topcat333

The big news here is that he is American! It would have been big news if he was European or Japanese or a Monkey. Some of these things you read about stronger Visa rules or foreigners are bad for Thailand are just ridiculous. Thai's abuse their young as much as any other culture and it's a well know fact that many pedophiles come to places like Thailand or the Philippines because it's easier to do here than in their countries. What they should be talking about is more enforcement, more task forces, more resources and a greater public knowledge to make it less attractive for Thais or any other nationality to attempt such acts in Thailand. America and European countries have committed many resources to these people, and they work with countries like Thailand to share information. This has nothing to do with nationality. It's a human scum problem.

We have a nice Western Style house in the village and my wife is tighter with our money then I. She tells all the village people we are poor, just worked hard and saved our money to build a nice house but nothing extra except a monthly allowance. If you don't flaunt it, easy enough to control.

Very sad for anyone who was injured or lost everything but looking at the timeline, and give the complexity of the area pretty impressive for the firefighter to get the fire out in all of 2 3/4 hours from the original report.

Upcoming in what year? Other countries have been talking about trashing the USD for my whole lifetime and I'm 68

No Comment! I plead the 5th????

Of course, you all know it has nothing to do with tomato's, right?

I think everyone has to weigh costs based on their desired lifestyle. What I'm reading here are many are changing apples to apples comparing things that just don't add up. example... If you own a house that's paid off then of course your cost ratio is different but that's totally off point. I live 6 months a year in the US and the rest in Thailand. I maintain residence in Bangkok and Tampa Florida. I have a Thai wife and she and I are both still working. She lives 12 months a year in BKK. My monthly cost in Bangkok when we are both there is still way less than my single cost in Tampa. We are not living an extravagant lifestyle in either place but we live well. I'm also building a house in Northern Thailand and it's a nice house designed to be energy efficient and mostly off the grid. My cost in doing this is far less than I could even begin to imagine if I built the same anywhere in the USA. Yes, I realize that's if I chose to do so in BKK the costs would be far greater and that's why we chose Northern Thailand. We can come back to BKK or go to the beach whenever we want. We can fly in, Airbnb for a week and it's still cheaper than living a daily life in the USA trying to maintain a similar lifestyle. I’ve done the math and We have lived the math but my choices and my math is different than yours.

It's off topic so won't answer here but if you want to write me at <Email address removed> I'll be happy to share some tips as I've been going in and out of country for years and there definatly is a more correct way to exchange to get your best rate.

I follow this chart regularly. https://longforecast.com/usd-to-bht-today-forecast Dollar To Baht Forecast For 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 And 2026 Month Open Low-High Close Mo,% Total,% 2022 Jun 34.14 34.14-36.27 35.73 4.7% 4.7% Jul 35.73 35.47-36.55 36.01 0.8% 5.5% Aug 36.01 35.23-36.31 35.77 -0.7% 4.8% Sep 35.77 35.77-37.39 36.84 3.0% 7.9% Oct 36.84 36.84-38.09 37.53 1.9% 9.9% Nov 37.53 36.31-37.53 36.86 -1.8% 8.0% Dec 36.86 36.34-37.44 36.89 0.1% 8.1% 2023 Jan 36.89 36.02-37.12 36.57 -0.9% 7.1% Feb 36.57 36.22-37.32 36.77 0.5% 7.7% Mar 36.77 35.94-37.04 36.49 -0.8% 6.9% Apr 36.49 36.49-38.14 37.58 3.0% 10.1% May 37.58 36.21-37.58 36.76 -2.2% 7.7% Jun 36.76 36.76-38.34 37.77 2.7% 10.6% Jul 37.77 37.77-39.38 38.80 2.7% 13.6% Aug 38.80 38.25-39.41 38.83 0.1% 13.7% Sep 38.83 38.19-39.35 38.77 -0.2% 13.6% Oct 38.77 38.77-40.43 39.83 2.7% 16.7% Nov 39.83 39.83-41.11 40.50 1.7% 18.6% Dec 40.50 39.74-40.96 40.35 -0.4% 18.2%

I'm only semi-retired here in Thaialnd as I'm still working in the US living in Thailand 4 months a year. I've been doing this for the past seven years so I've seen a lot and have a good feel for living here. I've traveled many Asian countries but for me Thailand is the most appealing. The reason why doesn’t matter. I would imagine there are many reasons why others decide to stay or leave. I'll be here more permanently over the next few years as I continue to close things out in the US. I have relations here, many friends and maintain a place in BKK. I'm not wealthy so living here and being able to maintain a higher standard of living has its appeal. I'm not young, 67 but fortunate enough to have very good health. Most of my friends have been here for years and none that I know of are talking about leaving. I look at many of the things the Thai government does and shake my head, but honestly, I look at the things going on in my country and other countries and I'm certainly not impressed.

What happened to Thai Stick? I don't smoke the stuff, or at least since Vietnam but Thai stick was famious and would put you on your ass. Much of it found it's way back into the US as well as many other countries.

Surprisingly the majority of United States National Park units are free to enter all year long. Only 116 of the 419 National Park Service units charge any sort of entrance fee. Admission to these parks can range from $5 per person to $35 per vehicle.