brahmburgers

you can take a horticulture, but you can't make her appreciate good art.

I can believe the money was thrown, but I don't believe the Welshman started raining blows on the driver.

I saw a movie the other night, where an attractive young woman hailed a cab late at night in some big American city. She gets in to the cab ....end of scene. If this scene were taking place in Thailand, I could well imagine that cab ride could lead to trouble and travail. possibly even rape and death. Such is the power of impressions fueled by real events.

Perhaps most tuk tuk drivers are decent. But there appears to be a lot of bad apples - especially in tourist slogholes like Patong and Pattaya. Farang tourists aren't dummies. They talk among themselves - and word gets out of surly service and/or padding fares (often) and serious bodily harm (occassionaly).

By the way, a knife stab to the chest is aiming for a mortal wound. And I agree with a previous post that even if you win a fight with a Thai, you never really win - because his buddies, or the police will mess you up before the dust completely clears. There are plenty of other vacation destinations. I will not be surprised if places like Patong become less and less popular as the years roll by.

allow me to add a few more:

When making a turn, always take the shortest route. Never mind if you're cutting in behind vehicles which are supposedly waiting to enter the busy road (but never at a stand-still) - The arc has not yet been introduced to Thailand.

If you happen to run a car or motorbike or bicyle off the road - they probably deserved it if they're smaller vehicle than yours.

Never waste your energy giving a friendly wave to an approaching driver who pull over on a narrow road to let you pass. Your business and time are probably more important than theirs anyway. Indeed, drivers who pull over to allow others to pass safely are probably wimps anyway.

A redneck bud named Joe from rural California once told me of an episode he had - when working a job - pumping out septic tanks. He got to the site, said hello to the woman at the house, pulled his truck up, opened up the hatch of the septic tank, inserted the hose and began pumping. A short while later, the woman's husband showed up, returning from work. He went over to say hi to Joe. While they were both standing there looking in to the tank, the husband asked, "what are those hundreds of things floating around the bottom of the tank? Are those slugs? Joe went to get a stick and dipped it down and fished one out. When the husband saw what it was, he immediately marched to the house shaking his fist and calling out his wife's name. Apparently, Joe never used condoms with his wife.

I agree. My crystal ball says the two fishermen and the cop in kanchanaburi will all be back on the streets in a few years. Thais generally have short memories and large capacity to forgive their own. Subjectivity rules, and along with that comes familiarity and then pity for the accused.

They'll be out in a couple of years, Anyone seen the Kanchanburi cop behind bars recently?

Iron bars not beer bar

Good point! It sometimes happens, when I say things 100% correctly - but the Thai person is like a deer frozen in the headlights. He/she is so aghast that a foreigner is uttering understandable words - that they assume there's a mistake and immediatly call someone else over. I'm in the habit of saying the exact same phrase repeatedly - and usually by the sixth saying, I get what I want. Granted, I'm in a provincial place surrounding C.Rai) where some locals rarely if ever interact with foreigners.

It's immensly frustrating though, when a person understands what I'm saying, yet acts as though they don't understand. Am not completely sure why, except for above-mentioned reason, and that it's easier to be lame-brained and not deal with farang - who are, after all, scary DIFFERENT people - in their myopic perspective.

Another hinderance to communication with Thais is the need to employ a preamble of extreme courtesy before utting a phrase. In English, the equivelent might be, "would you be so kind, and if it wouldn' be too much of a bother, could you please assist me with......" I'm sorry if this post is discouraging, but it's really a lot tougher of a row to hoe than it needs to be.

...Yanks and Brits joke about the French insisting on perfect grammar and diction .....the Thais are twenty times worse in that dept.

= = = = = = = == = = =

It's not uncommon for some peoples brain cells to freeze when encountered with a farang who speaks in Thai. It's not always the farangs fault in broken communication, some Thais are poor listeners. Most are good. Then again, perhaps your pronunciation was really really bad.

good

if you're young, it's easier - 'cause your brain retains new info better.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. (note: one of the main reasons Thais are rarely fluent in English is because they're too afraid to make any mistakes).

