PeaceBlondie

It took decades, but I've gone from a white-haired toe-head kid to a blond to a dirty blond and now it's a combination of brown, yellow, and grey. But it's very thick and long and I've got the hairiest head of anybody I know that's collecting Social Security, so I'll keep being a light brown. And if it gets too gray, I might get it all dyed consistently light brownish yellow.

If you lost your teeth, would you get falsies, not only to chew with, but to smile with? Hearing aid, prosthetic limb? Do you use deodorant or mouth wash? Sure, it's not the same, but where do you draw the line, and why does it matter if you don't draw the line?

And if the women can wear all kinds of makeup and falsies, what's wrong with a man dyeing his hair or getting a really good hairpiece?

Good for you, ChangNoi1 - but other people in other provinces, including Chiang Mai I think, say that even if they were exempted from a driving test and a written test, they still have to take the reaction test and 1 or 2 depth perception tests (and maybe color blindness, too).

So is it just the roll of the dice? What happens if you get unlucky - would I be blackballed, or just told to come back when my depth perception improves?

What about the $5 American in exchange for 250Bt ??

Last time I checked, the US$ was 39 baht, meaning the Thai immigration dept/officials are pocketing 55 baht on every farang who wants an American fiver. But that goes without saying around Thailand.

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So you're paying 55 baht for a service fee. The convenience of not having to go to the bank would make the loss of 55 baht seem just fine to me. Fair and reasonable, in my book.

If it bugs you, go to the bank and do the exchange yourself

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Hang on a minute?

I don't remember anything about the Thai Immigration being involved in the $5 deal?

This is the Burmese immigration exacting their own tax.

The used to accept 250 baht instead of $5, now they only accept $, and

apparently have someone "recycling" the dollars?

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Astral, your last sentence ends with a question mark, but does it apply to the whole sentence? If Burmese Immigration formerly accepted 250 baht when it was 40 to the dollar, that's over US$6. Now they accept US$5 bills - ONLY - which the Thai immigration officer behind the glass window at the passport booth in Thailand is selling for 250 baht. It still costs us farang 250 baht, and the silly little green paper is hardly even currency at that point; it's a token paper. I have a great token story.....from Mexico. Two, in fact.

I only suspect that the junta's generals are recycling those $5 bills to buy something that the oppressive govt. of Myanmar needs to buy.

PET MAK

Also, lots of Thai food, even when it has no spice, smells nasty and tastes terrible.

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Ped Mak means very hot.............you sure you've got it right

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Well, I was so excited last night that I typed it wrong. But yes, I know to say "Mai Pet" and they act like they don't understand Thai. So tell me please

Mai means no, and pet means spicy, so mai pet should mean no spice. Somebody else has commented that I should say something else, but I doubt their brain can hear the sounds. How about 'Soon pet' which I think should mean zero spices? But it doesn't matter; Thais are so full of Thainess and spiciness that the absence of spice would be anti-Thai or they might think it's sacriligeous not to have spicy food.

My point is, that Thais don't understand this; they can't comprehend this in their own language, even if you get the vowel tones right. They wouldn't know non-spicy if they found it. Even well-meaning friends and coworkers have told me time and again, "Oh, that doesn't have any spices" but it does. They are incapable of knowing the absence of spiciness. I don't know if their taste buds work at that level.

Nothing spoils my meal more than pain. Sometimes it ruins my day. Next time, I may just spit it back onto the plate and start drinking everybody's water, whether or not it's effective in putting out the fire.

The nakedest emperor of all is Allen nud_e Greenspan.

One of my favorite/least favorite topics about Thailand.

I cannot eat spicy anything. We're not talking about preference or mere taste, we're talking about INABILITY. Or pain. It literally hurts my mouth tissues, burns my mouth. You wouldn't cause more pain if you inserted rusty blades in my mouth.

Thais (at least upcountry) are absolutely f---ing incapable of comprehending this. Their Thainess prevents them from understanding that spicy food HURTS. They think something's 'pet mak' when it's only got five furnaces of ###### inside it, rather than 59. They do not understand two of the simplest words in their own language: no, and spice. No spice means no spice, kojai?

I wish more Thais understood like the ones you seem to know - that farang tend to be unable or unwilling to eat VERY spicy. They are absolutlely moronic about believing that food can be served with absolutely no spice at all. I eat lunch regularly with Thai teachers with advanced degrees who don't begin to commence to start to understand two basic words of Thai:

PET MAK

Also, lots of Thai food, even when it has no spice, smells nasty and tastes terrible.

Okay; come ahead and 'give it a go.' By the way, these guys weren't being too rough on you (they're much worse when they're drunk or in a bad mood). We can tell you're sincere and motivated, so get ready and come ahead. Good luck.

