Nautilus05

Does he maybe have family you can call or something, that can help persuade him to get back home? From there, maybe a little rehab or something?

If he's as bad as you say, you can't really let someone like that wander the streets themselves -- he's probably going to end up either dead or in jail.

Not sure on the quarantine requirements for dogs, but I can't see them being too strict. For example, I know with Canada all that's required is a rabies vaccination certificate in English / French, and that's it. There's no quarantine or anything, and I have a hard time seeing Thailand being more strict than Canada on animal control.

As for moving with them -- finding a long-term house rental that allows for the dogs will be no problem at all. Nearly everyone in Thailand seems to have a dog or two, so house owners allow them without issue.

The problem you're going to have though is with the initial short-term rental(s), while you're out house hunting, and trying to decide where you want to live. I tried tons of places in the Chiang Mai area, and literally couldn't find any short-term / vacation rental that would allow my dogs. Again though, long-term rentals that allow dogs are no problem at all, but that's 6 or 12 month lease.

What on earth would be wrong with that? Can't think of anything better myself.

I don't know, I guess I'm just used to taking care of myself, and when in a relationship, being the bread winner. Been a long time since someone took care of me, and have a tough time envisioning myself to allow that.

Don't you like kids?

Honestly, not really. Nothing against them, but I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do with them. Unless they're family, then its different. Love the kids in my family to no end, and always there for them if / when needed. That's family though.

Or do you think a house-husband is somehow less of a man because the wife is the breadwinner?

Yep, pretty much. Call me old fashioned.

I'm still curious, age difference doesn't matter here -- so you're happy to just hang out at home and play with the kids all day, while your wife works and puts food on the table?

That still leaves me scratching my head...

This is a fun conversation.

A bit of empathy may help in this situation. I think we can all admit Pattaya doesn't exactly hold a stellar reputation for up-standing, respectful farangs.

And if you're a motorcycle taxi, you're out on the streets all day, every day witnessing farangs who are guests in your native homeland, basically pissing all over your country, throwing shit around, making loud mouthed fools of themselves, treating women with disrespect, etc. After a while I imagine it would get quite frustrating. Then you witness some idioting throwing stuff on the ground, which the motorcycle taxi probably seen as a sign of disrespect, and yeah...

Or instead of just being respectful, you could always go for the macho man / alpha male route, and see how that works out. It's your life and physical well being, so up to you.

Just be lucky you weren't in Singapore. They'll cane you for it over there.

I want claim ownership of land across the globe.

If I own land on the opposite site of the globe. From surface to the other surface, land is mine....

Sounds crazy, but I m sure it s legal!

Ummm... yeah....

You may want to consult with the US, Russian, and Chinese militaries first before claiming all your land.

Ouch, sorry to hear it for her.

Unfortunately, he'll most likely get to plead insanity, and get away with it. Pretty tough for the prosecution to argue that someone of sane mind doused their lover in gas, and lit her on fire in public.

Few parents do much more than read to them when they're little and make sure kids are doing homework.

If you're actually doing a good job you'll find the Thai school system completely redundant by year two or three. Once they're over 12 it's a pretty big job, most parents can't/won't take the time nor have the knowledge/confidence to 100% home school.

Getting them into a top uni as above would be a big challenge, I'd like to think I could do it if I devoted myself to that end full-time for a half-dozen years, but don't think that's an option for most.

May I ask, do you have kids at the moment?

Nothing better to do OP?

Honestly, tonight -- not really, no. Just my summary of various threads / posts on TV.

My apologies if it offends.

I hate that Thai people are all brown and stuff. And they keep smiling and saying "kawp kun kap" to me, whatever the hell that means. I'm sure they're just making fun of me.

And just today, I payed a whole $1.20 for lunch! I don't know how much lunch costs here, but I'm sure I was getting ripped off.

Then did you notice? Beer went up like 3 baht. Talk about ridiculous!

Corruption here is horrible! The police wanted a whole $6 from me today for riding my motorcycle without a helmet. Doesn't matter that in my home country they would have taken me to the police station and impounded my bike, this is just wrong! At least in my home country corruption like this is legailized, so cops are sure to get their fair share without having to resort to bribes.

I go for a nice beer at Nana Plaza with my belly hanging out of my wife beater, and all these georgeous Thai ladies want to chat with me. It's all just a sham though, and all they see me for is a walking ATM! It's disgusting, I tell ya! When will the Thais even learn the meaning of respect?

Oh, and don't even get me started on the politics. I mean, they don't affect my life in any shape or form, but if only these Thais would listen to us Westerners and conform to our ways a little more, they'd be better off. Ok, actually... they'd probably be treated even worse than they are now, but at least I'd be happier!

So I finally decided to move onto greener pastures. Found the lady of my dreams, and we're moving up north east to the rice paddies to live a happy, peaceful, quiet life. We built a nice 6 million baht house, bought a bunch of land, a couple vehicles, etc... everything seems great! I seemed to have forgotten I did all this in the middle of a bunch of people who make $250/month, and now the greedy savages think I'm rich or something, and want my money! What a shitty life!

Thailand sucks!

I don't know about the Thai education system, so hopefully some parents can chime in and tell me I'm wrong, but...

