mauGR1

Sorry, double post.

Very interesting post Brahms, and beautiful picture of the cliff !

Sorry cannot tell you anything about the kilns, but i guess you'll find some answers soon.

Good luck for your project, it seems a really good idea.

Try answering these two questions without bringing anything else into the discussion:

1. Do Thais tend to discriminate against certain groups of people?

2. Is discrimination right or wrong?

Please tell us a place with no discrimination,

The Moon ?

I have my own bland prejudices about "the worst and most obnoxious" , but i wouldn't be fair to point the finger to any race or nationality, IMO.

Btw, i am sure most will agree, large groups of ANY nationality travelling together can be obnoxious.

In the best of the cases they are noisy.There is something i cannot understand about 'package tourism'.Boring to say the least

I also have to say that the average of Thai people who work with tourists are way more patient than i would be.

Well, I think you did not read the story of George Richie, becos I can not write what you write after having read this book without just telling: Richie is a liar.

I also think fabianfred never read this book or even studied this phenomenon, becos as I wrote before, his remark only confirmed what I wrote: In telling about his near dead experience Richie just remembered his experiences being in this dead state and they were of complete different nature as any other experience before and by his story he even refuted in a dramatic way the easy theory this state of consciousness was caused by some chemical event in his body.

so , no offend , but I would say your both remarks are quite superficial remarks.

Hi christiaan, i didn't read the book you mention, but i heard something about "near death experiences", and apparently some people are telling the truth about their own experience.

I might be wrong, but i am suspecting that the 'thinking activity' doesn't necessarily stops working when the heart stops beating.

That's could be also a good reason why, in all the traditions i know, they use to bury, or burn the body of the deceased not before 3 days have passed after the death.

Apparently 3 days is the average time in which what i call the 'false ego' leaves the body, having probably realized that it's not anymore inhabitable.In cases of premature or violent death it seems that the 'false ego' (or soul) can have troubles to leave the body and take longer time.

This may be an explanation, but of course i have no proof, it can be true or false, i am open to understand better.

I find the subject interesting anyway, and i would like to hear more about it, specially from TV Members who study Buddhism in Thailand for long time.

This problem has just started happening to me today.

I have to log in every time I open TV.

And I haven't made any changes to MY settings.

Same here, it started 2 days ago.

Knowledge isn't wisdom either....there are too many people with lots of knowledge but it is often just useless wordly knowledge.

Agree 100% that knowledge doesn't equal wisdom, but knowledge itself is neither useful nor useless until subject to intention. In fact, generally I would think knowledge (where it is actually knowledge, not some false assumption) is valuable, and if applied to the cessation of suffering via the destruction of the poisons, it is knowledge wisely used. Am I right?

To go on a bit, the question of what is actually knowledge is not simply answered and is the question at the basis of Epistemology. The Logical Positivists took the matter to the point of absurdity by arguing that, really, only analytic propositions (tautologies, e.g. "a bachelor is an unmarried man") constitute undeniable knowledge. Kant had allowed for some exceptions to this, I think mainly in regard to mathematical propositions, which he referred to as a priori knowledge, and which, when extended to theological propositions, enabled Kant to avoid the ecclesiastical censorship of his time. Popper introduced the idea of falsifiability as a condition for validity rather than just verifiability, as the latter depends on other propositions, which in turn rely on evidence that may not be verifiable, and so on. If it's impossible for a proposition to be demonstrated to be false (e.g. God created/didn't create the universe) then it is not knowledge, but speculation or faith. Of course much depends on definition of terms.

It seems that the Buddha identified knowledge as that which by experience could be shown to eliminate suffering and harm. Other than that I'm not sure that the Buddha, being a practical teacher rather than a philosopher, went into epistemological questions much. That kind of discussion was taken up by his followers over the centuries, and then with more attention to what makes knowledge possible (i.e. the nature of consciousness and phenomena and their relationship to each other and all other phenomena - Indra's Net) rather than how one discerns between valid propositions and invalid ones.

I don't know how valid what I've said above is, but it's what seems so to me at this stage of my journey.

Very good posts in my opinion, i would like to add, sorry if i am pedantic,that to ask a human being to describe the invisible realms, it's more or less like to ask an ant to describe a Jumbo Jet.

Our senses are not perfect, nor our words, just to think about the concept of "infinite" makes me dizzy.

the wife usually tells me go sleep on the sofa

Soon it will happen to me too, more and more often she punches and kicks me while apparently asleep.

I had a neighbour like that.

