LaosLover

I've heard here that the correct approach is to become fluent in Thai, pretend you aren't, and then lay in wait to catch them out. But that's all too convoluted for me and why I prefer white women, if only for the simplicity.

Was living in Mexico previously. Same crazy fear there of being race-replaced by yanks. Only one million Americans (out of 332M) live in Mexico, including part timers. Additional thought: If Pattaya and Phuket do turn into red lantern-swinging hell holes, do I even care? If I'm Brit condo owner moving back to the UK for family reasons, I'm gagging for a Chinese buyer.

......Lindsay Graham would say that he wasn't urging rioting, he was only "predicting" rioting -but why do these "predictions" never emanate from the left (who should be fearing for their lives), only the right? Because: 1) The left laughs these hollow threats out of the room. 2 million+ Trump voters live within 30 miles of Mar A Lago. Why do only perhaps a hundred (at most) bother to show up to wave their dumb flags on his behalf outside of it? How reliable then are those do-nothing, stay at homers to therefore get involved in a shooting war? And why does Trump never -under any circumstances- deign to walk the 100 steps outside his gates to commune with them? I mean other than body odor concerns by the notorious germ-aphobe. 2) The right has nothing left but laughable, impotent veiled threats -like Trump's pathetic offer to "help" with all the "anger". All this he-man posturing (from Nancy Lindsay Graham, no less!!!) is useful only in shifting a few more so-called independents (means nervous leaning-republicans) into the Democrat column. 3) Where are they going to riot exactly? Not in any Blue City where the local pol's will be itching to be "tough on crime". That leaves only rioting in Red state hellholes like Wichita. I say please, have at it.

If I'm gearing up for some Lindsay Graham-urged "riots in the streets", mmmaybe I'm thinking twice. Remember, losers: Trump raised $100M off of your dumb you-know-whats. And then he helped out exactly zero with your legal bills. And he'd love to do it again. And the next go-round will have Biden calling in the National Guard in minute-1, not never like Trump. I completely look forward to "the civil war" fought by dopey, disorganized fatties against trained military with guns. Next time, it's long-sentence conspiracy charges. The "spontaneous uprising" goofball excuse has expired.

I always think the term, Proud Boy, would be great to inspire toddlers to succeed at potty training.

I always wonder about right wing, Trumpy people living in places with lavish social benefits and health care that most Americans can only dream of. A fiercely proclaiming anti-PC person in a place like NZ or Oz would find themselves in America on the political spectrum not far from a centrist like Joe Biden. Man, that's gotta sting. Nice to posture as the free thinking rebel when ol Daddy USA guarantees your military safety -which allows you your fabulous social safety nets. Refuse medical care and triple your taxes to defend yourselves. That's exactly what Trump has asked of you. Any takers?

In a lot of Afro-Carib black magic tradition, people actually do get poisoned in revenge spells. It's not magic, it's botulism. Since your bloodwork came back OK, you sound good to go. By what medical criteria was your very amorphous immune system judged to be "weak"? Extra credit spell protection: wear all-white clothing. That's what a Haitian person would advise. Political Correctness update: the preferred term is now Vodun, not voodoo -which thought to be a derogatory, colonialist term.

What I hear is that its a classier version of California for35% more money. So hard pass for me. Watching the ol' art film, The Piano, will likely be the extent of my NZ exploration.

The overwhelming consensus that I have read on this board is that most Thai romantic partners would prefer it if you DIDN'T speak Thai. True? I'm going to do a bit of research and interviewing here of Thai people. So, I want to learn Thai at least at the basic conversational level. And I want to be able to read amulet magazines. However, Before Thailand, I was living in Mexico. It's a rare expat/retiree that has any Spanish language skills at all there. Costa Rica, the same. And just like here, they'd prefer you speak English so they can get a little free practice in with you. English is much more widely spoken in a place like Chiang Mai than its Mexican equivalent of say, San Miguel Allende. As the near-universal don't-bother response here shows, the world seems to have moved on from the old Lonely Planet ideal that speaking the local language is essential to functioning or endears you to the locals

Too much death, relationship misery, and career bad luck to pick a single occurrence as the worst. For instance: 3 marriages. One died a terrible and lingering death, one became a heroin addict (and had a secret affair with another heroin addict), the most recent and happy one has had terrible health problems forever (now amazingly cured). Thailand reminds me of that old Laurel and Hardy bit where they travel forever to join the French Foreign Legion, "to forget" (joing to forget -partic a woman- was very much part of the French Foreign Legion legend). When they finally get to Casablanca to join, they are quizzed by a officer about what they're trying to forget. But by that time, after months of wandering, they've completely forgotten what they were trying to forget. I def see a lot of old guys in bars here trying to remember to forget stuff. Hell, I'm one of them. Great, very applicable early Elvis song: I Forgot To Remember To Forget. Uh, not me, Elvis.

Just asked at the Pai Bus Station. 4 minibuses a day: 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 3:30, 5:30. No need to book in advance. 3 hour ride, 225 baht.

