nokia

My Vigo car dealer in Chiang Mai(Niyom) also can't be bothered, so i'm wondering is there a soft copy or acrobat type file, otherwise i can only understand the pictures in the Thai version.

I think most border provinces have a problem with motorcycle thefts – particularly Honda models. A few years ago - within one month’s time - I had 2 Honda Dreams stolen from the street outside Edison. They simply picked the bike up and put it in the back of a pick up . . . witnessed by several bystanders. At that time, a few of those who “protect and serve” Chiang Rai might have been moonlighting in the export business but more recently a real effort has been made to deal with this problem.

Mymechew

Mymechew, did the insurance compensate you promptly or after a few long months?

Watches out when you drive your car to the border area, drug dealer always look for target vehicle to tag their drugs under the vehicle. Free drugs deliver without the knowledge of the vehicle’s owner.

Any advice for folks driving their new vehicles to CR or Mae Sai? Always keep an eye on the vehicle?

Chiang Rai police shoot motorcycle thief

Chiangmai Mail Report. March 4

Following on information received concerning the theft of motorcycles,

Pol. Maj. Gen. Chamnong Kaewsiri, Chiang Rai Provincial Police commander headed a force of police to check the activities of a gang of thieves who specialized in stealing motorcycles and cars and shipping them across the border into Laos, at Chiang Khong, near Chiang Rai.

The officers lay in ambush behind the Valentine Hotel where the thieves were expected to appear. Three men eventually arrived pushing a Honda motorbike without a license plate from a grove of trees behind the hotel. The officers stopped the men and asked to check the motorbike. Instead of complying with the officers’ request, the three men opened fire on the police, who returned fire to defend themselves, the exchange lasting about ten minutes.

After the noise died down, the police checked the scene and found a body holding a shotgun in his right hand but the other two men had escaped. No police were injured in the shoot-out.

The motorcycle was seized and a ring of motorbike ignition keys were recovered. All the keys belonged to Honda brand motorcycles, but no registration documents were found.

The police knew that this gang was involved with stealing vehicles and shipping them across the Thai border to export them to Laos.

Put them in the freezer and have Pla Som when you get back!

Very funny. . Maybe i will do that if i rear edible freshwater fish. Not many people enjoy eating aquarium fish like goldfish, guppies, ciclids etc. Do u?

White Crane in Sunday Plaza (adjacent to Jatujak market, opposite children's museum) with branches in the B2 floor (parking lot floor) of Emporium and Isetan Dept. store sells Eheim automatic feeder. But a bit pricey at B2,000+. You can set the machine to feed up to four times a day.

Thank Nordlys, will drop by when i come to BKK. My poor fishes had their lifespan shortened when i left them on vacation for a week or two, without Food.

Of course, if you go on retreats for 20 years you can create

tremendous inner space. But it can become almost like a police state. You

just clear the streets of all the unruly inhabitants of your mind. And

while you may get them off the streets, the guerrillas will still be

active underground. So when you leave the retreat, you begin to experience

your ordinary life as difficult and turbulent. Then you can't wait to get

to the next retreat. I am speaking very generally here, and maybe

exaggerating a bit, but I think I am describing a pattern that many of

your readers will recognize.

What the precepts do is to shut the door on all our habitual sources

of satisfaction so that our entire attention is directed inward. That is

where we discover a beauty and clarity, and a vastness of being which is

unshakable, independent of circumstances and conditions. Then when we hear

a piece of music, or see a beautiful blue sky or the fine shape of a tree,

that's an extra.

AA: That's fine. But remember that the joy only comes after the self-

surrender and sacrifice. I think as a culture, we are afraid of sacrifice.

We feel that we must own and accumulate things in order to be complete,

and not just material objects but people and relationships as well. It is

hard for us to understand that letting go is not a loss, not a

bereavement. Of course, when we lose something that is beautiful or dear

to us, there is a shadow that crosses the heart. But we enlighten that

shadow with the understanding that the feeling of loss is just the karmic

result of assuming that we owned anything in the first place. The

renunciate life is based on the realization that we can never really

possess anything.

Since it's not possible for most people to be on a permanent retreat like the working adults, elderly, sickly or handicapped, can you bring the 'retreat mood' into your home instead? Does the less fortunate eg handicapped have the privilege of entering monkhood?

------

Five things that the newly-ordained monks are exhorted to do. Laypeople should take heed, too?

Andhakavinda Sutta

At Andhakavinda

Translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

On one occasion the blessed one was staying among the Magadhans at Andhakavinda. Then Ven. Ananda went to him and, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him, "Ananda, the new monks — those who have not long gone forth, who are newcomers in this Dhamma & Discipline — should be encouraged, exhorted, and established in these five things. Which five?

