willyumiii

Every time I have been to Taiwan, it has been overcast, humid and the people very unfriendly compared to Thai people.

In fact, I can say it is the most unfriendly country I have visited in Asia.

I was very surprised to learn from my Thai wife that Thai people do not think they look "Asian".

"we do not have eyes like Chinese, Japanese or other Asians,,we are different."

May I nominate myself?

Sometimes I give change to some of my favorite Thai children in my neighborhood.

They don't take satang when I offer them.

"That 7/11 money only. My family not go 7/11"

I understand.

If you are driving a bike or any vehicle without insurance there are three words to discribe you.

Foolish

Irresponsible

Stupid

Grow up.

You make us all look bad.

Been there done that, I survived 3 years with my savings without any additional income. An average of 25k per month. No problem, just live cheap , rent rooms from 5k - 7k .

I would be suicidal if I woke up in a 5k room in bangkok, let alone actually live in it

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

what do you think is the major reason for people jumping from balconies?

Being pushed?

It all depends on where in Thailand and how you want to live.

Be more specific.

Murder or not, it would be interesting to know the number of British deaths in Thailand compared to other nationalities.

May the Brits just get all f the press, but it seems we hear about their deaths more often than others.

Far too many deaths of foreigners in Thailand are called suicides.

Cases where people" fall" or " jump" of of balconies.

And even cases where people "hang themselves" with their hands tied behind their backs

It saves the police a lot of work and,,

It's only a farang, so who cares?

Thai Air, while not as good as before, is still better than Nok Air.

Disagreed, Nok has the best recruitment requirements ive ever seen

I like it!

But the part about " able to swim 50 meters" worries me a bit.

How often do the ditch the plane into the sea?

To be honest, when flying to and from USA, I prefer the Asian airlines who always have young, sweet, attractive female flight attendants.

The unattractive, matronly women and gay flight attendants get a little old on a long flight with the PC American airlines like United.

I have always been impressed by the attendants on Cathey and Japan Airlines.

I'm from the U.S and due for a new one soon..not expiring, but getting full.

I am curious, what does a new one cost now?

My name is William.

Can you explain why people want to call me Bill?

and what about Robert? why do you call him Bob?

I can only guess why a Richard is a Dick!

Not within Thailand.

Every city,town and small village celebrate Songkran.

It's like trying to get away from the 4th of July in the U.S.A.

Maybe in a remote wilderness with no Thai people or tourist around?

Good luck!

Damn!

Where does Thailand get off expecting foreigners to follow the rules and laws?

Haven't the learned that we are better than them and don't need to follow their silly rules?

All well and good.

But I long for the day when they do away with paper passports and replace them with plastic ( credit card like ) cards that contain your information an a magnetic strip.

Much easier to carry and safe from damage unlike the paper books now used.,and no need to add pages if it gets full.

I had a passport destroyed by an unexpected dousing of water on Songkran a few years ago and have heard of many that have been washed with the laundry.

I can think of no reason the plastic card could not or should not be issued.

Can you?

Other countries can.

I saw the plastic card of a legal Thai migrant worker in South Korea.

Photo ID with name in roman script, entry date, permission to stay date.

The rest is in Korean, assume address and work place? (on the backside).

Also a bar code on the backside,

Issued by immigration office!

All he needs to carry around.

That's how it could be done.

AND done by immigration office.

This "trojan horse" etc. was false alarm or triggered by some link in a short lived spam post.

Overly nervous net nanny SW.

Discussed in another thread.

Now that you mention it. I recall that when my Thai wife got her visa to live with me in The United States, she was issued a "green card", that is no longer green.

It was a plastic credit card like ID with a magnetic strip on the back.

It was valid for 10 years and there was no need for her to carry a passport or any other identification.

So, yes, it can be done.

P.S. In the 6 years she lived in the U.S. she was never even asked to present the card for any reason, except for when she applied for her social security card.

There were also no 90 visits or yearly extensions

You could say that U.S. Immigration just "cut her loose " with instructions to renew the ID card in 10 years..

After receiving her "green card" we were never contacted by immigration again for any reason.

It would be better to not permit any temples ( wats) or schools to operate anywhere near bars.

Agree?

In my poinion, if you are paying an agent 100 thb, you are paying too much!

The system is simple and very easy to take care of all by yourself.

Unless you are too important , too busy and have money to burn...

Agents are a waste of money.

If you are a teacher in Thailand, you do not have money to burn.

I no, cause I were a English teacher hear four yeers!

To address your question, as so many others are not doing.

My wife, 8 year old daughter and I live north of Bangkok, within 20 Km of all large city where anything we might need available.

We rent a nice, brand new 3 bedroom, two story air conditioned house with a good sized fenced ( walled ) yard and garden.

We also have wifi and satellite TV with western programs.

Our electric bill runs about 1000 thb per month.

Our water is about 400 Thb per month, but I am an avid gardener and irrigate almost every day when it is not raining.

We eat well, both Thai and western food and go out to eat a couple of times per week.

We are also making payments on a new car.

We do this on an income of about 60,000 Thb per month,

and have money to spare ( put away) every month.

Choke Dee ( good luck ) !

Try ordering less than you want.

Your advice is good advice.

I too was marijuana smoker with a prescription to grow and consume it legally in America.

But, before I lived in Thailand full time, I would stop smoking pot for three weeks before leaving for a visit to Thailand, to be sure thee was none in my system if I were to be drug tested in Thailand.

Since I have moved to Thailand, I have not touched it.

Unlike America, drug laws in Thailand are very harsh, even for marijuana and it is not worth the risk.

It is rather ironic that the U.S. DEA was responsible for Thailand adopting such stringent drug laws and now that attitudes have changen and Marijuana is all but legal in America, Thailand is still very stringent.

There is a pretty good movie with Nicol Kidman called The Bangkok Hilton, it will give you a good idea of how strict they are about foreigners and drugs in Thailand.

Many seem to forget that when they leave their home country and come to Thailand, they do not bring their rights from their home country with them.

They don't fit into your luggage!

But they need to have a valid reason for their selection of a particular residence, such as a getaway car parked in the driveway, the window in the front door broken but no glass on the outside of the door, etc. They cannot just walk down a street and bust into all houses hoping that one of them houses the target.

That's exactly what happened in Boston. They went door to door searching everywhere.

Illegally - or rather, they intimidated residents into searching everywhere.

For that the pigs should in prison themselves.

Pigs?

Oh wow man!

I think I am having one of those acid flash back trips they promised me back in the 60s!

Groovy man,

Right on!

Myself. Why pay others to do something simple for you?

Unless you are lazy with money to burn..

When you move to Thailand from a western country.....

Your "rights" do not fit into your suitcase.

You can't bring them with you.