The Grumpy Expat Forum

My friend Tom has just died after a very short illness. He went to Pak Thong Chai hospital the other day with what seemed to be food poisoning. I spoke to him on the 'phone later and he told me that he was recovering. He said that he had bought a fresh cream cake in Korat and ate it after the sell by date. The news from his wife this morning is a shock.

Tom ...

Boris wins another terms as Mayor of London and looks well set to PM one day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17946742

Just looked at XE.com and it's finally just gone back over 50 baht to the pound and set to go higher in the coming months they say... :D

Today is the 44th anniversary of the torture, rape, mutilation and murder of hundreds of men, women, children and babies in My Lai and My Khe, Vietnam. Even if some haven't learned from this, we can at least make sure that the event isn't forgotten.

http://www.grumpyexpat.com/blog/2012/03 ... rsary.html

For me, yes, he should definitely have the book thrown at him.

He's a liability to the PT and also, according this report, way out of line and playing to the numbskulls in the country.

He's a skeleton in the closet for PT and Yingluk, even also to the other fella that really controls the party and in a perfect world they would like him to go away.

He has outlived his usefulness, but seems ...

This is worth a read and gives a good insight into what could be many truths for the European countries despite their refusal to recognise it.

Some true words indeed. Imo controversial opinion, one of the reasons Asia in general has done so well is that it has not adopted the hopelessly expensive and disastrous social policies that Europe has.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16918000

Here's a report from the BBC with warnings to travellers:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16883674

If you are planning to fly to Heathrow, check this:

heathrow-information-t1352.html

From Thailand Business News:

Thai Government plans 5% Growth in 2012
By Aishwarya Gupta - Fri, Feb 3rd, 2012

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in a seminar entitled “Decoding GDP 2012” that she is confident that the country’s strong fundamentals would enable the government to push Thai economic expansion to five per cent this year through three major strategies.

The first is to promote exports to the Middle East, India, ASEAN members, and other ...

A summary of watchdogs' assessment by Robert Amsterdam:

Thailand Gets Improved Marks on Human Rights

Upstaged by the uproar created by the latest Human Rights Watch report, two surveys issued in late January by major international organizations have gone largely unnoticed in Thailand. Freedom House’s new “Freedom in the World 2012” and Reporters Without Borders’ “Press Freedom Index” paint quite a different picture of the direction that Thailand has taken since last July’s election, which ...

Good question, and this poll is in the Bangkok Post today with a resounding vote for 'worse' with about 20 and a half thousand voters.

What do you think? I think it is certainly getting more expensive and in some way is getting more restrictive, for foreigners anyhow, in term of regulations and the like. It could also be argued that crime is on the rise too. I think the pros still outweigh the cons ...