SiangDeeMahk

You've been in Thailand for 6 months already, and you're still going to EMPORIUM to buy, well... ANYTHING??

Either you're just plain nuts (in which case, you need help: PM me and I'll tell you where I buy my tickets; hint, it aint anywhere close to Sukhomvit Rd), or you're clearly rich enough to pay the ASTRONOMICALLY-JACKED-UP-FOR-TOURISTS prices at Emporium.

(Mods: I hope that's within the boundries of "not counter-soliciting against TV sponsors"?)

Cheap

Wow.. that's kinda harsh, dude. Perhaps not all of us were born wih a silver spoon in our mouths.

It seems to me that if you're not loaded with cash, then being thrifty and trying not to burn through the little that you have (so you can stay with the one that you love as long as posible before having to travel to another country where you can more easily earn more money), isn't CHEAP, it's just sensible. Cheap is when you go for lower quality or shortcuts, even when you could easily afford better.

Oh.. I would also call typing a "single word snub" (in a thread where usefull contibuters are using full sentences), as CHEAP.

Drunken driving is a very minor offense IMHO (not to be confused with injuring someone while under the influence)

I don't consider victimless crimes to be crimes at all.

Oh.. wait a sec..

Are you suggesting that someone who empties an entire clip of an unlicensed AK-47 assault rifle straight up in the air directly over a schoolyard full of children, hasn't committed a major crime, just as long as none of the falling bullets injure or kill any of the children?

(cause drivin a car drunk is pretty darn close to that)

Would you, as a parent of one of those children, or as the person who lived next to the schoolyard (putting you harms way) feel that person's actions were minor? Would you want them only to be facing minor penalties (deterrents) from continuing to commit that (victimless) crime?

Reckless Endangerment is not a minor crime (as Petty Larceny might be).. certainly not just because the perpetrator was lucky enough not to have killed a victim THIS TIME), but because it shows someone who clearly (and repeatedly?) displays a proclivity to not give a crap about other people's lives. People who are willing to do stuff like that should be dealt with (and disarmed/prevented from repeating) BEFORE they actually end up committing "non-victimless" crimes. That's why penalties for reckless endangerment should be "soberingly" harsh, if not, what would be the perpetrators incentive not to do it again..?

There's a reason it's illegal to drink and drive (and not just illegal to kill someone with your car while you're drunk).

If you insist on referencing "victimless crimes", I feel the need to point out the wide range of seriousness in the types of "victimless crimes" that exist. I would put "willingly getting behind the wheel of a deadly machine while too impaired to prevent it from killing other people (a statistically likely outcome of drunk driving), WAY up farther on the scale, than say, some other "victimless crimes", like recreational use of a controlled substance, or the sale of ones body (where the likely outcome may be a binge of crunchy snacks, or some bedsheets in dire need of laundering).

You just can't sweep all of those "victimless" crimes into a single pile, and dismiss them all equally as not being crimes, under the justification of "there's no victim, so they're all equally minor crimes".

Of course, if you try to add Amulet Protection, the "mai bpen rai" factor, and the great "tea money fix-all" into these equations, you can at least get a glimpse into the profoundly disturbing (yet often seen) Thai justifications for DWI, but as far as the Western approach, (which is what the OP's question was about), it's simply ludicrous to try to dismiss DWI as a minor crime; victimless or not. In truth, the only REAL equation that REALLY matters is: Life {Flesh + Bone} ÷ {Gasoline + Steel + Velocity x Alcohol} (eventually) = DEATH. (whether it happens this drive home, or not until the next drive home.. because eventually things will fall on the wrong side of the odds, and then in one horrible bloody second, it's too late)

I got some interesting food for thought from these two pages, before writing my reply; maybe they'll be interesing to you too.

http://law.jrank.org/pages/2257/Victimless...e-Critique.html

http://www.drunkdrivinglawyers.com/alcohol...ted-crashes.cfm

could it be "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"...??

I saved money by getting a ride on dishwasher.

A dishwasher? You mean, she didn't buck and throw you off when she found out that you weren't going to pay for "the ride"?? Wow, you got lucky I guess.

I've never ridden a dishwasher, but I did get picked up for a little ride by a hostsess once.. no money was exchanged, but some other stuff was!

So how do I save money?

I virtually NEVER open the aircon in the car (and not often in the house), unless we (GF & I) have a guest.

I wash the car myself. And buy the non-designer detergent concentrate. I top up the tank before driving outside of Bangkok, and only at gas stations that give free bottled water with a topped up tank.

I byu bulk items when they're on sale. Almost never buy the lower priced (but higher cost) small packaged items (when it's sold in a larger size).. but you gotta CHECK; sometimes, the sneaky stores actually try to charge MORE per Kg for a larger size package.. I guess they figure the average Thai wont bother to do the math. Almost got taken at Carrefoure for higher priced diapers in the 20 pack, than the 4 pack. You gotta check!

