joekicker

"Almost all". I always loved that phrase. .

Well tsk tsk. Breaking news: WTO rules 'Boeing got huge illegal aid' European planemaker Airbus said Monday that the World Trade Organization had confirmed that its US rival Boeing received "massive and illegal government subsidies for many decades''. Earlier, the WTO confirmed it had handed a confidential ruling on the dispute to the United States and the European Union, parties to a seven-year battle over state aid to the world's top two civil aircraft firms. "Today's World Trade Organization decision confirms Boeing has received massive and illegal government subsidies for many decades, and they have had a significant and ongoing negative effect on European industry,'' Airbus said. Airbus has received loans from European states to help it compete in the airliner market, but claims Boeing received far larger support in the form of cash from the Pentagon, NASA and the state of Washington. "The WTO can be expected to say that the billions in subsidies benefiting Boeing have a significantly greater distortive effect than the Reimbursable Loans to Airbus,'' the European firm's statement said. Much more to come, I presume. .

Philosophy 101: Women have half the money, all the pussy. When a guy starts out his night he hopes he will get lucky. The girl already knows. .

I believe the key here -- pretty easy for some -- is to make her aware that she's part of the whole money process. In my case, my wife does pretty well all the family finances, and be sure she can spot a bargain. It's always easy to miss the bargains if you're spending other people's money, as the accountant keeps telling me about expense accounts, and I keep ignoring him about. .

No sir, this is really misleading or wrong as others say. First, though, most Thai establishments don't have the same fine-and-go system as farang-oriented bars. But if Thais go to such places, they pay what everyone pays. Thais pay WAY more "just to get a shag" than farang in Pattaya. There are numerous reports right on this forum of clubs in Pattaya but particularly Bangkok that prove that. The bars and clubs in Bangkok that are the (very) rough equivalent of Pattaya/Bangkok farang bars USUALLY have much higher prices on both in-club and extra outside activities than Pattaya bars. As Gary says, that's because the girls are better in almost all ways. They know their value and charge accordingly, to be very crass about it. There are places in Thailand below Pattaya, but Pattaya is near the bottom. Most Thais wonder why farang put up with the quality of girls in Pattaya. And pay accordingly. .

Don't know about your foursome but the advance parties began at least last September that I know of. In a way, I think, there's almost always an advance party here. .

Not on a home phone it's not. .

Good point in an evolving thread. "High class" Thais, butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, their public conduct is impeccable. They speak Thai a lot, though. .

Google Chrome has a grazillion add ons including ad blockers and email gizmos. The main page in English for "extensions" Blog with reviews of new and good ones

How silly of you. Google could have been your friend so easily. Here's the US tax department's form and instructions for employees earning tips. It's the government so there's a lot more than this, of course. .

Mmmm, not exactly. You still use your AT&T or whatever regular home or mobile phone. You subscribe to them. They give you numbers to call on your phone, which connect to Teelak in Thailand, say. You pay up front (like $5) and the call comes out of that. At 2 cents a minutes (less, in fact) that's a lot of yakking. The advantage over phone cards is that there's no extra fees - no service charges, hang-up charges, activation charges, etc. If you call once in a while, use a card. If you call often, use a service like Rebtel/Thaitel. NOTE There are MANY services, but I have personally had terrific, fault-free service from both these for several years. .

Or subscribe to services like Rebtel or Thaitel which give rates of around 2 cents to Thailand, with other countries in line with that. The Philippines is always expensive - but relatively. US phone companies apparently don't want to make overseas calls, their prices are not close to competitive. .

Yes, and I specified the *post* might be trolling, not the postER who is not personally a troll. Actually any decent poster will post a troll topic or post once in a while - getting a reaction is sometimes a hoot. .

Are you claiming my statement was incorrect? Or what? I made a simple, single-sentence declaration. It's right or wrong. I claim it's right. If not, it'd be ever so simple to prove it's wrong. Bet you can't. .

I SPECIFICALLY said I didn't know, but SPECIFICALLY stated that a lot of people want it itemised and SPECIFICALLY stated that a lot of places, the majority of Thai hotels and restaurants for starters, DO itemise the bill. Of course a lot of them weasel it, of course they do -- the very origin of "++" is weaseling. Pretty well all of them do. I believe that most places that charge VAT are required by law to print that on the receipt. Not positive though. Still, it's on pretty well every bill I get -- the cost, the VAT, the total. Pretty well all hotels and restaurants itemise the two taxes and the VAT as well. As for me, I say again I don't really care. What I said. Some people (you) charge "all in" and some people itemise. Both of these are great systems, my opinion. The ones that get up my nose are the ones that surprise you with it, "Oh, and you owe another 10% ...". .

Actually, in the United States, my wife and her Thai friends often speak in English because there's a non-Thai WOMAN present. They absolutely don't include me, and when I listen for a minute, I can't wait to get away, it is just as "girlie" and uninteresting as when they speak Thai. The only thing you've missed, LD, is that this happens everywhere, every day. There's nothing Thai about it. Number one, people generally speak their own language when they can. Number two, girls pretty much always yack away in Girl, and boys pretty well always speak in Men. .

I hope not. You shouldn't change what is working well for you. But on the other hand - If your current browser isn't doing well, then you should change and consider the alternatives - You can install half a dozen browsers, try them out one by one, see what you like What jacko said about installing any new program - pay attention when it stops and asks you a question. Other than that, there are at least a dozen very good browsers, one or some of which you might not like at all. .

LD, seriously - if you think this is a Thai trait, you haven't got out much. Turn it around. You want a friend there to speak English to. heh. Think what the laddies will be saying then - "Every time we go out, those two sit there and yak in Angrit and never try to join in the main conversation in Thai". I have to wonder if this is troll bait. .

The big difference here is that consumers use all of their soap and toothpaste and go out for more. They MUST have "new" and "improved" sounds good, why not? In the most extreme cases, consumers trade in their Fords or Hyundais, which they planned on from the start. 737s are not consumed. They are not traded in. "New" MIGHT work. "Improved" probably won't, but will occasionally work. "New and improved" is stupid. .

The correct answer is "maybe". It doesn't depend on anyone else, it depends on YOU. Board runs from 5,000 to 220,000 baht a month. Food runs from 100 baht (or less) to 2,500 baht a day. Going out to drink will cost YOU 500 baht up to oh, say, 5,000 baht a day - EXclusive of girls. It depends entirely on you. .

Or maybe it will. Who cares, really? I'm a CEO and I get a $22 million handshake either way. .

I thought this was the funny section. That's a serious statement up there, totally factual. .

If you took poverty and Africans out of the equation then malaria statistics would look very different. If you took Southeast Asia out of the equation, then dengue statistics would look very different. If you took batted runs out of the equation, cricket bowling statistics would look different. I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Aids/HIV generally speaking requires blood-to-blood transfer, and anal sex is a terrific way to initiate that. No mystery about that, and I'm unaware of any denial. Big Pharma makes gazillions out of malaria and dengue and the common cold and short-sightedness and liver transplants. There *is* an Aids industry, of course there is - although nothing as big or organised as the cancer industry. But profits say nothing about the event. Big Pharma makes a lot more from the common cold than Aids. Of course if you removed fatigue and social interaction from the equation, then statistics on the common cold would look very different. .

Yes, isn't that the worst of both worlds? I'm sure would-be plane buyers are thrilled to know that Boeing MIGHT make more 737s or MIGHT make a whole new airplane and throw 737s under the bus. Very clear. A visionary, decision-making company you feel very confident about doing business with. .

Trust them how, or with what? .