Wasa

OP, listen to Uncle NeverSure. Wise words.

Perhaps a change in the way you work is needed, perhaps even a different career or at least a bit of change in direction. You will get bored out of your mind stuck in some dull backwater living hand to mouth, believe me. At the same time the hole in your CV will be getting bigger and bigger and no one knows what the future holds, financial or otherwise (apart from Naam).

GuestHouse also made valid points, especially that the Devil makes work for idle hands. A lot of people seriously <deleted> up in Thailand, particularly when they're not there for any real purpose other than to do nothing.

I highly recommend not flogging oneself to death at work, having long breaks and going to interesting places around the World. But going to Thailand to do nothing in particular is not something I would recommend.

Op, I agree with these cautionary sentiments. The way each individual reacts and copes over here can be attributed in part to their background and past lifestyle.

Being a pom and coming from London, you're gonna find the eternal sunshine and warmth over here a big attraction. Hitting the Go Go bars, watching beautiful girls dance all night and then being able to pick and choose which one to take home is also going to be a novelty. But after a while, as with most things that novelty will wear off and these nights begin to slow down. Being in your mid-forties, unless you're very strong willed and determined to stay single, it's almost inevitable you will find a girlfriend here and your life can and will take many different paths from that point.

If you have been an active and involved person back home, perhaps one who participates in clubs or associations, one who has a lot of hobbies, or you've been busy working around your house renovating etc you may find it hard over here. There simply isn't that much to do (apart from chasing ladies) and there are only so many days one can lie on the beach working on their tan. As a foreigner you can't buy a house here, however, you could buy an older condo and maybe you can spend time ripping that apart and renovating it if you're that way inclined.

I'm from Brisbane, near the water. Enjoyed a busy sub-tropical lifestyle, boating, working on the house, member of the Coastguard etc. But one thing missing there is female company. I mean of the type that isn't 85kgs and nagging you about every little issue in life. So I started coming here for a few years on frequent holidays, then on FIFO rotations for 10 days every month, then I was offered a job here so I relocated and worked here full time, that role finished last year and I have just had an eleven month break since here in Pattaya. Have had a fabulous time and after having many both long and short relationships with the local girls, I met a great girl and we have been together for the last eight months. But it’s still easy to get bored sometimes. The Thais are not big on doing stuff. And sometimes (not all of the time!) I miss the challenge and stimulation that a western lifestyle can provide. Of course not everyone is the same, I'm just giving you my experience. That's what happened with me, so at 55, I have just accepted another 18 month FIFO role which will give me 3-4 months off a year in Thailand, the rest in Australia on a remote work site and also top up the bank account to help with my eventual aim of being able to live in either country.

My advice, with your age and income potential, is to set yourself up financially in such a manner that you can live in both countries when it suits. Spend maybe 6-7 months in the UK and when that horrible winter that you poor buggers in the UK, USA, Europe etc suffer through every year comes along, come down here to Thailand and escape the worst of it.

You're too young to fully retire. Someone here said why work, you're a long time dead, but really, you're a long time retired as well.

I think it is slightly unfair to criticise the OP for not 'being aware of the traffic around him'. In fact it's a slightly smug remark.

It is surprising that the OP has never encountered red pedestrian lights on Beach Road as I've encountered them too many times to count (since they were installed several years ago) and have stopped many times without incident. They don't suddenly turn red as was mentioned above - there's an amber warning. It is definitely a good idea to always check to see what is behind you when you stop.

Thank you. Still no evidence of rear end accidents. It's all a myth and excuse to ignore them.

Keesters, I respect your views, but your unrelenting preaching and singular line of reasoning on this subject is starting to become tiresome.......you can see by the posts that many members here share an opposing opinion to yours. This opinion, formed either through their own firsthand experience or actual observation, is that it can, in times of fast flowing or dense traffic, sometimes be a dangerous action to brake hard and/or stop at a red pedestrian light on Beach Rd. They can't all be wrong and maybe you should just accept that there is more than one way to view this matter.

