15Peter20

Dunno why none of the Brits here mentioned A Bit of Fry and Laurie. I'd really like to know if Americans find this sketch funny at all.

I think to your wife's sister the main thing was that you were there and should have stayed regardless of what everyone was or wasn't doing, just to be part of the group. It's kind of like at family get-togethers at Christmas, when a grandparent or uncle can often be found sleeping through most of the proceedings in an armchair. The point is they're there.

My understanding was that the Songtaew Mafia has been stifling any attempt to create a half decent public transport system in Chiang Mai for years and years. Thailand's second city and no mass transit. Embarrassing.

I've known my wife nearly 20 years, married for 9, 2 kids. She's from a poor rural village. We're about the same age and met in a bar.

I was a broke backpacker when I met her and even for the last 8 years we've never been able to save anything - just cover expenses for quite a comfortable lifestyle.

Someone in my family died and now I'm in line for a fairly hefty inheritance. I love my wife and think she loves me. We haven't had a row (ie where shouting ensues) for years.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (halves are allowed), what are the chances of me being violently put down in a mafia-style hit?

Better to ask her.

If only the poor guy that got killed had thought of doing that...

Divorces are notoriously complicated and unreliable in terms of divvying up assets in Thailand, and women often believe they wont get their share.

Throw in a lot of unsophisticated and devious thinking and what starts as a crazy idea comes to fruition like this story. Protect yourself financially and make it clear that as much as u love her family, be sure that your direct family outweigh the importance of mum dad and all the others.

Men in Thailand are meant to be respected in their house and often times the wife is put under enormous pressure by the husband's mum to take care of him. We as farangs pitch up, no extended family and many get taken to the cleaner and treated in a way that no thai man would ever tolerate. Too many foreign men are too naive about the culture to even contemplate marrying yet they do.

For myself, am same age as missus having known her for 15 years. Not easy to find great ones, but I'd rather be alone than be with anything less than a great woman.

Sounds like you got a nice woman. Both my missus' parents are long gone from this world so that isn't an issue. I kind of agree about rather being alone than with a questionable girl, but being alone is a scary thing for many people and the fear of being alone creates loads of distinctly dodgy relationships. If only people could tolerate their own company a bit more they wouldn't need to rush into these things.

I've known my wife nearly 20 years, married for 9, 2 kids. She's from a poor rural village. We're about the same age and met in a bar.

I was a broke backpacker when I met her and even for the last 8 years we've never been able to save anything - just cover expenses for quite a comfortable lifestyle.

Someone in my family died and now I'm in line for a fairly hefty inheritance. I love my wife and think she loves me. We haven't had a row (ie where shouting ensues) for years.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (halves are allowed), what are the chances of me being violently put down in a mafia-style hit?

Better to ask her.

If only the poor guy that got killed had thought of doing that...

I've known my wife nearly 20 years, married for 9, 2 kids. She's from a poor rural village. We're about the same age and met in a bar.

I was a broke backpacker when I met her and even for the last 8 years we've never been able to save anything - just cover expenses for quite a comfortable lifestyle.

Someone in my family died and now I'm in line for a fairly hefty inheritance. I love my wife and think she loves me. We haven't had a row (ie where shouting ensues) for years.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (halves are allowed), what are the chances of me being violently put down in a mafia-style hit?

What a waste of tax payer money.

Thai civil servant should be ban from traveling overseas at the expense of tax payer.

If Thailand needs to learn from Farang, Thailand should invite the Farang and their Family over for an extended work-holiday, and make sure to put them up at the Oriental and fly First Class to ensure the Farang collaboration to the fullest.

This will ensure Thailand gain the max, and cost Thai tax-payer the least.

You may not be familiar with the way budgets are typically set not just in Thai government departments but others around the world too. Guess what happens next year if the budget for a department isn't spent this year. The budget is cut the following year. What department boss would want to see that, be they honest or not?

I worked for a while with UK Customs & Excise and this applies to that as well as other government agencies. It's no big deal - it's the way things work in the civil service. Is it wasteful? Certainly can be, but don't have a go at this guy for doing the same thing that others in his position do as a matter of routine.

The only thing that would need checking would be the relevance of his journey to his job and the perceived value to the department gained from it. This should be measured not just in terms of his initial justification for going but by any recommendations made and implemented as a result of it, and that can only become fully apparent after some time.

Can anybody explain to me what is a pretty?

Someone who is not ugly

I do hope this practice of using adjectives as nouns to refer to people catches on. What if it were applied to other groups in news headlines:

(politicians) "The parliamentary committee will be chaired by the most senior dodgy available"

(old farangs who regularly post on internet forums) "Municipal cleaners found a grumpy passed out on a Lumpini Park bench this morning"

Anyone got any more?

So why are even those cars that are made in Thailand so expensive? Is it tax on imported parts or what? Something is definitely odd to a farang's eyes when the cost of a mid range new car comes in at around half the cost of an average house. So maybe house prices are low, but still, compare car prices here to those in Europe (don't know about the US), and its hardly any less.

And as for the second hand market, prices there are an even bigger mystery.

Aurellian,

I regretfully must also inform you that I am bowing out.

