qualtrough

Not much new here to anyone paying any attention. I will say that the nature of the violence is somewhat different than back home (USA) in that there is much less random violence or stranger on stranger violence. In other words, you generally (especially a foreigner) have to go out of your way to get in trouble here. Thais are rarely 'in your face' as is more common back home. Drinking to excess and hanging out with those who do can be a bad idea, but then again, with all the bargoing and whoring done by farangs and other visitors it is amazing that there aren't more crime victims. One final thought. I can't really think of any 'dangerous' parts of Bangkok that I would avoid, whereas any American from a big city could easily tell you which parts of their city are safe and which are not so safe, some even in daytime. Example: I was in Venice Beach a few weeks back and wanted to walk back from the Beach to the main road to catch a bus. Bad idea according to the local residents I was with, who insisted on driving me up to the bus stop-which was not in a very reassuring location.

Just for the record, the 'Crying Indian' wasn't really an American Indian, he was an Italian-American. It was a good commercial though...

http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/ironeyes.htm

I plan to visit Chiang Mai in January for 6 weeks and then Bangkok for 2 weeks before heading back to the states. I plan on purchasing my Muay Thai equipment while I am there plus other stuff I find for presents for family back home.

I think I can fit it all in a large duffel bag weighing less than 35-40lbs.

Should I ship it home and pay the high FedEx rates or will I be okay trying to check it as baggage?

I will be flying United Airlines

Will customs give me any problems?

The equipment will be boxing gloves, head gear, thai pads, shin guards, etc.

At the fedEx rates for those weights you are much better off paying the $150. bucks for an extra suitcase at checkin time .

Mentioned items are not an issue at customs.

No need to pay extra for that piddling amount, so save the $150 and buy more stuff! For trans-pacific flights from Asia to the US you generally get a baggage allowance of two 32 kg. (70 lbs) bags. Here are the baggage allowance details from the United site for flights to/from Japan, which is what you will be doing if you are using them to go back to the USA:

Travel to/from Brazil, Japan, and The Philippines:

Any Ticket Purchase Date:

Economy Class 2 bags, maximum 70 pounds/32kg each First or Business Class 2 bags, maximum 70 pounds/32kg each

1K Premier Executive,

Premier Executive and

Star Alliance Gold Members 3 bags, maximum 70 pounds/32kg each

Military customers on tour 2 duffel bags, sea bags or B-4 bags up to 70 pounds/32kg and 115 linear inches/292 cm

Maximum linear dimensions of all bags: 62 inches/158cm (length + width + height) each

You can also put stuff in a carry on, and usually get away with another small bag like a computer or shopping bag. I have never had much problem bringing commercial items back to the US. On my last trip I had a bunch of stuff for sale and when asked I told them it was for sale on e-Bay. They said no problem. I asked an agent what amount you were allowed to bring in duty free and he told me $800. That was about 3 weeks ago at LAX.

One more thing. While they are not aggressive, they have razor-sharp claws so you don't want to get in any situation that puts them on the defensive. I used a smooth green bamboo pole to pick up one of the ones our dogs killed. The body slipped around the pole but the claws in one of its lifeless paws gripped the smooth bamboo so tightly that I was able to life the entire body.

Thai term for the monitors is "hia". They are supposed to be bad luck in Thai superstition. There are quite a few of them scattered all over Thailand. Not venomous, or big and dangerous like the Komodo Dragons in Indonesia; but the bacteria alone in these beast's mouths can kill you from a bite, apparently.

I just read somewhere that it has been discovered that Komodo dragons actually secrete a poison that is deadly, and that it was not due to bacteria as has been the theory for many years. You can read more about this on Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon...nt_developments

Thais by and large fear and hate the 'hia' as noted above. It is a common curse word, although I don't know which came first, the animal or the curse. I suspect the former. My wife refers to them as ตัวเงินตัวทอง which means the silver and gold thing, as hia is too rude for her. We had two small ones appear on subsequent days, but both were killed by our dogs unfortunately. My wife was so freaked out when she saw them she at first convinced herself that they were crocs or some other animal. She just didn't want to accept the fact that these creatures had visited our house-probably the bad luck angle.

I think that lockers are probably not on the top of any planning list, especially given the bombing campaign in the South and the general increase in terrorism around the world. Lockers certainly have disappeared in many parts of the US and other countries.

Ever been on a train here? The attendent sweeps up the waste on the floors (the remainder of any waste that hasn't already been chucked out the window by passengers), opens a window, and dumps it all out. Been doing that since I first sat on a train here 26 years ago. I thought that might change, but I just saw it the other day.

I visited Wat Kao Pra Viharn a few years back and the mess there was appalling. Plastic bottles and bags everywhere. It was like a garbage dump with some ancient ruins on the property.

