KhunLA

I think 3 beers (sm), w/food over the course of a few hours, might not ever register as illegal. I think the last 7 yrs, a barely got pass 2 sm Lao Darks or 1 Kopper Kaft while sitting surfside. You're either part of the solution, or the problem. Prevent someone you love or know, or not, from getting hurt or killed vs it's OK for you not prevent it. Judge your own moral compass, as you're the one that has to live with the feelings, as the ambulance pulls away from your soi / accident, when you could have prevented it. UP2U

Call me an Ahole, but I'd have to report him. There's no excuse for anyone being that irresponsible in the 21st century. If he gets that drunk, it's not if something will happen, but when and to who. For my monthly pub crawls days past, I use to hire a tuk tuk driver (on speed dial) for the night, and get a hotel, since living out of town. Any other time, the GF/wife would drive after that 3rd beer.

@SAFETY FIRST got it correct, comes down to budget. Patts is cheaper for the expat on a budget.

You can't fix stupid ... "It’s not such good news for Land Rover owners, whose cars rank the lowest of any passenger vehicle in the United States. Though its standing improved somewhat from 2022’s ranking of 284 PP100, Land Rover ranks as the least reliable badge at 273 PP100 for 2023." source With a few recalls

And here I thought ICEV didn't spontaneously combust, just EV. Must of went over a speed bump or got wet ...

We live comfy on ฿15k a month .... BUT ... ... own house, saves ฿15-20k a month ... own car, saves ฿15k a month (daughter just bought, that's her payment) ... have solar ... saves ฿5k a month, from PEA ... have solar ... save ฿5k a month on petrol ... enjoy cooking and do a better job than restaurants ... saves ฿10k a month That budget would be a minimum off ฿70k a month, IF not self sufficient, sort of. I'm self insured (health) so add monthly health insurance for a 70 yr old in 6 months Think that's knockin' on ฿100k, without alcohol, socializing, kid/s or supporting partners family (which would never happen). Alcohol, I prefer Bailey's, Bacardi's and Beer Lao Dark

Yep, don't even have to be a terrorist or an adult. Specific target or collateral damage.

Wait till he sees that ... MG, finally coming of age

Easy to spend if you have bills, mortgage/rent/car and or MB loans, kids in school and support partner's family. Might even need 200k But myself & wife w/dog ... don't know how I would spend the ฿2700 baht a day extra. With all of 2k baht mandatory monthly bills, leaves 98k to play with. 15k for mandatory food, leaving ฿83k ฿83k left, (actually about what my Soc Sec is, depending on exchange rate). In USA, yes, that would be easy. One night hotel stay. Last O&A, think most expensive room was ฿1000/$27, meal, maybe ฿800/$21 Even a full day of driving, 4- hrs, (320 kms) only cost ฿375 (EV) Can't remember last time a room cost >฿2k or a meal >฿1k. We don't do big metros or tourist areas. I guess if we stayed on the road, everyday, in a hotel, dined out, we'd spend ฿100k a month. That's not looking for any bargains and being thrifty, and still think we'd have plenty left over. If I ate western food w/alcohol, then it would be a lot easier to spend ฿100k a month, when O&A, but not from home. That would be holiday mode though. We like our bed, our food, and the view from the veranda, along with 5 ish minutes from surfside. At least the wife has stopped asking me, why we go O&A, on holiday, when we moved to our favorite holiday location in TH ... hmm

Just said NO ... let me talk to your supervisor. If failed, call the corruption office, and they would straighten it out. Had similar issues in Udon Thani for short period. The corruption office was right across the street at the time, as sorted out quickly, after more than a few complaints were received.

No, that's the name of the metro area. She doesn't live in Bangkok Yai or Noi. Actually, keeps a condo at Victory Monument area, and just moved back into her townhouse at Rangsit. So Krung Thep was just a general area, as many wouldn't have a clue where Rangsit is. Rangsit more a suburb of Krung Thep, or so referred to on wiki. Most people think Bangkok is; Suk, Asok & Silom

I retired early, and went with the 'family' life, after playing sexpat for awhile (no P4P). Gets boring. Family life ... something I didn't do before (no kids) and it was 25 yrs of party & thrill seeking till retirement. So wife, kid, dog, house, all the things most do the first 25 yrs of adulthood. But I never grew up, those first 25 yrs of adulthood, so did here, after retirement. Wife, now, being 22 yrs my junior, hence the house, solar & EVs, so she's set for quite some time, as all new. Why the monthly bills structured to be silly inexpensive. Kid's out of Uni, self employed, hooked up and living her life @ Krung Thep, so I'm on retirement # 2 Actually did everything I ever wanted to do before I retired. Now the family thing is checked off, so this is all new to me

I was thinking something else, (booze & hookers ) then noticed he did reply to you, hence the edit.

