Steiner

On 11/5/2016 at 9:41 PM, villagefarang said:

This is not the kind of thing you can push.  It takes time for people to become comfortable around dogs.  The kids in our village adjust quickly but adults often cling to their fears.  Just be patient and don't get too upset or be too dismissive of people who are afraid.  Here are a few of my well adjusted pets.

 

 

That location looks amazing, where is that?

On 11/5/2016 at 9:02 PM, Bmouthboyo said:

That is an absolutely beautiful dog! What is a TRD? Thai Ridgeback Doberman cross?

We have a boxer dog and get similar reactions. Always thought it strange given how used to and tolerant thais are of Soi dogs.

If you anywhere near Bangna he is welcome to play with our dog :)

He's a TRD.
Surprised by the breed, incredibly happy and loving dog, smart to boot.

1 minute ago, mki8 said:

i bet you have never seen a day dot here LOL

Day dot?

On 10/27/2016 at 5:49 PM, dick dasterdly said:

EXACTLY!   The only time I've seen dog crap is in my garden!

 

My assumption is that the heat gets rid of it within a few hours.

A lot of them drop the kids off in bushes. Apart from that it desiccates and turns white in 2 days if in the sun, there are also a number of local bugs that get stuck into dog poo and break it down.

I once worked in restaurant inspections in the UK, I only ever chained one restaurant's doors on the spot.
Now I work in property and I visit a lot of restaurants when they are working, I've never been in a Bkk restaurant that would come close to passing health standards and the vast majority I would chain the doors immediately if I was working in that job here.

Proper storage temperatures, separating uncooked and cooked foods from each other and things like fresh cream and cut fruit, or using different chopping boards for raw meat and salads is practically unheard of.

The sheer volume of dishes that are washed in small basins or sinks of cold water and get a minimal rinse (dipped in another small sink or basin of cold greasy soapy water) before being placed in the 'clean' pile is incredible.
I don't eat street food, there is simply no way to guarantee the hygiene of it, and although I know I probably won't get sick, its a hygiene choice for me. And most of it tastes disgusting, dried for hours over a few coals and basted with a perennially topped up and stored in the heat marinade, I'll pass.

The amount of putrid food in Tesco and Big C is incredible, I see staff replenishing rows of chicken when there are bloated packets of yellow to green chicken sitting there, it's just that inane laziness and 'not thinking too much' mentality.

Walking through any of the big supermarkets, although Big C is the worst, there is often an area where you can smell rotting meat.

Then again we do live in a 3rd world country...

No issue with a pay pal transfer to your bank, as long as you have lodged the paperwork with the bank to show why the cash is arriving, they will accept the transfer.

7/11 microwave meals are food!?!

2 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Just what is the obesity rate now in most western counties? Appalling.....

Obesity in the states is down to greed, the portions people eat there is incredible.

Other western countries aren't as bad.

I did read a recent survey that said Thailand is now 3rd in the world for diabetes and very high for strokes.

1 in 13 adult Thais now have diabetes, that's no small potatoes considering the dodgy health system and self medication that goes on here, further masking numbers of sufferers until they drop dead.

Thailand is now 2nd in SEA for obesity numbers.
America 38% Thailand 32% considering the relevant portion sizes, who's eating the worse food? 

Your house is obviously an outlier.

1 hour ago, pgrahmm said:

Once, maybe two times a week we'll/ l will go out for some non Thai food....Sometimes I'll grab the girls & we'll prepare a western meal or bake - not too often though as it's not as healthy -  but tasty....

This BS again! How is Thai food healthier than western food ? Everything Thai is fried or overcooked, laced with sugar and oil, even som tam etc is full of sugar and far from healthy, and the size of vegetable portions, if included at all, are tiny.

They cook in the cheapest thin pots, so masses of oil are necessary to stop it sticking anyway, that's just how Thai's like it, oily and sweet!

