Greetings!

[taxexile]

lannarebirths advice makes a lot of sense.

[Jing-jo]

i would like to advise the op to be very bloody careful if she is venturing into the lions den which is the southern provences.

its a very dangerous area to be spending time in and id be watching my arse every second of the day.

be a real shame is she became unstuck down there because of her work.

los has so much more to offer besides the troubles down south.

cheers

After serving in the U.S military and working as an expat in Iraq, I've gotten quite used to watching my back.

That isn't to say that I'm too proud to hire a body guard or back out if I feel usafe. I plan on leaving Thailand with as many body parts as I come in with.

Mouth shut and head down is a good policy sometimes. I have no problem utilizing it!

Thank you for the warning.

MML

If as you have said you served in the u.s. military and worked in Iraq then you should have a good idea how to DRESS and ACT around the muslim community as being a foriegn female,especially an american one ,you may have communication and acceptance problems.

You may want to hire a trustworthy local,who speaks good english (so he understands you and can convey the nuances of any conversation he has with the locals to you without losing any of the implied meaning and help you fill in the gaps of what is not said this is Asia after all!),and the local dialects to ask the more pertinent questions for you and maybe you get a more thruthfull outlook.

Also the fact that you are in the south of Thailand,where there are a lot of Malay influences,should cause you to look at their culture as well

forewarned is forearmed

mouth shut is good but head down is not

tilt it slightly downwards by all means but keep the eyes watching all around and the ears open to all

learn a few local derogotory terms about americans so you can sense if things go a bit pear shaped before they do

an old but sevicable camera would be better than a brand new or very shiny one buy a small digital large memory voice recorder thats compact but has a very good microphone on it to get the conversations translated by somebody else you trust to check the bodyguard/translator you are using is translating accurately

the main thing is to keep your mind,eyes ears and instincts open trust in these

And protect your arse you only get one of these!

and more important enjoy LOS

Take Care

Jing-jo

I do appreciate it loads.

[Ulysses G.]

ignore most of the pseudo alpha male verbaige so far

Does this mean that I'm not a real alpha male?

Is that why I have to pay so much for young ladies favors?

[Tim207]

Hello out there,

Yes.. I am an American. While I constantly feel the need to apologize for the behaviors of some of my countrymen, I'm actually quite proud of this fact.

I'm a 23 year old female expat/student who is currently working in Iraq, but I've taken three months off to do studies on the violence against Buddhist teachers in the south. Low and behold, the day I book my ticket, there is a military coup. My intention now is to focus on the sociological impact of a bloodless revolution in a developing country.

Generally, before ever entering a country, I learn the language sufficiently so as to not depend on English. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this won't be possible. I hope to get a trustworthy interpreter in Bangkok.

I will be arriving in two weeks with my camera, laptop, cell phone, pool cue, five changes of clothes and an open mind.

If you looking for an interpreter to talk with southern Thais I would find one down in the south not in Bangkok. That way you will have someone more familiar with local dialects and customs. If you want people to open up to you then you will have to put them at ease. As an example, a non english speaker looking for information on rural Pensylvania would not be well served by an interpreter from New York City, particularly if they were looking for information on a sensitive subject. You might be able to find a southern Thai in BKK for an interpreter but it would be much easier to find one in the south.

There is a guy on the another forum that you should contact. He is married to a southern Thai and has lived and worked in Sonkhla for a long time. He is very happy to talk about the situation in southern Thailand and maybe he would even be able to recomend an interpreter and point you in the right direction. PM me if you want to know his name and what forum you can contact him in.