seahorse

Had been nice and cool outside Korat until past few days, got much warmer, but up until then, bedroom windows open, fan, great sleeping weather.

I saw a chicken laying on our lawn yesterday afternoon (it was a pretty warm day), was on its side and had one of his legs stretched out. Wife's mom said it means cool weather coming, and today..... nice and cool again, nice breeze going.

I knew similar chicken behavior in the summer means rain coming, which I've seen come to fruition as well.

Anyone reckon these chickens can sense pressure changes? Great barometers, but it would be nice if they would stop crapping on my kitchen patio tile.

Could you take a photo next time, please? I've never seen a chicken laying while on its side.

There are "millions" of stateless children in Thailand?

Buyer's beware, then?

Woodrow Wilson.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/golfer-in-chief-obama-hits-100th-time-on-the-links/

"Public Health Ministry deputy permanent-secretary Dr Apichai Mongkol said the body releases dopamine hormones when a person is addicted to games, in a similar fashion to being addicted to drugs."

Dr Mongkoi needs to go back to school. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, not a hormone. This is elementary biochemistry.

Neurotransmitters are created at and localized at nerve synapses.

Hormones are created by glands and are circulated via the bloodstream.

Though clearly video game playing can be oddly addicting. A few years ago two fellows from Shanghai were playing online together and a monster dropped an uber (elite) sword. The two agreed to use the elite ethereal (existing as electrons, not in reality) alternately. One day one of the fellows sold the sword for about US$1,000 equivalent, (ethereal items from games can be sold on Ebay sometimes for hundreds of dollars and sometimes over a thousand) and when the second one found out he killed the one who sold the sword.

To read the story search using: "Online gamer killed for selling virtual weapon"

the link if allowed:

http://www.smh.com.a...1862440188.html

Eric Nestler, at the University of Texas, has shown how addictions cause permanent changes in the brains of animals. A single dose of many addictive drugs will produce a protein called DeltaFosB that accumulates in the neurons. Each time the drug is used, more DeltaFosB accumulates, until it throws a genetic switch, affecting which genes are turned on or off. Flipping this switch causes changes that persist long after the drug is stopped, leading to irreversible damage to the brain's dopamine system and rendering the animal far more prone to addiction. Nondrug addictions, such as running and sucrose drinking, also lead to the accumulation of DeltaFosB and the same permanent changes in the dopamine system.

from The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, psychiatrist.

It's been done already.

http://en.wikipedia....mposting_toilet

Will we see thousands of Hindus out on the streets rioting and killing people because they do not like this representation of one of their gods?

Legal medicinal narcotics????

nar·cot·ic/närˈkätik/Noun: A drug or other substance affecting mood or behavior and sold for nonmedical purposes, esp. an illegal one.

EDIT: Ok illegal to sell, but can be administered by medical facilities/practitioners for treatment.

Alcohol is legal to sell in most countries.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/narcotic

So much ignorant Islamophobia.

The insurgents in the south are not fighting in the name of religion but some form of independent administration that all shades of government have refused to give them.

There is plenty of factual evidence of Buddists killing Muslims. Ever hear of Krue Se or Tak Bai or the Muslin lawyer who was abducted by the police in Bangkok never to be seen again.

Until around 2000, the south was relatively peaceful until Thaksin interfered with the various security agencies. Everything became more deadly since.

If Pattaya can be given a degree of autonomy, there is no reason that the 3 southern provinces can't be given a similar set-up.

"Insurgents have resumed distributing pamphlets in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, threatening to kill Buddhists and damage their property if they refuse to move out of the area, Prasit said."

Nothing to do with Islam, then.

The leftovers of a $0.33 bottle of water isn't much of a scam.

Hey, Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore.

i was in korea and they meat ball are really the dogs <deleted>

Very good. Made me laugh out loud.

There is a stop sign. Obviously the driver of the truck did not stop or he would most likely have seen the train coming.

