JSixpack

I don't think Ruby was a "notorious" spot. Guess it is now though.

6 hours ago, norrska said:

Interesting.  Can you provide one example of high performance athletes from international sport who use fasting before an event, such as the olympics, marathon, triathlon etc.?

Occasionally we have this silly, irrelevant standard brought up for some diet or another, usually by our old school starve-and-sweat gym rats. Nobody--nobody--coming to this forum for weight loss help is an elite athlete competing in the Olympics or running marathons and triathlons. Never have, never will. We're talking to fat people, mostly older fat people, whose main exercise has been reaching for the pizza, beer, and remote. In general they're hardly worried about losing muscle. What muscle? Elbow muscle? Let's not discourage them from a helpful method (maybe THE helpful method in their case) because an Olympic athlete might not benefit in the same way. Absurd.

Anyway, nothing to worry about re: IF even for the fat old fart. You can go google it for yourself:

https://www.google.com/search?q=5%3A2+diet+and+exercise+muscle+loss&gws_rd=cr&hl=en&num=30

And you'll find stuff like

Intermittent fasting was no better or no worse than continuous calorie restriction as a way to preserve muscle while dropping fat.

     --https://muscleevo.net/intermittent-fasting-muscle-loss/

2 minutes ago, newnative said:

     Ahab doesn't like Pattaya but he's visited THREE times!  Gotta hand it to Pattaya--even when people don't like it, Pattaya seems to have some sort of magic that draws them back--and then they comment on it seemingly for the rest of their lives.

 "You can check out but you can never leave."

Traveling around, visiting various places is always a great thing to do and most have some desirable qualities. AC is an especially desirable destination at Songkran.

For expats the question becomes where to live for long periods. Some take to Pattaya immediately, as I did; for others, it takes more time to become a true cesspoolian and appreciate the total package, the overall value, how it offers something for everyone. We've ALWAYS heard other countries touted, Cambodia, Vietnam, even Australia (where most Brit expats live) as superior:

rgs2001uk Posted May 18, 2009:

Note that for almost 10 years Pattaya has lacked pretty women. No reason to come here.  (Some basher porn for ya, gents.) Yeah, nothing new. And Pattaya's dead, BTW.

Trouble is, when you hear from people who've made the transition you find out that the other places have far more disadvantages than advantages when compared to Pattaya. You can read through the threads on the Southeast Asia forum and get an earful about the problems living in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Phils. We've had Ozzies posting who can't wait to leave Australia and come to Pattaya.

We have some members such as KittenKong, hard nosed and one of our most knowledgeable about values (he should charge consulting fees), who avow they can live most anywhere they wish but overall, even with its faults (I can point you to some lists of those; yes, I know what they are), the advantages of Pattaya outweigh for the price. And I agree. Bashers, haters, whingers, bigots: you need attitude adjustment!  And if you just can't adapt--members plagued by the dreaded brain-eating Whither Pattaya and Whither Thailand space monkeys have it most difficult--then anywhere's probably better for you, though most seem to do best if they just move back to the UK, where there's proper pork scratchings and all that.

12 hours ago, JAZZDOG said:

CR has a much higher % of low-lifes due to the vast supply a mere three hour flight north. It is more like one giant Pattaya/Phuket/Patong combined.

Good, so you've agreed w/ me on that point and on my others by default.

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The actual origins differed in that in CR the girls were brought in to calm the banana plantation workers in the 40's. Thailand it was the war in the 60's but same difference.

So a sex tourism destination has a beginning as sex tourism destination. Yeah, no start, no business. I think most of our members probably knew that, but I can't be sure.  

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Thailand, CR top the list as far as sex tourism destinations.

Actually CR doesn't even make the top ten on all the lists I've seen.

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Just imagine how different they both would be today had their governments not given into greed and given a green light to the "Profession"

Thailand, poorer no doubt and so more Thai thugs would have taken the place of the present-day farang low lifes. But who cares? You can probably find some barstool companions to discuss that fantasy w/ you. Here's a list of alternate history movies for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Alternate_history_films As for greed, just depends on your preferred economics. Is the government of Spain greedy for permitting prostitution? The Netherlands? Some governments offer more freedom in some areas than others. But please start a topic in the Farang Pub forum for that discussion. 

