senor123

Welcome home. It's a great place to live.

After general house maintenance in the last few years it is now time to do some wife maintenance. My missus has (on the surface) nice white teeth. Mine are grey from many years of drinking red wine. However, mine are in pretty good condition due to modern dentistry and belated knowledge of proper dental cleaning. After "her inside" complained about a bit of tooth ache I actually had a look inside her gob to see how the dental condition was going as, not being one who looks at the mantle piece when stoking the fire, I had never really thought this was important before. The result was a disaster, dental decay, cracked teeth, and a missing tooth. We have now started on a slow path of repair. She is 39 and if nothing is done I doubt she will have many teeth left by the time she is 50. She comes from a very poor farming background and cites this as her reason for not being aware of the importance of taking care of your teeth as she could not afford a toothbrush (used a piece of soft wood). 

I wonder if it is just her or if many Thai people have the same problem as my impression of Thai people is that most of them have very nice white teeth.

Probably a bit dull and boring but it seems to me  that it takes much longer to charge my Tablet and phone in Thailand (220 volts) than it does back in Oz (240) volts. As I have absolutely no idea of how electricity works I was wondering if there is an explanation for this or maybe I am just imagining it.

Steve

You will have no problem. Download the visa application from the Australian government website. Fill it in, take it to VFS in Bangkok along with the required supporting documentation, wait about 10 working days, go visit Oz. More than 90% of Thai visa tourist applications to Australia are approved. My Thai gf has far less than yours and she never has a problem getting a 1 year multiple entry Vida to Australia.

I don't live in Thailand but my missus does and she thinks that the cost of essentials, like food, is starting to get out of control. She told me that, in the local market, the food vendors are suffering because people cannot afford the increases and there are less customers.

When she came to Australia in February this year she had to buy some more blood pressure tablets as she left hers at home. They were half the price she paid in Thailand. She also took some authentic Ray Bans back to Thailand for a few friends, once again about half the price you pay in Thailand. In fact, she took a suitcase full of chocolates, pop-corn, beauty products and wine because it was cheaper.

It would seem that there could be some credence given to the comment that Thailand is not all that cheap these days.

driver aware, fully licenced

It is 5 am.

Some of us are up early, and drinking coffee.

Some of us are up late, and drinking.

Always up early.....best time of the day. Sit outside, over the water...the billy is on....the birds are stirring and my fingers tap tap tapping away on the telephone......meanwhile the moderators sleep....except Roo who must have shatt the bed this morning ?

I doubt many know what you mean when you say "the billy is on" but, for me, I like a nice cuppa overlooking a beach that is not full off plastic bags, sun beds and ambrellas. It is pretty good looking out over the great Southern Ocean early in the morning with a cuppa in your hand, no food stalls, and an open road full of motor-bike aware, fully licenced and insured road users sharing the road with you.

Not quite sure if this is the right place for my musings but here goes.

I am a baby boomer, born in 46 and probably enjoyed the best years pre-computers, internet etc. I traveled the world without anyone being able to check up on me or, in reality, caring about me. My money was either in my pocket or in my socks. No ATMs, no social media, no cell-phones, no Global terrorists but a few local ones who really didn't want to blow themselves up.

Now, as I come to the end of the runway and I know the plane is not really going to lift off I reflect on the countries I really enjoyed visiting and living in. Without a doubt, it is more fun when you are a bit older and a bit wiser to enjoy the delights of each place without getting hooked. Ha bloody ha. I have a Thai wife 30 years younger than me but no complaints from my side. Anyway, I digress. For me, the place that I had the most fun in was Southern Ireland, is it called Eire? Anyway I was planning to go there a couple of years ago with some friends but they pulled out at the last minute. <deleted> it I thought, I will go anyway. What a lot of fun!!!! The Irish have to be some of the most easy going people in the world.

So,what I was wondering was, what is it that makes the Irish such an enjoyable bunch of people to be with? I have bumped into them all over the world and I have rarely met one who was a prick.

All very interesting stuff but the reality is (according to my Thai missus) that things are not looking too good on the local front. A lot of people out of work, food prices going up, strong Thai baht making problems for exporters. I don't live in Thailand but have some investments there and I must say that it hasn't been all that bad considering that when I first started investing I was getting about 32 baht to the $AU. Now it is under 25 baht to the $AU. We are having good tenants asking for a reduction on their monthly rent because they are having trouble with their cost of living and our rents are 3 to 4 k baht a month. I think that now it is time in the sun for the Seppos and the $US and good luck to them!!!! It is all cyclical but if you walk the line when things are good you will probably go down the drain when things take a turn for the worse.

color blindness abnd other vision impairments mean you see less...THIS IS DANGEROUS! - I have a colleague who is color blind, I noticed this as a result of his driving - unable to tell types of road sign and failure to anticipate a traffic light.

After he made these mistakes, i asked if he was "OK" - he casually told me he was color blind so "drove differently" from some people .

i won't go in a vehicle drive by him any more.

