oevna

By a strange coincidence, this story is also in the news (and I don't feel bad about posting it in a Thai forum because there is a Pattaya connection).

Transgender Miss Universe Canada Contestant Loses

Apparently this bloke is a thai boxer too....

Really? You might be mixing her up with Nong Toom, the Thai boxer and subject of the movie Beautiful Boxer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nong_Toom

However, police have also reported that one of the Malaysian women escaped custody.

“While the police officers were questioning the suspects, one of the Malaysian woman, the large one, asked to use the bathroom at the police station.

“But she ended up running away from the station. We are now searching for her,” Col Jakkrapan said.

You have got to be kidding me. They left her unattended in an area where she could flee? After all that otherwise good police work, no less!

Why is he not wearing the nice Thai prison suit?

Probably because he is in jail, not prison. The article says that he has not yet been charged with a crime. They are still waiting on the DNA evidence, "as a formality."

I voted "of course", but I do not live in Thailand and my attendance would depend on whether or not I happened to be in Thailand at the same time. That said, I'd love to attend.

PORN PIC IN THE PARLIAMENT

Parliament to seek LG help to check source of porno picture

Photo : Sakol Sandhiratne

Well, fortunately there were only nine members of parliament present at work that day, so the damage was minimal.

If Thais need English language skill to go to work in Singapore.

I hope the Thai govt return an eye for an eye, and request Thai language skill for Singaporeans to work in Thailand. (Complimentry Thai language skill may be picked up in Nana & Soi Cowboy)

You are missing the point - it is not that English is spoken in Singapore and so there should be a quid pro quo, it is the fact that there needs to be a common language for people to work on large and pan-national projects, and the hope of the ASEAN Economic Community is that more of these should be forthcoming - if you look at the way the European project has developed (in terms of langauge), you do not get many Finnish doctors moving to be GPs in Portugal without knowing the language there, but on large programs and projects it is English that is the default language - companies such as EADS - the biggest defence contractor in Europe, may be majority owned in France and Germany but the default language inside the company is English.

A lot of technical work is done in English, and although people see the rise of Chinese, I do not see Mandarin, Cantonese or any of the other Chines languages taking over in the near future.

I am glad to say that some parts of the technical establishment in Thailand are taking these matters seriously, and are trying to raise the skillbase in technical and language terms to be able to compete after 2015.

For the first time I see them now opening up and accepting external help to prepare them.

the ASEAN experience could be the biggest shockwave to ever hit the insularity of the Thais.

Highlighting the skills of the Malaysians and Singaporeans is not a bad thing as this is the internal competition in ASEAN and the regional rivalry is the only thing that makes the politicians listen

Crobe

This is true, but Thailand will not be able to solve these problems until there is fair competition for higher education and job opportunities within Thailand based on merit, not on how rich and influential your parents are.

As it is, there is very little motivation for the rural poor to pursue higher education because it is too expensive, and even if they could afford it, it still wouldn't give them a fair chance against the elite rich. It isn't to the (short term) benefit of the rich to improve this situation, because then they would have to work much harder to ensure the most desirable jobs for themselves and their children. This just breeds mediocrity and incompetence.

The tragedy is that it would actually benefit the whole country (the rich included) if there was real competition based on merit. It would bring up everyone's quality of living, and the reputation of the country as a whole would follow.

This is of course a generalization, and there are exceptions to it. I know skilled Thai engineers who work hard and are punctual and multilingual. However, they are also not the children of farmers, and they don't live in Thailand anymore.

This problem exists to varying degrees all over the world, and Thailand is not the worst case. It is just especially disappointing to me, because Thailand has so much potential to improve, but shows no sign of doing it.

How many sex workers in Thailand pay taxes on their income, which in many cases is much higher than their highly educated "straight job" counterparts...Answer: ZILCH, nada, none, zero.

I will maybe some day consider entertaining this point when politicians disclose all of their income, how much of it is legitimate income, and how much tax they pay.

Add to that the draw that the nightlife has for foreign tourists, who contribute significantly to the economy by spending money on goods and services (and paying VAT), and I'd say the government owes those girls a tax credit.

Or he could simply be a <snip>ing piece of <snip> with anger management issues.

I think he was just trying to live up to his name.

On a serious note though, why was he so impatient with the nurse, but then willing to take off in a "borrowed" pickup truck with his wife, before she even got treatment? This guy is nuts!

Saw the "police" taking photos and vdo of this near the Ploenchit BTS on the street. Wondering what was going on because didn't think it would be some random gang "investigation" thing. sorry for the use of quotes.

I'm much more offended by your use of the abbreviation vdo.

On a more serious note, I wonder how they are attempting to communicate with these captured Iranian suspects. Do they even have someone on staff who speaks Farsi, or are they relying on the intersection of the English skills of the police, with those of the Iranians? Because, you know, farangs all speak English, right? The picture of the Iranian man in handcuffs in the OP looks like he's trying to explain things with hand gestures.

