chanchao

Helping those in need is NOT ever a dilemma.

So far nothing has happened but I often wonder what I would do if involved or even witnessed an accident.

Oh, I've witnessed loads of accidents, and in the few occasions that there wasn't already plenty of folks there to help or call police/rescue people, I've stopped to help.

One time a pick-up hit a motorcycle and sped off, with the motorcycle (& rider) in the middle of the street. It was at night and not very well lit either. So I used my truck to block the crashed bike and turned on all the alert-lights. Then some people showed up who called the police, and after the police came the police truck could take over from me illiminating the site. They also checked the debris from the pick-up to establish the make and model and then radioed this in to police at checkpoints to catch the perp..

Another time I nearly ran over an unconscious guy who was lying in the fast lane of a provincial highway! So I stopped, pulled him on to the middle partition, then drove to the nearest police booth to get help. Went back with the police guy to indicate the spot, then the police called the Rescue truck. Turns out the guy was just passed out drunk, but still being in the position he was in it's quite likely he would otherwise never have woken up..

And I've helped people who just had their vehicle break down.. As Thais have done for me when I had my vehicle break down in the past.

Anyway, if you're a member of society you does your duty in society. Otherwise you have no place there, and ESPECIALLY if you actually caused the accident, then it's breaking the law even.. (Actually not helping when you could help is breaking the law as well). But the basic premise is that if you can help, you help. Period.

I'm a bit split on this issue..

Pro:

Less electricity

Less heat

Longer lifetime..

Though, the longer lifetime only applies if you don't actively break it.. I've broken a few that were in table top type lamps, when the thing fell down. There's your saving out the door for a couple years.

Con:

Dont' work with dimmers

Light is ugly

Explensib

Advertised '11 watt equals 40 watt' doesn't really equal 40 watt, but seems a lot less bright.

So, I used them in SOME lights, the ones that I use the most, AND that are not likely to be knocked over.

Also, today I'm happy to report I found a 'warm' (yellow) glow standard round fluorescent circle light, to be used on the (in Thailand) ubiquitous round ceiling fixtures that normally emit a completely horrific hospital style white-wash light. Will give that a try too.

Oh, and the truck has Xenon headlights.. 7 years now and never had to change them. And verrrry bright.

Cheers,

chanchao

Much prefer places like Huay Tung Tao and bar-restaurants run by friends that have an "expats corner".

what does one do at Huay Tung Tao? i have been there only once which was after 5pm and merely had a peek at the lake. well its obvious its a lake thing and heard some people talk about massages, etc. but what do you guys mostly do when you are there? just wondering if it should be a family outing kinda thing or just a one man relaxation thing.

Well, by yourself it would be a little pointless.. But if you bring some friends and buy some food & beer and/or whisky, it can be very enjoyable.

One side of the lake has swimming, too, though it'd be quite cold this time of year.

Also consider Ob Khan Gorge National Park for a day trip. No (or few) vendors around though, so there you'd have to bring food & drinks yourself.

A lot of the seat belts aren't 3-point though, which is usually required to securely fasten a child safety seat.

Many a time have I pondered going into the business of SAFE children's transportation, with vans with child safety seats for all those who need it, and proper seatbelts (possibly with booster seat) for the bigger kids.

I usually ponder this as I see a converted pick-up with 15 children on benches in the back.

I mean, parents tend to spend big on education for their kids, so why not on getting them to and from school in one piece...

I red your topic this morning, not knowing that I would be buying Christmas lights later today.. And with your post in mind, I opted for blue ones!!!! You're right, they DO look more special than red or green. I got some yellow ones as well, which look a bit brighter.

Anyway, I live in Chiang Mai and got them at Global House (www.globalhouse.co.th), a big construction materials & home improvement hypermarket. They're not in Bangkok though, but have outlets in some North Eastern provinces as well.

Anyway, string of blue lights: 30 baht. (yes, THIRTY). I love this place, usually really good deals on stuff. Also bought a 20 meter extension cord so I could reach some pine-ish trees in the garden. (105 baht for the roll-up extension cord)

My three year old daughter decided she would make daddy a cofee to get him out of bed. (with the help of the nanny, but 100% original thought.)

