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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Technically, I don't owe any taxes at the moment. I guess the Canadian government can come after me for the 2018 tax year, but that's about it. Revenue Canada can only come after you for taxes for the last 10 years, and since 2005 I've only lived in Canada for one year -- 2008 in Vancouver. So I'm scott free when it comes to the Canadian government.
In Europe I was on tourist VISAs the entire time, and tourists aren't legally obligated to pay taxes. Then in Thailand I was an illegal immigrant, and they black listed me for 5 years, so pretty sure they're not expecting any tax money out of me either.
I might have to pay Revenue Canada for 2018, because I've been in Canada majority of the year hence am considered a resident now, but that's about it.
What's your stance on paralell universes? There's quite a few theories floating around, but I'm going for the multiverse theory personally. Our universe is just one of many, and each universe is just floating around out there in its own circular bubble.
How long do you think it will be before quantum computing is available to the mainstream public? That's really going to fuck up things like online security, eh? All the encryption algorithims we currently rely on will be useless. AES, RSA, DSA, ECDH, SHA, PGP, all out the window.
So as I’ve said all along, not only don’t you believe the Immigration laws should apply to you, you don’t believe the tax laws should either. Legal immigration status has nothing to do with taxpayer status by the way. You really are the Entitled Millennial I’ve said you were all along - and a third-rate mind to boot. As for “when” something mighty happen in the future that is speculation and as a Buddhist yourself you will recall that that is something the Buddha counselled against. You are still claiming the superiority of Buddhism?
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
I would have happily paid taxes in Thailand in exchange for a VISA. It's not my fault their immigration laws are outdated.
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
I would have happily paid taxes in Thailand in exchange for a VISA. It's not my fault their immigration laws are outdated.
Of course not, you’re merely an Entitled Millennial who believes you know best how a foreign country should frame its laws. It gives you a nice get out from answering the question about moral imperatives too since you are clearly a moral vacuum
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Answer my questions about paralell universes and quantum computing first, and I'll answer your question.
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Answer my questions about paralell universes and quantum computing first, and I'll answer your question.
I haven't asked a question that now requires an answer; you have already supplied it and I have come to the inevitable conclusion - see my previous post. As I said, you did not ask a question about parallel universes and quantum computing; you invited me to indulge in speculation and a true Buddhist would not do such a thing - https://www.thoughtco.com/buddhism-a...physics-450059
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Ok, fine, then I will ask an actual question. Hopefully you can give me an answer to this one at least.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Takes one to know one. :)
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
" ... Takes one to know one ... "
Congratulations Matty. You've just managed to actually put to use one of the most sophomoric and puerile cliches in the english language. And then ... to add a smiley of all things, you obviously don't know that Smileys are cliches also.
(Just wondering, but how does a blind dude pick just the right smiley? Perhaps you throw darts?)
I doubt you'll be able to top this one ... so to speak.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Nice one smiles!
I have often asked him how his sophisticated, blind, typing computer programme can possibly make spelling mistakes, but it got me nowhere...
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gerefan2
Nice one smiles!
I have often asked him how his sophisticated, blind, typing computer programme can possibly make spelling mistakes, but it got me nowhere...
Because I've already explained this to you idiots about 728 times, and it doesn't seem to sink in.
I use a keyboard, same as you do. Only difference is, instead of looking at the screen, I have a pair of headphones on and the Orca screen reader installed that says every letter I type.
Notice the little bumps on the F and J keys of your keyboard? They're there for a reason -- for blind people such as myself.
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Re: Every home should have one - the Squatty Potty
Quote:
Originally Posted by
frequent
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
I didn't isolate myself in a farang ghetto that consists of a 3 block radius.
Actually
you inhabit an Anglophone ghetto, you just fail to recognise it as such - it's called the
Internet
I thought it was called Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
BTW... if you want to know, it's "puut pasa Thai mai dai kap" to say "I don't speak Thai".
พูดไม่ได้ ฟังไม่ได้ ไม่เข้าใจเลย always gets a good laugh
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
I can't read Thai anymore, so no idea what that says. All I get is, "Thai latter b047 Thai ltter b32 Thai letter b18", and so on. Means nothing to me.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
puut mai dai fung mai dai mai kao jai loey (transiteration systems suck)
can't speak, can't understand when spoken, don't understand at all
it gets a good response when you have just silently been listening to a Thai conversation that they then think you have understood!