😎

Don't grow 'em, but only eat homemade PB. Have a bunch of almonds and was surprised they make a nice PB. Do cashews often, tasty, but plain peanuts are fine also.. Cheap at Makro. Taste way better and much healthier than Jiff. Same with homemade jelly, though no real bargain, as frozen fruit isn't inexpensive here. But better & healthier is more important.

Not at all, went to coffee shop today, than to favorite, choco fix drink surfside at the swimmer's beach, a few extra kms away from bay that fronts town. We did 2 weeks O&A last month, and 11 nights out back in March, I think. Not exactly staying home. Did 20k kms first year of owning the EV, 10 local, of which 6000 were exploring locally, within 200 kms round trip. The other 10k kms were O&A exploring the rest of TH. Enjoy cycling/ebike, daily walks surfside w/dog, then local walk before sunset. Main hobby is cooking, with whole foods, so time consuming & delicious. When you have your custom house build in your preferred location, how often do you really need to leave home, though we do, quite often, locally & points beyond. We want for nothing. I lived one hell of life, very full, thank you. Traveled out since working for 4 different airlines, and riding in the back of the bus/plane, or dealing with airports, now, is not pleasurable. NO THANKS. The point about Soc Sec, is, I don't need to. Unless frivolous spending. I got all the toys I can think of, and anything else is almost brand new, and paid for. I can't think what to spend it on, TBH. Don't drink alcohol, extremely rare, or have any vices any more. Got a sh!t load of weed here, not even bothered to smoke. No good movies out now to entice me to fire up. Couple hobbies keep me entertained, beside cooking. I'll tap a chunk of the SS when my brother & wife pop over in Nov. this year. Surely some for us, as we'll be O&A more during rainy season, as our preferred traveling time. I retied at 45/46 yrs old, and 69 now. Have more money than I can realistically spend, unless frivolous. Wife & kid are set. All is good, and I'm happy as can be. This is knockin' around the country, just this year ... ... stay at home ... oh please

Just guessing, but doubt if on internet, just walking around, and you'll find the bargains. If a bargain, no need for the internet, as they don't last long. 3 bdrm townhouse here, 3500-5000. No condos available. Had a nice 3 bdrom townhouse fronting the bay, 15k, but didn't take dogs. The one on the corner with the red scooter in front of it.

That's about our ball park monthly expenditures ... BUT ... we really don't have housing, car, electric or petrol costs. 2 adults and 1 ten-ish kg dog. Only bills aside from food, eating in/out, are water & phone/internet. Less than ฿2k, the rest of budget is food. Probably spend ~70% in, and 30% out. As we eat in over 90% of the time, home cooked, whole foods, from scratch usually. For reference, since Jan 1, 2024, we've lived off my monthly pension ($357 USD (฿15-฿17k when ~$500) withdrawals (4), and we haven't touched my USA Social Security. Did sell some gold, ฿60k when it broke ฿40k+/baht of gold. I have ~฿20k COH, and didn't get June's pension installment. If ฿-$ remains same as today, that's ฿18k I'll get tomorrow from ATM. So we'll have ~฿38k till next withdrawal, 2 months of budget easily. Jan - June ... 4 X ฿17k = ฿68k + ฿60k (gold) = ฿128k - ฿20k (COH) = ฿108k 6 Months budget ... ฿108k = ฿18k a month average. We did a 14 night O&A, so call that B1000 a day, added cost, hotel, charging EV, and slight increase in food budget. ฿108k - ฿14k = ฿94k, so right ~15k a month budget. Pretty damn accurate. Any non-necessity one offs, and came from wife's account/transfer, not cash. Can't think of any off top of my head this year. For folks having problems with their budget, start writing everything down for a few months. If you don't know where it's going, you can't manage it. Learned that years ago. Now I know what I start with, have COH, then the rest is easy. That's my expenditures, and if more than expected, peek a bit more.

I stopped early on, 15 seconds or so, when stated "EV are less reliable" ...

This may interest some folks .... link Please read how & what comparison is based on, and it is just for reference. Though I do find their comparisons as accurate as other, or much better. Especially groceries & dining in / out. With inflation & housing prices (vary greatly), then much to be considered before moving anywhere. Only Bangkok made the list for Thailand. Although if going into the site, you can compare other cities of TH, if never visited the site before.

Our 63 Chrysler had push button trans

Decades later, and still can't manage water ... ... build build build, flood flood flood

As an old sex tourist, the OP might want to hang out at the local fake karaoke bar, if he wants to fit in, although they'd probably ask him to leave. Although if he leaves the basement, I'm pretty sure he'll fit in where ever he is, but I'm pretty sure it's not TH, or ever been here.

I find that you receive what you project. @ChrisThailand1977 Along with @simon43 summing things up nicely with his earlier post ... here