BuddyDean

7 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

My hat's off to anyone who has been able to stop smoking.

In my opinion, it's the single hardest addiction to break, what with all the social triggers that surround us daily.

 

If only cigarette smokers realized just how badly they smell to the rest of society, they would be way more inclined to stop sooner rather than later.  As smokers, we never noticed the stink. Frankly, I'm surprised that non-smoking women were willing to kiss me back in my smoking days.

And you never wondered what taste they were trying g to get rid of?

Switch to cigars..they are so expensive here you will soon be out of money.

Photo, copy chop...I have one coming up at CM, and I am certainly envious of that account.  WO der if the OP is going to go have a celebration at Nutty Park.

There is a whole bunch of barstool experts saying yellow is worthless, mostly because they were denied, but I have found it very useful, especially without a work permit.  Finally switched the electric to my name with autodebit, after four years...now I don't have to plan travel around  paying my bill.  Brokerage account..yes...best banks..yes...now pink not so sure about, but it does seem to surprise a lot of Thais, and my last hotel took it, but had passport anyway..but the airlines highly unlikely.

Use the LOR to get a yellow book and be done with it for ever.  They are 500 each up here, and you often need two.  Yellow will be about all you need for a pink card, too.  One of the best things a forner GF did for me was help me get YellowBook....you almost always need at least one Thai, if not a whole parade to do this obstacle course.

Mom pop is the way to go..friendlier, safer, colder, and yes cheaper...pull up a stool, all are welcome, enjoy.  Import taxes are extortionate...so is rent near the tourist traps.  Maybe try the Train Wreck Market at Thai Cult Center, but the usual refrigeration problems...decent prices.

9 hours ago, Lizard2010 said:

There is KFC and McDonalds with just a few coffee places

The Big C is a Big C Market it has a few things for supplies

But not a full Big C Supermarket

Mostly Phone and Internet places street level

With IT Upstairs

Repairs up further again

Learning Thai on top level still has food in the corner

I believe it is still a work in progress

 

I saw a rat in that top floor food court the size of a dachshund.  Filthy.

21 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Well, the firms where my niece has interned are ones that build big soaring skyscrapers or design entire new cities.  Not the sort of thing you download from the internet.  The course she took in school was more "engineering" than artistic design and the projects she's worked on are engineering marvels.  You're right -- it's sad to see someone who has some real knowledge and skill being exploited in this way.  And while she's worked in some interesting locations, I don't think she's had the free time to do much exploring, unlike the DNs sitting around Camp at Maya.

 

This is something the architecture professors should have told prospective students who wanted to get to the top of their profession.  My brother certainly had no idea he'd be supporting his daughter this long.

Yes, the Pentagon was working on some sizeable projects, too, but it doesn't mean squat if you are making 6.13 an hour and a basic apartment in the suburbs is 650 per month, (30+ years ago).  A gal served me a beer and told me she had just been offered her first newspaper job...20 hours per week at 8.65 an hour.  She was fresh out of Cronkite School of Journalism...I asked if anyone had been honest with her about the prospects for journalism majors.  She told me that there was actually a sign up in the lobby of her department saying you were warned, no guarantees here, significant layoffs have and will happen.  Probably still working at the bar.  

Our dark family secret is that a relative works as an enrollment counselor for an accredited online school (student loan mill).  My brother said the difference between him, and our friend Mitch, who went to prison for bribing a Congressman, is that Mitchell's parents can actually say he accomplished something.

49 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Overall, this video was a waste of time, but it did get me thinking about an interesting phenomenon -- how young people with university degrees are being exploited by businesses these days, in taking on assignments as unpaid "interns" just to build their resumes and/or work in interesting places.  Of course, usually they're bankrolled by their parents.

 

I've wondered about this with my niece.  Never had children myself, so it didn't realize how common this practice is.  She has a masters degree in architecture, with excellent grades, yet she still doesn't have a paying job two years after graduation.  Instead, she's done a series of "internships" at very prestigious commercial architectural design firms in Japan, Australia, Europe and now finally Chicago where she thinks she may actually get a paying job. 

