smileydude

There isn't really enough information on the reasons why your friend isn't considering the option of going back to Oz to offer any sound advice. Did you ever consider asking him?

If his savings are going to last just another month in Thailand, I would think they'd last about a week down under and thats not even including airfare so where would he get the funds to move back and try to find a job?

The fact that your concerned makes you a good friend. You can give him advice but he'll have to figure the rest out on his own.

I think the old fashioned BOOKSTORES especially the ones with primarly English language material like Kinokuniya in Paragon and Asia books can be a great place to meet thai girls. Alot of them who read English would like to talk to someone in English too and its easier to chat up someone if you see them in a section where you have some common interest or knowledge in.

Of course make sure her BF isn't in the next isle!

If average GDP per capita/average household income = middle class income then definitely NO.

These figures may not take into account the differences in cost of living but nevertheless the average earnings of Thai's are much lower then Europeans. Relatively speaking most services like eg. dry cleaning, healthcare, salons and massages are much cheaper here so some things considered luxurious in Europe can be more affordable to Thais but vice versa, cars, perfumes, brand name clothing are more within reach of the average Europeans. Thailand definitely has a lower cost of living so the same earnings goes alot farther thus the possible perception of living a more luxurious lifestyle but the average household income speaks for itself. I think the example given was not of a middle class Thai but more of an upper middle to high income earner by Thai standards.

As a thai I sure would like to move out of the World Economic Forum's list of "efficiency driven countries" to the "innovation driven countries" so lets go for quality instead of quantity my dear professor.

Sometimes the less we know the happier we are.

Superstitions are an interesting social phenomenon in that it only applies to those within that particular culture because if you weren't aware of it how it could the bad lack possibly apply??

Thai's walk under ladders all the time, open umbrellas indoors (to the aghast of foreigners) and chug along oblivious to their unfortunate fate when a black cat crosses their path.

I always thought their was some kind of common sense behind most of these wives tales that have proven to be valid. Right now I'll take the barber's day off as the most sensible. Great read!

Desperate times call for desperate measures, not ridiculous ones.

To analyze into this threat, could it be born of desperation?

One of the problems that the government often over looks whenever the the economy is in the doldrums is the mental health of the salary man/women. Overburdened with debt or unable to provide for their family, often leads to hopelessness, depression and despair. People cope with it differently, some turn to crime or suicide while others hang tough and try to weather it out. If the problem is left unadressed the sentiment often snowballs into public discontent as I sense is starting here though in this case is rather premature and out of reality. I feel for those who have a problem making ends meet but in the end it is our own responsibility to use less then what we earn and save for a rainy day because life is unpredictable. I feel many thai's lack fiscal discipline and buying all those motorcycles and tv's on installments is not helping. I have much disdain for credit cards and all those 0% financing/10 month installment gimmicks which often lead to spending beyond our means. I have even more disdain for the incompetent government that I did NOT vote for but most others did. That 500 baht per vote is being cashed back in the form of less subsidies and someone is going to have to foot the bill. Surprise surprise, its us.

My initial thought upon reading the title of this article was that this was a jibe into how notoriously goods like cellphones and various amenities are easily transported in and out of Klong Prem Prison if you have the money.

Governments always like new projects so that budgets can be allocated and bureaucractic pockets filled courtesy of pre-arranged bidding "tea money".

Moving prisons away from surrounding communities to remote areas sounds good though. With the numerous uninhabited islands around the coasts of Thailand maybe a new prison styled after Alcatraz to discourage breakouts perhaps? Knowing the ingenenuity of Thai's we'll probably see phones thrown from boats or jetski's in the future!

Feel really sorry for the lads. It is a known fact that up to 70 percent of the money allocated to the military is embezzled. A lot of the guns reported stolen from military barracks by separatists were actually stolen by corrupt officers who then sold the guns in the thriving weapons black market. The gun probably exploded because it was Vietnam era machine-gun clearly past its intended service time or a cheap reconditioned reject sold to us because the military big wigs siphoned off most of the budget to fund their "kiks" and summer houses instead of replacing those outdated M60's/M134 mini-guns with GAU-8 cannons.

