georgegeorgia

One thing I learnt is never never lend money ! I recall a few years ago knowing a bar owner in Pattaya,who survived on his Aussie pension. I got to know him over the few weeks going to his bar One day he said to me he needed 5k to buy stick urgently as his pension was late ! Well I was the worse person it turned out ! Fancy me asking for it back !!! I gave up asking him

Great points about learning the language! That doesn't matter if your in the Philippines,Cambodia or Myanmar I think learning the basics can be a life survival skill . *Also getting to know your area to survive* How many have great knowledge of your home area? So regardless if you live in Pattaya,Cebu, phomn Penh ,do you know where to get the best food? Best transport,medical etc ? Learn your own area !!!

Well this is where you need to be one step ahead especially if you are getting into a vulnerable position by getting drunk. They no matter how nice will use this against you and try to overcharge you Getting drunk can be good sometimes I guess But there a saying " A publican loves a drunk ,but NOT as his son in law !! Of course you can't blame the bars especially if some annoying drunk has been mauling over girls all night babbling along like a idiot ! Pad the bill I say !!!

Well , reading this thread ,not everyone is "happy" in what makes us happy. I'm surprised some don't need or want bar girls ,even though some live in Pattaya ! Some prefer small rooms ?

What does a single man living in Asia need in "life skills"? Now I have worked out a few things. Minding your own business. Yesterday I'm walking thru the Jomtien complex in Pattaya A black Mercedes Benz has blocked the road and stopped,the Thai driver is out of the car arguing with the Farang on a mb. Both are shouting at each other . I quickly walk past . I have worked out this is not the West where people get involved either with their phone recording or other way Also I was in McDonald's in Pattaya last Saturday night, I observed about 4 young Aussie guys probably 19/20 yo laughing at a arab guy sitting with a ladyboy,and phone recording them, now obviously they are immature so they don't know any better but this is not the West ,that old arab guy could of been violent maybe he knew they were immature so they were lucky so now in Asia I don't look twice at "odd" things , if a farang is walking with a ladyboy with blue hair or whatever it's none of my business ,mind ya own business!! Second survival skill I learnt is never help others if you don't need to in Asia , 2 examples 1/I'm in the Manila Philippines a few weeks ago, a man pushing a food cart is trying to push it up onto the pavement,I stop and offer him help he shouts "Go !!! Get out if here ! Getting aggressive 2/ I'm waiting for a taxi there is a big line up behind me ,I'm first in line in Manila again , a young Asian girl is second in line , a taxi finally pulls up , as it pulls up she drops her suitcase on the pavement, I go to pick it up for her, as I pick it up she opens the back door of the taxi throws her other bag in and without a word grabs the suitcase and hops into the taxi completely ignoring me . I then have to wait for another taxi,the Filipino guy behind me shook his head , Another thing I noticed especiallly in the Philippines is how rude people are ,so nowadays I'm not rude back just neutral, I no longer hold doors open going into shops etc I just let them slam to the person behind me,I worked out in Asia it's survival of the fittest Buses , in the Philippines especially I noticed young people don't care if your 100yo they will run to grab the seat first so I started pushing in to the bus too this is survival otherwise you don't get a seat. *Tipping excessive I noticed no difference in giving 20 b tip or 100 b tip in most cases, they don't remember you . No need to tip excessly ,they in most cases don't treat you any better , if you give 100 b tip to the masseur instead of 30 b do they give you any worse service next time? Nope *Being confident,don't be a pushover* I worked out living in Asia don't be a pushover, when it comes to using the services of anything,they will put it over you if they can , I stayed in a hotel last week,I spilt a little bit of coffee in the pillow case the cleaner tried to intimdate me by demanding rudely 300 b,with a aggressive tone Not this lil black duck !! I went to the manager who knew nothing of it and apologised to me *Getting drunk* Very rarely I get drunk,last week I did I noticed they padded my bill,4 beers 750b I still took my change I forget the religious saying about getting drunk but if you do your a fool. Survival/life skills please ,you learnt or someone coming to Asia needs to know!

