What makes Thailand so special for you?

[Guest timmberty]

nice story abang.. you speak thai ??

[Guest thaiworthy]

Having read your post, I find that in the charming department you would definitely be serious competition for any Thai boys.  Do keep posting, I like your style.

 

I was going to say that, but Khor Tose beat me to it. You always have something interesting to say, Abang. It is often a surprise and I look forward to reading your posts when I see your name after pressing the button "View New Content."

[Guest Jovianmoon]

I was going to say that, but Khor Tose beat me to it. You always have something interesting to say, Abang. It is often a surprise and I look forward to reading your posts when I see your name after pressing the button "View New Content."

 

I second (third?) that. Particularly abang's post yesterday about his discovery of Thailand in "baby steps", I thought was hands down the best response I have read so far to the question "What makes Thailand so special for you?"

[Guest abang]

To the 3 guys who appreciate my postings on this forum.

You guys are making me blush.

I am sure I am just another Asian Man, no better than any Thai bar boy in terms of IQ and EQ.

 

No, I can only remember the numbers 1-10 in Thai, no even nin noi.

I am, unfortunately, getting older (not wiser) and according to Farang's standard, I've past my shelf-life.

 

One interesting comment from my recent trip came from a farang.

He said I was too tall for a Thai.

I am definitely not tall at all.

I am only 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches) but when I stand next to a Thai bar boy, he looks like a midget.

I am too BIG ... FH can testify it as I had a wonderful conversation with him on Christmas eve, 2012.

So the competition is (often) won by the Thai boy as (I think) most farangs go for small, dark-skinned Thai boys.

[Guest fountainhall]

Well, khun Abang, I can testify that you are tall. As for getting older, you look good. It was interesting that we discovered as we chatted over coffee that we had once stayed in the same hotel in Bangkok on exactly the same day, month and year. But that year will remain totally confidential!  

 

As for being BIG, our conversation did not get down to such basics 

[Guest abang]

BIG  as in BIG frame not anywhere else.

To all readers, FH and I had an hour at the coffee house at Malaysia Hotel.

It was the best conversation I had during this recent trip.

 

We talked and listened to each other, just like old friends who had known each other for a long time.

I am not ashamed to say it was 1983 when FH was on official duty while I was messing with his charges.

I was then 22.

 

To showcase my Broadway fetish, I am now just like Grizabella from the musical "Cats"

I can only lament the fact "I was beautiful then".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=_slQkHIdXp4&gl=SG

[williewillie]

after finally getting rid of heygay, welcoming beachy back would be a big mistake.  Time to get rid of snapshot before

he really gets going with hundreds of postings.

[KhorTose]

I really think you only need a few days at most for Perth, but then I live here and am a bit cynical.

 

Perth has very hot weather in summer (sometimes intolerable, like today it was 40 celsius) and the coast has really nice long white sandy beaches, if you don't mind rip currents and somewhat unfriendly sharks 

I am not into man eating sharks, but I do like modern cities, new buildings, museums of aboriginal history, parks, restaurants and beautiful rivers.  If nothing else I could always rent a car and travel up and down your beautiful coast line or go into the Western desert to look at some of that amazing geography.  The heat would bother me, but you have quite a rainy season there, and my American city is known for its rain so I would feel at home.  Besides that I now know someone in Perth to ask for all the best tourist tips----you----hehehe.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Man-eating sharks isn't the half of it.
 

As fascinating as Australia might be, the Land Down Under is not without dangers, especially when it comes to the rich fauna. When choosing to travel to Australia, be sure to consider all the continent has in store, especially poisonous or lethal animals.

 

The 10 Most Dangerous Animals in Australia

 

1. Box Jellyfish

2. The Taipan

3. Saltwater Crocodile

4. Blue Ring Octopus

5. Stone Fish

6. Red Back Spider

7. Brown Snake

8. Tiger Snake

9. The Great White Shark

10. Funnel Web Spider

 

1, 4, 5 and 9 are Beachlovers. No pun intended. (well okay, maybe a little bit.)

 

Thank you, I'll stay home.

 

http://www.hotelclub.com/blog/the-10-most-dangerous-animals-in-australia/
 

[Guest fountainhall]

No need to go to Australia for box jelly fish. They have been appearing off Phuket for several years now!   See the second half of the attached article.

 

Make sure you take some vinegar to the beach. If you are unlucky bathe the sting with it and get yourself to a hospital fast.

 

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/alarm-box-jellyfish-kills-tourist-langkawi-12107/

[TotallyOz]

1, 4, 5 and 9 are Beachlovers. No pun intended. (well okay, maybe a little bit.)

[Guest Jovianmoon]

I am not into man eating sharks...

