Gecko123

What some posters seemingly forget when they thoughtlessly bash Thai men is that Thai men are the fathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, sons, grandsons, nephews, monks, village leaders, teachers, role models, and friends of the women they supposedly love. Good grief!

@Lacessit I have some comments I'd like to share about the 40-50 year old masseuses you spoke of earlier. Many of them have or have had exposure to the sex industry, i.e., the occasion 'happy ending'. Some may have been former prostitutes who migrated into massage work as they got older. A large percentage of Thai men would view massage work as a highly undesirable occupation for their wife; the hanky-panky hazard is too high, and they'd endure endless ribbing from their buddies. So the idea that these women would "prefer" a foreign guy is a little bit ludicrous. The truth is that many of those women couldn't find a Thai guy to marry them for all the tea in China. Of course a single 40-50 y/o woman without passive income (land, rental property, major savings) is probably going to be focused on financial security in her senior years, and will likely assume that most foreigners would have more income than the average farmer, day laborer, retiree. These older women are also past their child bearing years so many physical attraction or paternal considerations are less important. In my opinion, the interest level of a 40/50 year old woman in an older foreign man is pretty much based entirely on financial security rather than companionship and compatibility. Just consider the energy that needs to be expended to cross a language barrier at that age. I wouldn't put that much stock in casual overtures you might hear in a massage parlor setting. Many of these older women making overtures to foreign men are doing so for their idle amusement (often in front of other women), and if they ever happened to snag someone's interest, they wouldn't have the foggiest idea about how to be a foreign guy's wife. But where my skepticism really kicks into overdrive is when I hear guys trying to claim that younger Thai woman in the 25-45 y/o range genuinely prefer older foreign men because they're more considerate, caring, dependable, and respectful husbands and fathers. When I hear foreign guys making these sweeping generalizations that Thai men are all lazy, alcoholics, yaa baa addicts and philanderers who abandon their wives at the drop of a hat, I really have to roll my eyes. You read that stereotype constantly on this forum, and in my opinion there's little truth to it. It's little more than a script that bar-girls are trained to deliver in order to gain sympathy and elicit a 'white knight' reaction from older foreign men. That's how the myth of the Thai male's undesirability as a mate has worked its way into the foreign male's psyche. The truth is that prior marriages of Thai women end just as often due to the misbehavior of the woman, i.e., gambling, incurring debts without the knowledge of the husband, untrustworthy behavior, infidelity, argumentativeness, laziness, or unrealistic demands about money, etc.

The response from the usual suspects is about what I expected. Suffice it to say, no gold stars for citizenship or character will be handed out this evening. I guess it doesn't really matter if the AN peanut gallery doesn't appreciate it when the Pattaya police department takes a snatch-thief off the street. I'm sure the Indian community is deeply grateful. It's sad this forum seems to have become a refuge for those who can't come to terms with Pattaya's changing demographics. It's like the Indian presence is triggering a flare up of some neo-colonialist tropical fever; a reflexive panic to assert one's fading relevance. I picture glaring eyes, teeth gnashing under brush mustaches, gin and tonics being nostalgically sipped on a veranda, dark thoughts hastening the darkening of the setting sun's hues as it slips behind a tea plantation. You have a nice evening, gentlemen.

You're very disrespectful. I'll bet because of all the crime and because it's a tourist hub, Pattaya probably enjoys one of the best police departments, per capita, in Thailand. Outside of major cities like Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phuket or Bangkok (which all have much larger populations), name a city in Thailand you think has a better police department than Pattaya.

I believe that most of the officers pictured in photos memorializing major arrests had involvement in the case. Study the photo closely. Those aren't deadbeat front desk duty officers. Those are detectives, sharp, street savvy cops.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Is it safe to say that you're in the Harry Dent school of thought that long cycle demographics drive markets? I agree with this analysis, but I have started to see things in terms of a structural supply-demand imbalance with supply shrinking (due to diminishing resources) and the amount of money chasing that demand seemingly spiraling forever upwards. I can definitely envision a scenario where inflation forces interest rates ever higher until asset prices collapse and there's Japan style deflation. But in the US's case, even though I think the Fed is going to push interest rates higher than anyone expects right now, sooner or latter they're gonna back off and a bloated money supply and inflation still hanging around. Do you have any thoughts about the inflationary impact of entitlement spending and COLA adjustments? That's a big part of the reason I think that inflation is going to be around for a long time.

