TroubleandGrumpy

Funny how the Dems claim Trump and the GOP are 'a threat to Democracy' and then they use every method they can from lawfare to violence, to block what the People voted to have happen. Hypocrisy has no limits with the woke liberals.

Mate - he is a Troll IMO - best not to let him bait you - ignore, block and move on is my advice.

The ONLY place in Thailand that would not accept our cash was a small shop inside a new Hardware store - the wife wanted a on-special 15 Baht ice cream and they could not accept cash. The girl said the owner built it without the ability to use cash and said that lots of people have complained - we said sorry and walked away.

You can say that again - have another beer mate - I have no idea what you are talking about (see ya later).

Check out the reference post with details - $1.3 Trillion in phone scams/thefts in the last year (estimated). Take it or leave it - but dont come complaining to me/AN if you get scammed/ripped. BUT the reality is that people are extremely reluctant to do 2 things - Public Speaking and admitting they fell for a scam or were ripped off.

I think the OP needs to change the headline to - Many Men in Thailand Never Escape Bargirl Mode Because she/he aint really asking Why. She/he is lecturing blokes about their failings (as she/he sees it). IMO there are two answers - Nunya and Dog's Balls. Nunya - None of Your Business. Dog's Balls - because they can and they enjoy it. My advice to OP - stop criticising other's life decisions, and focus more on your own issues and enjoyment of your own life, and stop snarking about any other's. My Thai Wife is almost 15 years younger than me (almost 70), but she looks (and acts) 40 years younger. We had our 10th year anniversary this year, and life has never been better - I recommend Expats try it. There are many good wholesome middle aged Thai women (35-45) out there who would make a wonderful GF/Wife and who are available for an Expat to hook up with (if the Expat looks OK). There are also a lot of older past-it hookers who will suck you dry (financially). The good ones aint easy to find in Pattaya, but in Bangkok and Chiang mai there are plenty, and also on Phuket and Samui and Hua Hin. I still get 'that look' when I am walking around by myself - but I know it is the size of my wallet that interests them (not anything else). All you have to do is 'grow up' and look past the 20s something beauty and seek out a companion in her late 30s early 40s who you can live with and enjoy life. When they look - just say 'Hi' and take it from there - do not look too excited - be cool. If interested she will talk and you take it from there - single? married? dinner? bla bla bla. TIP - Check out the Mother before committing long term - that is the number one key to finding a good one. PS - If you have only a Pension and/or are covered in Tatts and/or dont present as a reasonable bloke - then dont bother looking and stick to the bar girls. And that last point answers the OP question for some blokes. And a lot of others are a little wary of taking a risk - especially if they have been 'bitten' before.

Agree 100% - Passing Laws taking away rights to guns and expecting that to stop shootings, is like passing Laws to ban murder, robbery, theft, drugs etc. and expecting that to solve the problem. I bet the shooter was not a member of NRA or any other shooting club - they never are - they are mentally damaged people. The problem is not good sensible people getting guns, it is that people who are mentally unstable and violent and criminals can get guns. If the lefties really want to reduce the shootings, then they need to stop trying to repeal the second amendment for all citizens, and rather than that approach - attempt to change the laws about the type of people that can get guns. But instead they just use the shootings as a political issue to fire up their voter base - and blame Trump and GOP of course - same old same old - divisive hateful politics.

Years ago when we lived there we used to eat at Duke's in Promenade Mall regularly - good food and reasonable price. The Promenade closed a while ago it seems, but Duke's now has 4 locations open across Chiang Mai. The Shangri La was great too - excellent restaurant and we stayed overnight a few times. We are planning a trip there next year - look forward to seeing the answers about a decent hotel with a good restaurant.

Woke Liberals do not think and check mate - they respond to 'correct' people who are saying things that they are deem unacceptable because they are virtue signalling 'social justice warriors'. They are a dying breed and thank goodness their reign is finally coming to an inevitable end.

