phuketsub

เข็ด ('khade' low tone): in S. Thai means 'hurt' or 'to be in pain'. It can be used as either a verb or adjective.

Additionally, If someone says เข็ดแล้ว it commonly means "enough" or "I give up" (eg. because the pain or suffering is too much)...hopefully we won't need to use it too often!

20 hours ago, surfdog said:

no luck at this websire for "kot"

http://www.thamnong.com/hs9dmc/phasatai.htm

 

interesting one, for the language as well as the species:

อ้อดิบ - ต้นคล้าย ๆ ต้นเผือก ใช้ก้านใบแกงส้ม

 

oor -dip - it is a rare species of elephant ear plant that the stems can be eaten raw. Regular elephant ear would poison you causing your throat to swell up. From oxyalic acid (spelling?) Have planted extensively at the house for species collection, if you need let me know.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

I'll ask my daughter about it...thanks for the links; very useful.

Power back on here in Ranode after a few hours off. Still really gusty with light, driving rain...but at least it's still warm!

Anyway, it seems like the worst has passed. Quite a few trees and signs down, but I didn't see any major damage in downtown Ranode. It could be a long night for our friends in NST and Surat, though.

The eye is due East offshore of Ranode District here in Songkhla now now and the situation here is very windy, with very sustained winds around 50kph, but nothing like hurricane force. Still, these are the strongest sustained winds I have experienced in 30 years living in Thailand.

One papaya tree is down in the garden.

Most of the shops are closed and people are just hunkering down, waiting for it to pass. No major flooding and the rainfall is really nothing special for this time of year.

No power outages and Internet still working well. '

Public schools are all closed.

2 hours ago, Stocky said:

The forecaster at the JTWC seem confident it will swing NW within the next 12hrs.

 

https://pzal.ndbc.noaa.gov/collab/jtwc/products/wp3618prog.txt

 

I do hope they're wrong, I've a flight out of Hat Yai tomorrow and it's looking increasingly like that's not going to happen.

I hope they're wrong too, but you can see the polar outflow channel he references pretty clearly on the Himawari radar...Anyway, best of luck with the flight out.

17 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Been raining in Hat Yai since midnight last night, just steady rain.

 

The change in the storm track is a little worrying, landfall has moved steadily south from Chumphon, to Surat Thani, to NST, now Songkhla.  I do hope that trend continues and it ends up at Kota Bharu - apologies to the residents of Kota Bharu but 'inshallah'.

I am still confused as to why all the storm track projections have the system moving northwest as it reaches the coast. It's been consistently heading due west and as such should make landfall in Kota Baru soon, though many agencies are still predicting landfall in NST. Seems weird to me, but perhaps they know something I don't. Anyway, hopefully we won't get hit too hard here in Ranode...

Thus far, nothing whatsoever on the ground to distinguish this system from a typical, rainy day in the monsoon season.

The center track seems to be continuing due west, not NNW as predicted. Good news for Songkhla and the other Gulf Coast provinces.

I don't think there have been enough similar systems to allow for accurate forecasting based on modelling. I think those forecasting are just taking into account the rotation of the earth and the high pressure systems (see isobar charts) that could be pulling it north.

The worst-case scenario is that this thing veers north and hits near Bangkok, with a storm surge and flooding. If that happens it could also pick up a lot of energy in the shallow gulf and possibly even become a true typhoon. Fortunately this would not coincide with a full moon, but it could still be really bad.

6 minutes ago, Kron said:

Was not Typhoon Gay in 1989 the last Tropical storm to hit the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Gay_(1989)

 

 

 

Exactly the point I was going to make. That thing hit just before I arrived here and I don't remember anything as bad hitting the South since. Fortunately Songkhla Lake is still relatively low for this time of the year. You can already see the swirling effect of the storm here.

The graphic shown in the original story, which shows a landfall near Pak Panang in NST, seems irresponsible to me.

A mermaid's tail?...talk about soft targets.

Sunset Cafe on Koh Yor (English owner) is having a big Xmas Day feast with Roast Beef, etc. Price is 750 baht. Will send PM with more info.

Thanks for the field report...sorry your van was late!

Thanks for that...I don't think I could justify a visit to Dan Nok even to myself, let alone the wife!

I find it strangely ironic that my first 20 years of living here I had to pass through Sadao every three months, but now that I do everything by the books I have to pay 1,000 baht for a re-entry permit just to hit the duty free shop there. Oh well, probably better off in the long run.

Thanks for the update...I remember exploring the area just southeast of Diana back in the day and that was almost like an ever-changing, week-to-week minefield of sleezy little pubs and bars back then. Right up my alley.

