Rampant Violence In Isaan

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Agree with you Bina on having your parties early in the day and we try our best to do that. It bothers me when friends will have a child's birthday party starting at 6 or 7 pm and during the party, they just let the kids run wild while the adults get stupid drunk in full view of the kids.......great example they are setting for the kids.

I have never allowed any alcohol to be served at any party I've sponsored. I have been persuaded to contribute toward more communal celebrations with drinking involved, but then I make it clear I won't be attending.

And yes I'm sure many here would consider me a boring old killjoy, but this has made all my weddings etc much more enjoyable for me personally.

[scorecard]

Agree with you Bina on having your parties early in the day and we try our best to do that. It bothers me when friends will have a child's birthday party starting at 6 or 7 pm and during the party, they just let the kids run wild while the adults get stupid drunk in full view of the kids.......great example they are setting for the kids.

I have never allowed any alcohol to be served at any party I've sponsored. I have been persuaded to contribute toward more communal celebrations with drinking involved, but then I make it clear I won't be attending.

And yes I'm sure many here would consider me a boring old killjoy, but this has made all my weddings etc much more enjoyable for me personally.

So you organize your wedding, organize the grog for your wedding, then you don't attend your wedding?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

So you organize your wedding, organize the grog for your wedding, then you don't attend your wedding?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. There was no alcohol at any of my weddings, and although I did pay for most, I didn't organize any of them.

Same with any other events where I am the main "sponsor". But I have been persuaded to contribute a bit to other family/community celebrations - which I'm not organizing - but to the extend that they have alcohol, then I don't attend.

If the organizers want me to attend, then they have to commit to not having alcohol, in which case I'm likely to contribute more.

I'm not as rigid about this wrt farang events, just the Thai ones, as I've learnt from past bad experiences.

But its is true that I generally prefer to avoid scenes where people get drunk.

Edited November 6, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So; your a Doctor....or a Troll? Is there another Doctor on the Planet with such a lousy diet? or one who would slice people up with his scalpel should he be accosted? or one that would stay and watch all this carnage whilst his family were at risk?

All I can say is...I'm most glad you are not my Doctor !

Just as an aside, I would consider someone from the medical profession deliberatly going back to his car, putting two scalpels in his pocket and returning to the mellee as a bit unethical. Why didn't you just leave? Believe me, if you pulled one of those, your family would have lost their provider!

Not criticising, just observing

I especially liked the part wherein our dear OP "Doctor" admitted to being drunk and at the time considering to offering first aid to the man who had been stabbed.

Something's seriously wrong with the OP and the guy who wrote it.

[Neeranam]

So you organize your wedding, organize the grog for your wedding, then you don't attend your wedding?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. There was no alcohol at any of my weddings, and although I did pay for most, I didn't organize any of them.

Same with any other events where I am the main "sponsor". But I have been persuaded to contribute a bit to other family/community celebrations - which I'm not organizing - but to the extend that they have alcohol, then I don't attend.

If the organizers want me to attend, then they have to commit to not having alcohol, in which case I'm likely to contribute more.

I'm not as rigid about this wrt farang events, just the Thai ones, as I've learnt from past bad experiences.

But its is true that I generally prefer to avoid scenes where people get drunk.

As a recovering alcoholic, the question of alcohol or not at my wedding was hard to answer as I wasn't sober long. But, a lot of my friends and a lot of my wife's family are practicing alkies so I decide to have alcohol there. As it happened all my drunken friends were up all night and even at 9 o'clock in the morning some were passing out. By 3pm we'd had enough and left for our honeymoon. I've nothing against alcohol, despite all it did to me.

[lackerbandman]

I am so glad i have never seen anything on that scale in all my 6 years of travelling around Thailand .. Surgeons and knifes ! who would figure!

[BigJohnnyBKK]

As a recovering alcoholic, the question of alcohol or not at my wedding was hard to answer as I wasn't sober long. But, a lot of my friends and a lot of my wife's family are practicing alkies so I decide to have alcohol there. As it happened all my drunken friends were up all night and even at 9 o'clock in the morning some were passing out. By 3pm we'd had enough and left for our honeymoon. I've nothing against alcohol, despite all it did to me.

Well I don't enjoy such scenes and certainly wouldn't pay for them and possibly be the cause of someone else's undoing. But I don't have anything against the substance itself, nor do I mind being around it being consumed in non-abusive quantities.

