Gaccha

I think this is because the forums were not split into different categories until 2005, so posts prior to that become impossible/difficult to find.

I wanted to analyse the responses to Thaksin's drug wars but there is nothing as it was too early on, Thaivisa forum wasn't really a forum for discussing political issues back then, and it didn't have many members.

You need special war insurance if you want to be covered for bomb/bullet injuries. Simply google "war broker insurance" and you will discover how exceptionally expensive the whole thing is.

cheers for that Gaccha

Thanks Mig16. I think it clears up some issues (was there gunfire on Khao San or not) and also places question marks on the maps provided on the mainstream media.

People when interviewed after these sorts of events say that it was 'just like a movie", but it is exactly not like a movie; there is no dramatic music to indicate the coming danger, there is no narrative build-up, it is just random mayhem. The way you can walk from a place of safety into the danger without any warnings always interests me (I have done it many times in such places as the West Bank, Kosovo and Algeria). The banal mechanics can be quite odd. I remember paying my 10 shekels (or whatever) to catch a bus to Ramallah where I was then shot at... There was, of course, no "PG warning (Parental Guidance)" like a cinema movie would have. I just got on the bus with the Arab residents.

Further facts:

The Redshirts have expanded North up towards the Royal Plaza. It is odd that there are no army blockades to be found, except one (I think this is the road that General Prem lives on). The First Army HQ has no soldiers visibly on guard.

The Redshirts from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning seized Pinklao Bridge. They captured a considerable number of army vehicles (buses and mini-humvees). The soldiers of those vehicles sat around on the West side of the bridge. Only two police officers were visible within 50 metres of the bridge, but one was quite high-ranking.

A military vehicle that drove by the boundary of the Redshirts at 10pm on Sunday was rammed and crippled by a Redshirt jeep. A police tow truck within 5 minutes towed it away.

The Redshirts have now retreated back from there but they are considerably further extended than they were on Saturday morning:

Strictly speaking nothing happened on Khao San, as the 5 killed were on the road right next to Burger King (about 3 metres from where Khao San starts...)... It is obvious because 5 bamboo marked shrines have been set up. Here is a map of the event site as can be inferred from the detritus on the ground:

Multiple vehicles with bullet marks all over them and shop metal shutters bullet-ridden. On the walls at the intersection there is considerable damage by what looks like rubber-bullet damage. The road sign has two bullet holes. It seems bizarre that the army chose this route to reach the Redshirts. Perhaps it was intended to surprise them but the route is so narrow and so close to tourists...

On the next road across, there are seven abandoned armoured personnel carriers as well as overturned mini-humvees:

The army must have left in an awful rush since the vehicles are still facing towards Democracy Monument.

It seems comical that Thailand makes the Headlines in The Daily Mail but for ape boxing, it is almost as if they believe their readers are too ignorant to understand the Redshirt fight that has now hit its peak...

This has the conseqeunce that The Daily Mail reader, a common retiree in Thailand, has determined that England has gone to 'hel_l in a Handbasket', but literally through their utter ignorance are able to have a pleasant, complacent and satisfied life in Thailand.

"overthrow the government and the nation can progress"

Red T-shirts with ไพร่ printed large on them. My dictionaries translate as citizens, commoners, also vulgar wretch. I suppose in this context it is pride in being one of the people?

No, no.

It is "Peasant". You can sometimes see protest T-shirts that write it in English.

What are all the words and their variations and shortenings for 'state of emergency' that are being used... ?

And when they said they have 'declared war on the government' what was the Thai used?

Thanks in advance.

(as an interesting aside, I was listening to the red speaker last night and she decided to do an impromptu English language class "because Abhisit and his cohorts love English". She then said "Shame on you Abhisit", "Dissolve parliament now", and "Resign before you destroy Thailand" in English and then in Thai. Listening to this it struck me how specialised my vocab had got that I could casually follow a political rally speech but I can't follow a Channel 7 drama... oh well...)

East is east, and west is west, and they do meet at the N' Touch bar, San Francisco. Martin ain't Thai. Thai culture is valid and so is western culture. It isn't a matter of right and wrong.

No, I don't accept this. Indeed, this is a classic narrative of the West to see all cultures as unproblematic and as having merit.

