roblin

Extortion at it’s very best last night. Tried to get a Tuk Tuk to take me from Patong to Chalong and was quoted as high as 4000 BHT one way! Walked around and asked about 20 different Tuk Tuks, all the fares quoted were no lower than 2000 BHT. I also had some Thai staff with me and asked one of them to try, one girl came back and told me that the driver said they only wanted Farang money and would not help her. He told her to go home by motorbike.

After about an hour I found this Tuk Tuk driver dropping off a customer away from the “unofficial” pickup point located in front of Bangla. Nice elderly gentleman quoted 800 BHT. Jumped in a we were home within 40 minutes.

Last NYE we were in Bangla and wanted to go to Karon around 3am. Ofc it was impossible to get a taxi so I told my friends to just wait and I would fix it. I just went into the traffic jam in the street, knocked on a nice car's window and said "We want to go Karon". He said "Sorry I not Taxi" and I said "One thousand baht" and showed him the bill. He thinks for like 5seconds eyes moving up to the left and then says "OK!" ^^

railay and tonsai are pretty difficult in april and may due to big waves. I wouldnt however wipe out plans to go there though, perhaps do some of your time based in ao nang to do sight seeing in that area and then take a trip in beautiful railay or tonsai for some time out from touristy ao nang

i know some nice places to stay in railay and tonsai if your interested just let me know

i would like some recommendations for staying in railay west. 1000-3000baht/night. need to book today.

Happiness is an interesting topic. A good book on the topic is "science of happiness" by Klein.

The question in OP is a statistical comparison between countries. This has been done by plenty of diffrent studies. I think most studies find the answear to be no. Of course this doesnt say anything about individual people, certain groups of people etc.

For example:

http://www.le.ac.uk/users/aw57/world/sample.html

It is worth taking a moment at this point to explore the psychological research into SWB. In the literature a major distinction is drawn between brief emotional episodes, periods of joy or acute happiness, and an underlying state of happiness. This underlying state is conceptualised as a sense of satisfaction with one’s life, both in general and in specific areas of one’s life such as relationships, health and work. It is this underlying state of happiness, a measure of subjective well-being (SWB), that is the focus of most current research. A good example of this is the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Pavot & Diener, 1993), a currently popular measure of SWB.

