fredtitmus

yes agree we are a danger to ourselves

i think the best advice i can give is drink sensibly,drunkeness leads to an endless amount of problems.

just recently i went on a 2 day drinking binge,normally i just drink leo but this time for some strange reason i went on the whiskey and cokes,totally over did it.I ended up on day 2 falling asleep on the street,luckily the only thing that happened to me was i had embarresed myself and woke up with 39 mosquito bites.But i were lucky,i guess i was in the right place at the right time.

The second biggest danger for me is the roads but this is one of the things that is beyond our control,you can be the best driver or motorcyclist in Thailand but that isnt going to stop you being killed.

I were driving along in traffic the other day,nice and steady when a thai guy on a motorbike with his buddy on the back coming towards me decides to do wheelie at speed,he lost control and just missed the car by a couple of inches.

If it were possible and i could afford it i would buy a tank or some other armoured vehicle or even better a helicopter.

drink sensibly!

drive sensibly!

and never mix the two!

In my experience, it's because they believe that foreign men will be faithful. A lot of those Thai women are looking for foreigners because they believe Thai men to be cheaters. That's not coming from me, but from the mouth of the Thai women I've spoken to.

Yes, Mr. Warhammer, we've all heard this. The question is whether this is true. The Stickman addressed this issue awhile back as the number one myth (http://www.stickmanb...women-myths.htm).

So do you believe thai men dont cheat on their wifes/gf's? and you are saying the women wouldnt get pissed off with this and look for something else?

I dont give a <deleted> what stickman says,i know what i have been hearing and seeing in the last 6 years,i personally know a very attractive thai lady who has been cheated on for years by her husband and last year turned to the internet because she believes falang to be better men and i know this because she wanted me to translate the messages a guy was sending.

We have all seen the thai married men young and old in the restaurants with the young girls that work there,i eat in a very nice THAI restaurant,where the middle class guys go alone or with friends.The amount of young girls in there to greet these guys is unbelievable so you cant tell me that all their wives will tolerate this and if a western man who can speak some thai shows some interest she wouldnt go for it.

Im no oil painting but i get looks all the time from middle class women,i personally feel that if you are a average looking guy,who can speak ok thai and dresses well you could get any girl(around the same age).

I dont know where stickman gets his observations from,maybe he's past it now! if i were you i'd start making my own observations and dont idolize the so called experts too much.

John Everingham was a quite well known photographer of the Vietnam war era.

He smuggled his wife (later to be Ananda's mother ) out of Laos in 1977 in dramatic circumstances.

There was a biopic made of the affair, starring Michael Landon, no less (for younger ThaiVisa readers,Michael Landon was big in the Eighties - for him to star in your biopic was quite an honour in those days!).

This thread has just become alot more interesting,what a great story.Will have to have a viewing of this film if i can find it,also in the film is edward woodward and priscilla presley and its called love is forever.

Funny how the thread started about photography and turns out his father was a well known photographer

Once again a special day has been hijacked by the sales folk.

Valentine's day is the one day of the year where one can send a CARD anonymously to the object of one's desire.

The whole point being that it should be anonymous.

I sent dozens and received none.

It was CREATED by the sales folks....BTW now that you mention it they really do take full advantage of your guilty conscience now and price the cards off the scale. I didn't see ANY decent ones for less then 295b which is roughly $10US for some paper and a few words printed on it, virtual extortion!!

who is responsible for this valentine geezer anyway!!!! havnt we got enough to cash out over here,then there is chinese new year and xmas.Thats another one santa claus!!! where the <deleted> did he come from,im sure that were the American's fault.

Don't be fooled by the minority. Any guy who lives in Thailand will tell you that the normal Thai girl, I am talking about the normal population is not interested in foreigners at all. Do you hang out in China town in your home country? Neither do normal Thais. Try to date a typical middle class Thai and she will be very afraid to tell her parents or friends. We go to Thailand and meet the ones who are targeting foreigners for the money. It is a small minority. After living here, I have met so many more that want nothing to do with us. We don't get exposure to them because they avoid the foreigner outlets.

Most Thai women donot love foreigners. They love what the foreigner has to offer them. The best most foreigners can do with a good Thai woman is become their friend,because a good Thai woman usually isnot interested in marrying a foreigner. I know many Thai-chinese young women who are in their 20's single and not the least bit interested in gettting married to a foreigner or a Thai for that matter. I also meet women everyday from poor families that just about throw themselves at me to get the benefits of a foreigner boyfriend.

