.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Dr. Burrito
-
Posts
585 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Downloads
Posts posted by Dr. Burrito
-
-
Personally, I think the better business ventures here are ones providing a service or a product to companies or people from overseas, especially in the areas of outsourcing. That said, in certain areas at present, Thailand is coming face-to-face with cheaper labor from around the region as evidenced by the recent closure of several factories in the areas of textiles and shoes.
I think the Thais are quite adept at higher skilled services (programming & animation) to mention a few that still make the service offered competitive in comparison to regional neighbors.
Find some way you can solve the problems of consumers or companies where you come from and I think you might have a winner.
Getting into local competition with Thais isn't something I would personally recommend, but I can't say it will cost you your socks either. I think someone earlier said hiring was tough and I couldn't agree with that more strongly. You have to really hire smart here and you will still lost people as you work to get it right. That said, once you have a solid crew, they are solid indeed.
We compete with Thai companies, but in a more international setting, and other than the typical gossip related issues to hurt us locally, we have never had a problem with petty jealousies that have caused us any headaches.
Best of luck with whatever venture you choose.
Dr. B
-
I've been here over six years now and clearly, my once Atlas figure has gone the route of Homer Simpson
Not enough places to ride a bike, gyms are too expensive, jogging here is a joke.... I have an endless list of excuses
I've finally agreed with the wife to bite the bullet and start bringing off some of the tonnage if for no other reason than it is cheaper than a new wardrobe.
How have you fared since your arrival? Is it Thailand, advancing age or the simple fact of laziness and sedentary lifestyles?
Dr. B
-
Might I suggest you take all your relevant paperwork, get it confirmed at an Amphur if possible, then apply outside Thailand for a Non-Imm O, or am I missing something (clearly a possibility)?
Dr. B
-
Well, Mr. Toad, this goes in line with a lot of age old arguments is probably why he was poking fun.
Wiley Coyote running off cliffs
Bugs Bunny beaning Yosemite Sam with mallets
The Lion King talking in English and other dubbed languages
If the worst thing ever done in advertising or broadcasting is that commercial, doubt the world is too much at risk and at the end of the day, it is up to parents to both monitor and inform their children about what is proper and what is reality.
Tough gig that, being a parent.
Dr. B
-
We used to live in what was little more than a concrete bunker of a moo baan off Sukhumvit. One Hundred or so townhouses and a lot of concrete. It was frankly, depressing and I am glad we were able to rent a house in a fairly greener part of Bangkok. It is a much more pleasing place to be at on the weekends.
Whilst I know there are a lot of areas with greenery and trees seem to be everywhere, sometimes it still feels like a concrete bunker too.
I am sure those living in the areas of Thailand like Chiang Mai or Phuket feel pretty good about that part of their environment anyway.
I do have to give good points to the small to massive nurseries that seem to be everywhere and the chance to bu plants is never too far away.
Anybody else feeling like they sometimes play second fiddle to Siam Cement at times?
Dr. B
up here in the suburbs in Chiang Mai. So nice compared to the tiny concrete, cell like apartment we used to live in.
so I need to cut the grass every couple of weeks, but hey I could get fat instead sittin in front of the puter all day.
Now that is a nice looking garden. Ours is nice enough, but not that big.
Well done
Dr. B
-
We used to live in what was little more than a concrete bunker of a moo baan off Sukhumvit. One Hundred or so townhouses and a lot of concrete. It was frankly, depressing and I am glad we were able to rent a house in a fairly greener part of Bangkok. It is a much more pleasing place to be at on the weekends.
Whilst I know there are a lot of areas with greenery and trees seem to be everywhere, sometimes it still feels like a concrete bunker too.
I am sure those living in the areas of Thailand like Chiang Mai or Phuket feel pretty good about that part of their environment anyway.
I do have to give good points to the small to massive nurseries that seem to be everywhere and the chance to bu plants is never too far away.
Anybody else feeling like they sometimes play second fiddle to Siam Cement at times?
Dr. B
-
I'm know this topic comes up from time to time, but still, it can be a fairly entertaining subject and reveals a lot of what we think of each other, what we know of each other and our general lives far away from where we came.
