ourmanflint

I'm no botanist... but this is eaasy!!!

Try Tamarisk Chinensis, you see them all over asia on the beaches, they are incredibly hardy , grow pretty tall and look a bit like pine trees

Thank you but no thank you. The Tamarisk is considered a "pest" in many countries and they are trying to eradicate it. That is why you probably see so many.

Best wishes

Hi

Yes.. but not in Asia.. as there are plenty of natural predators that help to keep it in check, the problems seen in the USA are a result of introducing non-native species that have no supporting ecosystem to keep them in check! I would agree that the Indian Almond would be a good choice, but they are more specimen trees than the Tamarisk if you just wanted some protection from the sea or to stabilise the soil.

I suppose on Samui you could just transplant some mature coconut palms.. good luck though!!

So what happened to all the squirrels??

I spend every day of my working life flirting.... it's like breathing to me... I hardly know I'm doing it, when it's natural it is just part of the everyday rhythym of life.

I think what you're talking about the contrived flirting and/or bragging for some purpose or other... is pretty sad but sad people have no life!!

I'm no botanist... but this is eaasy!!!

Try Tamarisk Chinensis, you see them all over asia on the beaches, they are incredibly hardy , grow pretty tall and look a bit like pine trees

Magic exists when people believe it exists, I don't mean fairy tales, but all the purveyors of magic throughout the ages have been people with some knowledge of herbs etc and a malicious mind!

Anyone who has had a "mushroom" shake or pizza will know only too well the effects of a small amount of psychotropic substance on their otherwise rational minds!!

There are many many naturally occuring medicines and plants in SE Asia we have virtually no research on, especially those nasty shrooms!!

Whatever all the "insiders" say it really is a sad indictment of Thailand and Bangkok especially that "boring and clean" Singapore is the place to go if you want to party!!!

How the times have indeed changed..

I think my name shows my total lack of imagination, unlike some of you other folk here. And that means I still cant think of a better name. Maybe Sophie?

Soph... almost the beginning of a great name.... you have lots of choice here.... think the Sophists, Sophism ( or is that just something you might say!... ) Plato, Aristotle.. look here

You have a truly great name

I did consider InlikeFlint... not the same though is it??

I agree with almost everything said here, DO NOT GROW EUCALYPTS.....

A more sustainable alternative a fter a bit of research would be Styrax tonkinensis (Siam benzoin?!) from Laos and Vietnam, see here, and here, it's a tree which grows very fast and is used extensively for pulp and paper mills, and also for resin production for the perfume industry.

There is also a fantastic pdf available to download, explaining all the pitfalls of Eucs here

As a farang you can hopefully see past local "propaganda" to see the bigger issues involved and maybe even start something unique

Good Luck

Hi Sylva...

At least you've got a Mac... If I were you I'd try and get hold of a program called FileSalvage, it will recover almost everything from your hard drive, if you delete it by mistake, or if it even packs up ( they very rarely do by the way, sometimes the catalog just gets damaged.. if it spins it's recoverable) If you're doing video you'll never regret getting a big external... you can pick a 300gb one for about 6000bt at pantip. You will need one that big trust me! And at the moment they are a bargain.

Don't ever rely on budget CD's for any length of time either.

And silver halide prints are black & white prints strictly speaking, colour prints on photographic paper are a mixture of silver halide and dyes! And they should last a lifetime.

wow! I was just about to post about "how tenacious you girls are when you get your teeth into a subject".... when here you all are organising a good ole piss up!!

Go Team!!!

I must admit there are similarities between aspects of Zen and mysticism ( what I would call eastern mysticism) which also have things in common with elements of buddhism and brahmanism, the idea of the unity of all things.

Sounds like Taoism.

Quite right.. I think I am a taoist/buddhist if there is really such an animal... as opposed to a zen buddhist, thai buddhist, tibetan buddhist etc etc....

Wasn't Zen influenced on it's passage to Japan by Taoism?

It was not directly related to my original point about face stunting free thought.

But this is:

In the Philippines there are a lot of really really good cover bands. But pretty well no original music. Great talented musicians, but they see no need, or there is no market for, an original voice. They have nothing to say, or no one wants to hear new and original stuff. I put that down to face stifling free expression. What teenager didn't write lots of anxt ridden poetry? We all get creative urges - don't we? That's what I wonder - I suspect that the embarassment of sharing deep emotions and not expressing them stifles even the internal articulation of them.

i think that while I agreed with your original premise you may be drifting onto areas which have a physiological counterpart as well. There have been many studies which have shown ( google it) the differences in physiology of eastern and western brains, these centre around the ability to innovate. Having that novel idea is just harder for Asians because their brains are wired up differently to western brains, this results in everything you have just said about the Phillipines, being able to copy and refine someone elses ideas to the nth degree, but being able to abstract the initial concept is very difficult for them. This may also play a part in Thais not being as spontaneously creative as others. Though they are one of the most intuitive and adaptable people as well.

