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Gecko123

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  1. I would argue that the world is becoming more precarious for expats and that those with the attitude that Thailand is lucky to have been blessed with their presence and who presume that the world will eagerly welcome them should they choose to leave have simply not kept abreast with just how much global dynamics have shifted and will continue to shift going forward.
  2. You've told us where you're going, which I'll give you credit for. Curious whether you anticipate working once you return to Texas? I ask because you talked about your daughter's education, and starting over from scratch. Not sure how old you are, but unless you're still able to work, won't your standard of living be taking a pretty big hit? Just curious, wish you the best with your relocation plans.
  3. Not going to second guess immigration's lenient handling of this matter. Let's hope that she and any other disrespectful individuals lurking out there have gotten the message.
  4. It's a strange surreal dilemma. What is advisable to spend your money on seems to change on a day be day basis as you get older. Buy a new car? How many more years will you be able to drive? Buy a house/condo? What if you have to repatriate or move into an assisted care facility? Eat more lavishly? Didn't your doctor tell you you should be trying to eat a plant based diet? Lavish vacations? Maybe, but, God, where to go? Everywhere seems overrun with tourists. On the other hand, so much economic uncertainty from currencies, entitlement programs, cost of living, financial crashes. Should you just hunker down and economize as much as possible? Feed off of the comfort that a large nest egg provides? I'm finding it increasingly harder to find things I want to spend money on. More and more, I seem to be going the simple life route, gardening, reading, language study, exercise. Seems to be a fulfilling life, but I sometimes worry that my world is getting smaller and that might not be healthy. One way to look at this dilemma might be to reason that "health is wealth" and spend whatever you need to keep yourself mentally, socially, and physically fit. If you don't have any kids or a wife, you can always leave it to a good charity, which would be an equally satisfying resolution.
  5. I want to explain some things to the OP and guys who agree with the 'familiarity breeds contempt' thesis of the OP. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart, OK, not to come across as 'Mr. Thai-er than Thai.' The initial enthusiasm which Thais display when meeting someone new should not be treated as an overture, interest or willingness to entertain a relationship with the person. It is a sociable persona that most Thais, particularly women, have perfected to allow an initial assessment of who you are. You are being assessed. That's it. Once that initial assessment is made, there's a high likelihood that interest will plateau or even drop off. Remembering that the sociable and engaging demeanor you initially observed was most likely just a persona to facilitate an assessment would probably be beneficial. Some guys actually think - and expect - that all Thais should be as enthusiastic towards them as a bar girl pretends to be when she's trying to rope in a new customer. Many Thais - especially women - are aware of foreign men's naivety about Thai female friendliness and initially pour on the charm when meeting a foreign man for the first time just to see how they will react and to see if the woman is able to have the same effect on the man that she's seen other women have. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's interested in you. One thing I will agree with Mr. Smith about is that I have experienced cases where I have assumed that just because I have been patronizing a service or store for a long time that I have achieved "valued long-time customer" status only to discover that the business ethic of building long term customer relations is not in place. I have experienced this with repair shops, my insurance agent, my post man, and delivery services. When this happens I have on occasion had to make clear that my service expectations are not being met, and on rare occasion had to deliver a serious scolding/tongue lashing to get my point across, but those situations are mostly one-off. The final piece of advice I would give is that it has been my observation that Thai women are not the greatest listeners in the world. If you observe Thai male-female relationships whether married or girlfriend, I think you will see that the men are not especially talkative around their wives. You simply do not see men being overly verbose or yacking on and on with their wives that often. Most of the husbands I've observed seem to think long and hard before they open up their mouths around their wives. This auditory fatigue seems to be even more pronounced when there is a language barrier. The problem and frustration that some foreign guys encounter, especially if their Thai is limited, is that they become dependent on their Thai spouses to be their primary conversation partner, but in Thai culture Thai spouses don't really play that conversational partner role for their husband. The Thai husband's need for conversation appears to be satisfied primarily through work or socializing with other men. It has been my observation that If the foreign husband requires the Thai wife to fulfill this role, this can sometimes cause friction.
  6. Alena: Lose the bare midriff look at all future police, court, and immigration hearings.
  7. What I'm waiting to see is if the posters who were clamoring to see CCTV evidence of the assault will now be demanding to see proof that she really was having her period. 😄
  8. Not sure if we're on the same page regarding "wokism" but thank you for speaking out about the word 'farang' not being a racist term.
