MrWorldwide

I dont see anyone declaring war on China as being in anyone's interests - can we move on from that little gem ? That is a 'go straight to Soi 4 and drink until you collapse face first onto your bed at the Nana Hotel' scenario for me. Actually a pretty cheap Armageddon fantasy - just chicken-on-a-stick and Beer Leo : the staff at the Nana would lose interest in my room rate when the first mushroom cloud appeared on the horizon.

OxfordWill, I hang out with hookers and assorted desperates from lower Suk, and one of them mentioned that your bar tab is quite substantial - any chance you could pop by Golden Bar on your way to the Cockatoo Club this weekend ?

Of course, Thailand wouldn't be the first country to grapple with the growing pains that go with 'prosperity'. Two puff pieces from the Ipoh Echo (alliteration - cute) contain some interesting quotes, and a rather blatant if laudable agenda. Anyone who has been to KL knows that it is an expensive city, especially if you want to sample the nightlife, but Ipoh has long been considered a cheaper alternative - especially by Malaysian who dont see much point in paying 30RM for a beer or 300RM for female companionship. If people in a relatively 'rich' country like Malaysia are unhappy about rising prices, its not hard to see how well that will go down with rural Thais and those who live hand-to-mouth in Bangkok.

2010:

http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/12/16/spiralling-cost-of-living/

In 2006, when Najib was Deputy Prime Minister, he asked Malaysians to change their lifestyle in order to face the spiralling cost of living. Someone responded, rather sarcastically: “How are we going to change our lifestyle when we have none?” He could not have been more precise

2012:

http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2012/09/01/the-rising-cost-of-living/

Perak Consumers Association president Abdul Rahman Said Alli when contacted, blamed the high cost of living in Ipoh on the Government’s plans of wanting to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.

“Why must we be so obsessed with becoming a high-income nation?” he questioned. He claimed that by pushing the country towards high-income, traders also push to have higher income by increasing their prices. He said the problem is more evident during festive seasons when the price of everything skyrockets. “And I am not talking about the controlled price items,” he said. He said the association had been receiving calls from the concerned public daily, over difficulties in making ends meet. “Our advice to them is to try to look for alternatives,” he said, adding that many people are working two jobs nowadays just to ensure there is enough income for the family.

When I get to Thailand, I'm going straight to Tommo's place - he has two year's supply of baht sewn into his mattress, apparently.

Tommo, I expect that at least half of your posts are taking the piss - it's the process of trying to determine which half that seems to really take it out of me.

Dont know about Swizerland, but it would seem that my copy-and-paste skills are failing me, Meant to grab this gem :

About 70% to 90% of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Speculators will decide the fate of the baht. Comforting thought, isnt it ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_exchange_market#Market_participants

The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank.^[63] Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 European Exchange Rate Mechanism collapse, and in more recent times in Asia.

A lot of Thais have few ethics when it comes to making money. Also a lot of laws are not enforced when it comes to big business here. My personal view is I would abandon my home land with its proper law enforcement, ethics, well educated views on conservation and the environment, etc, to move to place like Thailand. On the face it looks like Paradise but look more closely underneath and you will see a lot of things that shock you. So are you really surprised about trafficking of endangered species through Thailand? What about over fishing of the Gulf of Thailand while we are here, highlighted on uk tv last night? Or maybe other injustices while we are here? There are many.

Oh, <deleted> - don't you have an email to send to Stickman ? I'd get cracking - he is supposed to publish his weekly rant by 6pm Thailand time.

Thailand, like many of its Asian neighbours, has problems with their environmental record. Take a trip to Malaysia if you want to see serious environmental vandalism - mile after mile of a hideous palm oil monoculture in place of the forest which once stood on that land. I dont blame your average Malay for that, nor do I make sweeping generalisations like 'few Malaysians have ethics when it comes to making money'. Its all about education, but that's a topic for another thread (or 50 ..).

It's an old gag, but I'm an old fart.

What's the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion ?

About ten years.

