PingRoundTheWorld

Got a link to those? sounds like it might help with my Imarflex unit (that doesn't have a charcoal filter).

My experience has been every 6 months running them 24/7. Also keep in mind that charcoal filters need to be replaced every 1-2 months to actually be effective - but no one replaces that often. If PM2.5 is your main concern every 6 months would work. As for Hatari- I bought one which arrived DOA. Turned on for about 5 seconds before burning out. Trashed it and got the exact same purifier, but from Imarflex - which works. I think eventually I'll go back to Xiaomi as they're more effective depending on the noise level.

Doesn't matter which brand you buy- make sure of a few things: 1. It has at minimum both a HEPA filter (for dust etc) and an active charcoal filter. (for smells, smoke, etc). I recently bought an Imarflex IF-067R, and was surprised to learn after-the-fact that it doesn't have a carbon filter. It does double as a fan which is a nice feature that oddly most manufacturers lack. 2. Size does matter - choose the right size for the room(s) - there's plenty of generic ones on lazada that are very cheap but are actually desktop size and don't really do much except look pretty. 3. Xiaomi is a bit pricier but it does work very well provided the fan is set to a high enough level. On low mode it's pretty silent but doesn't do much - on high mode it filters great but sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Probably best to alternate the two depending on whether you're in the room. 4. If you do choose Xiaomi, the air comes out on top which is kind of inconvenient - they do have accessories to redirect the air so you can actually point it where you want but you have to buy that separately.

So to rephrase: useless vlogger working illegally in Thailand. Vlogging is work if she's making money out of it (and she is), and being a hairstylist is of course illegal. Given that she's broadcasting this to the world it's doubtful how long she'll be able to stay here without getting deported. Next vlog probably a sob story about how she got arrested and deported, and the sad thing is some NPCs will sympathize and donate - apparently some already have. It's really quite sad how social media has devolved into voyeurs paying to watch how others live. And TikTok. And OF. An entire generation who's aspirations are to be internet-famous doing nothing special. Sure- there's money in that if you actually produce quality content and get millions of followers, but probably 99% don't make it and don't make much.

Personally I would need more than 3 million a year to live the same lifestyle I do now - but the grand majority of my budget goes towards alcohol and women - assuming I dial that back (which will happen for sure as I age) my core expenses are probably less than 1 mil a year. I don't understand why you're assuming 5% yearly inflation - that's more than double the average inflation in Thailand. I'd factor in 1-2% inflation, 3% if you're paranoid. But ideally you'll be investing in things that make you at least 7-8% or more a year and will still be able to draw 6% a year without depleting your nest egg and staying on top of inflation. If you wanted 3mil a year, at 6% draw you'd need 50 mil baht. Add a bit more to account for tax depending on the countries you're investing in and whether they have a DTA with Thailand. And that's assuming paying out of pocket - if you have any pension accounts and social security benefits they will reduce these requirements depending how close you are to retirement age. Bottom line: with anything above $1mil invested wisely you can retire AND have your nest egg grow beyond inflation assuming a moderate-to-nice lifestyle here.

Very helpful reply. Thank you so much.

Yeah I suspect it's someone bleeding her. Family member(s) most likely. I asked her not to give anyone other than her mom and daughters money but I'm sure she does anyway. I asked her to prepare a list of her expenses so I can understand how it's possible, we'll see how far that goes... A bit late for that, lol. She doesn't need a sob story - she's already bleeding me dry. Can't get pregnant so that angle's covered. That's what I'm thinking. They know she has a walking ATM and they're taking advantage of it. Yeah, I don't really want a girlfriend at this point and don't need anyone to take care of me, so next one will definitely be the non-paid kind (at least not directly, you always pay in some way lol).

There's no point repairing a microwave - easier to replace. Yes, it is the owner's responsibility and they will have to do it when you move out anyway. The microwave at my condo broke down, but I got tired of waiting for the fix and just bought one on Lazada, I think it was 1500 baht or so - which I would gladly pay to not have to deal with service people coming over here and waking me up - let the owner deal with that bs after I move out.

