Amras

Why do people generalize? ,firstly our Thai neighbours are what i would call middle class ,my wife in no way looks,behaves or talks like a bar girl(and i am not denigrating them or their husbands) she certainly did not leave school at 13 and i seriously believe none of our neighbours think she ever worked in a bar ,she actually for a time worked for the buisness i ran in BKK and before that worked in her sisters buisiness for many years .

neither she nor her familly are needy she certainly in the 20 years we have been married ,both here and in the UK she has not "served her best interests ,but those of our familly and to some extent my daughters in England. she has also never wanted a commission for anything we have done and i am sure there are many other couples like us ,at least the ones we know are ,you sir not only talk bullshit ,but i presume go around with low class women.and have never met a decent one ,but then for that you have to be decent yourself.

Do you speak Thai?

After 20 years you should be completely fluent.

Let's have a chat via PM, Thai script only.

Its nothing to do with the fact that my Thai is not perfect ,i was talking about the fact that you just generalize about things that you only see from one angle ,Oscar Wilde said "all of us are in the gutter ,but some of us are looking up at the stars" you obviously are not in the second group yet.

I've re-thought about AOA posts...and I think you need to take into perspective he is talking about people that don't know you or your wife (or anyone's partners). Of course people that know your wife are unlikely to assume she was ever a bar girl, but a stranger that passed you on in the mall, at tesco etc, are likely to assume that (after a nice discussion with my gf).

It's sad but true....people who know you have a formed opinion, meeting a westerner is unlikely to make them suddenly think that she worked in a bar. But people that don't know her well, probably a different story.

Second and third point, hardly, except if there is a large age gap between you, then sure. But for those with partners around the same age, this doesn't come into it. It also depends on how the girl dresses, acts etc. Body language is everything.

Nope, most Thais will assume any girl with a foreigner is a hooker.

Doesn't matter what their relative ages are or how either of them dresses.

That's just the way Thais think.

bullshit ,

Well there you go...I asked my girlfriend...she said...probably around 100%, because Thai people are just stupid. Maybe it's my sense of not wanting to believe how idiotic it is. So I retract my disagreement.

She also said, it's hard as coming from the west, we think of everyone as people, but Thai's will use any reason to class someone lower than them, so they can fill superior.

The issue is more that so many Thai girls are selling themselves especially from Issan and the North Country and hence it perpetuates when these girls find a foreigner (and thus Bangkok girls (even the decent ones) get grouped with them).

So there you go...she's told me this before..I just never fall into the class trap...guess my Australian, people are people (except for Bogans) is too ingrained.

I was recently thinking about this too.

I can't actually think of one situation where having a local girl acting as an intermediary for a foreigner is actually useful to the foreigner.

First, it stops you thinking for yourself and learning the language.

Second, they are always seeking personal gain from you (commission for them on everything at the very least, large ticket items put in their name at worst).

Third, all other Thais will assume the girl is/was a sex worker of some kind, so you will be socially disadvantaged (true or not doesn't matter).

Fourth, you are insulated from most of the reality of Thailand, so you are living a complete fantasy life.

Fifth, they will be a drag on your finances, the children that aren't yours are needy, the family hand is always stretched out.

Sixth, they are serving their own best interests, never yours.

Better for a foreigner to deal with things on their own and stand on their own two feet IMHO.

(When was your last holiday in the west where you had everything done for you be a local girl that left school at age 13?)

I can't agree with everything you said. The first point, pretty true, it gives you a fall back, that is easy to be accustomed too, I'm honest enough to say I fall into that, not because I'm lazy, just because priorities lie elsewhere (at the moment) and I have a choice.

Second and third point, hardly, except if there is a large age gap between you, then sure. But for those with partners around the same age, this doesn't come into it. It also depends on how the girl dresses, acts etc. Body language is everything.

Fourth...don't quite get, do you mean because of number 1, it means you don't have to deal with somethings, or can pass it off..?

Fifth, so find a girl who doesn't have children, doesn't have a family who expects handouts. Mine has never had kids, nor has a family who only thinks about money (year and half and never asked for anything, ever). But maybe she's rare.

Sixth, sure maybe you...maybe there are better options, hence they get what they can from you and move on.

The little contact I've had with Thai women, and I don't believe any of them have been hookers, ex or current, showed me that they were always on the take, secret commissions, most expensive options, etc. I expected a little humility. They always went for the biggest and best, restaurants, etc., things they would have never been in a position to afford themselves.

I wouldn't want any help from one if I was to settle there, and would probably prefer to hire rather than buy.

I feel so very sorry for you. You have apparently been treated very poorly by the local women and that is very sad.

Perhaps you haven't considered how arrogant you were towards them, how you wanted only to use them, like so many others who come to Thailand and perhaps you only met poor Thai women who were desperate enough to even look at you. You poor pathetic dumb ass. I object to people like you even being allowed to set foot in Thailand, let alone stay here. Go back to where you came from, Thailand and in particular, the Women of Thailand will be all the better for it.