Look around and you will find many women have had 1 or 2 foreigner boyfriends already. They speak good english, dress well, have cars, maybe a house and have travelled abroad. They are in their late 20s or early 30s.They got their cars houses , travel etc from past boyfriends. They took what they could and moved on.Does anyone really believe they loved their past boyfriends? They took the money and ran. But they will tell you they loved you well they check you out to see whats in it for them.

I feel they should get something but give only what you can afford to lose. Because there is a very good chance they really donot give a dam_n about you. Words are cheap and lies are common tools.

Most Thai women donot love foreigners. They love what the foreigner has to offer them. The best most foreigners can do with a good Thai woman is become their friend,because a good Thai woman usually isnot interested in marrying a foreigner. I know many Thai-chinese young women who are in their 20's single and not the least bit interested in gettting married to a foreigner or a Thai for that matter. I also meet women everyday from poor families that just about throw themselves at me to get the benefits of a foreigner boyfriend.

Look around and you will find many women have had 1 or 2 foreigner boyfriends already. They speak good english, dress well, have cars, maybe a house and have travelled abroad. They are in their late 20s or early 30s.They got their cars houses , travel etc from past boyfriends. They took what they could and moved on.Does anyone really believe they loved their past boyfriends? They took the money and ran. But they will tell you they loved you well they check you out to see whats in it for them.

I feel they should get something but give only what you can afford to lose. Because there is a very good chance they really donot give a dam_n about you. Words are cheap and lies are common tools.

Lets face facts here chaps,if you are a guy who knocks about in foriegn bars and foriegn establishments,the liklehood of meeting a normal thai girl are low.Because a normal thai girl does not want a guy that goes to a bar and drinks beer at 9 o clock in the morning cos that int normal.

When i first come to Thailand in 2006,i asked a girl out who worked in the airport,i met her the night after she turned up in her car dressed immaculately with a present for me.The second date she wanted me to meet the parents cos they were a little concerned about her going out and meeting someone they didnt know.So we went to see them,they lived in a huge house,her farther was a engineer her mother was a teacher.The only reason i didnt carry on seeing her is because i was meeting a mate in ho chi mihn city and at the time i was more bothered about having a good time with my mate in the bars than having a relationship.At the time i were 32 she was 26.

I have plenty of stories about women wanting to meet falang,my ex's aunty wants to meet someone because her husband was cheating on her for years,she is 42 very good looking and from a rich family and is a friend of mine on facebook.Also my wifes cousin,she lost her thai husband in a car accident,has never been with a foriegner but believes a falang will look after her better.This girl also does not need anything from a falang,she has her own house,car and bussiness and is only 26.

I drink in thai restaurant's and sometimes go to a thai nightclub with my wife and her friends and get alot of attention and i am only average looking,my opinion is that if you speak thai,learn the culture,mix with thai people,its easy.

Went to HomePro and bought her a new kitchen sink with all the trimmings

You're quite the romantic charmer aren't you?

hahaha Quality practical presents winnie,why didnt i think of that! totaly forgot about valentines day so had to shoot down to the local mall on the day,got her a card and some armani perfume,felt like i'd been mugged after.

<deleted> is going on here??? I've never quite understood why some folk are so obsessed with 'famous' people. Why take a picture of a person because he has appeared on a television? What do people do with these pictures? Did this 'famous' chap wai because he was greeting a mainly Thai audience by any chance?

Whilst I'm having a rant about people photographing people/things. I was in a recently opened shopping mall on Sukhumvit 21 recently and witnessed hundreds of people (farang included) taking pictures of the shopping mall

Don't simply comment or insult anyone if you don't know the person. Ananda appeared in the silver screen and he is an international movie actor, not local or the television.

No he's not. Even if he was an international movie actor, why take a picture of him?

I wouldnt take a picture,i would put it on video dial instead but only because something crazy might happen like someone comes forward and smacks him in the mouth.Then the video might be worth something if this guy is so famous.

Im relatively new to this internet thing and forums so if i have some stupid questions please excuse me.

Just lately i have become more an more curious about the global moderators(no, not in that way!),The other day in the early hours i was looking at a topic that i had previously posted on,i noticed while i was on a post was removed by a moderator.It was about 3am and it got me thinking how does this work,is this moderator in his own country? maybe it is the evening there,or is this guy in Thailand and he is on the morning shift.Are all these guys in Thailand and are they from all the differant english speaking countries,are these guys paid by thai visa or are they part of thai visa,maybe they are a group of friends that started this up.

Or maybe they are volunteers and are asked to be a moderator on merit and after say 1000 posts,also how long has thai visa been going and who owns it?

