Ga-gai

Your right, we've lived in this new village since it was built, about 3yrs ago and even though my 8yr old daughter has all the children around to our house most days after school with very few exceptions I am not even acknowledged by most of the parents, finding this strange I thought that with their way of thinking it could have been 1, either we appear to be better off than them or 2, perhaps it's because I'm the only falang, I have tried to instigate a conversation but get very little response.

I don't know about your ability to speak thai. When I first came here, I couldn't speak a word of thai. At that time, there were basically no thais trying to communicate or acknowledge me as a person. I was always "it" or "the thing from outer space" for them. Everything had to go through my wife and she then translated back and forth. I wouldn't wanna trade place with her, being my personal walking dictionary.

During my 10 years here, I've picked up fluent thai really well. That's because I practice the language everyday by not speaking my own language. Most thais I meet on the street usually knows who I am and often talk and say hello and ask me how I'm doing and where I'm heading. Even people that I don't know, seems to know me. They know my name and say hello etc. And why did that change, compared to the situation 10 years ago? I've learned to speak thai and the can communicate with me in a relaxed way. I've actually become a person! That's how it works. Some thai can speak some english, but they prefer not bother if it's nothing important. Not because they are ignorant. Just because they are shy, afraid to appear ridiculous if they don't understand or you understand them. Now we're talking about normal thais. Not street vendors or bar-girls. The key is: -Learn to speak Thai!

What must they be adding to the Pad Thai to make it so unhealthy???

Thai food, when properly prepared, is very healthy. However, so many recipes add oil, sugar and salt which are not needed for the recipe at all.

I can agree on Pad Thai is the number one unhealthy food here. It contains lots of oil, lots of sugar (added during cooking), lots of carbon hydrates from the noodles, unhealthy ingredients from the black sauce, etc. My wife told me that Pad Thai is not actually something that you have for dinner. More like something between fast food to stop sudden hunger and a desert (or snacks).

Well... They usually get fatter when they get older, when the balance in their body changes...

Thais eat almost constantly. Just what I mentioned above about spreading out smaller meals instead of having a few big ones. It really works! If you eat just a few heavy big meals with Thai food every day, you will get fat for sure. But not with the more constant smaller ones. Regarding obesity and Thais, that's a thing that will be more common when they adopt to western food and how it is eaten. Some of the wealthier Thai families that's spoiling their kids with more western food (just to show their status and income) usually got fat kids.

I think Trogers is right (earlier post): "...the issue will be like a Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads." (my changes)

.

.

Ha-ha... I like that one!

For the ones that doesn't know about Damocles, you can find it in Wikipedia:

Sword of Damocles

Maybe most of the foreigners are living in the proximity of big cities and tourist places and therefore mostly eat the same food as they did back home.

Anyway... It's the carbon hydrates everyone should watch out for. Carbon hydrates is basically sugar. I try the most to avoid Thai dishes with sugar and oil. I avoid white polished Jasmin rice and use brown rice instead when doing food at home. Also focus on boiled meat or canned Tuna in water together with the brown rice. Keep the stomach working all the time by eating minor amount of food more often. Instead of eating 3 heavy meals a day (or even just one big only), I spread it out to 5-6 smaller simple meals during the day to keep the stomach working and make the organs to realize that there is no need to store energy as fat because there's a supply from the frequent meals.

I also do 1½ hours a day on gym from Monday to Friday. In the weekend I'll just relax with a couple of beers. At the gym I do both step and ski machine for half an hour. Then bench press and handles for 1 hour. No bodybuilding. No heavy stuff. Just normal healthy exercises that feels good. A rice dish about 1 hour before the gym. Fruits like banana or apples immediately after the pass. No food after 8.00 pm (I usually go to bed 12:00-01:00 am)

I've lost 10 kg in 5 months. Everything feels lighter nowadays. From waking up in the morning (9:00-10:00 am), walking, shopping to walking the stairs at home. Starting feel as good as I did 15 years ago (before married *haha*). Also quit smoking 3 years ago!