Nation SWLS Score

DENMARK 273

SWITZERLAND 273

AUSTRIA 260

ICELAND 260

BAHAMAS 257

FINLAND 257

SWEDEN 257

BHUTAN 253

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 253

CANADA 253

IRELAND 253

LUXEMBOURG 253

COSTA RICA 250

MALTA 250

NETHERLANDS 250

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 247

MALAYSIA 247

NEW ZEALAND 247

NORWAY 247

SEYCHELLES 247

ST KITTS AND NEVIS 247

UAE 247

USA 247

VANUATU 247

VENEZUELA 247

AUSTRALIA 243

BARBADOS 243

BELGIUM 243

DOMINICA 243

OMAN 243

SAUDI ARABIA 243

SURINAME 243

BAHRAIN 240

COLUMBIA 240

GERMANY 240

GUYANA 240

HONDURAS 240

KUWAIT 240

PANAMA 240

ST VINCENT AND THE 240

UNITED KINGDOM 237

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 233

GUATEMALA 233

JAMAICA 233

QATAR 233

SPAIN 233

ST LUCIA 233

BELIZE 230

CYPRUS 230

ITALY 230

MEXICO 230

SAMOA WESTERN 230

SINGAPORE 230

SOLOMON ISLANDS 230

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 230

ARGENTINA 227

FIJI 223

ISRAEL 223

MONGOLIA 223

SAO TOME AND PERINI 223

EL SALVADOR 220

FRANCE 220

HONG KONG 220

INDONESIA 220

KYRGYZSTAN 220

MALDIVES 220

SLOVENIA 220

TAIWAN 220

TIMOR-LESTE 220

TONGA 220

CHILE 217

GRENADA 217

MAURITIUS 217

NAMIBIA 217

PARAGUAY 217

THAILAND 217

CZECH REPUBLIC 213

PHILIPPINES 213

TUNISIA 213

UZBEKISTAN 213

BRAZIL 210

CHINA 210

CUBA 210

GREECE 210

NICARAGUA 210

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 210

URUGUAY 210

GABON 207

GHANA 207

JAPAN 207

YEMEN 207

PORTUGAL 203

SRI LANKA 203

TAJIKISTAN 203

VIETNAM 203

IRAN 200

COMOROS 197

CROATIA 197

POLAND 197

CAPE VERDI 193

KAZAKHSTAN 193

MADAGASCAR 193

SOUTH KOREA 193

BANGLADESH 190

CONGO REPUBLIC 190

GAMBIA 190

HUNGARY 190

LIBYA 190

SOUTH AFRICA 190

CAMBODIA 187

ECUADOR 187

KENYA 187

LEBANON 187

MOROCCO 187

PERU 187

SENEGAL 187

BOLIVIA 183

HAITI 183

NEPAL 183

NIGERIA 183

TANZANIA 183

BENIN 180

BOTSWANA 180

GUINEA-BISSAU 180

INDIA 180

LAOS 180

MOZAMBIQUE 180

PALESTINE 180

SLOVAKIA 180

BURMA 177

MALI 177

MAURITANIA 177

TURKEY 177

ALGERIA 173

EQUATORIAL GUINEA 173

ROMANIA 173

BOSNIA & HERZE 170

CAMEROON 170

ESTONIA 170

GUINEA 170

JORDAN 170

SYRIA 170

SIERRA LEONE 167

AZERBAIJAN 163

CENTRAL AFRICAN RE 163

MACEDONIA 163

TOGO 163

ZAMBIA 163

ANGOLA 160

DJIBOUTI 160

EGYPT 160

BURKINA FASO 157

ETHIOPIA 157

LATVIA 157

LITHUANIA 157

UGANDA 157

ALBANIA 153

MALAWI 153

CHAD 150

IVORY COAST 150

NIGER 150

ERITREA 147

RWANDA 147

BULGARIA 143

LESOTHO 143

PAKISTAN 143

RUSSIA 143

SWAZILAND 140

GEORGIA 137

BELARUS 133

TURKMENISTAN 133

ARMENIA 123

SUDAN 120

UKRAINE 120

MOLDOVA 117

CONGO DEMOCRATIC 110

ZIMBABWE 110

BURUNDI 100

Patty Fiesta is also decent. Really nice and entertaining staff. My biggest complaint with Señor Pico is the loud liveband which makes it impossible to talk if you sit to close to them. Burbon is best for delivery.

Many good farangs are very shy and dont want to be rude to nice ladies. So I think she will have to meet them halfway and maybe initiate a bit of conversation. Try talking to the lonely guy eating sushi in Fuji, or the couple of guys discussing the big "now showing"-sign at the top floor of Paragon or ask some guy in pantip plaza which camera he thinks you should buy. Smile a lot, laugh at his jokes and ask if he would like to join you for a cup of coffee. Good luck!

Yeah, that's a major reason why I left Thailand. I thought it was pathetic that people have to cross the road like potential road kill, and traffic rules are set by whoever has the biggest or most expensive vehicle. And then if you do get hit, you're picked up feuding rescue workers to be thrown in the back of a dirty pickup - if they get to you on time.

There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of traffic enforcement in Thailand.

This is one of the major reasons why I am leaving next week after 2years here. I value my life very high and don't want to risk dying.

Although I clearly accept your reason to leave is the traffic in Thailand. Which I believe most of us most likely agree needs an improvement in a lot of fields.

But I must say I am surprised that this is the major reason for leaving a country.

Not the corruption? Or the Visa rules? Or lack of decent jobs? Or too low salaries? Or crime? Or peoples behavior? Or the politics? Or missing the family back home.

Or any other of 1000s of reasons one might come up with to leave any country.

Once again, I accept and understand that people have various reasons for leaving.

Its also how easy it is to piss off the wrong person and end up beeing beaten or shot. Or bad electrical installations. Or lack of fire safety. Intresting ambulance services... Food poisoning. Bad air. Life is cheaper here.

The rest also contributes.

*Corruption I can live with. A bit annoying beeing checked for drugs when you ride a taxi though.

*Visa rules are annoying. I dont mind paying 20k baht for a 2day holiday to singapore, but feel bad about the environment. Would be great if I could pay one official guy to come to my apartment and stomp my passport for 5k baht. Why dont they just offer this instead of making me buy my new camera with Singaporean VAT.

*Jobs I work online....

*Income I make $20k+/month. Bad infrastructure cost me some working hours but I can live with that. But this clearly offsets that Thailand is cheaper in some areas. For me Thailand is very expensive even compared to Tokyo.

*Crime same as traffic. I dont like taking risks with my life.

*Family back home, yes. But I will miss them when i Stay in Tokyo, Miami, Sydney or wherever I choose to spend the winter instead of Bangkok.

Yeah, that's a major reason why I left Thailand. I thought it was pathetic that people have to cross the road like potential road kill, and traffic rules are set by whoever has the biggest or most expensive vehicle. And then if you do get hit, you're picked up feuding rescue workers to be thrown in the back of a dirty pickup - if they get to you on time.

There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of traffic enforcement in Thailand.

This is one of the major reasons why I am leaving next week after 2years here. I value my life very high and don't want to risk dying.

Also the sidewalks are a joke. Its impossible to walk on most of them, often you have to walk onto the main street with speeding cars because they are occupied by vendors, transformators, powerline, trees, constructionwork.

