georgegeorgia

Yes thankyou JB for putting this back in topic.

This thread is about minimalistic living .

I have money..i dont flaunt it..i dont buy expensive perfumes...i live in my own Flybird Condo and have 4 other studio in this building that are tenated.

But i dont need to wear expensive clothes . shoes. .have gold chains..etc i just live my life .

To the OP..how do you know if that info is true ? YOU ARE speculating. ..

"having a big house means you worked hard to make big money to pay for the big house"

Ahhh. That old "my material possessions prove I worked hard clichè", 555.

Or it could mean you stole the money, sold illegal drugs, embezzled the money, cheated senile people out of their life's savings in a Bangkok boiler room, pimped underage women or, the most common of all---simply fell out of the right womb and was born rich and never worked a day in your life.

555

prove to me you learned that "cliché" is written with an accent aigu instead of an accent grave and i will engage in a discussion with you telling you all about nearly two decades of hard work in the Arabian desert, the African bush and the swamps where a boy (born poor and growing up in post-war Germany) made his money and now enjoys spending the proceeds of it on an extremely comfortable lifestyle.

question: could your posting indicate you were born poor, are still poor because you never studied hard, never worked hard and live now a miserable life envying those who where successful? it sure looks like it!

You grew up in post War Germany?

OmG you must be pretty old mate...in that case feel free to spend your money..your kids may not agree with you spending the inheritance though.

"Hottest months approaching"..not everyone likes A/conditioner...i grew up without it ..and now dont need it.

Several fans...balcony breeze is mostly sufficient.

You can have a electrcian install ceiling fans and they are better than Air Con.

But if people choose to spend their hard earned cash then its their life..I choose not to spend..I choose not to tip....I choose not to be taken advantage of..others may want to be opposite and spend all their money..they may wish to buy alcohol with it..waste money and then I see these same people down at the markets haggling...I see guys in my own Condo building with nothing...living in smaller rooms than mine. Their doors open because of the heat laying shirtless on their beds drinking alcohol and coughing.

Some of you middleaged and younger living here have nothing to your name..

I had a tenant last year renting one of my studio rooms who had no money to pay his rent..I even gave him 1 month free to help him...but he just spent his disability pension and when he left the room I found umpteen bottles of alcohol under the bed..no money tor rent but money for grog...and he was only 26yo...what a waste of life and money.

Because? U get lonely ?

I find people who can live by themselves are much stronger emotionally. .they can think for themself..make their own decisions etc.

Usually women are much better at this than men.

How many rooms do you want ?

I prefer a big studio with a balcony. .. dont need a big apartment ..i dont need a big TV ...

Then again i prefer living alone..how many of you can do that ?

MANY of you cant..u need someone to live with you. You get lonely..you cant look after yourself s

I have a beard so rarely use the expensive razors.

Walking in Pattaya actually awakens your senses...walk towards oncoming traffic...you at first become hypervigilant but after you will get use to it...a good pair of shoes to protect your feet..a lightbackpack..bottled water..light colored clothes...yes i carry pepper spray for the dogs.

I dont care if the Thai owners are there..last week I sprayed 4 dogs outside a Laundry that wouldnt let me pass...I was with a Thai friend at the time..the Thai dog owners completely oblivious to their dogs soon woke up when i sprayed their dogs. .im sorry im not going to be bitten on the legs..use your assertiveness skills as i said before.

I will give you an example. ..a friend of mine who has now passed..arrived here in Thailand after a nasty divorce.

He had been a CEO of a large Company or in management roles...but when he arrived in Pattaya he still couldnt do things such as arrange qoutes or tradesmen for his condo...he couldnt or didnt have the confidence to cancel appointments..he didnt have the confidence to complain about things..etc..why?

Because he always..always had a secretary to do that for him.

Even once we as a group we ..had arranged to go out on a week night to a restaurant. .he didnt turn up..his mobile was off..not until the next day I saw him to ask what happened..why he didnt turn up?

He then went on with a BS story of taxi breaking down etc.

But i saw through him and he eventually explained he didnt have the confidence to call us to cancel our meeting...because...he had never done that before!

You see these people who are in the leadership roles become less confident in themselves as they get older because they have always told others to do it for them...they become weak ..they cant adapt to challenges in life.

Here is a man..CEO once of many big companies...BUT always got other people to do the hard things in life for him....when the time came of being by himself and not relying on others. .he couldnt do it....why?...he hadnt had any experience cancelling appoitmnts he hadnt even bothered firing his own employees. .he got others to do it...he became WEAK.

Being a minimalist is also about doing things yourself instead of paying..sometimes this is hard ..for example walking instead of getting a mbike taxi etc.

Sometimes we pay people to do things because we are lazy..or its quicker or more convenient. ..other times because we dont bother to learn how to do it ourselves.

