crazygreg44

Let me tell you a short story.

When I first came to my girlfriends home, i noticed a large empty field right next to her rice paddies. The soil in this field was rather full of sand, hardly a good top soil, definitley no clay underneath, and on a light slope.

I suggested to her to start planting fruit trees, palm trees and banana. She mentioned there wouldn't be any water but she would try.

I came back 7 months later after the end of the rainy season. She had planted a lot of different stuff as above mentioned. It had grown really well during the rainy season. However, now the 6 dry months start. How could we irrigate the garden ?

I laid down water mains and taps throughout the whole garden, and her sons and she started to water all the trees and bananas every day by hand.

After 5 months i left thailand and came back, again after the rainy season. The garden was in lush, full green ! But in noticed my water system was gone. Why, I asked her, She said, no need. What about the 6 dry months, all the trees will die. No, she said, they will not.

She says, when you give water to the tree, it needs water every other day. When you stop giving water, the tree will learn to take the water from out of the . . . . air !!!! That's what her Grandmother told her to do.

It's been 5 years since, and during EVERY 6 dry months outside the rainy season, NOT ONE drop of water is given to the trees. And they will, all of them, survive through the dry season !!! Without any irrigation !!

I bet your "water management californian style" will not meet much attention by the Thais. They simply say "farang don't know Thailand" A small part of this mindset is probably true !!

so nothing to do with the tree roots actually getting down into deeper soil where the ground is still damp?

that's true, yet one has to dig at least 8 feet deep before the soil starts to feel damp . . it's like a sand pit . .

Let me tell you a short story.

When I first came to my girlfriends home, i noticed a large empty field right next to her rice paddies. The soil in this field was rather full of sand, hardly a good top soil, definitley no clay underneath, and on a light slope.

I suggested to her to start planting fruit trees, palm trees and banana. She mentioned there wouldn't be any water but she would try.

I came back 7 months later after the end of the rainy season. She had planted a lot of different stuff as above mentioned. It had grown really well during the rainy season. However, now the 6 dry months start. How could we irrigate the garden ?

I laid down water mains and taps throughout the whole garden, and her sons and she started to water all the trees and bananas every day by hand.

After 5 months i left thailand and came back, again after the rainy season. The garden was in lush, full green ! But in noticed my water system was gone. Why, I asked her, She said, no need. What about the 6 dry months, all the trees will die. No, she said, they will not.

She says, when you give water to the tree, it needs water every other day. When you stop giving water, the tree will learn to take the water from out of the . . . . air !!!! That's what her Grandmother told her to do.

It's been 5 years since, and during EVERY 6 dry months outside the rainy season, NOT ONE drop of water is given to the trees. And they will, all of them, survive through the dry season !!! Without any irrigation !!

I bet your "water management californian style" will not meet much attention by the Thais. They simply say "farang don't know Thailand" A small part of this mindset is probably true !!

one should tell tourists to stop negotiating with fake watch sellers from first hand. Don't even start a fri...g negotiation unless you really intend to buy a fake watch for the price that is called minus 70%.

What is so astonishing, I watch the Russian tourists stop the fake watch seller, wind him up in a 30 minute bartering session, and then try to send him his way.

If I was a seller, I would get angry, too. You are wasting my time, I have got a life to live by selling watches to people who are interested, not to people to just want to make it a show to their friends and their grandmother.

Even if I get solicited while walking down the street, by a watch seller, I have the dignity of leaving HIM his very own dignity. I do NOT stand in front of him proudly proclaiming " Your watches are all but a fake" . I would tell him "leave me alone, I do not need a watch", and let him go after his business . .. I strongly doubt if you call them off in the correct manner, insisting you are not interested in his offers, they will stop insisting to sell you a watch and keep walking on, no matter if the fri....g watch is fake or not.

just say no, in a polite and comitted manner. Stop insulting them or calling them scammers of a million of fake watches.

You spit against the wind, you get spat yourself.

So are you suggesting that the watch seller was justified in pulling a knife? God help us all if you are because that's what it reads like. Get angry and stab someone, now that's really gross.

I didn't say anywhere that the vendor was justified pulling a knife. Reading helps, so read my post again.

All I write is telling you loud and clear : I can understand the vendors reaction - on the brim of what really happened and what I suspect happened, because I have watched it happen many untold times. Just read other poster here - many share my opinion.

every coin has two sides . . .

one should tell tourists to stop negotiating with fake watch sellers from first hand. Don't even start a fri...g negotiation unless you really intend to buy a fake watch for the price that is called minus 70%.

What is so astonishing, I watch the Russian tourists stop the fake watch seller, wind him up in a 30 minute bartering session, and then try to send him his way.

If I was a seller, I would get angry, too. You are wasting my time, I have got a life to live by selling watches to people who are interested, not to people to just want to make it a show to their friends and their grandmother.

Even if I get solicited while walking down the street, by a watch seller, I have the dignity of leaving HIM his very own dignity. I do NOT stand in front of him proudly proclaiming " Your watches are all but a fake" . I would tell him "leave me alone, I do not need a watch", and let him go after his business . .. I strongly doubt if you call them off in the correct manner, insisting you are not interested in his offers, they will stop insisting to sell you a watch and keep walking on, no matter if the fri....g watch is fake or not.

just say no, in a polite and comitted manner. Stop insulting them or calling them scammers of a million of fake watches.

