Tyree D.

not happening dude. Thailand only works for the starting out and the retired. It gave me teaching experience overseas but I can't live off under $1000 a month anymore or the 50,000bt/month my experience now qualifies me. I thought I had it made when I was 20 making 25,000 baht a month. If you don't mind making under $2,000 a month which is nothing when you think of savings there are a lot of things to do. Otherwise you are in the wrong country.

I know my way around and I hate when I'm traveling with one and they insist some place is somewhere and they refuse to take my way until we get lost. Then I just stare at them.

never been to Korea, I can only relate to my experience with those Koreans I encountered in UK, Australia & SE Asia. There's a large community in OZ, mostly shopkeepers and in the IT industry, more reserved and aloof than the Chinese but without the charm. You get the impression of a race living in a country without being part of it. They look quite not the full quid. Women folks are nice-ish but tend to fatten up quicker more than other Asians when abroad. Pretty much the same here in Blighty but less visible and conspicuous than OZ, they seem more into the catering trade. In other Asian countries; Koreans seem to holiday a lot in Philippines, buying into properties and owning bars in AC & Manila. None, and I mean none (from foreigners to local) has got a good word to say about them. In fact come to think I never heard anyone paying a compliments about Koreans. Believe it or not but there's a thriving English language school industry for Koreans in Cebu City, Philippines, as well as university programs in Manila Unis. I kid you not! I guess that says a lot about their mental state. Another think I noticed, apart their absurd rudeness, filthy habits (like cannon-spitting in the streets, chain smoking, blank staring, head bowing in unison when in group etc...), is how every young male & female Korean sport mop head hairstyle. You can spot a Korean from behind just for their ludicrous hairstyle. Food is uneventful, I'd rather eat Wimpy's. Strange people to say the least

Up until two years ago, my experience with Koreans were shop owners and dentists and hair salon workers that took over the hood and South Bay L.A. starting in the 80s. My impression was really negative. You can't compare it with Korean Koreans (lol)! Always being followed around and given the eye and "Hurry up an buy!" But there is definetly a difference.

Never been to Seoul and hate Bangkok. I spent most of my time in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and in BKK I get treated differently once they realize I'm not a stupid tourist with money to burn and still leave a tip after getting ripped off. I think in terms of baht, not dollar conversions! Within the next few months I will give updates. But I am digging how I can put my feet anywhere and I can spit.

I do miss sticky rice and guatiaw and a big fried fish. Those are missing here. But I got a stove and the internet. Of coarse I know those are available in LOS but every place had a waiting list.

I've seen on more than one occasion a woman with my skin tone say, "We same same" but the SAME EXACT lady go to a white man and say, "I like your skin, I don't like mine." It's all a game. And there was this Italian teacher that would hang with me and he was pretty shabby while all the girls were clinging to me. Why? Because I used cologne and looked like I had money.

MONEY NUMBA 1!!!

You sound truly like an enlightened individual and I applaud you for tricking those bar girls into thinking you had money. That fat english teacher was a loser and you showed up him and his white skin! Well done!

corrections... The guy was less than a year older and had the assumption that he could let his guard down and image was nothing (what I too assumed in the beginning).

About two days later both of us went into a restaurant with shorts and sandals and I said, "The girls that work here are hookers." He replied, "Bullocks, then why aren't they all over us?" Then I replied, "Because they don't want us!" I didn't care but he frowned, probably thinking about the previous night when I got all the attention.

Image is everything in Thailand. Seeing I'm from L.A. it wasn't a huge change and I could adapt easily.

I've seen on more than one occasion a woman with my skin tone say, "We same same" but the SAME EXACT lady go to a white man and say, "I like your skin, I don't like mine." It's all a game. And there was this Italian teacher that would hang with me and he was pretty shabby while all the girls were clinging to me. Why? Because I used cologne and looked like I had money.

MONEY NUMBA 1!!!

Korea is not for the faint hearted. Fast paced like Japan and a still a little bit shy of the world but they have improved over 10 years. I like Korea and Thailand at the same level. I would chose to live in Korea when retire then thou, that’s still a long way to go for that. But a lot of my western friends don’t really like it there and it’s understandable.

I could see that. In 1999 I was on an abroad program. The first place we went to was Indonesia. There people always came up to us asking for our address. Then we went to Hong Kong where people would run away from us and all walked with cellphones (remember this is 1999). I still loved it seeing how I don't like being bothered and still had more luck with ladies than I ever did in L.A. and they didn't ask for money. The students were missing Indonesia or started getting homesick. I've never gotten homesick.

I could see a tourist preferring Thailand.

I wonder if I left any grammatical mistakes somebody will point out and question my teaching abilities

I prefer Korean food as there are more non-spicy options, especially the noodle dishes like nam myeong which are prepared with care not just thrown into a bowl like in Thailand. People in Korea are more educated and civil and the women (decent women) are generally more willing to talk if you're a handsome young man. As for the money, have you checked the exchange rates recently? If you're sending money home I don't think you'd earn very much in Korea right now.

