Kaalle

Its really quite cheap, in Phuket I buy one bottle of a 100 tabs 40 mcg for 800 baht I think. That will last you many weeks if u cycle it correctly.

Dont drive to fast and dont overtake all the time, stick to the left part of the road away from the cars. Keep your eyes on the traffic going in all directions and also on the condition of the road. If you drive carefully its not like the traffic is insanely dangerous.

Whats the definition of a "good" girl? A girl that makes her own money and expects nothing more than your company? Of course there are thai girls like that who will have sex on the first date. Have you people done a survey or something?

I hate to burst some peoples bubble but in Thailand if you are young, white, not ugly, and know how to carry yourself there is no shortage of thai girls that will sleep with you for free, no strings attached. This includes good girls, bad girls, and some other ones in between.

A remarkable thing about this place is that it seems to house a lot of old people and they treat social platforms on the internet as something serious and impacting. This is a good thing in many ways, this forum is less trollish than others for sure.

Everything is different and I enjoy almost all these differences, both the big and small ones. The things I miss from back home are very, very minor, some foods and a few other little things. Most of all I enjoy the sense of freedom and that everything (almost) is easy and comfortable. Its also cheaper...

A piece of advice to all of you who didn't grow up with the internet around, don't take it so seriously

I used to have a Burmese girl come and clean ones or twice per week. She asked what I wanted done and she did it, I asked her about payment and she said it was up to me to pay her what I thought it was worth. Suffice to say I payed her good. From what I've heard it seems Burmese people have a reputation for being hard workers, maybe it different depending on region or whatever.

Good option

http://fightingspiritgym.com/

Is it ok to be dyslexic in a gay bar?

Its about emotions that are far from rational, its probably also about people who are very, very lonely. I have a hard time calling them stupid or pathetic, especially if I haven't actually met them. I only feel sympathy to be honest, anything else would feel like kicking a person who is already down. I remember when a friend came to visit and we went to Patong to do the whole bar thing. We ended up in a very small bar at the end of a side street and sitting on one of the chairs was the only farang present, a young guy our age. He also happened to be Swedish like us and he lit up like the sun when we came to sit next to him. He gave the impression of being a very kind, insecure and totally harmless individual. My friend who isn't the most tactile guy uttered something like "this bar has very ugly whores". Our new friend then pointed to the one girl behind the bar that was actually OK looking and told us that she was his girlfriend. There wasn't a trace of animosity though, he seemed to be an individual incapable of taking offense. Anyhow he then proceeded to tell us how much he liked her and how lucky he was and that he had taken her on a trip to Sweden recently. He then gave a full account of the vast amount of money he had spent on her. I made a joke with the girl in thai about a big Sin Sod coming her way and that made her mood improve immensely of course. We left the bar after a short while and this was just one of the rare moments in life where I felt genuinely sorry for another human being.

I like the sense of freedom and that nothing is really serious, urgent or set in stone. I like the overall atmosphere that to me just feels more "alive" and invigorating then anything I ever experienced back home. Further more I like all the small stuff in everyday life, they just suit me better than the way things are in my home country. Just a simple thing like if I wake up in the middle of the night and feel hungry I can jump on my bike and go where ever, always a bunch of food places open, in my country we barely have convenient stores open at night. Also I dont have to wear a bunch of cloths because of the terribly cold and nasty weather just slip on a tank top, shorts and flip flops. It just feels so relaxed and easy, comfortable and nice. And Thai people are almost always friendly, humble, laid back and just heaps more nicer and easier to be around than people I bump in to on the streets in my home country. I don't miss anything from back home except for a few food items and maybe taking a walk on an actual walking path. When I moved here it felt like life finally started, however cheesy that sounds.

Going to be in Bangkok for 5 days very soon. Need a descent hotel, that means clean, double bed, ac, but of course nothing even remotely fancy. I was looking at Diamond Residence Ratchada but it seems to have very mixed reviews. Any suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks.

My second year here I was without computer, internet as well as TV. I used to read at least a book a day and fill the rest of my time with other nice activities, sometimes I think I would like to go back to that lifestyle.

Sandisk makes a mp3 player called Sansa which is really simple and cheap but has great quality. Hopefully its available somewhere, some online shops have them for sure.

I have used Big move a couple of times and they seem professional. Looked like they had a good routine with packing and so forth, and they have a manager who speaks fluent English as well.

After working in the service industry in various forms I believe every word. People are unbelievable and they don't realize the only thing they achieve by bickering about pocket change is making a fool out of themselves. Poor noodle lady anyhow!

why not just a simple one year visa no questions asked for whatever the cost

Because it would open up Thailand to illegal workers taking jobs from Thais.

Already aliens get 30 days stay when they arrive without a visa (depending on nationality), some get 90 days visa exemption.

Pretty good for a country where they have no birth-right to stay.

