Bob

"Several friends" really have suggested you ride a bike around the west end of town here? Are they, perhaps, named beneficiaries on your life insurance policies?!? Given you know better than most how they drive around here (i.e., traffic signals are purely advisory, the largest frame always wins, etc.), making yourself a target in that morass is simply nuts in my opinion. Why not, instead, jump on a stationary bike at the gym that one of your goofy compatriots (i.e., me) has suggested for months!

I actually don't know when the strawberry season starts around here but only noticed a fair number of strawberries around 2-3 weeks ago. And then they seem to somewhat disappear in about a month or so. Boy wonder even went out to a "pick-it-yourself" place a couple of Saturdays ago and brought a load of them back home. TW, I'll check the price at the market next time I'm there as I'm not sure of the exact price. I'm always amazed on how cheap fresh food and vegetables are at any of eight or so big fresh markets we have here in Chiangmai.

Have to totally disagree. Strawberries (delicious, I might add) came in season here (Chiangmai) about 2 weeks ago and they're cheaper than anything I've ever seen in the US. As for bananas, far cheaper here. I like the medium-sized Thai bananas and got a nice bunch (7-8 of them) at Muang Mai (the market just north of Wororat Market) and was actually a bit embarrassed to get change back from a 10-baht coin (they cost 8 baht or, in US dollars, a hair less than $0.27). And I buy bags of Gala apples both here and back in Michigan. They're cheaper here. As for pears, I don't know. Never bought any here (I don't recall seeing any all that often but, then again, I don't look for them either).

Thanks....was almost going to guess Lampang because of the horse and buggy.

Some things are cheaper in Thailand than the west and some things aren't. Food at a Thai restaurant is definitely cheaper, domestic airline tickets typically are cheaper, hotel rooms generally are cheaper, all foods at vegetable and fruit markets are often incredibly cheaper, etc. On the other hand, cars cost 20-40% more here in Thailand, digital cameras are 25-50% more expensive here, and buying a Coke Zero or a Snickers candy bar in a 7-11 here is surprisingly a bit more expensive than I pay back in Michigan. Given they make many of the digital cameras and supplies here, I'm always amazed that I can buy the exact same item for less back in the states. For example only, I looked to purchase here in Chiangmai a SD memory card and the cheapest I could find was the equivalent at the time of $22.00 (US); however, I waited until I went home a couple of months later and bought the exact same card (made by the same manufacturer) for $9.98 (US).

Khun FH, do you know where photo #2 was taken. I don't seem to recognize that one at all, although it has very similar architecture to the Chedi (or,perhaps, Bprang) at Wat Santhitam. Seems somewhat Khmer to me rather than Thai. Your first photo is from the ruins of the original Chiangmai about 3-4 miles southeast of the current "old city." Not too many people (falang, anyway) ever get out to see those interesting ruins. Your second photo is, of course, the beautiful and probably most famous Chedi we have up here at the wat on Suthep mountain (Doi Suthep). At some point, I'll sign up again for an online photo website so I can post photos here. If/when I do that and if I post photos of various temples in and around Chiangmai, I'll likely do that in separate threads. We do have some interesting ones around here such as the Shan temple (Wat Goo Dtao) with the "watermelon" stupa/chedi and one south of the old city made almost entirely of tin.

Every month or two, I tend to visit and photograph a wat or two three here in Chiangmai. For those few lost souls who might want to know, the following is offered: A wat can be loosely translated as a monastery or a temple which has an enclosing wall that divides it from the secular world. It's not a building but the entire grounds on which the various temples other structures are located. The word "wat" comes from the Pali word "vata" which means "enclosure." A wat has two main sections, the poottawaat (the area dedicated to Buddha) and the sangkaawaat (the general living quarters for the monks). 1. Poottawaat. This area usualy contains several buildings including: a. A "jedee" or "Chedi." In English, we also call these structures a "stupa" or even a "pagoda." Typically, the Chedi is a bell-shaped tower which usually contains a chamber with one or more Buddha relics (but may also be built to contain the ashes of a king or an important monk). And often the structure is covered in gold leaf. For wats built in the Khmer or Ayutthaya periods, this building is called a "bprang" and looks more (for lack of a better description) like a Khmer temple tower. b. A "bot" or "oobosot." This is the ordination hall and is considered the most sacred part of the wat as it's the place where the monks take their vows. You often can recognize the building as a bot by the 8 boundary stones ("bai sema") that define the limits of its sanctuary. Most bots face east ( I have no idea why). c. Wihaan. This is the shrine hall that contains the principle Buddha images and it's the assembly hall where the monks and believers congregate. A wat can have more than one wihaan (but only one bot). d. Montop. Typically, this is a bulding or shrine with a specific square or cruciform shape with, typically, a spired roof. It usually houses relecs, sacred scriptures, or simply serves the purpose of a shrine. e. Hawdtrai. This is the the temple library which houses the sacred Tirpitaka scriptrues (which, traditionaly, are written on palm leaves). You'll typically see in this building various bookcases, some exquisitely crafted with mother-of-pearl inlay or with gold leaf applied on black lacquer). f. Sala. Simply an open pavilion providing shade and a place to rest. g. Salagaanbparian. Usually, this is a large, open, hall where lay people can hear sermons or receive religious education (e.g., to study graduate theology) and the building that's often used for saying afternoon prayers. h. Hawrakang. The bell tower used for waking the months and to anounce the morning and evening ceremonies. In some older temples, this is a drum tower (called a hawglawng). i. Other buildings. Some wats also have a columned or formal courtyard (called a rabiang), a crematorium, and even a school. 2. Sangkaawaat. Mainly, this area contains the living quarters for the monks and can have the following buildings: a. A gootee or goodee (often spelled in English "kuti"). Historically, these were small structures built on stilts designed to house a monk but modern kutis take the shape of an apartment building with small rooms for the monks. b. Sometimes the belltower or the saalaagaanbparian is located in the sangkaawaat. c. And the sangkaawaat also contains the functional builidngs of the wat - the kitchen building or facilities, sanitary facilities, etc.

