The week that was in Thailand news: If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em! How Thaivisa might change your life!

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, sambum said:

"whole pack of Paxa,"?

 

Not being pedantic, but I think you probably mean  

Goodness, 59 years old and senile! You're completely right. 

 

Thanks for the correction and thanks for reading.

 

Rooster

[GarryP]

1 minute ago, Jane Dough said:

Goodness, 59 years old and senile! You're completely right. 

 

Thanks for the correction and thanks for reading.

 

Rooster

Totally confused me. I thought you meant Paxo, which made no sense at all. 

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, Fortean1 said:

Rooster- always enjoy reading your take on the cultural divide here.  We shall never know fully the culture here.  I've been married to a great Thai woman for 47 years.  The intercultural aspects are far more important than the so-called interracial aspects.  I could swear someone mentioned the teenager whose poor driving forced a van off an overpass (flyover) which killed nine law students.  What did she do to put her record straight?  My wife says she went to reform school.

 

Terry

( a few miles south of Hua Hin )

I have no problem never fully understanding the culture.

 

The Thais don't either. 

 

When I taught the culture at international school I deliberately chose more obscure, country based topic so that my urban elite Hi-So parents would be at a disadvantage. One parent once came to my office and asked why I was teaching such things. I closed my door and gave her an earful "in the nicest possible way". Thereafter I provided her and others mums like her with notes so they would not appear foolish when their children told them things they had learned in class that they hadn't a clue about.

 

Yes, I think the tollway girl did some community service, she was very young. 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Rooster

[Jane Dough]

10 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Totally confused me. I thought you meant Paxo, which made no sense at all. 

That was probably what threw me, Mr P.

 

I should be stuffed.

 

Rooster

[Artisi]

Love the "Pavlov Plod"  although it might need explaining to some. 

[Grusa]

I have a complaint! I did not receive my email copy of TV until 12:30 today! I look forward to reading your contribution with my (not so early, about 09:30) Sunday breakfast: it's been getting later and later!....so now I am reading it at 19:10, and have to plough through pages of replies.

 

BTW, "minging": as a Scot, I understand, but do you expect others to do so, or take the effort to look it up..?..and is it a valid Scrabble word. Mr G and Wikipedia had some difficulties with it.

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, Grusa said:

I have a complaint! I did not receive my email copy of TV until 12:30 today! I look forward to reading your contribution with my (not so early, about 09:30) Sunday breakfast: it's been getting later and later!....so now I am reading it at 19:10, and have to plough through pages of replies.

 

BTW, "minging": as a Scot, I understand, but do you expect others to do so, or take the effort to look it up..?..and is it a valid Scrabble word. Mr G and Wikipedia had some difficulties with it.

A simple google meaning search is enough for minger and minging, both Scrabble words in the world rather than North American version of the dictionary. I have written the term "mining minions" dozens of times over the years.

 

I like to include challenging vocabulary (sometimes in Thai or North American English) as an entertainment to those who know it and maybe an education for those who need to google or wiki it. TWTW is not dumbed down to anyone. I have some Thai friends who have requested links - I supply them usually with the warning that some of the words or references can be a challenge to native speakers or at least non-Brits let alone Thais. However, I won't be changing this style anytime soon. 

 

Regarding the time you can get it, it is usually available from about 7pm on Saturday evening. Try googling for it or perhaps look on Thaivisa on Facebook for your Sunday AM convenience.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Rooster

[sambum]

On 7/26/2020 at 4:31 PM, Don Mega said:

And yet there is no evidence of this, instead there is witnesses claiming to have seen the accident and it was the policeman at fault.

Suddenly, they remember 8 (EIGHT!!!) years later? 

 

(P.S. Grammar Police say that it should be "there are witnesses" - "there is" means there is just one)

Edited July 27, 2020 by sambum

[Black Angus]

Happy Birthday Rooster another another 25 years and you can be as wise as me. Birthdays are a wonderful thing. The more you have The longer you Live.

[mikebell]

I always enjoy this column but did not know it came out on Sunday.  Why am I seeing it only on Friday.  As a fellow writer I am envious of Rooster's job and skill with words - loved the Lord's Prayer parody - 'Hollow be thy name,' - classic.

[jerolamo]

Nice job Rooster.

Communicate is something difficult, even more when English is not our tongue language (same i).

