ra1n85

I grew up and spent a good part of my life on the east coast. People tend to be more conservative and tight buttoned. I'm not a lady's man by any means, although, I feel I could help.

Before you get too far, have you talked with girl enough to get a sense of her personality? I've met girls from established families with awesome education prospects that are just...dull. You didn't mention anything about why you were attracted to her.

Isn't she too young to drink?

If it were me, I'd make her laugh, show her what I consider fun and give her a chance to open up. If she's passionate about writing, take her to a poetry reading or a play.

Beyond that, you can't force a relationship. If she doesn't click with you, her loss - move on.

There's a pair of westerners that hang out in front of the 7-11 in Soi 4 (yes, Nana). One's really rough - no shoes, incredibly dirty, long hair and beard, and shuffles about incoherently. The other is an older chubbier guy who just sits around - he had an awful parasite infection in both his legs which caused some pretty nasty swelling. Pretty sad sight.

Oh, I'm American and I'm proud alright! Every year, dumping 5-6k of my money into some ponzi scheme that takes care of you old folks.

But I'm happy to hear they were cordial with you, regardless of their 90 minute lunch breaks, and non-merit based salary increases.

I doubt it's the case, but you may be being blocked due to your IP being in Thailand. You can try using a VPN service that hosts you from an American IP:

AlwaysVPN - https://ssl.alwaysvpn.com/

They charge around $8 for 5g of transfers.

Honestly though, it sounds like some lame government employee failed to enter your information correctly. Good luck dealing with those folks.

i bet you probably know zip about ss services nor have you any personal experiences with ss services in the states....

all their rep were most cordial and accommodating.... speaking from personal experiences....

i am referring to staffing in the u,s. ok.

ss personnel are a truly exceptional bunch that all americans can be very proud of....

yes, i am exceptionally proud of you guys and gals in the ss dept in america....

since i never conduct ss biz thru manila.... i won't commend....

Your'e either silly or uneducated or both.. The "old folks" you refer to of which I'm not...Yet..... have paid into that fund for longer then you have and maybe longer then you've been alive and deserve to get back their life long investment... Regrettably mismanagement and a baby boom may make it nonexistent for both of us but I still don't begrudge their due to those who have worked their entire life and paid in..

So I don't deserve my money back, but they do...simply because they came before me? Sorry, I'm silly and uneducated, so I find myself asking questions like that.

Your argument is hard to follow - regardless, I'll keep to my initial posting - US government workers are far from enviable when it comes to work ethic. Add a complex web based database system for online services to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster. Contrary to what you might believe, their online services are not magic - it's staffed by plenty of government employees. I've worked with my fair share of GS types and the competent are few and far between.

I'm happy to hear your experiences with the SS folk have been easy, but opinions and accounts differ, and this is a forum. Again, I am not proud of a program that is taking money from me or my generation that will never be seen again.

"US government workers are far from enviable when it comes to work ethic." So are people who work for corporations, the only difference is when corporate folks make mistakes they are usually in their favor and profit for the company. Now if you said Americans are incompetent on the whole that would be more on the mark. No matter where you go in America there's rotten service, you can't just blame government workers.

I am not proud of a program (DOD) that is taking money from me or my generation and bombs the hell out of 3rd world countries.

Corporations, Government, Miltary...hmmm...why would a US air force Tech Sgt be so bitter?

I'm pretty happy with the customer service I get from Amazon.com, Bodybuilding.com, my car dealership, all the bookstores I visit, my ISP, hotels...etc. After extensive travelling, I can say that customer service in America is the best. I guess you have had different experiences.

Thailand, sit up, take notice.

One thing that constantly amazes me (Amazing Thailand) is that those with the power and authority to improve the education system here, are the ones that appear to be the most reluctant to do it.

Can they not get to grips with that if Thailand improves as a whole it will also benefit them.

I think that we are applying a bunch of western ideas to what we strangely consider to be the "best" for Thailand. You need to step back a little bit and consider what you are asking for, because you may not like the end result.

We are living in a warm climate, where food is readily available the whole year round. Apart from a few western specialties I am unaware of any basic food imports. There is no requirement to expensively heat houses and dress against the searing cold of the winters in Europe. Just about anybody in Thailand can go to a restaurant and eat good food. The Thais are, in my fifteen years experience of living here, not unhappy with their lives. Every home has a TV, a motorcycle or two and maybe a pickup, Chang beer is cheap, and nobody is pressuring them to "get an education" and "develop themselves". As far as I can tell, if somebody wants to work, then there is always work available, maybe low paid, but work is there. And if they are feeling a bit lazy, then there is always a floor, food and a TV to keep them happy with friends or family.

Now ask yourself, what is life about?

Pressurizing yourself into a heart attack, working to pay the rent or mortgage, taking out credit card debt to travel to foreign countries and buying crap you don't really need, but "have to have" and then spend the rest of your life paying it off?

