The Cipher

Can anyone recommend a nice bridge to live under? I don't need much, just a flat concrete surface to lie on and maybe 75% shelter from the rain. Maybe the Asok walkway by Terminal 21? F

Can we take this as them implicitly accepting the normal risk of Covid and so end all restrictions already?

Legalize and regulate. Plenty of evidence out there that it can be done correctly. Give the citizens what they want and eat up those yummy tax dollars baht.

5 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

If you are looking to live in surroundings that are comparable in quality and ambience to a mid-level home in a mid-sized US city, I don't think the RE is cheaper here.

That might be the difference. My points of reference are the other cities where I also spend meaningful time - Vancouver, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Comparatively real estate in prices in Bangkok look almost unbelievably affordable to me and "this only costs <price>?!" is a regular reaction I have to the RE market here.

I do know that some US cities have very cheap property prices as well, but those cities aren't places where I personally want to spend much time, so it just might be a difference in perspective.

If you're just looking for passive exposure to broad market Thai equities, you might consider Black Rock's sector ETF (ticker: THD) . It trades on the NYSE and can be bought by any brokerage that allows transactions on that exchange.

Should have lower fees than most mutual funds with the same mandate but will expose you to fluctuations in the USD/THB exchange rate (as it's priced in USD but underlying is in THB). Just an option for you to consider.

17 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Hmmm..... the high quality things I liked back at home are sill expensive here.

Beer, loose women, reckless driving, burning trash, littering, selfish actions.... aren't that appealing to me.

 

However.... I DO like the food selection here.  Especially the fruit and vegetables.  Easier to eat a much more plant based diet here.

Not sure where your home is, but in my experience pretty much everything is cheaper here with the notable exception of luxury goods and cars. And the very materially cheaper cost of the real estate here (both buying and renting) more than makes up for the difference in prices for consumption.

If you are a regularly luxury goods buyer you'll know that (i) you can travel to Europe or North America on shopping trips for those, (ii) some of them are actually cheaper here (CDG, for example), and (iii) you very quickly run out of stuff to buy, so the price differential actually matters less.

The car tax is the biggest annoyance and I do wish they'd get rid of it, but in the end if you want to buy a nice car for fun or to flex, the real estate savings ought to more than make up for the tax.

For all the people that say it costs more to live equivalent lives here as in their home countries, what exactly is running up the tab?

11 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Probably a lot of people in Hong Kong would agree with me.

Sure. And a lot of them wouldn't.

I used to work in Hong Kong and like the 'old' (pre-2014) Hong Kong better, from back before there was any mass unrest. I'm not really a fan of the CCP but their model does have merits in addition to its detriments. Similarly the West's model has merits in addition to detriments.

My point was that it isn't solely China that sets non-financial terms for funding, and ultimately it's up to the borrower which terms (if any) they prefer.

11 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

 

Western countries and organisations dont tend to put pressure on countries to actively make life difficult for minority groups.

No, but they do tend to impose their values on other cultures. Sometimes this is good (fiscal discipline) and sometimes it is not good (the universality of the franchise).

7 minutes ago, Kanada said:

Nope....it’s important of course but it’s not on the top 10 for happiness!

Do a search and see what comes up for you....the internet will lead you where you have been before so watch that but let us know

I appreciate your positive attitude to life, but about this, money is definitely a top 10 factor in quality of life. We can very clearly see and measure its impact in various aspects of life quality. It's not the most important thing to be sure (time is the most important resource), but money is easily top 5.

20 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Asian-Americans are around 5.4% of the US population, yet the new medical students with that background are more than 20%.

Can confirm that in Canada, people of Northeast Asian and Indian ethnicity make up a disproportionate percentage of elite white collar pros relative to their share of the population. Can also find some Iranians. Other (non-white) minorities however, are rare.

31 minutes ago, gearbox said:

I haven't been much here but didn't see abundance of desire to study

My girlfriend went to grade school in Thailand and has mentioned that she had to hustle to numerous tutors on evenings/weekends. Studying at the library/cafe was a common activity for her as well (and still is). However I think it might be a minority of Thais who do that, and not the ones who would most benefit from additional education.

36 minutes ago, gearbox said:

I haven't been much here but didn't see abundance of desire to study or any long term planning with the Thais I know

In general I think that the relaxed cultural attitude to life, as well as the staunch unwillingness to delay gratification is what is holding most people in Thailand back. Encouraging long term planning and an understanding of 'working smart vs. working hard' would also be very helpful here.

28 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I would put money as number 1 on the important things in life list.

If you have money, everything else on the list is easy to procure.

1) Time/Health

2) Fulfillment

3) Money/Freedom

Edited to add 'Freedom' and 'Health'.

The number of people who stay here for their wives but otherwise hate everything else about the place is both heartwarming and concerning.

Like, I have a wonderful girlfriend. But there's a functionally infinite number of other women out there in the world, and if I were otherwise miserable and unfulfilled except for her, I don't think I would've made the same choice as many of you seem to have.

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Lifestyle.

Climate.

Beaches.

Nightlife (returns soon hopefully).

Beautiful people.

Being able to drive my car/ride my bike like an absolute lunatic with little to no repercussions.

Pretty much exactly this. The incredible value as well.

Good first step. Can't wait to be back in cafes and restaurants come Monday! ????

2 hours ago, Taboo2 said:

Life will return to normal by Mid June.

I so hope you are right about this ????

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

All countries where women refuse to breed with men, and their native population is rapidly shrinking.

2 hours ago, kynikoi said:

Thais are not having children and the ones that are not being educated.

Have you guys, uh, looked at China's fertility rate and demographic trajectory lately? If you have a few spare minutes this evening maybe quickly look it up. What you discover might surprise you.

2 hours ago, kynikoi said:

There is absolutely nothing that the Thais can model.

Well there are certainly cultural attributes that an analysis of the relatively more successful Northeast Asian cultures could identify.

The hard part isn't identifying what leads to success, it's implementing widespread cultural change. 'You can lead a horse to water' and whatnot.

17 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

And most Thais I know, especially the younger ones don't want Sinovac or AZ...

Can confirm. Everyone I know here is under 35 and they are more concerned about those two vaccines than the actual virus. Wrongly, I might add, but it is what it is.

The relatively privileged folks on here will surely be happy to liquidate assets and lead by example as well, right?

2 hours ago, HOAX said:

600 million people in China makes less than $140 a month, less than $4.70 a day. While it's an improvement, its still almost half the country's population struggling from month to month.

This is true and super overlooked. China has done a great job developing into a global power, but that growth has been very skewed and uneven. Even the CCP doesn't deny this.

Ultimately the actions to take get out of poverty aren't that hard. Maybe there just needs to be more awareness among those in poverty of what those actions are and, importantly, what they aren't.

2 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

How a nation with over a billion people got out of poverty?:  One Child Per Family.  Selective Abortion of girls.

Do you by any chance have a source for poverty reduction in China being driven specifically by sex selective abortion rather than, I don't know, export-oriented industrialization?