OldChinaHam

One would not want to be banned from a forum filled with such peerless dry wit.

But that makes it 467 to go.

Maybe this is a long shot, but I sort of wanted to change my "custom member title" without having 500 posts.

And, obviously, I only want to post quality comments, so don't feel like rushing it.

I want to savor the posting.

Basically I just want to have the words above my Avatar Schmavatar more fit the photo.

I want to have the wording read "More Weevils In The Rice"

So, I am just wondering if it might be possible to just throw money?

Or, what about if I might be happy to commit a good deed?

Well, I know it might be a long-shot, but I also just hope it doesn't hurt my reputation to ask either.

Best regards,

O.C. Ham

Yes, and you forgot the Dialect of Materialism.

And, I don't mean dialectical materialism, either.

Since I recently returned to Thailand, and on a few occasions, people have suggested that it would be better if I wear long pants or, "smart" trousers, when I 'go places'. I am not a person who enjoys wearing short shorts, and Bermuda shorts look silly. The weather here is dry and comfortable and really not hot compared to some other places I have been. I had already planned to not wear shorts because I just don't like them, and there was no need to tell me anyway.

I do enjoy the fact that people in Thailand, the ones I have seen so far, usually dress well. And it is wise to dress accordingly so one fits in, and I do. But ever since people began suggesting to me that I not wear short pants, and now since I have been paying attention, it really does seem as if people show more reluctance to bare a bit of leg in Thailand than in some other places I know.

Some guys, perhaps, look good in shorts, though I am not one to pay attention.

And in The New Yorker we can find cartoons of old balding men with their shorts, a highball, and black garters, BSing in their backyards in the summer heat. John Cheever was known for writing about embarrassing things like this, as well as daily getting drunk out of his gourd.

But in Thailand do local people find it funny to see grown men walking around in short pants with usually ugly knobby knees?

Do Thai's like to see their countrymen in short pants?

Cops in the US wear short pants, but I don't think I have seen this yet in Thailand.

Or maybe I just have not been here long enough yet?

(I do love short shorts! But on the opposite gender.

That's just me I guess.)

Obviously then, the active noise cancelling headphones are a 'must have' here, and probably cheap at twice the cost if you're staying in a place where anything and any noise goes.

It is really very surprising how tolerant people here are of some bar blasting away until all hours, especially when the bar is surrounded by a residential neighborhood filled with decidedly upscale housing. It is not only surprising but actually incredible.

And it is very interesting that in WanChai, or for that matter in MongKok, one of the most population dense places on earth, there is very little Fly Tipping

Still, if the truth be told, this is also slightly off-topic.

25 satang tip it may have been, sir.

But you are still off-topic, nonetheless.

Please concentrate.

Please do not be concerned, I very much enjoy teasing.

And a bit of irony is even better, don't you think?

I was not really asking about Hat Tipping or even Cow Tipping, per se.

I was more asking about the local farang preoccupation with the discussion of tips, which seems to break in to otherwise decent and promising discussions.

Why do so many good posts on TV start out well then often devolve into bickering about tipping?

There is something about "tipping" that fascinates and rivets the attention of the TV contributors.

Tipping has not historically been a big part of the Thailand culture that I am aware, just as tipping is definitely not part of the Japanese or Chinese culture, for example.

So why are the people who comment on ThaiVisa so hot to talk about tipping when tipping should actually be a minor part of the Thai culture, just as it is rarely discussed in places like Taiwan, China and Japan?

Is this preoccupation with the size of the tip just another example of the baggage that foreigners bring to Asia and to Thailand?.

It seems as if the moderators really have their work cut out for themselves when trying to eradicate illicit tip-talking on TV.

Speaking of Noise Cancelling headphones, after checking, apparently the Bose 15 headphones are designed to work on low frequency sound waves.

Has anyone actually tried them on the type of sounds produced by the ultra-low frequency sound systems in some of the trucks driving around Chiang Mai, as well as the very low bass output from some of the dance halls and bars which seem to stay open blasting away until almost any ungodly hour?

A certain amount of noise is to be expected living in any city. The airport runway which is not far off from here puts out a hell of a racket when planes takeoff and land. Still, I would prefer two airport runways rather than listen to the ultra-low base output which travels through walls like they were no more than thin cloth curtains.

The Bose 15 phones are also not cheap at over USD300 per set.

You're right that possibly the noise cancelling headphones might not be designed to cancel the ultra-low base frequencies, because I think the headphones work by using another small speaker inside to emit the inverse wave form of any "noise" which then cancels it out. But I don't know if that tiny speaker inside the headphones could reproduce the inverse of the extremely low frequency bass sound wave.

I am pretty sure that a rubber covering would not do much because what you really need is mass to stop and absorb the sound waves. If you live out among the rice paddies then maybe you could use a bulldozer to push up a burm or mound of earth facing the side which is emitting the noise. We really need a sound engineer to weigh in here.

Also, I had been wondering if the recent increase in bass I have noticed might be due to the festivities and celebrations in Chiang Mai during this particular time of year, although now with the celebrations over I am still getting the noise until 3:00 AM on some nights.

As I mentioned above, the low frequency vocalizations emitted by whales can travel for thousands of miles through water, but humans can't hear those. So I guess it would be better if our neighbors were a bunch of whales instead of whoever is now living next door to you.. Probably the sounds made by whales are more interesting, too.

Hopefully we will get some input from a sound engineer before we all get driven mad.

Good Job, Geriatric!

