tooninthai

If the verdict is a fair one, I doubt there will be any problems. No way could the government keep it all. Thaksin had to submit financial statements before being named prime minister. That much should be returned plus a reasonable return on the original amount.

when I remember correctly he stated around 68000 (sixtyeightthousand) in 2000

His wife and kids, even the household staff got a little bit more on their accounts

Anyway, Thaksin is still loved by the most Isaan people and doesnt matter what he did to somebody else, at least he did SOMETHING to this poor

people up north. We should not underestimate that, even if WE know better what and why he did it.

For me personally its the same if Thaksin or Abhisit rules the country, I cant remember anything Abhisit did so far what makes MY or the Thaipeoples life better....whats the difference for you my fellow TV members?

One thing the Thaksin government did that many may not know about was give 'loans' to people to be able to educate themselves and in one case it does impact on many of us who ever need to visit a hospital.

For example he gave loans to poorer students to attend medical school to learn how to become nursing assistants and for those same people to be able, in the future, to go on to become nurses. A 6 month course at med training school was 40,000 Baht. The Thaksin government loaned the students the money and the students paid the loan back when they started work.

Before that, they had little or no chance of improving themselves.

I know of this because the g/f used to run a medical training school and over the years many thousands of people attended, trained and passed through the school. Most of those will remember it was due to Thaksin that they now work in hospitals.

I am sure there are more instances of examples like this that we never hear about.

Now the Red Shirts, mainly from the rural north and northeast, want to see the return of Thaksin, who is living abroad to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.

If truly the RED shirt wanted to have Thaksin back as so called a good prime minster, then why they care about the verdict. The verdict is nothing to do with Mr. T. political ambitions , only his pocket book. I think Most of the supporter also know this that is why the number of RED shirt demonstrator has shrunk to almost nothing

In one demonstration yesterday there were approx 3,000 red shirts and no violence. That was in a medium size provincial town (a city to a Thai). There were also yellow shirts in attendance on the fringes. As I was around and about, I saw many many others wearing red shirts too on that day. These people were working and unable to get to the demo, but seemed to be showing support by wearing the red shirts on that day.

If you really think the red shirts are dwindling, you really need to look again imho.

thailand wants to be the hub of this,wants to be the the hub of that, what is this the new catchphrase? ...how about being the hub of getting the basics right and then moving on from there...lol

They are sick of seeing three 'hub' Tuk Tuks so they want to develop a wee bit and become 64 wheelers

You have created this situation through your own good deeds. Because you can give 20,000 each month you are a rich man so 1000000 will be no problem.

I would tend to agree with that.

Had to chip in on this one, having been there and been through that before and walked away more than once.

I currently give the woman in my life 6k a month. From that she pays 3,400 for her son for school and the rest she tends to buy female necessities for herself and also on her phone. If she has cash left she buys food with it for the two of us. She is also very helpful in many ways from problems with TOT to the car to taking care of all sorts of little things.

At breakfast a couple of days ago at 'mothers house', the topic of marriage came up again. This has been going on since the first month I met her. Mother has now said she is happy for me to pay for 10 people (family) to go to a restaurant and have a meal and for the 'make marry' ceremony itself. No gold. No cash. Nothing else.

This is not a poor family by any means and I get the feeling that it is often the poorer families who tend to push for as much as they can get, from my past relationships.

Took me 3 1/2 years and several previous relationships to find this wonderful woman, so maybe, if the woman in your life will not walk away from this and back you, she is not worth the aggro you are getting now and will get in the future, nor is she worth that much money if you look at their current situation and the way you were, have been and are being treated.

A good friend of mine who helped me sort out initial 'difficulties' with the current woman in my life has an English boyfriend. She lives in a ramshackle place down by the river where you can see the river flowing if you look down through the gaps in the floor. Her English boyfriend of one year keeps asking if he can help her financially and she has refused every time. Her philosophy is that she works for her and daughter (doing 2 jobs) and it is not up to him to support her. She says that if and when he does marry her, then it is up to them to make a better life and not simply him or her.

The mother or your girlfriend does seem to be a money grubbing leech and sees you as the way out of her 1 room place.

You seem to be a good hearted person who deserves better than the family you are considering marrying into. But it is 'up to you' what you do. Best of British with it all.

