timmyp

I made it through the first 3 minutes and then nausea sent me to the toilet.

ED visa seems easier to get with less requirements than a marriage visa. What am i missing?

The ED visa is only good for 3 years... there are ways to get a couple more years out of it, but that's all you get.

Er, I'm not suggesting that the marriage route is a good solution either, it's just longer than 3+ years.

Yet, when Thais dress up as Nazis and Western countries complain, the Thais think that they're being over-sensitive.

Japan also did/does this. It is an imitation (homage?) to the band "X Japan". I saw alot of Nazi uniforms in the mid-90s. You still see them at the cos-play gatherings for X Japan.

"...he had no money to pay the Bt133,400 fine imposed after he was found guilty of selling scrapped compact discs."

Too bad he didn't have enough money to buy a Ferrari. He could have gotten away with murder and not have to pay one baht in fines or spend any time in jail.

I'm sure Ferrari boy paid "fines," massive ones. Or the family did. Probably nothing to them, just a mosquito bite of financial discomfort, but for sure some bank accounts have swelled significantly.

Bad.

I am going through the process of getting my wife a visa. Why? Because I obey the law.

She has to take vaccinations, get a medical, get police clearance/background check, be interviewed, and provide proof of our relationship. I must provide proof of my income/assets.

It will be quite a few thousand dollars to follow the law.

But these folks, many of them felons, can just walk across without any of that.

Japanese food in Japan, and Thai food in Thailand!

In Japan, suicide is often used as a revenge. The person who commits suicide names the person that drove them to suicide, and the named people are punished (often legally)----timmyp

Who do they call as a witness ..........................

The suicide note can be enough as witness, which seems totally ridiculous to me.

Police will also ask coworkers, classmates, and teachers.

There is still something heroic about suicide in Japan, and also that the people killing themselves are seen as victims of true wrongdoers.

In Japan, suicide is often used as a revenge. The person who commits suicide names the person that drove them to suicide, and the named people are punished (often legally).

I have full sympathy for all who suffer loss from a suicide, and of course people should be aware of how their actions may seriously depress others, but there's a tradition in Japan of attempting revenge with, "I'll make you sorry for what you did. I'll make you suffer."

I don't think this concept is unknown elsewhere. It's hard for me to read another story of a Japanese person committing suicide and naming who they are angry at without thinking it's just an unfair attempt at revenge.

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Unfortunately, it's more than just that. I am amazed when I see just how slowly very intelligent Thais read their own language. They need to standardize and probably convert the written language to Latin letters, like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did. I realize that there is a lot of culture in sticking with the Thai characters, but when it is slowing down your entire country, it's time to move on.

My Lord, you guys are joking, right??

You actually think the script makes a difference?

Incidentally, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean don't separate words either (they use commas, but Thai uses the space like a comma). You can look at the example links from wikipedia below.

If you're joking, then they are cute comments. If you're not joking, then I'll guess that you've had trouble reading Thai, and decided to blame the language for being difficult. "I can't read Thai very well, so there must be something inferior about the language."

If there's a problem with literacy, it's not got anything to do with how the language is written.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%8E%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F%E5%84%AA%E8%B6%8A%E6%84%9F

http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%90%EB%AC%B8%ED%99%94%EC%A4%91%EC%8B%AC%EC%A3%BC%EC%9D%98

I'm deadly serious. And yes, I think written Thai is overly compact and overly complicated. I'm not claiming the language is inferior (don't know where you' getting that from), just overly complicated compared to what it could be. I believe you when you say that experienced readers has no problem reading at all, but the problem here is obviously getting from novice to being experienced.

If written Thai was purely left to right, I believe the lack of spaces between words would mean much less. But that's isn't the case, the letters ae, eh, ai, or being the culprits.

Let's try applying a similar rule to english:

The letters/combinations "A", "E", "AI" goes in front of a consonant.

I just hate when it rains, because I get wet

becomes

I just ahte wehn it airns , ebacuse I egt ewt

That's still fairly readable. But when we remove the spaces and the punctuation:

IjustahtewehnitairnsebacuseIegtewt

...the real trouble starts. Where does a word end, where does it start? Of course, a trained eye will be able to see the patterns just as easily as we would in a normal english sentence with no spaces, but the combination of sometimes right-to-left token combinations and no spacing makes it unnecessarily hard to read for a novice.