I'll start the poll question by confessing to be an Expat on local contract, but at least its far above the Thai average. It's allowed my mate and myself to start a business that deals in pure international service providing and it seems over the next year, it will largely supplant my official job as my primary source of income, allowing me to setup my retirement and my kids education, so I'm cool with that. It's not going to toss me into Bill's Gates territory, but it allows for regular golf and good schools.
I've met every sort here there is it seems, but by and large, I tend to find most people to be either retirees, expats on local contracts, expats of the fat cat status and business owners.
Whilst I know many a person who enjoys a 'sordid' night out on occasion, I can hardly say it defines their existence.
My choice for most predominant falls into one of those.
You can choose more than one answer in this poll if I have set it up correctly. :-)
Yours? Reasons? Humorous or perhaps not so positive anecdotes?
Dr. B
Hmm, one of those was supposed to be BUSINESS OWNER/SELF EMPLOYED, but I messed it up. Any chance of getting the Restaurant Owner/Money Laundering one deleted and that added? :-)
-
They went from using expensive gas to NGV and LPG. Their fuel bills are a pittance now
all of them? and the change from gasoline to gas didn't cost any money? give me a break mate!
The taxi companies made the conversion. Independent operators no doubt took over their own cost, but my mate had his car converted a few months ago. He said the price wasn't that bad actually.
As to percentage of taxis using it, try getting into one that is not on some alternate fuel these days.
Dr B
-
They went from using expensive gas to NGV and LPG. Their fuel bills are a pittance now
-
I was reading with interest in the Western Foods section of the forum about English breakfasts and someone on there was going on about Dubliner and Irish Exchange being owned by gangsters and someone else included an old article from a paper about a conviction related to the owners of said pubs, so I guess that was a pretty fair assessment of those.
But it does make me curious as to there possibly being a lot of other such characters running about our kind little adopted country.
I know we have the Russian fellows down in Pattaya, though they may be even more involved than I read about.
There was supposedly the fellow from Boston who was the subject of THE DEPARTED laying low here for some time as well.
Is this a pretty common occurrence? Other than the 'I wish I was a famous criminal,' John Carr thankfully being deported last year, are there a lot of other people who have been nabbed, sussed out or are rumored to be hanging out here in Thailand?
Just curious and its late, late, late, here at work, so I needed something new to read about.
Dr. B
-
It looks like AXA might offer a solution
Dr. B
-
I officially had my worst traffic jam ever today in Bangkok. Well, ever being since I moved back here in 2000 and after the skytrain. The bad old days don't count for this discussion.
My was on the bridge in Khlong Ton, coming from Srinakarin over to Phrom Pong. Usually, even when that bridge looks jammed, it flows decently, the police on the other side usually moving things alone.
Today? Today, I sat for a full hour getting over that damned thing and to Thong Lor. After Thong Lor, it flew, as if the jam had never happened.
My other worst traffic jam here was on the Outer Ring Road a few months back. From Lam Lukka into Phrom Pong was 2.5 hours. A horrifying mess that almost stunted my growth, except for around the middle of course, and drove me to drink as soon as I got into work.
I know traffic can truly be horrible, but have usually had a bit of luck avoiding the worst of it. I've also been lucky and mostly avoided major tie-ups from accidents.
Today was a reminder that payback is brutal.
Dr. B
-
Since Thailand is about a rumor mill place as any I've ever been, this board of course being an exception
just curious of the latest and greatest.Haven't heard anything of impending coups of late for example.
I have heard there is supposed to be some big news Sunday, but I am sure it is just a rumor.
Yours?
Dr. B
//Edit: What an absolutely silly topic: an OP asking for rumours.
-
Dubliner!
Whilst they have a marvelous steak pie, that excuse for a hamburger must be a European notion.
-
The continual branding of poor sods teaching English without degrees as major league criminals who deserve the chair.
Quotes that come to mind are:
Suck it up and do the time as he did the crime
He got caught breaking the rules
I do not feel sorry for this guy at all
It is 'breaking the rules and get into trouble,' stuff adnaseum as if other than the fact they are probably teaching poor grammar, they are actual criminals worthy of the time and effort of the authorities.
