emptypockets

49 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

No; probably Fleetwood instead !

Or Wise 

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Alternatively Trump really is a fraudster.

 

All politicians are fraudsters

Vote for the one you believe is less of a fraud.

Finally a photo of Bob

I don't know any young people who use Meta/ Facebook.

It's a forum for oldies.

Most use insta( gram) and Tik Tok

They wouldn't be seen dead on Facebook 

Can we get some clarity on this?

Is your plan to do bike ride to Europe.

One way.

18 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Mostly, NO.

 

You just cannot escape this truism.

 

 

 

Better to give than to receive.

 

How many here know this?

 

I shiver with the cold.

 

I have been OUT IN THE COLD for too long, in fact.

 

 

 

We can't live out in the cold, FOREVER....

 

Are we all basically, just glorified baboons?

 

Sometimes I do wonder.

 

Regards,

Gamma

 

Note:  YES.  Most here are baboons, IMHO.

 

 

Who are you calling a baboon?

10 hours ago, simon43 said:

I solved this mental dilemma by having no accrued wealth 🙂  My parents died years ago, my English kids and ex-wife disowned me 25 years ago.  My elder brother (executor of my will), knows full well that there is nothing in the pot for anyone, and therefore his role after my death will be minimal.  I earn my money every day and I spend my money every day 🙂 (putting some aside for my medical insurance, cremation costs etc).

Not much money in rocket science then. 

I'll encourage my grandson to be a plumber.

10 hours ago, bob smith said:

I've started to notice a pattern emerging.

 

I usually go out to eat and drink quite a lot in various places around Thailand.

Whenever I go somewhere new for the first time they are always all smiles, greeting me and lavishing me with their service.

 

However, I have noticed that once I return to the same establishment and they recognize my face the servers arent nearly as friendly.

Now if i get chatting with them and I have had a few I will sometimes let my guard down and start speaking with them in Thai.

This is when things become critical.

They either warm to this, or as is in the case of the woman the other day - they get offended by it.

 

I am a pretty well dressed guy and I usually dine alone.

So naturally the girls/waitresses want to get to know me a bit more.

sometimes they even sit at my table. they ask questions like ‘how long you stay here?’ ‘you have thai girlfriend?’..

sometimes I give them a cover story, depending on how I gauge the atmosphere in the place (are they scammy, etc)

but other times I let my guard down and tell all.

 

I have definitely noticed a pattern emerging:

The places were I play the dumb farang on holiday welcome me with open arms every time,

the places that know the real me start to become more aloof and even (i think) dislike me after my 4 or 5th visit.

The truth is, I am a wealthy farang who has done good here,

I think many of them don’t like that and are envious of me.

or is it just a classic case of familiarity breeding contempt? 

do I just need to find a new place to eat?

 

This has happened on multiple occasions in different parts of the country.

I decided to start this a while back as kind of a social experiment.

What I found was the dumb farang fresh off the boat gets more respect and better service than the average Thai speaking expat does.

 

Make of that what you will.

 

bob.

Maybe they don't like drink and drive people?

This has been 17 years in the making.

In the past Mr T tried to turn Thai against Thai for his own purposes.

Didn't work out too good.

Now turn Thai against another group...the foreigner. A common enemy. A vote  getter.

He's back guys.

History tells us this works quite well.

The army won't care this time.

I too am in Australia. me and the wife came back March 25th.

No idea what will happen re travel to Thailand in the near future.

I did read what I thought was one of the many conspiracy theories about the virus, also in March.

It said that Europe/USA and North asia, i.e Russia will get hit big time. Which it did.

Following this South America would cop it.....look at Brazil now. Then Africa.....who knows what is happening there.

After that South Asia...India is basically a basket case now,completely overwhelmed. Then, critically, the prediction was for SEA Asia to get hit big time. No idea why his should happen as they have already been exposed. Maybe coming into the cooler weather after the first wave?

Not my theory, make of it what you will.

Dont commit to any airfares for a while mate.

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

50 years for 350 E's, bit much

Some people take cheating at Scrabble very seriously.

21 minutes ago, Kurtf said:

I hate living here in Thailand and want to return to my home country but I can't leave until I sell my house here since all my savings is tied up in the house. The only redeeming thing is the low cost of living here. 

Where is it, what is it and how much do you want?

Always interested in property at the right price.

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

You have not mentioned the 800.000Bt in the bank.

I think he made it quite clear the financials were not an issue.

10 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Some state borders are also closed, with exception of people travelling their for work allowed over and back, (they obviously do not carry the virus, coz they work) anyone else entering have to quarantine for 14 days, but can drive to destination , so anomolies everywhere

As I know only too well. 7 days in to 14 days self isolation after returning from Thailand last week.

1 hour ago, cyril sneer said:

jesus

Yes?

