Jeddah Jo

In this part of the world they eat placentas so Thailand is rather tame with weird foods. Caramelized crickets, just because the legs get stuck in my teeth.

Actually, eating cow placenta is quite popular in Thailand. I also heard they like to put partially digested cow faeces on food to enhance the taste.

The trolling is getting so weird these days I'm starting to get paranoid...

I find this win at everything and win at all costs attitude prevalent throughout Thailand. This can be anything from business to personal interactions, even to scooters always having to get to the front of a traffic junction. They are the most competitive people I have ever met and I am beginning to find it really tedious, especially when they are happy to give foreigners the finger in Thailand but see no hypocrisy in taking advantage of other countries that do not discriminate on race.

I don't find them competitive at all. Being competitive requires effort and hard work. I find Thais like the easy route, and shortcuts to get ahead, thus the motorbikes piling up in the front of cars at traffic lights. Rampant corruption and a cheating culture are indicators of this mentality.

If they were competitive, they would feel embarrassment at their woeful English performance compared to the other members of Asean. If they were competitive, they wouldn't mind foreigners coming here and competing for business. Sorry, I think they like the easy win.

The point is if you find yourself coming off second best in any transaction or interaction then you are being competed with and you are losing.

Whether they achieve this through guile or cheating doesn't stop you from having lost, ergo they are competitive.

I agree with you they like the easy win but they are happy to fight hard to gain advantage in any and all situations especially when dealing with foreigners.

An article or advertising?

The lady reminds me of my first ever landlady in Bkk, hiso with a royal title.

Talking one day she just had to tell me how well she knew London, how she had a bank account there and was looking to buy property.

When I mentioned the inequality about that sort of thing here I thought she was going to have a seizure. It was made painful obvious to me that no foreigner should ever be allowed to own anything in Los.

My first introduction to Thainess.

I find this win at everything and win at all costs attitude prevalent throughout Thailand. This can be anything from business to personal interactions, even to scooters always having to get to the front of a traffic junction. They are the most competitive people I have ever met and I am beginning to find it really tedious, especially when they are happy to give foreigners the finger in Thailand but see no hypocrisy in taking advantage of other countries that do not discriminate on race.

No way it's the GF imho. You think she is going to risk losing her BF over 800 bucks when there are houses and cars and a bright future on the horizon!

I am depressed. Reading the Thai version of the story it seems the girl paid his disturbance of the peace fine so looks like she will still get her claws into the poor bugger after all.

Well I am currently in Las Vegas and the number of vagrants and derelicts on the street is frankly depressing.

Ok the weather is better than the UK but for a world class tourist destination it is all a bit third worldy seeing all the poverty here and it doesn't exactly feel safe either.

Evolutionary timeline...

Mosquitos - 79 million years

Modern Homo Sapiens - 200 thousand years.

I would say evolutionary speaking they definitely have the edge on us!

I knew two people who abused Xanax quite badly and both ended up off'ing themselves.

Neither were particularly stable characters but I still wonder if it was the long term use of the drug that finally pushed them over the edge.

Wake up shag the wife.

Eat rice and omelette.

Shag the wife.

Eat rice and pork.

Shag the wife.

Eat rice and chicken.

Go to bed and shag the wife.

You eat rice three times a day?????

What a great business model!

You own the tour company that sells the package, the plane that flies the passenger, the tour bus that ships the passengers everywhere.

You own the hotel they stay in, you own the shows they go to see, the gem stone and latex rubber mattresses they get taken to and pressure sold.

And yet if we nurse a Chang or a Heineken on our own (having paid for flight, paid for our accomodation, used taxis, rented bikes or cars, eat out at restaurants, go shopping etc all independently I might add). We are the ones that get called cheap charlies!

Ok got my wife to look at it, she said that it's definitely Isaan and roughly translates to:

I have to go as I don't like to see someone so sweet on social network

Kinda in a fun way & not really serious

Thanks a lot SkyAnimal, that kind of makes sense in the context of things

Can someone help me with this please?

หนีดอกซังคนหวานผ่านสื่อว่ะ

My Thai is not bad but there are a couple of words used here I am not familiar with

ซัง - sang

and

สื่อ - sèu

I have a feeling it is a figurative expression.

Many Thanks,

JJ.

The best thing to do is make a trip to Penang.

Just make copies of his passport and bank book showing the 800k in the account and attach them to the application form. Apply the morning of one day and pick it up the next afternoon. Penang is easy because you can use an agent for the application and pickup.

Hat Yai was reported as being a location to do the conversion but I have seen no reports of anybody doing it. I suspect that it would also be two trips to get it like Bangkok because the application has to be approved by division headquarters.

Thanks Joe, great advice as always.

It does seem like the farang volunteer at Phuket Immigration is handing out bad information by saying it cannot be done at all in Bangkok!

My friend who is currently over 50 with seasoned money in the bank is trying to get his tourist visa converted to an O-visa prior to extension of stay in Phuket.

One of the farang helpers at the desk at Phuket Immigration insists that it is no longer possible to convert in Phuket or Bangkok, and that he must get a non-O from outside the country to start the process. From reading the threads it seems it is still possible to do the conversion in Bangkok but as he lives in Phuket it is a pain to go up to Bangkok twice to complete the process.

Can someone please suggest the best place to go in the region to get the initial O-visa as the guy is genuinely retired, has the money and just wants to stay in Phuket peacefully like so many other retirees are.

BTW he is a British citizen and the British embassy in London won't give him an O-visa either.

Thanks.