Well, I was leaving that open for interpretation but with the general notion that I was referring to either WWI or WWII....

There's probably little doubt that colonialism and slavery retarded the deveopment of some African countries but, in reality, you're talking about the last dozen centuries or so of time (a drop in the bucket of the scientific history of modern man). But, even then, most African populations were centuries older than anything that appeared in Western Europe or Eastern Asia let alone the Americas. Why hasn't there been the same (or higher) level of progress in Africa that came to be in those much younger societies? Science seems to firmly believe that man originated in Africa and from there migrated over centuries to the middle east and then on to Eurasia and elsewhere. Whatever precise type (homo erectus or homo sapiens, as two examples) of human that migrated anywhere certainly emanated from Africa and, at a minimum, one ought to be able to theoretically conclude that the African "man" who stayed in Africa was just as smart/capable as the African "man" who migrated elsewhere over those centuries. For example only, Japan was populated centuries (if not thousands of years) after Africa was populated. Given the "head start" Africa had and given the general principles of evolution (there was a hell of a lot more evolution that had occurred in Africa given they had more time to do it), one would generally think that African nations would have progressed more than Japanese society or, at worst, at least as well as Japanese society. However, one could obviously argue that Japanese society is generally way ahead (economically, politically, and maybe even culturally) of any group anywhere near central or northeastern Africa. My continuing quandary is simply "why."

A very reliable source (TW) told me you used to dance as #7 at Boys of Bangkok. Of course, before the Big War......

Somewhat hijacking the topic (well, maybe I'm not sure what it is!), I'd have to admit that I've always been puzzled by Africa and yet am largely ignorant of it. What I still can't quite grasp is why this continent, the cradle of all human civilization, has lagged so far behind (economically, politically, etc.) than other populated continents. A year or two ago, I read a fascinating and yet depressing book by Keith Richburg titled Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa. Richburg, an African-American journalist working for the Washington Post, wrote this book to detail his experiences as a correspondent in Africa and as a black man who initially was "proud" of his African ancestry; however, his ultimate conclusion (having witnessed the on-going civil wars, massive tribalism, disease outbreaks, etc.) was that he was happy that his immediate ancestors had escaped from the violent, chaotic, and depressing history that he witnessed. Reading Richburg's book left me in even more of a quandary. Why, with all the natural resources that Africa has and the thousands and thousands of years of additional "evolution" (isn't this the scientific theory that's generally accepted and generall states that we humans ultimately advance and improve ourselves through natural selection over time?), has Africa done so poorly. Why haven't they graduated beyond massive tribalism? Presuming any race of humans would or should take others as slaves, why weren't they positioned to take "whites" as slaves versus the other way around. I followed up that book with a somewhat interesting (although tedious) reading of a book by a father/son team of Italian geneticists (sorry, can't remember the name of the book or the authors) who traced the historical gene flow from Africa to the rest of the world. That book cemented in my mind the fact that all modern humans come from Africa and the studies of these geneticists only confirm the history and the time lines (thousands of years) that it took for modern man to expand from Africa to the middle east and then outwards from there. To be honest, I actually felt a little guilty looking at the so-called "gene trail", thinking that it isn't very politically correct to even begin to wonder if even one of the underlying reasons for the generally poor success of the African model might be due to genetic reasons. And I'd admit that I personally still don't have an answer as to why the African experiences have been so poor (comparatively speaking to other modern societies in the world) other than to continue to speculate that many factors are likely involved. But, other than weather and genetics, I (in my small pea brain) can't think of any other important factors for the relatively long list of failures. And I simply can't personally buy that weather alone is responsible (although the "better" weather of the north and south of Africa does somewhat correspond to what one might argue are more successful societal histories). My thinking is probably borne of ignorance and is certainly not politically correct but, so far, the enigma of the big "why" remains with me as strong as ever.

