CuriousGeorge77

"Men are gold, women are silence, silence is gold, men are women and women are men"

"I am the walrus"

... on the topic, I think there is a total double standard, and I think there is a ton of racism out there as well. Men and women are far more similar than different. The whole myth about men 'spreading their seed' and women 'raising the kids' is mostly BS. Men want to spread their seed, yes, but only to women who will make good kids. Women also want good men to spread their seed, as weell as pair-bond with the type who will take care of her kids, no matter whose they really are. There are many types of strategies, employed by both men and women, and being purely monogamous is just not typical, for either one. (for example, if you go to a nightclub the women with the most skin showing will be the most fertile, AND those with husbands who are not there. go figure that one out.

This is not to say I advocate not being monogamous - I most certainly don't! I think its a fools errand, but thats just me. I don't hold others to my decisions and opinions.

Get a grip on reality mate. It's pure and simple harrassment in the hopes of earning extra cash. Nothing to do with overstayers. Thonglor area is one of the most expensive / desired places to live and hang out in Bangkok - frequented by professionals with Work Permits.

The kind of people getting stopped don't fit the low life / criminal / thief profile that fit under the umbrella of your generalisation.

Cross over to Nana district and see the difference in Crime Prevention as you imply.

I'm wondering how look the people "harassed" by the police. Again, based on my experience, usually people living in the most expensive/desired places have zero tolerance for young (and older) punks and police are under strict instruction to keep them away. Again, nothing specific to Thailand.

well, I am 42, short hair, no facial hair, dress professional / very smart casual, have a wedding band, no tattoos and so...perhaps that's it. I should dirty myself up a bit...to look like i have no money. Thanks Pierrot!

When I got stopped I was on my way to a fancy shindig, so I had on slacks and a button down shirt and nice shoes, close cropped hair, etc. Maybe they are targeting corporate criminals?

walked outside of my apartment building at around 6:00pm, bad luck as the standard 2 cops on a motorbike were driving by, and must have realized that the street was dark and quiet with nobody around. i gave them my Thai drivers license which they passed back and forth for thirty seconds and then they physically frisked my pockets and then quickly moved onto demanding my passport which i did not have on me. not sure where it was headed from there, probably a "fine" but a friend intervened much to their dismay and they left shortly after. of course the scary thing is what if they just decided to claim i had drugs on me? pretty depressing to just be standing somewhere and have a cop come and stick his hands in your pockets but i guess that is just the price of living in the land of smiles.

you are either making this up or you deserved it. so... pics or it didn't happen.

I got stopped on Ekkemai a couple of years ago, and I happened to have a hi hat clutch in my pocket - used for holding up cymbals. Anyway, the officer tookl it out of my pocked, took out the wingnut and sniffed it. I let out a BIG, involuntary laugh, followed by my very best "Khao thot na khraaphooom" and a big wave of laughter from the onlookers. I thought I was done for but they just waved me on....

Looks just like this:

If I didn't know what it was, I might have thought the same thing...

certainly possible and quite common. children are often treated as bargaining tools and used for extortion by thai women against their farang husbands and are also often sent to live with their grand parents. your wife's attributes would suggest that hopefully she is different.

Rubbish, it is not quite common for Thai ladies to do this. What on earth made you think that?

It certainly isn't rubbish & off the top of my head & including myself, i can think of at least 6 cases of this happening & that's without even really thinking a great deal..

Its not rubbish for any split anywhere in the world. They have laws in the US because its common enough here. My friend would never take his son to Japan for the same reason - in Japan the laws are hugely slanted to the women and men basically have no chance to get custody.

Nothing against Thailand in particular - just human nature.

I lived an LoS for 3 years, met my ex-wife there, and our son was born in Koh Samui. He has 2 passports.

She is going to Thailand to visit her sister, who just had a baby. Her sister is going to France soon.

I do not think she'll bail - she is doing fine at the university, already has a new boyfriend here. She certainly won't extort him. I don't have the money she wants anyway - I'm a student now, too.

