NoshowJones

What did your wife actually say, did she say it was a bad thing or a good thing?

I would imagine your wife would have a fine balancing act to play as you are a farang, there may be a lot of expectation on her via you.

There may also be people in the village that look forward to the event. Interesting topic.

She has told me she doesn't agree with it either.

On another occasion they were collecting for something else for the wat ( i think they all needed top ups for their mobiles or something). The wife gave as normal but when she put 100 baht in the dish, the guy actually started hassling her, asking why because she has a farang, didn't she put more money in. this was in front of the neighbours. she just walked away but he kept on talking. she turned around and walked back over, put her hand in her purse again, opened it and then put her hand in the dish and took the 100 baht back. the guy couldnt believe it and neither could the neighbours.

Quietman, looks life your wife is one of the very few Thai people who does not have a poor mentality, good on her, I hope my wife would do the same.

I got my Non Imm 'O' visa from Hull, six years ago. I have it extended every year, on the basis of marriage. It has "Employment Prohibited" in large red letters at the bottom. I had no problem getting a work permit

Jeiyenyen I will need to get a years extension around October, can you tell me where the nearest Thai consulate outside Thailand is (I live in Phichit Province)and want a non-emmigrant muliple entry O visa based on marriage just like you.

"The traffic police plan to revise and amend traffic laws that have been in force since 1979,"

Even though I agree whole heartedly with banning people using mobile phones and watching tv

while driving, I thought it was the government that made, revised, and amended laws, not the police.

The police are there to enforce the laws, so maybe if they concentrated on doing their job instead of

sitting in their little dog boxes or extorting money from people road safety would improve.

I know, I know TIT.

Excellent quote Lensta.

One of the most idiotic Country's on the Earth, Thailand is blessed with abundance of fertile soil and water but sadly the donkeys in Charge have no idea.

Next the farmers will be charging 3 times the price for fruit and veg because of water shortage...Limes are already going for 9 baht each that should be 1 baht..Laughable

Massive amounts of water are disgustingly wasted right at the hight of the Dry season ...The Country deserves all that it gets

Planning is obviously not in the Thai Dictionary

It's common sense that is not in the Thai dictionary. A third world country with third world mentality.

Being a military dependent with an inability of respond to jokes quickly or dazzel people with my personality I was not as fortunit as a lot of people I know who had close school buddies and a circle in which they would hang out in., however, outside their little circle I always fared better because I have learned to make friends

with just about everyone. I have found there are no perfect friends and if there were they wouldn't need you. Tony Robbins puts it together for us almost poitically by saying that

we should use people for what is good in them and not focus on their bad qualities, just avoid them " bad qualities" not them personally. I guess what I am saying is friends are made to have a diversity of personalities to meet your needs...for instance...lets say your feeling like you want to go out and find women ..your friend that drops the hat a the chance of @#$% is not someone you want around your wife but someone you paint the town with. Because it's not your bag you don't do it all the time and would miss out on things he has learned in the techniques of irrisponsibility that you had so much fun with one nigh or one time in your life..he would be the person to revive that. They all have their good qualities which is what you should focus on..

I made friends here by not having any expectations of them... You mentioned that you work hard and your never broke...".to me" that is an in your face comment and would suggest that you have

a problem with thinking your better then every one else. Because I am a very very hard worker but I am constantly broke and can't figure out how to change my luck, every time I get extra money something always comes up like this month, I have to pay 20,000baht in taxes and 9000 for auto insurance...I don't drink, don't smoke,and I don't chase women at the drop of a the hat. I do have a young boy that I am raising, but I don't go out for fear I won't be able to meet the bills. My friends know I am a hard worker and sometimes often offer to buy

me a drink, but even then I am very careful not to impose on them. My money problem doesn't come from lack of working or over spending. It comes from trying to play the game honestly "Because I know my luck" and this isn't the place for me to test it.. My money is made in moderation because it is the only thing that works for my mental ability and even then my young child and the Thai Government challanges that .

I don't know what to tell you other than, actually you should be happy that you have people around with mulitple personalities that care to talk to you even worse they want to be your friend. All these people you spoke about, if you sat down to draw charactures about them you might find yourself to be more happy and a little less judgemental maybe even more laughter in your life,that's what I do...except I use mental pictures and I only drop by once in a while to say hi! so people know me by my name...I have a few others I give more than fifteen minutes of my time and never expect anything back from them other than them calling me by my name. I guess that just comes from being the new kid in school every year. Bottom line...try looking for diversity instead a friend and a friend you will find.

If you had real friends, they would know you don't drink or smoke, then why do they sometimes offer to buy you a drink? Do they offer you a cigarette also? I don't drink or smoke either, so my friends don't offer to buy me a drink, thats because they accept I don't drink.

