Gecko123

Hey Bill: Sorry to hear about your health problems. I'm skeptical that a local government hospital is going to be able to get to the bottom of the problem. My experience is that most of the time they simply don't have the diagnostic equipment and the doctors are too overwhelmed to give this type of problem the attention it deserves. Hope you feel better, buddy.

Cabbie is a hero for circling back to condo and alerting security guard.

I honestly can't understand how this conclusion was reached when 292 seats went to parties with strong platforms against recreational cannabis use and the architect of cannabis decriminalization only received 69 seats.

Jeez, honey, the least you could have done is wait until after I voted.

I don't think cannabis decriminalization has been anywhere near as successful for Thailand's economy as was predicted. Does anyone remember all the hype about hemp farming for textiles? R-i-i-i-ght. Thailand's probably attracted a certain demographic who are intrigued by the novelty of smoking weed on vacation, and obviously there are some hard-core aficionados in the expat community (who knew?), but on balance, there's probably a lot of tourists who are kind of turned off by the cannabis shops on every street corner environment in some cities. I have to say, when I look at some of the store fronts, street and on-line cannabis advertisement I find them to be such eye-sores, giving streets and websites a tacky seedy vibe. Nor has it done much to improve the reputation and image of expats and tourists, probably deterring more upscale and family tourists than it has attracted. Just more of treating Thailand as a place to get laid, drunk and stoned, a hedonistic playground. My sense is that recreational use is going to be scaled back to medical use, and after the election, no is going to be able to unilaterally ignore the will of the people on this issue.

To: whoever left a laugh emoji on my post about environmental consciousness playing a role in the decision not to have air conditioning, I'm rolling in money and out in the countryside where there's lots of greenery around the house and good cross ventilation, most of the time you don't really need air conditioning. But, go ahead, leave another laugh emoji on this post too, if it makes you feel better.

Would just like to say that the assumption that anyone who doesn't have air conditioning is a cheapskate isn't necessarily true. Ecological and climate concerns also factor into the decision.

Exercise early morning. During the day, if no air con in house, sitting outside in shade can be cooler than inside. Have to admit last couple of weeks have not been pleasant sleeping weather. Use two fans at foot of bed; two fans in office (wall mounted and below desk.) Drink water constantly.

No, I don't think it's total nonsense. I think it's the truth. You seem to think that having been offered to buy a joint at a full moon party qualifies you as an expert on whether decriminalization is good for Thailand. The "cannabis is native to Thailand and been around since the beginning of time" argument really doesn't stand up to scrutiny. You could say the same thing about opium. According to your reasoning, it should be legalized as well. How much do you know about the challenges of educational development in Thailand? Rural poverty? Buddhist precepts about intoxication? Road safety? Growing social alienation and psychological maladjustment among Thai youth? Those are my concerns, and I think a sizable portion of the Thai population agrees with me. Try looking beyond whether you like the idea of smoking weed on holiday or as an expat, and consider the impact on your host country for a moment. People act like decriminalization is an enlightened policy. Look at the social alienation (suicide, school shootings, mass shootings, etc.), the loneliness "epidemic" recently highlighted by the US Surgeon General, falling academic performance, and drug scourges plaguing the US and Western Europe. I don't think there's any question that drug use hasn't played a role in the development of these social problems. If you don't think cannabis decriminalization runs the risk of worsening and accelerating social problems in Thailand, and negatively impacting road safety, I strongly disagree.

I wonder how long it took for someone down on the street to look in the fridge to see if there was anything good to eat.

When you consider the negative impacts on Thailand's cultural, religious, and social values, its educational development, and road safety, as far as I'm concerned, everyone involved in Thailand's cannabis trade is a "bad actor." That applies as well to internet sites which soullessly promote the cannabis industry in the pursuit of advertising revenue.

Curious to know in what settings you were able to assess their Thai skills. Maybe in a work or teaching setting, or seeing a bar or hotel owner interact with Thai staff, but in a rural setting, how much opportunity is there really to assess an expat's Thai skills? Huddled together for a meet up at a local restaurant English is going to be spoken amongst the boys. If spouses happen to tag along, and the husband speaks Thai to his wife, most of the time conversation is limited. If another foreigner who does speak Thai is introduced to the Thai spouse of a foreigner and that foreigner tries to start yacking away in Thai with his wife, usually the foreigner who can't speak Thai will get impatient and start resenting being left out of the conversation. Sometimes, the Thai wife, sensing the foreign husband's insecurities, will disparage your Thai when they get home just to make the husband feel better. I once had a long conversation in Thai with an American woman in front of her Thai husband. The Thai husband couldn't speak English well, so in that case speaking Thai was kind of showing consideration to the Thai husband. It was kind of surreal conversing in Thai with a foreigner while a Thai person listened in. Again, I'm just curious in what setting you have had the chance to assess a foreigner's Thai skills? For me, most of the examples I've seen of foreigners with a high proficiency in Thai have come from U-tube videos, TV shows featuring the foreigner because of their language skills, or participants on Thai language internet forums. In the 20 years I've been living in a province bordering Isaan, there has only been one or two foreigners I've met locally who I would describe as being highly proficient in Thai.

