Grover

I'm guessing a gay dude wouldn't mind another guy putting his hands on him as much as a straight guy. It's not the fussyness, it's the HOMOSEXUALITY (capitalized for SHOCK VALUE not to offend you =P)

yes. years and years of conditioning have caused hetro males to associate their penis and a massage with sex. The pissing just adds a freaky element to the whole thing.

I guess if he's massageing your shoulders and he takes one hand off I think I would start to worry..

If he was massaging and he takes two hands off, then you should worry.

LOSO. Black & White.

The best books are the AUA books.

The tone drills are good for sure, but I don't know about them being the best. Extremely boring and dry in my opinion. The sound quality of the tapes leaves a lot to be desired. The guy speaks too quickly in a completely unnatural way. At the time they were published I have no doubt they were the best around, but there is now more user friendly books out there.

just wondering, in Thailand what do Thai people think of people on pushbikes? I never asked a Thai. All I ever seem to see is poor, scruffy looking people and grannies wobbling around to the market. Is there any street cred for a farang riding around on a pushbike?? Cheers.

I'm on the case...

er,... is that the artist name...

cos these aresome of the results ofmy search:

I have a question regarding File extensions, that I figured this thread would be the bestplace for:

In Guatemala, we used an independant (not Apple, not MS) DJ mixer Digital program to play our music from, and it could play all formats.

Clearly, a lot of the music donated to us there was from peoples Ipod systems, and was M4A (the Apple progression of MP3, in broad strokes).

Now, back in Europe, I've got only Windows MediaPlayer version 10.0

Anyway to get them to play on this, or do I need yet another program?

Now, back

get another program would be easiest. I recommend Foobar2000, it can play any format.

otherwise you have to convert the M4As to MP3 or WMA. In the process you will probably lose sound quality. The next option would be to try and find a codec for Media Player.

Change to Foobar. It's the freeware too.

they are great for sure, maybe we should have a pinned section for these classics.

give me some feedback to work with.

good idea. too many pages (235) to sift through looking for the gems.

To me all this hulabaloo about the politics of Buddhism in Thailand contains nothing that helps to spread the Buddha's teachings and it has the possible down side that it distracts people away from the teachings and sidetracks them into lines of conditioning that are not conducive to learning the Buddha's message and ultimately to liberation.....but of course this is only my view and I'm not trying to convince anyone that my view is special in any way other than it comes from this imagined self of mine.

Chownah

I agree Chownah. The current politics issue is a shame & quite embarassing for Buddhism IMO. It reminds me of a family fighting over the inheritance.

Nevertheless, it is Thai Buddhism, and from that point of view I am giving it my attention.

I was at a Thai (ie not pharang) night club last night, and after mucho beero I needed to drain the lizard. I get in the bathroom and head to the end stall (I like privacy when I free willy). This guy who looks like he works there moves towards me like he's offering me something and I say no. I start to unzip and he puts his hands on my neck to massage to which i try shake my shoulders and head to say no thanks. I'm bursting to go so I start and he keeps massaging. <deleted>? My penis is out! Get the hel_l off me!

I guess I was in too much of a rush to say mai aw khab and wait until he understood. But seriously ... <deleted>?

If you get a hard on, you finally know that you are queer!

If that happens.......you can't take a leak anymore.....

LaoPo

well, you could. but you wouldn't call it a leak, you would call it a golden shower.

...With a shower (at least in my bathroom)....the water comes from above.....with a hard on it's more like a fountain... if you can 'produce' that is....

LaoPo

there are too many factors to consider in this scenario.

lets just say I have to do some serious yoga to take a leak in the middle of the night.

I was at a Thai (ie not pharang) night club last night, and after mucho beero I needed to drain the lizard. I get in the bathroom and head to the end stall (I like privacy when I free willy). This guy who looks like he works there moves towards me like he's offering me something and I say no. I start to unzip and he puts his hands on my neck to massage to which i try shake my shoulders and head to say no thanks. I'm bursting to go so I start and he keeps massaging. <deleted>? My penis is out! Get the hel_l off me!

