juggler

Hi

just remebered something read on the language forum once. If your left hand brain is strong - learn to read, alphabet etc.....theres a good kids alphabet book you can get and you can practice writing the letters tracing over dotted lines etc. Get your girlfriend to teach you the alphabet rhyme and how to write it, learn Thai rules for tone, wouldn't take that much time if you got a few hours a day, start from there...

Right hand brianiers don't need this so much and absord the language without the analysis.... ie just do it........Great advice from whoever wrote it......... but i just get mixed up between the left and right, sometimes even get the shoes on the wrong feet, so you beter check yourself first!

good luck

not suprised in the slightest

Thai seems to have a total disinterest for affairs not concerning Thailand. I know this is a complete stereoptype but i feel it is the general trend. On the news too. There will be a short burst of intrnational coverage in no great depth (after the Thai coverage naturally) but the main emphasis is usually on some truck driver getting caught with someting or an explosion in the south or something other crap like a woman jumping off a roof.

This seems the way for the west too, I spoke to my dad back in the UK. Knew noting of any political unrest in Thailand. He is getting on a bit though:) I guess contries in general have their own interests best at heart. (did the Thais fight against hitler/japan?)

When the south starts bombing Bangkokyour wife will know about terror and it will all make sense (with a little (or lot) explanation regarding religion, the American's giving Jew's what the palestinians considered their homeland after the 2nd world war.........and the general hatred that has bred an era of terror. not just recent either......)

(PS Thai sent forces to iraq to appease bush - not to let the the Thai people know how great they are (!?!?!?!?!?!?) _I might be wrong but i think their army isn't up to much and it was a purely token gesture. Bush is Sith lord and leader of the fourth reich who will probably be assassinated to establish martial law in the US, all possible IMHO but i don't think the majority see it that way! Try telling your wife they blew up their own world trade towers and explain that, now that will really confuse her. My next worry is iran. China diagree and only need to step in and things could get ugly

Just looked on yahoo today and 51 UK firms in iraq. The UK and US have made a serious and i mean SERIOUS amount of money ie billions/ not millions......no idea about Thailand though.

bedtime

PS got some great avi videos on conspiracy - looks like they worked on me!

Burn baby Burn, gotta love it. The true peasants are farangs living in peasant areas

Does it bother you to encounter a Farang who is happy living in a small rural village that does not have Internet access.

Of course I am as guilty as you in stereotyping the newest generation of ex-pats in Thailand, those with their easy to be had work permits "No work permit yet" and high paying jobs "unemployed' and options for International schools "if thats your sort of thing" while all the while ensconced in their condos or white walled red tiled souless mubaan jatsaan housing estates who, in these boards, seem to assimilate towards Bangkok ethics of blaming the rural folks for Thailands woes. Yep, put them darn peasants in jail for cutting down a single tree for building their pathetic little abodes but all hail, and please let me take a picture with them to put into the social pages of the Bangkok Post, the wealthy Bangkok folks whose companies (e.g. Boon Rawd) cut down entire forests with impunity.

easy now tiger trees grow aswell as get cut down!

I met a guy from papa new guinea the other day on the way back from poipet on a visa run. Turns out i didn't agree with him on much. His family business was logging and they used those logging boats you see going down chao prior at about 3km/hr (they actually go round the world too at such slow speeds) suprisingly.

said he was here on business where the wood was all inspected at some depot prior to more transportation so that was what he was doing in BKK (red tape and some bribes no doubt), (cant remember which wood (probably teak or something) He told me greenpeace was well on their familly businesses case and after speaking to them i felt like joinging them

i pointed out the fact that animals die and dont get replaced. What i found nasty was that he said on the outskirt of the jungle there which had been cut back about 50% already, you could see tigers....wild cats and other animals roaming on the boundry. obviously wondering what the f happening. Not as clever as us humans eh!

Slash and burn been happening for years in Thailand.....literaly years. It's proper old school and beyond repair in terms of wildlife methinks. Thailands blood comes from rice or something like that so fair dimcum, die or have no food/It's over here and has been for a long time, except for the national parks ( I think) a few elephants and maybe some tasty animals to eat in Chiang Mai when the zoo opens (doesn't that top it all). All wild cats gone more or less. Bet there uesed to be plenty monkeys all over too )still a few left though, at least thats what i sometimes get called!.