What??? Nothing much for such a brilliant club riding at the top of the Championship and soon to be promoted back to the EPL for next season??

They won 4-1 the other night against Coventry after being 1-0 down and are now 3 points clear of West Brom and looking extremely good for promotion back to the EPL at first shot!!

On their longest ever unbeaten home run too at fortress St. James (never mind what that t*sser Ashley wants to call it).

OK, they are in the Championship, but they are playing brilliant football this season considering what an xxxxxx Ashley is and with the manager they have who is doing a very creditable job.

We'll see some of you 'BIG ??' clubs next season !!

Although, I haven't done this, you can go in to a bank with your passport and debit card and make a fee free "over the counter" withdrawal. I have also read on TV that not all branches allow this as they would prefer you to use their ATM since it is less work for them and they get the 150 baht fee.

I have tried this well documented maneuver on three occasions, at two different banks, and have always been referred to the ATM each time. Even with trying for a 150,000 baht cash advance, from my own branch of Kasikorn, I was told to use the ATM.

I had the same problems with K Bank. Wanted 160,000 Thai Baht and tried using my Barclays Visa card in my local branch of K Bank to transfer the funds directly. The manager insisted I use the ATM outside !

Now I am with Bangkok Bank and have no problems going inside and using their excellent service with my Visa card to withdraw the funds.

Is there an 'average' cost per square metre for building a one story house with concrete walls?

I appreciate this may be a bit of an ambiguous question and more detail may be required but I was thinking along the lines of a house on land already owned and levelled, but with no concrete base etc., with mains electric and water already on site to a nearby residence.

It would be preferable to have a small residence that can be added to later possibly with an upper floor (if that makes any difference to the base structure).

As you can guess, I am new to this building lark

It seems sensible me for an Embassy to issue warnings in times of unrest Yet for those who live here you would have to be blind and deaf not to know what is happening here. Maybe not so much abroad? Is this stuff being carried on foreign news about Toxin?

Middle of January. My 15 months were up and it is a good excuse to check over the house and to make sure he (my son) has not wrecked it yet!!

Glad to be back here again after only a few weeks away.

Unless she is from a relatively rich Thai family all the more expensive items she has been bought would have been earned and paid for over a long time. Cars are expensive here. Houses can be expensive also (for a Thai, remembering many still do live in tin huts out in the country).

If this Thai lady is being showered with gifts she will likely never really appreciate their true value. Better to take time in these matters than have a spoilt woman on your hands IMHO.

As to showing emotion on receipt of gifts I find many Thai people are more apt to look at the price tag first and here in Thailand her friends and relatives would be asking 'How Much did THAT cost?'. Then if the gifts are of decent value she will have more 'face'. So until she understands their real value, she will smile and say thank you.

As an aside, I ask Thai friends and family to remove the price tags as I tell them it does not matter if the gift costs 1 Baht or 1 million Baht. It is the thought that counts - for me

Best of luck to the pair of them

Big fine and a big inconvenience to you if you get stopped at customs.....in the region of 30,000 baht i think.

nadtatida1! am i wright in thinking that you live in aranyarpratet? i have been to poi-pet(cambodian border) many times and heard many a story about police and immigration extorting huge somes of money out people that are coming back into thailand, and are maybe only 1 0r 2 bottles/cartons over the limit allowed.

any truths to these stories?

An English friend of mine was sold several cartons of ciggies in aranyarpratet (He does not smoke, but his g/f does). The bus was stopped at a checkpoint and they went straight to him. He was carted off and made to pay 40,000 Baht. Either that amount or be held in custody. They took him and his ATM to the nearest bank.

Be careful about being over the limit!

Thank you to those who have spoken up for this brave couple.

I fail to see the bravery, it was just a cheap and pointless publicity stunt as gay marriage is not allowed in Thailand or many other countries, even in California. I think people get sick of hearing about the 'rights' of minorities and this sort of posturing. I doubt if gay marriage will ever be allowed in Thailand. Nobody is saying they should be discriminated against, but most people feel gay marriage is not acceptable, tough!

Ah ... so you are saying that gay and lesbian couples should not be discriminated against, but should not be allowed to marry?