I really try not to buy "staple items" at 7/11 (was hard as he_ll to teach the GF about that one, but she finally got it)

We ONLY go to Major Cineplex (@ Ekamai) on Wednesdays; it's HALF PRICE TICKETS (for all but the "special engagment" showings), and current promotion: fill up the sticker card with 8 stamps; get a free popcorn and soda! So we see a movie 4 times a month @ halfprice ($120 Bath for 2 people!), and pay for popcorn only ZERO times a month (we sneak snacks into the theater, the other times!). Slick, huh?

I get a Thai massage (no extras) every 3 to 4 weeks, and ONLY at $100Bath/hour.

If a restaurant has even the SLIGHTEST SUGGESTION of the english word "Seafood" posted anyware on the premises, I won't go near it..

(you'll instantly be paying $150-$400Bath MORE than you'd need to elseware, just because that sign's there.)

My GF, and all of her friends get loaded on cheap local beer and whisky BEFORE going out to a bar or club. Then they just pay (ok, ok.. I pay) for 1 or 2 drinks the whole night, to mantain the buzz.

I know the gist of the thread is to post "odd" or "unthinkable" ways that we've seen people save money, but I put my "practical" ones up anyway; might give someone a good idea (who really needs to save a little).

My TGF just breezed over your contract, and didn't spot anything that indicated that your landlord has the right to enter the premises at any time, with no prior notice.. It only says something about "at the end of the year's contract, the owner can ask if you want to rent it again (and then make an appointment to "check" the room)". As I explained your original question to her, she wrinkled her nose, and quickly said "that so crazy if landlord think she can go in him room anytime. If you pay someone for rent their room, that mean they are not be owner now already, you are really owner cause you do pay money them to borrow from them be owner right now, and they (the landlord) have to do polite with you; ask you first for when you have time to show you room. If they just try come and before not yet call, they look like they are want steal ur things". She say "Good Thai people never do something like just come to go inside your room... even with other Thai people, it would be crazy and rude".

{I'll add} Unless the other Thai person is a member of the family; then no prior notice is needed, and a visit can and should be expected at any...and I mean ANY time of the day or night, with no regard for how it may effect the plans or activities (sleeping or otherwise) that were in place before they barged in.. but that's for another post, yes?

She suggests that your landlord may have delusions of grandure, but that for sure, these are the actions of an unfair, bad-mannered person.

But, on a serious note man.. how the heck could you sign your name to a binding contract, that you don't fully understand? I'd walk on my lips through 5 miles of busted glass before I'd put my "John Hancock" on a document that I didn't fully understand.

And LennyW, that PDF was greally great, so much so that my TGF is gonna use (parts of) it for her new tenents..

Why doesn't LOS have a secret hit squad like the Israeli's, Americans, Russians, British and any other country you might want to mention?

Oh yes.. the Thai Army "Special Forces" Unit. I can see it now.. they can "take him out" with their trusty telescopic automobile whip-antennae attached to empty plastic boxes (as long as they insert the specially purchased "Substance Sensor Card" to allow the "unit" to "detect and destroy" a greedy pathological megalomaniac liar).

According to the "success rate" of that device, there's a 25% chance the mission will succeed.

That is, if they dont get refused on their visa application to run a mission into a non-S.E. Asian country.

WOW!

Has anyone taken a good look at the first-aid instructions in that presentation? I'd have to say I genuinely think a large Buddha amulet might offer a better chance at surviving the trauma from a vehicular accident, than some of the literally dangerous suggestions put up in that document. And frankly, after a bunch of years in Thailand, and at least a partial understanding of Thai grammar, I don't think it's just a "lost in translation" problem.

In any case, I'd be particularly suspicious of a first aid manual that cautions you not to try to apply treatment to an already-dead person, but instead, the still-living persons.

Wow. Seriously. It actually SAYS that.

Did you get the bit about the limit on the number of passengers you're supposed to carry? I almost choked on my sticky rice, on that one.

And for sure, some of the "correct" answers in the quiz absolutely defy western (or actually, ANY) logic.. But that's not so surprising.

One has only to drive the roads of Thailand to know how completely useless "knowledge of the traffic laws" is (because they're utterly ignored by 90+% of Thai motorists). There's almost no need to know them, except to avoid tangles with the police (who don't need to have "real laws" to pull you over with, anyway).

Amazing Thailand!

Still, if your aim is to get a Thai driving licence, this link is helpful. If anyone can post more hints on how to get through the tests (like that mirror trick for the driving test), I think that would benefit this thread. And if it was too blurry to read, I'll reiterate that bringing a valid International Licence with you from another country let's you skip several steps in the process, including the "dreaded" road test.

