kevozman1

I wonder how many of these high end places get their fruit and veg from regulated organic farms, and how many get their products from similar providers that are served across all of Thailand, but charging more in the high end establishments.

Whilst Thailand has a great array of tasty food, fine dining and Michelin star restaurants are not really associated with the country, nor is the widespread availability of organic products. People out in Issan with their own little personal gardens are probably eating the healthiest in general.

I am more wary of eating things like seafood here. Ok the culmination of eating veg sprayed with pesticides that often is not washed thoroughly will causd damage, but there are more immediate risks in terms of food prep and hygiene here.

My system is probably more tough towards the onslaught than most Farangs in Thailand as I have been periodically living/visiting since I was a young man and I love Thai food. For sure though it has probably taken a toll on me, but whatever I guess...

I have to say the Chinese in London (I don't have a great deal of experience with them outside of that) were in my experience generally clean, quiet and respectful people. Probably the only significant sized ethnic migrant group into London that  most others found inoffensive... What happened? The Chinese I see in recent times tend to be loud, pushy and exhibit dirty habits. They make Russian tourists look good (at least they are generally clean and have a high percentage of babes in their population)

On 7/21/2017 at 7:45 AM, Suradit69 said:

Bizarrely I still come across farang who don't bi_ch and moan constantly about everything in Thailand in a display of compulsive public onanism. It's bizarrely reassuring to know that not every farang finds relentless Thai bashing to be the only way to relieve stress and bolster their low self-esteem.

I think there is more low self-esteem issues among Thai apologists. I suppose desperately trying to fit into another society that at large will not accept you as anything more than an outsider. Whilst the "more Thai than the Thai crowd" are not quite as cringe worthy as Weeaboos in Japan, they are an annoying type that luckily rarely surfaces past internet forums, sadly Thai bashers are fairly common around areas with sizable Farang populations. I do not particularly care for either group (apart from the occasional hilarious post that they produce). 

Just now, jphripjah said:

Why do you think he's going home?

 

He should just go where everyone else who the Thais don't want goes.

 

Cambodia.

Not all bad.  Less 50+ whinging barangs there I should imagine, for various reasons. Not sure why a 20something farang would want to come to Thailand anymore anyway. I mean 2000-2010 it was fashionable and exciting. Nowadays you will just be rubbing shirts with locals whose fun interactions is now limited to them trying to sell you shit, whinging old Farangs and hoards of Russian, Chinese and Indain tourists. I know if I was a youngster I would be looking at Cambodia or elsewhere.

22 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

What about the Long Good Friday exellent film

Number 44 on the list. 

One movie that (for my top50 at least) is missing would be: "In the Name of the Father" but it depends what is the basis for a British movie... in this case the director is Irish but most of the actors are British and the movie was filmed Britain. Does production and distribution companies come into the equation? Esentially where the film was financed?

OP probably has been travelling in and out of the country for years and essentially still living here for years on tourist visas. AFAIK even if OP did have a tourists visa he/she can still be refused entry at passport control (?)

I mean I do feel some sympathy because quite honestly Thailand was more appealing when there things were more chilled for foreigners, especially regarding visas, but there is more to this story than the OP let on.

25 minutes ago, swissie said:

As far as this is concerned, I see myself as somewhat of a trail-blazer.

I strictly enter houses stark naked. The only thing I keep on are the shoes.

The number of invitations I am getting have increased massively ever since I started ths recommendable practice.
Cheers.

The only way I could excuse filthy Western shoe-in-home shenanigans, is if the person attached to the home stomping shoes is an attractive naked female. Also lol @ another dude in this thread using warts/verrucas as an excuse to why walking around peoples homes in footwear that has walked over remnants of dog shit, cigarettes, chewing gum and general grime is a fine practice. Has anyone noticed an epidemic of Asian people with warted up feet? I certainly have not. I mean do what the <deleted> you want in your own homes, but at least recognize superior logic and customs when it is presented.  

3 hours ago, Mansell said:

I would have to put "A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Simm as one of those all time "only the British could make this movie". SImm at the top of his powers. But you have to go back to the 1950's for this one. It usually plays every Christmas on TV in the States.

For fun comedies, Love Actually and Four Weddings and Funeral are brilliant film making at its best. Comedies are the most difficult medium to work in successfully.

As for Roger Moore for a best Brit actor is a bit of a joke. The man could barely act. A lovely smile and a grimace was his complete range. He was originally Ivanhoe on TV in Britain....perfect for his acting with a helmet on. Connery and Caine with The Silence of the Lambs guy are pretty much it. But we sure had some of the best character actors in the world in the sixties.....just look at the cast of "The Hill"

Laurence Olivier, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Daniel Day Lewis, Gary Oldman, just to name some other world renowned British actors I can think of who are, imo, far more talented actors than Michael Caine or Sean (I always have a Scottish accent no matter who I am portraying) Connery.

6 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Can't do without bum guns, always have spares stored,  we used bidet's in the UK.

Using paper kinda reminds of spreading the dodo about yuck. 

I find a combination of bum gun and toilet paper unbeatable. Keep an open mind I say, appropriate many cultures ;p

13 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Is it hygienic to walk around barefoot?

More hygienic than traipsing around someone's home with dog shit all over your shoes, yes.

23 minutes ago, lovelomsak said:

In Canada only rurals and uneducated or no class people take off their shoes. I have been t houses with expensive persian rugs on the floor and people come into the house straight from the rain with shoes on. If you took your shoes off to go into those homes you would not be welcome back because you had no class. To take off your shoes is just not done. We leave that to other less refined people.