The rate works for me! It's the other way around. I have dollars to spend and it's at the highest I can trace back (1999). While I was in Thailand the last time it was 40/1 and the yen is at a 12 year low and we know the Euro rate. It's gonna be a problem when I have to turn the Won back to dollars since my card is only domestic. Other than that I have been the right place at the right time when it comes to the currency rate. And I think the food her is not spicy enough! I come from a Mexican food background. At least here nobody says, "No, that's too spicy!" or make my food unspicy assuming I'm gonna get red faced. Also, I've been known to drink while eating constantly and I was tired of the Thais watching assuming it was because of the spices.

Of coarse I'm comparing two years to two months....

or another post:

scottish people do where quilts

reveals an excellent English teacher.

And bragging about salary 5 times higher than in Thailand reveals you were a street urchin on 500$ a month in LOS and now reached the sky while scrapping 2500$ in Korea (could be closer to 2000$ but never mind).

Girls not pretty? Not well dressed?

Why do they ignore old-fat-bald foreigners? Someone said "economic options".

Sure, like their Japanese, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong brethren, they chose men of their liking and do not believe in farangs' "women like older man to provide guidance and protection".

yawn. you would break down my posts three years ago. and yes I do realise I didn't capatilize my letters and misspelled realize and capitalize. when did I brag about my salary. I made $500 a month in L.A.

and yes, I did end a question with a period. who really things too mut? and the edit was just this last paragraph. my first mistakes were deliberate.

As a Korean born in Australia, I still love Korea but hate it at the same time. People are judgemental......i have tattoos on my chest and arms and I automatically get labeled as a criminal. I am not allowed into Gyms, Steam rooms, and swimming pools.

If i`m wearing a singlet some restaraunts won`t even let me look at there menu`s. I once walked out of a convinience store and bought nothing the shopkeeper started yelling i`d stole ciggarettes police came and hand-cuffed me,i was so pissed off i started swearing in english and they looked so confused. lol it was a scene!

I love thailand cause everything is mai pen rai! I have freedom and nothing to judge me by....also love the fact i`m korean in thailand....chicks dig it

andy

You would probably also have more luck than me in L.A. Everywhere loves an international stud. Here I can't do wrong. And I really came here thinking I would have to suck up some bull. I remember when Koreans starting owning everything in the hood starting in the late '80s and most of them weren't cool. But then I started teaching international Koreans and Japanese adults in L.A. but could only get substitute work. My life became the thing overnight. And I've never felt like an outsider here. I didn't feel that way in Thailand until I moved to Phayao at my 11 month mark. We'll see what happens when I start traveling. I'm in Daejeon, the third biggest city in the country in the heart of downtown. I never need transportation.

Speaking of transportation, in Thailand I would take a bus 25 kilos from downtown Chiang Rai to Mae Fah Luang. Occasionally the cops would raid it for illegal immigrants. One time they looked at my wrong expired visa and tried to take me off until I showed them the current one. The girl sitting next to me was all scared screaming "MAI DAI!!" (I don't him rant). I was calm.

Hope that was readable and understandable. I have been known to rant and this is the first time I've ever spaced my paragraphs.

ha ha...I said food not as good, women not as pretty. Oh wait, I did sound negative. I just eat in since the food in the grocery stores are cheaper than America while the restaurants are more expensive. It's all good. I thought this place was gonna be the bullocks wishing I would be back in Thailand if they increased my salary 5 times but this is the life.

I tried SEARCH and found nothing. And seeing like the numerous los vs. Philippines or Vietnam threads, I'd like to give it a crack.

I was in Thailand 2004-06 and have been in South Korea for 1 1/2 months. My first impression is I like how I can walk around without people asking me "where you go?" and of course "do you like (the local) food and lady?" and they correctly ask "Where are you from?" as opposed to "Where you come from?" then walk away. Here I haven't noticed any taboos like showing your foot to someone. If I make a cultural mistake they calmly say, "Don't do that next time." instead of "stupid farang!" Speaking of which, I never hear myself called foreigner in their language. When I am shopping, the workers are very helpful while in LOS they said, "Sorry, I no English" then run even though I'm fluent in Thai. I love being out at night being blinded at the lights without some lady pulling on me.

With that said, the food does suck but in my apartment I have my own stove, and a ultra-fast internet that always works! As for teaching, I don't feel like I'm babysitting and I make more money than I ever did coming from a Thailand foreign teacher's salary and part time work in Los Angeles. The Thai massages here are mad expensive but at times they make me feel better than the Thai massages in Thailand and they are done by Koreans that don't speak Thai (aww).

Of coarse I'm comparing two years to two months but at my two month mark in Thailand I would've still had the same opinion except the farang comment didn't disturb me until I moved to the rural part of the country and my name became Farang.

The women are less attractive but don't ask for money. I do like how here they are less barish and the guys are less feminine. The people here spit lugis a lot but so do I.

Anybody in the know have any experiences they would love to share?

