Driving in Laos PDR...
Joe Fukawe
I have always been a critic of California driving, until I had a chance
to see how others drive in far away countries, such as Laos PDR. Since
then, I have developed a profound respect for how we drive here in the
West. Why? What could be so bad about the driving in laos? Here is a
collection of short observations I have made riding in the Great
Country of Laos.
While Driving in Laos.....
Traffic signals are (how should I put it...) optional and they rarely
work.
Right of way is determined by vehicle weight.
On any given street every car is driving parallel, but none will be
driving co-linear.
In taking any 3 consecutive Lao drivers, 1 will be driving over the
median.
In merging lanes, Lao drivers feel the need to drive neck to neck until
the last moment when one finally chickens out.
Whenever a Lao person crosses the street by foot, he will not consider
such meaningless factors as how many cars are on the road, or how fast
they are going.
If while crossing the street, a Lao bicyclist/mortorist gets 4 beeps
from a Bus, 3 beeps from your taxi, and 5 loud horns from a speeding
truck, all while going against traffic, he will not so much as turn his
head to acknowledge.
Take every gas you find in the Periodic table, Mix this with every gas
you would find, add mustard gas, SMOG, Agent Orange, MACE, and sulfuric
acid, this is was comes out of the average cars tail pipe. A one time
drive while riding behind a bus, had identical health effects as 12
years of smoking.
ຜູ່ບ່າວລາວ
Loud horn, huh? Really nuts... It always makes me wake up at night. The
worse is Tok Tok without back light. I almost hit many times.
sulilec
ເຈົ້າໄດ້ມີເວລາເບິ່ງໃຫ້ຂ້ຽບໍ?
ເຣື່ອງກ່ຽວກັບພາສາລາວໂຕສັຕຫັ້ນນະ?
ຖ້າເຈົ້າຢູ່ໃດ?
ເຊີນຍີ້ມ
ຂ້ອຍຫາກວ່າແລ້ວນ໋າ..ດຽວນີ້ປະເທດລາວມັນສີຣີອີ່ຫລີແລ້ວເດີ..
ແກຣົຖນີ້ມັນດັງເອີ້ນເອົາຄົນໂດຍສານຕັ້ງແຕ່໔ໂມງເຊົ້າຈົນຮອດຄ່ຳ
ພຸ້ນເລີຍລ໋ະ....ບາດຍາມແລງມາສຽງດົນຕຣີກໍ່ນ່ຳຕັ້ງແຕ່ຫົວຄ່ຳ
ພິ້ຈົນເລີຍທ່ຽງຄືນໄປອີກ...ຟັງເພີ່ນຈັດຮອບລຳວົງແກ່ທ່ານນັ້ນທ່ານນີ້
ໄປເລີຍໆ..ແຕ່ບາດແນມເບີ່ງຄັກໆຫັ້ນຄົນຟ້ອນກັບນັກດົນຕຣີມີພໍສ່ຳໆກັນ...
ໂອກາດເຈົ້າຈະໄດ້ເຊົາເມື່ອຍພັກຜ່ອນກໍມີພຽງແຕ່ນຶ່ງໂມງເຊົ້າຫາສາມໂມງເຊົ້າ..ທໍ່ນັ້ນ..
ເຊີນຍີ້ມ.
ໂຈ້ຈອມປ່ວນ
Please accept my sincere apology for not getting back to you on the
subject. I'd been very busy this past week and finally emptied and
cleared my desk.
Please remind me what other animals were still in question? I would
gladly assist.
Rgds,
Joe
sulilec
ຂ້ຽຫວັງເຈົ້າຍັງສະບາຍດີ.
ເປັນຫຍັງຈິ່ງຄ່ອຍມຽນໂຕະຕັ່ງ?
ເອົາຂີ່ຝຸ່ນອອກຊຶ່ໆຕິ?
ບໍ່ໄດ້ລາອອກກາຣເທື່ອຕິເນາະ?
