phuketsub
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Posts posted by phuketsub
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The paint on my '95 Corolla is starting to go. I definitely can't afford a complete new paint job, so I am just wondering if anyone knows of a shop here in Phuket where they will "stop the rot" at a reasonable price.
Any help much appreciated.
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I guess I have to call myself lucky for never having been through something like that, or even pulled over for any reason. I guess that perhaps offsets my abysmal luck playing the Government Lottery.
On the issue of producing a passport on the spot, here is an approach that has served me very well over the years:
Take your passport to a color copy shop and copy both the inside page and signature page, reducing them both to the size of a standard business card. Face them back to back and then laminate.
The result is what I call my 'passport ID card'. I have used this in multiple situations over the years to rent motorbikes, hand over to hospital staff, etc. I have never had it denied or questioned; The Thais just think it is the foreign equivalent of a national ID card, something my home country does not issue to its citizens.
I think the whole procedure costs about 50 baht and takes 10 minutes.
Far preferable than carrying your passport everywhere (with the risk of losing it ever-present).
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I have been following the lottery for over two decades and never remember a foreigner winning a major prize; I am not saying it is rigged, just that the chances of winning are almost negligible for anyone who plays - Thai or foreign. The underground lottery pays out more that the state one, which is why it remains popular.
In my case I have wasted 10s of thousands on it (Govt Lottery) and never got back one baht.
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In response to Hello Dolly (I am over my multi-quote allotment):
I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree.
The only comment I would make is that I wasn't aware that "As for mortality science tells us that we will go on"...You might want to elaborate on that.
Perhaps science has surpassed its original agenda -- explaining (readily observable phenomena) -- to the point that many (if not most) people don't really understand what it is any more.
Misunderstanding (or failure to understand) is probably the single greatest source of fear.
I was raised in a strict religious tradition (Catholicism), but never found any succor in blind faith.
I do like the introspection and meditative elements of real Buddhism, but that's a far cry from what mainstream, "stairway to heaven" Thai Buddhism has become.
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There is an "Orchid Display" festival on at the central staging area at Saphan Hin. I was there yesterday late afternoon and it's pretty good; lots of food and entertainment. I didn't actually see any orchids, but I didn't go out of my way looking for them. The only drawback is that the beer sponsor is Chang, so you might consider bringing in your own.
This event runs 4-13 July.
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In many western countries churches are loosing their original function and meaning and the buildings are sometimes used for other purposes. Many people are loosing their believe in the traditional way religion is organized, among others because they saw too many of its representatives behaving in a way that goes against the teachings of their founders.
May be it is an unavoidable development: if you want to give a certain form to spiritual truths means you have to deal with mundane powers to give it a place in a society ruled by money, greed etc. and here the corruption of the teachings (and the people representing them) may begin already.
In the past the combined power structure of organized religion and the state were enough to make most people blind followers and believers. Among others the rise of science and more freedom and democracy made people more independent in their way of thinking and they no more automatically followed the way of their parents and forefathers. Arguments take the place of blind believe. And here most representatives of the churches failed because they themselves are only blind believers without deeper going experiences.
If Thai Buddhism goes the same way as the religion in many western countries its institutions will also gradually loose their original meaning and blind believers will turn into more individual seekers of truth and cut the ties with the organized religion. Although i.m.o. the inner core of all religions is the same, Buddhism has the advantage over western religions that its teachings have a more rational and scientific form and can be tested by individually.
What you say has a lot of truth in it. The problem I have is that it seems to be that we base so much on science. To hear people speak of science one would wonder do they really think science has all the answers today.
It is my belief that they will never have all the answers. There is always more to learn. They do not even understand gravity yet. It is however there. They can not even explain how the great pyramid of Egypt was built. They have ideas but no proof so all they have is a theory.
In many western countries churches are loosing their original function and meaning and the buildings are sometimes used for other purposes. Many people are loosing their believe in the traditional way religion is organized, among others because they saw too many of its representatives behaving in a way that goes against the teachings of their founders.
May be it is an unavoidable development: if you want to give a certain form to spiritual truths means you have to deal with mundane powers to give it a place in a society ruled by money, greed etc. and here the corruption of the teachings (and the people representing them) may begin already.
In the past the combined power structure of organized religion and the state were enough to make most people blind followers and believers. Among others the rise of science and more freedom and democracy made people more independent in their way of thinking and they no more automatically followed the way of their parents and forefathers. Arguments take the place of blind believe. And here most representatives of the churches failed because they themselves are only blind believers without deeper going experiences.