Culture is a power imposition. This is most obvious where the culture has something unpleasant to your eyes (e.g. immolation of widow on husband's death(*)). The rules, norms and regimes that make up a culture are a product of fierce power-plays. It is not some unproblematic way of life that can be observed in history and art museums.

My position is that the Western cultural sexuality regime, which is part of the 'cultural package' of the West, is awful.

(*) the british governor of a province of India on being told that this was part of Indian culture responded that in British culture if this happened the British way is to build a big wooden platform and hang the person who immolates the widow.

Again, culture isn't right or wrong. You twisted my words. If something isn't right or wrong, that doesn't imply judgment or merit. It is just the way it is. Of course culture can be oppressive for people living in it. If you think Thailand's culture doesn't have oppressive aspects for Thais, you are some kind of deluded (and very naive) romantic.

Fascinating. Doing a double-read of your post invites so many possibilities but let's just stick to the surface argument. I will take you at your word.

1. the way things are is 'culture'

2. this is 'valid'

3. this is not a judgment on culture

It all hinges on what you mean by 'valid'. Legally valid. No, of course not. That again would be a tortuous power-loop argument (to have legal validity simply depends on who has grabbed power). Morally valid. I suspect that is what you meant. And that means making a judgment on its merit.

The reason I am pushing this is because it is so important to displace this narrative of the unproblematic nature of cultures, and that 'truth is relative' and that we can 'all live together in peace and harmony'.

The intellectual gymnastics required to hold your position tellingly display the awkward positioning of the West's sexuality regime.

So, what do I think of Thailand's sexuality regime? Well, it is magnificently complicated. To be exact it is 289 pages of complications. Please see Jackson's superb "Genders and Sexualities in Modern Thailand". And I know this, had their regime dominated where Ricky lives he would not need to 'out' himself.

It is the very nature of Western cultural positioning to romanticise other cultures, so my cautious and nuanced display against this very position can hardly render me a romantic, although I do like the odd Beethoven symphony.

East is east, and west is west, and they do meet at the N' Touch bar, San Francisco. Martin ain't Thai. Thai culture is valid and so is western culture. It isn't a matter of right and wrong.

No, I don't accept this. Indeed, this is a classic narrative of the West to see all cultures as unproblematic and as having merit.

Culture is a power imposition. This is most obvious where the culture has something unpleasant to your eyes (e.g. immolation of widow on husband's death(*)). The rules, norms and regimes that make up a culture are a product of fierce power-plays. It is not some unproblematic way of life that can be observed in history and art museums.

My position is that the Western cultural sexuality regime, which is part of the 'cultural package' of the West, is awful.

(*) the british governor of a province of India on being told that this was part of Indian culture responded that in British culture if this happened the British way is to build a big wooden platform and hang the person who immolates the widow.

(By the way, Ranciere is a French philospher whose work on dissensus is extremely apt for the current red and yellow conflict in Bangkok. His theoretical readings of conflict and how it brings about change provide a conceptual framework for understanding the 'game'. See his superb book: Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy (1998))

I think this is so sad but for the very opposite reason of everyone else.

The dominant hetero-socionormative regime demands that Ricky confesses and then all will be forgiven, for he can now accpet what is the right way to desire. It characterises the sexual desire as the key to the human identity when actually it is the sexuality regime that is imposed by the micro-powers of society. Foucault's volume 1 of the 'History of Sexuality'(***) brilliantly describes this game.

Lets turn our heads to Thailand. Where we live it is undeniable that a two-step regime exists. The old-style way of thinking of Thais, with loose sex desire categories, and the 1950s american academic position of the mass heterosexual group and the Other ('the gay'). What is so pleasant about Thailand is its refusal to categorise (by sexuality). This allows extraorindary levels of sex transgressions (in the Western eye). Most Thai girls have several 'lesbian' relations at University (just ask), while 1 in 5 Thai boys in Issan want to be girls*.

The problem with Westerners chronically exposed to this sexuality regime of the West is that it appears to be 'the Truth'. They simply see the Thais as not educated enough to understand the sophisticated categories (bisexuals, transsexuals) of this regime (University educated Thais are more likely to follow the Western way of thinking and so in my eyes are more wrong than the Issan villager). A moments thought suggest the regime is unconvincing (i.e. it's main position is an amorphous mass of 90% heterosexuals and then 'the Other' of gays). Yet that 90% mass must actually be foot fetishists, bestiality entrepeneurs, crossdressers, breast lovers and so on. There is no obviously right way to desire. So there is obviously no need to confess.

