fredwiggy

Again, outward expressions can mean little or nothing. People are very good at hiding feelings. Here especially to save face, although they don't practice what they preach most of the time, as the news shows. The best way to hit someone who deserves it is to smile at them, get close by soft talk, and then strike. It's been done countless times. Telegraphing a punch is how you lose fights. Just an example.

When I said a smile means nothing, I meant you can't tell what they are thinking from just a smile, not that it has a meaning to them, because it does. The meaning can be friendly or not. Yes, a smile can mean they are being friendly towards you, or hide that they are prejudiced or have hatred. Only way to tell what a person is thinking is to ask them, and hope they reply truthfully.

Knew that when I was a teenager. Just like in a relationship. One can make the relationship better acting "as if" things are going okay, and they will with this thinking. It catches on, just like a smile. Going into a place with a frown on your face isn't how you attract others. They avoid you, especially if they are feeling a little down already.

No, no one can tell. It's a guess invented by someone who thought they can tell a person's thoughts by their facial expressions. I consider everything, as psychology and what makes people think is a hobby I've studied for over 35 years. A person can cry and be happy, and have a scowl, and also be okay in their thoughts, but not want to let others in. A smile means nothing. A lot, meaning most of people will smile to hide their real feelings. Just because someone makes something up that makes sense to them doesn't mean it makes sense at all. People follow others who they believe in for many reasons, power, money and status being some examples. They mean nothing. Narcissists have been fooling people for centuries, and these are the people many vote for in politics. Politicians smile because they know it makes people believe in what they say. At least some people.

Best answer and the most true. Lived in US 62 years until 5 years ago, and when I smiled at people coming my way, (usually), they usually returned with a smile. Here it's like many foreigners are hiding from something and don't want to make contact. The friends I have here I've either met in a gym, were introduced by other friends, or a store, and reciprocated when I tried starting a conversation. One farang started talking to me and his wife immediately dragged him away, giving me a dirty look. Guess she didn't want him to have any friends who might tell him how things really are here, and what to be warned of. Thai's here return smiles about half the time, but you'll never know what they are thinking. As far as the nonsense about recognizing the supposed 13 smiles, you can't tell. People are all different, and what might look like a friendly smile, might hide hatred or prejudice, or it might be true. Depends on that person. Smiling to others here shows them you respect them, and that's never a bad idea, as it's hard enough living here with all the scams, prejudice, greed, dishonesty and jealousy, and wanting to make friends in a foreign country is always a good plan.

I have believed for a long time God put certain plants here for a specific reason. People thought they should smoke tobacco, and look what happens.

People in power are usually narcissists, which means they have no regard for anyone else but their own fragile egos. It doesn't take money to treat or train a dog right. It takes love, patience and knowledge. A lot of that isn't in government positions as has been proven in most countries for a thousand years. People in high positions usually have others raise their animals and children, because they haven't got the time for such important things.

You could say the same thing about people. When not properly raised, abused, neglected or spoiled, they turn into narcissists, who are the bane of society. They kill, maim, molest, and attack the innocents, and are responsible for the wars, especially those narcissists in charge. Again, I'm not excusing dogs for the damage some cause. Dogs that are pets, and are trained properly, are loyal and protective of their owners, and those that are trained to sniff out drugs and explosives save many lives, and are pets to their trainers and to families when they are retired. The fact that the government isn't doing anything shows how much they care about the people they are supposed to be working for. If the spay/neuter programs weren't happening daily, can you imagine how many more strays there would be? If it's stepped up, funded by the government, and they hired people to go around and kill the dangerous and sick, the problem would be lessened. It's up to the people to pay for their own dogs, but as many aren't capable here, it has to be put into other's hands so it happens. You go around killing dogs that some look at as pets, and you'll have a major problem. There are dogs that run loose here, but if you run one over, they will come out of the woodwork and look to get revenge or money. Poor country, more problems that the government has to help with. Sadly, that, with what's happening recently, isn't going to happen anytime soon.

