Johpa

If you want to be curt, and someone is pressing for a response, "mai bork" might suffice. Or "mai bork dee gwar" to soften it slightly.

(no thai character input on my PC)

That is not quite grammatical. The verb bork usually requires the addition of waa as in khao bork waa usually translated as "he said that".

Now there is a word in English, "that", which is as difficult to translate properly as "ko" in Thai.

Let' s see, your overweight, your still a relative lad, and you don't have a job, you don't bother to learn the local language in your idleness and so you sit at home all day. I mean it is possible that you deserve their scorn even though those women neighbors of yours might be equally deserving of some scorn.

So get off your fat arse and go volunteer at a refugee camp along the border, or go work and get your financially comfortable hands dirty for some other non-profit. Crikey, I am almost twice as old as you, I am decidedly lower middle class with no hopes of an early retirement, and I still often donate my rare free time to non-profit agencies. Being idle at your age, regardless of financial status, is simply pathetic. But you will find good company here on TV.

You will notice that she begins her talk with the word"ก็ ". Her frist sentences after she gives her name could be traslated as "Ya know, I am really happy to be here..."

I was thinking more along the lines of an "ummmm". It's always one of those tricky words to translate into English.

ก็ is a particle, it has grammatical function. It is akin to the word "so" in English in that it is very difficult to define a meaning for translation purposes. What would your response be to a Thai who asked what is the meaning of "so"?

"Ums" and "ohs" and "oohs" are interjections, and have sometimes been grouped with particles but don't carry much grammatical information but do help convey the mood of the speaker.

When people are organizing their thoughts they will often elongate a vowel (you can't really elongate a consonant too well) to give themselves some additional time. In English we often dwell on pronouns for an extra moment and in Thai one can also dwell on the particle ก็, but just as often, probably far more often, one hears it mid sentence without any elongation. But as it can be used to note a break in a clause or a thought, it is a convenient place for the brain to stop for a moment and allow the speech to catch up with the thoughts or sometimes vice versa.

Even before I read the article I knew that the thefts would be carried out by people working at the airport. There have been numerous reports of security staff stealing valuables. Also if 5 of them are at it, it is likely there is a Fagin-like gangmaster behind them. Usually they hush all this up as best they can. Possibly a new appointment smearing his predecessor or bringing in his own thieving gang and warning others to stay off his turf.

Are you implying that former PM Gen. Chavalit is behind this?

How is this. Went to a certain bank with my TG to deposit 30K into her account, as we were leaving I asked to look at her bank book an noticed that they did not credit the 30K, but withdrew it!! We were not out the door yet so we went straight to the counter and showed them the mistake, and you know what they did? Said "korthort" and chuckled as they went about fixing the error. I was in utter shock, as we just lost 60K in a blink of an eye and they think it was funny. My TG could see the look on my face and kept saying, "Jai yen yen, jai yen yen". TIT, watch out for yourself.

Many years ago I went to a bank up in Fang and the teller made an error in my favor. Being hopelessly honest, I pointed out the error only to find all the bank employees mad at me for causing the hapless teller to lose face. Even the branch manager was upset at me.

i need a quick, short and sharp way to say "no comments" to use in situation where i do not wish to participate in a conversation. when people are gossiping and they ask me for my views, i used to just say "mai ru"...but i wanna get a stronger, firmer message across to them without sounding rude.

a friend told me to use "mai dtong phuut" but it doesn't quite sound right to me...any other suggestions?

thanks heaps!!

You might want to use "mai phuut dii kwaa" or "mai yaak phuut" to imply you are not happy with the direction of the conversation.

Poor boy misses his mother! What a sad story this is, especially when you realize that millions of kids are separated from their parents in Thailand.

It is just a common to see Thai children raised by grandmothers or older aunts as to see the children raised by their natural mothers. It would be interesting to find a study to see just what the percentages are, especially in the vast rural areas.

Thank you to everyone for kind advice I will try all these places.I love the outdoors and jungle but I think trek they advertise not for me.Probably I am wrong about this but I am half American Indian and hilltribe they say they take you to seems like a reservation to me and I have seen enough of those.Maybe these people don't like the trek idea but on other hand probably the only way they can make money to live si I don't know probably I am wrong.If people have gone camping or jungle on their own I am interested to knmow their stories thank you

It is a bad idea to go out on your own and your being of Native American descent and having lived on a reservation is totally irrelevant, you are just another North American tourist. By the way, there is absolutely nothing akin to the reservation system here.

