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There are at least three common versions of phanaeng. One version includes ground peanuts which make the sauce gritty. Another (perhaps the most common) doesn't have the ground peanuts, but sometimes has peanuts as an ingredient for the curry paste. And then there is the southern Thai version, which is markedly more spicy.

I'm not an expert in this area. I just have a bit of experience from trying to respect local beliefs and traditions and wanting to support the local clergy. I can't give you all the answers you want.

Anyway, trying to do my best, rice grains aren't seen as seeds. Logical? Possibly not. Giving a bag of rice as alms is pretty standard. Plenty of temples have them stacked up at the entrance for you to buy, then give as alms. No issues there as far as I know.

To be honest I really feel sorry for you trying to do what is right but having to deal with some pretty arcane local traditions.

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge you'll probably be OK with medicines, Tiger balm and the like. Monks pretty much get used to sitting in uncomfortable positions, but Tiger Balm is a cure for a whole lots of problems so should be pretty useful.

And even if you don't get it right, the monastic community can still give your offerings to local people. From a Buddhist perspective you'll still earn spiritual merit.

http://www.londonbuddhistvihara.org/qa/qa_practices.htm

May show that your restrictions may be considered a little extreme here.

My comments are based upon my experiences supporting the Sangha here in Thailand. I'm not really sure how relevant the local practices of a community in London are. Of course, if the original poster is asking about a monk in London, then I deeply apologise - I missed that.

I'm not an expert in this area. I just have a bit of experience from trying to respect local beliefs and traditions and wanting to support the local clergy. I can't give you all the answers you want.

Anyway, trying to do my best, rice grains aren't seen as seeds. Logical? Possibly not. Giving a bag of rice as alms is pretty standard. Plenty of temples have them stacked up at the entrance for you to buy, then give as alms. No issues there as far as I know.

To be honest I really feel sorry for you trying to do what is right but having to deal with some pretty arcane local traditions.

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge you'll probably be OK with medicines, Tiger balm and the like. Monks pretty much get used to sitting in uncomfortable positions, but Tiger Balm is a cure for a whole lots of problems so should be pretty useful.

And even if you don't get it right, the monastic community can still give your offerings to local people. From a Buddhist perspective you'll still earn spiritual merit.

Monks are supposed to be role models for the community. The community supports them by bringing them food, and in return expects individuals who are beyond reproach.

The restrictions upon seeded fruit are twofold. One is that the monks would need to pick the seeds out of their teeth (not polite). Two is that if the seeds could grow, then the monk would be taking away life.

As for "pleasure of tasting", monks are working to be beyond earthly pleasures; they are working towards complete "non attachment" - a state where they are impervious to the desires of this world.

Oh, and Buddhism has no "god". The Buddha, when asked if there were a god said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "it doesn't matter - you will never know whether there's a god or not - just live a good life".

The logic here is alien to people brought up in an atavistic western society, but it does have its own internal logic.

And let me repeat: clear fruit juice, toiletries. That's what will really be appreciated. Possibly along with a few paracetamol.

Forgot to add shall include the dark chocolate and some gouda cheese.....although he is american....might get cheddar slices, individually wrapped.

Both chocolate (which must be non-dairy) and cheese are considered medicines. You should check. I believe they are only allowed when the monk is weak or debilitated. They can, however, be taken after noon (as can clear fruit juice).

To be honest, though I understand you are trying to be kind, I think you're completely barking up the wrong trees. The monk has chosen to live a life of abstinence. He doesn't seek the pleasures of food, however good. Many monks will take what is given to them in their alms bowl and stir it up into a slop specifically because they don't want to take pleasure from it. And how would you feel if that's what happened to the expensive food you are planning to offer?

And are you aware that monks are not allowed to keep food overnight? Anything that isn't consumed by midday has to be given away to local poor people or otherwise disposed of. (An exception is made for things such as juice in cartons, dried rice - but for nothing resembling fresh food.) Food and drink are also shared communally. Do you think temple boys will appreciate chocolate and cheese?

Far better (in my opinion) to stick to simple things like fruit juice and toiletries. These will genuinely be appreciated.

One monk I know (and yes, it's against the rules to ask for anything specific) asked me to bring him a KFC meal.

Go for the fruit juice - the small cartons in six or eight packs. You're unlikely to go wrong. And if you do get it wrong, then the temple will donate the unsuitable ones to needy local people.

