NorthernRyland

I don't see this at all. They often take orders and don't even respond, just write it down and walk away. Very shy people by nature. That's fine by me but going to a Thai restaurant never feels like a friendly experience to me.

true and that's good about them to an extent but it hurts the friendliness factor. If you smile or wave Thai people will smile and wave back but that's about all I can say for them being friendly. Any country where the people didn't do that would be miserable and I wouldn't want to live. They have a nice culture of warning you when your kickstand is down which I like. Beyond that not sure I can think of anything else....

Walls and other brands are foam which they flash freeze I think. Have you ever let it melt a little a see what happens? All the syrups pool outside and a foamy husk remains. It's not bad I guess but it's absolutely low quality that's for sure.

They do this at my wife's work too. It's so ugly I'd be embarrassed for the company. Comes down to the workers are lazy and no one cares about having nice looking trees.

Thailand is like the Libertarians wet dream. Basically unfettered free market with the exception of some insane taxes on alcohol and tobacco. Essentially no regulations, do whatever you want marketplace. I'm always told American is capitalist but the markets in Thailand are far more free here. Not sure what you mean by capitalism though maybe.

Taking Farang out of the situation, why do people think Thai people are so friendly anyways? Comparing them to Americans I never see them making chat with random people in public like markets, make smalltalk when queuing, customers don't talk to clerks or at restaurants etc... They seem very withdrawn in public and tend to keep their heads down. Americans are more in your face and can be rude but they're also more friendly in my opinion.

Flip the script and call the police on her. Tell them she's harassing you and begging.

true but they're still another ethnic group with different language and they live apart from the Thai people which is why I say that. The government even gives them full control over their mountain top villages which is something they wouldn't let anyone else including Thai people do.

Thailand basically encroached upon them and they're in a much better situation now than they were before so no they didn't get dealt a crap hand. Long before they ever saw a Thai person they were living like that. Now they get access to schools, hospitals, and roads into cities where they can sell their crops and buy imports from all the world.

They're basically foreigners like we are and there's tension between them and the Thais even. Thailand have done basically all then can and try to integrate them with public schools and healthcare. I bet they resent getting required by law to attend Thai schools. I know Canada and US did this too and they resented them for it later.

They have some form of ID which they can use. They don't seem to build anything themselves so the public hospital in Samoeng are packed with hmong because they get free health care same as Thais. My wife was complaining the public hospital in Sansai (mae jo) was full of Hmong also when she went last week. I think they get full access to public schools too.

They're just foraging I think. Burning crops is one thing which they and everyone else does but it's the burning of entire forests which is so horrible. I haven't seen a crop fire in months but there are constant forest fires for the last 2 months. I bring this up because I don't hear enough people talking about it and it's the major factor as far as I can tell. Government should be keeping a close eye on them but I don't see that happening.

Yeah I came with my wife and they gave her his wife and I got him. 😭 The daughter was busy on another person too. This was my first trip to Hua Hin and was about 20k south from the city. Maybe that's how the they roll there but I'm not down.

We're screwed they're going to keep burning and won't stop until the rains.

Last night I'm rode out to my house in Samoeng (the 226 number sitting alone on the east of the map) and I counted no less than 5 forest fires and multiple smaller fire in various places. I can't prove it but this seems coordinated. My guess is that they started burning in anticipation of the summer storm that was supposed to come on the 3rd-5th. This is why the air is so horrible today, stupid selfish people. I mostly blame the Hmong people but there's probably others involved too. So it doesn't matter how much the city of Chiang Mai does to reduce pollution because all it takes is a handful of these bleeps to start fires and the whole city will be wrecked.

The only thing really deplorable was harass that poor guy on the airline for wearing a mask. Regardless of what you think about COVID that was hard to watch. I didn't know about the scamming thing until now. His channel was entraining and his crusade against the libtards and women in Pai was good fun to watch. But he's clearly got emotional problems and should have kept his antics to himself.

Exactly. They're going to fail so hard they may give up. That's why many of us are waiting to see what happens. Remember Thailand is a country which builds new roads then digs them up the next day for utilities because they can't manage basic communication between departments.

but isn't the amount of tax paid in Thailand dependent on the amount paid in the US? Given that I don't see how one can apply towards the other.

One of my uncles lives there for some of the year. I'd like some more Mexican food in my life too.

Agreed all good points. We can make a list of things that are nice the US too. It's not so black and white for me.

Colorado in the summer is heaps better than Chiang Mai. Great weather and everyone is out kicking ass keeping fit and healthy. You can even go sit under a tree at a park and not be all sweaty. Amazing! That's why I go back 2 months a year but I would ideally stay March-September if I could.

I got a massage from a man this year. I didn't want to refuse his service which they seemed to run as a family with his wife and daughter. Such is life.

It'll be back. The conditions are ripe for a revolution. It could be very interesting in the coming years.

Just a picture I found on Google. It's that bad??

Wait and see what happens then pay any fines if you need to. I already pay 25%+ on my US income. If they want up to 10% I will tolerate that and remit no more than 30,000/month. Any extra I need I'll sneak through my wife's account which is how I transfer all my money anyways. I was going to build a small house next year for about 1.5 mil baht but I will be sitting on my newly purchased land until I know more. If they want more than that I'll take this is a cue to find a way to live less time in Thailand, something I've wanted to do for a long time anyways but was never motivated enough to do.