nicholasday

Yes very much looking forward to seeing what the new Pen-ek film is like. He seemed to go a bit downhill recently. Ploy was only ok and Invisible waves was not very good. No idea when it is coming out. I hear it is a psychological horror and very different from your average Thai horror. I also recommend his first film of Fun Bar karaoke. Pen-ek (and a number of other thai directors) started out making adverts. Here is a very funny one by Pen-ek:

Haven't seen Sia Dai but Sia Dai 2 is good although kinda depressing. Story of a young thai girl who gets HIV from a blood transfusion. I don't see what the fuss is about Alone. I saw it and thought it was just boring. Nowhere near as good as Shutter.

I don't know Memory, What is it about?

One film i am looking forward to is Insi Daeng (the red eagle) Is the remake of the 1960's series of film staring Thai film legend Mit Chaibancha. Is original Thai comic book style action hero. Is being made by same director of Tears of the Black tiger and Citizen dog so is bound to be good. Is staring Ananda Everingham who I think is very good. He was the lead actor in Shutter.

The problem with finding Thai films with English subtitles in Thailand is that often the production company will get into a deal with some Hong Kong distributor to sell the film on the international market with English subtitles and part of the deal is that that company will have the exclusive rights to sell the film with English subtitles. This means that they don't want Thai companies selling it for cheaper and then exporting them. Therefore often the only way to get them with English subtitles is to wait until they end up on those websites that i gave earlier.

Although some films never get English subtitles as they don't expect there to be an international market for them so is not worth the cost. In that case you just have to learn Thai.

Well try various video shops in thailand. But can also buy online at amazon or http://www.ethaicd.com/ or http://www.hkflix.com/home.asp

Also to add to my last list is Fan Chan (My girl)

Check out this blog (http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/). Is an excellent English language blog about Thai film. Lots of reviews of Thai films there.

I recommend

Monrak Transistor, Dorm, Shutter (best Thai horror film), Syndomes and a century (very art-hourse thai film), Citizen dog, Tears of the black tiger, 6ixty Nin9, Last life in the universe, The first film of the สี่แพร่ง (sii praeng/ 4bia) compilation, beautiful boxer,

I read http://www.prachatai.net/english/ is the best Thai written English language news about Thailand. I also read a variety of blogs. I think the benefit of blogs is that there are lots of different ones out there and are about very specific topics so you can find the information about what you are interested in. Also most allow comments so there is an debate about the information in them. You can also read different blogs on the same topics and get different points of view and make your own mind up.

Thailand politics blogs i recommend:

http://www.2bangkok.com/

http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/

http://khikwai.com/blog/

http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/

http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/

http://thaicrisis.wordpress.com/ (mainly economics based but includes politics)

http://thailandjumpedtheshark.blogspot.com/

I believe Saw saw (ส.ส.) is an abbreviation for Samachik Sapar สมาชิก สภา which means member of parliament. I don't know whether the Nayok Or Por Dor reports to a member of parliament though. I would guess not.

Just randomly came across this (http://iteslj.org/v/th/). Is a bunch of free online Thai/English vocab quizzes. You will need to already read Thai but if you can then this might help people learn some more vocab. Could probably also be used for teaching Thais English (Which i think it was mainly designed for).

Hope someone finds it useful.

I wouldn't necessarily call them castes. They are levels of the royal family. Like Lord, Duke, Earl etc. Although i am not sure which one is higher than the other.

Yeah that blog pretty much sums it up.

"Ladda Tangsuphachai, director of cultural monitoring for the Ministry of Culture, says aeb baew is both an affectation and a fashion, a trend which has taken hold among today's young.

She says a distinctive feature of today's youth is that they no longer know what's right or wrong. They just copy things, she says. It's a trend in the wrong direction, in a perverse society which likes to take right for wrong, wrong for right. Parents, she says, need to take more interest in their children, to teach them right from wrong, and how to behave."

I seriously hate this woman so much. Anything that is not in her idea of "traditional Thai culture" is just evil and wrong and should be got rid of. Can someone tell her that cultures change and that things move on. She is like the Thai national kill-joy who gets to decide if something is proper Thai culture or not.

Ha Ha Ab-baew (แอ๊บแบ๊ว) is a new Thai word. I think it was put into the latest official dictionary or something. Basically it is the act of trying to look really cute and innocent. Especially when combined with the whole V sign with your fingers. Basically the way lots of Thai people try to look when taking pictures of themselves. Just go to google images and search for แอ๊บแบ๊ว and you will soon understand. I don't think it is used in a negative way. I believe แอ๊บ (ab) is meant to come from the english abnormal but i dont know about where แบ๊ว (baew) comes from. I had a t-shirt with big words saying แอ๊บแบ๊ว on it. Lots of people found it very funny.

