rickudon

I worked twice in scientific jobs which were well paid - but the back stabbing, working conditions (once worked a 36 hour shift!, no extra pay) were tough. Got a government job for half the pay, but much less stress. Then government job ended (outsourced) back to private sector, worked for IBM - i thought they would be more professional, but all i saw were people hammering square pegs into round holes and only interested in getting moved to the next post before their chickens came to roost. And the back stabbing again - accused of doing an audit wrong (i didn't) so they could deny a pay rise and make me redundant. They had to employ 3 people to do the work i did and then within months stopped doing it at all! At least the redundancy/early retirement let me move to Thailand...

As for Thai tax, not a problem for me as i am retired and also have a government UK pension (not taxable in Thailand). Anyway, when married and retired you do not pay tax on 40,000 baht a month. Unfortunately UK not so generous. Have to pay tax there, tax goes up every year. Fortunately do not live in Bangkok, so do not care about MRT and BTS....

Nothing wrong with most Thai hotels. Never had a problem with cleanliness, once power points didn't work. Far worse hotels in UK. And in Thailand, can still get a room for under 1,000 baht a night. Problems with Thai tourism - Chinese, Russians and taxi drivers.

photo of blueberries is captioned as blackberries, sloppy work.

I do a counter withdrawal every month at Krungsri. Most Krungsri branches allow this without a fee. You will still have to pay the fee of your card issuer. I use a credit card and have no problem withdrawing 50,000 baht a time.

Have never seen a python in Udon Thani in 16 years. Have seen 4 metre water snakes, but not pythons. Strangely enough, one of a similar size also attacked my brother-in-laws chickens only 2 weeks ago here. Their extending their range?

Thete is nothing wrong with Thais speaking Thsi. The problem is the 44 or more characters, tones and other symbols. As has already been said, Reading and writing Thai is a struggle because of the script. And how do they start teaching reading and writing in Thai nursery schools? The 26 character alphabet. Also, the inability to transcribe Thai characters/words into the alphabet with any consistency causes chaos in translation, which impacts on Thais learning foreign languages.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 40/100 My Time 105 seconds  

The entire roof of Global house in Udon Thani is covered in solar panels. It shows that businesses n Thailand are realising the value of renewable power, it isn't just a scam.

Carp are quite edible, still popular in europe, i have eaten them, and other types of carp in Thailand, no problem. Sure, i would prefer Salmon or swordfish, but those are rather expensive! The Black chin Tilapia are not really predators, but omnivores. They just yend to outcompete other fish. The main problem with selling them is their size, rarely bigger than 6 inches, so a lot of work for a small amount of flesh.

The hostages are Hamas's only trump card. Of course, they do not care about how many Palestinians die, but the longer the war goes on, the more support for Israel falls. And that's all they care about. Call the Hamas bluff, and see what they do; backpedal, and loose sympathy. or risk Israel keep on killing them (but get more sympathy). Meanwhile, the ethnic cleansing of the West bank continues (but very slowly).

Pesticides. When i was young, wheat fields where still full of poppies and other flowers. When we went for a drive in the car, windscreen and radiator grill covered in splattered bugs. Now you see none of these; in fact in gardens, insects these days just a few species, not many butterflies. Many bird, amphibian and reptile species declining. When we were growing up, few of these chemicals. Have some friends in rural France, farming region, similar age to us, they all still alive, half their children and grandchildren have died of cancer already.

Netanyahu has no real interest in seeing the hostages released, he would have no excuse for the daily massacres of Palestinians, the war keeps him in power.

Oh just to add, the 30 day thing was because some foreigners tried to game the system, by marrying a Thai, paying them off but never actually living with them. From a big country just west of Thailand, across the sea...

I have been doing marriage for 10 years in Udon Thani. Never refused, but sometimes they do not like a photo or once didn't like the discreency between bank book and bank letter. All easily resolved and no need to reapply. Never experienced surly officers except for once the new supervisor insisted on putting his oar in. Could tell the desk officers were not happy, he was gone by my next 90 day report. Just need to get your documents correct. Just one day a year. I do the 400,000 in the bank, because i do not want to send money every month (because not always in Thailand).

Forcing people to retire at 55 is madness these days. Apart from the hardened Lao Khao drinkers who have been day labourers most of their lives, and seldom make it past 60, many Thais these days live into their 80's. My M-in-L and F-in-L were both going strong until last year and were over 80. If not for the 2 daughters married to farangs there would be a crisis in the family; the other daughter is a teacher and married to another teacher, who are both reaching retiring age and still have debts and a worthless son who claims he is too sick to work (but still has 2 kids who have to be cared for); the only son of my FIL and MIL was not an academic and has a 100% disabled son, who requires 24 hour care - on a disability pension of 600 baht a month which does not even pay for the diapers he requires. Obvious who has to pay most of the utility bills and buy half the food - us farangs. The pitiful pensions and the debt problems make retirement a dismal prospect for most.

Their age? believed to take thousands of years to form.

I have only had my credit card cloned once, and that was in the UK 25 years ago when i bought a new car from a showroom! In Thailand, i only use my credit card to get cash from the bank or in Lotus or BigC, rarely anywhere else. Maybe online to buy flights (to get CC protection). I also keep a spare card in case the main one is compromised, because my UK bank will not send overseas, and last time i had it forwarded, never arrived (needed new card because old one expired).

And pregnant 2 months after i moved permanently to Thailand! No messing about there.

Wife has worked all the time i have known her, apart from about 3 years around the time our daughter was born; once she went to nursery, wife opened a shop, because she wanted too. Also has her mother and father to look after (especially the last year, both in their 80's), also house to look after and other domestic duties. What she does with her money is her concern, as long as the monthly housekeeping I give her isn't used up.

Me two her none. She was never married before, was 40 when she had our daughter., I was 59.

My wife was managing a restaurant/fishing pond when i first met her. What attracted her to me? 1. I came alone, no bar girl in tow. 2. I didn't smoke, only drank one beer. 3. Called her sister to come and talk to me, because i knew her sister's husband's friend (so probably a good guy). 4. Because her sister was happily married to a farang. 5. when I next went back (9 months later), SHE invited me out. 6. I suspect the pension and the thought of a fairer skinned, longer nosed kid also were in her calculations!

The photo doesn't show any evidence of law breaking. Looks like a peaceful protest not blocking much. Although i sympathise with what they are trying to achieve, law breaking, criminal damage and seriously inconveniencing other people is counter productive. The sentences do seem a bit harsh, if the authorities just want to make a point a one year sentence is sufficient. The M25 protests were OTT. Wave placards and hang posters from a motorway bridge would be quite sufficient.

The USA will probably become a Theocracy before Islam is the dominant religion in the UK. All those creationist nutters.

My ATM is greased with treacle. Works very slowly, only produces money on the third attempt, and often less than hoped for....