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Hi folks, I'm in my hotel room in smoggy Bangkok, waiting for the dinner bell to ring. In the meantime, here's a few snaps from today's outing in the suburbs.

I'm not usually into cute animals, but this fella was cute:


Reasons for a national dental scheme:


Don't try this at home, or anywhere for that matter:


This shot cost me 40 baht, but it was worth it:

Not bad shots for an ole fella, LoL just kidding, i like them and well would love to go some where like this one day to see how the world looks like out of Mount Gambier. Oh and the truck, maybe one i will get adventures and well i guess they keep that croc feed pretty well.

John, I know the Mount a whole better than I know my way around Bangkok, but it is an amazing place and a photog's paradise. I would love to see you drive your truck down Sathorn road in peak hour (7am-11pm). Now that would be a blast! Take care, Ozi.

Oz,

The first one is one of the best portraits of you I've ever seen. But what wb setting did you have in place?

Apart from that minor niggle, these are all excellent shots. The one of my mother in law is just great, with excellent detail and is thus a tribute to her dentist's fine efforts.

Great shots there Ozi!

The monkey looks a bit off colour (he/she looks a bit blue) and could do with a bit more DOF (just get those fingers in focus), but still a great shot all the same.

Now I really dont want to that Hippo's dentist, imagine having to tell he/she that they need to brush their teeth more often, or even having to remove a tooth!!

#3 does not do anything for me, other than "stupid person!"

My favourite of the bunch!! so candid, colours and DOF are great, its a cracker of a shot!

aim54x wrote:#3 does not do anything for me, other than "stupid person!"

Not quite as stupid as it first appears, if you look at the shadow, you can see his head is not quite inside the croc's mouth, but you certainly wouldn't catch me doing that all the same!

I agree, nice shots, especially the last.

Glad to hear no mention of red shirt protest problems, as I'm heading over there next Monday for a week

Cheers

gstark wrote:Oz,

The first one is one of the best portraits of you I've ever seen. But what wb setting did you have in place?

It was a quick snap in auto WB mode and yes, the colours are off even with some severe tweaking in PS. Not much I could do as I just aimed and fired. It was quite dark where the little monk was sitting, in a laundry basket. I may turn this into a BW image.

gstark wrote:Apart from that minor niggle, these are all excellent shots. The one of my mother in law is just great, with excellent detail and is thus a tribute to her dentist's fine efforts.

"We're open 24 hours a day, just like my mother-in-law's mouth..." (Anon)

aim54x wrote:The monkey looks a bit off colour (he/she looks a bit blue) and could do with a bit more DOF (just get those fingers in focus)

It was a quick snap; I think I had the 85mm F1.8 at F2 or 2.2 hence the slim DOF. It was very dark in the monkey house and he was moving about until he paused on the edge of the basket. As for the colours, yes, they're definitely out but I had no idea about the lighting and was using jpg only. Funny thing is, video mode with the 5D Mkii seems to get the WB right every time, but it's harder with the stills.

digitor wrote:Not quite as stupid as it first appears, if you look at the shadow, you can see his head is not quite inside the croc's mouth, but you certainly wouldn't catch me doing that all the same!

I have a photo of the man's arm right down inside the croc's throat, and I mean right inside. These young blokes are insane. (Accidents have been known to take place here. Their OHS rating isn't very good )

digitor wrote:Glad to hear no mention of red shirt protest problems, as I'm heading over there next Monday for a week

No problems with protests. They're still assembled somewhat outside the old palace area, but it's petering out. There's a few roadside checks and some increased security floating around but nothing to be worried about. Thailand needs tourists to survive. Enjoy your trip!

Nice pics!

Excellent pics, Ozi. Always love to see photos from Thailand. You're right it's a photographer's paradise there.

Watch out for the red-shirted idiots


Alex

Alex wrote:Watch out for the red-shirted idiots Alex

Actually Alex, I was talking to someone in the know today, and it seems that the Red Shirts are actually pro-democracy, peaceful, country Thais. They are looked down upon by the upper classes. The current non-elected government is scared of losing the next election and has gone into hiding. I just hope the situation can be resolved peacefully, without army led bloodshed, fair elections held and a democratic government installed. We can only hope and pray for Thailand.

Ozi.

Actually Ozi,

The red shirts are Taxin "supporters". Yes, Taxin is the same guy who robbed the people and diverted money into his and his wife accounts. They are 'supporting' him because he is preying on their naivity and poor status and actually paying them to turn up to the demonstrations.
Fortunately for Thailand, Taxin is stingy so the funds he is giving to those pople to demonstrate becoming more and more scarce.
The people IN the know would not support the red shirts and their so-called democracy.