The US annual budget deficit is running at over 410 BILLION dollars, and that's really a lot higher if you subtract the pension funds (Social Security) going in and out. The current account (foreign exchange or trade) is much worse. Bush and Congress are spending 1,400 dollars per capita more than they're bringing in with taxes - probably 2,000 if you leave off the pension funds - and there's no end in sight for all this red ink. Then if you consider the unfunded and underfunded pension liabilities, it's much worse.

80 or 90 billion is the estimate for the cost of the Iraq war but that's a wild guess; nobody begins to know; could be 290 or 990 billion (probably around 400 billion before it's over) above the astronomical cost of running the world's police force.

I just withdrew 10,900 baht and it cost $286 plus $3 ATM fee: a yield of 37.7 baht per dollar. A year ago it was more like a net yield of 40.5, so there's roughly 10% loss in a year. Where's the bottom of this curve?

All right you guys, I don't know much about technical analysis. I started exchanging my cash dollars for cash baht a couple of months ago when the exchange rate was 41:1. It's now about 38.6:1, and the 3-month trend looks straight downward (weaker dollar). I don't regret all those conversions I made at 40:1. Don't think I'll do any more, but I'll probably pay US$2000 for airplane tickets in March for my RTWT in April.

Anybody care to guess if the sinking dollar (against the baht) will reverse in February or March?

here's a progress report, if I may report.

STA requires a plugin which my Thai computer doesn't know how to plug in. Besides, does one need to be youth or student? how about old foget/fart teacher retiree?

Travel tech only wants 108,000 baht. Star Alliance wants 166,000 baht. I can do it myself (through Travelocity) for 66,000. Should I go to travel agent in Chiang Mai?

WHERE CAN I FIND?

A decent, knowledgable, half-fluent software repairman for a 9-month old Hewlett Packard that does lots of bad weird things? The two guys 've used aren't good enough, and I refuse to pack this one up and take to the shop for warranty work even if we could find the original invoice. I can't even save the 220-page novel that's on my hard drive, have never backed up either hard drive; it shuts off before it warms up; it's too slow even when it isn't connected to the modem; too many of my programs have the instructions in Thai, I can't get high speed service, etc.

Thanks. As you can see, I don't know how to post in colors in this forum.

Okay, so let's say after 25,000 kilometers of driving in northern Thailand, I finally want to get something besides my Texas driving license (which is still current and covers bike and car). I get an international license through the internet for about twenty bucks, right? Then I go to immigration and verify my address. What documentation do they need, besides that I've posted the same address the last ten times I entered the Kingdom? I could bring the last several monthly rent receipts in Thai and English; that's easy.

Then I go down to the license office and if I'm lucky, they only make me take two kinds of tests:

reaction time - no problem; I'm old but I'm not slow

depth perception and peripheral vision - I'll flunk.

Do they give those visual tests in Chiang Mai?

I'll join you in another boycott: Thai companies whose websites are entirely in Thai, or which don't function. That's precisely why I'm still getting Pacific Net's 349 baht card each month: still haven't found a Thai website that really explains in English what internet service they have in Chiang Mai. I rant for minutes about it, so it's late and I'll spare you.

Maybe in the year 3007....

We've been using Pasta Cafe for several months. I like the beef lasagna, but no dish has disappointed us. But we're not gourmets. Atmosphere in the winter has been great; not sure how hot it's going to be soon. But they have inside. Great private, guarded parking by the lawn.

La Casa, on the klong road, is still good, too. And Pompui, on the soi going from Tha Pae gate to top north GUESTHOUSE, is good, too.

Now if Chiang Mai could learn to do Mexican food, or Tex-Mex. Has anybody tried that Cantina on the way to the Night Bazaar going from the moat? Don't even think about the Art Cafe's Mexican food...

Dear God,

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I don't quote all the original post because it takes up too much space and everyone will have read it before anyway. (Doctor please note).

However, I find it brilliant. If I had the religeous book to actually confirm it's quoted verbatum, I'd send it to all my mate.

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You can send it. I don't have an Old Testament in Thailand, but the post appears accurate, and the point's well taken. Besides, the fundy Christians you send it to are probably too lazy to check out all the references. If they're not too thick, and a teensy part of their mind is open, they'll get the point. But I doubt that it'll change their mind, because the Christian church has gotten that point wrong for so long (roughly 1600 years) that they're likely to not figure it out. I don't just mean the homophobic error; I'm referring to the entire massive error that Christians are supposed to follow the Law of Moses.

Therein lies the problem for homosexuals like us and pacifist Christians such as me: the entire ethical-theological TEACHING of Christianity is so bound up in the Old Testament that the 'Christians' think that following Moses is more important than following the commands of their Lord, Jesus. The New Testament says otherwise, but 99% of the 'Church' is bound up in the Old Testament. I don't see how we'll convince the fundamentalists about homosexuality until we convince them of their error in the origin of their ethics.