After I pointed out that a 14-year-old boy with false eyelashes and blue contact lenses violently flirted with me in 7/11, a friend suggested there was a trend to be gay among schoolboys. A trend. Think about that. A trend is the least of stable positionings you can take. He either means it's fake or it is part of human nature but it will pass. But in either event it suggests the Western narrative collapses. Because if it is fake that they can fake male desire is a logical nonsense(**).

So what! (you scream) My point is this, Ricky and anyone else who 'comes out' is playing exactly the game of the Western sexuality regime. You should react against it. You can learn from the way Thais so often elide this issue. By confessing you are not helping a struggle of anything you are reinforcing the Rancierian consensus, when you should be seeking to play dissensus.

(*) I got this speaking to a Buddhist monk studying at Thammasat who wants to derobe, change sex and marry a farang. I felt this was a particularly beautiful example of life in all its glory.

(**) Zizek in The Sublime Object of Ideology points out the phallus is the ultimate unconsious conscious. A male cannot decide to erect, yet it is a given that it is in his control. It cannot be faked.

(***) I should point out that this book is now regarded as one of the most influential books on 'power'. The brilliant deceit of the prologue is worth the book's price.

What about perfect transliterations of Thai dubbings.

That is: a western movie dubbed into Thai and the exact dialogue replicated where there would normally be subs.

'Subtitles' normally only have around 30% of the contents of the speaking dialogue because of space contraints.

Finding these transliterations seems more difficult than the subs. The cable channel 'IPM A Film' shows the transliterations for every movie that it has dubbed into Thai. So where does it find the transliterations?

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Wow she must have sucked you dry ,but just because your life is crap why assume that ours is , been married 16 years ,have a son the wifes familly are great ,our life is great ,go back ,why? everything in our and many of my friends lives is good.

sometimes life sucks and not just in Thailand.

Wow Now there's an assumption in motion,or is it your motion that's hit the keyboard.of course you live a full and fullfilled life here in Thailand,posting over a thousand comments here and probably elsewhere,shows how fullfilling life must be out here in Thailand,stuck behind a computer night and day,but forgive me assuming that.

Looking at the OPs first paragraph I know you belong somewhere in there,so everything is great,great stuff,great (LOL)

A thousand comments over 4 years, equates to about half a comment per day ,hardly sitting on here all day ,i like thai visa as it helps us to find out things we did not know ,it also shows us that some people are sad individuals that really shouldnt be here ,most of us are happy and fulfilled ,you obviously are not ,so by by and dont forget to pick up your duty free on the way out.

I recommend King Power.

extras off of a horror flick.

TG on Orchard are scary.

why?

its orchard gardens,a complex with bars on 3 or 4 floors,and what i could see they all seemed to be lady boys.

Here is an example of one of your "extras off of a horror flick". I can see people screaming in panic on the streets right now.

" I suspect he meant you must show courage -- be willing to take a blow -- several blows -- to show you will not strike back"

Taken from the great film about the great man.

It is only a few lines of dialogue (including the line above) but I have broken it down by every word. A transcription is provided and the English is given. It is then a 10 page PDF.

Ghandi_and_Rev_FINAL1.PDF

I recommend reading each of the three sections of dialogue and then listen to the audio available at the link below before you even look at the English.

Audio:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Ghandi-Was-t304724.html

We had a second gardener for a while, chap about 60, good worker and he wanted 200 a day which was ok. He works for us for a while and we realise he's a bit light fingered, nothing major you understand but theft nevertheless. we chose just to keep an eye on him as we knew his wife doesn't work and they have a quadraplegic son.

However it came to a head when he stole one of the Ducks, My husband who is Thai had finally had enough and went to the Village chief, who got the man around and he admitted he had stolen (and eaten) the Duck. They then worked out what the Duck was worth, it was a young female so they worked out what could be expected in the way of eggs and youngsters and arrived at a price, which my husband reduced. The gardener was told to work for 3 days without pay as his punishment.

