thailand in August- where to dive

On May 16, 2:29 am, "chilly" <slar...@shaw.canada> wrote:
> "Reef Fish" <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> > Dropping in here for the first time in months to see thast
> > the quality of this group has gone from BAAAAD to
> > VERY VERY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.
>
> > The rec.scuban killed this group. Contratulations.
>
> You are congratulating yourself for being the rec.scuban that killed this
> group?

I don't think I posted even once this year in rec.scuba until
yesterday! Look at the posting STATS of recent months
and years in rec.scuba.locations:

2004 559 405 817 696 522 438 561 872 620 410 385 511
2005 810 547 308 544 540 341 615 747 333 399 761 217
2006 1500 414 632 432 405 366 422 205 156 175 164 350
2007 112 38 99 124 24


Those were the number of posts in each month.

You don't have to be a world renouned statistician to
notice how MORIBUND the group has been in 2007.

38 posts in February, the Cozumel Carnival (Mardi
Gras) month. There were 406,, 547, and 414 in the
receding years in which Dan Bracuk, Greg Mossman,
and i talked about diving in Cozumel during their
Mardi Gras. This year, the rec.scuba.locations
killers were probably drinking beer and talking about
guns and politis in some sleezy DIVE (beer joint) in
Florida.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

On May 16, 2:29 am, "chilly" <slar...@shaw.canada> wrote:
> "Reef Fish" <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> > Dropping in here for the first time in months to see thast
> > the quality of this group has gone from BAAAAD to
> > VERY VERY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.
>
> > The rec.scuban killed this group. Contratulations.
>
> You are congratulating yourself for being the rec.scuban that killed this
> group?

I don't think I posted even once this year in rec.scuba until
yesterday! Look at the posting STATS of recent months
and years in rec.scuba.locations:

2004 559 405 817 696 522 438 561 872 620 410 385 511
2005 810 547 308 544 540 341 615 747 333 399 761 217
2006 1500 414 632 432 405 366 422 205 156 175 164 350
2007 112 38 99 124 24


Those were the number of posts in each month.

You don't have to be a world renouned statistician to
notice how MORIBUND the group has been in 2007.

38 posts in February, the Cozumel Carnival (Mardi
Gras) month. There were 406,, 547, and 414 in the
receding years in which Dan Bracuk, Greg Mossman,
and i talked about diving in Cozumel during their
Mardi Gras. This year, the rec.scuba.locations
killers were probably drinking beer and talking about
guns and politis in some sleezy DIVE (beer joint) in
Florida.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

On May 16, 2:29 am, "chilly" <slar...@shaw.canada> wrote:
> "Reef Fish" <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> > Dropping in here for the first time in months to see thast
> > the quality of this group has gone from BAAAAD to
> > VERY VERY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.
>
> > The rec.scuban killed this group. Contratulations.
>
> You are congratulating yourself for being the rec.scuban that killed this
> group?

I don't think I posted even once this year in rec.scuba until
yesterday! Look at the posting STATS of recent months
and years in rec.scuba.locations:

2004 559 405 817 696 522 438 561 872 620 410 385 511
2005 810 547 308 544 540 341 615 747 333 399 761 217
2006 1500 414 632 432 405 366 422 205 156 175 164 350
2007 112 38 99 124 24


Those were the number of posts in each month.

You don't have to be a world renouned statistician to
notice how MORIBUND the group has been in 2007.

38 posts in February, the Cozumel Carnival (Mardi
Gras) month. There were 406,, 547, and 414 in the
receding years in which Dan Bracuk, Greg Mossman,
and i talked about diving in Cozumel during their
Mardi Gras. This year, the rec.scuba.locations
killers were probably drinking beer and talking about
guns and politis in some sleezy DIVE (beer joint) in
Florida.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

On May 16, 6:11 am, Reef Fish <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The folks look alike, act alike, that's close enough. :)

Yeah, all those Asians look alike. I know what you mean, Chinese,
Indonesia, it's all the same.

In actuality, though, the differences are pretty profound. Thailand
is primarily a Buddhist country, while Bali is primarily Hindu in a
majority Muslim country. Thailand is a peninsular country with a
handful of small islands, while Bali is an island of a nation made up
of islands.

