Rionoir

Does anyone know of a decent Taekwondo school in Bangkok that isn't geared completely towards children?

Seems like all the grandmasters that were in or from Thailand moved to the US and opened schools there. LoL

If I can't find this... is it possible to study Muay Thai on a casual basis without having to be at a live-in school?

And I can almost guarantee there's going to be another ice age... but the ice ages coming and going started way before man was on this planet. But , meh, that's just silly facts again...

So if another ice age is coming, should we just enjoy the beach today and worry about putting on an extra-heavy coat tomorrow?

We already modify nature now.  We put up dams and re-route rivers, for example.  So why shouldn't we try and develop technologies which would mitigate any extreme shifts in climate patterns?

If the Gulf Stream is shut down by global warming and Europe goes into a freeze, is there a way to kick-start it back up again?  One idea is to dump about half the world's annual consumption of salt into the ocean at what is now the northern-most reach of the stream.  Will that work?  I don't know.  BUt at least people are trying to come up with some solutions now.  

Yea, that's pretty much my philosophy.

But look... If scientists want to try to slow down the natural cycle of this planet, I have no problem with that.  My problem is with being told that humans are causing all of this.  Actually, we only have advanced weather data going back what, 100 years?  That is virtually NO data in terms of knowing what the cycle of surface temperatures and ocean currents and ocean temperatures, etc.  We know nothing about what is "normal" with these things... all we know is what has happened in the last blink of an eye of this planet's history.

Additionally, many of the things that conservationists like Al Gore are telling us to do have just as big of impact on the environment... Ethenol fuel, for example.  It may burn cleaner, but once you factor in the production of ethenol... the "carbon footprint" is at least as big as regular fuel in the end.  And yea, look at Al Gore's life... he probably has a bigger carbon footprint than most people on the planet, but... oh, we should just ignore that and take him seriously anyway right.

Furthermore, don't you think that trying to change the course of nature could cause some seriously devastating and unforseen consequences?  No one knows.  Is it a risk we should take?  I don't really care honestly, I'll be dead before the consequences hit I'm sure. LoL  I think we are worrying about things we can't control though.  It's humane nature, but... it's silly too.

....one could call your response silly.

Your second point totally avoids the science explaining the ozone hole.......one could call your response silly.

You really think so?  You don't think I was serious about dumping oil on ice?  I can't tell if ur dumb or just have absolutely no sense of humor. LoL

And my second point doesn't avoid anything... you MADE UP facts about the ozone hole by saying that it "abruptly materialized"... I am simply pointing out that there is NO PROOF that says that hole hasn't been there forever... the hole was discovered, but it's not like anyone was monitoring for holes before they found that.  Therefore, there is no 'science' to present about it.  And I haven't heard of the discovery of any additional holes.  So there is no science behind it... some scientist found a hole, and they have no idea where it came from.  Except people like you will isntantly ASSUME and want to take it as FACT that that hole is caused by pollution or global warming or whatever the condition of the day is.

How arrogant does one have to be to think he is going to swing by Thailand, find an educated Thai woman with a good job and a good life in Thailand, and she's going to melt and decide to give up her life for him just like that in a few weeks. LoLoL

I got news for you... mail-order brides are not usually of the educated variety, regardless of what their sales brochure says. And, educated women with money do not have a hard time getting out of Thailand if that is what they want... but, it's not what they want.

You know, BIG OIL could change the color of the ice...

PS - "abrupt materialization of the ozone hole" ? It was abruptly discovered... but no one KNOWS how long it took to materialize, and know one knows how long that hole was there.

And I can almost guarantee there's going to be another ice age... but the ice ages coming and going started way before man was on this planet. But , meh, that's just silly facts again...

Yes! Ice is white! Why didn't anyone point that out sooner, I totally would've been on board...

I love Byki... when I was taking Thai classes everyday I had my Thai roommate record my new vocabulary for me and I would study with that... really an invaluable tool for not just learning the words, but getting the sound really in your ear.