He worked 2 days, I am hoping he has learned his lesson but my husband and I are also concerned that his family have no money for food, so after the 2 days we buy a big bag of rice and take it around to his wife and then we let him off working the 3rd day. Actually the rice cost a bit more than his wages, but at least the family had something.

He kept on working and we really thought things had improved until one of my Tortoises go missing, such a delicacy aI believe,Quite delicious he told his neighbours.

He no longer works for us, the Tortoise was the final dinner.

That's a great tale, what do you think the moral of your story is?

1. Give the duck not the rice since with the rice they can live for two weeks before it runs out but with the duck they could have lived off its eggs and youngsters for years.

2. don't think that by paying what is less than the minimum wage you are doing any favours.

3. how do you know the tortoise didn't eat the duck-- I suspect your gardener was just protecting the tortoise from your fearsome retribution.

Fantastic find! I'm still working on Thomas Gething's reader and Vol II by Professor Bickner will be a great follow-on. Now.......if only the readings were recorded!!!!!

While Gething's reader is dated, his lessons follow a nice pattern of introducing new vocabulary/patterns, then repeating them in follow-on lessons. While I haven't had the opportunity to see if Bickner does the same, I'll take a guess that he does....as that seems to be the pattern of teaching in the US.

Thanks for the link!!

No. It specifically rejects this style of learning. Please see the lengthy explanation of modern learning methods here:

http://readingthai.wisc.edu/thai-reader-site-intro.html

The text is intended to develop text interpretation skills and not to increase vocabulary.

Looks great. now if only it weren't in PDF format....

I can think of two issues concerning you:

-it's slow to load because it's PDF

-you can't 'extract' the Thai and paste it somewhere else

Fear not, simply download 'Foxit reader' for free. It is way faster than PDF (the files open instantly) and it allows text extraction.

I was a big fan of BB gunning in Japan. The Japanese would get together in huge groups of 50 plus people and head into the countryside for day trips of BB gunning in woods and national parks. Occasional police interventions contacted by jumpy locals with mobile phones just added to the fun. On the way back, we'd stop off at a hot spa (onsen) and drink sake.

I don't see any of this in Bangkok. I am told Thais do have group meet-ups to do BB gunning but where are these? On the web if it is there I am looking at the wrong places. In Japan, the group was centred around individual BB gun shops but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

As an alternative a farang grouping would be more fun than just turning up with a couple of you in tow. I have seen on this forum that Pattaya have a group meet-up. Is there one in bangkok as well? Is anyone interested?

Where besides the commercial rental zones do people go? Can it be done Japanese-style in the parks outside Bangkok?

For the cheapest way possible, what about the post office self-cheque.

In Japan, the cheapest and probably slowest method was to have the post office send a cheque in your name to anyone but yourself.

The rate offered was virtually identical to the commercial buy rate and there was no extra charge.

Is that possible here?

1. Here is an updated version.

Multiple corrections made, and markings added to identify relationship of English to Thai article.

Here_come_the_red_shirts_v3.PDF

2. And here is an audio file of Paragraph 2 repeated ad nauseum to show how to use the text effectively. Simply listen and work out what you can hear. Learn the words you don't know and listen again until you have heard it so much that you start to hear the melody of the paragraph in your head...

Repitition_of_Reds.mp3

If you enjoy this (and you will) then download 'GOM player' to make 'A--B repetition' exercises easy on your computer for the whole audio file.

Just want to say thanks for all the work you've put into this! I am enjoying it (like you said I would).

I have wanted to do this since I (wrongly) thought I had struck gold the other day.

I had downloaded Hugh Leong's (very impressive) advanced (and free) reading materials (I recommend them to everyone-- just google his name) and I noticed that every single sentence appeared to be used as an example sentence in thai-language.com. This meant every word was already translated and transliterated, making it very convenient. But then I found that this only happened up to 'Exercise 3'.

If Hugh was to encourage Thai-language to import every single sentence of his magnus opus into the dictionary website then I think it would be by far the best reading tool, commerical or non-commercial, available. All it would then need is an audio.

Here is an updated version. Hopefully most errors now removed.

Enjoy.

Here_come_the_red_shirts_v2.PDF