ucantbeserious

well i couldn't read the free pages,

when will people stop posting illegible images instead of text.??

but there is one abiding thing that always seems to be to the forefront of these discussions.

the lack of reciprocity.

going back years ago i was in a teacher training seminar thing which taught newbies about how and what to do in thailand.

so we would not offend the thai people in schools.

so you bend over backwards to be nice.

the thai administrators do absolutely nothing to accomodate the foreigners' culture.

its a one-way street.

this syndrome is common on this forum and all over Thailand wherever i have been.

you are expected to erase your own self-respect, you are lower than a dog on the thai social scale.

you are expected to deny your own culture and believe all thai culture is sacrosanct.

well i don't play this game anymore.

my culture and education and thinking processes are generally much superior to thai culture and the thai people i have met.

why should i surrender?

if thai's are so narrow minded that they won't make allowances for foreign ways of doing things,

and even learn something good from them,

then i believe its their loss.

this is so true when you see the talent and intelligence that many foreign teachers have

that is simply ignored and not utilised as a valuable resource.

its their loss.

i know many guys are happy in the village.

good luck to them.

for them its fitting in... for me its unacceptable surrender.

i have never had a thai girlfriend.

on the occassions when i have been "courting" a thai girl,

i have always had the impression that if a realtionship ensues it will only be on her terms.

yes, i know there are many girls not like this, but thats my experience.

these are women with education and reasonable jobs.

as soon as it feels like i am "buying" their love , i am gone.

hahh, i hear you say, you don't understand thai culture.

hahhh, i say, well maybe i prefer to understand the person first.

there is no answer,

it will always be a murky mess.

flame away!!!!!!!!

nope never checked ur profile...

ok asked and answered,, that at least.

what about the more important questions i posted?

any response?

speechless yet again.....

it might work if they pay some students to come down from Laos.

i know these announcements are just for show, to be seen to be doing something,

but what i can't believe is that

the people who make these announcements don't seem to realise how unbelievably stupid they look saying such things.

i guess the government works just like the schools do,

stupid kids are allowed to be stupid, never fail, are never constructively criticized and think they are not stupid.

i just wish the govt. would publish a monthly Hub Report,

its so hard to keep up with the ongoing success stories.

i wonder if some of these volunteers might like to give us an honest and true account of the Tourist Police and what they do.

Since they are so close to the action, they must know the modus operandi.

there's an old saying, "you can tell a man by the company he keeps".

All my experiences with police and tourist police are simple and predictable.

they do nothing,

except if they can make money out of you they will do something to get the money.

i reckon they might do 2 things,

break up fights.

take down theft reports for insurance claims.

i guess thats slightly helpful.

love to know the inside dirt, i bet i won't see it on that tv doco,

i bet the volunteers won't be telling us either.

well at my advanced age, i have never been married, but if i do i will be forced into choosing a much younger girl.

let's say 35 would be the best age for me,

well there are almost no 35yo women with no kids who would marry me.

(i ain't no oil painting, but not so fat and not so ugly!).

they don't exist in my social circles (hi-so at home and low-so in Thai).

so she will be most likely late 20's,

i would be very embarrased to have a 20yo, idea freaks me out actually.

so, like the OP, i am targeting my efforts where the rewards are most likely to be found,

the lucky girl i choose will be so grateful she will be involuntarily overcome with extreme love and passion for myself,

(but even at this stage, like Burt Lancaster in Dr. Strangelove, i am still saving my precious sperm until she proves she deserves it),

Other people may look with raised eyebrows, but when they see her intense devotion to me they will be reassured that its a genuine made-in-heaven match and wasn't he a wise man to save himself for a girl who understands how wonderful he is.

(I think i can fix her embarrassing Indian-English accent with daily Pygmalion-style tutoring).

Finally, with some Thai language lessons to change her "l's" into "rs" and a new family history that comes from somewhere like Chumpon,

we will be protected from snide whispered asides from our good friends.

There will be some rules she must obey.

Her school uniform she loves so much can only be worn inside the house.

Dresses she wears for outside must have the hem touch the floor when she kneels down (thanks to the Catholic nuns for this time-honoured test).

Some language lessons so she says 'I won't be long darling" instead of "I go for short time" when going to the seven.

is it real love?

"Yes, by Jove, I think he's got it"

can someone translate that into english?

Culture would have to be the most abused word by far in this forum.

an easy word to use, and useful in arguments,

because saying something is "culture" gives it a sort of respected legitimacy.

