The Dude

A couple of things to respond to some recent interesting posts:

re: the tax issue; when you are a smart dude like The Loser, you pay no tax as he has numerous loopholes

re: guest house talking about retirement and buying stock; totally agree.

re: a million bucks; you listen to some of the poverty packers in this forum and you'd think you could live like a certified king for 1000 years on that kind of money up in rimwad village, issan.

re: bendix recent comments. agreed.

A lot of ppl do "meat" their girls in bars. These bars are often referred to as "meet markets". LOL

There comes a time that you don't want to take your wife with you to buy gas for the car biggrin.gif

Absolutely, and what about taking the car to the garage to get fixed - that would be a nightmare if you couldn't converse. Or breaking down somewhere, trying to sell it etc etc etc.

I know a guy who has been here for 2 years and can't even ask directions!

Asking directions in Thailand is useless anyway so who cares? You never get an "I don't know" when asking directions in Thailand cause it's a face losing situation to say that. That results in massive runarounds and they are not diggable. Dig?

I'll take that bet over not having cash. Thank you for your support

speaking Thai is meaningless when living in tourist areas

Some do some dont - no simple answer here mate.

Does a bloke in the west when he sees a good looking bird with older man/not so good looking - we assume he must have dosh.

Stereotypes plain and simple - if you treat everyone with respect then you have no worries. Besides who worries about what others think?

The Dude's father said something meaningful to him in high school after he gave the dude a pair of purple sneakers.

The Dude: "I can't wear those, what will people think??"

The Dude's father: "you don't care what people think"

The Dude never did wear those sneakers but he remembered those words of wisdom. Those words apply in this situation. Dig?

Pal, you shoulda paid them off at the scene. That would have been the best $25 you ever spend to avoid all the aggravation that followed. Speaking Thai would not have helped you in the least here so pay no mind to that BS. They were out to get cash from you regardless. My advice to anyone in Thailand is do not own or drive a vehicle of any kind as it is just asking for problems. I never understand why anyone would do this. Transportation is so dirt cheap in this country that there is no need to drive yourself. Go with the Greyhound slogan and leave the driving to someone else and your life will be free of much aggravation. As for hanging in Pattaya, good choice; sack that car and hop in the 5 baht trucks. It's not like you live in issan or something where the nearest 7/11 is a thousand miles away. LOL

Abso-friken-lutely!! Aside from getting killed, the expense and the hassel of vehicle ownership is just not worth it. Take a taxi or better yet you can hire a driver and car in most places to be like a Chaffuer. MUCH cheaper than owning, insuring, etc;

What goofy posts. Vehicle ownership here is no more expensive than in the states. Actually cheaper as insurance cost is much less. And quality used vehicles hold their value better. Hassle to own a vehicle? In what way? I don't have any problems. You guys keep riding the 5 baht trucks......I'll stick to my A/C, music-of-my-choice, route-of-my-choice Fortuner.

No problema master dude. You go ahead and do that w/the dude's blessing. Please be careful on the road w/all the psychos

I pay 800 baht a month and they looked after me very well in my accident.

Could you tell more about the 3rd party insurance for 4000Bhat?

The policy on my Nissan is from QBE Insurance Thailand. For strictly liability the coverage is 10 million baht per accident, 200,000 baht per person in excess of mandatory Thai insurance and 1 million baht for property damage. That premium is 3,616.32 baht per year. In addition to that I elected to add 50,000 baht per person for personal injury in my Nissan and bail bond at 100,000 baht. That was an additional 890 baht. When this policy expires I will change to LMG Pacific. It is cheaper and where I now have my first class policy. My first class from LMG (Liberty Mutual Group) has higher coverage for liability and bail bond too.

I was paying about $1,600 per year for a $1,000 deductible collision on a Honda Civic in California in 2001. Thailand seems much more reasonable to me.

I'd hate to sell insurance in this country or buy it for that matter. I just don't have faith in institutions I took for granted in the US. I will continue to flag taxis, ride trains and pound pavement, thank you. I dont much care for aggravation. I scrapped numerous shovels just thinking about it. No can dig, dig?

The Dude feels that cheating on an american chick is uncool and that the OP cannot get her back no matter what he does. My question is, did he ever have her in the 1st place?

The Dude has shovels and rakes to deal with all his cash. He is a big believer in cash buying happiness. He feels that a day without unlimited cash in Thailand is like night. Dig?