As others have noted, you just have to grin and bear it, and lead by example. Several times I have overheard Thais remarking how neat or clean farangs are when they have seen me clean up after a picnic or go out of my way to throw something in a bin. Big changes won't happen in our lifetimes. It will takes generations, if it happens at all. I am also teaching my luk krungs kids not to litter, so there are two Thais that won't be making a mess--I hope!

To each his own, but I have never had any desire to be in the room when the delivery is being made. My wife (Thai) didn't see any need for it either. As for inducing births, I do not know a lot about that other than that my wife had this done for both our daughters. She had the babies within about an hour each time, and they came out very quickly. No pain killers. We were lucky, it all went smoothly. One thing you should be aware of: lots of hospitals here have a policy of keeping the baby in the nursery for a day or two before returning it to you. I wasn't too happy about that, but there seems to have been no lasting harm.

If you choose Pattaya and choose to live in a condo be sure not to stay any higher than the second floor.

The answer is ...

No

No

No

End of topic

I assume you must not be a moderator or you would have closed the thread? With few exceptions the contributors to this thread have provided some very useful and interesting information. 'No, no, no' might be a suitable answer in kindergarten but it contributes nothing towards answering the original question. If the topic doesn't interest you or offends you in some way please move on to another topic that suits you.

Some post offices insist you tie up the parcels with string. The boxes and padded envelopes offered by the PO are very good value, cheaper than the stuff offered in stores. They even come with tape and string.

Saw this in the newstands last month (DaraDaily) and had a good laugh. No, I didn't write 'Big Ass' on the cover and the red arrow, that is the way it was printed. My translation of the Thai script at the bottom --'Kissing Tata's ass, Checking to see if the zits are gone'.

Hmm, not popular in some quarters...

So my question is, were there no moving walkways from your gate? Or were some of them not working? Or was the long walk just because you chose to walk rather than stand on the moving walkways?

I personally always walk on the moving walkways if possible, or if not choose to walk along side them as after spending many hours sitting on a plane I like the bit of exercise.

There are walkways and they do work. My comment was directed at the fact that the distance from gate to immigration/baggage seemed very long in comparison to most other airports I am familiar with. Perhaps we came in at the furthest gate? While the walkways help, the problem is that people tend to stand on both sides and make it difficult to walk. In that case if you are in a hurry you can walk faster than you would move on the belt.

Arrived at the new airport late at night a couple of days ago. Some observations.

1. I was surprised that the passageways to the terminal have rather low ceilings. Coming from HK the new airport seems more confining.

2. Long, long walk from plane to terminal.

3. Cleared customs very quickly, under 5 minutes. Hope that lasts.

4. First baggage arrived quickly, but baggage continued to arrive for over an hour. Needless to say one of my bags was in the very last group to arrive. Very slow. The baggage machine in use works in such a way as to produce a big bang every time a bag drops down.

5. Amused myself observing baggage cart defect noted by others. Must have seen half a dozen people place a small bag on the cart only to have it fall right off the back. How in the world did this obvious defect make it to the manufacturing stage? The carts are otherwise OK and I believe larger than the Don Muang ones.

6. Failed to find much info on transport options. It may be there, but I didn't see it.

7. Total chaos at arrival area. You have to push your way through at times. Touts aplenty. Really bad and creates a poor first impression for new arrivals.

8. Ground level area is an accident waiting to happen. To get to the private car service I used we had to cross a 4 or 5 lane roadway. Cars and vans were zooming by at high speed. People coming from parts of the world where cars stop for pedestrians (e.g. LAX) will be very vulnerable if something isn't done to make it safer.

Since the package was sent from the UK you would have to follow-up with UK Postal authorities.

Sad story, but nice of him to let us in on the nud_e photos!

I will be flying into the new airport very late Oct. 1. I live near the old airport. I have looked at the pinned transport options and only see a public bus route to Don Muang. Are there airport bus routes to that area? If not, does anybody know what taxi and limousine rates would be for traveling from the new airport to Don Muang?

On average, a man breaks wind 14 times a day, and a woman 7 times.

Some people's farts genuinely do not stink.......believe it or not.

My (Thai) wife farts many times a day, but mostly her farts do not stink. However, she is extremely shy about farting anywhere that anybody can hear her.....except me. In fact, she doesn't even like to pee where anybody can hear her.

I think farting in public is frowned on, but within the family policies vary. I know that my wife once told me that in her family they were regarded as a source of great amusement in her family-and I still married her. Contrary to the forum members experience above, hers reek and mine cannot be detected most times.

I don't think that behavior is normal, even by Thai standards. She obviously is extremely insecure. If you haven't done anything to cause that (e.g. been caught cheating) then you need to see if you can find out its origin before you can even began to deal with finding a solution. It is tough to find out what makes a woman tick in any country, and even more so here--so good luck!

