brewsterbudgen

No, not required. I expect some speak various Indian languages and Arabic though.

Looks great, especially IKEA. I wonder who will open the concert venue? Blackpink?

None. But Thailand isn't being occupied.

Do the Christmas haters have equal loathing and disdain for other religious/traditional holidays and beliefs?

It's bad everywhere. Just of the negatives about living in Thailand. Like traffic accidents, it's not to going to improve any time soon.

Just her or your other wife too?

Because it's just one Immigration Officer out of hundreds. It's a meaningless observation that could have been observed at any time over the last few decades and always will be.

Of course. But back in my home country, the vast majority of citizens celebrating Christmas are not practising Christians.

I sympathise. My son is now 8, but I've lost the 'battle' to keep him away from phones, junk food/sugar and, most frustratingly, riding on the back of family members' motorbikes sans helmet.

Christmas is hardly just a Christian holiday, and Thailand has far more silly holidays a year than most Christian countries! At least you can buy booze at Christmas!

She's gorgeous. I can't get enough of her.

No; she's Lao and it's not easy to find (legal) work here.

The tree and decorations go up tonight. My son's Thai school has a great Christmas party on the last day of term. What's not to like about Christmas?

It's astonishing that he never faced justice at The Hague.

Teaching English to people who can't speak any English or who are very low level, requires a different skill set to "mainstream" English teaching. Unfortunately, in Thailand a decent TEFL/TESOL qualification is not considered important. Teaching English to students who are at an International school or institute is more like teaching English to kids in the UK. Teachers at International schools/institutes are usually required to be qualified to teach in their home country. There are hundreds of TEFL jobs in the UK as there's a requirement to teach immigrants (especially as the English language requirements are now higher) and lots of money to be made in teaching foreign students in the UK. In the UK a proper, specialist TEFL/TESOL qualification is required for these jobs, but unfortunately they're not particularly well paid.

Yes, soliciting for sex is illegal. Paying for sex is not. If it were, most Thai males would be in trouble! Here's some reading for you: http://www.thailawforum.com/sex-crimes-in-thailand-part2-2.html https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/46403/65063/E96THA01.htm

TEFL teachers in the UK are not paid much more than TEFL teachers in Thailand, and as the cost of living in the UK is significantly higher, they're likely to be worse off. Mind you, TEFL work in the UK is mostly for foreign students and asylum seekers, so it's hardly surprising they'd prefer to teach in Asia (or anywhere else!).

Thailand has better beaches, weather, available girls/guys and a very relaxed atmosphere. Western countries are what most people are escaping! The OP is spot on. Not needing the local language is a huge bonus about living in Pattaya (or Bangkok for that matter). And there are plenty of western food options anyway!

Prostitution itself (the act of paying someone, or being paid for, sexual services) isn't illegal. Underage prostitution is.

In my experience (and I've been teaching English in Thailand since 2005) there are both good and bad native-speaker teachers in Thailand, just like in any profession. Thailand does attract more TEFLers than a lot of other countries and inevitably some are teaching for the wrong reasons. That said, even the less committed ones can make a difference with pronunciation, fluency and getting their students to be more confident about speaking English. However, the vast majority of teachers of English in Thailand are Thai. Hence the problem.

There is nothing to back it up; it's just that some are obsessed with sex! Anyone would think teachers shouldn't have sex!

Tourists by definition are not here long enough to make a difference. Even so, I would hope a native-speaker sex-tourist teacher would not teach "have you ever went to..."!

There have been some posts on this Forum about some fairly big claims being made. But, it's usually the problem claims that get the publicity!

Absolutely. Based in Bangkok/Pattaya. I've been using him for over 10 years now.

I would just go up to the roof and enjoy the fireworks. Take a bottle of wine/champagne with you. What are they going to do - throw you out (or over the side)?