This evening my girlfriend and I, in my latest fitness fad, walked from my condo in Naklua down to the Royal Gardens Plaza. Along the way we came to the pedestrian lights out the front of the Holiday Inn. Deciding this was a perfect opportunity for some firsthand observation on my own, I said to my girlfriend I just want to wait here for the lights to go red.

So we waited and sure enough, after what seemed ages but was probably only a few minutes, the lights went red. A tourist darted across the road weaving between the first waves of cars. You could see a little reduction in speed from some, but not one car stopped. The baht buses did not stop. It was as though the red light was not even there. Finally right at the end of the red light cycle a little brown car slowed down to almost a standstill, however the traffic behind it simply peeled off and went around him (or her) That just caused him (or her) to gently accelerate away through the red light in imitation of the others.

Finally, on my way home the other day up 2nd Rd, I came alongside a policeman on his motorbike holding a mobile phone in his left hand feverishly tapping out a text message with his thumb. I was alongside him for about 500m while he was doing this. If that is what the general Thai motoring public has as their role model, well you can see why their driving is as poor as it is. If a cop did that in Australia he would be stood down or summarily dismissed.

Why oh why is this situation even allowed to develop.......why even have this industry? Beaches are supposed to be public property belonging to the people.

No one is allowed to hijack, monopolise and pollute a beach in this manner in Australia. You can walk onto any beach, throw a towel or beach chair on the sand, erect an umbrella and enjoy anywhere you like along 25,000kms or miles (I forget which one) of coastline.

For a local city council to get involved in mind numbing micro management of a pseudo industry in this manner is a ridiculous waste of time which could be spent on more pressing issues which are real.

Below are photos of the beaches along the Gold Coast near my home town of Brisbane. You can do what you like....throw a ball, have a game of cricket, sleep......

We have a similar situation to Pattaya's Beach Rd in Surfer's Paradise and the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Where you have a resident population of 350,000+ and another 100,000+ at any one time tourists, all separated from very popular golden beaches by a very long asphalt esplanade running parallel to the beaches and first laid down back in the late 1800s.

Here the local council has worked very hard over the years to separate pedestrians and vehicular traffic, through installing various measures such as 40 & 50km/hour speed limits, tight roundabouts, ripple bars, slaloms, varied pavement surfaces, safety barriers in the form of architectural type road furniture and red light pedestrian crossings which are enforced with cameras and obeyed.

Another thing they did was to enhance traffic flow on an inland highway (just 500m or so in from the esplanade) and also built an expressway type ring road further inland again. Both of these encouraged traffic flow away from the esplanade.

Someone suggested earlier making 2nd road two way. Probably not a bad idea. Install numerous terminals along the way for on/offloading baht bus passengers with a major terminal at the southern end to service walking street foot traffic.

No, it was one of the sets further around, maybe one or two past Gullivers.

And yes, I jumped another red light in the interests of self preservation. But as I said, at least I stopped.

And my girlfriend does know better, we just recently returned from seven weeks in Australia, where we drove from Brisbane to Sydney and back again. She was amazed at how everyone there stops at traffic lights and how orderly the traffic flow is in general.

_{Thanks for all the replies, seems as though there is wide ranging opinion on this subject!.}

_{As a follow up on my original post, today I had to go back to Jomtien Immigration. Living in Naklua I go down through the Dolphin roundabout and take the Beach Rd route.}

_{With the replies to this thread still swirling around my head, entering Beach Road I was acutely aware of the traffic light issue and sure enough I copped another red light, further up the northern end. That’s twice in one week. Although today was different, with no traffic out in front of me. I was about 200m out from the lights when I saw a farang guy tap the button. He didn't wait for the lights to change, just went ahead and crossed anyway because he had clear road. The lights did change though, so as someone else said here, they must work on demand. Maybe he also tapped the button earlier before I saw him.}

_{I looked up and saw the board counting down from green at 6, then they turned amber and the board flashed what I can only describe as the quickest 1, 2 seconds I have ever seen in my life. Then they turned red. If you're not looking up at the lights there is very little chance you would see the amber light!}

_{Anyway, having more space today I began to brake. I was in the right hand lane and keeping a watchful eye in my rear view mirror on the guy in the silver van directly behind me. He was jabbing his brakes as he approached to within what seemed like 30cm of my rear end before peeling off around the left hand side. I breathed a sigh of relief as my girlfriend was riding pillion today and I always worry more about being rear ended when she’s with me.}

