wasabi

Thanks for the detailed reply Rikker,

Where are you coming up with Tax having 2100 and Haas having 4000. I see each list having 1000 words? And can you further define what you mean by corpus. Is this some underlying body of work the statistics are based on? What is this body of work for each.

How should I be reading this list? What do the column headers Haas, Links, Orchid and Tax represent?

What do the numbers mean and why does each list have different numbers?

For example the first row, why do three lists have การ but one has เป็น?

Haas Links Orchid Tax

366 เป็น 15978 การ 11888 การ 9861 การ

I've put it in a slightly cleaner Excel Format attached here.

frequency.xls

I'm very interested in your money management and risk control techniques in particular.

If you live in Thailand, what does it matter? If the US dollar is 38/39 and then strengthens to 44/45 what is the big deal? Unless you are very heavy in Thai Baht and you should not be because over the long term you lose with holding cash as an asset.

The average Joe on holiday won't notice Thailand suddenly much cheaper if he gets a few thousand extra baht in his pocket.

For those on pensions from abroad, praying for a 45 to the dollar, it is foolish. fuel and utilities will rise in price.

The best way to stay rich in this world is to invest wisely (not in currency) and spend carefully.

Anyway, I reckon the baht might well hit 35 by year end; but that is because I expect more US dollar weakness, the U.S.A. might well suffer a meltdown financially; a big crash. So think Swiss Francs and Gold.

You're a wise man and the only one from this blog to hit the mark. I am a former diplomatic mission employee and, until recently, a resident of the Kingdom for 9 years. My wife (Thai) and I have been looking for land near her home in Chiang Mai and I am losing buying power on a daily basis due to Baht strength.

In 97 the expectation was that the Baht will eventually stabilize at 36 to the US dollar. I cannot see the Baht keeping this pace of strengthening for much longer without Thai Gov intervention.

What are your thoughts on future trend over FY07?

While I agree one should invest their disposable income the problem is many have that invested in US denominated assets or have future earnings/income which are in USD and they are powerless to change that short of moving overseas. The 20% drop Year to date in USD:BHT means you now must spend 20% more than you did last year, while it's not enough to stop me from going to Thailand I do consider it a big deal. When you are thinking about buying Thai real estate or some kind of budget planning those differences quickly add up.

As far as the USD rising to old highs, why should it? The fundamentals have worsened. Larger trade deficit, housing slump and a general change in sentiment towards the USA. I don't see it sliding much lower nor do I pretend to see years into the future but I don't see it going right back to old highs anytime soon. There are sideways trends where movements aren't meaningful and strong trends which are. Right now the USD is in a strong downtrend and no matter what article you read in The Economist or WSJ speculating as to why is like reading tea leaves, you can see what you want to see. The trend and economic forces creating it have spoken, and it says the USD is overvalued. Down trends like this don't just turn on a dime. I don't know the exact problem but I know we have some big problems but it hasn't gotten bad enough yet for most to take notice and take action. By the time it is the worst will be over. I'm fairly unhappy about this but don't see what option I have to fix it.

I think the BOT is just talking tough, they aren't really a player in manipulating world currency markets. I think the many restrictions since the Financial crisis do help prevent another disaster, but if that fails there's not much they can do.

By the way the Thai fund TTF is breaking out to the upside. It seems to me this may be the start of a very positive year for Thailand. I have feeling the USD may see sub 30! Though I pray not.

I think the BOT is just talking tough, they aren't really a player in manipulating world currency markets. I think the many restrictions since the Financial crisis do help prevent another disaster, but if that fails there's not much they can do.

Does Sterling = Pound? Are they the same thing? Is there more than one type of pound? is this the symbol for it £?

I am not currency expert but am an unfortunate holder of the USD so I've taken an interest in what's going on and tried to make sense of it. I think the leading reason for the decline is the deficit which is tied to us importing way more than we export and spending more than we make, all the way up to the President, funding expensive wars. I'm not going to turn this into a political diatribe so I'll leave it at that. Other factors like possible recession stemming from an emerging housing slump and loss of competitiveness in just about every US industry. US citizens seem to love Walmart yet they are only a conduit to further monetary decline as they are the country's largest importer of foreign goods.

Just on an instinctual level I've felt for a few years now that the USA has lost it's edge, too much focus on morality and religious issues instead of how to run a financially solvent country. I think we have acted arrogantly and thought, we are #1 what are you going to do about. It seems like the attitude was China will always buy US treasuries, the USD will always be the world currency and we can spend as much as we want without need for restraint of any sort.

