Jungle Jim

I came to Thailand to live with the Thais. Why hang with foreigners ? If i was that lonely i would just head back to my home country.

I think that perhaps the Thais have finally gotten sick of our non stop obnoxious behavior. The Russians seem to have a knack at pissing off the locals. What few i have encountered i can,t say i am fans of them either. Many of the tourists look down on the Thais and treat them like crap. One reason i just avoid the tourist hangouts. Not educated is too kind of a word to use. Obnoxious is more like it.

I suggest some of the readers be less racist or do not live here. These guys day in day out risk their life to help and save people with very little equipment like jet-skis in Australia. Then you get people who ignore red flags which should be obvious what it means and be disrespectful. The lifeguards have to put up with disrespect probably every day. I see some of the tourists they come here and look down on Thais. They would not behave the same in their own country. Most of the tourists here are budget end people and not educated.

if you wish to really travel toss the LP book in the trash. The website is even worse. Total waste of time and the majority of the infamous posters their advise is way off and dangerous. But if your into following the banana pancake/pad Thai trail where millions of others are just following each other like sheep it's perfect. After my first week in Thailand years ago i tossed the worthless and often dangerous guidebook in the trash. Best thing i ever did.

Have you looked at any Lonely Planet books or there website ? Lots of backpacker info.

You are correct. Sadly most here don,t get it . The majority are suckers lose everything and they most likely met their lovely in a bar.

You mean to say your happy with and hope to enjoy your wife's property. I'll wait a few years for the sequel to this story when you explain to us how she walked away with everything after you ran out of money just as you finished construction on the house. 555

I don,t think he gets that. Curious where he met her and if she explained in detail the land is HERS.

Interesting story and I am sure you know you cannot own land unless you are Thai?

Stepped out of my so called bubble the first day i arrived here by avoiding the tourist traps. Have visited more of the remote areas of Southeast Asia likely more than anyone. But i disagree with you the majority are here to PARTY !

Three things are the highest priorities. Cheap booze, cheap women, and PARTY ! The foreigners can care less about the Thais or their culture that goes for both men and women. It shows in their attitudes towards the Thais. Fine examples are Khao San Road, the Full Moon Party, sex bars, Pai aka Hippie Dippy Hell where two Russians broke into a temple, Phuket where women walk topless on the beach, men are in the bars much of the day and that goes for most of the tourists areas. Like i said the majority of the expats and tourists can care less about Thai culture. Any that are into that head for Burma . Most of Thailand has been ruined by mass tourism.

Maybe you should step out of your bubble or cocoon and try to embrace the real Thailand. You're partly right of course, but the majority of tourists do not frequent the sleaze you describe. They do visit temples, museums, take cooking courses, visit national parks and heritage sites.

Three things are the highest priorities. Cheap booze, cheap women, and PARTY ! The foreigners can care less about the Thais or their culture that goes for both men and women. It shows in their attitudes towards the Thais. Fine examples are Khao San Road, the Full Moon Party, sex bars, Pai aka Hippie Dippy Hell where two Russians broke into a temple, Phuket where women walk topless on the beach, men are in the bars much of the day and that goes for most of the tourists areas. Like i said the majority of the expats and tourists can care less about Thai culture. Any that are into that head for Burma . Most of Thailand has been ruined by mass tourism.

If foreigners just took a few moments and did some research there would be far fewer problems between foreigner and Thai. There are numerous examples all over the web of foreigners just having no common sense. Alcohol does wonders and the lack of common sense hits bottom . Koh Tao and the province of Surat it is easy for anyone with eyes wide open and half a brain to see the mafia is in total control. Just avoid where the majority of foreigners go and all the problems magically and mysterious go away. But the Full Moon Party folks are so out to lunch nothing matters. They seem to care less if all the money goes towards the local mafia. If that is not brain dead i don,t know what is. Foreigners need to take some responsibility for their own stupid actions.

One of the numerous reasons i would never think of living in Phuket. But glad so many foreigners with no common sense choose to live together. The Thais must love little Europe.

Koh Tao is no more dangerous than any other tourist crap hole in Thailand. No common sense, drunk, just plain stupid or a dick or bitch sooner or later you will have a problem. It is only a matter of time. Foreigners here both tourist and expat are their own worst enemies . They tend to attract trouble like flies on crap. After all these years avoiding the tourist crap holes like Koh Tao, the FMP ,Samui, Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Chang, Hua Hin, Khao San Road, Chiang Mai or anywhere listed in the lovely Lonely Planet and i have not had a single problem ever.