Next, scientists may find a cure for heterosexuality.

or was that the joke?

I must have been born gay, because nobody taught it to me. But I played the straight game to age 42. I almost never mast---bated to thoughts of hetero, always had gay fantasies. Maybe that's a tell-tale signal.

Also, my hetero 'leanings' were very week. I never wanted another woman. Now I couldn't perform with a woman if my life depended on it.

There are many distinguished officers who rose from the ranks in many armies.Bill Slim (WW2 hero)was one but there are many others.They rightly have the respect of all.It's only in recent years that army officers have tended to take university degrees anyway.

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Maybe the British and Australian armies have had lower entrance requirements for the 'recent years' but the USAF has required a full bachelor's degree before commissioning any officer, since at least 1965, and all the other branches of the US military took suit by 1970 or 1975. Many have earned a master's before or after commissioning.

I suspect "MA from Cambridge" is a complete phony. That sort of thing's easy on the internet and sometimes even works in Thailand for years without the ditchdigger from Birmingham getting caught. There's no way to prove or disprove a degree without blowing your anonymity completely.

You guys covered it very well. Yes, I've only seen Dr. Pepper in ChiangMai at Rim Ping, and it's outrageously overpriced, even considering their clientele (rich farang). Likewise with Nacho Doritos corn chips, about quadruple the Yankee price.

I drink 9 cans of Pepsi Max per day, or more than two liters per day on weekends. No kidney problems, no water problems, ank I hve know proclems at alllll, expexially wen I typee

peaceblondie,

no more literal jews??

two new halachic rules this week in israel:

women cannot wear red after the age of 15

not allowed to sing in the shower, just hum, and only hebrew (read: religious) tunes

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Yes, there are lots of ultra-conservative Jewish groups that try very hard to follow the Law of Moses. But do they sacrifice bulls and other animals on the altar? Do they stone their disobedient children? No, I think in Israel the only people they can kill with government sanction are non-Jews (but that's a separate argument).

Sticking to this thread, I guess my point was beside the point. No Christian groups I know of (even Messianic Christians and Seventh Day Adventists, unless the British Israelites/Worldwide Church of God) follow the rules about clothing weaved with different fabrics, abstaining from intercourse during your wife's menstrual flow, going to the minister after having an inadvertent wet dream, forbidding men with crushed testicles to enter the church building, having intercourse with their brother's widow to raise up children for your brother, stoning adulteresses, using prostitues so long as she's not Jewish, etc.

From what little contact I had with Judaism in the USA, they didn't seem homophobic. But there are very few Jews in Texas, although there are always a few nearby.

Agreed, Bluffer. But city boys needn't settle just for Bangkok. Not that you'll save any more in CMai; you just might enjoy life more. And there are other cities besides Bangkok and Chiang Mai where you won't be the only farang in a day.

That would be my favorite joke to send to Christian homophobes, except they don't get it. They have this crazy theology (well, they don't even know their preacher/messiah-imitator has the theology) and don't want to think. And we sometimes accuse Thais of not thinking critically.

There aren't that many literal Jews in the world nowadays, even in Jerusalem, where they don't enforce all those laws. And fundamentalist Christians don't obey half the Law of Moses that Hasidic Jews observe, but the fundies insist on hating homosexuality. In contrast, there is no condemnation of consenting adult homosexuality by people with a homosexual orientation in the New Testament - not even a mention of it! Jesus, the Lord of Christianity, said absolutely nothing about same-sex desires or activities, but had plenty to say about opposite-sex desires and activities.

Let me illustrate how 'honest' the beer bars can be. Farang goes in, sits down, and this long tall long-haired ladyboy sits down next to him. Farang does about 60 seconds of small talk, then goes for the question: "Would you like to come home with me now for short time?" Moneyboy says, "Do you want me to &lt;deleted&gt;&gt; you?" That's honest.

PS: they went home, but it didn't work out, or didn't work in.

If you're looking for a long term relationship, gogo bars and male beer bars are all the wrong places.

Those of us who wh-re around (or used to) don't usually discuss the details here. That doesn't mean we think we're better than the guys who do that, just that we don't brag about it in certain circles. But there was this one guy who....and then he....and after that we....and....oh, never mind. It always cost a lot.

If it's like the USA, new underpasses have the least flooding because the drainage ditches are not clogged yet, the pumps still operate well, and the engineers allow for many years of growth.

I still zip around all three construction zones and back home five times per week, and find it slightly faster than with the signal lights. But I drive that 150 like a teenager. The work crews are always working, day and night, but you can't usually notice the progress. Then they'll suddenly rearrange the detours, and you'd best watch for the changes.