Galong

"jai yen" is a myth. Thais are no more cool-hearted than anyone else. Anytime anything goes in a way that they don't like, they explode.

They drive two ways: too slow or too fast. I wish they'd get the he11 out of my way.

I hope they are honest enough to put a big sign at the entrance saying, "We Want to Sell Endangered Wildlife meat... Wanna Eat a Tiger?"

I guess since Thai men are such cowards it's time to start carrying a weapon.

I hope this news causes Thailand a major loss of face. This (murder or beatings) is happening way too often these days. It's painfully obvious that the Thai Love Thai government isn't interested in protecting its GUESTS.

What a bunch of f*&*ing barbarians.

The Urak Lawoi and the Complexity of Sustainable Resource Use: The Political Ecology of Changes in the Adang Archipelago, Andaman Sea, Thailand...

This is actually a dissertation by a Thai professor of Geology that I know.

Being an evironmentalist, it's very enlightening as well as being disturbing.

The numbers of high quality tourists (not backpacking Lonely Planet zombies) is still fairly high. My tour business caters to higher-end tourists and we've had a wonderful low season. The high season bookings keep coming in too.

HM the King speaks very good English (he was born in Boston while His father studied at Harvard). He also speaks good French, and plays the clarinet at a high level.

My question is:

Is this country going backward or forward?

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My vote is for 'backwards'. The fact that Thaksin is still in office after raping the country and mishandling almost everything he touches says it all.

He's a role model for racism (Thai Rak Thai) and arrogance.

Oops, this is supposed to be funny... sorry.

There once was a Thai man in Texas

He worked at McDonalds so he says

He cheated on tests

As that was his best

Now everyone must do what he says

the dogs are vermin. You feed them you breed them. They crap everywhere - does the monk want to go cleaning that up too? Maybe there is a little shrine near you in disrepair - maybe the monk passes by and gives you a brush and a can of paint and tells you to look after it. Huh? Oh oh, and a little shrine would not multiply and crap everywhere. Nor would it have diseases and lice. It is a wonder he does not dunk them in a bucket of water as any English farmer would do with stray pups and kittens.

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Well, it's nice to know that you don't have to be a monk to be an ######.

I drove up to Phuket from Pak Bara a couple days ago and it took me three hours longer than usual because a small town called Yan Ta Khao was about a meter deep underwater.

After waiting for three hours, I finally made the dumb decision to go for it. Water was headlight deep and a couple of waves generated from a couple of bigger trucks going the other way actually put water up as high as my windshield!! I got lucky, my old truck kept a chuggin'.

The locals were very helpful and friendly... like all locals are once you get out of touristy areas. It was delightful having conversations with the boyz in brown and I even saw Chuan Lekpai! He returned my 'wai'. What a great PM he was... the Jimmy Carter of Thailand.

I too would like to know if there's anywhere to donate goods.

It was in all likelihood a sit-on-top boat and not a real kayak. Three meter waves are no problem for experienced kayakers in REAL kayaks, not FeelFree or Ocean Kayak sit-on-tops.

It it as much the responsibility of whomever rented it to him as it is his fault.

Math: 1 idiot kayak renter + 1 moron without sufficient skill or experience to make sound judgment = more bad press for tourism.

2 die, 4 hurt in Patong landslides

PHUKET: ... Much of the construction is in direct violation of a provincial ban on building permanent structures higher than 80 meters above sea level, and other building codes.

--Phuket Gazette 2005-11-26

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A little bit of law enforcement would make Thailand a true paradise. This goes for building houses and other building by following codes and in every walk of life.

It's unfortunate when someone dies because of someone else's desire to cut corners or do something illegal.

Wouldn't the Thai definition be a "walking ATM?"

Let's face it, Thaksin is basically George Bush on rice. He doesn't give a ###### about nature or animals (just like the idiot running the US right now) and he likely doesn't give a ###### about what anyone else thinks about him... just like George W.

I hope that the international media burns his ass alive for coming up with such a moronic idea. To say that I'm appauled is a gross understatement.

Welcome to Eastern Burma!

So, without alcohol the prositution industry will suffer too. Mildly ugly women will lose a lot of work.

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Please let us know the story behind this mildly overloaded truck. Where was it? How many of these rocket scientists got smushed?

