Rimmer

I've done it many times as I haven't had a drink since 2010. You will usually find that just about any bar you go in will have a few customers who don't drink alcohol - in fact you would be surprised how many recovering alcoholics there are in Pattaya, some of whom still frequent the bars.

Sometimes, the most macho guys are sitting there nursing a coke, or an orange juice or even a bottle of water.

The bars in the Walking Street area generally charge you as much for a Coke or a water as they do for a beer - and the profit margin is much higher - so it doesn't bother them, but in most other areas, soft drinks are a fair bit cheaper than alcoholic drinks. If I am charged a low price for my Coke, I compensate by buying the girls more drinks, as the bars aren't run for my cheap pleasure.

Even if the price is quite high, you find that you drink at a much slower rate than you would if you were on beer or whisky. There's only so many cans of Coke or bottles of water you can stomach. So again, I buy the girls a drink instead and everyone is happy.

As far as the girls looking down on you is concerned; well as stated above if you buy them a drink they will only have good thoughts, but more than that, in my experience, most girls admire a man who doesn't drink. It is a sign of strength and a welcome relief from all the drunken bums who try to paw them at the first opportunity.

Go for it - believe it or not you can get into the mood of things and have a really great time without imbibing, and if you use the money you save to entertain a couple of girls, you won't go too far wrong.

londoedan, on 2012-02-22 09:46:15, said:

Yeah, looks like it. OK, let's DO IT AGAIN!!!

Need a sticky w/ a FAQ (or FAI [frequently asserted ignorance] or FAHA [frequently asserted hot air] )in this forum to avoid so much repetition of ignorance and hot air. Something like this:

SONGKRAN FAQ

Q: It stops at 6 PM
A. No, it doesn't stop at 6 PM. Try 11 PM.

Q: Motorcyclists are safe cause they wear helmets.
A. No, roads are slippery, cyclists get hit w/ blasts of water and ice making control difficult, their shields get pasted over so they can't see. It's dangerous. Have you had a motorbike accident yet? No?

Q. Just ride w/ your car windows rolled up.
A. No, the windshield gets powdered and pasted so the driver can't see. Repeat this 10 times: Some of us don't own cars. Some of our armchair Songkran experts here do drive around in their cars, though. They don't really participate, just watch.

Q: It's harmless fun
A: No, vehicle accidents do happen because of the water, powder, and ice throwing. One TV member almost lost an eye to infection. Eye and ear infections are not uncommon. Much of the water is quite filthy.

Q: It's a Thai custom, farangs should have no say
A: Thais force the farangs to participate whether they want to or not; ergo, they have a say

Q: If you don't like Songkran, you're a stick-in-the-mud
A: Lots of cool people don't like the inconvenience of Pattaya Songkran for SEVEN days. We live here and just need to live our lives. TWO days at most would be fine.

Q: Saying anything against Songkran is a whinge
A: Facts are facts. And if one has the right to chortle and gurgle in praise of Songkran, and jerk off over a water gun, one also has the right to express one's legitimate displeasure at being forcibly inconvenienced and having to spend time and money leaving the area.

Q: Where is the best place to spend Songkran?
A: Vietnam, Phils, Malaysia, definitely, in our neighborhood. Cambodia has got a favorable mention.

Q: Why does Songkran last so long in Pattaya?
A. It is usually started early by mobs of young farang idiots in the bars, notably in Sois 7 and 8. These hooligans live for Songkran season. Some will be posting in this thread. The vast Pattaya bar scene isn't noted for polite, considerate, civilized behavior; consider the type of workers and customers; reality strongly asserts itself at Songkran.

Q: Songran is a good laugh
A: Lots of people, notably those living here, aren't laughing. We've been through multiple Songkrans; we know quite well what it's all about. Women don't think being groped is a good laugh either.

Q: Why is it hooliganism?
A. Simple because the hooligans force everyone to participate whether they want to or not. And they attempt to injure their victims if possible. Hooligan-on-hooligan would be fine, have at it.

Q: What can those who DON'T want to participate do to avoid Songkran?
A: Hole up for a week, go out only late at night on furtive expeditions to Foodland or Best; find a town on a different Songkran cycle; leave Thailand. That's ALL.

Q: If you don't like Songkran, you don't like Pattaya and Thailand
A. No, most of us living here like Pattaya and Thailand. We don't have to like EVERYTHING though. Me, I'm a big supporter of Pattaya, love the city except for the traffic and SONGKRAN.

Q: But I get to see women in wet T-shirts at Songrkan
A. You can see plenty of those with no T-shirts in the go-go bars anytime. No big deal.

pattayadingo, on 2012-02-04 11:45:19, said:

in my opinion being european has brought Britain to its knees
the sooner we get out, the better.......