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
That sentence makes no sense at all. Go say it in the streets, and I bet you get a "deer in the headlights" stare.
b
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
there is also a Thai idiom "snake snake fish fish" (ngu ngu, plaa plaa) which literally translates as "a little bit", should also get a good laugh as you seem to know idiomatic Thia, but my "ngu" pronunciation sucks so it usually fails!
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
That sentence makes no sense at all. Go say it in the streets, and I bet you get a "deer in the headlights" stare.
b
I have used it frequently and never got a "deer in the headlights" stare, always a response that I must know Thai
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
I don't know what the hell "fung" means, but the sentence basically translates into, "I can not speak fund I can not".
Again, I don't know what "fung" is.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Thinking about it, there isn't even a F sounding character in the Thai alphabet, so not sure where you got that sentence from.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
I don't know what the hell "fung" means, but the sentence basically translates into, "I can not speak fund I can not".
Again, I don't know what "fung" is.
if you don't know what ฟัง (fung or fang or transliterate it as you please) means then you are missing the whole point - while you may give it a "deer in the headlights" stare most Thai people don't and I am usually saying it to Thai people rather than Canadians
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Ok, then what does "fung" mean?
You're saying "can not" twice in the same sentence, so at the very least it's a double negative. If people aren't looking like you as an idiot when you say that, then they're just being polite and respectful.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Thinking about it, there isn't even a F sounding character in the Thai alphabet
what is the thai word for tooth, dream or boyfriend?
and here was I thinking this thread was 'Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate" '
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Oh right, "fan", just different tones. Sorry, my bad. It's been a while for me.
Still don't know what the hell "fung" means.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Oh right, "fan", just different tones
ฟ (ฟ ฟัน - fo fan) is a consonant in the Thai alphabet and while it may modify the tone of a syllable it can't conveniently be dismissed as "just different tones" after claiming there is "no F sounding character in the Thai alphabet"
but a quick joke before I leave you to the delights of your "deer in the headlights" Thai discussions about not speaking Thai or dreaming about trips to the dentist with your various Canadian and Lao friends:
Q: What do you call a person that speaks three languages?
A: Tri-lingual
Q: What do you call a person that speaks two languages?
A: Bi-lingual
Q: What do you call a person that speaks one language
A: Canadian
though to be fair this is often also said about Brits and Aussies
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Thinking about it, there isn't even a F sounding character in the Thai alphabet, so not sure where you got that sentence from.
You don't even have to think about it. Anyone who's been to Thailand or at least watched Thai movies would have heard of the following VERY common and FREQUENTLY used Thai words that begin with an F-sounding consonant of which there are two in Thai, ฝ and ฟ.
The word for rain: ฝน fŏn
The word for raining: ฝนตก fŏn dtòk
The word for fire, light or flame: ไฟ fai
The word for lighter: ไฟแช็ก fai-cháek
You don't even have to be a Thai speaker to know these words. And as a regular smoker, you would certainly know ไฟแช็ก fai-cháek. You even started a thread about the price of cigarettes
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showt...ght=cigarettes
where you got all your facts wrong, again. Sometimes you need to actually have lived the experience to write about it.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Yes, yes, I made a mistake.
"fon dtok" = heavy rain
farn = boyfriend / girlfriend
"mii fan dii kap" = sweet dreams, basically.
And so on. I guess I've just been blind too long, and can't remember what the F sounding Thai character looks like anymore.
Actually, thinking, I think I remember now. Starting at the bottom in the middle, it's a slight vertical curve, followed by a horizontal line across with a small downwards curve in the middle. I can't remember, but is that right?
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
I guess I've just been blind too long, and can't remember what the F sounding Thai character looks like anymore.
?
Is that F...as in Fake?
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Yes, yes, I made a mistake.
"fon dtok" = heavy rain
farn = boyfriend / girlfriend
"mii fan dii kap" = sweet dreams, basically.
And so on. I guess I've just been blind too long, and can't remember what the F sounding Thai character looks like anymore.
Actually, thinking, I think I remember now. Starting at the bottom in the middle, it's a slight vertical curve, followed by a horizontal line across with a small downwards curve in the middle. I can't remember, but is that right?
No
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
neddy3
No
Surely cdnmatt remembers how to play Scrabble in Thai?
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
neddy3
No
Oh shit, right, I was thinking of "roh rua", the R / L sounding character.
