Orac

Regarding c-section, the doctor at the Govt hospital was very keen for a natural birth despite my wife having diabetes in pregnancy - she was two hours into labour when there were complications so they decided to do an emergency c-section.

1030 baht for the delivery (c section) and then 1300 per night for 3 nights in a private 'suite' at govt hospital.

. Better off investing it in the stockmarket on the global uptrend and triple it in 3 years right? give them the profits and thay can watch it grow everyday via internet platform, but hey its your money, up to you

55555555555

that is why you are so rich ?

Garantee a 300% percent profit, you must be the only person on the planet to be abel to do such a a thing, i wish i was you. If you can garantee 300% pfofit you will be billionaire already and the worlds most succesful trader, maybe internet warrior/trader/milionaire is best description for you, in reality.....................555555

heres an example. look at bhp and rio tinto and any of the banks and just about any stock

bhp $22 4 mths back now $47

rio $33 now $73

Use a stop loss . Not going into detail here it will get off topic. However one thing I can guarantee 1000% is you will make more in the markets than giving your family 1mill bht to destroy but you will do it anyway, best of luck to you but money shouldnt be destroyed its too hard to get

Not sure what you are stating here. Are you saying that we should be buying these shares now or using hindsight to point out what we could have done???

You also seem to be contradicting yourself talking about how much you make investing and then claiming 1 mill bht is a lot of money to 'destroy' and how hard it is to get ???

Jack,

Suggest you reread your attachment.

I am sure in the fullness of time that Alex will fill us in on the details here (or maybe not!) however, he has clearly been through a traumatic experience and I am sure that keeping you/us informed is the least of his concerns at the moment.

Why you don't take a look at his post history from last night after he made his last post here.Then you can judge for yourself how traumatic he was.

OK, I fell for it - I'll get my coat

Check out the pub forum, you will see a lot of craziness. However, if this is true, he started the thread so it's only fair he should fill us in on the details. The way he's described it, though, just sounds more fiction than fact.

I wouldn't rule it out being true, though, anything's possible. If it's a joke, though, not funny.

If you've somehow heard a murder and seen the aftermath, alexlah, well I'm sorry and that is so horrible words can't even describe the emotions and shock you are feeling. Still, once you've recovered from either being drunk and making stuff up or going through a traumatic experience, please fill us in.

I am sure in the fullness of time that Alex will fill us in on the details here (or maybe not!) however, he has clearly been through a traumatic experience and I am sure that keeping you/us informed is the least of his concerns at the moment.

Personal opinion based on my first trip to Thailand which was only a week with a mate, I would go straight to Pattaya and, after you have spent a day or two there, decide with your mates if you want to go look at the temples and 'cultural ' bits elsewhere We were gutted that we spent 3 days in bangkok to start with and then only had 3 nights in Pattaya.

There is plenty to do in Pattaya in one week for a group of 'red blooded blokes' both during the day and at night - though the comments on Pattaya beach are pretty accurate you can get a speedboat over to Koh Larn for 2000 baht which, especially since there is a group of you, isn't a great deal and the beaches there are excellent.

There are plenty of hotels available at varying prices depending on your pocket/requirements - I would suggest Sabai Lodge on Soi 2 or Sabai Resort on 2nd Road by Big C - you can google both but there are plenty of others and, should you want any other suggestions or want views on particular hotels I am sure you will get plenty of advice here. Most hotels up their prices for the high season from 1st Nov however, unless there is a significant change in tourist numbers by then, you should be able to negotiate a good deal especially if there are a few of you.

Even a university degree does not guarantee a good income here, for a peasant.

True, and also not everyone has the apptitude to study to degree level, however, surely it must increase the opportunities available.

Since you are not married, YOU have to register the baby yourself at the amphur. Only when you register the baby yourself you will have legitimised the baby (stated that you are the father) and will hold costudy over the child together with the mother. If someone else registers the baby you will not be the legal father!

Registration of the birth must be done within 15 days after birth, at the amphur where the child is born.

You can have a look at the website of the british embassy to see what you need to do to register the bay with the UK authorities.

When I did this a couple of months ago the amphur local to the hospital (not the amphur where we live) also required a translated copy of my passport.

I appear to be in a similar position to you in that I want to support my wifes family - they are good, hard working, people but there are just not the jobs around here at the moment apart from the seasonal chilli and rice picking but don't just want to give them the money.

I would be wary about setting them up in a retail business unless you are on hand to keep an eye on them - without any experience in profit and loss or stock control they may struggle.