But when I'm in circles that consider getting truly pissed a necessary component to being "social" and having a good time, then I'm afraid they end up considering me somewhat anti-social.

It is true this has been at times a barrier to my being accepted in some cultures, even hampering business success at times, but so be it. . .

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

[Mooner]

I do not condone the OP's action of drinking and driving. Can't believe people are criticizing him for going out with his family and extended family for a night out.

I agree that he should of removed his family when things turned ugly but perhaps everyone felt the situation was under control. As for the scalpel incident. I think to decide you need a weapon tells u that maybe its time to leave. Saying that i would use whatever i could get my hands on to protect my family, illegal or not! I pass no opologies for that!

What really annoys me about this thread is people's im superior than you attitude. I think its very easy to pass judgement on people from behind a keyboard. There is nothing wrong with saying that you disagree with people choices or actions but personally attacking them over some words they have written on a forum is out of order. In the the end it's their life and they live with the consequences!

Get off your high horses and worry about your own business. If your life is perfect, respect to you! Let us mere mortals get on with our lives!

[puck2]

OP, your intention to report about this cruel incidents was okay. Your problem you draw off the attention from the real events by adding your egocentric personal sh@t and your bragging. That this dirturbed most of the TV readers is normal and justified. You bragged to be a "surgeon". Because everybody considers this a highly responsible job - and therefore paid very well - it is frustrating to read about your degenerated ethics of such a profession.

You didn't literally say it, but everybody is able to read between the lines. In short, you are an alcoholic. Some typical indications of alcoholism match what is described by yourself

- dependency on beer/alcohol

- denying or not admitting that you are a regular drinker

- changing psyche and character (your uncontrolled name-callings to the critics)

- reduced judgmnent (=drunken driving)

a.s.o.

I guess and hope for all potential patients you are retired now ... for whatever reason.

Edited November 6, 2012 by puck2

[Neeranam]

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

Alcoholism is a disease. Would you say that someone with cancer/hiv did it to themselves?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Sounds pretty judgmental yourself IMO. I think many of use were reacting to the OP's own "high horse" tone, reducing Thais to something sub-human in his florid description, while he obviously shares the tendencies toward boozing and violence that he's condemning.

I completely agree it's fine to go to these events with or without your kids along. But everyone here seems to agree it's better to leave early on, and certainly at the first sign of any "mosh pit" behavior.

This kind of advice is what gives TV.com its tremendous value, and perhaps best to just ignore the endemic judgmentalism and over-generalizations.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

Alcoholism is a disease. Would you say that someone with cancer/hiv did it to themselves?

I completely agree that it's a disease, but for those that are brought on by (and prevented by) a one-day-at-a-time decision to engage in healthy vs dangerous habits, I consider it much more constructive for me to take responsibility for my choices than to see myself as a helpless victim.

And that is also an important part of all the treatment programs for various addictions that I've participated in.

Have you been able to remain sober dry without the benefit of such a program? If so, good on you, but I don't know many alcoholics that do. . .

And I'd probably want to take the same approach if it turned out that I had terminal cancer as well - have you read Lance Armstrong's bio? Highly recommended.

Edited November 6, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK

[Mooner]

.

"This kind of advice is what gives TV.com its tremendous value"

Ha ha! I liked your post until that statement! Barely a serious on helpful response on this site. 1 in 10 if that. Still always good for a read and a chuckle!

[BigJohnnyBKK]

"This kind of advice is what gives TV.com its tremendous value"

Ha ha! I liked your post until that statement! Barely a serious on helpful response on this site. 1 in 10 if that. Still always good for a read and a chuckle!

I'd say that ratio's a lot better than what most of us get in our day-to-day conversations.

[Neeranam]

Have you been able to remain sober dry without the benefit of such a program? If so, good on you, but I don't know many alcoholics that do. . .

I have been able to stay sober dry for 12 years using such a program. I've never met an real alcoholic that could stay sober for more than a couple of months with out a program. I've met a few that stayed dry for a few years though.

[Lukjaa]

Why would a surgeon bringing in $250,000k a year (I'm assuming this is a normal surgeon salary) be married to some Isaan girl from Srisaket and attending some low life, outdoor party? If I put in 12 years of school and made huge money, I would have a super hot American girl half my age and maybe hit the odd party in Phuket or Singapore but never some shit show in Isaan. Maybe he's lying about the surgeon part.

