.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
timmyp
-
Posts
790 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Downloads
Posts posted by timmyp
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
The OP is certainly someone who loves quality coffee. I don't imagine they have any need for opinions from those of us with our 1000 baht coffeemakers.IMHO.... They all suck...I have used a French press for 30 years...wonder coffee,
And I drink 6 cups a day....oh, Bon Cafe All Day roast is great....grind your own
Beans for fresh taste.Bon Cafe is the by far the nastiest coffee I have ever had. I thought that maybe I just got a bad batch the first time I bought a bag. A second try several months later let me know that it's just the way the coffee tastes. I ordered a coffee in Ko Samet, and knew right away that the sludge they gave me was Bon Cafe. It's nastier than cheap instant.A French Press really makes coffee taste so much better, it's almost magical. But I'm afraid making Bon Cafe even tolerable is like trying to turn poop into candy.-
4
-
I heard an interesting story last month about rats being used in Cambodia to sniff out landmines.
-
You wanna learn thai or just a loophole to stay here as many do of the latter, and applause for immo for trying to stop the blatant abuse of the system.
If immigration were cracking down on people for not studying, then great, I fully agree with you: Applause to them for kicking out those who don't study.
But that's not what's going on. They are busting certain schools, and I am quite sure this is because those schools aren't paying the tea money. It clearly has nothing to do with how much people are studying.
-
2
-
-
I had a cat several years back in Chicago that was kept alive by the same methods. It seemed to lower her quality of life too much, so we soon made the decision to put her under. You are doing the right thing.
I think you are going to get the vet contacts you need. I have known pet owners in Bangkok in similar situations who were able to find vets that would euthanize the animals when the time came.
-
Immigration is granting 1 month extensions only for certain schools. Two different officers at Jaeng Watthana said exactly that to me. I was surprised they were so open about it. Both officers said that they had been instructed to do so by their supervisor. It changes from month to month. This is an issue between the school and immigration (of course it's not supposed to be, but that's what it is).
If your school works its problem out with immigration, then extensions will be for longer.
Oh really?
I thought it was all the students' faults because they were all scamers not going to school and abusing the system. What a revelation !
it is very strange, because I was always told that immigration officers were only cracking down on fake students. And if I was saying anything different, it was because I was a scamer myself.
How could Thai immigration make the students pay for what's really a problem between schools and immigration services?
This is truly wrong and unfair and should be reported to higher authorities, which I am sure, it will be, and promptly dealt with.
It is not the fault of the students. The immigration officer will try to test the students, and if the student performs badly (as is generally the case), the officer will accuse the student of not studying, saying that only a 1 month extension can be granted for someone doing so poorly (I have heard this from several people). I, however, study. I took the Grade 6 Exam twice, scoring a 4 the first time, and a 5 the second time. And, incidentally, Kitsune/Fox, I am on a visa to study Japanese right now because I completed the 3 years allowed to study Thai. I am completely fluent in Japanese because I lived in Japan for 15 years and work as a translator/interpreter.At immigration, I fill out all of the forms in Thai, and I speak in Thai with the immigration officer the entire time. When I ask them why I only get a one month extension, they tell me that it is because of a problem with my school, and that they are doing the same to the students at my school and at one other school. I plead, saying that clearly I study, and that someone who studies shouldn't be penalized. Then they see that I am actually on a visa to study Japanese. So they try to test me in Japanese. Of course I pass, whatever they give me to do. They bring in the supervisor, who allowed an exception in my case a few months back: He gave me a visa for 45 days instead of 30 days (it should have been 90 days). This last time I just got 30 days. The 2000 baht extension charge for the extension each time isn't a big deal, but waiting at least 4 hours each time is a big deal to me.So it has nothing to do with the language competency of the students, it has everything to do with what their immigration supervisor has dictated about visa extensions to certain schools. -
They should make visitors pay a bribe to get in
-
Immigration is granting 1 month extensions only for certain schools. Two different officers at Jaeng Watthana said exactly that to me. I was surprised they were so open about it. Both officers said that they had been instructed to do so by their supervisor. It changes from month to month. This is an issue between the school and immigration (of course it's not supposed to be, but that's what it is).
If your school works its problem out with immigration, then extensions will be for longer.
-
I just went to Arm Hi-Fi today to get my Onkyo surround-sound amp repaired. It is located on the ground floor of the Grand Palace condominium at the end of Soi Yuu Jareon 7, which connects to Racthada soi 3.Here are the coordinates:13.764711, 100.563452Everything they have in the shop is seriously high-end gear for serious audiophiles. I felt ashamed to be bringing in my Onkyo amp. Although it's a nice amp, it really doesn't compare to exclusive gear that Arm Hi-Fi stocks.The guy at the shop was very nice. I think that he probably doesn't speak English, but he may (we spoke in Thai). He said that he would have a look at my amp and get back to me by tomorrow.
