brahmburgers

I've written a 51 page book on the life of Milarepa - a Buddhist saint who lived in Tibet 900 years ago.

Am seeking someone who could possibly do a good Thai translation. I'll be happy to assist - to clarify certain aspects. It's not a hyper-intellectual text, but rather it's in the form of a fable - though based on true events. Am offering a profit-share of 30% of net revenue (after expenses). I'm a published author with a book in Asia Bookstores. To get a feel for the text, you can go look at the first of 10 chapters: http://wonderfull.com/mila01.htm

Asian administrations have a long history of closing doors to trade. In the past, the western powers, who were superior miltarily (and still are) would force open markets via 'gunboat doplomacy' as they did in opening up Japan with Admiral Perry's battleship. Thailand's leaders (albeit unelected) are acting from unsuredness. When unsure about unrest in the neighborhood, the average homeowner might batten down his doors and windows.

It's true, Thailand needs its best and brightest thinkers, many of whom were educated in western universities. Rather than being xenophobic and overly protective, Thai leaders should open their eyes to the possibilities of networking on a global level. Thailand has rich soils (for farming), lengthy beaches (for tourism and retirement abodes) and other endowments, though such things need maintenance - and are falling in to disrepair much like the thousands of abandoned concrete structures throughout the kingdom.

Granted, as a farang, my subjective hope perspective is Thailand would become as open to foreigners as the U.S. is - allowing businesses to operate and foreign ownership of property - with some reasonable restrictions. But that will never happen as long as Thais are so extremely aware of who is not Thai (actually, being Thai is a varied mix of many genes, but that's another story). Then there is the fuzzy subject of millions of Chinese (are they now Thai or still Chinese?) who own most large and medium businesses in Thailand. They slipped under the radar because of their Asian appearances and their strong underground community support within Thailand. Perhaps what farang need is some sort of lobbying office - rather than the current scenario where it's 'every-man-for-himself'

Overall, Farang employers will pay their employees better than Thai employers - and quite likely treat their Asian employees better. Case in point: intern nurses, both 16 and personal friends of mine, are working at a Bangkok hospital ('The Senior' in Jankasem) are required to be on call 24 hours, for a minimum 84 hours per week. What does the hospital pay for those hours? Not one satang. In fact, the Thai employers only provide a dorm room, but no bed or mattresses, AND NO FOOD !!!!

I know a young woman who's in her third year of business school and got a gig working with a large corporation in Chiang Mai. What does the company pay her for 10 hours per day? Forty baht. She takes the job because she needs the cumulative hours for her university internship.

If you want sterling examples of 'haves' taking advantage of 'have nots' - look no farther than jolly old Thailand. Example #3: every construction firm and farm in this area pays their workers the absolute minimum or lower. To the bosses it's simple business sense: "Pay as little as possible" ....which winds up being about 50 to 80 baht per day for hard labor. Heck, if the one brown skinned hill tribe guy doesn't want to work for that amount, there'll always be some other guy who will take it. Farang bosses, on the other hand, generally pay a decent wage, and often pay above minimum wage - plus offer tips and kindness.

thanks firefoxx

You can buy an inkjet printer for around 3,000 baht that will do this. The blank printable discs are around 250 baht/50 discs. Not that much, really.

From 'An Officer and a Gentleman'

The brand new boot camp recruit greets his sargeant on this first morning,

"Great morning we're having, sir."

Sargant replies, "Who do I look like, The f**king weatherman?!"

- - - - - - - -

In Steve Martin's 'All of Me" when Steve's female personna offers his hand to the blind black musincian in greeting, the black guy says, "awfully hairy fingers for a chick."

- - - - - -

In 'A Fish Called Wanda" when Kevin Kline character catches and bashes John Cleese's character robbing his own house, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." then after a long pause, "what the h*ll are you doing robbing your own house?!"

George Bush meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, "Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government?

Are there any tips you can give to me?"

"Well," says the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."

Bush frowns "But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?"

The Queen takes a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle." The Queen pushes a button on her intercom. "Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?"

Tony Blair walks into the room. "Yes, my Queen?"

The Queen smiles "Answer me this please, Tony. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"

Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answers, "Well, your Majesty, that would be me."

"Yes, Very good," says the Queen.

Bush goes back home to ask Dick Cheney, his Vice President, the same question. "Dick, answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"

"I'm not sure," says Cheney, "let me get back to you on that one." Cheney goes to his Advisors and asks every one, but none can give him an answer. Finally, he ends up in the men's room and recognizes Colin Powell's shoes in the next stall.