I guess I was in too much of a rush to say mai aw khab and wait until he understood. But seriously ... <deleted>?

If you get a hard on, you finally know that you are queer!

If that happens.......you can't take a leak anymore.....

LaoPo

well, you could. but you wouldn't call it a leak, you would call it a golden shower.

My question is, 'with Buddhism being a faith which doesn't openly jump into social reform actions, nor open businesses or schools for profit, and removes itself from the affairs fo the state, how can it show its good side and its good work?'

Buddhism has always been about changing yourself within rather than changing the world. Its good side is reflected in the behaviour of people who take the Buddhist teachings to heart. Some appropriate 'good' Buddhist words that pop into mind are 'merit making', generosity, unconditional love, moral precepts, wisdom & insight.

I don't know if this helps, but it is not such an easy question for me to answer. There seems to be questions behind the question, perhaps I just need a coffee.

I still remember clearly a lady at a chicken stall that had no idea what I was saying. I kept thinking to myself (how could she not understand me when all she is selling is chicken. I wasnt asking for pork or beef, not that she had any). but she couldnt and panicked and called her friend over to help.

It's not uncommon for some peoples brain cells to freeze when encountered with a farang who speaks in Thai. It's not always the farangs fault in broken communication, some Thais are poor listeners. Most are good. Then again, perhaps your pronunciation was really really bad.

Try it at the market. Go and order a peice of chicken in your worst Thai pronunciation you could do, but say the correct words. They will more than likely have no clue what you are saying and more than likey speak English with you if they can. Whereas if you ask for chicken with a perfect accent and have very limited Thai they will be more inclined to continue on speaking Thai with you. Reason is because they understand what you said with the correct pronunciation, whereas when you use the correct words but pronunced incorrectly they have to guess what your saying.

Just point to the chicken, smile, nod your head and give her 25 baht. Mumble something in Thai if you like, it doesn't matter. She knows what you want.

Monks attain 'rank' in the same way as in any other bureaucratic institution. Of course, credentials have something to do with it-- you won't get too far without Pali IX. However politics bear a large role in the whole affair, as does patronage. There is a reason that there are two full professors at the nation's top ecclesiastical institution that come from the same backwater village as the rector of said university.

So, than rank is not something that is dealt with through Pali cannon of traditions in Thai Buddhism but more typical means?

The age of the monk, measured in rainy seasons is the oldest and most basic ranking system.

For the really important and high level ranks, I agree with tycann. It's Pali IX, politics and patronage.

There is also the 'merit making' factor. Some good merit making activities are ordaning plenty of monks, building temples (the bigger the better), and teaching Buddhism (overseas is good). Merit making is about supporting and promoting Buddhism.

So, if you have a monk with Pali IX, who can preach well, generate donations, build temples, attract more supporters, generate more donations (quite important ), and pump this money into worthwhile and fruitful merit making projects, he will shoot up the ladder in no time.

Aonhter tinhg taht colud be mroe ipmoratnt tahn pornunicaiton is cnfodeince wehn tlkiang, sepainkg wtiohut faer of benig msduniertosod.

agreed. pink floyd brilliant.

high hopes. awesome solo.

u must be the hottest girl ..

...either she is that, or maybe not a girl at all...

ok. i'm packing my bags and going home.

I dont know what they are called. All I know is you push the button and they make a very very loud sound, attracting lots of attention. Like a powerful scream. only saw them once or twice, don't know where.

Hehe, like anyone in thailand would give a shit...? The only possible effect is that it will alert people to get away from the scene so they don't get involved in anything. The "squealy thing" is not a good idea here.

i guess.

i'm just trying to give the lady some more options. it may work in some situations. pepper spray seems so harsh unless it's really serious. Having both would be a good option. The loud squealing thing for the medium threats and the pepper spray for the serious ones.

