Nautilus05

So your Thai wife, who is a teacher, is the bread winner of the family?

That must suck for you, especially when you go back home for family get togethers. I couldn't even imagine. How do you hold your head up infront of your parents, for example?

"Yeah, my wife from a developing nation works really hard, and takes care of me". That would be a tough one for me to explain.

I wager that your one of those that walks around with sun glasses on top your head in the dark looking cool........ ...........

heh, no... one of the many reasons I live in Thailand is because I can't stand that type of thing in the West, and it doesn't really exist out here.

Could you really just lay around the house all day, while a Thai woman hauls ass at her job, and takes care of you financially? There's no way I could do that. That's not me being insecure. That's me being a good person, and owning up to my responsibilities.

So your Thai wife, who is a teacher, is the bread winner of the family?

That must suck for you, especially when you go back home for family get togethers. I couldn't even imagine. How do you hold your head up infront of your parents, for example?

"Yeah, my wife from a developing nation works really hard, and takes care of me". That would be a tough one for me to explain.

The Survey was sent out in a link in an email from TV if I recall correctly. I'm presuming that everyone has a current email address in their profile and has checked the "Send me news and information" box in the Notification section of their Profile Settings ? That adds to you the TV mailing list.

If you're not on the mailing list you probably didn't get the Survey email. (May want to check your junk folders too. I noticed that my Hotmail recently dumped huge loads of stuff I normally receive into my Junk Mail folder for some strange reason.)

Ohhh, it was in an e-mail? Well <deleted>, they seem to send like 4 a day. Quit sending so many, and I may actually open an e-mail when you send it.

I didn't see the thing either, and I'm here pretty much every day.

Run it again, but don't make it look like an ad, if that's what you were doing -- our minds are now trained to completely ignore anything that resembles an ad.

People are going to hate me for this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY

Why would Thai protesters ever believe they can get the US ambassador replaced? The US doesn't even give a shit about its own citizens, let alone some protesters in Thailand.

Actually I find the privacy element much STRONGER in Thailand.

Really? I find the complete opposite. Back in Canada, privacy is almost something sacred, and everyone respects it almost too much. I've lived in plush condos for 1 - 2 years before, and never even got to know any of my neighbors. There'd be the odd awkward "hello" during the odd meeting in the hallway, but that was about it.

Whereas here, I find the total opposite. There's not much respect for privacy at all, and I think it's simply due to the fact Thais have more of a communal mindset. Everyone is supposed to be up in each other's business, and that's just the way it works, type of thing. This thing is, it's completely fine, and not only that, but it's actually great, and one of the many reasons I enjoy living here.

Everyone will be watching you, and will be gossiping about you, but it's not a bad thing at all. It takes some getting used to, but once you're used to it, it's great. Even though they may know things about you, nobody actually cares. I like being able to just hop into a tuk-tuk almost anywhere, and half the time being able to just say "gap baan", and they already know where to go. It's weird, and takes some getting used to, but something I really enjoy about living here.

You've experienced racism from expats for being black?

I don't know, but if it makes you feel any better, my heart jumps in excitement a little bit every time I see a black guy. Do you have any idea how much of a rarity you guys are around these parts? I'm lucky to see a white guy once every two weeks, so seeing a black guy puts me in somewhat of an awe.

Would actually love to have a black friend, especially if he spoke some Thai as well. That would be great. White guy and black guy cruising around Thailand, both speak Thai. I think there's some fun to be had with the locals with that combo.

I'll only comment on what I know about:

2-Does anyone have experiences they could share about leaving their home countries, what they miss most, what they were surprised to miss or surprised not to miss.

For me, the biggest (and aside from faimly, only) thing I miss is the nature. No beautiful forests, Rocky Mountains, clean mountain springs, etc... here. There's some decent nature I guess, but nothing that even comes close to Canada.

3- I have only been in Thailand in 3 month stints over the years and I may not have pierced the veil so to speak, are there any dire warnings you could give me to potentially save me from some if any of the hard lessons you learned?

Many, but two things off the top of my head:

a) Your privacy is out the window. Even if you're a recluse, still expect everyone within a 3km radius to know everything about you -- when you sleep, when you leave your house, what you do during the day, what you buy from the markets, what you eat / drink, etc. It's just the way it works, but once you're used to it, it's actually a great environment and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Your average street cop here is very friendly. Back in the West, when you see a cop on the street you somewhat seize up, and put on your "yes, I'm a good samaritan officer" pose. Whereas here, the cops are friendly, smily, like to laugh and joke with you, etc. You don't have to be scared of the police here. Granted, if you break the law, they'll have no problem throwing you into a cell, but for the most part, they're great.

5-safety seems to be an issue here at times (as is everywhere else) 2 villas that I stayed in at times have been robbed in the night. What tricks tactics do you employ to make you a less attractive target? This is one reason why I am considering a condo over a house.

I personally use dogs. Seems to have worked well for me over the years, as nobody has ever even attempted to break-in. I'm sure some have scouted it out, but once they see my dogs, they move onto the next house.

7-having only been to Phuket, Bangkok and Rayong are there any particular spots I should also consider looking at. I am looking for a semi-upscale area that still has a strong element of thai culture. While I enjoy ex pat and ex pat bars I don't need to necessarily be in the middle of an ex pat community.

Good choice. Don't move to an expat area. Grab yourself a house in a Thai area. Not only is it cheaper, but just all around better -- better people, don't have to woirry about tourist / expat scams, double pricing, etc.

So you're saying the monastaries don't have plush king sized beds with airconditioning and maid service? I'm shocked...

If you think he was disabled before, wait until the culture shock of Thailand sets in, as he tries to manuver his way through it.

