JamesPhuket10

True, many Thais visit Pattaya for weekend trips, you will not see them in Walking Street, etc as they are in the restaurants in the 99% of Pattaya which is not girly-bar-land which a lot of the farangs on holiday never see and hence paint a poor picture of Pattaya amongst farangs.

Someone said in this blog, "Another friend is considering going back to Canada because he is fed up/bored with Patong and has been financially shafted by one Thai girlfriend, thereby losing his business, and his latest Thai girlfriend has decided to dump him! Not a happy chappy, so I expect him to leave very shortly." Anyone would become tired of Patong after a while, that is why most of us in Phuket do not live there, it is not the real world, it is like a real-life Disneyland. What I can't understand is the comments from people thinking Phuket is all about Patong, it is about six miles from where I live and I go there a few times a year as an outing, it is like going to another country for a few hours. Phuket is 543 square km in size. Patong makes up just a few sq km of the island. And if anyone is stupid enough to open a business in Patong and associate with the bar girls there who are 99% from other provinces, especially the North East then they deserve what they get, I do laugh when I hear of the stupid antics some of the farangs get up to and end up being ripped off. Luckily that type of person does not live in this area. I just looked out the window of the house and I saw no Russians or Chinese, I keep looking every few hours as we were supposed to have been overrun by them, but no sign of them yet so far. But the few Russians I have come across seem like nice decent people to me, not one of them had a bar girl in tow, the Russian males are with Russian women.

I choose to live in this area in Phuket as it is like living in a small village away from the rest of the world, the roads are all private, most of the residents are Thai, and there is a small private park for the kids of the residents to play in, plus as the roads are private there is almost no traffic so the kids can play in the streets as well. There are two manned barriers with CCTV so when I go away for a month or two the house is nice and secure. But outside there are banks, shops, pharmacists, etc close to hand. A massive Makro is a seven-minute drive away as is a massive Lotus and an even bigger Central Shopping precinct is a ten-minute drive away, best of both worlds. When friends are over on holiday I go out with them now and then to places like Patong, as I feel like I am going on day trip holidays as it is like being in another country, it is good fun in short periods. Then I drive over the mountain and life is back to normal, it is like those areas only exist in holiday land.

It is just another phase of the phases we have to go through. My two sons went to school and university in England, one is now married to a New Zealander, they have a child and he has set up a successful business in NZ, the wife is an architect. The other son is a biomedical scientist at a hospital in England. I have been living in the house in Phuket for the last two years full time, it was bought/built about twelve years ago, and it is in a quiet area with no girly bars, etc, they are miles away over the mountain. 98% of the people living in this housing complex are Thai and the roads are closed to the public. I do not have as many friends as I used to have as they move on or die. I will go back to the UK this week though, for a month or more, business class with a bed (EVA Air) is what I use now that I am older, health is worth more than money. It is just another stage we go through, but look at it positively, if you are not going through such stages it means you are already dead. 😄

Yet you comment so you must have a chip on your shoulder about not living here. I do not live in New York or London but I do not make a special out-of-the-blue statement about it. Although I am going to London for a month next week. To the people who do not like Phuket, yes please stay away as we have enough winging ex-pats already (I avoid them like the plague). I laugh sometimes when I am in other areas for a visit, boring villages for example, some ex-pats tell me they do not live in Phuket for whatever reason and then they get on their twenty-year-old Honda Dream bike and ride off, I laugh and think, the real reason is you can not afford to live in here.

Thanks for the info, I will give it a try and see what happens. I have to go to immigration in February anyway to renew the visa extension.

I have lost zero. Phuket is great as long as you do not live in a typical tourist area. It is a third the size of greater London, there are lots of nice areas to live in. I would hate to live in a small village where nothing at all goes on especially in Isaan, too backward for me, why not go one step further and live in a cave like a primitive? 😁 Oh and the other fallacy is it is overrun by Russians, people believe anything that is said/written on ArseBook, etc, so dim. The roads in this estate are private and so I hear a car go past the house maybe once every few hours, it is so quiet, yet the banks, chemists, convenience shops, etc are just a few minutes walk away. And it is reassuringly expensive to keep the riff-raff away.

I am going to go to the UK for a month from next week. My next 90-day report is due in December after I get back. I will try and do the usual 90-day report online from that due date instead of 90 days after I get back as it might be accepted online, I will see what happens. I doubt if anyone is checking these things, it is just a means of generating money and creating jobs. It is the same with the re-entry visa, I have already proven where I live, have money to live on, etc while getting the one-year visa extension, and so when I went to get the re-entry visa I had to show some of the same things again, no new information, it was 1000 baht for the three officers sitting in front of me for thirty seconds 'work'.

