sambum

Sorry - not quite a monopoly, but might as well be!

Checked out the price for Thai Air TG 281 for next Friday (Random check - only 1 flight that day!) :-

One way flight from B/K to Koh Samui - 6460 baht (Sorry - just gone up to 6985 baht!) and to be honest I don't know if there are any extras on top of that (Airport Taxes etc)

I  flew from Surat Thani to B/K on Thai Air on 27 Dec 2016 returning on 09 Jan 2017 (Peak Holiday Time) and the price was less than 5000 baht (about 4900 baht) inc all taxes etc.

So now, in future, I will not be using Bangkok Airways OR Thai Airways to get off Koh Samui!!!

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You download the application and credit card forms here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration

Thank you ubonjoe - that's a big help!

11 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It has been that way for several months and has been discussed before.

They accept credit or debit cards not just credit cards.

Sorry - I didn't realise that it had been discussed before.

However, from the latest application form (Dated 6 December 2016) :-

"Payment Options Credit Card Payment will be taken in GBP. Complete the Credit Card Authorisation Form We will provide your letter within 10 working days." 

(Where do you find the "Credit Card Authorisation Form"?)

However, I note that further down they state:-

"Note: Please get in touch with us, if you want to discuss the alternative payment option." (Which I presume may be by Debit Card)

Another new bombshell from the British Embassy! The Proof of Income letter provided by the Consular Section in order to acquire a "Retirement" Visa has always had to be paid for by means of a Postal Draft from the Post Office. Now they say that it has to be paid for for by Credit Card! Most of us know that transactions using  Credit Cards in this country are often problematic - even when the Credit Card is perfectly valid, so why have they changed what was a perfectly simple system? After all, you have to go to the Post Office to send your application anyway! 

21 hours ago, bokningar said:

So what route has a Airline monopoly?

Give me at least 3.

Or I will be incline to think no other airline would like to be there.

Why do you need 3?

As already stated, the route from Bangkok to Koh Samui is a Airline monopoly by Bangkok Air, which explains the ridiculously high prices in comparison to journeys of a similar distance. 

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I'm sure that isn't illegal in Thailand and most other nations. Not sure about Czech Rep. Definitely ethically wrong. But again people having sex have a responsibility to protect themselves too. Probably most don't even ask casual partners about their status. Dampens the mood.

I didn't say that it was illegal. 

28 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

To add, an HIV plus person having unprotected sex with someone and failing to inform of status is obviously ethically wrong (if not always illegal) but it really isn't the same as murder for a number of reasons:

 

-- the chances of any one sex encounter with an HIV plus person are not that high (though that's obviously increased based on type of sex act)

-- the other partner is not totally innocent if they fail to take actions themselves to get information and/or insist on safe sex practices

-- HIV, although a very serious disease, is now a treatable chronic condition meaning that a significant percentage of HIV plus people will die of something else

 

So if that is the same as murder, would people say driving passengers at high speed without seat belts is also the same as murder? How about parents that feed their kids diets that are likely to lead to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease? Also murder? 

"How about parents that feed their kids diets that are likely to lead to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease?"

I bet McDonalds and Burger King don't get much business from you, then! (Me neither -  to be honest, I've seen TV programmes about their food - no thanks!)

"So if that is the same as murder, would people say driving passengers at high speed without seat belts is also the same as murder?"

It is illegal to drive a car, or be a front seat passenger without wearing a seat belt, (In the UK anyway, and I assume most Western countries.) and the onus is on the individual i.e. if you are involved in a serious accident and you (as a driver or passenger) weren't wearing a seat belt - no claim for damages!

However, in both comparisons that you quote, there is a vast difference between them and deliberately infecting somebody with a life threatening disease! 

30 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The charges on this man sound bad but I don't see any actual details about this case published here, so don't really understand why people are rushing to judgment about him. Let the Czech justice system do that. 

