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Gecko123

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Posts posted by Gecko123

  1. 8 minutes ago, Beerzy65 said:

    In what way is Farang derogatory?

    Definition

    "In modern Thailand, the Royal Institute Dictionary 1999, the official dictionary of Thai words, defines the word as "a person of white race".[9] The term is also blended into everyday terms meaning "of/from the white race"."

    however if a Thai called me a Kwai I  would be offended.

     

    People cite this as a definitive source, but it should be noted that:

     

    1. This dictionary was published 26 years ago.

    2. The definition research may have been done up to 10 years or longer prior to the publication date.

    3. Dictionaries are not infallible, and many Thai-English dictionaries offer only limited nuance and fall back on dated entries with little effort to update contemporary usage. The linguistic resources available to compile fully nuanced Thai bi-lingual dictionaries , even at the highest levels, have sometimes fallen short of what one might expect.

    4. Anybody who speaks Thai well will tell you that the term is colloquially and routinely applied to Westerners in general and its usage is not limited exclusively to white people.

    5. I am confident that these colloquial and nuanced usages will be incorporated into future Thai dictionaries, hopefully resolving this godforsaken debate once and for all.

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  2. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I did not hear any discussion of whether "farang" is an offensive term in the tik tok video referenced in the OP. I assume this subject was discussed by the Russian guy in another video, just not in the video linked in the OP. I'm of the school of thought, as I think many of you know already, that 'farang' is most often used as harmless colloquial shorthand for "foreigner", and I fail to see how parallels between its use and the Italian guy greeting someone in Thailand with ni hao should be drawn.

     

    Regarding the 'ni hao' controversy, I've been wondering what would happen if the Italian guy was running around Japan or South Korea greeting everyone with the Chinese 'ni hao.' Sure, he would get a lot of amused and confused looks, but I'll bet he would also be corrected fairly frequently about how to say hello in the native language. I think a lot of Japanese or South Koreans would at a minimum be mildly put off or offended if this were to happen.

     

    The strength of feelings of national pride may vary from person to person and from region to region, but visitors should be cautious about showing respect for the culture and avoid taking liberties. It probably wasn't "racist" per se, but it was presumptuous and did not show respect for the culture or the person involved. 

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  3. I've noticed on a number of other occasions that Thais who have studied or lived abroad and endured overt racial condescension and micro aggressions while there, sometimes - justifiably - harbor resentments towards Westerners here for the racial mistreatment they experienced in the West long after they return to Thailand. While some may label it hyper-sensitivity or having a chip on your shoulder, but it can often be traced back to mistreatment they experienced while abroad. The message they seem to want to convey is: "you may get away with that crap back home, but you in my country now, boy!'

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  4. I can appreciate and fully accept that people have different political views. But when someone who has repeatedly made clear that they see themselves as above average intellectually and well read, chooses to turn a blind eye to the cruelty, autocratic bent, and wanton racism of Trump's incompetent and chaotic administration, and blithely ignores the dangers to our democracy he presents as if he were Eliza Doolittle blithely picking out a new parasol or lace handkerchief in a sundry shop: (1) it completely undercuts any pretensions they might have about being an intellectual heavy weight, and, (2) tells me they lack the intellectual gravitas and historical perspective to recognize the brainwashing indoctrination of the right-wing media sphere. Well sensitized to the supposed dangers of wokeism, DEI programs run amuck, welfare fraud, and transgenders reading books to impressionable children in public libraries, people like this ignore the true danger of encroaching fascism, and the downside of trying to turn back the clock and denying that America is at its essence is a multi-cultural and multiracial society. It saddens me, but more importantly, it angers me. Look, for example, at his response to my post sharing the Democracy Now piece on Elon Musk's families South African apartheid and neo-Nazi past which raised serious questions about his ideological upbringing.  Saying  "'thanks for sending that Democracy Now 'thingy'" does not strike me as a serious response from someone who started a thread "why, oh why, has the left turned on Elon?" and seriously wants to explore answers to the question he posed.