Haven't looked at the other program so can't comment on it.

Well glad u had a good time So how did he take ur money - theft or good looks? hehe

I do tend to be verbose. A long response for a long question.

But I think their explanation -- if that was really all there was to it -- is pretty terrible. Can you see การคิด or การสมมุติ?

Sometimes simple explanation = simplistic understanding.

Hmm.. never heard of การคิด, what is it? ความคิด means thought, which again, u can't see. I don't know the other word

I also think you are incorrect on ความตาย rykker:

การตาย - Death, or the process of dying, which you can see

ความตาย - the CONCEPT of death, which you can't see

Again, the explanation I was given holds up. And it is certainly not a terrible way to explain these words... in fact, it's easy for me to remember these two words meanings because one I can see, one I can't.

I don't know any words off the top of my head this method doesn't work for, but at the very least it seems to me to be nearly always true with the words that I've learned so far.

LoL Come on be a good husband and take her some food... or she might come back more crabby than before she left. You should be thankful she's not making you go along!

If you are really concerned about this, why don't you talk to a doctor at BNH or some other decent hospital. The consultation fees are cheap and generally better than getting ur medical advice off of the general forum on thaivisa... lol

Wow these are some longgggg answers for something that I thought was pretty simply explained in my class at Chula. Essentially they told us การ is used with verbs that you can "see", while ความ is used with verbs that are internal or can't be seen. ความรัก .. การวิ่ง .. etc..

99% of the time that is the easiest way to think about it.

Oh to the OP... it's going to depend on your age and your looks etc. If you are younger than, I don't know, let's say 39, then you will probably have no trouble finding Thai boys that just want to jump your bones without money. (it wouldn't hurt to buy him dinner or something though, a boy's gotta eat heh) However to be safe, if you want him to spend the entire night (i.e., involving you falling asleep), then sleep with your wallet in your pocket, under your mattress, inside your pillow case, etc.

If you truly just wanted to get away and have a relaxing time, I'm not sure Phuket was the idea option, but since you're already there... go get em.

remember one thing that someone else already said, this is Thailand: No money, no honey.

dam_n I'm glad that isn't true... LoL Or I would've had a serious dry spell when I was in school full time (and had no money lol)...

You gotta date a boy who has a sugar daddy in another country but wants a younger BF in Thailand... haha

The impact of human activities on the climate is really very minor compared to Mother Nature.

You have never really addressed my two main positions that one, minor or major, shouldn't man's impact be minimized, and two, that many of the proposed methods of combating global warming (e.g. using renewable resources, requiring tighter emission standards, raising fuel efficiency in cars, etc.) have significant positive benefits for our society as a whole, even if they had ZERO impact on global warming.

I really don't care what is the percentage of global warming caused by human activities and what is natural cycles. Truth be told, I rather think natural cycles are the main culprit here, so-to-speak, with human activity merely exacerbating the situation. But natural or man-made, we should be doing what we can to mitigate the severity of global warming, and we can also enjoy the other positive side benefits that our actions can cause.

Well if we all used that logic we should go back to living in grass huts and walking anywhere we ever go, since just about everything we do affects the environment in some way or another.

Look at hybrid cars... I just saw a report on the news that these "environmental friendly" cars are using up some rare mineral, and a LOT of it. haha F'ing hypocritical if you ask me.

I for one DO care what percentage of the problem we are causing... however, there is ZERO PROOF that we are causing ANY of it, and the global warmings crazies would like us to believe we are causing 99% of it. The earth is going to heat up and cool down regardless of what we do. IF we are making it heat up 1% faster than it would've otherwise... umm... it doesn't seem like much of an argument to me for drastically changing our lifestyle and ruining our economy.

Would you cut off one of your legs if it means you could live an extra year at the end of your life? I sure as shit wouldn't...