Do you mean the "likes" comments? If not, I have no clue what a wink might be.

Many youtube videos of landings (and takeoffs) at Saint Martin. Here's one of them:

Sorry but I'm having a "is this real?" moment so, perhaps before I go in that direction, the OP might answer a couple of questions: (1) You talk about "the guy" who gets furious when you play devil's advocate and argue with him. Are you talking about one guy and then attempting to project how that guy reacts on the rest of Thai society? (2) Another place you refer to your verbal opponents as "Thai lads" and then seemingly also refer to them as "educated people from top universities." Which is it? (3) What's your general relationship to these verbal opponents? Good friends, hardly-know-them-types, or possibly are you in some position of power with them (e.g., a teacher or employer of some type)?

I knew that and part of my comments were tongue-in-cheek (which typically requires no lubricants....).

Well, thank god he's literate and didn't use any of that god damned profanity!

I'm somewhat guessing you're wondering how you do an online transfer from your Thai Kasikorn bank to either (1) somebody else's account at Kasikorn or (2) to just a person or to an account owned by somebody else that's not at Kasikorn. I have accounts at SCB so Kasikorn might be different. I don't believe you can accomplish item #2 above. As for item #1, you first need to "link" the other Kasikorn account with your account and then you can transfer funds online (there's a daily limit) from your account to the other account with a few clicks of your mouse. As to your assumption about internet banking only being available to somebody with a retirement visa, all I can tell you is I've used internet banking at SCB since about 2002 and didn't get a retirement visa until 3-4 years ago (before that, was just here on vacation for 2-3 weeks at a time).

Loosen up, gentlemen. Seems somewhat silly to me to get into lectures about "profanity" and how a gentleman should act just because a single reference is made to a "flaming a**hole." If that gets anyone's skirt in a knot, perhaps a little valium would help. But, as noted, any semi-literate poster here simply doesn't use profanity. Well, at least I never fucking do.

What a sick puppy! I only have had to endure a few thousand of them (maybe more - at least 6 times a week in grade school and 7 times a week in high school). One of the most boring things in the world, especially if you've seen the show before. Somewhat like watching a television show you didn't like in the first place and then being compelled to watch it again a few thousand times. After high school, I did experience the Mass in English a few times.....such as at funerals and weddings. Still "naa bua maak maak!" (that's Thai, not latin). With respect to Latin (I had four years of that in high school), I, like Fountainhill, have forgotten most of it. Back then, my knowledge of Latin was occasionally valuable to help me figure out the meaning of an English word that was based on Latin (although sometimes the English version was a total corruption of the meaning in Latin). The word "ambulance" comes from the root latin word "ambulare" which means "to walk." That information, of course, is pretty much irrelevant to the world which pretty much reminds me of both Latin and the Latin Mass. And, as Fountainhill notes, we still have a lot of terms especially in the law that are either Latin or slightly-corrupted Latin. Habeas corpus (have the body), res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself), subpoena duces tecum, and hundreds of others I'm still trying to forget. Sounds like Khun Thaiworthy has a bumpersticker on his car that reads: Sona si Latine loquieris.

Geez, do I have to spell it out for you? I'd have "thunk" you might have figured I knew that from the "Pope F" reference I made (let alone the references to them digging the bastard up and trying him two times!).

Talk about strange! I actually don't recall hearing about that (Pope F) and found it doing a little googling. According to one website, the same pope was disinterred a second time and found guilty again at a second trial (and beheaded after that one). Can't a dead guy get some decent sleep? I presume the relationship with Taiwan is simply the name itself?

I couldn't have said it better: "Do not rush to conclusions." As to your second comment, there are no (as in "zero") facts in the public domain about anything the board owner here did and, unless I'm reading you wrong, you were accusing him of cooperating or coordinating with another board owner to ban your friend on this board in your opening post.

In spite of regularly reading the morass of Thai governmental news, I'm actually unaware of which party - Peua Thai or the Democrats - is more or less supportive of gay rights. So, I'm curious as to why you think Peua Thai is more anti-gay than the Democrats. The current issue at least stems from a Peua Thai member (I don't remember Abhisit or his co-horts ever suggesting even the study of any such issues). Regardless, given it's my belief that the Thai government (all political parties) and the general population are far behind the times on most social issues, I'd expect this proposal to go nowhere. Plus it's pretty much axiomatic that one of the two major political parties will oppose it if there's even a hint that the other major poltical party might support it (somewhat the same political situation in the US, huh?).

Good idea (contacting the site owner to find out the facts before you started a thread to speculate about them).