Or simply going with the flow, having low ambitions and happy with friends and relatives?

Is all this "widening horizons", having "ambitions" really what is necessary for a happy life? Or are the requirements of living in Europe, where life is shit unless you work your arse off or manage to get on the social benefit train being dropped onto Thailand?

For example my girlfriend's family live a very contented life, way out in the rice fields, self sufficient and enjoying every small moment of pleasure. How many in the west would love that kind of simple existence if they hadn't been "educated out of it"?

Just another perspective.

I see where you're coming from.

That same work we do in the west to pay the mortgage is to improve the lot of our next generation. I wouldn't discount hard work and stress in western countries. Many people I know are empowered by challenge.

The logic, intellectual curiosity and thought processes of a Westerner with the femininity of a Thai is a pretty good combination in my opinion.

Well put.

Good story. Where are all the negative comments about how supposedly inept Thai police are? Where are all the comments about how "no one helps them." Give this short article a good read. Read it over and over again. Memorize it. Make it your mantra until you stop whining.

My mantra would focus more on those form-fitting uniforms.

The exchange rate should be the last thing you're worrying about in the case of a default...

Anyways, it won't happen. Too much vested interest in things the way they are.

I was replying to this statement and said nothing negative about Western women or flattering about Westen men. No need to be defensive.

Um, yah, I know that. Hence why I replied with what I did.

You said that Western woman were probably jealous of Thai girls because Western men find them (Thai girls) attractive. So yah, don't flatter yourself.

^Is that not what you meant?

Why is it flattering themselves?

If the shoe was on the other foot, I'm sure the males would be bitter.

I wish every country in the world would reciprocate Thailand's kind hospitality and ridiculous price gouging / double pricing.

And apply it to Thailand's highest gov officials traveling abroad and to the lowest paid labor worker and everyone in between.

That would be fair.

"Welcome to Universal Studios - $10 for Americans and all other nationalities / $300 for Thais"

"Would you like to rent a room? It's $75 a night for all nationalities except Thailand. For Thais it's $400 a night."

Yea, I like the sound of that.

As an American when I come to Thailand I get to stay 30 days free. When a Thai applies to come to America it costs $100 (over 3000 baht) with no guaranteed acceptance. So who is gouging who?

When I use our National Parks, local zoos, libraries, parks, etc. it is free but everyone else pays. We charge tourists more for hotels (tax), cable cars, etc. Perks for citizens, and double pricing exists everywhere so get over it.

I don't think you'll make a good argument for yourself getting into visa fees...

Where in the US do we charge more based on nationality/race?

You sound like a Thai that has the best of both worlds and a very sharp perspective.

However, by understanding 2 cultures and languages, you will perpetually be trying to bridge between them.

Find the good in both and live in the middle.

Like most have said here, just ignore it and try to focus on the positives - no place is perfect.

Excluding groups from prize money is ignorant. So is charging different prices to different ethnicities.

I can tell you one thing, though - a marathon in Kenya wouldn't exclude me as a white male from winning prize money!

With this stuff, all you can do is laugh. In the end, the same guy who overcharged/excluded me has to watch me walk off

with a beautiful Thai woman he could never have.

Bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

Dried, spiced tamarind

I always worried about this too, thanks.

I've met many who've lived here even longer than you who WON'T even attempt even a forkful of what they term 'that shit' and whom I deem largely responsible for the decline in standards of authentic Thai cooking. And, oddly enough, they are amongst the expats here the least likely to 'mix' with the locals, preferring to stay in their little walled farang ghettos and complaining on and on about 'the natives'.

LOL!

A very vivid image comes to mind.

To your question - no, not in my experience. Life continues in just another (beautiful) country.

I would just add that you should have a good hobby to preoccupy yourself with. Idle hands...

I read the crime section of Pattaya's daily newspaper just for laughs.

I wouldn't raise children there.

I've seen it done up to 25 ft. You can also use a VGA extender over Cat5.

Kra Pow Moo

Pee Gai Todd

Som Tam Thai

Pad Pak Boong

Pad Si-oo

Pla Ra with rice

Some interesting discussions, however, getting back to the OP:

1) What will happen to us?

I believe that the OP was referring to foreigners being allowed to stay in Thailand. From my take on Thailand, the Thai's are pragmatic. Foreigners = money. Tourists = MORE money. This country needs money. It needs tourism and it needs outside expertise. There is no doubt in my mind that the powers that be know this and there is no intention of changing the status quo.

2) Will the farang be driven out?

Why would they? Who would drive them out and for what purpose? If this happened, tourism would drop instantaneously. Foreign investment would dry up overnight. The country would be an economic basket case within a month.