-
Does anyone have more detail on the location of Arm Hi-Fi?
I have the Facebook page, but it doesn't have the exact address or coordinates.
https://www.facebook.com/ArmHiFi?fref=ts
I know it's on Rachada 3, but I'm hoping to get more specific info.
-
I wish they would have made the screenshot of the post a little more visible.I looked up this story in the Thai news. The actual prophetic post is pretty garbled at the end and doesn't really make sense. I'm guessing that's why they didn't bother to translate the message. It more-or-less says, is a very awkward way,Urgent, very urgent! Be very careful this 14-18th. I tell you just this. I repeat: Be aware of what’s around you.The last part is really nonsensical, but has words you tell meet together.I don’t believe in fortune telling, or that this guy had any special info as a Red Shirt, but the first part is certainly ominous in light of what took place, if you believe in that sort of silliness. I suppose there is probably someone somewhere at any point in time saying that something horrible is about to happen. Once something horrible actually occurs, we can point to that lucky prophet and say, "His vague prophecy was right! He must have special powers!"Great opportunity arrest someone in the opposition and intimidate them, though.
-
I'm a Brit and my fellow Englishmen (typically from North England) seem incapable of saying 'baht' which should be like 'bart' instead they insist of saying 'bat'
By the way, using an "r" to indicate a long vowel bugs the bejesus out of me.I works great for you, seancbk, or anyone else from England or Australia, because y'all don't pronounce that "r". But I pronounce syllable-final "r", along with anyone from Ireland, Scotland, Canada, the U.S., etc.Lots of Thai folks like to use "r" in transliteration to indicate a long vowel sound, so you end up with American saying "Thong LoR" for the train station, pronouncing a big fat R at the end instead of making it sound just like the English word "law" (as in 'attorney at law').Writing the "r" for the long vowel only works if you speak an English dialect that doesn't pronounce syllable-final r. -
If you can't mimic the sounds exactly then you haven't really got much hope of being understood in Thai.
I fully believe that everyone is fully capable of correct pronunciation. I think everyone has full hope of being understood and pronouncing things correctly. Most people need to be taught explicitly how to make the sounds. It doesn't take that much effort, but it takes guidance and some effort.
-
Go to a PROPER school with a proper qualified teacher every day for at least 1 hour, M-F. Spend 30-60 minutes on the homework everyday. You don't have to kill yourself studying, but you do have to put in some effort with attending class and reviewing.Unless you really know how to learn a language, private tutors and the girlfriend/boyfriend routes are not going to work.It's not going to magically sink into your brain, you have to make an effort to get it in there. People who did not succeed in learning to speak/read/write Thai didn't go to a proper school with a qualified teacher, and didn't spend any real time studying. It's alot easier to say, "Oh, I tried, but I'm just no good at languages" than it is to do the work. Some folks just choose the easier route. It's really not that hard to learn quite a bit and impress yourself, but that little bit of effort is too much for some people.
You are pretty harsh with in your criticism. It must be tough to be so perfect and have to live with the rest of us.
I'm sorry to have called you out on your lack of desire to put minimal effort into learning Thai, while you were claiming that the problem is your inability to make the required sounds.
I fully empathize with your challenges learning to make the sounds. But you can learn if you go to a real Thai language school with a qualified teacher and put in a bit of effort. Otherwise, it's a case of "I don't really feel like trying. I already tried and studied for 10 minutes, this isn't my thing."
If you really hear that as being overly critical, then I'm sorry to have made you feel guilty for your lack of effort.
-
Go to a PROPER school with a proper qualified teacher every day for at least 1 hour, M-F. Spend 30-60 minutes on the homework everyday. You don't have to kill yourself studying, but you do have to put in some effort with attending class and reviewing.Unless you really know how to learn a language, private tutors and the girlfriend/boyfriend routes are not going to work.It's not going to magically sink into your brain, you have to make an effort to get it in there. People who did not succeed in learning to speak/read/write Thai didn't go to a proper school with a qualified teacher, and didn't spend any real time studying. It's alot easier to say, "Oh, I tried, but I'm just no good at languages" than it is to do the work. Some folks just choose the easier route. It's really not that hard to learn quite a bit and impress yourself, but that little bit of effort is too much for some people.
-
It seems incredibly silly to me to have used an actual script and just turned it upside down. Why not invent an imaginary script along with the invented imaginary country? There are loads of invented scripts out there that they could have used for the movie. Tolkien came up with a script for his Lord of the Rings books, the Star Trek folks came up with Klingon. They could have used the Shavian script. It really wouldn't have been hard to avoid the problem with getting banned and appearing culturally insensitive, instead of saying, "Aw, it's just Khmer, people don't know any better, and who cares what the silly people who actually read this script think."Incidentally, the green text in the Matrix is mostly backwards Katakana, but that wasn't pretending to represent a regional government (even in imaginary).