-
I knew somebody that said he knew somebody that knew somebody that was famous.
I suppose he could have been less than truthful though.
Dr. B
-
Red Beard by Akira Kurosawa
-
And to add to Canuckamuck's words, other opinions
Dr. B
-
Resolution was a bit low for that kind of detail
-
It seems like such a nice looking ride, I thought I would do a very minor amount of Photoshop work in it for you and make sure it is the center of attention.
-
Jeez, you have a handful of a situation on your hands here. You are getting them so late in life, it's tough.
The boarding school proposal is one idea. Might seem harsh, but it is their futures after all.
Moving them back in with the grandparents might be another if they cannot live under your rules. Again, might seem harsh, or might not even matter to them, hard to say.
End of the day, it's your house as well, and if they are not going to get the guidance they need from their Thai elders, you are in the unfortunate position of being their last, best hope. If, and probably only if, you can at least get your wife on-board, they might stand a chance. Also, like someone else mentioned, you have to be the badguy. You have to be willing to take the emotional knocks, and they are hard ones indeed.
If not, you might as well cut them off as much as you can as it's simply money down a blackhole. :-(
Dr. B
-
I'm sitting here are our business in Bangkok this week at a 'pre-meeting' to a meeting with some rich guy's advisors, an older lady and a younger lady, for business affairs.
We talk for an hour about business, everything seemed lovely and the next meeting was set. Business over, I ask the girl how long she had lived in Los Angeles to which she said a few years. I asked her if she had ever been to a popular set of Thai restaurants and she said yes and asked who I knew.
She knew some of the same people. Not that big a deal really, but then she asks if I know the manager, whom I have known for about 15 years. Turns out, she was his daughter.
The world and for sure Bangkok, is getting smaller everyday.
-
Whilst yes, I know there are a great number of people here who are 'fake' in their smiles, the poll question calls for an overall POV and choosing to say they are freindly people is hardly a knee-jerk reaction.
Yes, for a lot of Thai's, it is a mask, but to say it's for the vast majority is a pretty huge stretch.
I live and work among Thais on a daily basis, and find many to be charming in a one-to-one affair. Is there a larger percentage who are less educated than where we come from, certainly. Is this supposed to make them automatically unhappy and possessed of a need to show a smile as if their life is fulfilling, wen in actuality it isn't? Hardly. Satisfaction and happiness as we tend to know it are Western concepts brought on my decades of not needing to think of survival on a daily basis, as it is largely taken care of, so the Western psychology long ago turned to matters of self-satisfaction, personal growth and other self-focused attainments. Does this mean our smile is genuine, since we clearly aren't burdened by lack of education, superstition, feudal burdens and lack of opportunity? Hardly.
Fake people are fake people everywhere. To say that Thai's use a smile only as a weapon, a mask, a conceit or to cover their ignorance is ignorance itself. When you consider you are coming into contact with people that do not speaky your language, share your religious beliefs or economic opportunities and they are in contact with us 'farang' perhaps less than 5% of their time, does it remotely make sense to say these encounters count for their entire existence?
I, as I am sure have many others, been over large parts of this country and in the various encantations of my existence here, from when I was struggling and getting by on motorbikes to now when economically at least, life is less challenging, and I have found over the spectrum, except for the Hi-So's, for the most part, these are genuine people when I am genuine with them. When I express a real smile or real enjoyment of life, they pretty much do the same. Strangely, that seems to work around the globe. You tend to get what you give, whether it is a patented cliche or not, it is still a norm.
Do they have worries? Of course
Do they have bad moments? Of course
Do they handle encounters of pressure incorrectly? Frequently, but then, so do most people around the world.
The smile you get from them is likely the smile you have induced.
-
Every time I start feeling this way, and I do, I remember my all too regular trips to Mumbai, New Dehli and Karachi. Then I look around and it seems like heaven. :-)
Dr. B
Attacked By A Begging Farang
in General Topics
Posted
As I recall from a golf thread, you think giving a caddy, someone who actually does a job, a 200 baht tip is outrageous, yet you want to give these ######s cash? Strange set of priorities.
Dr. B