ChristianPFC

I recently rode in a van from Sri Ratcha to Bangkok, where I sat with 3 others (i.e. we were 4) on a bench intended for 3, with body contact to my right neighbor and to the fare collector (standing) and my knees touching the seat in front of me. Another passenger was standing, so we were 18 in a van intended for 15. Sometimes you have to take your luggage on your lap. Compared with these vans, econony class in airplanes look like luxury to me!

Thanks for posting. I just discovered that http://pattayabitchboard.socialparody.com/pg/forum/topic/8855625/goodbye-and-hello has closed: and another board has opened: http://pattayagaybitchboard.socialparody.com/forumlist This is what I posted there:

That must have been me. When I left England for good on 30.11.2010, there was snow, and my shoes were not watertight so I got wet socks, right at the beginning of a 20+ hour travel. Rather than sitting through the whole journey with wet socks, I took out my shoes and put my sock on the grille in the leg area. From London to Dubai (?) they got dry. Apart from that, I shave, shower and even change my underwear when I travel between Thailand and Europe. Germany recently introduced (or is to introduce shortly) a compulsory fee for electronic entertainment devices. Before, we had a society that counted radios and tv (different fees for color or b/w) in your household, car, second household; now with the advent of tv via internet everyone has to pay, regardless of number of devices he has and if he wants radio, tv, internet. There is only one exception: if you are blind and deaf (and have a medical certificate as proof), you are exempt from this media fee. (No joke, really!)

I have a closely related request: I am looking for a Samsung SGH-E720 Thai version. I have one that was a gift from a friend (about 5 years ago, in England). Now I am looking for the same model in Thai (so messages from AIS in Thai are displayed correctly), preferably with charger as well (my charger has a UK plug that does not fit into Thai power plugs) and a battery (so I can travel without charger when I take a second full battery with me - they last about 3 days). Does anyone have an idea where I can get this very phone?

Sorry, no idea. I am not even sure which fingers to use to indicate "2". Wait, what haircut did POW's have?

What an asinine idea! People know that they can't take sharp objects on a plane, and if you forget to take them out of your pocket, it's your fault. Yes, it can be unfair, but it's simple and everyone understands it. I once had to leave a jar of hazelnut spread in Germany at the airport (I should have argued that it's solid because it was in the freezer, and not a paste). The key is simplicity. "No knives" is simple. Just image all the additional work required to check if the knife fulfils the requirements. I wondered about the metal knife and fork I once got for dining (or rather eating) in an airplane. Anyway, it's always the unexpected. No matter how many rules there are, someone will come up with something different, see the "shoe-bomber".

Fantastic, Jovianmoon, that's the kind of jokes ChristianPFC laughs about!

I stil revel in memory of the salmon and pizza (Margharita, with goat's cheese ?) we had in the canteen when I was working in France. Apart from that, the food was to much based on meat. My favorite cuisine is Italian (pizza, pasta).

Some more jokes about scientists: There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't. (copied from the web): One subject I don't make jokes about are concentration camps. My grandfather died in a concentration camp. He was drunk and fell off a watch tower.

I sneaked up and hid behind the stairs. If you have to hide something (my camara and the fact that I wanted to take a close-up picture) you suddenly think everyone (the other people on the table) is watching you.

I took these two pictures a few days ago: "Buttcrack of the week"

Two gays are watching a dog licking his balls. One says: "I wish I could do that.". The other replies: "Go on, try it. The dog doesn't look vicious to me." (From memory, I clearly remember it with gays, although you can substite them with men.)

I simply love racist, ... jokes! But here is one I hope nobody finds offensive: This is apparently a true story. It took place just outside of Munich, Germany. Heisenberg went for a drive and got stopped by a traffic cop. The cop asked, "Do you know how fast you were going?" Heisenberg replied, "No, but I know where I am." (Explanation: According to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, you cannot simultaneously know both your position and speed. But this applies only to atomar level!)

Well, for me, Apple can keep all their products to themselves! I never owned an Apple product, I think they might be equivalent to other brands. But from a short experience with an Apple computer instead of a PC, I think it's like being right-handed or left-handed (or driving on different sides of the road): it does exactly the same thing, but it's difficult to change from one side to the other. Now they give me one more reason not to buy their products! This quote is linked to Winston Churchill (and others): ttp://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/07/haggling/

I don't understand Scotty's joke. Here is one I invented today (or I once read a similar joke and forgot?) when I saw two Blacks (Negroes) when I was shopping: I have nothing against Blacks; on the contrary, I think everyone should have one.

