kennypowers

Hang on, could that guy that they are looking for, you know, the bald, white foreigner who went missing in Pattaya, be the guy we sent to the morgue? What boss? You mean the guy aged about 35 that looks exactly like the one in the photo they've released on the missing persons report? Yes, that one. No, I doubt it. Okay, just leave it then.

You could not make this stuff up.

Pattaya tattood darkskin bargirl as a wife. Excellent decision ?... Love kills.

Nothing wrong with dark skin but tattoos and Pattaya says it all, how sad. I hope justice prevails.

Loads of Thai women have tattoos, from superstars to university students, to those rebelling against a conservative society to women who are fans of rock/metal bands or who just like tattoos. Perhaps the Pattaya thing is the greater indicator. To be honest though, I'm not here to judge anyone's appearance, I'm more concerned about where he is and the child involved.

I'm using 365sport. Always top quality picture. Come on the England!

Described as athletic? More like podgy!

I've actually seen worse. Not that long ago, I witnessed a German 92 year old living with an 18 year old here in Udon. If that wasn't bad enough, they had already been together for 2 years. I heard he died just shortly after, but I'm still baffled and speechless about it, like <deleted> ?

(Yeah, I'm not joking)

Another couple I met in the very same village is a 86 year old (also German) being married to a 24 year old. While it's less controversial legally, biologically and neurologically, I can't help using the exact same words again, <deleted> ?

It's just not right...

Why is it not right?

It may be against your moral principles, and against what you have been taught in the west, but that doesn't say it isn't right here.

Marriage isn't only about sex........................

It's a complete myth that this kind of marriage is acceptable in Thai society, or that huge age gaps are the norm. The attitude of Thai society towards large age gaps very much mirrors that of the west. I'm not ageist, but this is a common thing I hear westerners say and it's simply not true. People have exactly the same prejudices towards big age gaps here as they do back home, it's just that most foreigners don't speak the language and therefore don't hear Thai people's opinions. Thai people may appear less judgmental because most tend not to get into serious debates about such things , but the off the cuff comments among friends are exactly the same as you hear back home. The large majority of Thais marry someone of their own age of thereabouts (within 5 years of their age), as they do in the west.

Psychosis again. I will say what I say every time: When will there be a study done on why so many 20-30 somethings develop psychosis when they come to Thailand?

On a side note, I see this woman every day. It's disgusting the way she is wheeled out into the boiling heat and used as a way to collect money. Often her injuries are weeping and she should be in a care facility being properly nursed of at the expense of the tax payer.

Usually that niggling feeling turns into more than a niggle. Your intuition is sensing the potential for upset and you're trying to suppress it. Listen to it. That's my experience anyway.

There's a load of teaching jobs on the TTL Job Board and I see some are paying 36-40k. Maybe stay there while you look for something you're more comfortable with.

So what you're actually saying is that you have serious marital problems and as such are seeking a consensus opinion that all 25 million or so Thai women are incapable of real love to give yourself another excuse not to face up to the real issues in your marriage.

Your wife sounds very controlling and you should probably seek help for her with that. This might save your marriage.

Maybe they just enjoy it. Maybe they just live in the moment, love themselves,love life and don't moan constantly about what others are doing. Maybe they've worked out that life has no inherent meaning and therefore taking selfies all the time is no more or less meaningful than any other activity. Maybe...

It might annoy the over-critical, stressed out westerner, but it's far less harmful than drinking alcohol, taking prescription/illegal drugs or starting wars for money.

This is not an uncommon situation ,and I sympathise with your wife since that is probably not a job she'd ever have to do in Thailand. A Chula grad friend of mine recently went to live in the states and he is waiting tables there. A friend of mine's wife is doing the same in the UK, despite being very well educated.

In terms of your move to Thailand, well paid jobs, other than teaching, do come up now and again. At the moment though teaching jobs seem to be dominating the market due to the start of a new term and many English teachers having departed their positions at the end of last term. That said, here's a link to a good job board worth bookmarking with a variety of new jobs posted each week. Not sure what your experience is but there's everything from App developers to hotel supervisors on there: http://www.thethailandlife.com/jobs

All the best!

reading between the lines it sound like she done with you, the parents thing is just an excuse ..............that's life. most of these girls here in Thailand tolerate there husbands for a better life. they always come out of a marriage with more than they went in with its a win win for them.

Yep. And most foreign husbands tolerate their Thai wife for the odd bunk up with a younger woman

Love seeing these old videos. Is the Crystal Palace Bar or Bobby's Arms still there? Check these out for a bit of nostalgia: 10 Amazing Videos of Old Thailand That’ll Make You Wish You Could Travel Back In Time

I don't know where you're living, but decent housing can be found for 1,500-2,000B/month around me.

Most lower-class Thai people don't need 50B for every meal.

50B for transportation seems a bit high too, depending on where you live and how you get to work.

Even som tum has gone up to 40-50 Baht in Bangkok from most street vendors.