_{Eventually I stopped. The van guy didn't. Nobody did. The traffic just continued to flow as if the lights were not even there. My girlfriend asked me what am I doing?? I said it’s a red light!! She said mai phen rai! nobody crossing! bpai, bpai!}

_{So off I went, through the red light again. At least I stopped, but sorry, one feels very exposed and vulnerable sitting stationary on Beach Rd with the rest of the traffic whizzing around you.}

Web 2.0 style reply boxes rely heavily on Java or JavaScript to do their magic.

Have you visited 'other' similar forums and do they also present the same issue?

Have you tried:

• Clearing Memory: Cache, Cookies, etc
• Uninstalling IE, rebooting, then re-installing IE

Wow, thanks so much guys, the suggested fix has worked straightaway!!

All I did was delete the browsing history and cleared cookies and now it works fine.......I knew someone here on TV would be able to help.

Thanks again guys!

Hi, I had a skim through previous subjects and couldn't see this as a topic, hope it hasn't been done to death already!

I can't post a reply anymore. I could before. When I hit the 'Quote' or 'Multiquote' buttons I am able to upload a file, but I cannot get the cursor to activate anywhere in the text box. It's not that I am in the wrong location as I have posted replies with no problems before.

As far as I am aware I have not changed any of my browser settings. The only new software etc I have installed is Java for an online training course I am doing. I have been in touch with the TV team and they suggested I disable add ons which I did but to no avail. If I open TV in Google Chrome it works fine, so I know IE is the problem. I don't want to use Chrome as the links from my email automatically activate IE and I don't know how to change that setting.

Please help if anyone has experienced this before.

I have developed claustrophobia as I got older and couldn't fly as a result. Went to the doctor and he prescribed a benzodiazepine called Oxazepam, marketed as Muralex. From what I understand, the benzos are less likely to be abused than the diazepams (don't ask me why)

Have taken these for 10 years now. But I have maintained very strict control over my usage, as the doctor told me you can build a tolerance to them. If that were to happen to me I wouldn't be able to fly which would be a big problem. So what that means is that unless I'm going to fly or have an MRI for example, they remain in my drawer and I don't touch them for sometimes months.

I think some people just have addictive personalities and become addicted to anything they take. If you're one of these personalities, I wouldn't touch the valium, no way.

I take up to 90mg before boarding a flight. I fly to Brisbane two or three times a year which is a 9.5hr flight. The sleep is wonderful from these tiny little tablets. I click my seat buckle in and am fast asleep before the flight even takes off. The flight attendant shakes me awake to eat, when finished my meal I'm straight back to sleep and only wake up when the plane bumps down on the tarmac at Brisbane....

No side effects at all except that they wipe your (short term) memory for the time while you're on them.

You mentioned you're a drinker, one thing to remember is that this drug will accentuate the effects of alcohol.....I can tell you that from first hand experience, I've had some pretty wild nights out in Pattaya after flying in from Brisbane still heavily sedated, sleep all the way down from the airport but awake enough to start on the Jack when I get here. My doctor hates it when I tell him that!

But, if it's sleep you're after, these things will calm you down and do the trick. Just don't make a habit out of it!

Australian government wants to see 0.75 to the US$.

Bad for Australian tourists, great for Australian exporters.

Australia exports very little now its all made in China.

Not really correct.

The Australia economy relies heavily on exports......it is one of the world's largest exporters of commodities. Exports hit an all time high in Feb 2014 of nearly $30 billion dollars.

World's largest exporter of coal

One of the world's largest exporters of iron ore

The second largest producer of gold

Bauxite

The world's largest reserves of uranium

Education services, beef, wool are all huge earners

Australia has nearly finished the construction of 3 LNG plants on Curtis Island, well advanced on another huge plant on Barrow Island WA, and also well underway with construction of another one in Onslow WA and also in Darwin. When these are finished, combined with existing plants in the north-west, Australia will be the world's largest or second largest exporter of natural gas only behind Qatar.

