montrii

Reading Thai is not difficult and the pronunciation is far easier than English as it's phonetic with only a few exceptions

none of the good food blood bough though through enough irregular English pronunciations.

I completely disagree. If this is true for you, you have a most enviable talent, but I can assure you it is not true for most, including me. And I am a professional translator of Thai books and magazines, with quite a few volumes out in the bookstores right now. Thai is a bear to learn to read, the lack of parsing makes even quite educated Thais stumble with regularity, and there are more than a few exceptions to phonetic spelling, plus many ambiguities in the ways things might be pronounced. For instance, reading a simple word like เสนา you would likely be tempted to read "sa-nao," to conform with a standard rule. But the actual pronunciation is "sei-naa," which is also standard. And there are so many letters with identical sounds that you often can't tell how to spell something from the way it's pronounced. You have to learn rules about high consonants, mid consonants, and low consonants, plus long and short vowels and "live" and "dead" syllables. This is all BEFORE the exceptions. The writing system is also inflexible, and therefore incapable of accurate transliteration of many, many sounds in other languages. I have been speaking Thai since my 20s and have successfully done free-lance translation for many years, but I still read measurably slower than English. It seems to me someone who believes what you state here, that reading Thai is not difficult, is either 1) incredibly talented, and believes this talent extends to the rest of the human race, or 2) plain old ignorant.

I live right nearby, and was really disappointed when they tore it down (only last year, actually, not several years). Was thinking about joining the club . . . great facilities, olympic-size pool, tennis courts, and not expensive compared to many othe places, just upwards of 3000b a month, a hundred bucks or so. A bunch of great restaurants and shops were torn down alongside it. Looks like part of that real estate bubble malaise that's sweeping Bangkok, big investors making big profits on condos and shopping centers, selling them immediately to speculators for big profits, and moving on to the next projects. I hate to see this. Great neighborhoods changing, some of them old and historic, too. Ah, brave new world.

I have an SCB debit card with a mastercard logo on it which I've never had a problem buying things with in Thailand.

Nothing more than a witch hunt for any high profile supporters of the previously democratically elected government. The Junta will do anything to snuff out democracy and freedom.

There is a lot more to it than this. Not that it's not a sort of witch hunt, because it does seem to be one, but there is a lot behind this that you clearly are uninformed about. Not things one can talk about or discuss here easily, but I'd suggest trying to get as informed as you can.

RIP. Brits and Burmese should think twice before coming to Thailand.

Just like some people should think twice before posting!!

And perhaps the adviser to Brits and Burmese should also think twice about wearing a bikini in public unless he's quite ugly. In that case, of course, go for it!

Ah! Yes indeedy! The fix is in.

Well gee whiz & doggone! It's Makro, the store . . . ! I love the dark Beer Lao, but I saw the topic and hoped I might be able to open up Excel or Word, record a quick macro (how complicated would it have to be?), run it, and just watch the bottles pop out & toss 'em in the fridge. Shoulda known, if it sounds too good to be true, probably . . .

Thanks for the responses. Yes, the work problem is a big one for me. I am retired, and tend to hang around the house way too much. If my wife is not working and hanging around the house as well, we would both be miserable.

i live in a medium sized city (San Diego), but there is no Thai community here at all. There are about 10 Thai restaurants within 1 kilometer, so for work, she would be looking at working at a Thai restaurant, a lousy job and no benefits.

When i posed this question to my two female Thai friends, neither of them mentioned the separation from their family, which surprised me, because in Thailand I know that Thai women are very close to their families. Maybe because for a Thai woman in her 40's, with responsibilities for her parents, the layabout brother, and her 20 something kids, they see distance as a benefit.

Cheers.

