Krillin

UPDATE: It vocalizes a lot whenever I play a sound recording of an Asian bull frog, but the mystery creature's call is deeper than that. Might it be a giant mutant Asian bull frog trapped in my bathroom wall?

It's been happening for over a week.

My neighbor isn't home, and it's not me.

This is in Nam Phong, Khon Kaen, Thailand. It lives in the wall between my neighbor's apartment and mine, my bathroom wall. It is active at night, and typically barks three times before remaining silent for several hours. What is it? Untitled video - Made with Clipchamp.mp4

I look forward to the day when known foreign child-molesters, drug-dealers, sexual assaulters, and the severely mentally ill are not allowed to enter into Thailand.

From ASEAN.

What would it take, and how long would it take, to elevate Thailand from its current state to one comparable to Japan or South Korea? I have been living here in Isaan for nearly a year. The economy seems to be largely tourist-based, the political landscape seems to be unstable at best, sloppiness and corruption seem, from others' reports, to characterize law enforcement and bureaucracy. STDs and illegal drugs are everywhere, and the rate of infidelity ranks among the highest in the world. Much of the population lives in poverty, draconian laws with equally draconian punishments are still in place, and animal welfare is on almost nobody's radar. Infrastructure is poor, and many people do not have ready access to potable water. To top it off, the country suffers from a reputation (earned or not I will let you decide) as a place for visitors from wealthier nations to visit, cause problems, and leave. What would be the fastest, most effective means toward elevating the country toward a safer, more prosperous existence? Does a way even exist, or is it too late at this point?

So it was you in the car?

I live in Khon Kaen and would like for someone to explain the reasoning behind something I see and encounter almost everywhere I go. There seems to be a widespread dislike of tanned skin, and a desire for bright, youthful, unblemished faces without wrinkles. I presume there is also an awareness that direct sunlight causes the very kind of skin they want to avoid. A simple remedy for this would be wearing a helmet while riding motorcycles and mopeds. Wearing helmets would also cut down on head injuries incurred from ubiquitous poor driving habits. Despite this, few people seem to wear helmets while riding -- not even sunglasses! And so they get wrinkles and crows' feet by their mid-twenties. I don't understand the reluctance to wear helmets when doing so would clearly be in their best interests. Would someone please explain to me what their actual thought processes are pertaining to this? Thanks.

I said meth and weed.

Don't frickin do drugs. Just don't. Don't even. Personal sanity, well being, and legal innocence are some of the surest things to be lost. The well being and even lives of others can sometimes also follow, as in this case. And if you do know of anyone who is on both weed and meth, be proactive. They aren't sane enough to take the necessary steps to stop themselves; make sure that those who can stop them, do. This young man will spend decades if not the rest of his life behind bars because of drug abuse which robbed him of his sanity and left a crazy person in his place to ruin his life, take the life of another, and deeply harm the lives of three others.

Then he was one of the the few living in this country who actually deserved to care for a dog.

I hope that he makes it. His stoicism and level-headedness reminds me of the Plutarch's account of the Spartan boy and the foxes.

Can you imagine if the Thai Government began effectively pre-screening would-be expats and tourists for previous arrests for violent crimes, crimes involving drugs, crimes involving rape, or crimes perpetrated against minors? ... Hmm. You're right. The tourist-based economy would take a significant hit. Yeah, maybe that's why they haven't been doing that.

"Up to 80% of some villagers" have liver parasites? What in the world?

The differences between the two languages and the challenges involved in providing adequate learning materials are breathtaking. - English and Thai do not use the same vowel sounds or consanants. - There is no universally utilized way to transliterate Thai words into the English alphabet, and visa-versa. - Thai is a tonal language; English is not. Thais learning English must force themselves to ignore any tones that they hear to, effectively, learn each English word in every possible tonal variety. - English words are often not spelled phonetically. - The English language uses about 170,000 words; Thai, 30-60,000. - Many, but not all, of the native English teachers in Thailand are unqualified, psychologically unwell people who sometimes have criminal aspirations. Sometimes they are not even native English speakers. - Every school day at school begins with an attendance-mandatory patriotic/religious celebration and lecture that often cuts into first-period classes, including English lessons.

Thailand needs to brace for even more STDs, then. HIV rates are going to soar.

This is tragic. One can only hope that somehow his neck was the first to break so as to spare him any more agony. I would also like to applaud his company for not trying to cover this up, but to publicize it so that other companies and workers might learn from the accident. I do find it remarkable that this occurred the same day and in the same city as this other grousome workplace accident being reported on ASEAN Now.

Maybe it's the angle, but that ditch doesn't look deep enough to result in certain death, especially for someone who was still middle-aged. Broken bones, perhaps, but not death. Was the passenger wearing her seatbelt? Did she have a heart attack? Did her neck snap upon impact?

No but for real, are both husbands legal, and if so, how?