joekicker

From a friend. I thought Americans here might like to know. xxxxxxxxxx Americans now are privileged to be able to line up in order to line up for the expensive US "services" at the embassy in Bangkok (passport, birth certificates, etc etc). Of course it's only done for us, because we deserve the best. Jeez. Now taxes are going to spin doctors, too! Yeah, I know, it's crowded in there sometimes, but come ON! This is Thailand. New Appointment System for ACS Services Begins in March http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/embassy/wwc/r...s-in-march.html Here are your orders, proles: In order to serve you better, hahahahaha just kidding but let me repeat that: In order to serve you better, beginning this month, the American Citizen Services section introduce an appointment system for all non-emergency services to include notarials, passport services, and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. We will continue to provide emergency services on an as needed basis. Appointments can be made online at: https://evisaforms.state.gov/acs/default.as...K&appcode=1 This link can also be accessed by going to our website at: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service.html We will not be able to book appointments over the phone. The purpose of the appointment system is to cut wait times for services and allow us to provide you with better service as demand for our services continues to grow. As we transition to the new appointment system, we will continue to accept walk-ins, but will give priority to those who made appointments online. Thank you for your understanding as we work to provide you with a higher standard of service.

It's a perfectly good hotel, what you'd think of as a business hotel - nothing wonderful, nothing very bad, sort of faceless. First class definitely but not outstanding. It's close to transportation, which is good because there's nowhere around you'd want to walk to. It's not on the river, it's not near shopping. There is nightlife within a mile, but it's all Thai - discos and the like. You're certainly welcome, and lots of foreign residents go there, but it's not the place that visitors often go.

No. Usury is outlawed and rarely exists in any banking system anywhere any more. Although I certainly think you can make a pretty good argument about usury in the North American (and more so Thailand) credit-card business under some circs. Max out your credit card, miss the next payment, and see what I mean. Sub-prime mortgages were indefensible in my view, and attracted the smarmiest salesmen who probably could only get jobs in Thailand selling Pattaya time-shares -- but not because they were usury. This is the second time I've seen this in a couple of hours. I saw it a couple of days ago in some rag and I wonder if that's where everyone is getting it -- a meme running rampant. It's wrong. Islam forbids charging interest - period. It has NOTHING to do with the state of the recipient of a loan. Still, there are Muslim banks, including one with Bangkok headquarters, and they make money by accumulating money and using it to make loans. And they foreclose on homes and businesses, etc. But they do NOT charge interest including on loans to the emir of Qatar, say.

Whereas the Democrats will end the war like the last time they ended a war in, um.... remind me again when and how that happened? Your faith is touching but the Democrats really have no choice about "the war machine" and funding it. The only choice is WHERE to fund it and neither of them has the guts to pull out of Iraq, when it comes down to it. But the funding of the war machine will increase under a Democrat president. Well, I suppose that's one way to state it. According to the programmes and promises of the two leading Democrat politicians, you can look forward to higher taxes, period. YOU can look forward to it, for example. That's their promise, that YOU will pay more. ??? There is no such thing as "some way," but only one way. It's not like the government has money and makes money and can decide what to do. There is only ONE WAY that governments get money. There is only ONE WAY to get more in a short time. No one has to "figure out" anything. IF there is an additional entitlement programme like health care, THEN tax-collection will increase. Even geeks understand binary choices and IF... THEN.

I disagree. It seems to me that with your teelak's help you've decided and know exactly what is right. Don't beat yourself up about it, either. If it feels right, then it is. The mafia controllers are real, and the disabled are real. You've thought about it, and reached your decision, so it's certainly right for you. Seriously. If you feel you're doing the right thing here, then you are.

In doing this you fully realise that all three of these people are equally prized by the mafia who enslaved and control them, though. Right?

As the Buddha said, ginseng, the only thing constant is change. You can definitely count on change -- except from a baht bus driver of course.

