The Grumpy Expat Forum

I was passing the tv today, left switched on from earlier, when the word 'Thailand' stopped me in my tracks. I think the programme was 'Seconds From Disaster'. A CCTV camera was aimed at an unmanned railway crossing somewhere in Thailand. An oncoming train was blasting its horn - the sound may have been dubbed but the commentary confirmed that a warning was being sounded. As the train reached the road a local plumber on ...

I must admit that this is one of my regrets/dislikes here, not being easily able to go for a walk around everyday, just to get some light activity in. You can go for a walk but there are so many hazards it makes it an unenjoyable challenge, like no pavements and where there are then the curbs are so high or food stalls take the entire space and you have to then walk out into ...

Going to have a swift rant here about this. Ok, I know I should know better by now but got caught out twice recently through being in a rush. Firstly, bought some adesive clothes hooks from 7-11, put them on the back of a wooden door and left them to settle for a day or so. Went for a shower and hung a pair of trousers on them and went out for a few beers. ...

:) OK, Nosey bstard that I am I just wondered what the mix of nationalities is on here, I know it's not a very big member list at the moment but none the less, not knowing you guys and any gals on here I'm just interested, I myself am from East Anglia in the UK, originally from London.

The amount of times i have had flip flops, or sandals go missing both here or in BKK is unreal, taken from outside my homes, from shops, restaurants etc.

I went to the extreme of buying the 45 baht flip flops,its got to the point now that if i have to leave them outside, i position myself so i have view of them, well the other day i was in a Cafe, having coffee, with ...

As we all know the thai farmers bank, was always the bank for the rural poor to go to for cheap loans, over the last year, has been making changes to its pay back on loans etc, the other day the poo yai baan, in his address to the village in the early morning wake all call, announced to the village the names of the people who had of defaulted on loans, my wife was ...

This is from January - Febuary 2010
Upon arriving in beautiful Korat I was in need of a hotel room. We had booked at the KR hotel after the reading here about the amenities
and highlights. The price range was 350 - 450 - 550 Baht a day. I would hate to see the 350 Bath room. I took the 550 room for a night.
I have a back that gives me problems at times ...

An interesting episode fun to watch transpired yesterday near the city market as I was waiting for the green light. At one of the intersections a teenage kid was in the process of being shaken down by a cop that pulled up perpendicularly in front of the kid as to block his way. The kid wasn't wearing a helmet, but one can only guess why the cop picked on this particular kid. No reason needed, ...

Well, it's seems to be continuing to wallow in the dumps and for some daft reason the Baht is so high, hopelessly over valued. I know the Bristish economy is still having a hard time but how come these exotic currencies are doing so well? Unless, of course, it's being intervened with or the speculators are targeting it. With all the problems that are running rampant at the moment you'd think it would be taking ...

A book written by a police officer in Portugal has been banned in the UK. It's about the investigation into the disappearance of a 4 year old British girl in the Algarve one evening while her parents were dining with friends. However, there is a translation from French available on the internet. It makes very interesting reading and food for thought for all those people who contributed to the parents' fund.