Something that a lot of news sources failed to mention, is that there are a large amount of 'non-red-shirts' on the streets that are cheering on the red shirts:

(or 'terrorists' as some of you are calling them)

----many cute, but meaningless pix removed---

My opinion is...

Oh, come on! Happy waving faces doesn't prove a thing.

Everyone loves a "parade", and please don't forget; a very large segment of Thai society are basically people that are so disconnected from the serious "you tink too mut" kinds of things that many of the western posters on ThaiVisa think about; they'd probably wave gleefully at a squadron of enemy jet fighters screaming overhead. Don't get me wrong, I know and like many "you tink too mut" Thais, but the truth is, if the Reds aren't coming between them and their:

1) Som Tum

2) Chance to buy a lottery ticket

3) Freedom to shop at unnecessarily expensive malls (the Hi-So's, at least)

4) Ability to watch a TV show highlighting which fat man (dressed as a woman) can smash a congenitally deformed midget over the head with a household object better than the not-in-drag members of the cast... or a daily "drama" showcasing Thais acting, speaking (well, yelling), and thinking terribly to each other (which they CANNOT tear their eyes and ears away from), because contrary to the mandatory Thai cultural limitation of not being able to yell your head off at some complete sh_t-head who desperately deserves to be yelled at, most Thais would f_cking LOVE to tear someone a new _sshole, and therefore can't help but to stare transfixed at the spectacle of Thais screaming at (and being very, very mean to) each other on TV, cause they're living vicariously through it,

..then they'll just stand there and smile and wave at a red parade (and it really IS more of a parade, than a real political protest). Or at anything. In fact, you can even count on a reasonably good sized crowd of Thais to congregate around a decapitated "motorcycle verses lorry" victim on the side of the road. So I'm sorry; the fact that they'll stand on the sidelines, and simplistically enjoy the show/parade, isn't significant.

To be fair, a LOT of people will wave at a parade, but let's not write this off as what a "lot" of people will do.

These are Thais, and some of them are not as connected and enlightened to the deeper meaning in these events as you might think they are.

In fact, I regularly see Thais bypassing the news channels, or real newspapers, for sanook shows and glossy magazines (to see which celebrity's candid crotch/undies-photo made it into that weeks issue). Frankly, I've been amazed at how little coverage there has been on Thai TV news, regarding these protests. If it were happening in Washington DC, or Paris, or Tokyo, I'm pretty sure it would be getting nearly 24 hours a day coverage on those country's national news channels.

So, the "average" Thai? Well,, I mean, kids do love a parade, don't they? Thailand continues to be a nation were many 14 year olds are being unscrupulously lead (aka: hoodwinked) by a corrupt group of 16 year olds.

This is a VERY 3rd world country. It's filled with uneducated people who've been conditioned to "be happy that they're un-educated", and corruption-riddled economics, government, and it has a large gap between the corrupt "haves" and the (also corrupt) "have-nots".

In their easy little world of "mai bpen rai", "jai yen yen", "don't question teachers/elders", "don't cause loss of face", "sanook is more important than learning, or planning ahead", "tea money", and "vote-buying", NOTHING WILL CHANGE, until they're ready to leave these CHILDISH mannerisms behind.

And let's just clear this up once and for all..

People who genuinely believe in a demonstration for equality and democracy .. DONATE TO THE CAUSE, not get paid to attend it.

PERIOD!! There really isn't any valid way to twist or spin that.

I marched on Washington DC, and in protest marches in New York, for causes that I believed in. No one paid me, or a single other person who was there. (or gave me a bus ticket or "gas money" to get there).

These demonstrations AREN'T about democracy, equality, freedom, or ANY of the "issues" that these mobs are claiming to be driven by.

Isn't it patently obvious what this is about? It's about GREED, posturing, and hunger for power. And it's all coming from one egomaniacally demented man, who just can't let go.

And it's gonna really make things hard for ALL Thai people and foreigners who live here, as this ongoing nonsense ends up scaring off tourists and foreign business as well.

Don't be part of the problem! Be part of a new solution!

Regards,

I think the word "solution" fits in well with Thaksins ideology, judging by his previous.

It seems to me that one of the last times the world has seen an individual THIS hungry for power and control, with ill regard how he achieved it, the expression that person used to describe his "Master Plan". was not just "solution".. but "The Final Solution"..

Perhaps very fitting, since Thaksin is already walking the earth with bloodied hands; the result of his own murderous policies.

Even in the vast sea of evil and/or corrupt Thai politicians, it's my opinion that this one stands out clearly as what could only be described as "the very worst choice" to lead the country.

why not take a cut from google map and print it on the card. This one doesn't look good at all.