Regardless, I hope this nonsense stops and the great Thai nation resumes its peace and harmony for The King's sake and health at least.


Alex

Mate, I'm not into politicizing anything, but I am a guest of several up-country red shirt supporters at this very moment. These people are dirt poor but gracious, hospitable and proud Thai nationals. (My "in the know" source is a long term Australian missionary, not a Thai).

I most probably don't understand as much about the situation as you do, but I do know this: the current government was not democratically elected and has no intentions of giving democracy back to the people. I also know as a fact that the Thai army opened fire on their own people the last time these protesters did their thing.

The bottom line though is that the Thai people get a chance to elect a democratic government through fair elections, and even more importantly that bloodshed doesn't erupt again.

As for the good or bad character of Taksin, I can't comment as I don't know. I only get my news from the mainstream media which I completely distrust.

Ozi

Hi Ozi,

Sorry if my response sounded abrupt.

I am married to a Thai and I probably interact with more Thai people here in Melbourne than I do with Aussies or Russians (I am Russian). I believe I know the situation quite well. I've been also following the recent trial of Taksin on Thai TV.

Yes, the up-country Thais are dirt poor and most of them do not have a chance to be well educated. Taksin has used his position to scam those people and he promised them the world but made them even poorer. Why do you think they are still dirt poor and he is even richer before he had a chance to become a PM? The poor people still believe in him bc he financially sponsors the supporters.

All Thais I know believe Taksin is the worst the kingdom has known.

The current government may not have been democratically elected but at least its the right government for the current time. Do you believe Taksin has been elected democratically? He bought his votes upcountry with cash. Is 'democracy' we often see in the west turns out well? Has democratically elected Bush done the US and the world much good?

As I mentioned, luckily the red shirts are a very small minority of disillusioned and frustrated people who have a very limited understanding of Thai politics. It's not their fault for being poor and not being able to access good education, but Taksin used these weaknesses to gain the support of those people.

Australian missionary is probably not the best source of information on Thai politics .

Sorry again if I sound rude or disrespectable but the subject is close to my heart and what these protesters have been doing has been making me angry for a variety of reasons.

I think I should stop as this is not the place to discuss the topic and I do love your photos of the streetlife of this fantastic place!

Enjoy your stay

Alex

hi

it's great to see a diverse set i can almost feel the atmosphere of the place

the first shot is your best compositionally the negative space enhances the subject really well. I noticed the light is somewhat bluish which further makes the image more fascinating. I like the colour tones in the image

2 and 4 could use with darker shadow tones to make them more contrasty but i get the mood of the shots

Alex wrote:Hi Ozi,

Sorry if my response sounded abrupt.

No probs.

Alex wrote: The current government may not have been democratically

Mate, democracy has a lot of problems, but IMHO it's the best system of government we have in the world today.

Alex wrote:Australian missionary is probably not the best source of information on Thai politics .

Sometimes an outsider has a non-biased view of things?

Alex wrote:Sorry again if I sound rude or disrespectable but the subject is close to my heart and what these protesters have been doing has been making me angry for a variety of reasons.

Point taken.

Alex wrote:I think I should stop as this is not the place to discuss the topic and I do love your photos of the streetlife of this fantastic place!

Yep, we're getting a bit off topic, but I find wholesome debate challenging and worthwhile. It is true, and while I wouldn't call Thailand a spectacular place, the people are beautiful in every respect. (I wish the tourists would treat them better though. It really irritates me when a westerner tries to bargain a Thai into a deal when they full well know they're getting a bargain anyway. Just pay them the money and try and make their life a little bit easier. When I give a taxi driver a 100 baht tip ($3), they are overwhelmed with gratitude.

Ozi.

Yes, Ozi.

I definitely agree with you on Thai people statement. I have never came accross more genuine and kinder people than Thais. They have so much gratitude and are so welcoming, it is simply unbelivable. It's a trully unique country in that respect. Not many other cultures managed to stay that way.

I'm off to the Thai new year (Songkran) festival which is taking place at Federation square in Melbourne today

Best

Alex

Enjoy the festival Alex. I'm heading off to church in Bangkok this morning (Baptist) and then we are travelling by road north to Nahkon Sawon (220kms). It is the hottest place in Thailand evidently which should be a challenge as yesterday in BKK it was almost 40 C and humid as well. Thankfully Thais sell cold water and Pepsi almost everywhere. Regards.