richard_smith237

Nothing is without risk. But the risk as I evaluate it is less than the aggregate statistics suggests for the reasons I posted. Other road users are a danger in other countries too, of course, more so in Thailand, but it's still not that bad when riding in day time, dry conditions. The drunks on the road is a problem here which is why I won’t ride at night, yes, you can argue there are drunks in the daytime, but it's a lot less. A similar thing happened to my friend, a car didn’t take the corner and drove on straight into her, a head on impact killing her instantly... This was in the UK, she was in a car. Sorry for the loss of your friend, but anecdote is just that.

Its not the same out story though is it... she had insurance for starters !

Only fools who have no idea of the risks because they’ve never ridden here make such statements. 76% of Thailands roads fatalities are motorcyclists. Of those, many / most were drunk, speeding, riding dangerously, racing, riding at night, no lights. Someone who rides defensively cuts their risk significantly such that the aggregate statistics are no representative of the risk they are taking.... But, if someone is the type of person to speed while riding drunk, at night then their risk profile is significantly elevated.

Depends on what their definition of "hiso is" some people seem to confuse it with middle/upper class. Its a valid point, there is no ‘specific qualifier’ for what is ‘hi-so’..... For the term I use it in its not just wealthy, but wealthy with connections at a very high level, well educated etc... Example: I know a Western guy married to a Thai lady from a ‘hi-so’ background. Politicians at the wedding (up to Dept Primeminister level), about 1000 people attended. Ambassadors, present and retired (friends of his inlaws, and parents of her friends), ‘big business’ people... Wedding was in the papers and a couple of magazines which have also invited them to numerous events etc (HiSoParty Magazine, Thai Tattler etc). In Laws are business owners, she went to top Thai Uni’s (Rangsit then Masters at Thammarsat) was not allowed to study overseas like her brother. Father in law not best impressed that his daughter was dating a foreigner at first, after marriage they get on extremely well. Child goes to Bangkok Patana School. The guy doesn’t consider him or his wife hi-so at all, but other Thai’s all state she [the Wife] is. The Wife’s friends, many of whom would be considered hi-so by any description are marred to extremely wealthy and successful Thai men, some of them are also married to Western men., some very wealthy and successful, others more ’normal’ and by normal I mean Lawyer, CFO, Business Management type level not language teachers etc... BUT... just by looking a & bumping into the couple’s walking around Emporium etc its difficult to tell, he just looks like any other ’smart similarly aged couple’.... The only way many of us could tell they are hi-so is to be told so... but Thai’s can recognise ’status’ within their own culture more easily than we can.

Don’t be daft... there are plenty of western guys who have dated and married women other Thai’s would describe as hi-so....

Hahaha, good joke. You obviously have no experience with this type of woman. You couldn’t be further from the truth with that response !!!

It's not Thai bashing... its ‘Thai Police Bashing’.... theres a difference and from personal experiences to those we read in the news the ‘bashing’ is quite warranted...

Thai-bashing machine is in full force also...yet again, for no rational reason. Following such a spell of negative publicity for the Thai Police even the most uncynical of us predicted a series of ‘positive stories’ and this is exactly what we got. It was less than 24 hours ago on another thread that people (myself included) were predicting the onset of ‘positive police’ stories...

Bingo..... Like clockwork !!!!....

Such poor reading comprehension…. One really wonders how some people cope with everyday tasks……

Yes…. I have this exact card (MCard) and use it all over… Europe, Middle East, Japan… no issues at all. I’ve never withdrawn cash with it though. & Emergency cash, I’ve no idea. Standard Thai ATM cards (I.e. SCB & BKK bank savings accounts) can be used to withdraw cash overseas.

I know a couple of extremely wealthy females who are still single.., 40’s… (hi so, family have ‘titles’) they seem to date well off Thai guys who are utter card-board !!!! (Boring, but wealthy fops)… I sometimes wonder if these women would be better dating foreigners who at least have character….

‘Usually’… ‘normally’…. People ‘usually’ marry within their own culture too….. are more comfortable dating within their own culture… Of course, expats break this mold & so do the girls who are provided access to financial security by dating & marring outside of their culture (i.e. poorer Thai girls & western men)…. But we are stepping outside of that demographic when looking to ‘step up the socio-economic ladder’… Education & particularly social education through modern media means barriers that may have previously existed are no longer the quite the ‘Everest’ to scale…. If that’s what you are after. IMO it’s easier for a ‘normal Westerner’ to date a well to do Thai lady than it is a ‘normal’ Thai….

We still need those "Police find and return 1MB” threads.... As mentioned by others on other threads.... The mere fact that the Police actually doing something positive becomes newsworthy speaks volumes and is damning of the big-picture of policing Thailand.

I’d first suggest you rid yourself of the ‘grammatical error’ if you are ever to refer to yourself as ‘cream of the crop’ again !!! Then you should also know that ‘alphas’ are already bad ass enough not to need to ask such questions !! But for sure, you deserve something..... Give Thermae Cafe a try... women there should definitely be worthy of your excellence !!!