Hrm.. so what if I said something like "the protestors ล้อมรอบตำรวจ" .. If it can be used either way, how would you know who is surrounding who in that sentence? LoL

Keo... those cartoons are totally my speed... haha Pathetic

it would take them 15-20 minutes to reach DJ with any kind of water

Have you ever seen the Thai fire brigade show up at a fire? I used to live right by the Cybertower twin towers on Ratchada, and lived there a couple years ago when they still doing construction and had coated the buildings with some completely flammable insullation. So, there we were, two 50 story buildings completely engulfed in flames, and this was the "water" the fire department showed up with... I never laughed so hard in my life. If you can't tell, this is a ancient little pump truck... trying to pull some water out of the digusting little sewage drain or whatever it was running past there... (this is my picture, my apartment window actually opened up to face directly to these buildings)

*giggle* JR Texas got more buzz words than Keith Olberman...

Thanks for the recommendations guys.

ฉันล้อมรอบไปด้วยคนบ้า

Can someone help me understand the grammar here. I was playing around with Rosetta Stone today just seeing what types of things were actually covered, and came across ล้อมรอบ which I was not familiar with before. If I'm not mistaken, I wrote this sentence correctly, and it means "I am surrounded by crazy people." However, I'm very confused why it wouldn't be written "ฉันถูกล้อมรอบ..." to make it passive? I'm also not familiar with ไปด้วย, I assume it operates differently than putting ด้วย after a verb, but maybe I hope someone can clear this up and give me a explanation of this whole sentence. Thanks much!

ไรอั้น

Ok.. my Thai is an intermediate level I guess (according to Chula), I can read and write on MSN with my Thai friends very easily, and I can speak well too. But... when I listen to a commercial, Thai movie, or someone talks at me full speed... I feel like an idiot a good percentage of the time. I don't know if it's that my vocabulary just still isn't good enough, or what to do to improve my listening. I should say, it isn't total crap... I maybe understand 50% of what is going on, maybe... more or less... but, with something like a Thai soap opera... I don't understand hardly anything... they talk so fast and so crazy... it does me no good to even watch it.

People always say just watch a lot of Thai TV or whatever... but honestly, my brain turns off after 5 minutes of Thai TV because I start trying WAY too hard and I just can't be bothered to listen anymore, and my mind turns off. LoL Is there an easier way? I know I need to speak more Thai with my friends... some of my friends only speak Thai, but many of them still speak English to me, especially in public (of course they want to impress people, I know).

I need something around intermediate level listening.. what might that be?

Learn Thai...

Don't act like a tourist... I always laugh when people walk around shopping on Silom and look at little item like it is a treasure they can't leave without...

Don't act like you have too much money to spend...

Educated yourself...

Make friends with middle-class Thai...

Anyone else remember when this all used to be blamed on "El Nino" ... that was until the democrats found 60,000 new taxes they can charge if they call it global warming and blame it on corporations...

Anyway ok... the fact is, we live on a giant rock with a molten lava core and are hurtling through space as unbelievable speeds. "Mother nature" is capable of some truly terrible and horrifying events, none of which are controllable by man... I don't know how anyone can think that MAN is controlling the TEMPERATURE of a planet. *chuckle* You can throw all the 'evidence' you want at me, we all know how biased the evidence from BOTH sides is on this issue... there is an equal amount disproving everyone, and when it comes down to it I choose to use common sense. Which, to me, is that the temperature of this planet has fluctuated for millions of years, the glaciers have come and gone many times over for millions of years, and it's GOING to happen again, and the human race WILL be eliminated someday whether it's climate change, an asteroid, nuclear holocost, or whatever else. I'm not entirely sure the human race is worth saving for much longer anyway... maybe it's time some less evil life forms take over. lol

Furthermore, let's say we ARE causing global warming... I can pretty much guarantee that China and India aren't going to buy into it anytime soon and risk loosing their growing economic status in the world, thanks to the rest of us destroying our economies over this issue.

meh...

Don't forget smoking... the little kids outside the internet shop by my apartment are outside smoking all the time. They can't be older than 10-14 many of them.