Old Curmudgeon

Is there an information page about how blogs work here? Rules & regulations? Advertising? Etc. Or "coming soon"?

I see the page below on this forum, but no content at all. Am I missing something useful? Or are there simply no blogs on this forum? (After about 22 years, you'd think there would be a few.)

Yes, very weird, indeed. But that's okay ... makes it easy to add to my list of ignored users. Then we have a winner. Any chippy that uses beef tallow is in an entirely different league than those that don't. Thank you, @PizzaBoi for that valuable information.

Thank you to @Highball and @RayWright for their time and effort to post thoughtful suggestions on this thread. Unfortunately, what both are missing ... entirely missing ... is the cultural context. Thais and Westerners simply don't learn in the same ways. The methods that will work for one, won't accomplish much for the other. The study of methods of learning among different cultures is known as psycho-epistemology. It is one of my favorite topics, but it is not the topic of this thread. I'm still hoping someone seeing this thread will post something like, "Here is a video series my Thai wife uses a little every day and her English has improved a lot."

@Red Phoenix - Thank you for that post. This question: Is there any way to mostly avoid the banking system? To keep money out of their clutches -- and move it in to a bank only as needed?

Hello @steven100 - I'm smiling to know that I can bring back good memories for you. I would smile even more if I could bring your focus to the topic, which is Chiang Mai, Thailand. By chance do you happen to know a really fine chippie here?

Personally, I agree 200% with @jij about fried foods. However he is OFF-TOPIC. This topic doesn't ask for advice about what foods to eat. It simply asks where to get really good fish and chips in Chiang Mai. Anyone here have experience at Kelley's near Mae Chok?

Thank you @CharlieH for that suggestion. Having learned Thai myself, starting with the alphabet, rather than language school happy talk, I know the value of building a strong foundation. However, my Thai helper could not even begin to comprehend a grammar video like this, with the teacher speaking only English. What she needs is "repeat after me" style of teaching with explanations in Thai. I'm hoping someone seeing this thread will say, "Here is a video series my wife uses a little every day and her English has improved greatly."

For exactly those views he is one of my heroes. His early and strong warnings about the vaccines, alerted me to avoid the jab. I just wish I had some ideas how to avoid the coming bank "troubles".

What video can a Thai use to learn everyday English at a basic level? Anything on YouTube, Rumble, Bitchute that your wife/girl friend has used successfully? At no cost or very lost cost? One of my Thai helpers is diligently trying to learn English. (Local woman, 45 years old, just basic education.) She paid 350 baht for access to this series of videos. So what did she learn to say today? "I am always growing and evolving." ! ! ! She is a housemaid. Needs common, everyday words for things around the house, at the market, etc. Not this "new-age" nonsense. I had a brief look through the lessons. All of them are like that. And the lessons are delivered in a sing-song voice (English) that sounds like a church sermon, not real-life conversation. Suggestions, please for where she can find practical English training videos, without spending much money. (Going to an English school is not an option.) Thank you.

I predict this is coming to Thailand. Posted today by Dr. Vernon Coleman https://www.vernoncoleman.com/yourbank3.htm ... All the horrifying details at the link above. Bad enough it should happen at our home-town bank, but out here, on the other side of the Earth, in a foreign language? Oh, my!

For my fellow North American, expat, breakfast-eaters, maple syrup can be an essential food element. So, I want to clear up any confusion about that. Waitrose brand name maple syrup (100% pure Canadian) is sold at TOPS "Food Hall" supermarkets in Thailand. But no guarantee that it will be in stock at all times. And smaller TOPS, such as "Daily" are not likely to carry expensive farang food like Canadian maple syrup ... only the much cheaper "Imperial" brand chemical sludge. Suggestions: For a very tasty beverage, I put 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup in a glass with very cold, plain soda water. Gives a delicious "cream soda" with none of the artificial chemicals in "Hales" syrup. For an even more delicious "ice cream soda" substitute, put on top of that about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Returning to breakfast topic: For North American expats here who remember church pancake suppers, the pancakes at Bucoliq restaurant out in San Sai are very close to that taste and texture. Not 100%, but very close.

This topic is just about "done". Almost every topic here, when it gets past 2 pages of posts, the life has been wrung out of it. This topic has just flipped over to page 3. I don't expect much more useful discussion on this topic here.

I have ignored about 80-90% of the most frequent posters; many hundreds of users. On the Chiang Mai forum: over 90%.

@atpeace's comments have helped crystalize the idea that ignored users and trolls are not the same. Can be a lot of overlap, yes, but not necessarily. The focus on this thread is NOT who is or isn't a troll. Rather the focus is on how to use the ignore user function ... for trolls or anyone you don't want to bother with. I may host a PM group topic on how we can most effectively select "ignored" users. Not actually "who", but "how" to select who. I have five explicit criteria, and am looking for more. But that topic sure won't appear here on the open forum.