Rogie

Those taxis you curse Pong are, as you will well know, hoping to get fares either from locals who don't mind paying whatever is asked or 'green' tourists. All experienced tourists know all they have to do is walk onto the road or cross over to the other side. In general I think Bangkok taxis are fantastic. Apart from the occasional cautionary tale, as recounted in the Airport Taxi thread (see link), they are as you imply Pong, in a wholly different league to Pattaya's baht buses. http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7279-airport-taxi/page__p__51987__hl__%2Bairport+%2Btaxi__fromsearch__1#entry51987 Until they get proper taxis in Pattaya folks are stuck with baht buses. The system is fine once you get used to it. What system would people rather have? The baht buses in Pattaya or taxis and tuk-tuks in Phuket? I haven't been to Phuket in a long time but the tales I have heard don't encourage me to go back.

The so-called transatlantic accent should, in theory, meet with acceptance by Brits and North Americans. One of my favourite broadcasters, the late Alistair Cooke, was born in Manchester in 1908 and became an American citizen in 1941. His famous Letter from America ran on the radio for over 50 years. I could never imagine tiring of listening to his marvellous voice, but alas he is no longer with us. My favourite voice of all time belonged to John Arlott (1914 - 1991). His rich Hampshire (a county in the south of England) burr was quite wonderful. As he was a cricket commentator he was sometimes referred to as the 'voice of summer'. I am also interested in the way some people, rather like Cooke, change their accent over time. I did this when I moved from the north of England to live in London. Alas I never mastered cockney but I did gradually move somewhat nearer to speaking with a 'posh' voice over a period of 20 years. Now I am back in Manchester, where folks are suspicious of posh accents so I've 'toned it down' a bit! Whereas my uncle, who emigrated from England soon after the war and married a Canadian lass, lost his English accent (and soon began to speak with a fairly convincing Canadian one), other relatives I have known who've moved abroad have retained theirs, even over very long periods of time. It might be interesting to know if Americans have a favourite accent or voice or a particular individual. This might not go down well with some of you but I always liked Ronald Reagan's voice.

Lots of options but many are worded in black or white. I speak with a British accent and do not mind hearing 'English' spoken with other accents. I do admit to being mildly irritated when hearing a group of American tourists in London for example, especially when they are talking loudly. But that's about as far as it goes. I won't give my opinion of other nationalities because they may not be speaking English so that falls outside the remit of this poll. I think we have to be careful to distinguish between the way people talk and how they speak. So people can talk in a soft or loud voice, they can project their voice or they can mumble, sound aggressive or charming. That's talking. The way they speak comes across in their accents. So we can have 'charming accents' and 'ugly-sounding' ones. I wonder if Brits are more tolerant of different ways of speaking English than North Americans. For me to tick the option that says I am irritated by Americans speaking English seems ludicrous to me when we are surrounded in Britain with hundreds of different accents, and I must include in those the many immigrants to our country who speak English with their own distinctive accent. I agree just a few British accents are known to non-Brits, and maybe it is some of them which succeed in getting up the noses of some North Americans. I may well be guilty of thinking that 'all American accents sound the same' well of course that's a stupid thing to say but I would question as to whether there are anywhere near the same number as you'd find in Britain. When I say I do no mind hearing Americans speaking English I must point out that I do care very much what is said, the actual words. If a person is needlessly rude or arrogant that's beyond the pale as far as I am concerned , irrespective of what sort of English they're using!

I like those. They're a cut above your average do not disturb signs. I wonder if there's a way to make your own similar signs to your own specification - some hotels and guest houses don't supply them so taking your own gets round that problem as well as giving you a bit of individuality. How about iconic sayings? Here's one, although I admit to not being familiar with it until I came across it: The late Steve Jobs famously described death as "very likely the single best invention of life . . . it clears out the old to make way for the new". Please please nobody mention the death and taxes quote, I hear that so often it's almost a cliché but maybe that well qualifies it for iconic status!

In Martin Kemp's own words: "An iconic image is one that has achieved wholly exceptional levels of widespread recognisability and has come to carry a rich series of varied associations for very large numbers of people across time and cultures." Yes indeedy, those gadgets seem to disappear faster than I can say Jack Robinson - maybe if we include an iPhone or iPad or nice 2 baht necklace they'd go even faster than the speed of light and when I got in my time machine to go back in time to ask the great man himself what he thought about Thaiworthy's 'lovely equation' this was his reaction . . .

