Rants and rages

Post by **Paul** » December 15, 2005, 5:41 pm

I want to open a new topic where we can share with everyone something that has really got up our noses today - and is part of the 'joy' of living in Thailand.

If I may begin:

I went for lunch at may-yah restaurant today and parked the truck outside on the road parallel to the kerb. There was a small vehicle in front of me who left a minute or two later - leaving a gap - suitable for something like a Honda jazz but nothing larger. I sat eating in a window seat amusing myself at a pick up trying to squeeze into another space a few metres back from my car - after about 15 attempts they gave up and drove off - then they saw the gap in front of me and thought they fancied their chances. The only way to get a pick up in the space would be to pick it up on a fork lift and place it in there. After around 20 attempts at forward and reversing they thought they had succeeded and got out. A crowd of Thais was watching in amusement and I was a little worried so went to look also. Sure enough their car was touching mine (although I have crash bars) and I screamed at the woman how the hell did she expect me to get out when there was half a centimetre gap between the vehicles? They got back in and tried again for another 5 minutes then eventually realised it just wasn't going to happen and drove off. Just as another pick up saw the gap and we entered round two. This guy wasted no time - parked at 45 degrees and left it - again making it impossible for me to get out. Fortunately when i finished lunch and went to my car the driver also appeared and moved so I was able to get out.
Is it selfishness or just plain stupidity that is the problem - I wonder sometimes.
Rant over - and yes I feel better now

Paul

Post by **BangkokButcher** » December 16, 2005, 2:10 am

Just shunt them out the way, I presume thats what the bull bars are for

Mr. Bean · Post by **Mr. Bean** » December 16, 2005, 3:29 am

Welocme to Thailand. TIT

First, you must realize the Thais don't know how to drive, let alone park their car in a proper manner.

Second, 99.9% of them never took a driving test, either written or behind the wheel. They just paid off some guy at the testing office and he handed them their permit to kill or damage another persons body or car.

Third, they don't care about your car. They are just in a hurry to get some place to sit down and eat or drink. They rush for what reason?

Fourth, most of them can't read or write so, how would they be able to pass the written test. Ah da........

The funney thing about the Thais when they drive, they are watching to see who is watching theme. They don't even watch the road.

Like I said, welcome to Thailand.

Post by **arjay** » December 16, 2005, 10:48 am

As both a car driver and a motor bike rider over here, I find the motorcyclists the most frustrating.

When they just pull away from the side of the ride of the road, without so much as a look over their shoulder, or a care for what's behind them or about to pass them. It leaves you in the position where you either have to brake hard to avoid them, or veer out into the next lane, (into the vehicle alongside or just behind you). Meanwhile they roar off down the road, oblivious to the havoc they've just caused behind themselves!

Agreed many of the car drivers can't really drive. If you watch them on a steep hill with bends (I know there aren't many round here), they suddenly lose their momentum. I realise why now. They're changing gear, and hunting for the next gear down, but haven't yet found it yet.

Post by **Paul** » December 16, 2005, 10:50 am

......... whilst chatting on the phone and watcing the latest dvd on their dashboard - grrrrrrrrrrr

Post by **banpaeng** » December 16, 2005, 10:59 am

And some folks say cell phones don't kill. They sure have here in the US. My only hope is one day the companies get thier come uppance.

I am about to think drinking and driving might be better than driving and talking on the damn cell phone. Give you three guesses who got hit by a vehicle that the driver was talking on the cell phone. using another posters commentGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Did I mention driving and cell phones don't mix.

valentine · Post by **valentine** » December 16, 2005, 11:02 am

My pet gripe is when I park the car leaving enough space for me to get out, then come back and find a motorbike up close back and front.
Mind you a police friend tells me it is common for an old bike to be put close behind a farangs car, so he doesn't see it, and bangs it. Apparently they can earn 2-3,000bht a time like this.

Post by **Paul** » December 16, 2005, 11:20 am

I have learned to check front and back after i have been parked somewhere - and if theres a bike there it gets moved - usually into the middle of the road. If they havent got a brain its there problem not mine!

Post by **Bump** » December 16, 2005, 3:54 pm

valentine wrote:My pet gripe is when I park the car leaving enough space for me to get out, then come back and find a motorbike up close back and front.
Mind you a police friend tells me it is common for an old bike to be put close behind a farangs car, so he doesn't see it, and bangs it. Apparently they can earn 2-3,000bht a time like this.

Cure fro this one roll out on the street and leave them same things happens when you have a big bike you park correctly and every piece of junk has blocked in when you get back, I move them out of the way and don't put them back. Give the same as you get

Post by **Paul** » December 16, 2005, 11:41 pm

Todays rant is the ignorant Danish(I think) guy who sat next to me in the bar whilst I was enjoying my meal. He sat so close I could hardly move to eat my food and then he started to smoke - which is just darn right rude. Then he turned and asked me if I would sit somewhere else as he wanted his wife to sit next to him (in my chair).
The look I gave him would have stopped a tank and his wife saw this and went to sit elsewhere.
just rude - downright rude !

