OneMoreFarang

No Thai male friends. I have a couple of Thai male business associates, and I trust them. But no personal Thai friends. Our cultures are without question very different. I don't look down at them and in general I don't think Thais look down at me. We are just different.

Do you really expect from us to read that long article? And your top 10 choices don't cover my choice. I made holiday in Thailand, and I liked it. And then I decided to live and work in Thailand - not as teacher. I guess today people would call it a lifestyle choice. Good weather, relative cheap living, lots of pretty girls, there are lots of reasons why life is more fun in Thailand then in the cold and overregulated so called first world.

I guess as a teenager all this makes sense and I also liked a good show when I was young. In real life, air cooling is just fine. My current PC, now 7 years old, is overclocked to 4.5GHz, with air cooling, and it works just fine. IMHO there is no need to cool with water as long as air works just fine.

Thanks for even more of your helpful comments. After reading this and some thinking I will probably not (try to) join the committee. First, I thought I will join a group of managers and I will talk to them, and we will make decisions. I would like to join in such a scenario. But the reality is that some committee members have no management skills and don't have a clue what managers are supposed to do. And then there are all the owners who ask the committee what is going on. And some of those owners are very annoying like they want everything done, but they ignore reality. And some don't want to pay. Personally, in general, I get along with competent people, but I don't play well with incompetent idiots. I guess as a committee member I would be in a way like a politician. Be nice to everyone and be patient and all that. No, that is not my "style". Luckily, I know two farang committee members well. I am pretty sure they are not corrupt and have basically the same goals that I have. I will continue to support them. Maybe I can do some things outside of the committee to help. But I don't want to do things which are just headache. Thanks for all your comments. I appreciate them.

Yes

Thanks for all your comments. If I knew my membership would make things better, then I would probably join. But it seems some things, maybe many things, just don't work the way I would hope they work. I.e. we have problems with Airbnb. In the meeting of all owners, I and other people brought that up a couple of times. And we hear things like: "We should study the situation." And months later, basically the same "answer". It seems to me some people in the committee are part of the problem and they don't want to solve this problem because they like the way it is and probably they profit from that. But they don't openly admit that. They just find stupid excuses like "we have to think about it" and then nothing happens. I am sure it would be frustrating to fight against that. And it would be even worse when those who block things are well connected people with lots of money...

In my condominium they are looking for new committee members. It seems few people are interested. We have currently a few Thai people and a few farangs in the committee. Does it make sense to become a member? If I would do it, then for the reason to actually improve the building and regulations in the building. I am not interested in "commissions", and I am not a control freak. As an outsider, listening to the committee in meetings, it seems they are not efficient. Not the question is, do I criticize them from outside for all the things which they don't do or don't do good enough? Or do I become a member and be part of the problem? Are you a committee member? What is your experience?

I think i.e. in Robinson there are gold shops. And they don't work according to above principle. And yes, his gf should know that. But it's even better if he knows it as well.

It is a little bit higher. I think last time I bought gold the extra charge was something like 300B per baht gold.

If price is an issue buy a used computer which was used in a company. (normally better quality) Many companies replace their PCs every couple of years. I saw stacks of PCs like that in computer malls like Fortune and years ago in Pantip. I guess you can also buy them online.

Some shops, maybe many shops, but for sure not all of them. Look for a shop which looks from the outside similar to this. You see the buy and sell price written on the glass. In this case 18,700 and 18,800, which indicates that the picture is old. But the principle is now the same. Inside they have groups of gold chains, etc. All sorted by weight. So maybe you tell them you want to buy a chain with 2 baht gold weigh and they show you a part of the wall with many chains with that weight and basically all the same price.

https://www.youtube.com/@ItchyBoots I watched a couple of her videos, and it is fascinating. I would think what she does is too dangerous, in several ways. But it's her life and she seems to enjoy it.

I also don't follow those idiots and have difficulties understanding why people do that. But there are some interesting people out there and it's interesting to watch them. And lots of things to learn. I.e. I watched many videos from these guys, and I learned a lot from them. Kitchens by Rannes - YouTube Home RenoVision DIY - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@SalDiBlasi

I have several favorite YouTubers. Here are some of them: EEVblog - YouTube DiodeGoneWild - YouTube Mend It Mark - YouTube Nikodem Bartnik - YouTube Cutting Edge Engineering Australia - YouTube M539 Restorations - YouTube colinfurze - YouTube RRC Restoration - YouTube Rc action homemade - YouTube Grind Hard Plumbing Co - YouTube I am sure above guys all love their work. They would also do it (or did it) without YouTube. And then I watch some podcasts. Which once I watch depends a lot on the guests. Lex Fridman - YouTube has often interesting guests and he asks the right questions.

Good that you know what you are doing. And good that you have enough money. But I am sure you are also aware of the many farangs who "invest" everything, all in the name of their Thai darling, and then they discover one day that they own nothing. I made my comment above just as a general comment about land and building in Thailand. I obviously don't know you and your situation. It seems you thought about possible not so perfect outcomes, and you accept that. Great. Enjoy!

What an interesting hindsight. Why didn't they publish the details of this secret deal before Thaksin returned?

And then there are all those topics like: All my money is gone because she threw me out of my house. What can I do? I am sure some of those guys would have been happy if they would have realized earlier that their house and their land isn't exactly theirs. Good luck to all the others in all those happy ever after relationships.

"I find happiness among my loved ones as my health improves : Thaksin" Great, now he can return to prison.

Thanks, I will order a couple of them, 32B per piece. Let's see.

Maybe this should read: She only started her phone camera when she wanted it. Before that she used the phone for facebook and didn't pay much attention to the vehicles around her.

I think it's a good idea to collect evidence and keep the evidence. If "he" uses the evidence against that person, that is another question. Maybe it is also good that the (bad part of the) management know that he knows. That will possibly help to negotiate if there are any other issues. I think the problem with situations like that is, that (in general) we farangs don't have a clear understanding of the levels of corruption and what is normal and what we should expect. It's like going to the police and complaining about late closing hours. It wouldn't happen if the authorities wouldn't let it happen. So, whatever is going on in above condominium, or any other business, might not be easy for us to understand. After all, TiT.

Obviously, at the end the co-owners pay that money, the bribes. It might be difficult to rectify the situation, but it is not that it is a victimless crime.

I am also not surprised. I think one thing you should do, before you consider further steps, is to try to find out who is involved. Is it only the management? Or are there also committee members, and maybe the head of the committee, involved? Just in case you think you talk with the committee about this, assuming you will only get support.

Obviously, we are not shocked. But it is still sad that millions of poor people still support that billionaire criminal.

I want an angled plug for Thailand. I googled and found this thread. But no answer. Where can I buy these 3 pin plugs in Thailand. With an attached cable or with screw terminals to connect a cable. If possible, from a brand name manufacturer. Any link of a shop or online source in Thailand would be great. For me the most important part is that it is relative flat so that I can put it into a socket behind a cabinet.