This isn't a debate about what is causing climate change. Irrespective of what you may or may not believe is causing it, the climate IS changing. The question is what impact this will have on inflation.

Kenny202: I think you're describing a feral type of village woman who is incapable of viewing a (foreign) man as anything other than as a host for her parasitic behavior. In my experience, most, but not necessarily all, come from broken homes or impoverished hard-scrabble backgrounds, and many have worked in the sex industry. But by no means is this behavior endemic to village or Thai culture in general. If you study the Thai wives of Thai men in your surrounding area, I am sure you can identify many who would make dutiful and devoted wives. I have platonic crushes on many of the women in my village, and some of them may even have a crush on me in return. There are many many women who seem to perform their wifely duties admirably. I have found that eliminating the outward appearance of being Mr Moneybags has done wonders at dampening the ardor of and scaring off any prospective gold diggers. What another poster said about the need to re-calibrate expectations in terms of age differences as we get older, and being able to communicate in Thai is very true. Before you went on the tangent about ingratitude from spouses and girlfriends, I was going to say that I have a theory that fear of indebtedness may be behind some Thai people's reluctance to express gratitude. The other thing I was going to point out is that in many, many Thai households, the wife is the person who manages the household finances. Even though you may think forking over cash deserves obsequious and tearful thank yous and foot waiing, I think for some women expressing gratitude really and truly isn't viewed as necessary because her mother never waiied her father when he handed money over to her mother, and that's just how things are done. But, Kenny, don't let the basterds get you down. I'm not just talking about any village women who might try to take advantage of your good nature, but about the guys on threads like this who think they've got Thai women all figured out. Few of us have, or ever will, fully solve that mystery.

1. Climate change is going to make agricultural products more difficult to produce. Indoor green houses, trucking in water, drip irrigation, less grazing pasture, drought, extreme weather, agricultural land taken out of production because of water scarcity, etc., etc. Reduced water flow in rivers is going to increase transportation costs and reduce hydroelectric power generation. If areas of the planet become less inhabitable, this is going to put pressure on resources in more habitable areas, pushing up demand and prices. 2. De-globalization is going to make production of manufactured goods more expensive, and countries are more likely to engage in protectionist policies. 3. Entitlement program expenditures are inherently inflationary. Even if you argue that entitlement program expenditures are only paying out what people have paid into the program (which they're not), money held in those funds wasn't being spent in the economy. These savings were essentially deferred consumption. Now, as more and more people retire these funds are being consumed, fueling demand for goods and services. What's more, because most Western governments are partially borrowing to fund retirement programs, this is essentially increasing the money supply which is fueling inflation. Also, in the past, retires may not have had to actually consume all of their retirement benefits, but with inflation rising, more of these benefits have to be spent just to maintain one's standard of living. People talk about the wage-price inflationary spiral, where higher prices beget higher wages which beget higher prices. But as near as I can make out, COLA adjustments on retirement benefits are doing the same thing: higher prices begetting higher COLA adjustments which in turn beget higher prices. Isn't that pretty much the same as a wage-price inflationary spiral? Would be interested to hear others thoughts on this matter.

Read the PattayaNews article in its entirety. We don't have to rely on reports from your "police volunteer pal." The article says that CCTV footage for the string of recent snatch thefts has shown that the thefts were real and that a gang of transvestites apparently preying on Indian tourists were responsible for them. Dredging up some example of alleged insurance fraud from years by-gone to justify the blatant racism displayed on past threads about gold chain snatch thefts involving Indians is lame.

BTW, the Pattaya police department deserves to be commended for tracking this perp down. I am pretty sure that catching this guy required many hours reviewing CCTV footage, interviewing people, possibly even involving stake outs and plain clothes work. The 13 officers posing in the picture probably gives a good idea of how many officers were involved in the effort.

