Metapod

why do you want to meet expats. This is Thailand and the Thais are lovely people and make very loyal friends. A lot of us expats like to hang out with Thais, eat Thai food and make Thai friends. That the pleasure of living in a foreign country.

I do want to meet Thais, of course, but I want to start with meeting other expats because:

1. I speak 5 words in Thai, so making friends with Thais is going to take some time as I need to learn more of the language. I will make Thai friends soon enough, but that takes time as well.

2. I am interested in other people who have the same passions as i do, and one of those passions is traveling and living abroad.

3. Just because you are an expat doesn't mean you shouldn't want to meet other expats, that's silly.

4. Because I want to meet people with the experience of being new to the country, who can teach me what an expat should know, and who I can share the experience of being new to Thailand with.

1) ever consider you would be able to speak more than 5 wordsof thai if you forgot about hanging out with expats and made some thai friends?

2) might be a shock to you but thai people also share the passion of travel

3) i consider insulated expats to be the worst expats. they are also the same people that complain with muslims move to western countries and do not make any attempt to integrate.

4) sounds like the pussy way to expat.

i always found padded bras to be quite hypocritical. could you imagine the response a guy would get if he had padded underwear to make his member look bigger?

why they gotta be black?

Looks like the guy from the squealing pig. The other day driving home up soi 88, I saw a massive snake (must have been a similar size) slithering across the road. There's loads of bushes and fields there, I guess that's where they come from. I have seen one small green one at home, I asked the neighbour's gardener to come and move it but it had already hidden out of reach by that time underneath the water pump somewhere, so I just left it. The neighbour also said that small headed snakes are not to be messed with, at least that's the rule of thumb in Oz where he lives.

Used to see a couple of monitor lizards crossing the road in Hua Hin and Cha-am, however I've not seen one of those for a while.

The deadliest snake in the world is the one that just bit you.

If you do not know anything about snakes the best course of action is to assume it is deadly and handle with extreme care.

Speaking from an Aussie who grew up around Tiger and Brown snakes in rural Aus lol. last thing you want is someone to mis-dianogise a snake and assume it is harmless when it is not lol.

Plenty of things to do. Just depends what sort of stuff interests you.

For me a weekend might just be chilling at the pool, playing a few videogames, get some work done, and then out for some good food and a drink in the evening.

I don't have a typical job or schedule so a weekend is just like any other day for me (just busier lol).

Think about what sort of things you enjoy or interest you and just make a point of getting out and doing them. You could even consider taking up a new hobby or activity. I'm looking to start playing more competition badminton myself.

How do you know he was thai-chinese?

Thanks for your detailed answer Metapod. What you said means that I can't get a nice 24-30 sqm condo anywhere in the city center. So what if we get away a little bit from the center? As long as I can get to the school in 1-2 hours it should be fine. I'll have to go there only 2 time a week.

I'll definitely need an aircon, that's out of question. About the pool, having one would be good, it's not that important though. Having some nice neighbors (no matter thai or farang) whom I actually can live peacefully with is much more important to me. For that matter maybe I can pay even more (something like 7K) if I have to.

The places I listed are still "in the city" and not 1 or 2 hours away.

They are all within 30min of traveling.

7k is a good number. That opens up a lot more options. I know places you can rent a studio apartment with a pool and gym for 7k and commute to Asok in under 30min

Yes, many people, both foreigners and Thais, are getting more and more frustrated by this...

Honestly doesn't bother me too much. I think the system needs to be flexible for both the consumer and the drivers.

I understand that some drivers might be near end of shift, or don't want to head to a particular area, or etc. There are some legitimate reasons for them to refuse fares.

The good part is there is almost always another taxi just around the corner.

What I dislike is when they DO want to take the fare but try to gouge you and refuse to use on meter. This happens every night around the clubs like RCA where they WANT to take me but insist on me paying more than the meter would cost.

Well asok is easy to get to as it is connected to both the MRT and BTS travel networks.

4-6k won't buy you much near a BTS or MRT stop though.

For a central location you are looking at a 24-30sqm studio apartment with basic furnishings. If you are crafty you can get something with a pool but it will be a dive or a hike to the MRT/BTS.

Anyway!

Suggestions..

1

Rajaprop Mansion. Near victory monument which has a BTS stop that connects to Asok for work. Place is within your budget and even has a pool. Very old and shitty building but that is what your budget offers I am affriad. The area around Victory Monument is very lively too. Soi Rangnam is also good. You are not far from either one.

2

Huay Kwang / Rama 9

Head down soi 3 and soi 7. Plenty of Thai style apartments down these roads in the 4-6 k range. Both accessible for MRT and can get to Asok in about 10min.

3

Pra Cha Song Kor (maybe soi 27?)

This is in betwen victory monument and huay kwang, This means it is not as close to a BTS or MRT stop... However, prices are cheaper and it has some nice restaurants and stuff at night. My friend rented a nice studio apartment in this area for 3,500 (no air con though).

