texan1800

Everyone around here uses the parking brake with our automatic transmission HILUX. It drives me nuts. Every time someone else has even touched the truck it's engaged and I try to drive away not noticing it. Luckily I haven't gone far yet before I notice the little red warning light. In my 41 years of driving I've never bothered with it and for that matter I don't know anyone else who does. I've never had one returned to me with the parking brake engaged after service, or repairs, or inspections or even after loaning it out . I see where most experts recommend always engaging it, but that's the first I've heard of it. Of course, since I got out of college and could afford a car with AT I've lived in the flatlands (Houston and New Orleans). The steepest hill I see is my driveway, but I always park in the garage. Once in a while traveling somewhere on vacation I've been stuck with parking on steep hills and might use the parking brake there.

Is this mostly a Thailand thing? We live in the flatlands here too.

The other part I'm having trouble understanding is that they don't use the parking brake with a manual transmission. They park it in gear and don't bother with the brake. That's just the opposite of what I do with manual transmission cars. I park in neutral with the brake engaged.

If it's an automatic it may just not be fully in park. There's some sort of sensor. If the sensor that checks to ensure its in park starts to wear you may need to force the shift lever forward to make contact and complete the circuit.

If it's a manual transmission similar with the clutch. May need to really stand on it.

1. What level are you at?

level zero. Only know maybe ten words. If I wrote them for you you wouldn't understand. For me rice is cow and not khao.
2. Can you read and write Thai?

No, but most people around here can't either. I don't even intend to learn. Looks too much like calculus to me.
3. How long have you been learning for?

Almost eight years.
4. How did you learn?

I haven't learned, but I've tried with help from my wife, the internet, thai language apps and listening to Thai TV. My wife says she first learned English listening to cartoons.
5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

English, German, Spanish

I hate to take the other side here, but 255 baht for a ride that probably took an hour if not two (I couldn't figure out what time this happened) is not a sustainable price. I'll bet the fuel alone cost 100 baht if not more given that every taxi I've ever seen here has a check engine light which probably means the emission system and fuel metering are screwed up. Double that for cost of ownership of the vehicle. Cars aren't cheap here or anywhere else in the world. No wonder taxi drivers are always trying desperately to get more money than they would from the meter alone. Most anywhere else in the world that I've been it would cost eight to ten times that.

Why was someone standing inside the building with a hand-held camera/phone filming this farang patting a dog? Something else must have happened to cause them to start filming.

You've never heard of a surveillance camera? What you see is the police looking at the video footage, not someone inside the store holding a camera.

As to those who say no one ever gets attacked without provoking, I'd beg to differ as documentary after documentary from all around the world show that some people randomly target others for violence, just for kicks.

Sorry group thug apologists, I don't buy any reason why these guys needed to keep wailing on the victim after the employee broke things up.

Wasn't there a cult in the USA of black guys randomly knocking people out and filming it a few years back.

It wasn't just black guys, it was all kinds of people that got into it. Kind of like planking. Everybody was doing it to generate attention on youtube and other sites.

I think it should say drunk foreign tourist viciously beaten by Thai men. He didn't get up because he couldn't. Nothing I see tells me the Thai guys were drunk, but you can't always see it. Petting and trying to comfort the dog like that looks a little overdramatized. I wouldn't be surprised the Thai guys did something to the dog, he said something he shouldn't have and away it went. I don't like the way dogs get treated here, but I wouldn't openly berate someone for it either.

The Thai guys are oh so wrong too. You never kick a man around the head unless it's to defend yourself. It doesn't look like he ever posed any threat to them. This isn't unique to Thailand. The locals in New Orleans would do the same.

The other piece of this is with all the dark tinted windows there's never any opportunity for driver to driver eye contact. It's nice to know someone sees you when he's sticking his nose out thinking about jumping into traffic.

I think that's the point. They can hide more easily from their complete retardedness.

I think you're right. I sure wouldn't want to be recognized doing some of the stuff I see.

