GreenSnapper

Provide proper sidewalks where you actually can walk. Not broken and loose tiles everywhere, not constantly running into some obstruction.

Sounds easy, but it will not happen the next 50 years.

Persistently and provocatively, wanking, pounding and penetrating a perished pregnant pony

What was his name again? Foreskin?

Route 66 is full of Thais ... 99% of which would ignore a 30-something farang. The same with most of RCA and Ratchada.

Hahaha.... you guys just have no game.

Nothing easier than RCA and other Thai places. Learn how to approach chicks in groups and get some clues on women.

What a lovely character! And what a great talent using the CAPS LOCK key.

if you also want to stay in one of the hotel rooms, bare in mind that they will try to not to honour any discounted rate using all the possible excuses, including the ones that do not make any sense at all or make contradict theirselfs, remaining calm or being nice will take you nowhere dealing with them.

This is a general problem in Thailand with hotel booking sites like Agoda etc.

Has happened to me too, that a hotel just says "sorry, hotel is full" when you have a confirmed booking. They don't care, and the hotel booking site does not care too.

Best advice is, calling the hotel before arrival and make sure the booking is confirmed. I never had such problems in other countries, but this is Thailand....

So that means, when you move to another city, you should move accounts as well, otherwise large journey for next extension of stay ?

I love Thai bureaucracy...

First, 95% of the protesters were men.

Second, not Thailand related at all.

Villa market sometimes has "promotions" which aren't any: They just put a bigger price tag above the old one. With exactly the same price. Common in the wine department.

I noticed that too. TIT!

But I believe that the average Thai won't notice without a calculator.

My branch in BKK always tries to let me come back 1-2 days later.

I then make my "beaten dog" face and beg them to give it to me same day. "OK, go eat something and come back afterwards".

I then go eat something. Costs are 100B.

OK, please show me some CURRENT scientifically CREDIBLE website that asserts that race DOES exist as a genetic, biological fact and then you will have provided an alternative viewpoint. Without that, it's just noise.

I normally refrain from discussing obvious nonsense, but I make an exception and hope Stanford University is sufficient for you.

Studies contradict view that race doesn’t exist

Jan. 31, 2005

Special to World Science

Racial differences among people are real, new studies suggest, contradicting claims by some of the world’s leading scientists and scientific institutions that race doesn’t exist.

These experts had said race is merely a “social construct,” or a creation of society’s collective imagination. But the new studies, some of which come from Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., suggest that the way people classify themselves by race reflects real and clear genetic differences among them.

This indicates there is some truth behind the racial distinctions that seem obvious to most ordinary people, the researchers said.

But they added that it’s important to define race correctly, since dangerous misconceptions, such as the notion that some races are superior to others, persist and can serve to excuse racism.

Moreover, previous studies have shown that racial differences between population groups are small, much smaller than variations within the groups themselves. The newer studies didn’t specifically dispute this observation, but simply found that the between-group differences are also clear.

What is true, researchers said in light of the new studies, is that people of different races have different ancestries. This means different genes, since genes are inherited from ancestors.

“The public in general is much more honest” about race than many academics are, “because the general public knows it signifies something rather than nothing,” said Jon Entine, a journalist and author of a critically well-received book, “Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It.”

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050128_racefrm.htm

I don't think I am confused by saying race as a biological construct DOES NOT exist. It does exist as a SOCIAL construct. I do think most people haven't kept current about modern anthropological science.

http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm

Every ideology is backed by some website.

That does not make such nonsense "scientific". It is just as "scientific" as Marxism is "scientific".

Discussing ideology makes no sense. You personally believe in "social constructs". It is just some Western hype, feminists believe that gender is a "social construct". And you will find some pseudo-scientists who will back up such theories.

Another mistake I notice when walking around Bangkok: Tourists assuming, like in the West, pedestrians come first.

And zebra crossings are there for pedestrians to safely cross a road

You are missing the point entirely. Race doesn't exist except in our heads. We are all the same race. Jews and Arabs are no more similar GENETICALLY than Eskimos and Armenians. The point is that people SEE race, so Jews and Arabs typically react to each other as being from different races.

Oh my god. And your next argument would probably be: "gender does not exist, it is all in our heads".

