Dustdevil

They call us "white trash" in Malaysia. Something like that?

Yes, well it's still only barely 31 to the dollar. And that's the official rate. You'll still get a measly 30 at the exchange. It will take a massive bubonic plague combined with millions rioting in the streets to get it to a lousy 32. 

7 hours ago, smedly said:

you know what is funny 

 

Chinese are not well travelled people - they are brought here on very well fine tuned packages - plane - bus - hotel - bus - eating - bus - hotel - rinse repeat, being ripped off at every opportunity possible - they think it is all normal because they don't know any better - they are herded everywhere - charged a fortune and after 10 days shipped off home thinking - well that is what a holiday is...……..they have no concept of travel 

 

we from the west are always well travelled - it is very hard for us to understand what exactly is going on with these Chinese (so called) tourists - they just don't know any better and are being taken advantage of - very sad really and is just massive exploitation of people that don't know any better or different

 

and no it isn't really funny at all

Painting with quite a wide brush, but it does apply to segments of the new middle class. One thing to note is that international travel is an important status symbol in China, as is higher education in any English-speaking country, but especially the United States. (Since there are about 60 universities in the greater Boston area, it's gauche to say they went to Harvard, or a little humiliating to say they went to Northeastern, so they say "I went to college in Boston.") If people say they've been to San Francisco, or London and/or Paris, it's important to their friends to respond Oh yes, we've been there too.

Excellent responses. I had a simpler case in 1996 after my Chinese Malaysian wife had been living with me in Saudi Arabia for two years. The paperwork and issuance of her visa were relatively swift (she went ahead of me alone to the States, for which you can blame her, getting out of the Tragic Kingdom ASAP). She subsequently obtained PR (green card based on marriage to a US citizen). A different situation and a different era.

11 hours ago, fishtank said:

UK wont even be a part of Europe next week sadly.

She needs a UK Visa and a Schengen Visa.

 

As far as I know the UK Visa is valid for 6 months so would be ok for 2 visits.

 

I believe the actual Bexit departure will take another 10-12 months to complete the logistics and put it into full effect.

13 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

I do everything myself and even built my own house which wasnt the plan but because the idiots stuffed the foundations i bought an excavator, destroyed it and started again and did it myself and did the lot because quite frankly everyone is out to get rich for doing things idiots can do.

Got my own machines like cnc, lathes, etc... Learnt years ago if you wana do things right, do it yourself but if your an idiot pay an idiot to do it????

Infact i learnt more about how to do diy everything since living in Thailand. I was a signwriter with basic skills a long time ago but now basically a qualified, mechanic, machinist, welder, builder, electritian, etc..

I have no life though????

Can't expect everybody to do all that stuff and have all those types of skills. Some of us are, for example,  academics in the humanities, a different set of skills that takes many years of study and work. And some of us hate doing that kind of machinist/welder/builder/electrician work. We respect those who do it, of course, just as I respect farmers, because I'm not about to go slaughtering cows and raising vegetables.

I wouldn't be able to fall in love (or stay in love) with any woman who made marriage conditional upon converting to her religion. That's arrogant and unacceptable. 

Surprisingly low social security for an EU citizen. Combined for a couple only 1200 Euros? The average benefit for retired workers in the U.S. is $17,536 per annum or $1461/mo. http://www.pensionrights.org/publications/statistic/income-social-security

That's for one person. It's not quite enough to live in the U.S. I live in a city of 400,000 (including suburban townships) and I can live on $1800-1900 a month if I don't dine out much, and that includes car ownership. It also includes the $300 or so I pay in premiums per month for Medicare, which, with the supplemental program I choose, allows me 100% access without any co-pays or deductibles, and I can go straight to any specialist I want--even at famous hospitals like Johns Hopkins (but not the Mayo Clinic) if I felt the need. But my town has excellent hospitals and specialists. Medicare and supplement cover In-patient hospital care 100% for at least a year or so. I guess I wouldn't give up my situation to live in Thailand. The only place there I really like is Chiang Mai and the air there is so hazardous.

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

You mean follow the American model.  USA Number One.

The US overall is certainly safer than Thailand.

22 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Well..I couldn't give a flying squirrel about Poty under the very best of circumstances.

 

However the English words are deflection,displacement and denial.

 

In this case it is displacement as it is immensely satisfying to kick an old age pensioner when he is down..makes you feel better..

Deceive, inveigle and obfuscate work well too.

Just now, JRG23 said:

Something very seriously wrong with the culture of this place. Death, destruction, negligence at every turn and a complete lack of intelligence within the ‘general’ population to even acknowledge and respond in a mature manner.

And in relation to foreigners, Thais believe they are God's chosen people. We're expected to know every nuance of the culture before we arrive and small mistakes are not well-tolerated.

1 hour ago, legend49 said:

Yes why would a soldier need to keep that at home when no one is at war? Other countries weapons are locked in an armory.

I suppose you can get a license in Thailand for a home-protection sidearm?

