Uncle Bob

2 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Ah, "real" Buddhism. Is this akin to the demarcation disputes between various christian sects, each claiming to have the purest expression of the faith, or the Shitites* and the Sunnis in Islam who blow each other up so certain are they of the impurity of the other's faith?

* yes, I do know

You are right, it sounds like that.
What I meant to say is that in Thailand, and in most other countries where it is practiced, Buddhism is mixed with Hinduism, animism and even politics, the outcome being something completely non-buddhist. For instance, in Buddhism there is no soul traveling from the dead body to another body after death (reincarnation), that is a Hindu concept. Buddhism says everything is dukkha, anicca, anatta: suffering, impermanence, non-self. Way off-topic, I know, I just take an interest in this stuff...

6 hours ago, wvavin said:

Is there anymore things that are not involved in cheating in this country?

Farming and working at 7-11

8 hours ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

That and the belief in karma - you reap in this life what you have sown in past lives. That's why the peasants cannot be entrusted with voting because they're peasants, therefore they must not have been sufficiently virtuous in their past lives. That's the concept that lies behind the Yellow Shirt/junta narrative of leaving government to "virtuous" people.

 That is NOT how karma works in real Buddhism. Off course those yellow shirt hi-so's don't know sh#t about that. They think they are entitled to exploiting the poor; and donating money and burning candles in the wat (tham boon) will get them an even better next life. Talk about ignorance ....

The hub of focal points and seminars! Just get off Facebook and do your jobs, government officials... Won' t happen

2 hours ago, kannot said:

They have also started expanding their network of  loudhailers out of the villages and into the countryside where there are  only a few residents. Now every morning I get what sounds  like North Korean marching type  songs and patriotic crap for 2  hours...cutting the bloody  wire  soon

Sticking a needle in it is much better, they will never find it and it causes a short circuit, so no sound...

Keep on banning stuff! That really works!

There is nothing wrong with the laws here, the enforcement of them is the problem.

20 minutes ago, darren84310 said:

 

No, it's not violence to administer the cane by way of discipline in a school. 

You liberals have had your chance and it hasn't worked.

Fear is what keeps us alert and alive. It stops us from making or repeating mistakes..... It's natures way of protecting us. Nothing wrong with fear at all..... It makes us stronger.

First lesson in teacher education: provide a SAFE learning environment where children feel welcome and appreciated. No room for fear in such an environment! However it might work in Hitler Youth settings...

Just fire her, ban her from teaching and fine the school 100,000 baht... Or mai pen rai... Up to you Thailand.

1 hour ago, Mook23 said:

in thailand it was like this:

1. we were never colonised

2. we never collaborated with the japs

3. we won from france (anu sawari!!!)

4. we invented the tuktuk!

;-)

joke aside, i always said the thai are the americans of SEA!

 Are these statements really not true then? I know they collaborated with the japs but by whom where they colonised? Won from France?

Democratic elections please!

All that money and power and not even the decency to have the adjoining plot of land cleared of thrash...

Says a lot about the mentality of these guys: I care for my business only, the next guy can go to hell!

Hope this great country will one day wake up and realize that they are being governed by complete and utter scum...

I learned English in Dutch secondary school: 4 hours a week for 6 years + homework. So appr. 1000 class hours and 500 homework hours. You really have to put in the hours/effort to get somewhere. You can't just ask some agency to teach you fluency on an English camp or some special course lasting a week!

2 hours ago, The Dark Lord said:

SadlySpiderMike, you are absolutely spot on in your summation of the decline in tourism in what used to be one of the most sought after destinations for exotic ( and erotic) getaways. 

 

I am am happily married to the current Mrs Dark Lord who is an indig of these parts and we retired here about four years ago. The decline in standards that we have seen over this relatively short time is forcing us to reconsider spending our autumnal years here with me being increasingly hounded and her having to defend me or listen to my gripes about the state of things. 

 

Life is is too short to embrace all that bull droppings.

 

as my Father used to say "you make your bed , you lie on it" it I do not suppose that holds true as the clowns taking the decisions to make tourism figures fall ( in terms of ££ per tourist capita per day) will undoubtedly have already had their nest feathered and the pain will be shouldered by the ever forgiving masses.

 

shame!

There will come an end to this, sooner or later. The masses are waking up. They are better informed than say 20 years ago with the internet and social media. Must be hard to work your ass off and see your business go down the drain because of those corrupt and inadequate clowns... Time will tell and I hope there will be no civil war but I am not sure of that.

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Absolute, complete nonsense. Every statement in that article was ridiculous, except the lack of expansion of highways, trains, or transportation in general.

 

I have a friend who recently stayed on Samui. He stayed at a resort that has 54 rooms. Normally, they are 100% booked, from about Dec. 20th, to about January 5th. This year, they only had 22 rooms filled. They are down 60% for the peak season. Many resorts are experiencing similarly alarming numbers. These hotels counted on the government to support them, when they spend millions on their properties, and the government has let them down, once again. They continue to drop the ball, at every opportunity. 

 

They trot out these projections, every time they get scared, and see the numbers dropping. Who was it that said, if you tell the people something often enough, eventually they will believe it? Well, not us. We are not buying your simpleton lies. Tourism is declining by the day. Perhaps 50 years from now, in a hospitality industry class at a university here, they will discuss how Thailand lost the golden egg of Western tourism. Those tourists, unlike most Chinese tourists, spent anywhere from $100 a day, to over $1,000 a day. They brought real money into the country, and in exchange, were treated with utter and complete disregard, scammed, disrespected, and abused. Eventually, most said no more. Thailand thought the country was something very special, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.  

 

The real solution is about encouraging tourists, and ex-pats, from countries that spend real money, to come here and visit. That message seems to have gotten lost, in the fervor to court the Chinese tourists, many of whom do not spend much money at all here. So, what happened? The Western tourists started to decline in number, and the genius minds at the TAT decided it was time to "lure" the Chinese. They came. But, they did not spend much money. Hotels, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, galleries, spas, massage shops, bars, and countless other businesses suffered, and will continue to suffer from this extreme myopia, on the part of the officials in charge of tourism. Oh well. Can't say they were not warned. 

 

It is a real shame, as I find most Thai people to be quite lovely, friendly, warm, helpful and fun to be around. I am sure many feel the same way.

The Thai people are very friendly and nice indeed. However, the richer they get the less friendly and more xenophobic they become. The super rich are ruling Thailand... When will the people of this great country wake up and kick out the parasites, you know who I'm talking about. Brown, green, yellow maybe...