Quick survey based on all Thaivisa posts on this topic:

89% of you still think they were suicide bombers acting on a faith-based motivation. (all the 72 virgin talk, etc.)

Instead of just guys working for the Iranian government hired to pop a couple Israeli diplomats in revenge for their scientists getting murdered.

The name of the game is assassination, not terrorism.

Well, they weren't very good at assassination, and one of them almost succeeded at suicide, so I say the confusion is understandable!

God I hope this investigation is not left in the hands of the Bangkok police. If there were ever a time for Thailand to let Dr. Porntip Rojanasunan do a proper investigation, now would be it.

Read my earlier posts... I pointed out that ALL religions are the same - Thai Buddhism is just more obvious in their belief that paying money somehow absolves all sins.

Edit - I've no time for any religion, but had thought Buddhism was probably better than the rest - before moving here... Hopefully though, there are still other Buddhist countries that actually follow the Buddah's beliefs.

Nowhere in Buddhism (Thai or otherwise) does it say that paying money absolves all sins. Where did you hear that?

Is that not merit making?

Forgive me, I obviously got it wrong thinking that merit making was to 'buy' good luck etc. etc.

You're moving the goal posts. Folk belief about receiving "good luck" for making donations is not the same thing as monks absolving one of all sins.

Why should I have to "forgive" you for getting it wrong? You're human and haven't done me any wrong. Weird.

Read my earlier posts... I pointed out that ALL religions are the same - Thai Buddhism is just more obvious in their belief that paying money somehow absolves all sins.

Edit - I've no time for any religion, but had thought Buddhism was probably better than the rest - before moving here... Hopefully though, there are still other Buddhist countries that actually follow the Buddah's beliefs.

Nowhere in Buddhism (Thai or otherwise) does it say that paying money absolves all sins. Where did you hear that?

Very True for a lay person to offer money to a Monk he commits a big sin and the lay person receives little benefit.

It is not a sin for a lay person to offer money to a monk. It would be against the Vinaya in its strictest interpretation for the monk to accept the money, but we live in different times from when the Buddha created these rules. I know forest monks who would never touch money, and I know "city" monks who take regular donations and carry cell phones. If you can only see the world in black and white, then yes, those city monks are breaking the Vinaya. However, I don't see either as leading a life less determined towards spiritual development (among the ones that I know, and the ones I am referring to here). Of course there are bad people, lay people and monks alike. I'm not sure why that isn't obvious.

I have no time to try to convince you to have time for religion. I don't mind one way or the other.

I'm obviously missing something again...

What the hell has the time a person eats have to do with being a 'good' and exemplar person to their followers??

It doesn't. The purpose of restrictions on eating and possessions for monks is to reduce attachment to material belongings and sensual desire, and to limit the burden on the people who make donations, upon whom the monks rely for sustenance.

Read my earlier posts... I pointed out that ALL religions are the same - Thai Buddhism is just more obvious in their belief that paying money somehow absolves all sins.

Edit - I've no time for any religion, but had thought Buddhism was probably better than the rest - before moving here... Hopefully though, there are still other Buddhist countries that actually follow the Buddah's beliefs.

Nowhere in Buddhism (Thai or otherwise) does it say that paying money absolves all sins. Where did you hear that?

Buddhist Monks may go on Alms Round from aprox 6am to 12 midday (according or the Monks Vinaya (rules))

The time of day that a monk is allowed to eat isn't specified in the Vinaya. I believe the rule about only eating before noon is a tradition among Theravada Buddhist monks in Southeast Asia. For example, Cha'an Buddhist monks in China can eat in the evening, and they also follow the Vinaya code (although a slightly different version).

There are, however, an extra set of austerities called tudong (dhutanga in Pali) which are taken by some monks, and one of these austerities includes eating only one meal per day. It isn't specified what time of day the meal can be eaten, but there are many rules about the way in which monks can receive food, and the way in which they can eat a meal.

* The time of day that a monk is allowed to eat isn't specified in the Vinaya.

A) wrong as we Theravadin Monks (SE Asia) follow the Orthodox teachings (the original) the Vinaya clearly states Monks may eat any time between dawn (when one can see the lines on ones hand) and when the sun is at its Zenith (in Thailand 12pm)

* eating only one meal per day. It isn't specified what time of day the meal can be eaten,

yes its stated the Monk can eat at any time one chooses between the above times (dawn and Zenith)

Ah, you are correct, there is mention of when the meal can be eaten. However, it isn't quite as simple as dawn 'till noon. The Vinaya specifies that a monk can only store and consume the food received on alms rounds (pintapat) before noon, with the following exceptions:

Keeping and consuming. Each of the four basic classes of edibles — food, juice drinks, the five tonics, and medicines — has its "life span," the period during which it may be kept and consumed. Food may be kept and consumed until noon of the day it is received; juice drinks, until dawnrise of the following day; the five tonics, until dawnrise of the seventh day after they are received; and medicines, for the remainder of one's life.