Culture ? or is it just a social norm?

example from Aus,

the idea of "mateship", blokes looking after blokes, supposedly born in the trenches in WW1,

has been elevated and used particularly by a former prime minister,

to an almost sacred level.

when an idea achieves this status in a society, the idea becomes unassailable.

its very funny because the most common expression of "mateship" would be a few blokes standing around a "barbie" (BBQ) eating sausages and drinking beer.

a delightful sacred ritual.

so, when in Rome do as the Romans do?

up to you...

personally, often i don't, just because i have become so sick of stupidness, i think it needs to highlighted, else there is no possibility of change.

i find an interesting comparison is between asian "saving face" and the USA version of "self-esteem".

whereas "saving face" seems to keep everyone at the same base level of "worth",

"self-esteem" seems to be a fight to elevate everyone to a higher imagined level of "worth".

a soft approach versus a struggle approach.

i would take to task a statement in a previous post,

quote:

"analytical thought and discussion is not an asian trait and why absolute truth is less valued."

endquote:

particulalrly from a Buddhist point of view, this is simply ignorant.

for example , the Buddhist analysis of the mind is still far ahead of western psychology (my opinion),

absolute truth, of course, is the very core of Buddhist teaching (the Four Noble Truths),

gunpowder? great walls? art?

about the same time the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were conjecturing about "atoms",

the Buddha was teaching about "kalappas", the fundamental component of existence which arises and falls millions of times per second (shades of modern atomic physics).

"saving face", "mai pen rai", "no responsibility" and "not criticizing" do a nice job in making an apparent social harmony,

but when you see what these things do to the education system, you realise what a roadblock they are to the society making progress.

ah well.....

what can i do?

seems to me the Thai extreme dislike of Burmese goes back to when he Burmese conquered "Thailand" twice.

"Thailand" was just a collection of rice fields from Ayutthaya up to Chiang Mai.

Occupying Ayutthaya meant occupying the whole country, not real hard.

a thai female teacher once expressed a spitting disgust when i said i like Burma.

so the guy who ran away from Ayutthaya came back and ran off the tiny Burmese force, then jogged down to Thonburi,

thats his statue at Wong Wiang Yai, King Taksin.

maybe the question is not why is xenophobia so strong in Thailand,

but rather why do Thais think they are so wonderful?

IMHO they have no reason to feel special and superior.

where does this come from?

truth in advertising

i have a small kit that fits in a nice small bag and covers anything i want to shoot.

D80 body

sigma 12-24

nikkor 24-120

nikkor 80-200

nikkor 55 micro

i hardly ever use the 80-200.

extreme telephoto pics are usually not attractive.

you need WIDE for landscapes and temples/interiors.

the 55 micro is 30 years old, i find it very useful for copying ID cards/passport pages etc.

only works on manual.

nothing wrong with buying old good quality lenses.

time to go to Thailand?

1. buy ticket

2. get visa.

3. check into hospital.

4. have heart extracted and cryogenically frozen.

5. board airplane.

6. arrive protected.

i reckon its also an "attitude" thing.

what is your basic "approach" or "attitude" to being in Thailand?

the ones who seem to survive the best have a "detached" attitude.

one way is to use your money as a weapon and insulator,

so you play the "big bwana" man and do everything your own way.

the following is a generalization with apologies to those who have manged to successfully "fit in".

i made the mistake of trying to be nice and "fit in",

this doesn't work because you are not wanted and/or you are resented.

(this becomes bluntly obvious when you make it clear that you are not a "bunny" and your ATM card is stuck fast in your wallet from lack of use).

then when you get so much cr*p shoved in your face you feel miserable coz you have really tried hard to be nice.

an attitude change can relieve this symptom.

so now i approach Thailand with,

"well if they are going to use me, then i will use them, for what i want, in any way i can"

let the games begin!

there used to be a few nightclubs on Phetkasem rd. up that way.

and down below Wong Wiang Yai there was a bit of action also.

ummm.. why not just ask them?

i am kinda out of the loop in recent years,

but i found it interesting that some people say that the Goenka thing is a cult.

when i started doing courses in Aus in the late 1970's , there were certainly a number of very keen meditators,

courses were organised one at a time by these folks, inviting a teacher from the U Ba Khin tradition,

finding money for the teacher's airfare, hiring a camp, getting volunteers,

quite a lot of work by dedicated people.

we had John Coleman, the lady known as "Saya Ma" (lit: "teacher lady", whose real name i forget), Goenka and another american man whose name i also forget, come to give courses.

all these teachers were taught by U Ba Khin,

John Coleman spoke of Saya Ma being there to take care of his needs when he was meditating,

(his book is worth reading).

there was no established centre in aus until later, the first was built in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney,

before that, there were "Dhamma Houses", just a rented house where courses could be given,

by this time some meditators were progressing well and were appointed Assistant Teachers by Goenka,

so courses were then more readily available.