Compare that to boiled and jacket potatoes, boiled or steamed vegetables and grilled meats and fish, pasta, salads, no comparison, western is way healthier.

On 10/26/2016 at 4:27 PM, MYKTHEMIN said:

Pajero is the best , price looks ride everything

Reminds me of a Ssang Song, that could ever be construed as a compliment!

Also looks like Toyota and Mitsibushi were looking over each other's shoulders when they were designing them, both are boring and look cheap.

4 hours ago, swbaggies said:

i was actually pointed at and laughed at by some locals for picking up after my 8 month old dog

Had the same numerous times, someone actually stopped their car and took a pic once. 

Then again the country has zero social conscience, driving the largest gas guzzling car possible, driving 200 meters, wasting water, cutting exhausts/mufflers and cats off everything that moves, poor driving practices, ridiculous waste disposal.

For us having the awareness that what we do affects others social , must look like some crazy hippy sh1t to them...

On 10/22/2016 at 3:15 PM, Oxx said:

My own dogs (and I have three of them) have been attacked more than once by other people's dogs just let out to roam freely (and, let's be honest, to shit in the street - a disgusting Thai practice).

 

So, even in the nicest areas, Thai dog owners are a menace, and their pets are almost as bad.

 

Ridiculous behaviour by locals who appear to have no issues with letting dogs out to shit anywhere that is not their house.
I once sacked a new employee for chirping into a conversation I was having with someone about Thai's rarely carrying a poo bag with them or cleaning up when they walk their dogs. She said "Oh you can't expect Thai people to lift that up."

After that little gem and the insight it gave into her personality,  she was gone the next day.

On 10/22/2016 at 6:58 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

the pooch in the photo doesn't look particularly 'cuddly'...

Bizarre statement, I see way more of the 'cuddly' yappy lapdogs snapping at people than any other kind of dog.

Actually had some success at last, 3 kids were playing football in the park, 1 speaks a little English and likes to try to practice if he sees me. 

His buddies asked in Thai if they bite and what are their names, everyone said hello  and I spent an hour getting them used to the kids running around playing footy.
I have noticed a difference already, the pup is more receptive to people after that, pity it has been the exception not the rule!

Regular footy dates for the next couple of months then...

Counting Sheep Corner in Sukhumvit Soi 61 do most things well.
They make a decent beetroot, caramalised onion and feta cheese salad.

Can't remember having a green salad there but as I say, they do most things well.

Dean and Deluca in Sathorn 8 has a mean salad bar and a decent coffee.

Do you need to come to Thailand? If the mother can be toxic, and it sounds like she could, why risk her causing issues?

What if she discovered you were here via contact from immigration if something did go wrong, and saw a pay day? You could be stuck here for god knows how long trying to sort it out.

Remember that case of the 2 British girls who lived in the UK and were at school there, that were abducted by the mother? Took some time for the father to get his children back from an abusive mother.

Personally my kid's security and safety would be more important that a few weeks in Thailand.

I would look elsewhere.

25 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

The size, the lead, the erect tail, the aggressive posture of a ridgeback. As a previous poster pointed out, all the danger signs are there in a country where rabies from dog bites are a reality. 

 

You may not appreciate other people's reactions but you need to consider they have no way of knowing, other than previous experience of other dogs on leads, whether your dog is a biter or not.

 

How often have you seen other dogs on leads in Thailand? In my soi, there is one dog walked on a lead, a large vicious Bang Kaew.

He's 4 months old and 14 kilos, his nuts are the size of peas and his chest is as broad as a cat.

And again they did it with my other dog when she was a pup.

Everyone here walks their dogs on a lead, its the rules of my moo baan, everyone who lives here know it, every dog they see from lapdogs up is on a lead.

10 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Ridgebacks are considered aggressive dogs in Thailand.

 

Thais only keep aggressive dogs on leads. (Otherwise why bother?)

 

Thais seeing you with i) a ridgeback ii) on a lead will therefore automatically assume the dog is a biter due to their previous experiences.