Back in Canada we had what were called "spares", which was where you didn't have any class, and could do what you wanted. You were given a criteria of what's required to graduate, then basically were allowed to create your own schedule. All depending on how it worked out that semester, sometimes you'd end up with 12pm - 2pm off (1 hour lunch + 1 hour spare), then have to go back to school for your final class. Or maybe you got lucky, and school didn't start for you until 10am, or sometimes you'd end up with say 11am - 1pm off, or whatever.

Is it by chance the same in the Thailand?

No offense to OP, but those sound like your problems, not Thailand's.

No offense to the Poster ... but did you read my OP?

Thanks for the reply though ...

Yes, I read it. Says you left Thailand because you were tired of your daily routine of drinking, chasing women, fighting traffic, being seen as a walking ATM, the language barrier, politics, and a list of other things.

I'm curious, what does that have to do with Thailand?

No offense to OP, but those sound like your problems, not Thailand's.

Show me a government that is not a den of thieves and liars. The West has fallen asleep and let democratic principles of justice and freedom be stolen by psychopathic corporations. Here is an interesting article on countries that have reached a far more intransigent stalemate than Thailand: http://rt.com/op-edge/democracy-on-retreat-europe-ukraine-608/ ... all of them in Europe.

Thank you, I'm glad someone said it. I always get a chuckle when I see Westerners complaining about corruption in Thailand, as if we come from non-corrupt countries, or something.

I don't feel like arguing or debating though, especially not on ThaiVisa. But come on, the US for example is the king of corruption. Thailand doesn't even come close to comparing to the level the US government is on when it comes to corruption and deciet. Same goes for most Western nations.

Ok, I'll go back to General Topics now.

All depends on who your landlord is as well. I've been late with both landlords I have, and it's never been an issue. Last month I think I was 10 days late, and they don't seem to mind at all -- never even heard from them about it. Then again, there's some months I'm a week early like this month. All depends on when I get into town, and whether or not I remember to bring the landlord's bank account# with me.

That, and I'm pretty sure they know I'm not the type of person who screws people, so they don't fret about it. They know they'll get their money.

Hello, what happen in Thailand if I dont pay rent?

You end up homeless is generally the natural conclusion.

How do they throw someone out of the condominium?

If you don't leave on your own free will, right out the window and off the balcony seems to be a preferred method here.

I just recently purchased a new laptop from Banana IT about 6 weeks ago, and didn't have any problems. Then again, I'm not exactly a difficult customer. Walked in, 3 mins later pointed at a 25,000 laptop, and I said "I'll buy that one". Somewhat taken off guard, the salesman asks, "you mean right now?", to which I reply "yes, right now". Some quick speaking in Thai happens, and all of a sudden one of the staff high tails it out the store, down the hallway, and returns with my new laptop 5 minutes later.

he was probably shocked you didnt haggle it down a couple of k and insist on some free accessories TIT

Oh no, I got all my free stuff. That cardbox box with the mouse, USB flash drive, head phones, cleaning fluid + rag, and all that good stuff. Plus a laptop bag as well. Guess I could have probably haggled them down, but meh...

Oh, and I can also say Dell Thailand is excellent. The motherboard in this laptop just recently went, and the support / servicing was better than I'd even expect in Canada. Took it back to BananaIT, and they told me to call Dell. A little bit of translation trouble, but myself and my neighbor got it figured that afternoon. On-site appointment scheduled, and next morning someone called me at 10am, and they were here at 11am. We phoned the Dell call center in Bangkok, and I'm in Khon Kaen, so that was pretty impressive in and of itself.

However, the most impressive thing was the guy shows up at my house at 11am with new motherboard in hand. That has NEVER happened to me in Canada. They always come over, inspect the computer, then go back to get the parts and schedule another appointment for another day. This guy had the motherboard already in hand, quickly installed it, and an hour later was out the door and my laptop was back up & running 100%. And under warranty, so it was free.

I have to admit, I was impressed as hell.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot -- the guy also called me about 5 days later and asked if everything was ok, and if he could come by to check out my laptop and ensure it's 100%. I told him don't worry about it, but was definitely nice of him. Dell Canada techs don't do follow up phone calls.

I just recently purchased a new laptop from Banana IT about 6 weeks ago, and didn't have any problems. Then again, I'm not exactly a difficult customer. Walked in, 3 mins later pointed at a 25,000 laptop, and I said "I'll buy that one". Somewhat taken off guard, the salesman asks, "you mean right now?", to which I reply "yes, right now". Some quick speaking in Thai happens, and all of a sudden one of the staff high tails it out the store, down the hallway, and returns with my new laptop 5 minutes later.

To be completely honest, most people assume I'm here to get cheap blow jobs from the cleaning lady, or something to that effect. I'm not sure exactly what they think, and don't care.

My parents love Thailand though, have been many times, and are more understanding of my reasoning for living here versus the West. They don't like Bangkok or Issan, but absolutely love Chiang Mai, and easily see why it's always listed as one of the top 10 retirement destinations in the world. They love the Thai people, especially their smiles.

As bad as it sounds though, I'm pretty sure more people just assume I'm here for cheap and easy sex. I guess it's just one of the stereotypes you have to put up with if you want to live here.

heh, I had all my neighbors confused for a little bit there, as I began packing a small duffel bag with me when I went to the local stores. I already have about 2000 plastic bags sitting here, so when I go to pickup the standard stuff (water, pop, beer, soap, etc.) I just take my duffel bag with me now. Had everyone quite confused for a bit there.