Today i had met up a aqaitance who was taking his clothes to have buttons sewed back on that had snapped off due to his weight .

I asked him why he didnt sew his own buttons on?

"Why do I have to when i can pay someone he said.

Truth is...he doesnt know how to sew a button on..not his fault he has never been taught.

Part of life..even if your retired is to maintain your life skills..to learn how to look after yourself..whether that be cooking or sewing or financial .

Dont rely on others. .rely on yourself..dont rely on others to be there for you..help yourself.

You should never stop learning..sometimes Homepro have free weekend courses in tiling...painting etc .

Im surprised by the number of farangs I meet who had good jobs in their previous life but cannot do things themselves.

You want to use mastercard...why not pay in cash? If you cant adford it why dont you just buy lower priced clothes?

I rarely pay over 1000 baht a year for clothing andvthey have lasted years.

Ditch the CC

Seriously mate...... don't go into business with your mathematical skills..... You will be bankrupt in a week.

Let me know if stock in your restaurant goes public.

I'd like to short it.

You've dissed 2 guys giving excellent feedback. Not a great skill to have in the hospitality business.

Agree. This is one arrogant SOB who really, really doesn't know what he's doing.

Lol....... You will never find me working in a restaurant..... I don't work in any of my businesses, i just run them and count the cash...... So I can be as arrogant as I want.

This forum is full of mean spirited, spiteful old codgers who just want to see every one of their fellow expats fail at everything... Mostly based on jealousy and their own bitter and twisted unsuccessful and boring existences.

Had I left out the last paragraph, the replies would have been a whole lot different... But as soon as I mentioned that I will take the place over, the bile erupted from the sad acts..... Typical TV member hatred.

Omg...well stop telling us..I dont think anyone here really cares !!

Its your business..

It does happen..and of your a shrewd business owner you could easily do this.

I wont go into business psychological detail...im not running a business at the moment..but any psychologist can tell you about making someone feel guilty by asking to check the bin.

BUT im sorry we are getting off topic..we are talking about frugalism ..that is the point im making is...

1/dont be afraid to ask for a discount ..whether your at a big store or not.please try it..they can only say no...try to do that without other customers hearing.

2/dont feel embarrassed to ask to see a itemised checkbin...ask nicely..

3/show confidence in yourself..dont let others use you..you dont have to walk around like a big man with a scowl on his face though..it doesn't mean that...i still have a smile and friendly personality and say hello to everyone if they are nice to me..it just means learning and having the confidence to say NO ! to someone pressuring you into something...many people cannot work out how to be nice and still have confidence and assertiveness too..they feel like they have to be "on guard" 24 hours.

Give an example of this...i was visting a farang friend and i sat outside under a canopy waiting for him..i decided to indulge in a 40 baht lunch while waiting and got talking to some motorbike taxi drivers also seated...just friendly banter..when my checkbin arrived it was 90 baht...the lady told me it was 50 baht for a beer for the MB taxi driver ..im sorry i pay only 40 baht.i dont know even know him..havent got a clue who he is ...unlikely i will ever see him again.

But i could of easily avoided this by having a scowl face and being over assertiveness not talking to the MB taxi driver etc..but i didnt because if they talk to me first i will talk nicely back..but diesnt mean that u can use me.

Frugalism and Minimalism is not about being mean..its about getting value.

Another thing I want i want to mention is checking checkbins...when my nephew was visting me last month...I took him to several restaurants..he would order different soft drinks etc..i always always checked the checkbin after ...i already had an idea of price because i added up via the menu before we ordered but sometimes he would order extra during our meal so i could only make an assumption of how much extra the drink or whatever was..BUT i had an idea on my head how much the final checkbin would be...and caught a few out !!

So please dont feel silly...or no confidence to check the bin if your calculations dont work out.

I will tell you something .many bars will use a type of "psychology"to add extra to your bin..if you are with a group they will add extra because they think if your paying and they see you as underconfident you will pay without asking to see the checkbin or questioning it because you will feel embarrassed in front of your group...(especiallyif the staff have been nice to your group).so anyway the manager uses "business psychology"..and adds another 1000 baht to the bill...but doesnt bring the checkbin to your table just the waitress carrying a piece of paper with 6880 baht or whatever for your groups meals..shes so nice makes your group laugh on arriving at the table..they all love her...then she hands the paper to you

leader of the group still smiling...of course you know the final price is bullshit BUT you aint going to make a fool of yourself ...everyone either chips in or you pay now and they pay later or whatever but still the bill is paid BECAUSe everyone is too embarrassed to question it ...not me and not my group of friends..no matter how nice they are to me .

I think we all haggle dont we ?