Was going to say the same thing, but you beat me to it.

A big issue here, is people get treated (mostly) how they deserve to be treated. They generally say you attract the people that are most like you, so if you have little regard for Thai's (women) in general, you will likely get the women who think the same as you and use you for what they can.

Most men forget that women are much smarter at deciding who you are and what you are about in the first minutes of meeting you, compared to us, that they believe they can pull 'bullshyt' over their eyes and mislead them.

Women are born to 'be players and the chooser', that's how they weed out the wheat from the chaff (unlike men who aren't natural players, as much as they think they are).

The problem is most men (and this includes and is often the older men who come here) think they are something they aren't in the eyes of the local women. So they get used. I see it everywhere and it's blind obvious, it's often something the girlfriend and I discuss.

It's not only western men this happens to, but with older asian men as well.

Forget online stuff, they can't even be bothered to stop it being sold on the main shopping streets of the capital.

Ah but no body cares about that..because it's in Thailand. People have to make a living..don't they? Plus censoring the internet is a much easier task.

With the added bonus of banning anything that threatens national harmony or security......

Ah but that seams the be the worlds most used reason for doing anything these days..US, EU, etc. Thailand's just late to the game and just caught on that, oh we can use that too..it seems to work everywhere else.

Thailand thrives on maintaining the status quo. We all know that. Big headlines for relatively meaningless content. Except when it comes to non-Thai's that is. But that's a different discussion.

(I don't hate Thailand, enjoy living here, but accept that some just tolerate us, while others don't mind us here at all. In either case, it's more enjoyable than back home, even if they are pretending. It's the law makers that I don't want to change their mind about letting us stay here...but worse case, there's other places to go...can't see that happening though).

|s ths not discretionary censorship rather than illegal content since the only item in their list that is undisputedly illegal is copyright infringememt?

If pirated OS and applications software is as rampant as reputed, it is ironic that consumers will be blocked from visiting sites while freely using stolen software. More than one IT executive has mentioned that in the nearly inconceivable event of a software raid, they get a call in advance and reboot a few machines into open architectures.

In addition to the vast majority of PC and laptops in the entire country running illegal copies of Windows. It's even offered by big name shops...do you want Windows...oh you want original, but copy is cheaper.

It's all smoke and mirrors in the Governments attempts to appear to be doing something on the international stage as they've had too much bad press in recent months.

As someone else said...no other country has been able to stop it in years and years of attempts...Thailand isn't going to be able to either, without a blanket ban on the internet.

Forget online stuff, they can't even be bothered to stop it being sold on the main shopping streets of the capital.

Ah but no body cares about that..because it's in Thailand. People have to make a living..don't they? Plus censoring the internet is a much easier task.

|s ths not discretionary censorship rather than illegal content since the only item in their list that is undisputedly illegal is copyright infringememt?

If pirated OS and applications software is as rampant as reputed, it is ironic that consumers will be blocked from visiting sites while freely using stolen software. More than one IT executive has mentioned that in the nearly inconceivable event of a software raid, they get a call in advance and reboot a few machines into open architectures.

In addition to the vast majority of PC and laptops in the entire country running illegal copies of Windows. It's even offered by big name shops...do you want Windows...oh you want original, but copy is cheaper.

It's all smoke and mirrors in the Governments attempts to appear to be doing something on the international stage as they've had too much bad press in recent months.

As someone else said...no other country has been able to stop it in years and years of attempts...Thailand isn't going to be able to either, without a blanket ban on the internet.

Is this for real?

(Regarding standard torrents.)

They'd have to block everysingle IP of where the trackers are located, which is an insanely difficult and expensive task. The US, Australia etc can't do (and they have the big media ie Hollywood pushing them to do it), so how Thailand thinks they can do it has got me. Unless Thailand ends up like China..which is a scary thought.

They have something like traffic throttling I think. They can not block every tracker IP, but they can detect whenever you start downloading a torrent and then block the down traffic.

Of course this will also block downloading legal content from torrent sites, but I guess that is the least of this governments concern.

There are ways around that. Running encrypted connections within your torrent program for one (which isn't illegal). It then doesn't identify to the ISP what the source of the download is (as it's encrypted) and in that case it isn't throttled as it's not recognized as being from ie utorrent etc. Lots of people working around this as US ISP's try to throttle people using torrents as it takes up lots of bandwidth. Easy work around though.

The issue will be defamation of people or companies. The ridiculous defamation laws mean that if you say, "so and so is a ****", all they have to prove is the tiniest amount of damage, and you have commited a CRIMINAL offence.

