ccarbaugh

Coming with my +1. Sorry though - My phone is too old to be "Smart."

I had an identical experience on Friday, June 6th.

(Just a little touchy when a uniformed official at the

information desk said I needed 800K and bank-book

in addition to my notarized letter of income.)

Once over that hurdle, just about a 20 minute wait for

my number to be called and treated very courteously

after that!

Total time - 1 hour, 15 minutes!

Chaeng Wattanna is so much more pleasant and

professional than Lat Phrao!

LaraC, What you described is 2nd-hand heresay- gossip. You only heard, (and described to us,) her side of the story. Without hearing his side of the story, there is actually nothing anyone can or should do- which includes telling her to dump-the-bum. After hearing his side of the story too, it might make perfect sense for him to try to get her to dump him because he might be tired of being smothered- ??? We will never know until we hear both sides. So, for us to waste our time concerning ourselves with this incomplete drama is neurotic.

Wonderful report - thanks! (No mention of the social interactions/nightlife situation- ????)

No, I wouldn't recommend it.

"Farangs" are always outsiders here

no matter how fluent, friendly, civilized, virtuous....

It is a very distrustful society that is

fixated on appearance and superficiality.

What has changed is the type of expat and tourist who stays in Thailand and their attitude. I think many farang who came here (including many on thai visa) thought that thailand was going to be a cheap , quaint third world-esque country and an easy place to pick up women. What they found instead is that:

a) they can only afford to buy alcohol in 7-11s or cheapest bars and spend their days raging about 10 baht differences in drink prices in bars and double pricing at national parks.

they have zero success in meeting /picking up non-bar thai girl type cuties and instead find themselves with rather unattractive aging thai bar ladies- its the getting rebuffed from the pretty non-working thai girls that burns the ego (and the resentment to all things thai builds)

c) they come here expecting third world but are shocked to find infrastructure newer and better than their own home towns back home (how come these 'backward thais ' have better facilities than us super smart farangs back home?? further burning the old ego).

d) they see the middle class and wealthy thais enjoying a better lifestyle and standard of living than their own lives back home (and again that burns - how can these backward thais and their ways be more successful than me!?).

Overtime it builds up and the end product is the grumpy old farang so common in thaivisa and thailand (we all know the type) who begins to hate thailand for all of the above reasons but tries to disguise it with a faux concern for democracy and corruption.

For me, MOSTLY B and D - only sometimes A and C.

If Thailand became "undo-able," I would have to research the plusses and minuses of Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philipines. I also am spoiled by the climate, cost-of-living, and infinite "eye-candy." (My pension is so small that I wouldn't be able to be retired anywhere else!)

Yes, he was great in "Capote" and also in "Flawless" with Robert DiNero. I am sad that we won't be able to enjoy any more movies with him in them doing an excellent job.

Sounds great! - I'll be interested in seeing how it does

for a couple of months then I might "give-it-a-shot."

It's a "mixed-bag."

Most wouldn't risk the disapproval and ridicule

from their peer group. Occasionally, you could find

a curious one that needs "sponsorship."

I remember whe the Beer Garden and the restaurant across the soi were mere "sidewalk tables."

Lately everytime I've walked through all I saw were 2's, 3's and 4's, with an occaisional 5 or 6 - (on a scale of 1 - 10.) Didn't see anything that interested me so kept walking. Seems like with the passing of time, the "foreigner" appeal becomes less and less desireable - to the point now where we're (mostly) forced to pick and choose among the destitute 40+ year-olds. In answer to the question in the OP, No, I don't know of any similar venue. 40 years ago, Thermae was a fun, happy, great place to frequent but now it is utterly depressing!

I have pointed out to some young women in my village that their shirts, shorts or pants are made from the flg of my country ( USA ).

They had no idea that it was a flag or what country it represented.

They just think the colors and pattern are cool!

It's like all of the Tshirts with English writing on them that they wear and cannot read.

At a school function recently, I saw a young mother wearing a shirt that had the word "F*uk" printed on it at least 20 times.

She had no idea what it said.

I informed a woman once that the shirt her 10 year old daughter was wearing said " I am good at using my mouth to make boys happy"

Again, she had no idea what it said until I told her.

I guess it's kind of like all the Americans who had Japanese characters tattoos on their bodies and have no idea what they mean...

It's just stupidity!

At an evening Market in Isaan, I saw a beautiful little 13 or 14 year-old angel wearing a large black T-Shirt with big white letters on the front that said: "I <deleted> FOR COKE!" (Obviously having no idea what it means!)

In 1973, I was years-old and FULL of youthful arrogance and stupidity. I rented a Honda 350cc and drove it from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. On the way, during a severe downpour, I pulled into a police booth along the road. The policeman on duty silently dried me off and gave me a place to lay down and take a (much needed) nap before resuming travelling when the rain stopped. Once I arrived in Chiang Mai, I went up into the hills north of the town. Little kids with a handful of rice saw me

on a dirt road and I could tell my the looks on their faces that they thought I had come from outer-space! Coming down from the hills approaching Chiang Mai- my motorcycle froze-up completely! I coasted into town and stapped at a little garage. The owner informed me that there wasn't a drop of oil in the crankcase at all. The owner took my motorcycle apart and attempted to fix it. The little money that I had wasn't even enough for the parts but the owner of the shop put the bike back together, and paid for the cost of me and the bike back to Bangkok on the train. Now, 41 years later, if I could find that shop owner, I would most happily pay him- with interest, for his kindness and generosity freely given to a complete stranger.

