ThaiKneeTim

1 hour ago, Familyonthemove said:

 

Seen the Red Arrows many times in UK (met the Team Leader many years ago ...  my Father was in the RAF - used to fly a Hunter amongst other jet fighters).  Never get tired of watching them display - will be heading to Hua Hin for sure.  My Dad used to get the display details and tell us where to sit on the beach to get the best view. 

 

I remember when they used the Gnat before the Hawk.  The Gnat made a better noise!  I was just searching for a photo of a Gnat and found one for sale.  A snip at $365,000.

There is a static Gnat on display at Cotswold Airport  (formally RAF Kemble).

4 hours ago, bark said:

I have never seen them fly. Wonder if any are related to the Heroes from the Battle of Britain ?

I'm not a Brit; but they saved your country. True Heroes.

I wonder why they would be in Thailand on Nov 11 th ? Remembrance Day.  Better back in England, where they

are appreciated. But I will go, to see them. Hope for Clear sky and safe flights for all pilots.

Only seen the USA Blue Angels and Canada Snow Birds; both groups are excellent.

 

The link takes you to a page where it explains why. Basically it's part of a sales mission, the Typhoon is the aircraft they need to sell outside the collaborative states, but the Hawk trainer will be highlighted too.

I used to see the Red Arrows regularly when I did recruiting at the RAF Town Shows, and support at several RIAT airshows at RAF Fairford, it got to the point where I stopped watching them. Now I rarely see them and miss their fantastic displays. 

The Royal Air Force aerobatic display team is to visit Thailand as part of an Eastern Tour. Display and flypast at Hua Hin on 11th November. For full tour details follow the link:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/displays/asiapacificmiddleeasttour2016.cfm

11 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't understand why you were denied boarding of your flight from Switzerland to here. How did they know about your blacklisting? Do you have a stamp in your passport stating that?

Your offense was not enough to be blacklisted for life or blacklisted at all.

Simple. There is no need for a passport stamp, everything is stored on a central database. Airlines are responsible for passengers denied entry into a country so they have access to blacklists to ensure they don't have to return unwanted guests at their cost.

To me it's a no-brainer....for the sake of the kiddies, if you look and dress like a lady you use the ladies (whether you have a penis or not) and visa versa.

How fearful and confusing it would be for a child to see a person of the opposite sex (in appearance anyway) coming into their toilet while they are in it.

So, if I decide to wear a dress for an evening out, I am within my rights to use the ladies ?

And before you state that I do not 'look like' a lady, have you seen the majority of ladyboys ?

If you decide to wear a dress for the night you're a transvestite, not transgender, huge difference! A transgender person lives in the gender they feel more closely aligned to, a transvestite occasionally wears clothes of the opposite gender, but lives as their birth gender.

It's not quite as simple as that though, since the whole area between transgender and transvestite is filled with people who identify as gender fluid.

Poor soda can't win, if an effeminate gay male lives as a male they get shunned and called proofs, Nancy boys, faggots, etc, but if they feel more comfortable living with their effeminism as a woman they can't use the toilets!

Let's get one thing straight here: if a room is devoid of a bath, it's not a bathroom!

Lavatory, toilet, water closet (WC) are accurate terms, bathroom is not!

Why are Americans so coy about using the appropriate name for a room specifically designed for certain bodily functions!

As for transgender use of toilets, why the fuss now, they've been using the facilities appropriate for their gender for years. If anyone can cite more cases of sexual violations by transgender in public toilets than by politicians I might then have just cause to be sympathetic to North Carolina, until then my sympathy is with the transgender community.

In will work until the day I drop. I enjoy doing so. I would liker to live to an age over 100 providing I am still fit to exercise and wipe my own backside. Also living to that age I will be able to claim my state pension and feel I got a good return. I still pay into it and I am nearly 50. This may obviously change as I get older, although I doubt it, as I firmly believe the day I stop working, is the day to start digging my own grave. I have seen too many people plan for retirement and die shortly after reaching their goal.

Fact. Most people die within 3 years of retiring, no matter at what age you retire.