I do it politely with a smile..i dont bother using a calculator ...and not do i bother with what people think of me...

I will say that again..I dont care what others think..i did have a farang tourist couple mock me or whatever u can call it last week..i was haggling with a market stall holder who i have dealt with before..this Australian couple who were standing nearby heard me and the man decided to start being silly repeating my haggling thinking its funny and his girlfriend was laughing .

Now at first i ignored them...then they still kept doing it..even the market stall holder by this time was ignoring him...yes i have stopped caring what others think..even yesterday i was outside a pharmacy with a friend ..i was commenting out loud about it was cheaper for caps here or something like that and comparing prices when a nosy farang stuck his nose in..i think he was a touristoo..he starts saying "why worry about the price its still cheap or something like that with a nasty look on his face...

.i dont mind talking to other people but if you make nasty comments in the street i ignore you.

I remember last year i was buying paint to paint my studio room..iwas bargaining over the price because i was buying 2 tins..plus getting some curtains made ..only to have a farang stick his big nose in at the store counter and come between me and the store owner to shout to me that it was still cheap and no need to bargain ...the store owner has to make a profit he said..So I told him please mind your own business!It has nothing to do with you..!!

Now i really dont care what others think when haggling But better to do it when others customers cant hear you...most stire owners and big Dept stores will always take baht off.

I think wvavin meant the first wife when he made the ATM comment...not Colin's current wife.

Yes great story and best of luck Colin.
Do you have psychotherapy or any type of exercise ?

I have an interest in Business related matters and came across this thread in thaivisa where the OP wrote about cafes serving breakfasts...this one apparently sold the breakfast for 60b...the OP called it a "loss leader" ...business terminology i have never heard of.

He goes onto work out their net profit out of the 60b meal.

Could a business person explain to me about "loss leader"..how does it work?

What kind of establishments use this business practice ? Is it effective?

""""However, for simplicity lets us breakdown the costs as perceived by a layman, who has taken a number of people to this gaff for this breakfast, and subsequent meals, I believe the term used in the trade is "loss leader"""""

Coffee/tea - 7 B

Egg - 5 B

Tomato - 3 B

Toast - 8 B

Bacon - 24 B

Potato - 1 B

Sausage - 9 B

Butter/jam - 2 B

total 59b

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

Ok im not into the latest technology. .but my young nephew advised if you hsve a smart phone you can download a Mcdonalds APP that gives you faily discounts plus sometimes free daily burger.

Certainly wouldnt of been me darling..chat to as many waitressses as you like...as for going to bars..havent been to one in a while.

In 2011, I applied for PR status in Thailand. As part of the application, you must submit a police clearnce report from your home country. I'm an American, so I had to get mine via an FBI Criminal Records Check. To do this, I had to download a fingerprint card off the Intenet, then get fingerprinted, and then send the card to an FBI center in West Virginia, USA.

So - I downloaded the card, and went to the Prakhanong Police Station, not far from the Onnut BTS Station. Although there is now a brand new station at that spot, in 2011 it was pretty decrepit. I went at about 11:20 am. I had never been there before, and it seeemed rather deserted. After walking down a hallway, and peeking into several rooms, I finally found a young lady officer in uniform. I speak Thai, but not well enough to discuss fingerprinting. But - when I showed her the card, she understood, took the card, and asked me to follow her - which I did - down a long hallway to a room at the end which turned out to be a dining area - with maybe six people leaning over bowls of noodle soup. She went over to one man in a green T-shirt, very dark complexion, muscular, short hair - looked like a Thai boxer, maybe late 30's - and held the fingerprint card to him, and gestured toward me.

This guy took the card, stood up, and made for the door, motioning for me to follow him - completely abandoning his lunch. I follwed him up two flights of stairs, and then way down to the far end of the building. He slowed down, and there was a chair next to a sort of countertop projecting from the wall - a fingerprinting station! The wall was shared with a washroom - and he pointed to me, and to the washeroom, and made handwashing gestures - so I went in - there was a squeeze bottle of soap - and I washed my hands, and dried them on paper towels that were there. He nodded for me to sit - he was sitting across from me, with a little cart - with a sort of equipment toolcase opened up on top of it. It was a top-quality fingerprinting kit, with all sorts of marble plattens, rollers, tubes of ink, and a big magnifying glass. I had already filled out the form at the top of the fingerprint card, in English, and he now folded the card twice, so that just one row of boxes was exposed. He used spring clips to clip this along one edge of the countertop. He next squirted some ink onto one marble plate, maybe 20 x 15 cm, and used a roller to squeeze the ink into a very thin layer. He then took one of my hands, isolated my thumb, and then rolled it from left to right - one time - and then directly to the correct box on the fingerprint card. He did all five fingers on that hand in about 75 seconds. He then had to adjust the fingerprint card to expose the second set of boxes - without smudging the ink from the first set.. I couldn't figure out his movements - but he knew exactly what he was doing. He then rerolled the ink, to make sure it was evenly distributed He then took the second "hand" of prints in about another 75 seconds. He then unclipped the fingerprint card, unfolded it, and took the magnifying glass, and examined each print. He was nodding to himself as he did this, and when finished, he motioned for me to go wash my hands again - which I did. It took some scrubbing - there was a small brush there - to get most of the ink off.