(What I didn't mention to avoid complicating the situation is that there are some fruit juices which are only suitable before midday, but others are suitable for any time of day.)

Whatever you give will be appreciated.

Just to add, the juice should be clear (not contain any pulp) and for some communities in Thailand it must not come from a large fruit such as pineapple, watermelon or coconut.

Fruit...good idea, not juice as he is apparently on a health kick.

Books good also, but how do I know what he already has and read, presume he has read a lot of whats about.

Fruit is generally not a good idea for a couple of reasons: (1) it doesn't keep very well, and (2) there are complex rules about which fruit a monk may eat. One of which is that all fruit and vegetables containing fertile seeds are forbidden, so no apples, oranges, melons, &c.. The juices, however are acceptable.

GPRS/EDGE via a mobile 'phone. Unlimited packages are around 800 Baht/month.

Performance will be reduced for a day or two, but there's nothing to stop you exercising immediately after, apart from the risk of bleeding where they stuck the needle in. (The American Red Cross advises waiting 5 hours because of this risk, but they're being over cautious.)

Many of the protesters are office workers who join the protests after work each day for a few hours.

I once asked a monk what to bring. He replied "not candles" since they have more of them than they know what to do with. Bring small cartons of fruit juice. Many monks' diets are poor and deficient in vitamin C. Make a donation for electricity and/or water. Most people donate money for charitable work, rather than for the necessities of life.

Every supermarket in Thailand stocks locally made versions of Worcestershire sauce (known here as sɔ́ɔt prîaw), but I don't think I've ever read a Thai recipe that calls for it. Can anyone enlighten me as to what it's used for? Thanks.

A stone cold plate in Thailand? I know its been colder than normal lately but cmon on!

My worst experience of this was at a Chinese restaurant in an upmarket shopping mall in Bangkok. The restaurant's specialty was Peking duck. The air conditioning was fierce, the plates stone cold, and the pancakes ruined in seconds. It really spoilt the meal.

"Touch the Dragon" is an excellent read.

I'd also add "Phra Farang" by Peter Pannapadipo. The story of a Westerner's life as a monk in Thailand.

A classic, which every Thai person reads in school, is Our Wars With the Burmese by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab. It was formative in the creation of the Thai national identity such as it is. It gives an insight into "Thainess". Unfortunately, it's not the easiest of reads. Published by White Lotus Press.

And if history is your thing, Van Vliet's Siam is fascinating.

All of these (except possibly Touch the Dragon) should be readily available in Asia Books or Kinokuniya.

I had a German friend do this - he had spent years in the industry in Germany and he gave up trying to import and sell German Wine. Ended up importing wine from Libya for a fraction of the amount he was paying per bottle from Germany for a while and even then he said that was too difficult dealing with the Thai authorities and went to exporting Thai electronic stuff as he got assistance from the government rather than be handicapped by them.

Importing wine from Libya, a muslim country with an alcohol ban? That's a clever trick.

In the 23 years I've been here I've yet to see a bottle of Libyan wine.

It all depends upon your timescale. Back in the 1950s north African countries were major producers of wine. A lot of wine that notionally came from France was actually shipped across from north Africa in tankers and then labelled as "Bordeaux", "Beaujolais" or whatever. I seem to recall that "Algerian Vine" was a popular expression in the 1960s. There was also some scandal at the time which I half recall involving wine from north Africa made using banana skins entering the flow of French wine.

Wine production in that part of the world certainly dates back to the Roman era. It's only more recent Moslem fanaticism that has cut its production. (That and the atrocious quality.)

except for the last "QE years" and the crisis years 1998 and 2008 i never experienced a single year in which paid interest and capital appreciation was below 20%, in good years such as 1999-2002, 2003-2005 total yield was always >30% and in "one in a lifetime" year like 2009 it was not a problem to double, triple or quadruple invested capital.

You have either been exceptionally skilled or exceptionally lucky. I just wonder why the professional fund managers can't produce anything like the returns you've been getting? Looking at a handful of Morningstar 5* rated fund managers in the Global High Yield sector, they've managed the following annual returns (all in USD):

T. Rowe Price Global High Yield Bond Fund Z Acc -3.50 2.76 7.46 29.86 18.80 4.90 10.47 6.84

Goldman Sachs SICAV - Goldman Sachs Global High Yield Portfolio IO Cap -3.59 41.57 18.51 4.11 10.92 6.9

Aviva Investors Global High Yield Bond I USD Acc 34.32 18.91 6.59 10.50 4.51

Robeco Capital Growth Funds - Robeco High Yield Bonds IH USD 17.97 3.43 12.70 5.93

Occasional years of high returns, but plenty of years with poor ones - and these fund managers are supposedly the best of the best.

