ignoramus

Wouldn't taste quite as intelligent though would it? Rhetorically speaking i.e.

I'd have thought that it's unnecessary to indicate that the face above T-shirt is a farang face - considering that farang's are seen, I am given to understand, as walking ATM's anyway. Unless of course one wishes to have a laugh at the expense of local opportunists. Mind you, the irony would be water off a duck's back.

katoeys are lady-boys, yes? Or am I wayyyyy off?

apetley,

Yes, nice. It relaxes the eyes don't it. They have no idea how much this pleases us.

yaiyenyen, wonderful stuff. You are truly envied.

My, things are looking up for the 'average' Thai. In the early '90's it was 115 per day. They must be living high on the hog, unless costs have risen correspondingly....

I'd imagine, very possibly erroneously, that rice costs much the same.

SARS. I mentioned this to my then doctor, who was unaware of it. It subsequently sunk below the waves.

H5N1. When reports about its re-emergence appear, I start to think a little like a 'sleeping' lion, with one eye half open, half the time. Unworried but watchful.

The Spanish flu was a doozy, the worst thing the world suffered at the time.

With the international travel of today, a similar epidemic/pandemic would knock the Spanish F into a cocked hat, deaths-wise. Face-mask manufacturer shares would skyrocket.

Politicians take only their own well-being seriously, mostly (by definition). In those countries where H5N1 appears it's to be hoped that the scientists knock really hard on the politicians' doors, if or when the time comes.

Meanwhile, I like crispy skin chicken (but then I'm in Australia).

Ambien ???

Huh???

Think................Heath Ledger..................yes?????

Yeah baby....

Don't they read Med journals in LOS?? Or watch television??

I suspect bubbaba is correct rimbung, but if you are serious...if the whinging you speak of 'winds' you up, then you are whinging. (If so, I can't begin to imagine why).

Many people, regardless of age, who consider themselves settled in a place, tend to take their good circumstances for granted, and project trivial annoyances outwards. Some are occasional whingers, like most of us, some chronic. I 'hear' the 'occasionals', out of kindness, but usually end up avoiding the 'chronics', for personal mental health reasons. I like a whinge occasionally, but just to see a sympathetic response, not for remedial reasons - I prefer my inner resources mostly.

Reading this thread has been like watching an oscilloscope, so much so that I can't take it too seriously. Some of the responses have been brilliant.

Oh gosh, I'm boring myself. I'll get out of your way. Good heavens it's 2.10am!

Hi, you've just posted and I'm here, so thought I'd mouth off, being in the mood.

He sounds a little bitter, or at least unhappy. Is he stuck here I wonder.

Either way I reckon he has disconnected from you, and perhaps from the person he once was. I can see why you are shocked.

As a matter of interest, backpackers here in Australia spend far more per head than any other tourists.

Cheers, and good luck with your learning experience...

Night testing of BP, Salt, and dark chocolate, etcetera (quoted studies).

Australian site; abc.net.au. Look for the word health, then go to Health Minutes.

I have no opinion about too much salt, but if you are worried about having too much then extra potassium apparently is the go....as I am lead to understand (let this constitute a disclaimer, dear reader).

[On a slightly mischievous note, I am dead curious about how one manages to be overweight in Thailand. I do not expect to be enlightened).

[Oh, and in the name of information dissemination...and free speech...thincs.org may or may not be of interest to s/he who is overly worried about his/her cholesterol level].

(I had/have high BP).

Most entertaining thread.

Am fascinated by the exceptional naivety of some of the posts.

I agree with you UG...you've obviously been around the block.

For those folks who think in terms of black and white - sorry, in real life this hardly ever covers the situation. Tricky ain't it...life, that is. Think....shades of greyyyyyyyyyy.

There are so-called 'bad' people who have a soft streak somewhere inside themselves, and vikkyversa.

In spades.

Am amused by those who think that the thief couldn't possibly be the one who mailed the items. Crap is the appropriate word, sorry to say. You know not whereof you 'speak'. Mere conjecture, pop psychologists. (You are young...yes?)

People have needs. Cash - appearing sometimes out of nowhere - seems to suffice quite nicely to meet such needs. By kindly providing said cash at the most opportune of times, the 'loser' is seen as either a fool or as someone who doesn't value said cash quite as highly as the 'gainer'.

Poor - or relatively poor - people see a cash 'opportunity' as a deus ex machina, so to speak.

You know what I mean, yeah...?

Their instinct is not to scurry around in a mock panic crying 'I've found something valuable'....is it yours...or yours perhaps....I'm here to help...I want no gratitude, not even a thank you....I'm just trying to emulate Jesus Christ.....you, fool that you are, deserve my sympathy, my extraordinarily generous kindness...I'm alert enough to have spotted the loot, and you are stupid enough to have carelessly discarded it, but hey...you are a much better person than am I....you deserve a break.....I diligently guard everything I own -- as I am poor -- ("thinks" ---- but you don't....why is that??? Have you had an easy life?) I haven't. That's where we differ.

