joshua

The M.Jackson stuff, we know very little, so why bother yourself with these expressions of distress and hate. Judge lest ye...

As for why a man would like to have sex with a boy ask yourself why you would like to have sex with a woman[or man, respectivly]. These questions are only answered with protestations towards your choice, and just like I said, your choice.

It is improper in Thailand to express emotion, to loose face. Now, does this make it wrong to do so? Again, opinion.

There is nothing axiomatic about feelings, desires, and impulses. There is a right and wrong way to define two objects with the term "2"[language differences aside it is always 2 apples or 2 _insert here_] . We cannot say "Sex is wrong IF it is with minors."

Murder can be justified, correct? Seems like some are screaming for blood and proving that the taking of life is ok IF under certain circumstances and all that is being proven is the uncertainty of right and wrong, and how morality is far from definable.

I agree that the age difference is improper, as is purchasing sexual acts, as is loveless sexual acts. Though, these are opinions, there is never a right, nor a wrong.

"Nothing is real. Everything is Permitted."

The key to understanding a situation is control, and when you let your emotions run free you have lost your calm and are liable to make mistakes. This is the case with the posters and not with Mr. Wood. The amount of information given to us in this situation is vague, at best. The use of the word "molestation" denies the mind that isnt calm the proper chance to look at all facts without a biased-ness. Molestation is, as defined by the dictionary:

To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity.

Until a state of non-consentment is found how can you call it molestation? Molesting is a sexual act but a sexual act is not molesting just as a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a sqaure. Understand? The term is loaded, as is the possibility of another term for this situation: Statutory Rape. Some of the posters with their words set on kill[in more ways then one] may do well to take themselves into consideration. Sex with prostitutes, constantly under-aged prostitutes, is certainly just as bad in this case[with an even greater age seperation.] Can you say its consent if she is forced by the family into the sex proffesion? Are these boys not within the sex profession? We are unsure, all we are sure of is the light in which he is portrayed for sexual acts considered deviant.

With this situation and the ridiculous idea of calling the Tourist Police for gay men brings about the idea of "not to cast stones from your glass house". What he did is punishable by the law in Thailand, as is prostitution, think about it.

Tolerance come from understanding, understanding can only come through tranquility.

"If you control your emotions, you control the world." -The Late Thai Therevada Monk, Bhuddidasa Bhikku.

Yah, I am talking more along the lines of a life descision, or at least a few years because one never knows the twists in the life road.

Thanks anyway and in advance.

joshua

I am wondering if anyone knows the Visa rules and regulations to entering the monkhood in Thailand. Would it be similar to a student Visa?

If anyone has or knows anything about this I would be happy to hear about it. THanks a lot.

joshua

Hi Wolf and others,

if you just want to see Thai channel 5 goto www.tv5.th.co

if you have RealPlayer on your computer, which you can get from www.real.com , anway, goto Realplayers website and you can download the software for free, and then if you goto the tv5 website you can watch live streaming video of the channel, its sort of small but its a good time and completely free!

let me know what you think.

joshua

Bob,

I spent 3 weeks and Thailand, and no, it certainly is not a monastery over there. I mean, even some monks I saw were smoking. It didn't make sense but not everyone can kick attachments despite how useless and poor for you the attachment is. I was saying that the 5th precept may lend itself to the strong rules against drugs, maybe not. Merely a speculation.

There is nothing for me to find in the bars besides people trying to "unwind". Fortunatly, I do not need to unwind with artificial/liquid means.

Joshua

P.S. It was not rude of you, I can see how my comment could make me seem a little more wet behind the ears then I really am.

Angel:

Please look at drug use in this light. If you murder someone you have killed one man.

If you deal drugs you are in effect able to kill everyone you sell to.

Yes, it is up to the free will of the purchaser to find the man, and purchase the drugs. If there was not a drug pusher/seller then there wouldn't be that oppourtunity. Say you want a Coca-Cola, and there is not a store open, no Coca-Cola. Same principle.