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  5. 1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

    Interesting legal question. If it is argued that there are only two sexes: male or female, and a male who has transitioned to a female is still considered a male, which public decency standards for baring one's breasts would apply to a man who has transitioned to a woman? The standard for a man or for a woman?

     

    Because if you argue that a transexual woman exposing her breasts is an act of public indecency at the same time you classify her by her birth sex as male, then what you're saying is that exposing a male chest which has been surgically modified to resemble female breasts is an act of public indecency. Which raises the question of whether men who suffer from gynecomastia or large breasts are committing an act of public indecency when they take off their shirt. And how about a woman who has her breasts surgically removed as part of her transition to a man. Should that person who the law still classifies by her birth sex as female, be allowed to remove her shirt in public? As these two examples highlight, I don't think trying to pigeon hole everyone into either one or the other sex is going to be as simple as anti-LGBTQ+ legislators imagine it will be.

  6. 36 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

     

    My God, how much energy have you put into your ramblings in this thread?

     

    You guys are tenacious, aren't you?

     

    And apparently have not much else to do except bark on the internet. 

     

    Frisco Kid's posts on this thread are well-written and his descriptions have the precision of laser guided munitions. Your lazy attempt to dismiss the truth of what he said only serves to remind readers of your intellectually dishonest and shallow critiques of anything that doesn't fit your narrative.

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  7. 17 minutes ago, JAG said:

    I am not sure that Musk is really a Nazi, in the conventional sense.

     

    He is as all know extremely wealthy, but it seems he has little interest in any of the material benefits of such wealth. His range of partners and children rather suggests no interest or commitment to conventional family.

     

    He is interested in power - he is astute enough to realise that he cannot gain it through election - he is too bizarre a figure for that, but he is astute enough to realise that in Trump he can buy it! Not buy influence to benefit himself, the probable aim of his fellow oligarchs, but buy power that he can wield.

     

    Trump however is driven by narcissism, which feeds off wealth; he is attracted by the opulent trappings of conspicuous wealth, the gold elevators, gold plated toilets, gold cherubs over the doors to the Oval Office (taste is not a factor!). In Musk he sees a source of wealth, one which will allow him to continue to enjoy these trappings despite his somewhat ramshackle and indebted business empires. He allows Musk to carry on, even if it jars, witness his remarkable impression of a bulldog chewing a wasp when Elon and child were showboating in the Oval Office. Money, Trump wants, needs, lusts after it, relies on it; Musk has it.

     

    That's why, as I said before, I think that the Trump/Musk axis will last - it benefits, feeds their different ambitions. It is not really a reflection of conventional politics.

     

     

  8. 25 minutes ago, KhaoHom said:

    I set up a myss account already when in USA ,but I never saw the point of it. There were serious security measures and the password system was very tedious. I no longer have that password I believe.

     

    How early should I begin? I want to draw about 11 mo's from now. I'd read maybe on big SS site four months. Maybe 6 here?

     

    What sort of docs will they want?

     

    Is it just as easy to deposit in USA as Thailand? Do you avoid the dread letter?  I use a friend's house as a drop, but can't be forever.

     

    Part B

    I'm a dead ender here so no part B..

    Would be interested to know if you can access your my ss account from Thailand. I imagine you can't, but if you can, I'm pretty sure you can file the on line app for benefits on that website. Just follow the time frames indicated on line, no need for longer lead time just because you are overseas. Documents required are minimal (although as I am sure you are aware God only knows what requirements Trump might try to institute between now and the time you apply.  I recall now that after app is filed you will have some sort of phone interview with Manila where some preliminary identity verification questions are asked, (city of birth, mother's maiden name, that sort of thing.) Just as easy to have payment deposited into US account, but does not eliminate proof of life letter. That's triggered by your mailing address. Should point out that payment into US account allows you control of the timing of currency exchange.  

     

    P.S. Pretty sure you can download the benefits app from the SS website even if you don't have or can't access your MySS website.