Copied from the FCO website: "The Thai authorities are closely monitoring the situation. To check areas affected and transport infrastructure impacted please see the regular reports published by the Thai 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre. Check with your tour operator, local media, the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre, flooding updates from the Tourism Authority of Thailand or the Thai Meteorological Department for up-to-date information and warnings before you travel. Within Thailand it is possible to call the English language 24/7 Government call centre for flood advice and assistance on 1111 (extension 9) ."

Sure looks like it! It was recently announced that the good scientists at a place called OPERA in Italy have measured a certain particle travelling faster than the speed of light. "Impossible!!" (preferably pronounced the French way which makes the person saying it sound so much more aghast) is the only sensible response. That's because the rule that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light lies at the root of dear old Einstein's theories. So, what's really happening? Yet another fascinating episode of Horizon on British TV attempted to tackle this issue. I found it pretty amazing, but do not pretend for a minute to have a fully lucid grasp of everything! Here is a brief summary as I recall it. A few years ago there was a supernova in a galaxy far away, 100,000 light years away, so as we all know what we saw than had taken 100,000 years to reach planet earth. One of the particles given out in massive quantities in a supernova is the neutrino. These have no mass (for the sake of argument) and are really really small. A good comparison is if we compare an atom (with its proton and neutron core - the nucleus - and electrons orbiting it) to the solar system then a neutron would be the size of a golf ball. The only way to detect a neutrino is if it hits the nucleus, as you can see not a common occurrence but because neutrinos are so numerous, it does happen. It was found that the neutrinos arrived on earth 4 years after the supernova became visible, neatly confirming existing scientific orthodoxy. The most recent experiments were conducted at OPERA in Italy. They arranged things so as to be able to receive a hearty blast of neutrinos coming from CERN in Geneva. To detect these neutrinos OPERA had built a lead wall as that's just about the most dense material possible in order that just a few neutrinos, about 20 a day, would collide with nuclei in that wall of lead. That's when it was found the neutrinos arrived in Italy about 60 nanoseconds faster than the light did. Uproar! Here is another account, much better than my layman's view, from Discover magazine: Faster-than-light travel discovered? Slow down, folks http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/22/faster-than-light-travel-discovered-slow-down-folks/

I find that hard to believe, that you are actually called that face to face. I suspect you are using it to make a point, and a valid one it is too. Whereas the spelling of mere words such as colour / color or center / centre are trivialities hardly worth getting hot and bothered about, names are another matter. So, just supposing z909 is actually the name you use on a daily basis and by which you are addressed by friends and acquaintances. In that case they should pronounce it as you do. So if you say 'zed909' and somebody else well-known to you calls you 'zee909' that is bad manners, even if they come from a country where the last letter of the alphabet is routinely pronounced in that way.

I have no idea whether this mystery poster does or does not proof read his contributions, but you are absolutely right - we should all do it. IMO the general standard on this board is excellent - I could be wrong as I haven't been posting on this Board as long as some of you - and I attribute that to strong moderation. Strong moderation? Yes, you see we hardly notice it now do we, and whether or not the current crop of mods have their work cut out or not doesn't affect the general feeling I have at any rate that this is a board at ease with itself. The board went through a period of several years with strong moderation which, by definition almost, will drive as many posters away as those lured in. To my mind the board has matured nicely, it just seems to run itself, and that brings me back to the OP's point about certain standards. If you encourage and nurture a certain standard of contributors then the standard of content will reflect that.

I didn't know it was that cheap. Is that a fixed price or do you have to haggle? 100 baht seems very fair to me, especially if two of you. I stayed in Jomtien on my last visit and would do so again. There is no rule in my book that says every evening has to be spent in Boys Town or Sunee! However, for those evening spent away from Jomtien, the only real drawback was not having to get a baht bus back at the end of the evening, it was the pathetic state of the road. After one heavy overnight downpour I had to laugh; the recently relaid road just near the Hanuman statue looked such a sorry sight the next morning.

