fredwiggy

I moved here to build a house for my now ex and our daughter. Her colors came out after the house was built, as many other expats have seen. It is cheaper but I'll gladly pay more and be happier, and my daughter safer.

I lived there 62 years, and never whined about anything. It's a much better place to raise children, and their opportunities are a thousand fold greater. Isaan is boring. The islands are nice, but I live 8 hours away and none of my hobbies I can enjoy here.

How could you doubt anything about anyone you don't know? Yes, I knew about Thai and it's ways, but came here to take care of my now ex wife and my daughter. Going back home to the US as soon as possible is because of seeing it more firsthand. It's not a good place for little, or for that matter, big girls. Thailand tries to learn from other countries for decades, and adopts some of their ways, but prejudice handed down from generations has slowed this progress. There's a reason thousands of locals have moved out and never came back. And it's not only because of money.

I was there 62 years, and know full well the advantages people take on retailers. happens worldwide also. Wal Mart used to do it all the time, but recently started taking not only the ID, but give a reduction of the posted price, just for this reason. The worse times get, the more this will happen. I worked for Home Depot, and people used to put things on carts and just walk out, and you couldn't stop them outside the store. Only call police and give them the tag numbers.

I am as soon as I can, trust me. The longer you stay here, besides the brown nosers, the more you understand the mentality of what goes on, and the more you miss what reality is.

All depends on the store. It's not a law.

Yes, it does but retailers also know that many people lose receipts, and people will return to stores that treat them well, even if they made a mistake.

I'm not sure what you mean by western, but in the US, most places will return, and many without a receipt. It's called better business, as it brings return customers. It's not a question of have to but will.

Most everyone buys things on impulse, or thinking they need them. It's not a bother to staff to return things. It's their job, and most everywhere has a return policy, including 7-11's. I've personally seen at least three occasions where people returned items, and they were all Thai's. Not about hospitality but common sense and not being prejudiced.

No, I actually knew a lot about this country before I came. Then it came clear from the first month on

Always amazes me what makes news here daily. This isn't a public thing, yet they have to try and get their 15 minutes of shame. I've watched news almost daily here for over 6 years and besides the Covid thing, most of it involves snakes in houses in Bangkok, people ganging up 5 against 1 and chasing them down the street with sticks and machetes, the daily deaths on the roads, and those that park their scooters outside a gold store, in plain sight of CCTV, and rob, then go straight home. Sometimes they'll throw in a few moments about the latest war, or fires in California, but it usually sticks to the same themes.

Yes. The reason so much sugar , and salt, is put into a lot of food is the fact the companies know that people are addicted to it.

Avoiding processed sugar is one thing. White rice here is very high on the glycemic level, which cause spikes in blood sugar. It's not easy eating out because unless you know what they're putting in the food, you're at the mercy of the cooks. You can eat a lot of foods and I've included a link to help.......................https://www.lark.com/resources/low-glycemic-foods-list

The same thing happens daily in the US. They pay coyotes to get them in, who don't care what happens after they are paid, and they are kicked out or used by their employers. I knew of a few that were housemaids in a small city next to San Antonio. Lived there and took care of the kids also. These were well off Americans who hired illegals because they know they can pay them cheap, and if they lose them they find another. It happens in Thailand on fishing boats, where they are hired then treated as slaves and beaten or killed if they talk. Human traffickers prey on them here and a lot of other places. With officials involved it's hard to prosecute the rich who are involved.

Black beans are available at Lazada or Shopee. It's what you cook them with that makes them Cuban style. As long as they're actual black beans and not black soybeans. You'll have to ask them

You do know you look more ignorant with every post don't you? How would you know anything about me by my posting that I believe in God, that he created the universe, and it didn't just happen or always was there, which is a guess someone made and you believed? A person with an above average IQ can understand most anything put their way. I'm a little more above that. Not a genius level like my dad was, but close. I myself, believe you are a person who might know a little about science, but rely on google to learn more, like millions of others. You might be a very low IQ person, trying to bolster their ego by arguing a point online with a stranger that you know zero about, besides my faith in God, and believing he made everything. I think he did, you think he doesn't exist. How can you say either way when you have no proof either way? And you assume I threaten everyone with eternal damnation when I haven't threatened anyone. It's not mine to judge. I only can spread the word. You don't believe, that's up to you. I can't send you to hell. That's your deal. I don't follow a cult. I'm not that ignorant. I follow God because of faith. I believe he exists for many reasons, a few of which are what I see and have seen all my life. Do you think everything in the universe, from an insect's wing, to the fact that the earth is exactly the right distance from the sun to sustain life, how everything alive has all it needs to survive here, how the moon controls the tides, how gravity keeps us on earth, the intricacies of the brain, all the different species on earth, and millions of other miracles, that all of this just happened and came to be out of nothing? I know what science gave to us. I'm on my computer typing these words, because someone invented all of this. They have the intelligence to invent things, because they were given a brain, like almost all of us, from a creator. That brain came from nothing? A big bang that made everything we know. I don't think so, but you do. And like I said before, when you die, you will know the truth, and then it will be too late. Not because of me, but because the entity that made everything has the right to have laws. Laws which we must follow because he is the creator, and his laws make sense so we don't hurt others. I don't like a lot of what happens here, from the continual onslaught of narcissists and their evil ways, to depression which ruins millions of lives, and diseases which do all of us in eventually. But I'm going to compare 85 or so years to forever, and that the pain ends when we die, if we believe. As before, if you are right, and there is no God, you have nothing to worry about. If there is a God, and you don't believe, then you do.

