jshorts

And the reason behind it all: Chinese idiots, as always.

Why cant the chinese learn to respect animals?

Seems they'll do anything to get their "tiger penis medicine" and their shark fin soup.

Blatant negative and unsupported generalizations are not helpful to an educated exchange of ideas.

*

My comment was directed at your unkind generalization of the Chinese as "idiots."

I almost completely agree with you.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "non-contributing foreigners." Don't we contribute more than many Thai citizens via foreign currency transfers spent on everyday Thai family expenses, VAT, and other expenditures not normally incurred by the majority of Thais?

Yes, but there's only two of you actually doing this. The rest are already freeloading on the Thai system.

I would like to understand how any foreigner can freeload on the Thai system. Please give a couple of examples.

Why do you only mention muslims?

Wikipedia

List of major religious wars

These figures of one million or more deaths include the deaths of civilians from diseases, famine, etc., as well as deaths of soldiers in battle and possible massacres and genocide.

Count which religion is involved in the most current unrests:

http://www.religious...rg/curr_war.htm

*And, your point is?

And the reason behind it all: Chinese idiots, as always.

Why cant the chinese learn to respect animals?

Seems they'll do anything to get their "tiger penis medicine" and their shark fin soup.

Blatant negative and unsupported generalizations are not helpful to an educated exchange of ideas.

Why do you only mention muslims?

Wikipedia

List of major religious wars

These figures of one million or more deaths include the deaths of civilians from diseases, famine, etc., as well as deaths of soldiers in battle and possible massacres and genocide.

list of major religious wars.docx

It is a nice thing from the goverment - we do not have to break them down all the time

And only for the Thais? Dont forget it is thailand and we are the visitors.

nobody is forbidden anybody to learn thai

have fun on the net

Are you saying that if you learned Thai that the wifi would then be free?

One of the freedoms often overlooked, is the freedom to not participate. You have the freedom to not use a service whose rules make you uncomfortable.

In terms of Big Brother looking over your shoulder, that ship sailed long ago, and if most gave it 60 seconds of thought, would be amazed how easy it is to figure out your every move. Have a passport? Have a visa? Use a telephone? Have an ATM card or Credit card? Have a Facebook page? Twitter? Ever use the internet to check e mail? Internet shopping? Been on a plane lately? Been to a city laced with cameras e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e? Post opinions on Thai Visa?

You see, I am American, and we know that there are no secrets from the government, and as of last week, we can now be detained for ever, without a trial and any due process. Sort of frightening, yes? We know that by simply turning on our phones, Presto! Can you say "triangulate" ? If you are in America and would like a visit from some "special agents" pick up your phone, call a foreign country and use some special key phrases over and over. You may have a chance to meet Big Brother, face to face. Every call is run through gigantic computer systems searching for key word patterns and languages.

That is why so often "Thai Lovers" like me rush in and say, "Buy a freaking mirror before your throw Thailand under the bus." Americans have much less freedom than the average Thai.

So, one thing overlooked here is that the Thai effort has a two hour rule. Could it be as simple as recognizing that Bandwidth Matters and everyone loses when a few data hogs suck it all up???(for example, non tax paying, non contributing foreigners who do use much higher data programs, and much more often) So, Thais are saying, here, use our free internet, but please share it with everyone...and to monitor who is a "hog" we will watch it. Sure, they will collect lots of other data, perhaps...but why duplicate the effort? To believe that until now, internet traffic is some "secure' universe is beyond naive.

To me, "cloud computing" is a nice way of saying, "Hey, could you all please save all your data in one place with one architecture in a shapeless "cloud" controlled by people you do not know, and never will?"

Yep, that is a "cloud' that can be seeded anytime to make it "rain" ....

Get over it 007..not everything is an evil conspiracy. You see, if a government wanted people to recklessly "talk out of school" they would offer a "free service" - and monitor it. Not announce, "We are watching you."

Because of certain laws in Thailand, it is actually "fair warning" that should be headed.

*I almost completely agree with you.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "non-contributing foreigners." Don't we contribute more than many Thai citizens via foreign currency transfers spent on everyday Thai family expenses, VAT, and other expenditures not normally incurred by the majority of Thais?

"WiFi users will need to register on the MICT’s website: http://www.mict.go.th. Name, surname, and ID card number are required."

I've always wanted a big brother

You're not required to use it.

BTW, big brother is also watching every time you use an ATM, credit & debit cards, make a phone call, reserve a flight ticket and fly, etc., etc.

If you're really worried about 'Big Brother' you'd better forget about the Internet altogether, stop traveling by any means of transport, stop banking, shopping.

You could go live in the wild, hunt for your lively hood and bed down in a cave, but even then you'll show up on Google earth at some point.

Are you talking about searching for Robin and his merry men? Or, are you looking for active petty gangsters?

Off-topic posts deleted.

