thaiophilus
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Posts posted by thaiophilus
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On 11/30/2023 at 12:20 PM, finchchloe said:
It's not about advertising but finding meaningful ways to honor his memory while being environmentally conscious. Any insights or advice on that front would be greatly appreciated.
A friend of mine who died recently (UK) went for a natural burial. It took place in a nature reserve, with biodegradable (wickerwork) coffin, shallow grave, no headstone, just wild flowers.
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Tails on for กุ้งแช่เย็นน้ำปลา, my favourite Thai dish, so you can pick them up without getting fish sauce on your fingers.
https://www.sgethai.com/article/5-สูตรเด็ด-กุ้งแช่น้ำปลา/
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So far as I can tell, the museum owner's alleged religion, ethnicity and nationality are irrelevant to a cooperative discussion of "Patpong comings and goings", but they are exactly the kind of thing often used as dog-whistle codewords by people not debating in good faith.
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2 hours ago, PeterRS said:
In my experience, almost every country requires Immigration checks at the first port of entry.
Maybe, but in most countries "transit" is not "entry", and passengers in transit to a third country are not required to go through immigration checks if they remain airside. Certainly I have passed through airports in France, Germany, Italy, Dubai, Jordan, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, to name a few, without immigration checks. Only in the USA was it different.
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On 11/6/2023 at 3:36 AM, PeterRS said:
(odd, surely, that the House of Commons would have a billiard table rather than a snooker table?)
Not at all. Over here, billiards is perceived as a game for gentlemen, whereas snooker is something played by the lower classes (or even, shock horror, by professionals!)
PS we generally refer to Ms Braverman as "Cruella".
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5 hours ago, reader said:
From CNN Travel
There’s a difference between ground speed and speed in the air (indicated air speed, essentially the speed of the plane in relation to the air around it).
Not that it matters, but that's incorrect. There's a big difference between true air speed and indicated air speed.
True air speed (TAS) is the actual speed relative to the surrounding air. Indicated air speed IAS is (by definition 🙂) the speed indicated by the air speed indicator (ASI), which derives a speed from the pressure at the pitot tube, assuming sea-level air density. At altitude the density is lower and so the IAS reads (a lot) lower than TAS.
Sorry, CNN.
- Marc in Calif and reader
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Not "homosexuals"; that word couldn't stand on its own. It was always "practising homosexuals", "predatory homosexuals", "avowed homosexuals" or some such Homeric epithet 🙄. And they never had friends, only "rings" .
- Marc in Calif and vinapu
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8 hours ago, CurtisD said:
@Londoner Can you explain 'gatanyuu'? A Google search only brings up a comic character.
(ความ)กตัญญู. The nearest English word is "gratitude" but that lacks the Thai cultural nuance. My Google search on "katanyu" turned up a Bangkok Post article about it entitled Katanyu Complex
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You are staying in a traditional Chinese hotel with rooms around a courtyard. Your friend's room is on the other side of the building but you want to talk to him. Do you:
- Walk round to his room?
- Use the room phone kindly provided by the management to call him?
- Yell across the courtyard?
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On 10/22/2023 at 6:27 PM, vinapu said:
not disputing but I think you compare prices of trains to taxi in SR. No way you can travel by taxi to Paddington for $ 30 from LHR, 30 gold bars perhaps yes
The official TFL site quotes taxi fares £56.00 - £105.00 (plus Heathrow surcharge £3.60) for a black cab from Heathrow to Paddington. That's about 15 miles.
By Elizabeth Line train it's £12.30, by Heathrow Express £25.
Stansted to Paddington is nearer 50 miles and minicab websites quote around £100. The train fare is £25.10.
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On 10/23/2023 at 3:29 AM, reader said:
social media catchphrase “Krai-Nong-mueng-ka” (ใครน้องมึงคะ) literally “Who the hell is your Nong?”.
That has a direct translation into Yorkshire: "Tha 'thee' thisen".
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8 hours ago, 10tazione said:
I think the problem is that the Thai language depends so strongly on the context. One isolated sentence can mean 10 different things if you don't know which context it refers to, no translation app can help there. Especially Thai pronouns can drive one crazy in this regard.
I speak to another person and say
พี่ให้น้องแล้วมื่อวาน
It could mean "I gave it to you yesterday" or it could mean "You gave it to me yesterday", depending on whom I speak to (relative age/status).
Footnote for non-Thai speakers: literally he says "older_sibling give younger_sibling already yesterday" which is a very Thai idiom - pronouns which literally refer to kinship are often used between people who aren't related at all, because they denote relative status, which is culturally important.
So I think it doesn't have to be about "you" and "I" at all - it could also be talking about two entirely different people. Only the context can tell.
(Personally I give up trying to translate when I see ให้ because it's used in so many idioms where word order can make a big difference, and often means "cause" rather than "give". Or something like that. ☹️)
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6 hours ago, unicorn said:
This all seems kind of silly. A replica will never be Angkor Wat, nor will it ever be a UNESCO World Heritage site. Maybe they'll make replicas of Machu Picchu or the Sphynx next. No one should care.
It's like the argument over whose territory Preah Vihear is in.
It's in the interest of the governments on both sides, because it gives them a pretext for some nationalistic sabre-rattling when they need to distract the population from something else they would prefer to hide.
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On a more prosaic mote, it is technically illegal to export Buddha images from Thailand without a licence. Your statuette may be a monk, not a Buddha, but I wouldn't want to argue about it with officialdom.
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20 minutes ago, vinapu said:
not entirely speculation.
last year in Mexico I was witness of discussion between American tourists who joined tour I joined too. I and some Americans bought it locally for about 60 $, other Americans bought it before they left through their travel office back in States and they paid almost twice. So half of their tour money never left USA presumably.
From my travels I know that by no means this is unique situation, opposite, it's how it works. It's why guides are full of advices ' buy this or that tour / trek locally , do not prepay" .
Chinese may be stingy in bars, massages or restaurants but since they like to show off, they may be shopping more hence, higher spending.
It wasn't speculation before COVID.
Back in 2016, if you can believe The ASEAN Post, "the Thai government decided to stamp out zero-dollar tourism, estimating losses of US$2 billion each year in tax revenue. Three companies were shut down, 2,155 buses were seized and several people were arrested for money laundering and operating illegal low-quality tours."
If you want speculation about the future, the Bangkok Post has an explainer with a 2023 dateline.
- moistmango, Patanawet and vinapu
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Mountain, the best friend od all men
in The Beer Bar
Posted
This Austrian village was renamed a few years ago,
so now it's