Exposed to western behaviour and culture yes... but elite is a debate term and very much depends on who is doing the description. The reality is the ’status’ is not a major issue in todays modern world - if the lady in question is financially independent, self sufficient, educated, can mix well throughout all strata of society etc... life is just going to be easier - I think a lot of that is where these questions originate. Some guys can’t get a visa for their significant other, while others are with women for whom there are no such issues.... its a spectrum and the higher we go in that ’socio-economic’ spectrum the harder it may be for a guy to pull the wool over the woman’s eyes that he is the ‘ideal partner’ and meeting such females becomes a little more challenging as it is anywhere else.

Valid point... Although I don’t think its the ladies themselves who look down their noses, rather it is that they worry that their parents will not accept someone they don’t approve of.... and usually the terms for approval are wealth, education, connections, the right family etc etc... But, there is also another facet, those who other Thai’s would classify has being higher up the socio-economic ladder are often more westernised than ‘middle class’ Thai’s as the parents have travelled more, been educated overseas etc.... there is ‘less fear’ of outsiders because they are able to recognise class traits across cultural boundaries. Its a tricky thread to navigate because there are words which will naturally offend some, hi-so, class, socio-economic, rich, wealthy etc etc.... its all a bit distasteful for many of us - but thats just the way life is here.

As its before 2pm and the mongers haven’t yet woken up it may perhaps be too early to mention the ‘Four floors’....

Yes.... I think it's called an ‘usufruct’..... Loads of info out there.... you have the ‘key word’ now..

‘full pay’ is pretty much nothing... or a negligible amount, basis salary... A move to an inactive post basically means a huge pay cut... at least until they can work out how to ‘get the graft going again’....

Highly irritating... the yellow subscribe overlay and the annoying pop-ups... just writing this I have two windows to close.... Asean-now... You are pi$$ing of your forum members with your invasive adverts.

I’m not sure he means that so directly, that he needs to be regularly bailed out of trouble - rather, I get the impression the Op just wants something in his back-pocket to avoid hassle down the line and live a more comfortable existence here. Life is often easier for people with access to ‘connections’ as many threads on this forum have proven. Have the BiB try and extort you and a phone call to a friend stops the hassle in its tracks. Get involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault where they are trying to pin all the blame on you, a phone call to a ‘friend’ ensures you no longer suffer unfair treatment... etc etc... many situations... There are plenty of females around, well educated, financially independent and well placed on the socio-economic spectrum... meeting such a person and dating them excludes a relationship from the usual paranoia when meeting a Thai lady, i.e. is she interested in a foreigner for money etc... If the female has her own money, is educated, well placed in society etc she’s only going to be interested in you as a foreigner because she likes you, you have game, you look good etc etc... It's more similar to a relationship many would be in back in their home countries. I would guess there are number of posters on this forum who are in such relationships but don’t mention them too much as they attract too much jealousy from the mongers who respond with bitter comments, accuse the posters of lying etc... we’ve seen this with the ‘bitter comments’ about paled skinned women etc.. The best way to meet educated, financially independent female who are well placed in the socio-economic strata of Thai society (i.e. middle class and up towards those considered hi-so) is generally through introduction by trusted friends.... If you are someone who has been here for a while has mixed, made Thai friends of similar socio-economic status you will be introduced to others through those friends.... thats pretty much the way it works anywhere. The term ’socio-economic status’ may not be a popular one... but really, thats what we are discussing isn’t it.... The Op wants to meet someone of better ’socio-economic status’ than the average foreigner meets in a bar, night club etc...

They’re not wrong !!... It's pretty awful stuff (IMO). I’m sure there will be a wider general response of ‘They not thai, they not know’ !!!.... its par for the course for thin skinned people to get upset a the slightest of critical comments, so this is sure to upset some. The reality is though, a lot of Thai food is wonderful, the Khao Soi example just one of them... So, take the rough with the smooth, we all have different tastes.

The links you provide call it the ‘Turkey Earthquake’.... (in their URL)... Calling it the Turkey Earthquake does not imply it only occurred in Turkey...... for some reason you are being deliberately slow to catch on to that point. Every headline, even it if calls it the ’Turkey Earthquake’ or ‘Earthquake in Turkey’ still mentions that the earthquake impacted Syria....

Calling the earthquake the ‘Turkish earthquake’ or ‘Earthquake in Turkey’ does not imply the earthquake didn’t exist else where at all.... But it does follow a more accurate nomenclature to describe the specific event which is an earthquake with an epicentre in Turkey. The Chicxulub meteorite was given its modern name after the crater found buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico - this lead to a global extinction event.... It wasn’t called the ‘world meteorite’.... Reporters would not have stated ‘meteorite strikes the world’ killing billions and causing mass extinction.... they’d have wrote meteorite strikes Chicxulub etc.. perhaps you are not a scientist and can’t really understand that and prefer the laymans wording applied by some journalists. The earthquake.... it was in Turkey - that is where the epicentre is. In the Seismological community an earthquake is named after its epicentre..... You may not ‘care’ how the earthquake is named, but those stating the earthquake struck South East Turkey are accurate.... The earthquake struck South East Turkey (or more accurately Turkiye) with wide ranging catastrophic cross border consequences. IF the epicentre was in Syria, it would be accurate for articles to state... "Huge earthquake in North West Syria Turkey kills more than 1000 people in Syria and Turkey”.... You have taken a layman’s outlook thats all, as have many journalists - thats not inaccurate, but neither is stating the earthquake occurred in Turkey (with wide ranging impact in nearby countries).