27 minutes ago, Youlike said:

Better bring your business to a place like Singapore, they are miles ahead of the Thai. I hope we can move soon.

There is a retirement visa in Singapore that a pensioner can access?

Didn't think so.

7 hours ago, donnacha said:

When I see these news stories, with photos and videos of angry littles faces, so furious that their government is not doing enough to rescue them, I am just astonished at the brass neck of these people.

March is now ending. We have known since January that this problem was serious, at least serious enough to keep a close eye on. We then spent February watching country after country instituting travel restrictions, and airlines starting to cut routes.

It was clear which way thing were going by the end of February. The penny dropped for me in the wee hours of the morning on the 21st of February. I had arrived in Manila, just a couple of days before and was really looking forward to the spending the next few months in the Philippines. I suddenly understood that we had reached a point at which things were only to get more difficult, expensive, and dangerous for any Westerner caught in Asia. I considered returning to Thailand but saw that, while it might initially be safer, the sudden collapse of their tourist industry was going to cause massive ripples. What was going to happen was unprecedented, there was no way to predict how matters might develop. I could also get badly trapped between visa idiocy and no travel options.

Sitting there in my hotel room, at 3 or 4 in the morning, it was very clear that, for the first time in over two decades, I would have to make an unplanned return to the relative safety of Ireland. I was gutted to leave, and realized I might not be able to return for a very long time, but knew it was the only choice. I paid Emirates $670 for a one way ticket to Dublin, flying out that night. Then I slept for eight hours, did some shopping, had a nice meal, packed my stuff, checked out at 9PM, and caught a taxi to the airport.

20 hours later I was in Dublin Airport. I collected my suitcase and headed towards the exit. A uniformed lady stopped me. Ah, I thought, here at last is some sort of check to make sure infected travelers aren't wandering into the country. Don't worry, I said. I'm not coming from China, just the Philippines. She looked confused. Oh, she said, that. No, I just want to check if you're bringing cigarettes into the country.

During the layover in Dubai, I got chatting with some English tourists heading in the other direction to enjoy a few months in S.E. Asia. They told me it was a last minute decision, made mainly because they received a terrific deal on a resort hotel and the flights had been unusually cheap too. They planned to travel around for at least a couple of months. I was able to confirm that, yes, they would definitely be able to find hotels at unusually good prices, especially in Vietnam where I had spent a month immediately before Manila. I did ask if they were aware of the Corona virus. They were aware of it but were confident it wouldn't be a problem and, they were so excited, I did not have the heart to reveal my own conclusion.

That was February 22nd. I hope they had a few good weeks but, then, by St. Patrick's Day, mid-March, the good sense to get their posteriors onto a plane home. I reckon they almost certainly did. These idiots in the article, trapped in Phnom Penh by their own stupidity, and all the other idiots trapped in places they should have left weeks ago, represent only the most irresponsible, delusional of travelers. As I see them tut, and complain bitterly about how "that idiot Boris" isn't helping them, and how all this "just isn't good enough", I find myself thinking "Som nom na".


  
 

Wow that's some story!

I simply booked a flight online and buggered off to Australia. 

My apologies as there was no drama involved.

18 minutes ago, Parsve said:

Three quarters of Covid-19 cases are foreigners

I certainly do not understand this interest in pointing out what nationality a victim is. The only thing that should be of interest to Thailand is how many people are affected and thus can spread the infection.

I think it is only on this forum that the headline appears. Poor old matthias has to get the punters in to get paid.

34 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Of course I've been to them.  How many of them will still be around when all of this is finished?  Obviously, this is having a huge effect on domestic tourism as well. 

I think it is the opposite. Domestic tourism is the cause , not the effect. Cant imagine too many internal tourist specifically looking for a farang bar or restaurant. In a week or two domestic tourism, indeed internal travel will be finished for quite a while.

A little off topic, but for the people who think Thailand is going over the top with restrictions, as of tomorrow any gathering of more than 2 people is banned in Oz. Depending on which state you live in the fines range from 20,000 baht on the spot to over 35,000 baht and the possibility of jail.

Social distancing is the answer and it is being taken very, very seriously.

Lets leave the pedantic posts about what if...blah blah blah. Yes you can be with your family group at all times. But NO you cannot go and visit family who do not live with you if the number of people exceeds 2.

32 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

And sharing food is not a health hazard as long as minor precautions are taken. Do you really think people are sharing utensils and being that reckless at this stage? I see alot of Thais who are in a panic over this. It is possible that is exactly where the army wants them to be?

Your apparent seething hatred for the army appears to be impacting on your higher level intelligence functions.

Take a chill pill and reassess. 

Objectively, based on your posts, every government in the world are pulling the wrong policy levers.

Only you have the answer.

Hmmm......

26 minutes ago, flexomike said:

you want me to send you over a couple of these

I just googled it...….no thanks, don't waste the money on freight.