Not feeling your pain, Kitty. To tell the truth, kind of enjoying it.

Would be interesting to see how the stats for Thailand's expat community compare.

@SteveyMy post was meant to be helpful.

I raised a Thai step-daughter from age 5 pretty much up to majority and occasionally encountered nosy shop keepers who asked overly inquisitive questions, but it only got overbearing to the point where I felt a line had been crossed a handful of times. If the OP is not exaggerating the frequency of these incidents, and they really are occurring practically every time he turns around, that suggests to me that there may be some historical notoriety in play here either with the girlfriend, the boy's father, or the OP which is making people feel entitled to be concerned about the boy's welfare beyond normal chit chat, some history of domestic instability which the OP may or may not be fully aware of. Perhaps the boy's father was well-known in the area and this is why people are more curious and nosy than normal. It's in all likelihood a pipe dream to think that Daang is going to reward the OP for stepping in to raise him during his formative years by looking after the OP during his dotage. There are multi things working against this scenario. First and foremost, the "engaged" or "involved" father model, which it sounds like the OP is trying to emulate, goes against the grain of how most Thai fathers interact with their children. What might seem admirable back home is going to be seen as over-involved parenting, and as he gets older, Dang's peer group will probably see it as weird, overly-protective, etc. I know that over the years a number of posters have claimed they will be able to rely on this inter-generational help, but I suspect this is the very rare exception. In regards to the noodle shop incident, a five year old boy should be allowed to order his own food, if only for socialization purposes. There was never a time when my step-daughter didn't have a chance to order something when we went to a restaurant, and the OP's attempts to economize are understandably raising the hackles and eyebrows of the noodle shop owner and other patrons. Cut this out; the kid's no longer an infant. You've alluded several times to some poster who has boasted about being able to speak Thai, and how you would love to hear his Thai. I haven't followed your threads very closely, but for the life of me I can't figure out who you are referring to. If by some chance you were referring to me, I will only say that I studied the language 9 straight years before moving here 20 years ago, and there are clues in your transliteration of Thai which tell me that you have not yet fully mastered the tonal and pronunciation system. I'm just saying, if by some chance you were referring to me, I think you're barking up the wrong tree, pal. The basic problem I have with the OP's posts is the antagonistic and condescending attitude he seems to have towards the locals he encounters. You're never going to live in harmony any where in Thailand until you change this attitude.

lunch time?

A lot has been written over the years about the difficulties of friendship between expats and Thais. No doubt there are challenges, particularly in a village setting: language and cultural barriers; Thai men can abruptly leave town due to divorce or work opportunities; people are busy and exhausted after long days in the field, it's tricky getting overly friendly with someone else's wife, socializing as couples can sometimes be awkward, etc., etc. What I have started to wonder is if trying to develop a sense of community isn't a better, and perhaps, more realistic goal than trying to make friends with everyone. By community I mean a sense of belonging, mutual trust, and appreciation. Back in my home country, I rarely, if ever, experienced a sense of community, whether it was while living in cities or the suburbs. So building a sense of community isn't really something that I've ever really had as a goal. But coming up on my 20th year living in my village it has started to dawn on me that working towards being part of the community may be a better goal than necessarily trying to make friends with everyone. In a very slow, low key way I've been building relations with the neighbors within about a half kilometer from my house by showing small kindnesses to mostly elderly women and families with disabled children. I have done this by giving away surplus vegetables from the garden, sun dried bananas, dog food made of soup stock bones and carcasses, fire wood from tree pruning, baked goods (oatmeal cookies and banana bread), and small cash gifts during holidays (New Year's and Songkran). As you can see, nothing lavish, or even overly generous, but over time it has built up a nice amount of goodwill, and, I believe, a sense of community. I never expect anyone to reciprocate, but I occasionally have received fresh farm milk, fruit, refreshments, or maybe once or twice a discount as a gesture of appreciation. Finally, a side benefit might be that the neighborhood dogs seem to bark at me a little less. Would be interested in hearing from anyone who feels they have made inroads into their village community, how they did it, and any tips you might have to help further things along.

Enlightened visionary, my rear end. In terms of public policy administration, he was totally in over his head, totally lacking the training, education, and experience to administer governmental affairs properly. Regardless of where you stand on cannabis decriminalization, you need only look back at how chaotic, ill-thought out, and out of touch with public sentiment the rollout was to quickly see how incompetent an administrator he is, and what a disaster he would be as prime minister.