PS I'm no vegetarian

completely remove your native lanuage from household, read thai cartoon magazine or other easy reading, than gradually increase the difficulty level, watch alot of Thai movies...etc. Doesn't hurt to take classes either.

After 15+ years, I still have trouble now and than.

I bet your Thai is a lot better than you make out!

After about four years I can converse with people above hello whats your name etc etc but it breaks down pretty easily, still, can usually blag it through and keep a convo going. I think as someone pointed out already, if you have a girlfriend who speaks english and wants to speak English with you, do classes or get books because shes most likely no teacher...........she'll probably help you out when you hassle her though. I just read books, Thai for beginners, intermediate, advanced and hassled her lots

What i'm coming to realize now though, depressing as it is, is that it is pretty much impossible to become completely fluent at Thai. Would other people agree? - to a level where things like spoonerisms/ puns on words/ pronounciation are as natrual as they would be to a Thai person. Theres one Auzzie on TV sometimes who seems to be falang representative for good language skills. Been here 15 years and must be a linguist or something but I can still hear Australian in his accent.

My Thai is still early days I know, and I would be a lot better if my girlfriend spoke Thai with me (probably does about 2% of the time - except in her hometown when she suddenly expects me to understand everything in order to chat round the table with everyone!)

to the OP, your choice is to actively work really really really hard learning from books, classes and putting a serious effort in, alphabet, reading etc (best have a few hours spare). Then you got to use what youve learnt as much as you can, which I found difficult at first (probably through shyness and fear of not understanding what people say back). But once you get past that it just gets easier. The other option like neeraman said, is get in a situation where you have no option but have to learn it as a means to an end (much quicker and less hard work). Probably the best way to do that is getting out of the Bangkok (wise move anyway IMHO) were people don't speak so much Tinglish. If your stuck here thats just too bad:(

Would someone please claify what a LIMO is? In various countries, I see the term used for...

Incidently if anyone wants to buy one of these 'limos', yes, just a normal Merc Sedan car, they are selling scores of them off jangwattana road, at the end of the soi adjacent to big C past the lake on the RHside. A whole fleet, all white or cream methinks and they don't seem to be being sold very quick, or maybe it's just a steady outlet for the depreciated (not the old lady). Don't know the prices but maybe a good deal to be had if you know lots about cars......or a bad deal if you don't

Limos, taxi's.....bus n song tao usually works for me.......but then i'm not a 70 year old woman

If you got the energy after the flight and are on a budget which makes 50 baht a good save, just head for amari aiport hotel and the local road outside it by don muang train station. From the local road there get a normal taxi meter. no surcharge. I find the process of negotiation a hassle, it means in general that you are still going to pay over the odds (once a price is agreed).... not always the case, but often so.....i think i should go to sleep now before i go off on one

goodnight and goodluck to those of all ages arriving at don muang airport during the day and night

(went off on one anyway)

PS luck is something only needed by the ill prepared

I sometimes get the driver to stop by saying I need to go shop or something, then jump in another cab.

absolutely price-less (sorry but i couldn't resist)

many drivers in bkk carry a gun.

well....i don't know about gun...... but considering the nature of the job, it's not a bad idea to have a weapon in the car. (i dont mean as a passenger by the way) though it's a debatable point

I will never forget being new to thailand, at mo chit getting into a taxi which appeared to be at the front of a queue (not the official taxi rank though, but somewhere away from all the coaches). I'd already got in the back with a friend and the backpacks were loaded, when an argument kicked off between the driver and some other taxi drivers (just a bit of verbal) as he was getting in the car. Now as i remeber it, the driver could probably have driven off at this point but did he?...........No...........2 seconds later he was out of the car with a sizeable machette in his hand I remeber thinking <deleted> just waiting and watching, wondering what to do next. After a bit more shouting the driver got back in the car smiling sabai sabai. Until this day i still dont know whether it was all a joke for the foreigners, or a real case of this man not wanting to lose face (couldn't speak or understand Thai then). Still a funny episode all the same - welcome to Thailand

A few years later some more taxi trouble when my GF told this driver to drive 'a little less stressed please' in a polite way. Those are basically the only words she said to him and i have to admit his driving was genuinely scaring me too, so they were within reason IMHO. I think this man must have been on the meth phets, a double shift or a seriously bad day as when she said this he instantly pulled up, by cutting up the cars in the two lanes on the left and just started shouting. Almost screaming...... we just got out with no plans of paying the <deleted>. Afterall we had just got in the taxi and there was only about 40 or 50 Baht on the meter.

