Pierrot

No matter which social class you marry into, the chances are you will be asked outright for money or asked to enter into a "risk free, sure deal". I would like to know what you say or do and how successful you are with your approach.

Simple. If the guy is a loser who accumulates failed deals after failed deals, I politely decline. If he is a successful businessman who want to integrate the new family member in the family business, I join. But be careful to understand what "family" means before committing to any partnership.

After falling in love with LOS,butterflying for a year or 2 and finding that somewhat wanting,I decided it would be great to have a Thai wife,despite the plethora of Vietnam vets and others in Pattaya and elsewhere saying just rent them, never marry them. I had certain qualities in mind for her not written in stone,but ironically she possessed all of them,except for the temper I have to watch out for and saw only once so far (oops,won't do that again).

1. a good kind heart, and very fun to be with

2. from a good family (I did not care if she or her family were well off financially or not)

3. a university degree

4. very attractive and sensual

5. not a drinker, (I'll do that on occasion thanks) , not a bar worker (it's often the farang that help make the bar girl dysfunctional in degrees; there are some good bar girls, but I did not want to go that route.)

6. not young enough to be my daughter ( I'm 52,her 37)

7. from the south,but I didn't care much, it just turned out that way..

..and for those of you who would be sarcastic, go ahead; I couldn't care less..if all you need is a "puzzy" for the quality, up to you. My motive for writing this is not for you,but for those who are undecided about their choice of Thai gf or wife..there are loads of great Thai women out there, it's just that the bad stories are popular..for example the myth that Thai women are all on the take. If you believe that,then you can also make it a self-fulfilling prophesy and just keep renting them..but you have a choice, so make the best one for you,and take good care.

I completely agree with you. I know the subject may be taboo but for a successive relationship I believe both partners should come from a similar social background. We have to be honest, we have family, we have friends. Everybody should be comfortable with each other or it will be difficult for the relation to last. I don't really know why people here keep on calling middle class Thai "HiSo" but all the mix lasting relationship I know fit Cognos description

There are millions of replica of the Eiffel tower all over the world. I don't think the French give a shit (I don't ).

Not surprised

"When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. So we were often angry at each other." Charles de Gaulle

It all depends what you want to do with your life.

After 24 hours dry, is it something you're craving that stops you from thinking straight ? If the answer is yes, you may have a problem.

If thinking straight is the least of your problems, why bother ?

There are millions of replica of the Eiffel tower all over the world. I don't think the French give a shit (I don't ).

its never ever been a problem with my in laws ,when i need a loan they have always obliged.

Same here. We have a mortgage in Bangkok and employ a couple of people here too, but we are living most of the time abroad,so we usually ask my wife's sister or brother to pay first and we pay them back the next time we come back to Thailand. Never have any problem. Actually it could be a good idea to meet the family before committing.

A lot of interesting topics are discussed in sub forums but unfortunately it's impossible to check them all.

Wouldn't it be possible for the mods of those sub forums to post in the "general" forum a link to the threads that can be of general interest, with a copy of the first posts ? Or pin in the general forum a thread called "Recommended reading this week " ?

Mr Wiggle. One of your nieghbours will have a small tractor with a grass cutter attachment. (a flat, metre square box, sits almost on the ground) Get him to run over the pasture with the cutter set to 3 or 4 inches. (a cutter collector would be even better) Clear it all off, sow the seed, then get him to run over it again with the cutter set 1 inch lower. Make sure the pasture doesn't dry out for the first two weeks.

If you can't get a grass cutter get yourself 2 big strong boys and a couple of sharp scythes. Cutting the extra inch won't be possible with scythes, so just make sure the pasture stays damp for the first 2 weeks. Leave for 6 weeks, (longer is better) add sheep.

Regards.

Where to buy one in Thailand ? Just yesterday I needed to cut a path to access a pond, it would be much faster to use a scythe than to start the grass cutter. (False or scythe, what is the most common name ?)

On the same subject, a few month ago I was looking for a pitchfork at my local store. I was trying to explain what I wanted when the sales guy stopped me and told me "I know what it is, I saw it in movies, but we don't have it in Thailand". I later found the gardening kind but never the farm kind.

There is this other thread "It's time to go home"

Thailand doesn't need you (?!) and you definitively don't need Thailand. Take what you like, go places where you're welcome and when you're tired of the place move somewhere else.

Around the Mediterranean sea, especially now since all these former "East Europe" countries are open, there a lot a very nice and cheap places. And honestly the food there is much better for your health.

And there are also those nice countries in Central and South America. Unfortunately I don't know them much but friends who spent sometime there describe them as paradise on earth.

If Thai don't learn quickly to deal with foreigners in a honnest manner, honestly now is the time to teach them a lesson and vote with our feet.

I do think a lot depends on your Age Health Ect

No it is not Cheap here for us anymore Not Cheap in the UK.

It is sort of 50/50 Much the same if you take everything into consideration

But I think you will miss Thailand I know I will, But age and future health have to be considered

I do miss Englands green pleasant land TV Internet and long summer nights.

As for me well i go back. Like you I have my own House

Only You can Decide.

I forgot this one, definitively agree !

Especially a jazz concert during a summer evening !

Why don't you rent your house in the UK, I do.