If you get your passport and papers back, you are doing alright ain't ya???!!! Me, I can buy my kids some chocolate. Yippee. Life's good for a short while.

But only for a short while. Where are you flying off to tomorrow....Tahiti??....Hawai??

(For those jerks who foam at the mouth at a chance to read between the lines...sorry...wrong, and not for the first time, one suspects.)

(Oh, as an addendum, I dropped 4 $5 notes on the street the other day. It was a windy day. A chap 'helped' me pick them up. I'm happily certain that he picked up 2. He gave me one. Did I go all girly and have a go at him? Nah. I figured he figured he needed - or deserved - a 5 more than I did. ya win some, ya lose some, right. Yeah, reckon). (For the intransigent dumpkoffs: - I was much bigger than was he).

It's now 2.30am here in Sydney on Thu. I may get tired of this before long, in which case I'll try to add what I can at a later time.

I worked for what's now called Centrelink from '81 to 9/97. Before 9/97 it was called the Dept of Social Security, and before that......

Firstly, if phoning them always get a 'receipt' number...the name is not so important.

+ note the date. Telephone calls are made to so-called Call Centres these days, not to individual regional offices, as before (where one could actually ask for and speak a second time to the same person as before, person who would quite likely remember you - always a pleasant experience).

Age Pension: a male is - in law, repeat in law - 'eligible' for the AP from day one of 65th birthday, and the signed paper 'claim' for this may be 'lodged' (submitted) prior to this day - days or weeks before, when is irrelevant.

A paper 'claim' (for any benefit/pension) cannot be refused, under any circumstances (it resides in a cardboard file until the cows come home). (For women the qualifying age is currently 63 + 1/2).

A person 'qualifies' for AP if and 'when' certain criteria are met - mainly income, assets, residency. The words 'eligible' and 'qualify' are sancrosact within C.......k.

Assets and income: the computer does the 2 calculations (tests), and C...k pays whichever is the lower figure produced. You live in a cave but own 2 mill bucks worth of paintings (assets test hits you) or you run a brothel, earn a mill a month but own nothing (income hits you). The computer understands. It'll pay $212pf as per the A test, but $212.50 as per the I test....you get paid under the A test - this is what your first letter will tell you. Dead simple - the 'puter is 100% impartial. Subsequent letters will ask you to report upon any 'changed circumstances'.

All assets, all income, is relevant.

Residency: you lived most of your life in Botswana but only 5 years in Oz - you are joking mate, go away (mind you, you can complain - often successfully - about impolite responses, even though you are basically an opportunistic fraud - we are very PC here).

All repeat all knockbacks can be 'appealed', meaning certain experts take you even more seriously than you take yourself!

People float here on leaky boats just for the welfare system. It's a wondrous thing.

Now it's 3.15am. G'night.

I don't recall seeing the phrase 'blood on the dancefloor' anywhere in the OP. Was the title changed?

May I assume that I may call a poster a 'goon' and an 'idiot' with impunity or without censure?

briggsy, I like your comment perspicacious comment. It would appear that you have a handle on the LOS.

Didn't read everything here, sorry. Haven't really got the time, and there is lots of repetition; worthy contributions though they are.

I like george's contributions, all made without comment (those I've seen anyway). Says something methinks. Like brewsta's cynical "sun rises......tragedy occurs (or similar)......sun sets, in LOS". Someone said the 'safety chip is missing'' - an accurate 21st century comment I'd guess.

Crap like this occurs the world over of course (even in Oz, much to my chagrin and shame).

H.L.Mencken apparently thought that most people are idiots. I, being a person with an inflated opinion of himself, tend to agree. He also said "All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it". Unlike HLM I admit it.

I like the Thais; I liked, and was smitten by, their incessant smiling, in the early '90's. I retuned to Oz after the first trip in a euphoric state, convinced that I had found a paradise. I liked and still like the 'positive' outlook of the Thais.

George's photograph of the slide shocked me. Its flimsiness was pretty darn obvious, to my eyes.

We here in Oz also do some pretty stupid stuff; our 'laidback' attitude is not totally dissimilar to that of the Thais. It's more of a 'couldn't care less' attitude here really.

My feeling is that a vey small percentage of people - anywhere - keep things rolling smoothly, safely. These people save us from the chaos and lawlessness of a Mexico and of certain latin american and african countries. If you are unaware of these instances then you don't follow the news (though you are doubtless charming company, and kind to small animals and your mother. For this we are grateful).

These few people, let's say 5%, are mostly unsung but highly accountable, but mainly to their own consciences. They have no respect for lawmakers but great respect for the need for laws. They are the unofficial guardians, the true leaders. Such people often get written up in the papers here, and have books wriiten about them. As in other western countries. Not too sure about the LOS.