"'Come, friends, be virtuous. Dwell restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha, consummate in your behavior & sphere of activity. Train yourselves, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults.' Thus they should be encouraged, exhorted, & established in restraint in accordance with the Patimokkha.

"'Come, friends, dwell with your sense faculties guarded, with mindfulness as your protector, with mindfulness as your chief, with your intellect self-protected, endowed with an awareness protected by mindfulness.' Thus they should be encouraged, exhorted, & established in restraint of the senses.

"'Come, friends, speak only a little, place limits on your conversation.' Thus they should be encouraged, exhorted, & established in limited conversation.

"'Come, friends, dwell in the wilderness. Resort to remote wilderness & forest dwellings.' Thus they should be encouraged, exhorted, & established in physical seclusion.

"Come, friends, develop right view. Be endowed with right vision.' Thus they should be encouraged, exhorted, & established in right vision.

"New monks — those who have not long gone forth, who are newcomers in this Dhamma & Discipline — should be encouraged, exhorted, and established in these five things."

I don't think there's a single answer for this question from the standpoint of lay Buddhists at least. On the level of kamma, it would all come down to the intention behind the act. Kusala or akusala?

For monks the act is a violation of one of the 227 monastic recepts and requires that the monk declare the violation to the Sangha.

It's interesting to know that it's a monastic violation and have to be declared/confessed to the abbots or fellow monks? So the monks have to overcome it during their monkhood or keep on declaring...

The 227 monastic precepts can probably be summarised by the Eightfold Path to quench desires & overcome suffering.

Although the act may be deemed as skilful, intelligent,happy or healthy, the lustful thoughts generated during the act cannot be a cause for Mental Purity(Right Thought).While we all want to be healthy(aarogya) & (sukha-vipaaka), there are certain elements of Bondage in it. Anti-(anavajja) & anti-(niddaratha)

Since an ordained monk who follow the 227 precepts is Closer to nirvana than any lay buddhists, wouldnt someone prefer to be a monk at an older age of 70-80s, rather than earlier, when his desires start to wane, physical strength lessened and when Vanaprastha ashrama should make way for sannyasa ashrama?

---Glossary of terms for newbie like me---

Sangha is a sanscrit word meaning "spiritual community".

Literally, kusala can be differently rendered as skilful, intelligent, expert; good, right, virtuous, meritorious, beneficial; lucky, happy, healthy and prosperous, as the context demands.

Akusala can, therefore, be translated into English as the opposite qualities from kusala such as unskillful, bad and so on.Like the concept of dhamma, no single English word can convey or render exactly what kusala denotes.

Kusala is a cause for moral action and mental purity whereas akusala for evil conduct and mental impurity. Akusala is described as a source of the arising of karma (kammaana"m samudayaaya) while kusala of its destruction (kammaana"m nirodha).Buddhaghosa in his commentaries further gave a fivefold connotation of kusala, namely, (i) free of illness or health (aarogya), (ii) unstained, clean and clear (anavajja), (iii) based on wisdom or intelligence (kosala-sambhuuta), (iv) freedom from bondage (niddaratha), and (v) conductive happiness or well-being (sukha-vipaaka).

Desires are present in all stages of life: brahmacharya ashrama, grihastha ashrama, vanaprastha ashrama, but the objects of desire change according to one's age. In childhood one desires toys, games and sports. In youth one desires wealth, women and progeny. In the later stages of life one does not continue with the same desires. Grihastha ashrama, householder life, is followed by vanaprastha ashrama, retirement. Retirement and old age succeed youth and middle age, so the objects of desire must change accordingly.

Vanaprastha ashrama should make way for sannyasa ashrama. Sannyasa is necessary because it provides an opportunity to give your desires a new direction. It is a turning point. I do not claim to be free of desire, but I have given a new turn to my desires. During youth and middle age you lead a life of bhoga, pleasure, but when old age comes the desires never wane; they still play havoc. Therefore, at that time the shastras suggest you turn towards sannyasa life. Either you shave your head and enter an ashram or open a hospital and involve yourself in a life of service. Once your mind is engrossed in the work of the hospital, the desires will change their direction and form.

From the doc's point of view, it's a healthy way of release for men & women, and you wont catch HIV/VD from doing it. So there's nothing wrong with it.

Nearly everybody does it and it's silly to make people feel guilty about it. SO it's difficult to agree with the R.catholic view which considers it a grave sin, and a seriously disordered act.

But anything that stems from excessive desire is bad, and will cause suffering from buddhist view.

