TimTang

I wish they would at least pass a law stating that pedestrians have the right-of-way on the sidewalks. Some motorcyclists get peeved if you don't immediately jump out of the way.

Maybe they can put up "Beware of Pedestrians" signs.

I've had 3 serious relationships with Thai women. When they say they love you, no matter how convincing they may sound, they actually mean: I love your money, I love living in a comfortable environment (which is a serious upgrade compared to where she came from) I love not having any responsibilities, and the freedom to do what ever I want, when ever I want.

In the beginning they may feel that they hit the jackpot but soon realize, like everybody else (not just Thais or women) that money and materialism does not in it self ensure happiness. When this happens they begin to resent the predicament that they got them selves into.

They begin to yearn for the good old days when they could go to the disco with their friends 'till all hours in the morning, party it up and get laid.

Now that she's over 30 (not a spring chicken any more), had a baby (added responsibility) she may be going through a mid-life crisis. Living in a foreign country only compounds the situation.

Like others have suggested, she may be clinically depressed in which case you should seek professional advise, because she may get worse.

I remember living in Saudi a group of Thais were depressed and wanted to go home because they didn't like the quality of RICE. Their employer had to import Jasmine rice from Thailand or risk loosing hundreds of laborers. At the time it made absolutely no sense to me, but having lived in Thailand, I've started to understand.

...across from the ShagWell Hotel...

That's got to be the best name I've seen yet for a hotel.

If someone has got a few thousand plus posts then I think that answers your question. Some people obviously don't have a job or kids .

p.s. see previous posts about " go fish " as more proof !!

Exactly! That was my own twisted way of exemplifying the point the OP was trying to make.

Some how it got lost in translation because we just called it "FISH" not "GO FISH".

Congratulations! You're the only one that picked up on it.

When I moved from Singapore to Bangkok I shipped my furniture and things through a logistics company that quoted about $1,500 US from door to door.

My contents were typical of a 1 bedroom apartment but with no major appliances, in other words, not a heck of a lot.

When my possessions arrived, Thai customs refused to release them without a 28,000 baht bribe, and that was negotiated by a Thai that was contracted by our company specifically to handle customs affairs. So much for "door to door!"

Fortunately for me the company paid all my moving expenses, so it didn't cost me anything.

I decided at that time I would never import anything into this country if I had to cover the tab myself.

The company I worked for even had to pad their products with about 20% to cover bribes at customs on top of the 35% duty the government already charged. Needless to say they're not operating here any more.

SHUT UP AND FISH!

Ahhh...Do you have an 8 of diamonds?

Ya got me on that one....I can't figure it out.

Enlighten me?

You mean you've never played the card game FISH before?

SHUT UP AND FISH!

Ahhh...Do you have an 8 of diamonds?

Report between 7 days early or 7 days late.

I didn't know you could report up to 7 days late. I thought you got a 2000 baht fine if you report late.

Is it true you can report late?

I thought debate was what you put on dehook.

Well that depends if you're fishing in denial!

It seems to me based upon his posting history that the OP considers it an 'argument' when you are unwilling to accede that -- based upon his extensive travels, overwhelming number of acquaintances, and just plain age -- that he is presumed to be right or at least more informed than yourself.

Wow. How did you manage to get there from Ian's posting history? I read Ian's posts, but I could not have made that insightful leap.

DA: Argumentative your honor!

Judge: Sustained!

I like the way you think about this subject: just like me!

Who can argue with that?

For me?

if yes, thank you.

I like a good debate, or argument.

Of course, sometimes I encounter people so good in English that I end up looking through the dictionary all the time to see what the fancy words actually mean.

That's when I know I already lost the debate (arguments).

I could be completely wrong, but I consider a debate to be an intellectual interaction of two or more people that have opposing opinions on a given topic.

An argument, on the other hand, is when opposing opinions elevate to ad hominem insults whereby one person verbally attacks the opponent personally rather than defend their own side with facts.

EG: "Listen you low-life, single-helix, scum-sucking bottom feeder, the sky is BLACK it only appears to be blue during the day due to the refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere"

Most people would not consider that a polite way of debating.

I take it it wasn't close friend then???

No he wasn't, but I still helped him out, and I have far less disposable income than the Canadian Consulate has.

...Muslims get 7 virgins when they die...

Actually the number is 72 virgins and they have to die killing infidels, like suicide bombers or flying planes into building.

Muslim won't be too happy about this new law because the age of marriage is 6 and the age of conception is 9, as exemplified by their virtuous prophet Mohammed and his last child wife Aisha.

Maybe should be better to check before saying something like that.

http://www.avert.org/age-of-consent.htm

Algeria : 16

Egypt : 18

Morocco : 15

Iraq : 18

Malaysia : 16

UAE : 18

Turkey : 18

Tunisia : 20

and so on...

Vatican State : 12

Spain : 13

Italy : 14

UK : 16

Germany : 14

France : 15

It seems actually that the age consent is higher in muslim countries....The 3 countries where age of consent is lowest (12) are all christian countries : Angola, Mexico and Vatican....

You actually believe that? I'm afraid you have swallowed the Taqiyya cool-aid.

Islam is a religion, political Ideology, and legal system all wrapped in one. Sharia law will always supersede any laws created by governments, which are considered inferior and man-made.