Sorry, but you don't get it.  Who get's hurt here?  How about the relatives?  The mother who now has to come to Thialand to recover the body of her son.  The kids and wives who've now lost the main bread winner in the family.  The son who now has to grow up without a father.

And there's still the issue of medical care.  If you survive, and are a vegetable, whose going to pay for the bills?  This is one big reason helmet laws were put into place in California.  The huge medical costs for brain dead bike riders.  Citizens who ride responsibly should'nt have to reach into their pockets for those who don't.

Of course, those 300B helemets aren't going to do a thing to help you anyway.  A proper, full face helmet is they only way to go.

At my snooker hall we have a private room (nice and quiet), same girl brings our beer and acts like a referee. We always give her a few baht tip. Now we are like her family, she goes out and buys herself some ghin kow with here own money and offers us to eat some with her. If l make a bad shot, which is often, she laughs her head off, but l must add, we do not act like hi-so farangs but have a good laugh with her. Yep, she is happy with a tip from us.

Sorry to say this but I feel the people who posted that they don't get any extra smiles or service on their next return seem to be tipping for gain. If you want to tip someone just do it because you want to and NOT so YOU gain from your next visit.

When I first came to Thailand I had read in the Lonely Planet Book etc. that tipping was not necessary however when I got here i just couldn't help it, when I got good service I showed my appreciation by giving a tip even if I never planned to come back to the place. It got a smile at that moment and a friendly gesture and that is good enough for me.

Also if you figure the hours these people put in for the small salary they get, if you have a few extra bob then why not help them out?

Rimmer, on 2012-01-04 23:02:44, said:

So true. And that includes the builders.

But ask us about beer and pizza ......

It disturbs me to see so many home owners discussing all of the things they have done to fortify their homes against intruders. Home security is no more something that should be undertaken by untrained individuals than neurosurgery or legal litigation. That being said, since I know so many will ignore this advice, here some ways to achieve at least a basic level of safety in your home:
Go to the outermost perimeter of your property and see how you would get in if you lost your keys. Can you easily climb or the wall or fence or jump over it from the back of a vehicle? Make it higher. If you don't want to add more bricks or other man-made materials, build a trellis and plant thorny vines on it. Where can you place CCTV cameras and motion sensor lights to give total visual coverage of the outside of the wall?  Is the lock on the front gate sufficient? Do you keep it locked all of the time?

Now go inside the wall. How easy is it for a thief or attacker to get from here to your house? Are there any barriers to slow his progress? In addition to electronic devices, you can easily use decorative items to present obstacles to make a quick dash more difficult. Check to see if there a lot of places for someone to hide en route to your house. If your system notifies you that someone is on your property, you need to be able to see where he is so that you can react correctly in getting your loved ones to somewhere safe within your home. If there are bushes next to windows and doors, they should be moved as this gives a criminal the cover he requires while he makes his entry into the house.

Be sure that all outside doors are solid wood and not the paneled kind. They should be hung with the hinges inside with steel hinge screws at least 7cm long. Amazingly, most door hinges are brass and only 3 cm long, which can easily be pulled out of the door frame with little effort. If there are windows or a mail slot in the door itself or windows nearby, install a double key dead bolt and keep the key out of sight far away from the door. If there are no windows near the door, install a peephole so that you can always see who is at your door before you open it. Never hide a spare key outside, no matter how clever you think your hiding place may be. In this case, the thieves are the professionals and convincing yourself that because they are scum they must be stupid is a big mistake. If you have any windows with louvers, glue all of the glass slats in place.

Put a smoke detector and fire extinguisher in every room. If you have steel bars on your windows and doors, be sure that one set in every room can be opened quickly with your eyes closed in case of fire. Thinking you can make a successful run through the flames to the front door is an often fatal mistake. Upstairs rooms should have an emergency chain ladder that reaches the ground.

Prepare a "safe room" where you and your family can hide should intruders get through your defenses. It doesn't have to be the high tech kind like in the Jody Foster movie "Panic Room" but it should include a lot of the same elements. You can make one of the bedrooms more secure by adding a rebar mesh on the hallway wall and then plastering over it. Replace the hollow door with a solid one set into a heavy duty frame, steel would be best, hung with the same 7cm steel screws as the outer doors. Install a deadbolt lock. Make sure there is always a charged mobile phone in the room, along with any emergency medications and drinking water for family member who might have need in case of high stress situations (like heart, high blood pressure or asthma meds).

