Gecko123

The purpose of this thread isn't to provide people with the opportunity to grandstand about how enlightened and spiritually grounded and centered they are. The purpose is to allow people to share the range of emotions they experience when they find updates on past loves on the internet.

You ever search the internet for old flames, (high school sweethearts, college flings, ex-wives, one night stands) to see where they live, if they're still alive, maybe even find a picture of what they look like today? Come on, admit it, everyone does that sometimes, don't they? I tend to do look up women who dumped me, rather than the other way around, and, yes, I've been dumped more than my share, so there's a lot of women out there I can look up. 555. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the women who dumped me have ended up alone in later life, either never having married, or getting divorced. Few seem to have aged as well as me. One woman who really drove a dagger into my heart regularly updates her photo on her so-called 'life coaching' website. In her latest photo, I thought I saw a glint of fear in her eye, perhaps a fear of dying alone, I imagined. Gave me a twinge of satisfaction, I'll confess. So what do you think when you see a picture of old flames today? Does it make you feel nostalgic like I could still love her even to this day, or is it more like 'my God, what was I thinking, there's no way we were compatible, I really dodged a bullet there, thank you, Jesus'?

A few months ago, my next door neighbor sold off their small herd of dairy cows. When asked why, they said that new quality control/health standards had been put in place which required them to purchase testing equipment which was prohibitively expensive for a small family farm, so they were forced to sell their herd.

With the relaxation of the TM-30 requirement and the on-line 90 day reporting system finally working, immigration has never been better. Really don't have any complaints. Neighbors are considerate, no crime, no drugs; peaceful village life. After reading about what's going on elsewhere in the world, feel like dropping down on my knees and thanking God I live here.

This is a mischaracterization of village attitudes towards foreign men who marry Thai women and move to their village. Their assessment of the viability and staying power of the relationship, which is usually pretty accurate, is based on a gut assessment of the couple's compatibility, whether they get along, can communicate comfortably, appear to function well as a couple. The only things that would trigger suspicions you had a roving eye would be if you err... had a roving eye, had frequent unexplained absences, were rumored to be a frequent habitué of red light districts, or you weren't passing the compatibility "smell" test. You're not going to be labeled a playboy based on youthful age alone.

This comment, in particular, struck me as highly manipulative, not to mention, not particularly true to life. It's obviously manipulative because it uses social pressure to prod the OP into building a house to prove his commitment to the relationship. It's not true to life because, if anything, most family members and villagers are secretly jealous if a village girl's social status suddenly improves, and the village pecking order has to be recalibrated. Why would anybody in the family be concerned about whether the foreigner built a house for the girl? The house would belong to the girl, there's nothing in it for the family, why would they care?

Your wife could shut that nonsense down in a NY minute if she wanted to. I suspect she is trying to manipulate you by relaying this toxic gossip from her family.

The OP did finally respond Tue Jul 11 4:17 PM and my post was in response to his post. The OP started the thread on Saturday and finally came back on Tuesday 7/11 @4:17PM to gush about 'gosh I just checked the thread and gosh, LOL, so many responses, look at me, the thread went viral, was even featured on ASEANNOW's FB page, gee, golly, gush, LOL, silly me.' Now, don't get me wrong, I can understand how someone can start a thread for purposes of amusement, and I can also understand how someone can deliberately make themselves sound more naive than they really are in order to generate a lot of reaction. It's called being a troll, but it happens. But what irritated me about the OP's 'gee, gosh, LOL, gush, I had a terrific weekend, and, truth be told, I was just ego trippin' and really wasn't interested in any advice any of you losers might have had to offer anyway because I'm actually a lot more experienced than I let on and speak several SE Asian languages, blah, blah, blah' is that it showed a lot of disrespect for forum members. He asked for advice about going up to Isaan right before he's about to leave, and then pretends he didn't even bother checking the responses until the trip's over and he's on the bus back home? That's disrespectful. And the other thing I want to say to the OP is that 20-25 years ago there wasn't the internet, and people couldn't really pick one another's brains about how to handle situations they encountered over here. They had to feel their way on their own, and a lot of guys learned a lot of stuff by brutal trial and error. Much of the 'common wisdom' savviness and insight into interacting with Thais, and Thai women in particular, came from guys who learned it the hard way. Today, with Google and social media, any question can be answered at the push of a button, and everybody thinks they're an overnight expert on all things Thai. But don't forget where much of that body of knowledge came from. It came from guys who pioneered and paved the way for today's newbies. So my message to the OP is when you ask a question on this forum, either show respect to the people you are posing your questions to, or go get lost.

