DP25

The price of cheese, butter, wine etc is irrelevant to me. How much of this stuff do you really eat? I pay a few dollars more for a piece of cheese than I would at home, and save $1000 on rent. Not to mention I can get a fantastic bowl of noodles for $1 or fresh tropical fruit so I don't really care that I am not eating cheese and butter every day. I'm healthier and I save money.

What a ridiculous idea. Spend huge amounts of money exporting stray dogs in Thailand to western countries where animal shelters euthanize MILLIONS of unwanted pets every year. According to the ASPCA 3 million dogs and cats are euthanized in American animal shelters alone every year.

Americans and other westerners should adopt the unwanted pets in their own country. Thai animal shelters should be spending money to sterilize and feed the local problem, instead of exporting it.

Every Thai dog sent to America means a local dog probably will not get adopted and will be executed in its place. Better to sterilize the Thai dogs and let them back on the street, and give the American shelter dogs a bigger chance to avoid their death sentence.

Every shopping mall has stores that sell DVDs, games and music and they should all have it by now

Here is an example

http://www.mangpong.co.th/eshop/product-detail.php?id=022174

It is 830 baht for the 4th season

Location of their stores

http://www.mangpong.co.th/eshop/outlet.php?lang=en

So why is the perception so vastly different between farangs in Thailand? A high number sees crime in Thailand as a major problem, but even more sees crime in Thailand as no worse than back home. Are people exaggerating or lying or what? What I have noticed is that people who are negative about Thailand will take the side of negative regardless of what the question is. Agenda? I wonder.

Some people live in Pattaya, Patong, or lower Suhkumvit (sleazy sex tourist areas) and see scams/crime on a daily basis. These places basically attract the worst of the worst of Thai society. Most of the Thai scumbags in the country congregate in Pattaya to feed on the tourists. So people who live in these places tend to form very negative opinions because of it.

People living in the rest of the country generally have a much more positive outlook.

I generally don't like RCA these days, but this is making me rethink my stance. Too bad they don't tell us what club it is.

What is the Thai name for it ?

Khao riceberry, but written in Thai. They gave it an English name

If you think Hua Hin doesn't have a "seedy go go whorebar" scene you're walking around with your eyes closed!

I live in Hua Hin and if there is a go go bar I have yet to find it. Guess I better try opening my eyes !

I guess it is technically a 'seedy whorebar scene' not a 'seedy gogo whorebar scene'. There may not be any gogo bars but there is a large red light area with beer bars, a freelancer disco, and plenty of hookers.

It may not be on the scale of Pattaya or Phuket but it is there.

We grow this stuff since last year and its absolutely delicious. A black rice grain with flowery and nutty flavor. 11.000 baht a tonne is dirt cheap as we get at least 60 baht per kilogram (organic). This sort of rice will be a premium export product soon. Rice berry is a combination of 3 rice strains and has similar anti-oxidant properties as blue berries. Make sure you buy organic though. Prices vary between 120 and 180 baht a kilogram in better supermarkets at this moment.

I bought a kilogram for 70 baht at the Lampang weekend night market a couple weeks ago. The label says it was grown in Lampang so I guess thats why it was so cheap, I imagine someplace like Villa in Bangkok probably charges a fortune for it.

And yes, it is delicious.

Pattaya must be a real nice place to live. It feels like every other crime story is in Pattaya. Without Pattaya Thailand would be almost crime free it would seem.

Pattaya attracts criminals, both Thai and foreign. Thai scumbags congregate there to feed on the tourists, while international scumbags go there to hide from the law and have sex with hookers. Without Pattaya there would just be more crime in the rest of the country.

If you like to go to bars and enjoy the company of the girls who work at these places then I would say Pattaya for sure. If you have a gf or wife ( for a man) or still have the know how to pick up none bar girls then I would say Chiang Mai. The big difference is the beach and bar girls, one has and one does not. I think crime is also higher in Pattaya.

So, you're telling us there are no ladies of negotiable virtue in Chiang Mai?

There are some, but that's not what the city is about and is not why most foreigners live there.

Pattaya is a brothel town, set up to serve long and short term sex tourists. It has improved over the past decade and there is more to it now...but at heart it is still a giant whore house and if you're not interested in that I can't imagine why you'd want to live there over someplace else in Thailand.