Don't worry about tones. You can spend hundreds of hours trying to master 'tones' for a few words - which is time you could have been learning dozens of new words and phrases.

Get a girlfriend (or any Thai person) who will assist and correct your Thai speech. Not easy, as most Thai girlfriends let things slide - as it takes less effort, and they don't want to strain their brain or appear superior. So 'train' your girlfriend to offer corrections ....and write things down.

Encourage your 'significant other' to let YOU talk to waiters and service people (at shops, etc.) because ordinarily (100% of the time, actually) service people will only converse with the Aisan looking person you're with - regardless of whether you're ordering food, purchasing something that only you know about, or suffering a broken arm in emergency ward of a hospital, Thai service personnel WILL ALWAYS speak with the Asian person you're with.

The rudeness you experienced at China Airlines, should be reported by official complaint by letter, if an employee is rude to me, I ask for their name and time the incident.

My 8 years in Thailand (22 years here overall, on and off) has taught me that complaints, whether official or in-the-moment only elicit one or more of the following from Thai folks:

1. they get offended

2. anger

3. mai pen rai

4. pretend to 'fix' it, but don't.

5. excuses upon excuses

6. saying, in effect, "if you don't have positive things to say, then leave."

The response we'd like is: look objectively at the issue, and not always framing it in 'farang vs Thai' perspective. We'd also like the objectivity to extend to just plain 'doing the right thing,' and not taking it as a personal affront to Thailand or Thai-ness or a commentary on Thai people/culture in general. Message to Thais: please don't be so thin-skinned and defensive and quick to anger. Look at the big picture: people are people all over the world. There are decent types and rude types everywhere. Let's work hand-in-hand to try and make our quality of life as reasonably pleasant as possible.

ok, I'm sure that's more than enough pontificating.

mucho appreciarlo for the responses. The C.Mai to Taipei flight on China Airlines looks particularly interesting to me personally - because I could use that as a connection when I travel to the States (which I do as seldom as possible - but is necessary once in awhile). Overall, I try to avoid air travel for several reasons; Other than the ratcheting expense, it gouges large seams in the ozone layer, contributes to pollution, and the recirculated air in passenger cabins is rife with pathogens.

Yet the airline CEO's must be ecstatic with the new Thai visa clamp downs - because it forces farang to

fly much more than they would ordinarily. Do you think the decision makers in BKK thought about ripping the ozone layer and the burning of millions of gallons of additional jet fuel when they proposed their xenophobic visa mandates? Not likely, dude.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but the two times I've applied for visas to Thailand (1-year type O, multi-entry) they've been easy to work with. I'm over 49 and each time was via P.O. special delivery mail with return envelope and postage paid. Even it there's been a glitch when sending by mail, it's easy to deal with American workers at Thai consulates overseas because (A) they speak English, and ( are willing and able to do the right thing with alacrity (lickety split).

In contrast, when working with Thai personnel, there's often an underlying 'power trip' or at least a feeling that, "they're doing some giant favor for you - for which you should be profoundly grateful." ...when in fact, they're service personnel working for a government department, and giving a visa should be a perfunctory service - rather than some great favor bestowed upon some speudo desperated groveling mortal. And 'alacrity' is not a word that comes to mind when dealing with Thai bureaucracy.

excellent photos. great constrast between the stern status quo projected by the gov't tenuously hanging by a thread - on the whims of a nut-case who drinks whiskey, rapes girls in back rooms, and watches old Hollywood westerns ......and the true humanity peeking out from the people who are no different at heart - than people anywhere else.

It's odd that there are several types of wild figs in the forests here around where I live in northernmost Thailand - yet I've never seen any fresh domestic figs - never seen dried ones either, though they're probably in packages sold by Chinese mechants.

Other things that I've never seen for sale in regular Thai markets; grapefruit (regular or pink), blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, brazil nuts.

Then there are the rare items found only in upscale farang grocery departments at sky-high prices: macadamia, peaches, hass avocado, kiwi.