OK, beachboy! San Diego would be one of the places a Thai woman would be most apt to like, IMHO. I've swum in the ocean there in January, but it's never hot the way it is over here. I think you're mistaken in the "no Thai community" opinion. Maybe they don't live all in the same neighborhood, but there's a wat in Escondido, and a Lao/Cambodian wat in San Diego proper, I believe. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sanghas_in_San_Diego_County,_California . . . as other posters have said, some could thrive in the US, some couldn't. Depends on a lot of things. Language ability/aptitude/interest is a big one. But good luck! I myself think 6 mo here, 6 mo in NorCal would be great, but probably won't happen, partly because of money, partly because my wife would probably get just a leetle too homesick.

At 40+ at least you won't have to worry about her running off with some other guy...

Ah, but how little you know! I was naive once, too . . .

 

 

The restaurant car better stock extra booze. 

They no longer sell alcohol on the train and youre not allowed to bring your own.


Sent from my GT-N7105 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

 

LONG overdue, in my opinion.  Now if they will enforce no smoking.

 

Wow, Whizz Bang. I gather that you must not like to drink even the occasional beer, but where does this "long overdue" on banning a minor pleasure of others come from? I have never been an alcohol abuser, but I've enjoyed train travel in Thailand for nearly 50 years, and for me having a couple of beers with or around dinner on the overnight train is one of my favorite experiences in local travel. I cannot imagine how this can possibly hurt anyone, nor any excuse for banning it in a country not dominated by intolerance and religious fanaticism. This is one of the stupidest policies I've ever seen implemented in Thailand, and I've seen a few dumb ones over the years. "Long overdue," wow. Where do you get that?

B

If you do do it, be careful, Cycling is dangerous anywhere in Thailand, unless you are off the road..

Bullshit

Oh please,, off road, no problem, on road , well just take a look at any road in Thailand or look at the road fatality statistics, please be real....

Being realistic, cycling is a dangerous sport. On road, off road, anywhere in the world. And I'm an avid cyclist, veteran of numerous tours of hundreds of kms through Thailand and a lot, on a regular basis, in Bangkok. You love it, you take your chances. I've had a few major spills over the decades. And there are some very scary drivers here. You probably heard about the couple that cycled through dozens of countries and got wiped out last year by a drunk driver of a pickup on a Thai country road. One good thing about the Thai roads is that in many places there are wide, clearly marked shoulders, presumably for motorcycle traffic. But it's still one of the most dangerous countries to do road cycling in. As for off-road, I leave that alone, IMHO the folks that do that are even crazier than I am! But I doubt it's much worse here than anywhere else.

I enjoy stuff like this (we retired programmers are weird) . . . anybody remember one of the fairly early versions of excel, where if you type in a certain spreadsheet address you suddenly find yourself (on the screen) flying over landscapes of an alien planet? Microsoft programmers with a little extra time on their hands and having fun with it. There is all sorts of buried treasure (and, of course, poison) buried in the oddest places in the cyberuniverse.

The phrase do it the "Thai way" comes to mind. Been married to a Thai for 7 years and have a 2-year old daughter. Have lived in Thailand for the last 3 years. Maintain your Western ideals but mix them with the "Thai way" where possible. There are always disagreements but like in any relationship a solution can be found. I have to say that the one thing I really like about Thai's is that they will go into a strop for a day but after that everything is forgotten ... no grudges, no repercussions. Not at all like the "Western way" where we tend to harbor these things and let then get to us. Also be prepared to be second to the Thai family ... this is important to them ... they have been bought up to support their elders unlike the "Western way" which seems to be the opposite.

I am glad for your success and harmonious relationship, sounds good. But I wouldn't generalize to say that "after that, everything is forgotten . . . no grudges, no repercussions." Surely not all, but many Thais can hold serious, serious grudges, for ever, and despite Buddhism telling them to go the other way with it, they try to hurt people they think (often wrongly) did them a wrong, which could be as little as something they feel make them lose face. And this really comes out in marriages and long relationships, I speak from serious experience, I've been seriously grudged at, false revenge taken on, etc. etc. with somebody I really loved deeply, or thought I did. Right now, fortunately, am out of that, happily married to a wonderful Thai woman, more happily than I ever thought could happen, esp. since I never cared for the institution of marriage. She's helped me change my life in all sorts of positive ways. But she sure knows how to turn the cold shoulder on people she thinks have slighted her. Her own sister calls, and she won't talk to her. I've encouraged her to loosen up and let bygones be bygones, but she won't. I can't imagine that happening between the two of us, as she has been nothing but reasonable with me, but then . . . never say never!