[Pormax]

I do not condone the OP's action of drinking and driving. Can't believe people are criticizing him for going out with his family and extended family for a night out.

I agree that he should of removed his family when things turned ugly but perhaps everyone felt the situation was under control. As for the scalpel incident. I think to decide you need a weapon tells u that maybe its time to leave. Saying that i would use whatever i could get my hands on to protect my family, illegal or not! I pass no opologies for that!

What really annoys me about this thread is people's im superior than you attitude. I think its very easy to pass judgement on people from behind a keyboard. There is nothing wrong with saying that you disagree with people choices or actions but personally attacking them over some words they have written on a forum is out of order. In the the end it's their life and they live with the consequences!

Get off your high horses and worry about your own business. If your life is perfect, respect to you! Let us mere mortals get on with our lives!

So you don't condone people drinking or driving!!!

Even if that is your own feelings a bit stupid telling everyone as it would suggest you do this on a regular basis, and I would suggest that most TV members would gun you down for saying this as they do act responsible and have thoughts for others.

I have lost someone very dear to me because of a drunk driver and seen so many victims of drunk drivers. Perhaps if you lost someone close to you you might have a different view, though I somehow don't think so.

You want to kill or injure yourself through drink driving then I have no problem but to put others knowingly at risk is at the very least grossly negligent plus I could use many other words I would most likely be censured for.

I would like to see the penalty for drunk driving be as follows: confiscation of car, 1 year driving ban and 3 months in jail, then just maybe we will have a few less drivers like you on the road, less people killed and driving will be a little safer for all.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Why would a surgeon bringing in $250,000k a year (I'm assuming this is a normal surgeon salary) be married to some Isaan girl from Srisaket and attending some low life, outdoor party? If I put in 12 years of school and made huge money, I would have a super hot American girl half my age and maybe hit the odd party in Phuket or Singapore but never some shit show in Isaan. Maybe he's lying about the surgeon part.

For me the whole point of bothering to go to the trouble of becoming wealthy is to have the freedom to do whatever you like, including marry whoever you like.

You're speaking from your own preferences. For myself even millions couldn't persuade me to marry a young American girl, while the rice farmer's daughters from that part of the world are exactly my type.

And isn't it nice we don't all have the same taste, or we'd all be fighting over the same few girls 8-)

[sms747]

'My wife and daughter are safe an sound. And I will protect them come hell or high water'

your attendance to the event after the violence started and your drunkenness are testimony to your purported concern for their safety. If you had half a brain and real concern for their safety, you would have gotten the hell out at the first sign of violence instead of fetching your scalpels and having another Chiang.

He was just doing what Thai's do and not acting like a falang soaked in health and safety rules and risk assessment nonsense. Taking the family, even babies to such events is common, in fact the more families and kids the less likely is the risk of serious trouble. You were not there so cannot be the judge of when the time to get out was.You can usually tell if there is likely to be serious trouble by the make up of the crowd. Mostly it is no more than a bit of chair throwing and kick and run, but of course it can and does escalate. The best security I have seen was in a village in Ubon near the border, the guards would not even let the crowd stand up or dance, anyone that did was carted off, no trouble at all.

[sms747]

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

Alcoholism is a disease. Would you say that someone with cancer/hiv did it to themselves?

Alcoholism is NOT a disease, it is an addiction to a drug called alcohol. Calling it a disease is just a cop out.

Edited November 6, 2012 by sms747

[tullynagardy]

We are due to have a "concert" for our new house in mid january and I am dreading the occasion. Band booked for 5pm to 11pm - just enough time have at least 4 fights I reckon. Have had to splash out 3,000 baht for security and the "monkey house" on the back of a pick up.

What and where exactly do you get security?

I am having a similar party (on my wedding day of all times) and the fiancee wants to pay the police to sit there all night as its a near certainty people from the next village will come and start a row

What would be typical payment for this?

[Neeranam]

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

Alcoholism is a disease. Would you say that someone with cancer/hiv did it to themselves?

Alcoholism is NOT a disease, it is an addiction to a drug called alcohol. Calling it a disease is just a cop out.

Looks like we have another medical expert.