Please stay on the topic and refrain from comments are posters' grammar and spelling.

In a discussion regarding the quality of teaching English in the Thai school system, it is completely to the point to discuss posters' grammer and spelling. It might, for example, indicate that there are many reasons for poor study results, including, but not limited to, teaching methods, student interest and general pride in the way one communicates.

By the way, what does ". . . refrain from comments are posters' grammar . . ." mean?

This forum is used by people from various countries. Not all are native speakers and we do not restrict comments to those whose spelling and 'grammer' are up to par. Discussion is limited to the topic in the original post.

A review of the rules might be helpful.

I have reviewed the rules and do understand that non-native English speakers write posts, too.

At the same time when native English speakers (either self-proclaimed or evident by writing style) are discussing English instruction, it is, indeed, relevant to the topic in the original post.

I am unclear why you put the word "grammer" in single quotation marks.

I have a Dell Inspiron (bought in a Dell concept store) with next business day guaranteed service. Great product and service call to replace a broken screen (my fault!) handled promptly and efficiently.

Anyway all of this discussion doesn't matter. I think it all boils down to what I have said a million times...24 times actually...Thailand doesn't care...simple as that. It is unfortunate they (I use this broadly) have this attitude becomes come 2015 they are going to have a severe wake up call with other ASEAN countries passing them by with a quickness.

I am having difficulty understanding what you mean by ". . . they (I use this broadly) have this attitude becomes come 2015 . . ."

Would you kindly clarify?

.....but what do you do when the vast majority of Thai English teachers are incompetent and can't pass the exam that they are trying to teach their students to pass?

I am not a teacher but I am a native speaker I think your staement means nothing with some concrete evidence.

I think one of the major problems is for the Thai children and the Thai teachers to understand "Why" learning English and other languages eg. Chinese is important - without a motivating factor such as employment, further education etc why should they apply themselves ?

When I was at school we had the opportunity to study french or german no way was the normal catch cry and of course we remained with English and were barren of international language skills how I rue the day when i said "Not for Me' to learning another language.

Inasmuch as I am having difficult understanding what you mean by ". . . I think your staement means nothing with some concrete evidence."

I wonder if you would be so kind as to provide further clarification.

Further, when I was in school no explanation was given as to why any particular subject was important.

I hardly imagine that a child in the third grade is going to be motivated by potential employment.

Off-topic posts deleted.

Please stay on the topic and refrain from comments are posters' grammar and spelling.

In a discussion regarding the quality of teaching English in the Thai school system, it is completely to the point to discuss posters' grammer and spelling. It might, for example, indicate that there are many reasons for poor study results, including, but not limited to, teaching methods, student interest and general pride in the way one communicates.

By the way, what does ". . . refrain from comments are posters' grammar . . ." mean?

"When Thais speak English, they almost always carry a distinctive Thai accent."

I have noticed this with a lot of Americans, British, South African etc also. Are we Aussies the only ones that speak without an accent? Just kidding, not bashing anyone. My son is always correcting me on how I pronounce certain words. He speaks fluent english/thai at home and is also taught at school by Thai's and says he is constantly being corrected by his teachers in the pronounciation of english words. It hard to tell him that it is the Thai teachers who are teaching him wrong. When we speak with the teachers at his school the farang teachers will say his english language is excellent but the Thai teachers tell us that he is struggling to grasp the english language.

In Thailand English will never be spoken correctly unless it is taught by Thai's. English speaking Farangs are teaching thier children wrong.

How absurd. Your own English needs a little something too. Your second sentence interprets as teachers leading pupils into a life of crime.Much of the posting on this topic here make little sense to me. There is nothing wrong with speaking with an accent indeed one must expect it. BTW Thais have their own accents. I have difficulty in understand Scouse, Geordie or Glaswegian - especially if the speaker has 'had a few.' Two anecdotes. 1. Enjoying a quiet pint in a Birmingham pub after a hectic day at work I became engaged in conversation with a native of Newcastle. He observed that I was not a native of Birmingham (Thank you dear God for that!) and I somewhat sarcastically confirmed that that was the case. His next comment stunned me since I could understand only about every third word he uttered. "Don't they talk funny around here," he said. 2. When working in Savannah, GA at a time when I had disciplined myself to speak 'perceived' English rather than my 'Sarf Londun' patois, the locals regularly informed me that they 'just lurved' my accent. As a matter of routine I retorted that I didn't have one - and they did. I was greatly amused every time as puzzled looks appeared on faces and I could imagine cogs inside heads working out the logic of that. I have been unable to hold a sensible conversation with either of the teachers responsible for teaching English at Thai schools.

I actually got his/her sattire which I think was directed at me, but I do not understand what you are saying. How does being taught english the wrong way lead students into a life of crime. Oh well it's back to english classes for me as I can't even understand written text.