I agree about the money situation though, I think everyone is feeling it.

Maybe when you get back to the UK, you will want to come back again.

Maybe, but on a six monthly basis when the UK is cold, cold, cold

I do rent my house buts it’s difficult to manage at a distance as i don’t have family just an 84 year old father.

Agents are f*****g useless at best

Agree with both on you, on the cost of living, the weather ... and the agents

My wife and I agreed (especially I) that when we retire we will spend our time half half between Europe (South !) and Thailand. We took into account family, friends, food, cultural aspects (Museum, theatres, ...), and also the weather. I don't know about you but sometime I miss snow !

We got our salary in HK, so the higher exchange rate is no good news. We still have a mortgage in Bangkok and we were expecting a drop of the Thai Baht to pay it off

On the other hand our stocks are going up and we are now more confident not to get fired.

So, as Burr, so far so good ...

Actually, the biggest problem with British is they can't handle alcohol. Probably something to do with England being an island and inbreeding.

From this report

"Spain had the highest number of hospitalisations (695) followed by Greece (602) and then Thailand (324)

Many of the hospitalisations in Thailand are a result of motorbike accidents – particularly in the Southern islands. Thailand has one of the world’s highest road traffic accident rates, almost all of which involve motorbikes."

I very often use my laptop when travelling. My main concerns are the battery life and the download speed.

I heard that I should turn off automatic updates and also a number of other backround application that slown down the computer and reduce the download speed. How to do that ?

I use Avast before but it slow down my computer so much that I had to remove it.

Does anybody can recommend a "light" antivirus. I don't surf porn site, I don't open message I don't know the sender, and especially never open the attachment.

I use a laptop with sometime a very slow connection, I really want to get rid of anything that slow down my computer and reduce my precious battery time.

Sorry, I don't think it's about courage, most probably it's genetic, something in the blood.

Some people can't understand why people travel, others can't understand how someone can spend his entire life where he was born.

It's not about travel guides, it's about books / authors that changed your life, books you read when you were younger that make you decide that one day you're going to leave your country to travel the world.

Every year I need to change my passport because it's full and I've three authors to thank for that:

- Andre Malraux (easy to guess )

- Hugo Pratt

- Paul-Loup Sulitzer

And you ? Any book when you put it down you knew something has changed ?

ABAC Poll: Majority aware of charter rewrite plan

BANGKOK, 10 May 2009 (NNT) – An opinion survey conducted in 17 provinces by Assumption University's ABAC Poll Research Center indicated that 81.9 percent of respondents had been informed of the current attempt to amend the Constitution.

If you know anything about Thailand, you will understand that "81.9 percent of respondents had been informed of the current attempt to amend the Constitution" is complete BS.

Unless, of course, if the "respondents" are friends and relatives of the people conducting this survey

Thailand was a model democracy in SE Asia until the coup in 2006.

ya,and Mugabe is a philanthropist...

On the paper, Philippines's the winner, no contest.

Then try to live there ... and welcome to Thailand .

Honestly, I've been in Asia for more than 15 years. In the beginning people tried to convince me that Philippines were the place to be. Highly educated people, fluent in english, hundreds of islands, best beaches in Asia ... Now these people are all living in Thailand.

Actually a number of old Thai people are married to Filippinas. Long time ago it was the most developped place in Asia and when you couldn't afford to study in Europe or the USA, Philippine were the place to go. How they went down so badly ? Maybe SJ can explain ...

Thailand is suited to an absolute monarchy ,

By the way, as per forum rules, and more generally as a matter of respect, do not involve His Majesty in your petty discussion.

Given the uneasy state of relationships between the politicians, the career bureaucrats and the military, what is the best way for Thailand to see its democracy move forward and progress from the admittedly non-functional state its in now?

I'd be interested in hearing others opinions on this dilemma Thailand faces.

Democracy IS the problem with Thailand.

Thailand is suited to an absolute monarchy , all today's vestiges of society, social structure,social hierarchies, power, control, importance, cultural dynamics etc... are relics of an absolute monarchy. All attempts to retro-fit democracy since 1973 have resulted in coups, what an exemplary and unequivocal display of utter failure .Square pegs dont fit in round holes.

The great American religion of Democracy may well suit their young immigrant culture , but it is not the silver bullet for all the world's cultures, especially those much older and ancient.

Dictatorship may be suited for your personal interests but Thailand was a model democracy in SE Asia until the coup in 2006.

You're talking about a young immigrant culture . Forget about immigrant, young is the operative word here. It's all about old farts who don't want to give way to the young generation.

You don't fit in the modern world, sorry for you, please step aside when Thailand is moving forward.

It is acceptable to western educated reds that scare the shit out of yellow Thais, that's the relation.

If you see it this way.

But are yellow Thais the future of Thailand ? Or just the past that is afraid to fade away ?

Scary ? I don't know. They just want Thailand to be part of the world, in the 21st century, not a fairytale kingdom.

I don't know in which part of the world threatening to blow up apartment blocks is acceptable, in 21 century. I know of some parts of the world that are considered civilised, where perpetrators would have been shot by snipers, but I haven't got PhD from Texas, what do I know!

Sorry, you don't really make sense.

Nowhere in the world blowing up an apartment block is acceptable.

But what is the relation with this thread ?