OMG! This guy has some common sense. Thailand would,nt be Thailand if you were not drunk 24/7. The majority of problems are caused by the foreigners themselves . Not taking responsibility for your own stupid actions.

K Samui is a mafia controlled island - who in turn are under the wing of Suratthani's mafia. They have a totally different mind-set to the K Tao animals though. Sure there's been a couple of murders over the decades but mostly it's a safe place where the mafia understand that apart from coconuts, tourism is it's biggest income stream and they do try to protect that income stream, as opposed to murdering it. Most tourists, if not all, don't even know there's a mafia there.

Being a Newbie I am planning to start exploring Thailand at weekends.... I'll be travelling alone.... are all of the islands as dodgy as Koh Tao appears to be??

You will find that most of the problems anywhere start in bars with excess drinking and arguments, don't get particularly pally with anyone and don't get besotted with a young lady.

Don't drink or certainly not to the stage of drunkenness, if you do drink be careful what you drink (drinks have been known to be spiked), don't get into arguments and fights, be polite and smile then you should be OK.

However saying that you should also do your home work on where you want to go and learn a few basic words and phrases in Thai, for you can never rely on English being spoken, particularly outside of tourist centers.

Try places that are outside the tourist traps, Issan is a great place to explore with friendly people as are the National Parks particularly the smaller one that don't see many people.

Enjoy, Thailand is a great country.

They should be called the mafia islands. This is old news. The Full Moon Party goons continue to support the local mafia. But hey in the end do you think anyone really cares as long as they can PARTY ! Samui is covered in mafia both foreign and Thai. My advice is just avoid the place or any other tourist trap i have for years. Guess what ? No problems. Life is good.

Mainstream Thai. You mean not a monthly paid hooker ?

This is an excellent topic, and just another of the many reasons why mainstream Thai women are a good bet..

Okay, when our wallets came out, they chose us...

Of all the Thai/farang relationships i have seen perhaps over a hundred have never seen one get past the two year mark. But then again they were dumb enough to get a bar girl- hooker. Have been with mine over sixteen years. DID NOT meet her in a bar nor massage shop and she barely spoke any English when we met.

You don,t drink. One reason you have a good woman. Sadly the majority not the minority can say the same. That is why once they enter Thailand its all down hill from there. Screwed up head screwed up life period. No good woman wants a drunk anywhere.

Trust my wife 100%,I was fleeced by my exwife (good old UK law) she got the lot, i kept my pension, my wife has her own car,her own house , works for a good company in Rayong, she trusts me 100% 2, she is 20yrs younger than me, we have a good life, we have fun, we both don't drink,smoke or gamble, we have good friends, infact we live a very normal life, and we don't give all our money to her family, did not pay her mum and dad so we could get married,or her brothers motorcycles or carsetc we have a very normal life so yes trust her 100%

There are far more good marriages between Thai women and farang men than bad marriages. People on Thai Visa know about the bad ones because they are talked about far more. The good marriages don't get talked about,

1 because the people involved are happy with each other and don't need to tell an anonymous forum.

2 bad news is always reported and sells but good news doesn't.

There have been good news threads on TVF before but they were normally closed because of the whiners and moaners and those who think all Thai women are the same.

News flash. Thai women are NOT all the same. Neither are farang women all the same either.

All those islands have been dangerous for years. Having said that the FMP idiots love the place.

Koh Tao.......and that's probably the end of the trip.......booooo!! Did I really say that? C'mon.....somebody was going to sooner or later!! BAd advice! BAd advice!

Have you ever thought of signing up for The Amazing Race ? Typical tourists traveling non stop. Slow down. Your choices are better than most that prefer the beaten down Banana Pancake/Pad Thai trail. Such as Chiang Mai, Pai, Koh San Road, Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi , Koh Chang, Phuket, Hua Hin and other over run tourist traps ruined by mass tourism. But hey if following millions of other sheep or cattle would be a better name. Go for it. PLEASE ! Take a few moments before you arrive and learn about Thais Do's and Don'ts. Millions of others can care less and the Thais have really had enough of our bad behavior. Be a good polite foreigner and guess what you will be treated much better.

Perhaps a nice long stay in prison might bring back her failing memory. Make the cell big enough for her brother and other family members.

Yea they end up with a royal shallow pain in the ass.