Many Westerners really come across as completely arrogant on this issue, being bewildered that they just cannot arrive, be wai-ed, then told that sure, they can just stay as long as they want, no need for a visa, police check, skills, nothing, just come and stay whoever you are.

Don't feed the bitter racist troll, guys.

Im feeling a bit slow here but am I the bitter racist troll? Bitter yes, I love it here and I wish they wouldn't make it difficult to stay on a permanent basis, this has nothing to do with feelings of entitlement its just my wish that it would be more easy. Racist in what way? I sincerely like thais and I would rather be around them than my countrymen or any other westerners. I don't blame thai people on the streets for immigration policy.

I am no economist but I cant for the life of me see the downside of having the average expat living here in peace and injecting more or less substantial amounts of money into the thai economy in some shape or form, as compared to the average local.

I take it you haven't been to Pattaya lately..

Maybe, just maybe.. People in power feel the way poorer Thai society will accommodate every whim of foreigners is something they would rather remove from the equation.

I know we didn't invent it.. But it seems done far less openly on the Thai side of the market.

Accommodate every whim? As in doing business directed towards foreigners and thus making money off them, oh how terrible. Or do you mean thai society bends over backwards to adapt to farangs, in what way? I really want to know.

I come from a country where we truly welcome vast numbers of people from around the world with open arms and we truly bend over backwards not only once, but twice to accommodate them in every way possible. We throw money on them to the equivalent of ten thai elite cards for every person or something along those lines. If a couple of thousand of wealthy thais came to stay and started throwing money around we wouldn't start to bitch about a handful of them being diving instructors or buying whores or whatever. Just to make a comparison.

why not just a simple one year visa no questions asked for whatever the cost

Because it would open up Thailand to illegal workers taking jobs from Thais.

Already aliens get 30 days stay when they arrive without a visa (depending on nationality), some get 90 days visa exemption.

Pretty good for a country where they have no birth-right to stay.

Many Westerners really come across as completely arrogant on this issue, being bewildered that they just cannot arrive, be wai-ed, then told that sure, they can just stay as long as they want, no need for a visa, police check, skills, nothing, just come and stay whoever you are.

Since we have the ED visa and previously the visa runs Thailand should already be teeming with these illegal workers stealing jobs from honest thais right? Where are those people and what jobs have they stolen? I mostly socialize with thais, maybe not a vast amount of people but in any case I have never heard anything along the lines of thais competing with foreigners for a job position, not for qualified and surely not for unqualified work either. I might be arrogant but I don't see any reason why Thailand couldn't have the same immigration policy's as Cambodia or the Philippines etc. As I said in my first post there are no victims, no downside. Stay as long as I want without visa? Nobody has said that, my suggestion was a one year visa purchased for a reasonable sum. A police check? Sure I wouldn't mind that, my record is clean and I would hazard a guess that's the case for most westerners coming here. After the visa is sorted out I would proceed to spend a lot of money in Thailand and just enjoy life, not troubling anyone, not being a nuisance in any way. Why cant this be a legitimate reason to be here in the eyes of immigration or any one for that matter?

I think people are just pointing out why immigration might be taking a dim view of this sort of thing.

Some of you seem to be taking this rather personally.

Yes but my thought is that its only silly for thai authorities to play pretend and act like they belong to a government that's anything other than utterly corrupt and dysfunctional. Further more there are no hordes of strung out western expats leeching of thais and thai society, this isn't even a possible scenario since hand-outs don't exist. Also there are no bands of westerners praying on locals or each other with assaults, robberies and rape etc. People come here because its a damn nice place to be if you have some money to spend and I am no economist but I cant for the life of me see the downside of having the average expat living here in peace and injecting more or less substantial amounts of money into the thai economy in some shape or form, as compared to the average local. Also i have no problem with paying for the visa and the privilege to be here, be it the ED visa or why not just a simple one year visa no questions asked for whatever the cost, just maybe not 500 k for 5 years and a couple of limo rides, that seems a bit hefty to me.

You could probably find some mansion that will let you stay for a month for around 7-8000, for sure, maybe even 6000. Hopefully including electric and water. 

Just shop around, no shortage of possible alternatives.

Why not go home and continue the Skype lessons there?

I thought visas were for those in Thailand for a specific purpose.

For those studying a language and getting a student visa to do so, where do you study? On the internet. Hmmmm. You don't have a reason to be here.

I like being here, so does the op I guess. Thats enough reason. Why this attitude? There are no victims here, only benefits for all involved.

He is giving you an idea of the immigration officers thoughts!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

We can hope so.

I arrived a couple of days ago as well and the queues where crazy that day too. Luckily I also found the "nice chap" but he only wanted a hundred from me though. "Express passport control" he said, laughable really, so much for the new hard line immigration attitude.  The scary thing was most of the people in line where asian and the immigration officers where spending at least 20 minutes hassling each person, it was unbelievable. I wonder how long those people had to stand in line, some of them are probably still there.