That would basically stop all internet discussion boards, and put a complete stop to thinhs like people discussing "I think that Thai rice is *****," be it good bad or indifferent. You simply won't be able to discuss anything. Political discussion would disappear in a moment, because the moment you made any inference about anyone, the webmasters would be legally obliged to take it down. Quite how Thaivisa survives without a lot more censorship I have no idea. Thailand would become a country where your statements would be limited to the spoken word, and only between those you trust implicitly.

I was thinking, does this mean they are going to block access to tripadvisor from within Thailand? As that has the largest amount of reviews on Thai companies available and many are not good, especially if they are bad.

Is this for real?

(Regarding standard torrents.)

They'd have to block everysingle IP of where the trackers are located, which is an insanely difficult and expensive task. The US, Australia etc can't do (and they have the big media ie Hollywood pushing them to do it), so how Thailand thinks they can do it has got me. Unless Thailand ends up like China..which is a scary thought.

The issue will be defamation of people or companies. The ridiculous defamation laws mean that if you say, "so and so is a ****", all they have to prove is the tiniest amount of damage, and you have commited a CRIMINAL offence.

That would basically stop all internet discussion boards, and put a complete stop to thinhs like people discussing "I think that Thai rice is *****," be it good bad or indifferent. You simply won't be able to discuss anything. Political discussion would disappear in a moment, because the moment you made any inference about anyone, the webmasters would be legally obliged to take it down. Quite how Thaivisa survives without a lot more censorship I have no idea. Thailand would become a country where your statements would be limited to the spoken word, and only between those you trust implicitly.

Okay, the sky is not falling. I'm sure a prominent site like this is reviewed to some degree for offenses or at least the mods are aware of what should and should not be allowed to be posted. This article sounds to me about increasing the number of sites that are blocked, stopping people from hosting porno sites from within Thailand and catching those that host copyrighted materials and facilitate their download. The ability to do what you are talking about would be nearly impossible to accomplish and extremely expensive.

I for one wouldn't download torrents and allow their upload to other users... yes that means if you download you would be considered a leecher. Distributing copyrighted materials would be an easy offense to nail someone with by tracking through the IP host. I'm sure they are capable of getting that information from True and other IPs even now.

At the moment I wouldn't worry. If you throttle your upload speed to something reasonable and it's not on 24 hours a day, it would be limiting the chance to raise a red flag on the system so to say. At least in Australia, when friends got warnings for uploading large amounts of data, it was 'we suspect you are sharing torrents' sort of warnings. But they continued doing it and nothing happened.

Thailand can block individual sites that are found, reported etc, but trying to get rid of torrents, or stop them is an impossible task. The resources and organisation required would be huge. Unless they do what the US did and just trial a few 'public cases' to prove a point, and sadly I would assume it's easier to target the 'overseas' residents, rather than locals and make examples of them. That's a scary thought (so put the internet in a Thais name).

For know if you want to see if the ISP throttles torrent connections you can use this. http://lifehacker.com/5691489/how-can-i-find-out-if-my-isp-is-limiting-my-download-speed

Also, you don't need to use a full VPN service, which could raise alarms. Use a proxy service ONLY for the bit torrent client. Essentially your not by-passing any internet filters the ISP has then (for all your general web traffic), but keeping your p2p downloads anonymous.

Lots of good advice here, I "liked" your posts

Someone asked for stats so I'm 31, 186cm/103kg. I have lifted weights for several years now and have quite high maxes (no bragging).

A couple of years back I was 90 kg and could eat literally everything as long as I did those 3xweek sessions. Apparantly can't do that anymore. I also find it difficult to estimate how much to eat over here, particularly with all the rice. Every meal is 2/3 rice and only 1/3 protein. Difficult to know how many calories are there and one typical thai meal is far from enough to satisfy my hunger.

Missed this post. I'd say reduce the rice. Jasmine rice has a horrendously high GI, something around 98. It actually causes an insulin spike like eating pure sugar. Add to that everything you are eating with it and it shoves a lot of it into fat cells. The exception would be rice before your workout, or on the odd day. But if you are eating it every day, multiple meals a day. Same effect of eating white bread pretty much. I've cut rice down to twice a week (two days a week) on my higher GI carb days. Rice noodles are different (their GI is around 50, so moderate).

I'd have a guess you are over eating because of all the rice. Because of the high insulin response you end up hungry again pretty quickly. Eat some rice noodles, you will see the difference (same goes for ramen, high GI, whereas Soba is made from whole buckwheat, so actually has a pretty low GI, takes time to digest).

The reasons Thai's can eat rice and not put on weight, I gather is from 1. They only really eat twice a day (maybe 3 meals), that's it and 2. genetics. Hot climate, fat stores aren't needed. Most of us westerners still have those genes to keep fat for the cold. It can be hard to fight.

so reduce the rice, eat more vegetables, fruits and protein (meat). Rice is a silent killer, with the appearance of being healthy.