Are we done? I've waited in vain for this little discussion to relate to the topic. The whole thing really should be deleted. Your comparisons have either been misinformed, irrelevant, or trivial.

43 minutes ago, Naam said:

incorrect assumption. neither low carb nor fewer calories. in fact i could swear all holy oaths that during my diet time the intake of calories was (as far as food is concerned) substantially higher than in the years before when i gained nearly 20kg. the gist of this diet (developed in the 90s by a team of the Mayo Clinic) is to trick the body with a continous surplus of calories to burn existing body fat and ignore the new supply. last not least the alcohol reduction must have played an important part too.

 

note: since one year i'm keeping my weight but reduced the number of "feedings" from 18 times to six times daily.

Now I see why you said don't ask me how i lost weight. Do you have a link to this diet?

1 hour ago, balo said:

Anyone tried the 5-2 diet by Mosley (BBC) ?

Yes. It's great. I didn't need to stay on it long.

6 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

Thanks I fell much safer now.

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/vendor-surrenders-for-attacking-tourist-claims-swiss-man-wanted-drugs-44141

http://pattayatoday.net/news/news-from-around-pattaya/watch-sellers-attack-russian/

http://pattaya-funtown.com/russian-tourist-assaulted-street-vendor-walking-street/

https://scandasia.com/4199-snake-man-attacks-danish-patron-at-thai-beer-bar/

9 hours ago, norrska said:

Pattaya still loves you, in spite of your self-loathing and negativity!  That's what is so great about it!

And loves you so much it wants you to be happy by just leaving and forgetting all about it. Some have what it takes to become a cesspoolian; others just don't, bye.

Whew! For a sec there I thought maybe the police were indirectly icracking down on our Brown Envelope Bots who have nothing but their buzzes to help keep our beloved forum in business. 

19 hours ago, tryasimight said:

Silk balaclavas???  Really?? 

When I was in the game we had to make do with woollen balaclavas that mum's sister Mavis would knit for us( one time use only obviously)  and if she was passed out from hitting the cooking sherry  old George the Skinner would knock us up a couple of rough ones from roo hide.

 

Kids  these days.........

 

So interesting and useful to know. And what kind of telephone were you using when you were in the game? Did it have dialing capability or did you need to ring the operator to request a connection?

There's a reason a woolen balaclava wouldn't be optimal wear in Pattaya, as you could probably surmise for yourself.

1 hour ago, Naam said:

eating 18 times a day small portions without counting calories but balanced content of protein, carbohydrates (except bread, pasta, lentils, beans, peas) and fruit. protein share from seafood ~40%, reduced alcohol consumption down to an absolute minimum (one small glass of Port).

 

background: for several years i was whinging and whining about my weight gain and willing to pay anybody $100k for a diet that enables me to shed 10kg. then one day the Mrs. reminded me of a diet we both did 25 years ago and lost 6 respectively 8kg within a period of 6-8 weeks. we didn't remember the details except that we had to eat multiple times a day and the food input had to be balanced. it worked with me perfectly but the Mrs. was and still is demanding her "finder's fee" (she calls it remuneration for professional consultation) of $250k.

 

note: outsiders who appreciate my weight loss: my cardiologist and my tailor.

Sounds like you went low carb, higher fiber, and overall fewer calories even though eating often. Key point is that you stuck to it.

5 hours ago, MJKT2014 said:

I am now thinking Fastboot may not be the root cause as I tried going to slow boot for a week or so, no issues then back to fast boot no issues. But the issue I notice is always reappearing when I connect to specific wifi routers and onto the Internet. My connections are poor in my location anyway with internet connectivity on or off several times a day even tho the wifi signal is 100% on. I have a choice of routers thro satellite links and telephone hotspots to chose and nearly all cause my wifi card to turn off with no way to turn on again using either the on/off F10 key or thro Win10 wifi settings, whilst device manager in Win10 says its working normally with latest drivers. I simply have to do a computer reboot to get the wifi working again and during the boot process my original problem of several failed boots and Win10 saying I need an system recovery disc happens. If I keep powering/on off I eventually start up normally. Then the laptop runs for days until I ever try to use wifi again. The wifi card is a 6 year old Intel Centrino Adv N6200 AGN with three yr old Win8 drivers that have no update available. On other networks it works fine so it must be related to the combination of wifi routers I have available to me now and the wifi card in my laptop I think.

