phuketsub

Personal websites, when not advertising should be ok on thaivisa? LiK?

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Understood, I would not want to jeopardize my ability to continue contributing to this forum. If anyone knows of any useful contacts just send a PM and I will respond with my contact details. Thanks.

I am trying to gather information for an in-depth news story about Thai people in Phuket who are originally from the Deep South (Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani or Songklha south of Kanchanawanich Road) , but now live in Phuket either for work or security reasons (due to all the violence of the insurgency there).

If anyone knows of anyone with interesting experiences in this regard pls send me contact details by PM.

I promise to post the final version of the story in this forum, free of charge.

Any help would be much appreciated.

note to moderators: I understand this is a rather strange and self-serving post, but I went through the house rules and don't see any that it is clearly in breach of, so I hope it can stand.

FC Phuket v Port Authority @ Surakul Stadium on Saturday, May 4. kickoff 6:30pm.

The teams are in fifth and fourth place in Division 1, respectively, and separated by just one point.

A very important match for Phuket if they want to get back into the promotion zone.

More developments up on Khao Toh Seh...As I walked past Point 5 I saw a huge cement truck coming down and thought "this can't be a positive development"...It turns out they are covering the traditional monkey feeding point (the one used by Mr Monkey) with concrete.

The head of the park's sanitation unit was there so I asked him "What about the sign that clearly states 'do not feed the animals here'. He said it would be taken down. I wanted to ask why they didn't remove the sign before they covered everything with cement, but then he got a phone call and I didn't want to wait.

Other developments:

-The pigs are back...two spotted at Point 3. Pork rustlers take note.

-Thieves have disassembled many of the walkway lights and stolen the light bulbs.

-A kiosk has opened at Point 7 selling water and a few snacks. It's run by Toh Seh Hill Walkers Association member Mr Pian, who has worked at the Ch7 broadcast office for 30 years. Bottled water just 10 baht; not bad considering the location. The association is about 10 years old and has about 100 members.

-The temple behind the court (Wat Lang Sarn) is offering free meditation classes for a month. They started on the 24th and run for a month. However, there is no English on the sign so I expect it is going to be a Thai only affair.

I will take 'em there by black plate submarine.

Annual 'lucky' license plate auction at Phuket Merlin Hotel tomorrow. The sign doesn't say what time it starts, but should be a good place to network with the rich and superstitious.

Phuket Bay used to have a nice, sandy bottom. Now it is covered in meters of muck from the tin mining era.

It is certainly still "on the sea", though I think people coming for a nice day at the beach would disappointed with most East Coast beaches -- especially the one at Saphan Hin!

Phuket town is not on the ocean.

Really? Actually all of Phuket is on the Andaman Sea, rather than the Indian Ocean, if you chose to get semantically correct... Phuket town is on the Phang Na Bay, is it not? There is a sea port not far. After all Phuket is an island!

Thai language being a tonal language is difficult for Westerners, but I found that most asians learn to speak it fairly fluently.

I suppose because most asian languages are tonal as well so they have an ear for it.

I may be wrong.

Even though I had no exposure to Thai until I was in my twenties, I still find it easier to memorize things like phone numbers in Thai than in my native tongue (English).

I can still get very frustrated trying to communicate in Thai; there seems to be a lack of inherent, grammatical specificity in it, at least compared to what I am used to in English. But I still find 25+ years of study one of the most satisfying pursuits I have ever undertaken -- even when my 7-year-old daughter corrects my pronunciation.

All that said, when I moved to Thailand in 1989 there was no cable tv, internet or anything like that, so you really did have to learn it if you wanted to make yourself understood.

Perhaps we are all headed towards a world of globalization and Google translation; I understand the OP's question, but I think if you have the ability to learn a foreign language it will make your life more fulfilling if you invest some time to learn some basic Thai.

To those who assume that anyone from Issan is "low class" or a bar wench, you are very wrong. Issan comprises 1/3 the population of Thailand.

Issan people form the backbone of the service industry, the trades and the military. Considering that almost all of us will at some point require the services of these "low class" people, speaking some Issan dialect, even a few words, would serve one well. Many of my Thai friends are from Issan. They are not bar girls and have never been to Phuket or Pattaya, nor wish to have anything to do with those that go there. One of them is the guy that will most likely be sent in to defuse the bomb someone plants. (I reckon most of you didn't know that most of the bomb disposal personnel come from Issan.) You bet I want to be able to speak a few words to them. Next time there is a civil insurrection and you want to navigate through the army people, drop a few Issan words and you will get some help as most conscripts are Issan people. Those Issan people form the majority of the NCOs and junior officer corps as well.