Firstly, who's gonna judge? (I dont think any chief abbot is coming to your house to do that)

Secondly, where's the suffering apart from the pleasure?

Would any senior pursuing nirvana like to expound on it from the Law of Cause & Effect,The Four Noble Truths(cause & end of suffering), or Eightfold path(particularly Right Thought)?

P.s. I'm sure many here are parents or even grandparents, how did you advise your sonnie about wanking? Do it in the privacy of bedroom/bathroom but not in the living room?

Folks, does celibacy include abstinence from self stimulation?

COST OF LIVING / ELECTRICITY

Power goes up again, this time by nearly 7%, as Ft fee soars

BKK POST

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

The Electricity Regulatory Board yesterday raised the cost of power by almost 7%. The panel hiked the energy adjustment charge, known as Ft, by 19 satang per unit (kilowatt-hour) for the four-month period from February to May.

The 33% Ft increase, to 76 satang per unit, up from 57 satang for the October-January period, will increase the total per unit charge to slightly more than three baht, a 6.73% increase.

However, households which use less than 150 units per month will receive a 10-satang per unit Ft discount.

Board chairman Yongyuth Wichaidit said the Ft hike resulted from an 8% increase in electricity demand.

This forced generators to run on fuels which were becoming more expensive, such as natural gas and diesel oil.

Electricity purchased from independent power producers cost 1.8 baht per unit and about 1.7 baht from small power producers.

Mr Yongyuth said households which consume less than 150 units per month will receive the 10-satang discount from February to May.

As a result, electricity bills for these households will increase by an average of 10 baht.

Households using 151-400 units per month will see their bills rise an average of 27 baht and those using more than 400 units will jump by 56 baht.

The Ft rate is also expected to increase only slightly in the next four-month period, given the completion of a new natural gas pipeline and the increased use of coal for power production.

The cries of disbelief from the young!

Wisdom does come from age!

I have been celebate now for five or more years. My age helped, though I am not too old to change, but being surounded by eighty year old wrinklies makes life so much easier, LOL!

And I still believe I am more likely to die from tobacco addiction than 'internal poisoning'.

Being celebate, through choice, I have found my life to be so very much easier I doubt that I will go back to being 'active' again.

So few problems it's unbelievable.

Sir, would you have consider celibacy when you were half your age?

It would be a challenge to quit at the prime of life.

thanks folks, FWBO was placed under Buddhist Cult Advisory Service for having such controversial teachings.

i believe Celibacy is only for singles, and who intend to be monks for the rest of their life. Am i correct?

It would be difficult for a normal person to be celibate without going through monkhood, with so much temptations on the outside world....

I dont think there any TV members who are celibate but are not monks.

If you want to practice meditation become a monk.

No money needed, free accommodation and food.

Free visa extension I believe.

Sounds good, but how about a happy family practising meditation together?

Papa, mama, sonnie & daughter?

Just a fictitious scenario. Is it too far fetched?

In LOS, do thai wives generally expect something special from their expat husbands on V day even though it's a borrowed western custom?

Your braver than me I would be in the dog house if I tried that.

Yes, It is so commercial. I don't like it.

I told my husband every year, I told him I don't want flower, gift or card.

Just tell me you love me or give me a kiss.

That's practical and your husband can show his love on the other 364 days.

Valentine's day marks the start of spring-time love with the exchange of gifts. But why do we do this? Some would say to express our love for others, but others would say it's due to an over-abundance of advertisements. What do you think? To celebrate Valentine's Day, do you go out for dinner in LOS?

---

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.

In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.

What do you do when you go on vacation and there is nobody at home to feed the fishes?

Is there an automatic feeder machine?

Sex and Celibacy

Buddhism views sex as a natural part of human life, but also something that is associated with craving. As the Buddhist path involves overcoming craving this also means becoming less oriented towards sex. In most Buddhist traditions full-time practitioners have been celibate monks and nuns, and in traditional societies this was the only alternative to family life.

In modern Western society, however, there is far more flexibility in social roles than in the traditional societies where Buddhist forms have developed. The FWBO has recognised and taken advantage of this to develop a new kind of Buddhist Order which is based on shared commitment to following the Buddhist path, but which does not prescribe a particular life-style. This enables individuals involved in the FWBO to find creative and flexible ways of working out the essential Buddhist principles of overcoming craving in the particular conditions of their own lives. Some Order members are married, some are single, and some are celibate; some are gay and some are straight. None of these options is in and of itself seen as being better than any other: the same ethical and spiritual principles apply in each case.

The practice of celibacy is increasingly emphasised within the FWBO, as something to work towards by becoming increasingly contented and self-aware. A growing number of members of the Western Buddhist Order have become anagarikas, meaning that they have adopted a monastic lifestyle based on chastity, simplicity, and fewness of possessions.