The answer is they survive, and never thrive.

Here's exactly what you should do:

1. Stay in Thailand and move, with her and your son, away from the village and into a condo in a major city, say Chiang Mai or Bangkok. She will be a different person away from the influence of her family and small-mindedness of the village. This is the only way to give the possibility of being a family a proper go.

2. Teach for a while just to keep money coming in.

3. Go back to basics. Enjoy your son together: days out, teaching him together, swimming, parks, etc. Loads to do in BKK and Chiang Mai for free.

4. After a while, she'll see the how positive your influence on her son is and what a great Dad you are (I'm sure you will be).

5. Introduce the idea of moving to Canada again. Start the paperwork.

You might never have the most romantic marriage in the world, or always agree. But you have the possibility of being great friends and making a great life for your son. He is the most important thing and will bring you both huge joy if you make sacrifices. There's a line in a country song, I forget which, "It's not love, but it's not bad". As you said, you can't separate a mother and her child, and you don't want to be absent from his life and see him grow up in a village.

Do what's necessary: Keep the peace, move away from the village, earn some money, give it a go as a family, get to know her all over again without the influence of her family, do the paperwork, move to Canada.

4. It puts you in a position of "boss". Thai women understand that.

The reality is that most Thais have no idea of any connotation other than a white/European-looking person. It's a simplistic way of identifying one person's origin from another's, which is absolutely in line with the way Thai society is structured. Thais tend to label things without the restriction of political correctness and say what they see.

Do I like it? It depends on the context and whether the person is deliberately being rude. They have been a few times where I have asked to be referred to as "Chao dan prateet", like when being talked about in the third person by someone I'm not fond of, but other than that, in the bigger picture of things, the word is a small tolerance in what is always largely a positive existence for me here.

The majority of Thais using this word mean no harm, and most would struggle to understand why you'd be upset by it. People will use your name, if you tell them your name.

Not all Thais are racist either; this is absolute rubbish. This is just a word they grow up with and most have never had to, and never will, question its political correctness - and perhaps luckily so.

To be honest, if I get to the point where the word 'farang' makes me really upset, I'll see that as a good indicator that I should go home. After all, wasn't it this very word that played a big part in your decision to live here? Being that "farang" that everyone was interested in and wanted to talk to? Unlike back home where the older you become the more society shuts you out and treats you like an irrelevant burden.

I guess all this debt is catching up with us! Now we even have to sell off our Embassies. Oh, how the mighty fall...

My cousin is currently looking at courses and found this information here really useful is terms of what to look for in a course and tips and advice from a teacher who has been there and done it. She's undecided as to whether or not to do the course from home or travel to Thailand to do it. I think the advantage of doing it here is acclimatizing to the people, heat and environment in general, and then being able to walk straight into a job if you need it.

My wife hates hot weather. Always has done since a child. The sun really irritates her skin too. This suits me fine as for medical reasons I can't spend long in the sun.

Thailand would be a wealthy country if the layman wasn't constantly ripped off by his oppressors.

He wont last very long in Pattaya acting like this,

What a strange comment. Pattaya is one of a handful of pervert-accomodating hell holes on earth where men like this happily co-exist.

I think you're right. Thailand is the place to be when you're young. I couldn't imagine getting old here. Glad I did it in my 20s and 30s but will be home by forties. But then everyone sees it differently. For most, Thailand is still a much better option than sitting in a lonely pub, in a cold country, talking about football and complaining about politics with other depressed men.

On a related side note, as I've said before, I've seen a big shift here in the last 5 years. The new wave of expats are arriving in their early to mid twenties and involved in the tech / startup industries, rather than being retirees. Most aren't into the hooker bar scene and prefer the type of bars and clubs they'd enjoy back home. They date university educated women without the burden of kids and money-hungry families and tend to be more integrated with the English-speaking Thais of a similar age. Perhaps in terms of westerners living here, Thailand will be a completely different place in 10 years.

Read this article on 21 Things to Do in Pattaya Other Than Sit in a Go-Go Bar. There's loads on this list to keep him amused. Keep him away from Walking Street and Beach Road. The last thing you want is thinking that is representative of Thailand and its women/people.

His actions are the symtoms of disease, not crime.

Right. There are no crimes, just diseases. There's the bank robber disease, the murderer disease and so on.

I have news for you. People make choices - sometimes stupid choices.

I cringe when I think what this guy has in front of him, but I blame only him.

The disease is the monetary system. Once our species evolves into an intelligent one, we will work this out and create a system that doesn't actively seek to destroy ourselves and the planet.

Never let hookers order what they want.

You pay so you the boss.

Never let dirty old westerners take sexual advantage of you for 20 quid. It's your body, and the tight-fisted &lt;deleted&gt;***s could never get to sleep with a woman with your figure back home so make sure you get a decently priced meal out of them too. Oh, and make sure they book an expensive hotel too. None of this back to my 8k Baht a month studio room rubbish.