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There are ways to protect yourself now," Managing Director of the Pattaya Times Drew Noyes added.

Hmm, I wonder what those ways are?

And when will they "crack down" on the domestic prostitution problem? Or is that asking too much?

Is there anything wrong with it? If your good at football but bad at maths you'll never be mathmatician so you become a footballer! If your good in bed why not become a prostitute? It's just another physical job with a limited carrier span where you use your body and sporting ability like any sport.

We're all prostitutes and all sell the talents we have in what ever line of work we do so the key factor is regulation to make sure those ladies or men involved in selling thier flesh are regulated so they aren't mistreated or underage. Eve was the first prostitute over 2 thousand years ago and all she got paid was an apple from Adam so wot ain't broken don't fix!

There is quite a bit of difference between a freelance prostitute who chooses to sell herself/himself for money but has the freedom to leave that profession any time she/he pleases, vs. a woman or child forced into sex slavery in a brothel. The former is the common case with the foreign-operated sex bars, and is the target of this "crackdown." The latter exists mainly in the domestic prostitution market. I am not saying that it is exclusive to the domestic market, nor that it comprises the whole domestic market; I am only saying that it isn't the target of this crackdown. In other words, this is a double-standard. This crackdown is targeted at foreigners, not prostitution.

Furthermore, since this is a "crackdown" on people breaking a law, it seems like it would be much better to solve the bigger problem of forced prostitution in brothels first. Unless, of course, one were only trying to make a show of "cracking down" on something, rather than actually trying to solve a problem.

There are ways to protect yourself now," Managing Director of the Pattaya Times Drew Noyes added.

Hmm, I wonder what those ways are?

And when will they "crack down" on the domestic prostitution problem? Or is that asking too much?

I also had Dengue fever as an adult (aged 29) in 2002, and was told that I had ไข้เลือดออก (literally "bleeding fever") even though I did not have the hemorrhagic form. I agree that the Thai language does not seem to distinguish between the two forms of the disease, except to the extent that a doctor might either use the English terms, or specify whether or not hemorrhaging occurred.

I would say that literally it is: The Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha [the Buddha, His teachings/the truth, the Buddhist clergy].

It's used in chants, meditation and so on.

While พุทโธ "phut-tho" does mean the Buddha (literally "he who is enlightened") in Pali and สังโฆ "sang-kho" means the community of Buddhist monks, or clergy, นะโม "na-mo" does not mean the Dharma ธัมโม "tham-mo" (the teachings of the Buddha). "Na-mo" means "in homage to ..." (as in "namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambudhassa...", homage to the blessed one, the noble one, the fully self-enlightened one...).

I've never heard these spoken after someone sneezes, but then I've never really payed much attention! I will look out for it now and ask about it.

Thanks, interesting topic.

I watched four complete bouts. (There are links in Chinese in the upper right). Loaded very quickly, but then I might be sitting just blocks away from the host and am using very fast broadband).

Most likely has more to do with how many users are attempting to view the videos at the same time.

My observation about designated crossings in Thailand is that drivers seem to think of them as places of pedestrian traffic concentration; if one pedestrian is allowed to cross, it may open the floodgates for other pedestrians to start crossing too, blocking traffic indefinitely.

However, a pedestrian crossing at some random location in the middle of a block is a one-off delay, and probably won't be followed by others. They also tend to wait for larger gaps in traffic, since they are aware that they are breaking the law.

So as long as pedestrians are kept in terror of starting the flood of crossings, automobile traffic flow won't be delayed. My conclusion from this is that I am better off crossing at random locations of the road (or on pedestrian bridges, of course), not at designated street-level pedestrian crossings (defeating their purpose entirely).

This is not a racial judgment, but rather a criticism of law enforcement in Thailand. If drivers in any country can get away with breaking the law with relatively few consequences, it will result in rampant disregard for the law.

Of course, this doesn't excuse hit and run drivers. I'm just looking at it from a practical perspective.

I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig. I think if I was looking to lose weight, I would just fix my diet and get some regular exercise. Seems a lot cheaper, and probably healthier too. Being fit and healthy is not just a matter of having less fat. I know this doesn't answer your question, but maybe it's something worth thinking about if you're considering weight loss techniques.

Let's not forget huge mobile phone clips worn on the belt. Those should be banned, if not as crimes of fashion, at least as a security measure.

Have you considered investing in rechargeable batteries, or does the concept of recharging offend your sensibilities? Also, as you are a militant opponent of television, why do you consent to be used in this way, as another filler for the boob tube? It seems an extreme contradiction, my Lord.

That, plus maybe a small electric generator rigged to your glittermobile's drive train. You might never need to charge the batteries off of the power grid.