Making broad absolute statements like this just makes Thailand and Thai LE look like total fools. They could have made it look a bit more reputable by saying something like "we're looking into the matter and making sure all LOCAL and FOREIGN organized criminal activity is kept in check in order to make Pattaya a safer place blah blah blah...."

Its all about appeasing the "phu-yai's" in the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Tourism with these farcical statements meant for PR but obviously a total load of manure even to the most naive. Next they'll be defining "mafia's' as requiring membership of more then 100 gang members who must all have prior criminal convictions therefore validating their statement!

smh

What an utterly senseless waste of life. You'll never understand the full range of emotions that go on in such encounters from just reading confessions but the common theme is always not far from alcohol induced stupidity. Self defense will not hold up if you severely beat someone up. One stab is maybe plausible, multiple stabs definitely not. Hopefully the US consulate will put some pressure on the local LE's to make sure that everything is handled by the law and not by tea money.

With all these oil spills that wreck havoc on nature maybe its a wake up call to get a little more serious on finding alternative forms of energy. Our dependence on oil is staggering considering how smart we humans are supposed to be. The Scandinavians seem to be leading the way in seeking alternative fuels ( even though they are can afford conventional fuel regardless of prices) since they seem to have more respect for mother nature and global/social responsibility, something severely lacking in Asia.

I would prefer her to rip open her shirt like Superman.

What a truly ignorant and horrendous picture.

Had no idea the students were doing heil hitler poses too. Jesus, these kids need to get their noses out of their textbooks and learn more about the outside world. Fads and copycats can become quite annoying and thai's seem to be very susceptible to adopting them brainlessly.

What a national embarassment.

Typical example of how an athletes fame adds to an inflated ego leading to a wild lifestyle and eventually drugs.

Most famous boxers in this country burn all their earnings on booze, girls and partying to end up losing their families and dying penniless. Jakkrit was well known to have a temper and got into alot of conflicts with the Thai Shooting Association even once refusing to shoot for the National Team if they didn't agree to his terms.

Its sad to see how bad life decisions can destroy the most important thing we can ever have, unconditional love from our family.

Wow, the level of cynicism here is just amazing. Whats with all this bashing of Thai people's lack of western history knowledge or Chulalongkorn University being a 2 Tier education institution based on the actions of a few ignorant students? Do you all feel you have adequate knowledge of Asian History or that everyone should know about the Rape of Nanking? What Hilter did and stands for is pure evil but it was over 60 years ago and a lesson in western history is not one of Thailand's educational strongpoints. I graduated from Chula +25 years ago and the only reason I know about Hilter is because I was also educated in the US and have a interest in military history. To expect all Thai's to know or understand in depth of how Hitler and his swastika invokes bitter feelings is just IGNORANT. To criticize our educational system based on this incident is unjustified. People seem to think cynicism reflects one's wisdom or age when in fact age is not a guarantee of wisdom. Wisdom is acquired from accepting that we know so little, just like these students.

Sounds like an excuse for ignorance. I don't buy it. I think the history of Hitler and the Nazis is relevant today to educated people everywhere. Keep in mind Nazi ideology lives in various Neo-Nazi movements in many countries.

I would expect an educated person graduating from an elite western university to know what the Rape of Nanking was. I wouldn't expect Joe Schmoe the Plumber to know. If not to that detail, at least a basic understanding of the Asian part of World War 2 including knowing at least something about the brutality of Japanese atrocities. This again is RELEVANT today and the history still lives in the way China feels about Japan, etc.

Educated people are educated about the WORLD; not only their little corner of it. Not only topics that relate to their own ethnicity.

In my view more educated Thai nationals should stop making excuses and instead consider doing something so that Thailand doesn't continue to embarrass itself internationally in future with these serial displays of outrageous ignorance about Hitler and Nazis. It's not that hard. Why makes excuses?

