OneMoreFarang

You could chat with the masseur and ask him or her how much salary they get per month. It seems Thais are mostly not hesitant to answer such questions. In many massage places the masseurs only get commission per hour work. I wonder how much of the 1600 THB ends up in the pocket of the masseur. I would be surprised if it is even 25%.

You could watch the video above - if you really want to know. One of the things which they did is make sure he does not earn money anymore from YouTube, any new book, any show, etc. I.e. YouTube wants to make sure that Russal Brand does not make any money with his videos. But YouTube keeps the videos and shows advertisement. Now only YouTube makes the money and doesn't share it with the creator. Interesting policy...

"likely"? If you watched the video, then you would know that Glen Greenwald does not say he is guilty or not guilty. He talks about media and politicians ruining the life of that guy without a conviction and until now without court case. And the media mixes a couple of allegations together to make it look like a bigger issue. Obviously, I also don't know what he did or didn't do. But I still like the idea of innocent until proven guilty. It's up to each of us if we want to watch videos or shows or whatever with that guy. I never watched any of that, in fact I don't like him. But that doesn't make him guilty.

This is an interesting video. For anybody who doesn't know Glen Greenwald: He was (I think) the first one who published the Snowden revelations.

Before I forget it: A down payment is standard. But don't pay in advance for material here and there. It seems too often workers take the money and run and never return. And if you buy (expensive) material by yourself, make sure the workers use that and don't take it away from your construction site.

I just renovated my apartment from scratch, a few comments. You need a contractor. He/they hire teams to do walls, tiles, plumbing, whatever. If you hire one contractor the he is responsible for everything. I.e. a wall which is not straight, and the plumbing was already installed and the wall was already painted, when it has to be repaired then the contractor is responsible for everything. I insisted on a quotation and contract with labor and material separated. And exactly listed which material, like this tile model from this manufacturer, etc. If you do that you can compare prices from material. And you can easily change the quotation from i.e. one tile to another. I bought some material myself, and I asked the contractor to buy other material. If he buys it he is responsible for the transport, he is responsible if something is defect, etc. One problem with good contractors is that they are not interested in small projects or part projects. If you have a half finished project it will be very difficult to find a qualified contractor who wants to continue with that. Specify everything! I.e. I didn't specify that my walls should be straight and plum and 90 degrees angles. And later I found out that some walls are not as straight and they should be. Not surprisingly the reaction was that that's the way it is. What, you expected straight walls? In Thailand? ... And make sure you have a person (wife, project manager, contractor) who understands farang thinking and culture - at least if you expect quality. Don't try to tell the workers by yourself what they should do. It will drive you crazy. Good luck! You need it.

I think it's always amazing how many people see something suspicious when there is nothing suspicious.

I almost forgot Lisa.

Let me know if you need more reasons. ????

Yes, and that is reality.

About 50 people, mostly Thais, die in road accidents every day in Thailand.

No! I agree that there are enough email systems out there which are not administered and/or setup properly, not only in Thailand. But Microsoft provides one of the best email systems out there with very good spam protection for outgoing and incoming emails. I use their services for several clients, and it works better than any other email system which I tried.

That is not unusual in Thailand and don't expect that anybody will fix it. Just check your spam folder regularly. TiT

3500 - 200 = 3200 per month, 38400 per year. 160000 / 38400 = 4.16 years - under best conditions. What is the life expectancy of that system?

The funny part is that it's enough to look at her smile to recognize her.

I hope I get an invitation when she comes to Crazy House in Soi 23. I am ready to buy her a tequila or two.

This makes a lot of sense.

I guess that quote is from the time before "smart" phones... And for the record: I am not one of those idiots who behaves like that.

What final move? Why can't he change his mind after months, years or decades?

And a wanted criminal can control Thai politics for years from outside of the country.

I think the biggest hurdle many people make themselves is that they somehow think they make a decision for the rest of their lives. They don't! After I made a few holidays in Thailand I thought I want to move to Thailand and live there. And I did that. I liked it, I made enough money, was able to legally stay here, fine. But all that was not clear from the beginning. So, it could have happened that I would have gone back or somewhere else after months or years. And why not? It's like "she is the girl I want to live with". Yeah, sure. For one year, a decade, or the rest of your life? Take it easy and don't make too many long-term commitments.

So, what's the problem? He can party for a couple of months and then think again what he wants to do. Maybe party some more. I planned my move to Thailand, but I was much younger and had almost no money. So, I had to plan how to make that work. With enough cash it's just: Let's go and look if I like it.

"Always look on the bright side of life."

I wonder what will happen if that is a winning number or if not. Maybe there is something like Thai logic and I just don't understand it.

Remember, This is Thailand.