I 'invested' 1m baht in farm land (rice and chillies) which we are in the process of transferring from my wifes name to our new daughters. Our intention is to let my wifes three brothers farm this land and they keep whatever they make off it (and keep us all in rice!). This has solved three problems:

1. A saving/investment for our daughter to provide for her future.

2. Added security for my wife (when you come from a very poor family that sort of security 'cushion' counts for a lot).

3. Ongoing employment/income for the extended family.

I am in little doubt that they will be self sufficient from this and I will still need to keep providing in some way, particularly helping towards the education of their young families so that hopefully the poverty cycle can be broken.

What a ridiculous, judgemental topic.

Agreed - but it is refreshing to see that most of the responses are not judgmental and show how out of touch the OP is trying to transplant his victorian values to Thailand.

"want meet farang" is not an excuse to the couple posters that posted this.

If they were good looking young girls and wanted to meet farangs for marriage, they could hang out at mbk/paragon or any other full of farang area, or even expat restaurants and get into conversation with many farangs on a daily basis instead of banging anyone for 1k baht and having drunk conversations in druken bargirl english.

That leaves her clean, far from prostitution, with free food and a good reputation. probably gets her a better vocabulary then hansum man + u boom boom, u pay.

Might work for those that live in BKK but our village is 30 mins from the nearest Lotus and that isn't a very big one!

God?

I would be interested in knowing how the Fanta marketing dept managed to convince them that Buddha/spirits liked strawberry fanta though?

There has been a few topics were some of the guys have let us all know how they pass there time in Issan.Which is great.

What do your partners do on a day to day basis ?

Being one of the younger guys on here(i think) and my wife younger again,we both decided that it would be good for her to go to university.

Also, are the weekends any different ?

My wife looks after our baby but, to be honest, there is very little to do here. Weekends are slightly livelier because the kids aren't in school.

Today of course is different with everyone buzzing arround since early morning discussing lottery numbers.

I didn't say anything bad about those bargirls.

However the OP seems to imply he wants to talk about the physical beauty also.

So my inputs is just that....

The “physical attractiveness“…..even for the issan region standard, among issan people

Just check out all those likae group, country singers, and many beauty pageant competition in the region.

Oohh …I have seen many and I mean here…. maaany beautiful girls from the issan region.

I was just speaking from my observations, however your observation may be diff than mine.

My apologies if I misunderstood your post, you seemed to be differentiating between bar girls with farang and those without along with 'normal' Thai girls. I could be wrong but it seemed a generalisation too far to me. There is of course the arguement that the good looking ladies prepared to work in the 'entertainment' industry are snapped up quickly or work in more lucrative areas than bars and are therefore less visible.

I’m pretty sure, if there aren’t any mutual benefits, they wouldn’t be together.

I would have thought any marriage/relationship would need mutual benefits, indeed that is the whole point of marriage. Are you suggesting that one side shouldn't be getting anything out of it?

read my post again

Just have - I think your belief that bar girls with farangs are less attractive than normal girls is one of the most ridiculous statements I have seen in a long time.

With regards to the comment that a bar girl/sexpat relationship starts on the wrong footing without the usual courtship and leads to a high number of failed relationships I would probably agree with you.

I don't think anyone is naive enough not to believe that money and your ability to 'take care' of your spouse in many relationships in Thailand is a major issue.

I’m pretty sure, if there aren’t any mutual benefits, they wouldn’t be together.

I would have thought any marriage/relationship would need mutual benefits, indeed that is the whole point of marriage. Are you suggesting that one side shouldn't be getting anything out of it?

It is often stated on here that bar girls are only after a quick buck, however , my experience with my wife and her friends was they were working bar so they could meet farang to marry - I have a photo taken at the bar on the night we met of her and 8 co-workers (all but one from the same group of villages in Isaan) and it is interesting to note where they are now as my wife is still on contact with all of them regularly:

What kind of logical (or non-logical) behavior is this?

If I want to marry a white (farang) girl, should I become a beach boy?

Who are you accusing of being logical here

What appears to happen is that one or two of these girls from the villages have 'done well' and married farangs and moved overseas or occasionally back to the village. All of a sudden either they or their family have a big house, new car etc which encourages others to try the same. I have read here and elsewhere that the women who go to work in bars of Pattaya and Bangkok are looked down on by others in their villages however I have not personally seen this in our village and there seems to be no stigma attached.

I am very happily married to an ex-bar girl and have been for 2 years now - we met 8 years ago in Pattaya and she stopped working in the bar soon after. We now have a three month old baby girl and my wife has turned out to be a wonderful mother.