I'm personally rather pissed off. Holding the USD is like having a losing stock that you can't sell. I've actually thought of packing up and finding work overseas but I think I somewhat missed the boat on that one so may ride the USD to the bottom whenever that may come. I really don't see any quick fix nor any reason why the USD should have a significant rally other than a dead cat bounce. Basically it sucks.

Check it out:

http://www.forexdirectory.net/chartsfx.html

Thai baht is following slowly under 36.5 now

T.

This was posted by a BM named Ki on the website clearstation. I thought it was well stated.

There has been a trend worldwide, however, for central banks to reduce their dollar holdings — from 70 percent in 2001 to 60 percent in early 2006. Foreign experts estimate Beijing still holds more than 70 percent of its reserves in dollars.

http://www.east-asia-intel.com/eai/

A not so subtle propaganda war has broken out between Washington and Beijing over fractious trade and financial friction in the enormous commerce between the two countries. It will climax with the visit of a high-powered U.S. group of officials to Beijing in mid-December.

At Washington 's end, as part of the initial post-midterm election honeymoon, the Bush administration is proffering Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as its apolitical compromiser with the new Democratic-controlled Congress. As an important part of Paulson’s campaign to pull some economic solutions out of the hat for a lame duck administration, he will head the expedition to China .

Paulson, despite his intimacy with Chinese leaders from his Goldman-Sachs background, got nowhere in a similar trip earlier this year. But hovering in the background this time will be the stronger possibility that a Democratic-controlled Congress might implement earlier threats to impose surcharges on surging Chinese imports. The trade deficit hit a record $23 billion in September with only $5 billion in U.S. exports to China .

The Americans want action on a wide range of issues: reevaluating the Chinese currency to slow the rising flood of imports, adherence to World Trade Organization strictures supposedly opening China markets, and bringing outrageous intellectual property violations (piracy) under control.

None of these are new issues nor are the Chinese looking much like taking radical steps to improve the situation from the American viewpoint.

Beijing is answering Washington’s rhetorical volley with hints it is going to diversify its foreign exchange hoard away from dollars to other currencies and gold. Chinese Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan told the media in early November Beijing has a clear plan to move its $1-trillion foreign exchange reserves away from dollars.

When a Chinese newspaper reported the possibility Beijing might cash in some of its $339 billion in U.S. Treasury securities, the dollar hit a two-month low against the euro at $1.2848 while U.S. government bond prices fell. Gold and silver zoomed to new highs. Platinum prices jumped more than 3 percent on speculation that China might buy into precious metals.

A shift away from the dollar by China could put upward pressure on interest rates in the United States , which has relied heavily on Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean purchases of its debt to finance its huge current trade and account deficits. Some analysts worry such a move could destabilize financial markets worldwide and upset robust global economic growth. If China were to move heavily to euros, for example, Europeans — experiencing their own rapidly increasing trade deficit with China — would suddenly face higher export prices, already a handicap in world markets as the dollar declines favoring American exports and Chinese competition for manufactures grows.

But so far the Chinese have not moved substantially, apparently at least in part as concerned as the Americans about the value of their dollar hoard and income from American securities. There has been a trend worldwide, however, for central banks to reduce their dollar holdings — from 70 percent in 2001 to 60 percent in early 2006. Foreign experts estimate Beijing still holds more than 70 percent of its reserves in dollars.

Well, I thought I had to do something before I die, before the exchange ratio goes back above 40. So last night, I transferred half of my tax-exempt (401(k)) funds from a US market index to a European market index (all in socially responsible equities). However, in the end, this European index is dollar denominated. I figure that if the stocks appreciate in Euros, they'll appreciate even faster in dollars.......yes/no, chaimai? And if the dollar does restrengthen, I've got more pension income. Is that like hedging, or did I just ride off the road into a hedge?

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/45841

What I wonder is how people can pick up anything close to fluency in less than a year? It has to be impossible. There are so many words and grammatical constructs, then of course the tones and general pronunciation. Even if one is in class studying 8 hours everyday it seems impossible to be proficient so fast! As for me I study about 2 hours everyday and typically have to study the same set of vocabulary two or three times before I remember it. I learn grammar at the temple I study at, but that's only a few hours every Sunday so that's been slow going. I do of course try to teach myself but it's the one thing I find that having a Thai person is essential for.