The lower Australian dollar is a huge plus for the economy, that's why there has been concerted and sustained efforts by the Reserve Bank to drive it or trend it downwards from its highs.

This place is also dangerous...just the other night while I was out having a beer with a friend from Canada, he sat down at a table and literally did NOTHING, but apparently looked at a Thai youth in a funny way and got hit right in the face with a crowbar...we rushed him to the hospital.. Didn't bother calling the police, they could care less about if a Falang gets beaten up by a Thai....however if a falang beats up a Thai....oh boy, we have major problems...they only watch out for their own here and could give two flying f**** about what happens to anyone else but their own kind...True story...

Exactly the same thing happens in Australia on a regular basis. So often in fact that the government put together a campaign called "One punch can kill"

Aimed (mostly) at youths who have been drinking or doing drugs, have some kind of brain snap and in a fit of rage king hit someone, resulting in coma and death for the victim from the trauma.

I guess the difference in Australia is that the police turn up, follow it through and the offender gets prosecuted and jailed. But that's not much consolation when you're the victim lying in bed in a coma close to death or brain dead. Two lives ruined in a split second.

Why did your friend look at the youth in a 'funny' way??

Hi David, ever since I joined TV I've been reader of your posts. We have an Aussie background in common, I was born Sydney, worked around the country over the years in construction but settled in Brisbane where I raised my family, then did another year in Perth before coming to Thailand.

Out of all the aussies on TV, I always thought you sounded the most well established and here to stay for the long term. Now it sounds like you're moving back to Oz.

If that's the case I'd be interested to hear why (I know it's none of my business and you can tell me to p** off!) but I have wavered a little bit lately in my commitment to this place. Australia is a great country, without doubt the lucky country, and it easy to see the attraction of living back there, especially if you have a thai partner to take back.

Actually, I was fine living in my ignorant bliss till I joined TV. Living the carefree, high life. Now I've read so much on here, with the negativity far outweighing the positivity, that I find myself viewing everything in Thailand in a cynical and suspicious manner. (subject of my next post)

I know you have some young kids, is it for them? For their education? I could relate to that, I gave my kids a mixed private/state school education in Brisbane, and from what I have seen and heard about the Thai school system there is no way in the world I would educate my child here.

Mate ... always happy to share ...

The reason why the potential return to Australia ...

MissFarmGirl's sister^* ... and the Boys. Don't ask me definitely which one is which from that Photo. But, if pushed, I'd punt for Jackson on the right.

There are two main reasons.

Educational opportunities for the Boys, plus I need to earn some coin.

The Boys will chew up more cash requirements as they mature.

Wasa, as for ... "Now I've read so much on here, with the negativity far outweighing the positivity, that I find myself viewing everything in Thailand in a cynical and suspicious manner." ... I reckon nah.

If you have chosen your Lassie wisely, and I'm sure you have ... have confidence in that choice.

I've always said ... (implicitly) 'Trust but Verify' ... Still works for me.

Works for the Lady, works for the Family, works for Thailand

The proviso is your Health. Without Insurance, I wouldn't want to be in Thailand.

That's my take on it.

^*Just quietly, if there a basic Thai speaker.

.

Wow, cute family…..I can see now why you’re contemplating the move.

I’ve been there, having raised three kids in Brisbane. As I said, we sent them through a combination of state and private schools, which involved blending a busy work life with kid’s schooling, homework, sports, school concerts, parent teacher meetings, broken bones and in my case, renovating a queenslander at the same time. Don’t expect to save any money for a long time!

Looking back though, wouldn’t have done it any other way. As another poster said, Australia has it all, particularly in education and after hearing the stories about the Thai education system (assuming they’re true) I’d be opting firmly for the Australia option.

Regarding your trust/verify principle, after one marriage that ended amicably followed by a two decade long de-facto relationship which ended horribly (it was never good, I just stayed for the kids) my trust/verify formula is now weighted very heavily on the verify side!

2006

Thanks for coming back and sharing.

Sadly, those days are well gone now.

Both I and my Partner have Uni Degrees.

Her Application was complete, we are in the 'Final Queue' now,

no more documents have been asked for to make their decision.