She's just working as a waitress @ a Thai restaurant right now, but she knows that if she gets a degree from a US university she'd be able to go back to Thailand and get quite a good job - especially if she gets a good business degree, which she is planning.

I had one PM that said that the PIs do a good job finding people. anyone else with experience there?

long story short:

Our son is 4 years old. His mom is heading to Thailand next week for a month long vacation with our son and my mom. His mom is Thai, from Nakhon St Thammarat, not close to her family. We were married for 5 years, and split a couple months ago. She's going to University here in the US, has a job, friends, and a green card not related to marriage.

My question: I am a bit worried that she might just not come back with him - simply because its been known to happen. Any thoughts / experience out there about being able to find my son should she decide to stay, and what options I would have in that case? thanks

<br />I personally beleve a democracy works only in a high educated country, like in Europe US or Australia, etc. In third world countries is better to be in dictatorship, because peaple aren't educated enought to understand politics and economics.

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huh. I rather suspect that many of the uneducated country bumpkins understand politics far better than many educated whitefolk. For example, how many educated economists believe in trickle down economics! Education does not typically teach people to think critically. Isaan have a legitimate cause to support Thaksin. Even though he has dome some shady, corrupt things, the health care and the microlending program have truly helped poor, rural Thailand in ways that nobody before even thought possible. And its not like the Democrats have done much better - they were blamed for the '97 crash, and have plenty of skeletons in their closet, too.

Then you have all the educated genuises (geneii?) in the US that supported Bush for 8 years. Gotta be the result of those college edumacations.

Disclaimer: I'm no Thaksin supporter - I think he's extremely clever - his programs have garnered him ardent support that he has been translating into big bucks. Doesn't mean that people are stupid for supporting him. A lot of people actually come out ahead with him.

After hearing of the greatness of Thailand and its people/culture I've made plans to relocate there after graduating (my career allows this) The prospect of being in a simpler culture where the people are friendly, the girls are beautiful, and the costs of living are cheap sounds great. Also I hate the western ideal of chasing status/material possessions so I think the Buddhist culture here would fit me well.

What on earth makes you think Thailand has a SIMPLER culture? If you think that Thais are savages then you'd best stay home. Thai's kind of think the same about us... afterall, we don't shower regularly, we don't take our shoes off when we come inside, we don't keep our houses clean, we stink (a big no-no in Thailand), we don't respect our surroundings, etc.

However recently I've had this nagging feeling that I may be making a mistake. I have been thing that maybe Thailand is great for older men, but not young.

Question that are on my mind recently include:

-Will I be isolating myself in a culture of people who I don't understand and an expat community that shares little in common with me? Even if Thai people are easy to befriend I want friends who share commonalities of the west. But how many western guys in their 20s are even out here?

There are plenty. However, your isolation will be up to you in any case.

-Is it going to be harder to attract girls the "old fashioned" way with language and cultural barriers? (I feel when I'm young I should mostly still work for it)

Your questions doesn't really apply. Money doesn't mean the same thing in relationships in Thailand. In the West, people say "If you love me, you won't care about my money" in Thailand, they say, "If you love me, you won't care about your money." Even the poorest of the poor works his ass off for a dowry, and being generous is the most important thing to be in Thailand (much like being independent is the most important thing in the West) This is a major source of conflict if you don't understand whats going on. A corollary to this is that if you have more money, you can be more generous, and get more respect.

-Will living in this foreign world rob me of a richer set of life experiences that I could have had in the US, with a culture I grew up in and understand? (ie am I going to envy what other people my age got to do and/or look like a reject if I came back to the US)

No. Going outside of your own culture will give you BY FAR the richest set of experiences. If you don't stay inside your shell, you will change what you think about yourself and your native culture, and you will gain insight and experience simply not possible otherwise.

I guess the short of it is that I wonder if Thailand is a place to get away when change from the western life is desired, or if it is just a better place to be in general.