You know.. Thais are nortoriously bad map-readers.. I had to teach my TGF how to read a map (which she fought against learning, until I demonstrated how helpfull it was when driving in places that you'd never been before, and how much more accurate it was, than the (3 times wrong) verbal directions we were stopping and asking people on the side of the road for). She saw the light, and finally stopped whining, and now "gets" the whole "squigly colored lines represent the actual land and roads beneith your feet and car tires" bit.

But many Thais dont really get that, so in my opinion, the most simplistic squarely drawn street diagram with a few landmarks and pictures (which is closer to how Thais give verbal directions, instead of using maps) works just fine here in Thailand.

I used the print shop 5th (I think) floor in Siam Discovery, near the loos.

Excellent service double sided cards (map on the back) and they assist you in designing them and checked the Thai spelling of our address - worth the money/trouble. And it wasn't that much

When they say laminated it means a sort of waxy finish to the cards - also worth it because the first set of cards I had made, they sort of stuck in my wallet, because the ink melted in the heat! The laminated cards are fine.

Sorry I can't remember the price paid.

Good to know. Theoretically, in addition to preventing ink scratching and stickyness, lamination should greatly help the tropical climate "card-curling due to humidity" that you have probably seen with uncoated cards, before. So I also would think it would be worth the extra cost, especially here in Thailand.

I would agree on the curling bit - I have scanned in the back of my card to show you what these guys can do (it may be the 7th/top? floor I really can't remember)

errr.. maybe you should have grabbed their business card..??

But seriously, did they generate (create) the map graphic on the back of the card, for you?

Post 1: After the bombings in Narathiwat early Tuesday, soldiers from a special unit used the GT 200 bomb detectors and signal jammers to screen all banks in Yala municipality. Officials are patrolling the areas although there has been no report of an attack in Yala so far. (TNA)

If I had of known the Thai government was that gullible I could have sold them a batch of my "Super Automatic Primary Explosive Seekers"!

Only $1999 for one pair of SAPES with a full set of instructions.

I heard that the original manufacturer (newly relocated just outside of Great Britain) recently announced that if you purchase and operate two matched and calibrated pairs of SAPES in close proximity to each other (while holding half a poached duck egg in your mouth and spreading Betel nut oil between the outer toes on your left foot), the percentage of successful detections dramatically shoots up from 20% (or less), straight to 20.000000000000000000000000000001% (or.. much less). Incredible, huh??

Look. If a bunch of folks wanna believe in gypsy-routed superstition, hocus-pocus, magic, ghosts, and psychic nonsense, in the pursuit of winning the lottery & finding underground streams, for keeping jilted spirits at bay in a mini-house on the corner of their property, or to create believability that some monks can see the future & repatriate lost souls.. (and I truly love their creativity in this genre), then MORE POWER TO THEM..!!

But if they want to try to apply those beliefs (in lieu of scientific methods) to try to *detect* a pile of Simtex before it blasts a human body to red drippy shreds, spread across the walls and sidewalk..? They better have a REALLY good supply of bodybags. And some shovels and mops. And a sizable stack of official "We regret to inform you of the untimely death of ..." condolence cards.

They gonna need em.

I used the print shop 5th (I think) floor in Siam Discovery, near the loos.

Excellent service double sided cards (map on the back) and they assist you in designing them and checked the Thai spelling of our address - worth the money/trouble. And it wasn't that much

When they say laminated it means a sort of waxy finish to the cards - also worth it because the first set of cards I had made, they sort of stuck in my wallet, because the ink melted in the heat! The laminated cards are fine.

Sorry I can't remember the price paid.

Good to know. Theoretically, in addition to preventing ink scratching and stickyness, lamination should greatly help the tropical climate "card-curling due to humidity" that you have probably seen with uncoated cards, before. So I also would think it would be worth the extra cost, especially here in Thailand.

These are all great answers.. thanx. I think this will become a valuable thread.

extremely valuable! i will check now several times a day for additional valuable information.

Well now.

Sincere words, with a very sarcastic emoticon. Hard to make out which is the true thrust of your post.

If it's the latter, then honestly, why? Why "sour up" a perfectly innocent, and correctly-placed thread, aimed at letting foreigners share a little man-on-the-street info about trying to get a professional presentation of themselves into order? Is there something inherently wrong with trying to do that? Isn't that precisely what a BBS service is for?? A sharing of ideas and information?

Not every thread on TV has to be about Taksin, Coups, Bargirl arrests on the beach, or Sinsod, does it?

There's room for lots of valid topics, (that are also a part of life, spent in Thailand), and if this one isn't interesting to you, there's really NO NEED to castigate it, just to show your ability to spew sarcasm.

Now of course, if it was the former, and you're genuinely interested in following the thread, then that's great, but I suggest you review your choice of emoticons... perhaps the sarcastic "tuneless whistle while rolling eyes" emoticon wasn't the best choice? Cause it sure threw me off.