  9. What people should really be focused on is what kind of blow back this rash of shocking incidents might elicit from immigration. The over-tourism and massive wave of foreigners granted long-term visas (especially in Phuket) appears to have reached some type of tipping point where apparently a growing number of people think they can do whatever they want in the Kingdom. Incivility, disobeying police officers, ignoring labor laws, ignoring visa terms and conditions, engaging in criminal activities, assaulting and verbally abusing Thais, etc. all appear to be on the rise. Anyone who thinks this type of behavior doesn't have potential repercussions is in for a rude awakening. Heightened background checks, increased visa fees, increased visa requirements, retightening of TM-30 requirements could make the visa application and renewal process far more arduous than it currently is. Visa renewal denials, discontinuation of visa programs are also possibilities. Don't think that the humiliation of disarming a police officer and putting him in a choke hold doesn't increase the likelihood of the use of lethal force by police officers. Not to mention the erosion of general goodwill towards tourists and long-term visitors. Again, people like this need to clean up their act. Make no mistake, they are doing a great deal of harm, and potential repercussions are likely lurking right around the corner.
  10. Judging from the stupidity of the comments this poster has posted, my guess would be fart brain.
  11. I would list the following factors which can frustrate efforts to form friendships with Thai males: 1. premature death due to alcohol, drug, tobacco use 2.automobile and motorcycle accidents 3. incarceration 4. occupationally related death and disability 5. migrant employment which necessitates extended absences from home 6. divorce (almost always one divorcing partner leaves the area, more often than not it's the man) 7. language barriers 8. work schedule not conducive to socializing Factors which can frustrate efforts to form friendships with other foreigners: 1. cultural differences between English speaking expats 2. divorce (99.9% of time the foreigner leaves the area when living upcountry) 3. premature death due to alcohol, drug, tobacco use 4. automobile and motorcycle accidents 5. snowbirds who visit Thailand at unpredictable intervals 6. language barriers (between native and non-native English speakers)
  12. Replicating the Western style friendship pattern you describe above should not be your goal, and few Thai males have that style of relationship with other Thai men. The easiest Thai males to befriend are in your same age range and older. The foundation of the friendship should be things you have a common interest in. For example, gardening, farming, diet, health management, exercise, sports, Thai food, vehicle repair, cars, (not likely but possibly) money and investing, etc. I would steer away from allowing drinking to become the common denominator. It has been my experience that once inebriated many Thais find conversing over any kind of language barrier to be too laborious. There can also be problems whenever anybody has had too much to drink. Thai males are less likely to be highly proficient in English, so obviously the better your Thai is the easier you will find it. Even if your Thai is very limited, you can befriend many Thais by offering to teach their children English. Contrary to the nonsense posted on this forum, most Thai men are affable, have good senses of humor, like to shoot the breeze, are thrilled to have a chance to converse with a foreigner who can speak Thai reasonably well, and are hard-working, and family oriented.
  13. That stings especially coming from our resident Thai language expert. [sarcasm alert]. I understood every word that was said in the newscast. You, on the other hand, once again, and I'm starting to believe forever more, leapt to the conclusion that the news report was "racist" solely because of the use of the word farang. As I have explained earlier on this thread and on numerous occasions in the past, "farang" is often used as a generic colloquial shorthand for "foreigner", and does not automatically have a racial connotation. Also, ThaiRath tends to lean towards tabloid sensational stories that appeal to a somewhat less sophisticated audience which would be more apt to use 'farang' as colloquial shorthand for "foreigner". But as the saying goes, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
  14. If you watch the video again you will hear the female homeowner frantically yelling for the two men to stop the assault. Your ridiculous comment assumes that the assault occurred in front of a large group of people when it appears to have occurred along side a stretch of road. Cars can be heard driving by but to infer from that that everyone was apathetic about an assault on a police officer is silly.
  15. If the newscaster had used the word "Khon Tang Chat" would it have made a lick of difference? Yes, the guy who attacked the woman in the supermarket, the "kicking" incident involving David, and now this all involved Caucasians, but they were all also foreigners. There's little reason to believe that the use of the word "farang" wasn't colloquial shorthand for "foreigner" and attempts to stir up racial resentment by inferring a racial connotation to the word "farang" in this environment are disappointing. @BritManToo There were absolutely no racist undertones to the newscast. Yes, the newscasters expressed shock and dismay at footage showing two brawny foreigners disarming and putting a traffic cop in a head lock, but what the heck do you expect? Giggling, laughter, and high-fives?
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