Evangelical Monkeys

[cmsally]

Come on, own up! Who's responsible, and has a pack of primate bible bashers being brainwashed in their backyard.

For those who don't know what I am talking about , I mean those religious signs nailed into very high trees that only a monkey could get to. Phra Yaesu .....

What is the story behind these, can anyone fill us in??

Although the signs can be found in very different locations they look fairly uniform in shape and design.

[Ajarn]

Come on, own up! Who's responsible, and has a pack of primate bible bashers being brainwashed in their backyard.

For those who don't know what I am talking about , I mean those religious signs nailed into very high trees that only a monkey could get to. Phra Yaesu .....

What is the story behind these, can anyone fill us in??

Although the signs can be found in very different locations they look fairly uniform in shape and design.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I asked in one village, and was told they were put up by some lisaw folks.... The signs are made of metal, so I'd expect them to be there awhile...

[Gonzo the Face]

Come on, own up! Who's responsible, and has a pack of primate bible bashers being brainwashed in their backyard.

For those who don't know what I am talking about , I mean those religious signs nailed into very high trees that only a monkey could get to. Phra Yaesu .....

What is the story behind these, can anyone fill us in??

Although the signs can be found in very different locations they look fairly uniform in shape and design.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They are there for those looking for a higher calling.

Also for those coming into CM by air. You will find that they are more plentiful along the incoming flight path. Hence 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot'

[zzap]

Come on, own up! Who's responsible, and has a pack of primate bible bashers being brainwashed in their backyard.

For those who don't know what I am talking about , I mean those religious signs nailed into very high trees that only a monkey could get to. Phra Yaesu .....

What is the story behind these, can anyone fill us in??

Although the signs can be found in very different locations they look fairly uniform in shape and design.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I asked in one village, and was told they were put up by some lisaw folks.... The signs are made of metal, so I'd expect them to be there awhile...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

..unless someone took them down. Should fetch a few Baht at a scrapdealer's.

Perhaps this could be a way for the villagers who haven't received blankets for the winter from the evangelicals, to earn the money to buy some themselves?

[sabaijai]

I've been trying for years to find out who's responsible for the monkey signs. No group will admit responsibility, is what Christian missionaries have told me, most of whom also abhorred the practice.

Many of the signs are rather threatening. Two I noticed recently:

You Had Better Fear the Lord.

You Had Better Think About the Wrong in Your Sins.

In natural forest areas along roadways, they deface the trees, and obscure the view. Wish someone would start a campaign to remove them, perhaps offer a 500B reward for every sign turned in.

On the way to Pai, a local monastic centre has begun posting little brown signs (slightly less offensive, colour-wise at least, than the bright yellow ones), lower down on the trees, with Buddhist aphorisms replying to the yellow signs. One in particular I remember, coming up just after You Had Better Fear the Lord:

Better to Fear Your Own Ignorance.

[zzap]

How big are these signs? -Haven't seen any, I don't live in C.M.

OK... I'll pay scrap metal prices plus 100 Baht per sign.

Will collect from a pick-up point in C.M. city.

Alternatively, anyone interested in a weekend group excursion of sanuk, cleaning the trees from this litter?

Better to Fear Your Own Ignorance.

[p1p]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

[chownah]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you contemplating theft?...do you need a work permit to be a thief in Thailand? I bet you could find a young lad or lassie who would gladly climb the tree and retrieve the signs for half of the 100 baht reward...then THEY would be stealing the signs and YOU wouldn't have to do anything but collect half of the reward!!!

[up-country_sinclair]

Alternatively, anyone interested in a weekend group excursion of sanuk, cleaning the trees from this litter?

I'm in.

[zzap]

Are you contemplating theft?...do you need a work permit to be a thief in Thailand?  I bet you could find a young lad or lassie who would gladly climb the tree and retrieve the signs for half of the 100 baht reward...then THEY would be stealing the signs and YOU wouldn't have to do anything but collect half of the reward!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can't steal something nobody claims to own.

No group will admit responsibility, is what Christian missionaries have told me, most of whom also abhorred the practice.

Anyway, sounds like a plan. I am no good at climbing up ladders, either, but will be glad to assist in other ways and chip in with petrol money etc.

For me, it would have to be next month, though.

Someone who knows the location of the signs needs to be in, as well.

Let's wait for more responses, and see if it can be taken further...

