jts-khorat

Really good against ants is also a small trickle of baby powder, the stronger scented the better. It prevents the ants from leaving a pheromone trail leading others after them. It is a very cheap and easy remedy. I would not think that helps against centipedes though, but together with your moat, that might be the perfect defense against all nasty critters.

I would say, from all the poisonous animals Thailand has, they are the most nasty. For example they really love to sit under mattresses, especially if the room is just a little bit damp. Hearing a rustling sound and light tapping on floor tiles under the bed is a good warning, as they move around quite a bit at night. Hiding insides shoes standing outside the door is the next danger issue (scorpions also love those): I always look into mine and tap them to dislodge any unwanted guests. False ceilings, especially above the kitchen is also a common hiding place, as are clothes laying in open cupboards. Catching a big one is not easy, they are extremely fast and still can move into the tightest gaps to get away. The danger is not over, if you have cut off the head: they still have instinctive nerve reactions even several hours after that, eg. they will still close their mandibles and inject poison (quite a horrific sight is also, that the cut off body parts also start to move their legs if you touch the "corpse" with a stick). Only as soon as the chicken will go near them, they are safe to move without handshoes. Not without reason, a Centipede (Takab) Sak Yant tatoo is seen as one of the strongest ones to relay invulnerability, defensive power and demanding respect from others.

To me it looks as if the two girls try to advertise some bar or other. Looks not too different from the Muay Thai pickup truck cruising through Patong every single day advertising the big event "tooooniiiiiiight", with two or several fighters on top of a high platform. Stupid? Yes. Necessary that a Good Samaritan gets involved. I think not, traffic police would need another thousand officers to control the situation on Phuket alone, of they really would be interested to uphold the law.

This is a very positive signal from the Thai Sangha council, that they do understand that they are actually having a responsibility that monks follow the proper practice, instead of passively governing them.

As you might note from the article, they did, immediately after jumping out from their taxi.

The article seems to leave out, that police also identified and followed the (at least) two different motorbike riders without helmets. Other traffic violations like undertaking on the left, driving over the solid line and more line changes without proper turn signal and mirror look can also be seen. The mind boggles, as all those serious, serious offenders seem to be Thais, so should know the aggressive, merciless even, follow-through of the local traffic police all too well. 🫣

This looks like a mad dash to not miss a flight. Good on them, they made it just in time -- or we would have another nauseatingly boring 10 pages thread about people sunbathing on the wrong lawn and Thais all being upset about having foreign tourists spending money in their country?!

The bar or agogo obviously gets a (not small) cut of the lady drink fee, so in 'modern times' it is frowned upon or even completely impossible to sit with an employee and ordering her a normal drink from the menu. Also, as others wrote, it is nowadays a large part of the salary of any girl working in an agogo, and quite regularly they have to fulfill weekly or monthly quotas. In the end, it is about the money, as always.

The thing is, nobody is forced to buy lady drinks, it is voluntary. If you are there for 'not the talk', then simply get the girl: there really is no point of having any girl sitting there and spending good money on top of it for her to linger inactive besides you for any amount of time... There is also still a thing called common decency and seeing others as 'people' (one here called them 'product', which is more than disgusting!). Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself. Nobody wants to get scammed, but also nobody wants to work in an environment where getting mindlessly drunk is forced upon you (I am obviously discounting all those girls who actually want that to happen, but that is a totally different scenario, isn't it?).

According to the press, he did a lot of base jumps before, so was experienced. However, as can be seen in the video, the switching the parachute from the right to the left hand was what ultimately killed him: according to the report I saw, it tangled with his backpack straps because he had pulled it under it. Therefore it did not open in time. RIP.

And that is obviously totally okay, as long as not something else was specifically ordered (by the girl). It would be a really nasty customer expecting a 50 kg girl to down one alcoholic drink after another over the evening, maybe even with the goal of making her dangerously and helplessly drunk. The girls are there to give a good time, but surely not to ruin their health as fast as humanly possible. Besides, what kind of talk can be had with a girl barely able to mumble because of being drunk?