I agree that educated people should seek to know more about the World then just what their educational systems offer. By that count, I think more educated people all over the world, not just Thai's are just as guilty of ignorance because many don't even know where Thailand is on the map.

My post is not an excuse for ignorance. I am pointing out the fact that it exists everywhere and no race or country is immune to it and to bash that race or country based on a single incidence is ignorance in itself.

Wow, the level of cynicism here is just amazing. Whats with all this bashing of Thai people's lack of western history knowledge or Chulalongkorn University being a 2 Tier education institution based on the actions of a few ignorant students? Do you all feel you have adequate knowledge of Asian History or that everyone should know about the Rape of Nanking? What Hilter did and stands for is pure evil but it was over 60 years ago and a lesson in western history is not one of Thailand's educational strongpoints. I graduated from Chula +25 years ago and the only reason I know about Hilter is because I was also educated in the US and have an interest in military history. To expect all Thai's to know or understand in depth of how Hitler and his swastika invokes bitter feelings is just IGNORANT. To criticize our educational system based on this incident is unjustified. People seem to think cynicism reflects one's wisdom or age when in fact age is not a guarantee of wisdom. Wisdom is gained through humility and the acceptance that we know very little, just like these students.

What a bummer, I clicked on the article hoping to say a pretty lady,

alas, it was not to be,,, a dude...

me too, guilty as charged!

Good for him if he gets a break in life, but you never know, it could be part of some reality show promo kind of thing? Seems to be the "in" thing lately.

What may offend one person may not necessarily offend another. I've seen numerous examples, most recently the Buddha placed lying down in an exhibition in Germany. Ignorance and insensitivity exists. We have the right to object but to expect everyone to understand and recognize the thousands of taboos that exist in this world is unrealistic. The chula students made a bad decision based on ignorance. Being Thai's with their "krengjai" culture, once they find out how much it offends certain people I'm pretty sure they will remove it. BTW, buddhists are offend by topless bathers and yet even though you are warned of it in guide books people still do it. Ignorance or insensitivity?

If he was stupid enough to marry a girl 30 years younger than him, he should have expected that she would have a younger boyfriend and him just as an ATM. No sympathy from me.

I'm afraid I'll have to agree. Normally I prefer to keep the cynicism to myself but the news is just full of senior citizen aged farang guys taking up lovers their daughters or even grand-daughter's age and then getting conned, dumped or as in this case almost getting themselves killed. When will they realize that they all suffer from "Adonis Syndrome" or delusions of grandeur when they come to Thailand. Why would a pretty (or maybe even plain) looking girl shack up with someone so much older other then to dig gold. Yes, there are some cases when the age difference is less that love may actually blossom but not with someone 20+ years younger. No doubt we all like sex even into our 70's and who doesn't want to be Hugh Hefner, but be realistic and keep the mindset like what it is, a barter deal. If she breaks any agreement that you can't accept, give her the boot. Once she's done with you, adios, no jealousy, no attachments. An escort for hire might be an easier option. You can have a new one every week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index

Thailand's education system doesn't rank too shabby here. The only asian countries ahead of them are South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Mongolia. This article does not reflect anything more then the OBVIOUS, countries who integrate the english language into their culture are going to speak better. Duh

Some years ago I spent a few weeks in an Isaan village.

The neighbor's four year old boy impressed me as only slightly more than an imbecile.

My Thai friends in this village agreed. They described the boy as aw-tiss-tick a word that Upcountry Thais will use

to describe a slow kid or a slightly retarded kid.

A few years later the mother hooked up with a Cobra Gold Marine and within a few months she, her two kids and the US Marine ended up in Okinawa. The kid spent three year there in a school for army kids from all over the place. This school was run and staffed by Americans and other Westerners.

Two years ago I was back in the village and I happened to run into this kid. He didn't remember me, of course but he appeared bored out of his mind and with no one to play with wandered over into the yard to have a chat. He spoke fluent American accented English. He was just bubbling over with enthusiasm and curiosity.