There are some interesting observations here regarding striking up conversations with other farang you see around.

The obvious question is 'why?'

You wouldnt initiate conversation with random men back home, so why do it here, simply because they are the same race as you. It's no different from saying that you should initiate contact and strike up a conversation with people wearing the same colour teeshirt.

I'd take it further. If anyone randomly strikes up conversation with me, I make it a point to be very wary. If they are farang in Thailand, even more so.

Go away people. Leave me alone. Simply having fair skin and blue eyes does not give you the right to invade my life.

.

Bendix, presumably you are responding to post no. 38. mjj is not actually talking about initiating a conversation, but merely saying hello to someone who will look anywhere and everywhere rather than acknowledge his existence. This is a fairly common phenomenon in rural and small town Thailand, where in an area with relatively few farang you find two next to each other in a checkout queue.

But why are you so terrified of casual conversations? I am not the chattiest of people, and I always remember being in BigC in Nakon Sawan waiting for my dear wife to unlose herself and remember that I was around, when I was spoken to by an American gent who had his Thai wife/gf in tow, he was immediately telling me that he had only been in the area for a week and it had taken him two hours of taxi, minibus and bus to get there. What a nice, friendly person, I think I was the first English speaker he'd come across in a week. Are you saying your response would have been to blank him and stride away? Surely not.

Not trying to pre-empt a caustic response, but it's good to se you back on TV.

Rott, that is a very sensible post, I am in Big C in Nakhon Sawan quite often, if you see a tall, quite slim guy with long dark hair, say hello.

Hi, yes, thanks. I have my garden, so that kills a lot of time for me. But its just sometimes, its nice to have a beer and talk.

get a dog. they make best friends and like when they are talked to. i'm not joking!

Yes Naam,I agree with you, a dog is probably the best friend you'll get, but a dog likes to be walked, and walking a dog is the best enjoyment of having one, what chance do you have of doing that in Thailand without getting pestered by other dogs?

Was this you on the right during high-school?

nope, I make friends easily, i just cant abide dick heads, just like yourself.

If you have anything constructive to say, I appreciate it. If not, then you are one of the knobs I try to avoid. So anyway, back to my question !

Hi Quietman, I am from the UK and have found it very easy to make friends here in Thailand, I prefer the company of people from the UK or America as we would have more in common. When I lived in the UK, I lost friends because I do not drink and most people I met just wanted to drink all the time. I have never had that problem here in Thailand and I have Farang friends and we all meet up regularly,I don't mind them drinking although I must say I hate drunkenness and I am never excluded because I don't dring unlike back in the UK.

I been driving here for 20 years without a scrash.

Wish I could say the same, unfortunately I have been the victim of Thai stupidity on the roads several times.

I could count the apologies received on one hand though.

What is it with their indiscipline, arrogance and lack of manners on the roads?

They are Thai, they were born in a third world country, therefore, they have third world mentality, it doesn't matter whether they are driving or doing anything else. The bottom line is the majority of Thai people have a very poor mentality.

both vehicles had been travelling at high speed.

Two less idiots to worry about on the roads.

Farangtalk. Why do you say the two drivers killed were idiots? Were you a witness to this crash? I could be wrong, but it looks to me going by what I've read, one of the drivers may have been innocent, depending of course how fast he was travelling.

In the village where I live in Phichit province, the main road running through it and surrounding roads,are in a dreadful state caused by last years floods. There is a water tanker that drives through the village several times every day spraying water on the road surface presumably to keep the dust away, then it dries up after about five or ten minutes, then about two or three hours later this gets repeated again, I ask my wife why the local authority won't fix the roads as it is now about six months since the floods went away, she says it is because the floods will come back again this year so it is not worth while to get them fixed.

Drive on to the small town about ten miles on and the roads have all been resurfaced. there have been roads resurfaced all around this part of the province.

So, as we are now officially told there will be no floods this year, I can now look forward to the roads in and around my village being resurfaced. Somehow I don't think this will happen as "this is Thailand" and the people are non confrontational. They will put up with anything. Like I said "this is Thailand".

Last year, i had a cataract removed from one eye on Songkran day at Bumrungrad. Unable to find a taxi i walked to my hotel at the bottom of soi4. Despite the fact that my eye was bandaged and padded, the idiots still threw water into my face. This is the real problem, no one seems able to use common sense, they seem to go straight for the face.

You surely don't expect to find much common sense in Thailand, do you? How long have you been here?

Any company the uses small print are trying to decieve you. Most people will notice, but there are some who will not, and that is the whole point. Why is it so hard to just print the final price?

monster mash: spuds, carrots and turnips, butter and milk and lotsa fresh ground pepper...

