georgegeorgia

I think one of the biggest is Canterbury Tales in Soi Chaiyapoon up near Soi Bukhao.

I love doing crosswords but hard to get crossword books.

Yes he was a classic case of a minimalist.

There he was in the picture dressed just in everyday clothes..Quiet lifestyle and never boasting of his wealth.

Ok please close the topic.

And this is what Pattaya needs to become a tourist city...i would have a bet every Real estate agent agrees with me.

James Packer one of the richest men in Australia...recently he just opened up another Casino with his Crown Casino group..he picked the Phillipines City of Manila !!!

Well obviously they are going to come down in price.

I have empathy for you..BUT..you have been WARNED and warned again countless times by posters on here..its not the first time its happened !

Im sure mist would agree...its obvious your gulliable.

I dont wish to be rude to you but I dont feel sorry for you...its your own fault for being greedy and thats what you were.

,and gulliable too and rushed into what you thought was too good to be true.

Greed leads to downfall...you thought you were getting a bargain and going to make a lot of money buying off the plan and no doubt the Salesman told you better get in now because when their built they will double in price !

Well I tell you what if i was the salesman I would of told you the same thing!

Im sorry but you need to think...think first and dont rush in.

Its your fault.

Hopefully you will learn a valuable lesson in thinking first before rushing in and not believing everything someone (salesmen) tells you.

Actually funny you talk about water because I have a friend Moshe who lives over on the Flybird Condo who used to buy from the water machine but now swears by boiling the tap water and uses that for tea and coffee !

Why dont you look yourself? Are you that lazy ? You obviously dont live in Pattaya?

You are obviously not the smartest tool in the shed and you obviously dont know the Pattaya streets nor the investment market.

Im not trying to be rude to you but there comes a time in life when you shouldnt rely on others and to start thinking for yourself.

Its not your fault that your not a independent person but you need to start developing this because people wont always be around to be beside you and care about you.

You seem to need to depend on others to help you,you cant look after yourself by the sound of it but you need to do this because people will let you down.

For Gd sake get off ya big behind and walk around and look at Pattaya Real estate instead of waiting for someone to come around and hold your hand and lead you around !!

But there you are with your arms folded shouting "he wont tell me...he wont he wont..not fair its not ...he wont tell me..he wont he wont"

Do you need brand name leather wallets?

How many of us see tourists particularly Russian grovelling over buying wallets.

I had a friend today try to show me his real leather brand name wallet he bought for over 30,000 baht and I showed no interest so he stopped showing me.

Now im middleaged im not interested in carrying a expensive wallet around when a 50 baht wallet can do the job.

Why would I need a 30,000 baht genuine leather brand name wallet??

The title of this thread is a little pretentious. Minimalism conjures up something philosophical or spiritual, such as Zen Buddhism. The title should really be living cheap in Thailand, surviving on a shoestring or just how to get by just above the poverty line. Its all a bit sad and pathetic really.

I guess being a minimumilist is a type of religion or following a "way" of life.

Its not only about saving money but doing things simply in your lifestyle routine.

Nope, its not a religion, there is nothing spiritual about it, it isn't a philosophy, its isn't creative, its just a necessary way to exist when you don't have much money. You can glorify it if you want, pretend all those people in Thailand who have failed to save enough and must live in semi poverty and who embarrass their fellow countrymen are somehow heroic, even saintly, but actually they aren't, they're just desperate. Now, i don't mind living rather frugally, rejecting status symbol purchases, but i still spend far more than the average local, but to be honest, i wish some of the foreigners who have no choice but to live like a local would just stay home. I don't like thais assuming I'm in their country because i have no choice, but i can understand they might begin to have that opinion when they see so many westerners who choose Thailand as a cheap option because they a semi destitute. So please do us a favor and stop all this cheap charlie glorification and see it for what it is.

Last Friday I was at the Synagogue near where I live,they were actually speaking on a topic of being a minimalist and the benefits of this more if you are actually wealthy !!!!

I am becoming more and more a minimslist everyday and I have cash in my account,probaly enough to retire tommorrow to Thailand and never work again.

Will I waste it ?? No.

Right now im at home typing this with the lights off to save electrcity NOT only for the money saving side but also to conserve energy.

I havent used the cooking stove at all today because i cut up a salad for lunch.

Minimalism is as I said before not just a financial aspect to it but a philosphy.

Recycling and reusing things,I always re -use margarine and ice cream containers,Im sure most people do it to put odds and ends in them,I re -use coffee jars etc.

If you go into my friend Larry's spotless and organised studio in Jomtien you will see he has used the old ice cream plastic containers to store left over food etc.

Surely you dont buy garbage bags from the supermarket?...this only adds more plastic and costs more,when most people im sure re-use the supermarket grocery bags.Now they are practising this without knowing it.

How did he die and he didnt look very old?

Is it the guy on the right side of the picture?