That's a hell of a lot of weight training. If it's 2 hours of non stop weights, I'm surprised you are not over doing it (unless you spend time talking as well). Generally I'm doing about 1hr 20 max including warm up and stretching for weight training days, but that's non stop...no fluffing around, so to say.

No "fluffing around" and no talking. All rest periods are timed depending on what I'm training. A lot of it is supersetting or alternating bodyparts to cut down on rest periods. The first 15 minutes is a warmup (rowing).

Obviously weight training is not non-stop because you rest between sets. 2 hours is no problem whatsoever - I've been doing 2 hour workouts for decades. I don't do it everyday - 3 to 4 times per week. Back in the 70's and 80's everyone used to do 2 - 3 hour workouts. These days people are lazy and use cortisol and hormone theories as an excuse to cut their workouts short. Obviously meal planning is important to make sure you have enough energy to make it through.

I don't agree with the theory that HIIT is better than slower cardio. IMO hard or moderate cardio is going to burn the most calories, not HIIT. HIIT is being marketed very successfully as the premise is that you can do very short sessions 3 times a week and get more benefit. In fact HIIT is quite dangerous for most unfit or older people because you're forcing yourself up to the higher end of you max heart rate.

Genuine HIIT is very hard to do and most people who claim to do it are just pretending. If you do genuine HIIT, you'll soon burn yourself out and give up - it's no fun whatsoever. Everyone is talking about it, but few are doing it. You've got to ask yourself why.

It's very important when recommending exercise programs to consider the person's age and fitness levels. What works for a teenager is not going to be good for an unfit 40 plus person.

At nearly 54 I'm really starting to appreciate this. It's easy for me to injure myself at the gym if I'm not careful. I know this because I'm not careful enough and often do.

Actually I don't think everyone is lazy (many maybe). People who go to the gym 'work out' and talk in between, spend an hour and a half there and then go home saying they were at the gym for 90 mins, sure. But you can get a lot done in an hour. It also depends on how you are training. It also depends on the time you can fit in. I've read a lot from fitness experts (not body builders as they sprout rubbish) and many agree that if you are doing intense exercises, you should only need around an hour at the gym (maybe hour 30 mins max with warm up and cool down/stretching). These guys who are doing 2-3 hours a day, are not training that time all in one go, they are doing 2 x 1 or so hour sessions per day. They body needs time to recover.

Cortisol can be an issue, if you have a big gut, its the result of obviously over eating, but cortisol, ie stress too. Mid section fat is usually associated with increase cortisol levels in the blood, blood tests confirm this. Genetics also play a part. I find if I train too often (ie weights) my body doesn't recover and I don't gain stregth. It's a bit trial and error for each person as well.

On the HIT, you are right about one thing, you need to have a reasonable level of fitness before you do it. Unfit or older people shouldn't do it without getting a heart check from their doc first. But for a generally healthy, moderately fit individual, it's much better for fat loss than long slow cardio. You only have to look at a sprinter compared to a long distance runner (even someone who runs 4-8ks regularly). The long distance runners are skinny, not lean. That's because it burns muscle and fat. HIT has been proven to increase resting metabolism, for around 8-12 hours after it's finished, slow/moderate cardio does so for around 1-2 hours. The whole reason you do weight training is to increase muscle mass to increase resting metabolism and burn more calories throughout the entire day (it's simple biology). Hit compounds that effect.

People don't do it because it's hard...try sprinting off and on for 20 minutes, with 1 minute sprinting and 1 minute walking, it sounds much easier than it is. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. Slow cardio is much eaiser...so of course people chose the easier road (again as you said, this all depends on your age and fitness level as well). Like weight training properly, most people aren't working out, or doing anything remotely what they should be doing. Hence why most people aren't exactly the ideal 'normal' or reasonable body weight or fitness level.

Personally, I do HIT, about 2 times a week and I'm stuffed after my 20 minute session, however my fitness level goes up much faster than if I was doing only steady state cardio. I am however only 29 and reasonably fit.

Again, like you said, it's important if you haven't exercised for a while and are a bit overweight, to get a physical before doing any exercise, especially a heart check. Even moderate cardio can cause a heart attack without warning (so thanks for pointing that out to the OP, it's something I forgot to highlight in my suggestions).

Kudo's to you though for continuing to keep up the exercise. Most people your age (even most my age) are too lazy and unmotivated to do so.

Wasnt there a study carried out recently where they compared a cardio programme, a weights programme and a mixture of the two to check for weight loss?

The result was unequivocal. Weight training did NOTHING for weight loss. The group running 15km/week had fantastic results. And the mix group were obvioulsy between the two (with the rather interesting point that those who ran 15km/week on top of weight training still performed around the same as the cardio group). Entertaining stuff.

Perhaps but personally I found that if I do cardio first (say 30 mins), I still have energy for weights afterwards. However, If I do weights first, cardio afterwards is a real struggle. Weight lifting is very energy sapping - whether that contributes to weight loss i don't know.