100%. She's a diamond. Told me today that her daughter is proud of me, and so is she. And this, coming from a farmer's daughter. I am humbled.

Have a farmers daughter myself.. ..anyone that longs for the the "hiso chinese" have shallow lowso ambitions....social climbing ego fed low self esteem parasites....they don't want a woman of substance - they want bragging rights.....and they end up with exactly what they deserve......

Are.nt most young women today a narcissist pain in the ass? The foreign women taught them well. But they tend to attract shit for guys anyway because no good guy will touch them with a ten foot pole. these women tend to be good for one thing. of course once they start to age they have some serious bad karma to pay off. Too stupid to understand that when they are young. more so if they have a big chest it all goes to their pea brain heads.

Her......never ever again........narcissist and so on.........


Trust is in the eye of the beholder......

yea are the majority of foreigners in Thailand great. A nice 2 by 4 to the head would do wonders when grabbing at women

Another 100% here....I have eyes wide open and away from my own fear of possibilities have never found a reason to doubt her....what I do not trust are the entry level want 2 be farangs - some who think Thai women are meat....ex GFs have had their hands grabbed at markets and cornered at malls along with the clever (they think) lines....the women hate this and it furthers the distrust of farangs good and bad....unfortunately I was not there for the afronts....and that's what they are when not invited/welcomed....it's a matter of propriety in all directions + we do not frequent people/situations with those of at risk behavior.....I'm lucky in that my wife is not prone to deception...and - in fact - is uncomfortable around less than truthful people or situations - as am I....that might make our social circle smaller but it's better off without the fringers or negative prople anyway.....there are a lot of quality people around if you pay attention and watch who you chose to associate with....

Sadly the majority of guys pay and it is obvious they found them in a bar.

I think if you have a normal loving relationship ( two people love each other ) then why be in doubt.But if you are a farang who " rents a lady on a monthly basis ( not a relationship ) then i would say that for sure many of them will be " Playing away from home " I think it would be quite understanding that if you pay a lady to live with you then the chances are high that she will be wanting some " hows your father " with someone that she really likes ( " free " )

If you were a lady then wouldn't you...?

F.J x

Maybe the problem is the guy tossing stupid money at her .

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Too many variables. If it's food prepared in the store, it'll differ from one Big C to another and it'll depend on who's preparing it. I doubt they have some country-wide uniform preparation guide for such things.

Thais don't tend to use a lot of table salt in cooking things, but it'll be present from fish sauce & other add-ons used in cooking & preservatives and they may use MSG & the cheapest cooking oils which could be another concern if you're worried about what you're actually consuming.

Simple for me really Costas.

100% trust , both me to her and her to me. Been like that the 10 years weve been together.

DONT TRUST ANYONE. And in particular a girl friend and her family. It's all about your money not you !!!

Might be a really good idea to start learning Thai.

I do not trust anyone. This is especially true as an old man living in Thailand with little Thai language and limited budget.

Old man can not run and can not fight in defense.

Thailand policing emergencies, like street attacks or otherwise, is slow and minimal; meaning keep a very low profile.

I can not even call for help (chewa dewa ???) nor explain my problem quickly (I carry a paper with words in Thai... hospital, police, call wife).

I can not afford to just throw money at a problem and need a low profile, too.

Being in a reduced circumstance like this, I would be foolish to trust anyone. Ok I know that someday I will have to trust a doctor.

I am ok with my Thai wife as she dispenses my daily medications, but you can never really know anyone.

Let me guess where you met her.

trust her not to steal my house ...... 0%
trust her not to have sex with someone else ...... 0%
trust her not to steal from my wallet ...... 0%

She's a great s&%g though!

Why the &*^& are you with her? Your life must be a misery.

You don,t drink. One reason you have a good woman. Sadly the majority not the minority can say the same. That is why once they enter Thailand its all down hill from there. Screwed up head screwed up life period. No good woman wants a drunk anywhere.

Trust my wife 100%,I was fleeced by my exwife (good old UK law) she got the lot, i kept my pension, my wife has her own car,her own house , works for a good company in Rayong, she trusts me 100% 2, she is 20yrs younger than me, we have a good life, we have fun, we both don't drink,smoke or gamble, we have good friends, infact we live a very normal life, and we don't give all our money to her family, did not pay her mum and dad so we could get married,or her brothers motorcycles or carsetc we have a very normal life so yes trust her 100%