grain

Mamasan gave her the job means nothing, pretty well every bar in Thailand is looking for fresh gals all the time. Accommodation means a folding mattress on the floor in an upstairs room with a fan and shared by 3,4,5 other gals. Lent her money, bought her clothes etc is pure BS, at the very most mamasan would have possibly paid for a couple of days grub until the gal got some cash through LDs or barfines. Of course she can quit and walk away at a moment's notice. As already pointed out here the only repercussion would be the gal would not be welcome back to work in that particular bar again should her relationship with the customer fail. But there are about 50 zillion other bars around the country she can go to. Is this standard? Yeah, pretty well, It's just the mamasan and bar owner trying to get a piece of the pie.

Thailand's monkhood attracts a lot of low-life, bottom-feeding Thai males. Any down & out ratbag who has no money, no home, no job, no skills, no prospects, no family support, can just walk into a temple and receive free accommodation, free food, free gifts, and have people grovelling at his feet. The process of turning into a monk is instantaneous. Shave the head, change the clothes for a robe, and hey presto!

Bad news for Australia's Albo, he was all set to get on his knees and beg for no tarrifs and some subs. He ain 't got a hope in hell now.

He's the luckiest man in the world today. He'll be a bit of a celebrity for a while, the journalists will want to get hold of him and he'll be invited on the UK talk shows when he gets back. If he plays his cards right he could make some good dosh out of this.

This is the future for Australia too, give it several more decades.

Well I'm not sure if it actually contains codeine. I have 2 small bottles, one is 100ml, and the other 200ml. This is what it says online: Rikodeine is a medication for dry cough, designed to alleviate common throat symptoms. It contains Dihydrocodeine, a compound known for reducing throat pain, providing relief from discomfort such as throat irritation due to colds. Its effectiveness begins shortly after ingestion. Active Ingredients: Dihydrocodeine tartrate 19mg and sorbitol 4.4g

I'm fly back to Swampy next week, I have 2 bottles of Rikodeine cough syrup that I'd like to bring with me in case I catch covid or flu after returning. Rikodeine cough syrup is available over the counter at pharmacies in Australia, a doctor's prescription is not required. I've found it to be the best treatment for cold/flu with bad coughs, it gives instant relief from persistent coughs, especially at night as it helps one get a good sleep. As I said I'm concerned about the risk of catching covid after returning, however is it illegal to carry this cough syrup with me to Thailand?

Agree entirely, and it's the thing I don't like about this forum, and it stops me from posting, as many times I make a post or type out a reply, then just delete it because I think...why bother, someone is just going to come right back at me, twist my words to use against me, and I can do without the agro.

For about 15 years when I lived in Pattaya I had KeyVisa do my annual retirement ext. Everything was kosher, I had the money in the bank and all my docs were in order, it was just that I couldn't be stuffed dealing with Pattaya Imm and having to stand in line and maybe get the runaround, so I paid an agent. About 6 years ago I relocated to Korat and found it was very fast and easy to handle it myself. So the answer to OP is sure, if for any reason you don't want to do then pay an agent.

It's was only 3 years ago and the Thais at these tourist hubs were sleeping on the pavements on flattened cardboard boxes and lining up to get a free box of rice and a bottle of water, and they were moaning away...Oh when will the tourists return. Now they're punching tourists in the face and stomping on their heads.

My dad was a poor Scot who struggled his whole life to put food on the table and a roof over his (and our) heads. Probably the greatest thing he taught me was to live within my means, to budget and keep within that budget, and if you want something you save up and pay cash, and if you can't afford it then you don't get it (the only exception to this philosophy being buying a house). So I became an excellent money manager, and have spent the majority of my life debt free. I've never owned a credit card, but have a couple of debit cards for use when paying online.

Photo I took in 1987, this was at Koh Samui, from memory it was near BoPut.

Great song, they really were an incredible band, I saw them live a few times back in the 1980s, and had several of their albums. They were immensely popular in Thailand back then.

One time driving in my car in a small NE city there was an old lady on a crosswalk in the middle of the road obviously having difficulty crossing, being a gentleman I stopped at the crosswalk and smiled at her and gave a wave sign with my hand indicating for her to cross, then as she walked past the front of my stationary car she almost got whacked by some Thai flying through on the outside. So it hit me then that I almost got that old lady killed by giving her a false sense of security, I should of just driven straight through the crosswalk like every other driver, at least she knew how to deal with that.

Hang about, give me time to return. 😁