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

In my wife's village, which is 100% red shirt, most have not been paid and have no money to buy supplies for a new crop. Many owe money to illegal money lenders and are in dire straights.

Same for my wife's family. The whole village is in financial dire straights. Nobody there has any money. But STILL they vote for the Shinawatra clan. In the Sunday election a couple of weeks ago my wife was intimidated into voting. She said there would be "problems" if she didn't go back to the village to cast her vote.

Same in my wife's village. It's crazy, but they hate the dems more than they hate the PTP. They are still loyal to the Shin clan even they they are getting screwed and still living below the poverty line.

Reminds me a bit of crackers in the "red states" in the U.S. Vote against their self-interest, nothing seems to shake that.

I try to avoid generalization, but have experienced this with more than one woman in Thailand, most notably with my longest-running relationship (over 10 years). I wonder why I stayed so long, trying to get it to work. Anyhow she never once admitted being wrong about anything significant, though I admitted my own mistakes plenty of times. A weird corollary was that she accused me of saying she was wrong about everything and not right about anything, which was COMPLETELY untrue, just out of the blue. I can't imagine saying something like that. There was much more to this, and all I can say is I guess I had a few lessons to learn, but I am well out of that one. I have found a wonderful woman that I thank my lucky stars for, though, because she is so consistently helpful and upbeat. Even she, though, has what I am coming to believe is a cultural trait of Thai women, to be very sure of the correctness of their own attitudes about pretty much everything: about some things there simply is no debate. At least, this is what, in my experience, they act out. I don't know but that there might be some hidden uncertainty in there somewhere. But I think that sort of stubbornness just may be a national characteristic, stronger in some than others, of course. Anyhow she is so cool that it hardly bothers me at all, so even if it's there, it doesn't have to be a big deal.

The concept of "Thainess" has been around for a long time. It came about within the Thai culture as a way of identifying themselves as different from people of other cultures, in particular with reference to the West and to other Asian countries, and stresses the differences Thais are most proud of. In his magnificent book, Siam Mapped (1994), Thongchai Winichakul writes,

"In Thailand today there is a widespread assumption that there is such a thing as a common Thai nature or identity: khwamphenthai (Thainess). It is believed to have existed for a long time, and all Thai are supposed to be well aware of its virtue. The essence of Thainess has been well preserved up to the present time despite the fact that Siam has been transformed greatly toward modernization in the past hundred years. Like other nationalist discourse, it presumes that the great leaders (in this case monarchs) selectively adopted only good things from the West for the country while preserving the traditional values at their best. Although a skeptic might doubt the validity of such a view, the notion prevails even among scholars."

Thongchai points out a lot of flaws with the concept. A lot. He goes on at great length, and it's a really worthwhile read.

Maybe because I paid so much attention to what he wrote all those years ago, I've not had a very good feeling about "Thainess." It seems to me to be more about nationalism and an artificial sense of pride based on a lot of ill-defined concepts than a list of the qualities that endear the Thai people and culture to me.

I like Thailand very much, and am very fond of the Thai people in general, and do see there are common threads running through the culture which are responsible for these feelings. They are hard to define, but most of us experience a different kind of warmth, openness, hospitality, and a relaxed atmosphere than we've found anywhere else, and it draws us to the place and keeps many of us here. But I have seen the concept of "Thainess" used by Thai friends and acquaintances to justify or excuse all sorts of things I think most of us would say were negative, including a tendency to avoid critical thinking and to make excuses for inexcusable things, racial prejudice and governmental corruption among them.

