Brigante7

Pretty simple really, I just say excuse me and push them out of the way, it's not rocket science.

Brigante7.

Where's my post gone? I posted an honest and truthful answer to a question and now my post has gone from this topic.

Brigante7.

We only have one side of the story here, so lets stop judging the woman. Yes, she could have been a real cow who was only after a visa, or she could have been in a relationship from hel_l where "being sent back home" was regularly threatened and only now can she break free without it involving leaving the country. We just don't know.

If she was in a relationship from hel_l then she should have left the first chance she got.

Brigante7.

Why does it make us uptight and bad people, because you say so? There are 2 sex's men & woman accept it and move on. Ladyboy's are just men dressed as woman who are in denial that they are men and no matter what they do they will always be men.

Brigante7.

I'm a non-homophobe (I love my home) and a non-fundamentalist religious type (Don't believe in god or even religion) and I don't generaly accept that there is a third sex.

I agree with you SBK but it seems TomBKK is happy to tell me and everybody else who frowns upon gay people that we are and I quote " Uptight and bad people"

My views on gay people are very clear and I make no apologies for them and to hel_l with anybody who expects me to agree only with there views, everybody is entitled to express their own views and opinions as much as others might not like those views and opinions.

Brigante7.

So, is it ok for someone to have an opinion that homophobes are uptight and bad?

LMFAO, yes if it makes you and TomBKK happy. Isn't it starnge how people who dislike gay people and their lifestyle and classed as "Uptight and bad" but the people making the statements aren't, weird isn't it.

Brigante7.

Not strange at all, to "dislike" millions of people that you have never met and mean you no harm, that don't affect you, to generalize about a "lifestyle" as you do is at the very least "uptight and bad". As to a third sex, there seems to be some men that are so naturally fem and some women that are so butch that there is obviously more to nature than the rigid definitions you ascribe to.

You've missed the whole point of the discussion Daoyai, while there are naturally feminine men and butch woman, they are still men and woman. As for generalizing about a lifestyle and disliking millions of people that I've never met, it's easy, it's called freedom of choice and everybody is entitled to it.

Brigante7.

Actually, I doubt it has that much to do with television at all. TV didn't arrive on my island until maybe 25 years ago yet the locals believe in ghosts and spirits, regardless of age. I doubt its possible for such a prevalent and deep seated belief to develop in such a short period of time.

You might consider reading some books about other cultures and how they view the world and perhaps learn that not everyone looks at it the same way you do. An eye opening book for me was Song Lines by Bruce Chatwin, where he explored the aboriginal belief system and how they view the world.

I understand what you're saying, what I meant to say, and should have explained myself better, was that my wifes generation, she's 27, are exposed to a lot more outside influence than any other generation and so I would have thought would be less inclined to believe in ghosts, spirits and the like but after watching what my wife is watching, now I understand how the belief is being carried on through TV.

Brigante7.

Hi, can anyone tell me if contact lenses are cheaper or about the same price as the U.K? I have just run out of my monthly soft lenses and will be flying in next week. Should I order some here or just pick them up when I arrive? I could do with an eye test too..any recommendations?

Thanks

I wear daily disposable contacts and they are roughly the same price in BKK and in Nakhon Phanom (Wife's family live there) as they are in the UK.

Brigante7.

I think the TVs fair game to criticize - like any other art or entertainment I guess it just comes down to what you like. But I don't see why you need to denigrate a belief system different than your own with a statement like "all the nonsense about spirits, ghosts and all the other crap"

I don't mean to pick on you for this – it's a pet peeve of mine on this board overall.

While the religions I know about have a basis in good teachings and moral guidelines they are all fundamentally a belief system. You can't prove the Christian God any more than you can prove or disprove ghosts. The Christian's believe that Jesus died and came back from the dead and his spirit is with them all the time. Many Thais may believe there are ghosts. How can I argue with any of them?

I may not believe in any of it but even my non-belief is just another belief system. I can't prove what I believe to be the nature of life or the universe – I look at what I think is the empirical evidence and wrap some beliefs around that. I'm comfortable in my beliefs and more than happy to let others believe what they want.

