Jeddah Jo

Would rather have the car than Miss Rain.

Just a thought. If both the girl's parents are dead and it was the elder sister that raised her, then the elder sister has a vested interest in who the girl marries.

Normally Thai children feel a life long debt to their parents, but in this case that debt would be transferred to the elder sister. Not only does this mean taking care of them when they are old and frail, but it can also mean financial support should they ever need it.

If elder sister thinks you are not up to snuff in supporting younger sister, then by implication that also means you cannot support her! Maybe this is the reason she is trying to put the boot in on your relationship? Or of course it could just be spiteful jealousy and envy that younger sister now has a farang boyfriend. Emotions like these seem quite prevalent in the LOS.

Either way, unfortunately they probably both still regard you as just an ATM but that's Thailand for you. Unless you have lived here for a while it is impossible to appreciate the true level of contempt which some Thai people hold farangs in.

Been here nearly four years now and very, rarely let anything get under my skin. But yesterday was one of those days, I don't know why just riled me a little bit.

I fancied some mango, sticky rice, and cream so I crossed the road and asked the street vendor in very passable Thai, how much. She seemed totally shocked by the presence of a farang and the fact he could speak Thai, turned around to a local female moto-sai driver who barked out in coarse English. 1 Mango, 50 baht!

Now I know in my local market these are only 30 baht, and ok so it is only 20 baht (which is still 30p UK money and I do live here!), and it may have been the highest quality mango available but anyway, I just turned on my heel without saying anything, and drove off.

What got on my nerves was, I tried to ask politefully as possible in Thai, the girl freaked out, turned to ask a friend how much should she charge the farang. Then they picked a price out of their a*se to see if I would go with it. I frequently pay farang prices with a smile and without batting an eye-lid, but that moto-sai b*tch just ticked me off I tried to speak Thai, and she replied in English which I regard as fairly rude anyway. How do they know I speak English?

Anyway if anyone does pay 50baht for 1 mango and some sticky rice I guess I just made complete twonk of myself.

JJ.

steve,

You are exactly right. So many TVers post dire warnings of using a company to buy property ("it's illegal, you will lose evrything, run awayyyyy"). When I've asked for a name of any farang that lost his property because a company was declared illegal, all of a sudden the posters are quiet. On the other hand, many guys have lost their homes due to a GF, or a wife.

Spot on.

In fact its totally in line with my thinking and also of the 'quiet majority' I suspect.

Yes, but what sort of a life is it where you have to spend your entire life scouring internet bulletin boards trying to second guess if the government are going to declare the ownership of your property illegal.

Many, if not most of the bargirls work to send money to their poverty stricken family.

Dunno, seen quite a fair few who just pocket the money, spend it wildly and recklessly on themselves and then plead poverty shortly after the money runs out.

Hardly vermin in my opinion.

I suggest you look up the dictionary definition of vermin, you will see it applies quite nicely.

As for the girls that con people - you will come across those in all walks of life - not just in bars and certainly in Singapore as well.

I was talking about the people in general. Genuinely friendly and I find the girls are a LOT more attractive, plus there is no racism or xenephpobia there (racism is a serious offence in Singapore). People just get along together regardless of their skin colour.

I for one will be delighted when you leave.

Ahhhh, the old don't let the door slam you in the arse on your way out. Very constructive and friendly. I don't know how long you have been in Thailand or how much Thai you speak but it might pay to open your eyes a bit more, on second thoughts maybe you should just stay blinkered for a few more years in your false idyll. Anyway, fortunately I am wealthy enough that I can live anywhere I want and that may or may not be Thailand. Up to me...

Just spent a lovely week in Singapore, what a delightful civilised country with friendly honest people. Arriving back in Thailand I felt a tightening in the chest because I knew all the rip-offs, over pricing, scams ahead of me (and that was just getting out of the airport).

It really does bewilder me why so many people are so keen to stay in this country. Especially if it is just to associate with the vermin that are commonly known as bar-girls.

My days in Thailand are certainly numbered. They are overplaying their hand big time.

Womble, you keep using KLIA as an example, have you been there recently? It is massive but the problem is it seems largely deserted. BA stopped flying there a while ago and as a tourist destination KL just does not compete with Bangkok.

People will not change their travel plans based on a few dollars of airport tax.

As for your figures regarding landing costs for 747s. You quoted a figure of 10% of total costs being for turnaround fees which is clearly nonsense. Consider a 747 flying from London to Bangkok. 350 people each paying say a very conservative 500GBP per seat. That is gross revenue of 175,000GBP to the airline. Total landing costs of 1,600GBP (114,000THB) do not add up to 10% of total costs.

Making life altering decisions like leaving a country of permanent residence based on a US$5 increase in a service charge you can't pay more than a few times a year is an interesting way to conduct your life.

