losworld
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Posts posted by losworld
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You won't get much of a motorbike for 2000 baht a month, but there are some places that rent beaters. If it was me I'd leave the motorbike alone in Pattaya. It's easy to walk anywhere or take a red truck.
Wrong I know of a place where you can rent a motorbike for 2000 baht per mo and you will get a nice Nuovo or Click.
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I believe what leads to unhappiness more than anything is the inequality of wealth. In Bangkok someone earning 6000 baht per month must observe many around him with 20,000 baht cell phones, Mercedes, big homes, etc. In the rural areas there is more equality and people appear to be happier. I'll bet a score out of Laos would come in higher than Bangkok.
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What's the big deal? To each his own. As long as no one is hurt.
Check out Beverly Hills some time. Old men and attractive young women. Same same.
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At least they don't have to worry about losing their teeth in a brawl. And watch out for that cane!
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In the states I like Quiznos over Subway.
They toast'em to cheese bubbly, crispy perfection.
I agree. I don't know if subway has gone downhill but I just had one and it was absolutely terrible. All bread and not so good at that. They must have put on the thinnest sliced meats and vegetables I have ever seen.
I really don't understand how they do any business. People must believe they will lose weight or something.
I remember the Russian gymnasts never ate bread so they could keep a leaner body. Amazing what marketing can do.
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In this economy I'd tell them to take a hike. Probably an owner with decreased revenues looking to make it up through you. Here's a link to townhouses in Bangkok:http://www.mrroomfinder.com/quicksearch_result.php
Good luck and let us know how you make out. Can't wait to hear about the expression on the owner's face when you tell him you just signed a long term arrangement somewhere else for 15,000 or more less per month.
Like I said no sympathy for anyone trying to pull a fast one in today's trying economy.
cheers and good luck
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Obama has caved in again and rather than having a single payer universal system he has bowed to the pressures of the lobbyists and will create an overpriced and under delivered plan.
Yes, I agree the US health system is so broken that the most logical thing would be to do a total reboot and make health insurance companies illegal. However, the fact we are not getting universal health care is not Obama's fault. Yes he could have been a purist and said all or nothing, my way or the highway, but the votes just aren't there. It is just political reality. There is no politician that could have passed that at this point in time and maybe never. Politics is about compromise. Imagine how Obama will be blamed if he manages to pass NOTHING.
Back to the expat issue, yes, I am still concerned how this may impact expats who for convenience maintain faux USA identities. Like I said before, there is evidence that MOST of us do that.
I respect your opinion but have to disagree. I don't know if you are familiar with Tommy Douglas from Saskatchewan who introduced universal health care to Canada. No one said it could be done. The doctors were against him. The insurance companies were against him. What did he do? He didn't cave in and went to the people for support. He never surrendered. I haven't seen any great speeches from Obama telling people to lobby congress and not give in, how they need one stop health care. Yes it can be done and it has been done but it requires the will to do it and undying commitment. Obama does not fit this bill as much as everyone wants to believe it.
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Thailand's misguided rice policy
By Jonathan Head
BBC News, Bangkok
The first rains of the year have been falling for a couple of months now in Thailand's often dry north-east, and farmers are out most days in the freshly-flooded fields, transplanting young jasmine rice seedlings.
They work quickly, bent over double, expertly spacing the seedlings in the silt.
Rice farmers are some of the poorest people in ThailandBut it is back-breaking work. And although jasmine is one of the most highly-prized rice varieties – it is grown almost exclusively in north-eastern Thailand – the farmers in this region are some of the poorest people in the country, most of them mired in debt.
Lack of investment
Their problem, says veteran rice researcher Kwanchai Gomez from Bangkok's Kasaertsart University, is a chronic lack of investment in rice farming.
Very little of the north-east – one of Thailand's most populous regions – is irrigated.
"Water is the most important thing that guarantees low risk," she says.
"And risk is the main problem for farmers. One year no rain, the next year floods. So you have to get a loan. Then your crop fails, and you get into debt."
When world rice prices soared last year, everyone assumed that farmers in Thailand – for many years the world's top rice exporter – must have done well.