 

Particularly the "knowingly infect" part of the charges. What exactly did he do? Did he only have unprotected sex without informing HIV status? Nothing more aggressive than that? That is not unusual and not sure the jails are big enough if that's the only charge.

" Did he only have unprotected sex without informing HIV status? Nothing more aggressive than that?"

Is that not enough? It's like shooting a poisoned arrow into someone!

9 hours ago, damo said:

Whatever he is, he's responsible for destroying 16 lives and who knows how many others. Drown the piece of shit.

Murderer!

6 minutes ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

 

Well, kids do spell the "invented way" as it sometimes called naturally. ALL of them do (unless they have had time and experiences to see the word first). Teachers teach the alphabet. Kids practice using it thinking that this is going to be it, that the system is obviously phonemic. Then, they are told that they will have to --in essence-- misspell words, which is apparently the right thing to do. It is all very damaging. The implementation of using the alphabet and this experiment show that the ones making the decision are useless. 

 

While, technically, you are correct about the pronunciation of the vowel phonemes in "hundred"

 

(UK  /ˈhʌn.drəd/ US  /ˈhʌn.drəd/  ), ...

 

... an eminent linguist argues quite well the error that some lexicographers make: http://linguisticmystic.com/2012/10/17/whats-the-difference-between-schwa-and-wedge/

 

This guy is WIll Styler,  a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Department of Linguistics, working with [...]. His research specialization is in acoustic phonetics and speech perception, with a strongly technical and computational approach (http://savethevowels.org/will/)

 

Apparently we are verbotten to copy more than 3 lines. I urge people to read the full explanation, without which the person is not given a fair deal:

 

So sorry, to me and him (and I would argue a lot of people) it is not anything but a schwa (one reduced and one that is not).

 

The dialectal issue has been used for centuries to prevent a reform, but the idea of using a new (like a neutral--English-dialect as found in the chart under the diaphoneme left-hand part of the chart) AND introduce it to Grade 1 kids,... (and only to kids in schools hidden for the general public for 12 or so years) would be the best plan. This plan is explained in detail here. (No, it is not a three-liner of an explanation because, well, this is not a three-liner of an issue) Complex problems demands complex plans. That means ... reading about the idea. I could be more concise. Here is the concise version:

 

MAIN SINE QUA NON CONDITIONS for a reform (Short “how” answer)

1. No current population will be required to learn the new spellings. It will not be necessary.
2. Introduce the new system in whole to new students in level 1 (primary classes) called cohort 1 (or C1) and phase it in, one year at a time, thereafter.
3. C1 students and all future cohorts will be given bilingual, bicodal courses in the old system. They will be bicodal to some degree.
4. Other (English 1.0) students will get some instruction with the new system, but increasingly so for the cohorts that are closer to the new system’s cohorts .
5. Use diaphonemes (average of phonemic variations of main dialects) or some kind of agreed system depending on the countries/dialects willing and interested.
6. Use an extremely systematic and phonemic scheme with virtually no exceptions. No compromise.
7. Keep local, dialectal spoken/speech
8. Use computer technology to transcode material. Writers will see their work published in two varieties, or as desired by the customer using a free transcoding program.
9. No loss of jobs. Translators/interpreters will still be needed for the current population.

 

We are humans. The present situation is a huge problem, affecting 1.5 billions of people. We are humans and for 200 years we have not been able to solve this problem. We can build nuclear plants, bridges, satellites,... but we cannot fix a spelling system. What does that say about some of our leaders and some humans?

 

 

Words do hurt in more ways than one.

 

 

Phew! I must admit I am totally and absolutely confused, and English was my strong point at school!! But I do like the video!

22 hours ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

There are hundreds of thousands of misspelled words in the lexicon. I went too fast or I am getting lazy. Remember the diagram? There should be one and only one way to write any phoneme. There are 205 ways of spelling 44 or so. Methinks the problem is more the 160 or so incredibly stupid spellings of phonemes.