I have a small experimental farm in Chiang Rai, and grow some of the above-mentioned items. However, there are a couple types on my wish-list. Am willing to buy/trade/shine shoes, whatever to get some starts for; vanilla or kiwi, muscat grape, cocao (Santa, are you out there?)

Am also a nut for large ornamental succulents and exotic types of lumber trees (zebrawood, etc.). My place is called 'Farm Ken'

It appears as though Chiang Mai offers direct flight to Kunming, China (Is there a Thai consulate there, and if so, are they fair-mined about granting visas?). There should also be flights to Mandalay/Yangon and also to Labuang Prabang/Vientiene(?). Are there any direct to HK or Singapore or other places? I also heard about C.Mai to Chittagong in Bangladesh - is that still an option? Is there a Thai consulate there?

Couple added notes for travelers: In order to avoid Bangkok's new airport check-in procedures (though I don't know 1st hand, I've heard they are cumbersome) a traveler from the north could check in at Chiang Mai and meet a connecting flight at Suvarnbumi.

I'm in C.Rai, and though it's billed as an "International Airport" , there are no international flights in or out of here. Indeed, there aren't even any puddle hoppers between C.Rai and C.Mai - which seems odd to me - especially as we approach the height of tourist season. As much as anything else, it's an indication of how Thailand's overall tourist biz is slacking. My opinion, as an observer residing here 8 years, and who's been visiting Thailand for over 20 years: Thailand is slipping in overall tourist popularity - compared to other SE Asian destinations.

In sum, he instilled the concept that, "it's ok to lie and cheat to achieve wealth and power." This is particularly sad regarding impressionable young Thais. In a country already consumed by adulation for wealth - he became the staunchest booster of insatiable craving for it - and unabashedly cheated in every way possible to achieve it.

this report is a few days old. Initially, there were denials (surprise!) of any offences by authorities - which is ridiculous because how could top management know every little thing that's going on.

Somsak was also investigating rumours of rapes, although no complainants had come forward.

Also, there's obviously the stigma of female staff members not wanting to risk their jobs and reputations by speaking out. In sum, it's not an environment conducive to speaking out about transgressions.

Many changes need to be implemented:

#1 females need to be empowered and encouraged to speak up loud and clear - with no repercussions from management

#2 Management needs to take each report very seriously - and come down like a ton of bricks on perpetrators if it's clear there's been a violation. If it's not clear, a stern warning and/or dismissal is in order.

#3 (unfortunately) women need to travel in pairs and carry pepper spray (have never seen p.spray available in Thailand). and be given a course in self-defense tactics (knee to the groin or heel stamped on toe, etc).

Are there fire alarms at the airport? Seems to me there should be alarms throughout. a threatened female could pull the alarm. Also; take a photo of the culprit with mobile phone camera - though that takes the risk of getting the camera stolen or destroyed or used a weapon.

At 21:14 you post:

I have a visa renewal method that works well enough, but I keep it a secret because I'm sorely afraid that if the Thai authorities hear about a consolate that gives a hassle-free fair-minded visa to a farang - Thai immigration heavies will shut it down. Sorry, I can't divulge the details.

At 21:23 you ask others to provide you information you refuse to share.

Yes, please tell us this secret consulate that we all don't allready know about.......................

Is it in the UK?

Does it start with the letter "H" ?

again, I apologize for not divulging details, but I really believe Thai authorities will want to shut down any consulate who does their job of assisting farang - in a fair minded & non-hassle manner. As we know, it's so easy (and tempting) for Thai immigration authorities to flout their authority by power-tripping behind their wooden counters. What greater thrill for them than to watch farang groveling at their feet, saying; "please, be so kind, and grant me a decent visa. I will wai repeatedly and praise you and your wonderful country with as much sincerity as I can muster - in spite of the annoyance that wells inside from your power-tripping twisting of the visa regulations. ....and regardless of you passing judgement on my appearance, or my manners, and the importance of the Thai people who accompany me."

