Gsxrnz

JT - any comments on the high season income of a baht bus driver at an implied 1,500 Baht per day?

Som-tum carts will be few and far between down there.

These two girls will be suffering after a couple of days. Add the close to zero temperature summer weather, nearly 24 hours of sunshine, and no bridge on the nose to wear sunglasses........Oh my!!

I live on Sukhumvit Soi 11 and for anyone who feels sorry for the old lady beggars or the women with a couple of sleeping (drugged up) kids who sit outside of expat bars and ATMS, have a look at that large satchel bag that everyone of them is sitting in front of, I guarantee you that they all will have one. What do you think that bag is full of? A few months ago we had to wait for a taxi in Chinatown for about 10 mins and I watched this frail old lady cash up up about sixty 100 baht plastic bags with 10 baht coins in that period and stash it in her satchel, and then plead poverty whenever another mark came along. It was like watching an arcade cashier cash up their float.

These people, and their employers are some of the biggest scammers going, and while they may not be generally dangerous they are liars, thieves, child neglecters and I absolutely deplore them.

Ditto your comments. And even those that are obviously and definitely disabled make a small fortune in Pattaya/Jomtien. Watch one shimmying up the beach and they can score 200 baht (at least) within 10 minutes and only move 100 metres. What does that amount to in a day - maybe a couple of grand or more?

While I have sympathy for them being disabled, they have found a way to make a good income, and I won't supplement that income. Watch the Thais, they don't give.

Sailor Bar would be hard to beat.

what soi is sailor bar

Soi 8

Jomtien Beach road and bar complex seems about the same as last year in the day, but quieter in the evenings.

The traffic here has increased 2 fold since last year due to 2nd Road becoming a major thoroughfare to avoid Sukhumvit, the development of Soi Boonkanjana (beach end), and Chayapreuk is a nightmare.

My wife usually calls me darling. I am not sure if I like it or not.She once said that I was her husband, lover, father and friend. So I recon it must be the Thai custom.

Listen VERY carefully next time she calls you that.

My highly educated, upper middle class 27 year old girlfriend calls me daddy too.

And me.

I'm convinced that these things also happens because foreigners allow them to happen, be that because they don't realize, or misplaced generosity (of the type, "Oh, 100 Bt is nothing to me! And this person works so hard!)

Yes, in fact, many foreigners are quite happy to be discriminated. They are both happy to be the "dancing monkey farang", and also happy to be the victim of discrimination.

There are several of them here, who even makes fun of the fact that some Thais openly discriminate us.

I find these instances of alleged discrimination based on race when it involves pricing to be interesting. In the instances most TV posters describe, the alleged discrimination is based on wealth or assumed wealth, not race. Wealthy Thais are often nailed as well, but many TV'ers would never believe that.

As a comparative, I used to deal in foreign currencies for trade deals. Had a Japanese customer, a German customer and a Maori (NZ native) customer that were all somewhat naïve when it came to FX rates and fees, despite all being very astute and wealthy business people.

They didn't have a traders instinct nor did they even inquire as to the possibility of an improved rate or reduced fee. They chose not to inform themselves.The German was a woman, the other two were both men.

I could make 3 or 4 times the usual profit from them than most other customers on every deal, and I'm talking thousands of dollars extra, not a few bucks.

I'm a Caucasian New Zealand male. Does that make me a practicing discriminating racist, a sexist, a sexist racist, a racist sexist, a cheat, or just a humble trader that firmly believes in the philosophy of Caveat Emptor, that found a willing buyer for my commodity at a mutually agreeable price?

I've sold dozens, if not hundreds of items/bikes/household stuff etc through private advertising. I figured out years ago that 50% at least are timewasters so I don't go out of my way for them. If we agree a time for inspection, then it will be a time that suits me, and I won't wait a minute longer if I want to be somewhere else. Piss me off once you get a second chance. Piss me off again and you're ignored.

Back in Farangland I much prefer to use ebay or similar.

Poor planning to put it on the fifth floor. Ground floor where you have to walk past it to get anywhere would have been much better, a la Central Plaza.

Looking in the mirror while I'm shaving and seeing someone who looks more like my Dad every day looking back at me. Not that it's a problem, my Dad was a handsome looking fellow in his dotage.

And on a local note - I cooked myself my usual BIG BREAKFAST on Sunday of bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns, baked beans, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, black pudding, lashings of HP Sauce......and was shocked to discover when I'd nearly finished eating it that I'd been using a bloody fork and spoon. I'm not sure if it was just the habit taking over or a grey moment.

I thought a spoon was for soup, I must be getting old too................

Actually it wasn't too bad. I like to build a tasty choice of nearly everything on a single fork, but I found myself doing it Thai style on a spoon. You can get a lot onto a spoon!

I'll try doing it on purpose next Sunday and see if the gastronomic benefits lead to a permanent dropping of the knife. I'll add some fried bread to the menu in the interests of science.

You forget to complain about having to do 90-day reports.

.....or you're just thankful that you made it through another 90 days.

https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674

Thanks for that, just starting the process now. Took me a while to remember my password.

Thanks for the OP ...

But, I must say, one more reason why I don't have a FaceBook Account.

.

Good on you David, I have one but not used it for two years. I can't figure out how to delete the damn thing!

And you misspelt Farcebook.

Oh Big Brother!!

Jomtien was 17 overnight and 19 at 8am. I didn't think it was all that cold, but my wife has just returned from the market with a miniature hot water bottle <deleted>!

I didn't know they were available in Thailand?

Edit/Update: Cultural misunderstanding - I just gave her a wind up about it and she didn't understand the concept of a hot water bottle keeping you warm in bed. Apparently Thai women use them to put on their stomachs to relieve period pain, news to me obviously.

However now she grasps the concept of a hot water bottle in bed, and thinks it's a bloody good idea.

Often when I negotiate a price on the street, I pay less than an average Thai pays. My friend taught me how to do it.

Honestly, if there isn't a tear running down the vendor's cheek when I walk away with my purchase, I have failed.

And that's the way to do it. If they aren't telling you that now they can't afford to buy food tonight, then you know you got within a few baht of their genuine not prepared to sell for any less figure.

Yeah, I think officially you can drive for one month past expiry without getting a fine.

As to the renewal process, it's probably up to the staff you deal with......smile a lot.

Much of it depends on where and how they learned to speak English in the first place.

subtle ...

sledghehammer...