If your part of the partnership is essentially the retail store, you're taking a disproportionate share of the risk. As a grower, his risk is primarily demand for his product, but on the retail store side you would be bearing the risk of the retail location failing as well as the regulatory risk and market demand risk for his product which both of you would be bearing. Let's say both of you put up 50% of the capital for the enterprise. His 50% for the farming operation; your 50% for the retail operation. If the recreational cannabis market were to shrink or be subjected to increased regulatory controls, your Thai partner could theoretically still be able to sell his product on the black market or other distribution channels, so his farming investment could still generate revenue. But if the shop were forced to be closed because of low demand or regulation, the retail operation would likely have to close and all of your investment would likely be lost or be sharply reduced in value. I'm just trying to make two points: 1) The two "partners" in the above scenario are not really bearing the business risk equally. One partner (you) are bearing more of the risk, and therefore you should be compensated for this higher level of risk, and (2) Unless you have an agreement with your partner that all of the investment risk (both farming and retail) will be shared equally between both of you, then you're not really entering into a true "partnership." He's not going to sell his cannabis operation to reimburse you for any losses you incur on your retail investment, is he? Aren't you really talking about two separate businesses? Another thing to consider would be on what basis you would be dividing the profits? Based on your respective overhead costs? How much risk you're bearing? That's going to be changing from month to month, lots of opportunity for shady accounting, right? To me it sounds like a recipe for constant haggling, headache central. Plus with the regulatory horizon being so murky now I would take a pass.

9 pages of advice, and not a word of appreciation? You also didn't mention the kids, the one with long covid, remember? Just sayin'.

@Walker88Exceptionally well-written post.

The guy's green lamé shorts are actually quite fashionable.

Will confess that I was not aware of his mass popularity, but proudly stick by my opinion that his music is entirely derivative of black rap music with very little home grown originality. He seems to be enjoying a wave of domestic popularity due to his overseas popularity and his overseas popularity seems to be driven by people congratulating themselves on having discovered the latest world beat groove. Seems like a serious hype and marketing promotion machine is driving much of this. More power to him, just not impressed.

I would never in a million years ridicule anyone's efforts to explore Thailand's rich music culture, but, good God man, that's a crappy song. You can hear that same beat in countless other songs, and the lyrics are insipid, uninspiring, without any real message. The cynical attempt to give the song cultural chops by incorporating traditional instruments falls flat as well. The video on the other hand, even though it too is a total rip off of black rap videos, does have high production values, is visually catchy, holds your attention, and is amusing to the extent it provides a Thai "take" on black rap culture. Gecko123 Music and music video critic ASEANNOW

I couldn't find much evidence in the video that a moral judgment was being made about either the farang or the girls at the ATM. The video seems to be more a celebration of rap and hood culture: bubble booty twerking, motorcycle and car street racing, fake gold teeth, getting hot girls, making money, being successful. The lyrics during the ATM scene are: "baby to adult, my skin dark like a coal, get out the Zone, we go to the Show." These lyrics do somewhat deliver a "why not stick to your own kind" message, or perhaps be saying "Baby, give me a shot; I can take care of you just as well as some stinky old foreigner." But it seems to be being said more out of ego and machismo than nationalism or any solidarity with women. I didn't find the overtly political message the OP found. I'm reminded of what Yinn (a female Thai poster on this forum) once said to me when I asked her if she agreed with my interpretation of the message in a Thai song. She told me: "It's just a song."

If you're inferring from this comment that your Thai language skills are good enough to decipher the lyrics of this song without relying on the English subtitles.... I. Don't. Believe. You.

All these warnings that the family will likely descend upon the OP with endless financial hardship stories and conniving invitations to go sightseeing at the local Big C Supercenter, as amusing and entertaining as they are, are mostly just bar stool tales which have been embellished and handed down over the years. The chances of the OP encountering this behavior on an initial visit are pretty slim. Everyone is going to be on their best behavior. The girlfriend will be keeping everyone on a short leash, not only so as to not scare the OP off, but to make sure she remains the main beneficiary of his generosity.

Trying to frame this as "manning up" or being "scared" to meet her family is being silly. All I'm suggesting is that the timing of the visit can be used as a tool to manage expectations and the pace of the relationship. You've never heard that "taking him/her home to meet the parents" is often considered a significant milestone in a relationship? You don't think there's a potential for claiming a loss of "face" or triggering resentment because you decided to break up with her after she introduced you to her family and her kids? Or being put under emotional pressure to become more emotionally involved or committed after a visit home?

It adds a layer of expectation which can be used to apply emotional pressure.

Are you familiar with the concept of a rhetorical question?

What are you doing in Bangkok? Are you employed there? What kind of visa are you on? You're relatively young, supporting a wife and two kids is not going to be cheap. Are you planning on working in Bangkok or repatriating? What is her job title at the insurance company and what is her salary? Is she a vice president of claims or is she a file clerk? Exactly how did you meet this insurance company employee? I certainly do not want to impugn anyone's background, but you need to know that some women with day time jobs are effectively freelancing, and have had a lot of practice hooking foreign guys. A trip up country to meet the family is something of a rite of passage for many foreign guys. Can be very insightful and educational, but I would say inviting you up to Isaan after one week of dating is definitely a red flag, and suggests a strong desire to rush the relationship forward, which is not typical behavior for Thai women. Consider: most of the people she knew growing up in Isaan she probably has known all her life. She knows the importance of getting to know someone before leaping in with all fours. Another thing, if you're a relative noobie, and there's a significant language barrier between the two of you, i.e. you know a handful of phrases and words, and she can communicate every day needs like going places, food, etc., but can't really discuss things like values, politics, religion, you get the picture, you're probably projecting and attributing a ton of Western values and assuming a compatibility that may or may not be a figment of your febrile imagination. Go to Isaan to meet the family if you think it'd be a fun trip, but don't make any rash moves. You need extra time to get to know her when you are crossing cultural and language barriers. Jumping in with all fours usually ends in tears.

