Scouse123

I like the Laos people immensely.

Back on topic, I have found Cambodians to be very friendly and wanting little in return. The Vietnamese are great once you get past the language barrier and know them for a few months or visit regularly,( Google Translate and plenty of joking warms them, or capturing their interest) otherwise they are polite and formal, which can come across as cold. Thais on the streets are OK, far better up in the sticks, where they are more genuine, anybody in a tourist hotspot is treated as a potential mark/client/customer and the smiles are false. Singaporeans run around speaking American dialects and have a generally superior and formal attitude, and 90% seem to be short or long-sighted as they all wear spectacles, (must be in the genes). Malaysians can be hit-and-miss as there are so many different types of Malaysian, the Sino Malay, Indian Malay etc. The Nepalese that I have had limited encounters with, have been very nice to deal with. Japanese people, I have never got past being addressed and responding formally. Chinese, I may have met the wrong ones, I'll leave it at that.

Wow, So, you can speak, understand and joke in Thai, as well as having upper class Thai friends who you converse with in Thai? Amazing! I am constantly in awe of this board and its members, by the amount of Thai speakers married to upper class Thais, who also have great jobs, usually running hospitals, (maybe owning them) and have brothers that are Generals in the military or police. Imagine that, all that influence and power from a tiny nondescript AN forum, who would have thought it.

For sure, but mud sticks, and there has been a lot of mud.

Holds no opinion and purely a personal choice along with a personal viewpoint.

I wonder if he was involved in the ' box of chocolates affair? " How many remember that one?....😆

They just really don't care about public opinion, and it shows, the present PM has always been a puppet. Well, he wasn't having meetings because he liked them or to discuss their favourite colour of hair dye.

I don't believe the story.

He needs to walk away, enjoy his millions, not look at getting even. His career looks to be wrecked.

Well, don't you start trying to say he's British!

I'll have a read of them anyway, just for curiosity’s sake.

Actually, a lot of guys have moved to Cambodia, more's the pity for Cambodia! I can enjoy Cambodia for five days and that's my upper limit, then I want to get back to Thailand. Now Vietnam, I could go there for months. Philippines doesn't have the' wow or drag factor' for me to go there, in fairness, I've never been.

What about somewhere like Rayong or Koh Chang?

I am sure if it comes in, and you get a local Thai accountant, they are not expensive, and get them to find every loophole and claimable thing from a salary to your partner right down to your claimable health insurance, and I am certain there will be plenty more we can argue, the tax won't be a big deal for retirees that most can't cope with.

I actually feel the same and would pass on it for all your reasons. I shouldn't say it, but the Filipino heavy twangy English annoys me as well, and why do all the women seem to have facial moles.

Daily in Isaarn, but I can't say much, we have them courtesy of the MIL. Mine been with me to both and now educates the villagers on their pre-conceived notions, that were completely wrong about the two above countries. However, my other half is very well travelled these days.

Just a question. When I am withdrawing in THB from a USD account based in Cambodia, in Thailand, it has now started asking me if I want with the bank's conversion or without conversion. I have been pressing ' without conversion ' as I felt the bank would be giving a poorer rate, am I right or wrong to do this? And next question is, regardless of credit card I am using, AN members are saying ALWAYS opt to pay in the local currency, is that correct?

What was the attack on the Capitol then, a family picnic to welcome Joe Biden???, You seem to have a short memory and their behavior reminds me of Hitlers brownshirts with the extreme levels of violence refusing to accept an election result. What a short or convenient memory you have. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/politics/fact-check-trump-january-6/index.html

Maybe, If I was De Niro, I'd be off spending my billions in Monte Carlo or the Bahamas if Trump gets in.

Your location doesn't have a lot to do with it, actually with the education standards lower in Isaarn, they can be more prone to using violence because many lack education, thoughts of consequences or financial means to get out of a dispute. I have seen explosions of violence in bars and clubs in Isaarn, (nothing to do with myself or the company I was with) at concerts in the past, boys attacking other boys just because they come from a different village or school etc. That happens in Bangkok too. It's nothing to do with being fearless as the OP supposed, it's to do with lack of thought for consequences. This is a common trait of many Thais, who act on impulse when angered. With my being involved in Pattaya for many years in the hotel and bar scenes, I saw many incidents of violence with both foreigners and Thais, nine times out of ten, alcohol being the main factor. As they say, Act in haste, repent at leisure. When the OP talks about foreigners avoiding trouble, I will say something, most sensible Thais very much do the same and avoid unnecessary confrontation. During Songkran, my partner's brothers were home up here, journeying from Bangkok. Like myself, they are late fifties and early sixties. They went out and returned early and told me the reason was that they didn't like the way things were developing at a party in the village. A far more sensible approach is to avoid trouble before it comes to you, it's not cowardice, it's common sense.

Duplicate post.

De Niro is not only a movie star, he is a very sensible, level-headed human being. Can you say that about Trump? I think I know who needs their head examined. And I seem to recall Donald Trump was not even a Republican, until it suited his political ambitions. Are Trump and Biden the best you lot can come up with as an alleged superpower, you are supposed to be the leaders of the free world? Absolutely ridiculous. Trump is now in court daily and his team are lying like hell to get him out of the shi ite again. He's a proven liar, narcissist, misogynist and imagine a Vietnam draft dodger being called a Commander in Chief,................................ what a joke! He then has the effrontery to poke fun at Senator John Mc Cain, a real war hero. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/02/27/trumps-lawyer-no-basis-for-presidents-medical-deferment-from-vietnam/

Really?

Yup, Then guys like him will be crying and blaming everybody else, especially the Tories, when they can't get housing, hospital beds, school places or improvements to infrastructure, because the whole budget has been spent looking after illegals, non-binary, and all the rest of the woke nonsense and helping them enjoy the' rich cultural diversity' courtesy of the likes of Sadiq Khan and co.

You were a bit daft getting involved if he had the reputation you claim he has. No, you are not supposed to use the rental deposit as the final month's rent, it is supposedly there for any unforeseen final bills or damage/cleaning and putting it back to its original condition. That said, there are many who do it because of unscrupulous landlords who find excuses not to return deposits. It is a civil not a police matter, (it won't stop him calling them as a bluff) but I would keep my head low and out of his way during your final period of occupation, as no doubt he will be wise to this trick.