StreetCowboy

A bit akin to moving to America and complaining about the noisy fireworks on the 4th of July.

Not really, 4th July happens just once a year. This is constant excessive noise that has lasted for 2 weeks because of 2 funerals back to back.

Are you for real?

People have died and the respects paid and types of funerals are all part of Thai culture. It`s a fitting end and the final conclusion to someone`s life. So at least give them that with honor and respect. To be honest that;s the way I have chosen to go after I kick the bucket.

Perhaps when it`s your turn you will go quietly at a time and place where the activities do not disturb anyone else and then burned or buried discretely and forgotten with the minimum of inconvenience to the locals of the area. And make sure you die at a time that does not clash with another funeral.

To conclude, I am ever so glad that I do not have near farang neighbors, especially if they all have the same attitudes and share the same cold-hearted views as you. It makes me wonder why you are in Thailand? Because it appears you are unable to adapt to the ways here.

So in other words, like it or lump it.

I expected at least one reply like this. I think it strange that some people believe that any Farang who lives in Thailand should embrace and love everything Thai.

Many years ago , when living in Phrae province, I had the honour to be invited to the funeral of a relatively well off person. We were given food and the entertainment consisted of a small group with traditional Thai instruments singing traditional Northern Thai songs. I admit that the music sounded a little strange to me, but it wasn't offensively loud, there was no microphone or amplifier. The monks also managed their chants without the aid of a microphone.

I didn't really understand the conversation, but people were able to talk to each other without shouting. From what I was told, this was not a sad occasion, but a celebration of the life of the deceased.

That, as far as I am concerned is an example of a traditional funeral party and part of true Thai culture. A pleasant occasion that did not annoy or inconvenience the neighbours.

A appreciate that culture is an ever evolving thing, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it.

If it is now part of Thai culture to be inconsiderate of neighbours, then I don't see that as a good thing. An earlier poster stated that the police will shut down noisy parties after 11PM in Bangkok, so it is obviously not a nationwide cultural thing.

It is also part of Thai culture...

To be an habitual drunk

drive a motorbike without a helmet

drive like a maniac without any consideration of other road users

mixture of any of the above.

I don't drive when drunk, I wear a helmet/seat belt and I drive carefully. Am I wrong about this too? I don't think so.

I don't believe that I am being cold hearted because I am annoyed at being sleep deprived because of other people's lack of consideration.

And yes, I have made it clear that when it comes to my time to die, I want my body to be disposed of with as little fuss as possible. I don't subscribe to any religious theory/fiction, so I believe that once you die, the body is an empty vessel and should be disposed of the same as any used container.

The understanding of Thai culture referenced above differs from mine.

I see those actions as a consequence of the culture, not an integral part of it. Thai culture evolved before motor vehicles were common, and therefore drink - driving is not an integral part.

I believe that a belief in fate is an integral part of Thai culture. if you are fated to die in a motor accident, then staying sober won't save you.

I believe that a focus on family and close friends, and 'sanuk' are part of Thai culture, and consideration for strangers less so (bearing in mind that in times past there would have been no strangers let alone foreigners, in the village) hence the late night parties.

SC

...It seems most people suffer from a perpetual state of self-denial or self-deception..

...

Not me!

We have always been at war with Oceania.

They'll be after the intellectuals next - or maybe first.

You could be the only one left...

Check for a pizza van outside your window...

SC

...Wouldn't mind an iPad though, it'd give me something to play with when I am at a loose end (visa runs, etc)

...I'll probably get a Samsung Galaxy of some sort... I'm not sure whether I want a big screen or pocketability.

You could buy yourself a pair of big trousers.

? And presumably, cut holes in the pockets, so that I've got something to play with on visa runs?

Seems a bit off-topic, but helpful advice, nonetheless - unless you were assuming that the 'winking was a euphemism...