Is that really difficult to believe that Thai people are nice, kind and consider? Not all are money grabbing, lie, cheat and steal you know.

heh, didn't mean that at all. It's just a little weird for us farangs, because back home, we don't go to 7/11, and have them spin us home on their motorbike. They don't do that sort of thing where we're from.

EDIT: I think you've been on ThaiVisa too long. Not all of us farangs sit around, and bitch about Thai people all day, you know.

Your problem (and that of many others) is that you think you have a right to come and go unhindered, unchallenged and unquestioned, just because you're entering your home country and that concept is no longer valid.

Unless there's some type of evidence against me, exactly.

We should go all out here then, because we're probably still letting a bad guy or two through. These criminals are pretty smart, so they'll upload their stuff to the cloud before going through a border. To combat this, we should pass a new law that allows for follow up inspections. Any time within 90 days of crossing the border, customs can show up at your house unannounced, and begin rummaging through your personal belongings without a warrant. Then we'd safe!

I'm surprised so many are in support of these inspections. I'm not a criminal, so I don't expect to be treated like one, especially when coming home. Unless you have some type of evidence against me -- video / audio recording, photograph, police report, report from a citizen, something -- then you should not be allowed to rummage through my personal belongings as you see fit. That's why they're called PERSONAL belongings.

Now if I'm travelling to a foreign country, that's a little different. I'm choosing to travel abroad, plus the country I'm going to, so by doing so I agree to play by their rules. Coming home though, I expect to be left alone, and allowed to go home.

Besides, do some of you actually believe the TSA makes you safer? They seem like quite the joke to me, and moreless just an organization setup so politicians could get their business buddies some good paying contracts. There's lots of reports of TSA agents fiddling kids, but not too many of them catching terrorists or pedophiles. And when they do catch someone, that personal is generally already on a list, and is wanted.

Not to mention, so any important company documents, trade secrets, code, financial documents, legal documents, or anything else I don't want some 23 year old customs officer on a power trip to get their hands on, I have to go out of my way to upload and secure them to the cloud, where they're then more vulnerable to theft by hackers, before I can go home? This isn't a government issued laptop. It's mine, that I bought with my own money.

Only thing I can think of is when they treat spaghetti noodles the same as standard Asian noodies. Pop them into the boiling water for 30 seconds, and onto the plate they go.

What are they asking you before, during and after your short trip in their car? They will be asking. They will not be revealing information about themselves.

Sorry, guess I should have clarified -- they drive me back on a motorbike, not in a car. These are just your typical family owned mom & pop shops, so I'm not sure if they own cars or not.

It's actually a bit of a weird area to live in. Inside the sub-divison / compound, everyone seems to act all pretencious and hi-so -- they're actually not, they just like to think they are. Well, I'm sure there's a few actual hi-so's around, but I'm assuming the majority make decent money, but are up to their eyeballs in debt, struggling to make the monthly payments. At least they look hi-so though, so I guess that's all that matters. :-) Exact same as the West.

Then you walk around the corner outside of the sub-division, and all of a sudden you're back in normal Thailand. Everyone is happy, smiling, chatting you up, and of course, the traditional asking whether or not you've eaten yet.

As for questions, no, they've never really asked me anything. Where I'm from, how often I go back home, and so on -- but no, not really. I have no idea.

Ummm, there's no animal cruelty laws in Thailand, so I'm not overly certain what the police would do.

Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen white chicken eggs here. They're always brown, and the white eggs are always duck.

I'm still not sure what the pink eggs are. They only show up in mom & pop stores every once in a while, but they're occasionally there. Anyone know?

Take a look at this video:

Scroll to about 41:30 mins in. Apparently, hundreds of village folk gather to fawn over Thai women who have snagged foreign men, and decide which couple is the best.

Is this fake, or does this actually happen? I'm up in Issan even, and not once have I ever witnessed anything remotely close to this happening.

And they turned their football stadium sized speakers down to an acceptable noise level at 2am. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that. How nice of them.

To be honest, I was a little dreading the constant 4pm - 6am blasting of Issan music through my house for the next several days, but 2am is fine with me. I can live with that. Still have lots of time for a decent sleep.

Other than that, I hope they're having a good time over there, and enjoying life.

Quick bump. Did you by chance manage to figure out what the issue is / was?

Asking because one of my dogs growled at me today for the first time ever. I gave both my dogs the same amount of treats, and instead of eating his own, he decided to go steal from the other one, so I gave him hell for it. That sparked a vicious growl from him, like I've never seen him do before. Only lasted a second, but still.

He's also losing hair. I know full well it's due to parasitic mites, and I think I have that resolved now, because he doesn't scratch or bite himself anymore really. He's back to being healthy, and fully of energy, but still losing hair. And that growl caught me off guard.

Anyway, did you ever find out what the issue with your dog was?

Ahhh, good old culture shock. Traveling, experiencing different cultures, and through that realizing the amount of mass indoctrination that happens all around us, in all parts of the world. Good stuff!

I use a bum gun now, which I didn't before.

I speak Thai now too, and didn't do that before.

I MUCH better with spices while cooking now. Can't just go buy a pack of seasoning for whatever flavor you want here, so you learn to put together your own.

I dress quite a bit lighter. No more gearing up for 5 minutes just to go outside anymore during winter.

I don't walk around as much, which sucks, as I'm a big walker. Here it's more painful than enjoyable though.

I actually eat quite a bit healthier here. Back home you'd just walk outside and there was fast food all around, so it was easy. Here though, I think the closest McDs is about 15km away, so it's just easier and better to cook a nice meal at home.