So you think you know better than lets see - The American Medical Association, The World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American College of Physicians , Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine

[giddyup]

PS Your 12-step program probably encourages taking responsibility for your choices?

despite all it did to me I did to myself with it

Alcoholism is a disease. Would you say that someone with cancer/hiv did it to themselves?

Alcoholism is NOT a disease, it is an addiction to a drug called alcohol. Calling it a disease is just a cop out.

Looks like we have another medical expert.

So you think you know better than lets see - The American Medical Association, The World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American College of Physicians , Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine

So any self-inflicted addiction can be labelled as a disease?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

So any self-inflicted addiction can be labelled as a disease?

Well modern neuroscience is only starting to scratch the surface of the physical component of the addictive mechanisms of the brain, but yes, it seems that addictions to things like gambling and sex trigger similar combinations of chemistry and electrical excitation patterns as heroin and tobacco.

However the field is still very much in the early stages of understanding the phenomena, as with the related fields of allergies and the immune system.

There are also major indications of genetic susceptibility through family inheritance as well as of course the psychological/environmental influences.

In any case from a therapeutic POV, there is very little effectiveness in programs that attempt to use "willpower" and "self-discipline" etc to combat the problem, and we all know how effective the "war on drugs" prohibition enforcement approach has been over the years.

The only programs that have a decent success rate (over 15% of those who start, as much as 40% of those who continue consistently for a long time) are the grassroots laymen-run voluntary 12-step programmes.

The medically supervised rehab clinic industry is usually just a starting point to get those who can afford them a solid introduction to those programs.

Which do encourage an attitude of personal responsibility - but that is very different from assigning "blame" to the afflicted individual.

We're all doing the best we can at any given stage of our life, and none are perfect are we.

[chrisinth]

Have you been able to remain sober dry without the benefit of such a program? If so, good on you, but I don't know many alcoholics that do. . .

I have been able to stay sober dry for 12 years using such a program. I've never met an real alcoholic that could stay sober for more than a couple of months with out a program. I've met a few that stayed dry for a few years though.

Sh1t! The last time I had an alcoholic drink was 1st May 1999. Never been near a programme in my life. Prior to 1999 I don't think I missed a day without having one or ten drinks since I was 16 years old; that time span was 25 years. That isn't boasting, it was just an occupational hazard

And now I find out that I probably wasn't an alcoholic....................

To Mooner with your statement:

"Ha ha! I liked your post until that statement! Barely a serious on helpful response on this site"

I would have to beg to differ. I'm off for a drink..................

[ttelise]

Really think your heading nowhere with the spelling / grammar issues, so much so your making me laugh.

One of the worlds best cardiac surgeons Toby Cosgrove headed the Cleveland Clinic cardiac unit, a place deemed good enough to treat the rulers of Kuwait & Saudi Arabia, maybe they didn't care his dyslexia was so bad he used to have to rely on his residents to write up his reports.

You can actually tell a lot more about a person by their writing style and skill than you would think. Additionally many people, when prevaricating, tend to subconsciously over-embellish and exaggerate narratives as they think this will make it more believable.

Doctors often have Residents write up reports

Dyslexia is a learning disability which doesn't necessarily manifest itself with below average writing skills. But are you suggesting the OP is dyslexic? Or that he had someone else write his post(s) for him?

Dr. Delos Cosgrove is a graduate of WiIlliams College ('62, History major) and UVa Medical School - believe me he didn't graduate from Williams with a History degree with below average writing skills.. Yes, he is dyslexic and as he acknowledges he overcame this disability with perseverance. According to his bio he has published nearly 450 journal articles. Perhaps he is an even better CEO than he was a surgeon as the Cleveland Clinic is indeed one of the leading medical centers in the United States.

Residents and interns probably do the vast majority if writing and editing. Old school doctors generally dictate the article and others revise. Then goes through peer review editing and etc. prior to publication. You end up with doctor's knowledge and someone's elses writing.

You obviously know very little about doctors. Doctors do very little writing, especially old school. What they do write typically is difficult to read, full of misspellings and very fragmented.

I have spent the last 17 years representing medical professionals and trying to interpret notes and charts. Their emails to me are typically not much better than their charts though some are better than others.

This is perhaps more a function if time and not feeling the need to impress unknown people on the Internet with writing style. Haha, some here try hard to impress with writing. These posts tend to have poor sentence structure with a bunch of forced words obviously gotten off a thesaurus.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I would have to beg to differ. I'm off for a drink..................

