RSD1

Yes, most of them think it's part of the natural aging process. And most of them aren't aware of the amount of sugar in soft drinks, fruit juices, those bubble teas, and Thai food in general. I think it's even hard for them to comprehend the fact that something that tastes so good and yummy could actually be so harmful to their health. Many assume that it's only the fried food that's the problem and the main dietary item that they need to avoid. I once knew a Thai woman whose brother ended up in the ICU dying from complications related to diabetes and he was only in his early 30s. Basically it was his diet that was killing him, and he didn't even know it. He was eating roughly three bowls of noodles a day, dumped two heaping spoons of sugar into the broth, and then washed it down with a Pepsi each time. And that's what many people around him do as well too, so he never thought twice about it being dangerous. Perhaps health and diet education is something that could help deal with the problem here a little bit. But if you can't change the way they drive on the roads, and reduce the number of the road deaths from 20,000+ a year down to something much lower, then I doubt there is any way to teach them any restraint when it comes to their dietary choices.

I wish it was only one a day. It used to be. But now the skies the limit! It's only a problem when it becomes every other day or only two or three times a week. That's not healthy keeping all that digested waste and toxins in your body for so long. It increases the risk of intestinal cancers.

I don't really see a business model there in HIV testing. It's cheap and it's often provided at low cost as a Public Health Service. I don't think it's anything anyone has ever tried to make a lot of money from. Yes, the average rate of HIV infection in Thailand is about 1% and it's about 5% in East African countries. But if you're sleeping with prostitutes, then your risk is higher in general and I wouldn't think that the nationality of the prostitute is going to make that much of a difference. It depends on whether or not the prostitutes are regularly using condoms or not. That's probably the biggest factor. If these women were from a country like South Africa that has an average population HIV infection rate of 20% then than that might be a bigger concern. Also, if a man sticks with one prostitute on a regular basis, rather than changing the partner all of the time, then that would also reduce the risk for that consumer. The best solution would be to get all of these workers onto PrEP drugs. They are extremely effective and inexpensive in Thailand, but the problem is that distribution is limited and not wide enough. There are probably less than 50,000 people in Thailand using those drugs. That's probably not enough to prevent the spread of HIV on a wider scale.

Foreign prostitutes on the streets in the sex tourism areas of Thailand isn't really a problem. They aren't really taking money away from the locals. If you walk around these areas at night in Bangkok, there are hardly any local prostitutes on the streets anymore, as long as you don't count the ladyboys. It seems like it's a market the local women are not really interested in anymore. In Bangkok, it's mostly Vietnamese and East Africans with a few Filipinos mixed. I think the main reason for the shift is that most of the customers now are from India and Arab countries and the majority of the Thai girls don't want to have anything to do with them.

The Arabs and Indians prefer them very large. And they probably make up at least 80% of the beach road customer base down there.

They should test them all for HIV on the way out just for research data purposes, but I doubt they will do that. I bet that the authorities don't really want to know. On the other hand, you can't just use statistical data to make any assumptions. Many of them may have HIV or maybe they don't. That's why it would be good to test them all.

In a nutshell, you've got multiples and valuations of growth companies at levels that hasn't been seen in over 20 years and the last time it happened, it ended in total disaster. It's not sustainable forever. Billions being pumped into all these AI companies and none of them are making any money. Eventually, the money for investment into AI will dry up unless it becomes profitable and then all these empty companies that aren't making anything will collapse. Same thing happened in 2000.

Yes, that is true about the Dow, but that Index is only made up of about 30 companies. It's almost become irrelevant now and not really a true indicator of the breadth of the market anymore. You need to look more at the S&P 500, which is also now weighted about 30% in the Mag 7 stocks and not really crashing. But if you want the really shocking news about the US equity markets, its insane valuations and P/E ratios, and how right now looks so much like the .com bubble of 2000, then watch the following video:

Fake news. We all know that there is zero prostitution in Pattaya. It's been proven by the local authorities, countless times. When are all these false accusations ever going to end???

Indeed. But if you read the link I posted above then it also spells out all the dietary problems and causes.

The dollar will likely strengthen if interest rates continue to rise in the USA and decline in other countries at the same time.

Great idea. But the mods would likely shut it down. I think it's against site policy to create topics and polls about other members.

When I first came to Thailand decades ago, I hardly ever saw anyone overweight in the hub of great food and habitual snackers. But over time, that has changed considerably. The WHO, in 2011, published information about obesity by country in Southeast Asia, showing that 32.2% of the Thai population was already overweight (see the info graphic on the link below). Now, according to a more recent study (on the same link below), Thailand’s obesity rate has already gotten much worse. A 2022 study revealed that the prevalence of overweight Thais and Thai obesity has reached 47.8%, up from 34.7% in 2016. To me, those numbers are really staggering. It seems Thailand now has a major public health problem on its hands (in my non-expert opinion). Based on the climb from 32.2% in 2011 to 47.8% in 2022, it means obesity has risen at an average of about 3.66% per year over that 11-year period. If this average rate continues then it suggests that the percentage of people who are now overweight or obese in Thailand in 2024 has already surpassed 50%, reaching a shocking 51.36%. Assuming this trend continues then by 2030 around 62.88% of the Thai population could be overweight or obese, assuming these calculations are correct and that the rate of annual increase in obesity continues at the same pace. To me, this is disastrous. And if the rise continues, more and more people will suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease in Thailand than ever before. Meanwhile, there were hardly any gyms at all in Bangkok when I first came here and now they're everywhere, many are also open 24 hours. So a lot more people are exercising, at least a little bit anyway when they go to these places, but obviously it's not helping them very much. It's the worsening diet and the massive caloric surplus that so many are consuming that is causing this rapid increase in obesity. Not to mention, the aesthetic appeal of the locals is declining rapidly too. I rarely see women with attractive faces and figures anymore, largely due to this growing obesity problem. It’s really saddening. And it’s not just Thailand. This same trend is happening throughout Southeast Asia. Malaysia is in an even worse situation. Singapore is struggling too, and the Philippines isn’t far behind. I wonder where this is all leading and if it will greatly accelerate the mortality rate in Thailand over the next decade. To me it would seem that Thailand is losing its edge as a place known for beautiful women in Southeast Asia too. For me personally, I find that I rarely see Thai women that even cause me to turn my head anymore. https://www.thailand-business-news.com/asean/49065-thailand-ranks-second-asean-prevalence-obesity-mcot-net

