Prubangboy

On 5/26/2024 at 1:27 PM, ChumpChange said:

 

Another point very often less discussed are the benefits of being and remaining an outsider.

 

 

This.

We enjoy all the benefits of Thailand -cheap-everything, access to women, freedom, no traditional hang-ups- without the downside.

And then we can select Thai friends and partners that are comfortable/amenable with that.

Amateur demographer, Mike Lister, puts the expat population at about 200,000, so a third of a percent of the total population. Unless you're in one of six places where westerners congregate, Thai's haven't met enough westerners to have much more than a very superficial opinion about us.

I think they see us as giant, spoiled babies: we need special food, to have everything done for us, can't even communicate.

24 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

 

 

Don't need to concentrate on keeping your 'focus' if you never lost it.

The book was interesting in that it presented a world-picture where attention is compromised on many fronts.

Most people are sleep deprived, over-worked, under money-stress, eating badly, and even suffering some mental impairment due to pollution. They may have been misdiagnosed as ADHD in childhood and further impaired by Ritalin.

Individual choices like you suggest are what this thread is about. Seeing this era of lower concentration as systemic is also useful.

Caveat: It's by a Guardian star journalist. So it def has a liberal/socialist tilt towards state solutions and favoring lower economic growth. I don't see these idea's as workable.

Attention is like muscle. Use it or lose it.

When you travel solo, you want a few more creature comforts and familiarity.

And if it's your first trip, after your wife died? Maybe more so.

I'll def be hitting the semi-famous street Pad Guy on Soi 11 the day after the curry meal. I no longer feel like I have to pretend to go native like back in the Lonely Planet era. I eat Thai food about half the time, so above average for a longterm expat. 

And Thai people love KFC. It's a crazy, mixed-up ol' world. Why be self-limiting when Thai people aren't?

I am in Ayutthaya right now and it's def a bit of a dull dump, outside the ruins.

And that's staying at a 5* SALA hotel. Nice giant river prawns. Must to avoid.

Another suggestion is to stay near an English/Irish pub in Bangkok, partic as an older, solo traveler. It's good to have a check-in spot and they will tend to have some social stuff like quiz nights.

The one 2 minutes away from The Miami Hotel is exemplary. You can even order in an English-style curry from the place next door.

I have a lot of 5* restaurants to check off my list during this Bangkok go-round, but I will def make room for a Madras curry and a Guinness at the bar.

20 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Where did Prubangboy post he buys breakfast out ?

 

I am perfectly capable of putting peanut butter or cheddar cheese on two slices of bread and kettling up a green tea.

But usually, I go down the hall to my wife's apartment where she puts a scrambled egg and some avocado slices on some toast and I drink a filter coffee.

I have a Netspresso and plenty of 28 baht coffee pods, but I have yet to plug it in. Maybe if she comes over, but why would she? I tried to give it to her. She prefers the pour over ritual.

It's great to live, as if on a cruise ship, in a tiny, easy to keep clean space in happenin' Nimman, Chiang Mai; to have no stuff beyond a dozen La Coste polo shirts and a small Marshall bluetooth speaker. I can hop on one foot to six great restaurants for dinner.

I still own a 5 bedroom house back in the states that's now an air bnb. The relief of being free of all that stuff is tremendous.

I am glad that fave poster-Jim is enjoying the heady luxury of a houseplant, but when people are derogatory about tiny apartments, I feel sorry for them. They don't know what they're missing. It's just a cheap shot by no insult-game losers.

12 hours ago, JimTripper said:

 it's a small box condo like Nirun or View Talay. Entertainment is the corner bar where they serve you beer.

I'm just not seeing the small condo-problem.

I eat all but breakfast out and I spend 95% of my condo-time lying in the king-sized bed.

How would more square footage build my self-esteem?

8 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Meditation does what?

What does it exactly do for you 

 

Buddha said:

"To acquaint the heart with wisdom."

-Either you get it or you don't.

I have the exercise bands and do a few pushups and planks.

I'll be adrift in Bangkok soon. 20 days 7 neighborhoods. Some days 'llI do a meetup, but mostly I'm on my routine of exercise and walkabout in the morning, meditation and writing in the afternoon, socializing or a well thought out dinner plan.

Grab Cab revolutionized travel for me, more than the internet. And I'm taking the train down from Chiang Mai.

The last travel I sort of trained for was to see the Tiger Temple in Bhutan. A two hour slog at a steep angle. Not much inside the Tiger Temple, if you're on the fence about it.

Itinerary-wise, I'd toss in a few days in Old City Chiang Mai and a trip to the beach. I favor Koh Samui. To me, Hua Hin was Hua-Dull.

'Lost my wife way back when and came to Thailand for healing. This place will uplift you.