For those of you saying your living on less than 30k a month etc in a small room and your happy ,? Look if you have to live in a 3x5 metre 4k a month studio then I understand,it's not by choice and maybe you can be happy, but is it quality of life ? By yourself in a small studio

I notice you said you do not partake in the services of women, even though you have moved to Pattaya

Laundry is expensive here in Pattaya Just looking at the bill T shirt 25b Collared shirt 40 Shorts 20b

But what city are you in

I haven't moved here yet /Pattaya But the last few weeks here have given me more insight. Groceries,I have been eating out and buying at 711 a lot,I won't be able to do that if I lived here

Pattaya? You sound more like a homebody rather than going out a lot though

Can earn under 65k per month if you have 800k in a Thai bank apparently How do you guys go withdrawal of your overseas pension paying the 220b ATM fee?

Did youu give up golf because of cost ?

I'm particularly interested in single older males who live below 50k a month or say yearly 600k. That's what the Australian government pension is give or take Now I'm in Pattaya now , I worked out I need at least 80k a month Groceries are expensive here, going to bars drinking, massage everyday etc , impossible to live on a government pension!! Now doesn't matter if your in Pattaya, Udon Thani, CM, Angeles city , I just want to know do you rarely exceed 50k Thai baht per month ? Is it possible? What's your lifestyle like? Where do you live? How do you budget , obviously no going to go Go bars everyday,but as a expat do you really that way inclined to go to go go bars ?

Can someone make you feel guilty to tip them? Can you negotiate over matters or you just accept them? Now using this psychology, if the waitress said to you loudly in front of others that she needs a tip ,do you do that because everyone is watching

So let me get into this...I was at a soi bukhao book cafe last week talking to a few guys sitting there and we were all talking about haggling & negotiation The topic came about people such as waitress using "sympathy" & guiltness skills to get more tips. I spoke about a few years ago a waitress at a fish n chip restaurant in jomtien kept telling me loudly how she didn't have much salary ( all said in front of her farang boss who was listening attentionly and watching ) and she had 3 kids etc and just asking me as she was serving me can I please tip her . I had to reply back I will if her service is good to which she replied .."how much you tip me?? Now at the end of my meal she wasn't much special service but as I went to pay I saw her farang boss sticking his neck out from the kitchen to look how much I was giving her all planned . Now talking to the guys at the cafe about this a Scottish guy said to me ...you must be bloody stupid, Not this little black duck ! She would of got my long bloody Scottish pockets !! So the psyche of that guy is...he is not a push over ! Not this little black duck he says ! So...are you a pushover or just sympathetic...are U made to feel guilty in giving tips or even in negotiations... Would you feel guilty in negotiating a driver say to the Bangkok airport?

Ok .. I found out that in Asia you either learn to haggle & negotiate or you can fail First how is your haggling skills? Are you able to be sent to the market & haggle say over a t shirt or you aren't that way inclined? Now give you this scenario over ... You order a car/taxi to pick you up from the airport,you already agreed on a price , say 1300 baht for arguments sake to pattaya.,you negotiation with this with the car company before You arrive at the airport,you wait at the baggage area for 45 minutes waiting for your suitcase, in the meantime the taxi driver is waiting for you in the arrivals and has been there for over a hour . You finally pick up your bag and head in out to meet him, he is happy& jovial and helps carry your bags to the car. He doesn't mention or complain about it at all during the ride . Now if he doesn't say anything about extra payment at the end of the trip ,do you offer more ,if he does say he wants extra do you offer more or negotiate or just walk off happy you didn't have to pay extra ! Do U feel guilty about that ? Second scenario which apparently works more because people get guilty is this, You come out of the baggage area ,the driver is either angry or starts telling you how long he is waited for you and makes you feel guilty. He says he needs half more around 500 baht, because his either angry attitude OR attitude with sadness saying he has missed out on fares and has 25 kids to support etc ,does that make you feel guilty ..do you just pay the 500 extra ,decline or negotiate it? Are you able to haggle or negotiate or you just give him the 500 or even more !!! I want to know what kind of person you are . You see another example,last week I'm travelling with a friend in the Philippines,the GRAB driver is a very good talker didn't even help with our bags etc ..BUT my friend is practically in love with him on our 25 minute trip because the guy had personality. So he tips him. But doesn't have any cash left to tip the bellboy who carried out bags up...now today I tipped the room cleaners in my hotel,why ? Because there is a benefit to me Sure I will tip the grab driver maybe 20 baht....but there's more benefit to me to tip the cleaners for more water or to the hotel reception... because I may need something I work out people by their tipping.. haggling and negotiation skills Can you easily be made to feel guilty to tip more ? Yes ..there's a art to that !!! I'm just wondering your psyche...so if your haggling in a markets over say t shirts ...are you the type of person who can do that ? Also I heard this goes on....a go go bar owner told me....I'm wondering these people psyche though...in the low season they actually get people turning up at a go go bar and negotiate over the drink price I admire people who have no qualms with haggling & negotiation They don't feel guilty over taking more , do you ?