Another thing, I am almost the best at my school. The only guy better than me is a man who had a job in Thailand for about 5 or 6 years but that was ten years ago so he's just trying to refresh his memory. This is not meant as a boast because I'm not that good at all! It only shows that no one else puts in the required time to learn. They come to class, do the homework but probably do little more than that, and they ask me how I've progressed while they're still in the beginner class and we began at the same time, as if it's a magic trick and Thai knowledge is just going to pop in your head one day when you wake up. I have studied 2 years and studied conscientiously where they've studied maybe a few months out of all that time. In this case it has nothing to do with innate ability only motivation. In fact many others who've studied the same amount of time who have the same time constraints and live outside of Thailand would probably be farther along. I say outside of Thailand because obviously immersion is a huge advantage but what I say and my bewilderment applies to them too. I'm just trying to say where else are you going to learn a new language but from practice?

This got kind of long but what I'm thinking is. There are only so many hours in the day, and only so much your mind can retain without repeating it a few times which whittles away the finite hours of the day. Thus it seems like some people go into a quantum leap where they can acquire knowledge at a faster rate than physical time provides and and which even the most gifted student could retain? I sometimes think tales of people picking up the language in a year or less are apocryphal.

can anyone explain what "sak tii" means?

สักที

thx

I think it means just once.

My last bit of advice is to take Ginkgo Biloba and Gotu Kola, these help concentration and memory.

I must confess... I have no idea what you are talking about!

Ginkgo..... and Goto....

In The Rai!

Gingko

Gotu Kola

I personally take this supplement everyday.

Neurozyme

I dislike the way Thai is taught at the Thai school I attend for beginner classes. I ended up self studying and getting myself to the intermediate level because of this. The reason I don't like it, is they brush off things like tones and basic grammar because they think it's too tough and you'll lose motivation. I think it's reasonable to have a small arsenal of canned phrases but spending an entire year just doing this is building a poor foundation in my opinion. I think there is truth to not discouraging beginners by throwing everything in the mix but if you aren't prepared for a challenge and aren't motivated than you have no business studying the language with an ambition to be fluent. If you just want to be a weekend pom sabai dee person that's another story.

For me the worst feeling is having all the words and grammar right but having a Thai person give me a blank stare after I speak. I think pronunciation is the most important thing and cannot be ignored, however there is more to language than pronunciation. If you just sit around all day mastering the pronunciation of ten words you aren't going to get very far. So it's like two steps forward one step backwards. Learn new words and grammatical concepts than practice speaking these until the sound is right. I wouldn't say your pronunciation has to be perfect but it shouldn't be ignored.

I am getting better at pronunciation though whenever I speak Thai in a restaurant the wait staff responds in English because they aren't confident they understood me. One other thing I am visually disabled, I don't have left peripheral vision, due to this not having spaces between the Thai words can be a nightmare but I am very ambitious and motivated and I don't mind having to study 2 hours for every 1 hour a normal person has to study. There are some who genuinely cannot learn a 2nd language but I think most people just psych themselves out.

My last bit of advice is to take Ginkgo Biloba and Gotu Kola, these help concentration and memory.

Have to laugh at your comment re. the Bank of Thailand "discouraging" forex speculation. The Bank of England tried that to keep the pound within ERM parity in September 1992 (known as Black Wednesday). In the process it spent $56BILLION, $28BILLION on 1 day alone!!!

It failed, Soros and his pals won, Bank of England still has not recovered reserves lost and the UK has not tried to peg the GBP ever since..

The idea that Thailand, with its minimal reserves, could affect that market in any serious way is pipe-dreaming..

Of course, this is Thailand and politicians here think they are very, very, very important, so they might give it a go!!

Why laugh it's true? This type of policy was implemented in response to Soros and the crisis of '97 From Bloomberg

Global News Update

Reminder on Measures to Prevent THB Speculation

THAILAND

10/31/2006

Impact: Clients are encouraged to familiarize themselves accordingly.

Clients are reminded of one of the principal measures introduced by The Bank of Thailand (BOT) in October 2003 to curb short-term capital inflows:

Outstanding cash balances may not exceed 300 million THB per non-resident account without approval from the BOT obtained on a case-by-case basis.

If non-residents exceed the specified limit after 3:30 p.m., local banks are required to contact account holders to request instructions to reduce the outstanding amount. If the limit is still breached at 4:00 p.m., local banks will advise non-residents to sell THB with same-day value. If non-resident clients do not comply, the BOT may consider requiring the local bank to enter into foreign exchange transactions with the BOT at penalty rates, which are not currently disclosed.