The T. Rowe Price fund (the only one with a 10 year record) has given an annualised return over 10 years of 9.52%.

Sorry, I just can't see the attraction.

Out of curiosity I reran my calculations assuming that one took out 4% of the fund's value at the end of each year to see what would happen (4% being a value that's commonly accepted as meaning that the money is unlikely to run out during one's lifetime). After 36 years you'd have:

S&P 500: $12,049.24
3-month Treasury bills: $1,288.39
10-year Treasury bonds: $3,287.18

With annual incomes of $481.97, $51.54 and $131.49 respectively.

Gold, bonds and cash are simply a drag on performance. You'll almost certainly not even be beating inflation with cash.

i [not so] humbly beg to disagree in 36 years of investing i only held bonds, never touched any equities and retired quite well-off 24 years ago. i also claim that a healthy pile of cash came always in handy in times of the multiple crises i have experienced.

For someone extremely risk-averse a bond-only portfolio might be an appropriate solution. It's probably somewhat better than simply putting the money under the mattress. However, the long term returns from equities are vastly superior.

Consider $1,000 invested 36 years ago (since 1978). It could have grown as follows (all income reinvested):

S&P 500: $50,288.26

3-month Treasury bills: $5,377.17

10-year Treasury bonds: $13,719.27

(Treasury data from the Federal Reserve database in St. Louis (FRED).)

Yes, you can get higher returns from lower quality bonds, but then you take on equity-like risk.

I guess one's primary goal should be to have enough money throughout one's life to support one's desired lifestyle. However, I suspect most of us think having a bit more money would be nice.

Feedback and comments are welcome.

Just a couple of additional comments:

1. As far as I know the Guggenheim ASEAN ETF hasn't been launched yet. No information about which index it will track or what the fees will be. I suspect it will also struggle to raise sufficient capital to survive. The similar Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF only has a market cap of $30 million.

2. Guggenheim Spin-off seems strangely out of place. I personally don't get the logic of investing in spun off companies six months or more after they have been spun off from a parent. The efficient market hypothesis would suggest there's no special case for holding them. What's the thinking there?

Feedback and comments are welcome.

Just a few observations:

1. Why is the property investment there? If it's supposed to be for diversification, it's not a good diversifier because both the ETFs invest in shares and so are highly correlated to the broader market. Physical property is a much better diversifier.

2. You don't give percentages for each investment, but you do seem to be particularly interested in China. Personally I think the market is heavily overbought and don't invest in it. Too many investors chasing too few good companies.

3. I would definitely not invest in China through an ETF - there are so many outright bad companies (particularly banks) that are best avoided. Here I would definitely go for active management. The same pretty much goes for emerging markets.

4. I presume that the Middle East ETF is for exposure to frontier markets. A couple of countries there are about to be moved from "frontier" to "emerging" status. This is going to lead to forced buying of those countries' stocks, for example by emerging markets ETFs. This in turn will lead to the shares being overvalued. This is an area best accessed through an active manager who has the flexibility not to be forced to buy/sell when such changes are made. And if the aim is for frontier markets exposure, there are products out there that provide a broader exposure including frontier Africa and eastern Europe.

That is very interesting what you mentioned about the managers "soft closing" the funds. If you have shares of a particular fund, how do you even go about finding out if they soft closed? Forgive all the newbie question, thanks for your patience.

With a soft closed fund it is still technically possible to buy it, but it's difficult or financially unattractive. The fund manager may (a) impose a very high initial charge, ( stop giving any discounts on management charges, © impose a very high minimum investment. The fund will also often be removed from "best funds" lists provided by brokers - usually at the request of the fund manager itself. So, to see if a fund's sloft closed, the easiest thing to do is to check the fund's information sheet to see under what terms it can be purchased. The financial press will also report when a popular fund is soft closed.

I take a trip to my Chinese / Thai doctor once a year and have the full works cost 300 baht I hope it continues for many more years to come my next visit is next month but as I feel no different from last year I hope his message will be the same " See you again next year " '!!!!!!!!!

There's no way you could have "the full works" for just 300 Baht. Even the reagents required for the most basic of blood tests cost more than that. Is the a zero or two missing from that figure.