For the OP, it also depends on your age. Two years ago, I managed to shed 5 kgs over about 2 months, just doing weights/cardio a few times a week. Now I'm nearly 45. After a long break i started the same regime again - now my weight had barely changed over 3 months, and may have increased a little. I don't understand it. I'm guessing my metabolism has slowed a lot and really need to modify my diet more than before.

That's because weights are harder, (should be), compared to moderate or low intensity cardio. Of course it's going to sap your energy. That means you are working hard.

However, ideally, cardio should follow weights. For the simple fact that, you don't want to use your glycogen stores for cardio. You want to use these for your lifting and then use the cardio afterwards, to start burning other sources of energy, ie the fat and stored carbs. Glycogen are your 'intermediary' energy storage, which follows your creatine storage. Creatine and glycogen are made for those intense short bouts of energy that your body needs. Fat metabolism etc is for longer sustained periods of energy needs, walking, running, resting metabolism etc.

5kgs over 2 months, you can do on diet alone, withouth exercise. That's about 250grams per week (which is nothing), especially if you are starting from being sedentary and just starting exercising.

As I said, and seems people ignored...diet is critical. Get your diet right, and do the exercise. Exercise and continuing the same diet will do little. Might strengthen your height a bit, but it's not going to result in significant weight loss.

Problem here is that doing more exercise tends to increase appetite.

You may find it surprising that doing a lot of intense exercise (weight training) can reduce the appetite. I often have to force myself to eat more on the days I go to the gym because I just don't have the desire to eat. I always eat less on my gym days. This may depend on the length of the exercise routine and how hard you push.

If I'm at the gym for 2 hours, that's at least about 5 hours less in the day that I'm thinking about food. About 1.5 - 2 hours of not eating leading up to a workout, and at least 1 hour cooldown period. A good protein/carb meal about 1.5 to 2 hours before the workout keeps me going for the duration.

So I'm getting a double benefit here.... burning more calories and eating less.

I'm not sure how long cardio would affect my appetite as I don't do long cardio. Perhaps someone who does could chime in.

That's a hell of a lot of weight training. If it's 2 hours of non stop weights, I'm surprised you are not over doing it (unless you spend time talking as well). Generally I'm doing about 1hr 20 max including warm up and stretching for weight training days, but that's non stop...no fluffing around, so to say.

But to the OP.

Long cardio, generally avoid it, unless you have time to stand on a tread mill and walk/jog for an hour. It's boring and helps burn fat during the time you are doing it, but has no lasting effect on metabolism. Short intense interval training is much better. Even if you can't sprint, either get on a bike (much easier), or one of those eliptical striders and go hard for a minute and then go slow for a minute and repeat for about 20 mins. Much better than slow cardio and isn't so mind numbing boring.

The thing you need to watch for, especially if you are just starting out to exercise, is not overdoing it. If you exercise too much (in a short space of time) you can raise your cortisol which isn't good. Generally, keep cardio sessions to around 30 mins and weight training to max an hour and you will be alright.

But as I said in an earlier post...eat clean, follow my suggestions and the weight will come off.

Ahh, people think, just add a little exercise and the weight will come off. If only it was that easy. The exercise portion of getting 'fit' or losing weight equates to about 20-25% max of the actual cause of weight loss. Diet is everything, litterally, 80% of results will be based on diet, unless you have great genetics, but seeing if you are overweight already, probably not.

Eating junk food a couple times a week on a diet ?

A proper diet is 1 cheat meal per week max, no alcohol etc.. weight lifting is a good start but it will never offset a bad diet.

Actually not true. Single cheat meal's don't really work. Cheat days work much better. You need a day of over eating followed by a day either low in calories (ie a fast) or low in carbs. Both work wonders for fat loss, as your metabolism is primed from the previous over feed and doesn't notice the 'lack' of food for about 48 hours or so (from memory).

Wasnt there a study carried out recently where they compared a cardio programme, a weights programme and a mixture of the two to check for weight loss?

The result was unequivocal. Weight training did NOTHING for weight loss. The group running 15km/week had fantastic results. And the mix group were obvioulsy between the two (with the rather interesting point that those who ran 15km/week on top of weight training still performed around the same as the cardio group). Entertaining stuff.

Might want to check facts before sprouting untrue info.

Weight training does more for fat loss long term, than cardio alone. Weight training increases muscle mass, increase's metabolic rate and increase your standing daily energy needs (muscle burns energy even when you aren't moving). Short term, cardio can help weight loss, but you will reach a plateau pretty quick (around a month for someone who rarely exercises).

Doing both is a great way to increase metabolic rate and burn extra calories.