For those with lung health issues, Chiang Mai is OUT.

For like a month out of the year. Perfect time to go visit Hua Hin, Ko Chang, Krabi etc.

I'm from California. The weather beats Thailand's almost every day of the year. And most of the rest of the planet too. Weather is the biggest drawback to living in Thailand for me.

there are plenty of places with a climate like california. nothing to see here folks.

I said MOST of the planet, not all. Parts of the Meditteranean, Australia, South Africa, etc are also on par with California. These places have better weather than 95% of the planet. Learn to read bro before letting your anti American rage boil forth

Most of the US has bad weather too. Horrible frozen stuff falling from the sky and awful sticky hot summers

If you're from California, Australia, South Africa etc Thailand's weather is a HUGE negative.

I'm from California. The weather beats Thailand's almost every day of the year. And most of the rest of the planet too. Weather is the biggest drawback to living in Thailand for me.

Someone mentioned snowboarding, that would be a good idea too since then we would be both starting from scratch.

Snowboarding is extremely difficult in the beginning, and it will be more difficult for her since she's never skied and is really starting from scratch. You fall down and wipe out constantly. You spend half your time digging your face out of the snow and getting back up. You really get bruised and beat up, much more so than when learning to ski. It's very difficult for a beginner to even do easy slopes without wiping out constantly.

In the long run it is easier to become a good snowboarder than a good skier, but in the beginning snowboarding is really brutal. I don't recommend it for her first snow adventure in Europe.

Foodland usually has tortillas, have another look. Villa Market and Tops should have them too. They are not with the fresh bread they will be in the refrigerated food section with the meat, cheese, and yoghurt.

I've never seen any in Big C or Tesco , don't bother looking there.

Over the top salaries. My wife says 7-8k month is normal Thai wages. Only a tiny tiny share of Thais have such elite jobs like the ones listed.

Well I believe your wife might be correct if your talking about the wilds of Isaan

I remember reading averages somewhere as regards salaries in Thailand and BKK was given as circa thb 40/m but the interesting thing was that average salaries in the Rayong area were almost double that of Bangkok

Per capita income in Bangkok is about 40k per month. In Rayong it is a staggering 102k per month.

These numbers have nothing to do with average salaries though. These provinces, as well as a few others, have lots amounts of high gdp industry and massive migrant labor from other provinces. The workers are registered back in their home provinces though, so when the GDP for the province is divided by the provinces population, it is not including these workers.

Over the top salaries. My wife says 7-8k month is normal Thai wages. Only a tiny tiny share of Thais have such elite jobs like the ones listed.

It does say white collar, college graduate office types. Lot of the high salaries here are the top of the pyramid white collar workers though.

Maybe some people remember, during the last election, PTP had a second wage related campaign promise in addition to their 300 baht per day minimum wage. That was a minimum wage of 15,000 baht per month for university graduates. This was aimed at Thai white collar workers, particularly those just graduating. Fluent English speakers working for big corporations are a tiny fraction of the population, and because of their skills are highly paid. The average, non English speaking Thai office worker has a low wage and would have to work a long time and rise high to get the kind of wages some people think are average here.

Difficult to answer as wages vary so dramatically. A English speaking manager working for a foreign company will make bucket loads more than a Thai speaking software developer or a government office worker. The engish speaker for a foreign company can make 50k per month but the government worker will likely be getting under 20k. The guys at 20k are a lot more common than those at 50 or 60, so I'd say that is closer to an 'average' in Bangkok. Unless you are only looking at managers or other higher end jobs.

Gov jobs kinda throw a wrench in the discussion. B/c yeah, I know tons of Thais that have been working for the gov for years and are still hovering around 20K. And somehow the gov is able to sidestep the minimum wage, as many teachers, police officers, and other public servants start out at under 10K. That aside, salaries are definitely a bit higher than I initially suspected. I mean, someone's gotta be buying up all those condos they're building.

A lot of government workers I know have jobs or small businesses on the side and under the table.

I mean yeah, someone is buying up those condos. And look in the parking lot at a government office or school and it's usually filled with new cars.