It is better if the things in Thailand are what you want. If you are career minded then maybe Thailand isn't the place for you. Other things though are great. In the US, some things are great thers are not. It just depends on your particular circumstance.

I will ultimately have to go and see for myself

exactly

Thanks Reimer and others for the posts. I have tried the Klong Thom market several times but as ozsamurai says, its not much go as a flea market anymore, certainly not cheap anyway. O.k. if you're in the area though but not worth a lot of traveling for. I'm glad rgs2001uk knows the market I'm refering to, not to be confused with the weekend market at Chatuchak. I'll nip down there this weekend now that I know its still running. Finaly, trackers suggestion seems interesting and as I'm on that side of town anyway, I'll check it out. Cheers.

While we're on the subject of secondhand stuff its strange how the Thais see it all as a bit degrading.....nah dtaik (loss of face ) sort of thing, only for the kon jon. When I took my gf to England and dragged her screaming around several car boot sales she was less than enthusiastic at first. But once she had made her first few purchases for a mere pitance she got into the swing of it. Her final opinion was that it was a good way to recycle stuff but would never take off in Thailand. True enough.

I think your girlfriend's wrong. The secondhand stalls on the local talad sots here are always very busy.

hahahaha! My wife did the exact same thing. Can't keep her away, now! She's still mystified by the idea of shopping around for prices at all... In Thailand things are just about always the same price... Here you can save 80% sometimes by shopping around. She still doesn't have her head around the idea.

The power struggles in Thailand are mainly to do with class structure.

More so than this being political or race divisions, it depicts the deep rooted caste system here in Thailand, that most Thais except and do not acknowledge it exists, unlike in countries such as India and Pakistan.

Average Thais, only wish to plod on with their lives and not become involved in these power battles between the hierarchy, that will not make the slightest bit of difference to them, who ever gets in.

[/b]Equating the war between Tutsis and Hutus to the political crisis in Thailand, is total nonsense. [/b]

I have not seen any Hutus in Chiang Mai for years and the only Tutsis I know of, are at the end of my legs, 5 toes on each.

You missed my post, didn't you. There are no real racial differences between Hutus and Tutsis. It was a label superficially applied by Belgium, and it was used to create a class of Rwandans who would support Belgium. The Tutsi's were given land and ownership in exchange for support, and the Hutus were given the short end of the stick. After a while, the Hutus got tired of stuck with the short end of the stick by the Tutsis (a.k.a. the upper class), and they fought back. And forth. And back. And forth.

The Somchai story is just multi-tasking at its best.

I seem to remember an equally talented multi-tasker; Bill Clinton, sitting in the white house, being "serviced" by Monica Lewinsky, eating pizza, and talking to the Russian Prime Minister, while smoking a cigar. I think it ranks up there as the most talented multi-tasker of all times. Sorry Somchai, you come in a dismal second..

Honerable mention, but true story. Friend of mine was playing bass for Chuck Berry a while back, and at the intermission, Chuck Berry was getting serviced and eating a sandwich at the same time. The stage manager steps in and says "Five minutes Mr. Berry." Chuck Berry says "OK - as soon as I finish my sandwich."

The only difference between the Tutsis and the Hutus is that the Belgians designated people as Tutsi or Hutu on the basis of cattle ownership, physical measurements and church records.

Its a shocking amd saddening but logical extension of the blue eyes expiriment... give some power over the others based on physique and chaos ensues.

If there weren't some protesters carrying weapons I would be utterly dumbfounded (and proud!) .... A lot of Thai's I knew carry around weapons, just 'cause. Additionally, for the last 50+ years it has been common practice to carry out a version of a "false flag" play ... having your agents in a crowd, roughhousing and giving the whole crowd a bad name. In the 50s, the US did it as part of Operation Ajax to take out the Iranian PM to re-establish British Petroleum's interests in Iranian oil fields. Its since become a standard play

So yes- I agree with you - it is very difficult to tell what is really going on. *That* has been a standard political play for millenia.