---From FWBO website

What do you think of The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and their views?

Well, different hospitals have different expertise, and different people have different ailments.

So it's difficult to compare, unless based on a common thread.

For example if you have a common cold/flu/cough, which hospital/clinic would you go to?

And how is the service like, the waiting time, and do you feel the charges are reasonable?

McCormick charges about two hundred over baht for the above, included 120b for consultation, and the rest for medicine. Waiting time is about an hour.

Any comparison or recommendation from our CM folks?

Yes, it's a weird question/idea. Just wondering about different possibilities in LOS.

Like what Guesthouse said, we are all fortunate to have a permanent shelter over our heads,

but fortunes do change, laws do change, and people do change.

"there is nothing permanent, all things are constantly changing."

We can make the best long term planning, calculate the best returns from our share portfolio, deposits, pensions but shouldnt we be prepared for any eventuality? Like what they say

"Hope for the Best, but prepare for the Worst"

I have learnt that nature can wreck havoc on the wisest plans of humans. eg New Orleans, Tsunami etc.

Why not just use a tent instead and then you could move from jungle to jungle, or for a change jungle to beach to jungle to city etc etc.

Since camping is legal in LOS, provided you pay 200 baht fee for nat parks, it sounds practical.

If you tried to build something the police would find out for sure and wonder what the heck you were up to....you would be a neighborhood celebrity for sure no matter where you did this....and....once the police come by if you understood that they like to drink tea you could probably offer them some funds to help keep them in tea.....but....if you moved to a small village you could probably rent a hut for next to nothing. I knew a man who rented a one bedroom cottage in Nong Khai for 1300 baht per month and it was very liveable...he installed his own air con and it was great. I'm sure that there are places even cheaper if you look. If you really want to meditate in the forest then maybe you should check out becoming a monk...if you were a monk you could live in a wat for the cost of toothpaste, toilet paper, and razor blades!

Yup, it's possible to rent a flimsy mud hut for 500b per month at the Thai-Myanmar border from the KMT chinese. Unfortunately, wats do not accept couples so unless someone wishes to consider permanent celibacy like a "Phra Tu Dong".

Thanks tom yum goong & Bung for sharing their views.

Will check out Lamina and Myridium at the auto shops.

Cheers!

There are many slums or illegal squatter settlements on the fringes on BKK.

If an expat squat by building a hut in the capital or in the forest of any province,

would he be singled out & evicted ASAP because he's a foreigner and not a local/tribal,

or would they say "Mai Pen Rai"?

Let's say an expat wishes to stretch his limited retirement monies of 800K for a period of 30 years with no pension, and at the same time, practise meditation by living in the forest.

Opps,sorry the page didnt load properly. Would the same thing happen in tolerant LOS?

-----

Schroeder calls for sensitivity to Muslims

From: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Jeddah

February 12, 2006

THE Jeddah Economic Forum opened overnight with an appeal by former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for Europeans to show more sensitivity to the beliefs of Muslims and with Saudi calls for homegrown democratic change.

The three-day forum was launched in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, with Saudi and foreign participants including former US vice president Al Gore and Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Schroeder's call was linked to the row raging around the world over the printing of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, which Muslims consider as blasphemous.

"European integration is built upon the foundation of respect of other cultures, tolerance and the recognition of diversity," Mr Schroeder told the seventh annual edition of the forum, whose theme is: "Honouring Identity and Celebrating common grounds."

"This includes refraining from acts that hurt honest religious sentiment. Unfortunately in the last few months this sensitivity has been lacking in many places, including Europe," he added.

"We must get back on the path of tolerance and respect of cultural and religious beliefs," said Mr Schroeder who was welcomed by the Saudi conference organisers as an "old friend."

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"We want to build bridges between our cultures," he said.

While saying he was "distressed" over the publication of the cartoons, Schroeder denounced the violent backlash by some Muslim extremists that has led to the death of 13 people around the world.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in Saudi Arabia on Monday at the start of a five-stop Middle East tour to repair ties with the region strained by the cartoons.

He was due to meet in Jeddah with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference, before heading for more talks in the capital of the kingdom, which houses Islam's two holiest sites.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the cartoons crisis was mismanaged from the go by the Danish government while lamenting the rise of Islamophobia."

"The handling of the issue has been mis-managed," he said.

But Iran, which has taken a more hardline posture in the row, saw a more sinister motive in the publication of the cartoons.

"An ugly face of imposed globilisation or westernisation is the humiliation of non-western values ... insisting to publish cartoons of the holiest person for Muslims in the name of freedom of expression and breaking taboos," said Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh-Attar.