JJ.

Hi There,

Does anyone know of a saxophone teacher in the south of the island (Rawai, Chalong, Kata, Phuket Town?)

I have a friend who has just started learning and needs some tuition. He has his own instrument.

TIA.

Jeddah Jo

Sorry if anyone has asked this before.

Basically my multi-ED visa has an enter before date of 8 Feb 2014 and my course is due to finish on the 11th March. I have to go abroad for a bit and will be entering Thailand again around 1st February.

Will they give me a 90 day stamp or will they ask when my course is due to finish and give me that many days? If they give me a 90 day stamp am I ok to stay in Thailand for that period even if the course has officially finished?

Just wondering if I should apply for a tourist visa while I am overseas as I will be returning to UK in May anyway.

TIA,

JJ...

Did a visa run on Monday 14th October and they had just published new times for the ferry which are as follows.

Leaving Ranong: 08:35 10:15 11:30 13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:15 19:15 20:15 22:00 23:50

(Last time for foreigners 17:00)

Leaving Club Andaman: 07:45 09:30 10:45 12:00 13:30 15:30 16:30 17:30 18:45 19:45 21:30 23:30

(Last time for foreigners 16:30)

The price is now 950 baht for foreigners and remains 70 baht for Thai nationals.

Serm Suk are launching their own brand of Cola called EST Cola.

Tried it today in Oishi and it was very good!

Phuket had two French governors (René Charbonneau and Sieur de Billy) and Siam had a Greek Prime Minister Constantine Phaulkon approximately 100 years before the American War of Independence had even started.

Jeddah Jo- On virtue, that's just flatly racist to say that as a nation the Thai people have no Virtue. And insulting, and it speaks volumes about you and others like you that enjoy a place that they think lacks virtues or any kind of morality. The fact is there are Virtuous and deviant people in Thailand in equal amounts to any other country in the world. Your narrow minded bigotry aside, I think it just goes to show what circles you find yourself in.

Unfortunately it appears you are not intelligent enough to divine my meaning so I will try and be a bit clearer so the slow coaches in the class can catch up.

I in no way implied Thai people have no virtue so it seems you willfully misunderstood me there, a common ploy among trolls. In any case it was a highly insulting remark as you know nothing about me, and your leap to judgement is typical of farangs who fail to accept life in Thailand is about shades of grey and not black and white.

In simple terms I was trying to imply that virtue is relative. What appears virtuous may in fact not be, and what appears a lady of no virtue may in fact be scrupulously honest, moral and an admirable human being. There that wasn't so difficult was it?

Surely you have heard of Bangkok university students that at weekends turn in to Coyote dancers in high end clubs on the prowl for a wealthy aa-Sia to help buy them their latest i-Phones, cars etc. Also the university students who sign up with an aa-Sia to put them through college on the understanding that they will be his mia-noi on graduation?

It appears you don't know as much about Thai society as you claim.

As for the circles I mix in, I have friends who are wealthy enough to buy you a thousand times over, but can also rub shoulders with people who do not have 2 x 25 satang coins to rub together. That is not a boast but just a claim I take people as I find them and am not quick to judge, certainly not as quick as you appear to be regarding me anyway.

JJ.

Do you not think you deserve a bit more virtue than that for a life partner? Granted, it all depends on where you set your own bar in life. However I personally couldn't see wifeing some common whore (here or anywhere else) when so many other great women are available too me. And I am NOT rich, not in the best of shape, and not 21yrs old. So that goes back to what I said about sloth and a lack of self confidence/worth

And as far as actors and actresses, who mentioned them? I think it's safe to say that they arn't really known in ANY culture for their morality on or off screen.

I think you are in danger of descending in to the realms of self-delusion and hypocrisy when you use words like 'virtue' in Thailand.

Also if everyone knows that actors and actresses are not known for their morality why are they such sought after brides by the rich and famous and why is there this constant pretence in the Thai media that they are all angels, never have sex partners and are virgins until the day they marry? At which stage the mansions and multi-million baht sin sots start coming out.

Yes they portray virtuousness but the reality is completely different. So what is the end result, you are left with a 'virtuous' girl on your arm who is actually more of a hypocrite and more of a whore then many working girls who you appear to look down on.

JJ.

And you are making hookers sound too bad. You can get a TV personality or model or movie actress. They take money for sex but I don't think you can classify them as “been with hundreds of men.”

If a woman advertises herself like a tomato on the INTERNET I don't think you can really call that a good catch. Nor do I see much difference between the INTERNET and the ladies you classify as hookers. It's just not done in polite society.

When the difference is instant gratification or a couple of weeks later I find it hard to make a distinction. Two years courtship with both families knowing each other and consenting that is something else.

I wouldn't sweat it.

You clearly understand how Thai society works whereas people like Riely just choose to make superficial arguments (based on a Western value system) and run down farangs that may be with a perfectly good woman who makes an excellent wife, but has been around the block a bit.

All those hi-so Thai stars sleep around (for money) looking for a wealthy husband to snag. You only need to spend a few minutes reading Thai gossip magazines to understand how Thai society really works.

JJ

By the way, has anyone ever seen a Thai Man do this? Has anyone seen an affluent Thai man bring home a hooker from the bar and wife her? Mia noi? You Bet. Straight up wife? Hardly Never.

Why do expats so often settle for less?

Yep seen it, she lives just down the road.

Ex working girl, dropped some sorry arsed farang to marry a merchant from a Thai/Chinese family.

They now have a son, and a very successful business together.

JJ.