I am not saying that without farang that Thailand would cease to exist, but that the world is now a much smaller place than it was a few years back and any action has a reaction....often unexpected.

Money seeks out opportunity and hates instability.

I couldn't imagine that Toyota and Ford would stay. They wouldn't be allowed to. Think of the other international companies with offices or manufacturing, or for that matter mining and exploration, who are now working and creating jobs and wealth FOR Thailand.

So sleep tight. All is fine in the land of smiles.....for now !

You mean the locals are not coming in the middle of the night with sharpened bamboo sticks?

I second these sentiments. Although, I could easily see expats waking up to the wrong end of a populist movement one day.

I've noticed this, too. Far fewer balding guys here.

I have Thai hairline envy...

Thai food is going down big time.

10 years ago a restaurant would not dream of serving a curry without at least 12 fresh spices in it, now you'd be lucky to have 5...

Thai people have become salarymen and it's regarded as not cool to cook for oneself when you have a 'proper job' ...

the result is that as long as the slob has the 3 magic ingredients ; ie sugar chili and plonchot (ubiquitous msg) it sells...No one can make the difference with the original recipe any more, so what does it matter ?

The only way out is to go and seek professional advice and take cooking classes, get to know your ingredients, learn how to buy them, discover the treasures of Thai markets, and cook real nutritious food the way you like it.

We are in the richest country in the world in term of variety of fresh products, it would be a shame to let that be spoiled by industrialism ....

What a great post, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this. When I first moved here nearly 10 years ago, friends and I would comment about how great it was to get fresh, delicious food by walking 500m in any direction in Bangkok (one of these friends was a former chef and had run his own restaurant previously, so he knew good food when he saw it). The overall quality of ingredients at restaurants and even street vendors was just so much better. Seriously, it was hard to have a bad meal in those days.

So many restaurants now, in an effort to keep prices low I guess, buy absolute garbage when they shop for ingredients. Rice that tastes like cardboard, meat and seafood that is barely edible, and the absolute cheapest veggies available. The use of that horribly bland white pepper powder instead of fresh green peppercorns. Street vendor food has dropped even further in my opinion. You now have to 'hunt' for good Thai food, or make it at home. On my soi, there are around 10 restaurants, of which 8 are complete crap.

Still love the 'real' Thai food, but it sure is harder to come by these days.

I noticed this too, although with particular restaurants that become popular. One of my favorites was Som Tam Nua in Siam center. As it became more popular, the quality went down hill and the basics began to suffer. I still go there but still miss the first few months it was open. Som tam Thai and pee gai todd - perfect with a tall beer.

mint (and probably windows) should come with a working configuration. basically that should really be as simple as starting the daemon/service and setup your network to use 127.0.0.1 as your DNS.

I can't resolve to the site with its IP (173.193.242.225), but that's most likely due to network design at Torrentfreak. Edit your host file to do local only DNS resolution.

%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\

Just edit it in the same syntax as the examples included.

127.0.0.1 localhost loopback

173.193.242.225 www.torrentfreak.com

EDIT: This is FAR easier than installing a local DNS service.

I find this whole thread astonishing, not that there are people who don't like Thai food, but that there are so many of them. One wonders why on earth you live here.

You should try (as you obviously haven't, except IJWT) going out with Thais who really know something about food. Good Thai food is not overloaded with chilis, as they deaden the taste of good, fresh food. Thai food is as good as most types of Chinese food, Cantonese being the outstanding exception. References to Chinese food without mentioning which type usually mean the people concerned have only eaten Westernised Thai food, or foreign constructs like Chop Suey.

why has what my taste buds like got anything to do with were i live ,

i enjoy food i love to eat out ,its my favourite pastime nothing beats goining for a meal that you cant wont or dont have the ability to cook at home !

since you seem to have the insider knowledge on what is good about Thai food fill us in rather than leaving us out of the loop

where do we go to find this awesome Thai food (the only dish i can eat is a orange curry with prawns and like a herb ommlette on top but id prefer a club sandwich anyday

i have eaten in every place that has been reccomended to me and i will try anything once

so fire us some names /places /dishes that we should try

I'm sorry if English is your second language, but it's difficult to read your post without punctuation. I almost replied with:

npdr

No punctuation, Didn't read.

On the topic of Thai food, I love it but could see how it's not appealing to some.

Also, there is a distinction between your backpacker fare (fried rice, banana pancakes, pad Thai) and genuine Thai food.

Am i allowed to start a reply with but.......

But i dont care !!!!

You did read it so your point is kind of wasted well done ........Are you a English teacher, well done for that too .

English isnt my first Language correct but i dont puncuate in my native one either i just cant be bothered ,thank you for bringing it up ,do you want to talk about my stickey out ears now .

Stickey out ears? Never eaten it.

Your experience would have driven me mad enough to consider my living arrangements. Ridiculous customer service.