Rogie

Not a funny photo as such but one that maybe some of you who tour around Thailand might recognise as familiar. Whenever I am feeling drowsy in the back-of-beyond, where there are no coffee stops or other facilities, I look out for one of these handy little shelters.

You're right Michael, the Thai coffees are about twice the price we pay here in England too. Here we pay about £0.30 per capsule - that's about 15 baht. They also do three 'pure origin' coffees which are only about 10% more expensive: POWERFUL AND SPICY: Indriya from India is the noble marriage of Arabicas with a hint of Robusta from southern India. It is a full-bodied espresso, which has a distinct personality with notes of spices. FRUITY AND BALANCED: Rosabaya de Colombia: This blend of fine, individually roasted Colombian Arabicas, develops a subtle acidity with typical red fruit and winey notes. SWEET AND SMOOTH: A pure Arabica coffee, Dulsão do Brasil is a delicate blend of red and yellow Bourbon beans with a distinctive note of toasted grain. The beans are treated semi-dry to allow the mucillage sugars to infuse the bean with a mellow flavour, then separately roasted to reveal an elegantly balanced satiny sweet flavour with a note of toasted grain.

From the Thai side. I used to think it wasn't possible to reach it from the Cambodian side owing to the geography, but apparently you can now. In fact that might be the only way to visit at the moment as access from the Thai side is closed at the border. Here is a useful travel site: http://wikitravel.org/en/Preah_Vihear I have some photos on my other computer. I'll try and dig one or two out and post later.

If a bunch of invaders comes along and drives you off your land or tries to kill you, then years later it seems reasonable for that tribes descendants to have some sort of claim to that land. It north America was a genuine wilderness, with no human life, and the white settlers got there first then sure any group claiming that land in 2013 based on ancestry would be fraudulent. But those two maps make it clear to me at least that north and central America were teeming with native American 'Indian' tribes. It looks to me there must have been relatively few places without any human habitation.

Well done guys! Hugh Glass it is. Seems cheating somehow becomes respectable when it's so sneaky, but I don't blame you! I'd never heard of this guy being a Brit, but I honestly thought his name might be well known, even if you hadn't seen the likeness of him in the OP. I imagined him as every American boy's hero, maybe along the lines of Daniel Boone whose exploits I loved reading as a youngster in Classics Illustrated. More info for anyone interested: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/glass.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass http://www.rosyinn.com/more005.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePBVk8bvxio

This thread is about salesmen in Thailand, maybe I can be permitted to refer to the profession in general citing a few examples from outside Thailand. We have a store in Britain called John Lewis and it is run in the form of a partnership. It's a traditional 'department store' - it doesn't sell food, but more or less everything else you might want to buy for yourself or your home. Quoted from Wiki: Staff are always courteous, helpful and knowledgeable. They have an incentive to regard being a salesman as a career, and not just a phase they're going through. It has an up-market image but prices are reasonable. Their motto is "never knowingly undersold", so if you see an item priced more cheaply in another store Lewis's will reimburse you the difference. So, on the one hand there are expensive department stores, Harrod's being a good example, and snooty shops selling their own branded product, the prime examples being Bond Street in London, and its equivalents in NYC. Paris, Rome, etc. (I believe Oprah Winfrey had an experience in Switzerland where the aloof assistant patronised her). On the other hand you have down-market stores selling stuff cheaply, but not always so cheerfully, often manned by offhand and badly trained staff. Lewis's to my mind tread a fine line between these extremes, and do it well. As far as the buyer is concerned, it's up to him to get himself clued up. I suppose you could argue if money is no object to him he can go into any shop selling branded products at a premium price and buy with confidence knowing more or less anything they sell will be fit for purpose; and if he doesn't have much clue about what he's thinking of buying the chances are the sales assistants will be knowledgeable and helpful. So you get what you pay for. I certainly agree just about the worst situation to find yourself in is if you don't have much money to spend and you choose a shop selling a wide range of cheaply imported products, plus you haven't done your homework, only to be confronted by a clueless sales assistant. That's a recipe for frustration.