Set a reminder on your iPhone to repeat every 90 days, set it a week before the report is due. Then do the 90-day report online, it does not work every time as due to typical Thai nepotism a nephew of some politician probably wrote the website that handles the reporting, which means you have a week to try a few times to report online if it does not work first time, you will get a receipt, print it out and keep it in your passport.

Yes, I get them when I do the 90 report online, don't forget to check your spam folder on your PC for the receipt.

It is an honest and open transaction, you get the sex and the girl gets your money, it happens all the time all around the world daily, it is not something I would make public though, hey look at me I buy my sex. 😄

Those types of idiots make me laugh, I don't know anyone personally it has happened to as I don't hang around with guys who are married to exbar girls, but I have come across many over the years while having a beer at a bar (non-girly bar) and the story is always mostly the same. Met a bar girl, most of the time much younger as we all know very good-looking bar girls love old farangs (🤣). Get married, move to the girl's village which is usually in Isaan, buy a house and car, pay for the sick parents and maybe the bar-girls two or three kids from a previous Thai marriage. Once the bank account is empty the bloke is out on his arse or while on a trip abroad he comes back and finds the house has been 'sold'. I think if the girl was not worried about selling herself every night in Pattaya etc, then why would she think twice about ripping stupid old guys out of their money?

You can find out by, "contact immigration immediately"

It takes about two minutes to do the 90 day report online. (TM47), you get a receipt for free, print it out, and put it in your passport, what is there to moan about? It takes a whole three minutes to do the TM30.

Most of my comments on this blog are 99% of the time meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Even though I am retired I spend a lot of hours on my computer writing Apple apps as it is good to have interesting things to do in order to keep the brain in gear, and so I take a break now and then for some light-hearted fun as sometimes I am waiting for a build to finish or some more info to be provided. It was probably around 1984 when I had an interview for a software engineering job at a company called Linotype I think. The job was related to computerising the task and replacing the manual setting of the metal letters in the press which formed the print. So in fact it was probably replacing the 'compositor' as you mentioned above, which as you said allowed you to move onto higher positions. I did not take the job as it was a bit too specialised and there would not have been much scope for similar work in the future.

Here we go again, the WEF, the WEF, I am tired of hearing about the WEF, don't you realise they do not exist, it is aliens in disguise who really control the world. 🤣

Well, you did ask so here goes. Modern newspaper printing is mostly computer-controlled, and the process is streamlined from the moment a journalist types a story to the actual printing of the paper. Modern Newspaper Printing Process (Today) 1. Journalist’s Input: • Journalists write their stories using word processing software, typically integrated with a content management system (CMS). The CMS allows for collaboration and easy editing by multiple people, such as editors and copyeditors, in real-time. • Photos, graphics, and other multimedia elements are added and laid out with specialised software like Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress, often through templates. 2. Prepress Process: • Once the content is finalised, the digital files are sent to the prepress department. • The layout is converted into a format suitable for printing, like PDF. • The files are then processed by software that performs imposition (arranging pages on a printing plate for maximum efficiency) and colour separation (breaking down images into the four basic colours for printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black — CMYK). • Plates are made using computer-to-plate (CTP) technology. A laser engraves the image onto a printing plate directly from the digital file, removing the need for film-based processes used in the past. 3. Printing Process: • The plates are loaded onto a high-speed rotary printing press. • Most newspaper printing is done using offset lithography, where ink is applied to the plate, transferred to a rubber blanket, and then to the paper. • Ink and paper rolls are continuously fed into the press, which can print tens of thousands of pages per hour. • Modern presses are monitored by computers to ensure proper ink density, colour balance, and registration, ensuring high print quality and minimal waste. 4. Post-Printing: • After printing, the newspapers are cut, folded, and bundled automatically. • The system tracks the distribution and number of copies for different regions, and they are then sent to delivery services. 5. Distribution: • Distribution is usually integrated with digital services, with subscriber databases feeding directly into the print delivery system. • In addition to the printed papers, the stories are published online simultaneously or even earlier on newspaper websites and apps. Newspaper Printing 30 Years Ago (1990s) 1. Journalist’s Input: • Journalists wrote their stories on word processors or typewriters. Stories were handed over or sent via early network systems to editors for layout. • The layout was done manually on paste-up boards, where articles and photos were physically cut out and glued onto the page layout. Special machines known as typesetters were used to print articles, which were then pasted into place. 2. Prepress Process: • After paste-up, the pages were photographed using a process camera, creating a film negative for each page. • These negatives were then transferred onto printing plates using a method called photomechanical transfer (PMT). It was a labour-intensive process and prone to human error and prone to the workers being on strike. • Colour separation was a manual process and involved the use of specialised equipment to break down images into CMYK films. 3. Printing Process: • Printing was still mostly done using offset lithography, but the setup was less automated. Press operators had to manually set up ink levels, monitor paper tension, and make real-time adjustments. • Errors in alignment or colour often required stopping the presses and making corrections, leading to more downtime, this time was sometimes longer than the time lost due to strikes. 4. Post-Printing: • After printing, the papers were manually cut and folded. Automated bundling was not as sophisticated, and more manual labour was involved in preparing the newspapers for delivery. • Tracking of distribution numbers was less precise, often done through handwritten logs or early digital databases. 5. Distribution: • Distribution was completely manual and relied on human couriers, with minimal digital integration. Delivery was tracked using paper records, that is if they were not on strike. Key Differences Between Now and 30 Years Ago: 1. Speed & Efficiency: Today’s fully digital workflow is much faster. What used to take hours or days can now be done in minutes. Automation has streamlined the process from editing to layout and printing. 2. Prepress Automation: The introduction of CTP technology has eliminated the need for manual film preparation and photomechanical transfers. The imposition and colour separation processes are handled by computers. 3. Error Reduction: Modern systems allow for real-time error correction and colour adjustments. Thirty years ago, errors in typesetting or plate making would lead to significant delays and there was always the threat of the workers being on strike. 4. Labour: The printing process used to require much more manual labour, from typesetting to plate making and press operation. Today, much of the work is automated or digitally controlled, digital controllers do not go on strike. 5. Digital Integration: Modern systems allow for the simultaneous release of content online and in print, a concept that didn’t exist in the same way 30 years ago. Real-time news updates and digital-first publishing strategies are standard. 6. Environmental Impact: Thirty years ago, there was more waste due to inefficiencies in the process and the use of chemical-based film and plate-making processes. Today’s printing is more environmentally friendly, with fewer chemicals and more efficient use of materials. Overall, the modern newspaper printing process is faster, more precise, and more integrated with digital platforms than it was 30 years ago, reflecting advancements in both technology and workflow automation, plus computers do not go on strike every five minutes. It will not be long before newspapers become a thing of the past, it is almost impossible to give them away now e.g. the Evening Standard (London).

