chonabot

AngelofDeath, on 2012-05-26 14:33:49, said:

I think you should look at your own English grammar first before you start teaching your Thai friends!

You picture shows an assassin bug. These insects belong in the order Hemiptera and in the family Reduviidae. Species in the genus Triatoma feed on the blood of mammals and humans.

If your newly found friends tend to bite you around the mouth, then they are referred to as kissing bugs.

I moved to Pattaya in 1984 or 5, can't remember exactly.
I loved it. It was great.
I had my own restaurant for years.
Rent for the whole 4 storey shop house on Second Road at the end of Pattaya Land 3 was 10,000 baht a month.
I had a Commodore 64 computer on the bar.
Shots were 35 baht and best seller Kloster was 40.
Fish and chips served on newspaper was 150 baht.

A plastic bag of Tom Yum Koong was 10 baht take away on the street. Rice free, ky dow 5 baht extra.

To boost the coffers I used to edit Pattaya Guide three times a month and contribute to Bangkok and Phuket Guides too.
But mostly we lived off the restaurant.

I was there when Simon Show was free. You just walked in.
I was also there when Simon Show packed up and moved to Phuket.
Everyone thought they were crazy.

I was there when the greatest show on earth was Marine Bar Disco after midnight (it wasn't always two bars).
And they played LP records and cassettes.

The 'purple persuader' was just fine, even with gogo bar girls.
'Lady off' was 100 baht.

Third road was the outer limits of Pattaya, and there were empty fields on Naklua road between Pattaya and Naklua.
Maybe 6 bars tops on that road, mostly near the dolphin corner (and mostly German).

Baht bus was 5 baht and baht bus drivers were just as fecking irritating.

There used to be a Soi Post Office and a Soi Yamoto and a Soi Yodsac.
Now all you get is Soi 2, Soi 2a, Soi 7, Soi13 or whatever.

The powers that be ripped down the big Boys Town sign days after it went up.
I don't know what they paid but it's back.

These same powers refused my mate permission to put up a sign on his bar 'Two Camels fuc_king'.
But the OK'd a 5' x 5' sign with a photo of those same two camels doing the same thing and the letters 'TCF'.

Pattaya Land 2 used to overflow with western bars, probably 12 or more.
Now it's just Cheers, Shamrock, Palmers and a load of mediocre girly venues.
(By the way, g'day Terry, Colin and Rod)

Nirun Condo was an empty paddock and there are quit a few who wish it still was.

If you turned right where the road hit Jomtien, there was no danger of running over a gaggle of gays.

And sadly, there was nowhere to drink on Jomtien beach once the sun went down.

Now the even more sad part.
I was back for 6 months in early 2011.
The beer is still cold and my buddies for the most part are alive and well.
But the same can't be said about Pattaya.

The Big Money guys, Koreans and Russians own it lock stock and barrel (same as Angeles).
Seriously, a suggestion.
If you want to know what Pattaya was like 25 years ago, check out Phnom Penh on your next visa run

Kenny

chonabot, on 2012-05-08 19:07:37, said:

Not sure what the customs clearance and handling charges are.

This is a quote I received for sending a boxer to France last year.

From BKK to Paris
Weight animal 35 kg
Volume weight 88 kg.       
Estimated Charges
Airfreight rate 88 x 380 = 33,440
Fuel surcharge 88 x 37 = 3,256
Crisis surcharge88 x 4 = 352.
T/C + AWB fee 559.-
Service charge* 3,500 + VAT 245.    (Service charge has gone upto 4,000 baht, as I've been told.)
Live Animal fee 268.
Customs fee 270.-

Estimated total THB 41,890.-

Remarks:

• *Our service charge include :  Export customs clearance, Export Permit, Health Certificate
  
• Not include:  Transportation (pick up), to be quoted upon request.
  
• Payment:  By cash before departure.  Paying by Visa/Master card plus 2.5% extra charge
  
• The travel container/crate (Rigid Fiberglass/plastic type recommended) must be large enough for animal to stand, sit and turn around in natural manner and must have about 8-10 cm overhead clearance between top head/ear and the roof while in standing/sitting upright.  Owner must provide floor blanket, food tray and water bottle with licker. Non-compliance container will be rejected by the airline.

yeah I am 99.99% sure that the 3 month wait begins the day that the blood sample was taken providing the sample was satisfactory (ie no rabies )

Nienke - 6 dogs! gosh if they can send 6 over I am sure we will be fine with our two hahah, allthough this whole process is nervewracking when its your own pets, but Im sure it will all be fine

Hi, i just read on the Soi Dog Foundatons facebook page that 6(!!!) dogs are going (very soon) to the UK.
They will fly to Amsterdam with 2 volunteers, and then by ferry to the UK. They mentioned specifically : "It is not allowed to fly dogs as accompanied baggage direct to the UK (which you know already) so they will first go to Amsterdam and then ferry to England. Is a big saving on sending by cargo."

I suggest to contact Soi Dog Foundation for more specific information on this.

Like you Op I'm a snake lover (had them as pets when I was young - Garter snakes and Royal Pythons mostly). Had a few in the house here, couple of Keels and a LoationRat snake once (young one - real beauty). The Keels both left by their own accord with me walking slowly and gently by their side as they high tailed it to the river behind my house. Rat snake hung around for a few days then disappeared. No worries. Much rather have a non venomous (OK Keel are mildly venomous, rear fanged, but you'd have to let the blighter chew on your for half an hour to be dangerous at all) snake in the house than a rat or mouse - I was brought up in the wilds of the Kent country side in the UK (garden of England) and mice could be a real problem especially when the weather got cold. Makes me think of the Great Plague of London (1665) when they killed all the cats thinking they were witches familiars and the cause, when really they were the only things keeping the rat population down - Thais seem to want to club any snake to death, seems like schools should teach some local animal life as part of biology/eccology classes perhaps - not every snake is a deranged King Cobra waiting to pounce.

chonabot, on 2012-05-07 11:20:55, said:

Oh it happens but never heard about in TV...