Who knows, maybe in 185 years, SE Asia will follow the sensible lead of Europe and form an ASEAN UNION - with no border checks needed between countries. ....hey they may even develop a common currency. Naw, it's easier to maintain the status quo of hiding behind borders and view everyone outside their province as all-too-strange foreigners (unless they need a Kenyan to run in the Olympics or a Brazilian to star in their football team).

I'm one of those guys who had a well drilled - they put in a 4" PVC casing - but the screw ends stuck in to the space - preventing me from lowering my submersible pump. When I called the foreman of the job - he was angry and called me things that I'm glad I didn't understand. I suggested he fashion a plunger made from a motor cylinder head welded to rods that could be extended - thereby cutting off (or bending) the tips of the screws. he told me they're required by law to attach the lengths of pipe with screws. His crew did something else which pissed me off - they dropped a smaller diameter pvc pipe - 4 meter length into the finished well. I found out when I went to plumb the well and measured it at 6 meters less deep than paid for (you can guess about those mysterious 2 meters). He told me they did that to keep me from dropping my pump to the bottom. I told him that I know about sell drilling and that I was royally pissed at him for plugging the bottom 4 meters of my well.

Two key points of this story are:

#1 NEVER PAY BEFORE THE JOB IS DONE AND ALL'S BEEN THOROUGHLY TESTED!!!!!

#2 Stay directly on the job site for every minute the crew is there - even if it's days on end. If you can't be there, appoint someone with cojones to stay on the site - watching every tiny thing that's going on.

Another thing the drilling crew did was toss all types of garbage in the bushes and one time I caught a worker changing some gunky thick oil and was about to pour the skuzz right by the well-head!!!! I reprimanded the little f#cks - and should have kicked them all off the job at that moment.

It appears as though there are some Thai consulates in U.K. that have a reasonable and fair-minded approach to issuing visas. As an American, I know I can get a decent deal in the States (though everything's changing week-by-week). However, is it possible for me to get the same decent treatment for a retirement type-O visa from a Thai consulate in U.K. or Australia - or do I need to go to my home country? Am asking because I would rather travel to places that are 'new' to me, if given a choice.

As an issuer of Thai visas in Calgary, Canada, I constantly remind my clients that Thailand is run SUBJECTIVELY! This means that how the Thai official feels (mentally, physically and emotionally) has everything to do with whether they give a tourist what he/she requests. I always try to ensure that the client has the correct number and type of visa(s) PRIOR to entering the country - this is the only way they can be sure they don't need to travel to a neighbouring country to obtain further visas. Not surprised with the decision of the Embassies/C-G's in the neighbouring countries - working in these places gives them power - something most regular Thais don't often get to use!

Keep up the good work in reporting from LOS - your comments and articles have helped me immensely with information I cannot obtain from any other source (i.e.: the Thai Embassy in Ottawa or the C-G in Vancouver)

With very kind regards,

Francie Lorren

PA to the Consul-General

Royal Thai Consulate-General, Calgary, Canada

It's always nice to see a post from "the other side of the desk"....

Thank you for doing so.

Have a nice day there... and hope it's not a too chilly a Canadian night....

brrrrrrr....

Thanks Francie. You're backing what I've been saying for many moons - that Thai bureaucracy is indelibly SUBJECTIVE. Policy enactment has very little to do actual regualtions, but everything to do with APPEARANCES - WHO-YOU-KNOW, and how much money you represent. I'm here for the long term because I'm developing a farmstead in C.Rai. I have a visa renewal method that works well enough, but I keep it a secret because I'm sorely afraid that if the Thai authorities hear about a consolate that gives a hassle-free fair-minded visa to a farang - Thai immigration heavies will shut it down. Sorry, I can't divulge the details.