Cheney shouts, "Colin! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Colin Powell yells back, "That's easy. It's me!"

Cheney smiles, and says, "Thanks!"

Then, Cheney goes back to speak with Bush. "Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Colin Powell."

Bush gets up, stomps over to Cheney and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"

Ms Valentina says it a lot nicer than I do. The new rules will certainly be harmful for Thailand in the big picture of things. Thailand needs a plethora of native English teachers if it hopes crawl out of its hole of having an English-illiterate populace. English is THE language needed for dealing with world affairs. There are many other reasons this ill-thought-out policy is harmful to Thailand: breaking up families, running out farang who actively contribute to Thailand - especially Thai poor folks. The greatest source of outside revenue coming in to Thailand is (soon to be 'was') tourists and resident farang. Sure there are degenerates among farang, but who's to say there are a larger % than degenerates among Asian visitors or among Thais themselves? To enact a draconian immigration law (to weed out degenerates) is like killing cockroaches in your house with a sledge hammer: You might kill a few, but you're sure to damage the house beyond repair.

I signed up for a penpals site and met a Thai gal online. We met at her province Phitsanaluk. She uses the name 'Aeh Honey'. She is very pretty, but she stole money out of my wallet several times (the first few times I noticed money missing, I thought it was my forgetfulness). She rifles through the man's wallet when he is resting or showering. Beware, she's bad news.

Financially speaking, his kids are him, they aren't separate - neither is his wife. He (and kids/wife) will slip out of this little dust-up just like he's easily slipped out of all previous predicatments. Some might say 'he didn't slip out of losing his PM position' yes, he lost the job, but he's still got powerful tentacles in every facet of power politics in Thailand. And the power game is just a game for him, the real prize is money - getting as much as possible, and spending as little as possible outside his family and selfish needs. His 'donation index' probably amounts to about .00001 of 1%.

Great News

Thailand should not be hiring native speaking English teachers. They should be using Thai teacher and people who speak English fluently as a second language.

The reason for this is that many native English speakers do not know the rules of the language - as they have never been "taught" english formally.

what a load of donkey poop. Thailand is already on the ropes when it comes to English speaking proficiency. English is THE language of the 21st century. Some of my good friends are Thai people who teach English, and frankly, they just don't speak as well as an articulate native English speaker. Thai students like Thai teachers better, because the teachers can often segue to speaking Thai - to emphasize a point - which is OK. In fact, an farang English teacher would do well to learn at least some Thai, so he can make the school kids more responsive to learning.

Thai authorities really really really don't know what's going on - especially in the big picture of why it's so important for Thais in general to be able to speak and understand English. Instead of putting up roadblocks to learning, they should have an open-arm policy to encourage many native English speakers to come here and teach. Ok, granted, there should be some screening to eliminate the dumbells, pedophiles, and drunks (though they slip thru the cracks in the current prerequisite policy). In fact, the stated policy, to allow existing teachers to avoid the new strict scrutiny - will ensure that the less desirables will get safely grandfathered in.

I've designed a full color graphic on Nero software which calls it an .ncd file (it's annoying that each software tags its own particular file type, oh well). little question: who in Thailand can print that on blank CD's? The big question is: who provides a comprehensive service of copying the data from the originals (all unique material produced in my studio). It's a 4-CD audio book. If interested, the graphic design is online at: wonderfull dot com/cover1.ncd I also have a .pub file, but it's not as good a graphic design as the one I made with the Nero software. I'm low income, so lowest price is significant. Best of all would be a profit-sharing or trade for this service, but I realize that's not likely option

I am developing a farmstead which focuses on fruits that are not yet in Thai markets.

I notice that, though I am not allowed to be a farmworker (that's ok), I am allowed to be active in a supervisionary role. With such a list, obviously there are many specific jobs that are not mentioned. For example, I didn't see hotel or hospitality workers (running a bar). In most cases, it basically comes down to:

A. who you're dealing with in terms of Thai authority. As all in Thailand is based more upon subjectiveness than upon 'rule of law'

B. Who you know, and who/what you represent. Example: a bedraggled farang with no Thai wife and no connections found casting bronze Buddha statues would be busted. Whereas a well-to-do farang with a sophisticated Thai wife who happened to doin the same in the backyard of his 12 million baht estate - would be praised and probably get a laudatory feature write-up in the major newspapers.

Would like to know what to give dogs to stop them from barking (half kidding).