It is essential that non-residents supply in a timely manner all relevant payment instructions and pre-advices to facilitate proper cash management.

If derived without underlying transactions, balances in excess of the limit will be repatriated with same-day value at a penalty exchange rate set by the BOT.

If you have questions, please call your daily contact or your Investment Manager Relations Officer.

Where is George Soros when you need him?

Why are there so many posts like this where the wife has proven herself to be a heartless bitch, yet the guy thinks he can get back that lovin feeling through some impossible twist of fate? In these types of posts, it's nearly unanimous that the wife is no good and he should get out. The poster thanks everyone but has long since made his mind up. I'm not insulting you FFF, on the contrary I respect your level headedness and ability to stay sane. However you also need to get out of your romantic fantasy. She is being totally selfish, obsessed with this Swiss guy after a few days boning, there's no excuse for it. It's the opposite of love. A relationship is about two people loving each other, not one person loving twice as much to compensate for the others ineptness.

You are in a complex legal situation, just because you are poor doesn't mean the law won't apply go to a lawyer. One last thing if you had to sign some kind of affidavit of support like we do here in the USA it's actually in your best interest if she becomes a citizen, this is one of the few things that indemnifies you from such documents. Only a lawyer can answer these things though.

OK..Sorry I have read enough of this.

You are a Fukcking IDIOT if you think coming to Thailand is a good idea.

You ask for advice and I do not think that one person has said "Yeah Come on over"

So if you are serious about this then PAY ATTENTION to what has been posted here.

It seems to me that you have already made up your mind that you are coming anyway, so thats your call..and we can all stop wasting our time telling you not to come.

YOUR LIFE, YOUR FUTURE YOUR SON...YOUR CALL.

Sorry to be so harsh but reality bites

Amen to that.

You asked for advice but keep come back with these Cheery yea yea guys ok the vacation in LOS will sort it out. This is a dangerous and stupid thing to do. You could end up without your son, beat up or yes even killed. I doubt you speak Thai and when she's rattling off to a group of relatives and friends about what a bastard you are you won't even know what's happening. Given that you don't know the lay of the land, who these people are or what they'll be saying about you how will you be able to prepare yourself for anything? Admit defeat, and that you will be out of your element in Thailand. If you go to Thailand you seem to be asking for trouble. If things have been bad here why would they magically get better in Phuket? Yes a positive outcome is in the realm of possibility but do you really want to gamble on such unlikely odds with your life and your son's welfare? You are coming across as a crestfallen sucker. You need to be a man and take charge of this situation and that involves getting her to go back to LOS without you.

I was reluctant to post that definition because I had a sense it could offend some. It may sometimes have a more tame definition but the Thai people I have talked to said any tame overtones from the word are merely euphemisms for the real albeit more vulgar definition. This is only what I've heard from a small section of people so naturally it could be wrong.

If the OP was referring to "Gik or Gig" I'm not sure how to write it in Thai, this doesn't mean what has been posted here. This term refers to what in English we call a <deleted> buddy. Or someone you're primarily interested in for sexual reasons.

What do I do with this code, should I make a new src file using notepad? Should it be a file with a .cqr extension? Where do I put it to be able to search thai-language.com from the search box in the upper right corner?

I tried many gels, lotion and hot water, but have found only shaving in the shower, after I've been there a few minutes stops my neck from being a chaffed rash disaster zone. However even shaving with and against the grain there are a few stragler stubble hairs that just refuse to be clipped. I use throw-a-way three blade razors maybe I should try the mach.

There is a modern Thai font used in ads and magazines. It minimizes many of the distinguishing features of Thai letters. To a Thai person they hardly notice a difference but for us we have to train ourselves to recognize this type of script. I'm still struggling with it myself but I have made progress.

I hadn't seen that before but do respect his wishes. Many applications these days have gone webbased using an active server approach. However I've found non of these are ever as fast as a desktop application. With a desktop application the loading can be almost instant if you have a fast computer. However even with the fastest internet connection there is always some wait. Anyhow the site is back up so having it on CD is the least of my worries.

I've used Courage Thai and like it. It's hard to navigate it at first, but once you learn the keyboard short cuts it gets better. It's very comprehensive broken into two segments Course 1, 30 courses. Course II 69 courses. I've found I like to use a variety of software applications and websites to learn. Courage Thai is definitely one I'd keep at the top of the list.