Lacessit

I don't know if anyone else has noticed; however, it's the Thai women that do a lot more here than Thai men. It's something trained into them from an early age, just as privilege is trained into the boys.

Gay or hetero, IMHO for the OP to be expecting anything more than what is happening now is wishful thinking.

3 hours ago, HooHaa said:

  It has not happened to me because i have never presumed to move a woman in who is not my equal socially or intellectually.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are either extremely fluent in Thai, or live alone - assuming you live here.

Perhaps the OP might want to consider the option of moving out himself to another city. As he states he is renting, should not take too much of a loss. The GF won't follow, because her support group is where they live.

23 minutes ago, Acemaker said:

What for ?

A lawyer can have a restraining order taken out against the GF. I'm told it costs 2000 baht. The Thai legal system is not particularly forgiving to those who breach them. Jail time.

6 hours ago, mcdiddly said:

The definition of defamation is; the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel. Slander and libel is based on the legal primis that the statement is false. An opinion is subjective. 

The truth is not a defence in the Thai legal system. My policy is to say nothing, and not go back.

Uber in Chiang Mai is roughly one-third the cost of a taxi.

13 minutes ago, Dustdevil said:

Goes to show you there's a sector or demographic of young Thai women that deserve a lot of respect and admiration. I always admire, for example, how Thai girls in the service sector in Chiang Mai work so quickly, efficiently and without mistakes.

As a tongue-in-cheek comment, that takes some beating.

15 hours ago, ronrat said:

We had a slaesman who lived next door to us in Melbourne.   He was forever racking up and 2 points penalties. He used to pay me or others the fine, a 100 bucks (2500  baht) plus 100 dollars a point. I had mates who had licences but never drove and in one case a fellow whose wife had died 2 years  and was heading to Thailand for 12 months, all took the fall. Probably 200 bucks a point now. The points were all expunged and started again. Only for red light cameras etc of course.

I'd suggest you don't complain about corruption in Thailand.

Ask the manufacturer of the vehicle. The dealers will try to weasel out of warranties on any pretext, it's how they make money on non-warranty work.

IMHO a paint job should not void any warranty apart from the original paint.

2 hours ago, robertson468 said:

CRV has just been voted the car of the year for 2017 in Thailand.  I have one and think it is a great car, also it does not depreciate as quick as the Fortuner.

Motoring journalists vote vehicles as Car Of The Year because they have been wined and dined by the vehicle manufacturer better than the competing brands. Show me a motoring journalist who has ever gone past the styling and performance criteria to assess factors such as reliability and ongoing maintenance costs.

IMHO the OP should be assessing brands such as Mazda and Hyundai.

I think it depends on what kind of mood I'm in myself. Most of the time, I would respond accordingly. However, we all have our bad days.

I must admit, when I am instructed to "Have a nice day" I am very tempted to answer " I'll decide what kind of ####ing day I'm going to have".

Gold is like a bank account to many Thais. There is also the matter of face, someone wearing lots of gold jewellery, especially heavy stuff, is deemed to be wealthy. In hard times, it is sold back or pawned, bought again in the good times. While Thai gold bullion is not 99.99% gold, it's a reasonable hedge against the Thai baht.

I'll see your cornucopia of commenting curmudgeons, and raise you with a junta of judgmental journalists.

On 3/23/2018 at 9:33 PM, elviajero said:

Bottom line is that they can, with a court order, stop your friend leaving the country until the bill is paid or repayment agreed.

So what happens if his visa expires? Who takes precedence, the court or Immigration?

How many points do drivers get when someone riding in a pickup tray gets killed when the vehicle rolls?

On 3/23/2018 at 4:06 PM, impulse said:

 

For prices to double in the 28 years between 1990 and today, the inflation rate would have averaged 2.5% per year.

 

I suspect globalization has increased local prices in Thailand a lot faster than 2.5% as locals (and expats) are now effectively bidding against customers all over the world, as opposed to 28 years ago when a mango grown in Thailand was going to be eaten in Thailand and the only "bidders" for those mangoes were those in Thailand. 