Saparn Put market. Huge variety of flowers at very cheap prices. Am sure you can get whatever you want there. Might just be open in evening and early morning but not quite sure. Sure someone else will know.

You can find cheap places under 10,000bht a month that rent month to month. a number of places will want at least 6 month but others don't mind. Just say to them that you might stay longer.

My tip for finding a place is just find the area you want to live in and then just walk around and go into any place that looks like it is an apartment building. Might help if you have someone who can speak thai a bit for you. But depends on each place.

Usually right at the start of June. That's what it is at Thammasat although varies slightly with different universities. Unless is international programme and might be around August/September.

Try the university's website or call them up.

Was watching TV one night and there was a program about foreigners living in Thailand and they had an interview with a foreign emergency response volunteer who could speak good Thai. Can't remember what he looked like but this is probably him. Doubt there are many around.

I studied at Thammsat as an exchange student. wasn't on the thai studies program but could maybe answer any general questions you have about studying there. Feel free to message me.

If you are currently in thailand try calling them or going round to the office. They have people who speak English and they could answer your questions about registering on the program.

Miss Thammsat so much. Is a really great place. Had a great time there.

Hmm two possibilities i would say. Neither of them very good.

1) Sky-train it down to Sapharn Taksin and then take river boat up to Phra Attite pier which is only a few minutes walk to Kaosan. Although this could possibly take just as long (but you do get a nice trip on the river -make sure you take the river taxi boat and not the tourist boat. Should cost about 25-30 baht if i remember).

2) Or take the lovely saen-saeb canal boat which you can get near MBK and get off at the end and have a 5 min walk to kaosan. (thats if you can handle the smell and make sure you keep your mouth closed - although is very quick and is very cheap)

Suppose it depends on what time of day you are going and if these services are running at that time.

Whichever you take is more fun than sitting stuck in a taxi.

i knew an american guy who did a masters at mahidol and then went on to do a Phd in the states.

As for Sasin, my friends sister works in admin for Sasin and says that the quality is not great. People only go there to network with other people and not for the actual education.

My friend at ramkhamheng learnt some spanish, i think someone i know did some spanish at Prince of Songkla Phuket, and they also teach it to some students doing southeast asian studies at thammasat. Try the universities rather than high-schools.

Monrak transistor, last life in the universe, shutter, dek hor (dorm), fan chan, syndromes and a century, Fun Bar karaoke, ong bak, Ai Fak, sii preang (4 bia), beautiful boxer, Citizen dog, tears of the black tiger, 6ixty nin9, Beautiful Boxer and many more.

Really depends on what type of film you want to see. There is a lot of rubbish out there but also a lot of very good stuff. In the last 10 years Thai films have had a bit of a resurgence with many gaining international awards and being at international film festivals.

check out this very good english language blog about thai films http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/

I am a bit of a thai film buff so feel free to ask any questions.

I highly recommend this website. It gives links to loads of different websites that host videos. If it exists in video form on the internet then you can probably find it here: http://www.ovguide.com/index.html

In class i often had teachers ask มีอะไรสงสัยไหม่ (Mii arai songsai Mai). Basically asking if anyone had any question or anything they wanted to know. So wonder would be a pretty good translation. สงสัย could also be translated as suspect. There is an idiom of สงสัยฝนจะตก (songsai fon ja tok) literally meaning i suspect it will rain. but have been told it means that you are suspicious about something. although have never actually heard anyone use it in normal speach.

Have to love the consulate in Hull. So simple and easy. Wonder if it is because it is run by a farang.

Hi,

I was thinking of applying for non-im O visa for visiting friends. On the notes for filling out the form it asks for a letter from a sponsor as evidence substantiating purpose of visit. Do i actually need this? Would have no problem getting one just wanted to know if this is necessary. If i do need one, who is a suitable person to get one from? I noticed it says for purpose of visiting "Non-Thai" friends. So can't get visa for visiting Thai friends? What sort of details does the sponsors letter have to contain?

Thanks

Nick

I don't know for certain but what i have heard is that a TV still uses half the amount of energy when it is on standby as when it is on full. Save the world, save some money turn it off. doesn't take much to just push the main button when you go to bed or leave the house.