The language families are completely different, with the Indonesia
language being based on Malay, using a Roman script. The Thai
language, like Chinese, is multi-tonal. Unlike Chinese, it has an
alphabet, but what a crazy alphabet! I tried to learn as much of the
alphabet as I could before traveling there, but were it not for a
scattering of English road signs, I never would have been able to
traverse the country and the metropolis of Bangkok by car and safely
arrive at our hotel. For some reason, they banned the space bar.
Every sentence is one long string of characters with 44 or so letters
and a multitude of various diacritical marks.

> I was there (Thailand) less than a year ago and had
> a "taxi" sightseeing tour for over an hour for 20 Bhat,
> or the equivalent of 50 US cents.

I do remember feeling ripped off one night in Bangkok because after a
certain hour the taxis can go off meter and charge whatever they want,
instead of the regulated dirt-cheap fares they charge during the day.
A cab driver had the nerve to demand $3 to get me to my hotel and I
started haggling over $1 with him until I realized what I was doing.

> That's about the only place left in the world where
> the USD is still worth something!

Bali, especially due to a marked depression in their tourism industry
brought on by the several bombings they've suffered, is even more of a
bargain. It was sad to see entire villages of woodcarvers or jewelry-
makers with only a few tourists walking the streets and no one in the
stores.

Cuba used to be another, but I hear that may have stopped a year or
two ago as Castro banned the U.S. dollar. For drinkers, Thailand and
Bali aren't as cheap, since taxes and such keep the price of booze
closer to American levels. But in Cuba, beers were $1 and cocktails
$2 even in the lobby bar of fancy hotels.

On May 16, 6:11 am, Reef Fish <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The folks look alike, act alike, that's close enough. :)

Yeah, all those Asians look alike. I know what you mean, Chinese,
Indonesia, it's all the same.

In actuality, though, the differences are pretty profound. Thailand
is primarily a Buddhist country, while Bali is primarily Hindu in a
majority Muslim country. Thailand is a peninsular country with a
handful of small islands, while Bali is an island of a nation made up
of islands.

The language families are completely different, with the Indonesia
language being based on Malay, using a Roman script. The Thai
language, like Chinese, is multi-tonal. Unlike Chinese, it has an
alphabet, but what a crazy alphabet! I tried to learn as much of the
alphabet as I could before traveling there, but were it not for a
scattering of English road signs, I never would have been able to
traverse the country and the metropolis of Bangkok by car and safely
arrive at our hotel. For some reason, they banned the space bar.
Every sentence is one long string of characters with 44 or so letters
and a multitude of various diacritical marks.

> I was there (Thailand) less than a year ago and had
> a "taxi" sightseeing tour for over an hour for 20 Bhat,
> or the equivalent of 50 US cents.

I do remember feeling ripped off one night in Bangkok because after a
certain hour the taxis can go off meter and charge whatever they want,
instead of the regulated dirt-cheap fares they charge during the day.
A cab driver had the nerve to demand $3 to get me to my hotel and I
started haggling over $1 with him until I realized what I was doing.

> That's about the only place left in the world where
> the USD is still worth something!

Bali, especially due to a marked depression in their tourism industry
brought on by the several bombings they've suffered, is even more of a
bargain. It was sad to see entire villages of woodcarvers or jewelry-
makers with only a few tourists walking the streets and no one in the
stores.

Cuba used to be another, but I hear that may have stopped a year or
two ago as Castro banned the U.S. dollar. For drinkers, Thailand and
Bali aren't as cheap, since taxes and such keep the price of booze
closer to American levels. But in Cuba, beers were $1 and cocktails
$2 even in the lobby bar of fancy hotels.

On May 16, 6:11 am, Reef Fish <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The folks look alike, act alike, that's close enough. :)

Yeah, all those Asians look alike. I know what you mean, Chinese,
Indonesia, it's all the same.

In actuality, though, the differences are pretty profound. Thailand
is primarily a Buddhist country, while Bali is primarily Hindu in a
majority Muslim country. Thailand is a peninsular country with a
handful of small islands, while Bali is an island of a nation made up
of islands.