Tootsiewarrior. Please tell me where I can get turnips in Thailand. When I first came to Thailand six years ago, I saw plenty of turnips, but not now.

latestays.com

res24.com

Agoda pissed me off when the final price was more than what I thought it was going to be....

Yes, me too, when I see Agodas name, I immdiately look elsewhere.

If you don't give a stuff about the Thais - other than not being offensive, then wear anything you like except, when you visit a temple - they've long become used to us being sloppy, and most educated and farang-experienced Thais understand our appearance has little to do with actual status and wealth. But you won't get the same positive response from many compared to the above.

I live in a street where most of the (male) Thais go around bare chested once they finish work and get home.

You reckon it would be a good idea to follow suit or is it better to keep my shirt on.

I'm quite hairy which might scare some folks.

Meom, it is definately a good idea to keep your shirt on, to a normal male, the male body is ugly, it doesn't matter if the have big muscles, or are grossly overweight.

I seen some guys going shirtless in Khaosarn but other then that i haven't seen it in Bangkok.

I agree that for me the male body is ugly to look at but a guy in good shape with a pretty face and young could easily go shirtless and get some girls. Girls don't think the male body is ugly.

Roblok. No, of course girls don't think the male body is ugly, and in most cases, I certainly don't think the female body is ugly, not in Thailand anyway.

I don't know why people worry so much about the temperature here... shouldn't affect you much unless you work as a gardener or are homeless.

some people venture outdoors

Good point - I also do this but if I am going far (during the daytime) I take a cab - everywhere in BKK has air-con so unless you have a job that forces you to be outside all-day (e.g. gardener or professional cricketer) you don't need to get all hot and bothered - if you really enjoy strolling along Thailand's pristine pavements you can do so in the evening when the warm climate is quite a treat

Brit1984. Thailands pristine pavements. OH MY GOD. Which part of Thailand do you come from?

If you don't give a stuff about the Thais - other than not being offensive, then wear anything you like except, when you visit a temple - they've long become used to us being sloppy, and most educated and farang-experienced Thais understand our appearance has little to do with actual status and wealth. But you won't get the same positive response from many compared to the above.

I live in a street where most of the (male) Thais go around bare chested once they finish work and get home.

You reckon it would be a good idea to follow suit or is it better to keep my shirt on.

I'm quite hairy which might scare some folks.

Meom, it is definately a good idea to keep your shirt on, to a normal male, the male body is ugly, it doesn't matter if the have big muscles, or are grossly overweight.

I wear a t-shirt, combat style shorts - although not army shorts - and croc shoes (bright yellow are my favs). There is no way I'm wearing jeans or trousers by choice in this heat, although I do sometimes wear linen short sleeve shirts. Do I look smart? No. But I look clean and presentable.

I think alsong as you are clean, look clean and do't wear stupid t-shirt will some daft message, you are OK. Just my opinion and I'm sure many will disagree, but comfort over style in Thailand for me.

Being clean shaven and tidy hair/or shaved head are more important than the clothes.

It also depends on the person, my brother just looks a mess whatever he is wearing. You could dress him in a bespoke Armani suit and he would still look like a beggar.....

This is just an opinion, but shorts should not be worn by males except for taking part in sporting activities. I never wear shorts, except when I go swimming, I just think they look revolting on a man, and if you think you don't look good then you won't feel good, and no, I am not overweight, I am six ft tall and reasonably slim. All my farang friends wear shorts, and most of them are overweight, not a good mix at all. but as I said it is only an opinion. I agree that being clean shaven is much more important than the clothes, facial hair is a complete no no and is really evil looking.

Anybody in any country should be allowed to own a gun as long as they keep it in their house. There are always scum in all countries who will break into a house to steal your property, and even kill you if you get in their way, you must take steps to protect yourself and your family. This applies in any country in the world.

Meanwhile, a male transvestite was fined Bt500 yesterday for dancing topless at a party in Ayutthaya, after relatives delivered him to police. Sarawuth Sapharb, 20, was roundly criticised after video clips of him dancing were posted online.

????

A transvestite is a guy that dresses up in women's clothing right?

Once the dress and bra is off, he is still a guy, right?

Why then would a shirtless guy be considered offensive? People are walking around shirtless all the time.

Do they mean a guy with fake boobs? If so that would be a transgender, wouldn't it?

Geriatrickid. I find it very offensive when a shirtless guy with a huge beer belly covered in tattoos comes anywhere near me. I've lost count of the time I have told these fat, ugly, disgusting shameless excuses for human beings to cover up.