I don't blame the authorities. Laws and rules and fines and even jail time won't fix this. The society needs to come to the realization that they engage in unsafe driving practices. When I see everyone using seat belts and child safety seats and nobody riding down the highway in the back of the family pickup then things will have changed. I don't think laws made the difference in Europe and North America. Social pressure did it. It's the same for drinking and driving. Much of Europe is far ahead of the US, but norms are starting to change there too. Here drinking and driving is still a sport. One of the guys here said he doesn't buy car insurance since it won't cover him. He drinks all day everyday.

BTW - The motorcycle thing is totally out of control here. Driving feels like a video game sometimes.

On our new Hilux we went 40 windshield/60 side windows. The dealer said that's what most everyone opts for. No extra charge for it. I'm having it taken off next service visit. I can't see anything at night. It's like driving with sunglasses on. In fact, even in the brightest sun I don't need my sunglasses. I guess I'm just used to the 100% light transmission on the windshield and 25% light transmission for side windows that is generally the law in the US. We always have a bit of tint at the top of the windshield, but that's a transition from probably something like 40 to zero five inches down. I'm a little confused here though. In the US they quote tint the other way around. Limos are allowed the darkest tint and they call that 5% meaning 5% light transmission. I guess it's the opposite here.

The other piece of this is with all the dark tinted windows there's never any opportunity for driver to driver eye contact. It's nice to know someone sees you when he's sticking his nose out thinking about jumping into traffic.

I once knew a cop at home who thought the laws on their use of deadly force should allow for two bullets through a tinted window before he had to approach the car. I think he was kidding, but I can understand the sense of trepidation that must come along with approaching a car with blacked out windows at night.

We had a violent thunderstorm in our village near Nong Rua (about 50 km west of Khon Kaen) on Friday evening. I'd say 50 or 60 knot winds and heavy rain for about an hour. Some trees down, some roof damage. The water soaked in and dried up by 10:00 the next morning. Had some more today on the highway leading out of Khon Kaen. Bring on the rain. Temperature dropped 15 degrees C in ten minutes. We're back to hot now.

You listen and observe a lot, but you've never heard a Thai say an 'R' sound?

Never is a little strong, isn't it? There is one guy that said sorry almost perfectly. I've tried many times to help my wife pronounce it and after a decent amount of trying it comes out, but it's gone again immediately. Perhaps it's just an Isaan thing. We've been all over the country, but the listening is mostly around here I suppose. Back in the U.S. we have a lot of Thai friends that speak English well. I've had conversations with them about the r. It's the same with Chinese. I've worked with a lot of guys and gals from China, most with PhD's from prestigious U.S. universities. They can write in English far better than I can, but they don't have the r sound.

It's clearly derogatory. I find it odd that so many others would disagree. When I call myself a falang (around here you will never hear the r sound) they all get a little quiet and uncomfortable. When they say it it's usually accompanied by a little chuckle or snicker. Have you ever heard some of the littlest kids point at you and say falang while laughing? I see it all the time. Why are little kids afraid of me. Maybe I'm just scary, but more likely they've been told not to trust us. When I was a kid it wasn't uncommon to refer to Asian people as Japs, or Chinks, or Dinks, or Gooks. Sounds like the same thing here. Part of me says I'm glad Thai people are honest and haven't been smitten by the political correctness trend. Do they hate us? No, I think that's too strong. Would they miss us if we were gone? Definitely not.

I've been in and out of Thailand for eight or nine months in the last three years. I'm retired now, so we split our time between here (a village outside of Khon Kaen) and the U.S. I don't have the depth of experience that many expats do, but I listen and observe a lot. I don't speak the language except for the simplest words. I'll have to admit I'd have a better perspective if I could understand them directly, but some of the nonverbal clues have more truth than what is spoken.

On the falang vs. farang thing. I've told people that all the r's in English spellings of Thai words must be some cruel joke intended to point out the fact that Asians can't pronounce r's. I've heard that the upper class can and do use that sound. I'd like to experience that.