Some did. But only those in the central plains region, which get irrigation from the Chaophraya River.
They grow up to three crops a year, mostly higher yield varieties than jasmine.
That is where most of Thailand's exports come from.
The indebtedness and poverty of farmers was ignored for decades by governments in Bangkok.
Other nations are threatening Thailand's place as the top rice exporterThen in the 2001 election, a wealthy telecoms tycoon, Thaksin Shinawatra, drew up a platform of policies aimed directly at farmers, like debt forgiveness and a village loan fund.
It proved a stunningly successful vote-winning strategy, delivering Mr Thaksin three successive election victories, before he was ousted by a coup in September 2006.
But many of those policies have done less for farmers than Mr Thaksin claimed.
Rice mortgage
One, in particular, is proving a huge headache for the current government, led by his main rival, the Democrat Party.
" I realized that our problems with debt and crop prices would never be cured just by waiting for the government to help "
Tongsuan SodapakIt is called the rice mortgage scheme. The idea is to help farmers ride out price volatility by allowing them to sell their rice to the government at a guaranteed price.
Farmers usually have no way to store or process their rice, so they are all forced to sell at once at harvest time, allowing the millers – who do have these facilities – to bargain down the price and take most of the profit.
But the scheme has become riddled with corruption, and benefits only a minority of farmers.
"Most of them, unfortunately, are rich farmers with irrigation," says economist Nipon Poapongsakorn from the Thailand Development Research Institute.
"Poor farmers in the north-east don't have a surplus of rice to sell, so they don't benefit from this policy at all. It is a pro-rich, pro-business policy".
The scheme is also very expensive for the government, especially now, because last year – when rice prices were unusually volatile – a weak government, led by Mr Thaksin's allies, set the guaranteed price too high.
Those with rice to sell would only sell to the government. Rice traders, like Asia Golden Rice - one of Thailand's most successful - found it difficult to procure supplies at competitive prices for their overseas customers.
"We might even lose our number one ranking as a rice exporter to our competitors," says Saranyu Jeamsinkul, deputy managing director for Asia Golden Rice.
"We are at least $100 a tonne higher than Vietnam - so it is rather difficult to export at the moment".
Sorting the mess
The government has ordered Deputy Prime Minister Kobsak Sapavasu to sort out the mess.
He estimates it has already cost 11 billion baht ($325m) just to process and store crops bought under the mortgage scheme.
And because rice prices have fallen this year, when the government sells the stocks he estimates it will lose another 20 billion baht ($590m).
The escalating price of rice has not made many Thai farmers any richer"The numbers are just unbelievable," says Mr Kobsak.
But his attempts to close down the mortgage scheme, and replace it with a simpler subsidy, have been blocked by his own coalition partners.
There is a strong suspicion, shared by Mr Kobsak, that a lot of politicians are making money out of the scheme – perhaps from bribes from warehouse-keepers storing it, or traders trying to buy at bargain prices.
With any hope of a new agricultural policy stalled over political bickering, one group of farmers near the north-eastern town of Ubon Ratchathani have decided to try to lift their living standards by themselves.
They have joined forces to run their own rice mill, and they are saving on escalating fertiliser costs by recycling cow dung and growing organic jasmine rice.
"I wondered why so many farmers were abandoning their farms," said Tongsuan Sodapak, the local teacher whose idea it is. "Then I realised that our problems with debt and crop prices would never be cured just by waiting for the government to help."
This group of farmers has been fortunate, because they have been able to make contact with a buyer for their organic rice in Italy. Most other farmers in the north-east have no way of marketing their jasmine rice, despite its famed fragrance and flavour.
Thailand's long preoccupation with being the number one exporter should now shift, says Nipon Poapongsakorn - to a strategy of marketing Thai rice for its quality and variety.
One retailer in Bangkok has made a start in promoting Thailand's 81 rice varieties. Gourmet Market, a luxury supermarket chain, has bins of different kinds of rice, explaining exactly which region they come from, and their characteristic. It is a bit like the terroir of wine.
"We have people coming here from places like Hong Kong," says company vice president Lakana Naviroj. "They take rice home, because they don't have the variety and quality we have here."
