Bushcraft

You're right of course Idefix - just taking a straight average to arrive at an income figure is equally meaningless anywhere, it tells nobody anything useful.

Yep, taking a straight average in a country with such a huge disparity between rich and poor is pretty meaningless.

And Hebrew is a man's drink.

Not a buffet, but Nicky's on Soi Buakhow is hard to beat.

Thanks for the pics firth, brilliant one of the Belfast and Tower Bridge. I'm a Londoner and love the city. Wherever you go, you're surrounded by history.

Good pics of these splendid troops. People tend to forget that their role is not just ceremonial, they are Guards, have a very longstanding regimental tradition of bravery and resilience, and are proud, tough chaps.

Having lived in both for expended periods, I much prefer a house to a condo because I can walk directly out of the house and onto the street, or sit outside on the porch at ground level, interact with passing neighbours etc. whenever I choose. Small size may have a lot to do with it, but I found that after a few weeks, my studio condo felt more like a hotel room than a home, i.e. a box up in the sky, a pigeon-hole.

And watch it chaps, in the early hours the police are out in force pulling over all scooters to breathalyse people and cash in - as I know to my cost. Be bloody careful about drink-driving over Songkran.

Great set of pics, my old stamping ground when I lived in East Sheen and Twickenham. And Eel Pie Island, that brings back memories.

Bloody ludicrous, a laughable prohibition that is not even uniformly enforced. Yesterday afternoon Soi 6 was half-closed with drinks being served only inside, with shutters down, in some bars, while others remained fully open and only made a concession by having no music. The mamasan in the bar I was in had a police visit because her shutters were up, was threatened with a 20,000 Baht fine if they didn't come down at once. The bar opposite was busy with farang and girls sitting outside and drinking. Go figure. How the hell anybody thinks that curtailing the sales prospects of bars and agogos

I've eaten there several times and can recommend the food, though I think prices are on the high side (why are pasta dishes generally so expensive in Thailand?). The owner (Frenchman named Marcel) cooks a lot of the food himself, he deserves to be busier than he is.

Agree with Jacko, Cabbages & Condoms is a great place to take a girl you particularly like.

Andrew Murray is famous in England for his retort that he would like anybody but England to win the (last?) World Cup. At a stroke that no doubt alienated hundreds of thousands of potential supporters in England (incl. yours truly, who lost all interest in him thereafter) who thought that a Briton was actually kith and kin to them. For all his prowess at knocking a ball over a net, that comment was one of a narrow-minded, callow provincial. It's divisive, and division is not what made the UK great in its day, or will in the future.

No Tom, I reckon that even if I wanted to visit Brazil, which I don't, and were willing to afford the cost, I reckon I can see the action best on TV from the comfort of Pattaya. As for why, well none of my family are from Scotland, but England and Scotland have been a political and social, not to mention military union for a long time, and when I were a lad there was unquestioned solidarity between the two, at least in English eyes. The fact that this perceived union has come increasingly into question north of the border is, to my mind, indeed a bit of a pity though understandable for dred

It's not that important, but a bit of a pity. For my own part, if England failed to qualify but Scotland did (as has happened), it would be unthinkable not to be rooting for Scotland. Or Wales or NI if it applied.

My UK state pension pension has just kicked in, and it's 536 pounds per month (frozen) transferred directly to my bank in Thailand. Could live or rather exist on that here if I absolutely had to, but in the UK? No chance without other sources of income.

Well this is certainly an issue with me too. I tend to withdraw using a card from my bank in Germany. In the last 6 months or so I've found that I can only withdraw 10k rather than any higher amount, as was usual in the past, and have ascribed this not to any new policy on the part of my bank, but to greed for the now 180 Baht that each transaction costs me. Can't answer LDK's question, would like to know too.

Having lived there, I'm very familiar with the so-called "Magic Roundabout" in Hemel Hempstead. It was a brilliant innovation, and works very well. Definitely not for Thais though, it would phase them completely as it takes a bit of common consideration for others plus forethought to negotiate smoothly. IMO a roundabout is not appropriate anyway at the Dolphin intersection, as normal roundabout rules can't be applied there - the traffic pouring off Nua to get to Beach Road or Naklua all the time, i.e. having right of way, would hardly ever let traffic coming from 2nd Road onto the roundabout

Put Fah and myself down for Camillian whenever it's planned - I guess there will be fewer takers for this as it's a way down the road. We can take three in addition in the pickup, and about 6 on the back as well if needed ..

Reminds me of the chap who swallowed a sheep's eyeball during a meal on holiday in Morocco. It became lodged in his intestine and he consulted a doctor when back home, as he was in great pain. The doctor told him he would have to shove a proctoscope up his anus to see what the problem was, and the chap freaked out with fear, he became a gibbering wreck and it took the doctor the best part of an hour to get him to lie down on his front and spread his legs .. When the doc finally got the proctoscope inserted, he spotted the eyeball and said in exasperation: "Now Mr Brown, we really must st

Paps got it right, we went to the Beer Garden as usual and found it packed even at 6.50 pm, asked a waitress I know well to let me know as soon as someone at an outside table checkbinned, then settled down with a beer at the bar for freelancers. Sure enough, 20 minutes later I was told there was a table becoming free, and we watched the fireworks from an excellent position after enjoying a meal. Perfect. Recommended.

Fah and I will take part again, just let us know what we can do and when, we'll be there. No question.

I've had my fair share of incompetents and slipshod work as well, apart from a casual attitude to punctuality. Now I won't take the next-best worker who claims he can do everything, as they tend to. There are very capable, hard-working and honest Thai electricians, plumbers and all-rounders out there, but the secret to finding them is personal recommendation by people who have similar standards to yours. That plus having a live-in who brooks no nonsense from workers and tells them in their own lingo what is expected of them for how much. I can recommend a very good bloke for electrical wor

You're right Tom, this is very much a Pattaya thing and it's maddening. Preventing left turns on red is madness anyway, it's a very sensible arrangement - provided that people are not stupid enough to cause hazards, jams or accidents by insisting on them when unsafe or inappropriate - but then I suppose that's where my argument breaks down because TIT.

The problem, as somebody pointed out, is that if you obey the sign and stay waiting in the left lane you will inevitably have a line of irate Thais behind you who have no intention of obeying it. I was once pressured by this into risking the left turn from 3rd Road into Tai on red, and was promptly stopped and booked by the copper concealed around the corner, while the rest whizzed past. Really galling. I think it's madness to have imposed this ban at that junction anyway, the left resp. right turn on red principle really helps to keep traffic flowing and should be adopted everywhere (as in