Kurtf

We soak all our veggies in a bowl of water that we have added a splash of vinegar to. The problem with baking soda is that it doesn’t dissolve in cool/cold water. Soaking them in a bowl doesn’t take much time since we do it about an hour before preparing our salads.

No matter where you live in the world there are pluses and minuses. It’s a balancing act. When the minuses outweigh the pluses, it is time to move somewhere else. When I first came here to Thailand the pluses were overwhelmingly bigger than the minuses. Nothing in Thailand has changed but I have changed. The amount of aggravation I experience driving here has grown exponentially. The idea of freedoms I miss having from where I came from has grown larger. Do I regret having spent the last 7 years here? Not at all. Do I regret having built a house that I find now difficult to sell? Damn right. So my advice...come. Enjoy all that Thailand has to offer and if after a period of time you become disillusioned, leave. But while here be sure you ONLY rent.

The worst thing for me about back home is how expensive it is to live there. The worst thing I find about Thailand are the drivers. I used to enjoy driving but here in Thailand the local citizens have taken all the joy out of it. Then too living under a dictatorship where I have zero rights is no joy either. If I could sell my house, I’d be gone before you could say Rumplestiltskin.

Different strokes for different folks. I made a huge mistake of building a home in Thailand to take care of my father in law. Now that he has passed I can’t sell the house unless I am willing to take a huge loss. If I could sell I would return in a snap to my home country. Until if and when that happens, I try to make the best of it and enjoy increasing my savings.

7 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Rice is harvested in the fall...burn fields after 1st of year...someone could be cleaning off debris to plant a new area...or burning some fields other than rice fields...

 

It is all bad...I know...causes me lots of problems...

If it were only the rice fields it  

wouldn’t be too bad but the intentional burning of the jungle as a way to clear the land by the hill tribes is what has made it all worse.

Yeah. You should know that if she isn’t Christian (highly unlikely) she doesn’t give a rats ass about Christmas. She probably doesn’t know who Jesus Christ was and wonders why anyone is celebrating anything.

Since I have Never read Thomas Cook Travel and I imagine many others have not even heard of them I'm sure the impact on travel will be zilch. 

15 hours ago, Briggsy said:

You may view my stating that Chinese table manners are poor as "Chinese bashing". However I stand by my statement that Chinese table manners are poor by Western standards. In fact, I first noticed this 32 years ago at university with the Hong Kong students and nothing in the intervening period has changed my mind. 

I never had much interaction with Chinese people before coming to Thailand and my impression of them on average is that they are LOUD and rude.

It’s good to hear so many positive attitudes about where people live. That is as it should be. I came to Thailand to take care of my father in law. Built a house and now that he has passed, I want to go back home but can not sell the house. Different strokes for different folks.

On 7/18/2019 at 11:34 AM, ravip said:

With all these, what made you stick in Thailand for 7 years? Where do you originate from and is that place worse than this?

I made the mistake of building a home on land my wife owns and I am finding it almost impossible to sell it. I originate from the USA and it is by no means perfect. That being said though, discipline is still applied in most homes there and proper driving etiquette is taught in most high schools. Please someone buy my house on one rai in Mae Thang and I’d be on the next plane back. Fully furnished 7,500,000 Baht.

Of course you can apply. However I recommend you do not hold your breath waiting for approval. You want to carry or even own a weapon, I suggest you live in America and become a citizen where that right is written into the constitution. In almost all other country you have no rights to defend yourself or any other rights guaranteed to you. That’s what makes the USA so special on this planet.

I don’t own any stocks but instead I have tied the majority of my savings in physical gold. That way I can easily increase my holdings or sell on a moments notice and never worry what the value or the economy in Thailand or America my home country is doing.

This is one of the side benefits of living where the humidity of the country you live in averages 65% day in and day out. Want no rust? Move to California or Arizona.

I can’t believe how STUPID the Thai government is. I walk into to IO with a bankbook, copies of the front page and copies of the last three months pages to show the 800,000 has been on deposit for that time and they want in addition to that (the real thing) a letter from the bank saying you actually do have an account there. Where the hell do they think the bankbook came from? Unfrigginbelievable.

For me my choice for a browser is OPERA.

They want those farangs that support the idea of a dictatorship and don’t complain about faux democracies.

Screw the transaction. My advice on buying ANY crypto currency.....DON’T!!!!!

8 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Where to start, no formal training, no highway code that's really followed and most of all no damn enforcement, and where there is there are no real consequences to an action. All that boils down to a general free for all.

Then they wonder why thousands die on the road ! 

 

I gave up trying to make sense of it or apply logic and law a long long time ago. If you drive and react like everyone is trying to kill you, you'll be just fine !

You absolutely nailed it with that response. Thais seem to think red lights are merely a suggestion. And the number of people making U-turns at intersections where there is a sign prohibiting them is staggering. Thai drivers do whatever they damn well please and whenever they like. Road rules be damned. I know when I return to my home country I will be a far better defensive driver after having suffered 7+ years of driving in Thailand.

I have enjoyed many movies over my 80 years but the one I’ve seen over and over and still enjoy is Casablanca. I think it is the romantic in me.