  9. Any email correspondence with Manila should generate a "do not reply" automatic response advising you that they will respond to your inquiry within 14 working days or thereabouts. You can start the application process by sending an email to Manila, but you will soon be asked to complete a formal ss application which I believe needs to be sent back by mail. Recommend either registered or EMS express mail svc when corresponding with Manila just for the peace of mind tracking provides.

     

    You can't set up a MySocial Security account on line outside the US. Once the  application  is processed by Manila, you will then need to verify your identity in person either at the Embassy in Bangkok or consulate in Chiang Mai. I don't know anything about taxation of social security benefits deposited to a Thai bank account, but you don't need a "special" account, a regular savings account is fine. You also might want to start thinking about whether you want to have Part B or other Medicare plan premiums deducted from your ss benefit.

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  10. On 4/12/2025 at 6:22 PM, Gecko123 said:

     

    It's superficial reasoning to argue that just because Trump has a Jewish in-law and is buddying up to Netanyahu that there are no parallels between Trump and National Socialism. The Nazis used the Jewish people as a convenient scapegoat for all of Germany's problems post WWI (accusing them of having been the cause of Germany's defeat, portraying them as money grubbing and defiling the racial purity of the Germanic people.) They were also associated with hated Bolshevism (Communism).

     

    The Nazis used the Jewish people as a scapegoat, labelling them the "other" which needed to be eliminated from German society. It's also important to point out that the Nazis were almost equally as hostile to most all other non-Germanic people as well. My point is that the Nazis could just as easily chosen a different scapegoat if circumstances had permitted it.

     

    The Trump administration has merely substituted immigrants, Muslims, and other minority groups for the scapegoat target, but simply because the choice of scapegoat target has changed does not eliminate the parallels between the Nazi and MAGA movements.

     

    When you look at Trump's efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch, the use of propaganda, the untethering from the truth, the cult-like fervor behind the MAGA movement, the attacks on the press, the judiciary, the Federal reserve, the threats of militia and street violence, the attacks on educational institutions (book burning anyone?) as well as all of the other anti-democratic and autocratic steps he has taken, the parallels between the tactics and policies he is pursuing and the tactics and policies the Nazis pursued are unmistakable.

     

    Furthermore, Trump's positions on foreign aid to third world countries, refusal to acknowledge climate change (which disproportionately impacts third world countries, his ethnic cleansing approach to the Gaza conflict, and his immigration policies, etc., etc. can all be seen as being in line with Nazi "survival of the fittest" ideology. 

     

     

     

    Put more succinctly, the driving ideology behind National Socialism was that the Aryan race was superior to other races. Jewish people were a convenient target at the time, but the target could have been any non-Aryan people, so I do not believe that anti-Semitism was necessarily an immutable element of Nazi ideology. Any non-Aryan group could have been the target had historical circumstances permitted it, so arguing that because the MAGA movement doesn't necessarily exhibit overt anti-Semitism excludes the possibility that other elements of Nazi exist would be incorrect, in my opinion.

     

    The Trump administration is clearly playing racial identity politics similar to those employed by the Nazis. His policies on immigration (southern border wall, muslim ban, revoking visas for legal non-white immigrants, etc.), his anti-DEI and anti-affirmative action, slashing humanitarian and levying destabilizing tariffs on third world countries, support of white national identity parties such as the RN in France, and the AfD in Germany, the pardoning of those convicted of playing violent and having leadership roles in the Jan 6th attack on the Capitol are all reflections of a white nationalist agenda and is not dissimilar to the tactics the National Socialists used to try and subordinate everyone else's interests to those of the party.

     

    It also needs to be recognized that the MAGA movement's attempt to consolidate power in the executive branch of government while disempowering the legislative and judicial branches of government isn't just an attempt to consolidate power in the executive branch of government, but an effort to remove the checks and balances of the American form of government, which is ultimately an attempt to take control of the government away from the people, something which the National Socialist party aggressively attempted to do as well.

     

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