And that doesn't explain how Thai's behave when they come to the house, no lead, dog peacefully playing or sleeping and when it comes near them it's all panic stations again.

Also most of the Thai's who come to the house, and who I've spoked to, aren't that savvy to know about dog breeds, to them it's just a dog.

6 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Ridgebacks are considered aggressive dogs in Thailand.

 

Thais only keep aggressive dogs on leads. (Otherwise why bother?)

 

Thais seeing you with i) a ridgeback ii) on a lead will therefore automatically assume the dog is a biter due to their previous experiences.

They did exactly the same thing with my other pup, and it is nothing like a ridgeback.

They wouldn't even have time to recognise it as a ridgeback from the distance some of them start their antics at.

4 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Think about people's experiences of dogs in Thailand.  It's hardly positive, with large numbers of street dogs, a substantial proportion of dogs carrying rabies, people deliberately choosing very aggressive dogs for "home protection".  Of course they're wary of dogs.

 

(Then there are the Thai Moslems whose religion teaches a pathological hatred of dogs.)

Seriously, did you look at the pic of the dog, how can that little guy actually scare them!

If it was a soi dog situation it would be different, however it's about as far from a soi dog situation as it gets.

Plus the dog is always on a lead, obviously not a stray, nor does it look frightening, to me anyway.

I think it's an inherent paranoia, where I live is gated, CCTV everywhere, mobile security guards have to scan their barcode every 10 minutes in every street, so there are always at lease 2 of them on the move in addition to the 3 security stations in the moo baan.  However even with all that the locals have bars on their windows and squeeze their cars into the driveway and lock their gates every night. What's the point?

One guy goes through a bizarre 10 minute ritual every night of squeezing his wife's car into their garden, which takes him a lot of back and forth, then his pick up, which barely fits in once her car is there. This is of course done with her flapping her hands around like a drowning seal.  Then he padlocks the gate shut.
Scared of his shadow!

Obviously socialising a pup is very important, both for their confidence and to prevent aggression.
Originally hailing from the UK I never found this an issue, people would smile and chat to you and stroke the pup, kids would go  into overdrive: 'mister what's your dogs name? Can I stroke him? What does he eat? Can I give him this?' etc...

All this makes it easy to socialise the pup, here however?

It feels like every man woman or child who sees your dog, pulls back, looks scared, makes a screaming noise, bursts into tears, runs, or all of the above!

Seriously; the pup is 4 months old, I live in a large gated moo baan with no soi dogs, so they should have no reason to be in a state of perpetual terror, yet every idiot has the same reaction.

2 nights ago as we rounded a corner, one woman actually dropped the shopping she was taking out of her car and started to run into her house before she realised it was but a slip of a thing.

He's a TRD, not as if he's a pit or some such nonsense.

Last week 3 grown women and 4 children took off screaming in broad daylight at the sight of a 4 month old pup and a 12 month old non-aggressive looking dog. 

When I run with them it's even worse, I've seen people throw their bike down and run for cover,  they are always on a lead, what is that about!

Of course this reaction then spooks the dogs making training and socialising much more difficult.

I took the pup to a main road near my house to familiarize him with people, Jesus you would have thought I was butt naked and carrying an AK47! They literally moved into shop doorways, onto the road, or froze on the spot, it was incredible.

Even when Thai's come to the house it's all pulling back and hands up high like he's a tiger, or cowering on the edge of the sofa if he comes to say hello.

I have never seen a people more afraid of everything, I think that's why there is so much violence here, cowardly and perpetually scared people are more likely to carry weapons and resort to violence.

Anyway, here's a pic of the monster in question wondering what he's done to scare so many people: PARENTAL ADVISORY: If you are Thai this image may make you pee your pants...

I would avoid TOT like the plague, we had ridiculous service from them at the office, very late to install phone and internet lines, customer service is pure crap. 

