timmyp

It's not a hard water vs. soft water problem, nor a chlorine taste issue, the water just has a bit of a dirt taste.

I was only curious to explore people's fears of microbes. At least from my tap, it seems safe in that respect.

It's awesome that you are performing an experiment for the benefit of humankind on the presence, or lack, of microbes in the water and I for one can barely contain my excitement to learn what the long term health benefits of heavy metals and other less obvious contaminants are to human organs. Do post updates over the next few years.

As for the quote above, I almost fell off my chair. A bit of dirt taste. So not "clean taste" then. That's the taste of prime Bangkok sewage inadequately treated.

Here's a clue, has the Director of the Bangkok Water Authority (or whoever is in charge, if anyone is in charge actually) ever come out in public declaring that he and his family, including his beloved children, are drinking water straight from the tap?

If you think a country that believes safety standards are for pussies might actually send potable water through to its population, well, you've been drinking that water too long.

Freshwater fish like catfish often have a "dirt taste," and they are fine. Having a dirt taste doesn't mean it's dirty (although I wouldn't rule it out either).

Has the Director of the Bangkok Water Authority had the tap water? Not in Bangkok, but elsewhere in Thailand officials have had some tap water as a PR thing.

"Officials from Provincial Waterworks Authority in Songkhla province drink tap water to assure the public of its safety."

http://news.asiainterlaw.com/expert-downplays-health-concerns-salty-tap-water-bangkok/

bacteria, that might be the cause for some people getting sick, but your stomach can get used to them by increased exposure, which I did

The ultimate proof is soi dogs. They don't drink filtered water and don't get sick, I once saw a soi dog nibbling on a roadkill rat that was flat and already dry from days in the sun. But then, dogs live only 10 years, maybe because they don't drink filtered water?

I 've been drinking it for years before the floodings, no problem at all.

Wow. I think you are a serious rarity. A Thai friend of mine says that her friend who lives in Lat Phrao drinks that tap water as well.

An no cancer, nor aliens springing free from your tummy?

People are pretty shocked at the idea though. Some people are thinking, "Well, I just wouldn't do it myself," but others react like a I scooped a cup full out of the mighty Jao Phraya and guzzled it down.

Ok I didn't watch the video because I just cannot look at someone sitting on the john but for you experiment I do think that you should read some medical journals prior. Now I do have a relative who works for the water treatment authority in Bangkok. She has a Masters in Chemistry and has stated many times that the water is purified to a high standard. She states that it is drinkable. However, she never does without filtering. The long term effects of the water won't be noticeable. Yes, immediate bacterial reactions may or may not occur depending on how sensitive someone is. Toxins and other residues could be so small but constant build up after years could do serious damage.

There was a Quincy episode long time ago where one friend donated blood to the other. The one that received died. The investigation showed that he had been poisoning his friend for years with small traces of arsenic. It didn't kill him but his blood was so tainted that it killed the poisoner during the blood transfusion. So in fact he killed himself by poisoning his friend.

My point is that the small traces will not cause noticeable reaction to you but may do serious long term damage that cannot be undone.

Why risk it?

Those are interesting points. I suppose the same could be said for tap water anywhere?

I mentioned that there may still be other bits of danger in the water beyond bacteria in my original post. Most people laughed it off when the government claimed "The water is safe to drink." I think most people think you'll get diarrhea if you drink it, so I'm showing that you won't. As for whether there may be other chemical in there that will get you in the long run, I can't say.

Yes, I'm fully aware of tigers and potties and their significance in the Japanese language.

That video was f'n hilarious. I feel an emptiness now knowing that my childhood missed such a ceremony when I graduated to underpants.

Perhaps you could do a before and after series of photographs of your bowel movements; we could then discuss how the tap-water is affecting the consistency, shape etc..........

I do commend your efforts though; the glorious Japanese have a saying;

虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず。 (Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu) Literally: If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub.

Meaning: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. / You can't do anything without risking something.

Read more: http://www.linguanaut.com/japanese_sayings.htm#ixzz3EnGZ2kTb

This is bizarre coincidence, but the word you have there for baby tiger　虎子 also means "potty," the little portable toilet that young kids get potty-trained on. The reading changes to "maru" in that case. "If you don't go into tiger's hole, then you can't get your little potty." Amazing depth in your selection of proverbs on so many levels.

I'm happy to see that all the other problems have been solved in North Korea and now they can focus on mobile phone etiquette guidelines.

other thing I was surprizeThe d is, can they afford to have mobile phones there?

Or this is planning for the future when their dear leader snuffs it and they are free to live a better life?