I can assure you that my dad most definitely did not retire at 80 years of age!

In will work until the day I drop. I enjoy doing so. I would liker to live to an age over 100 providing I am still fit to exercise and wipe my own backside. Also living to that age I will be able to claim my state pension and feel I got a good return. I still pay into it and I am nearly 50. This may obviously change as I get older, although I doubt it, as I firmly believe the day I stop working, is the day to start digging my own grave. I have seen too many people plan for retirement and die shortly after reaching their goal.

Fact. Most people die within 3 years of retiring, no matter at what age you retire.

EDIT note: Not sure what happened there, posted a quote with no comment. How did that happen?

Newsflash: Europe is way worse off than Thailand in terms of future.

- Hidden poverty that could lead to civil war:

Spanish women are now so poor that they resort to sell their hair which is unheard of.

French butchers are regularly victims of arm robberies, people are just hungry they rob butcheries instead of banks.

In England women cannot afford sanitary pads and tampons anymore and use newspapers instead.

Sales of cat/dog food are plummeting people cannot just afford petfood anymore.

- Banks are about to collapse: Signs such as

. negative interests - you now have to pay to keep you money in the bank, which is unheard of.

.Banks now refuse you to withdraw "big" amounts like 5000 Euros even if you have it,

500 Euros note was taken out yesterday to prevent people from using cash,

Like they did in Argentina and Greece, the banks will shut down and they will run away with our cash and mayhem, will follow.

- Increased risk of Civil war because of Immigration which is still pouring in huge numbers

Sweden and Germany attitude is changing and despite the multiculturalism propaganda, people are vastly against it, especially after the Cologne and Ikea events.

Raise of right wings parties in Austria, UK Britain First, France National Front, Germany pegida etc

500 ISIS soldiers are now infiltrated in Europe ready to plan attack

- 3rd world war is coming

Putin was clearly a CIA target with Panama Papers.

Missiles are in place in Europe all around Russia

Nuclear weapons are now in the hands of ISIS.

I've never read such utter <deleted> in my entire life, and I only read half your nonsense! I've seen some conspiracy theorists in my time, but you push the title way beyond fair usage!

You claim to be able to back up your claims; well let's see some evidence then! I'll accept links to peer reviewed studies, government information, data from respected NGO's. What I won't accept is newspapers (And for the sake of argument we'll include the Daily Mail under that heading), conspiracy theorist websites, Wikipedia, and your mate down the pub.

Provided I don't fall off a balcony in the meantime, I plan to stock up on morphine and bring about my own demise the day I'm unable to wipe my own backside.

I helped look after my father in his declining months after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, and I have no intention of ending my days in the same way.

There's an Australian guy in the village who apparently had a stroke, if village gossip is to be believed he had lost control of his bowels and bladder. Fortunately for this guy he has a sister coming to help him, but I understand he has now been admitted to hospital, so I wonder if he is fit to travel, or facing his declining, and totally dependant, days in Thailand.

Me, I'd already be scattered to the four winds before that stage!

My observations based on Isaan village life!

Village dogs: Many dogs are free to roam say and night throughout our village, these are easy to distinguish from strata, which usually look pretty mangy, but not always!

Generally dogs are kept as waste food disposal units/guard dogs, although some in the village are kept as pets.

The western idea of a pet dog is almost one of the family, whereas here they generally aren't, although those lapdog you see in Bangkok undoubtedly are!

Animal cruelty: Thailand, as a whole, isn't anywhere near the top of the list for animal cruelty, I've seen a lot worse in Africa.

Here in our village the strays seem to gather mainly in one of the three temples, where they are fed by the monks, and one of our dogs was the offspring of a stray from that temple.

Care of dogs: In our village dogs are generally well cared for, in that they are well fed and homes, some responsible owners even control reproduction with hormone shots.

Strays: There are the occasional strays, but here in our village they are few.

In the big city it's not uncommon to see, what appear to be, strays. The strays I've seen in town generally aren't too unhealthy, so it's safe to assume they are being fed by someone.