You keep making excuses to cover your wrong statements. that doesn't work. Dogs are pets when people take care of them, which is what makes them pets. Dogs that are allowed to roam freely cause problems, more so if they are mistreated. Dogs are not violent unless they are again, abused, neglected or trained to be violent. That's the owners mistakes, unless they are trained to be guard dogs, and are kept enclosed. Dogs smell like dogs, but if they are taken care of, eat healthy, and bathed occasionally, they aren't objectionable. Millions of people downright stink. This isn't to say dogs don't smell, of back them up, but just reality. pet owners know what they are getting into, and they don't mind. People who were raised to hate dogs do. Dogs are among the most loyal of animals and pets, and have saved many lives. Pit bulls ,if loved, treated with respect, and shown that their owners are the boss, are not violent. They are aggressive with other dogs, which is normal. Pits have one of the higher rate of deaths of humans because they, if allowed to get violent, are capable of killing easier than many other dogs. German Shepherds and Dobermans are also dangerous if they aren't trained properly, again because of the bite strength and body strength. Dangerous means they can cause the most damage quickly because of the before mentioned attributes. I've been bit by two dogs in my life, and both were small and very small. Their owners obviously didn't teach them to not attack when someone comes close to their property. Dogs, especially larger ones, should not be allowed to be alone with small children, because children sometimes tease, sit on or hit dogs, and any dog will try to protect itself using what it knows best, biting. Dogs are protective and territorial, which means they will do what they can to protect themselves and their owners and property. Dogs and young children don't mix, because of the sudden movements and playing a child does. Many dogs allow children to do whatever to them, and won't be aggressive back. Some don't, and will bite. Teaching the child not to do certain things helps. Some pits and rottweilers I have seen are very gentle and never aggressive. Yet some will attack when provoked or from fear. This is why they shouldn't be pets of people with small children. Back to the topic, I said dogs should be neutered and spayed to control the population, and some could be shot, if they are disabled or proven dangerous. The government is responsible for helping and protecting it;'population. This includes not allowing dogs to run free and breed, increasing the population of dogs that aren't owned. People here aren't going to do much to help with this problem, most being too poor to spay or neuter their dogs, or not caring about them after they're past puppy stage. That's why the government has to step in and control the population by paying for increased spay/neuter programs, and euthanizing the sick and disabled.

Wrong again. Most police and military dogs go on to live with either their handler or a family and make great pets. I've known a few myself. And saying the problems from dogs is the owners is true .IF the dogs are started out as pets, as many have been, and allowed to run free and breed, where the puppies are feral, that was the responsibility of the owner, as it doesn't happen if the dogs are fixed, as they should be as soon as possible if the owners don't want more dogs. And in this case, they shouldn't, as they have proven to be irresponsible in that regard and allowed the puppies to roam to breed themselves. Dogs are not inherently violent. They are made violent by abuse, neglect or training. Some dogs can just cause more damage to people because they are stronger. There's a pit that comes around my house that is a very gentle dog, to people, although he does fight other males in the area.

He is referring to your statement that pet owners are weak, pathetic people who are missing something in their lives. People can not like to have pets and not be pricks. You kinda buried yourself with your prejudiced comments. Pets can be and are valuable additions to our families, military and police forces. In the wrong hands, pets can be nuisances and dangerous. It's people that are to blame for most of our problems.

I know entering the country of your citizenship with an expired passport isn't a problem. It's being allowed to board with one that expires less than 6 months from flight date that worried me, so it's easier to just get it renewed beforehand because dealing with officers you can get many outcomes.

If you're originally a US citizen, which I assume, couldn't you just bring your US passport and go and come back? I only have my US passport and just use that.

I don't understand that . Are you a US citizen? If so, you don't need a Thai passport anyway. My daughter was born here, and is a US citizen by birth, but still a Thai citizen born here so needs her Thai passport to at least come back to Thailand.