It is often stated on here that bar girls are only after a quick buck, however , my experience with my wife and her friends was they were working bar so they could meet farang to marry - I have a photo taken at the bar on the night we met of her and 8 co-workers (all but one from the same group of villages in Isaan) and it is interesting to note where they are now as my wife is still on contact with all of them regularly:

4 have husbands and live in europe (Switzerland, Germany and UK) - I have visited all in the last 2 years and all are happy though one still has a drink problem.

2 are back in the village (same one I live in now) - one is supported by a boyfriend in Norway and the other has a small 'restaraunt' and no boyfriend/support.

1 still works in Pattaya though she was always an older 'hardened' bar girl and the only one from a different area of Issan.

1 was ostracised from the group because she had a Thai boyfriend which the others didn't approve of - she has turned into a nasty piece of work with a drug problem.

I am hoping the above goes to show that not all bar girls ae the same and they are all individuals, as we are, and should be treated accordingly. It would be interesting to see how many of the men on here have paid bar as surely they should be catergorised in the same bracket as bar girls by those that wish to put people in boxes (including the OP who is using the 'I did not inhale' excuse), by the same token, those that haven't paid a bar girl are probably, in the main, lacking the experience or knowledge to make judgements on them and resort to the stereotypes that are prevalent here and elsewhere.

With regards to being 'embarrassed' by my wifes background, I have no problem with this and neither does my wife, frankly if people wish to judge her or me negatively then that is their problem - my family are all aware of my wifes background and, when my parents came over for our wedding, we went for a drink at the bar my wife used to work at.

I would argue that the current global economic problems make a sooner election more important than waiting for a more stable situation.

By providing a stronger mandate and longer term to make the tough decisions that may be required would hopefully be better than a government having to make short term, populist decisions to get re-elected. Thailand, along with the rest of the world, is going to go through a very difficult few years and any effective goverment would need concentrate on governing and not campaigning - better get this done now so that Thailand can start moving forwards again.

You must be a fast walker.. Lol.. All the way from North Pattaya to Jomtien? wow.. Thats a long way! It's probably take me all day to get there never mind all the way back again..

It's not really that far, but it all depends on WHERE in North Pattaya you are talking about. It's only 3 kilometers from Jomptien to the south end of the beach in central Pattaya. It's another 2 kilometers from the south end of the beach to the dophin circle junction. I don't know if that is called north Pattaya or not. It's 2 kilometers from the dolphin circle junction to the highway near the bus station, or 3 kilometers to the Naklua hotel in north Pattaya. That means it's only a 20 kilometer round trip. I'm 69 and have no trouble doing that in a day's walk. I walk from Jomtien into central Pattaya and back all the time. I only take the bus if I am in a hurry to meet someone.

But, my whole life was involved with walking and hiking, so it comes naturally to me.

my wife thinks a long walk is anything over 100 yards goodness knows how she keeps so thin.

100 yards - there would have to be a gold shop at the end for my wife to walk that far

I am watching it now on ESPN - True gold package - channel 64

Matthew,

Please accept my condolences to you and your family on the tragic loss of your father.

Orac

I 'passed through' Pattaya on Saturday night and couldn't believe how much more handsome I have become in a couple of months!

And I can agree with most of that, as a short and medium term picture because you are referring to a timescale of around one year as far as I can tell. But my reference to 35, which seems to be the bone of contention here, is in a timescale of seven to ten years.

It is here i do not entirely agree with you. Thailand is a mess and is likely to take a lot more than 1 year to sort itself out. Even then i do not see a rate of 1-35 being a realistic likelyhood.

Thailand had a false rate pre 97 and that in part caused the original crash in the first place. All the old Tiger economies which were punching way above their weight at the time, crashed drastically Thailand probably the worst of the lot and whilst i do see a readjustment over time i cannot see a return to 1-35 anytime in the next 20 years never mind 7-10 years.

Thailand has in many ways fallen behind its local rivals over the last decade again in part to the political state it is in. Where do you get your reasoning suggesting it is poised to make a great comeback on the next decade? All i can see is trouble for the country until the political upheavals are complete. Whilst there is a body we should not talk about. If and when that body ceases to be an influence i can see Thailand becoming worse not better for some time.

Though I would be surprised to see 1-35 over the next 10 years I can see where CM is coming from based on his early comments - I don't know how many people here based there retirement plans on a rate of below 60 up to a couple of years ago but, with the current turmoil in the world, 35 could offer the safety net that quite a few have lost recently.