Here ya go Udon: Thailand, the HUB for 'borrowed knowledge'

We call this speaking "Tinglish" in my parts. I don't do it to other foreigners but many of my friends do and it annoys the crap out of me. How unfocused can one be not to notice the white face in your line of vision? 

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You must to thinking. Some man can dink, dink, dink all day and sometime the man can talk to everyone in the proper Englich... nan lat.

PS: "you must to thinking" is a phrase I hear from time to time in Phuket. I wonder who first used this phrase?

There is no shortage of moron in the world. Just look at the Thorn Tree (Lonely Planet) forum. People are still asking if it's safe to come here, because they aren't sure if Phuket is back up and running.

Thank the media for putting Phuket on the map so to say. For many, this was the first time they ever heard of Phuket.

And of course, the newspapers are predicting that a bomb will go off in Phuket or Bangkok or Krabi... purely speculative, but that sort of talk does a lot of harm. Look at how they're handling the 'potential' bird flu pandemic. 150,000,000 people across the globe will DIE! Yep, just like they did when SARS got out of control.... f*&^ing media a-holes.

Thais say that they've never been colonized. That's incorrect. They've been colonized from the inside by the Chinese.

Censor the internet, censor the news, censor anything that resembles freedom... sounds a bit like Burma to me.

And I gues NONE of the muslims there know ANYTHING.   Until the muslim leaders and the people themselves start doing anything about this, then I blame all of the muslims. It's up to them to do something for a change and stop just sitting back and saying: Oh it's so sad and it's not all of us but you deserved it or asked for it to happen.

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Yes Kringle, you are 100% on the mark. By not condemning these acts of terrorism, the Muslim community must believe that what has happened is acceptable. Maybe they don't have the courage to declare their disapproval of these horrific acts of violence for fear of reprisal by the muderers.

Regardless, the Muslim community needs to come out with a strong condemnation of these actions.

Join the rest of the country and live in peace or leave.

Also, it's painfully obvious that the Thai military and police farce don't have the slightest idea how to deal with this. Thailand will likely lose the war for the same reason that the US will lose its battle in Iraq.

Constructive criticism comes with freedom of speech. If the expats who live here love the country, many of them will criticise aspects of living in Thailand which they see are in need of change.

As an American, you should here what I think of my home country. There is NOTHING I have ever said about Thailand that even comes close to what I say about Bush's America. The US gov is run by a bunch of greedy morons! Just look at how they handled Katrina... absolutely shameful.

If we didn't criticise, it would mean that we didn't care and didn't care about the future. Venting anger or feelings is what many Westerners do. Please don't take any of it personally.

Those who truly don't love Thailand should leave. I can't think of any other country that would be more enjoyable than Thailand. I appreciate the ability to do business here.

Anyone who would believe that this is a natural phenomenon would likely vote for Thaksin.

Didn't someone end up in court last year for saying this was fake??

Aren't all of the cases of bird flu coming from people who work in the poultry industry? They are breathing in 'fowl' air all the time. Of course they're going to get sick... the farms I've seen are absolutely filthy.

The media, as usual, wants to keep us all on the edge of our seats just waiting for the human to human transmission. I bet the folks at CNN pray every night for the human to human virus mutation to finally arrive so they can make us all as scared as possible.

Remember what the authorities said about SARS?

I've never had a problem finding a place to drink during these erections.

If I couldn't find a place to drink, I reckon I could find a Thai military General and buy some drugs instead! <tongue planted smartly in cheek of course>

whatever direction is taken, it will fail. The mentality of motorcyclists is downright insane.

Things I see daily on the roads in Phuket:

Run red lights on a regular basis

Ride down the wrong side of the street

Talk on a mobile phone while driving

Helmet in basket

Risking one's life to get in front of someone

Pull out without looking

Too many people on one bike

Underage children driving

Underage children and teenagers trying to pop wheelies

Weaving in and out of traffic in a death-defying manner

Taking off when the other light starts to turn yellow

Changing lanes without looking

Turning left from the far right lane

Yada, yada, yada

Thais don't take traffic laws seriously. No wonder they get in so many accidents. Sit at any busy traffic light and watch what happens.

Station cops at all major traffic light and give real tickets to anyone who passes someone in a turn or who runs a red light.

The easiest way to make an elephant wild is to kick it in the nuts

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Good one! You almost made me blow Phuket Vegetarian Festival food out of my nose!!