 

"Back in the day" (1970s) when I was working on my degree in mechanical engineering, we didn't have "internships", but something called "summer jobs in industry" and I was able to get my first after my sophomore year with a Fortune 100 company and it paid $1000 a month.  Each summer I worked for a different Fortune 100 company, building my resume in much the same way my niece has done, but getting paid to do so.  Times have certainly changed.

 

I wonder what's going to happen to all these digital nomads when they get to be of retirement age?  It's nice to be retired and have a good pension and Social Security.  These things probably won't be there for the DNs.   I think that was the message of this video, although it wasn't delivered in a way that will be listened to by the intended audience.

 

 

It is actually quite a bit worse than that.  Parents of Ivy Leaguers are actually paying for their kids to do internships with the big investment firms.  And what is also troubling is that the people who are influential in these young people's

lives didn't have the guts to tell them that the number of jobs in the finance sector has contracted significantly since the GFC, and perhaps even more so architecture.  Did anyone bother pointing out to your niece that there are millions of building plans online that cost a lot less than a few rounds at Beer Republic?  But unlike the DN pyramid victims; she actually knows something.  I was working at The Pentagon at age 20, with full civil service status, GS-4.  Not the best job, and the six and a half hour days crept by, but I was saving money, and building my resume.  

46 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It isnt a pyramid scheme or a lie.

DN's are supposed to work online themselves

Don't be so naive.  It has been well established that the courses, the how to, are all pyramid schemes, by definition and actuality.  He does say she was a lot more than a stranger.  You are trying to take one small pie e out of context and misrepresent the whole thing.  It fits in well with his other points, and he could have added Berkeley to Cambridge and Oxford, where people commonly misrepresent themselves.  Statement:  I was a community organizer.  Truth:  I was an errand boy for the mob.

I vote with my wallet and just about avoid "the two" entirely.  Always funny seeing the 11:50 pm crowd at 711 buying Leos after a 2000 THB night at Republic, etc..  Bottom line is import taxes are a ripoff....I always want to avoid them, can drink Sierras and Guiness every day for 41 THB at my parent's.  If they would just focus on hot girls and cold beers in Thailand, that would be fine, but it seems to have mostly slipped away.

21 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Just got to four minutes of the video and he claims that an Eastern European woman said that She was a Chef ans he then goes on to say that She "could" have a youtube channel and make money from pretending to be a Chef . He then goes on to accuse her of being a fake chef and conning people .

    There is no evidence that she does actually have a you tube page or that she is conning anyone.

She may be a landlord and also work as a chef .

His objection is that she goes around telling people she is a "microbiotic chef," when the reality is that she would be starving to death if that was how she actually earned a living.  And then he points out that there are a miniscule amount of foreigners over here actually cooking for a living.  

Then he compares her to all the others with their name affiliated with some publication or NGO, that aren't really earning a living off that, either.  Apparently, the guy is in academia, and has dealt with a lot of students dropping out to live the (pipe) dream.  Yes, he is a bit of a Canker, but maybe he doesnt like to see young people getting conned.  Another great point was that there is a tremendous difference between being a stripper to pay for college and quitting college to become a stripper.

Found one at American Standard about 11 years ago, but haven't seen one since.  The big problem is the pipes are placed so the midpoint is only 10 inches from the wall..or 250 mm, and 99% of the western toilets they sell are for 300 mm, known as 12 inch.  So even if you do find the flange, you may not be able to use it.  I even moved one out a few inches, but involved busting up the floor.  Believe it or not, the 15 THB bag of white powdered cement works for years, and a coating of silicon on top.

His point is that it isn't a lifestyle, but a lie, and as with most pyramid schemes, the victims are setting the traps for more victims.

5 hours ago, millwall_fan said:

Namton's house has a sign above the bar saying 'my bar, my rules', those 'rules' include denying customers a lump of ice in their cider because that's what ordinary people do to Leo and he doesn't want his oh so precious little place dragged down to the level of Leo drinkers. Run by the errant son of Hi-So, drinking away daddy's fortune.  Great to hear that Beer Republic has re-opened, much more fun in my opinion. 

So the underclass only put ice in Leo?  More like any place, where its not served properly, which is most.