Takes roughly 10 months from application to decision for the Partner Visa.

There is no 'Spouse' Visa category any more.

A lot changes over 8 years ...

.

Hi David, ever since I joined TV I've been reader of your posts. We have an Aussie background in common, I was born Sydney, worked around the country over the years in construction but settled in Brisbane where I raised my family, then did another year in Perth before coming to Thailand.

Out of all the aussies on TV, I always thought you sounded the most well established and here to stay for the long term. Now it sounds like you're moving back to Oz.

If that's the case I'd be interested to hear why (I know it's none of my business and you can tell me to p** off!) but I have wavered a little bit lately in my commitment to this place. Australia is a great country, without doubt the lucky country, and it easy to see the attraction of living back there, especially if you have a thai partner to take back.

Actually, I was fine living in my ignorant bliss till I joined TV. Living the carefree, high life. Now I've read so much on here, with the negativity far outweighing the positivity, that I find myself viewing everything in Thailand in a cynical and suspicious manner. (subject of my next post)

I know you have some young kids, is it for them? For their education? I could relate to that, I gave my kids a mixed private/state school education in Brisbane, and from what I have seen and heard about the Thai school system there is no way in the world I would educate my child here.

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ATTENTION:

We need to brainstorm and find a resolution to stop these harassment from the Thonglor Police! So, what can we do, any suggestions? Does anyone has a connection with CNN, Fox news or Huffpost? We should let the world know about the harassments involving tourists and expats in Bangkok from Thonglor Police Department!

Social media is the key. Get a squad of people together to conduct 'patrols' some armed with cameras, some for bait. The idea being to bait the vultures. As soon as the bait is taken, a message goes out to all in the area. They come in to get the photo evidence. Naturally you would have some people with a nice zoom camera too, which would enable some more unnoticed wildlife photography. Key is to get the details of the offenders, face photos, badge photos, motorbike registration plate photos so they are fully identified. Some can take close in shots with iphones etc...some can be in more strategic locations with zooms. Lawyers can be kept on standby.

All the results can be uploaded and shared on social media and links sent to news sites. For best affect, gather a few good juicy incident reports and publish all together for max effect.

The more intense the media scrutiny, the better.

Links with falling tourist numbers should be emphasized. Get plenty of interviews with tourists who've be wrongly harassed, make sure they state their disgust and how this is their last trip here.

Another thing we could all do, is draw big cocks on A4 sheets of paper, and then fold them in half about 5 or 6 times to make it look like a suspicious package. Carry this with you at all times. When stopped imagine their greedy eyes focused on the suspicious package....carefully unwrapping it....to find a big life sized hard-on sketched on a bit of A4! That would confuse them for sure.

If asked to piss, why not just piss in your pants. Then stand around stinking of piss. No-one likes to be around people who smell of fresh piss. If they make you drink 4 litres, do it....and then just piss it out through your trousers all over the place...all lovely and warm.what they gonna do? Repeat until they get tired. I haven't actually tried this, but it's an idea and I'm brainstorming.

When that's done, ask if they'd like a stool sample. tell 'em you had a spicy pad krapow kai doa for breakfast and you'd be happy to oblige at a moment's notice.

Gulp......you were doing alright until the last paragraph.....

Sorry, but you lost me at "I will actually enjoy paying the tax..."

Professional guidance (of a non-accounting nature) may be necessary to cure you of this strange affliction you've acquired.

LOL...

No one likes to pay taxes and we all would prefer to live in a country which doesn't have taxes and gives us what we want.

This doesn't happen in real life and we all pay taxes in some way for our income (doesn't have to be direct government tax)

In Thailand, we need to choose which tax to pay, is it the mental tax each couple of months+the logistical part of it OR some cut from our income to the gov/Iglu etc. in exchange to hassle free, no visa-run, no worries life (at least from the visa point of view cuz at least for me, the rest in Thailand is mostly good)

So taking the real life situations, I would gladly exchange the worries in some taxes and enjoy the peace of mind it gives.

Also, I personally have a better feeling paying tax in Thailand rather then my home country because I feel I am getting so much more in Thailand.