Well done to Bob and NIrish and thanks for not spilling the beans. For anyone still interested, the subject of the photo is American and he was something of an adventurer, to put it mildly! His exploits occurred in the first half of the 19th Century. I don't know for sure but it is possible American children might learn of him at school.

I'm not 100% sure about this but I think once you've got into a London taxi the cabbie is obliged to take you where you want to go. Anyway, be that as it may, back to Bangkok. I rarely need to go somewhere obscure so I state my destination through the window or open the passenger door and if he declines I wait for the next one. I agree it can sometimes be a useful tactic to get in before telling the taximan where you want to go, but it can still backfire if he declines to use the meter. That's happened to me a few times. Not long ago I wanted to go to the airport, so when he refused to use the meter I had to go and remove my suitcase out of the boot (trunk) - slightly humiliating! However, with a little persistence, I always get a driver willing to use his meter.

Can anyone identify the person in this picture. I believe there are no known definite likenesses of him and there is probably a fair degree of artistic license in whoever drew it!

Lukylok is right, the brand is often the clincher for many people. I remember about 30 years ago suddenly everyone in Britain was wearing a Barbour jacket. As it happens they were well-made and a very useful item of clothing for the British climate, but it was to be seen in one that was important. I didn't own a Barbour as such, I had a similar non-branded coat, and one day a friend asked me "Is that a Barbour jacket?". I just muttered "yeah". But I was secretly humiliated. Later on I did buy the real thing but one night my car got broken into and the Barbour was stolen. I'd made the mistake of leaving it on the back seat in full view. Anyone going out for an evening in Bangkok and other towns in Thailand will have seen the Chang girl or the Singha girl or the Tiger girl. I've yet to see a guy! I'd love to know the reaction if you were to go up to one of the girls and ask them to please tell you why you should order their beer rather than a rival brand. I think you'd just get a delightful smile followed by her eyes glazing over.

Like Vinapu I don't shop much, but I would be wary buying anything that comes under the heading luxury goods because in some instances I don't think I could be sure it was an original made where the label said it was and the same product that would be available at a reputable store in New York, London or Paris. Whereas, to take one example, it would be difficult to fake a vintage French Bordeaux from a classified estate, a common question posted on boards such as this over the years is can the would-be buyer know the latest Apple product, or whatever, on sale in Thailand is genuine and not a fake? On the subject of visitors to the Kingdom, it's interesting to note that Russians, who have been arriving in increasing numbers the past few years, and not always too fondly regarded, numbered approx 1.3m whereas to quote Bloomberg "the number of visitors from China surged by 62 percent to 2.8m". So many more Chinese visitors than Russians and a phenomenal rate of increase yesr on year. Make of that what you will.

I also agree Bangkok's taxis are generally excellent. I must have used them dozens of times over the years. Apart from the usual niggles of refusing to go where I want to go, or not turning on the meter, I have only had a handfull of other problems. On one occasion the driver had fiddled the meter so it was turning over faster than it should've done. That was from the airport into town. He was taking a big risk as anyone taking an airport taxi is given a chit with his details, so when I complained he pleaded with me not to report him. Being a softie I didn't but if it were to happen to me again I would. The other occasion I forget where it was I wanted to go, but that doesn't matter. It was spring 2010and instead of taking me to where I'd asked the taxi dumped me right outside the red shirts encampment. I wandered around in a bemused daze for a few minutes to get my bearings, however there were no real safety problems for me as this was before the fateful day later in April when they clashed with armed troops. That reminded me of the famous London-based Lucy Clayton charm academy for young ladies! The girls walked around with books on their heads to improve their posture and deportment (or so I'm told). For London cabbies it would seem part and parcel of the job to be strongly opinionated. Therefore perhaps it's not surprising they occasionally get into heated aguments with some of their fares.