SC

The smartphone generation has only exacerbated the phenomenon known as the zombie walk. It was difficult enough before smartphones to get anywhere walking due to the zombies occupying every square inch of walk way. Now that they have something else to draw their attention, it's nearly impossible. And no, I am not talking specifically about Thailand as it has become a global problem.

Its not iPads you need, its shoulder pads.

SC

I have a blackberry.

I'd be just as happy with a standard telephone but it was a gift from a friend. Wouldn't mind an iPad though, it'd give me something to play with when I am at a loose end (visa runs, etc)

EDIT: followed my own advice

SC

I'm jealous too, but I just bottle it up.

Soon as the redecoration and the school fees are paid ...

SC

U aint jealous ur sad

I'm both. As I posted on another thread, I am a deep and complex character....

I'll probably get a Samsung Galaxy of some sort... I'm not sure whether I want a big screen or pocketability. I suppose I need to check out the features again. I'd quite like something that could make toast as well...

SC

Edit: Anyway, a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse

I'm jealous too, but I just bottle it up.

Soon as the redecoration and the school fees are paid ...

SC

I think you have to consider that in the west it was not primarily the death or carnage that created seatbelt or helmet laws.

It was the drain on the medical system of caring for cripples and vegetables.

In LOS they mostly die.

You just wrapped it up in a nutshell. Authorities in western countries couldn't care less if people die or are injured. They just don't want it to cost them any money that is better spent padding their pension funds and excessive salaries.

+1

My wife's village l see buses taking kids home and dozens are on the roof, yes on the roof.

Good thing too. In the West, they would just lease another bus from one of their mates - where's the fun in that for the kids?

I'm quite grateful that thanks to motorcycle helmets and seat belts, my brother and I respectively are still alive.

I'm always quite surprised by the number of maimed people I see in Thailand... In the West we are discouraged from getting maimed so that the government can extort more tax money from us.

SC

Don't get paranoid, but people really are watching you.

You want to watch whose threads you post in.

Just sayin'...

Bangkok

vs. Tokyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2ZrSw-tMs

I'm quite impressed with the discipline on Tokyo metro; making the most of the trains to get as many people in as possible, so that others don't have to wait.

I know a lot is made of the "pushers" on the platforms in Tokyo, and I have no experience of that. In Hong Kong, the pushers assist people to clear the doors rather than get more people on. This in order to get the train away quickly. I now get fed up when I board a train that is only three-quarters full and there are people behind who can't get on because others don't move down the carriage. There's almost always room for one more, so long as, like me, they're only small...

Of course, as a fat balding sweaty farang, I have the added advantage that people automatically give me sufficient space, if they can...

SC

Just another day here on the island of crime and death. RIP to the many.

Just another day here on the island of crime and death. RIP to the many.

There was a time that a comment like that would make me angry. Now, I agree with it. Can a day go by without a death, beating, robbery, arrest or illness? When my friends ask, "is it safe living in Thailand?" I say, "You can find trouble anywhere if you look for it...and the place to look is Pattaya and Phuket."

I even understand the frustration of Expats who invested there. They recognized a while back that the area was at a crossroad. Either become a safe fun vacation spot for people and families who has money to spend, or more of a "Spring Break" party till you puke cesspool for whores, drugs and booze.

Well, clearly, the jury has returned with the verdict...and as more of this news becomes common place, so will the perception that the island is Soi Cowboy with sand. Not exactly what honeymoon couples, nice families and retires think of when they travel in today's world (yes, i know that statement will get some wise-guy comments .. enjoy)

It is a big world, with lots of beautiful beaches, lovely native cultures, food and experiences.

Who needs the crap they dish out there? Fewer and fewer of one type of person, and more and more of another.

And i am not saying "Party People" are bad...but they are fickle, and will roam to greener (cheaper, safer and more fun) places more quickly than quality family travelers...and sooner than later.

Sadly, the incidents in this article could happen anywhere, any time...My comment is not specific to these events...just, as cloudhopperr suggests...a daisy chain of bad news and misery coming from one this place.