And I'm not, by even the wildest stretch of the imagination, new to netiquette.. and even more confusing: clearly, neither are you, Sir.

Thailand really does want no tourists...

first mass protest and riot warnings

now bombings where you could lose your life or a limb just to get your money to spend here...

i guess an informed tourist is not looking thailand to come and spend their hollidays here

Especially if the security device (GT200) that's being use to detect the bombs (and protect the Tourists?) is NOTHING MORE THAN A CAR WHIP-ANTENNA, ATTACHED TO A NON-ACTIVE CIRCUITBOARD AND BATTERY THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING AT ALL (except make the plastic enclosure that the antenna is attached to, a little bit more believably heavy). The same "device" that has been forbidden (by the British Government) to be sold to, (or used in) nearly every other country that ended up buying it from the unscrupulous company that made it (before the owner was arrested), in England.

The SAME company, that a few years earlier, was operating in the USA, untill the FBI figured out that it was a BOGUS device (which, in the USA, has been a very big no-no since the dawn of electricity, when "newly electrified" devices stated being produced that claimed to be able to "fix or cure" anything from halitosis to hangnails, sour milk in your cow to your inability to attract a partner), and shut it down. But it just popped up again in Great Britain, with the SAME owner)

You know God invented Google for a reason, folks.. USE it.

In fact, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

(it even NAMES the GT200!!!)

And now, the Thai Authorities are still stuck using this useless stick (while nearly every other country has completely abandoned it as "quack science"), because to STOP using it would cause a loss of face for having bought and overpayed for it, in the first place.

So, more bombs will go undetected (and then go boom), killing glass windows at banks, ATMs, and both the Thais and tourists that use them, and the Authorities will continue to pursue innocent people, based on the tired wrist muscle twitch of some dude pointing a car antenna, possibly sending that innocent person to jail.

Yep, put out the Welcome Mat, LOS.. that desperately needed surge of Tourists should be arriving anytime now.

Geez.

Note: Last night in Bangkok, I drove down Rachada Road (past Hollywood, RCA, etc) at about 12:30 AM. Usually, you can barely get down the street; it's so jammed with cars, taxis, foodcarts, and partying people (ESPECIALLY TOURISTS). But last night? A few scattered taxies, and nearly deserted streets and side sois. My TGF was visibly upset at the sight of it.

Here's some simple math: bad ecconomy + political instability + much fewer tourists = DEATH.

WAKE UP, THAILAND.. you're killing yourself.

You also have to consider quality and quantities. For low quantities (and lower quality) inkjet printing at places like MBK are the cheapest and easiest for 100 to 500 cards and should cost between 1.5 baht to 5 baht depending on card stock, colors, finishing etc (lamination). For 'proper' printing using offset-litho (where plates have to be made), it's far more expensive here in Thailand and costs will range from 5 baht upwards (usually in the range of 8 or 9 baht each for 4 color 2 sides) and it's not cost-effective really for anything less than 500 off.

These are all great answers.. thanx. I think this will become a valuable thread.

Is there such a thing as lamination, for inkjet printing processes? Hmmm.. and if you know it's going to be printed on inkjet, would you reccomend RGB colorspace, or CMYK for the file you give to them? Or does that depend on the printer they're using? Some RIP engines (even for inkjet printers that have CMKY inks) still are very happy to accept RGB files. So would RGB files be the best choice? (especially with more advanced "CMKY" inkjet printers which have a bunch of extra specialized "inbetween" colored inks, for a wider printable color gamut?)

Anyone else have some ideas about the best way (and the best costs) for getting business cards printed?

Any opinions on whether to trust the print shop to prepare "camera-ready" artwork themselves from a single submitted image (of your card design), or should you prepare your own 2 column x 5 row matrixed page, complete with bleed, cutmarks, etc?

I'd like to know what the normal range of price is (not Farang-inflated prices, but typical Thai prices), for getting 100 2-sided glossy Business Cards (also known locally as "Name Cards") printed in Bangkok.. either at a large printshop in MBK, or a small one at the bottom of the stairs at a Carre-Four.

Anyone have any recent experiences with this task?

The point of my post is to try to not get the "Farang-Price" shafting that we are often subjected to, because contrary to what many Thais seem to think, not all of us are RICH overseas tourists (just greedily acting like Cheap Charlies); Some of us are just not that well-to-do, and are trying to live reasonably on a budget, and don't want to be ripped off anymore, while living as polite, considerate, gracious guests in the LOS.

It is much more environmentally friendly to catch and release.

Catch and release?? That sounds more like a colorfull description of S.O.P. at nearly all of Thailand's massage shops, than what's happening on the beaches. And I doubt something that messy could be friendly to the environment. Oh wait. That can't be right.. there IS no "love for sale" in the LOS. I forgot.

