sakaew

Hi Tuky  I rarely post ...but just occasionally, I feel I have something worthwhile to offer. You've asked for replies relating to Living in Thai...as an oldie. That's me. I have been here for around 20 years on and off.....the off being a comfortable house in Australia. ( about a 6.5 hour flight.) For a long time, I was happy in Thai. I was ripped off in the early days...some of us more stupid than others.

I am back in Oz right now, but I'll be back in Pattaya soon. A few things happened in a short time...to convince me Thai was no longer for me. The odd one or two ripoffs happen in Oz too...just par fro the course. 

Ripoff 1  over a period of a couple of years, I had 3 new air conditioners fitted by a decent guy on Tepprasit Road. The last one had a problem with the pipe from the bit on the ground outside, connected to  the bit in the bedroom. No problem...he came and repaired the pipe. After a few days, no cool air.....again he came and fixed the pipe. After a few days, no cool air. AGAIN the same thing happened  He refused to come and fix it. No problem, I got a different guy to put in a new pipe. My likeable, decent guy turned out to be a crook when push came to shove..

Ripoff 2   THE LAWYER I had know and trusted for 5 years, made a sly but carefully thought out attempt to steal my house. I suspected that in the previous year, his manner had changed. So when he gave me a "Change of Directors" form to fill in (all in Thai) and insisted I signed there and then...I smelled a rat. My friend took me to HIS lawyer who told me that if I had signed that paper...I was putting my house into the name of his brother, also a lawyer.

Ripoff 3 .  There was a traffic jam on a slight hill. The guy in the pickup behind me got careless, and his car slowly ran into the back of my car...small dent. Usually with small stuff...there is a bit of on-the-spot negotiation. My wife asked him for 2000 baht--the usual for a not-so-large damage. He simply refused. He told her that he hated all foreigners ( farang) and no way he would pay anything. My wife got upset....but hey TIT. This Is Thailand.

I formed the opinion that living with this kind of stress was MUCH more than I wanted to but up with. I am a retired University lecturer....and I certainly deserved better than this shit. I have met and done business with MANY MANY Thais. I built 5 houses , one meets a lot of people, in that situation. Almost ALL the Thais I met were good, decent people, some of whom I became close to. Some I trusted enough to loan them money..   they NEVER let me down. Long ago, I had a relationship with an educated  rich Thai women. She had  more money/property than me. She was a goodie.....a giver, never a taker. She told me that the common philosophy was "Falang pay double."  Which is pretty accurate. Western style shops have put a stop to much of that.

If you feel you want to drive in the second most dangerous country IN THE WORLD....if you feel you want to live in a TERRIBLY corrupt country-corruption is everywhere- and it will nip you sometime....go ahead...come and live in Thailand. My advice for what it's worth, echos that of others. Go to Thai if you will...RENT a house for a couple of years. Regardless of your attitude to a new wife...you may finish up with one. You are YOUNG by Thai wife's husband standards, and your disablement will not be any problem for many of the contenders., You will be in demand. Get onto the internet...find one with a good education. If it all works out...take her back to England.

Living in Thai with a Mia Farang... (Thai wife) may make her a target for all manner of queer, unpleasant Thai women, poor, jealous, greedy,etc etc.

Although Pattaya has a deserved reputation as a sex capital....my life there with my family...is the same as my life in Oz. Should you find it is to your liking in spite of the considerable shortcomings, I wish you all the best

Brian

About 15 years ago, I agreed to have a baby with my then long time partner.

Having had a vasectomy 20 years earlier, I trotted off to what is touted to be Thailand's BEST Hospital. A Specialist  Fertility Doctor assured me I was not to old to father a child. They anaesthetized me, and harvested 3 sperm, which they kept in the fridge at their fertility centre. At a cost of 60,000 baht.

No more than a week later, some new research from a VERY reputable centre in the US was published. At the time, it was believed that sperm transfer from men below the age of 40 was safe.