Maybe in Thailand, what you all are complaining of is not seen as rude here in Thailand so they are not being rude, and when you react differently, they think you are odd? You can compare cultures, but you can not condemn another one just because it is not the same as yours; try China if you want to see a real difference of culture. On the flip side, imagine a Thai web board saying how bad farangs are because they stick their older relatives in old folks homes and never visit them; or you not sending your mother money every month as a sign of respect whether she needs it or not; or not paying a dowry to your Farang wife's family and worse still expecting them to pay for the wedding; and at the wedding giving someone a toaster as opposed to a handful of cash.

well said

" Sek Loso is (maybe) the best guitarist in Thailand and is internationally recognized as such...." That's like being the best camel jockey in Antarctica.

There are different standards for real rock stars. When Keith Richards was caught using drugs in the 60s, he just increased his use...and we can see how that ruined his career.

Nice bigoted remark about Loso! He is a damned fine guitarist and composer, and there are also many excellent Thai musicians. Rock talent isn't confined to Brit and Yank performers. Why not give a listen to Jack Thammarat sometime, he can play a bit!

Agreed his music is one of the most popular on Karaoke in Thailand, BUT punishment should fit the crime not status-or money. Our local boy who did wrong 1 time is put away-even when he said sorry.

I was only commenting about the denigrating comments on Thai musicians; I agree that Loso or the local kid should all be treated the same.

I hope that the treatment works and he can return to work and get back to playing some great music.

Despite the snide comments on Thai musicians in this forum - surprise, surprise! - Loso is very popular amongst farangs.

I have heard this guys music in the restaurants and there is no doubt hes a great musician but this is not the issue another so called "superstar" whitney houston as just left us today,a fantastic singer and performer and in my opinion not as creative as sek but again in my opinion she was a self obsessed prima donna.Smoked crack with her ex husband bobby brown and died because of drug abuse.

All the stars will come out now and say how fantastic she was but at the end of the day she just had a great voice,tell me how many people said how fantastic a person she was!

Just to add i remember years ago in the uk when jennifer lopez and kylie monogue appeared on 'top of the pops' which was then the only programme in the uk which showed the top 40.While appearing on the show the same day Jennifer lopez demanded everthing including a huge dressing room filled with flowers and swans where as kylie(a real person in my mind) just asked for a cup of english tea.

i wasnt the biggest fan of kylie's music but as a role model other artists should have followed her including her ex michael hutchence,whitney and this sek geeza.

peace

Holier than tho bunch of judgemental njubs here arn't you ?

If you even a small % of his ability you'd be lucky, he wants a second chance let him have it ..... or have you not noticed its a Buddhist country. The occasion forgiveness is asked for some would love to see anyone with some success torn down.... and no he's not the same as the local kid doing drugs .. Sek has given a heck of a lot more to the country than any of you whining fools will

So because this guy can play a guitar this makes him differant to everybody else? so he can take drugs,beat his wife and get away with it because you like his music! so if he came to your house im guessing you would let him smoke meth infront of your kids too.

take your sunglasses of you tw@t! "creativity didnt require narcotics"!?! hahahaha your not exactly nirvana or oasis mate!

yes defo get a test and are you 100% sure she is pregnant? she knows your going home this month,could even be a scam to get you to send some money over!

op where abouts are you in thailand? im in the northeast and dont have a problem,ok its not the same as in the uk but we all do things differantly.I have noticed some thais dont say thanks but when you hold a door for someone pushing a wheelchair or an old lady,someone carrying a box,they always say thankyou and half the time in english.

When im on a bus sat down and a lady older than me gets on and has to stand i always give up my seat,im not saying that the thai men are rude maybe they just dont think cos the thai women are tough old buggers.

One thing that really annoys me though is when you see an ambulance flashing and the cars infront dont get out of the way to let it through,to me thats just unbelievable!

The 1st time i came here i heard stories of people getting thrown off balconeys in pattaya to make it look like suicide,back then i didnt believe it but 6 years on i would believe almost anything,

Quote "but the mosquito's are getting right on my tits"

Wear a bra, problem solved

Of course if you took the not to kill any living thing (depending on how you define "living thing") to the extreme she wouldn't take anti biotics, might kill those loveable bacteria .

My girlfriend being buddhist will not kill a living thing and i try not to either but the mosquito's are getting right on my tits,they are constantly biting me,hiding in the apartment and as soon as the lights go out they attack.I read up about them and the scientists reckon there would be no ecological ramifications if we eradicated them.Also i heard that they are one of the most dangerous specsies on the planet killing 1.2 million a year so why do we put up with them? I constantly see thai people shaking there legs and arms while they are sat down and i keep asking myself why?

ive heard she was on a peanut and melon diet before the protest,dont know what happened to the peanuts but f**kinell.................

The reason why we are getting all these storms is that the sun is in its prime now and there are huge storms going off on it which affects us and they say its not going to get any better soon.

