jinjok

i really mis the old airport in hkg - but i had the arrival/departure in bkk thing down pat. i miss don muang and loathe that ugly, ill constructed and overpriced monstrosity currently in use.

what a face slap if they are forced to go back to dm eh? what if the airlines say - hey, its not safe and we are not flying in there so its dm or nothing? wouldnt that be grand.

the really cool thing about pattaya from about 1998 to 2003 (98 my first stay in pattaya) was that it had such a bad rep that everyone avoided it. it was both cheap and convenient at the same time the islands became super scammy rip-offs and over crowded. i just thought...screw it. 1.5 hours from bkk (rmember that?!). it aint paradise, but over the hill is a nice beach and is cheap as chips.

its now a total horror show. floods of ill mannered losers and out of control construction. ive been gone for three months so...how is the 30 floor condo on 2nd rd doing?? OUCH!

brigsy -

exactly.

we all share

girls have alligence (sp) to no farang.

if you dont want msg say...

mai-ow too row-tt

or

mai ow ayinamoto (if the former does not work)

ging ahahn thai! aloi thee sudt!

WOW dude - GOOD TOPIC.

someone should start a street food club :-))

ok here are mine:

absolute best noodle soup (koey tiaw nam) [sen lek/yai and bah mee]. soi bukhao across from the popular gold shop. it is chinese style so very clear and light. she uses all sorts of ingredients that others dont bother. open morning early pm.

two doors down and across from less popular gold shop is a place that serves standard dishes. good quality, low price and now popular with farang.

heres another: great/fresh nam tok moo. ive been out of thai/pattay for months so this stand may be gone and huge hotel in its place. the vacant area where the fair often comes and where the two HUGE condos were to be built. its a stand in back of the noodle/khao mun gai stands.

heres another: STICKYB i second the guy in tuk com BUT... i find his stuff plain and unimpressive (it might be tasty (??). just quite typical and since tukcom food mall - i get more food and cheaper at the place above AND is closer (lesser gold shop). BUT.... i go out of my way to see him ever 3 days becasue he is only place that has gai khao soi YUMMMMMMY.

finally: night market find the youngish/semi-attractive and hard working (!) woman who serves up the best phad thai in pattaya. she also does hawy thot (fired oyster) that is great!

the nigh market has standard fare but i love it. its my evening kitchen table and the thais smirk seeing me every night consistantly, ive developed a bit of respect there. its funny...if i take away everyone i pass on the way back to my room want to know whats inthe bag. they especially crack up if its some weird issarn food.

the night market in nakula is very nice too eat outside. not many offering but if you want to bring someone to eat in night market and need clean and organized. a good stop. b10 from dolphin north and back.

i absolutely love thai food and eat it 3x a day. even snacks -although i sometimes crave potato chips.

when i go back to visit my parents i get cravings, so now i bring curries home with me.

i eat for b120 a day no problem. this is one of the major reasons i love thailand.

as for mexican its ez to make:

steak marinated in italian dressing and grill. mince meat use for filler in taco/burrito or slab w/ side salad

salsa: tomato, garlic, onion, fresh corriander, black pepper and lime juice

tortilla: go to indian shop and get chapati

chedder/jack cheese preferable

black beans or pinto are ez to find.

for me - nothing beats my evening walk thru the nightmarket or the tues/friday mkt for all sorts of new tasty goodies!

thailand has crap farang food becasue that is the eating taste/habit of locals -working stiffs. ive yet to meet a gormand in thailand, let alone pty!

i love food :-p

dont beleive anyone that tells you that you must have some huge amount of money to enjoy life in south east asia. prices have indeed jumped - but id been living off b18500 a month incl visa runs for years.

to do this...

modest electricity consumption

live in a small/older flat in pattaya

eat only thai food

drink on the beach, balcony of flat

rarely go out an dput on the dog

never pay bar fine

visa runs are kept under b1700

buy whisky in cambodia

smoke very little if at all

travel these days is minimal unless i up and leave the flat for month/s at a time

horizontal refreshment about eery 5-6 days.

-you have to try it out and see what works for you. always challange yourself to cut expenses. ask...do i NEED that? live simply.

fyi: yeah, i do without. but its this or the workworld. im VERY content despite the small money and even lower rates on usd (although i dont plan to spend long periods of time in thailand for a few reasons anymore).

