Antathome

I am an atheist because that's the way God made me . In truth, I am a Christian (not a particularly good one) and your point about reincarnation not making sense rings true with me.

You mean to say binge drinking is not Tony Blair's fault?

Near the top of the list for Thai men, if not right at the very pinnacle, has to be sleeping.

Thais could sleep on a washing line.

Hey don't knock sleeping as a pasttime. After years of working shift work, I can appreciate a good nap. Once when I worked as a filler for a super market I feel asleep pushing a pallet of softdrinks down the aisle. Woke up when I ran it into the dairy cabinet at the end. No damage except to my pride fortunately

Greetings and apologies if I am going over old ground.

I am doing up a budget for retiring to Chiang Mai (over the next few years) and wish to play golf at least twice a week (during the week is fine). Can anyone please suggest the following;

• Good course to join - moderate difficulty (my best handicap was 16)
• Cost and do you still pay green fees? - is it worth buying a membership for the wife as well?
• Any other relevant info would be more than welcome

Thanking you in advance

I guess EVERYTHING needs improving but I really have not run across much prejudice against gays in Thailand. I see openly gay transgender folks working at many places. This is something not that common in the US. I am also told these guys (and former guys) make great sales people when it comes to things related to make-up and such. Again, it would be something that would cause much uneasiness with many shoppers in the US. My point is not that the US is a measuring stick but that this is certainly an area where Thailand has more acceptance and understanding.

As for many gays and transgener folks being in the sex trade ... it is a way to make a better living than most jobs in Thailand, This is an issue of economics and education and not sexuality. Secondly, I would venture to guess that a good number of so-called gays in the sex trade are not even gay but simply trying to make a buck. Many of the gay porn starts in the US are actually straight but it pays better and their is more work. Chances are if you see somebody openly displaying their "gayness" it is because they are advertising (often for work). Being gay shouldn't mean you are a walking homo advertisement.

The fact of the matter (in my opinion) is that when going to a retail outlet, it should be improper for the clerk to openly show any sexual preference .. regardless of country. It is just bad manners and makes many customers uncomfortable. I am in a relationship and regardless if it is a women or man, I don't need to deal with their sexuality when making a purchase ... well, at least outside Soi Cowboy.

Bottom line is I find it odd the things The Nation chooses to focus on when with so many more important issues that can be tackled and should be brought to light. Being poor and lacking opportunity is certainly not a problem relegated the gays in Thailand.

On a side note ... has anybody else noticed that when Thai's talk about gays they are only talking about men? Women gays are not called gay but Lesbians.

My wife and I were in Pattaya in 2006 and got bailed up by a transgender trying to sell us timeshare. Very persuasive, pleasant and looked a treat (took me a few moments to realise that she was a he. Fortunately, the deal was crappy and we didn't buy, but I really got the impression that discrimination (we did have a few other encounters as well) against gay / lesbian / transgender is not the issue in Thailand that it is in some Western countries.

'SergeiY' timestamp='1287790915' post='3973602']

I doubt that this was written by a Thai.

Your remark is an insult to the many Thai that are proficient in English , no matter who wrote it , I feel the article speaks loudly of some of the failings of Thailand , especially the fact that so little has been done by so many other than to point fingers .

[/quote

Agree, there are many Thais who are well capable of this level of English. I have students in undergraduate and graduate coursres who speak and write perfect English, and well capable of constructing the message of the article. Many have completed all of their primary and secondary education in UK, US and other locations.

What is perhaps more to the point is that many of these students are highly capable people, and they could contribute enormously in building Thailand with vision aligned to the modern world. They are capable of solid and valuable analysis and discussion and have no hesitation to do so.

But they opt to stay well away from the jobs which 'dictate' the future of Thailand such as highly corrupt politics because it is so smelly and they don't want to be associated with the types of people we currently call politicians and the people who currently head the various ministries, people who have been 'appointed' through the worst possible aspects of cronyism and nepotism, 99% of the totally incapable of contributing anything whatever of value.

The unfortunate loser is Thailand and all Thais.

Hey, it is not just Thailand that has a problem with good people not wanting to be part of the political process. I am from Australia and there are very few politicians here that I would invite for dinner.

The best cask wine (wine industry euphemism for 'box wine') I've found in Thailand is De Bortoli. You may not see it in P'lok, but if you speak to the manager at Tesco, etc, they should be able to order it from one of their distributors. Much better than the Charles, for my palate.