Unlike my experience in Africa, if a stray dog isn't viscous the locals just leave them alone. Although I haven't seen any vicious dogs I'm assuming that should there be any they are dealt with, probably by the police with a lead injection!

Opinion: While there are a lot more strays, than you would expect to see in my home country, the Thai attitude to them is generally more favourable than a lot of places.

Firstly personal observation isn't ever conclusive and the sins observed in one country don't ever mitigate the sins of another.

- Many organisations that work around the world will tell you that Thailand is one of the worst culprits - there is good reason for this. Thailand has a massive tourist industry - one of the largest in the world and a large amount of the animal abuse/exploitation is directed towards this market.......it is much larger than in other countries so the abuse is far more widespread and the amount of creatures greater.

The effect this is having on S.E. Asia's wildlife is bad enough, but it even extends to supporting exploitation around the world - vis-a-vis the trading in ivory from African elephants - a lot of the cruelty and capture or killing of animals in Africa is actually to supply the trade in Asia - e.g. Thailand. many of the reptiles and other animals you see being touted on the streets are not native species - they come from overseas...

Judging a country by western standards isn't a good idea either. A nation struggling to survive can't afford to impose too many restrictive measures.

Both the UK and US have lost jobs to SE Asian countries because we have rules and regulations to protect environment, workforce, etc. Countries like Thailand would suffer considerably if they imposed western regulations and watch as neighbouring countries take all the jobs.

I'm sure you, like me, try to avoid places that exploit animals, but unfortunately there are too many farang tourists quite willing to pay to ride on an elephant. Rather than whinge about a Thai trying to make a living in whatever way he can it would better to educate the tourists in their home countries, and there have been numerous campaigns operating on this basis. Just follow Rickey Gervais on Twitter and you'll see some of these campaigns.

The attitude of some Thais towards working animals isn't much different to how they abuse their vehicles, overload it, under maintain it, and work it until it breaks!

I'm obviously not saying that all Thais are like that, just like I wouldn't say all British people are good to animals (A quick look at the RSPCA website will demonstrate that some British are worse!) so I don't leap to the defence of Thais, I do however leap to defend against the assumption that bad news items aren't a true reflection of Thais generally.

Tar and brushes spring to mind!

My observations based on Isaan village life!

Village dogs: Many dogs are free to roam say and night throughout our village, these are easy to distinguish from strata, which usually look pretty mangy, but not always!

Generally dogs are kept as waste food disposal units/guard dogs, although some in the village are kept as pets.

The western idea of a pet dog is almost one of the family, whereas here they generally aren't, although those lapdog you see in Bangkok undoubtedly are!

Animal cruelty: Thailand, as a whole, isn't anywhere near the top of the list for animal cruelty, I've seen a lot worse in Africa.

Here in our village the strays seem to gather mainly in one of the three temples, where they are fed by the monks, and one of our dogs was the offspring of a stray from that temple.

Care of dogs: In our village dogs are generally well cared for, in that they are well fed and homes, some responsible owners even control reproduction with hormone shots.

Strays: There are the occasional strays, but here in our village they are few.

In the big city it's not uncommon to see, what appear to be, strays. The strays I've seen in town generally aren't too unhealthy, so it's safe to assume they are being fed by someone.

Unlike my experience in Africa, if a stray dog isn't viscous the locals just leave them alone. Although I haven't seen any vicious dogs I'm assuming that should there be any they are dealt with, probably by the police with a lead injection!

Opinion: While there are a lot more strays, than you would expect to see in my home country, the Thai attitude to them is generally more favourable than a lot of places.

It's a bit unreasonable for some commenters the blame a country for their personal mishaps.

The guy whose brother-in-law didn't wash his hands, that's obviously the whole country at fault isn't it!!

While the frustrations are many, they aren't exactly unique to Thailand, you find some similar, and many alternative, frustrations wherever you go.

Oh, and the free healthcare, give it another four years and that will have gone!

I was put off tattoos when I was a puppy, my friends ex-navy father had a tattoo that he'd had done at 19, it was unrecognisable. The thought of having similar dark smudges on my body 40 put me off the idea.