I live in BKK, and have never been to Pattaya (and never will)..and the last time I went to Phuket (more than 10 years ago)...it was really quite lovely.

My wife and kids just got back from a very pleasant holiday in Phuket, apparently. Normally they go to Pattaya, which is more convenient, but she reckoned that with cheap air asia flights the cost difference was not exorbitant. You need to have the time and perseverence to shop around for special offers at the good hotels though.

I still reckon the toll roads are safer

SC

On a contrary note, are you chaps like Edith Piaf (non, je ne regrette rien)

(Oops - the lingua franca police will be on to me for a bit of franca lingua there...)

or do you ever err, in haste, and post in a thread that you later regret getting involved in?

One that just refuses to sink to the bottom of your recent posts, and that continues for days or weeks to surprise you with the depths of inane idiocy or prejudiced spleen to which your fellow posters can delve?

SC

Eh, yes.......I do have that sense of dread every time I post a new topic too, but hey!! that's life on the edge!!

How do you think the bloke that started the "Live rugby league..." thread feels?

It's the same with most big forums. 99% junk from a few prolific posters who have nothing better to do than sit at home and moan about life on the internet. You wouldn't pay them a blind bit of notice in the real world (which is why they come online), so why bother on here. There is good stuff to, but it takes a lot of wading.....

I've never come online. Am I missing something?

I nearly said "you have 187osts" but then I got it. Don't necessarily believe it, however

If you sit far enough back, you should miss something...

Foreigners living in, or visiting Thailand, and surrounded by people speaking a language alien to them, have few places in daily life to vent their frustrations to people who get them, unlike at home where they are able to deal with it as their day progresses. For this reason you will see a higher amount of venting here than is normal, as living in a foreign environment has its challenges, and this forum is often their only outlet.

Other people are just miserable &@!!?!!s.

Your second paragraph is the answer

Not me. I'm not just a miserable &@!!?!!s. I'm ugly as well. I'd hate to be a one-dimensional character, like the guys in the Captain Pugwash stories... To be fair, they were two-dimensional*

SC

* I first wrote that as "too-dimensional"; I must've been reading this too long. Then I thought of what it would mean to be too-dimensional, and I think that is Zzaa's big advantage over the rest of us mundanites - he perhaps lives in more dimensions than us, which is why he appears so deep. I've not seen him around for a while, by the way...

On a contrary note, are you chaps like Edith Piaf (non, je ne regrette rien)

(Oops - the lingua franca police will be on to me for a bit of franca lingua there...)

or do you ever err, in haste, and post in a thread that you later regret getting involved in?

One that just refuses to sink to the bottom of your recent posts, and that continues for days or weeks to surprise you with the depths of inane idiocy or prejudiced spleen to which your fellow posters can delve?

SC

It's got nothing to do with road tolls at all.

SC

Speaking of best topics and posts, any post by geriatrickid gets my attention as he is a most excellent writer

.

Bit of a breach of anonymity to post a picture of the two of you together, though, isn't it?

If you don't like Thailand, leave.

Is that just because he called you bonsai?

EDIT:

Bit of Napoleon syndrome, maybe?

Perhaps thought he was referring to your intellect?

I can see how you might easily take offence...

Seatbelts and helmets are incidental if there is a lack of roadcraft.

I remenber someone saying a few years back that instead of airbags in the steering wheel, car manufacturers should fit a lethal spike in the centre. That would then focus the driver's mind on what he was doing, instead of lulling him into a sense of false security because he had all these safety devices around him.

It's the Volvo effect.

Personally, I never wear a seatbelt. I find them uncomfortable and distracting, and I'm not altogether convinced of their efficacy. And before the holier-than-thou start berating me for a mindless fool, I would say that I have driven more miles than most, having been a professional driver (class 1) for many years of my life. I know and understand where seatbelts can be a lifesaver, and I also know when they can be lethal.