I used the expression 'Johnny Foreigner' in the 'Tourist Court in Pattaya' thread in the main forum. It just came into my head, then afterwards out of curiosity I thought I'd find out more about what it means. I was shocked to come across this: Here, for those with a strong constitution, is an excerpt: "Johnny Foreigner invaded Poland in 1939, starting the Second World War. He did this because the Polish man took his towel off the sun lounger by the pool, which was totally unacceptable and "as everyone knows leaving your towel on a seat means you have reserved it". Johnny Foreigner was only defeated after five years of bloody war, thanks mostly to the stiff upper lip." It goes on to answer such frightful questions as What if I am Johnny Foreigner? How to deal with Johnny Foreigner. Huh! Apologies in advance if you are as shocked as I am. For those with bullet-proof sensibilities here is the link to it . . . http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Johnny_Foreigner But, by then I was hooked, so it was with pounding heart I sought to find out more - this is what I found: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Big-UK-World-Map.jpg it was then that the penny dropped - countries of the world are no longer coloured in red, except for one small island floating on a sea of nostalgia . . .

I agree that often appears to be the case. I was thinking that too. I'm lucky I haven't had an accident (car or motorcy) in Thailand so can't speak from experience, only by what I have heard. That bias has to shift in 'our' favour, so the falung gets a fair deal. Unfortunately in places like Pattaya we sometimes read about foreigners doing a blast on 'big' bikes and coming a cropper. We have to bear in mind the bad publicity isn't all one way. Many times johnny foreigner behaves like an utter idiot.

That's a good question 'What do you think?'. Short answer is I have no idea, and to be honest I wouldn't be very optimistic. If I was in Pattaya or Phuket, or any other place in Thailand that had one of these courts, and had a nasty experience, what would I like to feel the outcome would be for me? I'm no angel so there's always the chance I may be just as culpable as the person or people I am accusing. Or I could be the guilty party. So I would say provided the case was heard by an impartial judge (or whatever name he goes by) weighing up all the evidence in open court and the outcome was a fair one I'd be as happy as could be reasonably expected. That would be my yardstick then for whether this kind of court was doing its job properly - in addition, the court has to be seen by neutral observers (the local press, local Thais and ex-pats alike) as being fair and efficient. Ideally it would also have the result that certain kinds of crime become less common, or even wiped out altogether. We can all think of a few like that where falung are taken advantage of, those crimes and rip-offs that make the headlines time after time, with promises from the mayor, or other relevant spokesman, to deal with it. All hot air! (so far). The expression short sharp shock comes to mind. Get a few cases dealt with and given a lot of publicity so both Thais and foreign visitors know about it. Then see if things get better.

Thanks to Bob I think I can guess that sign now. Whoever wrote the sign confused 'rocks' with 'bricks'. Some wag has altered the 'B' to a 'P'!

Any of our Chiang Mai members tried this?

The poster known as 'Monty' last posted on this Message Board on 7th Sept 2006. However, despite his 'retirement' from this Message Board, he has been 'active' on at least one other board until recently. Even so, I don't feel it appropriate to carry over 'in jokes' from one board to another. Let's leave the Monty jokes where they belong.

1. I like your irony. 2. You're an intriguing chap Christian. You're also quite a tease.

1. Having read Michael's story I'm not surprised. 2. Mais Non, the true Frenchman would say nooo-vo (perhaps?) 1. I'm not aware of anything like that happening in staid Britain. The best we have to look forward to is a few pancakes. 2. Methinks perhaps they took 'Fat Tuesday' a tad too seriously. The date for NOLA Mardi Gras 2014 is Tuesday 4th March

My previous post was a bit weird, and as I don't want to mess up the listing for this excellent Bar/Pub, unless anyone else posts I'll leave it another day before I post the reason for my comment.

You could be right! I would never argue against somebody's favourite city unless I had been there myself and so far New Orleans hasn't been on my itinerary (although I'd love to go - I think for the cajun food mainly). By the way is it ever abreviated to NO? Or NOC? (as in NYC) Thanks Mr Bill. I liked your imaginary example of usage. I find I sometimes pronounce 'figure' exactly as in your sentence above, other times I say fig-yer. I believe the latter is common in the US whereas in Britain it's pronounced figger more often than fig-yer.

What was the question again? IMO that's a bit below the belt - Monty doesn't post on this Forum; I know he has his faults, but as he doesn't have right-of-reply I think that's sneaky.