================

i have heard there are cheapish homes other side of hh for as little as b6000 a month. you have to go and LOOK, find it and see if it works for you. there are 2 nightmarkets to eat in HH.

also you can try prachuap if you can go more rustic/thai. hh is not all that great. its the germans that have driven prices up there. its not so hot and east facing beach, horse poop, jellyfish -but eats are good!

i wouldnt bring anything. just buy it there. whatever you bring youll run out of so you might as well arrive w/ light burden and jump in to finding spices/cookware and cobbling togther what works for you.

yes, i am amerikkkan and living/traveling asia since 1992-3.

but im not your target. i have been a vis runner (proudly) for years and will continue to do so.

i will stay in thailand as much as the country wants me and when it does not - i will go elsewhere to enjoy my life.

i am 'young' by retirement standards. i do understand if people have health issues and want to reside in thailand. but i will never seek a retirement visa or go begging for any sort of long term visa.

if/when the time comes and i front up paperwork in order and im given some lame reason on denail it will be the last paperwork filed in the kingdom.

thailand can do what it wants. so can i -

ps: i also have family than can wire funds and then i can pay them back by having my parents send them a pre-signed check which i have @ the ready for 'emergencies' - which i have never used.

i loooooooooove debit cards! they have totally freed me.

as a side note and separate comment for emphasis...

amerikkkans can obtain a TEN YEAR (180 day) visa for india (i have one!)

brits can now get a five year

if you can handle india, it can be part of a circuit. for instance, when i get back to asia my year will look like this:

thailand 6 weeks - himachal pradesh /north 3 months - goa 3 months - thailand 1 month - cambodia 1 month - thailand 1 month - lao 1 month > thailand and back to usa for holiday ;-)

i also might get to phils ??? as i have a china air ticket i have to burn up.

i have the ten year and planning to go back next summer for 3-6 months. im not very keen on indians but the north and goa are very nice if you can stay away from the isreali backpacking set.

yeah, i forgot cebu. its actually the most liveable place in phils. of course there are small lovely places far afield (bicol, etc...).

the big downers for phils:

banking system sucks. atm's suck.

pay for play scene is very dimished/ghettoized and not ez to find steady girlfriend

if you need to do a visa run or just change venue - it means a plane flight $$

the food SUCKS. food is so good in thailand i eat nothing but.

the cost of housing. phils is really poor value -unless you rent long term

i think whisky is much more expensive (i hate rum and that piss sanmig)

WAY too catholic (coming from an x catholic)

petty crime/police corruption

visas over 1 year are ez but not cheap.

if it were not for these factors, i would be there already

after nearly 15 years of travel, thailand was alwyes merely a pit stop for the real and exotic asia. it felt too modern first time i stepped foot in bkk in 92. as i aged i spent more time lounging and more interested in consorting with women of ill repute. in 2000 i more or less settled in to thailand and left backpacking behind w/ exception of a posting in rural indonesia which was good cash (2003).

thailand had great economies of scale and i could live for about us450-475a month. now with baht where it is those costs have changed dramatically at 34 to the dollar.

im done. its not even th evisa thing - thailand has gone from heaven to hugely poor value for us amerikkkans. of course i blame bush - noit thailand. but it is what it is.

good analysis xbus - but i dont think smart money was ever actually here for reasons you had stated.

thailand is auto hub and DABBLES in technology.

its big exports - agroculture

its labor pricey and poorly educated

its business climate - frigid and opaque

the new airport is precisely why no one should invest in thailand. it is a classic text book example from inception (why build it) to design, procurement, location, quality of construction, computers and the roll out.

why dont you answer the guys question instead of being so flippant. oh yes its because youve never been out of thailand...

singapore is not that bad - and that comes from a lifetime juvenile delinquent. in fact it has many good things about it. thailand is certainly not short of rules/regs these days -esp for farang. unfortuantely around pattaya there is huge/violent crime going on now. id honestly say in last year it has become as dangerous as pnh.

most guys will opt for: cambodia (kampong som/phnom penh) or phils angeles craphole city becasue of the female factor.

on the next tier you could do well in...

hcmc, vietnam

bali, indonesia

penang, malaysia

luang prabang, lao (visa $$$)

then there are ...

hanoi, vietnam

himachal pradesh, india

goa, india

shanghai, china

pattaya is indeed a shithole.

years upon years it floods

the drivers are crazy/rude

the traffic is awful

garbage is everywhere

the beach/water are filthy

-bangok is cleaner. i had this epiphany some months ago when stepping off the bus and running about bkk for the day. everywhere i went was cleaner.

then i did a visa run to hat yai. it was cleaner.

evrywhere is cleaner from trang to aranyapathet.

it rakes in money and spends it on call centers and electronic billboards.

the kids are uneducated, crime is all time high - and much of it directed at foreigners and violent.

this is why i like my tiny apt.

center of town

cheap as chips

no deposit

known mgr for 7 yrs

farang are as dodgy as thais on this one. anyone in real estate/used cars....

the girls like to go drink there after work but often its a status thing to take your 'friends' afte ryouve cleaned up (come back from europe, bf has gone home...). they spend big money for status -very superficial VERY. i have found most girls really have no real friends.

never ask a girl her life story. it will always be sad and meloncholy (sp) and leave her depressed and a downer for you. that goes double if you are in the room and triple if you have developed even the slightest feeling toward her.

the men ...95% riff raff. all thai women i know wont even give time of day to a thai man. all the men i know (which are an uneducated few) are by and large lazy and untrustworthy. imo after 15 yrs in asia.

chownah - dont thank the thais for keeping buddhism alive. i beleieve it (had to be) reintroduced via sri.lanka and has always been stronger/more serious force in neighboring countries esp myanmar. thailand is a new phenomenon (sp). it was the burmese + khmer that stomped all over the 'thais' before the new dog had its day - siam was born and conqured (sp) its neighbors -primarily the khmer/lao + pushed back the 'burmese'.

i think jdinasia has something - do not judge a monk by your western standards, certainly not that of christian clergy.

monks are really cool. i have a good time joking with them (they old guys). in the end - we are all faulty players.

