Brewsta

OMG

Time to move to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, or Cambodia, who all encourage foreign devils to invest in land.

It reminds me of Switzerland in the 1960's when the German hordes were stealing our beautiful Alps.

Fortunately, that huge injection of capital made our poor little country, with fewer inhabitants than Bangkok, so rich that we can now buy it back at a discount.

That off course will never happen in Thailand, because the money from land sales will go straight to Switzerland.

The big difference is that we invested our windfall gains in a world class education system and lean, efficient bureaucracy, while Thailand invests it in Mercedes-Benz's, Swiss watches and smart London apartments.

Please keep up the good work..

The inmates are running the asylum.

slapout, on 2009-12-20 18:55:08, said:

Very well said!
In fact, Abe would have been Amazed to find that he has received more positive plaudits on these pages than anyone else since the thread was started. Deservedly so, in my view.
Abe came from Newquay in Cornwall, a lovely agricultural part of UK and always related to the Royal Navy. He served for 6 years in the Fleet Air Arm of the RN, which of course led to his later employment in the Middle East (Oman, I think) on aircraft maintenance. I've learned since his death that he was a radio specialist.
When I first had the privilege to drink with him some 15 years ago in CM, he came here on holidays from that job and was a totally contented chap, as indeed he seemed to remain all his days.
After one particularly heavy session he was just ONE day late back to Bkk to fly back to the job. Some 'jumped up' young new manager fired him on the spot, and without any argument, Abe returned to CM to resume drinking. I heard that the company soon fired the young manager for firing Abe, who was so well regarded that they made attempts to trace him in CM and get him back. He heard of this, muttered something unintelligible into his beard, and carried on drinking.
Some months later his funds were failing and he moved into a cheaper and less secure guest house. There, he was robbed of everything including his passport. Undeterred, he carried on with the booze and the books. He was contented at Blue Sky, where the Thai lady owner is to be praised for her kind support of him.
His sad decline from that point has been accurately reported here. 'American Billy', DH and Chris Ashton were indeed the friends in need when they were needed most.
However, praise should also be given to English financial advisor Martin Chappell, who took on Abe as a 'charity case' and discovered that he was eligible for a small RN pension. Martin, who still visits CM, stands head and shoulders over the others of this ilk, and Abe was not his only low (or no) budget deserving case. Another very good hearted Brit, Paul Sizeland (then No 2 at the Bkk Embassy and now sadly retired) promptly issued Abe with a replacement passport and the wonderful Panita (still at the UK Consulate here) found him the place at McKean. Abe was an unusual long term care case there, and unique in McKean history at that time. Not only did he totally justify his place by totally dropping the drink, his presence was such a success that McKean now have a 3 stage 'hospice' plan at very low rates for people needing special long term care. (PM me for details, giving your own e-mail, if you'd like more on that).
Thanks to his beard and always-pleasant attitude, Abe was known to one and all there as 'Santa Claus'.
The funeral ceremony on Dec 21st was attended by almost 20, including British, Americans and Thais who had been 'called to the bar' during the era discussed here by other posters. The service was organised by McKean Deputy Director Heather Smith and conducted in Thai by the Chaplain, Aj Pongsawat Patoonjai.
Glenn Croston represented the new CM sub-branch of the Royal British Legion, laid a union flag drape on the coffin, presented a wreath, made a short address and played appropriate music.
A verbal tribute was made by Chris Ashton, who thanked McKean for their excellent care of Abe. DH sang 'What's the Life of a Man', an appropriate trad English folk song from the west country.
In short, our good old friend could not have been given a better send off to a better place.
It is a sobering thought (!) that when his passport was passed to the Consulate, it was noticed that he was just 59 years old.

There is a very simple way to prevent this. First you need two bank accounts, most banks allow a maximum of five. Then you need to set up internet banking for these accounts. Keep all your money in one account and have no ATM card for this account. Then on your second account have an ATM card, keep a few thousands Baht in this account (domestic shopping level). Top this card up as needed by doing a transfer from your main account. This way the most you can ever lose is a few thousand Baht. I use the SCB for this. Incidentally, I use my English Natwest account to top up my SCB account so yet a further layer of protection.

I am with the SCB. I pay 10 baht a month to receive a SMS after every transaction.

chooka, on 2012-01-20 11:49:25, said:

Stay away from PATONG more like it

I was about to wade in, then decided that it's furry muff (fair enough)! we are all individuals, with experiences, opinions and feelings! I haven't had my drinks spiked, but I have had my drinking experience spiked - and it's hard to turn down a shot or shooter (whether in Thailand or not!).

NamKangMan, on 2012-01-20 20:08:35, said:

Please don`t take all this too seriously.

As I have mentioned previously, some events happen and not always under our control. It`s like saying that I won`t be knocked down by a truck tomorrow. Who knows? I might, if I`m in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Read my previous posts on this subject and you will see that I`m not disagreeing with you.

My message is; just use common sense and be careful out there, never drop your guard. That`s about all we can do.