By the way this research is a little old 2007 but I suspect still accurate (but I think trending down over the years)

34% of Americans believe in ghosts – the same percentage that believe in UFOs.

22% say they have seen a ghost.

19% believe in witchcraft

48% believe in ESP

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21477704/

I don't believe in ghost, spirits, god or any religion. I don't have a belief system. Show me any concrete evidence of ghosts, spirits or god and I'll humbly apologise to my wife for laughing my ass off at her.

My post was more about how I now understand why Thai's believe in it more than having a go at it in general but I take your point. What also amazed me was how scared my wife was by some very bad acting and a ghost that is a cross between Elvira and Mortica Adams (LOL). If I offended any Thai's then I humbly apologise.

Brigante7.

Nice to see the topic of man-bashing has moved from the UK to other countries, can you imagine the outcry if the report was the other way around? What about all the woman who work in the sex industry and pass it on to their husbands/boyfriends/customers?

Brigante7.

The wife is just back from Thailand and brought a load of DVD's with what can only be described as some of the worst TV I have ever seen. A Thai TV show in which people die and are brought back to life through strange rituals and smelling salts (<deleted>) and has a family beign haunted by a ghost of a dead woman who couldn't be brought back to life! The missus is sitting hear shitting herself because there is the most unscary looking ghost floating about the TV and now I understand why Thai people believe all the nonsense about spirits, ghosts and all the other crap (It's fed to them on a daily basis), fu_ck me I can't believe how bad the acting is, still the wife's happy and if she's happy she's quiet.

Brigante7.

Generally Western Christian upbringing is for heterosexual people and couples. Gays or whatever you want to call them, including Ladyboys are frowned upon. That does not make us uptight or bad people.

Well it does make you uptight and bad people. Sorry to break it to you, pal.

Why does it make us uptight and bad people, because you say so? There are 2 sex's men & woman accept it and move on. Ladyboy's are just men dressed as woman who are in denial that they are men and no matter what they do they will always be men.

Brigante7.

I find that odd coming from someone who seems to be from almost the only country on the planet that encourages men to wear skirts ... indeed, it is held to be a key part of its culture and very ''manly'', isn't it?

That it is, and very fetching us Scotsmen are in our kilts. Although I've only worn a kilt once, when I got married, felt very weird especialy as I was a "True" Scotsman.

Brigante7.

Why does it make us uptight and bad people, because you say so? There are 2 sex's men & woman accept it and move on. Ladyboy's are just men dressed as woman who are in denial that they are men and no matter what they do they will always be men.

Brigante7.

I'm a non-homophobe (I love my home) and a non-fundamentalist religious type (Don't believe in god or even religion) and I don't generaly accept that there is a third sex.

I agree with you SBK but it seems TomBKK is happy to tell me and everybody else who frowns upon gay people that we are and I quote " Uptight and bad people"

My views on gay people are very clear and I make no apologies for them and to hel_l with anybody who expects me to agree only with there views, everybody is entitled to express their own views and opinions as much as others might not like those views and opinions.

Brigante7.

So, is it ok for someone to have an opinion that homophobes are uptight and bad?

LMFAO, yes if it makes you and TomBKK happy. Isn't it starnge how people who dislike gay people and their lifestyle and classed as "Uptight and bad" but the people making the statements aren't, weird isn't it.

Brigante7.

Generally Western Christian upbringing is for heterosexual people and couples. Gays or whatever you want to call them, including Ladyboys are frowned upon. That does not make us uptight or bad people.

Well it does make you uptight and bad people. Sorry to break it to you, pal.

Why does it make us uptight and bad people, because you say so? There are 2 sex's men & woman accept it and move on. Ladyboy's are just men dressed as woman who are in denial that they are men and no matter what they do they will always be men.

Brigante7.

I think it is generally accepted by the non-homophobes, and non-fundamentalist religious types, that there is a third, perhaps even a fourth and a fifth sex.

The only scientific info I could offer without getting into a google competition is in the natural world there is at least one "third" gender: bees. Drones have X,Y, and Z chromosomes, making them not male and not female.

I'm a non-homophobe (I love my home) and a non-fundamentalist religious type (Don't believe in god or even religion) and I don't generaly accept that there is a third sex.