So guys... If you take care of your body, your body takes care of you!

Why would any expat want to own land? You can lease it for 99 years and place a house on it. I'll doubt there are many (or any) of us here that will get any older than [current age] + 99 years. What happens after we're gone out of the cremation chimney, is not of any concern by then.

So the Australlians let a bunch of sick people off a cruise ship and allowed it to spred among the population. To bad that didn't happen in Thailand and the bashers could have had some more rocks to throw.

Whats wrong with those Aussies not taking this flu thing serious.

The Aussies are too macho to bother about viruses. They're even too macho to bother to wear sunscreen at the beach. And upon that... Russel Crow have problem getting visa to the US since he'd been knocking down too many people when he's in a bad mood. Apparently they got "mucho" problems in the land down under!

Always those Britons!

Almost every two news headline concern Britons in one or the other way. What is it with those people?

Ok...

The relatives called the newspaper and asked where they got this story from.

-From the local police! they replied.

So... Despite there actually were witnesses, the local police fabricated their own story and also said that there were no witnesses that saw the incident. The real story where my wife's relative where unarmed and stabbed 17 times, were changed into that the murderer where only defending himself from the victim. Nice example on corruption! Tomorrow the relatives will contact the local police and asked what they actually wrote in their report. Especially when the police actually wrote down witness reports when they arrived at the scene. Need to be investigated where those reports went. Looks like the conspiracy theory about the murderers sister is married to a policeman, seems to fit the reality.

If you one day end up on a picture in the press (Thairath etc) where you are dead, naked and accused to be the bad guy, you'll know that the murderer probably have a policeman or a politician in his family!

Just some reflections about Thai media and their reporting...

Three days ago my wife's 34 years old relative was killed/murdered by a 47 year old neighbor. They both knew each other well. It all started when they during this weekend daytime sat and drank alcohol together. Suddenly one word went wrong from may wife's relative and the other guy went mad of anger and started to put up a fight. Not very uncommon in both Thailand and in the rest of the world. Anyway... My wife's relative then grabbed an empty bottle and smashed it halfway to use as a weapon and then said to the other guy to calm down and take it easy. Then the fellowship parted and everyone went back to their houses. After my wife's relative got inside his house, he felt a little bit bad about what happened and decided to pay a visit to the angered neighbor and ask for forgiveness about what he earlier said that made the neighbor upset. Well there he said to the angered neighbor that he was sorry about what he had said asked for forgiveness. -Never! The neighbor shouted and then attacked him with a larger knife and stabbed his chest and stomach seventeen times. It was so bad that some of the intestines started to come out from the wounds. Needless to say that my wife's relative died pretty quick. And as if that wasn't enough... As the body laid on the ground totally mutilated and lifeless, the neighbor then started to pull the pants of the victims body. It appears (cultural tradition?) that when a killer is taking the clothes of his murdered victim, it is solely to disgrace the murdered person even more before the public or people that will find the body.

I remember from replies on Thaivisa news clippings (from Thai media), where there have been cases of murdered foreigners in Thailand... Some posters here wondered why, in almost all murder cases, the victim (farang) is found without clothes. So now you know the reason for that.

Anyway...

The incident was reported in the paper media press. But the story was totally different from what actually happened (there were around 5-6 witnesses that can confirm what I wrote above). As it appeared in the press, the story was changed to the opposite. -The neighbor were just defending himself from my wife's relative who instead where about to kill the neighbor. The fact that the murdered didn't have any weapon of any kind, is also not mentioned. As soon as my wife and the relatives of hers saw the news, they knew directly why the story was changed. The figured out that the reason probably was because the murderers sister is married to a policeman.

So, now you know why many (often westerners) murder victims are without clothes in the media pictures! In case you got burglars... cheat on your Thai wife... or marry a woman who only want's your insurance money... or don't need you after you have invested all your savings in properties that you don't own in your name... or... make your neighbor upset. Big chance that your naked body end up in the news.