Christ, we do have something in common. Oh well.

Today:

Holiday, constitution day! (The constitution sucks, but the holiday is still nice.)

* Beautiful weather, cool temperatures in the North

* Woken up by my lovely 2 year old who proceeded to make imaginary coffee on her toy kitchen set. It makes cooking noises.

* Made some real coffee.. Thank God for The Coffee Bean coffee. (Arabica, the green label; very good and affordable)

* Made breakfast: Egg with ham, cheese & spinach (spinach from the Royal Project store.. big bag for 20 baht.. Hooray for the Doi Kham Royal Project Stores.

* Gardening.. planted some nice trees we bought at the Chiang Mai Agricultural fair.. I like weird plants that are native to Thailand.

* Soaked in the bath tub for a bit.. Happy I got the 10K watt heater or else I wouldn't have steaming hot water this season.

* Got dressed, chased my daughter and had an impromptu wrestling match trying to get her dressed.

* Drove to see Grandma (my mum in law) and Great-Grandma (Granny In-Law?).. Hooray for the widened Canal Road.. Chiang Mai to Sanpatong in 10 minutes! Progress.

* Took grandma to go eat Som Tam & Sticky Rice & Fried Chicken & Larb Issaan at a great road-side restaurant called 'Golden Mortar". (Khrok Thong) Oh and a Coke. Som Tam & Coke: Just Good Friends..

* Went to Global House (a huge building market/ home improvement store) to buy light bulbs, some light switches and... Christmas lights.. Yes people, I've set one more step to being truly established: Christmas Lights. 30 baht per string, got some blue ones and yellow ones. Next year I may even succumb and get a %*)(#&$)( Christmas Tree as well. My kid is being Christmas-brainwashed at her Christian daycare center, so it'll be tough to resist..

* Went home and lit up the whole house.. Looked VERY impressive, also with the Christmas lights strung in some pine-ish trees outside. Wow.

* Now I'm sitting in the garden typing this on my laptop, with everything lit up, the fountains/waterfall thingy on, and a cold beer.. Wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner. Life is perfe afjoqrw209e&9384

ARgh.. wrestling daughter away from the keyboard.

Ok, whatever: If you're involved in an accident, you stop and help anyone injured.

Should be a no-brainer. Anyone who doesn't consider this a no-brainer needs to re-consider how much in-tune and well adapted to Thailand he or she is.

The first post under 'chanchao' that I could find dates to 4 Jun 1997 though:

----

In article <[email protected]>,

[email protected] (Polymaj) wrote:

> Things are changing rapidly in Thailand. Girls are now very money

> oriented. Two of my friends have been ripped off by girls taking their

> billfold and leaving the room while he was still asleep. DC-10 seems to be

> good for knockout drops on their tits.

> Be careful of one called Noy. She didn't think 1000 Baht was enough for

:-))))))))))))))))))))))) That's real useful.. How many Noys do you think

there are in Thailand?

I think I know her by the way: quite short, long black hair and dark

eyes, flat nose. She's got a nice tan too.

Like... "BEWARE of an American called... John.."

> all night and threw a fit breaking the TV in the Hotel room. My friend had

> to replace the TV.

I hope he had travel insurance.

Cheers...

Chanchao

Hmm my first post on Thaivisa was on 3 February 2004... Though I had been in Thailand for about 10 years then, on all sorts of forums since 1994.

soc.culture.thai, the good old days.

Yes, excellent point. Note that it's not only an issue at the spot you mention but on all 4 sides of that bridge; the shoulder of the Superhighway suddenly turns into a two-way road, with some traffic coming back the 'wrong' way, then having to make a U-turn. (And keep in mind that especially pick up trucks don't turn on a dime..)

Actually its the same for many other bridges as well.. Including the one on the Middle Ring.

Another place that qualifies for some work is the U-turn / intersection near Wat Jed Yod.. First of all the type/style of the traffic lights there is for some weird reason different from anywhere else, plus it's just a nasty spot where a lot of sois come together, as well as being a U-turn.

Answering that would result in a thread-jack on to US politics. I'd be hard pressed to find a person with less things in common with Thaksin than Al Gore.

