CrunchWrapSupreme

13 hours ago, sipi said:

From my experience farang that complain about being victimised by a Thai pale in comparison to farang that complain about being victimised by a farang, and never stepped foot out of their country.

Indeed. One must watch out more for the other farangs. They're the real snakes in the grass. Especially as a teacher, if you have the misfortune of working under another farang. They'll totally throw you under the bus. They've become their Thai bosses' obedient lackies, emasculated, castrated, hehe, so they must do something to soothe those bruised egos. They very well can't bite the hand that feeds them, so they go after the only ones they can, other farangs. Truly some sad sacks.

It bears repeating. If you're really curious, please don't pick them up off of Suk. Go to a reputable LB bar like the one at the end of the Soi 4. They won't try anything on you there, lest the bar be brought into disrepute. They even got an upstairs room for you to, uh, engage in the LGBT studies which are being banned in American red states. ???????????? So I've heard. Then you won't have to deal with that Rolex lifted from your hotel room nonsense. Seriously? Leave the Rolex at home. All you need to impress the ladies, or "ladies" here, are a couple of those lovely, gold coloured 1000 baht notes. Cheers. ????

18 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Why particularly foreigners?

Because of this guy. ????????

5 hours ago, thailand49 said:

knowing full well guys like me are inside swapping spit and licking human chicken wings! 

And in most places in America you're now brought up on charges for just looking at them the wrong way. Thailand can't open soon enough.

There were some special days on the 10th and 11th. There's a shrine next to the local market here, where a stage, tents, and chairs were set up. People were dancing, making merit, and getting totally wasted. Motorbikes parked up and down the road, upon which they simply hopped on when it was finished, leaving bottles and cans everywhere.

9 hours ago, Onerak said:

40/50 something single person and then finding a wife and may be a family in the future. Thousands have done that in the past with visa runs and on meagre teachers salary.

Guilty as charged. ????

Another lazy day in the market here with the wife, waiting for the next school term, hoping to รวยรุ่ง ("get rich").

17 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Easily get 1000 baht an hour or more, which is pretty good if you do 40 hours a week. 

Yeah, for like test prep and STEM specializations, with lots of charisma, like that one guy who always gets into these threads about how he's got the Chinese kids booked into the next year with his "mad scientist" schtick. ???? That def ain't me. Just lowly Eng conversation practice here. $200 USD is a good week for me, part time. Just happy it makes the car payment.

6 hours ago, blazes said:

Personally I have not met one person who owns even one ounce of gold

A sobering number in the US is the median income, only $31k. This means over half of all Americans bring home less than $2500 a month. These days over half of that is rent. What can do with the other half?

There's a lot more Americans claiming to be into gold, crypto, paying cash for properties and cars, yadda yadda, than are actually possible. Most are full of it.

At mostly 30-45k baht/mo, most foreign teachers in Thailand also teach online to supplement their income.

Whenever I meet a new student and mention I'm from Thailand, many remark "Oh, another one in Thailand! Why are so many of you in Thailand?" There's hundreds and hundreds of us doing it. I then tell them about the friendly people, low cost of living, etc. And as mentioned, having a regular job like teaching is handy as it gives you the Non-B visa to stay here, to do any online work you might have, as there is no "digital nomad" or "online work" visa.

I definitely wouldn't recommend online teaching if you really like making money, however. You should be doing what my friends are doing, like web development for e-commerce.

Just in time as the buck approaches 35 baht. The 'Muricans are ready. ????????

4 hours ago, CharlieH said:

"village farang"

I'm the known farang of my moo ban. However, I use the powerful word "teacher" to repel them from any possible financial enrichment activities.

It worked just as well to keep from getting second dates back in the States. ????

"""""""Massage""""""" ????????????

Thailand? Uh, uh... The temples, temples... TEMPLES!!!

2 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

We work to survive. We start in the West between the ages of 16 to 21. Most jobs are mundane and tedious and often soul destroying

I spent my 20's in sales, got sick of the stress, and needed a change of scenery after my long time GF left me. Went back to school, finished my degree, hopped on a plane, now here I am.

Here in my moo ban, a grandpa recently kicked out his former BKK bargirl granddaughter who was too good for any other work. In the nearby town, given the pandemic, many of the shops have converted to online sales, and can't get enough people to talk to online customers and pack their orders. That little princess is now plentifully packing. Any other young folks in need of employment should be advised to look in that direction.

On 5/5/2022 at 4:34 PM, Jotnar said:

Most sockets, especially those cheap extension, fake surge protection cords will eventually lose their bite.  Trash them.

Yup. Especially here in the LOS, where part of their culture is constantly plugging and unplugging devices, wanting to save on the electric bill, and prevent fire hazards. Unfortunately this then creates loose connections that are then prone to sparking.

First thing I did after I met my wife and began visiting her folks, was replace all the 20 year old sockets in the house.

