antsrule

I live in Phuket. After a great deal of calm, diplomatic effort, I finally convinced my girlfriend to wear a helmet and now this.

If you want to create a generation of scientists in this country you need to encourage students to;

1) think skeptically. In other words, believe no one, find out for yourself

2) think critically. Ask yourself 'Why do I think this way'

3) think analytically. One step at a time

Teach students that questions never change but answers continually evolve.

Teach students that innovative ideas come from simple questions and useful ideas come from difficult problems.

Curiosity is the primary motivator for all of the greatest thinkers.

The problem in Thailand is that skeptical thinkers do not get good deed awards. Thailand education inadvertently fosters an obsession for high marks, beauty and success. Fame and fortune. Nothing wrong with that but it is not science, it is the foundation of corruption.

Duplicate

This evil woman deserves an appropriate punishment. 100 baht fine and told to go write an essay on why pot is illegal and cigarettes are not. She should furthermore consider a legal job such as working for a tobacco company to help them get new young customers.

The spider with a violin shape on its body is called "The Brown Recluse". A black widow spider has a distinctive red hourglass on it's body.

What hospital will you have the surgery? Most bigger hospital with foreign patients have liaison with immigration and can get you an extension very easily.

If you have to do it yourself you will need a declaration from your doctor that you cannot fly and need to have surgery. it should ideally state when you are expected to be able to travel.

This kind of extension is for maximum of 90 days at a time and immigration can have their own doctor have a look at you.

Visit immigration maybe 1 or 2 weeks before your permission to stay ends.

Thanks. I get my surgery done at a smaller government hospital (Nongchok). The surgeons and staff are excellent. The doctor will give me the necessary documentation. Recovery time is 6 to 8 weeks. No problem seeing immigration doctors. Thanks again, very helpful.

I got a non b visa but did not start work due to unexpected required surgery. I still have one more surgery scheduled for early september. My visa expires late august. No work permit was issued against this non-b as I did not accept the job due to the medical situation. Is there an extension available in this circumstance? Do I need to leave the country to get it?

And Thai kids hoover up the Shisha in horrendous quantities. It must be ok, it's legal! I heard it is not tobacco then I heard it is tobacco but the herbs neutralize the bad effects. REALLY!!

Better check it out on your iPhone kids.

"international smuggling ring"

A handful of Jungle-Thai-Laos guys bringing over half a ton of weed does not make them an international smuggle ring.

Jeez, legalize it already.

Alcoholics and now potheads...is that what you want? Oh well, not like there is any turning back from the abyss that almost engulfs us all.

Overwhelming evidence (look it up) clearly shows that potheads are preferable to alcoholics. Death statistics alone confirm that. Hang in there sir, you are clearly waiting for the death of us all. It will come, but likely not all at the same time contrary to your implied pessimism. I must say however that the pessimism of most pessimists is generally well founded. I am optimistic about that. Seriously, sir, have a nice day.

Until Thai students are motivated to think skeptically (question authority) there will never be true science here, only the competition for higher marks which is meaningless in the quest for innovation. Education will be improved when independent thinking is nurtured. Unfortunately, education reform is going in the direction of "good" citizenship.

By the way, critical thinking is when someone examines their own reactions to information and events. Skeptical thinking is when someone disbelieves someone else THEN either proves ir disproves it using the process of analytical thinking. It is then that one developes the necessary fearlessness to become an innovating entrepreneur. You have a long way to go Thailand but paying attention to South Korea is an excellent start, so PAY ATTENTION!!

I have been told that if I take the train in Thailand I need to keep my possessions in hand at all times due to endemic theft that occurs on the trains. This cruel and despicable event could be an indication of a serious underlying criminal mentality rife within the system. Can anyone else add or detract from this idea?

using the schools for social engineering and religious brainwash is very wrong. The should focus on Mathematic, Reading, Writing, Physics Languages etc etc

Correct, how do you improve skeptical and critical thinking in a society that does not allow it? Without them analytical thinking turns into rationalisation. If you want world class scientists you must start with students who can say "Why?" AND "I don't believe you"

Vienna 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri - duelling harpsichords.

A battle of the Giants - the free spirit genius vs the grand technical master

For contemporary I give it to Jose Itirbi duet with his daughter in the Film "My Daring Daughters" or the Welsh/Zulu duet in the movie "Zulu". For live performance I nominate Verdi's Aida played in Cremona Italy 1993. Many thanks to the benevolent Giovanni Carutti. For hard rock Black Sabbath rip my friend.

Really? You are suppressing drug use among the general population yet the jails are out of control? I think you are kidding yourselves. But I am happy to see you are getting a nice pat on the back even if it comes from your own statistics.

If you really want to get rid of the Al Capone's of the world you need to eliminate their income. The only way this can be done is for the state to become the supplier. This way rehabilitation comes hand in hand with the business. WAKEUP, please!!

Thaksin already proved the futility of the heavy hand.

The pointy finger has a curve common to traditional Thai dancers. Sorry to be off topic but it is really one of the beautiful things about Thai women. Just to get on topic again, it is hard for me to imagine that a man would punch a woman in the face even just once. Men who would deliberately harm a woman are no more than sewer rats, deserving of some feline justice.