I said it was a pun, a double entendre. I know it means secret compartment, but 'ช่องคลอด' means vagina. Given that the photo is of a woman with her legs splayed open and not of a secret suitcase compartment, I am pretty confident that many Thai readers would initially entertain the possibility that 'ช่องลับ' or 'secret compartment' (or secret cavity, space, hole) was coyly referring to her vagina. I am thinking the sexually suggestive double entendre was used as click bait, but maybe I'm wrong.

Thank you for your kind response. The two laugh emojis your post garnered certainly weren't deserved. To the extent that a strong dollar off-sets inflation, the Fed probably sees the strengthening impact on the US dollar of higher interest rates as a positive. I do think that the Fed and the Treasury are concerned about the dollar's eroding, and increasingly challenged, status as a reserve currency. I have been following the US dollar Mexican peso cross for a while now and I have noticed that the Mex peso seems to be strengthening irrespective of what US interest rates do, and I have started to wonder if something is going on (i.e., deals moving away from the USD as a reserve currency) might be in play. Again, thank you for your kind response.

Is the ASEANOW pro-cannabis lobby going to argue that that there is simply no correlation between cannabis decriminalization and reports that smuggling of harder drugs into Thailand is on the increase? That cannabis decriminalization hasn't increased actual (or at least perceived) market demand for harder drugs in Thailand? On a different note, the Daily News article's use of the word 'ช่อง' over a picture of the woman lying on the floor, appears to be making a somewhat distasteful pun that the woman had a kilo of cocaine hidden in her vagina when it was actually hidden in a secret compartment in her suitcase.

That's not what you told us just a little while back when Bitcoin was at 15K. Just saying. Bond market ghouls (which I proudly consider myself to be) are always being taken to task for being negative because their portfolios will appreciate if the economy hits a rough patch and interest rates go down. But you Bitcoin fan boys make bond market ghouls look like Mary Poppins with your apocalyptic rooting for the collapse of the US economy and dollar in the hopes that Bitcoin will ascend as an alternative currency. The problem I see with that narrative, Neeranam, is that were the dollar to severely weaken, US citizen's purchasing power (especially for imports) would drastically drop and inflation would skyrocket. There would obviously be tremendous political pressure to alleviate this. A flight out of the dollar into Bitcoin would only further exacerbate the dollar's weakness. So, if there is a precipitous drop in the dollar (and I don't disagree that that could/will happen) don't you think that one of the first counter-measures the US government would take to help stabilize the dollar would be to ban Bitcoin?

I can tell you keep harping on the uneducated villagers theme in order to get a rise out of people. I've never asked any Thais if they know where moon light comes from, but I'm deeply skeptical that an overwhelming majority don't know it's reflected sunlight. Too busy this morning pruning trees, but I plan to spot check with my neighbors if they know this. Little hesitant though, kind of worried they might think I think they're stupid. Personally, I suspect the oldsters were showering you with ooohs and aaahs just to be polite and to get you to shut up either because they couldn't understand your Thai or because they could see you were so full of yourself. Another thing somebody needs to explain to you is that up until I believe the 1970's many rural areas in Thailand did not have public schools and the only educational resource was the local temple. That's why some older villagers may be only semi-literate and are poorly educated. But it is really inappropriate for you to be ridiculing them as stupid just because they happened to have grown up in an educationally deprived environment. Another thing I wanted to tell Copernicus is that if you're living in your wife's village, those villagers almost certainly know more about your wife than you do. They know her educational, work, credit, financial, romantic, marital and health histories. They probably have a better idea of her true feelings towards you than you do. All you knew before you got married is what she wanted you to know. If there are any skeletons in her closet, there's a pretty good chance the villagers are cackling behind your back about what an idiot you were to marry her. Point being, you're not the only one who can point fingers and snicker about how stupid people are. Not trying to lower the boom here, just trying to tell you you are way out of line in the respect department.

The constant argumentativeness the OP is describing is often a tactic used to drive the husband away. I don't recognize the shrew-like, hen-pecking, bossy behavior, whether directed at hubbies or children, in any of the Thai couples in my village which the OP describes. Very quiet here and if people were getting into animated or heated arguments, everyone could hear. Ditto with screeching or scolding. Most Thai couples I know seem to be conflict avoidant, both the men and women. Some Thai men can seem overly passive by Western standards, but keep in mind that some Thai men have a lot more at stake if the marriage goes belly up than meets the eye. Divorce in a village could mean not only losing one's family life, but your residence, future ownership of land, and livelihood (farming). OP needs to lose condescending attitude about the local's intelligence. Many hidden skills and bodies of knowledge out there, and a superior attitude will immediately be sensed and picked up on even if there's a language barrier.