I wasn't looking for it but after viewing some excellent photos of the flooding in Thailand on The Atlantic site I noticed this series on WW2 (see link at bottom). World War II: The Fall of Nazi Germany Picture #1 is I believe the one referred to above. Well worth reading the comments under each photo. Apparently the moment caught on camera was actually a re-enactment of an earlier flag-raising. Other well-known pictures are #12 showing Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, and #20 showing the ruins of Dresden following its total destruction. In view of the discussion on the 'Weather' thread on the main forum, #17 is interesting as it shows serious flooding as a result of the dikes being burst by the retreating Germans. The area is Kranenburg which was on the Holland-German border. Being familiar with the term the 'Siegfried Line' but not knowing what it was, #23 shows American troops pouring through a breach in its defences during the Allied advance. Finally, an intriguing one: #32 shows American and Soviet troops fraternising! _____________________________________________________ Main page: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/ Thailand floods: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/worst-flooding-in-decades-swamps-thailand/100168/ The Fall of Nazi Germany: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-the-fall-of-nazi-germany/100166/

Lots of good questions! I go nearly as often. So about 2 times a year. Whereas 3 or 4 years ago I would have considered nipping over for a short visit (which for me is about a month) to squeeze an extra one in, now I would not. Reasons: appreciation of baht vs UKP and ever-increasing airfares - I'm on a fixed income. At least one trip per year my itinerary also includes Australia when I am away for 2 months in total; 1 month Thailand (2 weeks on the way and 2 weeks on the way back) and 1 month Aus. By the way, Australia is expensive now, but as I stay with family that keeps my costs reasonably under control.

Here are a few more ideas for peppering your future posts: cuddle class: when two airline passengers buy an additional seat so that they can recline together. mamil: a middle-aged man in Lycra, fash pack influential people in the fashion industry. frape: which mixes the words Facebook and rape to refer to the altering of information on a person's profile on the social networking site without their permission. clicktivism: combines the words click and activism to mean using the internet to take direct and often militant action to achieve political or social aims. casino banking: for bankers who risk losing investors' money to gain maximum profits. emberrorist: meaning an organisation or person who seeks to reveal potentially embarrassing information, often as a political weapon. foodoir: a book or blog which combines a personal memoir with a series of recipes. mumpreneur: a woman who combines running a business with looking after her children. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/05/clicktivism-unfollow-new-words-dictionary

Some while ago I registered with the British FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). They send out very helpful alerts for any country you have specified. So for example, just at the moment I am getting ones relevant to Thailand. They do not go into sufficient detail to help with travel plans on the ground, but they give a Thai website that looks quite helpful. http://disaster.go.th/dpm/flood/news/news_eng/EOCReport13OCT-eng[1].pdf Here are some details copied from the 13th October bulletin: Highway: 62 main highways in 17 provinces are flooded and cannot be passed. For more information, contact 1568 or DDPM Hotline 1784. Rural roads: 163 rural roads in 33 provinces are not passable. Additional inquiry, call 1146. I've no idea how helpful those hotline numbers really are, I don't even know if they have an English version. Maybe one of our members living in Thailand could test it out!

Maybe not, but good of you to sort that one out. It was driving me potty! Number 12 in the second list is very apt in this case: so when you see a list like that of course it is supposed to be stupid ideas, I guess i just picked up on frisbee-whatever-it-was because although the definition given is very funny I couldn't imagine for the life of me what that word meant 'in real life'. Now we know, thanks to our super-sleuth, Fountainhall.

It's interesting that bodily functions, especially genital and anal are so popular. I count 8 out of 13 in the first list and 5 out of 11 in the second. I'm not familiar with No.15 Frisbeetarianism - I know what a frisbee is obviously but that word just looks stupid to me! The spell-checker doesn't like it either, giving me suggestions of Unitarianism, Valetudinarianism, Millenarianism, and Libertarianism. Maybe I can be accused of SOHF (sense of humour failure) or perhaps the sarchasm just got too much for me, hardly surprising considering I'm a bumbling ignoranus

Granted, that's possible! We will never know. However, ladyboy lovers won't have been put off and ladyboy-phobes neither as they wouldn't ever be inclined to visit that kind of bar in the first place. So that leaves the middle-ground, in which I include myself. I haven't really given it much thought as I am not expecting to be visiting Pattaya in the near future, but if pressed I would say I'd be slightly more likely to visit Obsessions as a result of all the publicity. Although the photos have stopped, there's no reason why Chase-LB shouldn't post the occasional (eg. once every month or two) picture-free topic in the main forum simply to update us on what makes the bar tick. How about letting potential customers know things like drink prices, off-fees, any special promotions, whether they serve food, attitudes to smoking, noise levels and what sort of music is played, opening times, what's the selection of ladies available at any one time, attitude of mamasan(s), etc etc.