I must admit there are similarities between aspects of Zen and mysticism ( what I would call eastern mysticism) which also have things in common with elements of buddhism and brahmanism, the idea of the unity of all things.

One of the best threads I've read here once everyone stopped attacking the OP. I think Mark45y's observations of Thai culture, while being difficult to swallow for this "nice guy" farang may just be spot on, and I will definitely bear this in mind when living there.

Thailand is a wonderful, beautiful and captivating country to live in or visit, but to deny that it is utterly repressed in certain aspects of life is also to deny the Thais their own values and their own culture. This is this observers standpoint, and is not meant to offend

There is nothing in my posts to suggest I'm a nice guy falang

I know I was talking about me!!! This nice guy=me

Thaibebop... that is also the Mystics view!!

One of the best threads I've read here once everyone stopped attacking the OP. I think Mark45y's observations of Thai culture, while being difficult to swallow for this "nice guy" farang may just be spot on, and I will definitely bear this in mind when living there.

Thailand is a wonderful, beautiful and captivating country to live in or visit, but to deny that it is utterly repressed in certain aspects of life is also to deny the Thais their own values and their own culture. This is this observers standpoint, and is not meant to offend

No... the bars are open, it depends what you want from a night out at the beach, there is always a big crowd of people outside Cactus Bar, but I tend to avoid that and the open sewer that was running down the beach from there.. but it's always the busiest... god knows why??

err!!

Thai Food in Sukhumvit!! Not a chance fella!!

Very Good Posts... I hate lying, really hate it, but I do, and when I do I wince inside. I have tried as best I can to be honest and forthright, but that path leads to misery, believe me I've said some things to people not caring about their feelings because I believed that the truth would have been better. I now feel that is wrong and there is a greater benefit in sometimes telling lies to preserve the peace. I feel that it is the intent of the lie that is important, I also take the Taoist line that " a good man will do no wrong" or words to that effect.... if the intent is positive then there has been no wrong done.

That was all I wanted to know....

Cheers

Don't fret Jamman.....

You're not going mad, you cannot express any opinion on these boards that so much as hints at an attack on "thai " culture, without people jumping on their own silly little soapboxes and shouting as loud as possible, that there must be something wrong with you for even thinking such a thing.. I cannot for the life of me work put why though. Usually only ignorant and uneducated people think and behave like that, and I know for a fact there are some very clever people on these forums, so go figure!!

I think it is a very interesting question the OP has brought up, and that's all it was... a question.

You're friend is correct.. it's pretty quiet between the FMP's..... nothing at all like Chaweng

This is a very serious question.... beleive me I've spent hours trawling pro photo forums all over the world.... and a few things have become apparent.

DO NOT USE CDs or DVDs TO ARCHIVE IMAGES

There are certain types of CD that claim to last a hundred years, but the scientists at IBM refute this strongly. Cd's and DVD's if stored correctly may be good for five years max.

After this you risk losing large amounts of data if you have a bad batch!! And how would you know that!

Hard drives really are the best an safest way we have at present for storing large amounts of data safely, but to be honest even here I personally have 2 x 80gb just in case one is damaged. In any event you should re-archive everything you have every few years....

good luck!

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I assume this has been asked before hence your reticence... which I completely understand. I'm not attacking anyone in Thailand or anywhere who has grown up with Buddhism as the all encompassing religion of their country, but as foreigners who weren't born into the buddhist tradition I wanted to know if you got involved in Buddhism because you were in Thailand and you therefore became involved in the religion of buddhism, or you were just attracted to the philosophy of Buddhism, from reading and studying etc.

Ever since I was 21 , which was a lifetime ago, I have called myself a buddhist when people ask what religion I am, though I am always keen to stress that Buddhism is a philosophy NOT a religion. That is how I see it!!

Now, Thailand has a Buddhist "religion", full blown, and after reading many of the posts on this forum, I have come to wonder wether, you too consider yourselves part of the religion of Buddhism or are you more akin to the philosophy?

To me there is a huge difference, the religion of buddhism is full of the nonsense that most organised religions develop through time, rituals, miracles and such! None of which have anything remotely to do with the teachings of Buddha. I see these as the consequence of the weakness of "man" who when trying to grasp the very simple, end up by making it more and more complex, why we do it is beyond me, but we do!

So which side of the line do you stand... or do you even see the line???

Excellent stuff... nearly wet my pants a few times... so funny!!!

I can never get tired of the gaping chasm that is "what women want" and "what they will take"... classic!! I don't think the behaviour of this guy is anything new, it's not even a "Thai guy" thing .... it's a guy thing wherever there are a sufficiency of women who are naive enough to believe whatever a guy says to get into their pants....

any guy anywhere can fake it for as long as he wants to!!! ( that's a secret by the way... don't tell anyone) to get whatever he wants to...

NB: please feel free to replace "guy" with "girl" at any point.... the result is the same

embrace life.... but

don't cling too tight though it hurts!!!