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I'm spending less and less time in LOS these days but it turns out I will be coming on the 3rd of Dec for about a week, spending most of my time in Jomtien/Pattaya Beach. On my trip last year, the lines at the BKK airport were murder. I almost missed my connection even after managing to bypass the lines. Being a frugal guy, I decided to catch the public BKK to Pattaya bus this time. I think the cost is 100 Baht and it runs every hour from the airport all the way to Jomtien Beach. My hotel is only a couple of blocks from the bus station on the main Baht Bus route, so I'll catch the Baht Bus for the last leg of the trip.

You make a good point, although many people use booze in a medicinal way to keep dem demons in check. You need that drink every now and then to reboot your psyche so to speak. Moderation is the rule. Drink excessively and dem demons will find you for sure.

I remember a couple of years when the British couple lost their lives. It's a terrible thing. A lot of these cyclist believe that they can have a lane to themselves. You can have your own lane and be relatively safe if you have a support vehicle behind you to protect you from other vehicles. (Even then you could run into or be run over by your own support vehicle.)http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/18/17005973-globe-trotting-british-cyclists-killed-in-road-accident-in-thailand?lite

The Dark Valley is pretty good. It remeinds me of McCabe & Mrs Miller (the snow scenes) and The Good , Bad & Ugly (the intensity of the hero). The movie had me riveted to the screen. A German flick w/ subtitles. It has won awards.

Switch to ubuntu OS and you won't have any problem w/malware and it's free. I only use Windows for games now.

It may be worth searching for a good lawyer/investigator who's willing to work just for a small fraction of the funds recovered from this builder. If nobody is willing to do it for that, it may not be worth pursuing.

I don't believe Stickman will leave LOS permanently. A place like LOS can grow on you. Look at Trink, he is still around.

You need to do away with countries and religions:

"How long you stay?" should be on top of the list. They need to know how long to stay low if they decide to steal your money.

Beaujolais Nouveau 2014 is not bad. I bought a whole case of the stuff at $8.50/bottle (Costco USA). In LOS (the last time I checked, a few yrs back), it can cost about $50 (US). It's not worth it at that price, but for less than 8-9 dollars/bottle, you might want to get one.

Last month in Pattaya, I was wolfing down a chicken giro that I picked up from a street vendor. An attractive Chinese female sits down at my table, followed by an entourage. I pointed out to them that there is an empty table a few feet away, but they refused to move. (maybe she wanted to give me some leg )

My daughter brought me a broken laptop a few days ago. It's the one that I had given her a while back. She said it was beyond repair. I started it up and the Win 7 OS asked me if I want to repair the system. So, I told it, yes. A few minutes later, it had fixed itself. It's like new now.

I think it was the great artist, Picasso, who said that any publicity is good. So all of this news coverage that Cosby is getting is good for him (per Picasso, that is). Cosby may make zillion $ writing a book about his version of this mess, making a hollywood movie, etc. This additional coverage will make him a larger figure historically.

They should be able to find something to charge him with but there is no law against using that choke hold ( there is no penalty specified).

Last week, I was getting a foot massage in Pattaya and also had an experience with fake boobs. It was a special bra that made them look bigger. The massage girl had very impressive ones , so much so that I decided for the full service in the VIP room (1300 Baht. Things are much cheaper in Pattaya). In the VIP room, she quickly took the bra off and asked, “Are they big enough?†I was caught off guard by the question but it quickly became evident that the bra was of a special kind designed to enhance the size of her boobs. She went from a size D to a B. She then turned into a very funny person; She had me besides myself with laughter. I was her baby to cuddle and to entertain; and I was her captive. She was a natural , at being funny, that is (her boobs were illusions).

Roman Polanski is a wanted man in the US, so he still may be prosecuted. (Shame on France for giving him asylum). Jimmy Saville is dead -- there is a law that says you can't put a dead man on trial. My understanding is that there is not enough evidence to put Bill Cosby on trial. The victim has to file charges in some of these cases and there has to be sufficient evidence before the prosecutor will take it to court. People loved Cosby's public personna, but he may be very different in private. It boils down to evidence -- is there enough for conviction.

I liked Bill Cosby but if this is true, he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. No one is above the law. It's bad for society (especially a democratic one) if rich and the powerful is perceived to be above the law.

News reports of bad things happening to tourists are not a good indicator of how safe LOS is compare to other countries. Comparing the percentages of tourists that are murdered or injured would be a better indicator. (What percentage of tourists in LOS were murdered or injured in the last 12 months relative to other countries, for example). As far as a million less visitors predicted to visit this year, the # of tourists entering LOS increased by about three fold in the last 15 yrs, from 8 million to 24 million. A drop of one million is not much (less than 5%) in relative terms.

For a 75 yrs old cancer survivor, you're doing great!

How are you doing? I remember that you had a heart attack and then you found a job in Pattaya. So, what's going on with you?

Back to OP: I don't think this is a Thai trait -- it's universal -- my wife's been ripping me off for decades. She is a manager at a utility company and makes good money but likes to spend more than she makes. With regard to car insurace, my car insurance cost me about $150 every six months. I'm not accident prone so I only have liability insurance. I keep enough money in the bank to cover the cost for another car.

Truemove Sim has two international calling connections: 'low cost' at 1 bt per minute and 'first class' at 3 bt per minute. The 'low cost' has worked fine for me. I don't know what the technical differences are between the two; but the chances of getting through to US during a storm will likely improve by using first class.

Things are cheaper in Thailand, so his financial burden would ease if he makes the move.

Truemove.1bt min to ring US.

The last couple of times I checked baggage, my baggage came back damaged -- bent frames/broken straps. I found a perfect replacement in a thrift store for $15: Olympic backpack with wheels, right size to meet the airline carry on requirements http://www.ebags.com...oductid=1250952 This will be my only bag when i travel to LOS next month.