tom yum goong

I dont have this card but i think its a mastercard debit card. The funds are deducted from your account straight away. The card is accepted everywhere the mastercard credit card is.

You can use these cards online, but i would discourage anyone from doing so. You are not afforded the same fraud protection as with a normal credit card.

Some useful info on debit cards here:

http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/englis...utor/primer.php

they gave you a driving license without having to take any kind of written or driving test?

was this all above board? did u pay some tea money?

I was told at the Bangkok Transport office (not sure the correct name, the one near Chatuchak) that I can take my girlfriend to translate the writing test for me. Well she got it through at the third time, so she's very experienced.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can ask to take the written test in English.

Can't get more English than those two blokes.Where do you get your information?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have to agree. England (Britain) may be far from a perfect society and still very class-based, but i don't think you have to be white to be able to call yourself English.

I was in England for 13 years and no one ever told me i wasn't English because i was half-Thai/Chinese. But of course there are racist idiots everywhere you go and in that respect, the UK is no different.

Was there a month and a half ago. Had a lady using the men's room. She stated that the women's room was occupied and said that the waitress allowed her to use it. I complained to the manager and he was indifferent about it. What if I was caught using the men's room and his repond was that I had a point.

Don't plan to go back there any time soon and probaby never.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you obviously haven't been to most clubs in London, where i regularly encountered women using the urinals.

and they weren't transvestites either.

cowboy is the best shout...a bit of grub in the old dutch first ( far end, recommend no. 73 ,broiled beef i think..) then most of bars are pretty good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

broiled beef?

i'll definitely be going there next time i'm in town. I had difficulty finding it in London and never had any hopes of finding it in Bangers.

edit/ sorry got confused with salt beef

February – ... More road accidents will occur.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hold the phone!

We have the next Nostradumbass on our hands.

Terry Pratchet, I should know who that is, but I can't remember. What does Pratchet write?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Terry Pratchett writes fantasy novels. Most of his books have been part of the Discworld series. I've read most of them and they are a lot of fun and witty. I would recommend them to anyone.

I am currently in the middle of David Attenborough's autobiography titled Life on Air, which is a fantastic read.

i also suggested Kaya, but Bambina correctly reminded us that Kaya in Thai could sound like the Thai word for rubbish - Kha Yah

When Bob Marley sings about Kaya, its another name for weed.

That may or may not be a good reason to call your child that. Depends on what u like to do in your spare time i guess

tom yum goong... Good posts, thank you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks

Capt. - I was using eurasian to refer to someone in my situation. Obviously this can't apply to all mixed race people. I also feel that race/ethnicity and culture are two very seperate issues.

Getting away from definition of terms, which could go on forever, I would love to hear input from the OP and other luk kruengs/eurasians on this topic.

Any more of us on Thai Visa?

My neighbours dogs drive me insane. They make so much noise, day and night. The street outside is mined with dog doo and i cant remember the amount of times i have stepped in something.

To add insult to injury, they used to crawl through the gaps in my gate to spread their foul waste on my driveway and occassionally steal a pair of sandals. In the end we had to buy a new gate to keep them out.

I love dogs too but in my darker moments i often lie in bed plotting their untimely demise. They are quite reluctant to get out of the way of my car, so one of these days i might just pretend i didn't see them and just carry on driving. (To all the animal lovers out there, I won't, but I really really want to).

Their owner is actually a nice Thai lady. I think she knows how pissed off everyone in the neighbourhood is with her dogs but i get the feeling they are like her unruly children and she doesn't know what to do about them.

But the literal translation is half child. There's nothing derogatory about that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Literal transaltion of what? Dont mean to be pedantic but your post isn't very clear.

Luk krueng? Yes, that means half child and as you say, not derogatory at all.

Half-caste? Does not literally mean half child - I refer you to my previous post. I would suggest that does have negative conotations, although personally i do not find it offensive. Others might though.

I would say the 'correct' term would be half-caste, but I doubt that would be deemed acceptable by the high-minded 'politically correct' brigade...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Half-caste is a term i heard a lot in the UK, and it doesnt bother me in the slightest. But the 'correct term'? I would dispute that.

Look up the definition of caste.

Here's one i found: " A social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank, profession, or wealth."

There are other definitions but none of them mention race. Which is why mixed race is much more appropriate because its meaning is indisputable and it has no negative connotations.

And i dare say the term half-caste was coined by the British in India to refer to offspring of parents from different castes. FYI, caste in India refers to "Any of the hereditary, endogamous social classes or subclasses of traditional Hindu society, stratified according to Hindu ritual purity, especially the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra castes." - again these are social strata.

Western? in your case dose that mean white, British? English even?

Yeah I guess you could say British. Just from the fact that my Dad is English and I spent most of my formative years there (from 11 to 24, but returning home to BKK during school holidays).

I am REALLY looking forward to some kids but I wonder, how they will feel growing up here in Thailand. Did you ever have any resentment to either one of your folks?

For bringing me up in Thailand? No, why would I?

Growing up in Thailand was a great experience. Its a cliché but Thailand is a land of contrasts. As an example, my best friend at school was the son of the Uruguayan ambassador while the kids I to played with after school lived in the slum down the road. When i went to boarding school in the UK, I found that I had a much better understanding of the how the world worked than other kids my own age.

One thing about being a luk kreung child at that time (in the 1980s when i guess we weren't that common) was all the attention I got. I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not really. Just something that I had to learn to deal with.

Do ya think if they look kinda dark with Asiatic features would they get a lil more acceptance here by the Thais? Or would it be pretty much the same as what you experienced ya think?