Sounds like you should try an external wifi adapter.

6 hours ago, HLover said:

Have you had any problems with customs charges when receiving items from AliExpress?

Is there a monetary ceiling when issues may occur?

Any members feedback from experience is appreciated, cheers.

I've ordered maybe 10 items, nothing over USD80, no problems.

6 hours ago, norrska said:

Totally different apples and oranges comparisons.  CR is very close to the US and so has a disproportionate number of wealthy Americans compared to the global diaspora in Thailand(many of whom are not wealthy).  CR also has almost no industry compared to Thailand economic powerhouse and also has no restrictions on foreigners buying land, resulting in prime real estate being bought up by foreigners.  Thailand has completely different laws. 

Right. Thailand is a NIC and by no means a banana republic. Thailand has a firm sense of distinct identity, IS distinct, and intends to stay that way. Foreigners can't own land or even a majority share of companies (w/ some exceptions). If there were going to be a big foreign takeover, it would have happened long ago.

From JAZZDOG:

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Things are good, the locals selling property for crazy prices having to move farther and farther into the mountains. The beaches get covered up by resorts/gated communities. Meanwhile the locals get fat/lazy/pissing money away.

Total contrast to Thailand. Locals merely sold to other locals. The sellers used the money to farm better land outside and establish businesses. Nobody got fat/lazy/pissing money away, except perhaps for the odd exception of course.

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The ugly farang with the US$100 bill glued to his forehead have most all the attractive young girls attention. The younger male generation has to settle for the fat and ugly Ticas no farang will pay for, they are really pissed.

Another total contrast. Some farang have bought the attention of a few of the millions of attractive young girls in Thailand but most settled for dark, less attractive or ugly Thai girls the local men wouldn't prefer for themselves. But the younger male generation continued enjoying all the best Thai women as they do today. You might pay attention to all the lovely babes on the back of Thai guys' bikes or walking with them in the malls. Compare who's with the old "moneyed" farangs.

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The results of the Costa Rica / Thai tourism experiments are quite similar:

No.

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-both countries started out seemingly happy with expats, now not so much

-governments with open arms to expats, now not so much

-originally little violence towards expats, now not so much

-expats ramping up demand sex trafficking on drugs, now much worse

-crime, now much worse

To just cite of few and I have lived to see both first hand, no Wiki

Thailand didn't start out happy w/ any foreigners and in fact in the early days they weren't allowed to stay on land but were required to stay on their ships. Though our bashers and whingers constantly claim Thailand isn't happy with them, the reverse may be more the case: they aren't as happy w/ Thailand, 'cause Thailand cut down on the abuse of tourist visas and dared raise visa fees after many years--a step in the right direction against the low lifes. Meanwhile, Western currencies collapsed and Western tourists/expats just have a lot less money than they used to.

At the same time, however,  Thailand actually became MORE welcoming w/ the Elite visa. And more foreign investment is in fact being welcomed. The generosity of Thailand w/ visas is comparable, all in all, w/ countries of similar states of economic development, e. g., Malaysia.

As far as crime increasing, when you consider the vast increase in population, urban expansion, tourism, and mass communication, it may be that the crime rate has actually decreased. Plus we have the aging of the expat population so that reports of crime tend to make them soil their adult diapers and make a lot more noise about it to exaggerate the reality. As you admit, you have no numbers but are merely relying on the classic TVF Poster Eyeballs measure that tells us there are no shoppers in the malls and none of the condos have owners. But I can easily quote you the same complaint about "thugs taking over Pattaya" from 1997. There's real Pattaya and then there's TVF Virtual Pattaya, you see.

1 hour ago, JAZZDOG said:

Humm! Maybe then you explain why the results are the same. You have obviously never been to Costa Rica either. The place is full of low-life expats hence the name "Land of the Wanted and Unwanted". I guess same could be said of Thailand but on a much larger scale. It's mangoes and mangoes if you have lived in both countries as I have.

