connda

Bangkok Post just ran an article on domestic violence. To note, it crosses social strata and still is prevalent. Then I come back to Thai TV and the glorification of violence on a daily basis in virtually every 'soap' storyline.

They could write storylines of empowerment, of the merits of compassion vs violence, but that probably doesn't sell ad space.

Whatever. Who am I to judge?

after the first paragraph i scrolled to the end;

Been driving in Thailand Cars and Motorcycles for almost 30 years,

no more dangerous than anywhere else as long as u dive offensiely

and

1, turn signals on don't mean there turning

2, your side can be the other persons side as well going with you or against you

DEAD WRONG. Thailand ranks number 3 in the world for Traffic related Deaths. Up there with completely un-developed, uneducated, war torn nations like Afghanistan and North African Countries. Have lived here 4 years and have seen or come upon accidents where 13 people have died. Yes, I've seen 13 killed in person.

Don't kid yourself. It is extremely dangerous here.

I've been driving here six years and it scares the hell out of me. I hate driving here, but it's necessity. You have to drive defensively, but some of the stupidity I've seen on the road can't be avoided. I enjoyed driving in the West. Here -- I detest it. You can't relax and enjoy the drive, even in the middle of nowhere. It's incredibly dangerous here and the statistics, as compared to other countries, prove that a fact. It will never change until the BIB start enforcing "moving violations", and I don't ever see that happening, not any time in the near future.

OP: For all the hysteria, the drug I've seen do the most damage in Asia is invariably alcohol.

I agree with the OP. Lao Khao is the number one dangerous drug here. Yabba doesn't seem at all as prevalent as white whiskey which is had for breakfast by many here.

Yaba is not as prevalent because, compared to Lao Khao, it's prohibitively expensive -- well, if your an honest person.

Which is why it's a problem with the teenagers...they don't support their habit by working in the rice fields. They need a better income stream -- i.e., theft, robbery, and other not-so-legal acts. And that's why yaba is a freaking problem, hence the hysteria.

@TheyCallmeScooter

Nice post. I like the chart. Alcohol is a major problem. Especially with aggression. However, I've know Meth users (tweekers) in the past. Paranoia and then aggression is a major problem. Long term users simply go psychotic when they dose heavily. Not nice people to be around, but then again, neither are drunks. Scary and unpredictable. But tweekers more so. I'm trying to figure out how cannabis users do harm to others: Driving too slowly? Maybe. Distracted? Maybe. I've never seen a pothead in a rage though. Not once. Mellow? Hungry? Yeah. Rage? No. Smoking pot isn't good for you though for the same reason cigarettes aren't good for you. Should be legal. I'd rather deal with a pothead than a drunk. I don't want to be around tweekers at all.

Now - in Thailand? Yaba is a problem in our village, probably like many villages. It's dosed both orally and is smoked. Why? Get's ya up - makes you feel good. Think about it. Teenagers with nothing to look forward to other than a life of manual labor. The choice of drugs with older villagers who are the backbone of the agrarian labor force is alcohol. But the younger crowd -- yaba. My guess is that those ingesting it orally probably can maintain a job. Those smoking it are a problem -- to everybody!

There are some drugs that people are better off never even trying, but dosing has a lot to do with it too. The difference between oral ingestion and smoking is huge. I told my own kid: never smoke cocaine; never smoke meth; never put a needle in your arm regardless of the drug. Other than that, be cautious and use your common sense. Don't get hooked on anything. Well, maybe with the exception of exercise: create your own endorphins.

richard_smith237 Thanks for the link. At the bottom of the article are link to a number of sites that explain card skimming in English. I'm currently looking at http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/
I'll post a summary of what I find out.

Thanks!

Snow Sports.

For the same reasons it was important in the West. It shows commitment.

My wife cleans like "A White Tornado". She is absolutely compulsive. I don't mind it one bit. I like clean, but I'm not compulsive. We make a good match.

(Google white tornado and Ajax if you don't understand. Sorry, I'm dating myself.)

I keep hearing on the news about thieves using ATM card scanners to take money from other peoples bank accounts. Exactly how does that scam work and how can ATM users protect themselves? What should we look for?