But things will not change unless there is bad international press about a holiday that kills so many people.

it is not the holliday that kills,they kill themselfs ....every day of the year !

Hopefully the drunk drivers are killed at their first accident ,so they can not kill innocent people in their

following accidents !

Yes, I agree with you Lucjoker. The more drunk drivers that are killed, the better, these potential murderers deserve to die and hopefully during their first "accident", the more drunk drivers that die, the less innocent people will die. A quick death also to those who throw water at moving vehicles, especially motorbikes.

It will be no joke when one of the posters making light of something clearly uncivilized is run over by a motorized vehicle and lands in hospital with injuries and a large bill to pay. Funny to speak of Zebras and lions and whitening cream but when that happens (it's only a matter of time) it will not be amusing anymore.

Bangkok is a megalopolis that has its attractiveness and it can be relaxing and unnerving at the same time. A city is not about buildings and roads but about the people who plan, live and manage it. Draw your own conclusions from this last statement.

Image, being first and foremost in Thailand, when a high number of casualties as a result of irresponsible traffic occurrences make the news around the world and the pocket books start hurting, only then (maybe) the powers that be will start thinking about doing something to mitigate (not solve) the image problem. It will truly be a miracle if that ever happens in this Amazing Thailand.

I agree with your postings on this point. The roads and the 'pavements' (bomb sites, in reality) are a real menace. I have been living in Thailand for some 4 years now (Bangkok) and always carry an umbrella jutting out from my side when I walk along the 'pavements' here, simply to protect at least one flank from the motorcyclists who at any moment can drive up from behind me on the pavement and do me an injury (brandishing an extended umbrella or tennis racquet is a good way to deter pavement-motorcylists from whizzing past you). I know of people who have been injured by these motorcyclists zooming along the pavements. The police also do it - so there is no hope of their stopping other offenders. It's one of the most irritating things of living in BKK to me: not being able to stroll along the pavements without having to watch your back (quite literally) the whole time: chaos reigns supreme on BKK streets. At first, as a tourist here, it's fun. But living, working and walking here - that's a different story!

Is it true what one poster said, that it is completely legal for a motorbike to ride along the pavements? It wouldn't surprise me this being Thailand.

I personally don't care about food stalls on the sidewalk, but I do care about this zebra crossing thing and the motosais driving in the sidewalk fast. I found the best thing is to cross with confidence but keep looking :-P

I think the big problem is the policemen accepting bribes, because even if they tried to enforce the law one could always bribe them. It is the same when you speak with Thai people about this thing and they told you this is never going to change. How the hell is this going to change is you are the first one willing to pay some authority to avoid legal troubles? LOL

EDIT: Today my best Thai friend had a very small crash with his car against a motorbike, just some insignificant scratch in the car but I believe the motorbike driver did fall to the ground. He stop, apologize, etc and that's all. No insurance papers because "that could raise the insurance price next year" :-P I can not really complain about that because it is the same in my shitty european country.

I care about tables and chairs on the sidewalk. I used to teach at a big high school beside a busy main road in the city centre, and everyone, including the school kids had to walk on the main road to get past, even though it was very common there for motorcycles to come down the wrong side of the road, but hey, this is Thailand.

Speed up?

Don’t you know the cars are more important than people in Thailand. Even the garage guards keep pushing the cars to go even when a lot of people are crossing the crosswalks

I know that this comment will not be well received by those who have invested money (houses in the name of the Thai wife), time and effort to live here but, what the thread means is clear: Thais as a whole, have a Third World mentality. Barring few exceptions of course.

When a motorized vehicle trumps human life that speaks volumes of the humanness of that way of life.

"I run you over with my car: solly! (brief smile flashing on face) now I am leaving the scene of the accident."

Laws in Thailand, traffic and most otherwise, are mere suggestions. The police lacks training, ethics and a system of accountability. I had a short stint of a few months in Chiang Mai and I could verify that even when in one of the rare and few crosswalks with flashing lights that actually worked, drivers consistently ignored them. I was about to get run over by about 2 cars and a motorcycle while the red lights were on and I was in the middle of the crosswalk. One can change the geography (as I found out in Chiang Mai and Udo Thani) but the bad habits (san dan) of the Thai people date back to several generations and no matter how loud we scream here or at the drivers that almost run us over, will not have an iota of effect on their self absorbed Thainess. Thais are not evil; they are just thoughtless for the most part and self absorbed in the ways they have always done tings. A superficially modern society with archaic traits and behavior.

Pisico. This is the truest post I have ever read since I started reading these forums. it's especially true that most Thais have a third world mentality. They can't even walk on a sidewalk (or pavement) without walking into you. Even the birds can't fly through the air properly without flying into your car.