(YES  40  NOT 60 or 70.)

AS A RESULT OF THAT NEW RESEARCH....the maximum age for sperm donors was lowered.

Why?

Because all the research showed that although the baby may--and often does--emerge as a perfectly normal beautiful child....the chances of that same baby developing several mental defects, mainly autism or schizophrenia, are UNACCEPTABLY HIGH. This tends to happen in a childs' late teens. Not every child is unlucky enough to go this way.

So.... long after the father has passed away, the Mother has an unacceptably  high chance of having to raise a mentally deficient--and currently incurable--child.

All on her own.

That research was so compelling , that Australia lowered the age at which sperm transfer was recommended, to 35.

I cancelled my fertility treatment.

And blew the   6,000 baht it cost me to harvest those sperm.

EACH AND EVERY TIME sperm transfer is attempted, the cost was 300,000 baht. That was years ago, and I imagine the cost would not have remained the same.

The chances of success is VERY VERY low, even with a young couple.

There would have been no doubt the Dear Old Doctor knew perfectly well the dangerous game he was assisting his patients to play...but HEY !!!!! TIT  This is Thailand, as Bernie Trink used to say in his Night Owlcolumn. Anything goes, so long as money changes hands. Who needs  Medical Ethics?

Do yourself a favour. Type Elderly men's Sperm Degradation...Fertility Treatment.   into Google

Get the latest research info.

When I see a decrepit old codger proudly carrying his new born around Big C....I ALWAYS wonder  (a)  Would he have gone ahead with the treatment, had he bothered to read about the clear dangers associated with the procedure? (b) Can his wife cope with an intellectually disabled child?

Well Kenny, allow me to make a couple of comments. I haven't heard the term "spill their guts" for MANY MANY years. It bought a smile to my lips. Thank heavens there are a few of us oldies still breathing. Nowadays the teenyboppers are in a big rush to show how cool they are by aping the latest American slang. So thanks for that.

Thai village women are a class unto themselves. I've had 2 long term relationships with village women.....and 2 with well educated , well off middle class women. I am no expert, but I can talk with a modicum of authority about some aspects of those 4. The two village girls were by no means alike....well no more than superficially anyway. One was still baan nork (country bumpkin) after 7 years. No attempt to get education, feet on seats, lie to help family. The usual hallmarks of the rapacious Issarn maidens, inured since to birth to believe farang exist only to supply their wants. Similar I'd suggest, to your wife's friend. The other Issarn lady got stuck into tertiary education in Thailand, and I'll have her in University in Perth in the near future. Absolutely no sneakiness and dishonesty. She has a daughter, who calls me Paw, and I have been her father for 8 years. Both of us love her to death.

As for the 2 middle class ladies, they were pretty much the same as me, in pretty much most ways. as alike as chalk and chesses, compared to the bush ladies. THEY gave stuff to me, they never wanted money. Both of them were well educated and had well paying jobs.

In a nutshell, good reliable, responsible, honest women are where you find them. But if you want to get away from the grafters, get on to Thai Visa or whatever it's called now. There are lots of educated women available.It goes without saying, well educated women...are looking for a partner with similar attributes

A year or two ago, MOL ( My Old Lady) and I took her daughter to The Wonderful Land of Oz. She was about 7. Some Thai Inter ground staff woman who was lurking around the Check In counter, decided we did not have the "correct" paperwork to take the kid out of the country. She was adamant....so MOL asked to speak with the Immigration guys. In the event, the Immig LADY took one look at aforesaid kid's Thai passport and birth certificate...and said "No problem". In our case, because she was not married to the kid's father...she automatically has sole custody. Immig lady knew...Thai lady did not. No documentation relating to MOLs marital status all those years ago...was necessary. Anyway we went! Only in Thailand

Jamesbrock alluded to seppuku...and wished it applied in Thailand.

A whiff of ceremonial belly slitting is pretty much what the situation calls for.

