look like my house as well.

i'd like to cruise on this sailboat (for free, unlike all the charter and tour boats). if i have to i'll douse myself with patchoulli oil and wear a tshirt showing george bush stabbing dolphins with a knife made out of a unicorns horn and they'd probably think i was crew.

for some reason i can't quote and highlight your post. anyway, surely you aren't suggesting that there is a free cruise slated for this sailing ship? you said that we can go aboard for free (unlike all the charter and tour boats). i've never charged a single satang to go aboard any of my charter yachts and have a look which is what i expect you mean. i think i once went on board the old La Fortune to have a look and pascal didn't charge me for that either so i'm not quite sure what you are getting at with that comment. unless of course you are implying that this private sailing yacht and its crew that is funded by donations and contributions is somehow morally superior to a commercial charter vessel?

sounds pretty bizarre to me.

whenever i'm on my bike i avoid nathon and mae nam from 10am until quarter to 12. if i wanted to buy one of those vermin a drink i'd offer it.

i can almost hear the bar bell ringing already

Tomorrow night, 6.30.

just enough to make it quirky and amusing without causing a headache.

those are run by her mother and aunts.

i had already picked out my beach front villa and found a location for my girlfriends restaurant/beauty shop/massage parlor/t shirt/dvd and perfume empire.

How could you forget laundry, bike rental and internet cafe!

maybe she'll meet the same fate as the ady gil on the way over and we'll be spared the intrusion.

and here i was just about to retire on the expectation of future earnings based on 6 million tourists per year. i had already picked out my beach front villa and found a location for my girlfriends restaurant/beauty shop/massage parlor/t shirt/dvd and perfume empire.

i wonder if i still have time to cancel the building contract on the 24 shop houses i was planning to sell to these tourists in laem set?

i have too many customers already, have to divert many of them to phuket because we just can't keep growing at this rate. i've asked my staff to keep the office signage turned off during the day so that i don't have to turn away so many people.

come on man, you're net savvy enough to know that you can't bring up hot [insert country name here] chicks without posting some pics as evidence.

The op is a nice story of honesty but I wouldn't put it under reasons to live anywhere. I'll add one of my own stories... In Moscow I once dropped my money belt near an outdoor market on the edge of town on my way to the airport. It had cash, credit cards, my passport and visa. When I noticed it was missing, I turned around and about 30 meters away was an older Russian couple hurrying towards me waving it above their heads. I was probably the first westerner they had ever seen up close. It's a nice story, but not a reason to live there. Now, hot Russian chicks is a good reason.

that's the constant and overbearing threat of moderation, e.g. "i was going to post in that thread earlier however i knew there'd be a rooo over my head and changed my mind"

What's a roo over his head?

Phase 1-Decide to enter a highly saturated and locally biased market just prior to the lowest of low seasons.

Phase 2-Over commit and over spend on recurring fixed costs, ignoring local labor laws in the process.

Phase 3-Profit?

time difference isn't really compatible with bar hours, unless you don't mind watching the game hours after it has already aired. best bet is to get true satellite and ASN for both college and pro games.

well speaking from a 9 months ago time frame, in spite of the fact that it was a new requirement for WP, no one at the labor dept could help my staff obtain any info about it and no one from the government hospital knew that they were now required to legitimize the testing. as with all things banana republic, new requirements will be in effect before the old ones are widely disseminated.

they were requiring a legit physical at least 9 months ago. wouldn't accept mine from the beach road clinic doc. TIT of course and no one at the government hospital knew of the new regulations and of course were not prepared to administer any tests. i even took some thai staff with me to explain in detail and it still took two separate trips. doesn't help to tell them it's for a WP, it would help though to have someone write down each individual test in Thai and that it is for the WP and if any questions please call Labor Dept.

i've been sitting at my computer and had them glide through my house. i think they were doing some recon. if i don't put them in check now i'm half expecting to wake up at 6am and hear them knocking on the door expecting a trash bin to plunder and a scene out of hitchcock's "the birds" for me if i don't oblige.

if anyone has some tree snakes they can spare, they'd find a nice home here as there are hundreds of coconuts to climb and a thousand eggs to eat. same goes for falcons hawks and eagles. too bad i couldn't put up a predators wanted advert at tesco.

it's true they can be a real pain, we have a large open area and the dog food has attracted them which was not a problem until they started leaving shti on the sofa's, floors, and walls. we hung one of my boys art projects; a huge bird but it has had no positive results. the bb rifle i have tends to be good when the birds are fighting but other than scaring them i have not had any feathers fly. i like the wrapping paper idea and will give it a try.

interesting, i was just reading up on some deterrents and someone suggested strips of christmas type wrapping paper, or similar with at least one shiny reflective side.

I used to have these twirly sticks, fluoro shiny colours hanging in the branches & they used to keep the birds away. Next time I go to OZ see if I can get some.Otherwise try hanging inflated bladders out of of a wine cask.

Not joking.

i've lived between the beach and hills of bang por for years and haven't seen any, further evidenced by my yard and local area being infested by hundreds of smaller birds. in the past i'd see a tree snake climbing one of the coconut trees around once per month but now haven't seen any snake in my rural area for perhaps 6 months. i did see dolphins about one month ago when i took one of my boats into the marine park but unfortunately they weren't available to come to my house and rid it of the birds which are quickly becoming a nuisance. around two years ago i did find and photograph a 6ft monitor lizard but he too was unavailable for bird duty.

will add kites and owls to the list of actual predators actually seen on samui...

methinks wikipedia lists dozens of predatory birds in thailand. mealsothinks i've never seen one here in the islands. i'd understand if no one has seen an owl.

OK people - get out of Chewang.

Like Smokie and Rooo, I and my neighbours,friends and staff have seen LOTS of sea eagles, kites and a few owls. The sea eagles are usually in pairs. Sightings are at least once a month. Area is Choeng Mon and Plai Laem.

For you mammally people, we also see dolphins in the early months of the year.

For the faint of heart - yes we also get cobras and scorpions, the occasional python, a few monitor lizards and that nasty little buuggeer the centipede.

Not seen a pink elephant nor a flying pig yet - but I have met an honest BIB

Seen them flying over Bophut hills.

rooo, any idea what type of bird you have seen? genuinely curious here, watching falcons and hawks get to work is pretty cool. i'm thinking about having a local woodworker make a life sized hawk that i can fasten to my roof top.

methinks wikipedia lists dozens of predatory birds in thailand. mealsothinks i've never seen one here in the islands. i'd understand if no one has seen an owl.

Sea eagles swooping over Choeng Mon late afternoon....a lovely sight....

now we're getting somewhere. with all of the hills and consistent sea breeze i'd expect to have seen something inland catching a draft and yet while i live on the beach with hills immediately behind me, i can't remember ever seeing any.