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Senator Mike Gravel

I believe he must have been reading my blog. According to a reliable source (talkcrunch.com), he wants the US border wide open!

He wants to help bridge the digital divide and he wants to support alternative energy science - in fact he’s the only candidate so far who’s said explicitly that he’d like to see a tax on carbon emissions. And if you’re in need of engineers you’ll love Senator Gravel - he’s in favor of eliminating the quota on H1B visas. Actually, he’s in favor of wide open borders and free immigration,

He’s a little crazy, of course. He reminds me of a Berkeley professor I met way back. Infact, he reminds me of a lot of Berkeley people I met. Maybe he’s a little way out there, but at least he speaks his mind.

And he wants a local liqour store to be able to sell marijuana, too! ahahaha

December 8, 2007   No Comments

No discussion based website in Thailand.

Other than Pantip.com forum, there is no discussion based website in Thailand. Why not?
A general answer is Thais don’t like confrontation, even anonymously online. We have our opinions, but we more likely to keep that opinion to ourselves, or just give a mild version when asked.

Thais particularly don’t like criticism. We just can’t take criticism that well.

Say, if I were to start a review website, something like Yelp.com for Bangkok, the main problems I would get are;

  • There’re not enough reviewers to keep the site fresh.
  • Most people don’t have anything to say.
  • The people that say don’t have anything constructive to talk about.
  • If Thais are still like what I have in mind, their writing skills are really bad.
  • The service/restaurant that has a bad review would ask me to remove that particular review or I’ll get sued.

For example, if you pick a Thai person from the street and ask if she likes (insert a restaurant here) in Siamsqure and how she likes it, you will get less than ten words answer.

Thais aren’t trained to be observers, or thinkers. We just go with the flow…

December 8, 2007   No Comments