MrWorldwide

bleater completely lost me when he said he 'claims it back from my companies'. How the hell does that equate to 'paying my own way' ?? It's like one of the Directors of a company I used to work for in Brisbane making a big deal about buying a bunch of my workmates drinks one night at a club in the city (after a work function), to the point of holding his credit card up for all to see. I knew it was too good to be true and, sure enough, his secretary told me he submitted an expense claim for every cent.

Personal expenses should be exactly that - personal expenses. Using big alcohol bills as a tax dodge went out sometime in the early 90s here in Oz ...

But we are not Thai........if you can't afford to be in Thailand then don't be there.

It's as simple as that.

No argument from me - I did start this 'thread within a thread' by saying that I felt any Farang caught begging or threatening people for money (Michael, a notorious Pattaya begger, was a scary guy) should be immediately deported. These guys leave it way too long. When my own money eventually gets below 10k baht, all I need is a bottle of Mekhong, a packet of Diazepam and a bathtub. No bathtub ? Easy :

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Suicide_bag

You can carry that anywhere, or make one if necessary - just have to get the oxygen or nitrogen, and even that would be less important once the Mekhong kicked in. One of my Thai companions claims she rescued me from the floor of a shower stall after a night on Mekhong - all I remember is a really vivid hallucination featuring a train and some soldiers. They withdrew it from sale a couple of years back, but you can still get it if you know who to ask. Extreme ? Sure, but it beats the hell out of either begging (not gonna happen ..), being deported with no money or the Pattaya high dive. To many, it might seem like 'the coward's way out', but I'm <snipped!> if I'd end my days shuffling around on an aged pension here in Oz. Horses for courses.

Grim stuff, and I apologise for taking the thread down such a dark path, but anyone who moves to another country without an 'exit plan' that they are prepared to act on really needs to ask themselves what the hell they were thinking. If your exit plan is to return to the old country, fine - it just ain't mine - but clearly anyone begging in Thailand has no plans to return home.

krisb, I wasn't talking about the village - I was talking about Farang teachers in Bangkok.

If I can take this slightly OT, I just cant do the math on a single Farang teacher's 30K baht salary and come up with anything more than 200 baht a day for food, drink and transport to and from work - not in BKK. I know Thais and Filipinos have to do it on less, but they have the extended family (a liability if they are the sole breadwinner, but I doubt that is the case in the current Thai economy). Thais are brilliant when it comes to sharing food - 3 of them put in 40 baht each and have a 'banquet' - how many Farang do the same ? I've never set foot in a Thai school, and it may well be that the cafeteria (?) is heavily subsidised. I'll leave it to the teachers to explain how that works - atm, its a mystery to me. I *have* bought Thai food in supermarkets (Carrefour, not Family Mart ..), but anything I made at home would inevitably seem dull next to the delights on offer out on the street. Still, rice and pasta - I guess its technically doable for very little.

Buying food in a Thai supermarket costs alot more than buying in the market. Those supermarkets arent really for Thais.

Fair enough - I did get the sense that I was shopping with middle-class Thais, but most of what I see in the markets is produce designed to be eaten within one or two days. I guess you need both, and a better grasp of Thai than I currently possess. I was just trying to stress that I realise that food prices on Suk arent indicative of what 'real' people actually pay, any more than buying lunch in a cafe in Melbourne is indicative of what folk in the suburbs are spending each day, even if our supermarket prices are ridiculously high.

If I can take this slightly OT, I just cant do the math on a single Farang teacher's 30K baht salary and come up with anything more than 200 baht a day for food, drink and transport to and from work - not in BKK. I know Thais and Filipinos have to do it on less, but they have the extended family (a liability if they are the sole breadwinner, but I doubt that is the case in the current Thai economy). Thais are brilliant when it comes to sharing food - 3 of them put in 40 baht each and have a 'banquet' - how many Farang do the same ? I've never set foot in a Thai school, and it may well be that the cafeteria (?) is heavily subsidised. I'll leave it to the teachers to explain how that works - atm, its a mystery to me. I *have* bought Thai food in supermarkets (Carrefour, not Family Mart ..), but anything I made at home would inevitably seem dull next to the delights on offer out on the street. Still, rice and pasta - I guess its technically doable for very little.

Guys, that would have been half a million purely on nightlife - not hard to do, granted, but how many of us would be happy to see that sort of money go straight down a urinal or into some of the horrendous hangovers I've suffered in LOS ? I expect that the tough guys here dont suffer hangovers, but I sure as hell do and the following day is usually a queit one - its the day after that things usually go back to 'party' mode and those thousand baht notes disappear very quickly. Cabs, restaurants, women - its very easy to burn throiugh 6K baht a day in holiday mode.

Out of interest, did anyone think my '2-300 baht a day' estimate included accommodation or things like laundry ? Seriously ?