You do not speak the language so you will have problems communicating.... actually you will not be able to communicate. You will not be able to live off the land or even find potable water. In the more isolated villages where the organized treks take your fellow tourists, few villagers have much food to spare so knowing which house has been set up to host outsiders is critical, again your inability to communicate greatly impedes that process. There are no clear trails or ridge lines to follow. Even guides have been known to take a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong ridge requiring several hours of backtracking to the dismay of the paying tourists. Odds are that after a few hours in the forest you will be hopelessly lost.

There are a few areas where you can trek on your own a bit. There are areas around Pai and still some areas north of Thaton. But most of these village can also be reached on a small motorcycle with some daring and skill. Your best bet would be to hang out in the Pai region for a few days, maybe go to the Cave lodge north of Pai, and ask around for those villages that are suitable for a day hike and possibly an overnight stay.

I would say that Walai House is a little too far away from the action. It's in the Santitham area of town which is, in my opinion, a little rough.

By "a little rough" I assume you mean its real Thailand (or was that Myanmar ?) rather than the farang infested fantasy ghetto around Thapae/night bazzar area. And trust me, there is plenty of "action" to be found in Santiham - and much more fun than the tourist trap whore bars on Loi Kroh.

Sending a tourist to a famous Red Light district for Thais might not be doing them a big favor unless they speak Thai very well and don't mind having sex with women who are pretty much slaves.

Uh, judging from Paagai's avatar, we might be comparing apples to oranges.

Like your Thai teacher told you ,แล้วก็ means "and then".

It conveys more the sense of "furthermore" than a continuation in time of a sequence of events.

-Core CPI is a mere political tool. Not a real "gauge".

I thought the link was pretty helpful in understanding the concept of "core" inflation. Of course all statistics are used as political tools, especially in the field that Heilbronner so aptly described as the "worldly philosophy". Is it any wonder that western governments would rather have their high school students dwell on quadratic equations and leave a serious study of statistics to college level courses?

What is apparent is that the "core" inflation is a lagging indicator, and some might argue that some of its base assumptions, and statistics usually involve some sort of subjective assumptions, are now hopelessly outdated. I would think that the rise in oil prices over the past year or two have deviated far enough from the "norm" to make a mockery out of the implied need to account for price "fluctuations".

Thailand museum chief arrested on fraud charge in Seattle

By GREG RISLING

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The director of a Thailand museum was arrested in Seattle and indicted on a wire-fraud charge in connection with a federal investigation into looted Southeast Asian antiquities.

Roxanna Brown, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested late Friday while visiting relatives in Seattle and scheduled to speak the next day at the University of Washington......

(not sure if I can quote entire article, but easily googled.)

It is a very rare Thai national indeed who will eat a Mediterranean style olive. I have yet to meet one.

thinking price and savings aswell as total journey time, flexibility etc

Always just gone for the cheapest ticket at the time but thinking could be worth joining the thai club or simillar as clocking up alot of miles.

Opinions please

Over the past 28 years, I have found that going for the cheapest flight available is more economical as often an airline does not have frequent flyer seats available on the days I need to travel and I am no longer as flexible on my scheduling as yesteryear. But I usually only make one trans-pacific flight a year, so those who fly more often may be better able to take advantage of the mileage programs.

I have lived in Thailand for 40 years and have never heard anyone say "aroon Sawat" except for farangs, Thais to farangs, and in Thai soap operas. I have never heard "sawadee dawn chao" ever. In fact, Thais normally do not say good morning, nor do they use a greeting like good afternoon or good night. Good friends will very rarely even use the greeting "sawadee". BTW, there is another word, "ratree sawat" which is translated as "good night". I have also never heard this in normal Thai conversation. You do hear this in Thai soap operas though.

LOL, as it would indeed be rare to hear a Thai say "aroon sawat" in everyday conversation, although I have, on the very rare occasion I was out and about in the early dawn, heard the phrase spoken by some senior citizens who, I think, find such formal speech to be a sign of education and politeness. I would expect that Thais under the age of 70 might find the phrase rather pretentious. But as a Farang, I find it to be one of those quaint little phrases that I can get away with that helps break the ice with strangers, especially at 5:00AM. If I used it with one of my Thai neighbors at 5:00 AM, well forum rules prevent me from quoting the most likely responses.

In the villages where I spend the bulk of my time when in-country, the only greetings I hear at any time of day or night are either "where are you going?" (pai nai) or "have you eaten yet?" (kin khao leew ru yang).

I wish I was a tourist. Then I would be more focused on being happy, helping, not care about my cash or being ripped off and I would not own the cynical attitude I now possess. I would probably notice even more wonderful things about Thai culture than I do now. As well, I would probably be more positive.......

I am jealous of tourists and have no problem stating so.