Occasionally some get medals from our government. I doubt that Thailand has such medals, even recognises or understands the concept. I'm only guessing though...perhaps they recognise heroism, and have a list of heros. Don't know. Anyway. if the figure is 5% here in Oz I imagine it's perhaps 2% in Thailand, or maybe 1%.

Money and power is revered in Thailand, it would seem, to a slightly greater degree than it is elsewhere.

Well, ere in Oz anyway.

The Thai 'wai with the smile' from the rich is somehow taken at face value it seems. In western countries the rich and powerful don't smile too much, and never wai. They know they are disliked and certainly not trusted. And the people try to avoid them, for safety's sake.

The people usually don't trust the powerful. They check the brakes, kick the tyres, feel the texture before 'buying'. The Thais do not it seems, which is why they are so charming, so endearing.

Not too sure if I've made a point. Doubt it. Just like raving, really.

I'm just bemused that people expect a better attitude from the moneyed and powerful. They aren't superior beings. They just like a buck a h_ll of a lot more than you and me.

A, toptuan's advice is spot on.

2 years is too long (she must have been something).

I too tend to re-live stuff, but then again am blessed with very selective memory - yours sounds really vivid.

I get perspective by focusing on the sad and tragic experiences of others (on tv, radio etc), long enough to ground myself anyway - i try not to overdo it.

There's lotsa tragic stories around and about.........listen to toptuan.

Great question nidge, and one I would never have thought to pose, in spite of being superior in oh so many ways.

stalin - sorry Bendix - only banter? I learn heaps, which always surprises me. I thought I knew it.....oh never mind. By the way, did you know that Stalin's doctor waited for 13 hours after S's stroke before alerting the appropriate people. S was obviously a much revered 'man'. (Yes yes I know about the irony).

Dupont, am in fierce agreement with your PC jibe, and the later comment re 'credulity' ... and being 'funny'.

I am personally unmoved by the imperative to do so, but I understand that the likes of you and I need to learn from those 'who know'. They do in actual fact 'know', you know. I'm still trying to figure out why I don't want to know what they know. A blind spot methinks.

Meanwhile, I'm up for a laugh, meself.

Thanks golfja, very public-spirited post.

Your English is a million times better than my Thai.

Doubtless this'll be moved soon, but while no one's looking: was in Fiji many years ago, and the people were super nice. One drink waiter even refused a tip. Peace-keeping, or whatever they call what they do, is a verrry big earner for (native) defence personnel. It may even be their biggest earner. (Point being that an airfare would present no prob).

The Japanese people, many of whom kindly grace our Aussie shores as tourists, are not taught evvverything about their history, bless'em. (Many of the girls we see here are pure delights. I wouldn't ever have the heart to wise'em up about stuff - assuming we could communicate...).

I'm with toptuan, this is about the most bizarre, but fascinating, subject I think I've read on TV.

I've been 'fortunate' enough to have had 2 friends who told me about late circumcisions. One, who was 28 at the time, didn't elaborate thank heavens. The second, who was in his 20's, was recommended by a S American lady of the evening to do it. he went to sea at 14, and was the only Dutch guy that ever existed (I imagine) who didn't have a clue that smegma wasn't cool (I think smegma is the correct word). He was lucky it didn't drop off. The Dutch would have to be the cleanest people on earth.

TV taught me a new word -- phimosis. Sounds ghastly.

Thai guys 'comparing notes' and 'flowers' is quaint and vaguely weird. I guess it's nice that they aren't inhibited, unlike Aussies.

As someone else said, no one goes 'there' under any circumstances (unless it's to save it).

Uninformative post -- sorry -- just couldn't resist.

I always lose my train of thought when interrupted, oh heavens I forgot what i was going to write just now. Seriously, I did. Couldn't have been too important I suppose.

are You guys are a bunch of drunken bums, with diseased taste buds.

Did I miss mention of Promite? The iron-stomached Brits eat that apparently, though why I can't imagine...

Marmite is just a runner-up to Vegemite, people. Please get a grip. Next thing I know, and someone will have the nerve to state that something actually exists that tastes better than Vege and butter (cold) on (1) Ryvita, or (2) slightly burnt toast (or slightly browned bread for the girlies). Mind you, P.Butter is damm close.

Mr S - Vege + peanut butter eh? You are imaginative. I never thought of that - first thing tomorrow!

Video on nasal lavage / neti potting....

Have only had sufficient patience to skim thru' posts - lotsa good stuff tho' (I don't have the prob).

I get newsletters from npr. org (National Public Radio, from the US). Their latest refers to the above.

They quote both N.L. and N-P, with a pic of the N-Pot.

If you look up nasal lavage on Google, there's a ton of stuff, but the first entry is for the Mayo Clinic. They mention a video, which may (or may not) be of use.

A 'wrong'un' is a beautiful euphemism. Am not asking, but would like to know if his better half is a local. If she is, then my education is sorely lacking - I thought the locals were, generally speaking, fairly if not universally conformist. (And he spent 'the night' obliging...the guy's a real brick!)