Haha. It's more of a Covid-era thing where I needed the emotional support, and it went downhill from there. I sort of view her as a lucky charm - as soon as I met her I got a 20% salary hike and another 7% soon after. I also got RSUs that are now worth enough to probably set me for life. I guess I kind of associate her in my mind with that success but really it's just dumb luck.

......yep. I know- crazy. Exactly why I'm questioning this.

I rent condos in both Bangkok and Pattaya and alternate. I like Bangkok more, but realistically nightlife is better in Pattaya.

She is also getting money from her daughter's father (ex) who lives in Australia, but he's post-accident and can barely function which is why they broke up. I don't think she has other ATMs - why would she need them when she's sucking me dry? lol. She is not western - she is Thai, and they live like Thai. Yep- that's what I thought. She doesn't even have to pay rent (her mom owns the house). I actually told her that- average person in Thailand makes maybe 15k a month, why do you need 50k and that's still not enough... no response. Because she doesn't need it. 1. She is a glorified prostitute, as most single moms are. Sad, but true. 2. Those aren't MY daughters. If their dads want to put up the money for private school and expensive vacations be my guest - not my responsibility. Yeah I've been wonder if it's this, or she's actually saving most of the money away. I suspect it's the latter though since the amounts I've been giving her cannot be spent on normal cost of living unless she's been gambling or otherwise throwing it away. That's the crazy part- one kid is full Thai so I doubt the father helps, but the other is half-Aussie so gets money from the father. What I give her is on top of that!

Nah. I have many friends and I bring home a different girl almost every morning. I'm also an introvert (when sober) so loneliness is never an issue. But agreed- pay-per-meet is the way to go.

That's exactly what I was thinking - both parts. Leave her off with a bit to get her started on her way back to work, but I've done my fair share and way way more than it aleady. Yep. I realize how insane this is. Yeah, I've met many women who are well off, and they actually expect MORE money than the poor isaan folk. I have a 24yo born-in-Bangkok regular who likes rough sex, comes from money. I don't give her much, but she keeps telling me how guys will throw 10-20k at her for one night. Actually saw her bargaining with a guy last night (I was with another girl) and the guy visibly balked at how much she was asking, but eventually accepted. I couldn't hear the conversation but I'm pretty sure how it went... Worth a thought, but I have no drama of my own. Zero. I think more to the point I take on their drama because it intrigues me - because I have none.

Yep. I've been trying to play the angle of not having it anymore, in debt back home etc - but that helps for about 2 days before she starts asking for more again. Kind of like an employee - you can't cut salaries once expectations are set. Yep. I know. Getting laid in Thailand was never a problem, lol. I think it's more in my head because I promised her I'll take care of her (when I was giving her 20k a month), but I never agreed to these crazy amounts that she escalated to. She has a keycard to my condo (yes I know - stupid), so I would have to at least keep communication until she gives that back. Or can re-key but I'm not sure how that works. haha, done!

Yep. That's what I thought. Thank you. Agreed. Money is not the root of all evil - LACK of money is. Can't escape from that mentality when you were born into it I guess. I've made it a habit to not respond to money requests- I get many (other than her) but 99% of the time I ignore it. As they say no good deed goes unpunished and if you help a damsel in distress she'll always remember you first, when she's in distress again.

Important parts in bold, you can skip the rest unless you're bored. What would be a typical/normal cost of living for a family (mom, grandma, 2 kids) in a village near Buriram? Here's the situation: During Covid I met my gf in a club. She was looking for a sponsor bf so I was aware from the start she's essentially working. Due to Covid I was stuck in my home country for long periods, where I have family but no friends or any type of contact with women - I've lived abroad for 20+ years so little interest in the women back home. I was ok with the idea of helping her with her cost of living in echange for some company - even if virtual. Later on I actually moved back to Thailand and we were living together for a year, during which she was great taking care of me - cooking, cleaning, the whole deal. Her mom was taking care of her kids, but when her daughter started school she wanted to be there, and I wanted to live in Bangkok - which she hates - so we decided it would be for the best for her to live with her mom and come visit me occasionally. I enjoy the freedom so that works for me. Now here comes the problem- back when we started she wasn't asking for much. Just a few thousand baht here and there. Little by little she started asking for more and more until I realized I'm giving her insane amounts like 70-90k baht a month and dialed it back. I told her I will give her 1500 baht a day (45k a month) and she should use that to cover her expenses. That worked for about two days before she started to ask for more "can I have 1500 for electricity bill?" "can I have 1000 baht to go buy food". I tried to ask her what is she spending the daily 1500 on?? it's supposed to cover these expenses. I do send her some extras here and there when there is a big bill etc, but knowing cost of living here there is no possible way in my mind that she could be spending north of 50k baht a month on cost of living - most Thais don't make anywhere close to this, and for sure not in a village in isaan. My thinking is she's either saving most of the money I give her and trying to get more as much as she can, or she's spending it on someone/something other than family - either a Thai bf or gambling or mooching family - I don't know the actual reason but I know this makes no sense. Am I crazy to assume there's no possible way a family in a village in isaan spends +50k baht a month?? P.S. Please don't offer moral judgement or "you need to dump her" advice - I'm fully aware she's working and taking advantage of me - eventually I will end it, but not today.