About this time, when Saya Ma and her husband left Burma, there was kind of a "split" between Goenka and Saya Ma,

over, i think, a fairly minor aspect of the giving of Vipassana.

the Goenka teaching did grow quite quickly as we now see,

i have always found the Goenka tradition teachers to be excellent.

some of my friends from those days are now Teachers and Assistant Teachers in the Goenka centres.

i remember them as very good people back then.

in the 70's they had to fly into Rangoon for 7 days, leave and come back for 3 more days to finish the course,

talk about keen!

these courses were conducted by Goenka, and others as well i think, at U Ba Khin's International Meditation Centre.

around that time, both Goenka and Saya Ma chose to leave Burma knowing they might never be allowed to return.

the Dhamma tradition from U Ba Khin comes from the respected monk Ledi Sayadaw (died 1923), whose book "The Manuals of Buddhism" is excellent.

the Mahasi Sayadaw centre in Rangoon was also very popular back then,

this was a different "style" of Vipassana which is now taught by Sayadaw U Pandita and others,

it uses walking meditation and a different type of Samaddhi.

my experience has never been anything like a "cult",

perhaps overly keen meditators can give that impression,

this is documented and often happens in the early days of being a meditator.

anyhow, there's a bit of history in case its of interest.

just a note:

it is extremely important to have a good teacher,

you are opening your mind and heart and the contents can be confusing and painful.

a good teacher will guide you safely through the experience,

they actually do this without you knowing about it.

Vipassana without a good teacher can actually be potentially dangerous to your mental health.

I hope all those courses go broke and the owners are reduced to driving toyotas.

as i said elsewhere,

golf in thailand is very expensive, a blatant rip-off, money for jam for the owners.

why are there no real deep discounts?

because, as with many hotels/resorts, they really don't need to to cover costs.

just one full green fee (or 3000 baht a night room) pays for a very large part of daily expenses/wages.

one green fee = almost 1 weeks wages for an employee,

compared to in the west it would pay for only a few hours of the employees time.

its simply too easy for them to stay solvent,

because we are paying 5 times more than we should!!

a good example i have seen is the santiburi on samui,

a 4000 baht green fee, each time i looked at it (no way i was paying to play) it was empty, maybe i saw 4 people playing and 4 people in the restaurant.

the owner has deep pockets and say 4 green fees a day pays for a a lot of wages,

so don't expect discounts there.

i found it weird that after my other post, many folks seemed unable to understand simple business income - expenditure = profit.

to say golf is cheap in thailand because it costs 10 times more in japan is silly.

you can't play golf in thailand in japan!

caddies are such a scam also, apart from being mostly useless as real caddies,

its a lot of money for a bag dragger.

wouldn't it be nice to take your own caddy,

a lady you have trained to understand the game and got to know as a friend,

550 baht for a days work is very good money.

or even take your daily girlfriend (not a great caddy, but a lot of fun i would think),

and for less money........

i notice regulars are playing less also, income from investments is way down, suddenly a days golf looks much more expensive!!

unfortunately, they will all survive.....

because we are paying FAR TOO MUCH!!!!

seems to me the word "dirty" is the key in the use of the term.

the notion that normal everyday sex is "dirty" in certain circumstances,

i suggest, comes from christian guilt ridden cultures.

why would a difference in age make sex "dirty"?

why not "horny old man", "lecherous old man", "creepy old man" etc,

coz those terms don't infer immorality in the christian sense.

i notice the thai terms mentioned don't actually use the word "dirty".

you're his manager?

"limited few" !!!!! really!!!!!

quote

Surely though, when you factor in the extra costs to your 40-50 AUDs green fee then it becomes equally, if not more expensive....??

endquote

what extra costs? there are none... petrol for my car? ok $5

yep..

i am a barrel of laughs!!!!... very funny guy really,,, really i am... honest.... ask all the ban chang girls!!!!

they always laugh when i walk in..........

but seriously.... (oops there goes the laughs),

most people don't "have fun" playing golf.

those who say they are just out for fun and fresh air and don't care about how they play, are lying.

everyone is trying to do something that they think they can, but actually can't.

it should be like that.

thats why we love it.

the challenge.

ain't google in cahoots with thai visa a funny bunch...

at bottom of previous page was an ad for mythailadyboy.com

ah, when ethics are subverted by money..............

anyone seen those large billboards proudly announcing

"70% of Thailands energy comes from natural gas".

haa haaa guess where it comes from,

they don't mention that in the fine print.

i was pointing out relative costs,

the only thing cheaper in Thailand is practice balls.

there is no logic in saying that its ok to pay expensive prices because you can get relief afterwards cheaply,

though, undeniably, this is a bonus, it has nothig to do with golf prices.

i guess good value is relative to time

Plutaluang navy used to be 500 baht not so long ago!! (greens are usually awful)

i have said this before,

i reckon golf around pattaya is dam_n expensive,

e.g. for a day out with a bar group

group fee 200-300

transport 200

green fee 700-1000

caddy fee 250

caddy tip 200 (expected, though i strongly disagree, most caddies are near useless).