Not entirely without some basis in reality - the system jailed Wesley Snipes for three years for tax evasion (scheduled for release in July this year) while Michael Jackson and OJ got away with much more serious crimes (karma eventually got OJ). Granted, old Wes' should have had a better defence than 'I'm an alien, your honor !', but what's the point of having millions in unpaid taxes if it doesnt buy you a $1500-an-hour lawyers ? Faced with something like that in Thailand (!), I would just pay the 'fine' and cut my losses - I couldn't do a week in a Thai jail, much less 3 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Snipes#Tax_conviction

^{Look onm the bright side, SC - you are paying those taxes so that the chicken-on-a-stick guy doesnt have to. I'd say that's one form of welfare state, albeit one where no-one gets to sit at home and watch re-runs of Neighbours ......}

I'm guessing that your best bet will be somewhere up in the Soi 7/8 maze of bars - at any given time, you will find one or two festooned with Aussie flags, boxing kangaroos and the like - several look like a poor man's Ettamogah Pub. Whether that translates into a bar owner who is sufficiently motivated to invest in the AFL is a question I cant answer - I rarely even venture into the sports bars in BKK. The NRL State of Origin might tempt me in 2014, but that would be about it.

Mrworldwide you have poopypants!

Harsh but fair - I shall work on a witty response and get back to you no later than midnight Sunday, AESDT.

True, but who pays for the Army, Police and the people who issue licenses and registration ? I *get* that Thailand is very much a 'user pays' society, but someone has to pay for Yingluck to fly to Washington. Some might even argue that one of the reasons that Thai Police are so prone to corruption is that they are not paid a living wage - probably a debate best left for another thread, but I wouldnt be too keen to walk the streets of Bangkok if there were *no* Police. That said, I dont recall seeing a single cop on the streets of PP - I know they exist only because I've seen them in documentaries - and only one or two in VT. Thailand's boys in brown seem to believe in safety in numbers

Welfare state aside, I know I take our medical system for granted until it fails me. Sure, we pay anywhere from 1.5 to 3% of our income to prop up the Medicare system, but when I see what Americans have to pay to prop up ambulance chasing lawyers - let's just say I'm glad I live here.

OK - possibly a minefield - just looking to establish how many TV'ers get slugged with a tax bill in Thailand. I know Thailand has a VAT, and we've all paid 'Farang prices' for goodies at some stage or other, but I look at the massive 'black economy' in various Thai cities and wonder how the tax man can stand by and watch that income slide straight past his office. Not just talking about working girls - many Thais seem to prefer a 'cash in hand' approach to anything involving a receipt. I don't expect the guy selling me a pair of Levi's from a stall on Suk to have EFTPOS, but I've seen travel agents running a 'till' out of their trouser pocket. Maybe they figure that if the guy selling chicken-on-a-stick can do it, why not ?

I've never enjoyed paying tax in Oz, particularly when our idiot politicians get their grubby mitts on it, but it's up there with death as one of life's inevitabilities. I have no desire to transfer the Farangland nanny state to Thailand but someone has to pay for those immaculately maintained roads and footpaths all over Thailand

(if this thread makes you want to mash keys in a fit of righteous indignation, I get that - just try to keep the name-calling to 'mofo' and 'poopy pants', if possible)

Well the OP has dreams of a cheaper life with cheaper women in a cheaper country in a cheaper hovel with cheaper food. He is just living the dream of cheapness, a pentultimate objective in a fulfilling life if ever there was.

Some folk also cited the easier visa system as an incentive for considering Cambo, but I think you have hit the nail on the head. In any case, a month in Cambo would answer a lot more questions than 500 of these threads.

Wow - this thread has all the hallmarks of a love-in. We should all get a room .... better yet a boxing tent

I chalk Cambodja up to yet another example of the horrendous ideology of socialism/marxism/communism. The only difference is, that when normally reds only try to keep smart and capable people down by taxing them to death, then the Khmer Rogue just killed them outright. The goal of socialism always ends up that everyone should be equally poor. Mission accomplished Khmer Rogue.

But seriously, the lie that nazism is the biggest killer in humanity is just that - a lie. Pol Pot, Mao, Kim Jong Il, Gaddaffi, Hussein, Che Guevara, Castro, Stalin, Hoenecker - no ideology has as much blood on it's hand as socialism.

