MrWorldwide

`tb, I'm still not concerned - of all the women I've met in Thailand, the 'stunners' have been some of the most devious - your horny Chinese men are most welcome to them. If one of them stole my favourite BKK cook - a homely lady somewhere near 40 - then I might get angry. She speaks zero English, but we get on like a house on fire : if only the same could be said of every women I've met in Thailand.

This is Asia's century - we can either embrace it or be steamrolled by it - but I still find some of the sweeping statements in your post to be a tad overly enthusiastic.

Quite right theblether. The Chinese 'one child' policy has had a great influence on their population, not only on numbers but also on the gender balance. The preference for male offspring has resulted in a huge male 'surplus' and I expect many young Chinese males will look to Thailand as a prospective place to look for a wife, or maybe just to 'get water off chest'.

There have been large Chinese tour groups in Thailand for decades - what you are suggesting is something quite different, and the Thais aren't stupid when it comes to a business opportunity of that magnitude. I just doubt that we will see scores of Chinese men sitting on bar stools in Pattaya anytime soon. Just as the majority of Japanese like to keep their Sanuk activities in Thailand behind closed doors, the last place a single Chinese man would want to be spotted is in a bar on Walking St with hordes of family groups from China strolling past. I know a couple of Thai guys with a travel agency on Suk Soi 22 in BKK - this will make for an interesting discussion, although I suspect it has been happening to a smaller degree for many years.

On the marriage question, do Thai women really look to China as an alternative to life in Thailand ? When I visited in 2004, even province-to-province movement was strictly controlled in China - I have no idea how their Immigration folk view foreign brides. Do I personally feel threatened by the notion that Chinese men are going to scoop up every available women under 45 in Thailand ? No, but then I'm a very hansum man

TP, my guess would be Mars. That, or a bar somewhere.

+1 beautifulthailand99, I don't think people realize the juggernaut that's on it's way from China.

When I was in CM two weeks ago I saw staff members practising Chinese phrases and the boss told me he was getting a menu prepared in Mandarin. The Chinese were everywhere ( as they are entitled to be ) and there will be a vast increase in tourism from that country shortly, especially I predict in Chiang Mai.

I'm like a broken record on this subject, the Chinese are coming, they're looking for bargains, they're looking for investments, they're looking for relaxation, and most worryingly for a lot of Western guys, they're looking for Brides.

Many of them are awash with money and they'll go snapping up the best of the women in a heartbeat. The competition is getting a whole lot hotter, and there's a weird thing on play in Chinese society, Chinese men always marry down. .

Dont even know where to start with that - suffice it to say that I disagree with almost everyhing in that post. Congratulations

Meh - it has never worried me, and it definitely beats 'Gwailo' ....

TP, when I see the term 'Farang', I take it to mean ALL foreigners in Thailand - yes, I know Thais have different names for various Asian and African people, but for me 'Farang' covers everyone who isnt ethnically Thai (how many of our countries would tolerate a term like 'luek kreung' - in Oz, you are either an Australian or you are not ..).

If that isnt your interpretation, or I've misread you, please advise.

diddums, feel free to bait me - you know as well as everyone else here that I was trying to separate adult P4P from child exploitation. We can play these games, or we can move on - I vote we move on.

With the economics brainpower on display in this thread - I am sure Thailand is in good hands....

OK - I'll bite - which of the current TV board members is a member of the Thai government ? Good to know I'm mixing with the elite.

scottythai, seriously, you had to quote a virtual screen worth of posts simply to have your little jab at me ?

So and how we must live in Thailand when money value goes down 50 procent?

1. Get a job in Thailand

2. Vote with your feet and go elsewhere

3. Accept a lower standard of living and start growing your own food

There IS a fourth option, but I suspect that some folk find that option a little bleak. In its own way, Option 4 requires as much commitment as any of the above : you just dont have to maintain it for the long term.

http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

Some claim its a surprisingly accurate gauge re economic realities from one country to another (Viva Argentina !), others that its an amusing time-waster - whatever you think, it's interesting to look at the differences between the 'raw' and 'adjusted' indexes : when you take 'GDP per person' into account, Thailand's position on the chart changes dramatically (as does Australia's). I'm not an economist, so I'll leave it to others to make their own conclusions.

