trader1

I think people do automatically assume certain relationships. My GF is 24 years younger than me and we live in Bangkok. She is Japanese, I am farang. Whenver she goes out alone Thai people always talk to her as if she were Japanese- as obviously she looks and dresses Japanese.

But when we are together they always address her as if she was Thai. She speaks no Thai whereas I do, yet they will always seek confirmation on any point from her.

Why do they do that? Simply because their imprinted stereotypes about young girls with older men (Thai and farang) is so strong that it overrules the other signs of Japaneseness that she has.

2. The belief that he was born in Lumbhini is based on a fraud perpetrated by Dr Alois Fuhrer in the late 19th century.

I wonder how Dr Fuhrer managed to get Asoka's pillar transported to Lumpini from Iran? Not to mention the other temple remains.

Good luck on your progress in uncovering this wonderful mystery.

^ *(Ulysses) Well, you are certainly not speaking for women, I hope.

There are some Thai male/Western female relationships, just not as many as the reverse because of the sheer abundance and dominance of the Thai female dating/sex market, both here in LOS, online, and increasingly abroad. The gender roles and expectations are also generally much harder for Western women to accept than Western men. We are also much less inclined to accept looks as the primary benefit of a relationships.

*Therefore, the numbers of Western women/Thai men, are probably more reflective of a realistic number that would account for the difficulty of hooking up in the midst of complex cultural differences.

It could be also that western women are relatively unattractive, physically and emotionally, compared to Asian women?

I've been an expat for over 15 years and live with my Japanese GF(over 20 years younger than me, won a beauty contest 2 years ago, graduate good Tokyo uni., salary almost at my level) here in Bangkok. I would, I am sure, be just as happy with a beautiful farang GF who is equally demure and responsive, but they seem few and far between..

A thai guy comparing the market will also - I suspect - find that beautiful, young etc etc farang women are much rarer than their Thai counterparts.

Some figures from the net:

From Wikipedia, a man has a 1/2000 chance of contracting HIV during one sexual encounter of vaginal intercourse (without condom) with an HIV+ woman.

For comparison with other STDs, Answers.com gives a much higher 30-50% chance of contracting eg syphilis from an infected person in the early stages of the disease during unprotected sex.

So chance of infection seems low (but nevertheless there).

One thing that worries me about that statistic is how could odds that low produce the apparent epidemic figures of the last 20 years?

dam_n, seems I am an incorrigble sex addict. As a father I guess I failed #11. \

Do your sexual activities include the risk, threat, or reality of pregnancy, blah, blah?

Anyway sounds like you did well to end it now, before the wedding.

I had no problem at all with doing just that at Bangkok.

Yes, the only acceptable view in the wacky west is that bad things only happen by sheer bad luck.

As Chownah has said different Buddhist have different ideas, indeed you can find the most exoteirc beliefs among "buddhists" .However, I assume that you are mainly interested in what the Buddha taught:

Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta

13. "Here, student, some woman or man is not a giver of food, drink, cloth, sandals, garlands, perfumes, unguents, bed, roof and lighting to monks or brahmans. Due to having performed and completed such kamma, on the dissolution of the body, after death he reappears in a state of deprivation... If instead he comes to the human state, he is poor wherever he is reborn. This is the way that leads to poverty, that is to say, not to be a giver of food, drink, cloth, sandals, garlands, perfumes, unguents, bed, roof and lighting to monks and brahmans.

14. "But here some woman or man is a giver of food, drink, cloth, sandals, perfumes, unguents, bed, roof and lighting to monks and brahmans. Due to having performed and completed such kamma, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination... If instead he comes to the human state, he is rich wherever he is reborn. This is the way that leads to riches, that is to say, to be a giver of food, drink, cloth, sandals, garlands, perfumes, unguents, bed, roof and lighting to monks and brahmans.

I asked my maid at the Ambassadoe hotel on Sukumvit. She has been working there 6 years and gets 6000 baht/month, plus free uniform and free meals during working hours. She said this is higher than most smaller hotels. She shares an apartment with another maid (2000baht/month).

wooh, excellent!

Just the details I need to get onto highway 35 without any wrong turns!

where do I get onto the main route to Hua Hin, (beginning journey from Sukumvit 1)?

They are good, but some people find them hrad on the back..also boring..

I was there saturday morning and noticed a decrease in noise level- maybe the message is getting through...

19,500 at MBK

I am a member for a few weeks now. I am going to try earplugs.

Thanks for at least getting the music turned off in the changing room!

I should say, it has good facilities generally- they give out towels for free, unlike Fitness First- and a large range of machines etc.

Anyone a member at CW on Sukumvit 23. They have the sound on the stereo cranked up to night club levels.

This week two letters in the Bangkok post complained about it- one was by a person who wasn't even a member, just walking by the building!

On average, about 50 civilian UK nationals are murdered around the world each year (excluding terrorist attacks). This means that almost 10 per cent of all murders of Britons abroad are committed in Thailand – a chilling figure, given that Thailand comprises only 0.6 per cent of all foreign travel from UK shores.

If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn't true.

Greed will make people do silly things!!

People who fall for pyramid schemes probably have dealings with Nigerian government officials, UK Lottery prizes that they didn't buy tickets in - there is no such thing as a free lunch.

I found half a Big Mac in a rubbish bin the other day. Wrapped up and thrown away. I got a free lunch

Sunrise tacos with the soft shells are nice- always very fresh vegetables, polite service.

But no mocha.

So usually I head down to Cofee world on the corner of soi 9 where a mocchino is only 60baht, as against 100 for starbucks.

Last saturday though they had no cofee as teh machien was broken. So I ordered for a subway (same place). Asked for a hot bun. They delivered it cold. Pointed this out..no problem it comes back a few minutes later steaming hot, pickles, bun and all- nuked in the microwave.

Unbelievable but not surprising that people STILL want to live with their head in the sand and ignore facts about the safety issues in Thailand.

Damian

The old rose-coloured-glasses syndrome. Desperately clinging to the fantasy.

For tourists Thailand is one of the most dangerous destinations. Most expats at least know the dangers.

One of the lowest murder rates is Saudi Arabia. They do have a very high number of executions though.

I had lpg intstalled in my nissan sunny yesterday. 14,000 baht, and automatically goes to lpg after 2000 rpm, or to petrol if it lpg tank is empty.

Runs very well but slightly harder to start and idles a little rougher.

if you buy one type of lifetime membership from California wow you also get one or two 6 month memberships which you can give away to whom you wish.

california is considerably cheaper then fitness first or true fitness.

How can it be right in a country of such abject poverty

Which part of thailand do you live?

Compare it with countries like Nepal, bangladesh and even india and you will find lower standards of living. Even most of Africa is has more poor people, although even then I wouldn't say most of them have 'abject poverty'.