Why is Thailand importing cabbage from Europe?

I await the first porno movie in 4D.

This kid is a "hero" to me. The negativity shown by some posters on this site is unbelievable.

There are a number of issues raised in this thread.

"Qualified teachers"

Although it does not say so explicitly in the opening post, it seems that these jobs are aimed at teachers who are qualified to teach in their own country. I am not convinced that they would necessarily be better at teaching English than someone who has a TEFL qualification. The biggest factor in being able to teach is that the students are motivated to learn and the second is the willingness of the teacher to do what is appropriate for their students. I don't think that there is any qualification which would prepare someone for teaching in Thai government schools, due to the bureaucracy and pettiness of those in charge, the jealousy of the other teachers and the laziness of the students.

"Native speakers"

Indians and Filipinos are not native speakers. Native speakers understand far more about their own language than the most advanced learners can, due to the sheer volume of contact they have with it. In particular, nuances in the meaning of different words and references to cultural icons escape even the best academic learners. Having said that, there are Indians and Filipinos who I can understand better than some native speakers from the UK, US and Australia, but I have yet to meet someone from the native speaking nations who I couldn't understand after "tuning in" to them. There are plenty of Indians and Filipinos who think they can speak English who I cannot understand.

"Accents"

More important than the teacher's accent, is that the teacher speaks clearly. Even more important than that is that the teacher gets the students to speak. The students should be doing the talking, not the teacher. This is what TEFL qualifications emphasise and show how to accomplish. While it is true that learning English does require the students to read and write, this is all Thai students ever do. They need to practice speaking much more. We learn to listen, then speak, then read and finally write. Thai students learning English learn the alphabet first. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

Also, it is better for a student to learn from a variety of accents, not just one. When a native speaker is learning the language, he/she hears a variety of people speaking differently and "averages" them out to produce their own style.

Just as a matter of interest, the American mid-west is the easiest accent to understand. The reason for this has nothing to do with computers, pop music or Hollywood; it is because the US has had a high proportion of non-English speaking immigrants who had to learn English to integrate into society. Some call this a "dumbing down" of the language. You might think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

what do you know about Russia except that there are matreshka, perestroyka, putin, vodka, russian wife, KGB and on red square walking bears?

I don't know even these things about Russia. What is matreshka? There are walking bears in Red Square? I thought they danced.

What I do know about Russia is that it is very corrupt and run by gangsters. Also it gets very cold. That is all I need to know to determine that it is one of the last places on this planet that I will ever visit.

About the topic - I haven't seen any mention of the possibility that TAT / BiB know about these foreigners working without permits etc and not doing anything about it because they are getting a cut.

I have just read the whole thread on this, and it seems nobody has mentioned the the PM offered early elections and a five point road map. His deputy also handed himself in to DSI as requested by the red shirts.

The redshirts could have gone home with a victory and saving face if that is truely what they wanted.

They did not, they then put up further demands which were unreasonable.

The government bent over backwards to help the red shirts but the leaders just did not want to know.

It seems they had a lot more in mind and that was shown when the military HAD to move in to dispan them.

The red shirts need to be educated in what democracy really means.

This post says it all in a nutshell. Someone in control of the protesters got greedy for more than the PM could give in good conscience and they ended up with nothing.

Do you really think the objective is democracy? I think the arson and looting were a big wake up call for many people. Already we have car bombs. They are "awaiting instructions." What next?

The live firing zones and shoot on sight policies by the army were indeed inciting terror as a political weapon.

Redshirts, Guns and Violence

Terror in Thailand

Thai Power Grows From The Barrel Of A Gun

Thailand:Challenging the "heroic revolution" archetype

Just saw a report on Al Jazeera talking about a major red leader there saying the new red movement will be like south Thailand's terrorism, with random attacks on innocent people in places like malls. It seems credible. How long before the USA and Europe get on board with the Thai government to root out these TERRORISTS? You think tourism is dead now, wait until they actually follow through on killing masses of civilians and tourists with a random bomb. Shame on the reds if they copy the southern Muslim radicals. Shame on them for even THREATENING this. That in itself is a soft form of terrorism. There are peaceful avenues for change possible in Thailand, now more than ever. Where is the regard for human life?