 

Contrast that to back home where they can now buy those Thai grown mangoes at a lower price than a mango grown in, for example, California. 

 

Bottom line, the cost advantages of living in Thailand are shrinking, and I expect them to shrink even further as more and more escapees (and their money) from China drive up demand for housing and other resources.  If Fukushima gets (or even appears to get) a little worse, it could be a stampede.

 

All regardless of what the baht does.

 

Sorry, I can't agree. A car service here costs me about 1000 baht. They would charge me that much in Australia just to lift the bonnet. A single mango in Oz costs 100 baht, in season I would get 6 of them here for that price.

Admittedly other costs such as buying a new car here are more expensive than Oz. However, registration and insurance are much less expensive.

Or take rentals. Here, I rent a studio condo with swimming pool for 8500 baht a month in Chiang Mai. It would cost me more than that for a week in any Australian capital city. And forget about a swimming pool.

Motor scooters? Assuming one can cope with the wind chill in Melbourne in winter. a 125 cc scooter in Thailand costs double in Australia.

I'll do you the courtesy of thinking you are not Australian.

11 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Arrange to meet them in the afternoon before their shift starts.

They have more energy and you have less chance of sloppy seconds.

I would no more gamble on sex without a condom with a bar girl, than I would bet on the Poms winning an Ashes series in Australia.

23 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

New to the forum. What is LOS? Thanks 

Land of Smiles. Frequently used sarcastically.

Possibly the OP will find he hits the money laundering screens, and will be asked to account for the money. From memory, an explanation is required by the Australian Border Farce if one comes in with more than AUD 10,000. Currently about 240,000 baht.

The alternative is to buy 8X10 baht ingots of gold, and accept it will be discounted by gold buyers outside Thailand. AFAIK there are no regulations governing the movement of gold, although I am willing to be corrected on a factual basis.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Talking about retirement extensions, not marriage extensions.

 

To financially qualify for retirement extensions (legally) you have three choices --

 

800K in a Thai bank seasoned for two months for first extension and three months for subsequent extensions

 

OR

 

65K per month income

 

OR

 

COMBINATION of income plus Thai bank account money totaling at least 800K. 

 

Could be combined in any way. For examples -- 200K annual income plus 600K in Thai bank account OR 200K in Thai bank account plus 600K annual income.

Thanks - you've just confirmed for me the baht has to hit 15 to the AUD, and even then I'd be OK.

5 hours ago, starky said:

No offence but some of you Aussies mustn't have been here long harping about 33 baht to the Oz. It was above 30 for a very short amount of time and 32- 33 for about five minutes. Since '98 I've seen the baht at everything from 18 to the oh so glorified, unrealistic and never to be seen again 30+. I would generalise that in my time that the average would be @27-28 to have a great life here. However given the current state of the Aussie government and economy I would imagine that 22-23 is probably more likely to be the norm for the foreseeable future. 

None taken - I'm quite happy with anywhere between 25 - 27 baht on the AUD.

If you look at Australia's current account deficit, agriculture exports to Asia are steadily increasing. And there's a lot of natural gas coming on stream, which means less import expenditure on capital equipment, and more energy exports. So I'm reasonably optimistic without saying I can predict the exchange rate at any time.

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Fair enough but I still think the vast majority of long term retirees here could make up a shortfall in pension of 100K to 200K baht using the combination method (income plus bank account). Of course not all, but most. 

I thought the combination method was when you combined with a Thai woman to lower the deposit required to 400K baht. Although the logic of that escapes me.

Please clarify - for a single retiree, what income and what account balance is necessary?

I think if the baht was less than 20 to the Australian dollar I would be re-evaluating. Oh the days not so long ago when it was 33 to the AUD.

Every nation fiddles its currency with interest rates and money printing. My guess is the Thai government would intervene if the baht got too strong - hurts exports. Increased purchasing power for imports doesn't mean much with the tariffs they have in place.

The only consolation I have is that it's not as bad as 2 years ago. I'm trying to stay indoors as much as possible.

The mountain areas around Chiang Rai can get very cold in winter. Even in the flat areas, it's down to 12 C at night. As another poster has said, occasionally there will be a cold-related death.