nisakiman

11 hours ago, Inn Between said:

 

You can't put need and want together like they're interchangeable. Sure it's convenient for your argument to do that, but they're vastly different in meaning. 'Need' refers to necessity and requirement whereas  'want' talks only about desire. I need oxygen to live. It's not a matter of wanting it. I may want a fancy and expensive new car, but I certainly don't need one.

 

Hence, the huge difference between physical addiction like you get from habitual use of more harmful things like cigarettes, alcohol, opiates, etc. and psychological addiction. I've seen a relative go through severe DT's from trying to quit alcohol. It can be severe enough to kill. But I don't recall anybody suffering anything like that when dry spells hit and there was no weed around for sometimes weeks at a time. People just accepted it -- with a bit of whining, of course. 

Sorry, but although tobacco is habit-forming, it's certainly not addictive. How many pack a day smokers wake every hour during the night for their 'fix'? How many smokers have to be stretchered off a plane after a long-haul flight? How many smokers suffer withdrawal symptoms (I mean real withdrawal symptoms, not just tetchiness) if they don't have a cigarette for 24 hrs? I think you'll find the answer to all those is a definite "NONE".

The 'nicotine addicts' meme so beloved of the anti-tobacco mob is a deliberate construct in the propaganda war on smokers, and has as much validity as referring to 'chocolate addicts' in the latest finger-wagging, interfering war by the health fascists on fatties.

13 hours ago, teacherpaul said:

Oh dear, we have another one to deal with. 

 

Firstly, although smoking anything is unhealthy, it it scientific fact that smoking cigarettes is far worse thsn smoking weed, as cigarettes contain thousands of harmful chemicals like arsenic and tar, to name just two. Cannabis can be vaped these days, which is 95% healthier than smoking, as there is no combustion involved.

 

Secondly, how does smoking weed make anyone a drug addict? That's like saying my mother is an alcoholic because she drinks a couple of glasses of wine every week.

 

There really are some ignorant people on this forum. Replying to them is a bit like killing mosquitos with those gadgets that look like tennis raquets - easy to zap but you never quite get rid of all of them.

You should perhaps get your facts in order before posting.

" ...cigarettes contain thousands of harmful chemicals like arsenic..."

Yes, we hear much about chemicals like arsenic and the like in cigarette smoke. What they don't mention, though, is that there is more arsenic in a single glass of water than there is in a pack of 20 cigarettes. The anti-smoking mob are masters of omission. They have developed it into an art form. All effective propaganda must have a grain of truth, however small. You will find that the same applies to just about every 'chemical' found in tobacco smoke. Some of those '4000 chemicals' can't even be detected, they are just theorised. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good propaganda putsch?

What you should be saying is that smoking marijuana is no more harmful than smoking tobacco. That is to say, some people will suffer from respiratory problems if they use (smoke) either if they have a genetic susceptibility, but for most people, it won't be a problem if their use is moderate. But despite what pro-dope/anti-tobacco zealots claim, ganja is just as damaging to your lungs as tobacco. That is, not very, but there is that potential.

Ganja was widely and easily available in Thailand in the early seventies when I first visited. And excellent quality, too. I was offered a bong just about everywhere I went. There were no kids f*cked up on yaba in those days. But as soon as they decided to clamp down on ganja (doubtless at the behest of the UN, the WHO and similar unaccountable rabble), that's when the 'drug problems' started. Same all over the world. Misguided wannabe Do-Gooders who have no idea of the unintended consequences of their interference in other people's lives. Nor do they have any idea of what it is they want to prohibit, never having tried it. It's enough to know that people enjoy it to want to ban it.

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

H L Mencken

It would seem that this administration has aspirations to become like Singapore - clean, regulated, clinical and soulless. Everyone under the government's thumb, no room for eccentricity, no room for local colour (unless government approved).

For me, a great deal of the appeal of Thailand is the somewhat anarchic chaos that pertains in everyday life. The sheer randomness of what unfolds before your eyes.

But then I've never liked 'organised' or 'regulated'.

It destroys spontaneity and creativity, and you are left with a rather grey, uniform, joyless society where everyone has been forced to conform to what the 'experts' decree is best for us. In a word, boring.

