flying

geriatrickid, on 2012-05-27 22:42:07, said:

Unfortunately not only are you talking nonsense, but offensive nonsense to boot!

You appear to have some fixation with the French which I'm afraid is sadly misplaced in terms of Afghan commitment. If you really wanted to go after gun-shy members of ISAF, the German, Spanish or Italian contingents in the relatively quiet northern & western provinces would be fairer game. See map below:

If you wanted to criticize pullouts you should start with the Dutch, who far from pulling out as per schedule, upset the whole apple cart in 2010. Having extended their mission from 2008 to Aug 2010 the Dutch PM assured NATO that he would further extend the Dutch mission beyond Aug 2010. Despite massive political lobbying he was unable to deliver on this promise, his government collapsed and NATO had to quickly readjust to a far earlier than predicted Dutch pullout. See below:

http://www.theaustra...o-1225833062148

As the article underlines, the Dutch pullout set the stage for the Canadians to depart, which was a major loss in terms of combat capability. Their departure in 2011 has been exacerbated by Harper's insistence that all Canadian troops are gone by early 2014, again much to NATO's disappointment. See below:

http://www.vancouver...4922/story.html

You seem to belittle French casualties and claim their combat role has been minimal. Their role in the Kapisa area is hardly without incident (search "French Kapisa" for video clips etc), and your claim that Kabul is " the safest spot in Afghanistan" is ludicrous given events in the last 12 months there. If you want a quiet life try Herat (Spanish/Italian) or Mazar-e-Sharif (German). The French SF troops have operated throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan in joint ISAF operations with great professionalism.

Not content with apparently labelling the French army "cowards", you then proceed to belittle the role of aviation assets in general (you sure seem to enjoy pi**ing people off). Flying jets or helicopters brings its own set of challenges and risks, while not as immediate as those experienced by the PBI (poor bloody infantry). Also if you shared your views with anyone who has called in air support that subsequently delivered, they would join the lengthening queue of people who might take your comments a tad less lightly!

Hardly surprisingly, given the unpopularity of the war with voters and the cost at a time of cutbacks and austerity, there is a slow motion rush for the exit underway, and even the Australians are adamant that they will be out before their election in 2013. "Bringing the boys home" before an election is powerful vote-winning stuff (hence the US decision to pull out 33,000 combat troops by Sept 2012, a far bigger hit than 2,000 French troops).

Every pullout has been unilateral and deeply unpopular with ISAF/NATO. Hollande campaigned on a pullout of French troops in 2012, and Sarkozy had already cut a year off their deployment and had pledged to bring them home ahead of schedule in 2013. Intrigued by your comments re protection of civilian aid projects and NGOs, both of these are now tragically few and far between, therefore not requiring much force protection.

Rarely am I an apologist for the French, but your arguments are weak, and apparently unsupported by facts.

flying, on 2012-05-27 11:51:43, said:

I do not agree with you on much, but this is the exception. Without victory, telling the enemy when your troops will be withdrawing in advance is the height of stupidity.

Huayrat, on 2012-05-26 19:08:45, said:

Pathetic comment to be honest, but sadly typical of the average Sun reader mentality. Congratulations to the new French Prime Minister for putting the interests of his countrymen before the interests of American drug barons. Setting an example to the rest of the European poodles who are slavishly getting down on their knees. No wonder America is held in such contempt by the rest of the educated civilised world. "Change we can believe in!" What a laugh! Pass the sick bag.

villagefarang, on 2012-05-25 10:14:59, said:

The only thing I find disturbing about this topic is the number of posters who seem to consider fighting normal, acceptable or maybe even admirable behavior.  Raised voices, verbal of physical attacks, or any display of anger or incivility is simply not cool in my book.  I couldn’t live that way but obviously others can.  Just an observation on my part.

I left Thaivisa open when I was in my office today and one of my colleagues sat down and started navigating the site. I don't know about you but I'm a little bit guilty of taking Thaivisa for granted.

Anyway, I couldn't get him off the laptop!! He went surfing through all of the forums and he couldn't believe the range and amount of forums and sub forums on here.

So it got me thinking, we have 50 odd sub-forums, covering an incredibly diverse range of topics. The amount of information on this site is quite astounding, and on top of that it's free!! Some of the contributors, especially in the sub-forums, are incredible in ther depth of knowledge and their willingness to answer queries, and they do it voluntarily.