Just type "Islam child brides" in google then tell me what facts I should check first.

...the Thai people there will more or less tell him to fuc-k off...

That's exactly true. The Canadian Consulate is notorious for not helping ANYONE. If you ever get a chance to walk into the Canadian Consulate you would never suspect that there might actually be White people living in Canada.

I had a friend that had a few unfortunate episodes of bad luck (and this can happen to anybody) which when compounded effectively rendered him penniless. He went to the Canadian Consulate, explained his predicament, and begged for any kind of assistance to help him out of this temporary rut; They REFUSED to do ANYTHING. He then informed them that he was a diabetic, and asked can they at least provide him with funds to purchase his necessary medicine; NO CAN DO.

Essentially they sent this person out on the street to die, knowing full well he wouldn't survive long without medicine.

My guess is the guy that the OP saw, had already gone to the Canadian Consulate and received the exact same treatment. If no one else helped him he's most likely dead. The Canadian Consulate probably paid to have his body shipped back to Canada and thought, "there's one less case we have to worry about!"; NEXT!

Ditto!

I'm looking for the same thing.

Any ideas out there?

...Muslims get 7 virgins when they die...

Actually the number is 72 virgins and they have to die killing infidels, like suicide bombers or flying planes into building.

Muslim won't be too happy about this new law because the age of marriage is 6 and the age of conception is 9, as exemplified by their virtuous prophet Mohammed and his last child wife Aisha.

how did they do the poll. by offering people money ?

Would that be like a poll vote like

Yes, they were asked "would you sell your vote for 500 baht" and everyone that answered NO got 500 baht.

...my wife believes that she was destined to live outside of Thailand because her second toe is longer than her big toe......

Tonight when your girl friend is fast asleep fire up the ol' belt sander, but don't forget your goggles 'cause it could get messy. That should get rid of any wanderlust she may be struggling with, once and for all.

I have reached nirvana and become one with the Thai mind :jap:

I come to this site because I enjoy reading other peoples opinions even if I don't agree with them, and I also enjoy occasionally expressing my own. I certainly wouldn't consider it arguing, although I have witnessed a few flame wars on this site.

Most politicians all over the world, (not just Thailand) get into politics for power and personal gain, not because of a virtuous desire to help others.

In the US it's usually the politicians that are bought not the voters. Which is the worse of the two evils? Your guess is as good as mine. But I certainly wouldn't leave Thailand because I was all upset about vote buying.

Debating about it on a forum such as this is just a form of entertainment and expats are well aware that there is nothing they can do about it regardless of their opinion.

The problem is that if you get picked by the police due to some random event like a road traffic accident, you will be hauled off to prison as an illegal immigrant and then the whole thing might cost you more than B20k. You also never know how you will be treated, even showing up at the border or airport under your own steam.

Anyway, what kind of life is it being a non-person for years on end living in a village and not being able to do anything that requires showing you passport and visa or travel out of the country and knowing you could be hauled off to jail at any moment? Sounds like being a perpetual backpacker on a budget of US$5 per day but without the travel and excitement.

I personally would never do what these guys did just out of fear of being busted. I've always followed the rules and made sure I was legit.

I overstayed my visa by accident once and I was $hittin' bricks all the way to the border because at the time there were many reports of police stopping visa-run buses and extorting huge amounts of money from anyone who was an overstay.

Now a REAL news worthy story would be:

"Thailand's Democracy was sent into a tailspin as Thai voters started demanding 1000 baht notes for their vote rather than the customary 500 baht notes of the past"

I'm surprised they actually needed a poll to come to this conclusion.

Every time there's a major election the Thai mint has to keep the presses running full time in order to crank out all the 500 Baht notes the politicians require for the campaign trips to their constituency.

Does anybody actually believe that a politician needs a brief case full of 500 baht notes to cover expenses when a credit card would suffice.

I was transfered to Singapore for a couple of years and while there I opened a HSBC account, but I still maintained my Bangkok Bank account because I knew I would be coming back.

When I was transfered back I thought I would transfer my HSBC account and close my BKKB account because it doesn't earn interest any way.

They told my I would have to close my Singapore account and open a new HSBC account in Thailand because the regulations were different. When I got here I found that you needed to have a minimum $20,000 US in order to have a interest earning foreigner account, so I gave up on that Idea and just maintained my BKKB account.

So foreigners earning interest is quite a revelation to me. Obviously SOMETHING must have changed that I'm not aware of.

Can anyone clarify?

Now I'm confused. I've had my account for more than 12 years and I keep my passbook up date. I've yet to see a single INT deposit. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

People on a retirement visa have to show a bank balance of 800,000 for three months. The most common complaint from them is "why should I maintain a balance of 800,000 in a Thai bank when it won't earn any interest?".

Most retirees transfer the money into their Thai bank account 3 months prior to their visa extension. Then transfer it back to their home country immediately after receiving their extension.

If foreigners earn interest then they are wasting time, energy, and money with this hassle of multiple transfers.

Maybe I should inquire at my bank, it seems strange that some foreigners are getting interest but others aren't.

I'm a farang and get interest on my Thai bank accounts.

Well I haven't been to the bank for a while but the last time I looked at the interest display panel it showed a big fat goose egg for foreigners.

Maybe that's changed. Has it?