I always considered Thaksin a lot more similar to the likes of Sylvio Berlusconi. Or Putin even.

Well, personally I don't recognize 'marriage' as such as a legal construct, mostly because I think marriage is a private/family matter that the government should have no business with, and ESPECIALLY not the Thai government.

So that's why I got married, but didn't register it. It's simply none of the governments business, and with the Mrs owning a company, I don't trust Thai governments enough to keep laws and regulations fair for Thai citizens married to foreigners. It also guarantees I don't become a statistic. I think governments should stay the &lt;deleted&gt; out of people's private lives.

Actually I don't trust my own government either.. Look at what supposedly civilized Western countries inflict upon their male citizens upon divorce.. It's ludicrous and I want no part in it.

Very happily married though, and beautiful daughter.

My God Chanchao - for once I'm in absolute and complete agreement with you, and in a position parallel to your own (except that I have a son not a daughter) - does this mean we need to clink a few beers next time we're both in Tuskers at the same time?

I'd be open to that. I don't usually go to Tuskers though, but I may start going there soon; friends (yes, I do have some ) are visiting and staying VERY near to Tuskers in a recently opened boutique-guesthouse, so we may find ourselves meeting up there.

Yes, let's all be suspicious of new forum members.

nice.

New plane? How did it get there otherwise... Strange. And it looks like it's at a gate, too, meaning it's in some kind of regular passenger service..?

Well, welcome to Thailand.

I wouldn't tear it down, that would be vandalism after all.

However perhaps you can get creative with some resistors to tone the noise level down a bit.

He needs a work permit to work.

But more importantly, he needs to find a job first; the work permit is arranged by the company that hires him.

Note that also for voluntary work he would legally need work permit.

If there's a religious angle then there's special visas for missionary work as well.

Yes there's an English community in Thailand. Avoiding it is a lot harder than finding it.

Maybe they're improved? You wouldn't get one for a family vehicle, but as a farm workhorse.. Can't be worse than a used Mazda Familia cannit?

I have to say though things didn't completely fall apart in Chiang Mai since Thaksin's departure. Like the tunnels are actually being finished, the Royal Flora isn't ploughed over.. things are progressing just fine.

Don't forget it was Thaksin with some of the stupider ideas, like the Night Safari and talk of a new airport for Chiang Mai. (I was SO happy Airbus flew their big A380 over to Chiang Mai so it showed to everyone once and for all that the airport is just fine and can potentially handle even the A380 if need be.)

I respect Thaksin as the guy who got the majority vote and should be Thailand's lawful elected PM, but that doesn't mean I actually agree with him all of the time. (or even most of the time)

Well, personally I don't recognize 'marriage' as such as a legal construct, mostly because I think marriage is a private/family matter that the government should have no business with, and ESPECIALLY not the Thai government.

So that's why I got married, but didn't register it. It's simply none of the governments business, and with the Mrs owning a company, I don't trust Thai governments enough to keep laws and regulations fair for Thai citizens married to foreigners. It also guarantees I don't become a statistic. I think governments should stay the &lt;deleted&gt; out of people's private lives.

Actually I don't trust my own government either.. Look at what supposedly civilized Western countries inflict upon their male citizens upon divorce.. It's ludicrous and I want no part in it.

Very happily married though, and beautiful daughter.

Well, fortunately Farlang Thaivisa members don't vote.

BTW, what happened to the other poll topic, with somewhat different results and a whole lot of interesting comments in it?

I'm getting very suspicious of this site sometimes.

From what I see around me, the failure rate, even in what you'd think are more iffy couples, is really quite low. Surprising low, even.

And then, what's failure: It's only a failure in the Christian sense where any bond that doesn't last until death is a failure.

So.. you're denying that the elite/junta will keep their dirty fingers in control of politics for a long time to come?

You see them as impartial observers who's only wish is to have free elections, no matter what the people vote for??

BTW, I don't think polls can be safely edited without losing data. So lets keep it this way. It's an entirely reasonable question after all.

You might even call it a Troll Pole.

That's rich, coming from Mr. Master Troll himself..

I think it's very sensible.

There's just a lot of delusional farangs walking around thinking this is actually a democracy. And then the remainder are just worried about closing hours for bars & visa rules.