17 hours ago, RyanWalker said:

Yeah I am in the North of China. Much cheaper here. For 100bht you can buy a huge bag full of fresh vegetables. General cost of living much much cheaper. 100bht in Bkk has zero value

I love Chinese women but having visited several times, and knowing the government, I'd never live there. Overcrowded, gov't surveillance, polluted, bad food (trips to the bathroom every time), noisy and everything is heavily censored. Have to play a lot of anti-Great Firewall games just to read my NY Times. I'd settle for a gf in the Philippines or Chiang Mai (and disappear every burn season). Probably the latter, because the internet in the Philippines is a joke. I had a serious gf in Saigon too--Vietnam might be the best bet and also with the most beautiful women.

56 minutes ago, madmen said:

Doing a tour of Thailand is 1000 times more fun especially for singles. Vietnam is OK for couples but boring as for singles... couldn't Wait to get back to LOS!

Not boring if you have a gf there or manage to make acquaintance with one. They're incredibly beautiful.

I've been to Saigon twice and Hanoi once. I was very well treated as an American, and over the years from 2009 to 2018 was visiting three consecutive gfs. My closest gf told me that the Vietnamese people love Barack Obama. (Part of the reason may be that he didn't mind stopping by a local noodle joint when he was president and having a beer with Anthony Bourdain--something most heads of state wouldn't bother with). Compare that to the mentally challenged Malaysian bastards who called Obama a "black monkey." I've unfortunately had extensive ties to malaysia so I'd say avoid that sh*thole and head for Vietnam. Saigon is a mess, though, with the millions of motorbikes everywhere. Hanoi was more of a livable experience, and friends of mine like to visit Hoi An.

20 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

As if driving in Thailand wasn't already dangerous enough. We now have to content with underground explosions. 

contend. You're welcome.

14 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Why not go further back to before cars were invented? Walk to the shops. That’s one way to save the environment. 

Because in most of Thailand, you walk outside for more than 5 minutes and you need a shower.

NEWS FLASH--Pattaya isn't prepared for anything.

15 hours ago, Morty T said:

That's a new one. Its Trumps fault that the air quality is pathetic in Thailand. Why don't we just blame him for the tourist numbers too. 

My comment does not conflate the U.S. with Asia.

22 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Not the whole world, see the map and zoom out, then you see green places and also the dirty ones where most of the problems are.

https://aqicn.org/map/

Shows China as the filthiest place on earth. I knew that long ago.

21 hours ago, Bassosa said:

Everybody relax, it's a Thai "problem" and not ours to solve.

 

The majority of Thais don't care about the smoke and in all honesty, they're too ignorant to understand the consequences.
 

There's a certain beauty in seeing a country going down the toilet. Living in Thailand for the last 5 years has completely changed my perspective on the world and its people. Kind of fascinating!

 

 

 

Well they certainly know how to ruin beautiful beaches. Phi Phi Island was beautiful and seemed unique (plus a lot of topless hotties) in 2000 when I took my wife there. (Nice to see her take off the top and walk around as well). It's an island that harkens to our dreams of the South Pacific, Bali Hai sort of place. Except for the damned water taxis--they ran until midnight. I was surprised that my Swedish hut neighbour, a professor, didn't think the noisy water taxis were annoying at all. Clueless! There was garbage all over the interior of the narrow isthmus. Ruined in 2000 already. I was lucky enough to visit Koh Samui in 1987 before they ruined it. No airport, no hotels, just huts and 100% naked young women everywhere. The island was so quiet and beautiful and the star-gazing at night was another nice activity. Yes, they really ruined that one soon enough, made it into another Pattaya disaster.

On 12/19/2019 at 6:56 PM, Zack61 said:

It’s not just a Thailand phenomena. It is a worldwide problem which requires actions other than the ostrich approach. 

Yes but in most of the world farmers don't slash and burn like they do in SE Asia. Other fires are brush fires and forest fires. They should leave them alone in California, except to save houses; natural burns, even if caused by climate change, are good for the soil and good for forest trees.

On 12/19/2019 at 7:42 PM, NoBrainer said:

 

Electric vehicles will not work in Bangkok. That 300km range turns into 30km really fast, when sitting in traffic for hours at a time with Air Con, Stereo, TV's and Phone Chargers Ect. running full tilt, and going nowhere. Chaos will quickly ensue when the batteries start running out of juice in the middle of traffic, and you are nowhere near home, or a non existent charging station. The current power grid is also almost always maxed out, and uses a substantial amount of coal to produce it.

 

Wait another year or two, until the batteries in all these hybrid vehicles currently on the road start failing. These giant batteries are costing over a million baht for some models to get replacements. They are classed as dangerous goods, so shipping cost is more than double that of normal freight, dealers do not keep stock due to the high cost, and they take 6-8 weeks to get here by sea freight, which is also expensive. Technicians are scared to work on them, because of the high risk of massive electric shock as well.

 

The dealers are already seeing the problems, and are changing back to selling diesel, instead of hybrid. The market is becoming more informed, and rejecting electric cars.

 

You're conflating hybrid with pure electric. The Tesla S is still the best with a 250-mile (400) km range. But yes, it will probably go to 40km in BKK. If you're talking about hybrid, they have a normal internal combustion engine; their electric range is limited to low speeds. In normal driving they're using gasoline. If they run out of charge in heavy traffic, the car will simply switch to its internal combustion engine.