LawrenceN

Too many to count. 

I was astonished a few years ago when a British friend proudly told me he knows 1,000 words. I figured he took some sort of a test that produced an accurate estimate. But, no, he told me he went through his dictionary and actually counted the words he knows. Who has time for that? 

Just like "the Venice of the West," aka Venice. 

32 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The British and Australian embassies have outreach programs. Perhaps other too. They have consular officers who set up meetings regularly in big cities, where the expat community is able to ask and get answers to issues that pertain to them. This is past of the duty of consular officers. Whether you choose to participate is on you. But, as least the service is offered, and the option of there. 

 

America is either too arrogant, too indifferent, or simply too incompetent to accomplish such a task. An empire in decline. 

Prejudiced nonsense. Just this week the Consulate sent an email offering help with voter registration and actual voting, including collecting ballots and mailing them Stateside. We have been getting frequent information about Covid-19, and updates on the political situation in Thailand.

When the Consulate quit providing those bogus income letters to Thai Immigration, they held info sessions to give all interested citizens the reasons for ending that practice. 

Then there's the work of consulates worldwide, that is, registering births, deaths, and marriages of US citizens. The Consulate also has outreach sessions in other provinces, as you said the Aussies and Brits do. Those sessions are announced here in TV. You're not paying attention! 

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

Where is this new US embassy located? Is it near the Thai immigration inside the shopping mall (forgot what its name)

Did you read the article? In a heartbeat, I looked up Nong Pakarang Sub-district in Google maps. Given that the new consulate is on the Super-highway, it's going to be south of BigC and north of Highway 1006. That's the road that runs past the train station and goes out to Sankamphaeng. The article doesn't say which side of the Super-highway, so we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled. 

16 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

op...

 

The Asian open bill storks are the one species of stork in Thailand that is increasing significantly in population.

 

They benefitted greatly because of the introduced African apple snail which was shipped to farm for humans to eat. They escaped and are now a serious pest for rice farmers. Snails are this storks main food.

 

They are not displacing any other bird...even the egrets. 

 

This is because egrets and openbill storks consume totally different foods. The storms eat snails. The egrets eat insects, amphibians and small fish. 

 

Egrets here have a stable population. The storks have an increasing population.

 

The younger generations of storks are more habituated to human presence and so are less likely to fly off as generally they are not hunted for food (supposed to taste really bad), or otherwise persecuted as they are a benefit for peat control for farmers. 

 

Their occasional trampling of young rice plants is off offset by the snail control they provide. 

 

Hope that answers your questions. 

 

I am a zoologist...so hope that is knowledgeable enough for you ????

Perfect! Thanks! 

I stopped this morning to talk to a farmer about this. He said that the storks are "good eaters" (กินเก่ง), meaning they get to the snails and fish in the rice fields faster, more aggressively. He also said that most farmers are using pesticides that kill fish, the egrets' preferred food. The double whammy of competing with storks and pesticides killing fish is taking its toll on the egrets, at least according to this one young farmer. 

On 9/12/2020 at 12:18 PM, bkk6060 said:

Technically they are hurting their kids and themselves if there is an accident.

Parents make poor choices for their kids all the time.

And the cheap helmets many wear will do nothing anyway to protect them.

 

I get it, but am anti helmet.  I think it should be a personal choice as is killing yourself by smoking or drinking too much.

The mask responsibility has been explained by previous posts.

 

Plan your accidents carefully. 

17 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

You can drive in the US on a Thai DL. but car rental can be something of a crapshoot. If you are going rent a car, make sure you confirm your DL information when you book it to avoid any idiocy at the the rental office...

 

 

A fee years back, I got a deal from rentalcars.com for a car in the US  in which I was REQUIRED to have a foreign driver's license. Unfortunately, I failed to read the fine print and left my Thai DL at home, so voided the deal and paid full walk-in rates. 

Let's assume it's a common Q&A. How do I search pinned topics for "posting images?" I know how to use the search screen. How do we filter for pinned topics? 

6 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

 

OK I've looked at your report and yes it had been reported before.

The moderator who looked at the report agreed that it was off-topic but since it had generated a significant number of replies, and was of general interest to the forum, the report was cleared with no further action.

 

Sometimes we let reports slide by, particularly if the reported posts are not malicious, or troll-like, or personal attacks... we look at topics much like conversations... they can digress slightly and if it's in the best interest of the community to do nothing then that's what we do.

 

OK, I'm off-topic now and also discussing moderation (which is against Forum Rules) but I hope that you do understand.

I suppose I have to accept that. To me, the topic was hijacked and dingdongrb admitted. 

However, since digressions are tolerated, and we're having this conversation, please give me a tip on searching pinned topics. It's not obvious to me how to do that. You don't expect us to scan all 291 pages, I'm sure. 

2 minutes ago, LawrenceN said:

Again? OK. 