You people out there who eat soybeans and maize products are all nuts. Even if they are not GMO, and not sprayed with insecticides, and certified clean and green, soybeans, peanuts, maize products are not good for your health.

Therefore don't worry about the big companies with GMO products. Eat your vegetables or your neigbours. Pick your own apples and fruit. (not papayas).

Just try to avoid GMO products.

And yes I do use Roundup. A wonderful herbicide from Monsanto.

Eat sensibly.

"...maize products are not good for your health..."

Mexicans seem to be doing just fine and they protect their maize crops like they're gold. No GMO down there. Folk have been eating maize and multiplying just dandy since the Spanish came to town and started cross-cultural families with the indigenous natives. Doesn't look like maize is having much of a negative effect. Just an observation. But if you can source scientific research, I'm always willing to read.

Go to a local government clinic and not a private hospital if you're cost conscious (why pay more if you don't have to).

My clinic in Lamphun charged me 368 Baht / shot for a total of 1840 baht for a 5 shot series. i got the shots in their ER room, so I was charged for the vacine, the plunger, the needle, and about 20 baht for a smiling nurse for the 368 baht total I did not receive the HIG Immunoglobulin because I elected to get a rabies shot series prior to coming to Thailand (I'm a sucker for animals, and if I can befriend them, I will touch them, and getting nipped is part of the territory when playing with unknown cats and dogs). Been here over 5 year and this is the first nip from an animal that wasn't my own.

The only reason I got the 5 shot series is because I don't know where bitchy kitten disappeared to. My fault -- I approach the cat. Also, because I've been innoculated, I could have opted for 3 shots, but its been 5 years since the shots and I don't know what my current anti-body count is, so why not be over precautious and just get the full series. Now I just wonder how long I'm immune for. And I hope bitchy kitty lives a long and enjoyable life. No hard feeling cat!

With that said, if you are an animal lover, get the three prophylaxis shots here in Thailand. They will charge you 50x more for the same shots in the US (talking about reasons I don't live there anymore). Three shots here plus the doctor consultation will set you back about 1150 baht. You can then play with the soi dogs and soi kitties with piece of mind.

Of course if you're from the US, you probably have germaphobia and tell your kids not to touch stray animals. My mom said the same thing -- didn't do any good. But I did wash my hangs really good after getting nipped! Thanks for that advise Mom!!!

Feed them -- it's fun! I've befriended two soi cats who even go 'belly up' with me now. I've also befriended a couple of malnourished dogs in the village. It makes me feel good, and I make new friends who actually give a darn about me.
"Gapman -- Look! Here comes the 'FoooooD God'!"

"No kidding Spotchai. And, and, and!!!!! HE HAS CANNED FOOD! AR-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!

So get the shot. Play with with the critters. They'll love you for it.

Oh well. There are other banks set up for FACTA that will take their business.

Does anyone have a map of the immigration districts and the amphurs (or other regions) that must report to a specific immigration office. Considering I'm living the the southern sticks of Jangwat Lamphum (closer to Lampang than to Chiang Mai) maybe a can report somewhere else.

Like most other bureaucrat Thai bumbling, it's all as clear as mud.

Get hip dudes. TV is out and tablets are in. Line chat and Candy Crush. If TV is watched anymore it is watched on the tablet.

Times are a changing.

Then what are the five TVs doing in my home. They ain't gathering dust and the Thai folk in the family are the one's who turn them on. I sure as hell don't.

Well based on the JELA results, I'm assuming that the ASEAN countries will soon adopt Thai as their official business language -- so why bother learning English. The universe does revolve around Thailand -- right?

Do you live in Thailand?

Ask yourself, do these soaps mirror society, or does society mirror these soaps?

I would wager these soaps are closer to the mark than many would like to admit, Thai society incuded.

To an extent, I tend to agree. But I've seen some pretty brutal stuff here -- not that I haven't in other places, but not with the same frequency.

Thai Soap Operas. Interesting critters. It's difficult to call them TV shows, primarily because the thematic content of these shows seldom evolve into anything the could be call, 'original'. They are more like thematic rehashes of thematic rehashes.