 

I was probably not being very fair to the sharks in my earlier post. Sure, WA has had an unusual number of attacks recently, but it's still only 6 or so over two years, and I think only one of those was anywhere near Perth. The others were up and down the coast - and WA has about 12,000 km of that. The media here likes to beat up stories about shark attack, but to give it some perspective, compare the 2 or 3 fatal attacks a year with the more than 100 drownings at ocean beaches - usually due to rip currents (which I was not overstating earlier). Bottom line is, you should be far more worried about dying in a car accident on the way to the beach than shark attack or any other marine beasties.

 

I actually love sharks. The concept of the "man-eater" is actually a myth. Even Great Whites do not actually eat people, most incidents involve one or maybe two quick attacks before the shark swims away having lost interest. Unfortunately those one or two bites can often prove fatal. The motive for attacks varies, but is usually either the shark feeling threatened, or mistaking a human for its normal prey (as with a diver being seen as a seal), and probably more common is this: whereas humans use the physical sense of touch with their fingers to investigate objects, sharks use their mouths for that purpose. That chunk of flesh missing from surfer's leg was the result the shark's version of: "I wonder what that creature is?" Remember there are more than 370 species of sharks in the world, and less than 10 percent of those pose any threat to people, and even then very rarely.

 

One of the greatest experiences of my life, and on the topic of this thread (in that it helps make Thailand special to me) was scuba diving and snorkelling off Koh Phi Phi with Blacktip Reef Sharks. Between one and two metres in length, and looking a little menacing, they were actually quite docile and more fearful of us divers than the other way around. I'll never forget diving with sharks in the wild and will definitely be doing it again.

 

...I do like modern cities, new buildings, museums of aboriginal history, parks, restaurants and beautiful rivers.  If nothing else I could always rent a car and travel up and down your beautiful coast line or go into the Western desert to look at some of that amazing geography.  The heat would bother me, but you have quite a rainy season there, and my American city is known for its rain so I would feel at home.  Besides that I now know someone in Perth to ask for all the best tourist tips----you----hehehe.

 

I think you'll find some of what your looking for in Perth then, particularly some nice restaurants (a bit overpriced) and the Swan River, which is worth a look. The part of the river near the city is so wide that some tourists think it is a lake. The drive up the coast might be a good idea too, but my opinion is you would get far more out of a coastal drive in Victoria than you would in Western Australia. 

 

As for the "rainy season", um, in Perth we call that "winter"   It's cold, it doesn't rain all the time but when it does it's torrential and very unpleasant. Not like Thailand's hot downpours that last half an hour - the winter rains in Perth bucket down for hours. If you want a tropical rainy season, you'll need to head a couple of thousand kilometres up to the Top End for that. Not really my thing, to be honest - I'd rather have it in Thailand 

 

There you are, tourist tips provided 

 

Cheers!

[Guest Jovianmoon]

Man-eating sharks isn't the half of it.

 

 

The 10 Most Dangerous Animals in Australia

 

1. Box Jellyfish

2. The Taipan

3. Saltwater Crocodile

4. Blue Ring Octopus

5. Stone Fish

6. Red Back Spider

7. Brown Snake

8. Tiger Snake

9. The Great White Shark

10. Funnel Web Spider

 

1, 4, 5 and 9 are Beachlovers. No pun intended. (well okay, maybe a little bit.)

 

Thank you, I'll stay home.

 

http://www.hotelclub.com/blog/the-10-most-dangerous-animals-in-australia/

 

 

Thaiworthy is only trying to frighten you KhorTose - pay no attention at all 

 

 

1. Box Jellyfish - never seen one, never met anyone who has. Be careful if you swim in the tropics, though.

2. The Taipan - never seen one, never met anyone who has.

3. Saltwater Crocodile - seen them in captivity; never met anyone who has been attacked.

4. Blue Ring Octopus - seen these in rock pools. It's quite simple though - don't put your hands into rock pools 

5. Stone Fish - never seen one, but friends have. None of them were stung.

6. Red Back Spider - seen plenty of these in my backyard. Never been bitten, and it probably wouldn't be fatal if I were.

7. Brown Snake - seen a few of these over the years, but never felt particularly threatened by them.

8. Tiger Snake - never seen one.

9. The Great White Shark - never seen one, but my brothers watched some feeding off a whale carcass once.

10. Funnel Web Spider - never seen one, and they're only found on the south-east coast around Sydney.

 

You don't need to stay home because of the fauna. There are other hazards though - I hate to say it but I feel far more threatened by humans in Australia than any other animal. Our society seems to be becoming increasingly violent as the years go by. I don't go to the night-life areas of Perth anymore. Too dangerous. Kind of sad, really.