It's a syntax problem. It can be improved.

Learn to actually speak another language, and you will feel stupid for everything you have said.

Try saying what you are saying in a basic linguistics course (you obviously never took one, and a 6-week TESL/TEFL class doesn't count). You will be scoffed at.

By the way, did you notice what the links were that I posted for Chinese, Korean, and Japanese examples? They are links to the wikipedia entry for "ethnocentrism".

I empathize with your struggle reading Thai. Anyone who tries to learn Thai will suffer through that. But once you get over the basics, lack of space is not a hindrance, AT ALL. To look back at your mother language and think it makes more sense is totally delusional. Nobody who speaks fluently Thai is going to agree with you (other than your students or girlfriend who want to take your side on this debate for the sake of showing a close bond). Nobody who has an actual degree in linguistics (not in English literature or in a specific language, but in linguistics) will agree with you. Really, your comments are those from one who is speaking from a perspective of total ignorance.

Really, learn another language beside English, and you will feel silly for what you said.

I agree with you 100% have been try to lean to read thai wright it to but very very hard and I give up but I still go back and try again I will get it one day have seen here with my thai stepdaughter she took 7 go's and try to pass the weighting test for her motor bike

How about introducing spaces and punctuation in the written language as a start. No wonder Thais don't enjoy reading whenit'sallwrittenlikethisIwouldgetaheadacheforsure.

Right on ! the only language in the world, I believe, that has no spaces between the words. Theon lythin gtow orr yabo utis willt heyge tth espa ce sint heri ghtp laces

Are you joking to point out how ridiculous the original comments is?

Japanese, Chinese, Korean don't use spaces. Burmese, Cambodia, and Lao don't either... I'm bewildered that people would believe that languages are supposed to be like European languages.

>majority of them are imprisoned for drug peddlers.

I see. So the drug peddlers didn't want to go to prison, so a financially desperate person was hired to take the drug peddler's place.

You can eat most frogs in Thailand. I see different kinds at the market (I haven't come across any toads, just frogs). You don't just eat the legs, you eat the whole thing. Besides a being a common ingredient in different foods, frogs on a stick are common site at the market. In my experience, the ones a stick are often cold cuz they were cooked hours ago and left to sit. Not to repeat a cliche, they taste like cold fried chicken after the fat has congealed.

As for what the frogs in your neighborhood have been through, who knows. Certainly there is risk of chemicals in the water they inhabited, as so many TV folks have already commented about.

That really sucks. Thank you for posting your experience here. I hope you don't get stung with that again.

I'm on the edge of my seat. I might have to make a another tap water video, sitting on the winner.

And freshwater catfish that live in polluted waterways are not healthy to eat.

Of course. Nothing should be eaten from a polluted river. Freshwater catfish from a pristine stream still have a "dirt" taste though. They are clean and safe, it's just the way they taste.

I have some videos of some black gunk floating to the surface of a khlong near my house. I'm going to post those later and ask if anyone knows what it is... looks like oil.

I saw a guy fishing there once, and I just assumed he was doing it for the sport of it. My Thai friend said, "No, I'm sure he eats what he catches." I didn't believe it, and bet my Thai friend 1000 baht. I mean, the guy looked like a normal guy, he didn't look like a homeless person. When we asked, sure enough, he eats the fish. "Of course I eat it," he snapped, irritated by such a stupid question. I lost 1000 baht.

I imagine those fish had much more than a dirt taste...

Question would you drink from a stream that you pissed? If answer is "NO" then why drink tap water that some Thai may have pissed in? So when your pecker plops into the bowl please no update just to weird.

It's a matter of what's filtered. Unless you're drinking from a mountain spring, the water you are drinking surely had filth and undesirable bacteria that needed to be taken out. If the water is filtered properly, then it's fine to drink.

As long as they don't put fluoride in the water here in Thailand I will be happy. I have a 6 stage water filter at my house in Krabi, the last stage being a UV light that kills anything the first 5 didn't remove.

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.