The main thing to realize is that no matter what is said on this forum, topless sunbathing is rampant on Patong Beach in Phuket. The culprits are not from UK or USA but rather are non native English speaking Europeans. Somehow I am sure they dont think anything of it, they just go for it. I set up a shovel stand down on that very beach cause I dig it and handed out shovels to all comers cause everybody was digging it

word got out that there was a thread as interesting as this one on that day and the site was flooded

I knew a dude in chang mai who had a burmese maid. This dude's gf would go to work in the morning and he would do the dirty deed with the nice looking maid. Now there's a maid story for you

you gotta get one of those tor tor jobs or you got probs to reggie your deed dude

Dudes should always vote no anyway cause relatinships are always teetering on the brink. So if dudes suddenly have no partner then of course they would not visit this place. I mean come on dudes, why on earth come here if you have no chick? I'd be going to a place with some really sincere people if this were my case, like Cuba for example. Thailand would drop out of my top 10 into about the 145th country on my list. Dig that

The Dude is a rich man. The Dude made a lot of cash on USA stocks in the 90s. He paid off his mortgage in '00 with this cash. He sold his pad and bought another in US which he still has and will not sell. The Dude is not complacent. He would not invest 5 baht in Thailand. The Dude recommends that the OP go straight to Japan to teach Englie and pile up cash for several years. He recommends hooking up with hot Japanese chicks while there. The Dude thinks you should buy that apartment. He also thinks that Bali is a right on place and should also be considered. The Dude thinks that Thailand should not be 1st on the OPs list. He would love to live in Bali. The Dude would like to give the OP a shovel to dig what he is saying. Dig?

PS: The Dude would never recommend to anyone to teach English in Thailand as it will yield a below poverty level wage of about 30K/month. The Dude had a bonfire with some shovels thinking about trying to live here on that measly pittance. Dig?

Fast times at Ridgemont High is totally awesome dude. Good luck finding it here though. The Dude has a copy he brought from the states but he needs to get a dvd duper one of these days. Can you dig it?

other diggable movies for ya from movie guru critic The Dude:

Easy Rider (nuff said)

Midnight Cowboy (best pic 1969)

Scarface (dude above got that right. don't <deleted> me Tony)

Pulp Fiction (always a joy to watch)

Raging Bull (total classic)

Fargo (can't be beat)

Brokeback Mountain (shockingly good)

Ice Storm (same director as Brokeyback)

American Beauty (best pic 1999, great!)

Sudden Impact (go ahead make my day)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (have not seen but knowing people say greatness)

The Graduate (all out classic flick)

Up In Smoke (cheech chong, what kind of smoke is that? labrador)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (best pic 1975, outstanding in every way)

That's your can't miss list from The Dude for today. Get a pair of shovels and dig 'em to the max

The Dude can dig that Thailand is a poor country. He can also dig that daughters are out their busting their rear ends to make cash to send to their families. The Dude is more than happy to help out his hot gf's family. In farang countries, hot young chicks won't even look at a 40 y/o dude 95% of the time which is a drag cause hot chicks are awesome. So, enter Thailand, a dude can capture the hottest chicks imagineable which is greatness. I can see why some farang girls here would be bummed out about that, like totally understandable.

The Dude says leave house to 22 y/o daughter and remaining assets to Thai side of family

The Dude says that there is no best bar in bkk that can be singled out, dig?

The Dude has a garage full of shovels for tourist areas cause he digs them. The Dude has a house full of shovels for Sukhumvit cause he digs it the most. He has a closet full of Pattaya shovels cause he digs visiting there from time to time but offloads said shovels on the thought of living there cause he would not dig that. On the tattoo issue, The Dude has no shovels cause he does not dig tattoos on chicks cause it makes them look low class. Can you dig it?

The Dude has tried that and it don't worky. Immi will give you the 30 days and charge you an entry anyway. The Dude did not dig it but he dealt with it so you need to scrap shovels cause no can do and no can dig. Can you dig, san belgie?

I think smokeless tobacco products are outlawed in Singapore, at least I think it is illegal to bring them in on your person. I saw a small article in the Straits-Times, when I was there last week, about a moderate-sized bust at Changi. I wouldn't bring 50 tins into SIN!

Who on earth would think the stuff would be legal there? chewing gum is banned for christ sakes. I think that These countries should just outlaw cigarettes while they're at it

Dig it dudes, thanks for all offers of assistance for my nasty habit. I will inform when supplies run thin. Can dig. Tuts, I shall let you know if I run into any cope

A friend of The Dude has arrived today and handed him 50 tins of fresh skoal so there is overstock situation for him in bkk right now