One supermarket alone, though, will not give Thailand's rice the impact it could have on global markets. That requires a concerted drive coordinated by different government agencies, something that seems unlikely in today's volatile political climate.
At the school where Tongsun Sodapak teaches, when he's not helping grow to rice, I asked a group of teenage girls - nearly all of them the children of farmers - how many of them would be happy to stay on the farm when they left school.
Only four, out of 34, raised their hands.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/8130187.stm
LaoPo
Maybe no gov't funding or direction due to certain elites "who lend the money then repossess the land time and time again? Does this have something to do with it?
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I've only been to Bubbles Disco and Spicy on my brief but enjoyable stay in Chiang Mai. Spicy is not air conditioned but if you like greased bodies and the smell of sweat then check it out.
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Major health care reform is coming. It will be the biggest change in the system since medicare was established. There is talk now that Americans will be REQUIRED to have some kind of health insurance. Now we will not be getting Canadian/Euro style universal single payer health care. That is completely off the table. In other words, there is going to be a private cost to buy the insurance and probably some tax cost for those now getting it "free" from employers. My concern is that expats are going to be caught up in this and not be exempt from this requirement. With any requirement, there has to be TEETH, so there will be some kind of penalties for not having it. As expats, we should be exempt from this requirement, of course, but that doesn't mean we will be. Stay tuned ...
I wouldn't get tooworked up over this one. You should probably hope you are not forced to enroll in in this plan as it is a watered down version of what could have been. Obama has caved in again and rather than having a single payer universal system he has bowed to the pressures of the lobbyists and will create an overpriced and under delivered plan. The number one reason auto plants like to locate in Canada rather than the U.S. is that the health care costs are substantially less. So rather than deal with the true problem of overpricing and inefficient delivery Obama has opted to include more people into a broken system and tax employers which will further make American business less competitive. I have lived in the U.S. and Canada and I can tell you the Canadian system is much much better for 90 percent of the people (unless you are super loaded and money is no object). I like Obama as a person but as a leader he is proving to be no different than others as he caves into the lobbyists and the sleazy advisers and politicians around him. What can you expect from a Community Organizer turned lawyer hailing from the most corrupt jurisdiction in America? I hope he proves me wrong but I doubt it.
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I met an english taxi driver visiting Thailand an few years back and he told me when he returns home he fills a suitcase full of cigs and sells them out of his cab.
How the hel_l would he get this through customs in the West? Payoffs there too?
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Wait a few month and buy a Sony Ericsson Satio. Blows the iPhone 3GS away.
Checked it out online kind of neat but looks like a camera with a phone in it. Maybe the Japanese will love it. Now they can take calls as well as pics.
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Be strong like bull and smart like tractor!
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wonder if the 'ambassador' will get summoned to explain this one.
way to lose face for your host.
The only people losing face about Thaksin are in Thailand. The Anti-Democrats of Thailand cannot have this icon of democratic electoral legitimacy running about continually reminding the world of their illegitimacy. If I was hoisted into power through non-electoral means, and need militia type protection any time I venture outside Bangkok, I wouldn't want someone running around reminding people of when it was otherwise - legitimate and able to travel about in his own country without protection.
However, let's not forget that this democratically elected leader you speak of undemocratically used his position of power to gain billions for himself and his family and also used his power to circumvent taxes used to fund the poor, education, roads, etc.
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i thought this was brilliant, so i wanted to share:
http://izismile.com/2009/03/27/if_celebrit...le_61_pics.html
Real interesting because for a change we see the ordinary person in the star rather than looking for the star in the ordinary person... does that make sense? However, a bit too much on the heavyweights although for ordinary Americans this is close to normal.
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Driving with no number plates.....Doh!!
When I was in Khon Kaen visiting friends I rented a bike from one of the rental shops near the hotel and it had no plates whatsoever. I asked the owner about this and he said no problem so I rode it around for days and was never stopped.
Interestingly, my friend recently told me there are 12 year old kids driving cars to school in Khon Kaen.
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Obviously there is much more to this story. Be interesting to know who the informant was and how that person is connected to the case. There is so much we will never know that if revealed could fill a book.
