turnpike

I agree that, just after the end of WWII, there was a huge wave of 'reverse snobbery'. It became less strong, but still remained significant and has affected all of us who have had our formative years in the West in the period since.

I can remember those heady days in the UK after WWII, when the grip of hierarchy was felt to have been banished and was never going to be allowed to return.

However, SE Asia had other priorities.

For instance, Thailand had, first, to keep the former colonists from re-trying their machinations.

(There was a lot of truth in the 'allegation' that Mountbatten, who was heading up the South East Asia Command, thought that SEAC stood for Save England's Asian Colonies).

In the Thai situation, on the basis of "It is no time to pay attention to improving the theory of swamp drainage, when you are up to your waist in alligators", societal re-organisation never got a look-in.

My 'take' on western egalitarianism versus eastern hierarchy is "not better, not worse, just different" and, for each, I tend to say "It is like the curate's egg: good in parts".

To go into which parts are good, and which aren't, would take us off topic, though, I feel.

sorry, never got my masters in history, actually caught up to dad in grade 3 and we both quit.

i thought the question was whether it was okay to drink beer in thailand....

sorry, just a colonist speaking....maximum 3 syllables, and that's pushing it.... i'm done now...

Martin- Interesting. The problem with that for me is I want to enjoy all the 'low' farang things: wearing t-shirt, shorts and zories; drinking beer when I want, etc.

Sure, we each have to find our own way as long as we're not hurting anyone else, but I can't see restricting myself to that extent to societal expectations. A large part of the reason I left the US is I didn't care to conform to expectations about dress, etc.

Today I'm headed to a wedding and sure, I'll wear pants, socks, shoes and even a tie, but the majority of the time I'd rather be associated with 'low' people over 'high' people, regardless of where they come from. Maybe like a lot of people from my country or even more broadly the West, I'm kind of a reverse-snob? Anyway, it works for me.

in 100% agreement with you on that one.

well said.

I prefer Manado women. One of the worlds best kept little secrets. No one knows about this place. I should probably keep my mouth shut too.

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14145336

here's a study done on manado women, about the first thing that popped up when i googled it.

they sound great...

Has anybody tried "Hang" ? they sell it in 7-11's next to the red bull and M150 energy drinks. Apparently it is especially for a Hangover. Tastes like bitter crap I say, but seemed to work.

yeah, i've tried it, tastes like buckleys cough medicine, but it seemed to help. worked for a buddy of mine as well.

still, the best cure is drink as much water as you can before bed and down a couple or 3 aspirin or tylenol. works every time. trouble is when you need it the most you usually forget to do it. i used to put a jug of water by the bed and 3 aspirin on my pillow if i knew i was going on a bender. wake up in the morning sick as a dog with 3 pills stuck on my forehead...

Can anyone please help diagnose what the problem is with my wifes Makhua plants?

no expert here, but it might be a calcium deficiency called "blossom end rot". google it for more info, hope this is of some help.

I used to smoke a lot of fish in New Zealand and used a wood called manuka ( local Maori word ).

Just asked the wife about this and here is what she came up with.

No botanical names just say it as you read it and she said your wife or most upcountry Thais will understand what you mean. Mai means wood and not sure about the spelling but who cares.

Mai Takaer ( she says the best )

Mai Rung

Mai Jik or Mai Jeek

Mai Phayom

Good luck.

Vegemite,

thanks for that and to all who replied, i'll run those words by the missus when i'm back in a week and see how it goes. now that i've got you here,vegemite, a couple of questions about fish smoking, if i may.

i used to use pickling salt for the brine, but will plain old table salt work? not sure pickling salt is available here. i plan on doing some of my catfish, would you recommend skinning them, filleting them, or just gutting them and smoking them whole? any recipes you could recommend where the ingredients are available in thailand?

