Mr Somtam

I feel its just a fashion which will be gone as fast as it came

KHRAB!

Nobody rides a bicycle in Thailand! They take the car or motorbike to get a Fanta @ 50 meters distance!

18 months ago your post might have been correct, in the last 1-2 years bicycles have become a fashion in bkk,

In my area there are bicycle lanes although in the last month they broke up from use with heavy trucks, but infact the thais here even have a place to store their very expencive bicycles then ride by motocyc on the wrong side of the road without helmets to where the bikes are kept under lock and key,

On arrival they put on the lycra gear and bike helmets and ride up and down the same road for a few hours till its time to ride the motocyc home without a helmet on the wrong side of the road,

Not kidding some of these bicycles have carbon fiber frames and wheels,

soft drink stalls and coffee shops have set up where they stop and exchange info and brag about the cost of the bike being over 100k,

These cyclists dont regard the bicycle as a mode of transport but rather a prestige fashion statement and nothing more.

Millions of cars and motorbikes vs à couple of hundred fashionista cyclists.

Influx of Chinese going to quickly be a much more heavy long-term burden. Poor refugees getting no help whatsoever is so arrogant and ridiculous. C'mon even some temporary refuge for 'em?! Didn't they listen to the monks preaching about karma every week at their little temple sessions?

They prey in Pali, nobody understands a word they are saying. I know more Pali than all Thais in the wat together....

As we all know Thailand is the land of imitation as opposed to innovation hence perhaps if they (the Thais) were to look at the origin of ''The Buddha himself and the country perhaps they might realise they in reality have no right to comment on something they (the Thai's) have misappropriated.

Is not one of the precepts of Buddhism that one should not steal?

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion^] that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

The five precepts are training rules in order to live a better life in which one is happy, without worries, and can meditate well:

1. To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms), or ahimsā;
2. To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft);
3. To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct;
4. To refrain from lying (speaking truth always);
5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol).

How many "buddhists" do actualy practise these precepts???

Nobody rides a bicycle in Thailand! They take the car or motorbike to get a Fanta @ 50 meters distance!

Pencils rule! Every shop has them, cheap too!

I'm not an English teacher but I know one near Sisaket who has a master's degree. She is uncomfortable around an NES because she simply isn't as good at it.

Also she is paid a bit less than the NES there which may be all loss of face. She is actually nice to the NES, though.

It's always hard to try to make everyone the same, so others may just be cranky people.

I think it would be doing Thai English teachers the world of good if they were to live in an English speaking country for a year.

There are many graduates in other disciplines who gain their higher degrees overseas, and return to Thailand with excellent English speaking skills.

A shame if they can't do this, as it would benefit a great number of students.

Having tv and movies in english with thai subtitles would also really be good. If you never hear the language spoken how are you supposed to learn it???

Well, what to say? When the role models are corrupt or missing, this is the end result.

I think if the Highest Person in Thailand would tell them to be more responsible (especially on the roads) that it will work. I always thought that buddhist are responsible people who won't harm eachother.

Also those minibuses from the big (expensive) schools should drive more responsible, all the kids sit hours in those buses and start thinking that driving like that is the normal way to drive.

I think being a Thai trumps being a Buddhist on most occasions. They have a number of Buddhist traits, but seem to cherry pick the ones that they like and sit well with them. No vice and gambling? ...hmmm....

They lie, drink, smoke, eat meat, are corrupt and then go to the wat for the lucky Numbers (luang por blinked 6 times...)

That must be what gautama tried to teach his followers! 555 only real buddhists here live in the forest monasteries, wat pah Pong, nanachat fi

I've had this conversation before with a few Thai People, and 99 percent of them, don't want Foreigners to own anything, ??? But they are happy to own stuff abroad if they live in that Country.

I explained to them that , that was the same, but they could not see it ???

For me, it would be a Great start if they could move into the 21st Century and clean the place up, in all respects....

But you are forgetting how poor and downtrodden the vast majority of Thai's actually are, they need the protectionism so that they don't get taken advantage of by all the really bad horrible greedy corrupt people outside the borders of Thailand.

Of course, it's fine for really bad horrible greedy corrupt people native to Thailand to take advantage of each other (and foreigners), but for a foreigner to do it is bad on so many levels.

The hypocrisy and double-standards here are laughable.

On another note, I know of 12 businesses in the last 6 months that have stopped being registered in Thailand and have moved to be registered in other Asian countries that don't have such stupidly blind restrictive policies. They won't ever be back no matter what Thailand does to change things and I'm sure there are many, many others.

Most working class thai people I know would love to work for a Japanese company vs a thai or Chinese company.... Everything Neatly organised, safety, clean workplace, no bullshit, honest pay for honest work. Thai and Chinese is more like slave labor.

My missus can say "True Visions" (as in the TV service) in perfect English.

But she can't say "trust" - it comes out like "tusd" And she can't say "visit" - comes out like "wisit".

Why can she say True Visions perfectly?

Because......apparently they are Thai words.

Gne gne gne, can I hell you, go to my how?

Several years ago I decided to do as much as I can myself as it appeared that most, not all, Thais are incapable of doing quality work. Years ago when I was living in a hotel I watched five Thais painting a ceiling over a finished stone floor. Two sitting and supervising, one holding the ladder, one holding the paint can and one doing the brushing. When I commented on no drop cloth they just smiled and said , "Mai pen rai". When I moved out months later the drips were still there. When my sink drain clogged my landlady hired a 'plumber' who agreed the drain wasn't working, knocked a hole in the kitchen wall and routed a new drain pipe to the drain in the fish pond. I went to the hardware store, bought a drain snake for 250 baht, snaked the drain and reconnected the pipes, no problem. Etc, etc. I could fill a book full of stories of shoddy work. Luckily I am good with tools and over the years I have accumulated a decent wood and mechanical shop and do most jobs myself including the cars and motorcycles. But as for bamboo in the garden...why not? Stainless steel for garden trellises seems a bit of overkill. My girl is always changing the landscaping around anyway. When she wants to do something I just say, "Yes, darling" and go back to my own project. For the record I eventually found an excellent mechanic who charges me a lot but fixes my VW first time, the Kawasaki dealership does an excellent job on my old Boss and The Honda dealership repairs my old Honda very well and professionally.

There are Thais who do a quality job. My brother in law is one of them. But he always has to work on his own because working with other guys drives him crazy as they don't have any idea what they are doing and manage to mess up everything he so carefully planned and prepared! And they don't learn from their faults, they will make the same mess over and over. We are builing a house with him as the "supervisor" and some locals and family mixing concrete and that sort of stuff. When he tells us someone is not doing their job right it's "thank you very much - here is your pay for today - goodbye". There are some good workers but you can't expect them to be master builders with only basic education of course.