I find that hard to believe. Taking your shoes off in absolutely any culture I have experienced would be looked at as an act of respect, even if it is not social etiquette to do so. Also don't give that "rural" crap, there is dog shit on pavements in Manhattan and Central London... No this is just another case of Asian cultures being more clean than most Western cultures. Argue all you want, some things are done better in the East.

I like so many of the customs, general manners and etiquette in East Asian and SEA countries and found the cultures more appealing in many ways, but bowing, waiing, prostrations etc I have found a tiny bit on the cringe side. Hopefully handshakes will take over in future decades anyway. Even though it does not directly replace waiing in terms of use, I do not see anything of value that will be lost.

Although some of Stanley Kubrick's work on this list will be regarded as absolute classics, my personal favourite movie out of all of those would have to be Trainspotting. 

16 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

The 'Wild West' of Southeast Asia. Life is cheap. TIT 

That title probably goes to the Philippines, but yeah Thailand is also right up there also. Thailand feels safe as a  typical tourist or as an expat who keeps themselves to themselves, but if you start actually integrating into society via marriage, business etc. that is when the risk levels rise significantly. 

Meh. Can't say I care that much. The quality of women has gone down and that was always the biggest selling point to me. They need to let the majority of aged 35+ bar wenches go back to Isaan and bring in some hot chicks from neighboring countries. I first visited Pattaya in 2004 and there was much more cute and friendly little Isaan darlings greeting customers. 

Ultimately as the man in the relationship you should be the one making the big calls. As randoms on the internet how can we possibly help you?

On 6/28/2017 at 4:52 AM, xylophone said:

Perhaps that is the case and I've not really noticed it, however a few times of late I have witnessed something I have never witnessed here before..............

 

I meet friends in a local Starbucks quite a few times a week, so you could say I'm a regular visitor and have been since it first opened and there follows just a few things, which for me epitomises the depths to which we have sunk here.

 

A Chinese guy with his wife sitting in Starbucks clipping his toenails (and the skin off his feet) and they were flying all over the floor and the table. I was mortified as was the manager of Starbucks and promptly told him to stop, whilst the shop girls swept up the clippings from the floor. By the look on his face he thought it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

 

An Indian guy sitting on an armchair in Starbucks, with his shoes off and his dirty feet resting on the table. I stood over him and suggested that it wasn't good manners to put one's feet on the table, especially as other people had to eat from those very tables, so he reluctantly took them off. Again, it seemed like the norm for him.

 

If you want to see mess, then look at the places where a Chinese family have been drinking and eating. For at least 75% of the time there will be food and drink on the floor, not to mention wrappers and other rubbish and the lovely Thai staff are always having to clean up after Chinese families have been there and indeed all of these girls who speak a little English say to me, "China, I don't like".

 

As if to add insult to injury these Chinese families have no control over their children and let them run around the place shouting and screaming as they see fit and on at least a couple of occasions I have stood over the family and asked them to quieten down, telling them it is a restaurant/coffee shop, not a playground. They have no respect for other people's comfort or well-being.

 

At the back of Jungceylon, a Chinese woman decided to let her child defecate on the area which has seats in it (where people could sit and relax), when there were toilets no more than 100 m away.

 

These are instances that I have witnessed in one particular place in Patong, so lord knows what is happening in other areas and for me this is a sure sign that this place is on the slide with regards to its tourists and the quality thereof.

 

 

Painting quite a picture there lol...

Mu kratha and gold

So pathetically minor. Why does the "news team" even see this as worthy of a thread?

7 hours ago, goldenbrwn1 said:

He's a good bloke ? 

Yep super rich people are all good blokes. Wiping their asses with $100 bills and cruising past homeless people and others just barely scraping by in a luxury Bentley on there way to the next publicity gig. 

4 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

But if you want to believe that every Thai you meet is out to rip you off, have at it. 

In a previous post I stated the exact opposite of what you accuse me of.

I said "a too large minority of Thais".

 

You obviously do not follow this thread, and yet feel entitled to go farang bashing on the basis of your prejudice.

Berkshire is the quintessential Farang basher, head of the "more Thai than the Thai crowd" and in all fairness probably the most entertaining poster on TV. 

Anyways I have time for the posters who love Thailand and say they have been treated very well in most cases, but there is a reality here for all Farangs, and it doesn't matter if you came to Thailand with an engineering degree or with a dog license, you are a Farang and will encounter dual pricing and locals trying it on. The regularity of this obviously varies from person to person, but to deny that it is something Farangs have to deal with is bogus and possibly just self-delusion. 

1 minute ago, saakura said:

You are right, it would be madness! But then, why do you feel bad if those billions dont look up to you as God's gift when you travel to their countries? I shop at Lotus, Big-C, Central Plaza. Eat at restaurants with a menu. Buy a newspaper, books, have a haircut. Go to fresh markets where mostly the prices are displayed, even in Khlong Toey market!! Eat noodles and rice dishes in roadside stalls, go to see a cinema in Major. Only on a few very rare occassions in the last 30 years here have i ever felt cheated. 

Few very rare occasions? Those are just the ones you realized you were being ripped off mate. Travelling by taxis, dealing with builders or similar services and purchasing from markets will quite regularly come up with Thais trying it on. Few times in 30 years? I call BS on that. Sorry.

Reminds me of another one of my favourite Thai novels: The Mangoes of Wrath

Understand the prices of items/services, ask for prices first, speak Thai and if traders try and rip you off just walk away. I agree it is a pain in the ass that there are so many scamming toerags in LoS, but no need to become angered or act like a victim. Just realise that a lot of people will try it on.