Only one or two posters appear to be anywhere near qualified to answer your question and this thread should really never have been longer than one page.

Your girlfriend has very unusual looks. Most posters have experience of living with partners that have normal looks ergo, they can't really know what the solution to your problem is.

Oh well, as you mentioned, it was a long shot, which kind of unsurprisingly missed its mark. I suggest you increase your rangetime.

So anyway, back to the topic at hand.

I'm struggling to understand why it's so important that your missus finds someone to click with during the handful of weeks she stays here at a time. People can stay in Thailand for years and still find it hard to find someone to click with.

If the social scene isn't doing it, why not concentrate on things that can be done with you or just on her own? Why not encourage her to get into a hobby if she hasn't got one already. Reading, writing, creating something - anything - can be very satisfying as well as time consuming, which is what you all want. She must be into something. And between you I'm sure you could fund whatever hobby she wants to take up and she could go out and about getting whatever materials are required for it without getting harassed (I'm guessing MBK doesn't come to a standstill when she walks in).

I'm not saying it would fill up the entire time, but it will definitely ease the situation.

Surely it's not just all about the social networking is it?

I'm quite impressed. Thanks to DLock. Crazy thread.

As far as the best ISP to go for is concerned, first move in to your abode, then find the nearest internet cafe and ask them who they use. After 2 years of getting absolutely crap bandwidth from TOT in my area (100Kb/s) I did this and found the internet cafe around the corner using Maxnet (3B). Changed to them and now get over ten times the bandwidth for no more than what I was paying before. This is not a recommendation for 3B in your area - it depends where you live.

The only other thing I'll say is what always ticks me off, which is that there is practically no public transport in Chiang Mai. If you want to get around town often, either be ready to buy a bike/car or make sure you live near everywhere you want to go, otherwise you could end up paying through the nose daily for songtaews.

Good luck.

This thread is just so funny.

Presumably in order to prove his GF's 'model quality', he will be bringing her along to the rendezvous too. Can you imagine the conversation he had with her earlier today?

"Come on, honey, let's go out and meet someone I met yesterday on an internet forum so that I can prove to them that you're fit, I'm an ivy league former diplomat and also a 3%er"

The degree of boredom required to undertake such a meeting is, however, in line with his formidable Xbox games collection - the guy obviously has a lot of time on his hands. But I won't have a go at him, in fact, I quite like the guy. The world would be a duller place without such characters.

I'd be quite impressed, though, if the mysterious poster who is scheduled to meet them doesn't turn out to be a 'no-show'.

I agree....I started out irritated by his narcissistic ways, but respect him for the way he's come back on every point thrown at him. He's a great entertainer.... and either a first class troll, or he's a guy in serious need of some help!!!

I don't think he's a troll or needs some sort of help.

His description of his girlfriend (tier 1) and his apparent awareness of his place in the pecking order of life (according to him well off, but not really really rich) appeals to my Nietzschean side. Saying how much he owns (including the GF) appears nothing more than a bit naive compared to the modesty of most, but those insulting him for doing so are reflecting as much on their own character as his. What he divulges about himself is his business, what others think of it is purely theirs.

I quite like people like this not because they offer something to aim for or to admire, but because for better or worse they don't mind giving up info about themselves. They believe in themselves no matter what, and it could as likely get them into trouble as make them successful in their careers and materially rich.

So when I say I like the guy, I mean it in the same way as I like quantum physics, buddhism and the way clouds form in the sky - they are all fascinating. Those who like that which fascinates them will know what I mean.

His posts not only show that he realizes what he's got, but what he hasn't. Maybe the only thing to bear in mind for people like that is the proximity of 'Tier 1' to 'Tier 0'.

A reference from someone he has wined and dined, in order to scotch the pi$$taking? Sounds fishy to me.

He said it - a few posts above, and there was more in earlier posts.

ok, gotta run, heading to the meet now to prove my bonafides...

So- leaves me wondering which member would agree to be his friend for an evening in exchange for remuneration. Corruption and bribery maybe, but it sounds more like another activity that is technically illegal in Thailand but is widely available / accepted, and typically provided by a female.

Edit to add the first post on the subject:

I have a taker.!!!

An established poster has tentatively agreed to meet me at Koi for sushi and report back on the following: (1) Is my girl Victoria secrets model quality? the prettiest farang one will see for days at a time here. A true head turner. (2) Am I an Ivy League educated former diplomat? (3) Am I a 3% er.

I am sure someone will add is this guy (me) an idiot? Well, he can answer that too:)

Just who is this "established poster" ??

This thread is just so funny.

Presumably in order to prove his GF's 'model quality', he will be bringing her along to the rendezvous too. Can you imagine the conversation he had with her earlier today?

"Come on, honey, let's go out and meet someone I met yesterday on an internet forum so that I can prove to them that you're fit and I'm an ivy league former diplomat and also a 3%er"

The degree of boredom required to undertake such a meeting is, however, in line with his formidable Xbox games collection - the guy obviously has a lot of time on his hands. But I won't have a go at him, in fact, I quite like the guy. The world would be a duller place without such characters.

I'd be quite impressed, though, if the mysterious poster who is scheduled to meet them doesn't turn out to be a 'no-show'.