There you go , again, assuming what I or anyone else knows. That is a common trait among narcissists, who also assume they are somehow better than anyone else. Anyone,like you, can research online and find out things. Anyone, like you, can listen to a few scientists and believe, naively, that what they say is gospel. Yes, many have found out things about our universe that we didn't know earlier. That's what they do.Things that you mention that were unknown or unbelievable were found to be true. Many things. I believe, like most everyone does, in scientists. That doesn't mean I believe everything, as that would make me, like you, gullible. You spend a lot of time trying to prove to me that my God doesn't exist. Why? What happened to you that you lost faith? Or did you never have faith, and were taught by parents that there can't be a God? Or maybe, you are too smart to believe in something you can't see or feel, and let others decide for you. Did a loved one die, and you thought, there can't be a God, because so much evil exists in this world, and he doesn't do anything about it. To you, simple parlor tricks are just that. To us, the believers, they are miracles, things we see everyday. You have no evidence the universe started all by itself, so your argument means nothing also. You can go and look up what a scientist said, and it may seem logical to you, because, without faith, you have a closed mind and can't believe there is a creator of everything. Everything you have stated in your posts is common knowledge to people who wonder about our universe. Including myself. Thinking you know something and another doesn't is ignorance. Where did you learn these things? Online. Do you know everything you know is available to me also? The difference between us, besides your closed ,ignorant mind, is that I believe in God, even though I haven't yet seen him. You believe in what others have told you, that there is an explanation for how the universe started. I say God created everything. I have faith he exists. It isn't just common sense to believe the universe had a creator. You can't prove otherwise, so answering me shows the narcissism and not intelligence. One of us is wrong. It just might be you. From Isaac Asimov, if you know who he is...........“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”― Isaac Asimov

How about when you die and find out you backed the wrong horse, Humans made rules, following God's commandments, which, even if you leave those out that are about him, make perfect sense. You might read this, because you're understanding of slavery is limited.....................https://ac3.org/2016/01/did-jesus-condone-slavery

Speak for yourself, oh clueless one

That's a long time ago. People are still slaves to wrong thinking now.

I am the Lord God, thou shall not put other gods before me.

Islamics believe in God. And those that use God as an abusive tool aren't doing what God wants. That is why a lot turn away. Abuse in any form only puts people off.

The difference here is that Buddha came from his parents, and Jesus is God's son. People keep inventing gods because they are always looking for what they can see, and not believe by faith. I'm not belittling anyone, so I don't know where you get this from. I respect all other's beliefs, and it's my job as a Christian to spread the word. I can't force them to believe and wouldn't anyway. That's their own free will.

I put the three together. Those that don't believe because they were taught not to. Those that can't believe a God would allow evil to run rampant. And those that are skeptics because science had led them to believe otherwise. They are believing in other people, and have no faith in God's creation. 31% of people worldwide are Christians, 25% Islamic, Hindus 15%, 6% Buddhists, and Atheists and Agnostics 15%. The other smaller religions account for the remainder. I don't have a little argument. Believers in God far outweigh the rest. There are reasons for that, and it's not all "brainwashing". Again, believe what you need to. You'll find out eventually what's right. By then you might look back and say, "I should have listened to sense and not science".

Brainwashed means you're pressured into believing something. My parents didn't force anything and knew I had my own mind. Just like children here are taught from an early age that a man is somehow divine, when he isn't, they have their own minds, and when they get older and are subjected to other beliefs, they can make their own minds up. Just like i did. You're saying there are hundreds of gods sounds like Greek mythology. If there were in fact even two gods, there would surely be evidence because they would be competing for power. God doesn't need to compete because there isn't any, besides false beliefs in these other gods. He lets us use our own free will to decide what is right or wrong. When we die, we'll know if we made the right choice. I'm not playing with fire.