Not taking a chance. I'll just get the Thai passport renewed. Going to immigration can be a problem here depending on the officer I get. I know they usually want 6 months on a passport before you fly, but with the Thai passport for my daughter I wasn't sure because it expires 2 months after I'm flying.

Actually,although it may be true for some dogs, a lot are born after the fact, out in the woods so to speak, and aren't anyone's pets but the offspring of those pets. I feed dogs at my house all the time, although there is a scumbag farmer that's been poisoning dogs in my village. They come to my house because I'm friendly to them. They have had puppies out somewhere I never get to see, although these dogs are at my house daily I'm sure the puppies that live are spreading out in the village area, so they aren't anyone's pets either, even though they might find food at someone's house. I love dogs and have mentioned I am against killing just because they are nuisances. Killing those that are diseased, sick, disabled or dangerous I'm not against, nor should anyone else be. That's humane. Killing dogs because you learned by example from your parents to hate animals or because that hatred came from somewhere else isn't humane.

In Princeton, New Jersey, they hired sharpshooters, along with bowhunters. They did the shooting after dark so no one knew they were around. It's not people running around with rifles. It's a controlled hunt with just a few shooters. If it is allowed, the public wouldn't have much to say, because it's been their lack of input that's let the animals overpopulate. This is a job for the government to endorse.

You're giving these dogs more credit than deserved as far as thinking they can differentiate between fireworks, which are used a lot here for funerals, and gun shots, especially when suppressed, which aren't loud at all. Like I said, I'm not for shooting any dogs besides disabled, sick, rabid or dangerous, and there are so many dogs here, they aren't hard to find, even if they were pressured. Dogs need to eat, and breed, and that leaves them vulnerable to contact, for spaying or otherwise.

People are overweight in every country. It's the junk foods and inactivity. What might be surprising is that the countries leading the lists are the Pacific Islands, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga , Samoa, Micronesia etc. The US is ranked 10th, followed by many Middle eastern countries.

It works but it has to be funded by the government and not just by donations, so they can do it all over the country. Consider the fact how it would be if they didn't use this program. People here aren't caring of their animals like they are in the US, so it has to be done from other sources, and not just in Phuket, bangkok and Trang. There are millions of loose dogs here, so this has to be a priority. It's in everyone's best interest, not just the people who own pets and feed them because they feel for them.

Yes, I'll be going to Ubon's office, which is pretty close. I'd like to renew just in case.

Spay-neuter is a good way to keep the population from getting out of hand, and it has to continue forever, as a lot here don't really care about their "pets" running wild. It also, after they have been fixed, especially the males, makes them less aggressive and won't range anymore to look for females. Females usually stay in their home area more anyway. That would curtail the roaming, which causes accidents and dogs going into areas where they encounter people who are bothered by them. Shooting a sick, disabled or dangerous animal is a no brainer, and that I can't argue.

American food, meaning born in America, can be healthy or unhealthy. As far as being "good", that's personal. Millions enjoy Mexican food, especially in Texas where I came from before moving here, but some Mexican food is lousy, and some is great. Barbecue was born in America, and is fantastic, especially from Texas. Cheeseburgers are also delicious, especially with all the variety you can have from the meats, cheeses and toppings. Pizza, especially New jersey of New York style, is the best worldwide. Deep dish pizza, Chicago style, is also very good, as are the hot dogs from Chicago and New York. Buffalo wings are great, although i don't eat them because of the fat content. I love, but rarely eat, pecan and apple pie. Reuben sandwiches are fabulous. Philly cheese steaks are great, and not that fattening. American food also means food from everywhere else, and everywhere there are restaurants that serve food from every country that is as good or better than the country of origin,mainly because the people that cook it are from those countries. I used to eat, weekly, Thai food from a restaurant in San Antonio that is as good as anything here. They are from Korat. There are at least 7 Thai restaurants in the San Antonio area , all with good food.

If that's the case, we're covered, as we will return before her Thai expires.

That's one thing I saw, but it says "may" have to use the Thai passport to leave, not a definitive answer and nothing on expirations.