P.S Dot your "i's" and cross your "t's" people because the spelling and grammar police are going to be out in force and ready to jump on you from great hieghts in this topic.

I won't jump on you from great hieghts; I can't even find that word in my dictionary.

In a discussion of this nature it amazes me that people apparently take such little pride in what they write.

Why so much effort to teach English to a population that will never need it.

Maybe tops 5% of the population will need it and of those 5% only half will need to be proficient in it.

I live here in Chiang Mai and constantly find myself making purchases from Thai's who can not speak English.

I believe that the pressure to learn English stems from people who do not want to learn the Language of Thailand and are trying to get it so the clerk who sells them a clearly marked price item can explain to them what 200 baht means.

Thai's need to learn the basics Science Mathematics how to reason. English will always be avalable but a waste of money 95% of the time. Why not teach them Chinese?

Chinese are also needing to learn English... the world of business , tourism, internet, is based on English... thats the way of the world and in the future everyone will speak English... sooner the better... like it or lump it,,, thats the way forward..

I think it is time you bought a new keyboard with a working apostrophe key.

Ah, the Thai English teachers. One of my private students showed me his homework. I had helped him to understand the questions and how to answer them.

The teacher made a few corrections. All wrong, but one that stuck out and forever will be, is "She had an accident and went to the hospital"..... corrected to "She accidented and went to hospital".

Love it!

Thanks for sharing!

A lot of people talk about the quality of English teaching and content in Thailand. But it seems to be a never-ending discussion.

Never ending discussions seem to be the norm in most areas of how folks lives could be improved over here.

Back in the UK me and my pals all used to ride big sports bikes. One of our group who didn't was always on about how he was going to get one too. He'd read all the bike mags, go to the dealers and get brochures, ask the sales staff about this model or that model.

We all knew he'd never do it. Multiply that by 100000000 and you've got Thailand.

We are discussing the quality of English language education and you write "me and my palls all used to ride . . ."

Huh?

"When Thais speak English, they almost always carry a distinctive Thai accent."

I have noticed this with a lot of Americans, British, South African etc also. Are we Aussies the only ones that speak without an accent? Just kidding, not bashing anyone. My son is always correcting me on how I pronounce certain words. He speaks fluent english/thai at home and is also taught at school by Thai's and says he is constantly being corrected by his teachers in the pronounciation of english words. It hard to tell him that it is the Thai teachers who are teaching him wrong. When we speak with the teachers at his school the farang teachers will say his english language is excellent but the Thai teachers tell us that he is struggling to grasp the english language.

"It hard to tell him that . . ."

Where is your pride?

Tragic story and my condolences to the families, but no personal regret when a MIB die.

Callous.

At least we should all be thankfull that there were no innocent victims.

Heartless comment.

I am heartened to see that at least this did not involve a drunken police officer assaulting a civilian or driving drunk and running down someone.

Assaulting one human being is any different than assaulting another?

Why do you feel anyone on an airline might approach you in a sexual manner?

All flights that I know of for any airline always have a gay chief flight attendant for some reason.

For the trannies I dont have anything against them, just dont bother me with sexual approaches.

That is EXACTLY the point!

As so many say: I don't mind gays- as long as they don't hit on me!

Is EVERY hetero sexual woman hitting on you?

Why woul anyone assume, gays or katoeys have standards that are that low, they would hit on everybody?

Get a life, guys!

Hardly ever been hit on by Thai ladies (overtly), but the Ladyboys hit on just about every man who makes eye contact with them.

I don't think this story should even make the news. If people are qualified and keen to do their best, give them the job.

Personally I am uncomfortable around trans-gender people. But, that's me... my right as a person to like what I like and not like what I don't.

And, why might you be uncomfortable?

I need to go to chatuchak market to get some slippers

No idea why you need to go there for slippers [Tesco Lotus and Big C have slippers for 65 baht] but if you do get to chatuchak market then go into a dog suppliers, buy bag of 100 stick treats cost 35 baht, that dog will be your friend and protect you as long as you have a teat to give it of course

If you give me a teat, I'll be your friend, too.

^{I taught in a local thai school. The overcrowded classrooms of 60 unruly pupils made it impossible to teach. Thai teachers used a stick over the knuckles or pulled ears. I did not. Many of the pupils were sent to the principal's office.}

wasn't there a thread yesterday where the Thai authorities said that he wasn't in phuket? No he has made them loose face by giving himself up in phuket.

According to the other news source that we aren't allowed to post about here, he came back on the advice of the Warden for the US Embassy here in Phuket to talk to the police.

Why can't you post about a news source? I don't understand what I am missing.

Read the forum rules about which newspapers you cannot quote from!!

I believe you forgot the magic word.

Would this be an appropriate place to comment that a line space between each entry in the forum rules would be a kind gift to older readers?

And, lastly, I wonder where I might discover the reasoning for rule 31 from the Bangkok Post point-of-view?.