And those being required to atone for their misdeeds/omissions...would form quite a queue.

Honto.

The magical effects of Malaysian flogging should not be forgotten either.

Harsh??

Yes, but necessary, along with imprisonment for those who rain dirt upon the country and it's put-upon population

I don't have an opinion....but I recall seeing Dr Phil--the shrink--on Opra .

A guy asked, "I finished with my wife, now I'm having second thoughts.

What would you advise me do."

The ever smiling shrink said " The problems which caused you to move out, most likely developed over a long period, and it's also likely there was some discussion about those problems with her'

"My advice", sayeth Phil..."When you're OUT, stay OUT

Splitting is an absolute option of last resort, and the original problems having proven beyond resolution, are 99% certain to still be there"

Good Luck, whichever option you choose.

It's a minefield out there, the more so if all the usual (Thai/farang )relationship differences are in play.

After 8 years, her and I seem to have successfully navigated the rapids, but hey! nobody knows the future.

They ain't no written guarantees.

Moreover, the origin of the 2 people involved are not important...it's all about negotiating the white water.

Some years ago, when I was in my early 70s, my then partner demanded we have a baby. I went to Bumrunrat , and after fees of only 60,000 baht, I acquired a set of bright blue/green bruised genitalia, and there were 3 of my sperm in the IVF department fridge.( It turns out that even in cases of vasectomy, it is possible to harvest sperm from the inlet side of the Sperm Delivery Pipe. ( maybe vas deferens? I forget.) Coincidentally, just a few DAYS later, Sydeny Morning Herald on-line published a report to the effect that some Oz IVF joints had changed their policy regarding the acceptable age for sperm donors, Henceforth, no more sperm from anyone over 35, would be used.

Well....that shocked me. It seems that when the child is in their late teens, MANY of those lovely kids develop autism or schizophrenia. The husbands are long since gone --ESPECIALLY those old VERY ELDERLY buggars producing kids in Thailand. I cancelled the IVF thingy, and opted for a Thai sperm donation.

IF you are an old guy who has fathered a child--or has plans of doing just that...be aware that EVERY year over age 35....your sperm is INCREASINGLY no damned good. MAYBE your kids will be lucky....MANY will not.

Don't waste your time telling me anything, UNTIL you have researched Google. Google Elderly men sperm degradation...THEN reply if you wish. All this shitstorm happened 7 years ago, there may have been more news since then. Good luck to anyone who has gone that route.

G'day Smiley GC ( General Counsel???)

I used to have a load of lovely Vanda orchids in my Pattaya house...strung out along overhead beams.

For one reason or another, I finished with the orchids.

Some one year later, I took up with a Winsome Maid, who had a little kid. and I was so taken with both of them...that I whacked in a below ground pool.

What should be above the New Pool....but all the cross beams, from which the orchids hung.

I put some Big C sun shade net stuff up, and consequently, we get next to nothing in the pool.

In your case, you'd need to go a few meters beyond the pool perimeter to stop the s**t coming in from the side, in a strong wind., but the cost is minimal....for a permanent solution both to

the cinders problem...and the Issarn Maidens' horror of the sun striking their skin.

Not unreasonable Thailand....It's a case of "Different strokes for different folks."

You are happy with CM and don't see a need for change.

Femi Fan on the other hand, wants something more.

What he is asking for , is no more than AN OPPORTUNITY to expand his world, and those who feel inclined to join him can swing along him...and those like yourself don't need to have your lives disturbed.

Femi Fan has hit the nail on the head...if some Thai in a position of power is not getting some kind of benefit from any change, there is an inbuilt resistance to that change.....the MORE so, if the would-be initiator of that change happens to be a Filthy Farang.

And as we all know, resistance to change is alive and well in our own countries.

I agree with all you say.

I also agree with those who suggest nothing will change in Thailand any time soon.

If we accept that we need someone to open a few doors for us--which is EXACTLY what the Thais do-- is it possible to find a Thai person with similar interests to yourself?