Post by **BangkokButcher** » December 17, 2005, 2:18 am

Paul, is this going to be a regular daily slot??

Just wondering how the things that gripe you over there compare with the things that griped you off back in blighty...

Post by **yorkman** » December 17, 2005, 3:41 am

Well the cause of that rant could have happened anywhere, so its not just part of the "joy" of living in Thailand. So that perhaps partially answers your question Sean.

Must have forgotten (thankfully for his sanity) about the "joy" of living in the UK I reckon.......

Post by **BangkokButcher** » December 17, 2005, 4:04 am

yorkman wrote:the "joy" of living in the UK

Now that's something I have yet to find!

Post by **yorkman** » December 17, 2005, 5:19 am

So true; next Friday beckons strongly.....no no thats the Heathrow "experience"....next Saturday

Post by **papaguido** » December 17, 2005, 7:17 am

BangkokButcher wrote:Paul, is this going to be a regular daily slot??

Just wondering how the things that gripe you over there compare with the things that griped you off back in blighty...

Sorry guys, off topic here. Just curious about blighty. I know it refers to the UK, but where is blighty derived from?

Ignornant American...

Post by **JimboPSM** » December 17, 2005, 8:51 am

Blighty definition (from Wikipedia).

Blighty is a British English slang term for Great Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word bilāyatī (विलायती), meaning "foreign", related to the Arabic word wilayat, meaning a kingdom or province. The term was more common in the later days of the British Raj, but can now be considered self-consciously archaic and, when used by speakers younger than the collapse of the British Empire, is generally intended slightly ironically.

According to World Wide Words, Sir Henry Yule and Arthur C Burnell explained in their Anglo-Indian dictionary, Hobson-Jobson, published in 1886, that the word came to be used, in British India, for several things the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato (bilayati baingan) and soda water, which was commonly called bilayati pani, or "foreign water".

During World War I, "Dear Old Blighty" was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the trenches. The term was particularly used by World War I poets, such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. During that war, a "Blighty" was also used to mean a wound serious enough to require recuperation away from the trenches (that is, in Blighty).

Post by **Bump** » December 17, 2005, 9:04 am

yorkman wrote:Well the cause of that rant could have happened anywhere, so its not just part of the "joy" of living in Thailand. So that perhaps partially answers your question Sean.

Must have forgotten (thankfully for his sanity) about the "joy" of living in the UK I reckon.......

I like having a place to blow off steam especially when anyone knows that waht you are saying is just that. Lets face guys the hardest thing about Thailand is leaving that why I stopped doing that

valentine · Post by **valentine** » December 17, 2005, 9:24 am

Thank you Jimbo, for the dictionary definition of Blighty. To move on from there to the usage.In the first world war, the term was used in a moral boosting song which was sung by the troops round the camp fire, in hearing range of the enemy, to demoralise them and boost the spirits of our soldiers. This was repeated in WWII when a hit song was recorded by Vera Lynn, the forces sweetheart, which included the words:
Take me back to dear old Blighty, Blighty is the place I want to be!!
Then went on to descibe all the places and things missed by the men;ie;strolling down the prom, walking hand in hand with the one I love!
This was counter acted by the Huns with their own patriotic song, Lili Marlene which the resourceful Tommy(British soldier) put English words to which to say the least, were not complimentary to German women. The irony was, the English version became a huge hit and the Tommies sang it as they marched, as it was set to marching tempo, which effectively negated the German propoganda of the original.

Post by **banpaeng** » December 17, 2005, 9:34 am

ray23 wrote:[quote
I like having a place to blow off steam especially when anyone knows that waht you are saying is just that. Lets face guys the hardest thing about Thailand is leaving that why I stopped doing that

Thanks Ray, I am not the only one with the leaving problem.

Post by **Bump** » December 17, 2005, 9:38 am

Just a impresion it sounds like we may have a lot of guys around from the WW 11 era, I knw a lot of guys were here from the Vietnam era, but I had only met one guy form the WW11 era. A guy from Holland I was visiting and he showed me his nazi Germany passport. Now being WW11 history bufff, that was really a shock to me, I never in my wlidest dreams ever enviioned meeting someone other then Americans that had participated in WW 11. Being not exactly pro Nazi I can't really decribe my reaction. The guy then explained to me that he was taken from Holland, to Germany to work on the railroads. The German men were all tied up in the war, so they needed other people to keep the country working.

There must be some really great stories floating around our little community.