 

If a car has faulty breaks, do we blame the driver for crashing it? His parents?

 

If the schwa in words can be any vowel as shown in the diagram, then there are going to be a boat loads of words that are misspelled. Take the word "hundreds". It looks like a beautifully correctly spelled word, until you listen to it. Both vowels are pronounced roughly the same way, but are not spelled the same way. Both of these vowels are called schwas. Usually, these are unstressed and reduced, but the stressed ones are virtually the same phoneme. So, this word (like word, if you think about it ) is misspelled in the lexicon. It should be spelled: hundruds or hendreds. (I am not touching at the "s" sounding like a /z/, btw.) It is called "consistency". How do we expect people to follow rules, when the very first ones they learn are broken time and time again. In fact, it is even crazier than this because we are urging people to break the rule. No, do not write like it sounds. No! Do not write "peepul"? That's wrong! Write "people"! I know we are breaking several rules, here, but that's OKAY! LOL

 

(Note: I am lazy (not paid a penny to write this) and do not like to proofread.)

 

There used to be a system in use in the UK where primary school children up to a certain age were taught to spell the word as it was pronounced e.g.your example above,  "peepul". (It had a certain name, but I forget it as it was after my time!) At a certain age they then had to begin to use use the correct form of spelling!! As you say, things are confusing enough as they are, so I believe it was abandoned after a short time.

However, I disagree with you on the point that the 2 vowels in the word "hundreds" sound the same - I think they are totally different if the word is pronounced correctly! "Hendreds"? Sounds like a chicken with a Bob Marley hairstyle!!! 

We also have the different pronunciations of words caused by different geographical locations, and on this I agree that for a foreigner this must be very confusing (e.g. the "Geordie" accent, where "hinnie" has nothing to do with chickens!) Also the American pronunciation of "New York" - (NOO York - when you go to church, you don't sit in a "poo" you sit in a "pew", do you not?)

1 hour ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

 

Sorry!

 

And, ...

 

Reading a lot tendS to mitigate ...

I see your point, but if the words were taught correctly in the first place, there wouldn't be " hundreds of thousands of misspelled words"

I also believe that learning all things at all levels correctly (not just spelling) instils a type of respect, not just for others, but also for yourself, and makes for future jobs being performed correctly.

P.S. And " It affectS 1.5 billion people worldwide."

       And " reading those "Dick and Jane's bookS" ?

          Or " reading those "Dick and Jane" books" ?

(Sorry - not being pernickety, and I do like your post!!)  

2 hours ago, Dustdevil said:

That's all very well but I get annoyed when native speakers confuse "lose" with "loose." Can't even spell a four-letter word. No to mention in predictable and invariable confusion with they're, their and there. My God, is it so difficult to get it right?

Yes indeed - agree 100%! I am of an age where the 3 "R's" (Reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic) were regarded as the fundamental rules of education. I did not go to University as my parents could not afford it, but I find it obscene when a teenager/young adult gets a degree in English and can not even spell proper(ly)! (But we have "spellcheck" now!)

I am not anti American in most respects, but I feel that they are to blame in many cases of misuse of the English language - e.g. "it must of been their fault - its kinda obvious".

On 1/11/2017 at 6:24 AM, LomSak27 said:

"He said: "And that is not all. Some foreigners are walking down the main street in Pai in bikinis. I know it is a tourist area but there are temples all around there."

 

 

Tourist season is here and what do Thai's love above all other things. To feel outrage, to believe someone somewhere is disrespecting Thailand, to join together in righteous indignation and loathing egged on by the media and all three political parties that have held office since 1997. It’s a national sport and so much fun !!

And where will this all lead to ... basically tourists get tired of it and stop coming, tourists numbers fall and the TAT has to try and find new tourists. Hmm, Maybe under some rocks in Greenland …

Before our resident Troll teamers joins the fray to denounce low life tourists and the disrespect,  my country has the same tourists and they do stupid things, however the media does not ram it on the television and the front pages of papers and internet. It is generally thought that other news is more important than what numbnuts are doing on vacation.