The brother of another friend had aPluto, the Disney character, tattoo which looks like fun on a teenager, but not quite so on a middle aged man.

Today's trend is tomorrow's nightmare.

So no thanks!

RIP all snakes then

It worked for Saint Patrick!

honestly if some Thai grandma hits me on my motorbike and splits and I get a bill of 600000 bht, I will never pay it, I earn my money too hard...i would split to Cambodia and then home, and aviod coming back to Thailand for some time.....

Wages, equipment, utility bills all have to be paid, so if people are defaulting on payments the costs have to be passed as higher charges to those pay.

Civil recovery is likely to be too expensive or legally impossible once the debtor had fled the country, and legal costs will eat into the profitably of treatment.

I doubt very much you'd be impressed if your employer, or customers, defaulted on payments to you, so why would you consider it okay to do it to a Thai hospital?

hi Allgier, why is the drill 56m deep but the pump stays at 36m? Sorry really new to this...

So that the pump doesn't draw up any sediment. The sides of the borehole are soil which erodes, especially around the pump as the water movement scours the side of the borehole, most of which will fall to the bottom of the borehole. If the pump is to close to the bottom this sediment will be drawn up, it being sand particles is very abrasive and will wear the moving parts of the pump, and I've even seen pipework eroded, especially on the bends.

On one contract I oversaw the installation of three new borehole pumps to replace old units, two at 100 metres and one at 120 metres, on 8 inch flanges pipes, one of the pumps wouldn't go down the borehole so we had to have a CCTV and sonic survey of the borehole. The sonic survey revealed that ground shift was causing our problem, but even more interesting was the scouring at the position of the old pump. The diameter of the borehole had more than doubled, had there not been about 6 metres clearance of the bottom the sediment from the scouring would have passed through the pump.

In sandstone areas they have sand traps in the pipelines to catch sediment before it is transported to water towers and ultimately the customer.

There is no excuse for not knowing about World War One or two. Regardless of which country you live in . They died for our freedom of today. Ignorance is no excuse .

True, but my country never said a word about it at school in the 50's/60's.......ENGLAND...

I started secondary school in England in 1958 and left in 1963 and one of the teachers their started teaching the second world war as history in 1961 and he was the first teacher to do it. Why because for many teachers at the time to them it was not history but their recent past and those who had served in the armed forces quite often did not want to talk about their experiences

One of my high school teachers, and the father of a middle school classmate, was a prisoner of war with the Japanese, my elder brother used to joke that this teacher would hide in the stock room for a smoke and a cry. My brother has always been insensitive!

I went to school in the 60's & 70's we had some WWII history in school but most informative was 'World at War' and 'All Our Yesterdays' on TV. Even as a young boy I was captivated by the scenes of misery in the battlefields.

My parents were too young to be caught up in the war, but I did know a German POW, conscripted at 15, who was held at a POW in Worcestershire. He met a local girl, settled in the UK and held a grudge against his homeland for sending him to war at so young an age.

My small town had air raid shelters everywhere, and as kids we used to find stashes of gas masks and tin helmets rotting away, and we used to play in the ruins of the old American military hospital. The old gas mask cases were used as lunch bags for loads of men for many years after the war.

So there was no escaping the war, unless you had your head up your arse!

just don't try.

thais had their own bit of trouble with the vietnam incident.

ww2 happened 80 years ago, time to let go and focus on stuff happening today.

for you and me - involved or directly related to people involved, this might be different.

but why would a 35 year old thai be interested in adolf, winston and josef?

You're referring to the war in Europe, but it was a *world* war (the clues in the name) with the Japanese trying to cause a bit of trouble around this area too.

Despite Thailand being right in the middle of it all I'm surprised that it isn't mentioned in history lessons, or maybe they want to forget the whole embarrassing situation!!

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries around the world are a sobering sight, I try to visit as many as I can. Just take a walk along the lines of headstones and more the ages of the dead servicemen; many of them never even weren't even old enough to vote, or drink alcohol, but the were old enough to be shot at!!