When I saw the headline I knew the "setup" crowd was just a few posts away. Keep in mind that drug trafficking is a business with thousands of players and tons of drugs right here in Thailand and especially in Bangkok. The police actually do have real cases and a real informant network and at some point someone is going to be arrested and jailed. Because it's a foreigner we give it a bit more scrutiny.
Scrutiny in this case will be tons of speculation and conspiracy theory than dies a natural death in a few days. The suspects in this case are SCREWED. The amounts of drugs seized and the passports and cash (soon to disappear by the way) will make it very difficult to avoid life in prison somewhere. IMHO the girl will rollover on her foreign friend and get a bit less time. Life will go on with just another drug trafficker off the streets.
Remember: If you are in the business and think you are being targeted, you are. There is no honor among the traffickers, just business. There are a dozen reasons for the person who sold the drugs to the suspects to turn them in. The number one reason is the informant wants to avoid the death penalty or life in prison so he gives up who he can for better treatment by the system. The number two reason is money, obviously.
I guess what I'm saying is that with the millions of drug users here and around the world and being near the center of international drug trade in this hemisphere it is not too far fetched for a few of these people to get caught once in a while. Big risks equate to big returns sometimes. Not so much this time.
Almost seems they let these guys make a run and then when the money is lying around and their course is over they bust them. I also thought I read the other day that it was 10 million baht they found.
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Why not just get an unlocked 2G with upgraded software as Thailand does not have a functional 3G network? I'm back in Thailand this fall and already have friends asking me to bring them unlocked 2G and 3G iphones which I have done in the past.
The 3GS is way better than the 2G, that's why. It has a better camera, tethering (doesn't work on the 2G even though the software supports it), and a few other features.
That's why I am going to upgrade from my 2G once they come out on True... BTW True will for sure have normal, sane prices for a factory unlocked 3GS iPhone. E.g somewhere around 28.5K baht, same as they are in Australia, Hong Kong.
Not so. One can unlock the 2G and install video software to shoot video, install PDA net for tethering or two other free services. If you update the software to 3.0 you have all the features of the 3g such as copy/paste, etc. except one or two minor things. Additionally, the 2G has better battery life. I've considered a 3G but don't see the reason at this point except for a better fit in the hand but not the pocketbook.
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I've been trying to figure out why it is that LEO is by far the most favoured beer by expats and locals alike, yet you can never find it in many of the tourist bars.
Tiger on tap is a good alternative.
Why doesn't Leo show up in the main lower suk bars and the tourist resorts?
Leo is less expensive than the rest and I think the profit margin may be less. Beer is about marketing and if you can ignore that then you can make your selection on taste. I would not be surprised if Singha is actually less expensive to produce than Leo but has a larger marketing budget for upscale and a higher profit margin. Additionally, Leo is sold in large bottles which is even better value. And it actually tastes a lot better.
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Um..weII i know this is a bump..but i think this cIip is worth it.
PoIe dancing, taken to a truIy artistic IeveI (imo):
wow.
That ain't no Isaan shuffle.
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Wait a minute she's not Polish!
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I wish you the best in your new venture but I'd seriously consider another possible venture given the current economic situation and drop in tourism.
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Now that does suck. I think many of the seasoned expats here can provide better advise on this issue than myself but I believe your visa entry is recorded on a computer. I'd get the passport straightened out then go to Thai immigration and explain your passport was lost and show them the new one. I believe they are now free so they should either check the computer or simply tell you it is okay. However, I'd try and get them to put something in there in case you are hassled somewhere else. Good luck. Don't lose too much sleep over it and enjoy yourself. Oh and bring your airline itinerary if you have to provide some type of proof, hotel receipt, etc.
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I think the thing to do is just laugh and tell him you are going in one direction then go the opposite. And light a cigarette so the whole lot of them follow you. That is one bizarre story. Unfriggin believable. Kudos for keeping your cool.
Looking For A Hotel Near The Weekendmarket "save-one".
in Isaan
Posted
Try the Atrium. It's not too far away and has rooms for 1000 baht per month often on latestays. It's a decent hotel.