The language families are completely different, with the Indonesia
language being based on Malay, using a Roman script. The Thai
language, like Chinese, is multi-tonal. Unlike Chinese, it has an
alphabet, but what a crazy alphabet! I tried to learn as much of the
alphabet as I could before traveling there, but were it not for a
scattering of English road signs, I never would have been able to
traverse the country and the metropolis of Bangkok by car and safely
arrive at our hotel. For some reason, they banned the space bar.
Every sentence is one long string of characters with 44 or so letters
and a multitude of various diacritical marks.

> I was there (Thailand) less than a year ago and had
> a "taxi" sightseeing tour for over an hour for 20 Bhat,
> or the equivalent of 50 US cents.

I do remember feeling ripped off one night in Bangkok because after a
certain hour the taxis can go off meter and charge whatever they want,
instead of the regulated dirt-cheap fares they charge during the day.
A cab driver had the nerve to demand $3 to get me to my hotel and I
started haggling over $1 with him until I realized what I was doing.

> That's about the only place left in the world where
> the USD is still worth something!

Bali, especially due to a marked depression in their tourism industry
brought on by the several bombings they've suffered, is even more of a
bargain. It was sad to see entire villages of woodcarvers or jewelry-
makers with only a few tourists walking the streets and no one in the
stores.

Cuba used to be another, but I hear that may have stopped a year or
two ago as Castro banned the U.S. dollar. For drinkers, Thailand and
Bali aren't as cheap, since taxes and such keep the price of booze
closer to American levels. But in Cuba, beers were $1 and cocktails
$2 even in the lobby bar of fancy hotels.

On May 16, 6:11 am, Reef Fish <large_nassua_grou...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The folks look alike, act alike, that's close enough. :)

Yeah, all those Asians look alike. I know what you mean, Chinese,
Indonesia, it's all the same.

In actuality, though, the differences are pretty profound. Thailand
is primarily a Buddhist country, while Bali is primarily Hindu in a
majority Muslim country. Thailand is a peninsular country with a
handful of small islands, while Bali is an island of a nation made up
of islands.

The language families are completely different, with the Indonesia
language being based on Malay, using a Roman script. The Thai
language, like Chinese, is multi-tonal. Unlike Chinese, it has an
alphabet, but what a crazy alphabet! I tried to learn as much of the
alphabet as I could before traveling there, but were it not for a
scattering of English road signs, I never would have been able to
traverse the country and the metropolis of Bangkok by car and safely
arrive at our hotel. For some reason, they banned the space bar.
Every sentence is one long string of characters with 44 or so letters
and a multitude of various diacritical marks.

> I was there (Thailand) less than a year ago and had
> a "taxi" sightseeing tour for over an hour for 20 Bhat,
> or the equivalent of 50 US cents.

I do remember feeling ripped off one night in Bangkok because after a
certain hour the taxis can go off meter and charge whatever they want,
instead of the regulated dirt-cheap fares they charge during the day.
A cab driver had the nerve to demand $3 to get me to my hotel and I
started haggling over $1 with him until I realized what I was doing.

> That's about the only place left in the world where
> the USD is still worth something!

Bali, especially due to a marked depression in their tourism industry
brought on by the several bombings they've suffered, is even more of a
bargain. It was sad to see entire villages of woodcarvers or jewelry-
makers with only a few tourists walking the streets and no one in the
stores.

Cuba used to be another, but I hear that may have stopped a year or
two ago as Castro banned the U.S. dollar. For drinkers, Thailand and
Bali aren't as cheap, since taxes and such keep the price of booze
closer to American levels. But in Cuba, beers were $1 and cocktails
$2 even in the lobby bar of fancy hotels.

Reef Fish wrote

> That is my opinion, and is the concensus opinion
> of ALL the DIVERS I know . . .

No it's not.

"Concensus opinion" is redundant, by the way.

Reef Fish wrote

> That is my opinion, and is the concensus opinion
> of ALL the DIVERS I know . . .

No it's not.

"Concensus opinion" is redundant, by the way.

Reef Fish wrote

> That is my opinion, and is the concensus opinion
> of ALL the DIVERS I know . . .

No it's not.

"Concensus opinion" is redundant, by the way.