Trying to learn Thai is enough for me, I don't want to even think about learning Turkish. I read one of your other comments about learning Thai and it was inspirational. I speak another tonal language so this might be of some assistance to me in learning Thai. When I can discuss dialectical materialism sensibly in all dialects of Thai, I will let you know.

Until then, its back to the salt mines to brush up on my Thai.

Being in Thailand and not making a commitment to learn to Speak and Read Thai is an utter waste of a wonderful opportunity. Probably you do not need to learn to write, but Speaking and Reading is a must.

Also, learning another language provides a great deal of pleasure. There are many who would love the opportunity to learn Thai in the native environment who cannot afford the time or the money. So Don't Waste It.

Learn Thai and

FLAUNT IT!

Not only does low frequency sound travel long range, but the human ear has difficulty with the localization of bass sounds, we are not whales after all, and our ears are not spaced so far apart. So one always finds it difficult to tell for sure if the ultra-low base we hear is coming from the building next door or from some bar on the next street. Sometimes, it really does become quite irritating.

Yes, Keith, but in China now, the people are beginning to fight back against what they see as the indifference of the privileged class toward their plight. Recently the son of a very high level government official was caught after running over a child in one city. And you can see here how much attention these cases are now getting in China. So things are changing for the better in China, there really is a marked difference between what happened in the past and what is the case today.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050438/Yue-Yue-brain-dead-run-twice-ignored-18-people.html

Has anyone noticed? When sitting peacefully in Chiang Mai, wine and cheese on hand, chamber music all cued up, suddenly there comes a pounding, pounding, pounding through ones chamber door?

What is this anyway? It sounds as if someone is testing out some low frequency non lethal weapon of some type.

I am speaking about the very loud "bass", low frequency sound which can travel long range without being easily attenuated by mere concrete walls.

Does anyone know if there are any noise abatement regulations in Chiang Mai so that some of us who like to read, or enjoy the song of a bird once in a while, can not have our peace and quiet intruded upon by these pointless but annoying sounds.

There also does not seem to be any particular time of day when this very loud low frequency sound is emitted. 3:00 AM seems as good a time as any.

I suppose that one could dig a fallout shelter thirty feet underground and play ones Bach down there without interruption, but where is the enjoyment in that?

Chiang Mai really ought to think of some way to control the irrational exuberance of our low frequency aficionados who seem only governed by their baser instincts.

O.C. Ham

Any thoughts how to reign this in?

Where is it coming from?

Is it mobile, in trucks? Or is it being emitted from some fixed site?

It is WEIRD man!

Keith 67, Please believe it. It is true. It used to be fairly common in Taiwan, also, twenty or thirty years ago. Mostly, in Taiwan, it was the gravel truck drivers who would reverse over the victim after an accident. The reasoning is that if the victim dies, one only owes one lump sum payment. But if the victim is crippled, then the compensation goes on for the life of the victim to pay for support, lost wages, and continuing medical care. Taiwan has really cleaned up its act in recent years and the laws have become extremely strict when it comes to drunk driving, speeding, reckless driving, overweight trucks, and the use of uppers by truck drivers.

But please believe it, Keith, it is very easy to reverse over the victim at night when no one is watching, or even in the day time. Sounds heartless, doesn't it Keith? Maybe we were born onto the wrong planet? Don't you think?

Thank you for the advice.

Take Jim Rogers.

Please.

When you get to Puer, take a tea break and have some PuErCha 普洱茶.

This will be an amazing journey and very well worth the effort.

If you go, many here would probably like to follow along by computer.

When are you going, if you go?

Take me with you if you've got a sidecar.

You are right, Oxford. You always make sense.

Now everyone, please be open, and as much as possible please always be opensource.

Sorry. Maybe I asked the wrong questions?

Perhaps English-Thai language exchange is not something that people here find particularly useful, or there are other learning methods, such as hiring a tutor, which people prefer?

I have seen English-Thai language exchange help offered over Skype, but I think face to face language learning is more effective.

In some places, and in earlier times, people would walk up to you on the street and follow you just to learn 5 minutes of English.

Those days are gone.

Is the concept of language exchange here gone, too?

For someone who is seeking to exchange English for Thai language learning help in a strictly classroom setting, what are the usual guidelines including:

1. Is the language exchange usually one hour of English for one hour of Thai? Or is it two hours of Thai for one hour of English instruction? In some countries, the native language teacher's time is considered to be less in demand. So in this case, for example, an English teacher might teach 1 hour of English and receive 2 hours of Chinese instruction if the class was located in China.

What is the typical language exchange rate in Thailand?

2. Are there any visa restrictions that pertain to language help exchange when no money changes hands?

3. Is there much interest among college students to have English language help in exchange for helping with Thai language learning?

4. Does anyone have any ideas about how to advertise so that the ad is seen pretty much exclusively by the students at a university who will be more academically qualified and interested in both Thai and English? Probably a grad student in any field would be great.

5. Any other guidelines worth noting?

Thanks much!

In fact this scenario of suddenly not having an email address is quite different than is typical in other places.

In HK, China, or Taiwan, for example, people would look at you as truly quite mad if you tried to pretend you did not have a working valid email address.

Trying to operate in Greater China without a few email addresses would be madness for any company, and the companies make sure everyone has a working email address.

And we all know now that the language barrier is becoming much less of an obstacle as people such as Google make text correspondence readable in almost any language.

Sure, I grant you, texting someone in NAVAJO may not go over too well.

But who knows for sure until we try it?