I admit, a lot of people (particularly those indoctrinated with Western PC values) actually like to be told what to do and how to think, but I feel that over-regulation leaves the world a poorer place.

In conclusion, leave the street vendors be. They are what makes Thai life what it is.

I'm sure most carpentry shops would be able to do what you want, but it would cost you considerably more than the pre-made ones. When you do a run of several hundred / thousand items, the economy of scale means you can offer your goods at a very competitive price. One off, bespoke items are much more expensive. Think in terms of an off-the-peg suit vs Savile Row.

I speak from experience, being a carpenter myself. People are often shocked at prices I quote because "I saw one similar in Ikea for a quarter of that price". They forget that Ikea buy materials by the multi-truckload and pay a fraction of what I do, and then churn out thousands at a time.

Anyway, I digress. As I say, just look for a carpentry shop in Ubon. But be prepared to pay a premium.

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

Cypress issue already settled. We will not climb theirs if they don't climb ours. 

Not very good climbing trees anyway 

But makes very good roof beams, and smells wonderful when you cut it. Also very pretty in the landscape!

Never flown with Turkish. Last time I went to Istanbul, I went with Aegean. Only a short flight from Athens, anyway. But I have read good reports about Turkish Airlines.

When Gulf flew to Athens, I would choose them over any other carrier. I never had a bad experience. Got upgraded on one flight, too! I like Gulf.

Unfortunately, they suspended their flights to Athens, so now I use Qatar, which is also a very good airline. Not so keen on the new terminal in Doha, though. Transfers tend to involve long hikes from one gate to another. My next flight with them has just 1 hour stopover on the way out, and I'm wondering if I'll make the connection...

Heh! The line-up looks about right to me.

I'm 67 and I smoke and I drink and enjoy both, but because the work I do is quite physically demanding (I'm a self-employed carpenter) I'm still in pretty good shape. I'll keep an eye open for when the run is while we're there. We'll probably be there for a few weeks, so I may well be able to make it. 

On 13/08/2016 at 1:25 PM, khunPer said:

I read in a book about Thai culture – think it was "A History of Thailand" by Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit, Cambridge University Press – that when family names had to be registered, each family should choose a name of two unique sounding syllables; not two families could have the same combination. When all potentials were used up, then it became three syllables, and finally four. Families with only two syllables are the oldest – or first registered – according to the book, whilst later migrants has three or four syllables; from the number of syllables one can determine the "family age" in the Nation. The book also said, that Chinese migrants often has three or four syllables in their Thai family name – quite a number of Chinese merchants were living in Bangkok's Chinatown about half of the year, and later became Thais.

I just asked my wife about that, as her family name has two syllables, and she was somewhat sceptical because her father's family (with the two syllable name) were uneducated farmers, whereas her mother's family were all educated and were teachers, police officers and other professions, and their family name had four syllables. She said that when names were first being registered, surely her mother's side would have done so sooner than her father's side, being from the educated and more knowledgeable class.

Interesting, though.

Back in 1971 when I was in southern Thailand, I had a friend whose family name was 'Na Songkhla', and he was the son of the last governor (?) of Songkhla state. He was a very highly respected person, even though his family had no direct connection any more with the local government. I didn't know the term at that time, but I guess he would be described as 'Hi-So'. Not in his manner; he was a lovely guy, but in terms of his status in the local hierarchy.

Oh, yay! A feast of information there! Many thanks!

Every time I'm in Ubon, I have the intention to do a run (trot? walk? pub crawl?) with the harriers, but somehow the dates I'm there don't seem to work out with the runs, given my other obligations. Maybe this time around...?

I've done quite a few of the temples in and around Ubon, and I've been quietly impressed.

I like Ubon, and we may well end up there in a couple of years. It's got just about everything one could need, and it's a very relaxed and easy place to be.

Plus (a big plus for me) my in-laws are great. They are generous to a fault, have accepted me completely, and there's not a sick buffalo anywhere on the horizon!

15 hours ago, ezzra said:

There's a simple solutions to all those skimmers that somehow banks are resisting to

adopt and implement, put all ATM machines indoors in 24/7 business under full surveillance ,

pay some small fees to the owners of the places and you'll see that the skimming business

will almost disappear.....