Meanwhile, Saudi Information Minister Iyad Madani said the ultra-conservative kingdom, which has been under intense pressure to introduce reform, favoured homegrown democracy to the West's liberal system.

"When it comes to the challenge of democracy ... we accept democracy. But we keep in mind it is an enormously broad notion ... Direct democracy is a fairer form of political organisation than liberal (Western) democracy," he said.

In his annual State of the Union speech, US President George W. Bush called on Riyadh to expand political reform, and raised the oil-rich country's concerns by calling for a drastic cut in US oil imports from the Middle East.

"Saudi Arabia is a moderating force in this region and the world at large," insisted Mr Madani.

Saudi Arabia held landmark male-only polls last year to pick half the members of municipal councils, in the first introduction of elections in the kingdom as part of the slow process of reform tailored by the authorities.

Women in Saudi Arabia are forced to cover from head to toe when in public, and they are not allowed to travel or obtain an identity card without the consent of a male guardian. They are banned from driving.

But Mr Madani said "there is nothing in the Saudi legislation that forbids Saudi women to apply for a driving licence."

However if such a request was declined, women had the right to resort to justice, he said.

"It is a road that can only be travelled by those who believe in those issues," he said, apparently hinting that it was up to women themselves to take the initiative to win such rights.

From correspondents in Jeddah

February 12, 2006

The three-day forum was launched in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, with Saudi and foreign participants including former US vice president Al Gore and Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Schroeder's call was linked to the row raging around the world over the printing of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, which Muslims consider as blasphemous.

"European integration is built upon the foundation of respect of other cultures, tolerance and the recognition of diversity," Mr Schroeder told the seventh annual edition of the forum, whose theme is: "Honouring Identity and Celebrating common grounds."

"This includes refraining from acts that hurt honest religious sentiment. Unfortunately in the last few months this sensitivity has been lacking in many places, including Europe," he added.

"We must get back on the path of tolerance and respect of cultural and religious beliefs," said Mr Schroeder who was welcomed by the Saudi conference organisers as an "old friend."

It's a terrible deed indeed. Unfortunately the visa-free policy of LOS attracts both the genuine tourists as well as miscreants with criminal records.

Australian accused of raping 2 year old step-daughter

ChiangMai Mail.

Nopniwat Krailerg

Accused Australian national, Jason Daron Mizner, 32

On January 30 Ple, (real name withheld), 30, mother of Noi, (name suppressed), 2, informed Mae Rim Police Station officers of the rape of her daughter accusing an Australian national Jason, her new husband of only a month. This act occurred at their rented house on Arak Road, Tambon Phra Singh in Muang, Chiang Mai on day that she informed police. She showed the police a video recording that Jason had made whilst raping the little girl, which after being checked by the police forensic department, appeared a genuine record of this illegal act. The little girl was taken to Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital where doctors found evidence of sexual assault with sperm present in the baby’s vagina, which was later verified be that of the husband when compared with his DNA.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Panupong Singhara Na Ayuthaya, commissioner of Provincial Police Bureau Region 5 (left) checking evidence.

The mother said that she had dated Jason for one month before he asked her to marry him. On the day the rape took place, they agreed that he would move his belongings to her house and live with her. He went to fetch his possessions and asked to take the little girl along with him. When they returned, her daughter cried, complaining of pain in her lower stomach. She examined her and realized that Jason had done something bad to the girl, but when questioned, he claimed she had fallen down and hurt herself. She later found the video and opened it, immediately informing the police when she realized the contents.

On February 1, Pol. Lt. Gen. Panupong Singhara Na Ayuthaya, commissioner of Provincial Police Bureau Region 5 and Pol. Maj. Gen. Jiruj Promobol, Chiang Mai Provincial Police comman-der together with Pol. Col. Montree Sambunnanon, Mae Rim Police Station superintendent jointly held a press conference and informed reporters of the arrest of the Australian national, Jason Daron Mizner, 32, and charged with raping a girl younger than 13 years old.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Panupong also said that they had learned from the Australian Juvenile police authorities that there was an arrest warrant in force for this offender, in Queensland, Australia, for the rape of a young girl in his home country, but he had escaped arrest by fleeing to Thailand. He would be kept in custody here in Thailand and would extradited to Australia.

dear motoring folks,

Which window film/tints is good? Is 3M brand the only reliable one for tints, how about local brands?

Is silver colour or the dark/black colour better? What is a reasonable cost?

Would a vehicle with Black tinted windows, front & rear windscreens, full of privacy but not safe to drive because it's harder to spot incoming motorbikes with more blindspots?

Cheers!