seminomadic

Interesting to note that of the 26 motorcycle accidents listed, only one was in Bangkok. Seems the 'herd mentality' is a good thing in regards to riding in the city - don't stray from what everyone else is doing. You could conclude that being out in the provinces what with the lower population density is conducive to foolhardiness.

Tie this in with the stats from a previous thread that there were no(?) serious accidents reported in either Chonburi or Phuket over this past Songkran. Seems maybe there are unwritten rules that expats learn to follow in the major farang centers of Pattaya, Phuket and BKK... perhaps the network of whiteys allows them to clue in one another on how to carry one's self on the road here, or maybe avoid it altogether.

What I like is how at 1:02 the Muslim woman has her head covered and she's wearing a skirt (maybe shorts) clearly above the knee.

Yeah, I see that ALL the time. Great work on the verisimilitude there. I'm sure it's a sensitive depiction of Thai Muslim culture.

That said, ever since Apichatpong movies saw limited distribution at the whim of those useless dopes at the ministry of culture, be assured there is no hope for a respectable film culture in Thailand as long as the ministry of culture is allowed to exist.

I read Thai Stroke Device in the headline & I was pretty sure I'd see something like this...

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/p480x480/302534_279429705405049_470613952_n.jpg

National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut commented today that the recent insurgent attacks and the anti-peace talks banners were the work of other insurgent groups to prove their existence and who might want to join the upcoming peace talks.

"WOW....... you got who to sit down with you because you did what?? Holy camel..... sounds like I should start that Asswad Liberation Front I've always been telling the girls I'm gonna get going and get me a piece of the action! Hey, anybody got any C4?"

This article pretty much explains exactly why I am moving my Thai wife and children out of this country to avoid the abominable education system here. The only difference between Thailand and its neighbors is Thailand ended up on the right side of the fence with the United States during the cold war. Thailand was just as poor as its neighbors not too long ago. Nevermind the fact Thai history is disgraceful in its invasion and occupation of its neighbors until the French threw them out at the end of the 19th Century.

Thailand's switch to the US after collaborating outrageously with the Japanese, could be construed as being a very politcally savvy and smart thing to do. Depends whose interpretation of history you want to read.

All of my freinds complain about the education system in their own country, apart from the Scandanvians. There are good and bad schools/teachers here the same as anywhere. What is very questionable is the history curriculum. Like a lot of Asian countries, they hide reality when required to save face. See how many Japanese know much about WW11 - yet they have some very smart people.

You know, if he were still with us today, I'll be motivational speaker Matt Foley would do a tremendous job of teaching the Japanese and southeast Asians their respective histories.

The rudest and loudest people I ever seen.

yup.....they're not familiar with the concept of queueing among other things. Just wait till you see a mob of them drunk. i

Give'em time, once they get out into a different environment, they'll eventually notice & figure out how things work beyond their borders.

Or maybe it will require several blows to the face to learn 'em..... it'll get better either way.

If Phuket and Chonburi are the MOST ACCIDENT-FREE provinces, then they're doing something really right and it's time for everyone else to take notes.

So THIS is why the EU's going bankrupt

According to the title of this thread: "experts-call-on-bangkok-residents-to-prepare-for-impacts-of-volatile-weather-conditions"

Prepare? How? Build an ark?

In Bangladesh, some villages have a bamboo structure, like a large wide ladder - with its legs set in the mud. That way, at least some of the residents can clamor up the scaffolding to survive the ubiquitous floods. They also have small boats made in to floating schoolrooms. Perhaps that's a peek in to the future for Bkk, when there's 1 to 3 standing meters of dirty water everywhere.

Thais themselves have had an adaptive home design for hundreds of years - wooden chalet-thingies on stilts, with the stilts serving to keep people dry. The real problem came when Thais decided to stop following the old ways and develop a taste for European-style homes.

Doesn't solve the issue of how to adapt inner city structures, but for residences it makes a hell of a lot more sense for people living on a floodplain.

"Bangkokians' Dress Sense Slammed on Social Media"

Slow news day.

In 9 years here I've seen Thais do one thing without fncking it up, and that's the makeover of Sanaam Luang. It is truly the best job they could have done, and I want to buy a case of Beer Lao Dark for whoever managed the project.

Someone else has said it, teacher training is the key because teachers here know jack sh!t. I know so because I teach them.