Just to clear up one thing - and not defending what is going on in the south at all, but - i do not know of one foreigner that has been killed down there by the separatists / mafia. I seem to remember one being injured in an explosion outside a Tesco a few years ago. Terror attacks that included foreigners would be a death blow to Thailand, but that is not what's been happening down south.

Based on the desperation of Thaksin and his cohorts, bombings in Bangkok would not surprise me.

In Hat Yai a few years ago, a farang was killed by a bomb in or outside a pub frequented by foreigners, (playing western rock / pop music with Thai singers singing in English). My girlfriend and I had plans to go there that night but luckily she decided she wanted to stay in. I believe there were two or three bombs that night at different venues in the city centre.

Ten years ago, I was teaching English on a Saturday afternoon about 100 yards from the railway station. Boom! There could have been foreigners there at the time. And that is not the only time it has been targeted.

There are other isolated incidents. I can't remember them all.

OK, it's not a widespread campaign, probably due to lack of funds.

I dread to think what an organised, co-ordinated terror campaign could achieve in the tourist resorts of the south and the governmental and financial institutions of the centre by someone with a big chip on his shoulder who is keen on revenge and who is immensely wealthy.

Did anyone notice the word "mosques" mentioned by Nattawut as a potential burning target? Stir them up, create more trouble. Separatists in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

Why not Issan or Lanna?

Divide and conquer.

northern heartland

dear writer of this article,

fyi . the heartland of thailand is bangkok and the central provinces , NOT the north or northeast (issan).

Dear writer of this post,

For your information, the writer of the article used this phrase to refer to the Reds' heartland, not the heartland of Thailand.

HTH

I would prefer you view on the matter rather than your fastidious observation!

I have thought about it (since I first read it). Most of the fires weren't haphazard as CRES has been discussing on TV.

It could be who is being alluded to. I don't know. No matter how this plays out, I don't think we will ever know for sure anyway.

I understand the assumption but I have a theory behind this - Thaksin made a boast within the last 7 days he had a trump card. It was fairly obvious the army were going to shut the stages down and when they did two things happened.

1 - satellites were set up to draw troops away from the main stages - to thin ranks (presumably) which is an old army trick - spread the aggressors thinly etc and then that would prolong the 'battle' but the inevitable would happen - but

2 - I think the 'hits' have been carefully orchestrated - they hit the thai economy by sabotage of banks, media and international perception of collapse of retail showing nothing is safe by taking down Central World etc. The banks where all the 'seized' assets belonged were a follow on to Bangkok Bank where Thaksin had most of his funds. The additional banks were where the money trail list held their cash assets. The hits on the stock exchange and narcotics bureau, and civil district buildings et al were a direct undermining activity aimed purely at causing international reassessment and condemnation.

Whoever did this is committing the gravest terrorist act and accordingly should be arrested, charged and removed from society but it is all a bit too covert at this point. I would certainly start with Thaksin and work back. I also think this is an Interpol matter now as no way would it be intelligent to have Thaksin brought back to Thailand as he would create riots simply by being here through the misguided followers.

I don't think we will ever get a full picture of who was behind this. Anyway, Thaksin will take the brunt of the blame, hence, I doubt he will be visiting Thailand anytime soon.

My question is what happens now? In order for the Reds to win, they have to either take over the whole country or win an election and it is easier to win an election. They have succeeded in destabilizing the country, but they are no closer to control than they were when they started. Thaksin talked of guerrilla tactics, but again, to what end? They will still have to win an election.

So what now?

I think we will.

No they don't.

Be careful people.