Taken from here.

Even in the forest tradition in Thailand, there is some debate about what is considered allowable (i.e. food that can be consumed after noon.

In anyway, most monks I have met were the real deal.

That has been my experience, as well. The "bad" monks (even ones who were legitimately ordained) stand out, just like the bad priests who get mixed up in sexual abuse scandals in the West. The vast majority of priests that I have met have been genuine.

Quite. Which is why they promote 'merit making' (ie giving money to the temple) as the way to buy your way out of sin...

Clearly a concept drawn up by someone (and promoted by other monks) who genuinely cared about trying to help people 'be better'.

I didn't say that your experience (or anyone else's) was the same as mine. But on the topic of "making merit" by giving money to the temple, it is essentially the same as collections taken in church. Temples have bills to pay, and some people want to help. The donation boxes at Thai temples (if you can read Thai) usually specify the purpose that the money will go to (usually the cost of utilities, development of the temple, etc.). I don't know about other guys, but giving up girls, booze and partying wouldn't be worth it to me for the money that monks get in donations. It wouldn't be worth it, unless I chose to take that path for the sake of spiritual development.

Of course there are exceptions. You hear stories in the news occasionally of famous monks making millions of Baht in donations, having mistresses, drinking liquor, etc. Which is exactly the point I was making. They are the few exceptions, but they make the news. The common cases don't make the news, because the news doesn't make money reporting on the status quo.

In anyway, most monks I have met were the real deal.

That has been my experience, as well. The "bad" monks (even ones who were legitimately ordained) stand out, just like the bad priests who get mixed up in sexual abuse scandals in the West. The vast majority of priests that I have met have been genuine.

Buddhist Monks may go on Alms Round from aprox 6am to 12 midday (according or the Monks Vinaya (rules))

The time of day that a monk is allowed to eat isn't specified in the Vinaya. I believe the rule about only eating before noon is a tradition among Theravada Buddhist monks in Southeast Asia. For example, Cha'an Buddhist monks in China can eat in the evening, and they also follow the Vinaya code (although a slightly different version).

There are, however, an extra set of austerities called tudong (dhutanga in Pali) which are taken by some monks, and one of these austerities includes eating only one meal per day. It isn't specified what time of day the meal can be eaten, but there are many rules about the way in which monks can receive food, and the way in which they can eat a meal.

The biggest giveaway is a “monk” collecting alms after 8am, he said.

Though they have caught dozens of the con men, Mr Chatpawit says he and his team of five officers have their work cut out for them.

“We have three ‘monk’ police officers in each of the three Phuket districts to keep an eye on things, generally the beaches, especially Patong Beach,” he said.

I would say the biggest giveaway is that they are in Patong Beach!

Update: All is well.

One of the kids (nephew or niece) caused her to drop her phone while I was talking with her. I remembered the call getting cut off abruptly when I last talked with her on December 27th, but thought nothing of it because her battery is always running out of charge mid-conversation, and so I assumed that's what happened.

It turns out she doesn't have my number written down anywhere, or any numbers for that matter. She just manually copies them all (or at least the ones she wants to keep) whenever she gets a new phone, or relies on people calling her back (she hasn't changed her phone number in years). She wasn't able to call me until the phone was finished being repaired today.

Thanks to all who expressed concern and gave helpful suggestions and advice. It was much appreciated.

Oevna should use his/her own feelings and go from there.

From the OP it seems Oevna is justified in worring due to freidn being Long Overdue and no contact the last 5 - 6 days while enroute back to Buriram.

You should at least report her as overdue and any info you have about her to your local Police.

It is not a big deal, many times things are fine, but other times it pays off to report a missing person to the Police for their own welfare.

Is there a way to do that from overseas? I am in the US at the moment.

Thanks.

It is possible to forget the charger especially if you leave in a hurry (or maybe you even think it's in your bag already). It's happened to me at least once.

Does she remember your number? I can only remember one number in my phone book. I can't even remember my daughter's number so if the battery is flat I have no way of calling her.

Be patient and wait until the holidays are over.

She has my number written down somewhere, probably at home.

Update: I managed to get through to a friend of hers from her home town who will be going back home later this week. She said that she will look up my friend's family and ask about her.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. You are probably right, there is probably nothing to be worried about. I suppose it's just the influx of news about all the holiday road accidents that has got me anxious, especially the fact that they mention her home province as the one with the most deaths.

I'll give it some time.

Happy New Year, everyone.