Andrew65

Just recently I was reading that in the UK younger people were not drinking as much as young people were years before. I wonder how much this is to do with it being cheaper to get high than to get drunk?

I doubt it, he was a Swedish farang. In my many years in Thailand I had some very wealthy farang friends.

My old (late) Swedish friend bought a gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual some years ago, and it was around a million Baht. He had an amazing watch collection, including 3 or 4 (real) Rolexes.

I hope things work out for this guy, very sad. In my 20 years in Thailand I studiously avoided riding on motorbikes/taxi, due to the roads being so dangerous, and not wanting X million Baht medical bills.

Without exception, a Thai lady will ALWAYS insist that you shower before getting into bed (whatever time of night it is). That was my experience anyway.

A gold Rolex Oyster would be about a million Baht (ballpark).

It remains waterproof so long as it has been serviced and the gaskets have been changed. I failed to do this with a real Breitling, and water got into it in the shower. Cost about 30k Baht to have fixed. Haven't worn it in the shower since.

My old (wealthy) friends wore real Rolex's everywhere over the almost 20 years that I knew them, and never had a problem. The one had the most amazing watch collection. 3 or 4 Rolex's, a Hublot, a limited edition Patek Phillipe (worth around $60k).

In the years when I used to do that kind of thing, however drunk I was, I would always undress in the bathroom, on the basis that my money was in my shorts pocket (could be as much as 15,000 Baht). One night, probably down to alcohol, I left my shorts unattended with what's-er-name in the bedroom. I discovered later that a $100 bill had disappeared.????

RIP Joe. I found his advice/info to be spot-on some years ago when I was doing a visa application. He really knew his stuff.

Anything's expensive if you have no money. Addictive? Open to debate.????

Is that expensive compared to Europe/US?

600 ฿/g! You gotta be kiddin me! I'll stick with the booze!????

"Dont hang around smokers". That was a big thing for me, I wasn't going out at all socially, and I live on my own. Even though I didn't like it, I can see the logic in banning smoking in pubs etc. Many years ago I had given up twice, for 6 months or so, both times that I restarted were when I was in a bar and people were smoking.

I had an old American friend, Ned, in Thailand who was a heroin addict. He said that giving up cigarettes (tobacco) was harder for him than giving up heroin (now on Methadone).

If I look at my wages/outgoings are now, £400 would mean having NO other money for ANYTHING else. As you say though, an addict will always find a way.

I gave up smoking 2 years after I left Thailand to live in the UK. I had gone from paying 60 Baht (£1.50) a pack, to £12 a pack in the UK. That could be as much as £400 per month, simply unaffordable. I had been a smoker for 45 years.

There' a question of whether or not one is "stupid" enough to take heroin in the first place. Who could be aware of the damgers of it and still take it!? Bear in mind that many/most people who are given it medically are terminally ill, so addiction is a moot point. I agree in a way with what you say about booze. And another angle on drugs, I'm surprised that a product/drug, tobacco, can still be legally sold in the knowledge that it is so harmful/has fatal consequences for many.

Wouldn't the difference be whether or not such substances are given to you by a doctor or by a stranger in a nightclub? Heroin has health (pain killing) benefits when given by a doctor, usually to the terminally ill, but not if taken recreationally.

I would think the farm gig is sort of ok if you're working on the family farm. Also, as I always point out, if the taxi flag-fall is still 35 Baht, it was that 25 years ago in 1998. I left Thailand 5 years ago and thought that that should have been at least 55 Baht by then.

... and to do that he needs to drive down Sukhumvit, turn right into Asoke, drive about 600m, and then have to right turn across the flow of traffic. No can do.

Emporium to The Clubhouse is about a 1km walk?

I remember "Happy Herb Pizza" in Phnom Penh, where cannabis (if you want) was sprinkled on your pizza, the amount equates from "Happy" to "Very Happy"????. I talked to a bar owner that I knew who owned a bar just down the road. He said, almost without exception, when people come into his bar after being there they do the same thing: 1. Sit down 2. Order a drink 3. Fall asleep (Not very good for business!?).

Something to remember with Thailand trying to attract tourists from India & China is that for people from those countries (unlike for Europeans & N Americans), Thailand is a short haul destination. Thailand has almost 3 billion potential tourists almost on it's doorstep, which could prove to be rather too many?

An old friend has a London-based HSBC account that he has had since he lived in the UK, and has lived in Thailand for 18 years, without maintaining an address ouside Thailand. I would think it nigh impossible to open a new regular UK high street bank account if you can't use a UK residential address, even if it's that of a relative. As I mentioned, my old firend had his account since long before he moved to Thailand.