Until Thailand realizes this fact, tourist numbers will continue to drop - my bet is it is too much fun too stop and thai culture gets too much milage on finding disrespect to put the brakes on it. 

 

 

"TAT has to try and find new tourists."  That has never been a problem! Just ask all the bar and hotel owners in the tourist resorts how they were  totally underwhelmed last year! TAT just puts the statistics %'s up a couple of notches, and everything's hunky dory again - for the people who aren't involved in trying to make a living from the tourist trade!)

5 hours ago, soalbundy said:

In a land full of cheats and corruption what is one supposed to do? break a lance for honesty,  be poor and get yourself killed? It is easy for us to talk, not so easy for those living and relying on the system. Ones friends and colleagues are working the system, to try and be honest would result in you being ostracized, alone and without protection.   

"Serpico", anyone?

10 hours ago, mikebell said:

Until the RTP are brought to their collective knees, Thailand will continue to be a 3rd World country.  I agree with Smedly above, Prayuth must act decisively, ruthlessly and soon.

As an Army General he must be used to giving orders. For once I would like to see him really lose his rag, order a few top branches to be cleared, and REALLY do his nut if these instructions are not met - IMMEDIATELY!

Without wanting to go off topic, I believe he ordered the fiasco of the non working incinerators on Koh Samui garbage dump to be sorted out last year. Anything done yet apart from another "meeting"?

15 hours ago, halloween said:

Just checked Bangkok Air Samui-BKK tomorrow. Cheapest flight B4910, cheapest seat (promo ) on more desirable flights B8160, "Web Freedom" seats B12990.

LoongJohn got it right, I reckon! :-  "Market Forces" translation:  We do it because we can get away with it."

And Bangkok Air have  got to be the worst offenders because they have the monopoly of Samui Airport - a similar length of flight from BKK by Bangkok Air to say, Ubon Ratchathani costs less than half the price because they have to compete with other airlines. I refuse to use Bangkok Air for this reason.

12 hours ago, optad said:

How can you possibly state there is 'no serious tsunami  in the near future' ? 

 

Can hardly predict the weather let alone earthquakes. 

Beat me to it!

On 12/23/2016 at 1:37 PM, Get Real said:

The smiling people on the photo after a serious thing like this, must definitely be something that doesn't hurt the image of the country. How can they be allowed to smile on that photo? Shameful!

Ahem! :-  "doesn't" hurt the image of the country. Is that a typo or a touch of sarcasm?

4 hours ago, Grubster said:

I was overcharged in a bar and stated my case. The bar owner/manager went nuts firing bottles at me hard, I got lucky to block them as they glanced off my arms, I was also lucky that I had already paid the overcharged bin as I'm sure they would not have let us run out the door otherwise and I probably would have looked like this guy. I like to pay as I go now unless I'm on friendly ground. I am about the happiest guy you will ever meet and never look for trouble.

               I was also in Pattaya when a loud mouth Thai boxer confronted a US marine and got his but kicked, half hour later the Marine was shot dead by this punk.

              I also saw a guy smashed drunk one night stumbling around the soi's just north of walking street, he was being followed at a distance by two Thais, I got in between and followed him till he got his bearings and found his hotel.   They were not looking to help him.

               You won't see many of these beatings unless you are out really late and they don't normally do it with other farangs around as they know better.

                 I suggest you try it by yourself before you are so sure.

            Even if the guy provoked them do you think that type of beating is required?

Obviously it hasn't been proved that he was beaten yet - well, at least according to the headline!

3 hours ago, fstarbkk said:

I can see a knee-jerk reaction coming from the authorities, just like the ban on anti allergy meds containing pseudoephedrine a few years ago. Here we have some dim-witted junkie who can't/won't read the instructions in the box.