We had our team house in Pua (Nan Province) robbed twice; once while I was gone and once while I was there, but each time there were at least four or six team members in the upstairs bedrooms. The police caught the gang a couple months later and showed us the strange chemicals they had used to keep us asleep. There were three different colors, but each had that strange look solid sodium has to it. The cops said the gang would wait until they figured everyone was home and in bed and then put these chemical around the house and light them. The smoke would infilitrate the house and keep us asleep. We never heard a thing and didn't wake up with head aches or anything. The thieves never entered the bedrooms and the cops said if somehow we ever interrupted them then we should just stand aside and the thieves would leave, but that if we got aggressive then they would get violent. They hit our house and four others at the same time. They kept the neighborhood dogs quiet by giving them, several days in advance, food laced with something that affected their vocal cords.

The only thing I know about bus robberies is individuals giving riders a micky fin; never heard about a wholesale drugging but I wouldn't put it past some to try it; after all TIT.

Thanks, m02 for shedding some light on the haze of conjecture that's been swirling around this issue. Anyone with chimical know-how could perhaps shed some more light on sodium or whatever other chemicals can be used by thieves. Perhaps the people who sell such chemicals can be forbidden from selling them to unauthorized people - they sound like very specialized chemicals that you everyday Thai guy would not be buying - unless he were up to no good. After all, there are restrictions on specialized chemicals used to make illegal drugs.

Also, what type of precautions can the average homeowner take to assuage such a demonic strategy (or gassing a family in order to rob them)? Kids in particular might risk being killed. There are stories in Japan of men who take a girl home and put her out with formaldihyde (saturated gauze over her mouth) and sometimes the girl dies - because the toxicity in the blood fatally poisons the liver..... yuk.

Let's not just be victims - let's fight back against thieving scum !!!

As mentioned in my first 2 postings, I don't have succint details about the incident. I wish I did. Even the victims don't have all the facts. When you get robbed, do you have all the pertinent info? Of couse not. The vicitm was an American named Sparky. There is no reason for him to write a contrived email to me that fabricates a whole story in detail about everyone on the same bus experiencing the same nauseous/drowsy symptoms - and everyone (or nearly everyone) having things stolen - and the bus driver driving away immediately after the last passenger disembarked.

Some wonder why we haven't read about this in the papers. It's obvious that such incidents are bad press for Thailand as a whole. Plus, Thai people who get ripped off are generally not likely to make a police report (takes 3 to 4 hours, is embarassing, and accomplishes nothing) and even if police got wind of it, do you expect they would go running to report it to the press corps? Of course not, particularly because it makes their law enforcement and detective work look bad - and there's already plenty of that going on.

Overall, incidents like this hurt Thailand's image (to tourists) and make Thailand less desirable a vacation destination - so obviously Tourism Authority wouldn't want stories like this to surface if it can be avoided.

Case in point: Did you read in the newspaper about the two young Saudis in Phuket who were beaten and cut with knives by a group of beserk Katoys recently? No you didn't, because that's yet another of the many bizarre stories that Thai authorities don't want to get aired - because it's anathema for tourism. By the way, the cops hauled in the katoys, with blood on their clothes, but let the scum go because the Saudis were too shaken by the ordeal and left the country the next day - without filing charges. Probably thought it would take a long time to prosecute (likely) and the katoys would attack them again in revenge (also likely) ...sorry for getting off-topic, but it's for the sake of making a point about stiffling bad press that hurts tourism.

There is a well-defined allowance for sending a container load - and perhaps also a half container load - within 6 months of arriving in Thailand. You're not allowed more than two of any particular items (probably doesn't count clothes in that equation). Best is if you could have a sophisticated Thai person talk with customs people (where they'll be arriving) before the shipment arrives. Not an easy assignment, I know. The reason, Thai bureaucracy is and its application varies depending on who's on duty, and where things are taking place. Fraught with subjectiveness. The rules state 'container load' but one assumes that would pertain to less than that large quantity.