Quite agree that diet, sleep regime and exercise are excellent areas to focus on. Really surprised how many pharmacological solutions have been recommended before focusing on lifestyle issues. Eating a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, nuts, fiber, etc. improves one's mood. Sleep is absolutely critical too. I have tried to practice good sleep hygiene for a long time now, but about a month ago started adhering to a fairly strict bed time and wake up time, and I have been ASTOUNDED about how this simple technique has improved the quality of my sleep AND my daytime energy levels. Give it a try, it is truly amazing how much this can improve your sleep and daytime energy levels. You go to bed more tired, sleep more soundly, and as a result, have more energy during the day.

I told the OP back in December on his "Making Friends with Thai Men" thread that I thought he was in danger of being chewed up and spit out by Thailand. I wrote this out of genuine concern. My bottom line assessment is that he has failed to make the transition from an endless summer, party animal, holiday maker mindset to a more sustainable expat lifestyle, one with a sense of purpose. The OP has an enviable talent for starting threads which generate a lot of hits, and seemingly has a lot of energy. He needs to find some activities that give him a sense of genuine fulfillment instead of activities which only temporarily fill an inner void. In my estimation, his transition to a more sustainable lifestyle is long overdue, and if he continues down the road of distraction and dissipation, he will soon discover - if he hasn't already - that Thailand has wrung his life force out of him and he has little to show for it. Thailand has a knack for letting people wallow in self-delusion and when reality hits, it's often not pretty. I've seen Thailand chew up and spit out lots of guys, many better men than me. You really have to take care of yourself here. Looking at Thailand as a playground is dangerous.

The teenage boy's past brushes with the law - which were likely unknown to the officer at the time of the shooting - are totally irrelevant to whether the use of deadly force was justified in this case. You seem to be arguing that his past brushes with the law made him a menace to society, likely to kill people if he escaped from the traffic stop, and therefore justified his shooting. Are you aware that the officer first claimed that he fired because his life was in danger (presumably by being run over) and when the video emerged, he amended his story saying that he was aiming for his lower extremities but the car bumped his arm causing the motorist to be shot in the chest. Whether either of these justifications for the shooting will be substantiated remains to be seen, but, initially, the video doesn't appear to corroborate the officer's version of events. https://www.policinglaw.info/country/france

I've been a Francophile for many years, have studied the language on and off throughout my life, and have tried to get a handle on what can rightfully be called "France's race problem," as this is a hot button issue for me in terms of France's attractiveness as a place to visit and live. Here's what I've been able to piece together over the years. Following WWII France enacted laws which prohibited the government from keeping track of people based on race and religion. These laws seem to have inhibited analysis of what is really going on in underprivileged neighborhoods. The pattern of underprivileged neighborhoods being located in outer bands surrounding cities creates serious isolation of these neighborhoods and seems to foster an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality about ignoring or giving lip-service to the needs of these underprivileged neighborhoods. Housing, employment, educational, not to mention social discrimination seems to be very common, and there seems to be a huge class divide between the elite inner cities and the surrounding regions. As a sidebar, this pattern of geographic racial and class segregation appears to be accelerating in America as well. There have always been good and bad neighborhoods, but in years past, these were found in relative proximity to one another, and there was still opportunities for interaction between different groups. Now, entire areas (for example the SF peninsula) and other West Coast cities have such high property values and taxes that they've become highly segregated, both racially and in terms of class. I see the solution to this problem as being more progressive taxes on the rich and higher estate taxes to eliminate these inequities as well as stopping corporations and hedge funds from buying up single family housing which is a direct cause of America's housing affordability crisis. Underlying the social tensions in France are fears about terrorism, immigration and criminality, which helps explain the French police's reputation for repressive policing aimed at racial minorities. But it's important to recognize that housing, employment, educational opportunity and social discrimination help feed terrorism recruitment and criminality. The widespread nature of the riots across France says a lot about the scope of underlying social tensions. When I watched images of hundreds of young physically fit mostly male rioters racing down streets, all I could think of was what a resource that energy could be if it was harnessed and put to productive use. It's no doubt a complex social problem which is going to take a lot of work to resolve. But the French politicians, starting with Macron, have to take the first step and admit there is a problem. His failure so far to acknowledge that there is any systemic problem with the policing, really has struck me as incredibly tone deaf or out-of-touch with the on the ground reality. This DW report, particularly the analysis of Paul Moreira which starts at 6:40, is probably the best commentary about the underlying causes of the French riots that I've come across so far. Edit: To all the people speculating about whether the kid was a drug dealer or otherwise up to no good, it's my understanding that he was stopped for driving in a bus lane.