Check out the contents of Chemtrails.Its one of the reasons I left the US.I do not see them here,but.

Oh look, a conspiracy theorist!!!!

You should get out to Isaan, we're under a high altitude international route here, we get vapour trails, but you need to be an early riser to see them in the cool morning air.

I fly in and out of Thailand about every 6 weeks for the last 8 years and have never been asked by immigration to see a return ticket. If they did ask I could always show them one.

The airlines face heavy fines if they are found to be transporting people who have no intention of leaving, otherwise known as illegal immigrants!

Far too many hipster farangs Think they can scrape together the one way airfare and hope to make a living at a holiday destination as they might have done in their own country, simply overlooking the fact that international law is different to domestic laws.

ThaiVisa is awash with stories of overstay and backpacker buskers on the streets who obviously don't have the means to travel but hope they can wing it.

Unfortunately while the rules are aimed at these people it also affects those of us who have plans to return home to make enough money to come back next year.

Once again, the responsibility for screening undesirables lies with the airlines at point of embarkation. The heavy fines the airlines face are incentive enough to enforce the rules. As I've booked a return ticket the airline knows that without the need to ask me at check-in, if I'd booked a cheap border hop flight with another airline I'm sure they would have asked the question.

Older travellers will remember when airlines didn't check for passports at all, now they ask to see it at several points before boarding the aircraft.

Travel agents in the UK ask for your passport number when taking a booking, it saved wasted effort and embarrassment later, and I'm sure it's possibly because some numpty passenger has sued their travel agent for failing to inform them that they needed a passport.

I usually send the gf to buy anything when we're in Bangkok as she gets native prices, go in the door separately and I wait to one side until she has completed the transaction. We usually eat native and I find a table and wait for her to order and pay for the food, by the time the proprietor realises it's too late to rip us off.

Out here in Smallesville, Isaan farangs are a rarity and the dual pricing scam isn't practised, as far as I can tell.

Not sure where you shop but apart from at some temples, museums, tourist attractions, dual pricing is not practiced elsewhere. Exceptions are taxi drivers trying to rip you off (and I've heard but never experienced) small scale hole in the wall restaurants in very touristy areas showing tourists or those that appear to be tourists English menus with highly inflated prices, while Thais (in the rare event they go to eat there) are given Thai only menus with lower prices.

However, there is no dual pricing if you eat at hawker centers (food courts) with clearly displayed prices, whether there is English present or not, in shopping center chain restaurants, independent restaurants in most places, when you're shopping at central department store, Tops, Tesco, Big C, Foodland, Gourmet Market or anywhere else.

Maybe you should stop eating "native" whatever that means and do what the rest of us do and eat proper food, including Thai, at chain restaurants, independent restaurants (NOT hole in the wall restaurants serving boring overly spicy food with no air-con) or just cook at home, which is the best type of cooking there is.

Home is not in Bangkok, and there alternatives to "hole in the wall" food places, across the road from Big C Ratchada is a place laid out with tables, great local (native) food at great prices, although I don't know if they operate dual pricing or not.

I happen to like eating at places the natives use, wherever I go in the world, so much more interesting than a boring chain restaurant with air con, especially when I've paid a fortune to avoid the winter back home.

As for taxis, I do the same as anywhere else, I wait to one side while gf flags down a taxi and agrees a price, I then walk forward and get in the taxi when she gives me the nod.

P.S. I use the dictionary definition of native, not the insult used by Neanderthal xenophobes to describe less sophisticated cultures!

Although still a novice at all this visa stuff, I've been to the Immigration Office at Amnat Chareon a couple of times without issue, on the most recent visit the official even spoke English and offered some good advice.

I usually send the gf to buy anything when we're in Bangkok as she gets native prices, go in the door separately and I wait to one side until she has completed the transaction. We usually eat native and I find a table and wait for her to order and pay for the food, by the time the proprietor realises it's too late to rip us off.

Out here in Smallesville, Isaan farangs are a rarity and the dual pricing scam isn't practised, as far as I can tell.