You will still do visa runs unfortunately; you need a non-B to get a work permit and for the1st year of the non-B you have to in/out every 90 days, from 2nd year on you can elect to report every 90 days by mail. At least that's what my company made me do.

For the Representative Office you need 2 million baht in the first year and after that 1 million baht for the next three years as registered capital. When your application goes for review your home country company will have to provide financial returns that substantiate the ability to pay this amount. I think not a good option for a small consultant.

They consider it working if you take a Thai person's job. If you have a Thai business visa you are not allowed to take a Thai job but you can hire Thai people to do the work. You can invest abroad as much as you like.

Not really correct, it's not to do with taking Thai jobs, except in certain occupations. You can do the same work as a thai in a lot of industries if you first obtain a business visa and then a work permit in order to work legally (in non restricted work categories) either via a sponsoring company or forming your own thai limited company. Either option requires the hiring of four thais per alien work permit.

The intent of work permits was to control alien workers and reserve certain occupations for the Thai labour force. You can understand it I guess otherwise every farang man and his dog would be over here working at some point even if the wages are so much lower.....

The definition of work in Thailand from the Thai MOL is "to engage in work by exerting energy or using knowledge whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefits" which pretty much covers every scenario you can dream up.

What about if one is moving around and using a small mobile internet aircard from say DTAC or AIS? Do they have an IP, are they just as prone to attack and snooping as when plugged in to the wall?

I know that some of this seems contradictory but you should do yourself a favour and type coconut oil and liver benefits into a search engine. do the same with soda, diet soda, good saturated fats with liver or even fatty liver and all will be revealed. Better still, add Dr Mercola as he is an excellent doctor that really knows his business.

Then you really discover what's good and what is not good, some of your findings might shock you - but at least it will put you on the right road to recovery!!

My liver values are excellent, so I don't need recovery.

But most probably I already do most of what is recommended. I don't drink any sodas, almost no fruit juice, no sugar, low carbs, low fat (often a problem with my wife), exercise, no fast food, 99% self cooked etc.

Only a bit on the alcohol side, sometimes

All good except for one thing - the self same thing that you mention that you have a problem with your wife about.

Some fats are good for the liver - as cited by me in a different post eg: avocado, nuts and seeds and coconut oil specifically.

People make the fatal mistake of believing low fat/zero fat, low sugar/zero sugar and health food (on the label) are better for you. THEY ARE NOT!!

Everything else you do is perfect and you are to be commended on that - have a look at liver and fats in a search engine and you will see that it is only trans and refined fats and oils that are bad for the liver - the damage is multiplied once you apply heat to them.

It is not save to cook and eat vegetable oils, especially safflower and canola oil. Stick to healthy organic virgin coconut oil for cooking and extra virgin olive oil for 'light' cooking and marinades and you can't go wrong.

I have so much trouble cooking with olive oil. I try to keep heat low but it still spatters everywhere and burns off. My chef friends tell me its not suitable for frying.....? They say because of it's low heat tolerance its inefficient for frying. I know its good for you but if you can't cook with it what's the point?

Ubonjoe, I got news today that the Australian Embassy have granted my Thai gf a single entry 3 month tourist visa into Australia. So I am thinking now I might delay my Australian trip until such time I will have more time to spend there or I have to go for work etc so I can show her around. Rather than just a quick turnaround for my Non B which would seem a waste of her single entry.

So, for obtaining my new Non B, which of the more local embassies would you recommend to go to for the least hassles, Singapore, KL, HK, etc?

Thanks NeverSure and FiestyFarang. I'm going to take you both up on those suggestions!

Thanks for your reply ubonjoe. Just on that, what actually happens if you get caught with an overstay before getting to the airport? Do they lock you up......being claustrophobic that would be the death of me, literally!

Can the normal police catch you (I've never been detained) or is it only immigration police that can catch you for this?

Thanks ubonjoe. I have tried to reply to your post but for some reason I can't get a cursor to show in the reply box.

Back to my question and your response, if I do the overstay will this be noticed when I go to get my new Non B in Brisbane? Will it have any impact on their decision?

I think the overstay option is probably easier, cheaper and most importantly, safer than the border run option.