Is RARO'S still for sale over there on the Darkside ?

There was a bit more in the Thai news. Prior to the attack, the victim, 53 year-old German tourist Martha Stabila (sp?) had just been on a sight seeing boat trip down the Bangkok Noi canal and was waiting at a bus stop by the Somdet Phra Pinklao Bridge.

She put her bag down on the pavement and one of the flower sellers, for reasons best known to himself, started rummaging through it to which she took exception and rebuked him. The attack happened after that.

She's reported to now be out of hospital and has travelled on to Koh Tao island, perhaps not the safest of places judging by recent news stories.

I guess thats being insecure in yourself and not being a realist and having to "pretend" theres no bad Thai people..only if their provoked,so this woman or any other victim caused their own problems.

There is a Psychology term for "apologists" but I forget it now.

I wonder why some people are like that?

Is it to "Block out" any negative feeling and keep in their mind thstceverythings rosy so to speak and its a perfect World?

Never forget the case of the Australian lady travel agent who was stabbed in the street in Phuket a few years ago.

I know we are not meant to discuss mod decisions, but can someone explain why someone who wants to get rid of a condo in Bangkok has had his post moved to Pattaya ?

If you read the OP post which with respect it seems you may overlooked it,but he states he wishes to swap his condo in BKK with someone in Pattaya.

I still see a few 26sqm condo sell for 400/450 k.Usual rental return is about 3 to 4k a month.

I would like to know where to buy condo's at 15K per sm. ? that would be way below land and build cost.

No he has more than 800k in his bank account.

He also saves 20k a month.

He also owns the studio condo he lives in.

Never think because you see some old pensioner or old woman in the supermarket haggling over what to buy that they have no money in the Bank.

Many minimalists are not poor.

Some choose that lifestye and its not necessarily just being frugal it also involves those who dont buy brand name t shirts but when a t shirt is needed they buy just the norm.

My mother was very very frugal...she even didnt even use brand name cleaning detergents ,only bought generic,she was leading that minimalist life not because she was poor..no but i guess because she grew up during the War and was in fear of spending money.

She lived by herself at 81yo in a Country area and even mowed the lawns in her garden herself because she didnt want to pay someone to do that.

Saving money probaly didnt do her much good,I told her to take holidays but she wouldnt.

She died of Cancer recently after being diagnosed just 2 months ago ,she still wouldnt spend money on getting Chemotherapy when she was slowly dying.

She decided there was no point i guess,in prolonging her life by a few months but be bedridden.

But this is when you might need money when your sick,because if you need treatment the doctors want to see cash...believe me.

Otherwise your going to be on a waiting list waiting weeks to see a cancer specialist your Cancer would have spread by then without any treatment then your up shits creek without a paddle.

Have the cash behind you.

Great stuff and it appears by the posts on here most of the minimalists are living out of Pattaya....the only problem with that is i suppose loneliness.

Especially if theres not a big Farang community there.

One poster said he lived by himself outside Chiang Rai somewhere in a minimalist lifestyle..sure and it sounds terrific and less pollution,more trees ,more fresher produce,grown your own veggies,cheaper prices etc BUT what if your not a loner and need people around you...this is why i guess many single minimalists choose Pattaya.

Were you guys not lonely living by yourselfs out there out of Chiang Rai ?

The title of this thread is a little pretentious. Minimalism conjures up something philosophical or spiritual, such as Zen Buddhism. The title should really be living cheap in Thailand, surviving on a shoestring or just how to get by just above the poverty line. Its all a bit sad and pathetic really.

Its not only about saving money but doing things simply in your lifestyle routine.

Minimalist is a lifestyle...

The point if this thread is this...if you live on a Pension from your own Country regardless if its a old age,Disability,whatever and its around the -40k 45k baht mark per month then you can still live in Thailand.

In fact I think the Australian Old age pension is about $850 a fortnight or $1700 a month...??

So thats more than 45,000 baht a month and some still cant live on that !!

Regardless even if i have $500,000 in the bank I would still live in a small condo granted it might be a 1 bedroom rather than a studio but thats all I need for myself...I dont need a large condo with swimming pools and gym.

I dont need to go out every night..I actually am more of a homebody anyway.

Rather stay home and watch Law and Order on Universal or Judge Judy thann piss up in a bar.

Yes im sure you have heard of the farangs who came to Thailand on a pension of 40-45k a month and couldnt do it !!!

They HAD to do it in the West though didnt they!!!! Whether that be in a council flat in the UK or in Australia....so why they couldnt do it in Thailand ??????

You can go to any Club Pub in the West and you will see on pension day all the pensioners sitting at poker machines gambling their money away.

Now my Mother used to go to a very Large Club every week I think it was a bowling or Rugby Club and they had over 1000 poker machines and she used to sit there and watch all the other pensioners gamble their pensions away whilst she sat at a table drinking the free cups of tea and coffee they had for pensioners on pension day and played the bingo.