The major problem in the Western world is ideological thinking. People are educated to see the reality as "it should be" by some "modern" PC standards, and not as it actually is.

This thinking is derived from the communist movements in US and Europe from around 1960. Communism is mostly dead now, but the ideology is still deep in many people's minds.

If the West does not correct this, it will finally fail. Asia is much advanced as PC and ideological ideas play a very minor role. They have learned from their past, remember Pol Pot or Mao Zedong.

In this case the Op is talkig about retireing in Thailand.

He is talking about a relatively large sum, lodged on fixed term. Not just saving type deposits.

International banks in Singapore currently offer AUD rates of between 6-8% link here depending or terms of 12-36 months.

With his amount of investment he would qualify as a Private Banking client.

Singapore also has a deposit guarantee scheme for personal depositors up to a limit.

One correction, clinique: AUD deposits at ICICI bank are NOT guaranteed by the Singapore government. But the risk is very small, it is a major bank from India.

Otherwise, your advise here is correct. But everything has already been told to the OP. He does not listen and asks the same questions over and over again.

A woman is banging? In Thailand?

What a surprise......

Sorry Jing, when the majority are similar in appearance you are not dealing with racism ...

!!!???!!!

I am sorry, but there is no doubt in my mind that people of very similar appearance can be very, very racist to each other. If you seriously don't understand that, ask some Israelis and Palestinians or even more extreme, ask some Hutu and Tutsi from Rwanda.

It's not racism, they just see whiter skin as more beautiful.

Why does the PC crowd here believe they must reengineer the Thais? Thais preferences are the same as in the whole of Asia. From Japan to Indonesia.

Just accept the reality as it is. No one here needs your Western ideology.

People who say don't tink too much, I consider anti-intellectual Thai-ier than thou apologists. It's not a matter of PC or not PC, it's a matter of being conscious of what's going on.

People are tired of PC, and here you are free to say so. Nothing to do with "thaier than thai".

The costs of PC are horrendous. Companies have to protect themselves from multi million $ lawsuits by some self proclaimed "victims of discrimination". This costs big money and generates a atmosphere of fear.

In my home country, it is mandatory for any job offer in public services to write "women of same qualifications are preferred". They call this "positive discrimination" and the result is a huge overblown communist style bureaucracy of mainly females. The costs for this pays the (mostly male) tax payer.

Back to Thailand - they can make a joke and I fully support them. In the West, the thought police would destroy anybody who just tried something similar.

And don't talk about racism, I belong to the most ostracized category : male, white, no financial problem. I know what it is to be hated ....

And of christian background?

I feel with you, brother.

But seriously, Thailand is not politically correct, and that is one of its great advantages. You are not mind controlled as in the West and you can (mostly) say what you think, even make a bad joke like this BTS-ad.

I hope it stays like that!

About accounts in oz$, you got lots of advice in your previous thread.

Why do you ask the same questions again?

If a country like China can do it - why not Thailand ?

And they dont need to " build " anything ! Just paint a few lines

on the roads and designate them as bike lanes !

Paint a few lines? That would be as decorative as all the zebra crossings in BKK

Thailand is made for cars and motorbikes. Period.

No walking possible, and no cycling. Even in a small Soi you cannot walk. The side areas are fully parked and the one-lane in the middle is used by drivers who race full speed 50km/h.

There is mostly no space for walking - how would there be space for cycling?

It is annoying to see some shriveled, scruffy, greasy old twonk trying to " sweet talk " the lady members of staff in somewhere like the Pullman Khon Kaen. They're paid to be polite and smile.

They pull - and you don't. That's why you are annoyed.

Sorry but why get a new passport?

That for the next years you don't need to visit your embassy once you are out of your home country. Get a passport with max number of visa pages, if there is an option.

I have some access to these WiFi hotspots - I think 1 hour a day courtesy of TrueMove subscription. I tried them a few times in the beginning, and they were totally useless - the WiFi didn't work, or it was so slow as to be useless.

Has this improved now? Anyone have positive experiences?

Depends, this is Thailand ;-)

Sometimes True Wifi works quite well and fast, at other hotspots you cannot even connect. Sometimes you need several tries until it starts moving.