It is not dangerous in a nanny state such as the one I live in. All traffic lights work from top to bottom, red, amber, green with a delay on the amber to allow red light runners to make it without killing anyone (most of the time). Also the road signs have little picture thingies to let you know what they mean. So you can be colour blind, illiterate and physically impaired to drive quite safely on the roads. The one thing we do have is that nearly all of the drivers are licenced, respect other road users and are not Thai.

As an aside, my Thai missus was astounded the first time she visited when cars stopped at pedestrian crossings to let pedestrians (including young children and old people) to cross the road.

The first thread in a long time that made me spit my coffee all over the keyboard because I laughed so much. Sorry, I know it is a very serious topic.

I still have a love for this after a zillion years.............

A mere 250cc six pot.....

Certainly better than sex, it lasts longer 55555

Have tried and loved Monsoon Valley many times over the years and they have always been very good. Monsoon Valley is made on Prachuap Kiri khan though and I have only had them outside of Thailand. They stand up well to Australian and NZ wines. Maybe the good stuff is exported while the dregs are sold locally?

Well, maybe your tastes are different to mine. I give kudos to anyone who produces wine. Not an easy game but for many it is a labour of love. However I have tasted a few Thai wines and they have a long way to go before they even reach the standard of a 6 dollar bottle cleanskin of Oz or NZ goon.

Yes, all a bit weird.

When I really cared about the Thai language I noticed that my missus used both versions when talking to me.

It's the same old story. Youngsters coming to Thailand and thinking that the girls love you for your body and good looks. As you approach older age ( 80 years and up) you realise that is really your worldly knowledge and many years of perfecting your sexual techniques that attracts the young lassies to you. At least, that's what I have been told. Works for me.

My missus sits under the Christmas wrapped in only a small pink ribbon. I love you Santa.

My money has made some Thai people very happy. Especially those ladies that do the Zombie dance on the chrome poles. 555555555

Once u let go of your predispositons of sin sod u move on. I couldnt ask for a better wife. 200k is jack shit to me nyway. Have a beautiful young girl on a very good salay who is drop dead gorgeous. If u are too tight to part with that kinda money u arent gonna find ny decent women.

Lol.... These types of posts are hilarious. So you bought a young gorgeous girl for 200,000. Congratulations!

I am far more impressed when individuals find "drop dead gorgeous" women to become their wife when money isn't involved.

And make no mistake buddy..... Maybe YOU can't find a decent women without spending money...... But plenty of us can.

To claim one can't find a decent girl unless they spend money on her..... Well... That would imply the girl in question is a hooker/gold digger..... And the man in question is a straight loser with nothing to offer but money....

Although I understand your point it seems to me that you are a little tough on your perceptions of other people's point of view. I paid sin sod for my wife who had been married before and really had not ever been able to enjoy a wedding where she could just say "I really enjoyed the day" I am not sure what it cost but most of it was returned less expenses. It was a Buddhist commitment ceremony with nothing to sign but terrible and loud music from 4 am in the morning. I have no doubt you will find someone who loves you for your handsome and practical self but, on the other hand, maybe not. As for me, 3 years down the track, I have no complaints.

Time to learn some Thai. It's a relatively easy language.

Relatively to what? Icelandic?

Compared to Chinese? Or Russian? Thai has almost no grammar. No articles, no endings, no 'casus'. They have characters, similar to our alphabet. In my group of friends, most are quite fluent in Thai. We have all lived here +-10 years.

What alphabet are you talking about? certainly not the English (Latin based one). I spent 6 months (about half hour a day) just trying to understand the Thai alphabet using a computer based Thai language course. At the end of 6 months I could write a few words and understand a few letters. In the end I looked at a map to see where Thai was spoken. I decided to improve my Spanish instead 5555.

Hmmm, my missus is always happy with a bit of gold. She does like flowers but finds that they can't be eaten and can't be accumulated.

We have a couple of town houses on the outskirts of Bankgok that we rent. They are both 2 stories and 3 bedrooms and are about 15 years old. The smaller we rent for 4k baht a month with 1 month's deposit and the rent paid in advance. The larger we rent for 5k baht a month with the same conditions. No contract, and it is assumed that the renter will use the deposit as the last months rent. Both have air con in some rooms and the bigger one has satellite. This is just to give you an idea of what the Thai rental market is like in our area (Samut Prakhan).

My Thai missus has a housekeeper 6 days a week. 8 am to 6 pm in Bangkok. 6k a month.

cops look so serious the aussie looks like he doesnt give a rats. He looks a bit like Gary Sweet from the show "Small time Gangster" on SBS for you aussies out there, not a bad show. I am sure the bl**** conservative abbot gov will ditch the show to "Save money" while giving the pollies a HUGE pay rise.

What I don't understand is how many Australians take the opportunity to make comments about the elected Australian government in threads that have nothing to do with politics.