Nautilus05

So you're saying the drug run was successful this time around?

It is not being rude at all. Sign language is done by fingers. I was trying to get across the point that there are no tones in sign language. No bending of a little finger or other movement to signify a high or low or no tone.

Thai and sign language are two COMPLETELY different languages though. It's the same as Thai vs. English. Sign language doesn't contain tones, just like English doesn't.

I do actually agree with you about the tones though. Granted, I'm by no means fluent, but I've never concentrated on the tones at all, and I seem to get around just fine for the most part. I can sit around having a beer and have a conversation completely in Thai for a good hour. Granted, it's quite choppy, but we manage to understand each other. Can't talk about anything too in-depth, but we get the basics across -- who we are, where we're from, kids, wife, where we live, job, whether boss is a good guy or not, where we've traveled, hobbies & interests, etc.

Seems to completely depend on the IQ level of the person you're talking to. People with some intelligence seem to understand me just fine. Others though can't understand me at all (ie. old ladies).

All I know is whatever issues you're facing in the US are going to be changed / amplified here.

Or it depends I guess. Do you look Thai, and speak / read / write fluent Thai? If so, then it might be alright for you. However, if you look more like a white guy, and speak only minimal Thai, then as I said, your problems will probably only be amplified. Get your house in order first, then come out.

In other words, where's "home" for you? Does Thailand feel like home? If so, then come on down! Otherwise, probably best to get your affairs sorted out first before coming over. Being in a bad position in a place you consider "home" is one thing, but being in a bad position in a foreign country on the other side of the world is a totally different thing.

When I speak Thai to someone, most times they do not understand me. I have a Farang friend who is very fluent in Thai, and when I speak what little Thai I know, he understands every word I say.

As for tones, from what I experience, if you do not use the rising or falling tone properly, you will mostly not be understood. If you use a normal tone instead of a high or low tone, you may still be understood as a high tone is not much higher than a normal tone etc. Some people have higher and lower voices than others.

Have you ever seen Thais use sign language and lip reading for the deaf? Do they use tones in sign language?

What does one do? Bend your little finger or something?

Huh? That doesn't make any sense. Do you think Thai people sign in Thai, and German people sign in German, or something? Sign language is an internationally recognized language of its own -- there are no tones.

First thing's first, can she commit to something? Has she proven it already? If not, tell her to get a job first, and if she manages to keep the job for two months, then you'll invest into a small business venture for her. Otherwise, there's a good chance both, the clothes and investment money will be gone within a couple weeks, and she'll be back to you with her hand out saying she needs another 15,000 for new inventory.

Having said that, I did that with the previous SO and it was great. Well, except the two week thing (see above). Startup cost was a simple 15,000, and profit was anywhere from 300 - 600 per-day. And that's profit, after expenses. Not sure if this was a good idea, but one condition of me giving the 15k was I made up a bunch of simple balance sheets, and wanted one written up each day. Just so clearly show the sales, expenses, profit, etc. Otherwise, if they make 1300 in sales that day, there's a chance they'll think they made 1300, and spend it all.

Honestly, best business venture was Thai BBQ. Again, was about 15,000 start up cost. Not an actual restaurant, but the raw BBQ at the market -- the sliced meats, veggies, broth, etc. Profit there was generally anywhere from 600 - 1300/day, after expenses. Only issue is, the BBQ one is a long day. You're up early in the morning, and off to the market to get the bulk meats and veggies cheap. Then you're at home all day, cutting everything up, making the hot sauce, etc, just to be in time for the market to open. Then you have to go to one or two markets throughout the day.

EDIT: Oh, and are you sure the car is big enough for the shirt one? Can it fit those cages walls to hang shirts on, a few mannequins, tables, etc.? Need all that if you're selling at the markets.

Yes Thais #1 in the whole world, Hmmmmm

But they know sod all about the world

I come from Australia and have stopped reacting to the question You near Germany

Ask most Thai's about WW2

It never happened

heh, reminds me... I've met Thais who don't even know who Pol Pot is. Jesus... how horrible.

I... I have no bloody clue.

If it's Pizza Hut or something, they always very graciously accept a tip.

There's a small Thai restaurant around the corner, and if I'm having a lazy day and don't feel look cooking for my dogs, I'll just get him to deliver 4 things of khao pad moo. He always graciously accepts a tip as well.

Then there's a minimart around the corner, and previously they would always insist on driving me home on their motorbike, but lately they've begun to just deliver instead. Makes sense anyway -- why bother walking all the way there just to get driven home, when they can just deliver? However, he will absolutely NOT take a tip whatsoever. He just laughs at me, says no, and drives away.

Couple days ago I cooked up a bunch of extras for dinner, then ordered from them. So I gave him a couple chicken cordon bleus (every Thai I've known to taste it has loved it, so thought it was ok), plus a veggie stir-fry. He took it with a smile and "kawp kun", but no idea if that was a good idea or not. He won't take any money, and I feel bad for not tipping because of how customary in Canada it is, so wanted to give me at least something.

And I've come to realize giving money is many times frowned upon, but food and beer and many times graciously accepted.

Help me out with an analogy.

Someone bragging they can get laid lots in Thailand is the same as...

I don't want to get laid lots….that's got nothing to do with the point of my post. Its more about a lack of normal quality girls that are willing to date a 42 year old (not fat).

Sorry, but sounded like it to me. "I had this beautiful 27 year old, non-bar girl, and was banging my other girlfriends at the same time, and other people are offering her 20,000 for one night". I'm sorry, but that sounds like bragging. And getting 4 "girlfriends" in Thailand within a month is quite the dubious goal, but I'm quite confident 95% of us can achieve that rather easily,

It's like the guy who brags he's a genius online entrepreneur because he built an online operation that pulls in $3000 USD/month, as if it's something to be proud of.