You really are not quite here are you? Do you even know what sarcasm is?? I was being sarcastic back at you !! Quote from Google - "It is difficult to provide a single, exact number for mobile phone scams worldwide each year, as many go unreported, and data collection methods vary by country. However, reports highlight a massive, increasing problem, with over $1.03 trillion lost to all scams globally in the past year alone. Key Statistics on Mobile Phone Scams - Financial Losses: Scammers stole over $1.03 trillion globally in the last 12 months, a figure that has remained consistently high in 2023 and 2024." https://www.google.com/search?q=number+of+scams+worldwide+each+year+mobile+phone&rlz=1C2BFEM_en-GBTH1190TH1190&sca_esv=3af7953498ddd0e5&source=hp&ei=VhssadmOHq7f2roPxZ-eyQ4&iflsig=AOw8s4IAAAAAaSwpZhb191uLDQ68E5QliIRZOuySdk1o&ved=0ahUKEwjZkZKh1JmRAxWur1YBHcWPJ-kQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=number+of+scams+worldwide+each+year+mobile+phone&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IjBudW1iZXIgb2Ygc2NhbXMgd29ybGR3aWRlIGVhY2ggeWVhciBtb2JpbGUgcGhvbmUyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigAUisRlAAWKJCcAB4AJABAJgBggGgAfcZqgEEMzEuNrgBA8gBAPgBAfgBApgCJaACqBvCAgcQABiABBgTwgIIEAAYExgWGB7CAgoQABgTGBYYChgewgIFEAAY7wXCAgUQIRifBZgDAJIHBDI5LjigB_mWAbIHBDI5Lji4B6gbwgcJNS4xNi4xNS4xyAdq&sclient=gws-wiz&sei=YRssae7zINLP2roP0uCa0QU Luckily the dim user will get a refund from the bank for their dimness. You are not in Thailand are you?? Using a mobile phone here to pay Somchai in a market shop, or Pornchai in her street vendor place, and so many other places here, is very risky. It beggars belief people come here and expect the same as back home - here only the big large Natuional stores can be 'trusted' maybe. Did you know that you can get a small card from the local banks here and put it in your pocket - much harder to steal/lose - and a lot easier/quicker to use than a mobile phone. And no one can call the card or send a text or a link - etc etc etc.

NPR - ROFLOL. You have to be kidding - right?

When I was at Uni - long time ago yes - but that has all been replaced by illegals in most western countries. Because the farmers make more profits using illegals - no insurance, no compensation, no taxes (often), no complaints.

Cheers - No problems mate - glad to help you stop worrying about something that does not concern you. To the OP - I strongly advise getting legal advice from a couple of other Lawyers on any such subject - ideally those who are working in Bangkok or Pattaya where there are a lot of Expats they deal with on a daily basis. This is not the West and 'lawyers' here are not accountable for advice they give to an Expat like back home, and they have very strong legal rights when you engage them, and some have been known to do the wrong thing - like transfer ownership of a property to another Thai, without the Expat's knowledge. Check out the story about Ian Rance and others - this happens a lot more than you would think in Thailand, but due to defamation laws it is rarely made public. Not saying that is involved in the advice provided in this thread - but it gives reason why an Expat should seek advice from several Lawyers regarding serious legal matters. The Phuket property nightmare - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346620 The Thaiger - Retired engineer Martin Savage, 65, says a... | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thethaigernews/posts/retired-engineer-martin-savage-65-says-a-long-running-property-dispute-in-thaila/1159419282883630/

And everything else mate that (mostly) blokes pay for when they get married - and for the rest of their lives - or until divorced - and even then for years for the kids she had (which maybe the bloke's who is paying). I recall Lee Marvin was said after being divorced in CA under those new marriage laws (something like) - "I have worked it out and we were together X years so that means it cost me $Z every time I pharked her - I think I will rent from now on'.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit - but you will be laughing out the other side of your face when that big plastic bag goes missing 😉 We go to the Makro once a week for shopping and we then take out cash from one of the safe/secure ATMs in the store and we use that for the week - simple and easy - even an idiot could do it. But some people just love using the technologies they are told to do, thinking it is safe and for their benefit - when the fact is that it improves their profits or they would never implement the new way to get your money. IMO the change from Tellers to ATMs was a good thing (except the fees). However, there was a big increase in thiefs using skimmers etc. to obtain a person's card/account details to steal their money (hence I never use an ATM on the street or outside a 7/11). But I am absolutely sure there is no way thiefs could possibly get my car/account details when I buy so many things using my phone - it is so easy - tap and go, what could go wrong? I mean phones were designed to be safe and secure and to be used for electronic purchases - weren't they?? Oh wait - maybe that is what those cards you can get from a bank with those special chips and security inbuilt were designed for ???

