RamenRaven

I've been seeing more older Thai woman / younger non-Thai man couples recently. They seem to be getting more common if you look hard enough. So let's take a vote!

My marriage visa extension expires at the end of next July. That means my consideration period is typically from late July to late August, for about one month. I would like to plan a 6-week trip abroad starting from early August, ending in mid-September. Can I request for immgration to make the consideration stamp to be 2 months long instead of the usual 1 month? My local immigration office is Chiang Mai. Planning very early in advance because I need to book plane tickets early.

Given the high levels of debt compared to the average income levels in Thailand, this is nothing surprising at all. Rather, the question should be, who are the top 12% that has more than 50,000 baht in their bank accounts? Many Americans and Europeans living paycheck to paycheck don't even have $1500 in their bank accounts.

1. Lose the bikes 2. Lose your sanity I'd rather lose the bikes than to lose my sanity dealing with a psycho ex-girlfriend. Avoid drama and confrontation, move on and start a new life in peace. There are some things that money can't substitute for.

But if you rent, then that's a GF, even if it's short-term. Note that I deliberately said wife/GF.

I've done a Wise transfer that took me 7 days, and I was sending money to myself. The larger the amount, the longer the wait time.

Would you rather have a Farang or Thai wife/girlfriend? There are many posts here that are not so flattering of Farang ladies, while others are not exactly fond of Thai ladies. So let's take a vote! Not meant to negatively stereotype or be discriminative towards either group of course. Personally I love both. This is just for some lighthearted discussion.

Moneygram has lower fees than Wise, but the transfers often take longer, as long as 2 weeks. I personally prefer Moneygram over Wise if I'm not in a rush. However, whereas incoming fees are not charged with Wise transfers, Moneygram transfers are charged incoming fees. For example, 150-300 baht would charged for Moneygram transfers of 50,000-200,000 baht.

Well said. In any case, I've been watching too much South Park. That's where I got the idea for the silly satirical story.

Let's suppose that one day the Farangs revolt and set up their own community called Farangville in Thailand. Unfortunately, Farangville also includes some Thai households. Jimmy Jones wakes up one day to find out that Somchai was burning leaves and sticks. He calls 911. "There's an unhinged man setting fires everywhere. Asian male, about 40 years old, black hair, brown eyes. I don't know if he's got a matchbox or machete, so he might be armed and dangerous. I read on the web that it's a mental illness called pyromania, so this is a seriously deranged individual. He's going to burn down the whole neighborhood. There are kids here with their lives in danger, and this is in blatant violation of State Code 245.3 and our County and Municipal laws!" The fire department, K-9 units, and multiple police units in their Ford Crown Victorias arrive within 5 minutes. Somchai: "Sawatdii khrap" and wais. "Don't move! Put your hands up, faced towards me! I said don't put your hands together!" Guns drawn, completely surrounding Somchai. Somchai looks confused and walks towards the officers. "I said don't move, get on the ground!" Somchai, confused as ever, doesn't know how to respond and gets tased. He pleads for mercy. "Don't talk back! That's obstruction of justice and resisting arrest. You're in violation of State Code 245.3, which is a felony that can get you decades in state prison. And don't get me started on the multiple violations that you've just committed. So get in the police car!" And ever since then, there were no more open-air fires in Farangville. Now isn't Farangville a great place to retire and call home?

Which nanny state? Which third-world country?

Glad to see a happy poster here. Bring on the optimism and drown out all the angry frustrated trolls here!

In Western nanny states, you need a permit to change the color of your house, install a different type of front door, plant vegetables in your yard, and sooner or later - ask a woman out on a date. Actually that might already be illegal due to draconion sexual harassment laws. Thais tell me all about how the workplace is where people meet their mia nois. I tell Thais that in Farangland, the workplace is where you get sued by women for appearing to show the slightest hint of interest, so you wouldn't even dare to wink at a woman, or heaven forbid, ask her if she wants to grab some lunch with you. MeToo caused an incredible amount of paranoia. But Thais couldn't believe me. It simply didn't register in their minds. You can get sued into bankruptcy if someone trips on a rock in your front yard. People call the police if a harmless man with dreadlocks is walking through their neighborhood. No loitering signs in parks, even though that's the point of having a park in the first place. Imagine the hell we would be in if Farangs forced their nanny state regulations onto Thailand. Enjoy your day-to-day freedom in Thailand, and don't let the cranky Farangs take it away!

Meanwhile in Farangland: "All Asians look the same." During lockdown times, Thais, Filipinos, and even Mexicans, Peruvians, Central Americans, and Afghans all got beaten up because Farangs couldn't tell the difference and didn't care if they were different. Much less sophisticated than Thais.

Trekking poles are perfect. They are telescopic and can be expanded. They fit perfectly in small backpacks. Use them to gently guide the dogs to back off, but you wouldn't actually want to smack a dog because Thailand, like Western countries, has animal cruelty laws. I've seen some Thais carry bamboo poles with them when they walk around neighborhoods, but most of them calmly walk through groups of barking dogs without even flinching. Wonder how they do that. I have to carefully walk through and gently talk to the dogs to calm them down. I also like to walk with some dogs borrowed from my Thai neighbors, which serve as distractions for the other dogs.

From a Thai's perspective, they'd be thinking: "Yawn, farangs talking about farangs. So confusing. What are they fighting about? Don't they all know each other in Prathet Farang? Aren't they all the same? Putin and Macron both look like the same person, what's the difference? I wish that I could speak Farang (phuut farang) so that I could understand Farangs better. I have heard that Ukraine girls are really pretty. So why do farangs still prefer dark-skinned women?"