Not at all.

For me, it's acceptable to joke about everything and everyone, ESPECIALLY races, nationalities, religions, homosexuals, women, disabled ... Not at all abhorrent! This includes pedophile jokes like this: A pedophile is walking with a child in a forest. The child says: "I am scared, it's so dark here." The pedophile replies: "And I? I will have to walk all the way back alone!" (My translation from the German version.)

That's an interesting development I only learnt about yesterday in this thread here. Can someone provide a link to the post on SGT (I had a quick look, but didn't find it there)?

I am not sure if insulation would be helpful in Thailand. In Europe in winter, we have an average temperature difference of 20C (20C inside, 0C outside), in Thailand it is 10C (35C outside, 25C inside). In Europe, we have to heat 24h per day (or at least keep the temperature inside above 10C) whereas inThailand they can switch off the aircon when the place is closed, so let's say they need aircon 12h per day. On the other hand, winter in Europe is only 3 months (depending on where you live), in Thailand they need aircon all over the year.

I think the correct Thai name is ถนนพระรามที่ ๔ (Rama IV Road) which transliterates as Thanon Pra Ram tii sii (road - title - rama - the - fourth). The r in Pra is usually not pronounced and in Ram the R can be pronounced as L. That leaves one question: why is it sometimes Ram and sometimes Rama? I have no idea.

Most aircons are set to 25C (I saw thermometers in shopping malls and in MRT), which is at first a bit cold when you come in from outside, but then it is ok. Now living in Bangkok and using aircon I am quite surprised about the energy consumption (with room partition, I have 11 sq to cool from 30 to 25C for about 10 hours which consumes about 4 kWh). The major problem is that all electrical devices in an air-conditioned room produce heat, which has to be removed by aircon. Hot air hand dries in toilets are a multiple considerable waste of electrical energy, as are microwaves or other ways to heat food and drinks in 7/11!

As far as I know, there are not tones in Japanese. After 2 years of study (on average 1 hour per day, the first 3 months in a class in Bangkok, the rest in Europe), I can read and understand general documents (my work contract, electricity bill, announcements in railway stations and so on) to 50%, guess another 25% correctly and the rest is insignificant or can be looked up in a dictionary. This proves very helpful in many cases. At that level, I could switch to reading books that are intended to teach English to Thais (mostly by Pailin publishing house, book stores often have a selection of books reduced to 29 Baht (from originally about 100 Baht). Listening and speaking are a bit more difficult, when I am with a Thai I let him/her deal with other Thais, I can follow partially. I have a few Thai friends whose English is on a similar level als my Thai, with them it is very helpful to switch between English and Thai if necessary. As many of you know, even in the tourism industry or in universities, little English is spoken or understood. Those who do not speak Thai and are looking for a boyfriend who speaks English have at least a positive selection intellect-wise (i.e. if their boyfriend speaks English his education and status is above average). I recently noticed in a Se-ed bookshop that there is plenty of travel literature about Thailand in Thai language aimed at Thai readers (who would have thought?) with subjects/places not covered in English (internet or books), so far I bought three books and I can undestand about 50% (see above). In my neighborhood (Lak Si Bangkok) close to no English is spoken and my Thai is received positively and will surely be the key element to chat up local boys and lure them into my room under the pretext of helping me study Thai. For ordering food in places without a menu in English (most places I eat at don't have a menu in English) like street stalls it is essential to read Thai. (incomplete, just a short visit to gaythailand after long absence)

To be fair: BTS and MRT are working fine (although I don't know if there were any problems during construction), I only wonder why Saphan Taksin has only one track and why the MRT extension does not go north to Royal Palace and Khao San road. I recently noticed that the railway line Bangkok - Chiang Mai has only one track (except for stations), so trains can only drive past each other at stations, which might explain the delay of usually 2-3 hours (once there is an irregularity, the train has to wait in a station for a train in opposite direction to pass).

I think he said: "I will be back." I couldn't access gaythailand for a week, because I took the malware warnings (Avast free antivir) serious. After deleting all cookies (tip on gaybutton), closing firefox and starting it again there are still some warnings left. But with Internet Explorer I don't get warnings.

It's not for free, it's priced in.