mfd101

7 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Current situation is like if Brits had kept Bengal after India got independence. 

But unfortunately it turned into Bangladesh ...

1 minute ago, AGareth2 said:

the Vatican for starters

I don't think the Vaticanese are 'native speakers' of Latin. More like white collar migrants.

1 hour ago, lanista said:

The USA invaded Korea  & Vietnam in the fifties and sixties resulting in the slaughter of  millions of innocent civilians.

Putting Vietnam aside (that's a quite different historical issue), do you know anything at all about the Korean War?!!!

There are of course reasons why much of the rural economy doesn't show up in any statistics and it has nothing to do with some elite conspiracy.

I see it in my own family here in Surin: Despite my best efforts over several years they are still only marginally part of the market economy and the reason is because the social & psychological effort to make the transition is simply too hard for people with little or no education and low or zero literacy. They find it too hard to sell their excellent farm produce at market rates to the locals, would prefer to give it away to "poor people" (they are themselves not poor in their own eyes - after all, they have a "rich" falang son/brother). And they can't muster the courage to set up a stall at the local market.

One of my BILs is handy with automotive repairs, having worked unqualified in a garage for a while. He fixes vehicles for the locals but regularly fails to get paid. "We pay you next week!" but next week never comes, and he's incapable of demanding payment in advance ...

So they work hard from dawn to dusk but they don't show up in anyone's statistics.

Rather too much 'gender fluids' for my taste.

But then, I'm just a boring old conservative homosexual who thinks 'gay' is rather too far out lifestylewise for me ...

2 hours ago, ramrod711 said:

I think for the most part, Thai people are much more free and willing to accept other peoples sexuality. Seems to be a much healthier attitude than in the west

I agree with this. It has been my personal experience both in BKK & here in Surin with my Thai b/f - his family, friends, and everyone else.

But it does beg the question why the country's laws are so far behind those in The West, & the latest announcement of beginning to think about preparing for the possibility of change is scarcely encouraging ... I guess it's just another illustration of the huge gap in Thailand between The Powers of various kinds and the bulk of ordinary people.

Inching forward.

But - as the alphabet acronym gets ever longer - it becomes harder & harder to fit everyone in (so to speak).

Apart from the NZ of the 50s & 60s, I've never eaten worse food all my life than can be found in the UK, even today ...

Though, on second thoughts, Usofa does provide some competition.

It doesn't seem to occur to all the all-knowing commentators above that, in the Thai cultural context, ceremonies such as this MAY have some positive effect on some of those present. A little bit is better than nothing, and can be built on.

Which mythical school did you guys go to where 100% of the pupils learned 100% of the lessons?

10 minutes ago, DavidAlexander said:

My Aussie friends tell me they've pretty much bought all of Australia.

Which is, of course, the usual wild exaggeration perpetrated by the sad 'n failed.

37 minutes ago, HooHaa said:

there really is very little point to even holding an election.

Even in a semi-feudal society it's always useful to let the powers know what we think of them. Best not to leave them in any doubt.

Just now, Eric Loh said:

Sorry to say that anything from Dr Panitan is not worth listening. I formed a negative opinion of him when he was spokesman of the Dem Party defending the PAD. 

The launch is of a new book by an Australian academic and former public servant in the Department of Defence strategic & international policy area in Canberra. Most of the video is of Greg Raymond speaking.

But one would need an attention span greater than 10 seconds.

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

The second major point is that nowhere does it mention the illegitimacy of Prayut ruling without a mandate from the Thai people. In fact, it fails to mention anywhere that a mandate from the Thai people is needed.

Did you actually read the article?

And of course the neighbourhood doesn't really encourage any other kind of approach. I have in mind the Great Leader just across the border from us here in Surin ... 

Mostly these things don't have much to do with the politicians. Their job is to wave their arms and make us all feel good (or bad, as the case may be). Meantime, out in the real world, real people make things happen ...

I think that particularly applies here in Thailand. Hard to see what Prayut or his predecessors have done that's particularly good or bad for the national economy. A bit of a twist here, a bit of a tumble there, but nothing that really matters.

2 hours ago, todlad said:

Genuine question: is there a separate IQ scale for Thailand? 89.1 and 82.5 for urban and rural schoolchildren respectively are astonishing. Where I come from I think 110 is about average now.

 

Either there is a separate scale or the problems across the country, not only in Isaan, are massive.

 

Last time I read about this, an IQ of 80 was the typical score for someone with Down’s Syndrome.

Yes, I thought it was alarming too. Perhaps it was a Thai-devised test conducted by Thai teachers?

2 hours ago, DonnyT said:

Surprised Australia is so high.

Sun, desert, crocodiles. There are for instance beautiful swimming holes in the deep north, lovely on a 38C day. They also have big signs in multiple languages saying that swimming here is forbidden because of the BIG salties (salt water crocodiles, metres long) ...

It's interesting that noone ever mentions the need for QUALIFICATIONS [ie TRAINING] to do TESL. It's just assumed that, because I speak some or other variant of English as my first and only language, therefore I can teach it successfully to a bunch of dumb foreigners ...

Well, what an awakening awaits!