About COVID-19, every where around the world now it is a big problem. Not only because of death, but because of economic break down.

What to look at with other countries do to compare with each other ? The idea is to increase criticism quality on facts.

Well, this is ThaiVisa forum and target is Thailand there.

 

Let's recognize that Thailand does not test a lot and probably miss many death linked to COVID-19 (the probability is there because of the number of increased death there), and because of that, can not be believable when they said they have good result.

 

I'm pretty sure that lock the border is a positive idea to reduce cases growth, closing the borders will also inevitably slow down the scale of the spread, but does not stop contamination because it is already present in Thailand and you don't know really how much it is. So you can not pretend how many there is, but... looks like an other deny on this point.

 

We are annoyed (not only us "farang", but also majority of Thai people) and offended to hear a high representative of this beautiful country speak of the stark humans, and in particular some in terms of race, as being "dirty farang".
There are of course dirty and clean people everywhere, but it wouldn't occur to me (thank you mom for giving me a decent education and a brain with sufficient IQ) to imagine that this is the case with all his people, worse, all his race. It is terribly reductive and very negative for the country, everyone knows that.
It's the kind of low-end amalgam that you don't care about when it's a drunkard talking about it with such disdain. But as is sometimes the case in my country too, when a high representative of the people speaks like this in terms of amalgamations (racist or otherwise), I feel ashamed and I tell myself that this person has not the level required to be in this position and must, in a country governed by law, certainly answer for this kind of illegal comment as has also been the case in Thailand for three years that this country wishes to join the list of countries respecting the rights of and with whom it is fashionable to create healthy business relationships.
When a high dignitary or elected representative speaks like a racist person, I wonder about the level of my people who allowed them to reach such a summit without having the prerequisites to make the country shine, and on the fact that such a tragedy can happen and what it can augur for the future in terms of respect for honorable lives.
I understand that as a journalist, in such a political climate (global for the rest), it is therefore difficult to be able to invest more in order to seek information and validate it (what we call being the work of a investigative journalist, rare nowadays, so much in many other countries too, it has become a question of reporting information that does not upset a powerful lobby, or the susceptibility of a powerful ticklish).
So I wish all of us, the dirty "farang" who do not deserve such insults, but also all humans of good will, much courage to live with dignity in such a world that has become so gross without measure and in the highest rank. representative of nations.

 

What's next ? When we start to not be able to get wide data, we should not speak to much like a winner.

I don't want this to push Thai people, because i see so many are very nice (i think because of Buddhist culture to be very nice to), but as all humans all over the world, lower is our knowledge in correlation with bigger is our ego, lower will be our ability to appreciate a difficult situation and difficult more to recognize logic facts.

 

Mr Trump USA president (an other one to speak strongly and low diplomatic sense on top of representative position) said that "to fight CVID-19, we can stop to test people and result will be better", sure... that is a evidence fact. But is it really a good idea to not test ? (i think he was sarcastic and wanted to save his economy). It looks like put the head in the sand to not look at the true we don't like. We are in attempt of better from leaders.

 

Why to target on economy up to pandemic ?

 

Because if you can not really stop a pandemic (a pandemic who doesn't kill 1% of the population), then if to try something not possible you break the economy, at final time you will have together: poor country and infected country instead of just infected country.

But if you don't do anything to make respect to wear mask and other things possible to limit the propagation, sure it will be more dramatic. Is it also very possible to make respect things to people ("farang", let's use a more respectable word: European population) and if they do not, trash them out, for sure (but same for other foreigner then... we are all humans and we have, all of us, to respect country law, and not only foreigners, everybody).

 

There is many way to go with... it is not like nothing or all.

It is like in a war politic, brain should be able to thinking the minimum to loose you can get from action if you can not definitely be the winner with that fight. and propaganda nowadays, almost for many foreigners, doesn't works to much, you can not cover this kind of evidences that, if a country doesn't test to much, they should better not speak to much about something they don't really know about (and much more not to speak like a winner to not... loose face).

I'm also very convinced about all that you wrote in your article. Very good article there.

[jerolamo]

On 7/26/2020 at 2:12 PM, Artisi said:

Love the "Pavlov Plod"  although it might need explaining to some. 

sure, feel free to contribute there to explain what the well known Pavlov Plod is.