Then when we moved office we asked if the number could be transferred as it was only 3 km away, we were told yes, no problem. They arrived, after much screaming and shouting, 15 days late and suddenly couldn't retain the number, which was on the new office signage and business cards.

When it would go down it could take 48 hrs for them to sort it out.
Fools, incompetent, idiots, take your choice.

Fortunately we had also contracted True, who arrived bang on time and within 2 days, I wouldn't trust business to a single internet provider here.

We also had to get TOT in our weekend condo, it was the only provider in the building, 17 days to install.
If there's nothing on the TV, go to the TOT office in Pattaya, it's hilarious, a never ending stream of people losing their mind over the rubbish service. 
In one visit I saw 2 people lose their mind screaming at the staff, one guy wipe his ass with the contract and telling them to sue him, a guy throw their modem over the counter with 3 months of bills for an internet that had never been connected, it's pure entertainment.

The staff have the 'thousand yard stare' from the constant abuse they get.

I have rented thousands of condos in Bkk so have more insight than most re internet providers.

True tends to dip a lot, but their customer service is by far the best, when their website chat actually works, not something I would bet on for any Thai website, just look at the mess of this site's classifieds now!

True will ask for 6 months up front at the end of the 1st month if you don't have a WP,  then month 7 you go back to a rolling contract.

I know a lot of people moved to AIS and found it more stable than True, however AIS lost the Premier League football, so a percentage have jumped ship to True, who have the EPL in English as a 199 baht add-on.

3BB seems to have good speeds and stable, but get slated for customer care.

The rest have such a small market share that I couldn't make a valid assessment with the feedback I get for those.

At the end of the day most speeds are local anyway, international connections are a fraction of the Thai connections, hence the issues people have with streaming and games, unless you have a massive speed here, your international connection will be rubbish.
Currently on TOT 30 meg fiber (it was the only provider available at our new house), in Thailand it is 30 meg, internationally, best I ever got was 8.4 meg. 

Why are there so many apologists always rolling out the 'they must be in a desperate situation to do that work / be in that life? 

Complete nonsense, everyone has a choice, they could get regular work, just too lazy.

I have met a few bg's that are married/dating western guys, non of them had a suck d**k or die story, it was a career choice for all of them.

What is it with web owners here testing sites live!!!

Typical for Thailand, don't spend money and expect people to just absorb it and come back like idiots, that doesn't happen in the real world.

Just in case TV actually gives a sh1t, here's how it's done in the real world, copy your site, or a percentage of it to a development server, make changes, test and debug, when it works, transfer the changes to the live site.
Total down time would be an hour in the middle of the night and practically no one down time.
We used to use the classifieds and paid ads, that will never happen again.

You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you...

17 minutes ago, aidon said:

I'm afraid you are absolutely wrong, the Hotel ACT states that any rentals for less than one month contravene the hotel act not that you can rent a condominium in a residential building for more than 30 days.

Sorry but that statement doesn't make sense, you are saying you can't rent a condo for more than 30 days? so no 3 month, 6 month or one year rentals?

Maybe it's just me but that sounds bizarre.

Quote

And yes we do know because the Administration Arm of the government has helped us pursue people illegally using our condominium to rent both daily and monthly. And it has far reaching effects such as people illegally using the premises being banned from the premises, juristic persons and committee being removed and never allowed to serve on a committee or as a juristic position in ANY building ever again, individual condo owners being charged with using the condo room illegally in the courts, paying taxes as hotels do (back dated for 10 years) and personal income tax and penalties.

 

So it is quite severe if there is evidence to prosecute.

Good luck with that, let me know when the 1st person prosecuted with 10 yrs back taxes for renting their room for a month happens.

You sound a bit  manic " helped us pursue people illegally using our condominium to rent both daily and monthly"

Nothing on TV then...

Anyway it's Thailand, all laws are open to interpenetration and most Thais simply couldn't be bothered, nothing was happening in your case until you got all hall monitor about it.