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

Cmon Mods - this is going nowhere. I think my IQ may be dropping each time I check back in on this thread. Please put us all out of our misery.

I wonder why this post is still open.this is racism.

Worse - it has degenerated into a series of unwinnable arguments being waged by the usual suspects. I dearly wish the mods could disable the 'quote' button in certain threads ....

There are many "retired" economists here who enjoy ranting their theories and proving why they are smarter than the rest and trying to predict the future I suspect many people here just want to have enough for their daily living. No point running them down. When it comes to $$$ the simplest theory work Save hard, spend wisely and be content. Happiest way to be a human being

I can predict the future will contain surprises of all kinds, particularly for those poor saps who have retired in Thailand on fixed incomes in currencies other than the Thai baht.

As for you, I hope nothing unexpected happens in your life, but you know, the unexpected always happens.

Right, so I cash in my Super early next year, get that lump sum and immediately convert it ALL to THB. Wow - glad you came along - that has simplified my financial planning immensely !

There are many "retired" economists here who enjoy ranting their theories and proving why they are smarter than the rest and trying to predict the future I suspect many people here just want to have enough for their daily living. No point running them down. When it comes to $$$ the simplest theory work Save hard, spend wisely and be content. Happiest way to be a human being

Lawrence, its all well and good to make such noble pronouncements, but that assumes that Farang will even be employed in Thailand in 10 years time, and it also makes no room for those of us who have worked our entire lives and have no particular desire to drag our sorry butts onto a Skytrain every morning. There IS a school of thought here in Oz that says men go downhill a lot faster than women in retirement, but that was for a generation that didnt seem to know mjuch beyond work other than smoking, drinking and gambling. My experience is that they threw themselves into each of those pursuits with reckless enthusiasm, but our health system is paying for it as I type this.

(those in specialist industries such as oil and gas may smirk at my prediction above re Farang working in Thailand, but I guess time will tell)

)

NMT, I have to really scrape my memory banks to think of the last time I ran into a forumer who is as willing to argue the toss as you are - in it's own way, it's a badge of honor, but it doesnt make re-visiting this thread much fun

TP, all the issues you've raised pale into insignificance next to the prospect of retirees' foreign income being worth 30-50% less than it is now against the Thai baht, but that's being covered elsewhere. Cumulatively, it DOES beg the question - why would *anyone* want to visit Thailand, much less live in LOS ? You'd almost be forgiven for thinking there might be some positives to offset the negatives we like to roll around in each day on TV ..........

If Farang moved their lives to Thailand in the 90s, surely it wasn't simply because it was cheap ? Or that there were, in your words, Prostitutes on every street Hmm.

If Thai women *do* have pimps, it's their dropkick Thai boyfriends. Another stereotype, but I have personal experience of the rapid deterioration that accompanies yaba addiction - not least of which is the speed with which friends and family desert the addicts. Makes me want to drag my White Knight outfit out of the closet (!) and ride into Pattaya with my shining lance held aloft ....

My only alternatives are Cambodia and Myanmar ? Sweet Jesus ....

I think the 'alternatives to Thailand' thing is pretty well covered in the Southeast Asia Forum.

Every farang bar owner is a pimp. All of a sudden we're demonizing pimps? Oh, yeah...these are black pimps. Dirty black Nigerian pimps.

It would be interesting, to say the least, to see a Farang bar owner try to keep a girl in the bar against her will, and I dont even want to think about the consequences for a Farang bar owner who tried to slap a girl around to 'keep her in line'. As for the most despicable pimp tactic of all - fostering drug addiction to keep girls on the game - how many bar owners want yaba addicts on the payroll ?

Your argument is particularly spurious atm, given the fierce competition for staff in bars and restaurants.

Everything I read says 'drop bread and dairy', but I like bread and dairy. I dont smoke and rarely drink - at least in Oz - so I figure I'm entitled to some food, fer chrissakes. When did we all decide to start telling other people what to eat ?

I think the Police could sort the pimps and drug pushers from the family men - the issue seems to be a distinct lack of motivation.