But as long as you continue to eat pizza, nachos and crap 3-4 times a week. Well, you aren't going to get anywhere with your weight loss. Honestly do this.

week 1: sat or sun; cheat day, eat what you want. then for the next 6 days, minimal carbs, no processed carbs, no fruit, vegies are ok.

week 2. sat or sun (whatever day you started) cheat day again, eat what you want, pizza is ok on this day ONLY. Then follow with a low carb day the next 2 days, then 2 days of low GI carbs (usually fruit etc, not including bananas), rice noodles are ok as they are moderate GI (nearly low), but absolutely NO rice. Rice ha sa GI of around 95, it sky rockets your insulin. Then 2 days of High GI, rice is ok, as are most normal foods (still no junk food though).

Then repeat. It's not that hard and you will lose weight on this guaranteed. I got my parents doing it and they lost weight without even doing a training program.

Losing weight is all about diet. No amount of exercise can make up for a shitty diet.

The amount of tax charged on imported goods is a complete disgrace. It's not as though it is to protect home industries because there are no manufacturers here capable of making the products.

I have recently learned that a foreign company investing in a manufacturing base here has the same tax levied on home sales as would apply if the product were imported.

Maybe when the Asean Community is fully operative the Thai Government will be forced to change some of their habits.

There were few assembly plants here 15 years ago, and the high import taxes encouraged manufacturers to set up shop here to get better access to the market at a reasonable price.

And do you really think the massive tax on luxury cars is somehow unfair? Most of the people who can afford them enjoy their wealth through a game rigged very much in their favour in the first place... nice to see they have to at least pay for something.

It's the government's way of taxing the rich in Thailand because so few people declare their real income. It's quite clever actually. I mean what is the point in being super rich if you can't have a ferrari. You want you pay, through the nose....... Unless you rig the system as these guys apparently have been doing.

But these takes don't just apply to cars in the 10mil plus bracket. Even something like a Subaru, falls under this tax scheme. So a 1mil baht Subabru in Australia, costs you close to 3 mil here. It's all cars that are imported, start with a high rate, which has add on's based on, high performance etc.

In the west, so few rich people pay anywhere near the tax through should, ie tax deductions, etc etc (which are everything they could ever think of), yet they don't have this huge luxury car taxes (Australia does have a luxury car tax, but it's something like 5-10%, can't remember exactly). Not 250%.

You are not qualified for non O since you are not yet married.

The best thing to do is apply for a job then ask your employer to provide you papers so you can get non B. that is needed to have a work permit so that you can stay in Thailand with no worries.

Do you read replies before posting???? He can get a non-o based on the consulate requirements in Australia where he lives.

I'll bet they issue you with a double-entry Tourist Visa.

Once you get your "6 month (two entries) Non-O visa" please post a scan (with the personal details hidden), a visa of this type is definitely not normal.

^^ That is what I reckon will happen.

To my knowledge 'O' Visas are for a 12 month duration.

Welcome to the Thai expression ... Same but Different ...

.

David48,

you also have single (or double or triple) Entry Non-O visa, each entry is valid for 3 Months, so nothing strange about that.

For example: I will (when I am in Europe) be applying only for a Single Entry Non-O (Marriage) because I don't need the Multiple and when back in Thailand, will go for the Extension of Stay based on Marriage and the Single Entry is more then enough for that.

Edit: sPeLlInG

Agreed MJCM ... I didn't express myself correctly ... my bad ...

@ LiteBeer ... I know that the Brisbane Consulate offers a double entry O Visa.

" NON-IMMIGRANT VISA-$90 for single entry, $180 for double entries and

$225 for multiple entries"

Going back to Crossy's comment, the OP is not married and not remotely close to 50, so how would he qualify for an 'O' Visa? honest question ... I'm happy to learn more.

.

It varies on the consulate, the same as HULL used to give multi entry non-o's for simple reasons, relationship, rental agreement etc. But because it was abused they had to stop it.

Some consulates give non-o's for 'other' reasons as they see fit. Remember it's only a visa, the right to stay is 'decided' by the immigration official at the point of entry, so consulates can decide to allow visa's for purposes they deem it fits under the guidelines. Just most don't.

The only way you would get a non-o visa would be if you got married.

Best option to start with is to get a 3 entry tourist visa this would give you almost 9 months by extending each entry by 30 days at immigration and making the 3rd entry just before the visa expires.

If you want to learn Thai you could get an ED visa and then extensions of stay.

You will not qualify for a Non-O visa so if learning the culture and language is a goal, google Womenlearningthai and read about language schools. There are a number of schools that offer help getting an ED Visa. This is your best bet to stay for a year.If you just exploring the possibilities, Ubonjoe has given you solid advise.

Yes, As Richiekorn found out, Melbourne will issue a double entry non-O, for visiting friends/family in Thailand. But they will only issue a multi entry non-o if you are married. But maybe only to Austrlaian (ie Victorian residents...not sure).