The problem with that is that many places don't have 24/7 businesses running, particularly when you get out of the city. You'd end up losing 90% of the available ATMs.

Trouble with upright freezers is that every time you open the door, all the cold air falls out. If you have the space, a chest freezer is a lot more efficient and by extension, cheaper to run.

Thanks guys. Some good info there. Yes, I realise that waterflows in February are going to be down. Not much we can do about that!

My wife mentioned to me earlier today that she'd read on one of the Thai language websites she reads (probably not available in Thailand) that one of the wats near chatuchak had three hundred and something people registered to vote there, and returned six hundred and something 'yes' votes. I have no idea how much truth there is in that report, but it rather makes one wonder. To be honest, the way the whole thing was conducted, with no discussion and particularly no critisism permitted, it was a foregone conclusion that the 'yes' vote would prevail, regardless of whether there was any ballot box stuffing.

I live in Greece, and some years ago (maybe 11 - 12), a good friend of mine who owned a bar started going to a private clinic at the behest of his (newish) wife for a full check-up; an annual MOT, if you will. He said to me at the time that it was only a couple of hundred Euros, and that I should do it myself.

My reply to him was, "To be honest with you, Ken, I don't think I want to know. I feel fine, and that's good enough for me. Why should I start worrying?"

Over the next few years, Ken changed from being a joyful, drinking, smoking, laughing heart and soul of the party to a non-smoking, hardly drinking shadow of his former self. On doctor's orders, of course. The belly laugh was replaced by a wan smile, his formerly rude and robust appearance became a thin, grey visage. All the fun had been wrung out of him.

He sold the bar and moved to Florida about five years ago, and I haven't heard from him since. I guess he may have extended his lifetime by another couple of years, maybe, by giving up all those things he enjoyed. But I wonder if his quality of life will ever be the same again.

Personally, my goal in life is not to live as long as I can possibly stretch it out, but to enjoy to the max the years I have. It's a cliché, but a very true one, that those extra years you may gain from denying yourself all those indulgences are not exactly going to be the best years of your life. In fact, in many cases, they will be a living death. Diseases of old age are terrible. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and of course cancer are all diseases of old age. Do I want to die at 75 of sound mind, or do I want to die at 95, having spent ten years not knowing who I am or who my children are, and having to suffer the indignity of some harridan 'carer' wiping my incontinent backside?

So I would suggest to you, Matty, that perhaps you would be better off saving your money and going out and spending it on wine, women and song instead. Don't worry yourself into a state of medical paranoia. It's bad enough that we have all these professional healthists with their snouts in the taxpayer trough telling us what we can and can't eat / drink / smoke (for our own good, of course), without adding to the burden of miserable conformity they seek to impose. If you're really lucky, you'll die of a massive heart attack while in the middle of a booze and viagra fuelled romp with a girl (or girls) a fraction of your age.

On 04/02/2016 at 9:10 AM, arunsakda said:

The duty free shop should have explained the rules. I tried to buy a 50baht wooden pencil at Swampy and the salesgirl told me "You cannot buy, wood not allowed in Australia".

I read something about pencils banned in Aus, what's up with that?

About 15 years ago I went to Australia to visit my sons, stopping off in Bangkok for a couple of weeks en route. I bought some nice chopsticks there to take as a gift for my daughter-in-law. When I arrived in Adelaide, after being made to stand 'on the yellow line' - "YOU'RE NOT STANDING ON THE LINE! ON THE LINE, NOW!" - so we could be sniffed by the dogs, some guy started shouting about how all wooden items (among numerous other things he mentioned) must be declared. So I went to the desk and told them I had some chopsticks. Honestly, you would have thought I told him I had a couple of kilos of cocaine with me. A virtual interrogation. And I got off fairly lightly. An old Chinese couple behind me (wealthy, judging by the amount of gold she was wearing) were really getting the third degree about something, I know not what. Basically, the whole shower of officials there were utter pigs, who obviously got a big kick out of their power over the people passing through. I've never been treated with such contempt and disrespect by anyone, anywhere, in my whole life. And I've travelled a lot, and encountered some pretty rude officials in my time. But this lot really took the cake.