Appreciably if one makes his home in the south, one of the southern dialects is appropriate. However, if one is living in Bangkok or in the north, Issan dialect comes in handy.

It saddens me that so many of new arrivals, especially people who come to live and work here, have no interest in Thai language whatsoever, let alone the local version of it.

But at the end of the day the loss is theirs because Thai is such a great and flexible language and the Thai people are such enthusiastic teachers of it.

My experience of trying to learn French in Quebec (after six years of school study in the states) put me off efforts to learn that language completely.

I later found, but much too late, that French people (outside Paris) are pretty cool about people trying to learn their language.

I think that much of the conflict in the Deep South is really about language more than anything else; it's a shame that this issue is never really addressed by so many successive governments and that the unique Patani Malayu is not introduced as an official second language in that part of the country.

The resulting vacuum is a bottomless pit into which far too many lives, too much misery and money have been squandered over the last decade.

I have replaced these in the past with "ordinary" small ES 25/40 watt bulbs and had no problems. Perhaps you were unlucky with the one you bought. Worth another try?

I appreciate your comment. I had an idea to buy several of them at HomePro with the expectation they would blow out soon, but I am really getting fed up with the "disposable" aspect of life in 2013.

The bulb I replaced was at least 20 years old! Damn I miss the days when stuff I bought here was actually manufactured in Japan.

All this makes me feel like a retarded gerbil on a treadmill: why do I have to waste so many hours on fixing bum guns and replacing light bulbs? My computer tells me the year is 2013, but I feel like I am in some sort semi-retarded, post-industrial dark age.

I need a new drug.

Understand as have the same problem especially as I was an electrical engineer in my earlier previous life and have refurbished a couple of properties here. Some of the light switches and socket outlets which one buys these days are absolute crap and it is no wonder that many people I know have burnt out appliances.

As for a new drug – – – vast quantities of good red wine and remember that despite all of this, we are still living in somewhere akin to paradise, which beats working in my home country.

I have replaced these in the past with "ordinary" small ES 25/40 watt bulbs and had no problems. Perhaps you were unlucky with the one you bought. Worth another try?

The bulb I replaced was at least 20 years old! Damn I miss the days when stuff I bought here was actually manufactured in Japan.

All this makes me feel like a retarded gerbil on a treadmill: why do I have to waste so many hours on fixing bum guns and replacing light bulbs? My computer tells me the year is 2013, but I feel like I am in some sort semi-retarded, post-industrial dark age.

I need a new drug.

Electrical section of the big supercheap has them.

I can understand the frustration with anything in Thailand! Try finding shoes, trainers size 12, all you get is no have! I was even prepared to pay 4000 bht for nice footwear in the Oakley shop, answer no have!! try finding a simple rubber washer, again no have!! Ended up buying the item just to get the washer! <deleted> place is infuriating!!! the search continues for comfortable stylish flip flop type wear!! Premium outlet next!! No I don't want to leave Thailand but this place is super frustrating!!

Another 'where to find' question for my TV friends.

I recently had the lightbulb in my 20+ year old cooker hood/extractor fan unit die after years of service.

A quick look on the net ensured me that they do make make special bulbs for these units (to help withstand heat) and they are available through the net on Amazon.com, which does not ship to Thailand.

(see attached pix)

The sales staff at HomePro were of little help. They told me the bulbs only came with the cooker hoods.

I ended up buying a standard 40watt bulb (29 baht) in the same shape and it blew out in less than a day.

If anyone knows where to buy them in Phuket or online in Thailand pls let me know. Thanks.

FC Phuket v Khon Kaen at Surakul Stadium TONIGHT!!! (insert retarded Patong accent)

If the Islanders win they will not only remain unbeaten, but move into a tie for first place in Div 1.

10% of the gate proceeds (tix 100 baht, kids free) go to Plook Panya Municipal School.

kickoff 6:30

NOTE TO MODERATORS:

Would it be possible to turn this thread upside down so the most recent events appear at the top.

It's a pain to have to navigate to the end every time...just an idea

Yes, that's Point 7. Also well worth checking out is the garden at the Channel 5 station. Nice view of Phang Nga Bay and Koh Maphrao and a beautiful sea breeze not unlike the one atop Big Buddha Image hill.

The monkeys have been 'lost' from several of the points, but I expect that to lessen now that they have some security.

Thanks for the update Sub. It's good to hear that there are improvements happening on the island.