But if you believe the worlds gonna end this year get yourself down to pattaya for a few month and go and do the things you have always wanted to do.

and if it doesnt end at least you will have had a bloody good year.

decided on cambodia,just not sure which point at the border to cross,want to go to sihanoukville and angkor wat.could go in at poipet and out at koh kong or visa versa.Just not sure how much is the going rate for me(uk) and the wife(thai) again if anyone can help would be appreciated.

Need to get my passport stamped before 13th of January.I got two 2 month visas from uk and my 1st 2 month is nearly done.So I'm wanting to take my wife out of the country for a break we have decided on Cambodia or Vietnam or maybe even both if we can.

We were just looking for the best places to go but trying to budget at the same time.I went to sihanoukville in 2005 with a mate and would like to go back there but is it a problem getting over now,what is the price and would it be ok for my Thai wife to get across and how much would it cost? We are living in Khonkaen and are hoping to get away either tomorrow or Thursday.

Anyone with experience that could give us some advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.s should also point out that we have done the Lao border but prefer to go somewhere else now preferably on the beach.

I

Good - but wont make one bit of difference. There are hundreds willing to 'martyr' themselves in his place.

Racism is not dead in Spain and Italy,where do you get that from? I have been to both countries watching England and our black players were subjected to terrible racism during both games.especially in Spain.this isn't going to go away that easy,bin laden has eluded the USA for years and you can bet this (if it is proved to be true!) will only make his name stronger.

Don't agree...Nazism pretty much died along with HItler...Italian and Spanish racism with Musolini and Franco. Individuals in history make a difference.

Very interesting posts.But just ask yourself.How many foreigners do you hear who can speak English without a trace of their native accent Not many Even the most educated ones.

Unless they have spent all their formative years being educated in English or American schools there is usually a trace of their native accent.I found that being able to mimic the various English or even American accents helps me with my Thai accent.But I accept the fact that I will always be identifiable as a foreigner by my accent..Learning the tone rules of Thai helps,as you know the correct tone to use by the spelling,there are a few anomalies, but they are few. It's interesting to see so many people making the effort to learn Thai,as I have met many people here who can't even be bothered learning to count in Thai let alone speak it.

I remember a football player in the 80's/90's called jan molby,he came from Denmark but played for Liverpool fc,when he came to england he had a very strong danish accent but after a few years at liverpool his accent had totally changed and was talking like a scouser or liverpudlian(liverpool accent),i was only young at the time but i remember being transfixed to the tv everytime he spoke because i found it amazing how his accent had changed so much. at the time there was alot of players from liverpool in the side and i guess he had been very good friends and picked the accent up mostly from them.

A couple of guys have talked about trying to mimic the thais and i would definetely agree with that, to get it right i would video tape your thai friends talking and do some homework,afterall this is all that impressionist's do,they just study the person for weeks and they normally get it right.Someone has said that its all to do with the front of the mouth and the use of the tongue and i would agree with that too,we need to get the tongue vibrating and if we get that right its not only the language we will of mastered.

Falang, 2Nd Class Citizens?

It's simply a matter of how you carry yourself here isn't it ?

Behave well and respectfully and you will be treated accordingly.

Wear beer stained T-shirts, smell and prop up a bar all day and you will be treated accordingly.

Many foreigners in Thailand that I know of receive no more or no less respect from the Thai's than they would in their home countries, they expect no more or no less.

I for one however find that in general life here 90% of the time I get treated with equal indifference to a Thai, which is the normal scenario as I hardly expect a shop assistant to welcome me with adorning respect just because I'm not Thai. Also fairly regularly I might get treated more positively than a Thai might in a similar situation. 10% of the time I might find someone who is down right difficult - either this person doesn't like foreigners or is like this with anyone.

So, are considered 2nd Class citizens in Thailand ? IMO no, I really don't think the majority of Thai's care or even think about this subject one way or another. However, I feel that other 'non-white' nationalities sometimes get a less than 'on par' treatment in Thailand.

Thankyou richard for answering the question and sticking to the point and i tend to agree with you,a majority of the time people are friendly and personally i find the men more friendly than the women(no, not that sort of friendly!!),which i find unbelievable considering we invade their country and shag their women.

My view has always been if someone wants to live in my country of origin whatever colour,religion they must learn the language,culture and intergrate themselves into the community and i would treat them just the same as anyone else,i dont intend to be a hypocrite so im doing the exact thing here and i think people appreciate it.I dont spend too much time in the falang bars,just saturday night for the football and then im off to my fav thai bar but i agree if you prop up the bar all day you will cut yourself off from thai's and to me this is whats happening in pattaya.