Peter Vella isn't bad either but not as good as De Bortoli. Here's a thread on De Bortoli that ran in the Bangkok forum. Further comments on temperature as well!

http://www.thaivisa...._1#entry3809577

As an Australian originally from the area near De Bortoli (in the Yarra Valley outside of Melbourne), I can confirm that their wine is pretty good so when we retire over there we will definitely keep that in mind. On a funny note though, when we first visited Thailand in 2006, we were staying in Pattaya. At a nice restaurant, they had a bottle of Oxford Landing Chardonay for 2500B (approximately $100 Australian dollars at the time). As we can still even now buy it for about $8, we decided to pass and had a bottle of French for about 1000B. Wine is not cheap in LOS, but fortunately beer and spirits are.

On the Sky News channel last night - this was one of the lead stories. It sems the main reason that Dubai is taking such a strong stance is two-fold. Firstly to appease world powers that they are doing something serious to help stamp out the drug trade. Secondly, Dubai borders Afghanistan, which is one of the main suppliers of opiate drugs to the rest of the world.

Peter

Aplogies Peter, Iran is in between Afghanistan and Dubai and the Persian Gulf between Iran and Dubai.

So sad. The guy lived just a few houses from us at the base.

Please stop speculating. This was a normal transit flight, and at this point, there is nothing that indicates nothing but normal altitude.

Amen to that - a young man has lost his life. That is the most important part. You can always replace an aeroplane. F16s have crashed before and will crash again, as will F15s, F18s, B2, B52s. No doubt there will be an investigation and the truth will come out. Condolences to the pilot's family.

OK, time for the silly question department. Can two people live relatively comfortably on 40,000 baht per month? Whilst we are not particularly extravagant, I would have thought to allow probably double that to live comfortably in a Western style apartment, utilities, food, restaurants and drink 3 times a week. I am actually working on generating income of $A500 per week from my superannuation so I take it that we will be comfortable unless the bottom falls out of hte market. I have read web sites claiming that you can liveon $US200-250 a week, but I would not like to be watching every baht so to speak.

Oh, another proposed passtime, I would like to get at least a couple of massages a week (normal / therapeutic) - so I am assuming that will add a few thousand baht per month

OK, time for the silly question department. Can two people live relatively comfortably on 40,000 baht per month? Whilst we are not particularly extravagant, I would have thought to allow probably double that to live comfortably in a Western style apartment, utilities, food, restaurants and drink 3 times a week. I am actually working on generating income of $A500 per week from my superannuation so I take it that we will be comfortable unless the bottom falls out of hte market. I have read web sites claiming that you can liveon $US200-250 a week, but I would not like to be watching every baht so to speak.

For sure. Easily...as long as you don't have big health care costs. There are dozens of threads here on TV that talk about this. Figures range from 20k to 200k per month. Just depends on your lifestyle. The one with 200k Baht requirement has 3 kids in an international school...not cheap!

In the lower income range, you will be living somewhat like a Thai. I have a good friend who rents a 5k Baht per month "room" and he is happy. No kitchen, just a small room.

Thanks for that - I doubt that my wife (or I for that matter) would really like to live on the cheap. As I am a diabetic, I do need some medication so I guess my estimate of 80,000 baht per month might be close enough for estimations.

OK, time for the silly question department. Can two people live relatively comfortably on 40,000 baht per month? Whilst we are not particularly extravagant, I would have thought to allow probably double that to live comfortably in a Western style apartment, utilities, food, restaurants and drink 3 times a week. I am actually working on generating income of $A500 per week from my superannuation so I take it that we will be comfortable unless the bottom falls out of hte market. I have read web sites claiming that you can liveon $US200-250 a week, but I would not like to be watching every baht so to speak.

Hi Folks,

This is my first post as I am new to this forum, so please be gentle . I am an Aussie male in his early fifties looking to retire in Thailand over the next few years (probably to Chiang Mai). I know this sounds a little weird, but I am planning to retire with my wife of twenty years (she is not quite old enough for the retirement visa yet). There are heaps of things to love about Thailand in general and Chiang Mai in particular. Sure there are a lot of "dirty" old men with young girls, but that is not all what Thailand is about. I am looking forward to settling in and finding regular places to eat and drink and make friends, so hopefully I will be seeing you all soon.

Cheers