Burning 6,000 baht a day,well even young guys don't have the energy to be partying every night, and can also need a few quieter/cheaper nights,if only to sober up! and get their head straight.

2-300 baht a day inc accomodation = No.

On a 2-week holiday, particularly when the next one is 9-12 months away, I tend to go very hard. Ok - too hard. Even on the days where my alcohol intake was moderated, I would go to Emporium and try to buy my way out of the malaise that inevitably follows a big night on the turps. Technically, it may not all have been alcohol and girls, but a very large percentage was.

Guys, that would have been half a million purely on nightlife - not hard to do, granted, but how many of us would be happy to see that sort of money go straight down a urinal or into some of the horrendous hangovers I've suffered in LOS ? I expect that the tough guys here dont suffer hangovers, but I sure as hell do and the following day is usually a queit one - its the day after that things usually go back to 'party' mode and those thousand baht notes disappear very quickly. Cabs, restaurants, women - its very easy to burn throiugh 6K baht a day in holiday mode.

Out of interest, did anyone think my '2-300 baht a day' estimate included accommodation or things like laundry ? Seriously ?

I think the answer is simple - once they start begging / cajoling people for money, deport them. Till then, who gives a shit ? Having survived on the streets of BKK on 2-300 baht a day for 6 days of the week so that I could get merry on the 7th, I know what its like to have to control my spending (please, unless you are Thai (or eating rice exclusively) don't tell me you could do BKK on 50 baht a day ..) - no excuse for dressing like a homeless person, but as long as they aren't hurting anyone, is 'hand to mouth' such a sin ? .I actually woke up feeling better about myself on those extended 3-month stays than I did when I blew anywhere up to 20K baht a night (6K most nights) boozing it up for 2 weeks straight .... spending over half a million baht on a 3-month binge in LOS was never going to happen.

Thanks gamini, but I assume you mean the 90-day stamp, rather than a full-page visa in your passport ? Technically, the former is a visa exemption.

Historically, Penang could have been a lot closer to Thailand than is currently the case.

n 1785, the British obtained the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah. The channel between the island and the mainland of Peninsula Malaysia became the border between British territory and Kedah, and therefore Siamese, territory.

On 6 May 1869, Great Britain and Siam signed an agreement known as the Bangkok Treaty of 1869 where Siam ceded a piece of territory on the mainland opposite Penang to Great Britain. The territory became known as Province Wellesley (known as Seberang Perai today).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia%E2%80%93Thailand_border

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

Of course, retaining Butterworth and surrounds as part of the Kingdom would have been impossible once the surrounding provinces were returned to Malaysia. I know further political discussion isnt in our best interests, so I'll leave it there.

The Okinawans lost interest in hosting the US military when servicemen started raping 12-year old Okinawan girls, Funny how that works,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Okinawa_rape_incident

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/17/world/asia/japan-us-rape-allegations

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/06/world/asia/japan-us-rape-allegations

I spent 4 years in the Australian Army, and I know how easy it is for one or two bad apples to give everyone a bad name, but where the &lt;deleted&gt; did they find these guys - Detroit ? If they cant keep it in their pants around the conservative Okinawans, what hope in PI ?

It's interesting that there are so few Filipinas working said industry in Thailand when you will find them in almost every other Asian country, Particularly interesting when other imports - Russians and West Africans - seem to be able to make a living selling their booty to Farang. The Filis I've met in KL seem completely at home - very adaptable people, and I have no doubt that they would prefer Thai food to their own 'cuisine'.

I've only driven in Thailand once - from Udon Thani to Nong Khai - and its not an experience I'm eager to revisit. I found most of the car and truck drivers to be relatively good - even the speed freaks - but some motorbike riders seemed completely clueless. Nothing like relying on your 250cc Honda to propel your entire family (and a weeks worth of shopping) to a safe distance in front of traffic moving at 100 km/h. All from a standing start on the *other* side of a 4-lane highway - &lt;deleted&gt; ? Slow down to 90 to try to lessen the chance of an accident and you run the risk of having a truck on your hammer - it's a no-win situation.

In this case, we dont know if the kid was in the wrong, or the family made an error of judgement, but at least he handed himself in. A tragedy all round, but automatically assuming the Porsche driver was at fault just isnt fair, IMO - I could easily have found myself in the same situation if I hadnt constantly watched for nutters darting into the lane in front of me. We all know the conventional wisdom in Thailand - if you hit someone, keep driving as though nothing has happened. Rich or not, connected or not, I doubt that our young Laotian is happy with the sudden change in his fortunes.

I know Thailand cracked down on this some years back, but I havent seen any reference to foreigners being turned around at any of Malaysia's entry points because they have exceeded any rule re visa exemption stamps. A conversation with a lady on a flight from Penang to Swampy in 2010 left me wondering if Malaysian immigration simply doesn't care - she was travelling with her daughter who, despite having been born in Malaysia didnt qualify for a Malatsian passport as neither parent was a permanent resident. Dad had a working visa (lucky man, fwir ..), but the women of the family had to fly out every 3 months. I dont know whether they made an exception for the family because they had a Malaysian address, but the child was at least 3 years old - that's a lot of stamps in a toddler's passport ...