-
Tap water is not fine. About 600 near our house will contest to that:
I get brown water all the time coming out of our faucets. One reason I put in a whole house filter. It only deals with sediments, but nobody drinks it. Not even the locals who come to our house. They all drink bottled water. 100% all of them.
And after what happened in HK, I just won't trust the water here:
That is an eye-opening link about Suttahip after me just claiming that it's fine!
That is an exception, I think, but I don't doubt that there may be many exceptions.
I continue to drink the water in Bangkok, and I am fine.
To agree with you, though, 100% of the people I know drink bottled or filtered water only. I have never seen a Thai person drink from the tap. Back to Sattahip, it makes me wonder if the folks who got sick thought they were drinking filtered or bottled water, but it was really tap water, or if it was through food preparation, cuz like you said, Thais don't drink the tap water.
-
I think you've gotten the answers you need, but I can't resist the temptation to toss in my opinion. I live up-country, in Nakhon Sawan, but I lived in Bangkok for more than twenty years. The tap water is as safe to drink as the tap water in your home country. Same with the ice. Forty years ago Bangkok was safe, but the rest of the country was risky. Bottled water is often less safe than the tap water. I never drink it except when my niece is around to notice. Used to have to worry about my wife, but she passed away. I've lived in places in Thailand where the water was definitely not safe, but I've been here a long time and I think my immune system has become stronger for it. Your mileage may vary.
You are totally right, Aajaan Acharn, and I'm glad you posted this.
Are you sure Bangkok water was safe 40 years ago? I tried drinking it back in 1990 and 1991, and I got sick, although I can't for sure if that was from the water.
There is a list here of when cities because safe to drink, but Bangkok isn't on there (that is, it's not listed because BKK was already safe prior to the new water-cleaning project being implemented, so no need to list it)
-
Tap water is fine, but you will never get tap water in a restaurant, so you don't have to worry about it. They will only serve you bottled water in restaurants anyway. Even if you eat on the street an ask for water, the water that they bring you is not tap water, it is filtered water (probably from a large plastic tank/bottle that they purchased).
This gets asked all the time. Search on this website for "tap water" and "drinking tap water" in quotes.
-
I find this news story one of the most frightening things I've read in a long time...
-
Those with tattoos,piercings,are more likely to be free thinkers,
than the majority of zombie students,whom believe everything
they are fed,maybe thats what worries the establishment.
regards worgeordies
Several years ago having tattoos or piercings was more representative of a non-establishment think. Nowadays, though, tattoos and piercing are just fashions for the zombies.
-
"Why do you ask Son? Just these 27 cakes of soap that these bhenchods I met online asked me to bring back for some rellys."
"bhen chod"! I haven't heard that in over 25 years! How do you know that word???It's actually more like "bahen chod" (forgive the poor transliteration, I just want to point out that there's a vowel in there, and not the "bh" consonant) -
What customs agent would search a 91-year-old man? Unless a drug dog sniffed it out first, it sounds like he was set up.
Professional?
What customs agent would search a 91-year-old man? Unless a drug dog sniffed it out first, it sounds like he was set up.
Oh I don't know. I was leaving Australia with my two young children when two customs thugs got me up against the wall for a random frisk and feel, copped all except the glove. My kids looked on in shock and were able to grasp what it is like in a fascist country (they'd spent most of their lives in Thailand). I was leaving, not arriving, so going after some old guy doesn't surprise me at all.
They have to pick and choose, y'know. They can't search everybody. So they generally have reasons for picking someone, thus the cries against racial profiling. It's not only unprofessional to search all the old folks, it would be inefficient, samthefish.
I think Chicog got it right above by saying that they scanned his luggage, but I wasn't aware that they scanned luggage going into Australia, only when boarding the plane.
-
A "C" is average, right? Not stellar, but not so bad? Unless we consider how awful the average is...
-
What customs agent would search a 91-year-old man? Unless a drug dog sniffed it out first, it sounds like he was set up.
Have you let yourself go?
in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Posted · Edited by timmyp
I have always watched my diet and exercised, but I got much more careful once I hit 40. I quit drinking when I moved to Thailand (backwards compared to many), and I eat at home for almost every meal. Healthy food tastes great, so I don't find this a culinary sacrifice. I exercise regularly, etc.
Seeing farang here who can't write their own address in Thai tickled with the social rank their money and white skin gets them here in Thailand is all the more pig-like when they are fat.