QuantumQuandry

Thailand is trying to get cheap oil...by giving longer tourist visas...to draft-dodging Russians? 🤔

Trying to get rich quick on something that could die, tomorrow -> crypto. Owning a real asset that is stable, isn't going away but is boring -> gold. Best of both worlds -> index fund of stocks.

It's cheap-ER than the most expensive countries...but it's not cheap. No need for sarcasm. Can find more expensive countries, can find cheaper countries. Thailand is not on the cheap end of the spectrum, anymore, if you want high quality care.

There's an age when you should pay for sex and an age when you shouldn't? Who determined the correct age and the appropriate level of shaming? Is there a chart?

Quality health care at a good private hospital in Thailand isn't cheap, anymore, imo.

Not sure you would call it 'spin'. I have no dog int he fight. I am just not as comfortable, judging other people's relationships.

That is the current western model but every relationship is different and has different dynamics. Relationships don't need to all conform to the modern western "men and women are exactly the same and have the same roles and responsibilities" paradigm, imo. That said, there does need to be respect going both ways.

It is literally NOT "just like everyone else", though. That's why it's being discussed.

No worries! But I am saving the fish for dinner...

That's not a very nice attitude. I was polite. I didn't say, for example, "You don't have the I.Q. to operate a speak-and-spell and shouldn't be allowed to own a phone, much less operate a computer". For a guy named after a philosopher, you are quite the smooth-brain. Do you think that because you can Google issues with Chrome, it means everyone has them? Do you think that if everyone had them, people would still be using it? Or that it wouldn't completely dominate the browser marketshare?

I live here. You must have misunderstood something.

Same reason as anyone? Perhaps you misunderstood my post? Me not thinking Thailand is a trade-up for every poverty-stricken foreigner living in a car and <deleted>ting in a bucket...is not the same as saying no foreigners should live here, is it?

It's relevant in that my experience being poor in America tells me that it's not as bad as some of you guys make it out to be.

I think that's too broad of a statement. I, for example, had zero money. Zero money in the US is zero money in Thailand. Zero money to GET to Thailand. Zero money for a visa. Zero reasons to go to Thailand. Why would I possibly have wanted to come to Thailand and figure out the language there? I would have less handouts and less people who wanted to help. They would all just want me to go back to my country. And the social welfare programs back home, eaten up by inflation, are better than the zero social welfare programs that would have been available to me in Thailand.

I was a runaway kid. When I was young, I did worse than live out of a car. I slept in other people's abandoned cars. Crashed on people's couches, sometimes, when I could. Slept in halfway houses until I hit the limit of how long I could be there. Crashed in the basements of some scary, creepy, weird ass people, including a guy who dissected roadkill in his basement for no particular reason. Yet, honestly, it wasn't that bad. Spent my days at a community center shooting pool and playing ping pong. Went to fast food places at the end of shift and asked if they were throwing away any unsold food. My only responsibility was to secure somewhere to sleep and something to eat and I had all day to do it. At any point, I could have chosen to go into a foster home and had people take care of my survival needs...but I never had to and I didn't find surviving on the street all that hard. I mean, there was the uncertainty of where you would sleep or what you would eat...but I never felt any real despair. And sure, an old guy might have health problems that I didn't. But he could also take advantage of the many social welfare programs (food stamps, SSDI, section 8 housing, etc.). As a runaway, any encounter with the government could end in me being carted off to a foster home, which I did not want. My experiences lead me to feel that being poor in America is not all that bad. I imagine that being poor in another country where I can't speak the language, I have no citizen rights and they don't really want me there...would be a much worse option.

Strange, I use Windows 11 and I don't have those issues you seem to be facing. I just tell it what program to open files with and it does. I love Chrome. Must be a pretty damn small hard drive to fill up from a browser...

I think...there sure seems to be a lot of depressed and anxious people on this forum.

Also, you would end up getting on the baht bus that loops from second down to beach road lol

I don't know if it would be better for traffic or not, I will leave that to people who actually study such things. But the two way street makes that street way more attractive, to me. All of the businesses, outside of the LK area, in that area would certainly lose my business. And I wouldn't consider a condo there to be worthwhile, anymore. I guess that would mean less traffic, potentially...but maybe not for the reasons one might hope for.

Where would you guys recommend, as an alternative, for an American that likes American (or at least western) food and groceries? Don't need 'stuff to do', don't care about beaches or tourist stuff. Do care about decent medical, western restaurants and groceries, cost of living, convenience, language and being in at least a mid sized city. Long term visa has to be consideration, ofc. I loved Angeles City, Philippines. Still do. Other than that, what's the next best option? (just exploring new ideas) Interest currently piqued by: Malaysia (English and great long term visa but prob more expensive in the city?) Indonesia (Not sure about the visa) Mexico (Near US is a plus, have to research which areas are safe and if crossing the border is too time consuming) Brazil/Columbia (girls not my style but close to US is a plus and not too expensive, I think) Spain (Not sure about visa and no particular draw, other than being affordable)

You seem upset that I ask you to do more than be a critic and provide something useful to the thread. And you seem confused about the difference between the words "limited" and "useless". Anyway, you don't seem to be addressing my counter points so I guess we can end our discussion.

It's not ridiculous to ask someone who criticizes something to provide something better. If I wanted someone to point out flaws all day without offering anything of value, I would go live with my mother in law. You also didn't point out uselessness, you pointed out a limitation of the data. Which I agreed with. And I will even go further, now, than you did, and say it's got more limitations than that because it's not even an official source and a limited number of data points. That said, I think it's a reasonable contribution in a thread where so far, there was only singular anecdotal evidence. If you don't agree, provide something better.

It probably isn't. Go ahead and post some more reliable data and I will be happy to use that instead. Until then, isn't it probably better than "Nothing bad ever happened to me" singular anecdotes?

You are asking me if they don't report the cases...that are never recorded? Short of something out of the movie Minority Report, how would that work?

According to Numbeo: https://www.numbeo.com/crime/in/Pattaya