Foisting a gadget on students gives the appearance of doing something, just as blowing the whistle when someone's toe brushes the yellow line at the BTS gives the appearance of the tinpot security guards doing something. Other than Sanaam Luang, you can count on the decisionmakers of this country to blow it - BADLY - every time. T'sokay though... if they had their act together like Sweden or Denmark, we expats wouldn't be able to find employment so easily.

I have no idea how much of the Thai education system is corrupt, with cheating, plagiarism, copying others' work, and being given an easy ride by the teachers and/or examiners going on. BUT, i have had personal experience of being asked to 'help' with the MA dissertation of one of my Thai lady's old university friends. The dissertation was ridiculous - virtually a mess. Why ? Because although it was meant to be examining English ability, the idiots who'd designed the course had given the student a wildly challenging topic which would have been difficult enough in a person's first language. The topic was along the lines of : 'Compare and contrast the treatment of current affairs stories in the two English-language newspapers, The Bangkok Post and The Nation'. The student had been encouraged to draw upon contemporary theories in language and literary studies, semiotics (the science of sign or symbols), structuralism etc etc...It was such a jumble of ideas - though the English was not bad - that i had huge trouble following the arguments across the whole piece. The setting of this very difficult topic in what was primarily a test of English was practically sadistic ! I was offered money to 'Help', but i refused payment. How much did i help ?...i would rather not be precise...did i want to help ? - no - but i felt cornered and obligated...that's one small incident in Thai education that i know is 100% true cos i was there.

Very likely the person assigning said topic either stood to gain from whatever your lady's friend gleaned for the sake of slapping their own name on it when publishing something (Thai academics regularly exploit students to do the research they should be doing themselves - very feudal) OR stood to gain from showing off how hard they drive their students.... even though, supposing you could sit down with the assigning teacher and say "Ok toots, let's see what you can do. Explain how the Post or Nation treated the story on Chalerm not meeting Dr. Mohamed differently".... . the teacher's answer would very likely be confidently asserted and utterly nonsensical. TIT.

Thailand should aim to be the regional EDUCATION OVERHAUL HUB. Who talks about it more often than Thailand?

Yes, you must be patient. Chalerm has to sober up AND get his slice of the 2 trillion infrastructure budget sorted first.

Deep frying as a cooking method is unhealthy to begin with. The extreme heat creates a volatile situation which can chemically alter the oil and food components resulting in various compounds that are considered toxic by some. However, the resulting food is darn tasty and I myself still eat the stuff on a regular basis, especially when in Thailand.

......I find that many Thai people want to do the right thing (or healthy thing in this case), and will change their habits once they are educated.

DDDDDUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Every single person I tested would come up 45% polar compounds, whether true or not. Go get a real job and stop hogging sidewalk space and making Bangkokian kids even more bloated with your crappy food.

This is the same scumbag who said it's no big deal that cops tried to muscle money out of an indian tailor.

Nobody should be surprised that he'd slap the Malaysian statesman in the face like this. Does he think Dr. Mahathir will be eagerly awaiting his call for re-scheduling? Scumbag.

Its not unheard of anywhere for bored teenagers to vandalise property, race bikes etc... its also not unheard of for bored teenagers to attack someone.

As such it could easily be a simple case of this guy being in the wrong place at the wrong time with a bunch of bored teenagers out on the prowl looking for a bit of trouble.

There were stories of something like this happening years ago where they rode past a westerner and hit him on the back of the head with a plank of wood...

Sometimes there simply is no reason regardless of how healthy the guy looks.

Just because someone doesn't have a beer gut, it doesn't mean he is a scrapper !! - Some of the comments so far defy intelligence !

So the guy gets an @ssbeating, and as if that isn't enough here you go impugning his fighting skills when he was attacked by a gang at night, drunk.

Nice going.

Could we get a little bigger picture of Bonthoon? I'd like to be able to count the blackheads on his nose & see whether or not he has any folliculitis.

I've been drunk to a point where i could not remember what happened after a certain point, walking home ect. Shocking i know! lol, and early 20's was about the age for that sort of thing.

Physical evidence should be able to help shed some light (tissue damage, tearing, ect)

If theres no physical evidence, this is not going to go well for the girl.

Worse for the guys if they are innocent.

But i find it hard to understand why she would make such a claim if she wasn't raped.

And why she went back to his room, if it wasn't for sex.

This entire case is a puzzle.

Many things could explain why (IF she was not raped in fact).... cognitive dissonance, she's a sociopath, they parted on not-so-good terms & she's got a mean streak, she was given or took drugs that gave her the delusion she was forced into sex... among many other possibilities