Is it still possible to drive or ride up to the hill during daytime 8am - 4pm?

Big, big changes up on Khao Toh Seh, and mostly for the good:

1. Full time street sweeping staff since start of this month, with an obvious improvement throughout the park.

2. The access road (starting from Green Forest Restaurant) closed 7-8am (presumably for the water truck to spray the road) and from 4pm to 7pm, to keep walkers safe from cars. There is an elderly security guard and a rollaway metal barrier there to enforce it at the Toh Seh Shrine.

3. The spirit house landfill drainage ditch was cleaned out sometime yesterday afternoon, with an English-impaired sign telling people not to dump unwanted spirit houses there anymore (cc: www.engrish.com)

4. I suspect the kind-hearted but environmentally ignorant "Mr Monkey" has been banned, presumably for brazenly ignoring the signs which specify where the macaques can be fed -- not to mention dumping loads of fruit with foam packaging on the roadside. Some of the street sweepers today dropped off a bunch of bananas and the macaques were fighting over them. A month ago they wouldn't bat an eyelash at a banana, preferring junk food, durien, coconut, dragonfruit, etc.

5. Far fewer dogs. I saw about 10 puppies (two litters) on Friday. No sign of them today. I can't rule out they were out in the forest. Most of the the well-known, established mutts are still there in their usual positions.

6. No more pigs.(this goes back about 3 months)

7. Overall, one of the best projects the OrBorJor has done, IMO.

With all the hassles and legal disputes over building on leased land, I often wonder why mobile homes (or some other kind of relocatable units) haven't proven more popular among expats here.

Not a good day for 'getting sh*t done', at least where the government sector is concerned. Here was the scene at the TOT office in Phuket Town, just around the corner from the Post Office, when I went to pay my Internet bill today...

Nice to know all is safe and secure at my ISP.

That's an old well used quote that I was too lazy to look up for a reference. Sorry for pissing you off, as that is never my intention. That said, Rottweilers have an incredible memory. The ones that show any aggression towards any human when unwarranted should be put down immediately. Those are not the ones I have known going on 40 years. We are probably on a lot more of the"same pages" than not.http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison

apology accepted; no problem.

At the moment I am having a hard time dealing with the over-compensation of my insecurities, but since you ask.... The question kind of begs the question "soi dogs in respect to...?". Soi dogs are just dogs. They have the same emotions of love and needs as the finest bred dogs and deserve any help we humans can deliver. Soi dogs are tough and live a precarious life. Taking in a soi dog to ones home can bring a lot of good to both the dog and the rescue owner. But if you own any dog, you must live up to the responsibilities of ownership. No need to list those here. I would suggest anyone with a dog to perhaps attempt to understand how dogs live, act and how their instincts direct them. A side note...to question the memory of Rottweilers displays total ignorance. You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to an INFORMED opinion. You are not entitled to be ignorant...

These views were clearly expressed as personal opinion and in reply to the OP's query, not your post -- which I only glanced through.

Five minutes of subsequent research on Google confirms that Rottweilers are indeed one of, if not the, the deadliest breed in terms of attacks on humans. It's just a statistical fact. Yes, training and other things come into play, as you correctly pointed out. In many ways we are actually on the same page. I think.

That said, in response to your comment:

"You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to an INFORMED opinion. You are not entitled to be ignorant."

What the hell does that mean? Are you the King of Entitlements? I resent the insult to my intelligence. How can you dismiss my opinion as not INFORMED when you have no knowledge whatsoever about my personal experiences?

The last time I checked the arbiters of what views were acceptable in this forum were the moderators...It'll be interesting to see if they let this one through.

Not a good day for 'getting sh*t done', at least where the government sector is concerned. Here was the scene at the TOT office in Phuket Town, just around the corner from the Post Office, when I went to pay my Internet bill today...

Not so sure I am comfortable trumpeting the the fact that "no one has died yet"...Four days to go with this. Let's not jinx ourselves; I think it should be like a no-hitter in baseball. [sorry to any who don't get the reference]

Last time there was that horrible crash on Big Buddha Hill on the last day with many Burmese killed.

On the subject of Grumpy Old Men, I spent four hours with my wife and daughter at and around the Mining Monument at Saphan Hin on the 13th -- and didn't get splashed once. I think this is the closest I have ever come to experiencing a miracle. It was like that famous scene in 'Pulp Fiction'.

Perhaps my own GOM force field was perfectly tuned; maybe the kids there didn't want to hit an old man armed only with a condom-clad, large Atchaa.