I too find myself jealous of the few tourists who drive by my home in Thailand maybe once or twice a week to visit the nearby waterfall. I always hope they will stop to buy a drink at the local shop so that I might have an opportunity to talk to someone half my age from another country and learn from them. For me, it is those dirty smelly young low-budget backpackers traveling the globe who are still able to see Thailand with open eyes and whose thoughts I enjoy listening to.

When in-country I use to speak only Thai whenever I went into town, maybe it was an ego thing, I really don't know. But now, when I do stop at an establishment that caters to Farangs, and these places almost always cater to a combination of ex-pats and tourists, I only speak English, even to the Thai staff unless a Thai staff member begins to engage me in real conversation, a rarity these days. I find it far more entertaining and enlightening being an eavesdropper to both the Thai and English conversations going around me. So I don't really make any difference between the ex-pats and the tourists as, in my opinion, we all reside along the same continuum.

i may be going out on a limb here but i wouldnt be surprised if she was called eileen

Don't think so....

"...................there is a character called Cherry Darling who is a stripper with one leg. She gets a gun attatched and shoots people and blows things up while she pulls off her dance moves."

from a movie blog

LaoPo

Well forum rules prevent us from going into details about the on-screen shenanigans of Long Jeanne Silver, who would likely make Ms. Cherry blush.

Actually, my impression of Aroon sawat was also that it was a statement used, or primarily used only just after waking up or just after the person you're addressing has woken up.

Aroon sawat is a great phrase to use at the crack of dawn and translates as a peaceful dawn, used when the eastern sky is still red awaiting the rising sun and the bustle of the typical Thai day has not yet begun. It never fails to bring a smile to a Thai to hear a westerner use it. Just don't use it when you and a buddy have to awake very early to do some task you both would rather avoid.

....Por Pratunam, an influential figure in Bangkok's Pratunam area, was also fined for 50,000 baht on the case.....

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=127503

Ouch, that fine must have really, really hurt!

Let the market do what it will (because it probably will anyway).

That is cowboy capitalism, the form of capitalism specifically championed in the US, and it is slowly beginning to come apart at the seams.

Not sure what you're saying but it sounds awfully communist.

But Heng, if you read Marx you will understand that all good communists are necessarily capitalists at heart. Only Lenin et al foolishly thought one could lead a feudal society into a communistic society whilst bypassing capitalism. As far as alternatives to the cowboy capitalism of the US, other flavors might include capitalism with a dose of socialism as practiced in much of Europe or the State guided capitalism based upon the thoughts of Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and now the leading form of capitalism being promoted throughout Asia. But as a diehard Star Trek fan, yes I am a utopian hopeful of some sort of communistic future many generations down the road.

So Heng, live long and prosper!

Spoke to my friend who is the Thai professor, and is a Thai national, at the nearby major University here in the US. She warns her students not to bother asking other Thai students about tones, other than simply modeling the correct pronunciation of a word, as they will not have a clue what you are talking about. Apart from a minuscule few who have studied linguistics, few Thais have any notion of what we perceive as the tones. As far as consonant classes, a few of the more retentive Thai students might remember their hated grammar lessons from high school. But asking the average educated Thai about consonant classes would be like randomly asking English speakers to remember what a gerund is or to give an example of a past participle. But it remains an interesting pedagogical question whether renaming the tones to more accurately reflect the phonological data will result in an improved production of the tones by students whose native languages are non-tonal.

Let the market do what it will (because it probably will anyway).

That is cowboy capitalism, the form of capitalism specifically championed in the US, and it is slowly beginning to come apart at the seams.

The answer is No.2

I am relieved as I was going to post last night that no 2 was the correct answer as that was my immediate response, but then I got thinking about it and began to have doubts. Sometimes thinking too much is counter productive.

I m keen on topics like "peak oil" , "oil depletion" , "renewable energy" and anything related and I would like to find a forum where discuss about it (in english) with Thai people or anyway with people living in Thailand. Does somebody here have the same interest? Do you know where I can find such kind of forum/group?

Also I m interested at find informations about this specific of Thailand (oil consumption, rules, law about self producted energy, etc etc)

It is not worth the effort to talk about "peak oil" as so few have actually read and understand where Hubbert was coming from and what his bell curve represents. Too many people assume that every time a new oil field is discovered that it somehow negates Hubbert's thesis even though Hubbert assumes that there would be new oil field discoveries.

It is akin to attempts to talk about global warming to those who still are unable to differentiate between "weather" and "climate", simply not worth the effort.

And I wonder how much taxes these vendors pay?

Yes, well if you take the profits that are wired offshore together with the "taxes" collected you pretty much get a wash. Money spent with local small business owners tends to stay in the country while profits of multi-nationals goes offshore and profits that get into the hands of the elite also seep offshore, and that includes government revenue.