timmyp

Thanks for asking, that tracker1! I actually stepped away from this article to do a little internet search myself, and my tiny 5 minute search didn't find the answer. Can someone provide a quick answer?

I saw the headline and wanted to see the art that the graffiti artist arted. It must have been a very fancy letter A, and that's why the headlines correctly referred to this person as an Artist, rather than just someone tagging or spray painting a sign.

>He also urged the Asean community to call on Myanmar to give the Rohingya citizenship

Good luck with that. Even Aung San turned her back on them.

Any idea as to why that might be? Rhetorical question.

Cuz prejudice runs deep.

But just to catch others up to what you are alluding to: Aung San said they are immigrants for Bangladesh, as undoubtedly many are. The trouble is that so many are not immigrants and have been there for generations, but are unable to prove that their grandparents were born in Burma because they have lived in isolation, and records were not kept.

>He also urged the Asean community to call on Myanmar to give the Rohingya citizenship

Good luck with that. Even Aung San turned her back on them.

Simple carbs and processed foods are one of the downfalls of modern society. Getting rid of a simple carbs such as white rice is bound to make your healthier.

Most folks can't handl culinary changes, though. Good for you.

Must be a Hash House Harrier. "A drinking club with a running problem."

NB: Why nobody comes in by land from Myanmar? Their are peoples smugglers all over Myanmar and many make it through the forests into Thailand.

I would assume it's because they are actually trying to get to Malaysia, not Thailand. They may have thought crossing through Thailand was a bad idea (as indeed it has turned out to be for those that landed in Thailand).

It may not be safe to cross through the Myanmar countryside either, considering they are a persecuted minority, and don't have travel rights in Myanmar. Sea may be their best option, which really shows you what miserable situation they're in.

If they would just go back to the radar image they were using a couple of months ago, I would be a happier, more lovable person again.

>However their photos on the cards discounted by their physical appearance which bear no similarities to Thai people in any way whatsoever, he said.

There are Thai citizens with Thai ID cards who are ethnically South Asian and Malaysian, and of course they have a physical appearance bearing little similarities to Thais. So it's not that odd for someone who doesn't look "Thai" (which is a pretty broad spectrum anyway) to have a legitimate Thai ID card.

Of course the real giveaway would be speaking no Thai or heavily accented Thai.

However ineffective you think the class might be, I'm pretty sure it's better than you learning on your own, unless you really know how to study a language that isn't related to your native language.

I have seen loads of people in Japan and Thailand who took the self-study route, and their language level is a joke. There are exceptions, but those who are successful through self-study are people really know what they are doing when it comes to language learning. If you're not one of those people, I highly recommend you go to school, even if you think the methodology isn't effective.

There are other schools in Chiang Mai if you don't like the approach of your current school. I find AUA in Chiang Mai to be effective (note that it is totally different from AUA in Bangkok and elsewhere).

It's nice when the beginning level can be fun, but really, language learning in the beginning is just a bunch of memorization and drilling. That's just the not-so-exciting hump you have to get over before you can start expressing yourself.

There's another cat cafe just over the river down Phetburi 38/1 called the Cataholic. I haven't been inside because it was closing every time I was in the area at a neighboring shop.

I love cats, but I find those cafes to be weirdly hi-so. The cats all appear to be expensive pure-bred cats. I think you can have a better cat experience petting the strays at a temple (although you should probably wash your hands afterwards).

I also haven't received any mail in the last two months. I live near Rangnam (i.e., Victory Monument). Others in my building are getting their mail. Mostly I just get junk mail, but I haven't received my phone bill or internet in at least 2 months. I paid directly at True and dtac payment centers, so this hasn't been a problem, but it's unsettling.

Twice I was supposed to get shipments from the U.S. that never arrived. Nowadays I only have international mail sent via registered and insured mail.

I am having a couple of packages shipped from the U.S. next week, but with this new disappearance of my mail, I think I'll have the packages sent to another address.

I find it weird that people want to bash this guy.