My impression has always been that the girls that hang down by the beach are infected with HIV or too addicted to drugs to be able to hold a job at any bar.

Maybe I'm wrong and its the sweet innocent ones who don't know how to get a job at a bar, but I've always rather thought that punters who take beach girls have a death wish anyway, and to what lengths should we go to protect them from themselves.

Kindof harsh I know, but they're obviously willing to engage in very risky behaviour and will come a cropper one way or another anyway

So you're a bar owner then?

Very unfair comment, these girls simply prefer to work for themselves (or so I'm told), .

BTW how does one tell a Russian mafia prostitute from an ordinary Thai prostitute?? Serious question, but if you folks want to add punchlines, please feel free....within the rules, of course.

Uhhhh just a guess but Russian prostitutes don't have slanted eyes and are born in Russia? That was difficult.

"slanted eyes" - is Prince Phillip a TV member?

Russian prostitutes are obviously Russian born, Russian mafia prostitutes could be from any country - even less difficult. However identifying them, as working for the Russian mafia, instead of for themselves, is not so easy, which is why I asked the question. I did give the option of a humorous reply, but sadly, that seems to be somewhat beyond your capabilities.

Slightly off-topic (but in response)..

A few-odd years back, I was actually seated at a table with some friends at a BKK restaurant, and some VERY non-Thai girls (pale skin, acne, stocky, chunky, blond) sat down nearby, all with dark eyeliner drawn out to elongated points at the outer corners of their eyes. They started trying to chat us up, and began weaving some bizzaro story about how they were Japanese girls, on holiday in Bangkok, in very weak mock-Asian accents. I looked the fattest, blondest one dead in her painted eyes, and asked "So you're all just in from Japan, huh"? Without missing a beat, she nodded up and down frantically and blurted out "Da!" just as plain as day. I almost choked on my beer.

So anyway, that's how we knew they were "Ruskie Hookskis". Needless to say, we didn't wait around for the upcoming "Я буду любить тебя долго!" (which means: I'll love you long time!)

Only one question:

When are they going to bring back the Bangkok-NYC direct route?? It's sorely missed. I don't know why they stopped it; the plane was almost always full. (I heard the story about it becoming cost prohibitive during the huge fuel price spike a few years back, but fuel costs have long since returned to normal levels)

Additionally, the Northeast region of the US (where NYC is) is much more densly populated than the West coast (where Los Angeles is).

In terms of the actual numbers, Manhattan has a poulation density of 25,850/km², and Los Angeles is 3,078/km². You do the math. So why are they just running a West coast route (where there are less people), and losing the huge east coast market, who wont buy a seperate US$400-600 ticket to the West coast just to connect to the Thai Airways flight, when they can just buy a cheaper "1 ticket" passage on a single carrier straight out of the East coast? (since they're going to have to change planes anyway)

Nothing compares with the ability to go through check-in, MASSIVE security (in NY, at least), board a plane, set up your little living area (laptop, headphones, books, etc), and not have to break it down, pack it up, land, depart the plane, lug your things to another check-in, additional security, then wait (on the ground, not moving any closer to your destination) to board another plane, set up your area again (but this time, with less time in the air to accomplish things), then gather and pack up your things again, land, and go find your luggage... which has a much higher chance of not even showing up, after having to have traversed an extra removal, terminal transfer and a reloading onto a new (hopefully correct) plane. I get weak just thinking about it.

Isn't just getting on a plane, doing your thing in the air, and then getting off at the final destination (with all your property) SO much better? I think so. I bet that those of us that have to lug a lot of valuable/technological work-related objects onboard the plane with them (so they don't get stolen or smashed), think so too.

I guess we just have to hope Thai Airways brings it back.

If this is off-topic, I'd appreciate a mod to shift it over to an appropriate part of the forum, thank you.

Money can't buy you love.

Actually it can.

In many cultures around the world, age differences never matter.

We all know that.

Very often if an older guy (with money), married a younger woman, and he actually took good care of her (and her family).

If he showed that he had a genuine good heart, she will very soon start to love him for real.

So, she maried him for security first, but soon learned to love him.

In other words, his money/security lead her to him, wich again lead to love.

No, that's not true. What IS true is; "In many {old-fashioned} cultures around the world, money and it's trappings are more highly valued than love, and can trump absolutely horrific age mis-matches".

So, no. That's not *love*. It's appreciation, and perhaps indebtedness.

In broader terms, it's much more akin to a "employer-employee" relationship, than love. Services rendered for fees paid. That's business, not love. Love cannot be bought. It can only be shared.. freely, fairly, mutually (with no monetary values attached or associated to it). Real LOVE is actually the special bond that develops between 2 people, when when they come to understand, trust, and care for each other over a period of time, in a way much more deeply than they do with mere friends. Deciding to financially take care of someone (who you share true love with already) AFTER the love is already there, can and does happen, but when the money comes first, the "learned love" that sometimes follows is NOT real love. A person may "love" the security that someone else provides for them.. BUT THAT'S NOT LOVE.