There is indeed an active project to move the capital from Bangkok. Scheduled completion is the week after the opening of one of those legal casinos, and the year before the first ship through the Kra Canal.

Heh. Post of the week.

The rarest traffic sign in Thailand is "No left turn on red light". I've never seen one, ever. Again: Left turn on a red light is always illegal, unless it is allowed. The two most common ways to allow it is with a green arrow pointing left as part of the light system - or a white-on-blue sign with instructions (in Thai) as close as possible to the intersection, usually tacked up on a pole. There are other ways to explicitly allow a left turn. For example, it is not totally unknown for a municipality to decide unilaterally to allow left turns everywhere, although it's rare. (Pattaya has not done this.) It is very possible, say, that the blue sign will also indicate that left turns are legal only during certain hours - or banned during certain hours. This is probably the cause of the anger of the cop in the OP - because he assumed the farang can't read Thai but his teelak is supposed to be bright enough to do so and help him out. But "I can't read Thai" is not a defence - if you can't read Thai, stop on the red light and wait for green or AT LEAST wait to see if others tell you what to do, for example by honking.

I read what you said but I don't think you meant what you wrote. The wai is initiated (properly) by the lower-status person as you sort of indicate. Who is lower status depends on a whole bunch of stuff (if you think the British are class conscious, you can learn a lot in Thailand). but your doctor probably qualifies and your boss almost certainly. So you wai them. Then you kind of fell apart. Normally, both these people would wai you (back). Similarly, you would wai SOME people who initiate a wai to you, but not all of them. You wouldn't wai back a child or a service girl in a bar, for example. But you would wai back your sister in law for sure, and probably the nurse who greets you into the doctor's office. The advice above is pretty good - in general, in Pattaya, don't wai back. But if you're going to start using these examples like doctor and boss, you're going to get caught up because the rules are many, myriad and for an inexperienced resident or visitor damned complicated.

As stated, it is always illegal unless allowed. In Pattaya, most intersections allow it. There's one up on the big road in Jomtien where you can't, but down the hill I can't think of any others, right offhand at least.

You're nuts to pay for one. This is an area where freeware is arguably better than anything you can buy. Visualizer is very good. Fastone is very good at http://www.faststone.org/ Pixresizer is an old favourite at http://bluefive.pair.com/ If you just want to do a few pics once in a while, The Image Resizer Powertoy from Microsoft is really excellent. It adds a function so that when you right-click on any picture, one of the menu choices is to resize. Very nice: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspx

I believe you have that backwards, Pete. Left turn on a red light is ONLY PERMITTED when there is - a green arrow pointing left (amidst the regular traffic lights) OR - a specific sign, which these days is usually a white-on-blue sign with an arrow ("left turn permitted" in Thai). You'll see such signs in Pattaya at a lot of the intersections, attached to the light/electric post nearest the corner or something like that. Unless there's a green arrow, a full stop is necessary, similar to the laws in North America in places that allow a right turn on red.

Last Saturday, the offshore baht was at 31.05, today it is 30.15. Inside Thailand, last Friday the TT buying rate was 32.32. At Tuesday’s close it was 32.15

A forwarded, very old, Internet spam extolling common sense. How droll. Also, still looking for "London Times" whatever the hell that is. It's not a newspaper, although there is a newspaper named The Times in London, England. If it weren't for the tragic Death of Research we would know that, too.

Dear Walter: I hope you can help me here. The other day I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I was not more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my husband in the bedroom, in the bed with a neighbour lady making mad passionate love to her. I am 32, my husband is 34 and we have been married for twelve years. When I confronted him, he tried to make out that he went into the back yard and heard a lady scream, had come to her rescue but found her unconscious. He'd carried the woman back to our house, laid her in bed, and began CPR. When she awoke she immediately began thanking him and kissing him and he was attempting to break free when I came in. But when I asked him why neither of them had any clothes on, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months. I told him it had to stop or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. I don't feel I can get through to him anymore. Can you please help? Sincerely, Mrs. Sheila Usk Dear Sheila: A car stalling after having been driven such a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the jubilee clips holding the vacuum pipes onto the inlet manifold. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber. I hope this helps. Walter