In Buriram a couple years ago, I was waiting for a friend- just standing at a Saturday Bizarre- ("Flea Market,") when I overheard the sweetest little angel of about 12 or 13 years-old on the phone with her friend saying "Ma! Ma doo farang!"

I'm a human being, you can apply whatever labels you like. The whole concept of nationalism is primitive and outdated.

WRT to comparing us to other countries is that the US claims to be a force for good, based on ideals, but the underlying reality is very different, used to be a lot more true in the past, or maybe most Americans were just a lot more naive.

If we just were honest that our government's purpose is to rape the planet to benefit the top percent, not be such hypocrites that we're "helping" other countries, maybe we'd get more respect.

In any case from a purely practical POV our strategy is flawed, it's all just a house of cards built on shaky ground, we've already jumped the shark a long time ago just a matter of time this Empire crumbles just like every other in history. . .

As usually I find my self in agreement with brother Wym except on the point of Nationalism, and I will get to that later,

First I want address The US's behavior around the world that we all agree is something less than desirable to say the least.

The US does what it does because it can, this is the nature of human beings, When Britain could Britain did also, so did the Spaniards , etc, etc,etc, The only difference is that now, with communications and travel being what they are, the problem is not localized as it was in the past.

What most people say about Nationalism being the opiate (along with religion) of the masses is true, but it is certainly not outdated.

It is an institution necessary fot the survival of the species.

I used to be a committed internationalist until the following revelation.

Me and a partner had opened a Pet shop, and among all the other services we offered we had a section with tropical fish. We had a number of fish tanks , no different from the pet-shops you are used to, that housed all the different fish,

and each tank was serviced by it's individual water filter.

Avery few days we had to clean these filters, it as a lot of work.

So me being lazy and the egghead that I am , devised a system where all the tanks would be interconnected with siphon tubes, a large diatom filter would remove the water from the last tank , clean it and return it to the first tank.

Brilliant!!!!

When I told my friend , who was experience in the business, he looked at me as if I was crazy,

we cant do that he said

aside from the fact that some tanks have different temperatures, If one tank gets infected with a disease, they will all get infected and we will loose the whole lot.

Years later I was thinking that story and that;s where my revelation came from.

as counter intuitive as it might sounds, All the different countries are the check and balances that keep as from killing or enslaving all of as.

When a cultural , or social disease, such as Nazism , totalitarianism, communism,capitalism, and any of the other 'isms rear their ugly head, there other countries to counter balance them.

Imagine if you will,if there was only one world governing body, and that government was infected with any particular 'ism. as all government tend to do, If that 'ism was malevolent .

we would loose the whole lot.

Nationalism maintains the different countries that in the absence of other effective institutions maintain a sense of Check and balances.

Good analogy!

My thoughts are:

I'm in complete agreement with "The whole concept of nationalism is primitive and outdated."

So, (using your analogy,) if we created another "system of check and balances"

that wasn't based on greed, domination, brutality and violence- then the "fish-tanks"

would have to make some (beneficial, creative, ...) adaptations- which

isn't necessarily a bad thing- (Especially in the case of North Korea, Cuba, USA, Israel,....)

I'm American too but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing the 'Stars and Stripes' because I am so ashamed of the foreign policy. I think Hollywood has a lot to do with the popularity of America among non-americans. What is a flag anyway besides a colored rag?

Look up the word 'symbol'. For example, your photo is not 'colored paper', it is a symbol for 'rumdum'...

I hope you feel better calling me a stupid drunk. Ironically, I very rarely drink anything at all. Most people agree that the "symbol" is not the thing - the "map" is not the territory. But, if it makes you feel superior to personally insult others, go ahead and we will just feel sorry for you.

I dunno - methinks MOST of the people the world over

are selfish and lead insular lives. Possibly, Thais

haven't yet figured out how to mask their self-interest

as well as they're able to in the west- ?

Anywho, there are a lot of experiences I can relate to -

half a day at the bank, holding the door and not given

any recognition whatsoever, picking up litter, not putting

trash in bins,.... I first came to Thailand in 1973.

Good and bad people everywhere. A somewhat insular

lifestyle with your guard up frees one to enjoy the positives

more of the time.

A little off topic but I just returned frm a 9-day maiden visit to HCMC. Surprisingly,it felt like MORE of a "Farang=Walking ATM" than Thailand. (Possibly on par with Pattaya and Phuket.) Additionally, my observation was that nightlife and P4P was quite scant and of very low quality.

Soapy Massages

Pot Tai

BBBJs

Goothio - (Monkey-Ball Soup)

Taxi Fares, Train Fares

G.F.E.s

Mototcycle Taxis

....