If Thai Buddhism goes the same way as the religion in many western countries its institutions will also gradually loose their original meaning and blind believers will turn into more individual seekers of truth and cut the ties with the organized religion. Although i.m.o. the inner core of all religions is the same, Buddhism has the advantage over western religions that its teachings have a more rational and scientific form and can be tested by individually.
What you say has a lot of truth in it. The problem I have is that it seems to be that we base so much on science. To hear people speak of science one would wonder do they really think science has all the answers today.
It is my belief that they will never have all the answers. There is always more to learn. They do not even understand gravity yet. It is however there. They can not even explain how the great pyramid of Egypt was built. They have ideas but no proof so all they have is a theory.
You miss the point.
The fact that science, unlike "religions", never claims absolute truths is its most beautiful aspect. All of the religions I am familiar with are based on fallacious, unprovable presumptions: reincarnation, existence of a soul, virgin births...the list is almost endless, but the common theme is self-evident: deny mortality.
I think there is a great discrepancy between the number of people who claim to hold a faith and the number of people who actually do believe in them. I think those in the former group are just intellectually lazy, those in the latter naive.
I believe it was the great Daniel Dennet who said religion is form of narcissism. Our species has reached this amazing stage where we can start asking these kinds of questions, but it is just a beginning -- throwing up irrational explanations and burning calories to create dogma to support them is a colossal waste.
Religion is narcissistic; science humble: take your pick, and choose wisely.
As for how the pyramids were built, they were built in the same way as so many of mankind's greatest "achievements": with slave labor. They are amazing monuments to human misery -- and you don't need to be Einstein to figure that out.
I will end this with a quote by the aforementioned Mr Dennet:
We used to think that secrecy was perhaps the greatest enemy of democracy, and as long as there was no suppression or censorship, people could be trusted to make the informed decisions that would preserve our free society, but we have learned in recent years that the techniques of misinformation and misdirection have become so refined that, even in an open society, a cleverly directed flood of misinformation can overwhelm the truth, even though the truth is out there, uncensored, quietly available to anyone who can find it.
- Daniel Dennett
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Looking for a person with an education in astronomy in Phuket who can help explain the wonders of the Universe. Should be Phuket based.
It's nice to see someone in Phuket seeking to get their mind blown, as opposed to other parts of the anatomy. There is an almost endless universe of info on the web [pardon the pun] on this topic and it ain't just our universe, but the possible existence of a 'multiverse' ... There are many science communicators; among my favorites is Marin Rees.
A sample is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52dWhVVIRXM
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Humans are not actually mammals.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment.
I disagree. I think you'll find there's many examples of how mammals have wiped out their environment and themselves.
Of course we are still mammals, but we are the only mammals I am aware of that have managed to take themselves out of the food chain -- which is a good thing when you consider all of the other BS we are struggling to deal with.
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I got an email from Lins the other day and am glad to report he is doing okay. I have known him for many years and know for a fact that he does not have a bad temper. The old Piccadilly Bar is now a FamilyMart, not a 7-Eleven -- or at least that was the case last time I ventured over that way...
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"Indian" and "British" are nationalities, not races. You don't want to be unnecessarily be branded as a racist, do you?
My take is that Phuket is devolving into a sort of entrepot for scumbags and cheats, from all over Thailand and the globe.
Even many Scandinavians get into trouble here; there is a truly cosmopolitan collection of riff-raff, but I don't think any single nationality or race stands out, at least in my own experience.
I wish Immigration would do away with the useless 90-day reporting and redirect the manpower towards investigation.
That won't happen, though, because the 'law-abiding' foreigners are a steady and easy source of revenue, while dealing with some 100,000 illegal Burmese is a major expenditure. It's a lot easier just to sit back and take kickbacks...
For the "if you don't like it here leave" brigade: don't bother, I am already planning my escape.
Yes I always use Thai run businesses. I find that they are more honest in their dealings as they cant run away to another country if they rip people off
I only use Farang companies when I have to. The worst offenders for rip off by race have always been Indians and Brits in my book
The Burmese I have dealt with have been nothing short of sensational, I was helping a friend with some repairs on a shopfront, their honesty is truly amazing, right down to the last brick
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Maybe he missed the cabinetmeeting and the photosession because he was at an AA meeting.
That would put him one step ahead of me...
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That just went in one ear and out the other.
Even after the last fish in the sea is caught, if there is still a single baht to be made somewhere they'll invent new ways to mess it all up even more.
When the last tree has died, and the last fish is gone, man will realise he cannot eat money................but don't just blame Thailand.... this is almost global. Or as they are now saying "This world has enough for every ones need; but not for their greed.
