The Dude

The Dude details his Apt & Condo renting history in Thailand

Year 1

Hotel Room BKK 20K. nuff said

Year 2

1 BR condo bkk 66 sq mtr high rise far from new. pool, exer room, sm fridge, sink, hot plate, balcony, 26th fl. 1 year contract req'd. landlord cheap ass made The Dude shell 4K baht for AC repair. 25K mo, 50K deposit was raped from The Dude after 1 year. landlord cheapass biatch

Year 3

Hotel Room sized Apt Pattaya. friendly landlord. no contract month to month. 10K mo. no kitch. too small for The Dude. The Dude has too much chit. Elect ran 5K/mo. deposit refunded on spot. Thai neighbors hang out in front of Apts on railings of the Motel 6 like building. The Dude dont dig. The Dude digs privacy. Was nitemare for The Dude

year 4

The Dude returns to BKK and rents 2BR condo from farang for 30K. condo is nicest Dude dwelling thus far. no contract as Dude is trusted by said farang. very nice bldg 7 years old. pool, exer etc. 100 sq mtr. full kitch and washer. balcon. The Dude gets boot from condo aft a year and scrambles to find place fast

Year 5

The Dude, under extreme pressure to find place, searches his beloved BKK neighborhood. He sees that prices have skyrocketed in recent years. He finds a condo bldg that looks good from outside but upon entry sees it is a major dump for 1BR 25K. He looks further. He checks same bldg where he got boot. He sees same 2BRs going for 40-45K. He looks nearby at huge 220 sq Apt 2BRs for 60K. He is impressed but too much cash for The Dude but he is tempted nonetheless (The Dude only lives once). The Dude settles on a 165 sq mtr 2BR Apt near sky train and nitelife areas for 50K. 1 yr contract, pay 3 months at a pop. pretty decent bldg with all facilities. Apt ok and doable. The Dude going broke but he deals. Dig?

Now there's a movie The Dude really digs, Up in Smoke. Cheech in Chong's Next movie is also good

Not sure what is going on with the whole Beer Lao thing as it is quite peculiar. We have it being offered at a number of bars and appears to have been for a few months, however many bars still do not carry it and it is not offered at the retail level anywhere that I can see. Also from what I see is that a rather large one time shipment came down and is being sold off. Will more be coming? This is the question right now. It seems that all of the brew that is around has a March 18 date on it which indicates a one time shipment as opposed to a regular delivery. Who knows where it goes from here. Rather than gather steam, it might just fade away

copenhagen and skoal

I am Canadian, and to claim non-resident status for tax reasons it was necessary to sever all ties to Canada. Having a credit card is a huge red flag the Revenue'rs look for.

Robert

cancelling CCs from your home country is unwise, dont do it. I kept all mine open thank god

Hmmm, interesting. I kept my dozen or so CCs from US. I never want to sever ties and live like 2nd class citizen in a foreign land. That's too scary for me

The Dude wishes he could buy White Castle Burgers here. He digs them with a large shovel

Well, make that a couple of ice cold puppies. Was hanging at my local Nana pool bar when I glanced over and saw a couple of dudes slam banging brews in an unfamiliar bottle. Didn't sink in at 1st but then after a while The Dude says to himself, "<deleted> are these dudes hammering?". So The Dude goes over to said dudes and says "what do you got there dudes, beer Lao or something?"

They said yes that was exactly what it was. I took the bottle and did an inspection as it was 1st time I have seen the stuff. They had sure enough whited out the tiger on the bottle as I had heard. Maybe Tiger beer made em do it. Thats a labor intensive job. Anyway, I ordered one and it went down very smooth and quick so I followed it up with a 2nd. ditto. I plan to bring some shovels to the bar tonite cause I dig that beer. Oh the price was 100 baht, same as heine. can you dig it?

Nope, The Dude can verify that Dodger Dawgs cannot be found in Thailand. Have not been able to find a NY Met hat either. Now that is something The Dude really needs this season

Of thee The Dude sings, ladies and gentleman. We have heard here about the joys of popping and ice cold Rolling Rock cruising the Pac coast highway. We have heard about the joys of the great local American micro brews. The key is the great broad spectrum that one has when strolling into a beer retailer. This is kid-in-a-candy-store stuff for beer lovers indeed. Anchor Steam Beers would go down nice right about now or maybe a New England Brewery stout while cruising the sand dunes of old Cape Cod. How about a trip down to Old Mexico popping a few bottles of Carta Blanca. Then again all we really need are some 16 oz cans of red white and blue Budweiser on the shores of Malibu, La Jolla, Venice, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, Laguna or Venice. We could always take a trip to Narraganset RI and drink their name sake local brew

The Dude thinks that Thailand should be given credit for its #1 strength, the adult bar scene industry. It must be the best in the world with only the PI coming close. This industry could well be the wave of the future and is probably growing like wildfire with all of the baby boomers getting older and wanting to enjoy this kind of leisure. The country should expand on this as this is what they do best. This website would not exist without it. At least 90% of board members would not be here if not for it no matter how much they claim to have had nothing to do with it. Of course their disavowing it after the fact is a big LOL. I mean just look at your 2 biggest expat info websites, your stickman and your thaivisa, both of these were spawned by this banner industry. No one can say there is no claim to fame here and the folks should be proud. I mean what percentage of folks did not come here for the sole purpose of checking out this stuff that made /thailand great? That number has got to be real close to zero

the sad thing is Thai degrees are not worth the paper they are written on.

