Spider

I have a few points of contention with the original post and first comment.

I disagree that "names like Khmer (Cambodian), Lao and Kag (Indians, Malays, or guests) are likely to reflect the original versions of these songs." What evidence do we have that shows this conclusively? Perhaps it is better to consider other possibilities. The melodies and their names could be products of exoticism -- painting a portrait based upon what the composer imagined a far off land to be. Or, they could be folk tunes that bounced around the regions, carried by theater troupes, the precursors to likay. We might also consider Siam's relationships with its neighbors, the overlapping political interests, "national pride and patriotism," and the cultural hegemony that existed when these songs were adopted into the classical court cannon, and how those aspects might have influenced the naming of particular tunes. Music and musical instruments are also part of a monarch's regalia, and have been bestowed upon vassal states to acknowledge power relations.

I don't see traditional court music as a "dying art." In fact, it is quite vibrant, taught in schools and community centers around the country, and performed regularly at festivals and cultural shows.

And just to quibble, why do you describe Thai boxing music as "classical"?

Also, if you are going to transliterate words such as "Daeng" and "Daeng," why is it "Kag" and not "Khaek"?

Weary's comment does not explain who the "many" are who don't like dissonance in music. It would be hard to imagine the past seven centuries of Western music without dissonance in some form or another. If dissonance is "a prominent feature in (...) Thai classical music," then it is probably a particular type of dissonance that **many** find displeasing. Is it the scale intervals? The musical textures (stratification)? The instrumental timbres?

You may have fallen victim to underpants gnomes (Google it).

Seriously though, love magic, as practiced by shamans in in the South and across the border in Malaysia (and undoubtedly elsewhere in SEA), often focuses on the sexual organs. A woman may squat (exposed) over steaming rice that she feeds to her husband (nasi kangkang in Malaysia, could someone please tell me some Thai, or other equivalents?), or she may "borrow" his underwear to have it imbued with a charm. Not saying this is what happened, just that certain personal objects can be used -- whether you believe it or not -- by others for their own motives.

You may have fallen victim to underpants gnomes (Google it).

My wife is from Phatthalung, so I have been there several times. In fact we even had a traditional Thai wedding there. It is a quiet province that tends to get flooded every year sometime between October and December. I have never been there during those months so I can't say how bad it is, but I know my wife says her village (about 20 km South from Phatthalung town) always gets flooded. In fact, when she was young, her parent's house was washed away. It was rebuilt and we even built a new taller (on cement pilings) bungalow behind their house as a place for us to visit.

The town of Phatthalung is quite nice. Last year when I was there I was told that they will be building a Lotus Tesco near the town. Last summer there wasn't any western fast food places like McDonalds, KFC, etc. For that we needed to drive to Trang which is a beautiful but somewhat dangerous 1 hour drive over a mountain range.

I rarely see other farang around, but I did see more last time than ever before. In fact, the next door neighbor is married to a Swiss guy and living in Switzerland most of the year. The area has some nice waterfalls that you can swim in. It also has Buddhist temples in caves. In the center of town is a tall limestone mountain with caves in it. They have friendly monkeys that you can feed. They won't hurt you unlike the monkeys they have in Lopburi (North of Bangkok). Another nice attraction is the large lake that is a bird refuge about 5 km from the town.

When I need more action, more shopping options, or western food, I go to Hat Yai. There are busses that run between Phatthalung and Hat Yai regularly.

You may find Phatthalung a bit too Thai for you. As for me, I only stay about a week at a time when I visit. We currently live in the USA, so we only make visits there.

Hi Donx, thanks for your lengthy reply. I appreciate it very much. We visited Patthalung last summer too. Yes, it's a nice place. I don't mind if it's a bit too Thai. We don't go to fast food restaurants other than pizza parlor, so it does not matter whether Pattalung has any western fast food restaurants or not. The bird refuge sounds good. How do one get there? Just go or do we need to hire a boat/guide? Thanks Donx. Have a nice summer.

no problem your welcome. I haven't spent a huge amount of time there, but have made about 3 trips now and have loved it every time ive been. My partner is from Phattalung though so have been made very welcome by her family and friends.

We made a trip to Pattalung last summer. It's a nice place. We prefer Nakhon but also like Pattalung because of its location,sort of in the centre of all the areas where my husband will be doing his research. We are not sure yet either Nakhon or Pattalung. We will decide once we get there.

I wouldn't say Phattalung is anything like the unrest provinces. I have only ever found it to be very friendly, though also very quiet. Their is some beautiful scenery there too and it is so far relatively untouched tourism wise

Thanks for your comment tingnongnoi. I appreciate it very much. Have a nice day.

Gisele, my husband will be affiliated with Wailalak University. I can imagine the view you have up on the mountain. What kind of frogs are you raising? Sounds very exciting. Since this thread is about flood and we are not talking about flood, could I just pm you?

It also rots your teeth.......................................

and can cause cancer.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releas...c/en/index.html

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/pres...4/october/47417

My comment about 1 metre under water is because when people see the news about flooding (or any other problem about the South) they just think the worst.

This remind me to when we first told our family that my husband is going to do his research in South Thailand. They were so worried about the unrest there that we had to explain that it is only in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat and ensure them we will not go to these provinces.