Did you consider a gun?

joking

I'm listening to some Pixies at the moment.

For anyone who is into this audiophile stuff, just got my ER-4P headphones today & my m-audio transit the other day. sound quality is sweet, perfect

Thats hardcore stuff. have you considered one of those small high pitch squealing things? no not babies (although the sight of you carrying a baby could repel the stalker), a battery operated squealing thingi.

What are they called? And where can I get them?

I dont know what they are called. All I know is you push the button and they make a very very loud sound, attracting lots of attention. Like a powerful scream. only saw them once or twice, don't know where.

Thats hardcore stuff. have you considered one of those small high pitch squealing things? no not babies (although the sight of you carrying a baby could repel the stalker), a battery operated squealing thingi.

pics please. what a fascinating character. A pants pooping, high esteem, tie wearing, good resume, beer drinking, homeless, farang.

he loves it.

If you are a native english speaker, most sounds are pretty similar.

Pretty similar doesn't cut it if you want to speak clearly and avoid misunderstandings. Only if you think "I won fi li an noo-den soob" is acceptable English. That is applying the closest sounds in Thai onto English - and it works just as well, or badly, in the other direction.

I agree, pronunciation is important. But not at the expense of motivation, especially if you got next to none. In context, my point was that don't get too caught up with really good pronunciation in the early stages because (I believe) it's far more important to get the basic words under your belt so you can start conversing in real time. No worries, you will be able to be understood most of the time in the beginning. Thai people love it when farang can speak a few words of Thai & they will make an effort to listen because they think its fascinating.

My words were mainly for PeaceBlondie, who said he had next to no motivation. But for the OP, who sounds pretty motivated, I agree with meadish sweetball. Good pronunciation right from the start will save time in the long run.

G'day swagman. Just quickly, the "unless" in my last post should be replaced by "if", but I think you knew what I meant.

I've thought about what you said, and I think monks often talk about the benefits of Dharma to lay people. It's a recurring theme. Sometimes the Abbot or a monk will ask (directly or indirectly) for donations to build or renovate the temple. This is normal.

What I am talking about is promoting the religion and telling people of all the good things monks are doing for the people and the community and the benefits of Dharma.

Most of this stuff seems ok, I think. The thing to always keep in mind is the motive of the monk (or any Buddhist for that matter) when he acts or speaks. For example, if a monk touches a woman in any way, it must be accompanied by a lustful INTENTION for it to properly be considered a monk 'sin'. If he brushes against a woman in a bus, accidentaly, it is not nearly as serious. But it should be considered if there is an unconsious motive also.

Coming back to your question, the monk can talk freely about 'promoting' Buddhism unless he is motivated on some level by hate, greed or lust. Action normally flows properly from a 'pure' motive.

Then there is the case of ignorance. This is why monks without 5 years in the monkhood are generally not allowed to speak in public, although it is not a foolproof method.

Once you have the motivation, pretty much nothing can stop you. Your studies should begin by getting the motivation ball rolling and keeping the momentum going and going.

If you are studying Thai by yourself, your gonna have to motivate yourself. You don't have the luxury of grades, fees, and peers/teacher to motivate you.

You will want to have a feeling of progress and acomplishment, especially with regard to actually stringing phrases together - learning one word a day won't help. 30, 40, 50 words per day is better.

Again, in my opinion, don't worry too much about pronuncuation in the beginning. If you are a native english speaker, most sounds are pretty similar. Just listen carefully and try and say like a parrot what you hear on the tape or CD. Its good enough for the beginning - the finer points you can work on later. But the emphasis and energy should be getting down and dirty with the memory work. A working vocab and the ability to string phrases together will get the motivation ball rolling.

Then again, as an absolute beginner without much motivation, if you think your pronunciation is really, unintelligibly bad, or the idea of perfect pronunciation motivates you, by all means, do it. I just recommend the approach that worked for me.