You spit against the wind, you get spat yourself.

and you waste my time with all your speculations, you know nothing of what happened and what the Russian told the vendor or how the whole thing started.

Okay, but I am absolutely sure ( NO speculation!!) what the Russian didn't do, i.e. knew

1) He does not know how to say :Thank you, but I don't need a watch" and keeps walking (neither in english nor inThai. It is often described in average travel guides for Thailand but he seems not have read any of them)

2) He doesn't know, unlike most people who visit Thailand, that ALL and EVERY one of these watches are fakes, and accepts it as being the funny part of the game

beginning with these 2 facts, you can start drawing a few "speculations" . . . . without meaning to step onto your foot

I was used to the old website for many years, didn't notice they put a new one up until now.

I don't know why you complain, site works like a dream. Don't need a list of the cities, click onto the map, and every province pops up depending you know how to read the map.

Satellite radar, also works great, it popped up faster than ever.

Everything the old website had, is still there, you just have to get used to the new menues . . .

the only thing I miss, though, is the freezing little man symbol as soon as temperatures drop below 15 degrees Celsius . .

I WANT THE FREEZING MAN BACK !!!!

the Note 3 NEO is 15,900 by InvadeIT . . . in case you were considering it a match against the Note 3 LTE

today, the son of my Girlfriend opened the door to the house. His left hand on the door handle, his right hand flat dab on the glass of the door. One move that wasn't really needed to open the door. The fat of the fingerprints are still on the glass.

This has happened 100 of times since I came to know the son 6 years ago. Upon then, I asked him why he needs to leave the imprints of his right hand on the glass, when it only takes ONE hand to open the door.

I tried to teach him, please kepp the glass clean, You do not have to touch it.

SMILE !!!!! GRIN !!!! SMILE, MORE GRIN !!!!

Dear Genral Prayut, Thailands children should be taught something useful in school and something even more useful at home.

How you want to achieve this, remains a mystery. But I guess Thailand's ELITE wants it to be this way.

If you aim to raise children into stupidity, just keep the current system. It will bring Thailand forward for sure.

no matter what, regardless you buy "cheap" chinese junk, or "expensive" chinese junk, the outcome is, you still end up with chinese made junk.

Lifetime of all of this stuff is measured by months, you can call yourself a lottery winner if that stuff reaches two years . . moderate use as a given.

my 5 cents

I am a believer in things "made in Germany" . . some of my grandmothers kitchen utensils are still in operation on my kitchen's counter, and I would never exchange for chinese made junk

I would suggest you erect a post at the location of the old Circle, that reads the famous words of Archimedes of Syracuse.

He's known to have uttered "Noli disturbare circulos meos!" "Do not disturb my circles!" to a Roman soldier who intruded his compound.

Bet your wife can tell you the proper Thai translation

easy peasy . . don't make it too complicated for the musicians !

Why waste 3 - 4000 THB on a dongle technology of yesterdays, when it an be had for cheaper ?

Do you have a smartphone ? Just get an DTAC, TRUE or AIS prepaid unlimited internet 4 Giga SIM card for 799 THB per month, and connect your laptop by tethering with your smartphone ( tethering by hotspot).

Your smartphone IS the dongle !

Not got a smartphone, but what do you think would be the cheapest one that'd do the job?

Thanks for your reply.

SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE 4 (G313H) CHARCOAL GREY (3G 850/2100MHZ)

goes for 3590 THB at most shops

or

LENOVO A680 ANDROID 4.2 SMARTPHONE 5.0" DUAL-SIM BLACK (3G 900/2100MHZ)

goes for around 3690 THB

...and yes, don't get any 4G deals . . . . .they are still dreaming about speed mobile internet here. You can call yourself lucky if you ever receive 3G speed. A 3G prepaid SIM is doable from 599 THB upward and will enable you to receive mobile internet. However you will first need to learn how to use a smartphone if you never before had one. . . .

what's your problem . . . your next extension is due in January 2016, by this time your passport will be valid for only three more months. Definitely not meeting the requirement for being issued an extension.

So, regardless that notice you read ( useless on your behalf) , you will need to apply for a new passport sometime in the first two thirds of this year. We are in 2015, mind ya.

I bought my LED's plus an inexpensive three-spots installment in IKEA in Germany and brought them over in my luggage.

Then when being in Bangkok, I went to IKEA Bang Na, checked, their prices seem to be really competitive, more than anywhere else, on LED's.

http://www.ikea.com/th/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/20515/

they sell the very same three-spots LED ceiling light, but NO LED's that fit in it !!!! (LEDARE LED bulb GU10)

I am sure they had the LED's that gets "clicked" in, not screwed . . . can't find them anymore

Why waste 3 - 4000 THB on a dongle technology of yesterdays, when it an be had for cheaper ?