Another area I want to re-explore is Dan Nok down in Sadao. I looked it up on Google maps (Street Image) recently and couldn't believe what I saw, though I don't have any justification for going down there any more, at least for immigration purposes.

If you or anyone else has been down there I would really a field report.

Anyway, thanks again Stocky. I am sending you a PM as well.

On 11/4/2018 at 12:56 PM, Stocky said:

Yes, you'll need to trawl all the roads around the areas you like, spotting the 'for rent' signs and noting the phone numbers.

 

There's no real western expat community most of the expats in Hat Yai are Malaysians or Singaporeans. Even over in Songkhla Town, as the oil & gas activities have moved up to NST. In Hat Yai you may find a few teachers or retired oilmen hanging around The Swan, but they're a bit thin on the ground.

Your reply is spot on, as usual. I was in Hat Yai a few days ago and noted quite a few changes...I walked from the Police Station all the way to the underground liquor store, then back to Plaza by a different route...I was blown away by the proliferation of beauty parlors...When I lived in Hat Yai back in '97 - 2000, there were already many...but now it is just amazing. I passed by hundreds of them, mostly empty...

I know beauty parlors are a common way for guys with money to set up their mia nois and gigs, but the sheer numbers leads me to think there must be more driving factors than meet the eye...are they fronts for prostitution? I know back in the day some of them offered extra services....

Anyway, I'd like to get your take on it, if you have one,

Don't resort to pharmaceuticals or bs caffeine drinks, unless you can overcome your dislike of coffee -- and I would recommend trying. Exposure to sunlight is the best thing. Don't sleep in a curtained room in the daytime. Good luck and sleep well...

Everyone here in Songkhla is burning stuff like crazy these days, my in-laws included. Of course it is easy to blame Indonesia, but it's pretty hypocritical to do so when our environmental practices aren't any better.

15 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I just had to look that up. OK, a weed whacker is what I'd refer to as a 'strimmer'. Initially I though it might be a euphemism for something more deviant!

 

That's pretty much what everyone in New England called it when I was growing up there...Anyway, I certainly wouldn't want to be done in while weed whacking!

5 hours ago, Crossy said:

Indeed it is, you may know it as a GFCI, ELCB or one of a myriad of other acronyms dependent upon where in the world you originate. Generally in Thailand it's known as a "Safe-T-Cut" which is actually a brand name.

 

Do you have one? Look in your electrical panel for a breaker with a "Test" button, no test button = no RCD. Go and look now!

 

If you don't have one I strongly recommend that you get one installed, all the big box stores sell them and most will install for you too. It may well save your life as it probably would this poor chap.

 

I have worried about this quite a bit since I got an electric 'weed whacker' on-line...the only way to power it is by a heavy duty extension cord..all of our electric panels have Safe-T-Cut circuit breakers, but I never really knew they could help prevent electrocution. I am still going to be very careful when the grass is moist.

The word for tailbone is different in Southern Thai.

Central Thai =kraduk kon kop [กระดูกก้นกบล]  literally 'frog's add bone'

Southern Thai 'moong'

Now you know...

On 7/16/2018 at 3:06 PM, Stocky said:

As of July 13th there's now a minibus shuttle from Hat Yai airport to Hat Yai, calling at both the big bus and minivan terminals.

Shuttle runs every hour on the hour at a flat fee of Bht60 per person.

 

We also have Grab Taxi in Hat Yai as of last month.

that's great news Stocky

On 6/28/2018 at 1:51 PM, swissbie said:

I'm living in Na Mom district of Songkhla, bordering Chana and Na Thawee districts in the so called red zone. It's called the deep south, no need for a map. To the OP; i prefer Hat Chalathat, south of Hat Samila. It's also good for swimming and has a lot of seafood restaurants, less busy though (except Sat. evening/nights).

Technically accurate, but most people refer to both Samila and Chalathat beaches collectively as Samila beach.

On 6/26/2018 at 7:48 PM, songhklasid said:

Weill certainly do, looking forward to it now, & sharing the best seafood with my Chiang mai lady,my previous visits I visited the "dark side" as it was known then , the cosmos, offshore bar, & the office , are they still happening ?

 Just interested, memories ! 

Cheers SS.

The 'dark side' is still there, but nothing like it used to be...very quiet. Most of the services  are still available. OffShore was a boutique for a long while, not it is a kiwi expat bar. Cosmos is the same, but not many staff. Not sure about Office...anyway, still good for a trip down memory lane but don't expect a wild night in any of those bars...