
Gecko123
-
Posts
5,082 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Events
Forums
Downloads
Quizzes
Gallery
Blogs
Posts posted by Gecko123
-
-
2 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:
Farang is race dependent.
No, it's not. It's etymological root may have evolved from the word farang set (French), but in current day colloquial usage it is a term for Westerners and non-Asian people regardless of their race.
-
1
-
-
- Popular Post
53 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:CAN and MAN and Stan annd Dan are definitely not pronounced as the thai word for potato.
it is a different vowel.
The mun in mun farang is the same vowel as in English you would say “fun” or “bun” or “run”.
This is a forum for learning.
If you are going to correct somebody make sure you are actually correct yourself.
Now go and ask your wife or any thai to say it to you.
It rhymes with fun, run, or bun, not man, Dan, Stan or CAN.
I have spent time now trying to help you, if you won’t listen then I can not help you any further.
You are completely incorrect. I recall explaining this very same thing to you about 6 months ago. Using 'mun' as a transliteration for 'มัน' is completely incorrect, and shows you are using an elementary (and incorrect) transliteration guide for pronunciation. If you still don't believe me, punch มันฝร่ง into google translate and then hit the pronunciation icon. You hear 'man', not 'mun.' As I told you 6 months ago, you need to switch over to the phonetic alphabet used in Mary Haas' Thai Student dictionary and Benjawan P. Becker's Beginning and Intermediate Thai books if you are seriously interested in advancing in the language, otherwise I can almost guarantee your efforts will putter out at best at the advanced beginner level. No advanced dictionaries or grammar guides use the transliteration guide you are currently using.
The reason I'm taking this tone with you is because I recall when you announced you were starting to study Thai (less than a year ago if I recall correctly) and I think it's a bit premature for you to be taking the tone you've taken in the above post. Get back to me when you've got 5 - 10 years under your belt, sonny boy.
-
2
-
1
-
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.
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
3 hours ago, Georgealbert said:I love Hua Hin even more today.
A story about forgiveness on Easter Sunday. Very nice.
-
1
-
1
-
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!'
-
2
-
-
- Popular Post
It wouldn't be offensive if a Chinese person had used the Chinese word for 'hello', but when a Western foreigner uses the Chinese word for 'hello' in Thailand as if to say 'that's close enough of a greeting here in Thailand,' that is fairly offensive. If the tourist didn't know how to greet someone in the Thai language, he should have stuck to the universal "hello" in English. An Italian greeting a Thai person in Mandarin Chinese probably would have gone over the head of most Thai people, but the Thai/Scottish guy, having studied abroad, being bilingual, and probably familiar with the Western cliche that 'all Asians look alike' decided to call the guy out on it. Could he have maybe handled the situation a little more diplomatically? Probably, but I'm not going to fault the guy for letting the tourist know his behavior was offensive.
-
3
-
- Popular Post
27 minutes ago, Georgealbert said:“She found the dog at the shelter and took pity on it,” the abbot said. “I warned her that it was a large and potentially dangerous breed. After my own injury, I suggested she find someone else to adopt it.”
God bless that woman for having tried to give the dog a good home, but don't see how it would not be irresponsible to allow someone else to adopt the dog at this point, and can't imagine who would want to, given its history. Putting the dog down is understandably probably not an option an abbot would want to consider, but the danger this dog presents to the community is real.
-
15
-
1
-
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.
-
1
-
-
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.
-
- Popular Post
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?
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
- Popular Post
2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:No, it's trickery.
It's mostly character assassination of Gamma and then insinuating that since Gamma is obviously a buffoon for all the silly threads he's started, then by association anyone of such ilk who supports Elon must be on the wrong side of the fence.
But you have to live with the fact that you have FriscoKid on "your team".
If GG being on team Trump doesn't give the forum's MAGA acolytes pause for reflection and trigger some serious soul-searching, I don't know what will.
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
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.
-
1
-
-
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.
-
- Popular Post
46 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:There was a time I actually felt sorry for you because of your clear mental health issues, and I held back from commenting on many of your ridiculous and misguided topics. But after seeing the kind of garbage you’ve been spewing lately about politics, influential figures, China, and more, any shred of sympathy I once had for you is gone. Your approach is purely grotesque, repugnant, and beneath contempt.
Could not agree more with your sentiment.
-
1
-
2
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
42 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:100% this. Scummy people who wouldn't have even considered Thailand in the past are now thinking if cannabis is allowed, Thailand must be somewhere I can get away with anything, let's go!
Well said. It's the Amsterdam/Las Vegas/Cancun effect. I wasn't trying to suggest that cannabis makes people more aggressive, but I am saying that when cannabis becomes part of the allure of coming to Thailand, it starts attracting people who have less respect for the culture, and who see Thailand merely as a party destination where anything goes.
-
1
-
3
-
1
-
1
-
5 minutes ago, Yagoda said:
Stoned folks dont fight. They eat, giggle and one quotes Tennyson to the toilet while another raids the fridge
People making this argument ignore the fact that cannabis is quite often used in combination with alcohol and other drugs.
-
2
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
41 minutes ago, save the frogs said:go ahead and be in denial that bars in general along with girlie bars doesn't attract lower quality individuals.
this is taking place right on soi 6 in front of a bar.
Not denying anything. I'm saying the bars, cannabis tourism, and casinos? are all part of a tourism ecosystem that influences who decides to come here, and Thailand would be smart to evaluate this if they are interested in improving their tourism demographics.
-
1
-
3
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
Maybe I've been here too long, but seems like a very efficient way to neutralize problems of this nature. Hopefully video goes viral and will serve to discourage other blowhard wannabe tough guys.
I also think that cannabis tourism has played a significant role in attracting more lower quality and culturally disrespectful tourists with an "anything goes in Thailand" mentality.
-
3
-
12
-
2
-
2
-
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.
-
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.
-
1
-
1
-
-
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.
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
12 minutes ago, frank83628 said:You quote CNN, the worst of all the MSM outlets by far
If you had bothered to check, your beloved Fox News reported the exact same story. Hope you can take your fingers out of your ears and stop sucking your thumb right about now.
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
I'm guessing the reason the Russian troll Yagoda is so irritable this morning and is spluttering like the granny on the Beverly Hillbillies is because he's been recently called on the carpet by his handlers in St. Petersburg for drinking on the job.
-
3
-
1
-
1
-
2
-
1
-
5
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
The WI teen was a right-wing nut-job who killed his parents as part of the plot. Sounds much in the same mold as Dylann Roof.
A three-page document the FBI found called for Trump’s assassination to create a political revolution in the US and “save the white race.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/13/us/wisconsin-teen-plot-assassinate-trump/index.html
Sadly sounds like he immersed himself in the same Trump propaganda echo chamber media sphere as a depressing number of posters on this forum.
-
3
-
3
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
2
Russian Teacher to Thais: Drop ‘Farang’ if 'Ni Hao' Offends
in Thailand News
Posted
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.