2nd class fan sleeper to hat yai is about b650

taxi to penang b220

and even 2ncl a/c is decent value still. you pay that for a visa to lao. malaysia is orderly and penang is a known quantity when it comes to visas.

i applaud the fact that someone on this board did something else though - and on the ground no less!!

well written report.

ho hum - you should have known. this is common knowledge even with all the disinformation on this board. now you have the scarlet letter in your pp.

up to you

im still pondering why anyone (at this juncture at least) would want a retirement visa ...and thereby possibly need such svcs.

ps: on my 2 meager debit cards i can pull out us600 a day

why would you even think about running a business -in thailand (and financial services as well). climate is worse than ever.

wow...what a bad idea.

even thai banks are a gamble, but id go w/ SCB or HSBC or intl bank.

interest rates are intl and by the time you change/change back - you better be clever cuase your into arbitrage now buddy!

singapore

REUTERS: (VIENTIANE) Executives from Beer Lao Bank have apparantly walked away with 100,000,000,000 kip yesterday...

i pay b1200 for check/clean AND go all the way from pty to bkk - and happy to do it.

dental clinic suk#49

thailand has always been indifferent to foreigners living in their midst. they have not necc be unwelcoming of foreign influence though...

i have lived in/out of asia and thailand for 15 years. in all countries its been stamps, tourist or business visas. i have never seen it a worthwhile effort to establish myself. i love to travel and th eneed to leave thailand has always been an opportunity to see the rest of asia. thailand until recently (as i am older) been a mere r/r stop. beer, babes, beaches.

**what do they do? those that never fit in, 'became asian', enjoyed the region/food/mayhem, deal with the heat... <they go home.

i simply move on.

thailand has been great. cheap golf, whisky, rooms, babes, seafood > but now as i am u.s. thailand is not only unwelcoming, it is 25% more expensive than a few short years ago and this is only the currency. add to it the price rises. was a time i could cite prices of 200 common items within one baht. that was how stable the currency was.

but i move on.

my love of asia and FREEDOM does not die

you guys can 'go back home'

asia is home and i feel like a freak the 2 mos a year i visit my parents - and RUN back to asia.

june-oct < hiking in himalaya

oct-dec < goa

dec-april < thai-lao-cambo

april/may < usa

or there is philippines, vietnam... i love asia. im sure many guys can speak to e.europe an dcentral america as well.

it will be most difficult to leave the superb value for money, THAT is the hardest part. ive been having a blast for b18000 a month for years. 20k including golf off season.

PS: i no longer consider myself based in thailand (so ive 'left' already), i have two friends who just dont know where to go. one who has been in asia longer than i even would like to go home (uk) if he could find interesting work (only requirement! [has home in spain]). he has gone from loving pattaya (15yrs ago) to loathing it. every friend i have (expat) in thailand save for one drunk who lives on his balcony and has health problems wants to go...

>>>its happening and has been for years, but thailand/asia has been flooded with freshies. now freshies tire of the bureaucracy, incompetence and arbitraryness of everything (its asia!). but its never been worse with the computer tracking...

the thing is PEOPLE LEAVE. they dont come back to this lame board and type tirelessly about why. in fact, half the board like good little lemming chime....GOOD. 'if you dont like it go, please' or 'bye'bye (thats famous here).

its not too much for persons that can support themselves from a developed country wish to have an ez time with visa in an undeveloped country. sheeet even malaysia gives 90 days on entry. i have a TEN YEAR MULTIPLE VISA to india. central america is very ez for visas. this is not too much to ask from a corrupt, financial loser like thailand.

and btw 10,000,000 (has alwasy been phony #) - that includes package tourists and visa runners AND watch TAT skew the # next year when the actual # must be at least <20% due to: expat leaving, coup, bombs, baht increase, etc...

xenophobia or incompetance??? thailand has decided to toss all the foreigners out becasue they are too stupid to ascertain who are bums and who are decent folk. there are 1001 things that can be done to disallow foreigners to engage in illegal businesses. it is pure insanity that old men who have supported thai women -and their kids which their no-good thai husbands cannot and the thanks they get is a boot up their arse. id be hoppin' mad.

youll want to just head out to the islands - or down south.