FruitPudding

This sounds like opinion, not fact. What's he done to make you think that?

I never saw so many kids on motorbikes in my country. None actually. I think road deaths of children are far higher here than most countries.

Classic Thai parenting

Because they don't tip others below them; it's all take and no give here.

Thais don't tip. It's expected in tourists areas. I tip 10% for food at restaurants/pubs/cafes and haircuts. So, usually 20-40 baht or so. Probably shouldn't even bother leaving a tip for food in tourist areas. They don't appreciate it. I think they only appreciate 100+ I give a better tip for a great massage, usually 100 baht. I never tip anyone else, ever.

Actually, Isaan would be OK for retirement as a single guy. I could see myself back there again. But it's not good for work and it's not really good for raising children. And it's always a bad idea to take your GF or wife back to her village.

If you don't have a bank account, you wouldn't be paying tax as you cannot send money to yourself here from abroad. Surely, you aren't going to pay tax on the cash you bring in with you through the airport. Lol.

Why?

Yeah, I mean I've seen working girls in my extended family earning 50k-100k a month, and I am sure some money gets sent home every month, but you should see the state of the children. They either save the money or gamble it away. But the kids don't benefit at all. I took much better care of my kid at the time and I was only earning 30k a month. Didn't save much then, of course. Lol

This is the fate of millions of kids in Thailand. I am speaking literally. I have seen this play out like this many times. I lived in a small village before. This is textbook stuff. Almost nobody raises their own kids in the villages. Think of all the hookers in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Samui etc. etc. Most of them are from places like Isaan. Ask them about their family. They've got kids. They'll tell you the father did a Houdini. But they probably won't tell you they haven't visited their kids in years or that the money they make just gets saved for themselves or gambled away, but in any case: the kids don't benefit at all, nor do they even know their mother.

I had quite a pleasant experience with the Thai police when I had dealings with them. Your Mileage May Vary.

So, that kinda overshadows what the others did, right? You can't really blame her husband for cheating, assuming he did cheat.

You see this at "rich kid" schools too. Kids walking around with 5 toes and a heel sticking out of the sock (on both feet). Parents are just feckless. Socks are 20 baht.

Didn't his wife murder someone?

Typical sequence of events: 1. Fertile vessel pops out 2 kids during her teen years. 2. Sperm donor evaporates. 3. Fertile vessel runs away from being a parent "to work" but basically breaks all contact with kids except from a Songkran visit once every few years. 4. Kids are basically orphans staying with elderly extended family members who are already trying to raise other biological orphans, but are too old to be effective, and don't really want the job anyway. 4.(a) Fertile vessel possibly starts another family and totally abandons previous kids. 4.(b) She possibly walks out on the next kid(s) too, often for a rich man. 5. Unfertile vessel grows old and perhaps comes back into their lives demanding respect as a mother and also entitlement to a pension from them. It's just a baby factory. TIT.

I thought they had broken up but she couldn't accept it.

I just got my kid's new scouts uniform. It was about 600 baht. The last one lasted a couple of years and she had a fair growth spurt. This one might last three years as I expect her growth to be a bit less now. When I lived in a poor village, I saw how much the so-called parents spent on beer, cigarettes, lao kao, lottery, and gambling - probably 30,000+ a year on booze and cigs alone - while utterly neglecting their kids' needs. If they cut all this crap, one kid could go to a better school, at least. Now, they can save a few hundred baht on the uniform to drink, smoke, or gamble with. Then, send their daughters to Pattaya. It ain't gonna help. It's just a big w@nk.

A few hundred baht

Not really. Spend time in a village, you'll see! They call random old guys in the village "father," old women are called "mother," middle-aged guys are called "uncle," and so on..........they are not actually related. Even I was called uncle in the village sometimes. Farang too, of course. Also, teacher. And, father as well........but never by my name. Haha Or they just call each other "pee" or "nong" by age/status. Or "buk" for naughty boys and pet dogs. It's similar in Indonesia, too. They call each other brother and sister, father and mother etc. etc. depending on their age/status in the community. They even say it to strangers. It's actually about respect/duty to call someone by their status in community, rather than name. It would be disrespectful to call your own parents by their first name, right? It's the same in a collective society. Not saying that farang is a respectful word though.

Thais are a collective society though.

I haven't heard Thais telling funny jokes, but they do have a sense of humor. My gik laughed her ass off when I told her why I chose her. 🤣 She shouldn't ask questions that she doesn’t want the answer to....but she really did find it funny.

I think it's okay value for foreign food. I ain't paying 80 baht for a regular Thai fried rice on Grab/Food Panda app (it's normally 40 baht in the shop), when I could order a Japanese curry for 120. The markup on apps for normal Thai food just ain't worth it. I get that you have to pay for delivery, but it ain't worth double.

And since 'farang' is used only to describe white people, it's probably more akin to saying "gook" or "chink" to describe East Asians or maybe "<deleted>" to describe all South Asians. Perhaps even the "n word" to describe black people in general. I think it really is a racial slur; it does not mean 'foreigner,' regardless of what a dictionary may say: Thais only use it for white people. There is another word for all foreigners (ชาวต่างชาติ) That said, I am not actually offended by the word farang and I refer to myself as a farang, much like African Americans refer to themselves as....."you know what" (hilariously, I am afraid to actually say it, lol, how bizarre)

I don't see the similarity here. 'Ni hao' means 'hello' in China, right? 'Farang' comes from the Thai word for Français (ฝรั่งเศส) and it is used to describe white people.