McMagus

Yaaawn If ever I believed 'Thailand for Thais'... Until Thais get off their bums and say enough is enough to BOTH parties....

hobloodyhum.... democracy my *#^%...with over 120 of them appointed.... ya gotta larf

My missus is from a poor working family and she watches the pennies mercilessly; (for the age thing... I am 63 and she is 52) God help anybody trying to rip me off because I am a farang... they are dead; and she will stand toe to toe with anybody in the village doing her wrong too.. However, her social insecurity comes to the fore when in BKK and we may go out somewhere flash... she won't challenge and even tells me to jai yen yen. I think the Thai have not really learned how to modulate their anger, every thing is suppressed then it's zero to 150% in a flash. It irritates me that they put up with being taken advantage of in the public domain. I am self confessed noise hater which is why I don't like BKK so much. Thais will put up with 90db of advertising noise (yes I have measured it) on skytrain stations and in malls etc. etc. I know they like noise to scare away pi lor but stand up and be counted eh? Gotta stop I'm rambling.

Being educated in business, and economics it hurts me see a country intentionally create a dictatorship. The element of free enterprise is one of the first things destroyed, and the economic growth of the country is no longer a priority. That is where the dilema arises, on the one hand I want the best for Thailand economically on the world markets, but as a foreigner dependant on the dollar to baht exchange rate, I would like to financially see the economy tank, as this government is attempting to do to it. The social influence of the "me" attitude of Thailand is rubbing off on me.

I can't stand blatantly corrupt officials, but for myself to benefit the most in Thailand Thaksin needs to be brought back so he can directly tank the economy, not continuing to operate through proxies to do it, bringing the dollar to baht exchange rate back to the 40+ to the dollar level as he proposes for renewed manufactoring growth the cheap labor would provide, and better export growth the cheap baht would promote is the best for "me", and not Thailand as a whole.

His personal interests he constantly places above the needs of the country also benefit me, so I am caught in the moral dilema. Do I support bringing him back exhonorated for my own benefit, or do I concern myself for what is best for Thailand as a whole, and support jailing, prosecuting, and executing him for the corrupt executive decisions he has made, and continues to make?

Very interesting response, I guess many of us would fall into the same boat. But I'm confused, on one hand you say you are a foreigner dependant on the US$ / Baht exchange rate, yet you also talk about supporting bringing him back. As expats we have absolutely no say in anything politically here. You can support or not support as much as you like but it won't make a bit of difference to Thai politics. I guess you are talking about supporting which side of the moral dilemma you are facing. Yep, I would sure as hell like to see the Thai Baht 35+ to the AUD$

On topic ! BKK Cono Bubble burst. I'm assuming people are saying that the prices may fall? Well they may, or they may stay the same for years, or they may go up. A couple of observations; One thing probably is clear and that is the degree to which Thais burden themselves with personal debt, whether it be in BKK for the latest iphone or out in the sticks for a new pickup etc., etc. They do seem to like borrowing from all and sundry. Second point, the wealthy Thais almost never cut their losses and sell the way many westerners would. Rather than sell and take a loss then invest elsewhere to 'catch up', they seem to be pathologically against selling at a loss (not sure what they did in the 1997 financial crisis) and I think it is about losing 'face', so maybe that ensures the Thai idea that 'prices always go up', I don't know. Yes, BKK is a world capital city but I don't think it is valid to compare prices with say London or Tokyo. I still think that many condos in BKK are over priced... maybe it's because I don't particularly like living in BKK. I for one would not be buying a condo for investment. If I were planning on living here for the rest of my days.... well maybe that might be different.

I'm thinking this may be a very cleverly constructed Troll post but nevertheless, interesting reading. Personally I don't give a toss what Thais, Americans, Aussies, The Pope, Queen Lizzie or anybody thinks about me. I don't need nor seek anybody's approval for my existence. If people I care about deeply and whose opinion I trust were to comment on my behaviour / views, I may indeed reflect. Am I arrogant most likely. I have my own opinion about Thais and no doubt some have their opinion about me. I am mindful that I am a guest in their country and a guest only, I am not here to change or influence Thai society; in that respect Thailand for the Thais is OK by me. Are there aspects of Thai culture that piss me off... you bet... similarly the same could be said for Australian / UK culture etc.. However, I am not so culturally timid as not to defend blatant misconceptions that Thais may have about me or my (and by association Farang) beliefs and am quite happy to point out any inaccuracies and generalisations they may have.

Thank you one and all, ...been most helpful.