It is probably a fact of your life.

This can be the case for any relationship anywhere in the world, well except for some very strict religious countries. I don't mind being bossed about on a small scale and I use the word 'bossed' very loosely, for example, I am not that good at eating fruit, and so every afternoon as I am writing software in my home office a plate of prepared fruits is slapped on my desk in front of me followed by the word, "eat". I gladly comply as it is good for me, it is more about concern than being bossy.

I suppose anybody would be bored, and go mad after a year or two living in a condo, which is just another name for a flat. Retirement is supposed to be enjoyable, it would seem like a failure to me if I had to live in a flat for the rest of my life, especially in cheapo Jomtien or Pattaya. A three-bed single-floor house in a nice gated area is much better for us older folk, oh and one that is not mostly occupied by old miserable farangs, even better, hardly any farangs at all as is the case here where I live.

But I wonder why the people commenting here seem to think it is just a Thai thing. Wimps can be wimps under the control of a woman in most places in the world if they wish to.

I am very happy to say the printer 'workers', have been replaced by computers etc, the typesetters, etc who were being paid for doing not a lot are well gone. Being a software engineer does have its upside. We don't need to be in unions as we have skills. We should have cloned Maggie Thatcher, the clone would have sorted the lazy union mafia of today. I think it will be fun on the 31st of this month when the people who voted for this lot get their comeuppance. They have already robbed the poor (winter pension payments) to give to the greedy lazy union "workers", I use the word 'workers' loosely. "The rich", will already have their bags packed and heading for the airport. 🤣

Well done, what a decent chap! 👍

That is the case for any man in any country. I remember decades ago in the UK I was going out with an English woman, she started to become bossy and possessive so I "did a runner", and she ended up marrying my brother's friend. It was not the last "runner" I did, in fact, I did it again and the ex ended up marrying a friend's friend, I should have been paid a commission for all of the couples I put together. 😄 My brother never saw much of his friend after the marriage as she controlled him. I think some guys like to be controlled as the wife is a replacement for their doting mother.

There is a Labour Party, they will do as they always do, rob the poor and give the money to the well-paid union workers who control the Labour Party. Train drivers are about to be paid £69k for sitting on their arses all day long holding onto a dead-mans-handle, where is the justification for that amount of pay? A monkey could drive a train. They will also attempt to rob the rich but they as always will move to another country and the taxes they collect will be even less. What did they say, "we will not increase taxes for working people" They are about to increase the NI which companies pay for each employee, 50% of businesses are run by families or individuals, they probably work a lot more hours than their employees, are these people not working people?