Love is ONLY free. It's a completely black and white issue, just the same as sex is. Sex, if anything is exchanged for it (except a token item of no longterm value, like a flower or a greeting card) .. is not a mutual coupling, but a business exchange, and nothing more. And yes, that does mean that I think that anyone who says "I would only consider sleeping with someone if they bought me nice things and took me out to a nice meal and a show, first" is a PROSTITUTE.

How does this tie into the topic? Because you cant love someone that is in your employ (unless you already had freely and mutually occurring love together BEFORE you started "taking care/employing" them). Sex can be bought, but love cant. There simply is no such thing as "learning to love" someone (that's employing you). It's a soothing myth, made up by people that want to try to feel better about paying someone to cohabit with them (or feel better about whoring themselves out).

How do I account for this theory? Pretty simply, really. People who couple (marry) for true love, will usually stay with each other through financial ups and downs, and even total financial ruin (unless the love itself ends). And reciprocally, people who marry for security (ie: money) are much more likely to cut and run, if that money (that they originally coupled for) should disappear, in hopes of finding it with someone else.

And don't tell me that you think that "love that was learned in response to someone taking care of them" will faithfully keep them with a newly poor partner, especially if they've already grown accustomed to the comforts of a well-to-do existence.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people doing "business" with one another. And money makes the world go around. I just cant stomach it being called something other than what is is. I certainly can't handle it being called "love".

Harsh words, for sure, but let's just call it what it is: BUSINESS.

As to the topic of this post, rich and/or poor coupling with Thai and/or Farang; true love is possible within any combination of these players, but not if the money comes into play before the love does.

Bottom line: True love is blind, and it can't be bought.

I want to touch on another point, too.

The concept of accepting "paying for long-term partnership", in place of true love, is an old-world (and 3rd world) custom, usually between a richer man and a poorer woman, and is increasingly less common now in 1st world (especially Western) countries. It's popularity is even beginning to decrease in traditionally old-world localities (including modern parts of Thailand), as the globalization of the planet continues. As women start to follow the lead (from the West) that they can live, work, earn money, and gain social/political power equally as men do, they start to move away from the desire to be "kept" by a man, and to be equally partnered with him in a "real love" relationship, instead. And in terms of being nearly outright "bought and paid for" by a man, like purchased goods? (I'm talking about the archaic practice of dowry..aka: Sin-Sod, here in Thailand). Well, with that being only inches away from human trafficking in my eyes; I personally can't wait for that to become some terrible piece of ancient history (like slavery <for the most part> has).

Money can't buy you love.

a bit offtopic, but:

Nope, it cant. But it sure as hel_l can buy you the peace, quiet, and alone time you crave (when she leaves afterwards with no arguments or hurt feelings).

And you sure can love THAT.

It's more than likely, classic ground hum. Unfortunately, with Thai grounding standards, or lack thereof, this is a bit problematic.

Do a google search on "ground hum".

I have done a bit of research on ground hum/ground loop and here is how I understand it.

Ground hum can occur if you have two or more systems working toghter but connected to different wall sockets. Or if you connect the power with a 3-prong A.C. cord.

Is this correct?

Not entirely. But you're definitely on the right track.

Just using a 3-prong A.C. cord doesn't have to mean you'll get a buzz. If it is {in fact} coming from a "ground loop" (which may be the case if you hear it all the time, no matter what video source is selected, including no source), then the buzz you hear is actually a flow of electrical current, from one ungrounded device (through your connecting wires) to a grounded one. The hum is the audio byproduct of electricity flowing "to ground". But as a previous poster correctly stated, with the poor design/construction/safety factors in Thai electrical wiring and low-end (read: Chinese) consumer AV equipment, it can indeed be very hard to find, much less electrically eliminate the cause of the hum.

It's the mixed bag of grounded and ungrounded gear connected together, that usually creates the perfect conditions for ground loops.

The "western" (and Pro-AV) approach to avoid these kinds of problems, is to try to ground EVERYTHING, or nothing, which eliminates a place for the current to flow to (but not without some risk; grounded electrical devices were invented for a reason, after all), and definitely to try to power everything from a single outlet (and therefore, a single grounding point). Even within one building, it's possible for there to be different electrical circuits that are grounded to different physical parts of the ground (the earth) outside, and therefore, some slight difference in those grounds may encourage a flow of current from one to the other (directly through your 30K bigscreen TV, causing buzz, and even shock sometimes, when things are REALLY wired poorly).