However, one of the reoccurring themes is violence: men beating women, women (possibly of higher social status) beating women, women beating men, and then getting the crap kicked out of them. How endearing?

It's not like Western TV doesn't have it's share of violence, but I don't see the same amount of deliberate, focused, violence on women purely for the sake of dominance -- this is normal??? Or maybe just my flawed farang perception.

In the US this type of male on female violence is usually thematically framed as deviate. Examples, Criminal Minds, and other various cop shows. But Thailand, quite obviously has neither the budget nor the will to produce anything comparing in caliber, and defers to "soap opera" -- with targeted violence against women. I find it offense personally, and often move to other room while the wife indulges.

I welcome other opinions. This is just mine.

Wonder how the immigration service will change the laws when Joe USA can't open an account to put 800K in to cover his retirement visa. And US business owners in LOS. Good luck! Never mind, the Chinese will backfill all the US expats who are force to return home to live on the dole.

I think that lately all of these crashes which are appearing in the news papers etc, aren't necessarily just because Thai bus drivers are crashing more frequently. But rather, the newspapers are deciding to report on them more often now. Perhaps a new reporter in the Isaan area (Most of the crashes reported seem to be in isaan, particularly in/near RoiEt province), or maybe the bus companies haven't paid their usual fees to avoid the media spotlight?

My gf told me a while back that the train accidents might have increased because people are deliberately damaging the tracks in order to prompt the government to invest in the existing rail network (rather than just pumping billions of THB into the new Thailand/China rail connection when the current rail network isn't upto standard). Or perhaps it's the same accidents as usual, but more reporting.

As both train and bus accidents have been receiving a lot more attention lately, previously I think only the ones with multiple fatalities got into the media, now even accidents with just a few injuries get into the spotlight.

Hell they need to dump those billions into first world, limited access, super-highways. Then save a few more billion for the purchase of highway patrol vehicles, the training and pay of highway patrolmen, and the the lobbying and updating of archaic and unenforced traffic laws. Get the cops on the road pulling people over for moving violations, and a lot of the carnage will cease.

Annnnnnd now back to reality -- here's Somchai with the weather!

Hi All, Thanks for the descriptions here. My question is even a bit more specific: does anyone know of any gyms in Chiang Mai that have bosu balls?

I'm looking for a place with a great free weight set up, my routine is all free weights:

- a proper squat rack with NO guide-tracks for the bar

- dead lift capabilities

- good range of dumbbells (kettlebells would be awesome too, but I'm not expecting that)

- box/boxes for step-up and jump routine

- bosu

My inclination is that Crossfit Chiang Mai would be a good place to find this kind of setup, but in addition to being pretty pricey you're not allowed to go and train individually as you would at a normal gym.

Any suggestions for most suitable place?

I'd be willing to go to any part of the city for that ideal setup.

Thanks!

Hey Crumple, I train over in City gym, it is the best gym in town for free weights, olympic size plates, Olympic Barbells, power rack, squat rack and heavy dumbells, it's got everything and yes a proper squat rack with no track guides. I train as a powerlifter and have competed in a few strong man events in the past so the bulk of my training is heavy Squats, Deadlifts and bench pressing, similar to what you are looking for, fees are 500 baht a year and pay as you go 30 baht each time, don't expect air-con and a swimming pool, it's a powerlifting gym, you can park outside and there's a shower in the back, you can google City Gym for map, send me a mail if you wanna do some deadlifts, oh and you can use chalk (they encourage it) and train bare foot if you want.

I found City Gym today for anyone interested. I've attached a Google Placemark that shows the location of the gym. Happy training!

City Gym Chiang Mai.kmz

They really need a stricter driving test, far stricter. As it is it's just a licence to go out and do yourself and others harm, hence the accident rates.

They have a driving test?

Why are eggs in the US refrigerated but eggs in Thailand are not?

Wear your helmet on your motorbike, wear your seatbelt in your car, have a current tax stamp and proof of insurance, have a Thai DL, there isn't anything they can do to you legally. If they try to extort you, speak only English and act dumb. You'll eventually get waved though.