(I might add here that I now live in a country where seatbelt and helmet laws are not enforced very strongly, so I actually have a choice.)

But without the relevant driving skills, it's all academic anyway. Two seatbelts aren't going to help much in a pickup with ten people in the back and a lunatic driver.

I also never wear a helmet when I'm out on my bike in the summer. Again, they are uncomfortable, and there is such a sheer joy feeling the wind through your hair (not that I have much of that anymore ) which is entirely lost with a helmet. It's the feeling of freedom. I'll wear one on the rare occaisions I ride my bike in the winter months, but only for warmth.

I'm a free agent. I don't like others telling me how to live my life. I have my own moral compass that has served me well for many years. I am wiser than most of those who would presume to tell me how I should live. I have lived on the edge for most of my life, so every day I wake up is a bonus. And I'm not risk-averse, which most people have been conditioned into being now. Life is risk. That's what makes it exciting, and worth living. Guaranteed immortality would be guaranteed boredom.

So I live how I choose, not how others choose for me.

And part of that is ignoring seatbelt / helmet laws.

Flame on!

it doesn't seem fair on the paramedics...

When you hang around ANYWHERE long enough, and keep your eyes open, you get to see how things operate. There is corruption in every society in every country, but it's just set up differently. The systems are set up intentionally to keep the poor, poor and the rich, rich. It's the subtle differences that fool the greenhorn visitors to any new country. North America and the UK are no less corrupt than Thailand. The leaders just market it differently. For example, take the police and the so called "Justice System" in North America and the UK. Those in charge pay high salaries to police, judges and lawyers, but nobody really does anything constructive. They are just there to further their own salaries. In Thailand, the police get a pittance for a salary and have to supplement that with graft. However, It winds up being the same thing.

People everywhere throughout the world take the path of least resistance. In North America and the UK, the middle income people breed and turn their children loose as soon as they are educated enough to make it on their own. In Thailand the average Thai family has children who they HOPE will earn enough to look after the parents when they get old.

It is easy to be cynical when you see the same games being played time after time. If you follow thaivisa for more than a year then the same topics come up weekly, and most debate the same scenario of farang man meets pretty Thai girl... and then the troubles start.

Ian, I think you assume that everywhere is the den of iniquity, the failed state, the anarchic wild west that Canada is. My experience in the UK, in the US, in HK, Taiwan and in Thailand, is that generally the police are honest and helpful, and seeking to do a good job to maintain order and traffic flow.

Regardless of the rampant failings of your own country, you cannot assume that Thailand, or anywhere else, is the same. You may call me naive, but had you not pointed them out to me, I would not even have been aware that Canada was so bad, but I bow to your local knowledge. Its a long time since I've been Canadian, and even then, as an expat.

SC

I dunno, OP, with a photo like that as an avatar, and this topic...................................I'm calling TROLL !!!!!!!!!

Trolls need friends too.

Don't you worry, Trapflex, he's just showing off his intolerance and prejudice - for which our forum is rightfully, and proudly, famous!

Thats a load of BS and for how many posts you have, haven't seen you on the Phuket Forum enough for you to make that conclusion.

Looking at his post count not on Phuket forum, but he has been around on the other forums.

My apologies - I had not intended to single out the Phuket sub-forum; rather TV as a whole...

For maipompui... I don't think that's a picture of him, I think its his last meal...

SC

...

... If it weren't for my job I doubt I would remain.

How can that be? I thought all but two or three of us were retired sexpats, whether monogamous or not?

SC

I dunno, OP, with a photo like that as an avatar, and this topic...................................I'm calling TROLL !!!!!!!!!

Trolls need friends too.

Don't you worry, Trapflex, he's just showing off his intolerance and prejudice - for which our forum is rightfully, and proudly, famous!

Once people get to know you, I'm sure you will be made welcome, and I am sure that there are perfectly good reasons why they have stopped having the get-togethers down there. Don't take that personally.

SC