2009

Yeah, I'd say the average guy here spends a fair few grand (dollars) a year on booze alone. Then, the women, even more expensive ????

Yeah, no interest in living in a Muslim country. Maybe for a while it you money was good (e.g. middle east), to stay there for pleasure? Nah. I did stay in Info for a few months with my EX, but it ain't any better than Thailand.

I'd be genuinely interested to know your level of commitment to integrating into Thai society. You seem to still be in the honeymoon phase.

Maybe they like a quiet beer. Maybe they want to have their drink and be home mid afternoon. Is it better to be out drinking at midnight?

Exactly When you say Thailand isn't that great, people say things like, "Get off your barstool; try leaving Pattaya" But really, it's the guys that have had a serious life here that are realizing it ain't all it's cracked up to be. The guy's who are in love with Thailand are most probably just long term tourists (retirees) and never really tried to lived seriously in Thai society.

This is a good point. You really have to be able to afford to live there. I wouldn't do it if I didn't own my own property. Well, there's always Thailand trips for the women and a warm up half the year.

Firstly, these are my experiences and opinions. Yours may be different. It's impossible to draw fact from this topic; we are talking about a subjective thing. The only factual thing I mentioned was the air quality. I just checked the air quality map. For Thailand most places are getting a score of 100 or more (orange). Some places are even dark red and purple, lol. Whereas in my home country vast majority of places are getting a score of less than 20 (green). These are facts. See the difference? You also may not have read my post in detail enough to see that I lived in Isaan for a number of years, both village and city (in addition to Bangkok). And no, I haven't stayed in Pattaya. I use a broad brush because from my experience living in and working in (various parts) of Thailand most of my adult life, this is my experience. There are few exceptions, though I have found them.

Damn. Didn't know Phuket has do much brazen crime against farang I lived in a small Isaan village for a number of years. Wasn't personally affected by crime, though there is a fair bit of Thai on Thai crime (violent and financial). And whole lot of other socioeconomic problems (drugs, drink, gambling) which did affect us a bit. Isaan cities offer a bit more civilization (I think), more comfort, and it's a different world from just an hour away out of town in the boonies. I do prefer Bangkok for work, education, and all the things a cosmopolitan city has. And I have never seen even so much as a scuffle, nevermind crime. Thailand does have a lot going for it over the West: less PC <deleted>, more sensible LGBTQ community, no extreme left-wing politics, more attractive women, relatively safer streets (I think), less unsavoury migrants, pleasant interactions with people mostly. Though, it does have it's pitfalls: too hot most of the year, bad air pollution, destroyed nature, fake people, racism, bad food n drink, deadly roads, difficult government ministries to deal with (immigration, work), no social security, etc etc That said, I do think a blend of both would offer the best of both worlds.

I'd likely be: - Enjoying my garden in summer - Walking down the canals - Enjoying a real pub with real beer and real people. - Eating good food - Enjoying the seasons, especially cool, crisp, fresh, Autumn, evening air It ain't all doom, gloom, cold, n rain .

This is a very good point. People emigrating to Thailand at 60? For what? They can barely get it up. What else is there to enjoy? The local culture? The food? When I am that age, I might be doing 6 months in Thailand (and 6 months back home) or maybe less. At 70, if I am fit, I might be doing 3 months a year in Thailand at most.

Well it's down -64% over the last year. And there are other crypto currencies that have done far worse and gone to zero. And in the volatility, you can easily trade your way down to -99% cos it's a wild ride. Christ, even over the last 5 years Bitcoin has only done +29% which is utterly pitiful and atrocious considering the risk involved (and nothing to be proud of). You'd have done better with a rental property or a conservative index fund.

But, we need to put it in language these folks can understand. When your dry and crabbit 45 year old wife is laying on the bed, spread eagled, you don't jump at her like a Sweden death diver-- that's a good way to burst your bungee. You have to ease into her, slowly. In the industry, it's called dollar cost averaging.

Jingthing admirably tried to give you good advice. But you can only bring a buffalo to water, you can't force it to drink.

You sound like my 15 year old hi-so students. But they just lost all their parent's money, lol

I wish the Teachers Council would employ this for giving out teaching licenses, haha

This is hilarious ????

Tragic, idiocy, as usual.

How is it your car? You put it in her name You options: Just go down the pub and have a quiet word with yourself over a few pints.

Of course, the guy is a sicko, but does the driver with his children in the back of the truck really have the right to complain at anyone?? Kids seeing the naked human body in this way. Bad, yes, I agree. Vs. Kids getting their brains splattered all over the road cos they were riding (illegal) in the pick-up bed while their dad made a video with his phone with driving (illegal) his car. Well, they'd be dead.

This is my experience too, but only at the Bumrungrad Hospital. Every other hospital wants to draw blood. The test only looks for evidence of an infection. It does not tell about the stage of disease. But, yes, you are right, the tertiary stage of syphilis is not contagious to others anyway. And even if you were at the primary or secondary stage of the disease (and therefore still infectious), it transmits through sexual contact, not teaching English, ???? (or any other kind of casual contact you would be having in the workplace). I think the reason we are not supposed to have it is due to the potential brain damage (and mental health problems) it can cause in that stage, perhaps. Who knows their logic ?????

The requirement is that you don't have tertiary syphilis. A blood test can't tell the stage of syphilis, but most hospitals like to do the test anyway Some labor offices do want to see the test results from my experience. Bangkok, over the last few years, doesn't, which is nice. But your certificate has to include that you don't have tertiary syphilis and herein lays the problem because most hospitals want to do the test before they write that on the certificate (except Bumrungrad). I think most hospitals are either: 1. Ignorant of the specific "tertiary" syphilis point (i.e. they don't know it's only tertiary syphilis you shouldn't have; they think you need to be negative of infection altogether) 2. Just wanting to make a buck charging you for a test anyway.

Yeah, I had that experience in Isaan for many years. Not Bangkok thankfully.

This is correct. I think the only hospital in Thailand that knows this is: Bumrungrad Hospital. Every other hospital I have been to insists on drawing blood.

Exactly. <deleted> em. Who do you they think they are? You can visit a number of other countries in the world ????

I don't trust anything in Asia.