ChrisP24

Much as I might enjoy that dinner conversation, I'm a somewhat old white guy and not in Thailand so definitely don't qualify.

Gamma, it occurs to me that the ratio of people who meet the demographic you're seeking is pitifully low on this forum.  By contrast, I think many of us have seen how neglected and lonely many of the wives and assorted family members of this nation's Indian immigrant population appear to be.  Have you considered recruiting from that demographic base?  They will be English-speaking, and appreciative of a nice dinner and good conversation with no expectations of any post-dessert activities. 

Here is a rather catchy tune that might inspire you.......

On 11/30/2023 at 12:19 AM, AdrianUk said:

My retirement is coming soon and I want to know if 186,000 baht a month is enough for rent, ladies (every day) and some booze in bars?  One of my friends says his 3 children at rugby school costs more than that.

 

The house I want to rent is 70,000 a month. (At siam royal view)

Sounds like your friend paid too much, he should have bought his children before they went to rugby school, they would have cost less.

As long as you don't buy any children of your own, it sounds like 186k baht with a 70k monthly rent ought to be enough. 

On 11/28/2023 at 3:38 AM, oxo1947 said:

Making my first Million...................................(Baht)...............................

Well that still technically makes you a millionaire.  Unless you spent it. 

Riding a rented scooter through a roundabout for the first time (coming from a country that drives on the right-hand side of the road). 

18 hours ago, Lacessit said:

LibreOffice, free spreadsheet software with any Linux operating system. Just as good as Excel for my purposes.

 

I record my incomes as I get them.

I calculate my expenditures at the end of each month. Total at end of the financial year..

Every financial year, I total up my various assets, which change as I move in and out of investments. I have no liabilities.

At my current rate of expenditure, I will be down to just pension income at age 105.

I tried software many, many years ago and found it too tedious, it was Andrew Tobias' Manage Your Money back in the 1990s.  Excel is much more flexible, you can lay out your own spreadsheets in the way that best aligns with how you mentally view your finances. 

And then later I migrated to Libre Office, which as Lacessit states is a free office suite that includes a spreadsheet that's functionally equivalent (and cross-compatible with) Excel.  It also includes counterparts to the other MS Office software.  It works fine with Windows. 

I've learned in my travels that with regard to how safe/unsafe an area is, a good indicator is whether the locals are comfortable bringing their own families/children and especially if the parents are letting their children run around having fun with other kids (vs. being clutched tightly by watchful parents just passing through on their way to someplace safer). 

One of the first things I noticed about the Jomtien night market area was that even around 9:00 p.m., there were many families with kids playing and running around on that little stage with the live music.  Also many families and apparent Thai (and Korean) tourists taking selfies at the Angry Birds park over on the beach, and Thai families relaxing all along the beachfront. 

To me that area seemed family-friendly with many families out enjoying it even after dark. 

Are you OK with English subtitles?   There are quite a few modern Thai horror and even a few drama movies and mini-series that I've enjoyed. 

This is even more confusing than when my Filipina wife tries to explain to me exactly how some of the third and fourth cousins are related to her (some of whom have more than one link).    

I quite enjoyed Bangkok Heightz at the top of the Continent Hotel a few years ago.  It wasn't loud, the food was excellent, and it had a great view of city lights looking down along Sukhumvit.

Good on you for wearing helmet!  Best wishes for a full recovery. 

It's funny, but I sometimes have the same though about my own countrymen here in my country, that I don't particularly like being around them.  I like my own space, but when I do chat with people it's more interesting to me if their life experience has been different from mine.  And I wonder how well or poorly I would have done had I been born in their environment.  It's also interesting to me how their environment has shaped their view of the world.

If you tried but instead used Spanish sardines preserved in the stuff together with a sliver of carrot, pickle and chili added to each tin, I think you'd survive longer (and better).

I personally could live for a very long time on the Portuguese sardine version of that, mixed with rice, although I imagine the nutritional profile is missing some things, the effects of which would become apparent by a month or two. 

One with a good Hoover could be a bonus.

On 10/15/2023 at 2:35 AM, Trippy said:

Boomers did have the best music. 

They (we) still do.

Back to original topic, ummm.... Thailand Awesome.  I've made four scouting trips now, the most recent one staying 2 1/2 weeks in Jomtien.  It was surprising in that I had time to actually get bored - - to me it did not feel like a place that I could ever become more than a visitor.   I should have broken up the trip into segments instead of staying in just one place. And actually I think that's how I'll travel Thailand going forward, keeping an open itinerary in order to unravel its awesomeness.

Best spots thus far have been Chiang Mai and Phuket, with emphasis on Kathu and the areas both north and south of Patong. 

I can tell that learning the Thai language would be a "must".  After trying a two-week course I think I could learn it, but it would take a couple of years of concerted effort. 

Yes, they were interesting at the time.  But I wouldn't want to go back and do them again now for more than a day or two.  Except for the army, that one I'd be OK doing a full deployment if it were for something important. 