So, no, I don't like "Thainess," though when it's used to describe certain things in advertisements, well, I like some of those all right. But that limited nationalistic concept has nothing to do with my love for this place and the people I have found here.

You'd have to be very lucky, in my experience, to get a berth that late. It may be somewhat seasonal, and occasionally people cancel, but I've been frustrated trying to get first o OR second class berths a week or less in advance, and I always reserve. Also, getting on a train from Pattaya that is supposed to arrive at 5:30 is cutting it way too short. Haven't used that particular line (Pattaya-Bkk) but in this day and age in Thailand trains are notoriously late, with all sorts of delays. I love to take the trains, but always know not to be in a hurry, or to depend on getting anywhere at a particular time.

poses an interesting question for wannabe philosophers . . . what's real, what's fake? If it walks like a duck, etc . . . then, I guess, if you can tell only from the price, then it's pretty much a duck. Maybe a "real" one lives longer or quacks better?

I see it could be a question of supporting the copyright owners, or maybe on principle to support the rule of law, gets into an ethical question there. That is important to some people. It's not for me to make any judgments on anybody else's choices, tho I personally come down on the side of saving money, if possible, cuz I can't feel too guilty about the miniscule amounts lost this way by multimillionaire corporations, or the opportunity it gives to entrepreneurs in low-rent countries to improve their lots in life. Anyhow I'm an SF Giants fan, and might buy a shirt or hat to a show it sometimes, but wouldn't really care where the profits for the purchase went. If it was really shoddy stuff, tho . . . but shoddy or not, most of them are made here in Asia, one way or another.

You have to read a bit further:

REQUIREMENTS FOR CHANGING OF RESIDENCE

• Nonresidents resuming residents in Thailand must be granted a non-immigrant quota as shown in a passport or a Nonresident Identification Card; or
• Nonresidents granted to work in Thailand are regarded as resuming residents in Thailand provided they have a one-year non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department. In case where the non-immigrant visa has not yet been granted, either of the following documents may be accepted:
  • The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the nonresidents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand; or
  • The work permit from the Department of Labor to work in Thailand for at least one year.

But the key element is to understand what a resident means, and that is not a person living in Thailand for more than x days a year. What is actually meant is a foreigner who has permanent residency or who has an immigrant visa (and not a non-immigrant visa). But an immigrant visa has not been issued for almost 10 years. They used to be issued for big investors etc.

I don't dispute what you're saying, it may be perfectly ture, but it's still not clear to me from this . . . doesn't say it can't be a non-imm visa here. And with a retirement visa (non-imm O-A) you can definitely get a letter from the Immigration dept. saying you can stay a year. I think I did. The English is just very confusing. I would probably be as confusing if I tried to write rules like this in Thai, tho my Thai is pretty good. Even the Thai might be ambiguous to me, but it might clarify some things. In any case, I was given to understand - from a couple of sources - that it was policy to allow retirees one import of used stuff. But I freely admit it didn't work out that way. It's just that the policy seems quite muddled to me.

non-Thai residents changing residence into Thailand

This is the catch phrase. If you are coming into the country for retirement you are not considered a resident.

Well, you are probably right . . . would have to see it in Thai to really be sure. But "non-Thai" to me means "non-Thai." By English grammar and syntax rules, "non-Thai residents" means "people who are living somewhere and are not Thai." Too lazy to research this further, and it was so long ago, but if you're right, the Thai for that should read something like "คนไทยที่อยู่ต่างประเทศ." And I believe I was referred to this by some site for retirees. If someone has a link to the Thai version I'd like to see it. Of course the question is academic now!