Mr Lost, just remember -- well, my balls aren't made out of crystal so I don't know about 28 years down the road -- but if you are thinking of going to a place that isn't Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket or something like that, you'll HAVE to speak Thai. You won't have to sound like a native, but you'll have to be able to get along. If you can do that, and if you can get along without having to have a mall and a supermarket with first-quality T-bone steaks, there are some great places to live. I prefer the East (Chanthaburi, Trat, Aranayaprathet) or the West (Kanchanaburi, even Ratchaburi). But there are some very nice places in every region.

Yes, weird. At first, I thought it was an actual question. Ranong is a thriving place, mostly because it's a gateway to Burma.

I could be wrong but I seem to remember from a while back that you have to be a full member before you can see the "choose Avatar" button on the control panel. Since this was your first post, I'd guess you need a bump in membership status first.

As said several times above: They are NOT street beggars, they are forced, trafficked employees of mafia gangs. The gangs are violent, both immoral and amoral, and are armed and dangerous. That said: The people you see are victims and there are many people and many charities that work to help them. There are government departments, foundations, NGOs, charities and volunteer agencies. They run orphanges, job-training, rescue homes and shelters, and a lot more. They NEVER have enough of anything, particularly people but including money. Let's try another way: Every 20 baht you give to the local mafia is 20 baht stolen from people who might be able to help these trafficked people. Once you know this is a mafia scam, which you do: If you give to them, you are supporting the worst, most foul, most horrible kind of criminal activity that trafficks women and children like chattels in conditions that make slavery look attractive. Now, each person has to make up his mind, but you should bear all of the above and more in mind as you make your decision and choice. p.s. There *are* actual beggars in Thailand. Often you will seem them in or near the more reputable wats. I defy any tourist-monger to tell the difference, though -- in beggars or in wats, heh.

Oh, right, another thing: Don't feel guilty. Help someone you know you're helping, and ignore the beggars. You can't save the world, don't feel guilty about that.

Being a Retired Military man and a courteous one at that, I approached a younger woman inside the mall while doing some Christmas shopping. "Excuse me," I said. "I can't seem to find my wife. Can I talk to you for a couple of minutes?" The woman, feeling a bit of compassion for this old looking fellow, said, "Sure, Do you know where your wife might be?" "I have no idea, but every time I talk to a woman with tits like yours, she usually appears out of nowhere."

Have to disagree here for all kinds of reasons. WHEN (not if) the monger population declines in Pattaya, the girls will simply adapt. They adapted when the Japanese left, they adapted when the American air force left, they adapted when the German tourists (they supplied 90% of the mongers of the 1980s) left. The attitude *IS* the Thai attitude of the day, and evolved from all the other things that came before it. The thing is that Thailand has its own set of circumstances, and the girls will always reflect that. They'll always be Thai for example. Example: At the very lowest end of the foreign business, ie Pattaya, these girls weren't even in the trade 30 years ago. Most of them then were from the North, with a very healthy supply from Bangkok. Northeast girls hardly got a look at this business. Those North and Bangkok girls have moved WAY up the scale and their attitude has not got "better", trust me on that. WHEN (not if) Pattaya starts to dry up for mongers, the girls will move on to other places, other jobs, other opportunities. They won't hang around and lower their standards -- at least based on everything that has gone before. They won't go lower than Pattaya. Maybe Burmese or Chinese girls will, but the Thais won't.

Tough call. Almost all beggars, and pretty well all beggars with babies are themselves victiims of beggar-gangs, organised and enforced by little mafiosa. The beggars get none of the money you give. But they DO get paid, although obviously not quite minimum wage, heh. So. If you don't give to them, then they won't even have that horrible, demeaning job. But if you don't give to them, maybe they'll get off their bums and gang up on the beggar-gang organiser and kill the prick and move on to something more lucrative.