Blackfish64

She should have just stayed home and sent half the money her Cambodian visit cost and it would have paid for not 10 but the 300 Sen mentioned.

If I were Hun Sen, I would not have allowed her to land.

So is my black british friend that lives and works here a migrant or an expat considering we both have the same exact occupation?

I'm afraid the Thai have an altogether different word for him.

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

I think we are considered more like interlopers

Precisely. They love our money--but they don't love us.

My sister in-law despises me with a passion. For ten years wife and I pumped American dollars over to she and her husband to help build this business. After more than a decade, wife and I could finally come live here and get our dream.

When we arrived and Sister noticed the monthly deposit wasn't in the account, she came and asked what was the matter. We were blown away by her inquiry. Of course, we live here now, we explained, quit our jobs in America, and run the business and now the business will need start paying us.

Sister absolutely flipped out and refused to speak to us for days. What could she possibly have been thinking was beyond me.

Near as I can tell, she thought since she was the eldest, she was clearly in control of the family and made all decisions. Our money was hers and that's final. Of course, I laughed in her face at this ridiculously stupid idea. She flashed a stare at me and in less than a second I went from the sweetest man in the world to "farang."

That was well over a year ago. She still refers to me as "farang," but only behind my back. She hasn't spoken a word to me since that meeting.

I am the interloper, here to destroy the family, according to Sister's mind, and I need be done away with. I taught Wife that she has her own brain and spine and that we will be just fine without being Sister's slave. Wife was afraid to stand up to her at first, and I had no idea how crazy Sister really was until I got here. Yikes. She's done all she can think of to be rid of me, but I just smile and keep on my merry way.

The Interloper. Perfect.

What kind of business are we talking about? I think it might be a good idea to ditch the sister and run the business by yourself, employing the necessary number of local staff of course, but at least you can trust them and they'll be your employees.

Miles ahead of you. But thanks just the same. Workin' on it. It will take some time to get the doing done. ;-)

I usually address people by their name, if I know it. I try to avoid lumping everyone into boxes, particularly if I don't know them or any details about them.

When I try to categorize or label people, I am mostly wrong.

For me, there are more important things in life,other than calling a person this or that.

Live and Let Live.

Right, right. Learn what someone prefers to be called and use it. Otherwise simply refer to someone as, "The gentleman in the white T-shirt," or, "The lady in the purple dress," or, "That bunch of people over there," etc. Learn some manners.

Anyone who calls me, "farang," I instantly lose all respect for, and instantly forgo giving them any "polite Thai" conversation. I go right into my wild, wild west demeanor, giving them a lesson on what that's all about.

I learned long ago the Thai don't like anything dynamic, unsettling, disturbing. When in doubt--rattle their cage.

I am who I an irrespective of what you call me.... But, even many poeple who know your name still refer to you amongst themselves when talking in their own language as "Falang" and if that's not disrespectful, what exactly is it?

The Thai I know in the United States call white people "farang" there, too. If "farang" really means "foreigner," then why don't they call themselves "farang?"

It's clearly disrespect, racism, and ignorance, egotism, narcissism.

You should hear the incredibly nasty manner in which my sister in-law calls me "farang." She truly despises foreigners. She grins and loves them when they come to spend their money, but when their backs are turned, so, too, does Sister's demeanor... "Ugly, stupid farang!"

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

I think we are considered more like interlopers

Precisely. They love our money--but they don't love us.

My sister in-law despises me with a passion. For ten years wife and I pumped American dollars over to she and her husband to help build this business. After more than a decade, wife and I could finally come live here and get our dream.

When we arrived and Sister noticed the monthly deposit wasn't in the account, she came and asked what was the matter. We were blown away by her inquiry. Of course, we live here now, we explained, quit our jobs in America, and run the business and now the business will need start paying us.

Sister absolutely flipped out and refused to speak to us for days. What could she possibly have been thinking was beyond me.

Near as I can tell, she thought since she was the eldest, she was clearly in control of the family and made all decisions. Our money was hers and that's final. Of course, I laughed in her face at this ridiculously stupid idea. She flashed a stare at me and in less than a second I went from the sweetest man in the world to "farang."

That was well over a year ago. She still refers to me as "farang," but only behind my back. She hasn't spoken a word to me since that meeting.

I am the interloper, here to destroy the family, according to Sister's mind, and I need be done away with. I taught Wife that she has her own brain and spine and that we will be just fine without being Sister's slave. Wife was afraid to stand up to her at first, and I had no idea how crazy Sister really was until I got here. Yikes. She's done all she can think of to be rid of me, but I just smile and keep on my merry way.

The Interloper. Perfect.

You've discovered that you can't buy love? If you want people to like or respect you, you have to earn that.

We don't know what business you were building, but since your sister-in-law and her husband were building it for you over a 10 year period, why are you so surprised she hates you when you came over and cut them out.

Obviously, we didn't cut them out. And obviously we weren't buying love. We simply arrived on time according to plan, and greedy sister suddenly got cold feet, decided she didn't like the idea after all.

Tough bounce. Here we are and here we shall stay. Everything going extremely well for us, too, by the way. Thanks for asking. We've even made it bigger and better than Sister could ever hope to do. She's tenacious, but not brilliant nor talented.

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

I think we are considered more like interlopers

Precisely. They love our money--but they don't love us.

My sister in-law despises me with a passion. For ten years wife and I pumped American dollars over to she and her husband to help build this business. After more than a decade, wife and I could finally come live here and get our dream.

When we arrived and Sister noticed the monthly deposit wasn't in the account, she came and asked what was the matter. We were blown away by her inquiry. Of course, we live here now, we explained, quit our jobs in America, and run the business and now the business will need start paying us.

