JensenZ

I thought I should clear this up as there are more than one type of non-drinkers. Suggesting a non-drinker must be abstaining is a narrow assessment. Some non-drinkers might be abstaining as they used to be heavy drinkers or they are alcoholics and they hopped on the wagon. I've never drunk alcohol and don't like it. It's that simple. I prefer other beverages. I have been drunk and hate the feeling afterwards. I occasionally partake in a glass of wine. I'm not a non-drinker for health reasons. There's no judging others who drink, and often I go out with friends who drink. I would suggest people take better care of their livers though, as they are hard to replace and one of the most important organs in the body.

I would take a guess and suggest MANY tourists, when they first arrive are surprised at the cost of drinks and services in gogo bars. Pattaya as a tourist resort offers exceptional value, until you hit the red lights.

A very interesting event! He wasn't much of a mate to take off and leave you sleeping among the wolves. From the bar's point of view - why not try it? I would say most customers just pay up without making too much fuss. Occassionally they will meet resistance and they know the cops are on their side, so it's a perfect scam. They can't admit they scammed you while you were sleeping, so they have no choice but to call the cops.

Understood, but mine was not as many here had been discussing at length the general padding of bills.

Yes, I think it is you who might be confused. There is no 35 year rule to qualify for the OAP. The qualification period is 10 years. The 35 years is necessary to get full OAP. If you have spent less time in Australia than 35 years (from age 16 to qualification age), then you get a percentage of the OAP based on how many years you have resided in Australia. Example: I have lived in Australia for 20 years so I get 20/35 = 57% of the full OAP. Now I read about a proviso that if you have not lived in Australia after 1 July 2014, the full qualification period becomes 25 years. Specifially, in my case I have lived 20 years in Australia before 1 July 2014, so my full qualification period is now 25 years and not 35 years. As I have only 3 years left to retirement qualification age of 67, I cannot reach the required 25 years for the full OAP. An extra rule here is that if you come or came back to live in Australia after 1 July 2014, but leave again before qualifying age, the minimum age for full OAP reverts back to 35 years. https://agepensionguide.com.au/what-are-the-age-pension-residency-requirements/ If you’ve checked off the Australian residency requirement, you must also meet at least one of the following criteria to qualify for the Age Pension: you have been an Australian resident for at least ten years — at least five of those years must have been consecutive. ---------------------------------------------------- You will still receive the Age Pension if you leave Australia for more than 26 weeks, but the amount you’ll receive will depend on a calculation based on how long you were an Australian resident between the ages of 16 and the date you reached your pension age. The amount generally won’t change if you were an Australian resident for 35 years or more. If you were an Australian resident for a shorter period, your pension payment would be proportionally reduced. For example, if you were an Australian resident for 20 years, your amount will be calculated as 20/35ths (57%) of the amount you would normally receive. 35 years is the qualifying length of time needed to receive the full amount. 20 years is 57% of the time required, so you would receive 57% of your usual pension amount. For anyone who has lived outside Australia since 1 July 2014, the residency requirement is 25 years rather than 35. However, if you were to return to Australia for more than 26 weeks, the 35 years would apply if you were to leave Australia again.

This conversation has become more general in nature. Even so, 2000 baht could be a big bill for some, especially if they didn't order many drinks.

That's a very long story to basically say you don't believe that bars rip people off. Let's be clear here, the average Joe who sits quietly with his beer looking at the ladies won't get ripped off. It's the party boys with lots of lady drinks with a full wad of drink receipts in his little cup that cop the "special" treatment. In fact, even you, totally sober, would find it hard to keep track. My "stories" are first hand, from me.

Yeah, the only problem with that theory is that these are tourists mainly, and don't expect that Walking Street can, under some circumstances, be a health risk. Most drunk tourists don't take a physical beating and at worst, end the night with empty wallets.