So I know I'm going to get slaughtered for this however!!! I think we should all praise the TV team for bringing us this outstanding website every day, and take our chance to answer the question.......How did Thaivisa help you? or if you would like, praise the contributor that helped solve your problem or query.


ps   Trolls, form a queue to the left, cynics, wait your turn behind them, malcontents, your on the subs bench.

pps I know I'm going to get pelters for this topic, but I don't care.   It's nice to take the time to show some appreciation now and again.

AverageFarang, on 2012-05-25 15:16:30, said:

Because we place value on our privacy and that of our better halves. I don't want some stranger on the internet judging whether or not my wife is hot.

A couple of off topic posts removed, for once a positive thread, lets keep it that way.

many of us have successful relationships with our thai partners, although mine isn't a woman 11years, 9 married, one child just turned 5, we have the same goals & the same dreams & he is the hardest working man I know, in terms of his work life & in caring for his son.

When I see friends husband drinking their money away down the pub several nights a week or spending most of their weekend free time playing footie or hanging out with their mates minus the family, it makes be appreciate how much the Mr enjoys being home with his family. Whenever I ask him if he wants to go spend time with a friends he say "for what, everything I want is here". Ok that also includes his guitars & computer but me & the boy are at the top of that list

Vimeo link

Haven't researched background enough, looks like the auteur is US-based film student but actually ethnic Vietnamese??

Replaced the link with an article to some more detail, but leaving the above Q to stimulate others to find out more, as I'm "lazy".

She is the light of my morning.
She is the joy of my day.
She is the warmth of my night.
Together in love, never we fight.

For those of us happy in life....here is the thread to express it.

If you are content in life feel free to share.....thanks for all positive responses.

TommoPhysicist, on 2012-03-31 16:02:52, said:

I'm not cagey at all.

I had PR for over five years on application.  Speak, read, and write Thai fluently.  Owned a condo.  Had salary of maximum 150K in previous years.  Do you consider that "huge"?  I sure don't.

So, do you know anyone who has applied and failed to get it?  Where do your beliefs about "impossibility" come from?  Everyone I know who has applied has gotten it (including those I met during the process).

Well, I am in the process now, so here is what I did this time. Bought a bike with green book. Got a receipt (standard Thai language vehicle purchase form, anyone who sells a vehicle will have it) filled out in Thai, signed by me and the seller and a witness. Got a copy of the owner's Thai ID card and house registration, both must be signed. You must register the vehicle in your (or someone else's) name before their ID card expires.

For the rest, I use my insurance company, as they only charge me 300 baht, and it is worth it. I have done it myself, and it takes several hours. I wanted to see the process, now I know, and I pay them to do it for me.

The process is they take the green book, sales receipt, seller's ID card and house registry, signed copy of your passport to the Department of Land Transport. This can be done in any province. The DLT may want to inspect the bike's serial numbers to match the book and check the database to ensure it isn't stolen. Fill out the ownership transfer form (Thai language only) available at the DLT office. Once that is done, the DLT keeps the book to update it, it usually takes about a week, and they will have the green book ready with your name in it. The charge depends on the purchase price of the bike and the CC size of the motor. For a 400 CC Virago, expect about 2000 baht or so. That's it. You don't actually need to be there at any stage.

So for me, the girl at the insurance company is a little cutie, so I had her hop on the back of my bike and take me to the local DLT. This was in Kanchanaburi. The inspection and signoff took 5 minutes. Got her phone number and the rest is history. I wouldn't have done any of this myself, but she loved my matte black sport bike and wanted a ride on it. All that is left is they pick up the green book from the DLT and they can either mail it to me or I can go pick it up. Obviously, I will pick it up and see the girl again.

Hope this helps!

Naam, on 2012-05-23 17:09:24, said:

This coming from a man that has more investment knowledge in his pinky than I do in my entire body!!!!

flying, on 2012-05-24 01:02:41, said:

of course i know. for you its even a double whammy, namely gold and USDTHB

flying, on 2012-05-23 14:20:16, said:

Australian banks were ok but they are dropping the interest rates like slicing a salami and   I just sold all my stocks ready for the 3rd wave or is it the 4th.  Gold is retreating and real estate prices are deflating.