CMHomeboy78

On 3/18/2022 at 5:20 PM, JingerBen said:

As I see it-based on a perspective of 40+ years here-the problem is not so much supply as it is demand.

   In the late '70s and well onto the '80s ya-ba was called "ya-mah", horse medicine.

   It was only given to racehorses.

   Then along came the War on Drugs brought to you by... well, let's not get into that.

   Ganja, which had always been readily available in Thailand, was demonized as "a weed with roots in hell" and outlawed.

   Many young locals turned to ya-mah and the elders started calling them "kee yah-bah" when they'd go violent.

   Let's go back to the way it was before the drug war warped our sense of values. Don't bogart that joint.

   To those who say "Carnage on the highways" I say bulls balls.

   Look at tje figures from places where it has already been legalized.

  It might tend to make them even more cautious on the roads.

  Back in the day, I can't remember one single fight caused by ganja, but there were plenty caused by booze and later by yah-ba.

   Legalize herb, do everybody a favor.

   

 

Right spot on the money about the War on Drugs.

It provoked untold misery in Thailand by making the illegal trade so lucrative and so easy to get into.

Mass incarceration followed in the 1980s and added an ugly new chapter to Thai history.

The new conditions introduced a smorgasbord of recreational drugs to the country. 

In the early '70s, a few years before my time here, the heroin epidemic among American troops in Vietnam and at airbases in Thailand spread to the lower levels of Thai society. By the time I arrived in 1978 it was a common sight to see young addicts nodding off in the middle of the day at markets and slum areas.

That situation had just about ended by the mid '80s mainly due to much higher prices for smack.

Then the more affordable ya-ba stopped being used only for race horses and became the drug of choice for many of the chao bahn with negative consequences that are still being seen today.

It can't be entirely blamed on Western drug culture. The soil was fertile for the seeds sown by the GIs and later the corrupt drug warriors both foreign and domestic.

On 11/29/2021 at 7:30 AM, SammyJ said:

Can I ask if he was open to discussion of any potential problems or treatment options?  I ask because living in Thailand for over 20 years, i find some of the top professionals similar to how doctors' attitudes used to be in the US many years ago--which is they don't like to talk much, don't like questions or suggestions about something you've seen or read about one's medical situation.  In recent years, i have seen some improvement  in specialists I have visited, but also, at times, a resistance to any questions that might seem to suggest something different that what the doctor has just stated.  Certainly, language plays a large part in this, but most top specialists speak English and Thai, of course, very well.

I wouldn't hesitate to reccommend Ajahn Siri based on a long doctor-patient relationship.

   To respond to your question about his receptiveness to his patients input on treatment options, I really don't know.

   My own options have usually been a stark choice between operating or not operating.

   Any ideas I might have about supplemental treatments with cannabis or Fairy Dust or the local Maw Doo, I keep to myself not sure how seriously the doctor would take me.

1 hour ago, orang37 said:

I have had good experiences with De. Siri over the years.

The medical professionals who teach at Med CMU and practice at Maharat are first rate with very few exceptions.

   The private hospitals in Chiang Mai have excellent facilities and highly qualified staff generally speaking, but they are also notorious for fleecing farangs.

I see now that you requested non-fiction and realized my mistake soon after posting.

   But truth be told, much if not most "non-fiction" is anything but that, while some classic fiction is truer than true.

   Lost Horizon is a good example of that.

Lost Horizon by James Hilton, 1933.

A real classic, as is the 1937 movie version by Frank Capra.

One of the opening scenes is the evacuation of Westerners from "Baskul" (Kabul) airport.

It is errily prescient of current events.

16 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Oh boy!

This is the guy who made tons of more archaic rules and hoops to jump through during his short reign at immigration.

 

 

Where... in Bangkok?

   Maybe so, but in Chiang Mai he made noticeable improvements immediately upon arrival.

   Regrettably they ended as soon as he was removed from his position as head of CM Immigration.

Big Joke's star turn at CM Immigration a while back was a notable success.

   The usual crowded, disorganized, and stressful conditions disappeared after he arrived.

   Efficiency and courtesy prevailed until he was removed and the status quo returned.

   This daft idea of moving infected people around the country in vans, if it is indeed his, sounds like a publicity stunt to keep him in the news.

3 hours ago, JingerBen said:

Does the online video and test apply to all applicants or is it related to age?

In other words, is it only for old people?

I don't know. I didn't hear or read anything to that effect.

   The video is in both Thai and English but I found it a deplorable waste of time.

   Beginning with a dialogue in Thai [with small English subtitles] between a middle-aged driving instructor and a young "Miss Manao" at the wheel, it could have come straight out of a Thai soap opera.

   That was followed by short vids from the EU and one from Canada that were pure blood porn chosen for their shock value.

   All in all, it was an hour that could have easily been better spent, but I'm glad that I eventually got my licenses in the end.

1 minute ago, HullyGully said:

Can you provide the link for this test

dlt-elearning.com

There are plenty of good freelance Thai photographers in Chiang Mai who do weddings and such. My wife's nephew is one of them.

   For what you seem to want a studio set-up would probably be better.

   Within Design Co. Ltd., 9 Charoen Prathet, Soi 9, A. Muang, has been around since the mid-'80s . They do top quality work and are courteous people to deal with.

   Good luck with your projects.

On 4/22/2021 at 12:37 PM, DeaconJohn said:

In all probability he means topsoil - soil that contains a high percentage of decomposed organic matter.

   The Chiang Mai plain was in the remote past an inland lake that gradually silted up and the result is the sandy clay soil that is almost everywhere that hasn't been upgraded with something better for growing purposes.

As you say, the area around Chiang Mai was a big lake at one time. That explains the lack of good topsoil here.

It can be clearly seen on a topographical map where the boundaries are defined by mountains in the north near Doi Chang Dao to Doi Khun Tan in the south. The widest part looks like Doi Suthep to Doi Saket, east to west. The Ping River is all that remains of it.

Not much in the way of organic based topsoil but rich in a variety of clays that have been used since ancient times for ceramics as well as bricks and tiles for construction purposes. Sand and gravel pits have also been exploited by the inhabitants over the years.

I would like to find sources of information about the dates of the geological changes that have taken place. I read somewhere that the Gulf of Thailand in early historical times extended as far north as the confluence of the Ping and Nan Rivers where Nakhon Sawan is now located.

4 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Thailand really just needs to go all out with the ganja.

 

It’s got the farming culture. It’s got the climate. It needs the economic boost. It’s got a bunch of hotheads who really need to chill out and jai yen yen, with a much needed alternative to lao khao and ya ba.

That sums it up... in a nutshell.

40 minutes ago, mr mr said:

 

i watched for so many years back home in canada as rich people, politicians and ex police all took over the industry while grassroots was snubbed. 

 

now they are all sitting on hundreds of thousands of pounds of garbage while the black market still controls 75 % of sales.  the stocks are worth dog shat now ( i still own some) and they are bleeding money like crazy. guess that is what happens when you grow garbage. 

 

same thing will happen here but on a whole new level. let's call it thainess.

 

 

 

 

Your prediction for Thailand may be right.

I've seen the situation here go from de facto legalization in the 1970s - yes, there were laws on the books but they were seldom enforced. Ganja was everywhere in those days, you could buy it almost as easily as you could buy beer.

The 1980s saw the beginning of the War on Drugs and with it came mass-incarceration, unprecedented levels of police corruption, extrajudicial killing and the introduction of coke, speed and designer drugs.

Now the circumstances are changing again and the results remain to be seen.