However, my previous comment stands, no matter who the "bad guy" is.

Well i would like to thank you for sharing the most pointless uninteresting piece of information ever written that is barely about Thailand.

You don't get out too much, do you? This is quite possibly very important.

In 1991, Samak justified the shooting of college students because there was a war in Iraq at the time. Its not much of an excuse, if you ask me. The world is a nasty place. Perhaps Burma and China would not have let the protests simmer so long, but is that your ideal model? India I don't know about, but they do have extenuating circumstances with terrorism.

Does Thailand really want one of its generals activating vigilante violence against relatively peaceful protesters? (That is the de facto result of his publicly sharing his opinions) Political tension or not, the answer should be no. Good on whomever reassigned the guy.

He may be a nice guy to everybody, or he may be nice to some people, or he may be nice only on holidays. Thats the not question. This guy did something really stupid that puts his country in danger, and something needed to be done to counter it.

He graduated from the International School in BKK.

Geithner was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Geithner of Larchmont, New York. He completed high school at International School Bangkok, Thailand,^[1] and then attended Dartmouth College, graduating with a B.A. in government and Asian studies in 1983. After, he obtained an M.A. in International Economics and East Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan.

Looks like he's an Asian expert.

teach her how to fish . . . meaning give her the western skills so she can earn her own way. giving money will make her less motivated to work, and more dependent on handouts . . .

You must be an American....

I'd say the same thing. Get her through college. If she goes back to Thailand with a Western education, then she'll be able to set herself up in the middle / upper-middle class. She'd likely make more money than you'd be sending her with a sponsorship.

Of course, if she gets that education, she's be able to get sugar herself, and maybe won't hang around her sugar daddy anymore.

Maverick Thai general does the hand-grenade waltz

Fri Nov 21, 11:03 am ET BANGKOK (Reuters) – A maverick Thai general who has threatened to bomb anti-government protesters and drop snakes on them from helicopters has been reassigned as an aerobics teacher, the Bangkok Post said on Friday.

Major-general Khattiya Sawasdipol, a Rambo-esque anti-communist fighter more commonly known as Seh Daeng, reacted with disappointment to his new role as a military instructor promoting public fitness at marketplaces. "It is ridiculous to send me, a warrior, to dance at markets," he said, before launching an attack on his boss, army chief Anupong Paochinda. "The army chief wants me to be a presenter leading aerobics dancers. I have prepared one dance. It's called the 'throwing-a-hand-grenade' dance," he said.

Seh Daeng is something of a folk hero in Thailand on account of his reputed undercover exploits in Cambodia and Laos during the Cold War.

His predictions of grenade attacks against People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters occupying Government House made headlines last month, especially when they turned out to be correct.

One protester was killed and 23 wounded by a grenade blast on Thursday.

Seh Daeng has denied any involvement.

seen many people on internet showing off photos of polished rtac's F16s in their hangers..........

when it comes to war the siamese are the french of asia....

spot on....

That's a tough sell... Thailand was the only country in Asia never to be colonized, save Japan. n They haven't won everything, but they've some pretty impressive wins, too. Rama 5 had gotten the Thai empire pretty powerful, expanding the borders on al sides, even controlling parts of China. The Thais were also the only country in SE Asia to attack anyone outside of SE Asia (Sri Lanka) ... Although technically speaking they weren't Thai quite yet ... the Country currently known as Nakhon Sri Thammarat attacked Sri Lanka, but were shown the door when many of the Tamils they hired turned on them on the battlefield, so weakening the country that it accepted membership into Siam.

We cannot control what is around us, but we can control what things mean *to us*. If McDonald's starts hawking Buddhaburgers and replacing Ronald McDonald with the Buddha, such that we can't see the Buddha without thinking of nasty asty french fries, then we would have to get a new image.

