desertrat

"I know many foreigners who opened bars in Thailand and did, or still do pretty well."

Names and adresses please.

If people wanna get it in, they'll get in, don't care how many dogs you have.

Short socks that don't cut off your circulation at the ankles..pleeeezzzz!!!

"En passant"

Just returned from Lotus and realised that my life turned on the length of a queue.

Normally if a queue is too long, I abandon my shopping or quest.

So sixty years ago, thought I'd go to evening classes. Joined a queue of lads joking and shoving and larking about to enrol "City and Guilds Toolmaking". Saw a shorter queue with only two Asian guys in it.

Joined that queue, I wasn't really going to study when the winter came anyway.

"What is your name", the lecturer said to one of the guys

"Nashnul Stiffkut"

Where do you live ""Nashnul Stiffkut"

Every question met with the same answer.

The lecturer delighted to have ANY prospective students for his overtime, duly enrolled them, and me.

At the first class, maybe a dozen of us. The lecturer said, this is a Five year course, most of you will drop out,or repeat every year, only 8 people in a 100 do it in 5 years.

My workmates derided me, so needless to say I never missed an evening for the next 5 years.

I recall waiting for lectures outside "Applied Mechanics" and longingly looking at the door "Advanced

Applied Mechanics"..what an incentive.

This was just the beginning, I like the analogy of what you know being the volume of a sphere, and the greater the sphere the greater the surface area exposed to what you don't know.

Bad relations with father ?..I put mine in hospital.

People aren't and should not be concerned about poor relationships et al...imagine survivors of Dachau they got on with it.

They only care "What can you do?"

Unbelievably after I moved on to a Multi-national company, I was sent back to where I worked previously on engineering buy-off.

There were much smarter guys than me still working there, not unhappy or envious, but having few options.

I doubt if this is much help to the OP. If I were him I would see myself with Interpol at least.

I always vowed never to talk about the past but look to the future..I have failed I guess.

I bought a high end Cannondale, but they refused to put a shopping basket on the handlebars.

Like the Fitness Centre that pays me not to wear their T-shirt.

"You are 17, you've done Thailand - Go do France."

I think this is the best advice, there are no legal prospects here as others have said.

In France and being multilingual you should be "quids in"

but....no matter how badly you felt about your previous studies, you MUST study again

As a 17 year old I gave up when baffled by 2pi radians.

As a young father and seeing very bleak prospects, started night school...took many years but well,

many have said to me, "You are very lucky...considering my job/benefits".

I say "Yeah, I was hanging around the pub and a guy came up and asked me if I would like to travel the

world and get good money..legally....yeah SO LUCKY"

When I see people importuning the spirits for luck, I entitle myself to a wry smile.

Tea Cosy

"You forgot VEGEMITE"

I didn't......

Things to do

Most Thai females hate it, but since vouchers for gold chains have been placed to encourage them

there has been a quickening interest.

We have some philanthropists, as all this is free except for sweat and tears (of joy on accomplishment).

Reasonable IQ necessary.

There is no need to log in or create a free account

Go to Hide and Seek Menu then Thailand and have a looksee

Why get it for free when you can pay for it ?

"So if you fancy a change from the pub, or at a loose end, or if you live on the Darkside and your telly is broken, "

Hope I'm not accused of hijacking this topic, but as well as the excellent opportunity to go to the tranquility of HorseShoe Point, you might like to try free geocaching.

GPSr are not obligatory as google earth will find 80% of caches

everything there for all ages, families, dunderheads, particle physicists and triathletes.

It has proved too demanding for the ex Special Services staying here..but...???

geocachers are sunburned geeks

Visit Geocaching

Incidentally there are many caches on the dark side.

My pirate cable is "managed" by people who are constantly switching what we receive.

Can anyone please advise on the reliability etc etc of buying my own satellite.

I don't need 70 channels of grainy drivel. Would like BBC, Aljazeerah, Star Sport and some EPL.

I have had a basinful of UBC/Truevision over the years so please don't advise that mom and pop local fiasco.

I suspect that like many well known brands of just about everything,that Lipton are victims of counterfeiting, I never seem to get two successive purchases which give the same results,which sad to report are generally unpalatable, weak you name it.

Trying many of the alternatives all seem equally bad.

I have the opposite problem, transferred out of BKK to the idyllic areas 10K south of jomtien, AND while in BKK FOUR green lights in succesion along Sukhumvit.

So my worry is the big let down when my run ends.

These wannabee morons could become a tourist spectacle in its own right.

"Well, firstly, what is the meaning of life ?"

I thought this summed it up "Life is shit, then you die"

Thank you..I don't know which type of visa I have, all this has been arranged annually by the company at BOI One Stop for the last 13 years along with my work permit, I know it expires on 30th June this year.

Can't say, it's charcoal for me.

"I am just interested and surprised by the amount of farang who now try to live and act 100% Thai."

Are these the ones with Thai tattoos and bits of cord around their wrists ?

I am unashamedly elitist, and have only been put in my place twice in over 25 years here, by :-

1. A physicist who worked at CERN, he was modest, I just kept my mouth shut.

2. A besotted wretch I came acoss in the grubby sois at the end of Jomtien Beach Road.

He was sprawling in an unkempt garden outside a decaying slum. I asked him a question and he invited me to join him.

Well, he was fluent in 5 languages including Greek, kindly corrected my declarations on History, Philosophy and Politics.

His occupation...he wrote the worst pulp fiction, 50 cent sado/masochism.

It was a few years ago and he was in bad shape then..now I don't know.

Maybe lower Sukhumvit harbours similar individuals, but definitely not Pattaya.

There are clearly some good minds on this forum, which is comforting.

I get what most get, exquisite female company with few strings attached

I plan to retire at the end of June this year, and seamlessly stay here with a retirement visa.

I have the funds and am sure I qualify.

Can you kindly advise if I can apply for a retirement visa while still employed, and if so suggest how long

before the end of June.

Thank You Very Much

My bicycles never leave my sight when I use them, apart from price 100,000 and 25,000 baht, even if 500Baht I would EXPECT them to be stolen.

"Them new visa reg......." and you want to teach English....better learn English first.

"Police not interested" and "was offered loan vehicle by Thai party."

Who are you? The American Ambassador ?

"What if some twit jumps from a condo & lands on your car passing by? Same logic?"

A guy did a jump and landed on a taxi, the driver "Fled the Scene", when in Rome......

I could never put up with the distress due to not knowing really what's going on on, the law, the bib, insurance et al. the possible outcomes, the probable outcomes.

I would definitely do a runner..perhaps we should all prepare escape kits.

When a calculator is necessary to work out the change for a 20 baht purchase from a 50 baht note.