Do you have a smartphone ? Just get an DTAC, TRUE or AIS prepaid unlimited internet 4 Giga SIM card for 799 THB per month, and connect your laptop by tethering with your smartphone ( tethering by hotspot).

Your smartphone IS the dongle !

Heeeelp !!! Where am I ????

yes they maaaaybeee will introduce solar energy in Thailand.

and yes, there will maaaaaybeeee a few somchais that can do the correct wiring.

and then maaaybeee some people are able to waiiiit the installments.

comes to my mind Mister Plod-sa WhaddyaWoont, who claimed water can run uphill

Thailand is a third world country because certain people in power can sit back and relax

Solar panels are expensive and they don't last. You might get a year or two working before they fail or power output reduces. Thats good quality ones; what about Thai or Chinese ones?

This is not true. Solar panels have a design life of 25 years.Yes they do lose power over this life span. Good quality panels made in Australia, Germany and the UK are guaranteed not to lose more than 20% over the life span. Those made in China and India which although they are cheaper are not of the same quality and tend to lose more power.

More common reasons for power loss are:

1. Incorrect installation - Installed on roofs not on the same plain, or on roofs not facing south.

2..Shadows passing over the array i.e. a chimney stack or tree or telegraph pole.

3. Inverter failure. Inverter design life is generally 10 years after which it will need to be replaced.

Also be aware that they produce no electricity at night so cannot power your house at night. Electricity produced in day time cannot be stored for usage later. Unless of course you install very a expensive battery system which then defeats the idea of cheap electricity.

Edit: Because a system cannot produce electricity at night you should reckon with it only giving you about 50% of your total household electricity needs

Can't power a house in the nightime ?

what the hell are the fully charged batteries for ?

are you aware that a solar panel in the daytime, has it's best outputs at 12 degree Celsius ?

Definitely so not in Thailand.

Inverter failure ? Yes, maybe because YOU had your fingers in it.

What a load of Big BS !

It is absolutely doable, all of us know at least a handful of guys who have handed over this amount of cash to their younger Thai girlfriends, even got married to them.

I know of a swiss guy who never ever has been in her village, and pays the 39 year old woman 35,000 THB per month. All she has to do is a few weeks of escort service for him in Bangers during his work visits.

I bet if the OP's bargirl's expectations are being met somewhere about in the half of that, it will stil be a lottery win. Don't forget they start to bargain at double the price tag they expect in the end.

Many would be willing to build a house for her and themselves, even buy a car both can use, however paying dowry for a Thai woman who in most cases already has children and has worked through a few men, the answer will be a strict No ! At a marriage ceremony I would lend the money only for the show, to be given back to me after the guests have gone home.

"P.S. I wonder why Muslim states like Dubai, Qatar, The Emirates, Saudi Arabia et altera, do not move ONE finger in order to help our their muslim brotherhood. They leave it to the Thai to cull the unwanted. Yes, to CULL, not to KILL

I thought ALLAH asks you to help your muslim brothers and sisters. SHAME , BIG SHAME over them. SHAME they do not live the words of ALLAH the ALMIGHTY.

Do you know many indian muslims like pakistanis suffer as slaves in the middle east. What does having the same religion have to do with anything?

maybe because their Quran demands muslims to help each other ?

The slavery issue in the Middle East States makes it an even stronger cause for more shame, but only shame over them.

It isn't a course to make whisky it is a course that teaches people to make the flavours that go into the whiskys and other spirits you see commonly sold in old lipo bottles out of large glass containers for 20 baht a pop.

yeah that's a called blending. herbs are involved. Sometimes "bird nest" for making better hair and skin.

what you gotta watch out for is the fact that these "whiskies" or "Lao Khao" are in fact isopropanol 75% and up , aromatized with whatever masks the isopropyl alcohol scent.

cool baby that taste is Whisky ( the only one to believe it is YOU) , it runs over across your tongue, hababablabish taste, dungalolololala afterglow . .. next thing you know is you end up blind.

...my five cent and a few satang

You must be sick even considering this.

The brother in law of my GF has 120 Rai Sugarcane fields, I once reckoned I could destill Cachazza open ended. When I learned what it needs to get an official license to produce potable alcoholic Whiskies, Rums or Sugar Cane Cachazzas, labelled. I gave up.

It is nearly impossible to get a license for producing homemade brands of alcoholic specialties in Thailand, unless your Wife has a realtive within the family of the Governeur of the province

What's it you want to ferment? There's rice, there's Sugarcane. There's pineapple, that will make a tasty Schnaps.

Jim Beam ? Whiskies ? How the heck do you intend to call your destillate - if ever legal - a whisky ?

Mekong is from sugarcane, as are all other Thai Whiskies. Don't bluff me with the rice-destillate. Utter BS. Maybe rice destillate is used for blending.

as you did not ever do any back-to-back visa exempt entries, the immigration officer was wrong.

You should have asked him to discuss this matter with his boss. Stood your point.

However I admit this is not always very easy when you are in doubt and wondering what is really going on.

It's indiscutable that your girlfriend needed to lie about your relationship. It would have not stood a test and made you look really bad, invoking extradition on your part and a maybe trouble to your GF. Tell her not to lie, in future.