Jumping with the dog was definitely an A-hole stunt, but I don't get the attitude of, "Why do you try so hard to do something that I would never do?? You must be an idiot!"

The guy has a tremendous amount of courage, and it takes a tremendous amount effort & intelligence to plan, train, and execute the things he has done. I don't expect people to praise him, but pointing at him and calling him a fool is the reaction I expect from people who live their lives in an incredibly closed box and feel joy at the downfall of others.

So did they actually pay the bill? The article doesn't say:

"A tourist of Malaysian-Chinese descent shared a photo of the bill she and three friends were asked to pay at a Bangkok seafood restaurant they were taken to on the recommendation of a very friendly Bangkok taxi driver."

I've gotten some silly bills before, and protesting it usually leads to an apology and a corrected bill.

If I were the PM of Thailand I would step up to the plate He is in the position to change how the western world views the coup and his leadership. If I were him I would get on the line to Washington DC State department and request assistance in setting up shelters for these people also have the UN send in aid to help. With UN peace keeping forces to help control this influx of people. By doing that the US would be hard pressed to say NO. It would be the biggest political coup that he could ever hope for and it falling right in his lap. One word from him asking for help not only would it flow but with it thousands of, no make that millions of US dollars would flow in to Thailand the PM's face would be plastered all over the media maybe even a nobel peace prize too. But the time is now if you wait some one else will do it.

Supporting these refugees will upset the PM's supporters for sure. He looks better at home if he appears to be protecting the Thai way and only blaming Myanmar. As much as I wish governments would show more humanity in trying to end this crisis, there aren't any countries that will look kindly upon their leaders accepting refugees who are believed to create a unwelcome burden on the country.

Repatriated to where exactly? It's not as though they are recognized as citizens of any country?

The Bangladeshis will go back to Bangladesh...presumably the Rohingyas will go back to Myanmar.

Don't those countries have to accept them first? The Rohingyas aren't recognized as Myanmar nationals, so I can't see them being accepted (one of the major factors in this mess). Myanmar says they're all Bangldeshi. Well, except for the ones who have birth records of a parent or grandparent being born in Burma before 1948, but I doubt anyone in this refugee group falls in that category.

Is there anyone on board that can drive the boat??

I'm intrigued by this. How would building a walkway be any worse than what is there now? Are there seriously environmental risks, or is this a business interest masking as something with a greater purpose?

Using DNA to prove Thai ethnicity is so totally bizarre. I wonder what genes they are specifically looking for. Is there a "Thai gene" we haven't heard about? Haplogroup T? I wonder how the population at large would size up with their testing criteria.

Perhaps they have already decided they will reject the vast majority of those they are testing, and this is just a way to make it look like they are being thoroughly scientific.

I bet there's a 7/11 there. There's gotta be, right?

T

7/11 is thrilled to know large the universe is, because this means more opportunities to open more franchises.

Have a chart of the consonants arranged in a grid by phonetic similarity, as one would for learning Sanskrit or Pali. This will make it much easier to remember the Thai classes.

I'm going to guess that you studied Sanskrit or Pali! I studied Sanskrit many years ago, and applying the same phonetic grid made loads of sense to me, but that seems like too much info for the non-Devanagari acquainted learner. So while I think it's a useful approach, I wouldn't recommend it to the average person learning Thai.

Learning to read and write is just a matter of putting in the time, which means constant review. Memorizing a bunch of stuff can really suck, but it's something you have to go through...

Make sure that you are learning to read and write the letters with the correct sound. If you don't have the aspirates and non-aspirates worked out, you need to get that straight or it's all going to get mixed together. If you don't conceptually get the tones, work on those before you tackle the alphabet. You don't have to master tones and aspirates, but you must at least get how they work first, then take on the alphabet.

Thanks for adding more, Stu. I really like and fully support everything you do.
Japanese also has senetence-ending particles that can give a sentence a feminine or masculine sound (I know you know this already), and it's certainly something learners need to be aware of.