I agree with you SBK but it seems TomBKK is happy to tell me and everybody else who frowns upon gay people that we are and I quote " Uptight and bad people"

My views on gay people are very clear and I make no apologies for them and to hel_l with anybody who expects me to agree only with there views, everybody is entitled to express their own views and opinions as much as others might not like those views and opinions.

Brigante7.

I've always wondered why so many straight western men have such a fascination for ladyboys and why the assumption that this is prevalent in Thailand or that somehow Thailand is odd for having it?

India has a well known 3rd gender, the Hijras, the Lakota Sioux and Blackfoot native Americans, Polynesia, etc etc. all had third genders. The list is long and rather varied and extends back to Mesopotamia, the Incas and more

There may be alot of men with a fascination for ladyboys, I don't know, perhaps JT could run one of his famous poll's, maybe he already has?

Whilst you mention India has alot of third gender, you fail to mention Brazil & this of course is one of the most renowned things that is mention about Thailand in the west.

What I find most amazing about the topic of ladyboys, is the amount of experienced thai visa posters of the gay sect that always like to make funny little quirky posts about ladyboys and gay men etc etc, I don't need to quote or point them out because theres half a dozen of them already in this one and half page thread. Most of the comments don't even have anything to do with the topic at hand . It never ceases to amaze me some of the big chips that are carried around on such little shoulders.

To expand on the OP's original post about why are there so many ladyboys in Thailand, I would of thought that genetics must have been at least 95% in play here. There also seems to be a large amount of very femine males and just as many 'Toms', that is ladies that do everything within their power to be men. It always fascinates me to see many very unattractive Tom's with absolutely stunning girlfriends ....it probably balances itself out in the end, who knows

The reason allot of posters have a facination with LBs is because the LBs that we are exposed to are usually very attractive.

You obviously haven't seen the efforts on Sukhumvit road then, enough to give anybody nightmares, as manly as they come.

Brigante7.

Generally Western Christian upbringing is for heterosexual people and couples. Gays or whatever you want to call them, including Ladyboys are frowned upon. That does not make us uptight or bad people.

Well it does make you uptight and bad people. Sorry to break it to you, pal.

Why does it make us uptight and bad people, because you say so? There are 2 sex's men & woman accept it and move on. Ladyboy's are just men dressed as woman who are in denial that they are men and no matter what they do they will always be men.

Brigante7.

the problem is that the average Somchai will just change lanes without looking in his mirrors. ride the wrong direction to save fuel. not have working lights at night time.

I dont think I need to say anymore!

Yet it's okay for "average Somchai" to get in his beaten up old truck, with one headlight facing to the moon and the other lined up to blind oncoming drivers, no seatbelts, brakes last serviced when Prem was PM, pile the family onto the back and crab along the expressway with the front pointing 45 degrees to the direction of travel? Get real. How many average Somchai's own big bikes? How many big bikes are there in the country? Do you really think the expressways will become crowded with lane changing idiots riding the wrong way? You'll find the vast majority of big bike riders in Thailand are the safest road users. We have to be, with so many car driving idiots around.

Car driving idiots? So the idiots on bikes (Most of them) who decide that a car travelling at 120kph in lane 3 overtaking a car doing 90kph in lane 2 which in turn is overtaking a car doing 70kph in lane 1 are all holding him up decides to pass between the cars in lane 2 & 3 but the car in lane 3 has passed the car in lane 2, indicates and pulls over to lane 2 and takes the biker out, then what? 99% of bikers are impatient and risk their own lives and other peoples lives with idiotic moves. Bikers expect everybody to move out of their way.

Brigante7.

I'll be doing what I always do, working. My mum knows how much my wife and I love her and so it's just another day.

Brigante7.

You paid extra to jump the que, last time I was there I did the same thing. It beats waiting 2-3hrs just to submit your doc's...

Like TopDogger said you paid extra to jump the queue, where is the rip-off? If you didn't want to jump the queue then you shouldn't have paid extra.

Brigante7.

... but one bike stayed in the outside lane, the same one as me. So I politely followed him until I realized he was just going to stay there, then I flashed him, he did not see so I flashed again and he still did not see so I gave the tiniest beep of the horn so not to startle him but let him know I was there and he looked around but stayed there. Now there was plenty of room for him to move over to the other lane with the other bikes but he did not want to.

