billzant

I am interested in learning more about the waste disposal system in Thailand. I know little. On the road opposite my house are yellow dustbins. Most days a dustbin truck comes and collects the rubbish. I am interested in knowing what happens to it from there.

At the beach where I often go, the restaurant owner has a huge string net in which she collects plastic bottles. Is this part of a recycling system? I can ask her (in broken Thai) but I would like a bit of an understanding of the overall process so that I might be able to understand some of her answer.

I have to renew my UK passport this year.

In my current passport I have a 2006 arrival/departure card and annual visa renewals since then. Often when Thai people (such as a bank recently or a hotel) wish to check my visa, they look for the departure card, and then I have to trace the series of annual visas from then until the present day. I usually carry with me a photocopy of my passport details and all the visa stamps to make it easier for them..

What happens to all those old stamps when I get a new passport? I understand that after I get the new passport I must report to immigration again, but the new passport will have lost the visas. Even if the immigration police will be happy I foresee numerous problems if I cannot trace the visa history in my current passport. Do they give me the old passport or is it cut in half?


Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

Bill Z

In a Thai lesson a textbook gave the following:-

“Thai people believe that the head is the most important part of the entire body. It is inhabited by the kwan which is the spiritual force of life. So never pat a Thai on the head even in the friendliest of gestures.”

I said I thought that was not a Buddhist idea, and my teacher investigated the Thai internet coming up with:-


ขวัญ หมายถึง นามธรรมอันหนึ่งคล้ายพลังจิตที่มีอยู่ในตัวมนุษย์ตั้งแต่เป็นเด็กทารก มีความเชื่อว่าถ้าขวัญของผู้ใดอยู่กับตัวผู้นั้นจะมีความสุขกายสบายใจแต่ถ้าขวัญของผู้ใดหายไปนั้นจะมีลักษณะอาการตรงกันข้าม

The teacher translated this as:-

“Kwan is an abstract noun meaning spiritual power which comes with human from their birth. It’s believed that people with their kwan will have both mental and physical happiness. On the other hand, if they lose their kwan, they will be unhappy.”

Can anyone shed any light on kwan, its origins and connections with Buddhism?

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

Bill Z

Dear Forum,

I bought a Phantom Fire December 2009.

I saw a recent thread talking about gasohol so I wanted to ask about gasohol and my Phantom.

In a table on this page (http://www.bkkriders.com/gasohol.html), it says PHANTOM 200 made in 2000 - 2002 is compatible with gasohol. Can anyone help me understand whether it is true that I can use gasohol with my bike? What must I look for on the bike in order to decide?

Do I need to convert the carburettor? Is this a good idea?

If I run on gasohol will it reduce performance, speed? and  acceleration when overtaking?

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

Bill Z

Dear Forum,

A friend of mine is visiting Australia, and read that one of the visa conditions was that anyone with Pirate CDs/DVDs will be prosecuted. Is this a new condition? What does this regulation include?

If you have been given CDs/DVDs by a friend and don't know whether they are pirate or not?

If a friend has given you software which you have stored on your hard-drive?

If you buy a new laptop from Pantip and they have windows pre-installed?

Does anyone have any experience of Australian Customs with regards to this regulation?

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

Bill Z