Me and 5 friends all in out 20's will be travelling to Thailand in March and visiting bangkok, koh phangnan, phuket, phi phi and pattaya. Lots of people that I know have returned from there with constrasting views. Some say they spent pennies over there and others say that it's actually quite expensive. Would really like to know as I want to have enough money to do near enough what i like, I was planning on taking £1500 for 3 weeks. Can anyone help? would be much appreciated.

you're gonna spend more than you should because you picked all commercial hotspots. goto Isaan and end up with some random family drinking whiskey and listening to mor lam all day.

wherever you go you're gonna make money conversions in your head and always think you are making a deal...even 600 baht for a taxi! You don't know what to expect so you will be in a golden age.

This reminds me of an point-counterpoint article I read in The Onion. The first was by a white student who went to Nigeria and thought it was a paradise. The counter was by a native "get me out of this hellhole!". I was in LOS for two years straight. I have a different interpretation from the month long visits. I'm not gonna say anything else to put you down. Three years ago today my thoughts were the same as yours.

Before I left LOS, I met an American whose experience in SE Asia goes 15 years. The first two were in LOS, then he went to Nam and never looked back. He runs a bar and grill and started as an English teacher in Hanoi. Vietnam is definetly growing while LOS is unpredictable and has all the changes and limitations everybody already mentioned. Nam is the new frontier.

That is all I know. I will not claim to know anything about Cambodia. One of my classmates from Term in Asia is still having long term plans in LOS. He has gone back 5 times but never for more than two months and hasn't had a relationship out of the bar district. I am talking him out of it but he already built (using his host mom's name) a house or $200,000US. Too late!!!

I was part of the first student group to ever visit.

can you explain this more ? You went to Nam in 2000 and were part of the first student group to ever go there ? is this like an american thing cause of the war or what does this mean?

I went to St. Olaf College which sends 94% of its students abroad. I picked Term in Asia. When we went to Vietnam they rolled out the red carpet and kept saying we were the first to ever visit. I don't understand your second question but I think I answered it. Nobody was anti-american.

Other students asked them "Don't you hate us because of the war?" They answered either "That was 30 years ago" or "We weren't born yet".

edit- this made me think of several German students at Olaf tell me "I can't believe nobody hates us." It made me think of going to the south USA. People actually wave and hold the door open! You all need to stop living in the past. Every inch of this planet has had trauma. There are also lots of contradictions. Some are still anti-communist and pro-democracy yet you are preferring a country that redrafts a constitution every decade.

edit2- this also made me think of back then which was right after America bombed a Chinese embassy during the Kosovo conflict. People warned me, "Don't tell anybody you're from America!!" , even a French student. It was all for nothing.

edit3- I still hear to this day Asians don't like Black people. I am still employed by them in Los Angeles. And I remember the Black-Korean conflicts in the early 90s.

can I make this many edits? That's enough.

what do the past have to do with whether or not Cambo and Viet are better alternatives than LOS? How did US foreign policy get into this?

Short bio: I am Black, American, combined two years in LOS(1999, 2004-6), two weeks in Viet (2000) never Cambodia. I witnessed the LA Riots and Crip-Blood wars with my own eyes. I also saw the last days of Thaksin. I am back in LA.

Now with that said, should I not live in America because slavery was once here? That's how most of you sound as to why you should not live in these places. I know the poster who made the negro comment was sarcastic.

Based on what I know and have heard, the golden age of LOS for a farang was pre-97 crisis. The golden age to live in Viet is NOW!!! I was part of the first student group to ever visit.

Please let go of the past that everybody under 35 wasn't even born for.

edit

just wanted to see if I could post

it is quite rude though not to be used in a formal or polite setting. Bar girl speak...forget it and learn decent Thai. You will gain a lot more respect

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One of the great beginner newbie mistakes I made when first I moved here

I still do it just to see them lose their face. Yes I have been slapped and socked in the balls on various occasions.

you answered your own question. I have had TGFs both older and younger. They attribute their low self esteem to previous relationships with Thai men. I predict one day they will hate all men, just like my exes. Now one of them hates women too.

what are you gonna do about it? complain on TV until it's removed too?

I lub Dish Network TV tu mutt.

as i prepare for my retirement in LOS what I think I will miss the most is Dish TV.

the 'free' / PBS like / free speach / education .. channel .. are so wonderful

& the sirrius radio ..

will miss!

all of these things are on the internet. You will only miss thumbnow and thai69.com

Don't pick fights with Thai, they can't deal with reasoned negotiation unless they are guaranteed success.

Well put , it is like dealing with a dumb animal.

Mr. Mook, "dumb animal"? Isn't that going overboard?

and I got banned for saying things about Caucasians.

I got Popcorn on this. I hope I don't get banned again. I'll just replace Caucasians with Isrealis when I get into a rant.

I get Windows updates like everyone else, but now it wants me to install this program that checks to see if my Windows is legit then disables it if it's not. screw that.

There needs to be a guest worker Anmesty program. They can do jobs Thais won't do. It's working elsewhere.