If you make it up to Chiang Mai, toss me a message and I'll take you out for some 99 baht Khao Soi noodles.

Miami Hotel -10 minutes walk to Terminal 21. 5 minute walk to the SkyTrain. Too many restaurants to pick from 2 minutes away (partic if you like Indian).

Older property seen in a couple of films, great value. Great staff who will chat with an older solo traveler.

If you're a robot, why do you want to improve your human relationship?

That's some pretty slip shod robot-ing.

Thoughts on my sitch. I remit $60K a year here.

It's all dividend income, taxed at 15% in America. Thailand also has a 15% dividend rate. You can pay it as a flat withholding tax here, separate from the progressive income tax.

After I pay Thailand their 15% ($9K), that payment can be used as a tax credit applied to my US taxes.

This is per a US/Thailand tax treaty agreement (your home country may differ).

I give Thailand $9K (15%), and then later I get a $9K rebate on my US taxes.

Key point: It's the USA that give you the tax rebate, not anything having to do with Thai tax law. Thailand can tax whatever they like, it's your home country that will offset it, assuming their tax treaty says so.

A Thai working in the states is on the opposite end of the same deal: He pays the USA first, and then he gets a rebate from his home country.

My total tax increase is zero. Meanwhile, living in paradise, I am dodging state income tax back home.

Finicky is asking about capital gains from selling stocks.

Both countries  have the same rate of 15% and the same double taxation agreement that allows you to deduct your Thailand payments from your USA tax bill.

Interest payments -same deal here: 15%, same USA tax deduction.

Problem for Me and for Thailand: Past the rebate threshold, I will now want to remit less money to Thailand. It will just pile up back in the states.

There's only so many vacations outside of Thailand where I might spend it. If buy a nice watch or a MacBook, that's now much more likely to happen overseas.

10 minutes ago, GrungthepGringo said:

Lol, gets even stranger and more confusing with each passing post. Keep going. You're on a roll. How about another glamorous 320-word slab of drivel about what you did today? Cmon, surely you are up to it. 

What kind of drunken Chav life is this, following me around, sniffing my old man butt?

Please, have some self-respect.

Just now, GrungthepGringo said:

Have no idea what you are nannering on about. 

Most pathetically passive-aggressive impotent swipe ever. I sense the stench of the English.

Crystal Gong show was only 300 baht, in your terms, the same as a lady drink.

Don't postpone joy. Bang a gong. Get it on.

4 minutes ago, GrungthepGringo said:

 
Social strata flexing. 

Nah, I like posts with prices. My eating out is no personal diss on you.

Some people come here to get laid. I got laid at home. We came here to eat.

Whatever your $$$-deal is, I hope you like it.

But there are other legs to hump here like a demented German Shepard. Don't feel like you have to keep on humping mine.

7 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

How much were you paid for each establishment/item you mentioned in your meaningless ramble?

I said what I did. I didn't say what you should do.

How 'bout a nice rubber beer cozy to keep that Chang cold?

Just now, Keeps said:

Thanks for that. Have you ever tried House of Paella in Nimman?

They may have moved on. They were saying as much last year. I live hopping distance away, so I'll have look-in for you. But yeah, lovely and a bargain. Beautiful, very quiet soi to stay on.

My own weekend thread has some Nimman Recco's. We eat out/order in every single meal from within a 5 minute walk of soi 15.

2 hours ago, Keeps said:

Can you recommend a good Indian restaurant for when I am in Chiang Mai next month? 

 

 

Accha, by the Nimman1 Mall is a big cut above the usual gravy-sludge. And the have S.Indian food too. 'Order in about every other week.

Strong Recco for Mr Laptop Near CentralW0rld (that's how they spell it).

Exemplary service, great prices. Give him a call first to make sure he can do it.

It's in a building way back from the street. You need a picture ID to be allowed on the elevator.

My own verdict: prob not worth fixing.

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

 

I've smoked 1gm every evening for the past 4 years and never cough.

Just did an expensive lung wellness thing at Bumrungrad. I'm good. Chronic bronchitis is a frequent problem for old potheads. Chronic bronchitis will def tend to lead to other problems.

Most people who give up weed report the same as me. I'm not saying it's fatal; I'm making the very common sense point that inhaling smoke and holding it in is bad for you.

How bad, how much? Who knows? I def feel better all around without it.

I smoked more than you, and yet also made it a point to leave Chiang Mai for burning season -to protect my lungs.

Logic is not a strength usually attributed to potheads.

Why can't people use the basic brains that God gave them and hit the return key to create occasional paragraphs?

This fundamental stupidity underlies and explains the bigger stupidity.

Agree as per above: the whole story isn't being told her and I detect a whiff of troll-dom.