mic59

Herriott, GM Fraser(Flashman books), Tolkein, Harry Potter, Wodehouse, the Iliad and the Odyssey. But reading is a personal thing, what I may like may not be any good for you. A good idea is to find a nearby second-hand bookstore because what is there should have been popular with someone at some time. And there is often a very good range. Just keep an open mind, I did not think I would like "Doc Savage-the man of bronze" which is a real penny dreadful but it was 10c so I bought it and now I love it.  

Maybe the female aliens will try to replace the bargirls? After all, didn't Arnold Rimmer once talk of a beautiful alien with three breasts? Would have to be better than the two-breasted variety.

Don't buy yet, rent and travel around. Recommend you get a condo near the market in Chiang Mai. The nearby bus station will allow you to get public buses all over the place to Pattaya, Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin etc. It's your decision what is best for you but one place I wouldn't settle would be Phuket. You could continue renting for 12, even 24 months.You could pay a monthly rent of 10000THB -30000THB( 200-600 pounds) and it would barely be a blip on your income.

Or if you find you prefer living in different places you could just rent in different places for the rest of your life. Personally, if I was in your position that is what I would do.

Eggs have had a bit of a bad rep over the years with talk of high cholesterol. But a lot of these were old wives tales. In fact, the Japanese are one of the worlds largest consumers of eggs and are among the people with the lowest cholesterol. Per 100 grams an egg has 186 milligrams cholesterol but 184 is in the yolk.

http://www.livescience.com/39353-eggs-dont-deserve-bad-reputation.html

Whats my opinion.....marketed as a girls drink

Ya,,, exactly,,, because as we ALL know,,, ALL, "girls drinks" are 7%,,,,

Putting liquor into cans has been a way the industry have been trying to get girls to buy their product. It still is mainly men who buy bottles, putting the same drink in a smaller container somehow gives the impression that it is less likely to make you an alcoholic. Total bunkum and since this type of marketing the number of female alcoholics has climbed alarmingly.

The Canterbury Tales guesthouse with it's downstairs library must do it hard with flooding like this. Especially when the water tends to gather around that soi.

First time I came was in 1997 and stayed in Bangkok and Koh Chang. A lot of places still had squat toilets which were fun to use and gave you practice with your aim as to flush you filled up a sort of large spoon with water and hurled it at the offending object. Exchange rate at the time was over 40 baht to 1 USD. Had a beach hut on Koh Chang for 200 baht per night. At the time there was a curfew of 10 pm on Koh Chang as they had to conserve electricity, which was generated on the island. Lost a good bit of weight as there were a lot less places that served western food.

The number of people trying to relieve you of your hard-earned hasn't changed, but that's the same everywhere. Didn't go to Pattaya in 1997 (I did in later visits) but I heard it was a lot sleazier then.

It is sad to see how people walk around here with their smartphone. No eye for anything happening around them and just staring at that little screen in their hand, combined with walking very slow and hindering other people.

Maybe people should be educated a bit on how to behave with their phones: step to the side (to not block anyone), stop walking (to be able to concentrate on your phone), and then start texting.

(same for all countries by the way, this is not a Thai problem)

And when they walk into you be prepared for a stream of foul-mouthed invective although it was 100% their fault.

What on earth was that girl wearing? Some kind of t-shirt and flip-flops, was it? She was very lucky that her boyfriends' motorcycle remained perpendicular, even just rubbing her feet on the ground while on a moving motorbike would cause a very painful and probably long-lasting injury.

I mentioned this in a different thread but meet a Chinese woman on line. We Met up in BKK. We were in a restaurant and had just placed our order. Anyway, she saw a dish being served across the room and asked me what it was. I said I had no idea. There was a couple the next table over who were looking at their menus trying to decide what to order. Anyway, without saying a word, my date snatched the menu from the guys hand and start searching for her answer. Never so embarrassed in my life. There was no second date.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

If this had happened to me that would have been the end to the first date.

When I was going through passport control at Dubai a Chinese family flitted in front of me. I actually had my passport and boarding pass out and was about to place it on the desk but they saw a space and moved into it. Sometimes have the same problems at the toilets in Adelaide. The Chinese are the new Germans.

Often when someone books a bus to Trat, Koh Chang etc. the driver will arrange to collect them from their accommodation which is usually a guesthouse in a soi. It would be much better if they could collect them from an agreed place on one of the main roads depending on where they were staying.