Happy to hear from anyone who has more info on this, but on the surface it seems a lot more lenient than the Thai rule. No question that Malaysia is a more expensive destination than Thailand, particularly for tourists, but I've never seen a Malaysian Immigration official give my passport anything more than a cursory glance before hammering that 90-day stamp and waving me on my way. 'Welcome to Malaysia - now get your butt to the hotel and start pushing up our GDP !'

The blether's reply explained it perfectly.

I just wish there were more cute guys who weren't so short. Oh well, I don't want a relationship right now anyway.

OK - by 'short', I'm assuming you mean 'not tall'. Australians may not be the tallest race on earth (that would be the Danes, IME), but I wouldn't describe us as 'short'. Or 'cute'. More ruggedly handsome in a totally inebriated, completely undomesticated fashion.

No hotel balconies in the US ? Man, that's harsh

I'm leaving Aus on Monday 18th, after living for the past 3 years in a small NSW country town and finishing my degree. My Thai wife and our son have been with me the whole time. I have paid my dues now, and am really REALLY looking forward to getting back. Its not all beer and skittles over there either but the happiest days of my life so far have been in Thailand....and no, I am not talking about alcohol and bar girls, simply that I prefer the lifestyle over there, to that I would have here.

Look out Thailand....I'm coming back!

Way to go - that's next Monday ! Two more sleeps - sweet Jesus, except for the wife and son part, that is exactly where I want to be - just 13 months (!) and it will happen. I'm going to leave via Perth - having never been to WA - but stepping into the Departure Lounge at Kingsford-Smith would be just as good. Even the flight - an ordeal I normally dread - seems like a big part of the adventure, but it's the prospect of stepping out into that stale air to get a taxi at Swampy that is the moment I'm really looking forward to.

I hear what you are saying re 'alcohol and bar girls', but even though that is part of my landscape in Thailand, it's not what I'm dreaming of atm. Just being able to go for an early morning walk and see the sights (new and old) is a big part of the attraction for me, and I suspect that it's something that many expats now take for granted. I get that - have lived in every city on the Eastern Seaboard here in Oz and it's easy to get jaded with the 'same old same old', but Bangkok and even Patts continue to throw up surprises - good and bad - down every Soi. On one 3-month stint in LOS, I had to make do on 2-300 baht a day for most of the week, and my 'entertainment' options were limited to long walks up and down Suk - amazing what you can amuse yourself with when you dont have 6K baht to spend each day.

All the best for your life in LOS, and you can go to be tonite knowing that another Aussie envies the living *$! out of you !

If we swap IDs, you also have to take my wife, inlaws, bills and kids!

That would be the part where I clearly indicated that the only 'payment' I'm looking for is your tears. It would seem that you are an authority on said tears

Great contribution to the forum, care to explain or shed more light on the post?

1. First and foremost, its an attempt at humor. You remember humor, don't you ? If nothing else, surely the photo of Steve Martin had to broadcast it 200m high.

2. It was a mild swipe at the 'get me outta here !' posts I see on a daily basis from expats who seem to dearly want their developed, nanny state and the judicial system that goes with it magically transported to Thailand. Given the 'no thanks !' replies above, however jovial, it's pretty clear that bags aren't exactly being packed and plans made. Most know, deep down, that what they have cant be replicated anywhere else - definitely not in a nanny state with a form for everything ....

The majority of responses to this thread seem to indicate that people here are prepared to have a laugh, even if my OP wasn't a rib-splitter, but you seem to have your serious pants on today. I'd get your mum to change those when she gets a moment.

I thought the Pinatubo eruption was the 'beginning of the end' for US involvement in PI ?

Meet me at Swampy in April 2014 - I'll give you my NSW driver's licence, medicare card and some Kevin Bloody Wilson CDs : all you could possibly need for your new life in Sydney. Free health care, the wind in your hair and immediate grasp of the language / customs of a developed country. The only payment I require is your tears. Joyful tears, of course ...

Had this conversation with 3 Fili working girls over dinner in KL back in 2011, and they were scathing. Apparently Filipino guys are very good at 'love' right up until there is a baby to care for, then they make themselves very scarce. Of course, that could be the Fili version of 'Thai man no good', but it had a ring of truth to it. Not much use telling someone you love them unless you are prepared to back it up.

The next time you and your best mate get drunk and he tells you he 'loves' you, ask him if you can borrow 10K baht. Love. like all talk, seems to be very cheap

The worse Airline Ever.... Neve fly them and never have a problem....

I guess you've never flown with Tiger Airways. That's OK - many of Tiger's paying customers haven't either .....