Greetings Lopburi3,

What to do with bombers & murderers of innocent people? My brother in law ( Thai Navy ) is in the South and has been wounded once by these same murduring thugs so... And... By the way... I was in Laos fighting in another war 36 years ago along side every brave Thai Soldiers and... My family is Thai and... My home is Thailand so... Censor me ( again ) if you like however... Until this situation is resolved it will continue... So.. What to do Lopburi3 and others? I know what to do with such murderers to make them cringe and discourage others with such thought against Thailand but... Maybe you have some idea? So... What are your ideas?

You know what to do with such murderers to make them cringe and discourage others do you? Hope you come up with some better ideas than the ones that were used 36 years ago because that didn't work out too well did it? Why don't you leave the Thais to settle their problems without your interference? They are not doing too well right now, but they did overcome a communist insurgency when they finally dropped the 'kill 'em all' tactics that were tried for so long time.

Before resorting to violence, why not purchase a long pole. Use that pole to bang directly on the ceiling in his bedroom area at selected evening and late night hours. When he eventually calls to complain, tell him that it is 'normal' and hang up. If he informs the landlord tell the landlord you haven't a clue as to where those noises are coming from, but you do know that there are a lot of noises coming from upstairs.

Here is another tack: If he has a GF, tells the guards how shocked you are that he is carrying on like that when he has another wife back home (or upcountry-take your pick). That will get back to her in about 5-10 minutes usually. He may even move out after the breakup.

I just don't know qualtrough. So many Thai people I know seem to base so much of their living on a "for the day" aspect that historical issues seem to be nil.

Also, it would be interesting to note how the slavery system worked. My limited understanding of it was that it was more similar to the feudal European system from the Middle Ages than it was to the slave owning system of the Southern US. ie absentee owners as opposed to very involved owners.

I'd agree that Thai people seem to "live for the day" but it was also my understanding that e.g. a Thai woman will generally not marry beneath their class. If ancestral slaves in the family tree implicitly lowered her potential husband's class, then this might be something she (or maybe her parents) would try to determine before making such a commitment, no?

If you're right that the "slavery" was more like indentured servitude then yeah I can see how it might not make much/any difference to their descendants.

While not like slavery in the US, from what I have learned it was somewhat more onerous than indentured servitude. The fact that slaves were tatooed with their owner's or master's name seems to be one indication of that. I think one of the problems too is that there does not seem to have been much scholarship on this, and that some of what I have seen tends to be written in such a way as to minimize the slavery, for the obvious reasons.

qualtrough and terry57 thanks for your advice but

because I really enjoy my food - and because I have already seen

a lot of Laos in any case now, I would just rather risk going back to a place

where if I inadvertently break the law- I could end up on

a daily diet of " pigfat water soup " - served just twice a day

365 days a year !

I just think there has to be something wrong with the

mentality of the authorities if they are willing to treat

people like that who haven't even being tried and convicted ?

There will still many many countries left where at least I will

get a better diet if I am incarcerated :-)

Midas -Incidents similar to the one that you read about recently have ocurred in Thailand from time to time, even to foreigners. Below is just one example. Read it and then start packing those bags

Colin Martin's Welcome to hel_l: One Man's Fight for Life Inside the Bangkok Hilton (2005, ISBN 1-905379-06-04), is both the tale of an unfortunate western businessman caught in the intrigue of a confidence game, and a primer for any westerner caught in the web of the Thai legal system. Here, Martin discusses topics such as the proliferation of big Thai business interests in the Thai underworld, payments to police officials to arrest innocent parties, and the need for the imprisoned accused to bribe his prosecutor to show up for a court date. While in detention, the author discovered that edible food could only be obtained by buying it directly from the guards (to their profit). Guards also know how much money a prisoner has on account, and can thereby use the information to leverage sexual favors from the imprisoned's girlfriend or wife. This didn't affect Martin's Thai wife, who absconded with his bail money, leaving Martin to wallow in prison. All in all, Martin's key message seems to be: bribe your way out as early as you can, as longer detention equals larger bribe requests.

URL: http://www.thaioasis.com/literature/lit_ex...xperience01.php

Cmon this is a family matter, violence is quite the norm

That sounds like some family you have married into Nam Kao. Good luck with that!

OK, spoke with the wife just now. It was some years ago so the details were a bit hazy in my mind. She had an older woman come here and build a little tent that my wife laid down in. She gave her a massage and the tent was heated by steaming herbs. As I noted earlier, my wife does not come from an Isaan background, so this is not restricted to those from that area. My wife graduated from University, but this is something she said that many Thai woman still do. As I was leaving to write this she called out to me that this is only for natural childbirth, not a caesarian, confirming what some forum members had written. Would be interesting to know if any studies have ever been conducted to see if there is any demonstrable benefit?