Poinsettias I can understand - red flowers to mark year end. Christmas trees to make the foreign Christians feel "at home" - that might make sense.

I think this part of your post hilights the source of your misunderstanding. Thailand has taken to celebrating Christmas way beyond just honoring a holiday celebrated by a minority of its population. They do it whole-hog, presents, Santa, his reindeer, snowflakes and all, more as a commercial event than a religious holiday.

Stop trying to make sense of it, there is none to be made! Just enjoy the absurdity.

And Happy Holidays!

Panic? Really? Have they never seen fog before?

Sorry to tell you , but if she is a good person . like any other National , she would probably just ignore you,

you do not just call out to people you do not know its bad manners.

I have not found this to be true. I have often called out to Thai people I do not know (older, younger, male and female) using "Phi khrap!" or "Nong khrap!" on various occasions, usually to ask directions or some other advice. In some cases I am ignored, but in most cases not. It seems to have to do with context, your tone of voice, your appearance, etc.

That said, in almost any situation where you are not sure of the relative age of a woman compared to yours, it's usually safest to call her "nong", since that implies that you think she is younger than she may actually be. As in many cultures, it's better to err on that side than the other.

Phi and Nong are always polite, if a bit familiar. They are completely appropriate for use with friends. Some others mentioned "meung". Do not use this word in almost any situation other than with very close friends (and even then, only if you hear them use it frst when addressing you). It is seen as a very rude word for "you" (with its counterpart "gu" meaning "I" or "me", also very rude), and will probably be met with contempt in almost all cases.

Sounds more like a Divorce Information and Counseling center to me!

Just some of the many reasons why corruption is bad for a country and its people:

...

the list goes on....

And also, since there is no transparency, there is no way of knowing how much money is wasted, and so no way of assessing where costs can be reigned in. It is completely invisible outside of the scope of the payer and payee, yet it happens at all levels of government and industry.

I'm not so naïve as to think that corruption is unique to Thailand. It is a human problem that happens in all countries. The difference is the degree to which it is visible, and punished when caught.

Since the degree to which corruption is policed is controlled by the small number of people who rule the country, it is in their hands to fix the problem. However, they don't stand to benefit from fixing it (in fact they gain so much from corruption that they stand to lose a lot if they fix it). So while ordinary Thai people may seem to be more corrupt than people from some other cultures, I would say that they are not; they are just resigned to the fact that it is so entrenched in their system that it is easier to play along than to try and fight it.

With a little searching, I found an article that states that the event is to happen on December 19th, so it hasn't happened yet.

The EP math and science classes lagged behind the Thai math and science classes. In English and social studies, the EP classes excelled far beyond their Thai counterparts.

I imagine this is because math and science involve concepts that are not common in day-to-day life and thus not intuitive, so they need to be described using very specific language. When the language chosen to express those concepts is one that the students don't speak well, it isn't surprising to me that they don't learn the subject very well.

However, it is interesting that the students in the English and Social Studies classes that were taught in English did better than these class's Thai language counterparts.

So first they need to learn the basic vocbulary and then be taught the correct usage of the vast lexis of science. Most students refer to chemistry as 'Chemmy'.

To be fair, that's because it is the Thai word for "chemistry".

I wonder if this means it will be a good time to visit Thailand in January, or if I am about to jump into a pool of hungry piranhas.

if you want to live in a racist society, go to the U.S.!

I would take that a step further and say "if you want to live in a racist society, live in any society made up of people."

What's this all about now? Since when did the West have a monopoly on sleaze? Not justifying anything, just wondering what the difference is between Western sleaze and Eastern sleaze?

This 'trick' is 20 years old! Unbelievable that theyr are still people get trapped in it!

True. However, as long as there are people who haven't heard about it, then it should work now as well as it did then. It's just a numbers game for the scammers. Many will be wise enough to ignore them. Others will fall for their scam.

The amendment proposes the Family and Juvenile Court thoroughly scrutinise such marriages and grant final approval only after it is satisfied victims will be treated as real wives.

What about whether or not the victim wants to be married to her attacker? There must be something lost in translation here.

What a great gimmick! I will definitely stop by and pick up some gelato when I am in town. Maybe I'll even try to make an appearance on the webcam.

Is this cam supposed to be on 24/7? It seems to be offline at the moment (it says "Off Air" at the bottom of the video player). Perhaps it is only on the air during the "exciting" hours (i.e. night time).

I'll check it out again later!

I could not resist commenting on the blog. There is one statement they make which I do agree with, Thai people are quite materialistic, but everything else is pure nonsense.

While I also agree with you here, materialism is not exclusive to Thai culture. I'm sure you're aware of this, I'm just bringing it up as a rebuttal to the Pink Stinks comment about it.

Pretty pompous of them, telling the Thai people what they ought to want.