The Buddha images in question only come from the Macedonians, anyway. Before that there were pictures of footprints and drawings of empty chairs. Personally, I find those far more meaningful. But thats me. I also manage to see an empty chair without thinking of IKEA.

But in any case, I actually see a net plus here for Buddhism. Having Buddha's image around increases the likelihood that someone will look closer. They'll see the Buddha at a bar, they'll put a Buddha lamp up, and they'll buy something by the Dalai Lama. Some of them might even read that book thoughtfully....

Correct me if I am wrong. The Thaksin family is the 1st in Thailand to have 2 membes as Thai PM. Singapore and US have a father & son team. Pakistan have a husban & wife team.

You forgot to mention the Adams (father & son) and the Roosevelts (fifth cousins).

George W Bush, George HW Bush, Prescott Bush (Not a president, but a powerful senator who attempted to oust FD Roosevelt in a coup in the 30s. Jeb Bush (the smart one) is also the Governor of a powerful state (florida) and brother Neil is tied up with various immportant businesses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/docume..._20070723.shtml

Could you really imagine what a predicament the country would be in if the military blindly followed the orders of some of the lunatics in charge of this place just because 15,000,000 out of 65,000,000 voted for them?

You may have to increase a bit the figures, but I believe the USA are doing just fine.

I presume you are one of the 15,000,000 then? I assure you, most of us in the US do not feel we are doing just fine

The Mahasatipatthana Sutta can be read here:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html

How does one go searching for timber these days?

My wife has spent some time in a temple on several occaisions, although not ordained (of course!), and she says one of the best things about it is that you don't have to worry about anything - money doesn't come into the picture. This leads me to believe that Brucenkhaman is right about most people do observe the rule - at least so far as the spirit goes.

Check out the Alexander Technique.  It is essentially for stage actors but it has been expanded and the fundamental philosophy is sound, and, IMHO, quite in line with Buddhism.  

The idea that each person has a mental map of the way their body is,  and that is not always accurate.  This part has been well established by neurophysiologists.  We all create these maps and we move our bodies according to the maps.  The idea of the Alexander Technique is simple:  adjust your mental map to fit reality.  

One example of a common misconception is the shape of the foot.  Functionally, skeletally speaking, the foot is shaped like an arch,  and the pressure of the body is placed on the top of the arch.  Pressure should go into the floor equally at the ball and the heel.  Many people have the idea that the foot is shaped like an 'L' - it is very difficult to balance on an 'L' an upside down 'T' is much easier, and thats what you have.  

Alsother common misconceoption, especially in the West, is that there is something called a shoulder.  Functionally,  there is no such thing.  Functionally, the arm includes the collarbone (which is not connected to the spine or anything else by any joint)  if you put your left hand on your right collarbone,  and then move your right arm forward, you will feel what I mean.  There is a shoulder joint,  but its not a ball joint,  and if you want to raise your arm in the air it is your collarbone that you have to move.  

One thing that may be impairing your progress is the idea of keeping your spine straight.  keeping your spine straight is physically painful - the spine itself is made to curve and bend.  Instead,  think of keeping your spine at balance - so that certain points are resting directly above other certain points (you can learn more about this on google)  Changing terminology alone can be incredibly useful.  One thing I've noticed since taking hte class on Alexander Technique is that meditation forms are all at balance,  and they don't feel right when you are not at balance.  

Of course,  some people are built differently,  some 10% of people have hip bone shapes that make sitting on hard surfaces quite painful - basically just a ittle bone spur right where you sit at.  (They are fine with a pillow)  But you will still have a balance points, assuming you are not particularly assymetrical.  People can tell you what is typical,  but nobody knows but you what is truly at balance.

Regarding myself,  I've noticed is that I now walk much more easily, and the occaisional pain in my legs and arms has gone away, now that I am in the process of correcting my inaccurate mental maps. I move much more gracefully as well  As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of it, as it has made some direct and big changes in my life (there are others I haven't mentioned) You can find lots of information if you google "Alexander Technique" and/or "body mapping"