meadish_sweetball

The truth is no-one knows

how your garden grows

Sorry that I can't provide any help, but I'd like to thank you for posting the link above. (Actually the author has temporarily moved the chart here to TV: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/post-a91463-...sonant-Map.html ). Organized in this way, the Thai alphabet order makes so much sense, and the distribution of high, mid and low class consonants suddenly no longer appears random. I wish I had seen that chart earlier, and I wish somebody had told me that this chart fits my way of learning very well.

http://www.thai-language.com/ref/phonetic-...tion-consonants provides a similar (and comprehensive) table, but puts the emphasis on tone classes rather than the phonetic structure (there are row and column headers, but without further explanation).

Now I also share your question: are the Retroflexes and the Dentals really formed differently - as the name suggests (Retroflex / Cerebrals: Tongue rolled backwards, Dentals: tongue touching teeth) - or is the distinction made only for historic reasons. I always thought that ฎ/ด ฏ/ต ฐ/ถ etc. were outright equivalent.

They are equivalent. There are no retroflex sounds in the Thai context.

"It doesn't matter whether you're fat, you're ugly, you've got spew hanging out of your mouth or whatever else, there's some lady here who will want to take care of you," Justin says with a grin.

My favorite line

Pond-scum that in a year will post here how his angel ripped him off...

Hey, at least he helps with the washing-up.

And Pai and Chiang Mai are the same when i comes to smoke, because the smoke is not local for the most part. Most of it comes from Burma.

It is true the smoke is not local for the most part, and that both Pai and Chiang Mai have a smoke problem, but I do not agree that Pai and Chiang Mai are the same.

Pai is closer to Burma than Chiang Mai, and also has more local burning. Both of these factors play into it - compare the PM 10 readings from Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son to those of Chiang Mai and you will see... Whether it is the proximity to Burma or the amount of local burning within each valley that makes more of a difference I do not know, but there is no question there is a difference.

A roundabout tip:

If you fly Singapore airlines they will give you a pair of headphone pads on each leg of the flight. These are disposable ones but they appear to be of the same quality as the original ones on my Logitech headphones... I've also found it difficult to find any here in CM.

My work permit got me in at the Thai price 2 years ago. Who knows what their policy is now...

Keep in mind there are different types. If you want to future proof for gigabit internet you should go with CAT6. If that is not a concern CAT5 is cheap as chips. I've wired my house with CAT5 but I only required 20 meter lengths, which I bought in one of the non-descript shops on the second or third floor in Panthip, it was prepackaged in a clear plastic bag and very cheap.

It has lasted me fine for over a year, for what it's worth.

The article says they usually have a large turnover of foreign tourists, which is true in my limited experience as well - I've taken visiting friends there 3 or 4 times and each time it has been full or close to full, but I don't know if business this year has been much worse than usual or not.

Short summary, the article says the damage is estimated to around 1 billion baht due to the huge teak structures and the large Lanna antiques and artefacts collection on the premises. The police were first notified at 3.30 this morning. The progress of the fire was rapid and powerful due to the teakwood structure and teakwood tiled roofs.

They are currently investigating the cause of the fire.

Yes, Pai is usually much worse than CM for smoke during this time of the year.

Not sure if any English language news sources have published the news yet, here's a link to a Thai publication for those who can read it. By processing the link through www.thai2english.com you can get the text parsed (not perfect) and translations for individual words.

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/region/72760

Here's a picture from the worst day (for Chiang Mai):

Chiang Mai today, while not perfect, is much better than around the 18th. I'm off to do some gardening.

Thinking will come naturally in situations where you need it. Doing more complicated maths than addition and subtraction in a different language is a challenge at first and requires a bit of extra practice, at least it has been that way for me.

Numbers are funny. My mobile phone number I've memorized primarily in Thai which means whenever somebody asks for it in Swedish or English I need to visualize the figures before my mind's eye and then 'read' them, whereas in Thai it's an automatic process, the way it usually is in one's native language.

It's raining!!!!! Nice cool rain ... big drops ... real rain and real thunder. Yippie!!!!!!

My guess is bigdrops of acid. Anyone got some litmus paper?

I hear it sticks better to colourful postage stamps.

I just do it myself. I don't get it perfectly clean but it gets cleaner than before.

Ok that's it, I'm going to stop breathing until all of this blows over.

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Ruen Mai restaurant on the outskirts of Krabi town used to make a massaman to die for. Maybe they still do?

Can't say I've had a really great massaman anywhere in CM.

Like Hang leh and Phanaeng curry, the massaman can be thick or watery depending on the restaurant. I also tend to prefer the less watery, more savoury versions.

Cheers guys. Don't mind the teardrops in the corners of my eyes... oh I can see you're all crying too, how touching.

I really wonder what 437 is like, must be like standing right in the middle of a forest fire.

Today doesn't look any better. Still that rose-tinted glow.

279.3

Rudeness (also called impudence or effrontery) is the disrespect and failure to behave within the context of a society or a group of people's social laws or etiquette.These laws have already unspokenly been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted behaviour. To be unable or unwilling to align one's behaviour with these laws known to the general population of what is socially acceptable is to be rude.

In Thailand, shockingly, Thai people's concept of 'rude' applies.

In my experience most Thais quickly adapt to the norms of their new society when moving abroad, unlike many Westerners here who seem to insist their value system is universal and expect the Thais to change for them.

I am not saying that some of the things that have been mentioned do not annoy me. They do. But those who refuse to see themselves from an outside perspective perhaps would be best off not travelling to cultures that have different conceptions of what is ok and not.

There are many things most Thais would consider rude that Westerners persist in doing while in Thailand.

There may be many other places but I know of one that is fairly new and located in Mae On, the turn-off is about 100-200 meters up the road on your right from the turn-off to Tham Mueang On (a cave with a huge natural chedi formation). Nice surroundings.

It's a bit far out of town so might work best if you are willing to stay a night or two (it's a resort type deal). If you're interested I can try to dig up the name card I got from the owner.

Today I find no need for rose-coloured glasses as the beautiful light of the rays of the sun finding their way down through the haze create the exact same light conditions. Anyone for tennis?

Adam's Thai accent is truly excellent, if it weren't for the odd turn of phrase he could easily pass for native over the phone. Also noticed he has adopted a more trebly mid tone pitch for Thai compared to the pitch baseline for his American voice (I used to speak Thai with a higher baseline pitch as well but it's not strictly necessary, Thai people will understand you even if you speak within your normal pitch range, and on the upside you will find it less strainful on your voice and probably feel more relaxed, too).