I'm guessing somewhere like Chaiyaphum is getting hit hard today again as well? We're getting it over here at the moment, but the same fierceness as yesterday, so nothing horrible.

Have to admit, I am somewhat sitting here, waiting for a tree to come through the window any time now.

Something hit Khon Kaen earlier today, but just small. However, the wind gusts were large enough for me to do a walk around of the yard, and pull anything loose inside (brooms, plastic container, garden gnomes, etc.). Never got really bad here though, and only lasted about 15 mins.

Very true JL While the Thai "retirement" visa laws could definitely use a little tweaking, those who are skipping out of the country every 30 days are doing so because they do not or can not qualify for the retirement extension of stay, and the vast majority of these "hangers on" are not injecting any substantial cash into the Thai economy. I think that it is quite liberal of Thailand to allow 3 of these back to back runs

That's not true though. Go visit one of the co-working spaces in Bangkok or Chiang Mai for example, and you'll see tons of white guys in their 20s / 30s, banging away at their computers all day, every day. Do you think they're working legitimate jobs with work permits for Thai companies? Of course not, otherwise they wouldn't be in a co-working space.

Majority of these guys probably make decent coin, and spend 1 million+ per-year in Thailand. They're all fairly young, so clogging up the health care system isn't really an issue. Plus their all generally working on their own online operations, or for Western clients which Thais don't generally have access to, so they're not taking any Thai jobs away.

These are prime examples of your typical VISA runner as well, and what harm are they? Considering Thailand is trying to attract IT experts and has them on their list of preferred occupations for expats, you would think Thailand would offer a better way for them to stay. However, there's no decent VISA options available. Can't get a B VISA + work permit due to no Thai job, not married, not old enough for retirement, and can't really do an ED VISA because they're already putting in 60 - 80 hours/week, not to mention their personal life.

Kap Kap kap . Krap. na krap.

...

kap kap kap kap na krap. chai mai?

What do you mean? That's how they talk. Ever listen to a Thai on the phone? "Kap, Kap, Kap" or "Ka, Ka, Ka". Unless they're speaking Laos, then it's just a simple "sameelaat", and then quickly hang up.

It is a tough language and Thai's don't seem to be able to extrapolate what you mean unless you are word and tone perfect.

I could be wrong, but I also think it's based on socio-economic class as well. It seems if you're trying to converse with a poorer Thai, there's a good chance you're going to get a deer-in-the-headlights stare if you don't word and tone everything perfectly. However, speak with someone a little wealthier, they seem to understand me just fine, and constantly compliment me on how well I speak Thai. I guess that's probably because if you're from a wealthier family, you probably have more education, hence more English classes, so it works the same as a tourist area type of thing?

Other thing I don't get is I'm in Issan, same city, two neighborhoods. Previous neighborhood, everyone spoke Laos (neighbors, market vendors, 7/11 clerks, everyone). This neighborhood is a little wealthier, and everyone here speaks Thai. They use R instead of L, it's "mai bpen rai" not "bpoben yang", it's "chai mai" not "meen boi", etc.

I thought it was a regional dialect, but apparently it's more of a class dialect?

Well OP, then you better head straight over to the air force base, and show these guys how to properly track a civilian plane that turned its transponder off. Oh, and teach them how to conduct a search and rescue operation while you're there, because you obviously know their jobs better than they do.

With all their problems you would think this country would want to increase the number of people spending money, not reduce it.

And how much do you think expats spend in Thailand? What percentage of the nation's GDP comes from expats? Not enough to even worry about.

I don't know. I spend on average say 60,000/month, and that's just for the necessities and daily living. Some spend five times that, and others spend a third of that, so let's go with 60,000 as a median figure. So that's 720,000/year, and let's bump that up to say 900,000 to include some one-time purchases (new bed, TV, computer, whatever).

Let's say there's about 500,000 expats / long-term tourists here, which I think is probably pretty realistic. So that's about 450 billion THB/year that gets spent by foreigners on standard living expenses. I don't know, but that seems like a number that's worth worrying about.

 

I put an extra 1000 baht note in my fee when paying the overstay, although everyone on ThaiVisa gave me hell for it.

 

However, I didn't point out the fact there's 21,000 baht there, because as others have said, that would constitute bribing an immigration official.  I just kept my mouth shut, so this way he got an extra 1000, and if he called me on it, I would just say "sorry, I must have counted incorrectly".

 

 

Sorry, did you already do this Nautilus ? And I assume it worked out fine ?

 

Yeah, did it quite a while ago.  Had a 3+ year overstay myself, and did it at the Nong Khai border.  Worked fine, no issues, and I was out of the overstay office within 5 minutes.  I still got an overstay stamp and everything though, but there were no problems paying the overstay, and I was back in Thailand the next day with a VISA from Vientiene.

Reminds me of one time when I was a kid. A couple friends found a large flashing red light, so decided to test it out in the car. They would pull people over pretending to be cops, then laugh as they drove by.

That is until four cop cars cornered them in, and threw their asses into a jail cell.

Don't know if impersonating a cop is the best way to cross the road.

Not in the slightest at all. If I ever think with my dick instead of my head again, please shoot me.

From a straight financial POV how on earth could anyone justify buying as opposed to renting, I just don't understand.

Ditto. I'm not sure why anyone would buy versus renting either. Considering the prices of rent versus purchase in Thailand, it generally takes a good 30+ years of renting to pay for the house.

I guess if you're moving to a village where there isn't any suitable places, then you have no choice but to build. If you're going to live in a city though, then without question renting is a better option.