He got out too though, and pretty much ignoring me continued on at my GF. I could see him trembling and his voice was shaking now. I'm quite a big lad and half of me just wanted to get involved and kick off if he started at me, but there were loads of people watching at a bus stop nearby so <deleted> it, easier to just to keep shhhtum rather than escalate it, all for the sake of 50Baht (wonder if he remembered to stop the meter )Anyway, his problem now was that we werent paying him so I gave him the money (I didn't pay out of fear that his guy would/could beat me. It's just that regardless of the story presented to the boys in brown should it have come to that.....TIT.... and time served wouldn't be much fun). I had also noticed some handcuffs which he had taken out of the car as he got out. Not good!

The missus made a call to report him. The most annoying thing though, was that I had collected her from the school where she works. Now, If a man that much on the edge, lost his job as a result of a complaint, and he knew where to find the comlainee (is that a word?), then i reckon it would get nasty...... so i got her to cancel the complaint The driver really did deserve an official complaint though, warranted on his driving alone, which was reckless on a level i have yet to experience again (done some pretty bad manouvers myself 5555) All in all a pretty unpleasant taxi journey.....

saw quite a few check points on the main roads up to udon thani from bangkok, maybe 4 or 5. Thing is that all the people at them were sitting about, and i didn't actually see one car being pulled over the new year, at all. I drove round udon thani a bit too in my gf's parents pick up, took her cousins out to the cinema, went out for some food........No license but no worries, her parents ensured me the police wer on holiday. It seemed the case too, as i didn't see a single policeman in that time, and at other times of the year the boxes on the junctions are usually manned\ Nice

on the way back, saw four or five crashes, none of which were bad. anyhow- 77000 vehicles absolute cr*p methinks. I doubt 77000 people were breathalized too, which IMO would be one way of getting through to people.

Extensive use of breathalizers works well in some other countries.

new year - same same

off topic i know, but have you ever thought how those thin plastic motorbike helmets would protect you in a crash. Seem to protect the police rather than the driver

Asia rooms sure are 'black sheep'. My girfriend worked for them for a while. It was her first job after uni and she was really proud to tell me she had got a job. I wasn't so happy though when the contract which she had already signed had her doing 14 days in a row (12 hour shifts) then one week off, then 14 nights in a row (12 hours again), then one week off....15,000 baht a month though, so well above the average salary....anyway after crying before having to go to work for a few weeks, as the staff (some very very rich french guys) were nasty, staff/ friends unfairly sacked, not allowed to eat lunch outside the office, told not to sell to thais phoning from within thailand as mai chawp kon thai, she left!!!!

the boss had two ferrari's..Nice

Also check this. The office was behind a french cosmetic shop which was permenantly closed. I think this is strange. I would like to be sure about this so correct me if i'm wrong, but as far as i know, if you are abroad (outside of thailand) with a western credit card, it's not possible to book something like an aeroplane flight from a travel agent whos office is in bangkok, the grounds being that they cant process the card from oversees (as the western card companies are weary with Thailands reputation for corruption...).

This at least is my own experience - Maybe this company are taking advantage of cheap labour in Thailand, with the convience of being online, whilst doing all the processing outside of Thailand. Maybe some room' (no pun intended ) for money laundering too. I know that they have moved office outside Bangkok since my girlfrined left, which was about 3 years ago, and i wonder if there isn't just another empty 'front' infront of their office.

The missus only did booking so she couldn't tell me much about the reviews. She did mention though, that she got loads of complaints about refund problems which she couldn't do anything about,

Whether they do or don't edit reviews they seems like a ruthless and unpleasant bunch to me. Apparently one room in the offices where data inputting/updating was carried out, was staffed by deaf people.

It's good they got work but i wonder if they were paid fairly. Anyhow that is only speculation. one thing and i do know though, is that your critical review fell on deaf ears - but that's just the tip of the iceberg)

Anways, better call it a night.

This thread had me laughing outloud. The mans a natural comedian, if not a circus clown aswell

Just a thought now, but how about adding some more english education programs to Thai TV.

No.....no for the expats....just for the kids who haven't got the money to continue school after the age of twelve.....

now that might work.