Its hard to say. There are some luk krueng who look quite Thai but with some caucasian features. I think these are able to blend in more easily and are more easily accepted as Thai, if they have been brought up that way.

My mother is Chinese, so I dont look Thai at all. Most Thais just assume I'm a farang, but i've also been mistaken for so many different races/nationalities i've lost count. Japanese, Hawaiian, Brahmin, Russian and even German?? My girlfriend says that sometimes I look more Asian and sometimes i look more farang, so I must be some sort of chameleon.

Your kids would be a mix of 3 races, so I guess that would cause even more confusion for people trying to guess where they are from. But I would be willing to bet that they would be great looking kids.

My advice to you, for what its worth, is that if you do bring them up in Thailand, you must bring them up to be western (American, or whatever) and give them an education that goes with that. That way, they will have much more of an advantage in life than if they were brought up Thai. Of course thats not to say that they shouldn't have a love and understanding of their Thai roots as well.

This is not meant in any derogatory way to Thai people who I love dearly, but I would much rather be a farang looking in to Thailand, than a Thai looking out.

Your input is really appreciated thanks man.

Anytime.

wasn't the beach in The Beach filmed on Phi Phi Ley?

I know the film was set around that area, but i thought it was filmed on Phi Phi.

Hey A question for Tom Yum and mixed white/Thais do you feel more drawn to one culture or another or do ya feel kinda on the outside of both not really part of either one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I feel i am quite western and hardly Thai at all. This is hardly surprising as I went to an international school in BKK, then boarding school and uni in the UK. I definitely identify more with the western mindset and I never felt out of place in the UK.

However, since i moved back to Thailand, i have taken a keen interest in modern Thai culture. This is an effort on my part to gain a deeper understanding of my country of birth.

I don't feel 100% accepted by Thais as one of them. This is understandable as i don't look Thai. Appearance is everything here, a perfect Thai accent or manners isn't going to change that.

I observe Thai cultural norms as much as i can when i'm here. I feel this is necessary as a luk krung living in Thailand. I could act like a farang and i suspect i could get by just fine, but then i would be missing out on a lot of things.

So to answer your question, i feel a little like an outsider in Thailand, but it doesn't bother me. Thailand is one of the nicest places to feel like an outsider as i'm sure many on this forum will agree.

its the unwillingness of Thais to lose money on anything.

i know a guy who requested a chargeback after he was charged the 3%. He won and got his 200 or so baht back. Not sure i would have bothered but it does annoy me when they do it.

of course the more memory for your video card the better.

I'm using a GeForce 5700 256mb and Simmo is right, its getting a bit slow.

starting to see a lot of ddr 2 memory chips now too. might be worth considering if in your price range.

Don't know too much about ATI cards either. But a friend just bought a 9600 Pro which is supposed to be getting on a bit, and he reports good results.

i dont know anything about teaching but i can't help feeling that the education most Thais receive is blinkered and narrow enough.

surely broadening the horizons of your students is a good thing?

I think you already seem to know the answer. If you are playing today's modern games with an integrated video card, then its going to be slow.

stick a mid-range video card in there and you should see a marked improvement. check what type of card your mobo supports, ie AGP, PCI-Express etc.

more RAM also never hurt anybody. For a basic gaming pc you should be looking at at least 1 gig. don't forget to use 2 identical sticks so u can take advantage of dual channel ddr.

I find the opposite. I used to smoke much more in the UK, and i particularly enjoyed those cigarettes when its nice and cold out. The cold air feels nice when u inhale and u get a satifyingly large puff of smoke/water vapour when u exhale.

In Thailand, i don't know what it is but smoking when its warm is nowhere near as pleasurable.

Anyway, its a filthy habit and i've been gradually cutting down to the point where i only have about 6 or 7 a day.

I agree with Skylar. It is how we define ourselves that matters.

I've met many Eurasians like myself. In general, those who have been brought up and educated exclusively in Thailand seem to be more Thai and I would guess feel more Thai in themselves. I've also met Eurasians brought up and educated exclusively in the UK as well as other European countries, and they appear very European in manner and outlook. Again i would guess that they feel more western/European in themselves.

But of course i am only guessing.

However, i also think that how you view yourself is greatly influenced by how you are perceived by those around you, especially when you are young.

For those kids brought up in Thailand, a lot will depend on their appearance, whether they are able to pass for Thai or not. Outward appearance is very important in Thailand, so even if a kid who is very obviously mixed, or even very farang-looking, was brought up as a Thai, i doubt they could ever feel like they are Thai. They would be constantly reminded by those around them, either directly or indirectly, that they were not. At best they would always be "luk krueng".

If they look pretty much Thai, and i have met a few of these, then they have a much better chance of being accepted as Thai. Consequently they may grow up to view themselves as Thai. This appears to be the case with those i have come across.

If you look very farang, like me, then you have very little chance of being accepted as Thai. I actually have to keep insisting that i am not a farang, especially when they try to charge me farang prices .

I speak Thai and try to act as Thai as I can when i'm in Thailand because i find it helps to ingratiate myself to people around me. But I don't feel very Thai, and i'm not bothered that i am not viewed by others as a Thai. Being treated as a foreigner in my own country used to bother me when i was younger, but i have learnt that the advantages of being in my position far outweigh the disadvantages.

Apologies for rambling on.

We speak a mixture of Thai and English, sometimes in the same sentence.

How about halfbreeds? Does it sound better?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Err, in a word, no. But i suspect u already knew that.

Mixed race, or in my case eurasian, is perfectly acceptable.

Once you start talking about breeds and or hybrids, images of Nazi scientists spring to mind.

i think u forgot to type something Richard