So next time some moron begins singing the praises of income quality distribution, be wary, because those people are the same who supported the mass murderes above.

Read the Wikipedia entry on the KR - of the 1-3 million people victims (no-one seems to know exactly how many), executions were eclipsed by:

- those who died from the wounds inflicted during torture

- being marched long distances into the rural areas

- famine, particularly when city people were expected to be able to fend for themselves growing crops when they clearly had no skills in this area

It's still genocide - no argument - but a long way from a 'quick death'. Add the spectre of watching your children starve to death or die from exposure and its as horrific as anything perpetrated by the Nazis.

Finally, I think its well accepted that Stalin was responsible for more deaths than Hitler, but how about Churchill and Roosevelt sitting down with Stalin to carve up Europe ? I guess the Poles were just in the wrong place at the wrong time(s) - 1939 and 1945 - and they paid the price for decades. The problem is less about ideology and more about power, but that's a debate for another thread.

Go back and read some of bangkokburning's posts in this thread, but he isnt alone. The attitude that 'Cambodia has moved on - the KR are ancient history' seems to ignore certain realities. That said, I'm not Cambodian - to speak on their behalf is way beyond my pay grade.

I'm not looking to start a flame war here, but making sweeping statements re Cambodia without so much as Wikipedia entry seems awfully ambitious for mine.

HJC, at least I'm prepared to provide a few links to back up my claims re Cambodia - that's more than most in this thread. When it comes to the 'Thais dont slaughter their own' claim , I actually exercised restraint. Picture someone banging their head against a wall - sheer ignorance on that scale simply cant go unanswered.

'instant expert' or not, I don't brush Cambodia's bloody past aside as easily as some here appear to. When a Cambodian woman tells me that she doesn't want to go in to the museum with the skulls because members of her family were murdered by the KR, I don't laugh in her face and proclaim 'Ha ! You couldn't possibly have been alive to see that !'. Can anyone here imagine what it must be like to grow up in a country where you know that the generation before you was decimated by their peers, some of which still walk the streets of PP ? So many smug Westerners in every corner of Asia, but most of us know sweet <deleted> all. Cambodians can still laugh and smile, despite the grinding poverty : our currencies drop by 10% and we are ready to open a vein ....

Topics like this on Thaivisa forum are useful in reminding me why, for the most part, I have little or any desire to hang out with other Western guys. If I go for days without speaking any English that is OK as well. I kinda gave up the farang socializing as I don't smoke, don't drink beer, and I know nothing about footie so, after a while, what was the point?

Whilst I neither smoke nor watch 'footie', I have to wonder how anyone can stay in Thailand without drinking. I rarely drink here in Oz (think 1 beer in 12 months, not 1 beer a week ..), but 10 minutes of a Thai soap and suddenly the nearest bar looks awfully good.

3000 baht a month ? Based on the cheapest hotel room I've ever stayed in, there is a point where that has to be a false economy. I would spend at least another 20K every month getting drunk enough to go back to an apartment like that !

Not sure that I can recommend ANY tourist destination to a 'light sleeper' :I find alcohol helps me sleep in Patts, and I can don't recall a single Russian drinking in the blacked out bars on Soi 7 at 4am. I'll be keeping a close eye out for these crazy party animals on my next visit to Soi 6. Before the Russians it was 'bovver boys from Borstal' - Patts has always had a-holes : the fun lies in avoiding them and enjoying the company of the people who are just there for a good time.

100% agree re. Google translate - next to useless.

Plenty of talk about Isaan Thai, Central Thai and Southern Thai on various expat fora, but I didnt quite believe that the gap could be so large until I saw it for myself. Two Isaan girls - different trips - complaining to me that they couldn't understand their own 'sisters' when we went to Chumphon and Koh Chang. The closest analogy I can imagine is this woman I worked with in the early 90s - Aussie accent became a thick Scottish brogue whenever her mother rang. It was truly bizarre.

Throw in the gals who also speak Khmer, Burmese and (so I'm told) Russian and it's an interesting Tower of Babel.