1 large beer 120-140

= 1670 minimum (that's about the cheapest day out you could ever get, so add more for most).

= $66 AUD

can do better for cheaper in Aus.

e.g. a genuine Faldo design course with fabulous greens, beautiful fairways (couch grass) , in excellent condition. 40-50AUD green fee.

and its so hot playing its not enjoyable to boot....

and the courses are generally very average in design and condition.

and the fairway grasses are terrible for hitting golf shots, not like the real thing at all...

i guess i am spoiled at home, member of one the top 50 courses in Aus,

pay approx. 60K baht per year (cheap coz its not in a major city), unlimited golf, great course in great condition.

i reckon if you want to play everyday and work on your game,

as chiang mai guy said,

go somewhere cooler, quieter and cheaper,

kanchanaburi?

chiang rai sounds attractive,

Udon Thani area?

if you want to improve you need to find a good teacher

(almost impossible in Thailand, so many could-have-been farangs and struggling Thai teachers),

and hit 300-500 balls every day you don't play.

"Every day you don't practice is one day further away from being any good".

Ben Hogan

Tip for the day:

"When playing, its not about hitting great shots, its about controlling the golf ball."

"I signed my contract, took it to immigration (in BKK), and received my non B visa valid for 3 months. " mizzi39

really?

new law?

used to have to go outside thai to an embassy to apply for a non-B.

has it changed?

you used to be "safe" as long as the school had applied for your work permit,

many of course just don't bother.

it is typically insane if you want to get a teaching job on spec, it used to be like this.

arrive with tourist visa or stamp.

look for job.

get job.

get paperwork from school, go to foreign country thai embassy for non-B visa.

come back,

wait probably a long time for school to do paperwork for work permit.

wait for application,

2 visits to labour office.

3 months would be quick.

and

many schools simply string the teachers out with no intention of supplying a work permit.

blame the farang??????????

obviously, the real issue here, as others have pointed out, is the lack of due process i.e. systemic and condoned criminal behaviour by the police in Thailand.

this story gives me flashbacks to when i was arrested once for drunk driving (seriously!! i couldn't believe it either).

i was locked in police station cells and basically held incommunicado until i came up with the bail,

i was not allowed to make a phone call, requests to phone my embassy were ignored.

bail was set at 40K baht, this, i am told this can be any amount the police choose, a thai person would maybe get 10K baht bail.

to get out i had to pay the middleman, who sits by the cells doorway, 10K baht and she put up the bail (yeah right!), and surrender my passport,

i had to trust a policeman with my bank card and PIN number and pay him 1K baht to go to an ATM for the 10K cash.

story went on, was fined 3K baht by court then extorted again by the immigration police.

so, i can understand how it feels to held by corrupt police with guns, you just have to get out, or you may rot somewhere for months.

in a country with a real legal system the police should have been arrested and charged with serious offences.

to all the "holier than thou" posters here, well it could happen to you!

noone really disagrees with "if you do the crime, you do the time",

but when the 'time" is totally arbitrary and calculated by people with guns intimidating you, its a worse crime in itself.

p.s. not long before my experience, a thai couple were arrested and held for a month in these same cells,

released without being taken to a court (i guess they could not make the bail, and the police had no evidence of a crime),

then they were arrested again very soon after and locked up again,

unable to pay bail (i guess) the woman gave birth to a child in the cells.

this case was taken up by the Thai lawyers council, but i don't know any outcome.

BTW. we are not surprised that the corrupt King Power company still is there when they were supposed to be kicked out for corrupt behaviour.

this country is full of poorly educated workers,

living a dull repetition of working, drinking and having "fun".

heavily in debt, frequently gambling and pretending to believe in religion.

gossiping about neighbours, talk about the soapies and the weather.

this country is Australia.

my country.

feel free to criticize and most likely i will agree with you.

so..

why is Thailand a special case?

why does Thailand have to treated with cotton gloves?

what is wrong with speaking the truth?

==================================

yes,

personally, this punter has never met a Thai person who would have been able to write the original post.

(yes, i must move in the wrong circles).

i have listened to the current PM, educated in England i believe, i can't imagine him being able to write it (am i allowed to say that?)

i am not saying they don't exist, but also i can't imagine they would be wasting their time on forums.

should i be more "culturally sensitive"?

in Saudi Arabia, Iran etc. and try to understand and make allowances for stupid brutal behaviour?

My abiding thought nowadays is "Thailand - if only it were true".