I lived and worked in Aus for most of the '70s, and I loved it; but after that experience (it was the first time I'd been back since) I swore I'd never set foot in that benighted, oppressive, pig-ignorant, controlling nanny state ever again.

Such a shame. It used to be such a great country. What happened?

On 13/06/2016 at 4:17 AM, mikebell said:

Having a Thai wife is handy. I go through Immigration with her so no queues. I've sometimes been at the bus-stop in 30 minutes.

Interestingly, I was just reading on the DMK forum that a guy was told he had to go through the foreigner section, even though he was travelling with his Thai wife.

When my wife and I arrive at BKK, I always go with her through the Thai immigration lane, and I've never been questioned about it, even though she has retained her Thai surname (it was just too much hassle to change everything - ID card, driving licence, passport etc etc, so we didn't bother), and we have different names on our passports. Last time through was the beginning of last year, so things might have changed since. Is there any more recent info on this from anyone who has arrived recently?

13 hours ago, jayceenik said:

Yes. I'd be much interested too in knowing pleasant private car short outings from Ubon !!

Me and my TGF will be moving from Pattaya to Ubon before year's end.

She now has her own car and she plans to take us around on short trips around Ubon but, though a native of a nearby village, she doesn't know much about tourism there.

BTW very recently the Ubon municipality has decided that it was time to start advertising their beautiful Ubon and area as a tourist destination to ...Thais.

Heh! Yes, it's the same situation with my wife - although she lived in Ubon until her 20s (when she moved to Bangkok), she doesn't really know many places to go for day trips. Nor do the in-laws. Mum's idea of a day trip is doing the markets, then Big C or Lotus, followed by a meal in MK and an ice cream in Swensens.

I seem to recollect there used to be a website operated by the local tourist board, but I can't find any trace of it now. Maybe my memory is playing tricks...

We are doing our usual trip to visit the outlaws early next year, but I'm also going to be meeting my eldest daughter (from previous marriage) and her family (hubby and two boys, 8 & 12) who are holidaying in Thailand at the same time. We will be taking them to Ubon for a few days to meet said outlaws, and we will also probably hire a minibus & driver for a couple of days so they can see a bit of the area. My daughter has been to Thailand several times, so is familiar with the general situation, but has only been to the mainstream places.

Any suggestions as to where to take them on a couple of day trips? Bear in mind the two boys, who although interested in temples and stuff, require a bit more stimulation than we grown-ups do! It will be in February, so river flows etc need to be taken into account for the time of year. Ideally places that will be a bit of an 'adventure' would be good.

When we go and stay, we tend to stay fairly local, with just the odd drive out to the Mun or whatever, so if anyone living in, or knowledgeable about, good day trips from Ubon has any good ideas, all suggestions will be much appreciated! As I say, the boys are genuinely interested in the culture, so a bit of that would be fine, but at their age, they don't want to spend all day looking at temples or ruins. They want a bit of fun, too.

Thanks.

ThaiHealth poll reveals number of smokers and drinkers in decline

Because they are all

images.jpg

Really? Nearly all my friends and acquaintances who are smokers and drinkers are very much alive and kicking, as I am myself. Also, I think you'll find that nearly all the people who attained a great age (110 years or so) were smokers. Madame Calment, a record holder, reached the age of 122, and she smoked most of her life.

And I would also say "Really". How many a day did Madame Calment smoke?

I had two friends who smoked and died from emphysema and were thus denied the chance to live to as grand old age. Like mine, I find your claim to be also specious.

There are simply too many other variables involved.

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/1998/10/lies.pdf

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Joseph Goebbels - Hitler's Propaganda Minister

We have been lied to on a massive scale over the past three or four decades as the anti-smoking propaganda machine has attracted more and more funding from vested interests (the hugely profitable pharmaceutical industry) and the instinctively puritan and doctrinaire 'charities'. The budgets that Tobacco Control now enjoy would make your eyes water. They are sums that the tobacco companies couldn't even countenance in their wildest dreams; yet all the time Tobacco Control like to portray themselves as the David battling the Goliath of the tobacco industry. Ha! Nothing could be further from the truth!

