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I got on the list at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital, not worrying about the free government list.  Was at the hospital today and asked a nurse if she had heard when we might be getting the vaccine. She said, maybe 6 months. Did she know which vaccine we would be getting? No idea. So, I remain hunkered-down, mask-wearing, hand-washing, and hoping.

OP: Let me get this straight, you live here, have a daughter here, but don't know enough Thai to clear up a price discrepancy?

No, that's not straight.

You either didn't read the OP or are too stupid to understand it.

Happy Grumpy, Calling someone stupid because they didn't understand your post is questionable. Could it possibly be that the writer has inadequately expressed himself. I didn't call YOU names.

But I digress; where did I go wrong? You don't live here? You don't have a daughter here? You do speak fluent Thai?

I was hoping to give you advice (learning the language) so that you aren't always defensive when young salesgirls giggle. I myself love it when young girls giggle. But then I know what they are giggling about. And if there is no price tag on an item I know enough to ask the price (learned in about the second week of Thai class).

Good luck in the future and I do hope that your life sees you laughed at and sneered at less.

I don't know if May/December relationships work out or not. But the people who have said that they have seen "100s" of these work out fine might be exaggerating a bit. Really, hundreds?

I do know that when I hear the younger one speaking (Thai) about the older one it is quite often not pretty and frequently lacking in respect. I speak Thai well and know this.

But If they both get what they want out of the relationship that is good. He might need companionship, someone to care for him as he ages, an occasional boink or two, and she might be fine with the raised standard of living he provides and may not care about being boinked by wrinkles instead of a hard body. Nothing wrong with that as long as each knows what to expect. Without that understanding you get what happened in Texas.

BTW, I am 68 and have nothing at all in common with a woman in her early 30s. My children are older than that and I wouldn't want to spend 24 hours a day with them. What do they talk about? From what I have seen both parties' language abilities are usually limited so maybe that doesn't enter the equation. But with a woman I enjoy talking about books, movies, music, nature, travel. The occasional boink is fine but I am 68 and been there and done that many many times so not a big priority. So I am attracted to women in their 50s much more than those in their 30s.

My best to all May/December relationships. May you all get what you need.

The person who did the English translation of this article is doing a disservice to the readers. The case was turned away because it was "incomplete". The Thai word for "complete" can also be translated as "perfect". In this case the word should be translated as the case is now "complete". Doesn't that sound much more logical?

As the majority who post here, I am not familiar with how the Thai judicial system works. But I do know that in the U.S. there is something called a Grand Jury. There, the prosecutors can call witnesses to determine whether a case should be brought to trial. They cannot be cross examined by the defense. If it is determined that there is enough evidence then the accused will stand trial. In the U.S. the Grand Jury testimony is secret.

It is my guess that that is what is meant that the three witnesses will testify. It is not a trial testimony. I looked for a link to the Thai news story where this was translated from but there was none. So many of the misconceptions about this case have come from poor translations from the Thai. I have a feeling this is just another one of those.

Let me give one example of a mistranslation. A police spokesman is quoted as saying the it was a "perfect investigation". I am assuming that this is a translation of the Thai word "somboon". One of the definitions of "somboon" is "perfect". Like I hit a perfect golf shot. But the more useful definition in this context is "complete" or "thorough". So If the police spokesman was quoted as saying the investigation was "thorough" would there be the same kind of outcry?

เบาๆ bao-​bao - softly

ค่อยๆ kôi-​kôi - gently

There is a slight difference in meaning but they can often be used interchangeably. เบาๆ bao-​bao is often used with "Please turn down the music." or "Quiet please."

My first reaction to the question was นวดค่อยๆ nûat kôi-​kôi - massage gently.

Try heliconia (do a Google look up of "heliconia" and click on "images"). In Thailand they are called "don bird" or the "bird plant" because of their beautiful flowers (It is also called the "false bird of paradise"). They grow fast and thick, need almost no care except for some watering, and will completely block out your neighbor's yard in just a few months. There are many varieties but you should chose the big leaved, tall ones. Most plant nurseries will carry them.

ThaiVisa is infamous for its complainers. But this one takes the cake. Then he complains about the cost of taking his blood pressure (which is free). What an uneventful life this person must have.

In the ThaiVisa news Editor that you email to me, the headline reads "Chance of floods in Bangkok as bad as in 2011: Water expert"

The article is titled "Water expert: Slim chance of floods as bad as in 2011"

Now the Nation is not a very good nor accurate newspaper, and the people at ThaiVisa are not really known for the open mindedness but I am wondering which of these I should believe. The best answer is that neither should be believed.