Been a while, but I read all of the Private Dancer-type books. I was glad to read on Stickman that these franchises are still carrying on. The book I read was Border Landscapes; the politics of land use in China and Thailand -A grad-school level slog with a lot of what makes a border/how do nomads negotiate borders?-to wade through. Akha people are well spread out and very inter-related so they're all about border-ignoring. Just like around the world, border ignoring/crossing is harder than it used to be. China has done a more benign job of turning the hill tribes into tourist gold. One big reason is that Chinese interest in hill tribes as a tourist destination is much greater than in Thailand. Couldn't find a general interest, non-academic book about the hill tribes. Robert Cooper's books about Lao tribes are the closest to readability. He also wrote Culture Shock Laos. He's deceased for a few years now, was a friend. I traded my 3 Hilltribe hardcover books for Rod Stewart's autobio at the Pai used bookstore. How that place survived Covid is a mystery. Maybe they're money launderers.

No wait, you're Australian. The last size 2 there was Kylie.

I was self pisstaking a bit there. I see some Hilltribe homestays with hot tubs on offer. I'm from a part of the States that has a lot of Native Americans, and yeah, you're more likely to see a buckskin fringed jacket on an old hippie than any of them.

The very academic book I read (from 2010, I think) about the Akha people says that for them to do a wage job instead doing their preferred Akha subsistence thing is their absolute last resort. Surprisingly, they've thrived and been left alone more in China than in Thailand. In Thailand, the village head man is more likely to consolidate the land in his name only. He's also usually their only conduit to wage labor. My couple of weeks in Chiang Mai Old City had me noticing how very light skinned and attractive most of the tourist-facing workers were. I will def look out for people who are less so.

You're saying that if you could have sex with a size 2, good looking backpacker, you'd wave her off with a disgusted, "no interest"?

I bought the Lonely Planet Hilltribe phrase book and here in Pai they refused to take it as a trade in because they had too many of them from other dreamers like me who envisioned having a 'we are the world'-moment with an authentic-ish indigenous person who might show me a secret sacred tree in the forest, just because. As a long time resident, how often do they mix with westerners? I'd guess language is a big barrier. I also read a book that had a lot about Khun Sa, opium lord of the Shan State. He was like Scarface with Buddha's thrown in. 'Can't believe there hasn't been half a dozen movies about him.

We await the tales. Good for you. I prefer western women. Haven't seen a single woman over 40 traveling solo. Usually, I see a few.

I've had fantasies about getting with an Akha woman, partic if she leaves the silver head dress on. I've heard: Try Ak, and you never go back. The long neck women attract me to, but I'm ashamed to say why. But it's 10 PM. You're here posting, not slaying in a karaoke bar. A slash and burn nomad willing to get down and get with it (thank you, Slade) would represent a giant ro-mance trip uptick for you.

I recall KK as the most spread out and downtown-lacking of all the Issan towns. I'm not going to recco Khorat as your best option again.

I think that's the white person price. You gotta like 'em on the moon-faced chubby side. I was fortunate enough to meet up with someone from here who's had sex with a hill tribe person. All I can say is: respect. But you too, MacManus; if you can make it here, there's a colon-cleansing smoothie with your name on.

I just had 4 days in CR. Pretty dead, partic ro-mance-wise. I went up to the Chinese village for their Saturday night walking street (def a one and done -and Mark Weins really oversold the noodle soup). Some action there in the 500 baht range, Trang can only dream of those options. I was just at sitar concert at the Jazz pub -you really can't get much more Pai than that- and I saw a lot of broken down old geezers (well, 3 anyway) with anorexic backpackers. Could this be a new demographic for you to pursue? The Trump love that you so generously share here, tho -def a hippie chick groin-dryer. Try not to mention Hunter's laptop if you think you're going to get a nibble. You told me to uh, you-know-what-off about meeting up for a drink, but if Pai entices, all is forgiven.

I'm in Pai right now. Seems like more like 6 mini-buses a day going to and fro. I also see Pai-Mae Hong Song notices up at the bus station. You can find the van schedules (and even book it) easily online. Was a tad let down by the very tame mini-bus ride. It's curvy, but not that curvy. Plenty of eating at the mid-way cafe stop going on. No one throwing up etc. I think this all harkens back to when Lonely Planet would slightly oversell the adventurousness of going to to places like Pai or Ko Phangan. Pai is a bit busier than you'd think at the moment and def packs out a bit at the weekend. If you search for Pai, I've just given a days-old trip review of what Pai feels like these days.

I went to the Ganita Restaurant mentioned above. It's the only place in town with a line out front. It was very good. I've eaten in about 6 vegan restaurants and rate it as the best. Due to cutthroat competition, you can't get a bad meal here. Also worthy of mention: The Lemon Thyme Cafe for breakfasts and sandwiches (has a/c, pretty rare here). The Nong Beer Bar has a full Northern Thai menu, slightly toned down heat-wise for western tastes in a proper old shophouse. Best Thai food I've had here, but it's all much better than you'd expect from a place with a hippie hell hole reputation. The Falafel lady (near the end of the walking Street, against the white temple wall) also usually has a line. Up there with any falafel I've had anywhere, and very generous with the falafel balls and tahini sauce. I still find grumpy old forums are the best place for info. I'll bet Mark Weins looks in here for ideas. No influencers here, just people who will tell you if the green curry is worth the trip or the extra 20 baht.

My drug reviews are as of an hour ago. I am unsure how explicit I am allowed to be here about drugs, but it is available in at least every 4th bar. Brownies are less frequently spotted. P4P is a hard sell to hippies who brought their own thin GF with them. Def some crazy thinness going on with the young women of today. I'm sure it's around. Locals seem to be on the light skinned and Chinese-looking side. Dispatch SparkTrader immediately.