A few moths ago in Pattaya, I saw signs about a jazz saxophonist appearing in Pattaya.

I agree you're pushing s**t uphill to do what you want to do--and I agree your aims are well worthwhile--maybe look for an appropriate Thai person to open those doors.

There are PLENTY of Thai musos in Pattaya, and maybe there are plenty in CM too.

Finding a connected muso ??

Interested in helping you?

Possible.

PS If I had visited CM BEFORE I got entangled in Pattaya....I would have bought a house in CM.

There's NO comparison to my mind....CM is a VASTLY better place, at least for me.

EXCELLENT post.

And some surprisingly erudite replies.

Interestingly, the Australian Reserve Bank, is in the process of talking down the Aussie dollar.

In recent times, it was well over a dollar US.

So far, they've got it down to just below 80c US...and they're heading even lower.

( The previous 33 baht to A$, has drifted to 26. )

As the admirable Swissie suggests, this ain't gonna end painlessly.

Some years ago, when Asia was on the rise, some economists predicted this very thing.

WE--the Western economies--have effectively been forced out of the market .. we cannot compete against the likes of China et al.

Luckily for us, wages are rising inexoprably there, boosted by rising expectations and peasant uprisings..

Greedy buggars.

And Benroon was right on the money, the US has staggered--is staggering??--to it's feet.

Will the Republicans--who have some thoughts on "spending ourselves to death"--pull the appropriate levers??

We cannot live beyond our means forever.

Interesting times ahead.

FWIW, Roberto--whom I guess is the owner--has been missing for a while.

The Pizza Girl, whose name seems to be Jac, is sometimes attentive, sometimes having a bad hair day.

Patchy pizza quality, but still good....some of the time

Roberto told me that "The Jews flew the planes into the Twin Towers."

I'd never have guessed.

He used to fly small planes in South Australia by the way....from Aldinga, to Kangaroo Island.

A man of many parts

FWIW....I once had a friend who raised turkeys.

He assured me that in the event of lightning, thunder, heavy rain etc etc....there were ALWAYS a bunch of dead turkeys.

Evidently from heart attack.

Ducks????

Dunno.

But hey !!!!

TIT

I was having an ordinarily depressing day.

( I'm back in Perth for a few weeks, and understandably.....I am anxious to get back to my little ckickadee....as WC Fields would say.

Which explains my lethargy. )

My day was unblighted, by Woomoomaloo's comment....... PRICELESS.....what a use of words.

( And I wonder if the pie cart still stands in the street in The 'Loo??)

I too have had the problem of kids with headlice.

I have bought lice combs (nit combs??) but they remain unused.

Washing with lice shampoo and picking them off manually are the approved treatment method.

Yesterday, I was in a chemist in The Wonderful Land of Oz...and I saw an electronic jiggery thing, called a Robi Comb Electronic Lice Comb.

Cost 2000 baht.

Gawd....that's progress for yer???

Interestingly, I learned from their website, that nits usually occur from a line drawn between the ears, and down to the bottom of the back of the head.

I've also had a history of red eye problems.

Both an Australian Opthamologist AND a Thai Opthamologist, recommended Zaditen.

Available at Fascino.

It's a got a bit more stuff than just sterile water, and it has always worked for me.

After reading the rave reviews on the khaonoi curry joint, I took my family there.

We were surprised at how awful the food was .

I asked the Indian guy who did the cooking.

He told me it was his Phillipina wife..... <deleted>????

In all likelihood, HIS cooking would have been a whole lot better than HERS...and HER waitressing would have been much better than HIS.

I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did

Hi

I need 6 new doors, plus architrave to be fitted around the door frames.

Not a big job maybe, but one which requires a bit more skill than the usual handyman has.

Has any kind soul had this kind of work done?

I'd be grateful for a phone number

Thanks a lot

Thanks MJCM ( Michael Jackson Candy Muncher??)