My personal experience with having things shipped to me (3 new climbing ropes) was an insistance from BKK that I pay 1.5 times the retail value, or the shipment would get sent back. I called customs long-distance and with much hemming and hawing was able to get the Customs Official to halve his ransom. From that point on, I've decided that if I get anything shipped, it will be to a Thai person's name or, better than that, a school's name and address. Again, everything's subjective, so good luck!

a new dimension to 'big brother' impersonal interactions. Right from the get-go it smacks of favoritism - by only allowing companies that hire 80 or more employees to partake. It's already evident (to any farang who's had the audacity to question a written rule) that Thai authorities are uncomfortable dealing with foreigners on a bureaucratic level. It reveals the Thai's lack of English speaking skills, and Thais in authority feel uncomfortable and are quick to anger when the rules are questioned. Putting a video camera in place creates an added level of distance - and hence removes Thai authorities from having to have eye contact, and some farang's annoying preponderance for questioning the strictness of rote authority on occassion. If annoyed, the operator can simply click the 'off' switch.

it only takes one person five seconds to go in to a bus bathroom and set off a stink bomb.

brahmburgers, how that it always happens to the others and never to us?

why those spraing the gas/substance in the toilet were not affected?

why they were not stopped in the toilet when they were doing it?

how many people can fit inside the bus toilet (as we all know they are microscopic - and you are talking about several people there)?

how is possible that the pick-up car was not spotted by some 50 passengers walking around their own bus and how it was possible that nobody seen them offloading the luggage?

how it can happen that people carry money in the main luggage or even in their hand luggage and not in their pockets & money belts?

how it can happen that nobody picked up their shoulder bags/hand luggages - which is an authomatic behaviour in any emergency? Everybody had plenty of time to grab their belongings as off loading all passengers might take several minutes and people were not suffocating but just feeling drawsy.

from whom and why the robbers were able to take the list and why the list was made in the first place (nobody ever makes a list of passengers unless it's an organised group by the travel agent or package tourists - but they travell by the private busses booked only for them)?

how only after many minutes/hours the passengers spot that their hand luggages are gone?

why the passengers did not spot that their main luggage is missing when they were changing busses (everybody has to take it from the bus with them and wait for the new bus to arrive)?

it was rather marsians than thai gang

it only takes one person five seconds to go in to a bus bathroom and set off a stink bomb.

As I've been saying all along, I posted this with 2nd-hand info, - tho the starting message is a direct quote from the farang's email to me. The fact remains that many if not most of the passengers got robbed - is 'LondonThai' doubting that? If if were not a Thai gang, what is LondonThai suggesting, it was a farang gang? A group of Swedish nuns?

LondonThai asks a lot of specific questions that A. I don't know and B. some of which only the thieves would know. The fact remains that a bus load of bus passengers were forced to evacuate a stinky bus which fumes made everyone drowsy. When the passengers came to, they were missing valuables. It's a serious crime. and if LondonThai or anyone else wants to predicate its truth on the answering of myriad little details, then that's his business. I for one want to warn passengers on buses in Thailand that this type of thing happens and to do all possible to avert becoming a victim. If Thai law enforcement did its job, there would be a serious investigation. But alas, they're too busy stopping pretty college girls on motorbikes for helmet violations - (most other helmetless drivers ride right on by).

if Taksin's only got 506 million, I got two rubber duckies that pull my truck up hills and a cricket that polishes my boots every morning.

I don't have an tel# for the pissed off farang, but I emailed him with some questions (no response from him yet):

A. Did the thieves take luggage from the luggage compartment, or from the inside of the bus - or both?

B. Did the driver drop everyone off to get another bus - or did you take the same bus all the way to BKK?

brahmburgers continues: The thieves could have conspired with the driver to do the following:

set something in the bathroom that would emit an evil odor, plus intoxicate the passenger. The driver then stops, and herds all the off loading (and intoxicated) passengers to a shelter alongside. Concurrently a pick-up pulls alongside the other side of the bus, off-loads all the baggage. To cover his tracks, the driver could then resume the trip, but stop soon thereafter to switch buses. The guy who reported the incident to me, said the driver took off in a big hurry after off-loading everyone.

Thai people are notorious for not wanting to rock the boat (not complain), plus, from the sounds of it, everyone was drowsy and dough-headed. After all, this is the land of 'bus drivers running off in to the rice fields, never to be heard of again' when there's a traffic accident.

What can those of us, who ride buses, do as protection? We can

A. sit near the front of the bus.

B. don't accept drinks on-board (other than water, they're all laden with sugar anyway)

C. If an extreme incident happens, watch your carry-on possessions, and watch the luggage bay doors.

D. learn to speak Thai fluently so you can do the type of detective work that Thai police are inept at doing. (#D is a jest).

E. take a rabbits foot along. or better yet, keep a gas mask handy (and a stout knife).

I just got an email from a v. pissed off farang who had 8,000 baht and other valuable stolen. Here's excerpts from his note to me (he's not an adept writer):

"On the way from Chaing Mai to Bangkok (nearly to BKK) the bus was hit by thieves, lots of people lost money. Here is the story . Right as we pulled into a rest stop, a terrible smell came on the bus, everyone ran off the bus, I saw people spreading things around in the toilet [the thieves?]