(i bet you're sorry you responded now)

thanks again for your help, much appreciated.

turnpike

just wondering if anyone here in isaan has ever had any experience smoking fish or meat, and if they know the thai name of the wood used. if i was home, i'd use hickory,maple,cherry,alder etc., but don't think they exist here.

thanks in advance for any help/advice given.

turnpike

I too am married to an Issan woman she is 'Suay" (That is one of those minor ethnic groups in Thailand). We have been married for 10 years and are moving back from the USA to Thailand next year. Talk about an uncut diamond....Her family thought it was more important for her to take care of the younger sibling than go to school, she left home at 15 to work as a maid, at 21 decided that it was a dead end career and went back to her village and borrowed 75000 baht (at 10%/month intrest) and started a sewing company. (paid it all back in 6 months) I met her when she tried to translate my order in a resturant as my Thai is only understood by myself at times.

She had no intrest in men, and except for the mahdoo (fortune teller) I would have never had a chance.

It took a village meeting to lay down the terms of her comming to the USA to marry. We still laugh about it, but it was:

1. I agree not to sell her

2. I agree to give her a return ticket

3. Find where they have som thum in the USA

4. Can come home each year.

and a few other restrictions.

She spoke almost no English, but was fluent in Thai, Lao, and Suay. She went to school each day while I worked, did home work 2 or 3 hours a night, and in 6 months had taught herself how to type (in English) on a computer, and was prtty good at English. She bought herself a car before she knew how to drive, and could not remember which was left or right, but she does fine now.

I had a sick mother that was in her late 80's. She was bed ridden, and my wife never thought twice about taking care of her. A lot of stuff I know I would not have wanted or like to do.

Without her I would still think that being rich is still having money in your pocket the night before payday. Now I have my home in SoCal almost paid for. We own property in the mountains above Saraburi, and in Issan, and will build a home in the mountains and buy one other near the city.

After 6 years we went to her Village outside of Surin and had a BIG Issan wedding. I even wore my Jo Koh Bahn. Brought a tremedous amount of prestige to her family. (Besides I really do like mah loomb music. )

I think the biggest thing the the Farang has to learn is to respect the values and customs of thier wife. The amount of happiness it gives them will be repaid many times over.

So are Issan women the "BEST"....well I don't know them all but mine sure is.

have to say, a very well put story, couldn't agree more.

thanks for that..

Here on Samui cable (when it is working) every week they show the Gerry Springer Show. I never watched it in the UK. I cannot believe how they ever allowed them to make it. It is dreadful. Must be the worse program ever unless you know a worse one.

have to agree with you on that, makes me ashamed to be a north american.

the only time i enjoyed it was when scott evil and dr. evil were guests....

Doesn’t complain about Thailand all the times, cause I wouldn’t understand why you want to be here in the first place

all valid points, but i like this one the best.

so many people piss and moan about thailand, on this forum and everywhere.

get a bit sick of it myself sometimes....

a sad case of the best holiday intentions going awry...next time go in the house and piss in the toilet, sum people might find it impolite that you piss behind the shed...

]

find it surprising that a "warrior" would find it rude to piss outside.

save water, fertilize the ground, as long as you aren't hanging it in front of someone.....

what was the topic again??

I'm gettin' ready to plant toms in pots on my magnificent new terrace and was gonna sprout from seeds...anybody got any tips, recommendations? Just put the seeds in water in the sunlight and OK? Was gonna use them plastic trays that you buy meat in from tescos...

i've had good success growing my tomato seeds from those compressed peat discs that expand once in water. i've never seen them in thailand, but i've never looked for them as i always bring 2 or 3 hundred every time i come back from canada. if you don't waterlog the seeds, i get almost 100% germination. then you just put the whole thing into the soil, no need to uproot.

still haven't had success with the finished product, but i WILL keep trying until i get it right.

Isnt it strange how Miss GF has the "most useless threads" but all her "useless threads" manage to extend to at least 4 pages. Hmm, can you make sense of it?

my sentiments exactly...