OK ... Let me explain this to you in very simple terms. Marraige is a civil institution particularly in Thailand at the government offices. Gays and lesbians are part of civil society. Marraige gives certain rights and exerts certain obligations on its participants. The first right it gives is that you are automatically next-of-kin to your spouse. This is a MAJOR right and to deny it to a committed couple based upon gender is discriminatory. You have the RIGHT to visit your next of kin in the hospital. Gays and lesbians have routinely been turned away by bigoted or greedy family members (birth family -- as obviously committed partners are a family in their own right even though the law does not recognize this).Next of kin status determines who can give consent in medical emergencies, since many gays and lesbians are estranged from their birth families this is a major issue in their personal rights to medical decisions. The partner will know the other partner's wishes on medical matters. Next-of-kin status also determines inheretance issues. In far too many cases gay or lesbian partners who have been in commited relationships for years have not only lost the love of their life but then to add to the sorrow have had the partner's family swoop in and steal everything that they worked together to build -- and steal it legally because of the discriminatory marraige policies in many places in the world today.

I could go on about taxes and insurance and custody etc etc etc ... but if you didn't get it just from the next-of-kin issue ... you just won't get it at all!

Then why not make a Will? That would sort that problem.

Sodomy and other same sex relationships are still frowned upon by the majority and does not the majority rule?

Many people have this aversion to the thought of men sticking their member up another mans excrement hole and who can blame them?

Many also still have an aversion to seeing 2 women kissing and making love and to 2 women marrying.

I'll keep my own counsel on what I think.

Perhaps the frequency of Thai boys just taking their virginity and then dropping them for a newer model... especially when they get pregnant....turns many girls against the opposite sex. They are probably better treated by their own.

On that point, I know of a couple of separated/divorced women who have taken on female partners and have seen nothing wrong in doing so, especially as they feel less threatened and under less pressure. Seems it also helps to alleviate the sexual needs

These same women have said they would be happy to start again with a new man if the right one came along.

As for the topic, each to their own at the end of the day but TiT and they should have known the authorities would refuse them?

Near Mae Sot. It is further South near Tak

Go to google, maps and type in Mae Sot

Thankfully, Aussies, Americans, Canadians or others cannot vote for a UK government and vice-versa.

What about if they have been living, working and raising a family in the UK for the last ten, twenty, thirty years?

But, then they would be British citizens to be able to vote. So a bit out of context

It's not out of context. You were making the point that you found it strange how foreigners got so heated up about Thai politics and how at the end of the day it was a matter for Thai people and Thai people alone. You were forgetting the fact that a lot of us here on this forum have been living and working here for many many years. Some of us have our own businesses. Some of us have our own families. Some of us have permanent residency. Some of us even have citizenship. Why then would you think it stange for us to have strong feelings on these matters? And why would you be thankful for the fact that a lot of us don't have the right to vote? A lot of foreigners in Thailand for bureaucratic reasons will never have that right, but that doesn't mean they are not deserving of it.

Those who have permanent residence are a different kettle of fish but they are few and far between. And I would class them as Thai. The same as a person in the UK from another country who is now a British National. But a foreigner can talk all he likes but that does not change the fact it is someone else's country.

As for those who are simply working here in one context or another, no matter how many years, they can talk all they like but it is those who are eligible to vote that count. Is that clearer?

For me, I doubt I will ever become a permanent resident, so for me it is up to those who are eligible to vote to change the system as many of us and our ancestors have in our own countries, or to have a revolution and change things that way. The USA, France and the UK did that as others did too. Not that it necessarily changed things for the better. Yet that is only my personal opinion.

Thanks for the input and especially to WatersEdge for such a detailed and informative reply.

There are no bore holes currently in the vicinity and that is one of the main problems. Though I will go further into that with the g/f, but I am led to believe that is the reason for so many Rai of Mango in the area.

Gives me food for thought - if you will forgive the pun.

Thankfully, Aussies, Americans, Canadians or others cannot vote for a UK government and vice-versa.

What about if they have been living, working and raising a family in the UK for the last ten, twenty, thirty years?

But, then they would be British citizens to be able to vote. So a bit out of context

Have an election and let the majority decide Thaksin's future.

Elections will come when the ruling party sets a date. No reason for them to set it at someone else's request.

As far as Thaksin's future is concerned, people charged with crimes don't as far as i'm aware have the option of using a general election as a way of determining innocence or guilt.