Too early to tell, the differences in experiences/opportunities don't truly manifest until the child reaches their 20s and early adulthood.  It's also very specific to so many factors such as location, culture, family situation, socioeconomic status, etc. etc. etc.

I'm in the late stages of raising one boy and one girl, and I've taken great care over the years to give the girl messages to the effect of her being able to do anything and become anything she wants, in an effort to counter any message to the contrary she might be receiving through other channels.   Both kids are doing alright.

I'm a male so that has been my life experience and inevitable bias, but from observation I'd say that in general, globally, both genders have it better now than at any prior point in human history. 

On 10/4/2023 at 1:27 AM, Captain Disorderly said:

Hi and thanks for your comment , its really appreciated . Like you say may be statute of limitations (SOL) in the Florida boat has all ready sailed . Just a thought ,  if it may look impracticable and my friend's chance of recovering the money that was stolen from him ( property value ) after all these past years , is a very slim chance  . I wonder if another option would be to in some way try to expose the Florida based Realtor’s past activities ( Admitted Theft of property ) , which would hopefully alert  other potential clients from being scammed in the same way as my friend.

 

Thanks

 

.

 

 

 

 

You could check to see if the realtor is still licensed, and if so complain to whatever board licenses him.

Or just find review sites for whatever business he's doing now and post complaints with links to the article. 

If it were a viable case then a good attorney would take it on contingency, charging between 25% and 40% of the eventual recovery.  But after so much time I doubt there is a case, or an attorney who will take it.   

A quick google search indicates that the statute of limitations (SOL) in Florida is 4 years. 

I am not an attorney, however if the SOL can be overcome, my understanding is that a judgment for damages stemming from fraud cannot be discharged in bankruptcy so a judgment against the realtor could be pursued.  But scumbags who are no longer worried about their reputations can be so very good at evading these.  Your friend can save their stress by not expecting anything to move quickly, not expect and money at all (and if any comes it'll be an unexpected event).  But getting the judgment and having the attorney record it will show up in a background check of the perpetrator.   And eventually if the perp ever sells or refinances real estate in their name, they may have to deal with the judgment first, although after all this time your friend will be last in line after anyone else who has a judgment. 

But I think that ship has long ago sailed.  The time to act was within the SOL period. 

Sadly, it might be best for your friend's emotional health to just move on. 

Hope is not a plan. 

I've always strongly disliked the smell, and stayed away from it.   That is until I took a cooking class and learned how to make tom kha gai using all fresh ingredients, and learned how 3-4 dashes of fish sauce make such a beautiful addition to the layers of flavor in the soup.  That is ALL I use it for though, but for that alone it's worth stocking a small bottle. 

On 9/15/2023 at 8:42 AM, acepredator said:

Thanks for the information. Actually, I do have some work experience in the legal profession, so maybe it would be a good fit for me. I'll do some checking and see what I can find.

I was in the legal industry also for a lot of years, and can tell you that legal transcription services are in high demand, all the more so as law firms trend toward working remotely or even becoming virtual law firms.

10 hours ago, acepredator said:

Thanks for your reply. I did look into transcription and proofreading jobs. The transcription jobs I saw required investing a lot of time, and many of them dealt with highly technical fields that I'm not familiar with. Also, they had deadlines, so they would generate a lot of stress trying to get the transcription done by a certain time and date. I want to be able to set my own schedule, so that I won't have to deal with the pressure of a deadline.

 

Many of the proofreading jobs I saw required training and experience as a proofreader, neither of which I have, and some of the work was in languages other than English. I didn't examine them too closely, but I assume most would also have deadlines, like the transcription jobs. 

 

I hadn't thought about editing jobs, but presumably they would be similar to those mentioned above: training and experience required, or at least desired, with deadlines imposed. In any event, I will look into the employment sites that you provided in your post. Thanks for the information and for the good luck wish. Same to you (I think it's safe to say that everybody can benefit from more good luck. It's never a bad thing.)

Editing/proofing/transcribing for the legal industry is in high demand and is really not all that technical, it just requires clear and precise writing.  It's not like the medical field with a bunch of eight-syllable words. 

I would think that with your background (corroborated by the obvious writing skill in your posts) you may be able to find remote work doing editing, proofreading or transcription.  I don't know any specific ones but a google search shows tons of listings from legitimate employment sites such as indeed.com, and zip recruiter.  I see eScribers in the search also. 

You might try a similar search using your VPN to set your IP address to a U.S. location.

Of course there will be some scam listings even on legit job sites, but I'd wager that some will pan out, and you can try out several to see which ones are legit and which ones work best for you. 

The good news is that it sounds like you don't need a lot of extra money, and a legit gig doing this sort of work requires a native English speaker/writer and an educated one at that, so ought to pay at western-level hourly contract rates.  So this type of remote work may be a good fit.

Good luck to you.