Is there a "law" that says someone (for example: YOU) has more rights to a given lane than someone else (for example: a motorcyclist)? If it were simply another car that was going slower than what YOU felt was reasonable, would you have reacted the same way?

To my mom, I drive too fast, ie. 120 kph in the fast lane of the expressway, and I get annoyed when I have to follow someone going slower than that. But do I tail them, flash them, and eventually give them "the tiniest beep of the horn so not to startle them"? Absolutely not! Just because I believe 120 kph is reasonable, I must accept that other people may not think so -- and they certainly have the RIGHT to think that way. They have the RIGHT to go only as fast as they feel is reasonably safe. If they don't feel 120 kph is safe, then they have the right go slower (particularly when the so-called speed limit is 80 kph), and there's NOTHING I can do about it.

He just stayed in the outside lane braking and swerving to annoy me...

That was in retaliation for YOU annoying HIM. In his mind, he was probably thinking that he was doing NOTHING wrong and this impatient, self-centered a**hole was trying to run him off the road.

Of all the situations where "mai bpen rai" is applied, driving is probably the most appropriate one since perceptions vary immensely on what constitutes safe (too slow) vs unsafe (too fast), defensive vs offensive, and courteous vs selfish driving.

I think the law is that you should stay in the left hand lane unless you are overtaking, so if somebody feels that 80KPH is safe for them as opposed to 120KPH for you then they should be in lane 1 and allow people who are more confident to press on, that's why the signs tell you to pull in after overtaking. It's the idiots who insist on sitting in the overtaking lane at 80KPH that cause's frustration which then leads to road rage

Brigante7.

Best of luck and please do stick to your guns and don't take any last minute waffle or excuses from them. You'll be well out of the way anyway if they need to do anything as you'll not be at the business end.

Why would he not be at the business end? The whole point of being there is to witness the birth, no?

Brigante7.

Be careful! If your GF is still legally married to this man AND you have had sex with her, then according to Thai Family law, her husband can claim monetary compensation from you. That is the written law (check with Issan Lawyers who provide a very good English translation), and this law is not just a 'paper' law! (I have read of several cases where the 'BF' has had to pay up in the Thai court for 'screwing' the man's wife).

The fact that she has not lived with him for a period of time may have some bearing on this. But if I were you, I would check this out very carefully. His claim for monetary compensation may well be because he knows Thai family law better than you!!

(I know these facts because I was advised by my lawyer to sue the prat who screwed my 'ex' when she was still my wife. Regretfully, the man was considerably poorer than me - which is saying something! - and not worth the effort...)

Simon

So next time anybody goes with a BG, ask her if she's married and if she says yes then walk away.

Brigante7.

They are funds set up by the condo (contributed by the co-owners) that are to be set aside and used only for major repairs / renovations. There is no minimum amount, but should be sufficient to cover items such as the replacement of lift cables, exterior painting, new transformers etc.

Once used co-owners should top up the fund. They should only be used after approval at an EGM / AGM.

OK, thanks for the info, now I know.

Brigante7.

A dark room with just a hint of a night light outside, a soothing CD of baby songs played at a low level, a comfy chair and hold your child until she sleeps, spend some quality alone time with your daughter and while she is laying in your arms just taks to her, my son loved it when I just sat on a chair and talked to him.

Brigante7.

Nothing to do with victory salute, peace or rabbitt's ears, the wifes cousin does it in photo's so I asked her and it seems it's something to do with kitty, whatever that is?

Brigante7.

I enquired about registering land in my daughters name instead of her mother's but Mum pointed out it was not possible (so I never enquired any more) I would have been upset if it was and she had lied........ as if a Thai would lie hahaha

It is possible but the land is held in trust and can't be sold until the child is 20 years old I think, although if I'm wrong I'm sure I'll be corrected.

Brigante7.

There is no problem with her having whatever name she chooses with regards to owning land.

There ARE problems. Try telling the land office that they are wrong.

Your wife is Thai, how can they stop her buying land?

Brigante7.