Before i finaly commit, i wanted to ask you guys for the final word on this subject.... Is the market realy that bad?

i bought 2 different shitzus about 8 months ago from 2 different sellers. they both appeared to be healthy and robust. we took the train back home, about 11 hours in all, but it was a cool day, the dogs had plenty of food and fresh water and were outside the cages and on our laps more often than not. they both appeared fine when we got home.

2 days later it was obvious they were getting ill, listless, not much of an appetite and very bad diahhrea. off to the vet we go, and left the dogs. one was on i.v., the other one not. i think it was 3 days later they said the female, a beautiful little thing with one blue eye, was ready to go home. she was fine for a couple of days, then it all started again. we woke up one morning and she had deteriorated quite a bit overnight. in hindsight i wish we had taken her back in the day before. she got so bad so fast, i decided to take her in to get put down. the same woman vet who had put down one of my other dogs a few months prior (distemper-was SUPPOSED to have had it's shots) would not put down my pup because she was pregnant and it would be bad luck for her. so we decided to put my pup back on i.v. and hope for the best. no such luck, she died that.

the other pup was in the hospital much longer, but when we got this one back, he was 100% and still doing fine.

i'm sure the long train ride wasn't good for them, but i really don't think they were stressed by that too much, just the change of food, the trip and being sick to begin with just took it's toll.

a suggestion:the last time we were in BKK, we went back to the same market, it may have been either thursday afternoon or early friday. there were already many dogs there, one breeder suggested that was the best time to buy. with so many people handling the dogs all weekend, disease can spread easily and it does stress the pups somewhat. he even didn't want me to handle his jack russell pups for that reason, fair enough i thought.

so if you're going to buy there, buy early.

just my 2 cents worth,

turnpike

wow!

go ahead, conceal your weapns, buy your mace/tasers, triple bolt your doors, wear gas masks to bed, bar your windows, keep the pit bulls hungry, have your in-laws security checked, keep a baseball or cricket bat under every pillow, put poisoned tipped broken glass and razor wire on top of your concrete walls,check your burglar alarms 3 times a day, blah blah blah.

this is not paradise people,it's just thailand, if you flaunt it, are stupid, drunk, or just a plain old farang a**hole, you're going to get yours, whether it's here or anywhere. i've only lived here for a couple of years, am i that naive? i really don't think so.

i've had the week old pump off of my newly drilled well stolen, and i know there are yabba-heads out there,but if you think it's any better in canada, the u.k., the u.s.a, aus or europe , by all means, lets get the hel_l out of here.

frankly, i'm a lot more concerned about the paranoia in this thread than i am about crime in isaan...

This area of Loei province will be so smoky that it will be difficult to breathe.

never had much of a problem with the smoke so far, but many days ashes fall out of the sky, i can only assume it's from someone burning cane somewhere even though you can't see smoke anywhere. reminded me of when mount st. helens blew in washington state a few years back. i was living in southwern alberta (canada) at least 1100 kms. away, you'd have to dust off your vehicle some mornings.

good idea about the harvester, just wish i had some $$ to follow up on that one....

hi all,

recently married dec. 1st, i'll be in singapore to get an indian work visa in about 4 weeks time. i was wondering what was involved in getting a marriage visa in singapore? is it easier to get one there than in BKK? can i get it done in a day? how much money? is the embassy open friday?

i'm currently working in the bay of bengal, won't be going home before i go to s'pore, but have all documents in thai/english from cdn. embassy,thai ministry of foriegn affairs, all the stamps etc., a copy of her i.d. card.

just wondering if someone could help. i'd seen something here before , printed it out and subsequently lost it, and cannot find it again. i seem to remember it being a fairly easy process, and i think the guy did say it was easier to do there than

just wanted to add, i work 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off in another country, not staying in thailand full time (unfortunately). that is quite evident by the stamps/work visa in my passport. does that help or make any difference to the process?

thnx

hi all,

recently married dec. 1st, i'll be in singapore to get an indian work visa in about 4 weeks time. i was wondering what was involved in getting a marriage visa in singapore? is it easier to get one there than in BKK? can i get it done in a day? how much money? is the embassy open friday?