That's always had a charge. Never was free for me since I've been using Wise. That's over 5 years already. The roughly 10 Baht increase in the flat fee though took place sometime within the last six months I think. Before that, it was 32 Baht for years. But you can always do SEPA transfers in Euros for free.

Fully agree. I can't remember the last time I saw a Thai girl who was a 10, let alone an 8. My head rarely turns anymore for Thai women. If my head turns it's usually a foreign entity. Meanwhile, nearly 48% of the Thai population is now classified as clinically overweight and obese: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/asean/49065-thailand-ranks-second-asean-prevalence-obesity-mcot-net

You're transferring to somebody else who also has a Wise account or your transferring Thai Baht to somebody's bank account in Thailand? If it's to a bank account, there has always been a charge. I think it used to be around 32 Baht and now it's around 46 Baht per transfer. It's a flat fee.

Solicited or unsolicited it doesn't matter. The result will be the same. You ask somebody if your girlfriend is pretty they will say yes. You meet some friends with your girlfriend and they want to compliment you on your choice of a partner so they will tell you that she's pretty. It's all the same. It might be sincere or it might not. But nobody's ever going to tell you that your girlfriend is ugly, even if she is.

The Bangkok nightlife and bar scene is absolute crap now and has been for a long time. You are about 15 years too late. The days of Mystique, Q-Bar, and Bed Supper Club are long gone. Silom Soi 4 now RIP too. Post Covid all you got left are two nightlife ghettos that were resurrected. You got Sukhumvit Soi 11, which got reincarnated into an Indian ghetto filled with overpriced and uninspiring bars and hookers. And then you got Khao San Road, which is an offensive backpacker ghetto that is way too loud and is now also filled with hookers. The only nightlife scene you might find without lots of hookers would be something very local, which most foreigners aren't interested in. You could try Ekamai or RCA if you're determined though. There are a couple of cool cocktail bars down in Chinatown, or there were anyway before Covid, maybe a couple of them are still there, but I haven't bothered checking. Maybe there are a couple of cool hotel rooftop bars still around, but in general they're going to be pretentious and boring AF. I can't think of any place that I would consider "having a vibe" though in Bangkok anymore and there hasn't been for at least 10 years already. It disappeared with all the Western expats. @Yagoda should chime in on this topic. He's the undisputed expert on all nightlife in Bangkok that isn't sleazy or entrenched with hookers. 😉

When was the last time somebody told you that your girlfriend is ugly? Thai or otherwise? There have been times when Western friends have asked my opinion about a Thai girl that they thought was beautiful (and I didn't) but I would always complement the girl's beauty anyway.

Three meals a day Three dumps a day Three nuts a day Three chocolates a day Three joints a day DONE. Dont overthink it.

I'm voting by just being on my way. There is nothing more to add on this tired old topic for the umpteenth time already. Do you want me to link the other half a dozen topics you've already started on this whole "Thai friends" thing? Sorry, I'm also totally bored of the whole Collin/Bob identity game. Enough is enough already. Not one person on this forum believes that you aren't the same poster as bob smith. So man up and stop trying to play everyone for a fool.

bob, I often get a good giggle out of some of your topics, but this one you've done too many times already in one form or another with regards to having Thai friends, and male Thai friends specifically, that I can't even be arsed to join in the melee. So this yarn has become an old minger of yours already. No need to rehash the same topic over and over again by simply window dressing it with a new title each time. We already know you don't like Thai men, so why not simply just leave it at that?

If Trump’s anticipated wide-reaching import tariffs and mass deportations cause inflation in the USA to spike again, wages to rise considerably because of low cost labor shortages, which eventually leads to a large economic slowdown where unemployment rises (together with already high inflation), and you end up with a situation in the US of sustained stagflation, then will this affect you at all? And will even higher interest rates, reminiscent of the Volcker era, together with even more bankruptcies, more people defaulting on their car loans, credit cards, and mortgages, and companies having to shut down and lay off workers because of shrinking demand related to Trump's unsustainable economic policies, then do you think this will have far reaching consequences even for people living outside the USA?

Hope their bad Kharma will come round and serve them well. Let the police make an example out of this lot to restore "Pattaya's pristine image as a family friendly destination".

My friend just went. He rented a car from Swampy and drove himself. And then took the car onto one of the ferries and over to the island. If you are going as a group of 3-4, and not on a tight budget, then that might make more sense.