Chip Allen

17 hours ago, starky said:

Whats wrong with wealthy in poor out? Most countries would rather have their immigrants with some wealth than providing virtually nothing to the economy. Particularly those that need to move to a developing country to make their dollar stretch further.

What's WRONG with it is THIS:  a "poor man's" income in countries like America is a very good living here. As a retiree, my income is many times that of most full-time workers. The reverse is NOT true for most western countries. The poor people who come to America and the UK are TRULY poor. If more people were retiring wealthy, there would be no need to retire to countries where the cost of living is lower. This should be obvious to anyone, but the "Thai way or the highway" crew of Thai-o-philes, keeps propagating the mythology that we are taking something out of Thailand, rather than giving it a good cash infusion. Mexico and many Latin American retirement destinations understand this simple fact and have programs in place to ATTRACT retirees with first world pensions.

This animal should be drawn and quartered.

Thainess in all its glory.

The latest word is that this woman was jailed and it cost her about 6000 baht to get out of the slammer. Som nam na.

Thailand.....where you're guaranteed to lose.

 Bringing misery back to the people.  That's our Junta.

Thank you and come again.  

My Thai GF, who has studied Buddhism extensively, tells me that Thai Buddhism is not really Buddhism. I am just beginning to understand what she means. 

One of the best things about Bangkok and the BMA takes dead aim. Typical.       In another ten years, Bangkok will be Singapore.

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

Again, you're missing the point. Violence will always happen but we can lower the amount. You, like many others, put the onus of decent behaviour on the wrong people. Flipping the bird doesn't equal a beating. You put the onus of blame on the people who get the beating by saying "you should know if you flip the bird you can get seriously hurt". This makes it more acceptable to do in society which means more people will do it. If we all criticize it and condemn it, it will happen less. Especially in cultures with a system of 'face'.

 

 

Thailand is the world capital of disproportionate punishment. Fairness is mostly a Western concept.

Thin skin Thais and their exaggerated sense of pride. Criminal.

10 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You apparently have a one year extension of stay based upon retirement not a visa. The funds to apply for that must be in a Thai bank.

You could go home and apply for a OA long stay visa for retirement at a Thai embassy or official consulate there and use the money in a bank there to get it.

Could someone please comment on why the rules are different for the "monthly income method"??  Jomtien IO says my monthly income  from the USA can be in any bank in any country. This is very confusing, All I do is get a letter from my embassy and no one asks where the money is. Seems to make little sense if they want the money in a Thai bank. Currently, only my Social Security is deposited in Bangkok Bank, while the rest of my income from state pension and annuity are kept in a credit union back in the states. My state pension refuses to deposit my money into a foreign bank, although the annuity could be sent here.

They had a clear shot and they missed it.

4 hours ago, 55Jay said:

"You are happy!  We are all happy!"

"Ummmm, not really, sir."

"Yes, you are!"

"No, not really, sir"

<face flushes red>

"No!  You ARE happy.  It says so right HERE!"

"Oh!  Yes, sir, my mistake.  I just forgot, sir, thank you for reminding me, sir."

 "There there now, doesn't it feel better to be happy?"

"Yes, sir, much better.  Thank you, sir."

 

I'll bet he won't behave nearly as bravely as Saddam Hussein at his execution. He'll be crying like a baby and begging for his life.

Just what America needs.....another war.

On 4/15/2017 at 0:30 PM, IMA_FARANG said:

 

Touching a person's head with your feet is considered an offense to that person by most Thais.

 

 

My girlfriend says this is an old superstition. I was sitting on the couch and she was down on the bed propping her feet up which were nearly in my face. When I pointed out that this was supposed to be offensive to Thais, she laughed and reminded me that she was a college grad and that the "foot thing" was superstition. I learned something from that encounter.

The TV "Thais Can Do No Wrong" brigade is out in force. Rose coloured glasses are not an aid to clear vision.

On 4/13/2017 at 8:59 PM, BigKahuna said:

Chip on the shoulder

I agree....many Thais DO have a chip on the shoulder.

Thai right of way.

26 minutes ago, DILLIGAD said:

How well travelled is your '37 y.o. College educated (Bwaahaa) employed girlfriend' and how would she know farangs get something for nothing?
Most farang expats have worked harder, longer and under greater pressure than most Thai's could ever imagine.


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She is quite well traveled but she never suggested that farang get something for nothing. She was telling me what many Thais believe. She doesn't think that way herself and your condescending attitude toward her college education shows me YOUR attitude toward Thais. Arrogance.

While I expected the TV "Thai Way or the Highway" crew to shift it all off on me, I DO have independent confirmation of my feelings. My 37 year old, college educated, gainfully employed girlfriend has told me many times that most Thais are extremely jealous of farang and feel we are getting something we don't deserve. I have had the idea that we are "taking jobs away from Thais" shoved at me on so many occasions that it's astonishing to note how many Thais believe this garbage. I saw it as a tourist during the financial crisis back in the nineties. Posters depicting Thailand as a beggar, dependent upon the Japanese and the USA for a hand-out. The delusion of being downtrodden is always blamed upon outsiders, never on the Thai elite. I see a similar dynamic in the American south, where the poorest, trashiest people invariably vote Republican, the very group of people who lord it over them while assuring them that they are

acting in their best interests. Peasant delusions die hard.

NK may actually be crazy enough to mount a nuclear strike. In the long run, it would result in freedom for the North Korean people since it would not go unavenged and the upshot would be the fall of the little fat monster that rules NK.

What if the "big event" is to be held hostage until Kim gets his way??? The hermit kingdom gets crazier by the day.

Airlines have behaved as a law unto themselves ever since September 11th, 2001. The public has simply no recourse when  flying. Just another example of corporate America reigning supreme over the people they ostensibly serve.

On 4/12/2017 at 3:15 AM, jerojero said:

Hmmm....seems opposite to my experience. Perhaps they are reacting to you, in the way you interact or act among them? There sure are enough expats who do arrogantly think they are 'above' Thai people.

An obvious attempt to justify the Thais based on supposed "arrogance". My experience has been with my college educated girlfriend, who was seemingly amazed when she realized that money just "magically" appeared in my bank account  every month and there

was no employment involved. (except during the previous forty years)  As I've said before, the education level of the particular Thai person does not seem to have much to do with their perceptions. They behave as provincial grovelers before their elite masters, even if

they are lucky enough to have a good education. It almost seems to be a part of their DNA. I get this crap all the time. There is intense

jealousy of farangs and is accompanied by the ridiculous notion that because I have money, it is somehow coming out of THEIR pockets. There is no rhyme or reason to their logic. They believe that native English speakers should not be "taking jobs away from Thais" by teaching English. Ostensibly, they seem to think that any Thai can do this, even though the standard of spoken English is abysmal.