By chance he is a German too.Nothing against the Germans of course, i actually like most of them.

He was a heavy drinker, and he could turn from the nicest social,although very noisy guy to a screaming aggressive monster

Finally he moved away, he probably thought his neighbours were all bad people, because nobody liked him.

Good riddance !

IMO obnoxious people are better ignored, they can do a pretty good job at destroying themselves w/out any help from outside.

Oh, and never argue with idiots, bystanders might not be able too see the difference.( O.Wilde )

Not 50 now, but soon. Have been a full-blown so called hippie, a freak, tramper and still am at heart. Peace.

OP, which of the guys were you.

50 years last month, still a hippy in my heart,in the 70's some locals in the Himalayas thought we were a tribe

Thanks Harry for the well balanced post, very well put.

It's a fact btw that older people find more difficult to adapt to other ways of life, they are the majority of the whingers.

Young people, often carrying a feeling of rebellion against their own country lifestyle, are more likely to adapt and can easily learn the language too.

We Foreigners should be patient, help if we can, and just be positive if we can't.

We are guests, wanted or not it depends on the individual.

Personally i have not much sympathy for the foreigners who live in Thailand and despise it.

I'm not saying this is it but there is a quite rare phenomenom called Ball Lightning asscoiated with thunderstorms the cause of which is uncertain. Did you see lightning in the thunderclouds...ligthing going from cloud to cloud instead of lightning going down to the ground? Ball lightning is unusual and rare, but some scientists think it may be due to a small, compact, but very intense electric field that reaches a potential where the trace gases in the air are ionized or ignited by the electric field (Methane is one). Ball lightning has been reported in colors from Orange to Blue, with the Orange color being the least energetic, and the Blue or Pale Blue being the most energetic. Usually, Ball Lightning seems to jump around however. Travelling for 3 minutes in one direction, would be unusual.

Ball Lightning is usually seen over water, and is reported from people on ships. But Ball Lightning isn't seen that often, if it was Ball lightning, so scientists are just not sure what it is. Too few verifiable reports to get a clear description of what it normally does.

Note: From the internet the following:

noun:

A rare form of lightning in the shape of a glowing red ball, associated with thunderstorms and thought to consist of ionized gas.

I have been lucky, once i saw a ball lighting during a powerful storm, it was as yellow as the other lightnings.

But the OP didn't mention a storm, so must be something else.

Did you not take any photos? BTW; maybe you should change your signature...at least for this thread....

I didn't take any photos that night. As for making it up, believe me (or not) I have much better things to do that start a thread about some light I didn't see.

It seems orange lights sightings are very common in Europe too, according to some blog which i read from time to time.

These orange balls are not considered to be aliens, but most probably a still unknown natural phenomenon.

To answer the OP, it seems that bitter complaints are a strange form of affection (if not love) that has developed in the so-called developed countries.

Very strange if you ask me, but i complain too from time to time, simply because i care about the place where i live.

It doesn't make sense to me btw why so many foreigners are leaving their perfectly harmonious countries in flocks, to settle down in the living hel_l.

Bye GungaDin, rest in peace.

So you are talking up a storm about a shady guy that has already tried to kill you with a shovel. Sounds like a good plan making such a guy lose face all over town.

Good luck on your future "robery gone wrong with unknown assailant"......

I suppose I can just live in fear like so many of the falang do and move out of town at every skirmish with a local.

This clown has no idea where I live or what part of town I reside in. He only knows of the 1 project he was working on. Police already said if anything happens to that property or me, he will be arrested as he foolishly threated to the police he is going to hurt me and my property.

That's just wishful thinking, and you know that, don't you ?

Hey I am happy for the embarrassing foreigners. Make me look just a little bit better as I am a very boring person with (usually) no egg yolk stains. No dancing or jigs at the 7 for me!

Seconded.

It seems nowadays you have to go 7/11 to have some fun.

I had a similar encounter the other day ,about 6 am, the guy was not singing, but pissed drunk and talking nonsense to himself loudly, but, most of all, having a complete breakfast on the till board.

I have to admit that i was embarrassed for a moment, but the cashiers were giggling, so i had to laugh too.

The Elephant is the symbol of Thailand, nonetheless one of the 12 animals sacred in Buddhism.

it has been useful for centuries in the past for the really heavy jobs, and is undoubtedly a very intelligent mammal.

IMO the Thais should be respectful and grateful to the elephants, and the Govt. should support and fund alternative solutions for their preservation.