I am about to apply for a retirement visa, I have an income from Australia plus will deposit a small amount in my Thai bank to make up the 800,000 Baht. At what point in the process do the exchange rate calculations kick in? When I make the application or when it is all finalised ? I would rather not have too much sitting in a Thai bank, I know the Thai Baht is quite strong at the moment but would want to calculate to have the minimum AUD$ with just a bit more for safety net.

Thanks in advance.

You guys amuse me... so you are walking down the street with your wife and child, ask someone nicely for a bit of advice and the first reply is ..'In which bar did you find your wife'? God I wish I was as perfect to be able to judge others' lives so easily.

Which bar did employ her at 16?

Not only is your post ill conceived, thoughtless and a bastardisation of the English language, but had you made those comments to me or most other members here without the convenience of anonymity that a forum such as this offers, I dare say you would be making a trip to the dentist

I have always wondered about this too and it's not as though the cars are old either. In Oz there are heaps of older cars on the roads. I read somewhere a few years ago that Thai household debt was climbing at an alarming rate. I notice that many poorer farmers are being offered credit cards. Gotta go pop one day.

Ya gotta laugh...really ! Yesterday I noticed a new add for AIS promoting their 3G AND... 4G ... can you believe this <deleted> ? I'm in the middle of BKK and couldn't get stable 3G from AIS.

One of my favourite subjects... transliteration as opposed to translation. The purpose, as so eloquently put by Koon KozmikSurphah is to help those who do not read Thai but can read English. Irrespective of Thai grammatical usage, the transliteration should at least approximate the sound spoken. When I first came here I was driving around and asking directions for ... wait for it .... SI NA KA RIN DRA because that was what was written on the dam_n highway sign. As for the 'r' and the 'l', I am given to understand that in 1947 (I think) the central govt. banned the use of Laos / Issan in all schools etc. in the north, which effectively made central Thai a kind of 2nd language. From what I observe, I feel that the use of 'l' instead of 'r' is looked down on as a sign of lower class speech which would tie in with Thailand's hierarchical social structure.

Bugger, you beat me to that part of the maths...but...you cannot unload a truck instantaneously, it would take some time, so I'm expecting a back up of trucks along the road...brilliant.

The big problem in all the non western countries, is the sterility of the operating facilities. I'm amazed at the number of stupid people having surgery done in Thailand, India, Mexico. Even if these hospitals have western trained Ferang Surgeons, the equipment can still be contaminated. I'd never have anything serious done in LOS. An Accident leaves you no choice , but get stabilised and placed on the 1st available plane home.

An aquaintence had a scooter accident in Chiang Mai, which resulted in a his leg badly broken in several places. He had the leg bones re-set and went back to Canada immediately. Total cost was $27K CAD, i/c one way airfare. His Vancouver doctors checked him over c/w X-rays & imaging. They said the Thai's did a very good job and they could not do any better. I'm not sure what hospital he went to, but Kudos to those Chiang Mai based, Thai Medical Staff.

Glad to hear how the Thai doctors did a fine job. Sterilization is always a problem wherever you go. I always think that a hospital is the last place to go to if you want to stay away from bugs. Staphylococcus aureus or Golden Staph is wreaking havoc throughout the Western world and I guess so here too where over prescription of antibiotics is endemic.

Coming home and she has already bought me beer and it is in the fridge along with a couple of Kit Kats.

Yep you is right... but not when you get to the bottom / top and meant to get off and walk away.

Great thread...

7/11 employee ... Sweet jeesus I wish they would turn off that frickin door chime.

Skytrain managers..... Yes sir we will only play soothing music softly whilst you wait in the sweltering sun.

Any Thai adult to child on skytrain / underground ..... Don't bother looking at my seat its mine and staying that way.

Any Thai woman on escalator .... Oh sorry, I didn't realise that by stopping to talk on my new iPhone that you would run into the back of me...how silly...very sorry.

Any Thai .... Oh look! a little drop of rain, lets enjoy its coolness on our head.

Any Thai government ... <deleted>... its flooding !... never done that before.

In the imortal words of Jimmy Soul...

If you wanna be happy

For the rest of your life,

Never make a pretty woman your wife,

So from my personal point of view,

Get an ugly girl to marry you.

oops... need to finish. Now what would happen if we took a Thai word such as Farang (as in Guava) but chose to pronounce it for example as .... Farit, or Faroot etc etc. It is the same reasoning. And don't tell me that Bon is OK because the Thais are only using their own pronunciation rules. The word is Ball period.

What intrigues me is how they will use loan words but then bastardise the pronunciation till it's almost unrecognisable. Take a simple word like BALL which we know in Thai will become BON.