Don't get me wrong, I like dogs. It's just that I am trying to get into my Thai neighbors' minds. They all have dogs that are raised much like free-ranging chickens, pigs, and goats. Even many Thai middle-class suburban homeowners raise dogs like this, not just rural farmers. I have adopted a soi dog and take it on daily walks and runs. One lady says that it's actually a neighbors' dog because she feeds the dog, but the dog never goes inside into her property. It sleeps in the soi. Because it's well socialized, it never barks at strangers or chases them. I also take my neighbors' dogs on walks and runs, because the dogs randomly started following me. They approached me, not the other way around. One neighbor doesn't even know that I'm actually exercising her dog all the time. The other is happy about it and lets me do anything with it. Both Thai neighbors don't do anything other than feed the dogs and lock them behind fences at night. Unsurprisingly, the dogs appear to be more attached to me than to their nominal owners. That's Farangland, not Thailand. In the villages of Thailand, dogs are not man's best friends in the European sense. They are man's most commonly tolerated mammals. They are more like chickens, pigs, rats, or other refuse-eating yard animals that happen to bark and understand human social cues better. They can be your best friend if you want to do so, but by default, they aren't meant to be placed on a pedestal and to provide human-like affection. That's farang thinking that has crept into Thailand over the past several decades. You are supposed to throw them some leftover rice and let the dogs do whatever they want. From a rural Thai grandpa's perspective, you can get good karma from being compassionate to animals, but they're not human-like companions.

Many farangs in Thailand end up hating dogs for obvious reasons. It's quite understandable. But learning to get along with dogs in Thailand is an absolutely essential part of adapting to life here. I'd argue that if you like walking around a lot, it is even more important to learn to peacefully co-exist and deal with dogs than to speak fluent, native-like Thai. Learning to speak Dog may be more important than learning to speak Thai if you want to relocate here!

But you wrote:

No, I mean regular Thais, including both rural villagers and shopkeepers. I have not been exposed to gold-digging women either. People tell me: "Tham boon" and maintain spirit houses so that good things can come into your present life: peace, prosperity, no family arguments, happiness at home, good income at work. But philosophical Buddhist books by Thich Nhat Hanh and others promote a Stoic view of the world, where you aren't supposed to be attached to the transitory material world because it's all nothingness, emptiness, and illusory. They teach that there is no true ego, since the self is an illusion. I have almost never heard regular Thai Buddhists talk about nothingness, emptiness, non-attachment, and non-ego.

In traditional Thai households, are dogs simply trash disposal machines that also happen to serve as alarm bells? It's something that I'm struggling to understand even after years of observations. Please explain: dogs in traditional Thai households, the same way you would explain bizarre Western dog culture to a rural Thai villager ("Did you know that farangs take their leashed dogs on walks everyday and keep them indoors all day?"). I'm talking about older Thais with traditional views of animals living in village-type environments that have few or no stray dogs. I'm not talking about Thais who have adopted the more recent Western-style pet culture, where purebred dog breeds are raised as companion pets. Here's what I've noticed: - They treat their dogs just like their chickens. The only relationship they have with their dogs is feeding them, and nothing else. - They are clearly not "man's best friend" and only seem to be tolerated. Dogs are never let indoors. - Give them some rice and water everyday, and that's literally it. - Maybe an occasional bath depending on the owner, but usually they are never bathed. - They don't play with the dogs. They don't take their dogs on walks. The dogs are never trained. The dogs don't herd sheep or do any physically demanding tasks. - They can bark at strangers, but they are certainly not good guard dogs because Thai yard dogs are typically small creatures that run away from strangers while barking constantly. Visitors would typically say "pai," raise their hand, or even pretend to pick up a rock. - The only time the owners talk to the dogs is when they run towards strangers. "Maa nii," come here! And the dogs never listen. - In fact, Thais have asked me questions like "Why do farangs walk around with their dogs? And their dogs have leashes too!" Or, "Why do farangs let dogs sleep in their beds?" I've asked some Thai villagers why they raise dogs. "Fao ban" (watch the house), taking care of waste food, or that they just got the dog from a friend. That's about it. They don't universally agree on a reason. It's like they're just tolerating something that happens to be there. Sometimes they seem puzzled by my questions. Also I'm talking about the many semi-rural suburbs and villages all over Thailand where there are no stray dogs, only house dogs that have the characteristic dingo-like look of Asian village dogs. They all lounge around yards, mostly sleeping all day. I am not complaining about dogs in Thailand. I like Thai village dogs and often play with them. I also like Western dogs that are treated like humans. But I am struggling to understand the concept of how and why dogs are raised here.

You nailed it. That's what I witnessed multiple times with funerals of elderly people. The family members were all very dedicated and spent an incredible amount of time and money for funeral preparations. They all wanted to make sure that the funeral was properly carried out so that the deceased person's spirit could be in peace. All very matter of fact, no emotional drama.

Average Thai that you meet on the street: Ukraine! Is that a city in Russia? Russians! Another kind of farang. Can they eat spicy food? Russia is next to England? Fighting already ended right? No news about it on Thai social media, so things must be back to normal. Then you meet the occasional Thai history/politics buff, usually a middle-aged man, who has very strong opinions and would take sides. The rest don't care or know much about the outside world. Back to their plate of som tam and another bottle of Chang beer. Who cares, farangs are all the same anyways!

Thanks! This makes sense now. In fact, I like the calm dispositions that I see at Thai funerals. I see that they have a cyclical view of life, rather than a linear one.

There are way more coming out of India. India is the online scam capital of the world, by a long shot. Nigeria and Ghana just get more attention because they're the most obvious and sometimes the silliest ones. Naturally, the Anglophone countries with the largest populations are going to have the most scams.