Sister absolutely flipped out and refused to speak to us for days. What could she possibly have been thinking was beyond me.

Near as I can tell, she thought since she was the eldest, she was clearly in control of the family and made all decisions. Our money was hers and that's final. Of course, I laughed in her face at this ridiculously stupid idea. She flashed a stare at me and in less than a second I went from the sweetest man in the world to "farang."

That was well over a year ago. She still refers to me as "farang," but only behind my back. She hasn't spoken a word to me since that meeting.

I am the interloper, here to destroy the family, according to Sister's mind, and I need be done away with. I taught Wife that she has her own brain and spine and that we will be just fine without being Sister's slave. Wife was afraid to stand up to her at first, and I had no idea how crazy Sister really was until I got here. Yikes. She's done all she can think of to be rid of me, but I just smile and keep on my merry way.

The Interloper. Perfect.

I don't have anything for snake bite. Please point me in the direction of good information on knowledge and materials pertaining to venomous snake bite. Thank you.

I read that on the Internet. Good advice. The workers around here rake incessantly. Not to keep the snakes away, of course, but perhaps that is a boon given the number of people coming and going around here. We keep the leaves and brush out back and let it rot.

I will keep my eyes peeled for Green Tree Snake antics.

Tried to post YouTube video w/ Malayan Pit Viper. Won't work. Anyway, there's some good ones on YouTube for the searching.

I haven't seen Malayan Pit Viper except on the Internet. But I am sure they are around. You might end up dead if you play with one: Fatal bite and quick (Malayan Pit Viper "Female"):

I will only beat something to death if it is trying to bite me to death.

My understanding is these Golden Tree snakes are rear-ended and venomous, though the venom us not dangerous to humans.

I see these guys around here all the time in the trees. Never saw one glide however. Would like to see that.

There are a lot of snakes around here, but probably not as many as there could be. In this rural area, many snakes, and especially cobra, are killed and eaten.

I've eaten rattlesnake before, but never cobra. Rattlesnake tastes like chicken.

I identified the snake as a Golden Tree Snake, too. I don't know much about snakes in Thailand, but this one I figured from pictures I had seen on the Internet. I tried not to bother him, but after a while he got paranoid and dropped the bird and took off.

I live in Kamphang Saen and see a lot of these little green snakes in the trees. What kind are they? I think this is the one they call Golden Tree snake. This one is eating a bird.

Yeah, I went on the IRS Web site earlier today and followed the questionnaire on who needs to file an income tax return.

My results showed I did not need file a return.

Failing to file is a crime? Where did you get that information?

No. Not earning anything.

I understand. I would file to get any return if I had anything coming to me. Count on it! But that is not the case.

I owe them nothing. They owe me nothing.

I just thought there might be some good reason to file a return since I live abroad now. Apparently there is none.

I owe them nothing.

And, in light of the answers you kind people have put forth, since I owe them nothing, why bother filing at all?

Thanks!

It dawned on me the other day that I forgot to file my taxes for 2013 after I moved here in January 2014. And now I must file for 2014, too (though no problem there; not late yet).

Anyone have experience with this? Am I going to be fined? Are they gonna lock me up and throw away the key? Are they going to harass me and beat me into submission and destitution? Will I be transported back to the US on a secret airplane in sensory deprivation clothing and tortured and water-boarded to death? Or will they just slap me up on the terrorist no-fly list for the rest of my life?

I've never been late filing taxes before, let alone while residing in another country.

Cripes! What do I do now?

It's going to be interesting to see how they enforce this.

this is truth....in xian china they have special "fly" police. they count the flys in a toliet area to rate the restroom, they do not care about it being clean or not, only a "fly count" is important. the local goverment has not yet made the connection of shxt & piss everywhere with flys. 3 or more flys in a stall rates a fine to the operator/cleaner. toilet training is not taught to their babys. mom & pop will wipe & clean babies ass untill they are 5 or six. i have personaly seen a friend of mine brush the teeth of his 7 year old son, (note:nuttin but the best service for boy baby) .most of the private restrooms (home restroom) are the pits.pee stains everywhere old very old brown stained toilets & always a bucket for flush water, if the handel is loose it will not be fixed, a bucket is used to flush, same bucket is also the shower if water knob loose. these are the rest rooms of the upper middle class $55,000-$100,000 income households. it is no wonder the thais are fed up. do not blame them.

I have seen all of this, too. Pretty nasty.

I have noticed that Asians in general have a real thing for their baby boys. They wait on them hand and foot. It gets so out of hand I can hardly believe it sometimes. My wife's son is now twenty, going to college in another province, and his uncle lives with him there. Takes care of his every need. Does not let him out of his sight. And when uncle has to do business elsewhere, auntie goes to take his place, even if it is just for half a day. The kid has never worked a day in his life, pays for nothing. Pays just enough attention to his studies, plays video games for most of his free time, hangs with his friends sometimes. That's his whole life since kindergarten.

When he started college, the family fully expected me to ante up to help pay his expenses. I laughed. "Where were all of you when my daughter was going to college back in the States? Where were you on her birthdays all these years? I doubt any of you even recall her name. No. There will be no college money or any other monies coming from me to help you and your boy, who, by the way, is not a boy any more, but a twenty year old man who is perfectly capable of fending for himself. I left home at eighteen, right after high school was over, so too, did my daughter; insofar as I am concerned, yours can do the same. Good luck."

Needless to say, they didn't like that much.

Oh, well. So long as it costs me nothing, I really don't care.

The boy is clean however. As far as I know, he does in fact wipe his own arse.

Chinese lookalikes but not from China will face a problem visiting toilets huh?

Likely won't have any problems using the toilet, just a matter of which one they'll get to use , a really nasty one or a clean(er) one.