 

Now then, enough of the Aussie distraction - back to Thailand. 

[Rogie]

4. Blue Ring Octopus - seen these in rock pools. It's quite simple though - don't put your hands into rock pools 

 

I visit Australia every 18 months to stay with family in Newcastle. As a BeachLover I enjoy roaming around the miles of wonderful beaches in New South Wales and peering into rock pools. Thanks for the tip, I'd never heard of the blue-ringed octupus, so now I'll make sure I look really carefully before dipping my hand in.

[Rogie]

I actually love sharks.

 

I think I am learning to love them too, although that's more because they have had a bad press, often unwarranted as Jovianmoon says, and not only that many populations of sharks are in real danger from over-fishing and mal-fishing (a word I made up to include you-know-what),

 

i've read a few accounts lately saying sharks have rarely if ever been properly assessed. When a shark is landed at port it ought to be identified and logged. This tends not to happen. Here is an example of one such initiative in the UK.

 

Fishermen are to be trained to identify different shark species in a project to help protect stocks.

 

Fishing representatives in Lancashire, the North East, Yorkshire, Cumbria and North East Lincolnshire are to receive guides to help classify species at sea.

 

The scheme, run by the Co-operative, the Shark Trust and commercial fishing industry, aims to improve the recording of species caught as by-catch.

 

It is hoped the data will help stocks be managed more sustainably.

 

The project will involve speaking to fishermen about the importance of recording individual species, rather than just noting them down as sharks or rays.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20896816

[Guest timmberty]

No need to go to Australia for box jelly fish. They have been appearing off Phuket for several years now!   See the second half of the attached article.

 

Make sure you take some vinegar to the beach. If you are unlucky bathe the sting with it and get yourself to a hospital fast.

 

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/alarm-box-jellyfish-kills-tourist-langkawi-12107/

and if you are lucky enough not to get stung ... what more reason do you need to buy a bag of chips on the way home ?

[Guest thaiworthy]

1, 4, 5 and 9 are Beachlovers. No pun intended. (well okay, maybe a little bit.)

 

Oh, dear! Did that horse die at the Beach?

[TotallyOz]

Oh, dear! Did that horse die at the Beach?

Yeah, some dope just keep hitting it over and over and over. Don't you just hate it when someone abuses an animal (dead or alive)?

[KhorTose]

Pore horse must have had to read all of beachlover's drivel.

[TotallyOz]

Pore horse must have had to read all of beachlover's drivel.

Lordy, lordy, speaking of beating dead horses.

[Guest fountainhall]

Lordy, lordy, speaking of beating dead horses.

 

Where are the dead horses? I don't see any, alas. What I see are horses which were sent away to get their rocks off in retirement reappearing. Wonder why this was allowed to happen? Dying horse meat does gives off a particularly nauseating odour, don't you think?

[Guest Jovianmoon]

I think I am learning to love them too, although that's more because they have had a bad press, often unwarranted as Jovianmoon says, and not only that many populations of sharks are in real danger from over-fishing and mal-fishing (a word I made up to include you-know-what),

 

i've read a few accounts lately saying sharks have rarely if ever been properly assessed. When a shark is landed at port it ought to be identified and logged. This tends not to happen. Here is an example of one such initiative in the UK.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20896816

 

That's great. We have some tagging projects here in Australia but as far as I know nothing like this. Fishermen do help out from time to time by returning tags to researchers when they catch sharks which have been tagged (then caught either intentionally or as by-catch), but that doesn't really help with monitoring protected species such as the Great White and the Grey Nurse, which nobody should be catching in the first place. Definitely more science needs to be done in that area, though there is some going on. Interestingly, some good research has been done over the years by non-scientists, most notably by Ron and Valerie Taylor, but Ron died recently and I think Valerie's getting a bit old to dive with sharks these days. They shot some great footage in their time though, with more than a little risk to themselves.

 

I like your new word 'mal-fishing' by the way 

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

I actually love sharks.

 

So do I. Baked, broiled, or fried but not steamed or stewed. As for their fins, I could care less.

 

Incidentally, Nat Geo Wild or Animal Planet or whichever one first brought up the myth, they have now stopped showing the "informative" documentary that insisted sharks don't attack people. Oh yes, they also insisted that it's people who provoke sharks, so people should be blamed for every shark "non"-attack.

 

Anyone here who'd provoke a shark?

 

Sorry if I am being a bit trollish about this but ever since those particular documentaries were shown, I have been majorly disgruntled about what they consider to be "scientific information" in the face of the number of reported "non"-attacks and the people who have "not" been killed by sharks.