As a result hundreds of thousands of people with a legitimate need, will be denied access to an effective medication for their suffering.

 

As Paracelsus, the father of modern pharmacology, said: Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy. 
 

"I can see a knee-jerk reaction coming from the authorities,"L

Like the ban on alcohol on trains because one of their own employees - high on drink and drugs raped and murdered a 12 year old girl!

53 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

It is dumping of commercial volumes of rubbish out at sea that is the problem. You only got to ask the right locals.

I suppose this lot floated in from the sea? About 250, 000 tonnes at the last estimate! (June 2016)

1 hour ago, TPI said:

Town, Provincial and Federal governments do not and will not put rubbish bins out for the people to use! You can't really blame the "people" as they're in exactly the same spot we are!

Now, if you could encourage your local Pu Yai Ban to put some rubbish bins out on the side of the road in the village (without anyone stealing them) that would be a big start for the whole country!!

And a hefty 500 baht fine  for those caught stealing or in possession of "Council/Public" bins?

7 hours ago, jesimps said:

I see you're a newbie and it shows in your post. Tourists are normally excellent at disposing of their rubbish, either binning it or taking it away with them. It's the Thai's themselves that litter the place, they come to the beaches with everything, including the kitchen sink and just leave all their garbage laying around when they leave. Lots are sensible enough to bag it, but then just dump it on the ground when the bins are full, which seems to be most of the time, instead of taking it home with them.

 

Also, as said in the original article, people living up the creeks just throw their rubbish into the water and during rainstorms it all washes down to the beaches.

 

There also seems to be no control on illegal dumping, many scenic areas are ruined by mountains of building and household rubbish.

 

In my opinion, it's caused by lack of deterrent. If there was a 20,000 baht fine for littering, and it was enforced, then there's be a lot less of it. Money's number one in Thailand and if the locals were to be hit in their pocket, then I'm sure there'd be a dramatic improvement.

 

Cue the Thai-bashing policemen who'll say that the farang are as guilty as the locals.

 

It would help if there were "wheelie bins" or decent sized bins to put the rubbish in! These are few and far between, and seem to be disappearing by the week, to be replaced by mountains of bags of rubbish where the bins used to be! 

5 hours ago, gdgbb said:

It's the same in every country, including yours (whatever country that is), an investigation takes more than one officer, obviously.

Yes - obviously - usually 2 (So that there is a witness to what is said or done) but 6 or 7? Overkill!  

Anyway, I thought that they were supposed to be ceasing this activity of parading suspects in front of the camera?

6 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 

 Dude, you're totally wrong. The word "Baksidaa" is only used to talk about the fruit "Farang." = Guava

 

   If your wife calls Westerners Baksidaas. she's insulting them and of course you.

 

      Baksidaa  is the Isaan/ Lao word for the Guava fruit. Farang is also the Thai word for the Guava fruit introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago, which of course can lead to jokes when foreigners are seen eating a guava in Thailand.

 

But the fruit's originally from Central America and the West Indies.

 

    Your wife seems to be one of the people who call you "mann".  " Mann Bai Sai? basically, means where's the thing? Calling you, or any Westerner a Baksidaa/ thing is more than an insult.

 

  If she doesn't say your name when answering where you are, there's something wrong. Example: "Frank bai sai?" " Frank bai Talart."  If you hear : Mann bai talart it''s time to have a chat with your wife. 

 

  Even when Thai wives are using it when they talk about their Thai husbands, it's considered very impolite to call anybody "Mann." 

 

     

 

     

 

      

So if my Thai wife says "Come on, man, your tea's ready!" it's an insult?

The type of people I grew up with call each other "man" all the time - I believe it was originally a Jazz expression, but it is certainly not meant as a derogatory term - the opposite in fact. And I am not prepared to say to anyone who uses the expression "Sorry, but how are you spelling that?"