Some of the ones that came to Thailand on a pension couldnt do it because they couldnt live as a minimalist they werent brought up with that lifestyle.

If you can live in the UK or Australia or NZ on a pension then im damn damn sure if people like my friend Larry can do it and still save 20k a month from his pension then im sure others can too !!!!

I guess it's up to everyone to get happy the way you want.

I have been working all my life, nothing was given to me for free, before I retired at the age of 65. I'm not living on welfare or social benefits from a country that I consider to be absolutely disgusting, the pensions I get now is from Farang pension funds where they took more than 30pct of my gross income away over the years.

I don't have to go scrounging around restaurant tables, Farangs wouldn't even give me 10 THB credit if I had to wait for money in front of Western Union next door.

Let's see what your plans are when you get old.

Theoretically, you can get up to 130 years if you are in a real good state of health.

Practically, shit happens, and you may only get 100 years old.

Like my mother died at the age of 90, she had been working all life long, and never been sick. She called me on telephone the evening before she died, and told me she would leave next day, so she lay down in bed and died with a smile. She wwas fully aware of what happened around her, just the doctors could not understand why she actually died.

You know, when your life expectancy is another 30 or 35 years if you keep healthy, that doesn't only mean that you live longer, it also means that you live better.

We're talking about life in Pattaya, so let's talk about sex. Most old Farabgs are physically impotent at the age of 60+, or - even worse - they are afraid of getting impotent. But in a good physical condition, you can have sex many many years ahead of 65, and I mean real wild sex.

Remember, Thailand is not Puritanistic when it comes to pussy sex. Sex is not considered to be a sin, it's rather gym, it's fun, and it's good for your health.

You might have to pay for it, but then again: nothing wrong with that if you are able to save half of your pensions every month. Just take someout of wherever you stashed it, and give some to the lady you were in.

Make sure you don't get STD.

If you expect only another 10 years to live, you might think: Hm, I heard you can survive AIDS for 20 years now, so what do I care? Unfortunately, many pensioners think like that. They don't give a damn shit about her girl who might be pregnant, they do it the easy way and say: she's a prostitute anyway, so she's the source of all evil, and I'm only a victim of prostitution in Thailand. No Sir, your wrong, STDs are contagious in both directions, and you might be the one that imported STD into Thailand. You better use condoms, and go for a HIV test from time to time. It shouldn't be too difficult to find out if your favourite lady has other lovers beside you. She might think about it, yes, the hot spots in front of some bars makes one think about making a life out of being a butterfly. But on the other side, a permanent man with savings, and one that gets a HIV check regularly, that's something you don't risk.

I am fully aware that I might be used as an ATM sometimes. I regard it as a pension funds for my gf's daughter, her welfare for her education - if you want to see it this way.

They have a good social habit in Thailand: Thais put everything on a table, and then share it with everyone who needs something.

I feel really sorry for you if you sit in the Farang side of this table. You should put a fence around your 'no touch area' and a warning that the cigarette package in front of you is your private property area, and a taboo zone for "scroungers". But then, please, don't blow your cancerous breath on the Thai side of the table.

Like it or not, some minimalist Farang might be sitting there, and he or the Thais around him might not want to die from the cancerous blue dust you blew over the table.

You can kill yourself on the Farang side, but - only yourself.

BTW: I am not a fundamentalistic non-smoker, in fact I smoke quite a lot, and I consider it my right maybe to kill myself, but certainly no right to kill Thai babies around me.

I think the minimalist in question is not so very far away from me.

Most important: he's obviously happy, and his savings might turn out to be a contribution to Thailand's welfare. And he might be fully aware of it, ge obviously has a very well-functioning brain, regardlessof whether you share his point of view or not.

Your side of the table, the Farang money side, was built over Thai soil, so don't lean out too far on it, and make sure you paid the rent.

Remember ancient Greece in the Roman Empire?

Those were the philosophers of Rome, and a society of lazy analphabets kept them as labour slaves.

Well, today Greece is still there, and as it turns out now, it's the only part of Europe where democracy survived - and the claws from the money side of the table are again stretching out. Beware of any Spartans, Mr Farang on the money side. And beware of philosophers among them - you might have the money, but they might have the brains and the eyes to watch you

Plenty of Pensioners do that in the West.

My Mother never had any Air Con because she didnt like it

Im trying to wean myself off it by turning the fan on more because its no good for both health and finances.

I dont really like the idea of being a well known local farang.

I think its ok to say hello to neighbours and being polite but i prefer keeping to myself most times.

But good post anyway and some good points if your bored.

What kind of visa and how ???

Retirement visa.How? He has money saved in the Bank...he even saves over 20,000 baht per month from his pension living in Jomtien.

He boasted to me he saves sometimes 25,000 baht a month even out of his Australian Pension.

I would have a guess he for sure has a few thousand $$ in his Bank.