This might seem a bit off topic, but Detriot to me, makes me think of Derrick May. Born there in 1969 he was one of the first people ever to use looping in music, which lead on to the creation of the fine house and techno we have today.....If only.......If education in the country was better, and schooling was compulsory up untill the age of sixteen for example (and free untill the age of 18 as an option), the Thai people might end up making inventions of their own! Now that would be something (please correct me if im wrong but i can't think of any Thai inventions off hand)

Anyhow, seems its better to keep uneducated uneducated....and then build factories for them. Brilliant

Make more money....... don't spend on improving the quality of peoples lives in general. See the comedy, how the colour green is associated with the environment....yet the 'green' busses are indeed the ones that seem to allways billow out the noxious gas.

I always go for khaao dtom (rice soup) when the stomach is bad. It's a great dish IMO. You can have it with chicken, pork or seafood. I didn't go so mad for the seafood version I once tried and like it best with minced pork. Sure there will be some fat from the mince, but overall, would say it's one of the easiest foods to digest i've ever eaten.

Hope it helps

BANGKOK: .... The Siam Paragon Shopping Complex had its grand opening yesterday amid hopes that the new development will attract more high-end spenders to the Kingdom

I thought that in general the tourism trade here was based around people coming to thailands beaches, bkk's night life .........

Never new the grand shoping malls in BKK were a reason to visit

i get the feeling this hope is unwarranted.

How about introducing drink driving bans and enforcing the law with breathalyzers. I know this point has been raised before, but i didn't pay much attention to it untill coming back home last night, around 2AM. In the taxi driving us from khao san area back to don muang we say three seperate accidents along the way. First one nearish to khoa san. Police and ambulance there. Looked pretty bad with loads about 20 or 30 people on the scene. My guess is that it was a motorcylce crash. Maybe death.

Next crash was on the elevated part of wippawadi road next to central lard prao. One of the lanes was closed as a car had spun out and crashed in to the side of the road. Luckily the guy was out of his car and no other cars were invoved, but it had me and my girlfriend thinking,,,,,hmmmmmmmm, two crashesh, not goood.

Lastly, 5 or 10 km down the road, more flashing lights and on approach we were waved into one of the outer lanes, uesd to transfer to the local roads (this is a big road with about 5 lanes, the one under the expressway linking the airport to the city) This accident was the real shocker, with one car overturned and another spun out, petrol over the floor. More shocking was the fact the police were still arriving. If we had left khao sarn road five or ten minutes earlier..........

I was a little suprised by the taxi driver, who on driving past, laughed and said something like kon die leo (people dead) - i certainly didn't see the funny side!...Anyhow, i asked him if every friday and saturday night saw accidents like this and he told us he did. We talked about whether people fall asleep at the wheel or are drunk. Although it's surely a mix of the two in reality, he blamed "drunk" for the accidents mostly, and racing ofcourse.

I can't see the situation here changing much untill, like another poster suggested in another thread, some tough laws are passed. Recently, it seems too many unneccesary laws are being pushed in Thailand, which seem to be of no significant benefit (just MHO). I think a heavy heavy fine for drink driving, with the chance for some jail time thrown in somehow, maybe for repeat offenders (whats the point in taking away a driving license when it's not really that important to have one in the first place?) might be a way of curbing this problem.

rant over

Earlier this week, Thai military intelligence sources revealed that Khao San Road, a Bangkok backpackers' haven, had long been identified as a hot target for potential terrorist attack.

I remeber a couple of years ago it must be now. A big star of david sign which used to hang above the end of kao sarn road nearly opposite gullivers was taken down- for obvious reasons. Truth is that kao sarn road could have been targeted from a long time back. Hardly breaking news

Is it really more likely to happen now than then? I wonder mmm would be bad...especially as australia told thailand there would be, along with ASIO M16 and CIA........all the terror.......when will it end?

wooops, my mistake. No GPS tracking on a smartcard. Was just checking a site about Hong Kong where they have brought smart ID cards into use. They don't seem so bad actually which is a good thing, considering a day will probably come when most people have one.

http://www.flyingchair.net/story.php?storyID=786

Looks to me like this is all about control. Taksi already has the satellites and soon he'll have GPS tracking on people of the South. Sure, some control is needed down there and if this helps achieve it then it's no bad thing. My doubts are whether it will work and whether it's really a good technology in the first place. One thing for sure is that Taksi really likes technology. Scanners at airports, meetings with Gates, Smart cards........maybe he's a cyborg

Wonder if the dual nationality issue they proclaim it will help with has really got anything to do with religion?