I notice a lot of people saying there is no duty-free provision for retirees bringing belongings. I think that in practice that may be true, but when I moved here permanently 5 years ago, the information on the government website (not sure anymore which one) said retirees were indeed entitled to this. I think there were limits. I brought a half-container worth of stuff in from the U.S. - theoretically under the limit - with that assumption. When it arrived, customs wanted me to pay something ridiculous, like 40k baht. I referred them to chapter and verse of where I had gotten the information, and they came back with some excuse about why that didn't apply to me. Wish I could be more specific, but it was long ago. In any case bargained (!!) and ended up paying about 17k, which was about $500 US at the exchange rate then, if I recall. I was told by Thai friends at the time that the customs dept. is generally considered the most shifty of them all in terms of under-table money, and I just figured, well, OK, paid, and forgot about it. Short version: you'll have to pay to bring in anything of value.

What you read applied to Thais that had worked overseas and were returning to Thailand. If they were overseas for over one year they were allowed to import their household goods back into Thailand without paying duty. This never applied to any foreigner on a Retirement Visa (long stay). I did move here coincidentally five years ago and I had to pay duty for my household goods that were shipped here for free. I was given two options, pay and get a receipt for 80,000 THB or pay without a receipt for 40,000 THB, fortunately at the time the baht was considerably weaker than today. Since I availed myself of the free transport option, I did not complain too much about having to pay duty for all my stuff, including many items that had been purchased in Thailand and were returning with my shipment

Ah, I think this is true as far as new things are concerned, but everything I was bringing in was used: LOTS of books, a bicycle, computer equipment, etc. . . . and thanks to Simple1's post we now have a text to refer to, which says (emphasis mine):

Both Thai and non-Thai residents changing residence into Thailand are eligible to bring used/secondhand household effects into Thailand, in reasonable quantities, free of taxes and duties. It is also required that the imported used/ secondhand household effects have been owned, possessed, and used in the country where the importers resided before returning to Thailand to resume residence.

In case where the household effects are electrical appliances e.g. radios, televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, air conditioners, etc., only ONE unit each of such items is eligible for tax and duty free allowance. However, if it is the family change of residence, TWO units each of the items will be allowed to bring in tax and duty free. Any excess unit shall be subject to regular taxes and duties, and Customs will place the items that have the lowest rate of duty under tax and duty exemption.

It is important that the used/secondhand household effects must be imported not earlier than one month before or not later than six months after the arrival of the importers. Under exceptional circumstances, Customs may extend the time limits for the importers.

So this should indeed apply to us retirees. I remember the bit about the "one month before or not later than six months." I was right in the pocket, a month after I arrived. I think I got just plain steamrolled by some officials looking for easy pickings.

I notice a lot of people saying there is no duty-free provision for retirees bringing belongings. I think that in practice that may be true, but when I moved here permanently 5 years ago, the information on the government website (not sure anymore which one) said retirees were indeed entitled to this. I think there were limits. I brought a half-container worth of stuff in from the U.S. - theoretically under the limit - with that assumption. When it arrived, customs wanted me to pay something ridiculous, like 40k baht. I referred them to chapter and verse of where I had gotten the information, and they came back with some excuse about why that didn't apply to me. Wish I could be more specific, but it was long ago. In any case bargained (!!) and ended up paying about 17k, which was about $500 US at the exchange rate then, if I recall. I was told by Thai friends at the time that the customs dept. is generally considered the most shifty of them all in terms of under-table money, and I just figured, well, OK, paid, and forgot about it. Short version: you'll have to pay to bring in anything of value.

The one on the Bang Na-Trad Road, Bang Phli, where Kingkaew comes in, is pretty huge.

If you have a PayPal debit card, the fee is nominal, maybe a dollar per transaction, but sometimes it seems they don't charge at all. This, in combination with Aeon, is how I do it. The exchange rates for both PayPal and Aeon are good, too, where they are not for the other aptly termed ripoffs. You can save about 40-50$ over the regular ATM for a $400 withdrawal if you do it the way I do. I guess Schwab is good, that's what I'm reading here, but I have no personal experience of that.