DP25

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.

Do it, but make a more diverse travel plan than just a week of skiing. She'll enjoy trying it out but I don't think she's gonna want to do too much of it. I'd also take her to Switzerland, Thai people all dream of going there (the King grew up there so they've all seen the photos) and her friends will be super jealous when she posts all the selfies on Facebook.

Bangkok isn't the the south. It is central Thailand. The south is

How come that so many people ticked culture, temples and religion. What sort of culture or religion? You can't be serious, can you?

I don't expect the average sexpest on this forum to even be aware of this, but stuff like this is a major draw for many people. As well as the general atmosphere of being in an exotic Asian country (culture).

I'd rather go see a temple than some crappy gogo bar with a bunch of trolls pretending they love old overweight white dudes.

This poll says more about this forum than anything else. As if it weren't obvious it was already filled with old sexpats.

The vast majority of tourists to Thailand have no interest in the 'sex industry'. And linking the sex industry with 'nightlife' in general just confuses things. Many people are interested in partying at the Full Moon party or whatever, but have no interest in the crappy beer bars the average poster here seems to think are the holy grail of tourism

You don't need to worry about it in Thailand. You ever notice those shoulder scars most Thais have? Vaccine scars. Virtually all Thais are vaccinated against measles as well as smallpox and other diseases.

The outbreak in California is because some lunatics are refusing to vaccinate their kids. The disease, which was virtually eradicated in the US, is then imported from abroad, and infects to unvaccinated children. It also is also now infecting children who are too young to be vaccinated.

The anti vaccine insanity hasn't infected Thailand, at least not yet.

I was in immigration a few months ago and some immigration dude took a posed photo of the two of us with him inspecting my passport. He did it with the other foreigners there too. He was very friendly but it was a bit weird. I got the feeling he wanted pictures on his phone to show he was doing his job or something.

....oh and the girls beautiful and $10 - $20 should see you ok

This comes down to the heart of why many people don't like Thailand. Thailand is developing.

The bar girls these days are too expensive, too ugly, too old, and not friendly enough.

Fortunately Cambodia is right next door with plenty of desperately poor young women who will shag some old man for a few dollars and even pretend that she loves it. It is so impoverished that they are greateful for whatever peanuts the generous farang tosses their way. The poverty is so intense that even the scammers overcharge so little that you don't even care.

Thankyou asia2000 we are pleased and I am sure the girls atb the school will be once they find out.

So the child has learned the lesson that if there are any "rules" she does not like , you will come along and change them for her. Good luck to her in later life with that.

Also, you'd better hope she doesn't come up with a lot of other rules she doesn't like, or you're going to be a busy busy busy chap.

Just think, if I had a father like you, I could have got him to change the rule on corporal punishment at school, and doing homework and all that inconvenient stuff.

It's a good lesson for children to learn that some rules need to be changed

Other parents DID get the rules on corporal punishment changed. If you haven't noticed, they don't beat children at school in Western countries anymore. My father would have smashed anyone at school that hit me and I'll do the same if someone hits my child.

Not sure about the girls, but I often see the results of the local boys that don't have regulation hair.

The local high school doesn't give them hair cuts like some schools do. Instead they take a hair trimmer and shave a big line across their head. Then the students have to walk around the rest of the day with part of their head shaved, and the rest of it long.

I think it's ridiculous they do this to students, I'd love to see a student who just decided it is a cool fashion statement and kept it like that.

What is it you're outraged about?

Some students may be wasting their money on a photo when they may not need it? That is pretty standard as far as I know. My university (in the US) was doing the photographs for months prior to the end of the term. This is something that is done ahead of time, tough luck for those that pay and don't graduate.

Or is it they are missing a day of class prior to exams? That's a bigger deal imo, but still not that big of one.

Not getting the big deal here

I put somtam on hotdogs. It's like Thai sauerkraut. Grill the dog and the bun and put the somtam right on top.

Nam prik ong goes great with all kinds of stuff. It's a northern dish if you've never had it. Ground pork, chilli, and tomato. It's basically spicy pasta sauce, and that's how I use it. It makes a great topping for pasta, toasted bread, and burgers.

I use nam tok moo to make Thai tacos. I buy some tortillas at Tops, nam tok moo at the local market, and eat them together. Nam tok and laap moo also go great with mashed potato or french fries.

Lots of Thai food can be used with pasta, bread, tortillas, french fries, mashed potato, etc. I like rice but it does get a bit dull eating it every day.

I like the Est sugar free. Comes in 1 L bottles which for me is a better size than the larger coke zero and Pepsi max bottles, as the extra usually gets flat before I can drink it. You can get 2 1 L bottles for 30 baht at Tesco at the moment.

tgeezer, on 24 Jan 2015 - 11:20, said:

When Tiger Woods came to Thailand friends were excited and proud that he was half Thai, they changed their opinion of him very quickly when he equivocated in an interview.

I don't see how he could equivocate, the facts are undeniable. He has also spoken out with conviction that he is half Thai and half Black not 100% Black as many people tended to think.