[Thetyim]

Are you contemplating theft?...do you need a work permit to be a thief in Thailand? 

You cannot get a WP to be a thief.

It's an occupation reserved for thais.

If you really want one, you will have to steal it.

But then you would be working without a WP.

[zzap]

Perhaps dressing in an appropriate fashion, being polite and offering some 'tea-money' would facilitate acquiring the type of workpermit he desires?

We could display the permit on p1p's pick-up on our trip out...

Are you in, Thetyim?

[sabaijai]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

It would have to be a long ladder, these things are nailed very high above the ground, eg, 15m or more in some cases. A crane might be in order. I wonder how they get them up in the first place, a they're usually nailed to tall, straight dipterocarps, can't see anyone climbing them without assistance.

[penzman]

I ve just been told that any sign you want to put up has to meet regulations, commercial or not. You must get permission from city hall or whoever in order to put one up and pay the taxes...

Apparently there are quite a few of these religious signs on Bypass road and the motorway in the Chonburi area.

I'd simply check with the local authorities to see if they know about the signs. They'll probably take them down if they are not aware of them.

The downside is they may get replaced with yet more commercial signs.

[cmsally]

Looks like we found our man, an experienced sign remover that is. Chances are he knows who puts them up to! From this article it would suggest US Gov responsible.

See further down article for the guy who takes them down.

Federally funded missionaries

[p1p]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would have to be a long ladder, these things are nailed very high above the ground, eg, 15m or more in some cases. A crane might be in order. I wonder how they get them up in the first place, a they're usually nailed to tall, straight dipterocarps, can't see anyone climbing them without assistance.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like it would cut me out then. My ladder is only about 10 Metres.

[chownah]

Evangelical Monkeys we have seen on high

Posting adverst oer the trees.

And the farangs in reply

Say they will remove all these.

GLoOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOrious in excellsious.

GoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOriuos in excellsious.

And it came to pass that wise men from the west came bearing inscribed signs which they hath plucked from a host of trees on high to offer to the newborn as a scholarship which dwelleth in the scrap value thereof.

[davidgtr]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would have to be more than a weekend - more like every weekend for 12 mths! Believe me those signs are everywhere in North Thailand. I thought Id been "everywhere" in the North, but almost every time I go down a new trail / road in the mountains I see those bloody signs & know that "they've" been there before me! I’ve always thought that one day I’d see the bastards sticking them up on a tree, but I’ve yet to catch em out.

Naughty Mac Daniel (Akha Heritage Foundation), the supposed sign taker down, is no longer around in North Thailand, but is hanging out doing his “work” in Laos now.

[zzap]

What about ropes and hooks to pull the pollutants off the trees?

[Pond Life]

Where do I get me me one of them bumper stickers ?

[OlRedEyes]

You Had Better Think About the Wrong in Your Sins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then I have nothing to think about

My sins are pure, unadulerated, perfect sin. Nothing wrong or watered down there...

[Dustoff]

~

In Hawaii, billboards and tacky/tacked-up signs are illegal and are soon removed by the County Gov or concerned citizens.

Blighting our beautiful northern Thai countryside with any c-r-a-p, be it commercial or religious or political, is an offense that, if allowed, only grows like a fungus...

Old fat guys on ladders? I would happily contribute to a fund to erradicate these eyesores - just let me know. I moved here from Hawaii and there is, as in MANY places of the world, a very bad taste in the mouths of Hawaiians who suffered the invasion of Christian missionaries.

Lord, get us AWAY from them! Just what Thailand needs, eh?..

Suggestion: Homepro - good quality pump-up yard/garden sprayers with adjustable nozzles. Latex or other water-based paint for easy clean-up, a nice leafy-green or bark-brown color.. Shoot to kill and behold, a rectangular piece of nature...

You can also use this device to discourage snakes/dogs in your yard with either white vinegar or a garlic oil concoction, fill it with gasoline for fiery shows that will inflame your children or use it for that high colonic you have always dreamed about...

Ah. life is good, ain't it...?

[Ajarn]

Old fat guys on ladders? I would happily contribute to a fund to erradicate these eyesores - just let me know

Me, too!