I've always lusted after a User Manual for my Garmin.

I understood I had to join the Rastafarians to be eligible to get my maulers on one.

WOW...I've just downloaded my VERY OWN copy.

Seriously, thanks a LOT.

Guys like you bring a moment of joy into all our lives, customarily blighted by the selfish, the self obsessed and the deranged.

( Of whom a few are to be found wandering the leafy boulevardes of Pattaya

hahahah)

Brian

Temple Land??

Yes.

Cathedral land may not for "For General Distribution"

But hey!

TIT.

For a pointer to the manifold prestidigitations involving temple land...google Alpine land scandal

Interestingly...he was initially promised more land than he subsequently received.

Which was precious little to begin with.

MORE interestingly...after he exited the wat, he promptly split from his longtime partner.

Aah...the very unfathomability of Thailand has to be it's premium drawcard.

Usually...I have very little to say about ANYTHING.

There seem to be resident experts whose knowledge is infinitely deeper than mine.

HOWEVER...viola!

I've got something to offer.

Brace yerselves.

A few years ago, I was ensconsed in Sin City--AKA Pattaya-with a painted dancehall queen...whose brother--whom I considered a decent guy since he was one of the few in the family who did not try to rip me off--had a drinking problem.

In a last ditch effor to rehabilitate himself, he became a monk for the 3 months Khao Pan Sar--the Rains Retreat--at a wat in Chonburi.

He is handsone, personable guy, about 35 years old.

After he had been at the Wat for a while, we--the Royal "We"--visited him at the wat.

His sister--my previous inamorata--and he babbled on for quite a while.

When we were in the car, his story unfolded.

At some point...he found himself popular with Those In Command at the wat and he was slotted into the Chanting Crew.

Weddings, funerals, Blessings etc etc.

He suddenly had READY CASH...on account of the unbridled benevolence of the supplicants.

Heady stuff for an Issarn guy, inured to lifelong poverty.

Several things flowed from this.

He finished up staying 3 YEARS..instead of the 3 months he effectively signed on for.

He had never made so much money EVER ..in his life.

I was so impressed at his new found business acumen that I gave him the money to purchase a lease hold over some temple land.

He was certain he would garner the boodle to build a modest house...if only the chanting continued.

As for the OPs question...How Much....he told me the monks were VERY happy with 300 baht for the foot soldiers..and 500 baht for the OIC.

"Tales from the Vienna Woods"...can't hold a candle to Thailand

Jeez..stand by for self righteous venom.

I detest and abhor Farang Price as much as everyone else.

But I'd have thought the guy from Phuket Hospital made out a perfectly reasonable case for charging farang extra.

The hospital gets nothing from the Thai Governmet or Health Funds et al....if farang are treated.

It is NOT a charity.

Isn't it obvious that they need to recoup costs and make a profit?.

Thanks IO

That's exactly what I did.

The GPS is with them now.

Thanks for an excellent suggestion.

And thanks for your many helpful contributions to the GPS forum.

You're a beacon of knowledge and sanity in a sea of bulls*it.

I too did the long march from Pattaya...to Ikea.

With GPS.

I got there..but not without a litany of insane guesses...about which road to take, when two choices presented themselves.

GPSs are a LONG way from being always reliable.

There is still a considerable amount of guesswork necessary.

There's no doubt when we are at an intersection covered by Junction View, Lane Assist etc...it's a piece of cake.

But unfortunately..they seem to be few and far between outside BKK.

It WAS worth the trip though..and we'll go again.

Quite apart from large furniture items, the Old Lady found some great kid's toys, as well as a sh*tload of inexpensive nick knacks.

In fact she can't wait to get back.

( It turns out that almost all Ikea stores throughout the world, have been bought by a Dutch company...with Old Ingvar retaining what seems to be control over most of the other processes.)

It would have helped, if I had known Ikea is in Mega Bangna Mall.

I should have been more careful about looking it up before I left home.