The real issue is not greed -- that has always been with us -- it is global overpopulation. I never understand why this issue is forever playing second fiddle to 'global warming' , 'environmental destruction' and all of the other overarching issues that it has largely created. It's true that here in Thailand we are terrible stewards of our natural heritage and have very little civic discipline. But it's the sheer numbers of us that are creating all of these problems. If we could get the numbers to go down instead of up you would see all of these problems begin to solve themselves overnight.
Well for one thing, when you start looking at who's most responsible, it becomes immediately clear that political correctness simply will not allow for an open discussion of the issue.You face being summarily branded a neo-Malthusian, which usually eliminates your chances of being taken seriously by others who are afraid of a similar associations and the word "racism" (as used by people who like to obviate criticism by disingenuously threatening to brand unorthodox thinkers [or just anyone who doesn't tow the party line] as racists). You've also taken on the full brunt of Evangelical Christianity, which preaches, literally, to be "fruitful and multiply". If you ever read the Nazi's theories on population, you know you're entering intellectual territory where emotion supersedes reason. And finally, its difficult to argue that population is at the heart of the world's resource problems when countries like the US consume many times what other countries (with far fewer resources) do. The US is a resource rich country. Even if there were global catastrophe, do you expect that Americans will share (this is not to get into the fine art of America-bashing, as that is hardly productive and China seems hell-bent on creating a consumer culture to match America's)?
I am not so worried about being labelled as such, and nobody seems to listen to my views on this issue anyway. If you have time listen to Adam Carolla's take:
The song is a classic;
I think Malthus would approve.
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That just went in one ear and out the other.
Even after the last fish in the sea is caught, if there is still a single baht to be made somewhere they'll invent new ways to mess it all up even more.
When the last tree has died, and the last fish is gone, man will realise he cannot eat money................but don't just blame Thailand.... this is almost global. Or as they are now saying "This world has enough for every ones need; but not for their greed.
The real issue is not greed -- that has always been with us -- it is global overpopulation. I never understand why this issue is forever playing second fiddle to 'global warming' , 'environmental destruction' and all of the other overarching issues that it has largely created. It's true that here in Thailand we are terrible stewards of our natural heritage and have very little civic discipline. But it's the sheer numbers of us that are creating all of these problems. If we could get the numbers to go down instead of up you would see all of these problems begin to solve themselves overnight.
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Mate you'll be alright, you speak the language, you've been here a long time. But I personally am not a big fan of durian as it made me quite ill one rare night drinking a bit of whisky with it. But it will take a few years to grow trees and fruit. What do other farmers grow in the area. You'll have plenty of time while they are growing to research techniques. If you do it properly you will get more than enough fruit for yourself all at once so a bit of pocket cash anyway. I don't know about coffee but veggies will be OK, you may need water though if it doesn't rain, they will keep you busy while you wait for the king of fruit. PS up here in Chantaburi now there is durian coming out of our earholes but I don't grow it.I am new to this forum, but plan to give 'farming' a go when I semi-retire to my wife's village in coastal Songkhla, where she has a small plot of what appears (to me anyway) to be arable land.
I have 25 years of experience of living and working in Thailand and am fluent in the language, but no background in gardening or farming whatsoever.
I really just want to keep busy and would like to grow the things I like and consume a lot of: coffee beans, durien, Thai pumpkin...I think it is probably too late/impractical for me to have any ambitions to produce cash crops -- I just want to be self-sufficient in crops that are the easiest to grow: I just don't know what they are.
A lot of people in her area also raise oxen, and I am kind of interested in doing that too...but that might be too much of a time commitment -- I simply don't know what it entails because, once again, this is another area I have no expertise in whatsoever.
Anyway, any advice to this greenhorn would be most appreciated.
Thanks David...there seems to be a surfeit of durian here in Phuket too. I have to add for the record that I once won a bet by downing a huge monthong durien and a bottle of Black Label...and I actually felt fine the next day. I think that threat is overrated...
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I am new to this forum, but plan to give 'farming' a go when I semi-retire to my wife's village in coastal Songkhla, where she has a small plot of what appears (to me anyway) to be arable land.
I have 25 years of experience of living and working in Thailand and am fluent in the language, but no background in gardening or farming whatsoever.
I really just want to keep busy and would like to grow the things I like and consume a lot of: coffee beans, durien, Thai pumpkin...I think it is probably too late/impractical for me to have any ambitions to produce cash crops -- I just want to be self-sufficient in crops that are the easiest to grow: I just don't know what they are.
A lot of people in her area also raise oxen, and I am kind of interested in doing that too...but that might be too much of a time commitment -- I simply don't know what it entails because, once again, this is another area I have no expertise in whatsoever.
Anyway, any advice to this greenhorn would be most appreciated.
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It's way too big a cash cow to stop milking for a whole month.
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Regarding number 4.