[chownah]

I think a weekend excursion would be a great idea. I have a truck and ladders etc. but am a bit big to climb them

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would have to be more than a weekend - more like every weekend for 12 mths! Believe me those signs are everywhere in North Thailand. I thought Id been "everywhere" in the North, but almost every time I go down a new trail / road in the mountains I see those bloody signs & know that "they've" been there before me! I’ve always thought that one day I’d see the bastards sticking them up on a tree, but I’ve yet to catch em out.

Naughty Mac Daniel (Akha Heritage Foundation), the supposed sign taker down, is no longer around in North Thailand, but is hanging out doing his “work” in Laos now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What do you know about MacDaniel....I'm interested in hearing about this guy.

[davidgtr]

What do you know about MacDaniel....I'm interested in hearing about this guy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not enough, but sufficient to know that he's been totally obsessed with the Akha & saving them. Just check out his Akha Heritage Foundation & “read between the lines.” He’s been deported / kicked out of Thailand, supposedly with death threats & yet is still on a mission, his Akha mission.

Personally he’s someone I prefer to keep a safe distance from & not get involved or too associated with.

As a regular visitor to Vientiane you normally see him most nights in Vte’s most popular bar; and he’s easily identifiable wearing the same old outfit – cowboy hat & associated garb. Hardly keeping a low profile I’d say, but who knows what his current plan of attack might be.

[Ajarn]

Surely the Lao authorities will be more relaxed with Mathew than the Thai authorities were...

[rishi]

... I'm not sure on whether all these words towards doing some real action are truly meant to become real actions...

Personally, I wouldn't participate personally ... inasmuch as I do not have a WP that includes the right to participate personally ... and, removing those signs certainly wouldn't pass unnoticed by police or etc. ..

I'm probably not mistaken if I believe, that i wouldn't be the only guy around here, that doesn't have a WP, that allows me to take down those signs?

So, to put it differently, if all these words are to become real, someone will have to take some kind of organizatorial charge which would include collecting some contributitions and hire some Thai company/bunch-of-guys to deliver the required equipment and physical labour, needed to get those signs down...

I'm not in for the organizing, but I wouldn't mind contribute a bit...

[zzap]

Chiang Mai (Rueters)

In Chiang Mai province, Thailand, police arrested a group of foreign nationals, amongst them British, Dutch and US citizens.

This is in connection with the recent crackdown on migrant workers seeking employment without the required permits and documentation in the Kingdom.

Two pickup trucks transporting 9 'farangs' raised suspicion at a provincial border police booth, after reports of the foreigners climbing trees in several national parks and along country roads reached the authorities, Ltn. Commander Wisitkhrathongubootichekthivat informed our correspondent.

Several ladders, as utilised in the agricultural industry, ropes, steel hooks and handtools were found and confiscated, further several steel-sheet billposts.

It is unclear, whether the group were removing the signs to sell to scrap-metal dealers, or whether the, yet unidentified, employer of the illegal aliens paid them to put the signs up.

They are presently being held in Chiang Mai prison, pending deportation. Assets are confiscated and bank accounts frozen, awaiting further investigation.

[sabaijai]

Chiang Mai (Rueters)

In Chiang Mai province, Thailand, police arrested a group of foreign nationals, amongst them British, Dutch and US citizens.

This is in connection with the recent crackdown on migrant workers seeking employment without the required permits and documentation in the Kingdom.

Two pickup trucks transporting 9 'farangs' raised suspicion at a provincial border police booth, after reports of the foreigners climbing trees in several national parks and along country roads reached the authorities, Ltn. Commander Wisitkhrathongubootichekthivat informed our correspondent.

Several ladders, as utilised in the agricultural industry, ropes, steel hooks and handtools were found and confiscated, further several steel-sheet billposts.

It is unclear, whether the group were removing the signs to sell to scrap-metal dealers, or whether the, yet unidentified, employer of the illegal aliens paid them to put the signs up.

They are presently being held in Chiang Mai prison, pending deportation. Assets are confiscated and bank accounts frozen, awaiting further investigation.

If only that report was for real ...

I'm in Pai at the moment and the 'yellow peril' is spreading rapidly in this area. I just saw, for the first time today, a big yellow sticker version stuck to a couple of cement utility poles. There's not as much room on the stickers, which measure roughly 30cm x 30cm, so they're keeping it short and sweet. The two I spotted today simply read:

"Fear the Lord."

"The Fruit of Sin Is Death"

[up-country_sinclair]

^ are these signs written in thai or in english?