What an absolutely terribly written "news" article. Starting with the picture and including rumor and innuendo this is completely biased and one-sided reporting. And the anti-Taksin crowd here is just eating it up. As to the picture of the First Family in uniform, those are civil service uniforms, not military. Ignorance seems to scream from the pages of ThaiVisa. And to criticize the Prime Minister because of what she wears, yes that's really clever.

" mAAAm Gap-Dto" sounds like an enlarged spleen. Could be connected to the infection.

The voice in the dictionary is that of Ajarn Benjarwan Becker, the author of the dictionary and of Thai for Beginners and many other works (paiboonpublishing,com). She made one recording for every dictionary entry.

Lots of Fuchias on top of Doi Intanon, some rhododendrons too.

What a badly written piece. The analogies are sophomoric and the opinions are one sided. Who at TV chose to post this infantile analysis of a very grave situation?

In a tragic story of construction workers dying many of the "I hate living in Thailand" have come out strong. I feel sorry for these people who would probably be happier living somewhere else. Here are some of the comments as to why this accident happened - while the unfortunate victims are still warm:

Poor construction methods did it

Palms to be greased

Red Shirts did it

Half arsed attitude did it

Someone took out random bolts

Laotians, Nigerians and Thais have no brains

The government did it

You are a sorry bunch. And BTW, accidents like this have probably happened even in the great countries that you come from.

This is also known as a Laotian Wold Snake. Quite harmless.

เถิบไปน่อย can be the Thai equivalent of the English "scooch over at bit".

In Chiang Mai, on TOT, torrents not working.

Yea, but a comp designed for the "mentally challenged" is far more expensive

You would take this opportunity to call Thai people stupid. Don't you have anything better to do than act superior to the people of Thailand, or do you just have a well-deserved inferiority complex?

BTW, for those who criticize the cost of this system. It is not like buying a laptop. This is a system. There is probably a battery of PCs plus a large server, plus rather expensive database software, plus the cost of gathering the international criminal data, plus the cost of training the users. I think what they are paying is rather inexpensive. I've spent more than that in a week on a database system at a large corporation.

My favorite TV show from the US, even though it is a fake news program, streams all their programs - thedailyshow.com. You can also watch the Colbert Report from their site. For some reason they are not blocked here.

I wonder why you won't watch torrents. I can watch all the TV shows that I like from them. I just downloaded Seasons 1 and 2 of 30 Rock, which I had never seen before. It and Tina Fey are a hoot. Waiting for the next episode of True Blood.

However to understand spoken thai, other than the most basic 'frozen phrases', I think a good grasp of thai pronunciation/toning is most definitely at the top of the frickin' list . True, when reading, a lot of the words can be gleaned via context; but can you differentiate the thai words for; white, rice, knee, enter, news or he/she, or the words; tiger, shirt, or mat just by hearing them as stand alones? (Granted the previous words are some simple examples )

I'm pretty sure if I order 'cow su-ay' somewhere that serves food, they will know which type of 'cow' I want without any tonal clues

I'm also pretty sure if I'm wiping my shoe on some grass and say 'khee maa' nobody is going to thing I am riding a horse.

or even mix'n'match your examples 'ow su-am su-ar see-cow', I'm hardly likely to be wanting to wear a rice tiger.

Do Thais talk about colours without using 'see'? I've never noticed that.

But to be fair, in a noodle shop I tried to order 'gu-ay tee-ow gai naam sai' and they didn'y understand because I had the rythm wrong ......

Although in a noodle shop I don't understand how they could possibly be so stupid as to not understand I wanted noodles ........ so I memorised the entire phrase for future use.

'Naam dtaan' is another word nobody seems to recognise no matter how I try, so I just write it on a piece of paper.

Dear Sarasbloke,

I'm sorry but it is not the noodle shop owner that is "stupid". If you can't get the people to understand your pronunciation of "naam dtaan" then your Thai must surely be terrible and you must think a lot of yourself to give anyone advice on speaking Thai. If you speak without tones only your paramours and those wanting your money very badly will make the effort to decipher your attempts at spoken Thai. Sarasbloke's advice is pure rubbish.

For a super clear description of Buddhist believes written by a Thai try the late Reverend Buddadhassa's (pronounced Poo-ta-taat, Servant of the Buddha) Handbook for Mankind. Written for the layman, and clear as a bell.

I feel so sorry for Tejas. Being here for 3 decades and he is thought of as only a "walking ATM machine". Seems like a waste that he couldn't find a place that liked him a little better.