So there you have it - Thailand is so corrupt and incompetent that a group of the wealthy elite in Bangkok took 2 decades to get a building removed. These people are senior members of Government, Military and Business and yet they could not stop it being built. They started trying to stop it at the initial construction phase but got nowhere. Thailand needs structural reform of all its Legal, Government, Political and Judicial systems.

There has been some very bad weather in CA and also a seasonal decline in growth. Yes, part of the reason is no workers to pick the strawberries but it is not only that. And next year the farmers can employ legal workers like they used to do - often backpackers and college kids earning a little extra cash (not easy but not difficult work - qualifications not needed).

Because it 'sells' to make women and men believe that it is a good thing to do - to get married. And also because the only and obvious 'solution' to the unspoken problem, is to remove the rights of women to quit/leave and take part of a man's assets and/or wealth. Back in the 'old days' a woman would put up with a man and stay married - there was no incentive to leave/quit. Nowadays a woman can get angry and annoyed (as they do) and they have a big financial advantage to leave, and many take that path (and are miserable many years later). Yes - in the old days there was marriages where the man was doing the wrong thing and even violent - but the truth is that they were only a small percentage. However the feminists used them to make all the changes that they have made, thereby making leaving a marriage far too easy and advantageous for women.

Actually IMO the best option is to not to use phones for banking and in-shop purchases. Thailand is one of the largest scammer countries in the world (people being scammed). The Govt and Banks dont manage their IT very well at all - certainly outside the top 4 banks - after all those negative stories years ago, the media and Govt/Banks no longer report any big security problems and hacks (bad for tourism). Anyone paying with a phone in a small Thai shop is asking for trouble in this country - good luck getting your money back if scammed.

Not in/on a public forum - many others have same views - but being Thailand you have to look very hard to see/hear them.

Works perfectly well - I am using this laptop for AN right now. I can access any website - Chrome has a stable version that works perfectly on Win7. If that changed I might have to update, but until then I am more than happy to know that all the 'modern' analytics and spying etc etc is not working on my system, and also not draining any CPU/GUI resources. I have 'reprogrammed' Win7 to remove all the khrapp and unnecessary system apps and services, and the laptop goes extremely well - better and faster than my Win10 laptop. I dont have time to 'manage' Linux - so I basically created a 'bare bones' Win7 machine. With Win10 and going forward, they have more and more removed the ability of Users to change their systems - and not for the User's benefits - it is for MS and all the others. That was why they gave Win10 away for free.

The point being that long term 'residents' with a licence/ID would not have to pay - unlike in Thailand. People in USA do not carry around their Passport (many dont have one) so a licence/ID is the obvious answer. Likewise, anyone that looks American would still have to pay - unlike in Thailand. To the OP @gargamon The reason why we bitch about dual-pricing is that it is racist. Because here in Thailand they dont ask for ID - they base the charge on race and appearance. People from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar etc etc are not charged Tourist rates. But any Western looking person (white or black falang) is charged Tourist rates. Thailand should do what what they will probably do it USA- show a licence/ID to be exempted. In Thailand if you have a Thai driving licence or ID then you should not have to pay Tourist rates - Tourists cannot get a driving licence. Last time I was entering a national park they demanded I pay Tourist rates. When I previously showed my driving licence with my address on it, that used to be accepted - but they refused and demanded I pay the full charge (not the wife). I turned around and drove away - but not before saying to them that my wife was an Australian.

We all get to an age where it is stupid to change a phone or a computer - from what we have been using for many decades. It becomes very hard to re-learn something at a certain point in our lives. If you are young (under 50) then go for it - if you are old (over 70) then dont do it. In between - it is up to you - but think carefully.

Could the Government of Thailand actually wake up and realise that they have become the destination of choice for criminals. It used to be just the Chinese, and then it became lots of criminals from western countries, and now the Ukraine/Russia mafia has arrived (and they know how to keep a low profile), and next it will be the Indian Mafia (who will be a disaster). Thailand - Hub of Criminal Mafias (all welcome - as long as they pay the kick-backs)

What the sensible people of America are coming to realise more and more as ICE uncovers more and more corruption in the States, is that the Dems have been using the Govt systems to 'reward' illegals who make it to their States, in return for their votes later. Everything they have been doing for decades, is not about human rights or social justice - that is all PR BS - they do it so illegals will enter and vote Dems. It is getting to a stage when I am thinking the National Guard could be forced to arrest and charge members of some State Legislatures and Courts - what they have been doing is close to treason. They have helped and supported illegal aliens to enter and stay in the USA - that is treason IMO.