As for bad (audio/video) cables, simply unplugging a cable wont establish much about that cable (to do that, you need to "swap" that suspected cable, with another "known" working one, and see if things improve). And as for unplugging cables to locate a source of a ground loop, this has to be done VERY methodically, in a scientifically and logic-based eliminatory way. Basically, you unplug *everything*, and then then one by one, working back from one end of your signal chain to the other, you "eliminate" each device and connecting cable, from being the "guilty party". In complex A/V setups, that can end up being a lot more convoluted than it sound, folks.

And if you think that gets complicated with home stereos, imagine how crazy it gets with an entire stadiums' worth of sound systems & lighting rigs, and then add in the complexity of on-location live video broadcast and satellite uplink facilities, all interconnected together by electricity, audio, video, ligthing control signals, radio mics, wired intercoms, and walkie-talkies.

Oh. And yes... then; once it's all working, it rains, too. (and new buzz issues get born)

Just to cover another possible (and quite common source) of "buzz".. It is the unfortunate (but very common) practice for less-than-professional video technicians (located somewhere on the signal chain, between the camera, and your TV) to incorrectly overboost (overmodulate) the level of the video signal. Often, it's done to overcome inadequate signal distribution networks (but at a price to signal quality). The result of this too-strong video signal, can be that it actually bleeds (or leaks) out of the video spectrum and ends up contaminating the audio part of the signal. You can almost be 100% sure that's what's happening, if you hear the buzz suddenly get a LOT louder, whenever the video content contains a HUGE amount of white color (or a lot of pure white text) in it. Keep in mind, that with digital cable or satellite TV signals, this type of signal leakage cannot happen (in the digital realm), but that it's certainly possible that it got overdriven by someone BEFORE your digital TV provider acquired the signal that they're now sending digitally, to you.

Good luck with your buzz-hunting, people!

(i think it just might be Beer O'Clock now (at least SOMEWHERE in the world).. So I think I'm gonna go investigate a different kinda buzz right now.. cheers! and Happy Chinese New Year!)

So far, I can already read aloud most signs without relying on romanisation. I've put in a total of about 5 hours study since I got here

I know first-hand that its not that difficult to learn the symbols and phonetic rules to be able to say out loud what you read - eight weeks is surely enough.

Wow. I'm sorry, but I just can't let this one go.. After working on learning Thai language at my own comfortable pace for 5 years (a bit longer than 5 hours).. I just HAVE to protest.

Yes, Rikker, "8 weeks", maybe. But after only (according to irishpolyglot) a mere 5 hours of study? To be able to "read" 44 consonants, and 32 vowels, with all the associated rules of written grammar pertaining to tone via sonorants, open or closed vowels (sometimes inherent or implied, and which can appear before, after, above and below the consonants), the 3 consonant classes, in conjunction with further modifying tone markings, etc etc), as coherent words, and knowing where the words/sounds should be separated (Thai is rarely written with spaces between words)...in 5 hours???

Yeah.. ok.. RIGHT. And if this is all within the claim of selling an "instant" language-learning system? Then I'll just start pitching a 45 minute course that will allow you to buy any bridge of your choosing, anywhere in the world (with no visible funds, credit, or capital). Who's ready to buy my course??

5 hours, huh? Unbelievable.

Trust me, ANYONE who tells you that they can correctly pronounce written Sanskrit words (not just mumbling through some phonetic sounds, but FULL words, read right off of printed signs), in a tonal language, with no prior exposure to either tonal or non-romanized languages, IS SIMPLY NOT TELLING THE FULL TRUTH.

Memorize all the little squiggly letters, the marks, and every single applicable rule (and exception) of Thai written grammar? In 5 hours?

99.999 percent impossible.

And to understand how to make heads or tails of non-broken Thai text, (as it's normally written in one long line) as individually pronounceable words (with no vocabulary pool)... And acquire the ability to orally pronounce vowel sounds (and consonant combinations) at varying lengths and tonal patterns, that essentially don't even exist in the languages that you know, and that you've never heard or attempted to produce yourself... ? In just 5 hours of language study???

No way! 100% impossible.

No. No. And No.

Look, I'm all for learning new things, and I wish everyone good luck with success in their studies of Thai, (and I do think it's possible to "crash-course" yourself into some fairly reasonable comprehension of Thai with special memorizing tricks and study plans, even in just 8 weeks), but I'm not gonna stand around and let someone make a statement about how they learned to read and pronounce Thai words in 5 hours out of one side of their mouth, while also mentioning that they are selling an "ultra-fast" language learning system out of the other side.

If I'm comprehending irishpolyglot's statements wrong, then please, someone point out how so, but if not, I'll just say that I get enough oil in the food and the massage shops here (in Thailand); so I surely don't need this guy's Snake-Oil.

Buyer beware.