It is illegal to move any vehicle from it's final position after an accident until the investigating police officer says it can be moved. This applies to motorbikes, too.
I have heard that, but it is a retarded regulation that needs to changed for minor accidents, at least in Phuket. If there is a fender-bender on Mt Mayhem, for example, it can effectively cause tailbacks from Kathu all the way to Patong for well over an hour. Anyway, that probably won't be an issue after the road collapses, which appears inevitable.
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Yes, local time management 'skills' can be annoying.
I have a few more to add:
1. The almost complete inability of most locals to read maps.
2. The Thai postal system method of assigning street addresses.
3. Double-parking on busy streets (this seems to be getting worse, especially in Phuket)
4. Failure of parties in minor vehicle accicents to clear their cars from the road so that other drivers can pass. (see Photo)
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The whole gulfs coastline is a toilet.The whole coastline from Prachuap Kiri Kan to Hua Hin is a giant toilet. I personally think Phuket has it all, and I wouldnt dream of leaving, Ive been here a year now but my opinion might change after my 2nd year
From the Cambodian border and all the way to Surat thani.
I have to agree with this, even though I am moving over there. The worst part is all the fluorescent bulbs that was ashore from the squid boats, but that is only one small part of the problems that develop when you view the sea as your own personal garbage dump -- as many people over there do. The jellyfish are bad over there too...
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The best site to check is Ajarn.com.
I had a contract with a major hotel chain in Bangkok back in the 1990s and it was good, well-paid and fun work, with lots of perks.
However, there is so much oversupply of hotels here now and so much staff turnover that all but the biggest tend to shy away from hiring a full-time teacher...
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"Can't adapt"? That's a very presumptuous comment. We are not lab rats. We vote with our feet -- and wallets.
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@ phuketsub
No problem. Just make sure your insurance is in order for living down there, that's all.
I actually kind of enjoy the fact that the 'security issue' is so wantonly distorted, with even know-nothing bureaucratic hacks from a "Down Under" government helping to not blow the price curve...The best insurance of all is gettin' outta Dodge, and that is exactly what I intend to do.
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Big Bill,
End of an era, my old friend.
The timing is surprising; I have also just decided 'enough is enough' and am planning to move back to Songkhla after 12 years here. I am happy to leave what's left of the island's natural charm to my friends from Russia and China, along with the tuk-tuk mafia and never-ending circus parade of useless bureaucrats who shuffle through here and do nothing to save the place from the never-ending gang rape they call "poorly regulated development". Hopefully the road to Patong will remain in place until I pull out.
Oops, that sounds pretty negative.
All the best to you and Flower.
Go Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox and Celts! (couldn't resist)
"Songkhla" - so, a war zone is now nicer than Phuket. That's really saying something.
Songkhla isn't a war zone by any stretch of the imagination.
Here's one Government that disagrees with you.
Thanks for calling my attention to that. It is disgraceful for the Australian government to include Songkhla in that warning. Songkhla has 16 districts, only four of which were under the Internal Security Act at one point. There haven't been any 'incidents' in any of those districts in a long time, and certainly none in which a foreign tourist was harmed.
To be honest, I feel safer even in notorious Red Zones in Yala than I do here in Phuket. How many foreigners, I would like to know, have been killed or wounded in this conflict? As far as I know, and I have been following it closely for a long time, only one: a Chinese guy who was likely mistaken for someone else about six years ago. If they really wanted to target foreigners they could easily do a Bali-style bombing in Patong -- but they haven't and won't. It wouldn't help their cause any more than getting into bed with Al Qaida or JI.
I will let the Songkhla Chamber of Commerce be aware of this.
Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread, which should be reserved for saying 'bye' to the Big Bill, so I will end on that note.
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Big Bill,
End of an era, my old friend.
The timing is surprising; I have also just decided 'enough is enough' and am planning to move back to Songkhla after 12 years here. I am happy to leave what's left of the island's natural charm to my friends from Russia and China, along with the tuk-tuk mafia and never-ending circus parade of useless bureaucrats who shuffle through here and do nothing to save the place from the never-ending gang rape they call "poorly regulated development". Hopefully the road to Patong will remain in place until I pull out.
Oops, that sounds pretty negative.
All the best to you and Flower.
Go Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox and Celts! (couldn't resist)
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WTF car paint repair
in Phuket
Posted
Thanks so much to all of you for all of your input and directions..I don't blame the factory for the paint problem; the car is 18 years old and has spent too much time exposed to the elements. My bad. Personally I don't care too much about how the car looks, only that it is structurally and mechanically sound. Unfortunately the wife takes the opposite view!
Anyway, will keep you updated.
Oilinki, the photoshop fix freaked me out...