Bob

I don't have a clue but wish you well (you could check the Thai immigration website but, ultimately, I'd recommend you use a Thai lawyer). I know an ex-pat from the states who owns a bar down here in Hua Hin. He doesn't have a work permit and he's careful not to wait tables, go behind the bar, etc. But, while there, he's effectively managing the bar and I've wondered if his investment might be at risk (especially given that a lot of what the cops and immigration do is so discretionary). Perhaps a pissed-off ex-employee could cause him a lot of trouble. Best of luck owning a bar anywhere. I've always shied away from that on the theory that I might end up over-using the inventory myself or simply end up sick of the administrative stuff. But there's obviously thousands of ex-pats here that don't think like I do.

Yep, it will be. I'll be back in September and so I'll simply have to stay until the first part of May. People have probably had to endure worse things...hehe.

Hua Hin Immigration told me today that one can extend your one-year (some call it "retirement") visa only within the 30-day time period before it expires; however, after some cajoling, I was advised that it can be done earlier but for an extra charge (5,000 baht!). I was between a rock and hard place. My visa expires May 27th but I'm scheduled to fly back to the states on April 26th. I ended up with two choices: (1) Get it extended by paying an extra 5,000 baht (in addition to the 1,900 baht to extend the visa and the 1,000 re-entry permit)or (2) Just let the damn thing lapse, obtain a new Non-Imm O Visa this summer and then get a new retirement visa in the fall. Since I use a visa service in the states, the new Non-Imm O would have cost me about 3,000 baht in total and, of course, the cost of the one year visa is 1,900 baht. Bottom-line, get it all done today and pay a total of 7,900 baht or wait and get it done for a total of 4,900 baht. While I could have saved 3,000 baht, I elected to pony up today and save myself the hassle of getting the two new visas in the future. Moral of the story, I suppose, is to be aware that the cheap way to extend your one-year visa is to do it within 30 days of its expiration date. Next year, I'll stay until May (as you might note, I only missed the damned deadline by 2-3 days in the first place!). P.S. Yes, I could have tried to extend the date of my flights.....but that, in total, would have cost me $300.00 or about 9,000 baht!

Yep, very clever retort. The abomination in my view, of course, is Dr. Laura Schlesinger. Anybody up for a few beers and a stoning party?

I'd bet lunch that his one-year visa (often called the "retirement" visa) was cancelled when he got his work permit - as you're not allowed to work under that one-year visa and I believe that prohibition is included right in the body of that visa (it sure is on mine). I'm no expert in the matter in any regard but I see no reason that one can't get the one-year visa so long as you meet the requirements (at least 50 years of age and have the requisite income or Thai bank balance). And none of the requirements of getting the visa is that anybody is officially "retired" [although I know that many call this visa a "retirement" visa and apparently some of the visas actually have the "retirement" words in the body of the visa itself (although mine doesn't). Some of this is just rhetoric, of course, as most people who obtain a one-year visa and are living here without working (officially, anyway) are effectively retired in any event.

Close enough. Pet [low tone] nit [high tone] noi (or noy) [low tone]. Some people, for example, only want one chili [neung (low tone) prik (high tone] and that's how they say it. Mind you, even one chili in somtam, for example, is a bit spicy for some people. And to think some Thais eat it with 4-5 while chilis (enough to remove the chrome from your car bumper) remains in the "incredible" category for me.

We monkeys don't need no stinkin' rehabilitation! Us drinking and smoking monkeys like drinking and smoking! Leave us alone, you commies!

Probably correct...but it'll be a hell of a fight for the elite to be taken down. If Puea Thai forms the next government and if (a big if) a coup doesn't follow within days, I suspect that many of the elite had better be careful as there likely will be some revenge taking.

No, this isn't about Tiger Woods but, rather, about my drinking a bit too much Tiger beer this week. But, while I'm at it, I've called a news conference for tomorrow morning - to apologize for not getting enough sex.

I'm not sure why the authorities chose to print that as it only gives the looney the forum that he sought. His manifesto could have been shortened a bit to this: "I'm nuts and things are gonna happen...."

They (and the producers and owners of the show - and the owners of the network allowing it to be shown) certainly lack any reasonable taste. Making a show about a character with down's syndrome might be perfectly fine under a given scenario but even the linking of that person with the current governor of Alaska (who, of course, has a down's syndrome child) is beyond the pale. Okay, I'll go with "heartless jerks" too.

Yes, some clearly were simply greedy. And I'd hope that one lesson a lot of people would learn about the Madoff scandal is that the old axiom of "never put all your eggs in one basket" is not something to be usually ignored. I shook my head when I kept hearing the recurring theme by some of the investors that "all" their investments were with Madoff (and I read one story that one of the bright investors actually had borrowed some of the money he invested with Madoff). My comments are not meant to minimize Madoff's major culpability here but to simply state that investors ought to act reasonably to protect their own interests. After all, at least where I come from, every "investment" is a gamble to some degree.