So, how long have you been living in Nakhon? And in the mountain! Oh my...that's where I want to live .. (I wish). Last summer we spent about 2 weeks travelling around the south. We do like Nakhon Sithammarat. We bought some durians in a village up on the mountain. You travel quite far to the university. Which one is that? Wailalak?

One bonus to going in the rainy season is you can be sure to rent a house that won't get flooded

True indeed.

I understand there would not be a metre of water flooding the whole of the South at one time. Just thinking it might be inconvenient driving around with two kids looking for a house to rent in the rain and flood(if the area is flooded. Anyway, my husband could just go there by himself first and my kids and I can go to Malaysia and stay with my family until he finds a place for us to stay. Have a nice weekend Gisele.

Majar flood warnings! We were planning to drive around there and other provinces in the south looking for a potential place(town/moo ban/house) to move into. Bad timing I guess. Hm...not sure what to do. Probably should wait until after the monsoon season.

Thanks for posting those photos Gisele. We've been corresponding with NakhonSean and he told us about the flood. Looks like we will be arriving there in the middle of Monsoon season.

I live in gated community, 2 story, 3 bath, 3 bedrooms rent for about 6000 baht, there are plenty of new construction around Nakhon. I don't know of any agent.

My 12 year old daughter goes to a school with a good English program,

http://www.sss.ac.th/epm/epmathayom.html

What brings you to the South?

Thanks Gisele,

My husband will be doing a research on music in local folk thetre. Thanks for the link. I will look at it eventhough I have decided to just homeschool my 5 year old boy too.

Spider,

Maybe consider Nakon and/or Trang, but Patthalung in my opinion is a bit too much in the 'unrest' provinces. In both Nakohn and Trang it's also probably easier to integrate with other (few) westerners around, in case you're interested in that at all.

Limbos,

Has there been any incident of 'unrest' in Pattalung?

Hi everyone. How bad is the flood in Nakhon Sithammarat and which areas are affected? What months are the rainy/flood season?

Gisele also lives in Nakhon, you might give her a PM as well.

Hi sbk. Thanks for your response. Actually,now we are thinking about finding a place in either Patthalung or Trang province. Anyone knows about housing in these area? I'm just gonna homeschool my 2 kids and try to find some local kids their age as playmates. I would like to pm Gisele too to find out what's the house rental in Nokhon is like. I don't mind living in Nakhon though both my husband and I prefer the coast of Trang.

PM me and I can give you info on Trang. But generally houses are 3-4 thousand.

Hi Meme, thanks for your response. 3-4 thousand is not bad. I will pm you.

Gisele also lives in Nakhon, you might give her a PM as well.

Hi sbk. Thanks for your response. Actually,now we are thinking about finding a place in either Patthalung or Trang province. Anyone knows about housing in these area? I'm just gonna homeschool my 2 kids and try to find some local kids their age as playmates. I would like to pm Gisele too to find out what's the house rental in Nokhon is like. I don't mind living in Nakhon though both my husband and I prefer the coast of Trang.

Hi Sean, did you get my pm?

Sawassdee.

Hello all. I have just joined this forum hoping that some of you here can give me advice on a few things. We are moving to South Thailand soon(September)We are planning to stay for a year. Is it easy to find a house for rent? We are interested in Nakhon Sithammarat and Trang provinces. I would appreaciate it if any of you who have a link to share regarding house rental. We are a family of 4. What's the rent for

a 3 or 4 bedroom house in these provinces like?High speed internet access is important for us. Is it available there?

We have 2 kids ages 5 and 7. We are planning to homeschool my 7 year old daughter and put her younger brother in a local Kindergarten. Does any of you know the procedure for enrolling a child(foreigner) in kindergarten there? What kind of kindy are available?

My daughter is intersted in learning Thai classical dance. Does any of you have info on this?

Thank you.

Houses are available but have never heard of any agents in Nakhon. 3-4 bedroom detached houses with garden run about 4-6000 a month. You should link up with one of the long term farang in town to guide you through the possibilities when you get here. Be careful, some people dealing without sound advice have been way over charged.

Most areas in town have ADSL and some of the moo-baan also have it. With kids you are probably better of in one of the out of town moo-baans, much quieter and more child friendly.

There are many private kindergarten in town. As for enrolling I doubt there will be any problems, just pay the fees. There is a 5 year old Anglo-Australian girl at my moo-baan going to one, no problems getting her in. As for classical Thai dancing, should not be a problem finding classes or teachers here, know a couple.

Need any other info PM me.

Sean

Hi Sean,

Thank you for your advice. I will pm you. Just found out what moo-baans are. I'm sure gonna have a hard time communicating over there.

Sawassdee.

Hello all. I have just joined this forum hoping that some of you here can give me advice on a few things. We are moving to South Thailand soon(September)We are planning to stay for a year. Is it easy to find a house for rent? We are interested in Nakhon Sithammarat and Trang provinces. I would appreaciate it if any of you who have a link to share regarding house rental. We are a family of 4. What's the rent for

a 3 or 4 bedroom house in these provinces like?High speed internet access is important for us. Is it available there?

We have 2 kids ages 5 and 7. We are planning to homeschool my 7 year old daughter and put her younger brother in a local Kindergarten. Does any of you know the procedure for enrolling a child(foreigner) in kindergarten there? What kind of kindy are available?

My daughter is intersted in learning Thai classical dance. Does any of you have info on this?

Thank you.