We all get off the bus, walk around etc. notice nothing, then get on bus, but feel drugged and tired out. The bus lets us off at station, then rushes away and we all are missing money and bags.

A professional job. They also took all records of us being on the bus. I feel those a**holes drugged us so we exited and left our luggage on the bus and could not think - and while we were off the bus stole as much as they could, I'm sure It was a Thai gang.

I don’t wish to sound negative, but I hope everybody reading this post uses the information carefully. Common sense is not always present amongst foreigners in Thailand and already (3am) 200+ people have read this post, which will be ten fold by noon.

No doubt tomorrow they will now receive 500 phone calls when they usually receive 20 from people asking all sorts of silly questions..... Let’s wait and see how quick the situation changes then.... I hope for all of you needing this service that they don't move the goal posts.... but we all know that there is a good chance...TIT

I also hope the person who was good enough to make this information general knowledge has already had their visa done.

GOOD ON YOU FOR BEING SO KIND HEARTED MANY WOULD HAVE KEPT IT SECRET FOR FEAR OF OVER ABUSE RESULTING THE SERVICE BEING WITHDRAWN OR TIGHTEND UP. Maybe myself included.

As I said I don’t want to sound negative but we have all seen it happen before, I hope common sense prevails.

You said it nicer than I would have. You can bet the Korat office will get innundated, and Thai immigration will get reminded for the 4,578th time that foreigners in Thailand are numerous, well-informed, and on the ball. Good analogy about 'move the goalposts.' Were that egalitarian principles prevailed here, and farang wouldn't have to scuttle around like puppies going for a moving cup of milk - every time a fair-minded option showed up somewhere. Then, soon after immigration authorities realize a relatively pain-free option has become available, they'll clamp it down.

if she cheats on some things, she could just as easily cheat on other things. Does she carry condoms for those times when, heaven forbid, passion and/or coercion supersedes fidelity - regarding another guy? Do you count the condoms in her handbag? Do you (dude) carry condoms for same reason? Of course, both of you swear you don't mess around, but reality can easily over-ride shallow promises. Plus, she could be lifting money from your wallet when you're showering or resting. Of course you'll both say "that could never happen!" - but it's the easiest thing for a chick to do. It happened to me with a smolderingly beautiful college girl I dated - recently.

Y'all should know by now, it is a very rare month of October when there are no pictures of flooded streets in Bangkok.

Can anyone give me any idea how long this will all last as i am arriving BKK 20th oct., getting worried.

Why stay a minute longer in BKK than you absolutely have to? That applies, whether it's flooded or not. People are a strange species. They give highest property values to the worst areas to live. Example: I know of a beautiful new house on 4 rai with unobstructed views in every direction, no flood danger, clean air and water, no crime, no noise, friendly neighbors for 4.5 mil.baht. Even if a such house in BKK existed (not possible) it would have a value perhaps 10 times that amount. Birds, rodents, reptiles all move to places that are reasonably comfortable (or at least non-flooded) - people, with their big brains move to places that are yuksville. go figure.

Anyway if you use an agent I suppose there is less chance of being interrogated as to your motives for the application (1000 baht these days). On my last visa run I was not questioned but just told that I would have to apply for a different type of visa next time as I would not get another tourist visa. Later when I checked the visa it had a red stamp "The holder of this passport travels in Thailand under A tourist visa several times which may result in the refusal of a visa in the future" (18th Sept. 2006). There was a TV thread about this at the time which suggested that the consulate might be told to stop doing this. Not sure what happened after that, so suggest you check your visa carefully after you receive it. Let us know how it works out.

Don't you just love how there's so many inconsistencies - from one Thai embassy/consulate to another - Your results from a visa app can change depending on who's at the counter, and can be contingent on the time of day - besides the obvious affects of 'dressing smartly' vs 'dressing too casual' There is no such word as 'egalitarian' in Thai. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE. So the average visa seeker travels hundreds of miles, invests dozens of hours and thousands of baht altogether ....ON A HUNCH - hoping that the visa officer he deals with will have the courtesy to at least have an eye-to-eye encounter (a tall order in itself), and will deal with his situation in a moderately fair manner. Yuksville.

Next time you get a 30-day visa upon entry, count the days until you are required to leave - and it will come to 29 days. So, in fact, the policy statement should read; maximum of 87 days within a 180 day period. If you arrive at the airport at 23:55, that next 5 minutes counts as your first day.