When I came back out, the fingerprint card was under a bright desk lamp, witt a fan blowing on it - to dry it. He was busy cleaning the marble plate and the roller - using some acetone, or similar. After a few minutes, he pulled out the fingerprint card, and sniffed at it (I guess the ink smells if it is still wet?). He put it back under the fan/light while he boxed everything back up in the carrying case, and put the case upon a wall shelf. He turned off the desk lamp, the fan, and the room light - grabbed the fingerprint card, and nodded for me to follow him. I followed back down two flights of stairs, and then down a hallway to a room with several uniformed officers in it. He had me stop at the open doorway - he went in and had one of them add the police station seal, and he then signed the card, and they used a blue ink stamp to stamp his signature block under his signature - all in Thai. The he came back to me and handed me the card, and then brushed past me - he was done.

At no point had he spoken a word to me. He never smiled. No one even asked me WHY I needed the fingerprints. He never wasted one motion. He was 100% efficient and professional. He was the Michaelangelo of fingerprining.

So - as he walked away, I said "khortoht khrap" - he turned around - and I had out a 500 baht note, and tried to hand it to him. He just crossed his hands "no, no" - and turned away and went off down the hallway - still in his green T-shirt. A lady in full unform was coming the other way as he passed her, and she saw that I was trying to do something, but the guy had not helped me - so she stopped to ask me what was wrong, and could she help me. I was a bit perplexed as to what to say or do - I told her that the guy had just helped me - very well - and had left his lunch to help me - and I wanted to buy him and his friends lunch - and I stuck the 500 baht note in her hand, and walked away, and out of the station. I think she stood there as I walked away, unsure what she was supposed to do.

The point being - if EVER there was an occasion for a policeman to take some money for helpful service rendred, above and beyond the call of duty - this was it - and yet I could not get him to take a "tip". He was solid professional - doing a superb job at what he was trained to do - he paid attention to detail and took pride in his work - and was totally disinterested in being paid money by a farang who walked into his station, and interrupted his lunch.

They aren't all bad.

MS

You silly old cow...she's bloody kept that 500 !

BAHT BUS..I admit i have a minimalist friend Moshe..who im not proud of...but he tells me he has gotten off with a group of other passengers who have gone to pay...the BB driver sometimes thinks he s with them..if the driver looks at him suspiciously he waits behind them..when they pay he pretends to make small talk and walks with them ..the driver then drives off too oblivious to the fact Moshe wasnt with the family or group who obviously didnt realise they paid for him too.. .not something i would do..but still the driver is getting paid.

What do you oil them with ?

As most of you know i usually handwash my clothes then hang them up on my sun drenched balcony.

Today i felt like I should use the washing machine to wash my towels so i headed downstairs to the laundry room..

I have only done it once before...BUT ..i decided rather than blow this months budget on using the washing machine plus the coin operated dryer...I would put my washing in someones else machine that was already going...luckily I got back just as the washing machine was finishing and took my clothes out....

Yes i did have thoughts of opening one of the already going dryers and throwing my clothes in with someone elses but i thought i dont want to bite off mote than i can chew just in case the users of the dryer do come down and catch me taking my clothes out from there dryer...so i just took them up to my balcony...well saved 20 baht on the washing anyway.

OP, you've lived here a year and a half and you can speak Thai to some low class girl that works in Lotus.

I wish you the best of luck with your under educated, low class girlfriend who won't have a clue who Shakespeare or Chaucer are.

Edited: OP you are way too young to be on this forum. Why at your age are you not dating models?

Uneducated becsuse she works in a supermarket?

OMG ..PLenty of people work in a supermarket in the West and get good money

If I was you OP...I would want to know why they wanted your fingerprints with you being the complainant and alleged victim.

Of course Police in mostly every Country will still check the background of the complainant/victim...but not going as far as taking your fingerprints !!

I really think you should ask to speak to the Officer in Charge or ask for the email to the Area Commander and either see a Lawyer or have a Thai write your complaint that will go to someone in charge of that District.

Tell them your fingerprints were taken and ask if this is the standard procedure for a complainant?

CAN I ask ..did the other party also lodge a complaint about your friend ?

Did both of them get their f8ngerpr8nts taken ?

Were there any charges laid as of yet ?