Thailand is home to some of Asia's most respected and prestigious universities. Most second-rate universities in the west are just a laguhing stock in comparison.

Where did you get your information from? Thailand is nowhere close to any top university anywhere, except Thailand itself.

Top 3000 Universities

Not even close

That one's bogus for a start. How could Tronno uni and a load of other septic ones possibly be above Oxford and Cambridge? Try this one... a bit more lifelike

Good job Jack, that top 3000 list isnt based on academic excellence, I can promise you that. Notice where Princeton, Yale, Caltech and as you said Oxford are. LOL. The list Jack posted is correct

The Dude is proud to say that his 2 almamaters are near the top of both lists. Those are the schools where he studied archaeology, the art of digging.

Im going to be landing in BKK and trasnfering to the domestic terminal to fly to Samui. I have 90 minuetes between landing to get my bag, go through customs and get to my next flight. Is this a reasonable amount of time to trasfer planes?

As a veteran of over 100 flights and many of those at said airport, The Dude says you can make it w/o difficulty provided you dont dog it and are swift on your feet. No need for shuttle bus just walk fast btw terminals.

Oh and The Dude wanted to add that he does not want Thailand to be his end all because he is not convinced that it is special enough to be that. Hope you can dig what The Dude is saying on this very important matter

The Dude is 44 and retired in Thailand for now. He will maintain his residence in the states though just in case he wants to go back someday. The Dude does not like to burn bridges; He digs keeping them open and maintained. He digs the quality of life and wide arrange of goods and services offered in the USA. He has a palacial pad on the beach there. He knows if he sold out and torched the bridge that he could never return. He wishes to have that option. Now who can dig that with a shovel?

So what do you dudes think the best threads were in the history of this site and why?

Oh yeah tuts, off topic but how's the copenhagen search going?

The Dude digs Toto. The Dude regrets that Toto has cancelled the show. The Dude feels the OPs pain. The Dude's sequence of events tonight:

I can dig your enthusiasm Dude but what did they record that a mid 50s dude could dig (appreciate?)...

there was an early 70s band called Toto...the same? (Ritchie Furay and etc and some folks from Buffalo Springfield?)

Well tuts, you would know "hold the line", "Africa" and "rosanna", toto's biggest hits. Buff Springfield kicks ass and is an all time fav of mine for sure. Below is lyrics from hold the line

Hold The Line

It's not in the way that you hold me, it's not in the way you say you care

It's not in the way you've been treating my friends

It's not in the way that you stayed till the end

It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you'll do

Chorus:

Hold the line, love isn't always on time, oh oh oh

Hold the line, love isn't always on time, oh oh oh

It's not in the words that you told me, girl

It's not in the way you say you're mine, ooh

It's not in the way that you came back to me

It's not in the way that your love set me free

It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you'll do

Chorus

(Instrumental break)

It's not in the words that you told me

It's not in the way you say you're mine, ooh

It's not in the way that you came back to me

It's not in the way that your love set me free

It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you'll do

Chorus - love isn't always on time

Hold the line, love isn't always on time -

love isn't always, love isn't always on time

Hold the line, love isn't always on time, love isn't always on time

Love isn't always on time, love isn't always on time, oh oh oh

The Dude digs Toto. The Dude regrets that Toto has cancelled the show. The Dude feels the OPs pain. The Dude's sequence of events tonight:

The Dude leaves dwelling at 11:30 PM to pick up a beer. He walks by Foodland and sees what he thinks is a Toto Live in Concert poster on the door. Upon closer inspection he verifies that in fact said poster is about a Toto Live in BKK concert. The Dude had no idea Toto was to be playing in BKK. The Dude sees that concert is to happen the very next night. He races home to check ticketmaster Toto tix. He sees that said show has been cancelled. The Dude scraps shovels set aside to dig Toto show with. The Dude visits Toto website and BKK show is not listed. The Dude reads reviews of '06 Toto shows around the globe. The Dude notes that reviews are rave. The Dude bums out that he cannot check out said show. He feels that BKK show was not promoted properly thus resulting in poor ticket sales, hence show cancellation. Tis a major bummer says The Dude. The Toto live 2002 DVD has footage from Asian leg of that tour including some clips from the BKK arena in the special features section. The DVD demonstrates how good Toto performs nowadays.

deleted

My entire office in the UK has just laughed their tits off at your pic. They say you are a brave yet deluded young man.

You have brightened up a dreary afternoon.

Well done.

All The Dude can say to that is:

ROFLTDAO

great work there Chona: I bequeath to you a brand new shovel for a most diggable comment. LOL

The Dude feels that the selection of pirated CDs is lame so that the illegality point is moot for him. The Dude grabs his favorite dvds from amazon, who have some pretty diggable prices he might add

A german friend of mine was approached on sukhumvit and asked by an african if he would like to purchase drugs

Always always always buy in the US if you have the choice. reasons: price and you can bring it back if no good

Soi 12 is almost exactly equidistant btw the 2 stops. I'd get off at Nana. That's where The Dude usually gets off (no pun intended) as he lives closeby

interesting thoughts Tax exile, here's a shovel

The Dude would move to Cuba if money was no object. There is a comradery with the people found in Cuba that exists no where else in the world. It's not about the chicks why I would make that decision but rather it's about a genuine friendship with the population. A lot of cash would be needed to make this move however