The Humans in general should have more respect for the animals, it's ugly what we do to them.

Obviously Bangkok is not elephant's habitat, but would you like to let them starve out of sight?Like Dumball said, they are a peculiar tourist attraction.

Of course there is the traffic issue, but can be dealt with some common sense..well..where is it ?

An elephant eats a lot,a hungry elephant is a angry one.

Fine the tourists for feeding the elephants? What's next, rob them blind soon as they land in BKK ?

Spain v. Holland. Great football? Did we watch the same match? It was a travesty.

No, it was a world cup final, a great final, of one of the best tournaments i can remember in 40 years.

The Football won, Africa won, and the Spanish team was deserving the title.

The Holland side was trying the intimidation game, i have to praise the Spaniards for retaining their composure; playing football is difficult when the opponents are aiming at the legs from minute 1.

Even Johan Cruyff i guess is happy with the result, thank you Spain for honouring the most beautiful game in the world.

Best player, Andres Iniesta, a true Artist and a good man.

Best Wishes of a speedy recovery from another elephant member !

I'm probably off topic as usual, but i find the German Anthem absolutely wonderful,the English one a little bit less.

May this be the reason for the 'disrespect' noticed by the OP ? Joking, but perhaps not.

People love music, you know.

Second in this 'Hit Parade' i think is the USA Anthem, you can understand why those folks do well in the sports (well, the real football for the USA is still a dream, but give them time and they will learn)

cashews are tastier, easier to come by. necessity is the mother of invention as they say, and those who must go by a specific recipe when cooking are pretty dull cooks

Wow, but that's exactly my recipe for a Thai Pesto ! But don't forget to roast the cashew nuts in advance!

It seems Pasta is quite pop these days, my ordinary quick and tasty meal is Spaghetti garlic oil and chillie fresh or dried,easy and simple .

Grated cheese is forbidden here, doesn't go well with spicy meals...But well, some people have the nerve to top a honest Pizza with Pineapple, so..

As JT said, it's convenient to throw the cooked pasta in the sauce pan, which imo must be almost red-hot.

I don't do that with Pesto anyway, it seems that an excessive heat destroys the Basil flavour.

I've not got plan A sorted yet.

Same here !

When i came to live in Thailand, i was warned big time that things could go pear shaped, i'm leaving after tomorrow for a holiday in the land of mafia & spaghetti, but i will keep an eye on TV 'cause i'm going to be back very soon.

Maybe is the rose-tinted glasses, or whatever, but i hope the marvellous "mai pen rai' attitude will triumph again.

Thanks for all the members except "chantorn", cheers..

I have waiting for this trip since long time ago, hope Bangkok will return to peace very soon..

mauGR1, may I know when you will stay in Bangkok and which area to stay?

Hi lilo, usually i stay in Samsen Rd. not too far from Khao san Rd. ,i like to have a stroll in the small quiet sois, but i just read about big traffic jams in town.

As i am arriving in Ekkamai at 'rush-hour ' time on Friday,which is the worst day for traffic jams, i have to consider changing my plan, maybe i'll stay in Sukhumvit area, which is quite hectic for me, but has the advantage to be close to the airport.

Anyway, i think it's quite safe in general, i just hate to be stuck in a taxi for long time...

Cheers

Can also utilize canal boat on Klong sa Saeb, depending on how much luggage. Runs from at least Ramkhanhaeng to Phan Fa (near democracy Moument, and then Khaosan Rd.) Change boats at Pratunam. Bon voyage!

Uhm, thanks Purushanti for interesting tip, but i find rivers and boats a bit too wet in the rainy season !

My huge trolley cannot swim very well i guess.( and i have a flight the day after)

Btw do taxi boats in BKK travel after sunset ?I think Chao Praya boats don't.

Om Shanti Om

Thanks for all the members except "chantorn", cheers..

I have waiting for this trip since long time ago, hope Bangkok will return to peace very soon..

mauGR1, may I know when you will stay in Bangkok and which area to stay?

Hi lilo, usually i stay in Samsen Rd. not too far from Khao san Rd. ,i like to have a stroll in the small quiet sois, but i just read about big traffic jams in town.

As i am arriving in Ekkamai at 'rush-hour ' time on Friday,which is the worst day for traffic jams, i have to consider changing my plan, maybe i'll stay in Sukhumvit area, which is quite hectic for me, but has the advantage to be close to the airport.

Anyway, i think it's quite safe in general, i just hate to be stuck in a taxi for long time...

Cheers