A group of farang was found doing a workout [at a temple], supposedly yoga. They spread their arms and legs while their friends were taking photos. This was done in public view of both locals and tourists," the caption said. Common temple etiquette requires visitors to remain calm, and act in a composed manner"

Boo hoo hoo

If they are doing something wrong then say so to their face instead of this cowardly, chicken crud online BS outrage campaign.

Confrontation is not something Thais do. Just because this is being raised over the internet does not mean it is OK. Last week a couple of women sunbaked on graves in a cemetery in Australia. This was brought up when vision was uploaded to the internet, not when the women were confronted. Does that make it any more acceptable?

I pay THB160(AU$5.50) for a shave and a haircut and tip up to THB200($AU6.90). There's no way I'll object to paying more than Thais, a haircut alone in Australia will cost me $12-$20. Builds up goodwill, too. After a few visits I'm recognised as a good customer and offered free manicures, pedicures and ear cleanings. The whole thing leads to a much better atmosphere in what is, after all, a pretty mundane but necessary part of the day.

Some parts of Soi 6 could definitely do with a stronger hand but how far do they intend to go? People go to Pattaya for a good time and that often involves going back to your room with a bar girl or freelancer. I never saw it stuck in your face, though and I find it difficult to see the objection. They have other attractions such as golfcourses, shows and ex-pat food but these will not draw tourists to Pattaya on their own. You can get most of these things in other parts of Thailand at a much lesser price.

Haven't heard that this is expected to affect travellers to Thailand but from what I hear it could be an inconvenience. And I would assume that it could escalate into something more serious. Seems like a perfect time to visit my niece in England instead of going to Thailand for my annual holiday.

I couldn't believe what I saw when I was here. The only people who wear helmets are the blokes who drive you around town or to the bus stations, the farangs who ride motorbikes do so in thongs, vests and shorts, I even saw a guy whose leg was in plaster up to his hip and he was on kis motorbike with his cast sticking out the front and the crutches on the back. And this was on Soi Buakhaow in Pattaya, one of the more hectic roads in that city. And there were no policemen around. I did see one once and there were multiple cases of dangerous driving and he just stood there looking out to sea.

"The massive Songkran festival travel will unavoidably bring highway accidents resulting in the high fatalities each year."

Surely traffic accidents can be avoided. Drive with a bit more care & attention...

requiring drivers to take a valid test of their ability to drive before granting them a license

educating all road users on safe and considerate behaviour on the roads

effective policing and prosecution of traffic law violators

just a few practical and measurable steps that could be taken for the benefit of all.

In particular effective policing and prosecution. In 1972 in South Australia, a relatively small Australian state there were 380 deaths in the year. The alcohol limit was 0.08 and the attitude to DUI was pretty lax by police and drunk drivers. Seatbelts were not enforced. Now seatbelts are compulsory, the limit is 0.05 and drink driving is policed and fined hard and frowned upon. The number of deaths in 2013, with an obviously larger population than in 1972 was 98. Unfortunately Thailand is a lot larger and more difficult to police but surely a lot more can be done than is at the moment.

They do have to be women, right? One of these kind of programs has already had a transsexual in it and there are some pretty stunning ladyboys in Thailand.

Phuket panty sniffer caught mid-snatch

During his debriefing with police

Do the writers of the Phuket Gazette know what these mean?

I wouldn't stay away for this reason, but my last holiday to Thailand was ruined by the weather. Maybe 16 countries should have issued travel warnings for that.

I recently retired and decided to take a long holiday in Thailand and visit a lot of places I hadn't been to. This weather has totally ruined it as the only places accessible are ones that I have already been to.

I was trying to cross Soi Buakhaow in Pattaya, which is not a one-way road and apart from the usual inappropriately-dressed (thongs, bare chests, no helmets) riders there was one man who took my breath away. He had obviously been in an accident, he had his cast on his right foot, had his crutches on his motorbike and had no helmet or shirt. I couldn't see whether he had a thong on the other foot but I would assume so.

I have been to many restaurants and guesthouses in various cities where the husband will sit around and read the paper, totally ignoring his wife and not even doing such simple tasks as getting a drink out of the fridge.

I wonder how long that will be the case?

Not terribly long I would think. Just long enough to convince people something is being done. I went to Lombok by ferry from Bali in 1997, there were 4 lifeboats, none of them in an appropriate position for an emergency. I read about a later tragedy on the Lombok ferry and I'm sure safety precautions there and in other parts of south-east asia were ramped up for a while but after a period it was back to business as usual.