If you feel yourself too lazy, let's copy/paste from wikipedia (same i do next for Milgram Experiment)...

There is also an other one you should like to speak about around the humans problems we know about, this is the "Milgram test" who demonstrate/show that humans, most of the time, can become dangerous if they just have to trust one person to be recognized by his position or just wear something to show himself to be an authority, even when this one ask to do something who can injury and kill some other.

not everybody, but... a lot (around 65%). Next should be to define which kind of people can have a real free self reflection before to action. Instruction help a lot, but not only.

Milgram Experiment (Wikipedia source)

Humans DNA is close to 99% to monkey DNA... maybe that is also a difficulty we have to go with.

[jerolamo]

On 7/26/2020 at 1:11 PM, Jane Dough said:

I have no problem never fully understanding the culture.

 

The Thais don't either. 

 

When I taught the culture at international school I deliberately chose more obscure, country based topic so that my urban elite Hi-So parents would be at a disadvantage. One parent once came to my office and asked why I was teaching such things. I closed my door and gave her an earful "in the nicest possible way". Thereafter I provided her and others mums like her with notes so they would not appear foolish when their children told them things they had learned in class that they hadn't a clue about.

 

Yes, I think the tollway girl did some community service, she was very young. 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Rooster

If you want to understand a culture (and your own to maybe), you have to try by learn about history of this culture (so not only in the country, but around), his evolution, and also, linguist provide proofs about this fact: the language construction (who is deterministic for mind reflection and inter-action with the real world).

For example, when verbs in a language have no conjugation, the time concept appreciate differently (as you can observe in Thailand). Same for adjectives and some many other points who create an other one way to have reflection. At the final time, when some words doesn't have a equivalent in other language, that mean that most probably, the concept is something difficult to understand for the population who only speak this language. Look at the human history life all over the world, and look closer to the number of words in each dictionaries to describe anything and how they did it... you will find correlation between ability to invent and build things and vocabulary existing words number. Also, some language are more efficient for describe technical things, some other better to describe humans thinking and different relationship with each other.

Then Thai language is very difficult to write (i'm still trying to find a logic in the words fabrication) and tonality language increase some kind of closer songs, and probably as you can see, make population love to sing song (and i think to learn Thai language by singing should be more efficient than academic other practice... maybe). But ow many words to describe things? Not to much. No conjugation, and some many more particularity and specific words and sentences formal depend of what you are talking about (humans, animals, things, noble personality, monk). So it looks like to understand Thai culture, it is difficult for us, the same in opposite side, but not impossible for almost, let's said... 80% (that's great).

For me, to not understand is a problem, and i can see most of the time, if i also don't care, it will be, just next, a problem to other around too.

[lamyai3]

On 7/31/2020 at 8:28 AM, mikebell said:

As a fellow writer I am envious of Rooster's job and skill with words - loved the Lord's Prayer parody - 'Hollow be thy name,' - classic. 

It brings to mind the excellent Bus Drivers' Prayer by Ian Dury:

 

"Our Father,
Who art in Hendon
Harrow Road be Thy name
Thy Kingston come
Thy Wimbledon
In Erith as it is in Hendon.
Give us this day our Berkhampstead
And forgive us our Westminsters
As we forgive those who Westminster against us.
Lead us not into Temple Station
And deliver us from Ealing,
For thine is the Kingston
The Purley and the Crawley,
For Iver and Iver
Crouch End..."

[mikebell]

13 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

It brings to mind the excellent Bus Drivers' Prayer by Ian Dury:

 

"Our Father,
Who art in Hendon
Harrow Road be Thy name
Thy Kingston come
Thy Wimbledon
In Erith as it is in Hendon.
Give us this day our Berkhampstead
And forgive us our Westminsters
As we forgive those who Westminster against us.
Lead us not into Temple Station
And deliver us from Ealing,
For thine is the Kingston
The Purley and the Crawley,
For Iver and Iver
Crouch End..."

Clever.  I was a teacher for 39 years some of it teaching Religious Education which in those days meant the Bible - my favourite was the stories of the Old Testament.  After 35 minutes banging on about Jahweh, the Israelites' God, I did a re-cap question. 

A not-so-young lad put his hand up and in reply to the question, 'Who can tell me the name of their God?' 

He confidently replied, 'Harold,'