Friendlier, but at the same time more helpful? I am not sure that is possible. Frankly, I have not seen that you asked for any help in particular. All your questions were answered, if you needed better tips, maybe less open-ended questions would be something I would advise for any other forum you wish to place your story. All in all, of course I wish you luck and happiness in your endeavors. As you say, not all Thais are out to rip anybody off, so you might be on the right track after all.

I am really sorry, andych, I do not know you. But your story still sounds nothing more than the usual. I really mean it: exactly your story I have heard and seen literally a thousand times, only the names of the actors were exchanged (the good friend, the good girl, the girl not interested in money, etc etc etc). So far you follow the exact timeline of a Thai holiday romance to the minute. From what you have written so far, I read two things: what jumps out to me is your charming (?) naivety and willingness to believe what other people say, as long as it is exactly what you want to hear. This you share with an amazing percentage of all newcomers to Thailand. It also explains, why you ask for absolution from anonymous forum posters, as well as quoting random "friends" of your girlfriend (as if they would be reliable character witnesses). Secondly, you really want to believe that "my girl is different". As such it is clear that you will move ahead with your plans regardless, so my suggestion would still be, to accept whatever follows next as being a fair learning cost. Do not invest more than you can loose (finanycially and emotionally) and off you go... be your own man. It is a journey started every year by thousands, with a few finding a diamond indeed. But in all likelihood after a few failed tries you will also begin to understand that there are a lot more river pebbles than valuable gems to be dug from the muck. Maybe post us updates, as you go along, if it makes you feel better. But at least try to not fulfill the cliche at absolutely every turning...

Of course I behave like the Thais, but I lived there for many years (now back in Germany) and speak the language, so this might not be applicable to you at all. But the main thing is, wholeheartedly and genuinely doing a good act. If you are relatively new to Thailand, people will of course notice, but Thais are very open and it is the gesture that counts for them. You learn from there, as we all do. If you are shy, have another Thai accompany you, so you get a fair warning if you overstep somewhere. But as the Thais say: "Don't think too much!", enjoy yourself, things will then work out well.

Another 'confused emoji' thread... we have them by the dozen. As other posters mentioned, I also would wish that they are not anonymous. But their meaning is obvious and has nothing to do with people not being able to understand your posts. Instead, people disagree with what you say, and as we have no thumbs down, this is the only emoji remotely applicable to voice displeasure (not a dig at you, I do not know your posts specifically, just a general way they seem to be used in this forum).

Both is of course true. But while there is no stigma if you do not give alms, doing so certainly counts highly in your favor in an Isaan village, as does, from time to time, visiting the temple's morning prayer. It is a very visible step, that you at least try to integrate into the village community, and it is a very easy one to do as well. I found, that when in Isaan, I am up at the time of the morning alms round anyway (thank you, dear chicken!); normally I sit on the veranda and drink my morning coffee around this time and it is just three steps to the road to hand the monks some packages of milk or other daily necessity... and as it is the village, everybody watches (and talks).

Maybe you should re-assess your escape plans, because the *water* buffalo is one of the few bovids who will actually really like water and is obviously not deterred by it in the least. To those that think they are not dangerous: mother cows are protective of their herd, and as they have extremely bad eye sight, they might react aggressively because of fast movement or strong colors. That is, why Spanish matadors move a red cloth in front of a bull to enrage him -- even though, funnily enough, bovids cannot see the color red. According to the Thais, water buffalos seem to particularly hate bright yellow shirts (no, this was not a political joke on me). If you see a large cow position herself between you and a herd of smaller ones, I would not ever approach without the owner present, but move away slowly (do not forget, you will never be able to outrun them, but they are quite lazy and will not go far from the herd). However, they do recognize people, so in case the owner is there, let him introduce you (they sniff your smell and listen to your voice to remember, afterwards it should be no problem if you move slowly and make your presence known to them, so they are not surprised).