Life is cheap. Just another day i Thailand...

Judging from all posters here, which I for suspect is 80% made by westerners living in Thailand, I find no difference from thais when it comes to behavior, logic, conclusions, what is right and wrong, which is the "right side", easily seduced by lies etc. Some posters here behaves, express or share opinions just like uneducated thais from the rural parts of Thailand. Really amazing actually...

For me, I was able to imagine myself as in a role of greater importance than I would seem to be ordinarily. At the time, I had some recognition. I was making some progress professionally, but I wasn't really at the top. I didn't have top level recognition, and so when I started thinking irrationally, I imagined myself as really on a Number 1 level. I was the most important person of the world, and people like the Pope would be just like enemies, who would try to put me down in some way or another, or the president.

—John Nash

"Pulp Fiction" correct....do I get a cookie or something?

You can have a Kahuna burger!

Buckwheat Has Passed Away

Martin was an active member of the admin and marketing team at Thaivisa, and was our own Party General, organizing and cooking dozens of Thaivisa Member BBQ's around Thailand for many years.

<snip>

R.I.P. Martin!

Has anyone actually read his book??

If so maybe they can add something to the topic regarding what the offending paragraph etc. actually contained. How did he criticise the monarchy? Did he suggest the monarcjy was behind the coup?

What's the story.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/10623213/Excerpt...up-for-the-Rich

"A Coup for the Rich" by Giles Ji Ungpakorn.......???

Wasn't the whole thing around Thaksin that his political party was a party led by the already rich who only wanted the best for Thailand? The "best for Thailand" then turned out to be the "best for Shinawatra". Those redshirts seems to have a problem with democracy as well. The roots of the political problems in this country is pure greed. It's not about political goal or visions. Being a politician in this country is equal to becoming rich or richer by all the money one can make on corruption. I would like to know if there is a single Thai politician that is not corrupted. And it's not as easy as only getting the votes by saying "-I'm not corrupted". The citizens are not interested in that, especially not those on urban countryside since they give away their vote for a couple of hundred Bahts. Corruption is not only by the rich. It's also among the poor. It's the theme that is infecting this whole country. I truly can't see any way how this country one day would become corrupt-free. It's in the blood.

It seems like the Milk Business is ruled by mafia, making it difficult for smaller farmers to sell or get any profit. Met an Australian guy who have been here for 20 years now. He used to run a diary farm with cows for milk production. But he stopped after he realized that the whole business was ruled by the big mafia farms that made life hard for the small farmers.

Overgeneralizing can be a slippery slope argument,however I appreciate your information and enjoyed reading your post.In general some thai women are scammers in varying degrees..as are a certain percentage of all peoples in all countries..before my thai wife,I had several thai girlfriends of various degrees of "shadiness" from white ish to darker,for lack of better words.I know of an example of a guy In Canada whose wife just stays in Thailand after her Canadian citizenship was finalized in 2006.He sends her money and she meets other farang boyfriends in her area of Thailand.I would never tell this guy because he has his head in the "sand".He knows pretty well anyway.There are many good conservative thai woman too.Once some of the bar girls have been working in the bars for too long,they can get jaded by the whole lifestyle.. by the lowest common denominator of farang drunks and sex tourists,then they may develop a bit of a drinking problem.You can take the girl out of the bar...but perhaps you can't take the bar out of the girl.I am not denigrating bar girls at all,most are trying to help their families.I wanted to meet a Conservative,educated,jai dee,hard working,attractive(duh)thai lady and get to know her family well.Many of us farang believe our wives love us,but we are also aware that things can turn on a dime for any number of reasons.We are all somewhat deluded at times.This poor man's very unfortunate killing could have been avoided by him making different and possibly better life choices.We all make mistakes,and I just wish he had done things differently.Us farang can learn from this tragedy.In Thailand I like to be somewhat humble and show people that you care through actions,and it's likely you'll have few if any enemies.