S/he only said s/he hadn't met one that's all.

All it takes to qualify is a desire to stop, so I'd say you pass with flying colors.

And congratulations on beating the odds with the white-knuckle technique, there are indeed some that can. Unfortunately not enough as many of my friends here and on the other side will attest.

[ttelise]

Why would a surgeon bringing in $250,000k a year (I'm assuming this is a normal surgeon salary) be married to some Isaan girl from Srisaket and attending some low life, outdoor party? If I put in 12 years of school and made huge money, I would have a super hot American girl half my age and maybe hit the odd party in Phuket or Singapore but never some shit show in Isaan. Maybe he's lying about the surgeon part.

Haha, sounds reasonable, but most surgeons that are specialized make much more than $ 250,000 a year. Orthopods, neurosurgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, plastic surgeons and etc, are generally much closer to $ 500,000 to 7 figures even in small communities.

Hot US chicks would not typically be attracted to guys half their age over $ 250,000. The hot ones can typically get younger guys who more than that and most US chicks don't go after older guys. US girls generally have to have the attraction and lust factors present or they simply move on to another.

I have no clue about scalpel thing, especially over there. I know that most medical and surgical hardware here such as pedicke screws, PLIF, ALIF, TIF kits, orthopedic long bone hardware and screws and tools for insertion are carried around in the trunks of medical device reps cars and brought in for sterilization a day or a few hours before surgery depending on hospital.

[lomatopo]

Really think your heading nowhere with the spelling / grammar issues, so much so your making me laugh.

One of the worlds best cardiac surgeons Toby Cosgrove headed the Cleveland Clinic cardiac unit, a place deemed good enough to treat the rulers of Kuwait & Saudi Arabia, maybe they didn't care his dyslexia was so bad he used to have to rely on his residents to write up his reports.

You can actually tell a lot more about a person by their writing style and skill than you would think. Additionally many people, when prevaricating, tend to subconsciously over-embellish and exaggerate narratives as they think this will make it more believable.

Doctors often have Residents write up reports

Dyslexia is a learning disability which doesn't necessarily manifest itself with below average writing skills. But are you suggesting the OP is dyslexic? Or that he had someone else write his post(s) for him?

Dr. Delos Cosgrove is a graduate of WiIlliams College ('62, History major) and UVa Medical School - believe me he didn't graduate from Williams with a History degree with below average writing skills.. Yes, he is dyslexic and as he acknowledges he overcame this disability with perseverance. According to his bio he has published nearly 450 journal articles. Perhaps he is an even better CEO than he was a surgeon as the Cleveland Clinic is indeed one of the leading medical centers in the United States.

Residents and interns probably do the vast majority if writing and editing. Old school doctors generally dictate the article and others revise. Then goes through peer review editing and etc. prior to publication. You end up with doctor's knowledge and someone's elses writing.

You obviously know very little about doctors. Doctors do very little writing, especially old school. What they do write typically is difficult to read, full of misspellings and very fragmented.

I have spent the last 17 years representing medical professionals and trying to interpret notes and charts. Their emails to me are typically not much better than their charts though some are better than others.

This is perhaps more a function if time and not feeling the need to impress unknown people on the Internet with writing style. Haha, some here try hard to impress with writing. These posts tend to have poor sentence structure with a bunch of forced words obviously gotten off a thesaurus.

OK, with three generations of Orthopedic surgeons, five in total including in-laws, in the family, the only doctors I know personally can write above the level of the OP.

I guess you are saying that nothing in the content or style of the original post raises any doubt in your mind that he is a licensed Physician and Surgeon?

Edited November 6, 2012 by lomatopo

[Pormax]

We are due to have a "concert" for our new house in mid january and I am dreading the occasion. Band booked for 5pm to 11pm - just enough time have at least 4 fights I reckon. Have had to splash out 3,000 baht for security and the "monkey house" on the back of a pick up.

What and where exactly do you get security?

I am having a similar party (on my wedding day of all times) and the fiancee wants to pay the police to sit there all night as its a near certainty people from the next village will come and start a row

What would be typical payment for this?

As this is slightly off topic I have sent you a PM with the information you require.

Security a must.

Hope my PM helped