Even some thais were using earplugs in the bars around the ladyboxing stadium. Surprised westerners use tissue in their ears, looks very funny.

Saw some people leaving when they turned up the volume... I hate noise, love my earplugs.

i tip very little, however i gave unicef $1500 once. its their profession to decide how to make money help people, i dont pretend that i am better than them at that....

I ended up buying a Lacie Porche 160gb firewire / 2xusb2, no A/C needed, 200gram ,smallish HD from iStudio in Siam Paragon for 7k-ish baht. Too bad TimeMachine claimed 100GB of it so only 40GB for porn

thanks for the replies.

I need an external HD.

300-500GB

usb2 or usb2+firewire

no AC-power needed is a BIG PLUS, but might be flexible if this narrows the field too much.

small, cute and reliable

price not that important

prefer to buy it from Paragon or Pantip, but might be flexible

Where should I go shopping and what model do you recommend?

spotlight is FAST

everything is faster

parallels gives kernel panic

quicklook is extremly useful

translucent everythin takes a while to get used to

spaces is nice

i think most changes are under the hood. finally a good os optimized for my 64bit intel cpu....

bought a unlocked iPhone 8GB for 22000baht in MBK today. i love it. thanks for all the info in this thread

jsut because you dont believe in fortune telling doesnt mean that it doesnt work or isnt valid. i have based many life decisions on fortune tellers. i actually gave up my second child for adoption because it was going to be unlucky. my next two children were both predicted to be very great people and that has turned out correct so far. the one who went to adoption has had problems ever since, which goes to show you.

how can you live with yourself? thats like the most awful ive heard say in a long time.

"the one who went to adoption". for the love of... how can you talk about your children like its an thing you just throw away. if "the one who went to adoption" has problems you are responsible for that. beeing put to adoption from a family with the needs to take care of a child must be very traumatic. well maybe better off than beeing fostered by you.

i dont want to go into personal attacks. but you make me sick.

Hi .

I am looking for a decent hotel in Bangkok, for my family visit to BKK in July, preferably in Pratunum area ( as shopping is one of major consideration ). We'd like a double-bed room with wirelss internet connection, and hope not to spend more than 1,500 baht a nighton room-rent.

Anyone have any recommendations? Your help is much appreciated!

Thanks

Andrep

www.bangkoksuite.com

i like chateau de loei. the real problem is the resturant who have no clue about storing and serving wine. who wants to drink 4degree cold red wine?

I dont think you can access internet poker sites from thailand. They are blocked. I asked about it before, but couldnt fully understand how to get round it.

Why dont you spend the summers in the uk working and saving, and go to los from sept/ october to April. I know it isnt ideal, but its difficult to find work in los.

All major Poker Clients are working from Thailand. Before some sites were blocked, then you need a friend on msn/irc to send the client to you regularly if the server requires an updated client.

I would go with poker. Just make sure to have really good BM and tiltcontrol. Try to have at least 6months expenses in a bankaccount all the time and follow general bankroll recommendations.

I have played poker in Thailand for 12months on 2 diffrent journeys. So its doable. But make sure you can handle a 100k hands downswing both economically and emotionally.

lamaiwanta. i love that place. think i have stayed there 4months in total. anyone know what kind of work they are doing when they close down later this year?

its still there

hope i get dont get banned for this.

/Edit: nope cos i'm in a good mood today.. but those kinds of comments/questions could get you kicked - cheers, Wolfie!

Ive been in fights in Haad Rin 2times.

1. I danced with a girl in Cactus. Her thai ex-boyfriend didnt like this. She said "dont worry, I stay phangan long time, everyone know me" to make me feel safer afterwards. I decided not to talk to her anymore. I value my life.

2. I was going down from the toilet in Cactus bar. A Thai guy thought I was a friend of a Israeli guy they were fighting with which obviously was a good enogh reason for them to fight me too.

Its a dangerous place, but a wicked party!

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

That was tried by a poster on here some time ago. Customers simply went to cafes that used Microsoft software. They aren't interested in learnning something new - they just want to use software that they're familiar with from home.

did the poster try reactOS?

http://svn.reactos.org/videos/ros_030_gui.html

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

I am leaving tomorrow and will no longer be spending my 100k baht/month which I have done for ~2years.

Another broke Farang bites the dust, see ya....

Not exactly "biting the dust". Just going to spend his money somewhere else. Hope this helps....

Yes. I am far from broke. Ive made around $10k/month(online) for the last year so I will leave Thailand more rich than I was when I came. Just wanted to tell the story of a "quality" tourist leaving. My impact is small, but a bunch more of me:s and a lot less money stops circulating.

I am leaving tomorrow and will no longer be spending my 100k baht/month which I have done for ~2years.

I think the government underestimate how powerful a spiral down is. Hopefully Thailand can it itself together soon.