You've visited Japan and I haven't so I am happy to hear that, however I think it is Japan where I have seen on television the way station guards physically push passengers onto the trains so they are packed liked sardines. Quite clearly any hot-blooded heterosexual Japanese make is going to take advantage. I assume that is why they have women-only carriages. Groping would certainly have been possible in the old fashioned British railway carriages which comprised individual compartments seating 6 or 8 passengers, but not nowadays where it is open-plan seating.

Ouch! sounds painful So is Japan the only place they've made an appearance? It would be interesting to know if those pictures are of real people or just models on a photo-shoot. One thinks of staged photos such as the woman clad in nowt but a fur coat - open at the front . . .

What a hoot, very amusing. If some of them are as realistic-looking in the flesh as they are in your pictures Fountainhall I think there could be public order issues in countries such as Britain where the menfolk are likely to be considerably less restrained than their counterparts in Japan If Z is implying the more generously proportioned amongst us is likely to sit less easily with this fashion I would agree with that. When will the boys adopt it? PDQ I would say! And what a boon for those whom nature has conferred poorly-endowed buttocks -- the 32" bubble-butt design will fly off the shelves . . .

As I've been lucky in the past and never hired a car in the rainy season I haven't had to worry about road and traffic conditions. Hopefully one of our members who lives in Thailand or somebody better-travelled than me can answer your question regarding the best way to find out in advance what road conditions are like. As for hiring a car, I agree the Vios is a popular hirecar, which I have used in the past. As it is some time since I last hired a car to drive out of Pattaya I can only estimate what you may have to pay. The least I paid was in the region of 1000 baht a day and that was in low season. High season may be around 1200 to 1300 baht. Hopefully any member who's hired a car recently can update us on the current hire charges. Whoever you decide to hire from, sit down with the person you're dealing with and make sure you have adequate insurance. Accidents involving farang in Thailand, even if nobody is injured, are the stuff of nightmares. Fortunately I've never been involved in one and I actually think driving in Thailand outside of the towns and cities is very safe on the whole, but as we all know you can be unlucky . . .

Would it, though? There are 3 ways to go about it: 1. Say no 2. Say ok, here's the money no questions asked (you're either gullible or rich) 3. Ask questions I don't see why it is necessarily bad form to ask questions. It would depend on who is making the request - what kind of relationship you had with him - but provided you ask relevant questions in a sensitive open-minded way and evaluate his replies sensibly I would have thought it pretty much imperative to do that unless you decide to opt for either option 1 or 2 above. I would think that even if you feel or 'know' you can trust him (which might be what you are alluding to in a situation where your friend is well-known to you) that approach is a fair one. If nothing else it shows your concern as a caring friend.

Yes, if I understand you correctly, they will most likely protest very loudly that they are in the right and therefore must know the difference between right and wrong! As far as I can see there are two sorts of requests, those for a genuine reason and those that are bogus. The two instances that Xian mentions may be either, we have no way of knowing. However as we all know, requests for money that turn out to be bogus often feature an ill member of the family. Why this is so I do not know, perhaps over a period of time Thais have learnt the situations that get a farang all knotted up inside so he feels duty bound to cough up. But that is where Forums such as this one serve as a counter, the farang talk among themselves just as much as Thais do.

Ordinarily that would be pretty straightforward, but Sisaket is an awful long way. I used to drive from Pattaya to Surin and that sometimes took a good 7 hours even in good weather. As Sisaket is about 60 miles (100 km) farther that's at least another hour and a half. I do not like driving in the dark so always tried to arrive before 6pm. Provided driving conditions are good and you leave no later than 9am you should arrive before dark. It's a bugger arriving in a strange town after dark, but maybe you are familiar with Sisaket in which case that won't be such a problem. Try and get a good traffic report so you know the road conditions along your route before you book the car. If they look bad than you will have saved yourself hiring a car with nowhere to go! If there are floods they can take a long time to subside even after the rains have stopped. If road conditions sound borderline and you decide to go, you could perhaps consider a SUV ('ute') which would have higher ground clearance. Bear in mind also that you're planning a return trip so if conditions are bad on the outward journey they'll most likely still be bad coming back.

I'm sure you've made the right decision Mysteryman. You do not say how long you are visiting Thailand. Hopefully your visit will be long enough to take you into November when things (weather-wise) usually settle down. I hope you enjoy yourself!