I was talking theoretically regarding Thaksin and all the 'hoo-haa' surrounding him in this forum. But never mind

Though, in the future, things can change.

Strange how talk of Thaksin can be the root of so much heated discussion. A bit like in the UK, you love the Tories or Labour and can rarely agree who does a better job.. That is fine for the British. We have - as do many of you - the right to vote in an election and if the majority of people are dissatisfied you / we can elect a new government.

Thankfully, Aussies, Americans, Canadians or others cannot vote for a UK government and vice-versa. It is up to us to vote how we feel for our own countries.

Why not the same for Thai people? I still believe many Thai want Thaksin back, for better or worse. They should be allowed to vote on that

To some of us, Thaksin is a bad man. To others he is a good man. Yet it is not up to us to decide.

If we look back on our own histories we have had good and bad leaders, kings, Queens and Presidents. Some have won back power because the people wanted them back. If we or our ancestors made mistakes in that department then that was our fault. But we did it democratically.

I think the people should be allowed to decide, especially as here in Thailand all the parties buy their votes either in small, local elections or national elections. Those who do not have the financial backing will never get enough votes in a lot of cases, but the people should be allowed to decide on Thaksin after hearing he arguments from all relevant sides in Thailand and, that does not include us 'Farang'. And that may not be a bad thing as we have made enough cock ups in our own countries, but the Thai people never interfered with our elections.

Have an election and let the majority decide Thaksin's future.

Internet.................buy one get one free!!

You married a BOGOF ??

The g/f has been left 10 Rai of land currently planted with mango after the death of her father.

The bank is not interested in it as a guarantee towards raising funds as it has no house on it.

The surrounding area has mango trees too.

Currently the mangoes are simply given away to anyone who wants them as they are worth so little when all the other trees are fruiting and there is a glut of mangoes.

Apparently there is a lack of water in the area so that has to rule out many ideas.

A main road does front the land.

My understanding is that the nearest village is several kms away and the land is located about 35 kms from town.

Ideally she would like to sell the land but there is a distinct lack of interest in that. Building a house in the 'middle of nowhere' seems a crazy idea, especially as she has been left a plot of land nearer town which is ideal to build a house on.

What, then, would grow in that sort of area that would be at least profitable - if anything?

I would presume it would be a big task to dig up the trees and root systems too to start another project?

Any ideas?

Or would it be best to leave the land as it is unti a buyer might be found in the future?

Any sensible observations would be welcome.

TIA.

I did the same run a little over 3 months ago.

The fee is still 500 Baht.

The Burmese are very friendly and efficient. They use small visa stamps in your passport too, unlike Cambodia who issue full page visa.

A walk around the town is unlikely to inspire you. A walk around the market on the Thai side (left of the bridge as you walk back to Thailand side) is likely to be more productive.

my flight was wet

BKK - Muscat - LHR and return

2 hours 30 minutes stopover for me.

Maybe depends on the flight you book. Overall an hour longer than Etihad for Lon - BKK. Worth saving £100 + for an hour - pays for the train tickets (UK) and the fuel here to get home and have a few baht left over for a celebratory beer

What's the arrival time in the UK, and is it a Heathrow flight?

I flew with them from Bangkok to Oman recently and thought they provided an excellent service, but have not thought about using them for Bangkok-London.

I was looking at Emirates (who are way too expensive) and Etihad, who I have used for a couple of years and would agree they seem to have pushed up their prices rather too quickly - much like Emirates did.

17-40 hours arrival time for me. Enough time to get the tube and to Kings Cross for my train North that left at 20-00 hours.

The $480 price tag and the new Airbus was what made me change from Etihad.

Strange that you mention uneducated Thais.

The current g/f family are all true red shirts and intensely dislike this government. All are hard working and educated at good quality English speaking schools. 2 are high up in their jobs at 'Chula Uni. 1 ran her own Medical training school. 1 sister has a large merchandising shop.

The family own a lot of land and most have a good car each.

The parents had a thriving business before they retired, earning more than many of us in a year.

Most of the rest of the family have land, money and good jobs too.

Therefore, maybe not so few 'uneducated' Thai people as you think are in favour of Thaksin.

Me? I sit on the sidelines regarding any discussions when they begin. Better to keep out of local politics and religion, for me.

edit .... phraseology

I'd have taken it and run for the hills to marry several Thai princesses with good connections.