StayinThailand2much

Considering the economic situation and exports, shouldn't they sell the baht?

Seems like the Woke crowd want to force their views on everyone else, while loudly screaming if your opinion differs from theirs...

Well, I don't think that Thai motorcycle taxi riders belong to the higher echelons of Thai society. Probably little education, no property, few prospects... One or the other may have had run-ins with the law, alcohol and/or anger issues...

Why? Are Laotians no foreigners in Thailand?? Old story, greed and wishful thinking... But since when do Thai women want to marry Laotian men?

Good service = tip. Either using the service, or not (if too expensive). But arguing over 40 baht after the price was already pre-arranged? Life is too short for that, esp. if you're on a holiday...

Motorbike taxi guys threatening tourists, what's the news? Totally inappropriate, and they should lock this guy away. As for the fare dispute, however, he was probably right; 40 baht from the orange ones, in Pattaya?? Unlikely.

Yes, it's all about the $$$$... As for me, I read a lot of old books as a child (e.g. from the 1920s about colonialism, other parts of the world, etc.), and while my view on the world was sometimes 180 degrees apart from that of the authors, I still enjoyed seeing the different viewpoint of people in the past, and how they thought 'back then'. Or imagine popular TV shows without cursing, or racist depictions (just think of GoT). They would be boring, and, possibly, would have had less viewers.

And, "Do you have a reservation?" at restaurants will be frowned upon, as, well, you never know, one or two guests once in a while could be Native Americans...

It's a big difference if an author who is still alive changes books in later editions, or some random people years or decades after the author has gone...

That's fine. I'm reading less these days. Will give these manipulated editions a hard pass... Wonder, what the authors would say. What's next, rewriting Hitler's "Mein Kampf", etc.? (They will have to rewrite the whole content.) And why stop with literature? Why not repaint and paint over masterpieces of art (Rubens, Michelangelo, David, etc.), and refurbish statues early-21st-century Woke style? ("Too much nudity, too sexist, blablabla...")

Not if each of them, toddler to granny, spends 20,000 baht each. LOL But it will be a fraction of that...

Where I’m staying, it really started yesterday (as for daytime splashing)...

It’s not that simple, and cannot all just be blamed on inflation. And yes, New Zealand is a good example. If you compare food prices, say in Oz and NZ, you will find that prices in NZ are way higher than retail prices in Oz (and no, I don’t mean the 8% difference in currency strength, but much higher). This despite the fact that NZ has an abundance of food. Same for NZ milk, which you can buy at a lower price at WalMart in China than in NZ itself! Why? Because Fonterra likes to charge NZ customers more than international trading partners... Same for Thailand, if imported food prices double in price or rise by 50%, then it cannot be just blamed on inflation, the oil price, or the 5%-fluctuation in the exchange rate to the U.S. dollar.

That’s my point, as they were neither hot, nor black, but followed in their looks the Thai ideal, looking more like bloodless (white like chalk) ladyboys.

The ones I saw on TV weren't my cup of tea.

I wrote ‘essential ...’, meaning it sarcastically.

Shooting or splashing water at motorbikes... Nuff said. And yes, Thai TV only seems to report about ‘essential things’, like “Pretties” dancing in bikinis... (This post was written to be understood as irony.)

Here in Pattaya many shops closed, and some beer bars have 3 or 4 customers per day, nursing 1 beer over the course of 2 hours... Yes, business is booming! LOL

Spot on. 'Western' supermarkets in recent years have either moved away from imported products, or sell them at ridiculous prices. IMHO they have scared away many of their former customers. While a large part of the product range is not different from a 7-Eleven convenience store anymore, at the same time these products are sold at higher prices, so that they don't appeal to local customers. At the same time, cutting down on products favoured by expats or tourists, they have lost appeal among them too. Add the ridiculous prices of 100s of baht for one unit of some imported products, and it is easy to see why even expats shop less at such stores these days.

The things you believe if you’re greedy...

Be that as it may, but it is their country, and if they ask for such things, even if silly, how can embassies refuse, thereby creating possibly huge problems for their overseas citizens?

Now music blasting, but most bars empty. No water fights, not even on the stretch of Soi Buakhaow I can see from here. A good number of girls still working in the bars. Also a larger number of freelancers. Surprised that they didn't go home to Esarn. By the way, one of the bars nearby is just playing a squeaky pop-version of "The Wheels on the Bus". Pretty much explains Pattaya these days for me...

Alley off Soi Buakhaow.

Don't get it... Never mind, googled it. Nothing wrong with the shirt (besides it being ugly), but with people's minds... ????

Didn't know there was a water festival in Hong Kong.