ອັນທີຈິ່ງແລ້ວໃນສາຍຕາຂ້ຽຫັ້ນ
ຈຳພວກໂຕ chipmunk, squirrel, possum, opposum, raccoon,
mink, skunk
ຖ້າເອົາຂົນອອກຫມົດມັນກະເບິ່ງຄືໂຕຫນູຫັ້ນແລ້ວ.
ແຕ່
ມີສີ່ໂຕທີ່ບໍ່ຄ່ອຍແນ່ໃຈ.
Possum( opossum), woodchuck, mink, raccoon. BHL
ລາວເອີ້ນໂຕ 0possum, mink, raccoon
ເປັນໂຕ”ເຢັນ”ຫມົດ ແລະໂຕ camel
ລາວເອີ້ນວ່າໂຕບໍ່ຮູ້?
ໂຕບໍ່ຮູ້ນັ້ນແມ່ນພາສາໄທຍແມ່ນບໍ?
ແຕ່ບໍ່ແນ່ໃຈຈິ່ງຢາກຖາມເຈົ້າອີກ.
ເຈົ້າໄດ້ວ່າໂຕ kangaroo
ຫັ້ນແມ່ນຈິ່ງໂຈະຫລືກິ່ງໂກະບໍ?
ບໍ່ແນ່ໃຈຄືກັນໃຫ້ເຈົ້າບອກອີກແດ່.
Opossum- with fuzzy tail;Possum-is like a rat but with no fuzzy tail;
these two seemed to be the distinctive feature at the tail, if they are
of the same group than it would be okayed, I’ll go with
ຫນູພຸກ for both of them.
Woodchuck-ຫນູໃຫ່ຽ,
ປະເພດຫນູຄືກັນແຕ່ໃຫ່ຽກວ່າຫນູທັມະດາ???
Mink-??
Racoon-??
ໂຈ້ຈອມປ່ວນ
Will reply tonight...got to run some errant...you know the honey-do
list...
ໂຈ້ຈອມປ່ວນ
and the thread gets push as far back as two pages...Good sign indeed...
Sulilec, haven't forgot about you, I promise I'll do it tonight for
sure...my honey-do list turned out to be a major project and sort of a
prison sentence...
Finally out of the dog house and I can now sleep on the sofa (at
least). Shouldn't gone out with the boys too late last Friday night
and came home smelled like a distillery with lipstick on my shirt
collars. I'll get those bar girls back if I get to go out again in
this lifetime, hopefully.
Joe F.
dougismooth
Smooth
ໂຈ້ຈອມປ່ວນ
This is kind of lenghty, for some it may put you to sleep reading
it...here are my findings...
Opossum/Possum - n.
ສັດຊະນິດຫນຶ່ງຄ້າຍໆກະຮອກ,ໂຕຍາວປະມານສອງຟຸດຢູ່ໃນອາເມຣິກາ
Mink -
ສັດຈຳພວກຫນຶ່ງຄ້າຍໂຕນາກ,ຂົນຫນາຍາວໃຊ້ເຮັດເສື້ອຄຸມກັນຫນາວ
ຂອງສຕຣີຊະນິດຣາຄາແພງລີ່ວເອີ້ນວ່າ...Mink
coat.
Above is what my dictionary defined them as, as these animals are not
indigenous to Laos, there's no Lao word for them. When I looked up
Kangaroo, it just said ໂຕແຄງກູຣູ and described its
characteristic such as a having short fore limbs, large hind limbs
adapted for leaping, and a long tapered tail, herbivorous marsupials
and idigenous to Australia.
Same with Racoon, it just said A carnivorous North American mammal
(Procyon lotor) having grayish-brown fur, black masklike facial
markings, and a black-ringed bushy tail..
As for Woodchuck - A common burrowing rodent (Marmota monax) of
northern and eastern North America, having a short-legged, heavy-set
body and grizzled brownish fur. Also called groundhog; also called
regionally whistle pig.
So I must conclude that in order to describe them to a Lao person, you
just have to list each animal's characteristic and for other
westerners, you must explain to them that since they are not indigenous
to Laos, there's no EXACT lao word for them. I guess we should just
called them by their English name...