Done. 

Just now, Jai Dee said:

 

Please report the post in question.

 

I (or another online moderator) will have a look at it.

Again? OK. 

A couple of weeks ago, I created a topic in the Chiang Mai forum titled,  "Storks displacing egrets." I was a bit disappointed that lots of people responded, "Yup, lots of storks," but ignored the question about a corresponding decrease in egrets. I took it in stride, though. They weren't exactly off-topic, trying to be helpful. Then user dingdongdrb posted a photo of weaver bird nests asking "What kind of bird does these?" I reported it as off-topic. It's still there.

Because there was no action by admins, I wrote a comment to clarify what I was looking for. I specifically mentioned that the post wasn't about weaver birds. User dingdongrb replied with snotty sarcastic remarks. He was the first and only one to use the term "hijacked" for what he did, so he knows what he did. 

All of the above is meant as background. I, as the OP, am not allowed to delete off-topic comments, correct? 

Did an admin look at it and brush it aside, deciding in effect, "Well, it's about birds"? If I wanted an open a discussion about every bird in Thailand, I would have said so. So what am I missing? 

Finally, several times, before posting here, I have seen the request to search "pinned topics." I don't know where to find them. A little help please? 

On 9/3/2020 at 9:43 PM, Eindhoven said:

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/uncontrollable-scrolling-on-windows-10/

Thanks. You definitely pointed me in the right direction. 

One of the tips on that page was to unplug the USB dongle for the mouse. That seemed to work, but only briefly. 

Another tip was to sign out and back in. This one works like a charm. I have no idea why, but I'm done. 

9 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I think the older condo blocks where a better buy as the were always bigger units these new ones you cant swing a cat around in them.

 

News to me! When did they outlaw cat-swinging in condos? I suppose this means I have been cat-swinging illegally. 

16 hours ago, Eindhoven said:

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/uncontrollable-scrolling-on-windows-10/

Some good stuff there. I'm out and about, but will try them when I get home. 

I'm using a Windows 10 laptop to watch TV. It's attached to my TV with an HDMI cable. Got a wireless mouse so I can sit in my easy chair across the room. Pretty boring, plain vanilla setup. I have been using it this way for about three months. 

Recently, in YouTube and other websites, it started to scroll down uncontrollably. I can't scroll back up fast enough to actually watch the video at the top of the screen. 

I have tried uninstalling the pointer (mouse) drivers, both for the built-in mouse in the pad below the keyboard, and the wireless mouse driver. That doesn't help. It happens with all three browsers that I have installed. 

Anybody know what's going on with this? 

I have been living in Chiang Mai for nine years. Seems like there was a lot more whistle-blowing when I first came. You couldn't leave a shopping center without some pinhead running over saving the world from me backing out with a storm of whistle-blowing. Glad that fad has passed. 

13 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

My opinion is there are the same amount of egrets still out and about but the storks have recently just come in with bigger numbers making the population of egrets look tiny. Your question is a good observation, as I will not see egrets and storks hanging about in the same field. Not conducive for one another is what I gather.

Thanks for that. Storks are bigger, so they can push the egrets out as they compete for the same habitat. 

I'm the OP. Yes, we all know there are more storks. I said so in the OP. The question is, "Are storks displacing egrets?" I was hoping to hear from a KNOWLEDGEABLE, serious birdwatcher, maybe a full-fledged (pun intended) ornithologist. No one even mentioned seeing fewer egrets, so that maybe we could see a trend or identify a causation. 

A few years back, on a morning bike ride, I stopped to ask a farmer if he had noticed fewer storks. It was a year in which storks were scarce. He said yes, farmers were scaring them off because storks stomp the seedling rice plants. So, you see, I'm wondering whether this is a known natural cycle, or if Thai farmers have been educated about the benefits of storks. Maybe storks attack egrets' nests and eat their eggs. See, I can speculate and theorize with the best of you, but as I said in the OP, I would appreciate knowledgeable answers or observed behavior. 

This post is not about weaver birds. Start your own post if you want to post photos of diverse species and their nesting habits. Apologies for getting so cranky. Apparently, TV is the place to go for information you already know, or never asked.

Off to google, ya w***kers. 

Sorry if this belongs in another forum. I didn't see one for bird-watching.

Anyway, I'm a casual birder. I'm a frequent cyclist. I have noticed many more open-billed storks in the last year or two, and a lot fewer egrets. Is this a well-documented phenomenon? Do you more serious birdwatchers know about this? I still see a few egrets out there on my morning bike rides, but not in every field like there were before the storks moved in in big numbers a couple of years ago. 

Well-informed comments welcome. 

2 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Although the dictionary translates it as "congenital disease", when Thai doctors ask whether you have "roke prajam tua", they're actually referring to "chronic conditions" - heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or anything else that you're stuck with for the rest of your life. 

Exactly right.