Admittedly, my experience back in the states may mean diddley when trying to apply it to asian practices. From what limited experience I have here, many of these commercial buildings are built by rich land owners (not by user/owners) who simply rent out the space and then, in the usual case, it's up to the tenant to obtain licensing and approval for whatever business he is going to run there and, also, to comply with laws about how many fire extinguishers, how many people to allow in there at one time, what activities (pyrotechnics, for example) to conduct there, and to be responsible, of course, for safely conducting activities there. And, of course, there are many commercial examples (especially in Thailand) where the owner only owns the land and the land renter constructs the mall, building, or whatever. I could conjure up a scenario where even a building owner in the west could be liable in the Santika situation. For example, if the law said the building required a sprinkler system and it didn't have one. Or, as another example, the law required a certain number of exit doors (and/or that the all exit doors opened out versus opening in) and those were missing or faulty. Generally, they'd have to find something the owner failed to legally provide and then prove that the failure was at least in part the cause of the injuries or deaths. So far, I haven't read anything in the Thai press about that (but the newspaper reports are notoriously lacking in details and investigative reporting). If I was investigating this particular fire and found that the original building didn't comply with existing fire codes or whatever, my next task would be to look for which inspectors signed the approval forms (electrical inspections, mechanical inspections, general construction inspections, and occupancy permit)and at least attempt to find out why (perhaps a little tea money?) any failures occurred in that realm. But, to be fair, I haven't heard anything about that angle as yet.

I took the thing again (for the purpose of finding out how many people scored 100%) and it notes that "2% of the public" did so. It'd be helpful, though, if the site published just how many people actually took the test. Having seen Jay Leno's "Man on the Street" (or I think that's the name) where he questions people about even much simpler questions, my guess is that group would be lucky to get 2 or 3 questions right.

Only got 10 right (I thought there were more casualties in Iraq last year than Afghanistan and I thought Japan held more of the US debt than China). But most of the questions were rather easy.

I'm with you. I really don't care what a fat person does - so long as he/she doesn't invade the space I paid good money for. There is no way, in my opinion, this guy could fit into a regular seat and not infringe on the passenger(s) next to him.

Just because he/she owned the building wouldn't make him/her liable for anything. As long as the owner just rented the space and had nothing to do with blocking emergency exits or setting off of the pyrotechnics indoors, I can't see why there would be any liability for the owner. When they talk in the press about that place being "unlicensed", I'm not sure what they're talking about - but maybe it's the business activity itself that has to be licensed and not the building. Even in the states there are different rules for different activities (i.e., a lot tougher restrictions on bars or discos where hundreds of people are packed in versus the rules for a place selling clothes).

Oftentimes the blockages are on the stent itself.....scar tissue, plaque, or whatever tends to collect there because it's not smooth like most of the inside of the blood vessel. Some years back they started using some stents that had some chemical/medicine built into them which allegedly would prevent some of the buildup. As I mentioned, one buddy has had 3 more stents within 10 years of surgery (although I'm not sure if this related to old blockage sites or new blockage sites). The biggest worry about the recovery is they want a patient to take it easy for a few days so the stitches near his groin don't open up cause him to blead profusely (or to death). The last time my buddy had a new stent, it was on a Wednesday afternoon and the turkey went bowhunting the next morning at 6AM (and it requires trekking some very rough terrain for almost a mile from his home). He's nuts but he had no problems.

You get a loud "Amen" and, as a bonus, a "Pass the basket cause the Reverend Jimmy needs a new snort of coke!"

No, the law requires the on-record allocution. It's the Judge's job to not accept any plea unless it's clear on the record (so an appellate court can read what happened, if need be) that the defendant has clearly admitted to all elements of the crime. You know, one time you're defending Polanski and then another time you say you don't care what happens. Doesn't quite sound like you're in the "don't care" camp very often. I also don't understand your glib comment about defendants would never lie under oath. Now you're suggesting that Polanski lied under oath but was being truthful later when he wasn't under oath? And you're relying on what he said later which directly contradicted what he said under oath in Court? Strange, dude, very strange.

Of land? 5 ngan would be roughly 1/2 of an acre back in the states or approximately 1 rai over here. I'm presuming also (although it's really none of my business) that it was purchased in a Thai's name.

I first went to NYC when I was 14 and laughed quite a bit at the obvious tourists dumb enough to simply stand near a subway exit. It was humorous to me to see them get stampeded.

Well, ya gotta admit that the younger set these days have much better-developed thumb control than we ever did. If it keeps up, there's going to be a lot of people in the nursing homes in 50-60 years whose thumbs are crippled...hehe.

Actually, rather common that blockages occur within the 5-year-time period. A buddy of mine has had to go in for 3-4 stents (to reopen passages re-blocked) since he had the initial surgery about 10 years ago. What's weird to me is how unexcited they all get about it (and, like Clinton, they get a new stent and then are back to doing normal things within 24 hours).

That's cool. Thanks. Now it would actually be helpful if I could arrange my thoughts coherently in the first place!