Just to let you guys know... went to the consulate today and I can get a 6 month (two entries) Non-O visa. So a Non-O is possible in my circumstance, which may not be applicable to everyone.

For longer term, he said the only other way was to get married...

Richie,

Apply for a working holiday visa. I did and it wasn't hard to get, but it does take around 6 months for the visa to come through (it needs to be processed in Thailand, not Australia) and you have to send your application to the Thai Embassy in Canberra.

The only things you need to show are: Under 30 (easy), that you have completed university (if you have, if not, you cannot get it) and that you have at least $5,000 in funds available.

You can also apply and if you plan to travel sooner, get your passport back, apply for a tourist visa, go to Thailand for 3 months and return to Australia to get the Working Holiday Visa.

The WHV, gives you a single 12 month entry (you only have to do 90 day reporting). I actually ended up getting 18 months out of my visa, as they 'generally' give you a new 1 year permission to stay stamp on each arrival. Unfortunately my visa has expired, so will be looking into the non-o route when I'm back in September.

If you want anymore info, just send me a PM.

Oh yeah big body and small dick here we come.

Steroids actually , makes ur dick bigger !

Since when? lol

I believe the conversion of testosterone (excessively high levels due to steroids) to estrogen causes the shrinking of the testes and appendage. I've never heard of people claiming it's made them bigger.

Can see why ''some'' folk knock people who want to build a body but many don't understand why many start. I had a reason . But never ever thought of the steroid route. I am in my seventh decade and what I altered is now not turned into fat . In fact non weight trainers at my age are usually fat.

Yes?No

Agreed. I'm the same, I've been doing weights and exercising for years. But steroids, just aren't something I'd ever want to consider..to many side effects.

However, I did read a book once, which talks about something called Adonis Complex, which discusses the desire to have an ever increasing body (would be the male equivalent of women who always think they are fat, so diet and diet and don't eat). However it's never discussed publically, and I think it is a real issue. Men are bombarded with perfect physique males on magazine covers etc, all claiming, get this body in 3 hours a week, which is just crap. So I understand some choose to go the steroid road. But, most of those who do, usually are the ones with the great bodies already. So there's some thought, that's driving them on, that needs to be addressed.

I think its a real thing, its real hard to see yourself the same as others see you.

Plus basically all those training mags are useless they need to write something and it needs to be sexy.. not like you need to workout hard.. eat good and do a few years of training.. that is too much like work. So they get someone who may ore may not have done steroids and follows that program a bit (if that) and claims it works. Best thing are compound lifts and hard work combined with good food.

But I still keep with my opinion that the choice to use should be a free choice as long as you accept the consequences. You can drink yourself to death, do unsafe sex and get aids, eat so much you get morbidly obese, without a problem but this is a big problem.. crazy. If someone wants to take it and is stupid its up to him. Freedom.

I agree with you. Problem is personal freedom is well, gone in the west. The government knows better on what you should do and is probably one of the biggest reason's most of us live here. The 'issue' is healthcare due to a result of using this substances, however like you said, alcohol, poor food (especially in the US) etc equates a much much larger cost to healthcare then these types of things ever would, due to sheer numbers.

Cosmetic surgery, hormones, ie steroids and HRT etc, should all be in the same boat. Legal and individual choice. At least if it WAS legal, it could be monitored properly to ensure people are using it 'correctly'.

The funny thing about HIV, I have seen and read many articles about the subject. and one thing most of the articles have is, HIV actually cures the Cell and rebuild Monkey structure, different from what is does to human cell where the cells becomes inactive and actually makes them inactive. you can youtube many videos about the subject. I dont know if it is real but MANY actually states that statement funny truth if it is real.

Well take care all

I'm not quite sure about that. There is a HIV equivalent in monkeys called SIV (species specific), same virus essentially though. HIV can't infect monkey cells, it's not a cross species compatible virus, just like SIV can't immediately infect Humans, it needs quite a bit of mutation to do so.

Can see why ''some'' folk knock people who want to build a body but many don't understand why many start. I had a reason . But never ever thought of the steroid route. I am in my seventh decade and what I altered is now not turned into fat . In fact non weight trainers at my age are usually fat.

Yes?No

Agreed. I'm the same, I've been doing weights and exercising for years. But steroids, just aren't something I'd ever want to consider..to many side effects.

However, I did read a book once, which talks about something called Adonis Complex, which discusses the desire to have an ever increasing body (would be the male equivalent of women who always think they are fat, so diet and diet and don't eat). However it's never discussed publically, and I think it is a real issue. Men are bombarded with perfect physique males on magazine covers etc, all claiming, get this body in 3 hours a week, which is just crap. So I understand some choose to go the steroid road. But, most of those who do, usually are the ones with the great bodies already. So there's some thought, that's driving them on, that needs to be addressed.