Phuket is not Thailand. I've lived in Phuket, Bangkok, and Pattaya and the one place I have no desire to ever go back to is Phuket. Hoardes of obnoxious tourists, highest prices in Thailand, worst taxi mafia in Thailand, worst gold diggers (hookers looking for a sponsor bf), and loads of mafia types of all sorts (French, Russian, etc) intimidating people and starting fights. Ohh, did I mention the condos are ridiculously overpriced for apartments that are literally falling apart? The salty air, lack of maintenance, and greedy cheap landlords are a lethal combination. I think we can sum up Patong in one sentence: where expired hookers go to find a retirement plan. Your mate could've just moved to Bangkok if he was sick of Phuket. Has no beach but still beats Blackpool.

Um what? 10,703 units valued at 52,259 million baht? 4882 baht per unit? that's awfully cheap for a condo. The math is obviously completely off/wrong on this. Also the whole sentiment is wrong: the Chinese are not buying like they used to, and neither are other nationalities. Articles like this just serve to artificially inflate prices even though there's no market demand. Prices will rise, units will sit empty for months/years, great job everyone. Edit: guess I was reading it wrong, and it's 4,882,000 baht per unit.. which makes more sense.

It sounds like you are assuming the money will be laying around doing nothing while he only depletes it. That's one way to do it, but not how most do. Even a conservative investment can easily get you 5-6% a year and probably more. Judging by the criteria you posted 175k/mo - even after tax - should be plenty to keep him afloat without ever touching the original 35mil, so age is irrelevant. Realistically 35mil is on the high side, but the typical problem in Pattaya is that guys get a gf/wife and end up spending significantly more than they originally planned as those ladies have a talent for bleeding you dry. If he keeps single and sticks to ONLY ST he could do it every day and still be within his budget. Another factor is alcohol and partying - it depends on your personal style but it could be anything from a minor expense to many thousands a day.

Why would you keep 13mil in a checking account?? they should be invested.

Allow 24/7 sales, advertising, and posting on social media. There is zero reason to restrict any of these and it's completely ridiculous that they are restricted. People will always want what they can't have, so restricting it is achieving the opposite effect encouraging people to drink more. Allow all of these, and ENFORCE drunk driving laws (it's not that hard!). But who am I kidding - it won't happen.

Your age is showing. Cannabis is not a gateway drug and will not cause you to "upgrade" to harder drugs - that's a completely false narrative spread many years ago. I personally don't use drugs at all, including Cannabis, but this is just false propaganda.

It's not that they cannot - it's that they chose not to because there's not enough incentive. If they actually wanted to I'm sure they could enforce both.

While I did not live with her 24/7, my previous girlfriend took about a year to turn from a complete sweetheart who showed zero signs of jealousy and was always supportive to a raging jealous monster who demanded we get married, went through my phone while I was drunk blocking and deleting any woman she could find, went through my cabinets and threw away bottle tickets and a lucrative membership discount card, and in general turned into a crazy *****. Turns out she was crazy all along - she did similar things with her past boyfriends too - but she was just very good at hiding it. She even said she was hiding it at first because she didn't want to scare me off. Eventually I cut it off because you can't fix a broken woman - it only gets worse. So yeah, give it PLENTY of time before you marry a woman. Live with her for a while. See what she's really like behind the mask.