i'm currently working in the bay of bengal, won't be going home before i go to s'pore, but have all documents in thai/english from cdn. embassy,thai ministry of foriegn affairs, all the stamps etc., a copy of her i.d. card.

just wondering if someone could help. i'd seen something here before , printed it out and subsequently lost it, and cannot find it again. i seem to remember it being a fairly easy process, and i think the guy did say it was easier to do there than in BKK.

thanks for any replies.

turnpike

we even tried making fishfeed to cut costs but because of the birdflu this was to risky

we also tried the maggots, but thai people dont like maggots and pigshit

d-max,

sorry to hear that it didn't work out the way you wanted, a little disheartening to hear as i had hoped i could make some $$ at it someday.

just wondering how you did the maggots? and are you sure thais are "grossed out" by maggots? i would have harboured to guess that you could sell nice clean live maggots (i hadn't planned on it, tho') to the thais for food, as bad as it sounds, but we've all seen them eat similar food.

anyways, thanks for the post. guess i might have to rethink things a bit here.

regards,

turnpike

an oldie but a goodie, the races are interchangeable.

yeah, but why would you want too?

Order it from australia, the best beef in the world.

i would love to put my best steak from canada (alberta) against yours any day, donz. not saying i'd win, perhaps you would, but we'd be guaranteed a good feed, at least.

Because their bums and have no class.

Just give them. Do crooks in your country say thanks.

bit of a chip on your shoulder, hank?

that's just their way, get over it or quit whining about it.

don't be discouraged, though. judging by your impeccable spelling and punctuation, you have a lot of valuable insight to add to this forum.

oh, by the way, my lack of capital letters is just a sign of laziness, not stupidity.

must have been hanging around thais too long, i guess...

I'm a westerner and one of the things I like best about living in Thailand is NOT having to shake hands! The promiscuity of hand shaking among westerners is extremely unsanitary.

do you wear rubber gloves when handling money? perhaps you should just live in a plastic bubble.

i know it's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it, but to me, that's a little over the top....

i bought a walk behind type small roto-tiller a couple of years ago at the "farmer fair" in khon kaen. no wheels, just a cast steel bar, acts lie a rudder, you can set it at different heights. it has about a .6/m width of the rotating blades. i think i paid 28000b for it.( a bit too much, IMO) it's good for small projects but forget about using it if the ground is dry, you might as well try and cultivate a concrete sidewalk. you either use it after a rain, or thoroughly wet the ground first. works good then, but a lot of work just the same. (how i miss the black soil back home) i'd been looking for one everywhere, never seen one until the fair, so i scooped it up.

anyhow , if i was home i'd know for sure but it either said "patong" or "patpong" on the sticker that was on it, and i THINK it was from udon thani. i'm home in 4 days, if the sticker has a contact # or any info, i'll pass it on

turnpike

http://www.ias.unu.edu/proceedings/icibs/i...nghai/index.htm

here's the link to the maggot ranch in benin, west africa.

never got any feedback on that one. so maybe i'll try another idea i just dreamt up at work last night, but i might have seen it on animal planet or discovery channel, entimologists catching insects or something along those lines.

lets say you rigged up a vacuum ( a shop vac with a large canister would be ideal) beside a flouroescent light at night time, widened the suction hose at the end (e.g., stick a funnel in it), and put it on some sort of timer to kick in say 1 minute every 10 minutes or so. so for 1 minute in 10 it's sucking up free fish food, maybe a bucket or two a night if it was set up right. if you had multiple vacs rigged up, could could maybe make more than you could use. again, excess bugs could be fed to chickens, or to the in-laws.

a couple of questions.

what light would work best, flourescent, halogen, any color that bugs prefer ( i think they hate yellow), or is a light just a light?

if there's any electricians out there, is it possible to rig up a timer with that sort of schedule?

anybody know of an attractant one could put beside the light to attract more insects at night?

my main goal is to raise healthy fast growing fish with a minimum of $$ spent.

any input always appreciated.

thanks,

turnpike