This dude sounds like a moron. Just to have bigger muscles? Oh dear...you can't teach stupid.

You should tell that to the guys who spend money on silicones for their gf.

Just to have bigger tits.Oh dear

Oh dear, indeed.

There's a bit of a difference, one is legal , the other isn't. One is steroids, the other is relatively silicone. One is used to make the individual look like a freak and reduce the size of the brain, the other just makes a girl's breasts larger or more shapely. One is used by stupid morons, the other by girls.

While I liked your previous post about the muscle not being able to turn into fat, as it is true. I have never read any research that steroids affect the brain, please tell that to all the older guys using testosterone as HRT and the burn victims that use them too.

I haven't heard that either. Biggest issues are liver and kidney damage (and liver cancer). Besides the well know stuff.

As to breast implants...very different things. Silicon is inert, you're not affecting any hormonal balance and the risks associated are the same with any surgery (same as having a hip operation, knee operation etc). The difference is it's cosmetic and I guess some people can think giving them something they never had (it is really similar to replacing a faulty hip, in a sense). So they are very different. It's very easy for 'men' to say its stupid, but you aren't a woman so you can't think how they do.

Would be the same as having a man's d*** out on display and having a small one and wanting to increase it (all animals have some form of physical appearance that is more attractive to those of the opposite sex, humans just have the ability to artificially do it).

I have two close friends who did body building when they were young. They both won awards. Now they are old grossly overweight and look really ugly. All that muscle has turned into fat

Nonsense, Muscle doesn't turn into fat.

the muscles are replaced by fat.

Not quite. Muscle cells shrink somewhat if they are not used. However...if you still eat well, limit drinking, the fat cells won't grow larger. You can stay lean with diet alone.

So all the muscle cells are still there, they are just smaller and a bad diet causes the growth of the fat cells. So, muscle still does NOT turn into fat. It's biologically impossible. They are two different cell types.

..snip

End of the story:

1 week before she got her Australian citizenship, she was gone and living with another guy who had a better income than me, and she had only met 2 times before, And left the child with me.

Again It was my duty to do all I did for her

No matter what you do, when the time comes, there will always be someone better than you

Yes, but you have to realise that she is Thai ! and the other is Russian. I have met several guys tricked by Thai ladies !

Yep, like everywhere else, just a higher proportion of stupid men come here and make easy targets (not saying tezzainoz was), but oldsailor, you imply only Thai's do this, which just isn't true. Thai women do this to Thai men as well...there are also plenty of guys here that have fantastic wives/partners. There's lots more pretty girls here, but still only 10% of them are probably worth dating/being with long term, which is probably the same world wide (same could be said for men I guess).

Well at least they applied for a visa.

The Aussie government is currently paying 6 billion dollars a year to maintain facilities for illegal migrants, arriving in Australia by Indonesian fishing boats every day.

No-one has come up with a solution which will deter them and the Indo govt seems to turn a blind eye to these craft setting sail on a daily basis.

No use suggesting turning the boats back as that's against maritime law - or it is as soon as they pull the plug and start sinking. They have to be rescued.

$6 billion a year to 'maintain facilities for illegal migrants , arriving in Australia by Indonesian fishing boats every day'

That seems many billions to high. Where is your source/link for this amount?

6 billions a bit of an exaggeration. But the 2013 budget for asylum seekers is around 2 billion, so it's still a huge cost.

http://www.bigpondmoney.com.au/illegal-boat-arrivals-what-it-really-costs

But that's ok, because the current government (in Jan this year) added 30-35% to the cost of most Australia visa. Ie an offshore partner Visa for Australia is now $2,750 AUD (around 90,000 baht), it was $2,000 up until the end of last year (the same visa if applied for while in Aus, is a massive $4,000 (125,000 baht). This is an application fee as well, no refunds if you are denied. It's a slap in the face to Australian Citizens too. This is not a visa anyone can apply for, and you need to prove that you have a serious ongoing, long term relationship (simply being married is not enough).

But hey, as long as they can make more money...great.

We were going to go back to Aus for a while, but...now we are staying in Thailand.

People should re-consider the "Thai's don't want us here" rubbish that always comes up. Staying in Thailand is easy, cheap (visa fees), it's just the annoying paperwork and bureaucracy that we have to deal with. But no huge sums of cash that need to be laid out in order for us to stay here if we really want to.

Why is it, that most of these stories make no sense at all? What was the object of this arrest, and who was actually involved, and last but not least, what or who is a "promotion girl"?

Where do you live? Everyone know's what a promotion girl or pretty does....still half asleep when posting?

There seems to be so much missing in the story.... Was she eventually taken for a urine test? If so, what was the result? If not how did the story end, did they just fade on the horizon? What happened?

No there is not. Did you try clicking the link.

"Full story: http://www.pattayaon...police-station/ "

Amazes me how people love to offer opinion's without reading the facts that are available.....