I'm sure they must swim all day in that bloody swimming pool. I go out during the day but if I can't see near the pool,I try to sit on the hotel balcony but it's only like 2 storey up so they stop swimming in the pool and stare at you sitting on the balcony !

I'm in hotel room now ,balcony door open,I looked over to see them all stop and look up at me,so I came back inside They are very noisy and it seems no one is allowed around them because of "minors" Why do they come to Pattaya if they're so worried about their kids ???

Strange I know,I was in a bar yesterday in Soi Buckhao,I actually berated a American guy who was waffling on about the "pedophiles" in gay places like jomtien complex etc. He was talking about how he seen older men with younger guys,yes all legal age !!

So yesterday afternoon in the hotel I'm staying at here in Thailand, I walked down to the pool area to sit in the shade on a banana bed. On arriving I saw a family of a couple and their children, a couple ,husband maybe in his 40's and their I presume 4 children, 2 boys around 10yo & 2 girls a little bit older, seemed to be from the UK,heavily tattoed I noticed So on arriving I just caught the tail end of a conversation the British man was having with a younger farang man who were sitting nearby. This is what I heard " no mate , we can't have it here we have kids mate,so off you go ! I automatically thought these he was smoking told them not him not do it in front of his kids so he left without a fight to the older British guy who was using hand sweeping motions to guide the Farang to the pool exit but of course I found out later that be the was single farang the lady mother didn't want him nearby So I sat down on the other side of the pool,only them & me were at the pool side , for some reason their kids decided to come around my side ,I'm laying in the banana chair shade ,and then they started jumping & diving in the pool splashing water over me, I looked up to see the British tattoed guy sitting on the other side staring straight at me. I continued to lay there until the kids diving in water got over me so I moved further back and fully clothed into the sun. Next thing the kids are running around my banana chair chasing each other And the parents of course didn't seem to care . So I got up ready to leave, when I heard the fat tattoed wife approach, as I was leaving and walking off she said words to me to the point , " there is minors here ",you can't sit there . Silly me for some reason,I guess I didn't want a argument just left without another word. But just about 2 hours ago I'm on the hotel balcony which overlooks the swimming pool when I look down to see the same family arguing with a older East European guy ,who was lounging in his briefs , the lady is saying the same thing to him with her British thug husband also appeared to be arguing about she was saying ,there's minors here !!! Now as I walk thru the hotel lobby he & her are talking to I presume the hotel manager about " pedephiles" Now my point is where can we draw the line at being single males and being pointed as some pedophile because a group of minors in their words are playing nearby? I recall about 5 years ago in Australia a guy went to his local park to eat his lunch and school children were nearby and he was asked to leave by a council ranger because the teachers complain even though it's a public park. The second story I read last week was a Japanese tourist was being looked for by police in the blue mountains of Sydney because he had allegedly approached a 14yo boy to ask for directions? So where do you draw the line of being accused of being a pedophile?

Today I was in the blind massage shop when I heard a farang next curtain cubicle let out a large sounding fart . It was the funniest thing I heard as my masseur and even his ran out ,I could hear him apologise profusely. The most funniest thing was the supposedly blind masseur who had been led into my cubicle arm in arm on arrival ,then unusually ran off without assistance once the old guy in the next curtained cubicle farted !!!

Stayed in Davao a week, lack of footpaths, extreme traffic, and basically only shopping malls and American fast food chains ,nothing to retire there for

Many expats now explore Vietnam as a retirement destination

I would say Vietnam is now the third