When you do something illegal there is always the chance that a penalty will be issued. Some countries are a bit more strict on certain things, drug sales should be one that all countries punish severly.

Maybe it is unrelated, but, Thailand is 94% Buddhist and one of the 5 Precepts for the Layman is not to injest anything that intoxicates or makes you forget your self or true nature.

Both HM King and HRH the Crown Prince are ordained in the Thammayut Buddhist order. These 2 facts could spread a bit of light on the intensity of the punishments.

So you cannot jump to conclusions on me, like you did against this entire board, I am American, 21 years of age, I do not drink, do drugs and do not goto the Bars. I came to Thailand to experiance the culture, and I am moving there in 6 months to live in the provinces and teach. So please, do not try and bring down the hammer of generalization and say what motivated me to come to Thailand.

Have a wonderful day!!

Joshua

The point i was tring to make was this, anybody wanting to make a residence in England should be willing to LEARN the language. If they are not, then what are there motives to stay?

I agree, so why are there so many english-only farang in Thailand? Makes one wonder...

Pinkster, did you know that English is the hardest language to learn? If you did you may not have made such a crude post. I do, however, agree that people should have to take a test to gain citizenship, how "strict" it is I am not really sure. Think of like this: Lets say moving to another country is the equavalent to swimming. Now, your gf/bf/wife/husband is equal to a floatation device. Your poor communication skills are the doggy paddle. Why not take the time to learn to really swim? You will enjoy the water better and be able to do more, thats right, go right on out into the deep end!

Anyway, I have not found Thai to be all that difficult. I think the idea of tones is quite intimidating but any type of sincere effort will put you straight on the path to being able to communicate well. I just dont understand how you could live in a country and  and not learn the language, if for nothing think of the conveniance? I know by the end of 3 weeks in Thailand that I wish I could have spoken better with my family, and to just everyone I came across but my lack of language was a wall.

To me, English isnt the universal language as much as it is the business language. Its too bad people think money is universal happiness. Anyway, enough of my chatter. I hope i didnt step on any toes, I apologize in advance.

Joshua

Well, I would like to know what people have heard about the various programs that are in Thailand?

Without having a TEFL TEOSL I will not have any type of credentials nor any experiance teaching outside of just helping friends. Who has said that these programs are rubbish?

I just want to be a really good teacher for the people. I always hear about stupid foreigners going in their just to make money for boozing and Go Go Bars and thats just ridiculous. Its too bad so many people of ill merit go into working with children! I want to teach because I have a sincere desire to help others. It seems bad because I do not have a degree and I am only going to have a TEFL but I plan on trying my hardest at being a good teacher for them. My motivation is in teaching the children, not funding horrible habits, which thankfully, I do not have.

There are better ways to becoming a teacher then a TEFL crash course and being a native english speaker but it is the best I can do for now. I come from a lower-middle class backround so it is too expensive for me to enter college here and I am not going to bury myself in loans.

Anyway, I am unsure of why I am ranting, maybe I am just a little frustrated.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Joshua

I personally am learning thai through the book series Thai For Beginners and Thai for intermediate learners that are made by Paibon Publishing. I have not used any other books besides a half-way decent thai-english english-thai dictionary, tho I will say that one should try and keep within a publisher or book series so as not to be confused by the myriad of pronounciation guides that each book uses. I study each day as much as I can and I have made flash cards for myself. Also, letters to friends in Thailand and sporadic phonecalls. I feel like I have learned very fast for not being in Thailand, trying to "immerse" myself in sorts, by using Thai with English as much as possible, especially when thinking while walking around. Honestly, aside from the tones, the language is not nearly as intimidating once you really dive head first.

Joshua

Just bumping the post in hope to recieve a few more replies.

Joshua

I was wondering how many foreigners on this forum can actually read/write/speak Thai either due to being in Thailand, their spouse, or just have had a vested interest in the language?

joshua

Always happy to help. I am not sure how much of a real debate there is between soymeat based diets and vegetable only diets but people should really take the time to realize that merely not eating meat doesnt make you healthy, its what you put in its place. A meat substitute cannot be that much of an improvement can it? ha, anyway, always glad to speak on this topic.

joshua

Ok Roger, thanks a lot!