Yes....it makes me wonder how much truth and how much propaganda is in the stories we are told of their impoverished state.

Watch or listen to a few decent documentaries on YouTube or the web, especially those with defectors and refugees' accounts, and you will know very well that this is the most abysmal and abusive regime on the planet. As to phones, they are probably basic, dirt-cheap ones that the better off people can afford.

Yes, I addressed the different resiliences that people have to bacteria.

I have a filter, I just wanted to see if the water was safe to drink. People are always stressing how dangerous it is, but I've never met anyone who drank it, so it made me wonder why everyone is so sure it's dangerous.

I agree with DP25, who is the first person I've encountered who says they drink the tap water. It doesn't taste very good. It's not a hard water vs. soft water problem, nor a chlorine taste issue, the water just has a bit of a dirt taste.

I was only curious to explore people's fears of microbes. At least from my tap, it seems safe in that respect.

Just a warning tremor for the Big One

This is very sad story, but what is it that makes it worth reporting in the newspaper? That people are so desperate that they have no choice but to chain up their brother/son? That the family was cruel enough to chain him up?

I've seen some of those guys boozing it up all day around Bangkok. I'm not complaining, only wondering why there isn't a higher incidence of them getting busted for driving drunk.

It is great to know public employees working late at night are so grounded in reality.

Clearly they need to hire a more effective medium to ghostbust that spirit. Perhaps for the same amount as those pricey microphones for the fancy audio system getting scrutiny?

Or maybe they could just let the ghost sweep the floors, and save on personnel costs?

I have read that only 30% of people can become physically addicted (and thus will get headaches when they stop drinking coffee), but now I can't find that online...

When I don't drink coffee, I feel like I get a headache around noon, but that could just be in my head. <--what a clever and ingenious joke

But really, my headaches may have nothing to do with caffeine withdrawal, and just be coincidental.

"Diplomats are about smoothing relations, not about importing a new controversy."

We'll assume you're not a student of history.

Yes, of course diplomats do things that don't smooth relations, of course sometimes they push agendas from their home countries, as I agreed with you in your other post. It is a separate matter, though, to do it for personal reasons. I'm glad the guy got married, I wish happiness to the couple. But that seems like an uncool choice considering his position.

I see nothing morally wrong with smoking pot, but I think it would be out of place for a diplomat to smoke pot in a country where doing so is illegal. Unless the diplomat's home country is trying to push a policy of other-countries-should-stop-arresting-pot-smokers, in which case, it's part of the job, like your South Africa example. If diplomats decide to smoke a joint on their own, then it should probably be smoked without calling the press.

Pushing a personal message as a diplomat is uncool.

I like your profile gif, btw. Totally cute.

It sounds like the goal is, more than matrimony, to piss off the Chinese. Doesn't seem very diplomat-like...

There is no shortage of things that almost certainly piss off the Chinese. Are the British or Americans or whoever going to cower for fear of ticking off the Chinese? Being diplomatic does not equate to hiding in closets of any sort.

During the Apartheid period the US Ambassador to South Africa was an African American who often put himself in the middle of some dicey situations. I doubt P.W. Botha was pleased, but because of his visible intervention, it's possible Apartheid ended a bit sooner than it otherwise would have.

Yes, the U.S. did that because the U.S. was taking a stand against Apartheid. The U.S. government wanted to send a message. Do you think that's what happened in China? The UK wants to take a stand on gay marriage? If that's the case, then what this diplomat did is keeping with what diplomats are hired to do.

It sounds like the goal is, more than matrimony, to piss off the Chinese. Doesn't seem very diplomat-like...

Very bizarre story...

People caught with drugs are drugs addicts???

Wow, what a total shocking surprise, the U.S. tortured detainees.

I'm sure there is alot worse going on than just waterboarding.

Whether you think it's deserved or not, whether you agree that it may be a necessary means to an end or not, I am in shock that politicians in the U.S. express shock at this.

This war and global domination business is a dirty game, and the U.S. is an excellent player at that game.

This is such a disturbing story... of course the hiring company should be held responsible, and the criminal can't possibly be punished harshly enough.

The guy is a Burmese immigrant though... with the need to find a guilty party, what's the chance he's being framed? The underclass and foreigners are always an easy scapegoat in every country in the world, I shouldn't need to remind anyone

Yesterday I extended my 60-day visa at the Jaeng Wathana or whatever the transliteration is.

It was fastest I have ever had anything done there, I was in and out within an hour. They were smiley and nice.

Not to contradict the original post, just sayin'

What type of 60 days visa did you extended at Jaeng Watthana?

Sorry, I should have specified that.

I was extending a 60-day, double-entry tourist visa for 30 days.