Let's hear the rationale for "much larger scale." CR, population 5 million; TH, 68 million. CR, tourists 3 million; TH, 35 million. Could Thailand therefore reasonably have more in absolute numbers? Duh. But percentage-wise? Lot of low lifes in tourist areas, true, but I'd say the vast majority of tourists and expats are by no means low lifes. Now some may merely look like low lifes, as on Soi Buakhao, but we must learn to look past the merely superficial. Appearances can be most deceiving.

You see, like so many of our posters, the Chang vest wearers hanging out at Soi Buakhao are actually scions of British royalty, landed gentry, City financiers, and construction magnates, to name but a few credentials. You merely have to stop and engage them in conversation to realize their true eminence.

From what you say, it seems that CR might have a larger percentage. But you don't seem an unbiased observer, as your estimate of the Thai expat low life seems so exaggerated. Maybe just another victim of confirmation bias like so many of our posters, sigh.

18 hours ago, Naam said:

after losing 25% of  my body weight my belly shows a fold as if i had given birth to twins.

Bit o' surgery will fix that right up for the beach appearances.

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but it was worth the effort because one of the advantages is that i can see my pecker just looking down without the help of a mirror. don't ask me how i lost weight without too much suffering and without any gruelling exercises because you won't believe the story of an old fart and heart patient (multiple coronary bypasses, pacemaker implant and COPD lungs).

You done GREAT and congrats! However, inquiring minds want to know how you did it. Might help others. Was the forum advice at all useful?

15 minutes ago, JAZZDOG said:

Just like we all can trust the infinite wisdom we find here on Thaivisa.

 

i claudius said it best:

But then he also said, quite rightly,

On 2/11/2016 at 10:08 AM, i claudius said:

I never said that i didn't post rubbish as well

3 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Westerners have paid scammers in Africa for years.

 

Do thais fall for this?

Dunno of any stats on that but don't recall hearing anything about Thais falling for the most common Nigerian scam. Nigerians probably don't target Thais much for that one anyway. But I think there have been some Thais to fall for the "black money" scam, love (by imposters), and perhaps job abroad scams perpetrated by Africans.

On 8/9/2016 at 11:19 AM, craigt3365 said:

Dr. Sonram.  Use to work at Pattaya International Hospital.  He's fantastic.

 

Pro Dent, North Pattaya Road just east of the Bangkok bank and before the Thai Garden Resort, right at the traffic lights there.

08 22 55 9950

Another vote for Dr. Sonram. Very competent, personable, great English.

23 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

The Thais certainly do not trust each other - they would have each other over at a stroke!

All things are relative. But most Thais have trusted another Thai enough to have been betrayed or conned--without learning much from the experience. Read the news forum and you'll find many examples, notably of "investments" that didn't quite go as planned.

2 hours ago, madusa said:

Oh, yes they also condition them to distrust "Farang". That's why you don't always get a straight answer from them.

No. Thais are naturally ethnocentric. They trust Thais more than anyone else, period. And you might ask yourself how trustworthy farang have shown themselves in Thailand. Go ask bar girls whether a farang has ever lied to them. Get an earful. You always getting honesty and straight answers from farang here? You might check out what happened to some of our members with their investments "managed" by farang. 

And you don't seem to understand Asian culture at all. Asians in general don't do straight answers well and they don't like directness. Certainly goes for Thais. Among themselves, they're the same in that regard.

2 hours ago, madusa said:

Of course the Thais who are tour operators complaining when the Zero dollar tours were stopped. The average thais who are not tour operators or tour agents wouldn't care whether tourists come or go.

No, these weren't tour operators but ordinary vendors. A recent news item will make it clear to you that tour group Chinese benefit more than just tour operators: http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2132657/chinese-tourists-flocking-pattaya-transgender-shows-thai

But best thing for you to do, I think, is simply go around to the beer bars & go gos and see if the ladies are missing the business they had during the high season. At the end of low season, go ask whether they're looking forward to more tourists arriving soon.

If you're upcountry where income depends solely on farming, then yes, they don't care about tourism. Why should they? But they do care about the weather. Your implication that Thais in general don't have the sense to care about the source of their livelihood is just the usual bigotry.