Tiger/Heineken certainly aren't part of any "duopoly," but nastybeer inc. has little problem keeping them off the menus and out of the stores..especially Tiger, priced less than Singha.  Heineken is the best seller in the world for a reason; it ticks a lot of boxes.

CMULI, LMP, HiSo Hill, karaoke scams....not hard to find victims in this bunch..if they had only been given  a heads up.

2 minutes ago, millwall_fan said:

There is a sign, clearly posted at the Mae Sai border immigration office that states 'no more visa runners'. I go up every few months instead of doing a 90 day report because I enjoy going to the casino in Tachilek the cheap beer in the market and Western food at the border. There are scarcely any Westerners there these days and the market and bars cater to local Thai tourists rather than Farang. Mae Sai is now somewhat down-at-heel, whereas Tachilek has a certain quiet exuberance - in an almost complete volte face from a few years ago. They readily take $10 bills as the entry fee on the Burmese side so 325 Baht entry rather than 500 Baht. 

If I lived up there, instead of CM, I would get the multirentry and do the same.  How does the casino compare to naga world in Phnom Penh?  Is there sports Betting?  The fake liquor at the duty free is a big turn off..but I believe that is more of a Thai scandal.  That is my fave imm officer up there with the big smile..really nice if you aren't scamming.  Glad they ended the circus..missionary families of six passing the 20,000 to other families through the fence?  They should be discouraged.

13 minutes ago, momochan said:

It's not a bar girl. It's not a cheap fling.

I need to have the person followed with reports.

2600 is "cheap"?  Outrageous is more like it.

1 minute ago, orchis said:

who cares?

Anyone following the local economy knows this segment is probably somewhere in between the retirees and the Chinese.  Except their culture is built on stealing from new members of the pyramid.

7 hours ago, toots said:

Hi everybody i have just found out my landlady has never submitted a tm30 for me. I have lived here 2 years have a retirement extension and do my 90 days with this address. Is this a problem for my landlady or me. Cheers

Possibly both, but the landlady isn't going to need an extension.  Better read your lease, too, as it could open up the unpaid tax can of worms.  I would get her I'd with signature, take the lease, visit the IO, and expect a fine of 1600, but varies widely.  Or simply move, but might even need to change provinces.  Take the lump, many of us got screwed, after jumping through every hoop thrown at us for years.

do a national credit bureau check.  probably will need their permission.  Anyone selling securities, legally, will have an easily verifiable license.  Girls...send me 2000+600 bar fine and I will do my best...btw..brown skin, 160 cm, 47 Kg, good dancer...doesnt really narrow it down enough.

For some reason I am reminded of a guy on here years ago, when word about Zenni was new, that said they were worthless because he couldn't get something super powerful, like +7.00, in a bifocal as he needed to read while he drove.  Some things you just can't make up.

Found this on youtube.  IMO, very accurate and truthful.  It also covers a lot of the vegan issues, here, as he is one himself.  He is a bit OTT if you watch the other vids, but this is spot on.  Apparently, he is in a continuing drama with some of the vegan visa runners in CM.  The names will sound familiar.

1 minute ago, sfokevin said:

I have had AXA Personal Accident policy for years (bought for when I’m on my scooter - luckily never used it)... 125,000k for any accident and that doubles to 250,000 if I have a motorcycle accident... And 500,000 of life insurance for 4,200 a year... I know it might not cover everything but at least the first 250k plus I have a card to show at the hospital so a assume they will be more eager to admit me ;-)... the policy was written by AA Insurance Brokers

That is similar to what Bangkok Bank will gladly sell you.  A lot better than nothing, but no real protection for a serious "XZDAN.". 

1 minute ago, merlin2002 said:

Thanks Buddy, but I'm from the UK.... cheers Nick I'll check out AXA. I have my car insurance through them so could get a further bonus....

You are welcome.  It might he fairly important as to whether or not you are still covered by NHS....and if so, a treatment and evacuation plan might give you better cover for less, as opposed the maxing out even a million THB Thai policy, then needing a very expensive evacuation for long term treatment.  I know cost are about a fifth, here, but limits can be 1/100th.  A lot of teachers think they are covered by their employers, but if they actually looked at their po!icies it is almost a joke.  Sure, they didn't have to pay for three stitches, but that is really not a good way to buy and use insurance.