FruitPudding

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.

Some people only understand violence. Otherwise, they'd never pay back the money. There has to be consequences for people with no moral compass. That said, the loans sharks are vermin.

How do you know this?

I learned Thai to about the intermediate level, even some reading and writing. I have enough for my needs, so I stopped studying; I have better things to do with my time. I rarely use Thai, except when I really have to. For example, I'd never order food or drink in Thai in a tourist area. I'd use English, of course. Guys who do that are just trying to impress the staff. But at a hospital talking to a nurse with poor English I might be able to describe my symptoms more understandably in Thai, though most doctors will understand my symptoms in English medical jargon more clearly than with my limited medical Thai vocabulary. I am just not really interested in Thai language and I don't care about it, so that's why I am not fluent.

As naive as the Thais? I can think of a lot of words for Thais, but naive isn't one of them. In fact, I find them very suspicious and distrusting, also quite clever, cunning, and pragmatic. Rightly so given the milieu they grew up in.

Yeah, but the way you said it sounded like you are as shallow as the Thais.

No need for belief. There should be facts about what he did.

So, a person's "quality" is how much money they spend? Very shallow.

What's wrong with keeping your money anyway? I don't get this "Cheap Charlie" thing in Thailand anyway. It's just cos they want to fleece us, right?

Before I came to Thailand, yeah, haha

What's the problem? Did his mother die from the "bout of weakness?" I didn't click on the article to read further, but they obviously deemed her "low priority" compared to people coming in with heart attacks/strokes etc etc If it was during Songkran, there would be a lot of carnage too (road accidents, violent attacks, overdoses etc etc). Obviously very urgent stuff. I once got my priority level bumped up a few notches by giving the nurse a bit of hassle, so it is possible. Just don't defame them online, lol. What a numpty.

I did realize that I am merely a bag of subatomic particles. That's the only truth. There is no finding oneself.

Yes, but that was all BS. Then I turned into Victor Meldrew. Much better.

I don't think this applies to anyone on my list.

Let me play the world's smallest violin for all those working in the tourist industry: tuk tuk drivers, taxi drivers, tour guides, bar girls, go go girls, beach chair people, jet ski guys, elephant owners etc. etc. Most of these people are parasites looking to rip off or scam unsuspecting tourists who have paid a lot of money to come here from the other side if the world. No Fs given at all for these bottom feeders.