[Guest Jovianmoon]

So do I. Baked, broiled, or fried but not steamed or stewed. As for their fins, I could care less.

 

Okay, I'll bite (pun intended).

 

"I couldn't care less", I think is the phrase you were aiming for there. I'm slightly partial to shark dishes myself. As long as I can be reasonably confident that the animal was caught using methods that are within local regulations here, which of course means I won't be eating a protected species or one that has been caught by inhumane means. It's the same attitude I have to free-range pigs and chickens, and why I'm opposed to the live cattle shipping trade.

 

 

Incidentally, Nat Geo Wild or Animal Planet or whichever one first brought up the myth, they have now stopped showing the "informative" documentary that insisted sharks don't attack people. Oh yes, they also insisted that it's people who provoke sharks, so people should be blamed for every shark "non"-attack.

 

My fascination with sharks has led me to read a lot about them, and watch a fair number of documentaries. I have to say I've never heard anyone claim that sharks don't attack people. That's just bizarre. No reasonable person would say sharks don't attack people. On the other hand, there are plenty of unreasonable, emotionally-reactive people who will blow the attack statistics all out of proportion and view sharks as our natural enemies. One of my brothers is such a person. 

 

Just as bizarre is the claim that every attack on people is the fault of the victim. Never heard that one either.

 

Certainly there are some - but I would say very few - deliberately provoked attacks. But my understanding is that in attacks where the shark feels threatened (many species of whaler sharks exhibit very recognisable postures - back arches like cats - when they are threatened), the shark has not been deliberately provoked by a person. It doesn't take deliberate provocation for one animal to feel threatened by another. 

 

The greater proportion of attacks seem to be the result of sharks mistaking humans for their usual prey, or otherwise 'investigative' bites. In other words, the shark is not a bad, evil animal for simply behaving naturally, and the human is equally innocent of any provocation. Great Whites will lunge at and bite boat propellers, on occasion. Nobody would suggest that the sharks were provoked by the propeller, or the opposite, that the sharks otherwise had an evil obsession to destroy all boat propellers.

 

However, I will admit that there have been some very rare cases where sharks appear to have deliberately set out to attack people, with no 'mistaken identity' to blame. These have usually been the aggressive Oceanic Whitetip Sharks and Blue Sharks, which were occasionally a menace to downed airmen and sailors whose ships sank during World War II. The USS Indianapolis sinking was one example of that. It's been hypothesised that this is because oceanic sharks never pass up a feeding frenzy on any organism, whereas coastal species are more discerning about their prey and have shown a definite lack of preference for human flesh. In the case of Great Whites, for example, seals and turtles are their favourites, not people.

 

Anyone here who'd provoke a shark?

 

No, I expect not. I imagine some researchers might provoke sharks as part of their field work to gauge reactions and such (a brave bunch, are shark researchers!), but once again I have never heard anyone claim that ordinary swimmers and divers go around deliberately provoking sharks. I mean that's just a silly notion.

 

 

Sorry if I am being a bit trollish about this but ever since those particular documentaries were shown, I have been majorly disgruntled about what they consider to be "scientific information" in the face of the number of reported "non"-attacks and the people who have "not" been killed by sharks.

 

No one will think you're being trollish for simply disagreeing. I still have to wonder about the origin of the particular documentaries to which you refer, however.

 

Since you mention the number of reported attacks - these indicate approximately 100 fatalities by shark attack world-wide per year. Humans, conversely, kill approximately 75 million sharks world-wide per year. Due to the fact that an excessive proportion of that number is a result of the totally unnecessary barbarity of shark finning, I for one am "majorly disgruntled" about that statistic.

 

I'm also rather disturbed that number of 75 million and the how much the marine environment relies on sharks, as apex predators, to balance the numbers of other marine organisms, including coral reefs. I won't get into that here - there's plenty of published research on that on the web. I would never say stop killing sharks, because they are a food source. I just think we can be a little more sensible about it.

 

As for the number people per year who are killed by sharks, 100 world-wide is minuscule and the average number of shark attack fatalities in the United States, for example, is 1.

 

 

Yes, yes - I know there are those who like polarised arguments and would probably call me a tree-hugger (shark hugging is not recommended). I can assure that nothing is further from the truth. I simply have respect for other life forms, including the ones I eat, and I have an equal respect for the facts, or at least a genuine, disciplined search for the facts - which is what science is all about.

 

I have no respect, however, for emotive hype.

 

Cheers.

[Guest fountainhall]

I rarely hear of shark attacks in the US. Much more frequently in Australia. When I lived in Hong Kong, there were a few and all major beaches had shark nets. I read somewhere that most shark attacks take place in less than 2 meters of water.