I get the daily USD/THB market rate on my Chase Visa. No foreign transaction fees. I use my card here, then pay it in the US from my US bank, no transfers required.

Another year in the LOS. 15 mins at the labor office, then 15 minutes at immigration. Thanks Issan.

As opposed to a certain office neighboring BKK, which takes several visits each lasting several hours. The best thing to happen to that office, IMHO, would be to sink into the ocean and provide that area with lovely seaside recreation.

Welcome to Issan. I highly recommend it over BKK. Immigration for one thing is a lot better. Also friendlier people, cleaner air, less traffic, less hi-sos. I still like BKK for a holiday.

How many boxes? Like 4-5? You can take them with you on the bus, like Nakhonchai Air. They stick em in the cargo area, for a small fee.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Even private schools have been struggling to find enough competent teachers to take online classes

Hah, tell that to a certain, famous BKK private school that makes a habit of letting go half their foreign staff every term.

They can't all be incompetent. There must be some other motive for them to do so, I'm guessing involving insurance or taxes. It certainly isn't education, as every term they then wind up with a fresh crew, who must again learn their way around all the school's ridiculous paperwork and procedures. Not to mention being unable to form any meaningful connections with the students, as they're always being let go.

Hello,

14,284.10 THB is now in your account.

That was really fast. Your money arrived in 4 seconds.

Transfer details
Amount:
420 USD
Rate:
34.35

Bah, yesterday it was 34.5. Oh well. Not bad for two weeks of online teaching. Los dólares americanos are certainly welcome here in the moo ban.

From what I've heard, I'm lucky I got a wife who wants to work. She was working her behind off waitressing when I first met her in a BKK restaurant. She had also been doing housekeeping and reception in hotels.

As I teach English online to adults now, I love telling them of her success story. She had only finished school up to 6th grade, after which her parents then made her work on the farm, then factories, then she made her way to BKK. And no, while she's cute, she couldn't measure up to the head turners who went into the usual profession, so it was off into legit hospitality she went. Here she talked to the tourists, and acquired a decent, conversational level of English, the same I tell my students they could easily have with the same level of practice and dedication as she.

After we dated and later got married, she's traveled around with me as I've worked at different schools. Of course being the farang I had to provide support, but this didn't mean she had to quit. She picked up jobs in restaurants where we were living, and for the landladies at our apt buildings, cleaning up the place, and handling the tenants. When I got a job at a certain awful, disgustingly arrogant BKK private school, it fortunately had a great fringe benefit, a busy market next to our condo. Here she opened a somtam shop, and in the first three months with a lot of sweat and coming home at 10-11 pm each night, she raked in 150k baht.

Seeing this motivated her to keep going. She didn't want to quit. Unfortunately Covid put an end to that, as there was a body found in the street not far from that market, prompting it and our shop's shutdown. Good timing as I was sick of that school anyway, so back to her parent's place here in Issan we came, scoring a job at the local country bumpkin school, which I'd take over dealing BKK hi-sos any day of the week.

She's still working, in a shop in a market next to the dusty country road. Mr. Farang husband brings home a modest amount from the country bumpkin school and online teaching, yet she still doesn't want to quit. Next step is the USA, where we've both been eyeing the labor shortage in the news, $60k a year for me, and $15-20/hr for her.

14 minutes ago, PeachCH said:

tell wife that you will handover when leaving Amphur. (in my case 20k

My wife told me the story about divorcing her previous farang husband, who decided to trade up to a younger model. She had told him, quite rightly, "Is there any help for my future?" He said well, we'll see.

They went to the amphur to do the papers, after which he simply walked off. Just prior to this, as he was packing papers in his bag, she caught a glimpse of an envelope stuffed with bills. Apparently he was waiting to see if this was a legal requirement, handing over some cash. It wasn't, so he simply kept it. Yet there was the moral obligation of leaving a now older woman without support, high and dry.

13 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

I've long felt that there should be a "corkage" charge for those foreigners who arrive in Thailand with their own wives in tow.

Indeed. Thailand prefers you come single, to avail yourself of their many lovely offerings, an understated part of their economy.

New air cons and refrigerators don't just magically move from Thai Watsadu to homes throughout Issan by themselves.

The US wants you married to the potential immigrant. They want you to have known her awhile, plan on being in the US awhile, and have you support her. The longer you've known her, or have already been married to her prior to entry, the better. Documentation, photos and communication going back several years, helps in this regard.

They don't want you bringing in someone possibly just using you to enter, who will then simply run off to apply for government benefits, and do work under the table. This has happened to many, including a friend of mine. Thus, most visas for GFs and tourists are denied, unless that person has a high status and income, strong reasons for returning to Thailand.

I'm about to begin the IR-1 visa for my wife. It requires 2 years of marriage prior to applying. Because of this there's a bit of preference and faster track to a green card.