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hooomyy
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Thanks, bkkz, for the book list! I will heed chateaujade's advice and learn to read & write a bit before attempting to speak the language conversationally. The last thing I want to do is accidentally insult someone, especially if s/he forgives me the faux pas and doesn't correct me on the spot - allowing me to mentally reinforce the error and repeat it.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:42 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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Deleted Member
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Hi ChateauJade,
chateaujade quote: "TR, you are simply engaging in overgeneralization and passing on trite bourgeois
Thai prejudice against Isan people, surely uou can do better than that from your distant vantage in UAE or Dubai?"
100% correct, I am generalising but that is also the only way to make sense of large numbers or significant sample size. I am discussing the fat part of the normal distribution curve and not the wings. Maybe the Thai woman I know in Dubai is a bigot and snob? Then again maybe she knows something about her culture and country I should be aware of? Kind of hard to tell for sure but my gut instinct is she is not bullsh*ting me but gut instinct is not proof.
Anyway, glad to hear you are happy with your relationship.
Chateaujade quote: "But it is NOT impossible. Just unlikely. I know of a few succesful ones, that have stood the test of time, my own included. And I have observed many disasters."
I agree with you. It's great for you that you have a good relationship. You won the relationship lottery and I'm jealous but I suspect you are not the fat part of the distribution curve but four standard deviations to the right. I just wish I was sitting on one the wings with you.
Hi hooomyy,
Hooomyy quote: "She, like a great many women, seemed not to understand that most males don't consider social status to a great degree when we find a female desirable."
Again I agree and no argument here.
I always argued with my western girlfriend that men were the romantic sex. For example just walk into a big time law firm filled with rich high-powered types and do some sampling.
You will find all the woman lawyers are married to social equivalent men. Then look at the male lawyers, they are married to whatever women they happened to fall for from secretaries, waitresses, biker chicks, other lawyers etc.
When I was accused of not being able to commit by my western girlfriend I asked her why are you able to commit to any guy that fulfils your shopping list of requirements. Women really seem to use their heads less than their hearts in relationships. They read romance novels while men live romance novels.
It just appears that women are a lot more comfortable knowing the guy married them for their looks than married them for their money. Guys are more comfortable knowing they were married for their money than women. There you have it, the TR explanation of the Trophy Wife phenomena.
I sure wish I had the patience to sit down and learn Thai. I've taken a couple halfhearted runs at it but always stumbled out of the gate.
Cheers Tunnel Rat
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 1:54 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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bkkz
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hooomyy,
There is another added advantage in being able to read Thai, that is being able to increase your vocabulary tremendously (without having to ask a Thai person everytime you encounter a new word). That's with the help of a Thai-English dictionary. You will never achieve that with transliterated Thai words, since those types of dictionaries are very limited.
BK
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:12 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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Ballsburstin
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BK,
Thanks for the book list. In fact, I picked up the three books/tapes in the "Thai for ..." series when I was in BKK in September. It was in the (I believe) Advanced book that I saw the translation for "pun yai ban," which is the title of my TG's dad. So they have some stuff of practical value -- makes me feel good that I spent the money, seeing them on your list, as I've had trouble finding good self-study books and tapes. Got a much better price on these in Asia Books than I could have here in the States.
Already have a number of Thai dictionaries (including Mary Haas' tome -- some great etymology in that one), but the one on your list looks interesting. Maybe take a gander at it on my next visit.
Thanks, and thanks for the great forum!
- Balls
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 3:03 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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hooomyy
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Tunnel Rat,
You put into a practical observation what had previously only floated uncoalesced in my mind regarding the male/female perspectives on mate desirability in the West (specifically the US, for my sampling base). The guys I know, regardless of profession, have for the most part married women based on their attractiveness in terms of physical features and personality. The women, however, have actively pursued, or permitted courting from, males who have demonstrated, by professional title or spending habits, the ability to at very least match what she herself materially could contribute to a partnership. I suppose this is logical from a primordial perspective, as she is materially vulnerable in times of pregnancy and while caring for growing children, and would therefore seek the best provider possible.
I've enjoyed the coherency of thought demonstrated by you and many other contributors to this forum. Cheers to the BangkokTonight brotherhood!
bkkz,
Thanks for stating an advantage to learning how to read Thai, as I will depend on remembering it to keep the momentum of my studies in a forward direction. From what I've seen of the Thai alphabet, it looks like I'll be warming up my left-brain for a serious dose of symbol recognition. I suppose that I will be transliterizing to myself quite a bit, going from visual to auditory until the visual can handle it independently (an optimistic thought!).
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 3:58 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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Groundpounder
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BK or anyone else:
Do you know of a computer-based Thai language course that's available in the LOS? Here's a link to one that seems pretty good, but the company advertising it say they are no longer supporting this software. Does anyone have any experience of this particular package or any other?
http://www.dcothai.com/software/thai_ils.htm
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:34 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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seubeu
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Just wanted to say this has been one of the more interesting threads that I've seen here. Great transition from a question about a fictional book to recos for non-fiction to discussion about cross-cultural relationships in general.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:57 am on Oct. 2, 2002
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chateaujade
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That's poo yai baan -- meaning a poo yai, leader or chief, of the (moo) baan (neighborhood, village). It's a local political administration title, example: Poo Yai Baan Ngurn (Silver), of Saraburi, a marble quarry owner and politician in the Thai cattle country.
Poon Yai means Cannon, big gun. But the Thais do not use this = Big Shot, .90 caliber, pezzonovante like the Sicilians or the Americans (who got it from them) do.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:48 pm on Oct. 2, 2002
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Ballsburstin
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CJ,
You're right, a typo on my part (so much for late night posts when my brain has checked out). BTW, a well educated (grad student) TG explained to me on my previous trip that Thais also use "Pun Yai" (as opposed to "Poo Yai" ) when one is the "big person" of the day, e.g., when everyone goes out to dinner, the Pun Yai pays. I guess Pun Yai wears off in the morning, even thought the bill doesn't 
I find your elucidation of "Poo Yai Baan Ngurn (Silver)" interesting, as it seems to imply a step ladder approach to "political" life in Thailand (this being a lower rung?). Is there a "Gold" or "Platinum" too? I know my TGs family was really happy that their dad had become poo yai ban; they said it was possible he might even get a few thousand Baht a month for the privelege, which adds a bit to a farmer's earnings. I don't purport to understand the political ladder upcountry, but your comments lead me to believe that their family sees this as a potential oppportunity. It was interesting to see what his responsibilities were in the community; I saw people coming and going all day long to their house, discussing things from local farm issues to ways in which the township could create jobs so that their daughters and sons would have work (especially the daughters -- some of the local girls had already died of AIDs, and some, who are HIV positive, had come home to die among family).
-- Balls
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 4:15 pm on Oct. 2, 2002
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chateaujade
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ballsburstin, the Silver part is just the individual's nickname and not a gradation of poo yai baan. Ngern means silver (metal), coins, or more broadly, money.
My wife is totally unaware of such a usage of poon yai (puun yai) to mean Big Shot, as in the senior person at the meal who always gets the check.
If such a phrase is ever used that way it ought to be in a good Thai-English dictionary, unless it is slang so new that they haven't had time to incorporate it yet.
I certainly have never heard it used to mean anything but a cannon.
I will ask a couple of my very well educated friends (does a former Dean of Law outrank a grad student? He teaches the Masters and Doctorate programs in Law) and will report what they say.
I don't have a dog in this (non) fight, I'm just skeptical as I have been around a long time dealing daily with Thais in government and business and never heard this one. If it's for real I'll happily start using it.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:02 pm on Oct. 2, 2002
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