Turning to my Lao/English dictionary...I looked up...ເຫງັນ...
ເຫງັນ - Civet Cat (Northern Laos)
ເຫງັນແຝງ/ແຜງ - Masked civet cat, Paguma larvata
intrudens wroughton.
ເຫງັນຫາງກ່ານ - ring-tailed civet cat, Viverra
zibetha picta wroughton.
ເຫງັນຫມີ - Masked palm civet, Paguma larvata intrudens
wroughton.
ເຫງັນອົ້ມ - Palm civet, Parasoxurus hermaphroditus
laotum glydenstolpe.
I've never heard of a 'Civet' cat before, so of course, I looked it up
and this is how it describe it...
CIV·ET (siv-it) -
1. Any of various carnivorous catlike mammals of the family Viverridae
of Africa and Asia, having anal scent glands that secrete a fluid with
a musky odor. Also called civet cat.
2. The thick yellowish musky fluid secreted by one of these mammals,
used in the manufacture of perfumes.
3. any of a large group of mostly nocturnal mammals of the Old World
family Viverridae (civet family), which also includes the mongoose.
Civets are not true cats, but the civet family is related to the cat
family (Felidae). Most civets have catlike bodies, long tails, and
weasellike faces. Their fur may be gray or brown, and may be marked in
various patterns. All civets have scent-producing glands, located in a
double pouch near the genitals. The fatty yellow secretion of these
glands has a distinctive musky odor used for territorial marking.
Commercially, this substance is known as civet and is used as a perfume
fixative. Civet can be removed from captive animals every 14 to 20
days. Some civet species are hunted for their fur. The ground-living,
or true, civets form a distinctive group within the family; these
animals have a highly carnivorous diet. Most have dark spots and ringed
tails. They include several Asian species (genus Viverra) and one
African species (Civettictis civetta). Best known is the Indian civet,
V. zibetha, of S Asia, from which most of the civet for perfume is
derived. It has tawny fur with black spots and black bands on the tail.
It is about 30 in. (76 cm) long, excluding the 20-in. (42-cm) tail, and
about 15 in. (38 cm) high at the shoulder; it weighs up to 25 lb (11
kg). Its musk glands are greatly enlarged. Some of the ground-living
civets are called linsangs and genets. The palm civets form another
distinct group within the civet family. These are arboreal, largely
fruit-eating animals of Africa and Asia; they are classified in several
genera. The North American spotted skunk is sometimes popularly called
civet but is not closely related to civets. Civets are classified in
the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order
Carnivora, family Viverridae.
Hope I didn't bore you to submission...
Joe F.
ໂຈ້ຈອມປ່ວນ
No bro, I wasn't with a mianoy, it's already hard enough trying to
please one woman. For the marry folks, just have a 'booty call' is the
best way to go, no string attached. But this pass weekend was the
opposite, I had some friends visiting from CA, so I took them out and
show them the good times. Of course, as tempting as it was, I didn't
partake on the good time, I was playing the 'tour guide' and the girls
at the bar were mad at me because I only drink and wait while my
friends were doing the dirty deeds.
Long story short, one of the girl planted a bomb on me, while flirting
around (innocently - that's my story and I'm sticking to it) and
teasing them - one of them planted a lipstick mark on my shirt collars;
Unknowingly, I had wiped off all the lipstick marks on my face then
came home smelled like a distillery and the next day during laundry, I
was interrogated thouroughly...
Got to tell you man, this is ten times rougher and harder than when I
went through E & E (Escape and Evasion) course when I was in the
military. I tell you, she can make those E&E instructors look like an
amateur...I was grilled side to side, upside down and inside out...of
course, I stuck to my above story and eventually, she bought it...well,
after giving her the Joe Fukawe treatments, she realized that I haven't
expended my ammo so that's how I was safe..talk about close
call...still though, I was in the dog house for the weekend. I will
make it up next week though, Valentine's day would save me...got the
whole weekend planned.
Trouble Joe 'dog house' Fukawe