The then Prime Minister Chavalet proposed making him a Thai citizen since his mother was Thai, there was a big uproar in The Expat community and in the Thai media, eventually like all bad ideas by Prime ministers it was forgotten.

Anyone with a Thai parent can be a Thai citizen anytime they wish. It doesn't require special permission, just a birth certificate. Tiger isn't interested in it, but he still could any time he wants.

and in YOUR article " giving instantaneous death" without the howls of laughter and enjoyment by the sick saddos the OP mentions

I've watched the video. They are not sick saddos, they are doing their job and having a normal reaction.

Most people don't realize male chicks are destroyed in every farm, so they think the guys are doing this for fun, and that's why it has generated outrage from some. They are not doing it for fun, they are disposing of refuse from the farm in a useful manner.

If you think westerners working in animal processing plants don't joke around amongst themselves, you are deluded. You are also deluded if you think all the animals are killed instantly or painlessly. There are lots of videos about this on youtube. Try looking at a cow slaughterhouse...it is horrifying. People don't like to think to think about where their food comes from.

The difference you have failed to notice is the "howls of laughter" where someone was getting enjoyment from this. Feeding them into a mincer might be as bad but no howls of enjoyment.

I've watched the video, it's not a big deal at all, if you understand why they are doing it.

It is something these guys are doing as part of their job. They're talking about how delicious the fish think the chicks are.

It is quite crazy to see, I think many people would have had a similar reaction. It's very crazy to see. Those fish really do love eating the chicks.

It's something they are doing for their job, not for sh*^& and giggles.

Search for a grinding video from a factory farm, that is worse imo. The chicks get stuck in the machine or fall through in places and torn apart or covered in in egg yolk and left to die on the factory floor for hours. At least this is feeding some fish, which people will eat.

Perhaps you are unaware of what happens to baby chicks in the west.

In the egg industry, egg chickens have specially bred and are useless for their meat. This means, that every male chick from the 'egg' breed is useless since it can not lay eggs and it can not provide meat.

No one wants to feed billions of useless male chicks, so instead every male chick that hatches in an egg factory is destroyed. It takes a few days until they can tell if they are male or female, but once they can, every male chick is fed in to a grinding machine while still alive and the remains are disposed of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_culling

At least these were fed to some fish, which people will later eat

The worst thing about Thailand is the constant, never ending unbearable heat. The southern half of the country is unlivable without aircon, while the northern half is ONLY unlivable for half of the year.

The only reason I ever want to be someplace without aircon during the day is for the price. At night, near a beach or a river or someplace high that gets a breeze, it can be nice outside. But under no circumstance would I pay upmarket prices to sweat my balls in 35 degree heat and 90% humidity in the middle of the day when I could be sitting in a nice air conditioned cafe, bar, or restaraunt. 90% of people agree with me, which is why they only sit outside during the day to eat their 30 baht noodle soup.

Was it an official commemoration (I can handle that) or just some rich bastard showing off?

You live in one of the most expensive luxury apartment towers in the country. Half the building is probably planning a 1am fireworks show for their birthday party now 555

This article makes false claims. New York City alone well exceeds 50 million tourists per year dwarfing Thailand's 16 million. How could Time Magazine state that Bangkok was "the most visited city n the world?"

The majority of Thailand's tourists are sex trade primaries. This is a dark never discussed secret of Thailand. Without sex trade, Thailand would be nowhere on the tourist map.

I think you're completely wrong. The majority of tourists are from China, Korea, Russia, Japan and other non-western nations and while it may apply to some Japanese, the majority are certainly not here for sex. If anything the number of sex tourists is declining rapidly as younger and younger westerners holiday in Thailand, and the places like Nana, Cowboy and Pattaya are full of expats!

Why does the article report that 59% of tourists are male?.......you think they come here to stand in temples??

59% of tourists being male is normal, there are more male than female tourists in most countries, especially in 'exotic' locations. That is a lower percentage of male tourists than most countries in Asia. Thailand has far more female tourists than China, India, or any other country in South East Asia. Korea is the onyl exception in Asia, as because of the popularity of Kpop they get huge numbers of female Asian tourists.

Sex tourists are a small minority these days. It's amazing how the sextourists/sexpats here bemoan tourism is dieing, when they look around at their favorite hangouts and everything is half empty. But if you go to 'normal' tourist places they are overflowing with tourists from all over the world that have no interest in dodgy farang hooker bars.

I guess perhaps the word "friends" was a bit exaggerated. They are neighbours. I never pay less than 300 baht for breakfast

How embarrassing for you you live someplace those type of people can afford

I put it in a water bottle full of cold water and shake the *%&$ out of it. It gets rid of all the lumps and I can get my quick dose of caffeine and be on my way.

I'm not gonna bother boiling water unless it is for real coffee. 3 in 1 is purely for getting caffeine.

A gang of four men savaging a lone girl in the middle of a street. The costumes they are wearing confuse people who otherwise might intervene. Even the guy who tried to help was fooled at first, if it was 'real' dudes he would have smashed them in the face in the beginning instead of gently trying to pull them off. They are men and should be treated as men.