He could try cleaning up his appearance a bit (the good Samaritan could perhaps assist) and perhaps find one or more Thais to tudor in English - to scrape up some funds. He could also try going door to door to restaurants and similar touristy places to help them get their menus/signs written correctly- perhaps as a trade for food. Drinking fermented sugar (alcohol) is self depreciating. Yes I now it's a strong lure for some types of depressed people, but it's not a disease (a disease is an infection, not a compulsion). To me, a down-on-his luck guy who drinks is like someone with a wound which he rubs on garbage - yet complains that it stays infected and won't heal.

check out this authentic police video.....

http://adventure1.com/DUIStop.wmv

Regardless of all the rhetoric, fact remains: Thaksin and his family, and by extension, the TRT honchos who ripped off billions from Thailand - are teflon coated. In other words, none of the thieves will get busted in any real sense. There are endless commitees, and commitees to investigate former commitees, and excuses from those who were in charge and made glaring mistakes - many of whom remain in power positions. What will it take for Thai leaders to effect tangible change for the better? We need more Jaruvans and Porntips who aren't afraid to stand up to the powers-that-be who continually shield rich, well-connected thieves from consequences. It's a sad commentary on Thai bureaucracy that the two bravest governmental leaders are both women - and because they're female - get shouted down whenever they come close to busting one of the bad guys.

JR Texas: Once again, I think it important to understand that the new visa/business rules and regulations are the product of Thaksin's thinking. They are Thaksins' rules and regulations. They remain even in his absence. The new rules/regs. did not suddenly appear after he was tossed out.

During his tenure Thaksin made significant changes to the visa/business rules and regulations, making it more and more difficult/expensive for foreigners to live and/or work in the Kingdom.

The new govt. can do more than simply ban him from coming back to Thailand. They can also throw his outdated and destructive ideas out along with him, especially those related to the visa/business rules and regulations that are crippling Thailand's economy and hurting foreign investment.

point well taken. Thai governments in general and this one in particular are adept at spinning their wheels and getting nowhere fast. It stems from their school system of 'don't rock the boat' - 'don't get any creative ideas that might embarass someone senior or important' ...so even when a selcet few bright Thais they want to effect changes, there is too much inertia in the system to do anything tangible.

Here's a Dr. Seuss-type poem that that was published in the BKK newspaper letter's column just a few days <i>before</i> the coup that ousted him....... (yes, written by yours truly; Brahmburgers)

How will he go? Some wonder out loud

Will he leave in a blaze, will he leave in a cloud?

Will it be dodging summons, will it be a surprise?

Will he give us some truth or continue his lies?

Alone with his family with thugs at the gate

The once mighty dealer says “don’t hesitate.”

“Pack jewelry, pack cash, and cherished photos.

Nobody but me knows how I will go.”

Late night and dark limos they slip through the streets

His family and entourage feeling no heat

shrill accusations fall flat on deaf ears

They’re off to the airport – no one sheds a tear.

To London to London as fast as a rapier

The details will be in tomorrow’s newspaper

The arm of the law from Thailand can’t reach.

With no one at the helm, there’s no one to impeach.

He’d often wax adamant to forcefully say

Then retract the same words the very next day

His twists and his turns did sometimes astound

Whether zigging or zagging, was hard to pin down.

Just as intriguing is what where and why,

There’ll be years to untangle the maze in the hive

of nefarious dealings with fat cats he knows

Oh fellow taxpayers, oh how will he go?

Former Thai despots are known to have flown

And never admit to the misery they‘ve sown

Some cut their hair and put on a monk’s robes

As if acting holy should thwart legal probes.

In Florida can purchase a house or a boat

In Bath he can buy an estate with a moat

But foreigners in Thailand cannot purchase land

Big noses and freckles dismissed out of hand

While Thailand will struggle to connect all the dots

The former big boss will be off buying lots

Or maybe relaxing somewhere like Palm Springs

To count all his money and perfect his golf swing.

A guy goes to visit a doctor and tells him his brother is deaf and won't make any effort to learn the alphabet. "What can be done?"

The doctor tells him, "no problem, bring your brother in tomorrow and I'll teach him his ABC's"

The next day the deaf guy comes in the office. The doctor motions for him to lie face down on the examining table. The doctor takes a broom and quickly shoves the handle two inches in to the prone man's rectum.

"aaaayyyyyy!!!" the deaf guy yells.

"There, that's a start," says the doctor. "Tomorrow we'll work on B."