4

On Nut - Sukhumvit

Has a BTS stop and a bunch of apartments. Might be a squeeze to find something good for 4-6k but they do exist. Don't expect much more than a basic studio apartment in a fairly drab building.

I know a couple but you won't get a room for only 1 month. They do 12month contracts.

Also forget about anything near a BTS and MRT stop. If you want a lower price like you mentioned then you miss out on location. Sometimes you can actually save money by staying in a good location and saving on travel costs. It just depends where you need to stay/life/work/play in BKK.

Or if you like subway coffees you could always buy those attractive ladies one on the corner of sukhumvit 7/1.

Seen them before. What is their deal?

Hookers?

Scam artists?

Clearly not there for the sandwiches lol.

I have made a lot of Thai friends just from wearing my Southside t shirt.

Southside is a thai hip hop group.

If you want a smartphone with good sound quality then I suggest the HTC One.

There are a few other good options too. It just depends on what you are after?

Do you want a big or small screen?

Do you want andriod/apple/windows OS?

What do you value the most? Good camera? Good Screen? Good battery life? Waterproof/Sturdy Design? Powerful CPU/GPu for gaming?

There are a handful of top phones but none excell in every area. The obvious choices are things like the Galaxy S4, HTC One, Oppo Find 5, Xperia Z, Lumia 920, Nexus 4 etc

I'm personally waiting for the new Sony Zperia ZU to be released. It has a 6.4 inch screen and is completely waterproof. Sort of like a mix between phone and tablet. Watch youtube and browse Thaivisa in the pool.

It just comes down to finding the phone that best suits your needs.

need a monthly rental in lamai area under 8,000 a month.

doesn't need to be anything special. small and basic is fine with me.

only requirement is WIFI connection.

any suggestions?

An ED visa for what? You can study or train on a normal tourist visa if that is the issue. If for study of Thai many of the schools have more than one location so might be able to accommodate change in venue. Believe most charge in the 20k per year range and extensions of 90-180 days cost 1,900 baht. If you are asking about illegal activity it is not for discussion per forum rules.

Multiple venues could maybe work.

Are there any schools that do that?

do they have movies in thai language with english subtitles?

if so, i could watch them instead of the english version to improve my thai.

same thing happened at my condo with zero notice. sucked as i had built up a good reputation with my local guards. new ones are not nearly as friendly and I don't trust any of them.

Where's the beach in Bangkok? Yes I will agree that taxis are cheaper. Don't really know or care about a hotel, I have a house, a car and motorbikes, so no problem. I can't stand the food when eating out most of the time. Good thing I am a good cook. Prices for food if you cook your own are less here than BKK. Same if you know where to buy your favorite beverage. But if you are on a holiday and living it up, I'm sure I could take you to many places in BKK that would be more expensive than most places Phuket. You're comparing apples and oranges as the old saying goes... One is a "resort island" the other is a large city...

But there is a beach in Bangkok.

I have run into this and it is not about modesty. Public pools often insist that men wear the tight little speedo trunks. For some reason they have decided that this is the proper suit. For the sake of the public I have declined to ever wear such a suit; and simply went to pools that did not care.

The speedo look is mocked where I come from.

I agree. The tshirts and shorts at the beach = modesty.

But at pools thais seem to love the speedos lol.

6pm at my condo = hoard of speedo wearing thai men swimming a few laps.

Have you considered e-cigs and vaping?

You can take a bus there. I forget the number of the line. Last time I took bus with some thai friends and it stopped right on the highway outside Dreamworld.

Taxis are always an option though.

lowest i have seen is 2.500, was tiny as <deleted> and the toilet wasn't even in a separate room. it basically just had a dividing wall that didn't even go to the ceiling. the building looked like something out of a horror movie inside. no paint on the walls and very rundown.

2 girls lived in the room and shared the same bed. a bed is basically the only thing they could fit in the room (it was that small).

they were bargirls though so most nights they don't sleep there, or atleast not always both.

I actually took some pictures of it.

place was on a soi off second road from memory. in between 2nd and baokaw.

One of the oldest scams going around.

I remember when I was dating a Thai chick a few years back that we went to visit. She was an art student and wanted to go there to do some drawing. I had been a few times in the past to show friends and family around and knew the score, yet it was her first time.

When we walk towards the gate a man stops me and tells me the palace is closed for some Buddha day. I just laugh and keep walking. My date suddenly gets sad and truly believes it is shut. I was in disbelief she could fall for this considering it is her country and she is buddhist. She got a bit stroppy with me as she thought I was laughing at her expense because the place was closed!

You should have seen her face when we walked in and she realized what just happened.

You know there is a funny thing about this.

I have ashtma and have had issues with breathing western countries. For some reason the air in Bangkok makes me feel like my lungs have double the capacity. Pollution / Humidity / Haze/ etc. whatever it is, it does wonders for me.