The kid was intellectually ALIVE.

I rest my case against Thailand's educational system.

Learning language is not a sign of high intellect - we ALL have an innate ability to learn language.

You missed the point entirely. DB's anecdote wasn't about just language acquisition, but that that boy was capable of learning in general. It was the Thai education system that was causing his perceived stupidity. I second this, as I see many bright kids in my classes, who are almost always drowned out by the mass of students who couldn't care less about actually learning something over the course of a day.

It's not the education system - it is the fault of the immediate social system firstly - and language learning is not necessarily an indicator of intellect.

Agree. Most thais do not have the opportunity to finish high school let alone learn english. Why?

Because of the socio-economic structure and distribution of wealth. They don't have enough money to finish their education and need to leave school to earn money often times to help their families or younger siblings. For those who are fortunate to continue their education the Thai education system from schools such as Triam Udom, Mahidol Anusorn, Mahidol University, Chulalongkorn University , KMUTT (winner of several world robotic championships) offer quality education albeit not geared towards proficiency in the English language.

http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/country-profiles/thailand

Nevertheless the statistics indicate Thailand needs to place more priority and direct more resources towards education and give every child a fair chance to see if he/she can grow intellectually in hopes of grooming better future leaders then what we have right now. Things aren't lookin too bright if we have buffalo's leading the herd.

I'm not surprised at the results since two of the 5 countries assessed were either colonized or occupied by English speaking countries (Singapore and Phillipines). You can go on and on about the reasons why Thai's aren't as fluent in English but at the end of the day it might not be a national priority. Take Japan and Korea as examples. From my experience the average Thai speaks or understands more english then most of their East Asian Brethen. The average IQ of the population of East Asians is one of the highest in the world at 105 yet their english skills are poor. Why? Because their education systems did not make it a priority. Will they lose out on globalization? I doubt it. Using english skills as a measure of how good a country's education system is is misguided. Of course being bilingual or multilingual will certainly benefit an indvidual and English is certainly spoken worldwide though by no means is it a gold standard to measure a country's educational system as so many seem to imply.

That is an interesting point, but I think there is a very large pool of people who are fluently bilingual from having resettled overseas from both Korea and Japan. I think there are fewer Thai people in the same position.

I agree.

Statistically if I recall correctly the Asian countries with the most students studying in the US.

China

Korea

Taiwan

I'm not surprised at the results since two of the 5 countries assessed were either colonized or occupied by English speaking countries (Singapore and Phillipines). You can go on and on about the reasons why Thai's aren't as fluent in English but at the end of the day it might not be a national priority. Take Japan and Korea as examples. From my experience the average Thai speaks or understands more english then most of their East Asian Brethen. The average IQ of the population of East Asians is one of the highest in the world at 105 yet their english skills are poor. Why? Because their education systems did not make it a priority. Will they lose out on globalization? I doubt it. Using english skills as a measure of how good a country's education system is is misguided. Of course being bilingual or multilingual will certainly benefit an indvidual especially since English is spoken in many parts of the world though by no means is it a gold standard to measure a country's educational system as so many believe this article implies.

Bad rap for thai females indeed. Its easy to call the Aussie foolish or what but love does blind the senses and his is certainly not the first case. Some of us are more experienced and some more trusting.

I like his style going rambo with the lawyers and all and hope she gets busted (praying that his lawyer is better at manouvering with the police then hers and that the aussie's pockets are deeper).

Getting public attention is also smart so as not to have it swept under the carpet.

I know Ms. Paveena Hongsakul the thai MP is often called upon when thai women or children are abused.

I wonder if she would take an interest in this case as it shines a bad light on thai women.

A high profile case would certainly benefit the Aussie's cause and maybe serve as a wakeup call to all those guys who arrive here suffering from the Adonis Syndrome.

These vixens need to get jail time as a lesson to others. Might sound like wishful thinking but you never know!