Oh, I think I remember. It's one of the 4 W shaped characters, but the right most line is really long. Is that right? I don't know, I can't remember, as I haven't seen any of the Thai alphabet in over 2 years.
n
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
frequent
I have a real life one for Bangkok called “don’t learn Thai”. Given the banal conversations I can hear in English around me together with the posts of the third-rate minds of some that lurk here (on my Ignore list) I’m confident I miss nothing of importance
For me, being able to read the local language (more important than speaking and listening) is crucial when I spend long time somewhere.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
frequent
Then you arrived in Thailand where you settled down, followed the immigration laws, paid taxes, met “husband” number two (without divorcing #1) and of course learned the local language.
He (cndmatt) did not follow the immigration laws.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
frequent
What utter hypocrisy. You’re going to expect the people among whom you live to use a foreign language when they converse with you, but you believe that I am wrong because I do precisely the same thing
By the way in Laos they are Lao people and speak Lao. They do not speak “Laos”
I think Thai and Lao are mutually intelligible in spoken form. In written form, there are differences, but as I can understand a bit of written Lao when I make an effort, I assume a native speaker can even better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Or you could just learn the language, and talk with ordinary folk who are just living their day-to-day lives, and enrich yourself. Up to you.
I did learn Thai to be able to use buses and taxis, buy things at local market, deal with restaurant and hotel staff, and most importantly do meet gay boys who speak no English.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gerefan2
Is that F...as in Fake?
as I am sure cdnmatt is about to point out there is no F sounding consonant in English either - you just change the tone on the PH consonant cluster, which is why so many English speakers have such a problem booking air tickets and accommodation in Phuket (but if you are a BBC fan keeping up appearances that does not rhyme with bucket - it is pronounced fouquet!)
bkkguy
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
christianpfc
He (cndmatt) did not follow the immigration laws.
Encapsulated in a single response is the reason why written language doesn't always convey the sense of what was written. I know cdnmatt did not follow the Immigration laws (or pay income tax); my comment was entirely ironic
Quote:
Originally Posted by
christianpfc
I did learn Thai to be able to use buses and taxis, buy things at local market, deal with restaurant and hotel staff, and most importantly do meet gay boys who speak no English.
I don't go to the local market, I've never had a problem with restaurant or hotel (or for that matter supermarket) staff in the last few years, I don't bother with boys who won't speak English, I've never had a problem with a taxi driver in the past few years
Three caveats:
- I recently had a dialogue in English via Grindr with a Vietnamese massage boy and, while sceptical of Vietnamese massage boys generally, I invited him over. The conduct of the entire conversation while we were in my condo was fascinating. He spoke into his phone in Vietnamese and showed me what he had just said in English via Google Translate. Clearly he had done the same during our Grindr dialogue. The massage and the sex was awful too
- My last Thai conversation with a taxi driver was twenty years ago, with me making some utterly banal comments in Thai, and him following up by showing me his proficiency in English: "You - big fat pig". Fortunately I was sufficiently aware culturally that "pig" does not have the same connotations as those if spoken by a native English speaker, and "fat" is actually a compliment because it implies wealth. It was, however, a conversation stopper (after I had finished laughing)
- The last time I took an AOT limo from Swampy the driver asked (in Thai) if I minded him playing Isaan music. I replied I had Isaani friends. That led to the information that he came from between Roi Et and Buriram (or so I inferred from the few Thai words I understood). That was the end of the conversation. Noblesse oblige
None of that means I have any interest in conversing in Thai. As I say, most English conversations (like most posts here) are sufficiently banal for me to know it won't be worth the effort
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Well, if you taught yourself Thai, you could leave the farang ghetto once in a while. That would be cool, don't you think?
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Well, if you taught yourself Thai, you could leave the farang ghetto once in a while. That would be cool, don't you think?
Your unparalleled understanding of “banal” is amazing
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
You don't need to talk about terraforming Mars to learn something new.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
You don't need to talk about terraforming Mars to learn something new.
As is quite evident, you certainly don't
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Just trying to point out, if you actually listen to the "banal" conversations around you, that you may learn something new from time to time.
Or continue wandering around life belittling everyone because you think you know more than them. That works too.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
frequent
most English conversations (like most posts here) are sufficiently banal for me to know it won't be worth the effort
.
Another great example of your floccinaucinihilipilification. Why stay?
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
That's a little unkind Gerefan2. Mr Frequent reminds us of the illegality of prostitution in Thailand and is therefore worth exactly the cost of membership here.
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Re: Learning the local language and an "intellectual debate"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cdnmatt
Just trying to point out, if you actually listen to the "banal" conversations around you, that you may learn something new from time to time.
I've assessed the cost-benefit of such a course of action and decided the actual costs far outweigh any potential benefits. If I wanted to undertake such a foolish course of action I'd start by taking a number of posters here off my Ignore list