I am a 21 year old American.

Hope it helps!

thedude,

i was recently in MahaSarakham[im sorry, I have no idea how far away this is from you.] and I am pretty sure I had not injested any type of meat, meat by-product, egg, fish[for those of you that do not consider fish a meat], insect, or dairy. I am a vegan which is the most strict form of vegetarian. I know everything cooked by my family was perfectly fine, and we did eat out often. My step-mother knows my diet and made sure that I was never served anything with those ingrediants. Being vegan makes your body very very sensitive to the foods you do not eat, and if i happen to injest any of them I will become sick. Needless to say, that never happened.

As for the comment about Buddhism, vegetarianism and the connection to fake meat products I agree that this does seem hypocritical. Although, like Wolf had said, a lot of us never forswore against the shape/flavor/taste of meat. Myself, I do not eat it for moral, enviromental[isnt that moral as well], and physical reasons. It is a choice benefiting my mind and body as well as trying to keep clear of the mistreatment of all creatures. When it comes to eating these products, fake meats, I can assure you that most rarely have the flavor or the texture of a true meat product. For most I think it has something to do with Edwards comment about being fed meet so now we think we need it, a lot of people grew up thinking "its not a meal without the meat" and so they desire it due to a type of conditioning. Myself, I rarely bother with such things, I do eat tofu, wheat gluten, Texturized Vegetable Protein, seitan, and various other Soy products that can be formed but I will typically just treat them as another food, and cook them as such, like a vegetable. No need to waste my time with meat replacers.

People go from an all meat diet to an all Soy-meat diet and it really is no healthier. The reason why a vegan/vegetarian diet is healthy is because now you MUST eat all the vegetables on your plate to be full, but some people fall into the soy-meat and potatoes game, sadly. When I am fully fluent in Thai I will explain to my family why I do it, with what little i knew this time around I was unable to form clear concepts for them. Soon enough though.

So, in closing, and I apologize for the length of the post, if you have someone[preferably thai] that can speak with the cook in smaller outdoor places or you have the facilities to cook for oneself, you should have no problem, i didnt. And I hope i spread some light about vegetarianism/vegansim.

Hey, thanks for the help so far.

The TEFL is not through TEFL International but through Text-And-Talk[www.tefl-teach-thai.com] and if you know anything good or bad about this group please inform me!

As for the Degree I am enrolling into a University in Thailand, I am not doing anything with an online degree.

As for the Visa should I contact the Thai Consulate in my area and find out if I can work on a student visa? I will need/want to be working while I am there.

Also, are there any monetary restrictions for work visas, will I need a minimum amount of money to stay in the country while I look for a job?

Thanks Again.

Also, if I can stay in Thailand under a student visa for 3 consecutive years and then prove the ability to work would I be able to apply for residency.

"1. Holds a passport of his/her current nationality, which was granted a Non-Immigrant visa and the individual has been permitted to stay in Thailand for at least 3 consecutive years on a 1-year visa extension basis up to the application submission date.

2. Has personal qualifications that meet one or more of the following categories:

2) Working/ Business category "

This is all under the idea that I can stay on a student visa until my schooling is over.

Thanks again.

In 6 months time I plan on moving into Thailand to both take a course for my TEFL certification and also to enroll into college. I was wondering what the best idea would be for me as far as visas go. The TEFL course offers to help secure a 1 year permit but I am not sure exactly how that works. Is there anyway I will be able to stay without the need for visa runs? The site is very informative but doesnt speak of students. There has been information about teaching without a degree and that people "get away" with it but I do plan on getting my degree while in Thailnd, more for myself as much as for the job. Also, if I was able to teach with only a TEFL during my schooling would I have to leave country to get my work permit/Non-B?

This forum is very informative and thank you in advance for your help!

Joshua