TheTightArseTraveller

As much as Harrisfan's name assures me I know I can't stand her personally, the post is just a piiss take. What the last few weeks on here has shown me is that grumpy old men and grumpy mofos in general stalk these posts...waiting for the opportunity to thumbs down (like that actually cuts) and be a negative plonker. Why are you even here?

Trump is a first class muppet...

he's**

So it's not a warning ABOUT Thailand, it's a warning to the MORONS that come here and break the law thinking they can always bribe their way out of it...

I will reply to your smart arse reply (Good story) even though you started that way.... I do agree you need SOME money, but waaaaay less than you think. The west is educated to chase and chase so you become a good little tax payer all your life. The OP was about 'happiness'. You dont need money for that. You need health and family. Again, all IN MY HUMBLE OPINION

I have a real estate photography company. I have staff in Australia and can work remotely without a glitch....until theres a glitch.... Then its a pain in the arse, but thats rare enough to make it worth while

That is going to plummet with the crime rates and out of control immigration. Europe is stuffed.

I agree, but you cant deny the hypocrisy in your statement (and my agreement). We were tourists once too. Maybe were were more embracing of local culture? Not sure, but its hard to say "F**K Off...We are full" when we are immigrants ourselves.

I feel, until the penny drops, chasing happiness just means that you are never content with what you have. You never stop to smell the roses. I apologise for the length of this reply, but its hard to shorten in without losing the context. I am the absolute ferang cliché. I was married, high flying corporate job, beautiful kids, new (way too big) house, new cars... Continuously struggling to pay all our bills even though I earnt more money than anyone I knew. My western wife was NEVER satisfied, no matter what we got...She always chased more. At 38 I had the mini nervous break down and left the wife and life I knew was killing me. No-one saw it coming and all thought I had gone mad. The truth is, I had just begun my new journey. Post divorce and now cleaned out broke, I had a few girlfriends but never felt safe to settle down. I came to Thailand...Hit on a waitress for some holiday fun and the cliché begins. We hung out next time I cam back and I came to visit her home in a remote Buriram village where I sit writing this. The moment I saw the love, the kids playing in the street and running around screaming, the animals, but most of all, how happy they were with so little, I knew my life had to change. I remember telling my hot waitress girl friend that if she wanted a rich ferang, Im sorry but keep looking...Im broke. She worked out pretty quick I wasnt joking... We are together to this day, 7 years married, and I still have faaark all, but still enjoy the life we have here. We don't need anything but our health and each other. Im seriously content and enjoy my walk through the rice fields every day, bringing in the buffalo.... I do have a self started business I created with a view to working remotely, that now generates enough for me to spend most of my time here rather than in Australia, where I look around at all the people on the treadmill I was on, whose teenage daughters all need therapy and wives are all wearing designer stuff they cant afford and I cant wait to be back here walking the buffalo in with my waitress wife. So, to answer your question, you CANNOT create happiness...It finds you. You DO have to be able and ready to receive it though. Thats my two cents.

I wish the whole world would get together and just sanction the US out of existence! Absolute flogs no matter who leads them.

Sweet, we will call the Thai government and let them know all is well.... LOL

There are a few issues I see but the 'feel' of the place is a big one. Many of the tourist spots now seem to have three, and only three, country of origin visitors- Russia, India and China. Clearly tourism dollars are not racist, but when you walk down Walking Street, or Banglar Road etc.. You could be forgiven for thinking you were in India. This is not an attack on the Indians, but when the mix is SO high, other nationalities notice. The Russians in these places also create a very menacing feel. The Chinese are fine, but again, I do feel that these areas would benefit from a more even spread of tourists. I also think the legalisation of hooch was absolutely a tourism killer. SO obvious mums and dads dont want their kids walking past a dispensary every three shops and breathing that craaap in everywhere they go. . The Thais are very happy to be Nationalistic and racist when required, but unfortunately, as per usual, the dollar has ruled here in a very short sighted way.

Cheers Keeps... Yeah, Im not bothered about the flack Im copping, otherwise I wouldn't have put it up there. I actually expected to fire up a few more!?!? LOL The people with the opinions I expected clearly dont live as rural as me, or more likely, not even in Thailand at all.

Absolutely. I’m 51 and often hang out with my 10 year old step daughter. Wonder how many ‘ewwww creep’ looks I’ve had… but to be fair, I understand the uneducated judgement.

Great point... I will leave her on her own at home next time. Or maybe chuck her in the buffallo pen would be a bit safer...