I don't live at a tourist region. Have no experience with the bar-street life, except some occasions when I've met some old friends that happened to come here on holiday and then Pattaya. In 10 years here, maybe I've gone there 6-7 times, 2-3 days each. In fact... I see strange behavior against thai-only couples almost every day. They cheat on each other. Cheat on money. Waste all the family 'fortune' either on karaoke women (the male) or illegal card playing (mostly women). Upon that, there are sometimes a few 'happy' westerners that comes here occasionally. I'm sure there are good thai women as well. But the better education and family background, the less the reason to marry a 'farang'. I can't recall such high rate on cheating and unfaithfullness between couples from the country I come from. Young or old, doesn't matter. Almost all do it (man and women), if they get the chance. Maybe I sound cynical. But I ask myself daily. Where is the the pure love between couples? Not the forced attachment. Not the need for status and "I-give-you--you-give-me deals". In fact... In the land of plenty of sex, I see very little pure love. They are all breded on: "-Love is what you get when you take care of you family." Higher education or good manors simply just hide it better.

Like the situation when I met newly married guy from the same country as me. I wished him good luck and fortune. Then I asked him how long he have known his wife. -About 5 months he said. -Aha...? i said. -Are you sure you're not being a cheap ride for her only? -No, no... This lady is not a bar girl. She's been studying at the university! She's educated! In fact, we have been arranged through a relative of hers who is already living in my country and married with my friend. -Aha...? i said again. -So where are you going for honeymoon then? i asked. -Well I told her that I wanted to take and her two children (!!!hello!!!) on honeymoon to Singapore. -But she wasn't interested in that. -She just told me that it is better that we skip that and go to your country directly instead! -Awww....! I said inside my head. -Ok, I you wish best of good luck then! I said.

Man... This is really really silly. I bet that guy is more careful when buying a used car then he was on his newly acquired wife. Just because they are educated and not working in a bar, doesn't mean a thing. It's only a illusion equally built up by all of the involved. Have anyone here met a thai woman that loves to read poetry? I'm sure I'm not wrong by saying that big deal of these women (if you're a hetero male) don't know what real love is. They are only carrying the guilt that they must take care of mum and dad in order have the "love" of theirs. But what parent do actually love a child by placing that guilt around its neck? That is probably why they truly can't love their partner. It's always the family. You can make the "test" yourself. Go and ask your wife, girlfriend or whatever: -What is love? I'll bet she will answer: -Take care of family.

The "right" answer would probably be like: -Love is something you can't explain, define or let go. You just feel a strong desire to be with that person, no matter who he is, where he comes from or what he do.

It's difficult to NOT speculate, since there are sooo many stories about idiot westerners that truly believe that his thai girlfriend of wife really love their him. This is a country were money is more worth than real love. They don't love the way we look, are or behave. The only reason 80% us who lives here in LOS are having a thai woman, is because these women are poor. (or at least they want more without having to work their ass off for it). Equally... The guys that think they can buy someone's heart and love with money, really deserves these women. They deserves each other.

Last week my wife spoke to a woman that she haven't met for about five years. The woman told her story. She was tired tired of her thai boyfriend and then went to Phuket in order to find a farang that could take her abroad. That was the plan she had staked out. Finally she found one who took her to Europe and married her. (would he ever marry a hooker in his own country? probably not.) She stayed in Europe a couple of years. She also had a child with him. (besides the two she already had with her earlier thai boyfriend.) Then suddenly one day he discovered (from his doctor) that he had cancer and it could not be cured. It was only a matter of 6-9 of months, before he would get so ill by the cancer that he then would die. During this time he really wanted to make something for his wife to live on after he's gone. Because he really loved her. He ran a small business with importing stuff from Thailand into his country. So before it was time to leave for good, he were about to really make sure that everything worked with this business so she could at least make money on that. So last week she came back to Thailand and also happened to meet my wife at told this story. My wife then asked her how she felt about her husband. She replied that he have been really nice to her, but... She didn't love him. To her he was only someone who could take her away from the boring life she had earlier.