The anti-smoking putsch is not, and never has been anything to do with health. It's all about money and social engineering. The vast majority of 'studies' on smoking and health have been commissioned by virulently anti-smoking organisations. And he who pays the piper calls the tune. Naturally, any studies commissioned by the tobacco industry, no matter how much at pains they have been to prove they have had no influence, are dismissed out of hand as being 'tainted', a charge which for some reason is never levelled at Tobacco Control.

Read that link I posted above. It may give you some insight into how the system works. It only scratches the surface of the tissue of lies and deceit that Tobacco Control deploy as a matter of course, but it will give you an idea of how you are being played by the puppeteers.

Cannot tell too much from the picture, but it kinda looks like too much rebar and not enough Cement.

Yes, it does rather look that way. And I always thought that one of the biggest problems with building in Thailand was skimping on the rebar, thus making the building structurally weak.

ThaiHealth poll reveals number of smokers and drinkers in decline

Because they are all

images.jpg

Really? Nearly all my friends and acquaintances who are smokers and drinkers are very much alive and kicking, as I am myself. Also, I think you'll find that nearly all the people who attained a great age (110 years or so) were smokers. Madame Calment, a record holder, reached the age of 122, and she smoked most of her life.

Polls of this sort can never be taken seriously for the simple reason that people will usually say what they think the pollster wants to hear. This is particularly true in situations where there is a government agenda to attach a social stigma to that which is being asked about, like smoking and drinking.

"Do you smoke?"

"Noooo, never!" (Fingers crossed behind back, pack of Krung Thip in shirt pocket...)

"Do you drink?"

"Me? Drink? Oh no..." (Bottle of Lao Khao firmly tucked into hip pocket...)

And it's not even possible to gauge numbers by sales, because when they load punitive 'sin' taxes on goods, the black market flourishes, and they have no idea how big that may be.

But it makes them feel good, and justifies their bloated salaries, which is all they care about, so accuracy of the figures doesn't really matter. It's not as if it's anything to do with health, anyway. It's all about control and social engineering.

Here in Greece I pay €38 per month for 400 minutes talk time to any mobile or landline nationally, 40 SMS and 5.4 GB data. I don't normally use data on my phone, as I have fixed line internet at home, but at the moment I'm doing up a house I bought elsewhere in Greece, and I use my phone as a mobile hotspot for the laptop while I'm staying there. I thought it was quite expensive (and it is, compared to UK), but looking at some of the prices here it doesn't look quite so bad.

When I've done the house up, and move, I'll put in a landline with ADSL and go back to pay-as-you-go, as I never use even a fraction of the 400 minutes talk time I have with the package. And of course, if you don't use it, you lose it. It's a real con. Same as when I don't get over to the other house during the monthly billing period, I lose the 5.4 GB I've paid for. Rip-off, or what? But it doesn't seem possible to get a contract here that just bills you for what you use. Either you sign up for a 'package' or you PAYG, which has restrictions on data usage.

'Reporting' might be a wrong choice of words, 'agit-prop' might be closer to reality. The big question being: oh, no, a-ha, not one about (the absence of?) 'personal opinions', but rather: who is paying these, so-called, 'activists'...? Asking the question in this case might be the answer... Give me a 'T' as first name, a 'S' as family name, a 'P' or a 'U' might do to for the movement, come on, it's so bloody evident! Anyone saying this is 'genuine' or 'democratic' or anything of the load I will straight in the eyes call a liar, ...or a dumbass!

yes... the reporter certainly wasn't a member of the "neutral press"

Perhaps not, but what difference does that make? People should be free to have and express opinions, even if those opinions disagree with the officially sanctioned narrative. That is what a free press is. If you don't have that, then you are living under a tyranny.

As the writer, philosopher and historian Voltaire once said:

"I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it."

Leaders who feel the need to impose by diktat what can and can't be said by their people are not fit to rule. It displays weakness and fear.

A strong and confident leader can accept criticism in his stride. He knows that you can never be all things to all men, but you must allow dissenters to voice their concerns.