I have been wanting to comment on this for a long time. I believe that the biggest social problem facing society today are the children of single parents. I have helped 2 women and their children after they lost their husbands in a civil war in an arabic country back in 1994. I still help them. I helped a Chinese mother immigrate to my western country and helped her meet a moderately wealthy man who had lost his wife. I helped her daughter get into university there as well. Recently I helped an issan woman and daughter immigrate to my country as well. She is also now married to a countryman of mine. I shared an apartment with a girl who became my girlfriend. I found out that she worked in Soi Cowboy. She took me down there and introduced me to her friends and explained how the businees worked. One thing I discovered was that most of the women had one or 2 children all of whom (of those I met) were 100% Thai with father out of the picture. Like the OP I was stunned that the fathers made no effort to be part of the lives of the children and no one else seemed to care either. Just a different culture, not my circus, not my monkeys. In the west it is very very different, so what! So I am the looser for doing what I want? So what, up to me! I am divorced from the mother of my many children. I speak to each of them every week. Up to me. You Thai guys do what you want, no problem for me. I will continue to help as many of your children as I can to have a better life. You are welcome.

Everyone needs to sleep. I used to be kept up at night by partying teens. I discovered thst they did not like loud classical music played during the daytime when they were hung over sleeping. Shostakovich 7th symphony is good. It was composed to commemorate the seige of Leningrad and greatly demoralized the German soldiers. appropriate methinks. Watch for stray bullets.

I had a great friend once (deceaased) who used to play Irish music with me. He was a brilliant computer scientist from a place called Plenty Saskatchewan. I answered his door once and shooed away a couple of Jehova's wtnesses. When I told him he jumped up, went out and retrieved them. What happened afterwards was the most amazing dialogue I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. It turns out my friend had been groomed to become a minister. He had memorized the entire bible, really an unusualy smart person.

He took each Psalm mentioned by the JW gentlemen and went off in a logical tangent that allowed him to prove unequivically that St. John was eating magic mushrooms and had several visit from aliens. He happily picked up on their attemps to divert him with new qoutes and led them on other incredible journeys. I knew he was doing this more to humour me than to offend them. But sadly, they thanked him and left. I couLd have listened to that all night. He said to me afterwards, "Never turn these people away, do you really want to deprive the disabled of their crutch?". I replied at that point there wasn't much left of their crutches to which he responded "oh, get real Liam you're the only one who was listening to me" big grin!

Why do they have to come to Thailand to seek sanctuary, surely the nearest safe haven for the Rohingya is Bangladesh -populated by their ethnic and religious brethren. Why don't they go there - assuming that they are genuine refugees and not economic migrants? just wondering....

This is one of the most disgusting posts I have read anywhere.

I suppose all the sex slaves are to blame too.

you dont like an honest post..there in lies your problem....

Have you noticed that the anti-human trafficking posters at the Rayong Myanmar crossong come from Canada? Thais can't even make the effort to create their own posters. Go stuff your 20 baht notes into the Big C/Lotus anonymous plastic boxes so you can feel like you are doing something useful Andrews gaining MERIT.

Jesus wept.

..Buddha chuckled.

Ilmho Have fun!

Why not install Wireless Electricity the same day that Thailand will switch from left side driving to right side driving. I heard about that this time last year. A couple of great ideas up there with the elevator to space.

from Yahoo I searched for this

'using a fan to trap mosquitoes'

I think the best method is to use a high speed fan with a screen on the air intake side. The mosquitoes cannot escape so you can spray them with a diluted bleach solution which kills them. This is good for outdoors when there are hordes of them.

this is not thai people.

why we care?

can stay in myanmar or cambodia if dont like!!

we dont ask you to come here.

this is THAI land.

Wow Poochi, I am humbled to realize that I am not wanted in Thailand. You are right, you did not ask me to come here, I should leave. I think before the next semester. Would you mind doing me a favour after I leave? I teach 500 Thai students UK Physics and US Chemistry and Biology, I have to confess that I am actually a mediocre theoretical Physicist, however I did have some training in Bioscience and Chemistry before entering Veterinary Medicine but sadly I decided the oil business was a better idea so I spent my career as a lowly IT systems support geek for engineers and geoscientists. So I have no doubt that, with your confidence and your crisp analytical thinking style, either you or one of your friends can easily fill in for me. Thanks so much!

Let me say, to add a little humour to my sad story, "Start the Revolution Without Me"

sawwhatdecrap,

PS

But don't worry, the Chinese are coming (Chinese immigration now at the Laos border with plans for 1 million Chinese to live at that staging location on the proposed high speed railline), they may help you in the same efficient manner they helped the Buddhists in another country (name withheld as the place may be unknown to you). The Chinese like red more than yellow. I wonder if that could be a problem.

Poochi, I like Soi bitches a lot more than Soi dogs. Nothing personal.

Anyway, watch out for razor blades in your fish buddy. Choke die.

******************Politically libelous comment about Charlem and Sudthep deleted, too bad, it was hilarious******************************************

Until the Thai mindset changes these accidents will remain an inevitable fact of life. Drivers are licensed with the minimum training (if any). Road rules are rarely if ever enforced. Buses tailgaiting at ridiculous speeds and undertaking on the left side are all too common

And greedy unscrupulous owners push underpaid drivers beyond their physical limits.

But hey - mai pen rai -- isnt it always

I just got back to Canada and was reminded of something I forgot about. Riding with a Canadian bus driver is like riding with an airline pilot. However, the Thai busdrivers deserve a lot of praise from my perspective. They can drive very well in situations that are very unpredictable, like other Thai drivers. It really does impress me how Thai bus drivers can move so effortlessly through heavy Bangkok traffic.

The big differences between Thai and Canadian drivers are training, customer safety and equipment safety! But we are lucky in Canada that all of us who drive must be trained to basic standards. It gets rid of a lot of unpredictability the Thai bus drivers must contend with.

What to do? Wow, really big problem. Even if Thai law turned around today forcing new drivers to meet new standards, it would be years before the carnage was reduced.