Maybe after you apologize for buying into the insurance scam myth. I'm pretty sure wearing gold jewelry is a cultural thing for Indian men. Not being aware of the snatch-theft danger in Pattaya doesn't make people stupid. I don't know what you mean by "seeking lady boys out." Just about every news report I've read said that the ladyboy(s)'s approach to the victim was unexpected, uninvited, and unwelcome.

Your "apology" obviously lacked genuine sincerity or remorse and would fail any test of character it was subjected to.

You were wrong. Admit it.

All those who openly speculated that these snatch-thefts were just bogus insurance scams should be lining up to apologize to the Indian community. You know who you are. Let's see who's man enough to do the right thing.

Amazing Thailand: Former monk turned celebrity ladyboy hits back after BMW cash purchase criticism Mind-blowing gender-bending tongue-twisting head-scratcher

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Have been weighing the pros and cons of repatriation to America since before the 2016 election. Over this time, the appeal of remaining in Thailand has steadily grown while the appeal of returning to America has pretty much dropped off a cliff. I might also add that Thailand's appeal has grown when comparing it to other potential relocation destinations as well. I realized that the main appeal for me of repatriation to the US was access to Medicare, but more and more I feel like I'm willing to roll the dice and remain here. Political stability, social climate, climate change and, of course, cost of living were the other factors which went into my evaluation.

I don't think you're giving enough weight to the climate of fear and social alienation that gun violence generates. The damage goes far beyond handgun death and injury statistics.

You would think that someone who describes himself as a "professional spear fisherman" would have a greater awareness of what species and areas were off-limits, but I agree the boat owner/guide ought to bear some responsibility as well. My only advice to this guy at this point is to lose the tank top, shorts, and sandals, and to take off his headgear indoors when interacting with the police, the courts, or the media. He may also want to pay more attention to his sitting posture and avoid fiddling with his smart phone in the presence of authorities. As justifiably proud as he may be of his physique, his wardrobe and posture are conveying a level of machoism that is working against efforts he has made to express contrition about what he has done. Instead his wardrobe and posture are conveying a lack of awareness about the seriousness of the laws he has broken, and is probably helping fuel public perceptions that punishment is warranted.

Hmmm. Targeting 7-11's and Big C mini marts is an Interesting insurgency warfare tactic. Mom and pop retailers probably won't exactly be up in arms about attacks on chain store retailers. Seems like mostly schools and army checkpoints have been targeted in the past. I wonder if this signals a change in tactics?

If he believed both victims had been mortally wounded, maybe he thought he had enough time to flee the country before the bodies were discovered.

Dated stereotypes and hackneyed clichés too numerous to mention. Interacting with bar girls does not make one an authority on village life. These days most foreign men and Thai women in relationships are more savvy and realistic than the article suggests. Couples with extreme disparities in age are also far less common than in years past. May I suggest an upcoming article topic: 40-50 year old digital nomads discovering that their dreams of supporting themselves by becoming a travel blogger or vlogger may not have been very realistic.

Comments from John Bolton quoted in below NYTimes article shred Trump's claims that the documents were declassified: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/14/us/politics/trump-documents-explanations.html Mr. Bolton, who served as Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser over 17 months, said he had never heard of the standing order that Mr. Trump’s office claimed to have in place. It is, he said, “almost certainly a lie.” “I was never briefed on any such order, procedure, policy when I came in,” Mr. Bolton said, adding that he had never been told of it while he was working there, and had never heard of such a thing after. “If he were to say something like that, you would have to memorialize that, so that people would know it existed,” he said. What’s more, he pointed out, secure facilities for viewing sensitive material were constructed at Mr. Trump’s clubs in Florida and New Jersey, where he often spent weekends as president, meaning that the documents wouldn’t need to be declassified. And if they were declassified, Mr. Bolton said, they would be considered subject to public record requests. He continued, “When somebody begins to concoct lies like this, it shows a real level of desperation.”