The interesting thing about humans is, that they are social animals with intelligence, so they can tailor their actions towards their needs by utilizing prediction and foreplanning. Therefore, without knowing a person intimately, it will be absolutely impossible to ascertain, if they are telling the truth, or telling you what you wanted to hear. I am very sorry to say, nothing about your story and this girl is in any way special; exactly the same story we have heard a thousand times, with only minute variations. This does not mean, that it is not true, of course. An advice you have received now many times, the only way to find out is spending much more time with her, best without conditioning yourself on a "quick" solution like marriage. Why is this even in the cards -- you are both mature people with good standing in their own current live, so there should be no reason for a sudden change? And a last point: none of us know you or this girl. How can we know better if she tells you the truth than you yourself? You need to follow your own instincts and then take responsibility for your acitons, eg. live with the consequences. Throw off your insecurity! In case this woman was geniune so far, there is no way more sure to make any woman -- but especially Thai ones -- think about gain if she gets the feeling that she can form you at her will. It is poison for any relationship!

Many air booking systems create one long name out of several first names. Thai Air Asia did it the last time I tried to book a ticket. This, of course, would make them "not matching up", the same when not using all of them.

You are by far not the only one noticing this. Language comprehension, if not the worst dialect, has never and is not a problem for me, but still I also now watch series only with subtitles on. An interesting explanation (and there are many more videos like this on Youtube, easy to find in any search): Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult to Understand (And Three Ways to Fix It) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M-Yt4RpO90

Depending on your location, anemia due to iron deficiency is not rare in Thailand. Also, there have been studies in Thailand linking iron supplements to educational achievement: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002916523436118 But why not ask your school? Surely the teacher of your daughter would be the person to give you the reason behind this?

What kind of reaction do you expect? Your girl lights up pretty much every red flag, it could not get more cliche: she is still married, in debt, of course she is a "good girl" and you are, for some reason, already thinking marriage after seeing her twice. Maybe you need to ask yourself (or her), if she really would be willing to go to a foreign country forever. Most all Thai women I have ever known want to come back at some stage in their life -- and her problems would then be waiting for her. Also it might make a very big difference to her motivation, what kind of debt it is. Was this a legitimate business debt to a bank, or are those millions in gambling debt to a loan shark? If I would be giving advice to a friend, I would tell him, to put his toe into the hot water slowly instead of jumping in head-first into this boiling mess. If you have the means to support her in the UK, you have the means to travel, so visit her an additional number of times, learn about her background (and the debt) and then you will have a much better picture if this is a true damsel in distress and if you want to share in her issues out of your own free will. This should not be decided in a hurry.

There have been numerous times where the beaches were cleared because they all belong to the crown and it is indeed, following the law to the letter, illegal to set up a bunsiness there. The beaches are by royal decree a public space. As Thailand is the land of compromise, and livelihood of Thais is to be protected, such was of course found (which is a good thing): for example, Patong in Phuket has now zones for chairs. As Thailand is also a land of corruption, it is completely unclear, to whom the beach vendors pay. In Patong it was definitely not the municipality -- but as the family fronting the mayor has now changed a number of times, this might have changed. It is my assumption, that the situation in Pattaya can only be similarily murky. Still: what an entitlement by a tourist to escalate such a non-winnable situation until getting carted off to the police station!

It will, of course be a giant scheme forcing all those small folks, who do not want to risk a police report being squashed only with the court case, to use brown envelopes. I would say, a win-win for all the important people involved, from politicians to police to the big business owners (who loose all small competition in one quick cut). A typical Thai solution...

*One* Thai thought this inappropriate. He talked to a monk, who appeased him, but then did not send out a layperson to talk to the tourists (so unnecessary conflict was prevented, the proper action by the monk both towards the Thai and the two tourists). If I would be wanting to nitpick and "dive deep" into Buddhism: did the two girls lay on the grass within or outside the Sema stones for Wat Chiang Man? A temple from the 13th century would have his boundary stones in all likelihood close around only the Ubhosot ordination hall, and the "temple grounds" within which the monks wield spiritual control is within this enclosure. I therefore still believe, the person who has acted the most inappropriate was the Thai tourist talking to the monk, but then not being happy with his de-conflicting non-action.