If you were very drunk, you might not have been so lucky. If you don't drink much, it's easy to keep tabs because you're not drinking much and your bill is small. I've been in a gogo with some Aussie friends (only 2) who ended up with a 10,000+ tab in a few hours and to be honest, I had no way to check it as drinks were coming in at a rapid rate.

So a good lesson here - don't live in highrise building if you tend to get very drunk. The railings are quite low in most buildings.

Why are you asking what planet I live on? I'm merely explaining that when I chaparone friends who get drunk at gogo bars (I don't drink), I often encounter padding of bills. You have to keep a very close eye on the tab. Drunk people are the best customers. At civilized bars in other countries, the staff are obligated legally not to serve people who are very drunk. They need to be treated respectfully. In this case, the Russian might not have been drunk, and fully aware of an oversized bill. I've been living on Planet Thailand and specifically Planet Pattaya for many years LOL

What does a smile have to do with kindness? You can be kind without smiling. When I give money to poor people, I don't smile. In fact I don't smile at all in Thailand and there's no need to, but I'm still friendly and kind to strangers. I maintain a neutral expression. Most staff in restauarants would prefer a tip to a smile anyway.

You do realise people get drunk and lose track of how much they ordered and the cost thereof? They often prey on drunk customers, adding significant amounts to their tabs. I've seen this first hand going out with drunk friends when I'm keeping tabs of their bills. This Russian already paid the bill in pain and blood.

There's amino acids in all fruits and nuts. You'll be eating a truck load of fruit, nuts and vegetables on a "fruit" diet. It will be far healthier than most diets if the type of fruit and nuts are balanced. Really the avocados don't contain protein, but the essential amino acids that are used by animals to build protein. You don't need as much protein as you were lead to believe. I've known fruitarians and they were very healthy.

Most fruitarians will eat nuts and seeds, and fruits like avocados, along with some vegetables. There you have plenty of healthy fats and protein. You don't need to eat protein, just amino acids. The body will produce all the proteins it needs from the 9 essential amino acids.

Not to mention the extensive militarization of a number of islands in the South China Sea. https://amti.csis.org/island-tracker/china/

I don't believe there is a 35 year limit for the pension to be "portable". Any pension is portable, but the time you've spent in Australia between age 16 and retirement age determines how much you can get and reduction is x/35 percent where x is the number of years you've lived in Australia. I did read that if you've been out of Australia from 1 July 2014, the 35 years minimum is reduced to 25 years, but once you have spent 26 weeks in Australia after that date, it reverts to 35 years if you leave again before you reach your retirement age.

I'm lucky that my wife doesn't cook, so eating is a job and I only do it well after I'm hungry. I might be hungry for hours before I get around to eating.

It's quite likely the burglar was a professional and carried his own bag.

50 officers at 1 am... a huge waste of resources.

I can only understand what you wrote, and you made the point clear that you don't think relationships can work. If that is not what you meant, then you need to improve on your comminication skills, which quite frankly leave a lot to be desired. Quite happy to cease any further discussion with you. Bye.

The problem might be you. I've been with the same lady for 20 years and married for 13 of them. We are still each other's best friends. Those many friends you claim to have are only acquaitances. How many would still be around if you went broke or had some serious problems? Let's call them fair-weather friends.

Nothing here has anything to do with "law". It's about immigration policy. They make up new rules all the time. Immigration can do what they like. No one takes them to court to determine what is legal or not under law.

Corruption and red tape are worse in the Philippines... plus it's a much more dangerous country to live in for foreigners. I lived there for 5 years, and I'm now in my 18th year in Thailand. Life is a lot more relaxing and peaceful here. Some people just seem to have problems wherever they live. You need to work with the system, not against it. I came here to retire, not get worked up about the politics. That's really not my business at all.

Read the last line of my post again. Are you suggesting that the entire population should have anti rabies vaccinations? Let rabid dogs run free, just make sure everyone is vaccinated? You don't need confirmation of a dog having rabies after you're been bitten. It is assumed and vaccinations are recommended. Dogs bite people, rabid or not.