Xangsamhua, on 2012-05-04 18:56:13, said:

+1

chonabot, I was originally from the US, but even so, I'm aware of OU.  So, congrats on earning your degree.  Perhaps the Americans in your interviews made the unfortunate jump from OU to "open learning" which is an unfortunate phrase describing the many on-line diploma mills in the States.  I got my undergrad degree part-time nights and weekends over a lot of years, and still think that working whilst going to school is the best way to go, albeit the hardest.

I've got to agree with Xangsamhua.  A judicious cut and paste on the Wiki article, then highlighting, enlarging, and colouring in the appropriate bits, should give you a factual, educational, and entertaining handout for your interviewers.  Besides (and I'm not Thai-bashing), the Thais I know enjoy a bit of colour on their documents!

As far as U.S. teachers knowing about UKuniversities and the Middle States Commission on higher education, can you blame them? The Middle States Commission only regulates schools in 6 of the 50 states. How would they know?  You would get the same look if you asked them what a GCSE is? I would say 99% of American's have no clue what a GCSE is as much as most UK folks don't know what a GED is. It's the UK educational system. I've never heard of OU either.

For graduate students who study at Payap they have to get a letter from the embassy from the country the school is located. Maybe you can get the UK embassy to write a letter saying it is an official degree equal to any other university in the UK.

An interesting matter, I presume that we are talking about the, ''O.U.''  which was and still is as far as I know in Milton Keynes in the U.K. The O.U. was.established in1969 and came on line so to speak in 1971. I was actually like my wife born in the area so it was , ''home ground'' to us

My late wife was a''lecturer'' from 1974 until her untimely death in 1978 and indeed the reputation is first class,no one should sneer at the degrees  and it is indeed sad that  people who one presumes to be erudite are totally unaware of the O.U.

Small minded self protecting interviewers methinks so afraid of someone with knowledge is coming aboard and rocking their boat..

Keep at it Chonabot , you'll win through.

beechguy, on 2012-04-30 10:55:52, said:

where is the little emoticon for banging my head against a wall when you need it?

chonabot, on 2012-04-26 11:12:49, said:

probably a rubbish Chinese brush cutter.... a decent one is about 8-10 k. !!!
My take on the gardening part of our farm is get up am 6am cut with your Makita or whatever for as long as your legs ,back etc can stand it ( 1-2 hours depending on the previous nights drinking or....) then drink beer until the wife wakes up to cook your bacon and eggs...then a nap till.....hey TIT!!!
Hey use a welder hood type eye protector..goggles is ok but they fog up and.....Also wellies and long pants will help protect you spindles from the odd stone waiting to to raise a welt on your shins.....grab the hose to wash down after as you will have grass and god knows what all over ya...don't want to mess up the bathroom eh?
Have fun...

Getting a gardener in Thailand easy…Keeping one, that’s a different story.
In the early days I would pay too much and, in general looked like a ‘soft gitt’, by that I mean I tried to treat them well. It would end with me telling them to thin-outand I would call them if I needed them again.
I learnt to pay the going rate, (for my area) fix a start/finish time and fix time for lunch break. But just as important I resisted the urge to be anything but business like with them, no small chat. Just remember this….”familiarity breeds contemned” and never is it more prevalent than in Thailand.
Having said all this, I now have a new gardener, of two weeks, he is promising, (but then they all were) the last one, after working for me for about 9 months was instructed, (while I was away for a month) too just come in twice a week and water all the plants and feed the fish…………….When I got back, half the small plants were dead from no water.
He came in to get his wages, 1200 Baht, (150B for each 2 hour visit) which I felt was pretty fair.
Basically my wife read him the riot act about all the dead plants……..And he said he came in every day to water the plants, he didn’t know why they died………Oh and by the way he said I owed him 4200 Baht, as he came in every day, and the agreed price was 150B for each visit.
My wife and I just openly laughed at the bloody cheek, we decided to pay what we had agreed originally and get rid and told him, “don’t call us we’ll call you”
'DP25' yes Cambodians, yes really good workers, I had a young guy working for me…..But be careful if they don’t have papers YOU could be in deep doo doo employing them.

chonabot, on 2012-04-27 12:43:53, said:

I was employed by a PR company based in Spain for over 35 years, most of my assignments where within South East Asia. I was on legal contracts to work in South East Asia and in Thailand.

Have now fully retired on a generous pension and a healthy bank account, can live with peace of mind in Thailand 100% legal with no concerns or the need to look over my shoulder to see who is watching me. I can walk into Immigration once a year for my visa extension and all done within 20 minutes. I am by no means rich, but do believe I did everything the right way and for this reason I feel quite proud of myself, so I’m blowing my own trumpet here.

If on my travels and I happen to meet other ex-pats that have the need to run over the borders every 5 minutes, work in bars paying the police beer money so as to convince them they’re not really there, struggling to keep they’re Thai girl friends from the underclass’s of Thai society content and happy, hoping to find any job, doing anything to support themselves here, than I have to ask myself, do I truly want to become involved and socialise with them? And the answer is no. Why? Because I don`t need to.

Call it elitism, snobbery or what you like, but the worst that can happen is that those sorts wont like me. So what, I certainly would not lose any sleep over that, plus I know there are plenty more living in similar situations as myself in Thailand and will think the same way. So I am being straight and up front with you regarding how it really is. Some may respect that and some may not, either way it makes no difference to me.