And lastly, don't be a hero like you see in the movies. In those, the man of the house, after his wife wakes from hearing a strange noise, grabs his baseball bat or golf club and volunteers to check it out. He invariably gets killed. If you are the victim of a home invasion in Thailand, it is very likely the bad guys are high on yaa baa (speed) which will make them faster, angrier and less likely to feel pain than you. I have had friends in their 50's and 60's tell me about how confident they are about taking on "some punk" who breaks into their home because they trained in martial arts twenty years ago. I also had training and am proficient with small arms and other fighting weapons. Forget about it! My Wing Chun instructor said the first option is always to get away from the danger if possible.The best advice I can give is to spend those precious minutes getting your family safe. Let them take your stuff which can be replaced. Your life or those of your loved ones cannot.

Thai Film Wins Best Actor Award and Honorable Mention at US Film Festival


Byron Bishop

LOS ANGELES: -- A short Thai-language film has won an honorable mention and its leading male actor, Byron Bishop, has been named Best Actor in a Foreign Film in the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.

Scripted, Produced, and directed by a young Thai director, Chaya Supannarat, “Unfaithfully Yours” is twelve minutes of twisting plots and unexpected turns, with English subtitles.

Bangkok-based US actor, Byron Bishop, said of his Best Actor award: ‘I am very proud to have won this international award for a Thai language film.”

“The film’s success demonstrates the strength of the next generation of highly talented filmmakers and production teams we are able to work with in Thailand. Chaya is a great director and one to watch for the future”.

Chaya Supannarat said: “I was in Bangkok when I received the email from the Film Festival. I was so scared when I read the word “festival”, and I didn't want to open it because I was too nervous. But I got lucky this time!”

“My lead actor, Byron Bishop won the best actor award and I am so happy for him. He did a great job and I couldn't be happier. In fact everybody did a great job and that's why we have earned our prize.”

NOTES
The Los Angeles Reel Film Festival was founded by a group of industry professionals whose aim is to seek out, acknowledge and award talented independent filmmakers and writers who may not receive the recognition they deserve through the more commercial film festivals. The Festival recognizes filmmakers and screenwriters who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity.
Byron Bishop is a model and actor, and has appeared in many international commercials, Thai language TV programmes and international films including Shadows, Mysterious Island, and King Maker.

He is married to former Miss Thailand World, model and actress, Cindy Burbridge.


-- thaivisa.com 2010-10-02

Zone 2 Parking Lot at Airport Closed off by Armed Men

The first floor of Zone 2 parking lot at the Suvarnabhumi Airport has been closed off by armed men who arrived at around 4 A.M. this morning. The problem stems from a concession dispute after a new concessionaire won the rights to manage the parking lot, but the previous concessionaire refuses to vacate the premises. Around 40 armed men dressed in black took over the parking lot early this morning and closed it down. Police are on the scene and are reportedly negotiating with the perpetrators.

Airport officials, however, insist that airport services are open for business as usual. Passengers are advised to avoid the Zone 2 parking lot.


-- Tan Network 2010-10-01

This is scary, an American company that can spell doughnut, they lost the plot on the other two words though.

^crossing street in thailand is like playing frogger.  

Bank Bills 3-Year-Old Bt2 Million - by Mistake

PHITSANULOK: The Government Savings Bank has announced that the two million baht worth of debt bill sent to a three-year-old boy in Phitsanulok province was a mistake made by bank officials who did not double check the information.

After receiving documents from the Bang Buathong branch, the Phitsanulok branch of the Government Savings Bank sent a debt bill of more than 2.5 million baht to Nopsin Boonkerd, a three-year-old boy in Phitsanulok's Muang district.

The boy's family was shocked upon receiving the bill and Nopsin's mother Suriya Plianprapai contacted police and insisted the family does not owe two million baht to the bank.

She believes conmen may have used her son's name and forged documents to obtain the bank loan like many other cases recently reported in the news.

Suriya disclosed that the Government Savings Bank has notified her family of the mistake made by bank officials who did not double check all the necessary information.


-- Tan Network 2010-09-29

If George or another HIGH LEVEL administrator can get in contact with this man.  I wil pay his son's school and uniform fee's for next term.  George please IM me.

HONEST CABBIE
Honest cabbie rewarded
By The Nation



A kind-hearted amputee taxi driver has returned a purse left in his car with US$6,500 and Bt26,000 in it to a Burmese passenger, Police Radio FM 91 station executive Jaiton Sriwangpol said yesterday.

After giving a lift to customers in the Sukhumvit area and finding the purse in his taxi, Duan Sosarn, 34, whose right hand was amputated, gave the purse and cash to the radio station on Sunday evening to try to find the passenger, who the station then located as Myo Htut, from Burma.

Duan said although he had to work hard to pay school fees for his nine-year-old son, he would not have felt right if he had kept the cash forgotten by the customer. He wanted to use the money he earned and be a good example to his son.

National Police Chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree praised the cabbie for his action and said the police would present him with a shield of honour on October 13, National Police Day.


-- The Nation 2010-09-28