Man.... These people doesn't have any hearts...!

Another story that I've experienced myself. A woman in my city one day came to ask my wife if I could place a telephone call to Europe. Her 'farang' husband were in a coma at the local hospital after something happened to him. (she didn't told us why) She wnated my help to call her husbands insurance company and ask how much she will get when he dies.

Man.... They have been married for 17 years and had 2 teenage children. Why couldn't she show her respect and stay besides him at the hospital.

Another woman that's married to a 'farang' where visiting her hometown (here) together with her husband. She and her husband went to the local disco here, together with her brother and a friend of his. The real story was that this "friend of her brother's" actually was her extra lover that she have had before she met her husband and also enjoyed during the occasions she went to Thailand alone to "see her family".

Man......... Why do she have to make her husband to appear like an idiot, bringing her lover as well when they were out for a nice time?

And so it goes on. Have more stories, but I'll spare the world from those.

I don't know what my wife really feels for me either. That's very scary. The more I think of it, the more I fell that I'm married with a stranger that I don't know if she really loves me. She's nice to me and all that. But... If she had to choose between her family and me, she would probably choose her family. That's just the way it is.

So what about this thread's topic? Well This young fellows death could be because of many reasons. Married for only five months.... Well, I give up!

Corruption as usual!

When even the tsunami aid money went into the wrong pockets so why shouldn't these as well?

-What an idiot!

Sadly that kind of traffic behavior is very common. If a car or pickup hit a motorcyclist or pedestrian, they often just drive away if is dark. I've seen this myself. Often it is the driver of the car or truck who is to blame, because don't look carefully or even driving at the wrong side of the road because they didn't feel like driving an extra 100 meters to the nearest U-turn site. Many in this country are driving just like monkeys.

That is not Buddhism. I've seen ceremonies like that with my own eyes. Some special monks use their voices in a choir to induce people into trance where they start crying, screaming valking like animals etc. Even my wife started to cry out loud without any reason. Afterwards she said that she during the session felt sorrow, sadness and the choir tone from the monks made her wanna make it all come out. She said she couldn't control herself. She have never felt or acted like this before. Not during the 13 years we've been married anyway.

But... It's not Buddhism! Moore like voodoo. Very few foreigners are lucky to see events like these. I have it on video. Haven't decided to put it on YouTube yet, since my wife is a little bit reluctant to let the world see her reaction during the session.

Interesting situation...

* A 13 year old male is having sex with a 29 year old female.

What do we think of that? Well... -Lucky him!

* A 29 year old male is having sex with a 13 year old female.

What do we think of that? -dam_n pervert!

Are women more likely to suffer psychological damage when having sex somehow? If young females can develop a disturbed mind when having sex in young ages, couldn't that be the case with young males as well? How ill that affect him when he gets older?

I wonder if Mr Somchai ever felt any criticism when Thaksin handed out unrestricted loans to the rural villagers and put them into dept against the government. Where did the villagers do with that money? Nothing. Party, karaoke, alcohol, women... You name it. I know some people that actually took that loan. The money is gone and didn't do a thing to their situation. Every year they have to loan the equal amount of money from private sources to pay back the sum to the government, only to have it handed back again as a new loan a couple of days later. So why didn't they, at that time, create jobs for the villagers instead? Hello Mr Somchai...?

Thaksin is like the vampire in the movie "The Vampire Chronicles", who just refuses to die.

Hear him talking about a comeback, only gives me the image of an desperate person who tries to flame every instance with his presence. I'm just worried about what will happen the day when the beloved Thai King dies. Will there be open fights between yellow and red shirts fighting for power? Civil war? All these things around Thaksin makes me really worried about the future stability of this country. It's all about power and greed.