As a general rule I would say give working class poorly educated people in Thailand an inch and they will take a mile. You better be damned sure you speak Thai and understand the greed, jealousy and ignorance that exists in a lot of lower class rural communities before you settle in to your wedded bliss.

Just the facts ma'am.

JJ.

My hovercraft is full of eels.

Not so much strong Baht as weak US$, although they have raised interest rates recently which will attract foreign capital.

JJ

On a more practical note, it is worth realising that long term interest rates in the US have started to rise significantly and could shortly be hitting multi-year highs.

This will start to put pressure on bonds issued by developing nations like Thailand as these have to yield more than the US$ to allow the for additional risks involved in holding Thai bonds.

Domestic banks are no doubt increasing saving rates to try and attract capital more cheaply than it is currently possible to raise in international financial markets.

All this can be thought of as a precursor of much higher interest rates long term and yes possibly inflation. Long, long term deposits therefore are probably not such a good idea at present. In fact for Thailand I am not sure what IS a good idea! Any suggestions?

What's wrong with you people? I just said I enjoyed Thai movies and I wanted to know the English equivalent of various terms of address I often hear in the movies. It doesn't mean I am going to go and use them in day to day conversation!

As for desperately trying to fit in, that's not exactly fair is it? You might as well say, well you can learn English but you aren't allowed to learn any slang so basically you will have no understanding of the language people use in every day conversation!

So nobody has a good translation of what 'Y-wung' might be betweeen two Isaan girl friends then?

Watch a few Thai movies which I quite enjoy, but there are several terms of address I would love to know the English equivalent of if there is one.

Isaan girls tend to call each other 'y-wung' but I have yet to have a satisfactory explanation of what this is in English.

Tough guys call each other 'meung' in the movies which I guess is very informal and certainly not to be used by a farang. I wonder if the English equivalent is something like 'Oi plonker!'.

Finally 'y-burr' which is quite funny as I think it just means 'Oi stupid!'.

Any other good ones?

I agree with cclub too. Gold is an internationally traded commodity denominated in US$. It is basically sold by weight in Thailand with a little added on for workmanship.

Markets are notoriously perverse and the fact that it has recently hit 22 year highs means it is actually more likely to carry on going up then crashing down any time soon.

Thailand consumption I suspect has a minimal impact on International demand for gold.

With fear of sounding selfish.... i'm getting quite worried about the weather now. I fly out to Samui on Christmas Day.... all the way from Scotland to meet my pals who are supposed to be getting married today on Samui.

I hope the weather eases soon!!

As i'm sure everyone in SE Asia does.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't know if it is my memory playing tricks on me, but didn't the rainy season stop about 2 months ago last year in October? God knows what is going on this year, but most of the South of Thailand has been thoroughly damp and gloomy for months now.

JJ

Hi All,

Very often GF will say something and then put sak noi on the end. I am never quite sure if it is reaffirming what she has just said or negating it, or maybe something imbetween?

Thanks in advance (a Thai novice).

JJ

Can anyone explain in English the subtle differences between the use of Khun and Ter between two people that are very close.

I have spoken to a number of people and all of them said Ter might be used between adolescent lovers while Khun should be used when you have achieved Poo-Yai status. i.e Phom rak khun and not Phom rak ter.

However, the other day I head a middle aged couple chatting with each other and the woman often referred to her husband as Ter or y-Ter.

To complicate the situation, on the Stickman site the other day a Thai Look Krueng was saying only Ter should be used between genuine lovers and Khun was more likely to signify a slightly different type of arrangement? Can anyone confirm the veracity of that?

JJ.

Thanks for that everyone, have at least 2 leads now.

JJ.

I know a Laotian girl who had a Thai mother (dead unfortunately) and a Laotian father, she was born and raised in Laos.

I have read some stuff on the Internet that suggests she can get Thai nationality if she wants owing to having a Thai mum, but to be honest I wouldn't know how to go about initiating the process or the costs involved.

Her Uncle (Thai) has said he can arrange it using local contacts but has quoted an exhorbitant figure and I am not entirely sure he is to be trusted.

Anyone know where to start with this and as I say what the costs involved might be?

Thanks in Advance.

Jeddah Jo.

Rode around Patong last night just to take a look.

Soi Bangla was completely shut down inclding all beer bars, go-go bars and discos. Tai Pan, Tiger everything. The lights were out too in Soi Paradise and nobody was home.

All the shops selling usual tourist tat were open and the restaurants who were serving drinks did appear busier than usual. Along the beach road a few of the high end open air bars were open and were completely packed.

I suspect a lot of Thai people might have appreciated the day off as there were a lot of young Thai lads and girls riding around together having fun.

All in all Patong did have something of the blitz spirit with people determined to have fun regardless. The scab bars on the beach road will not help keep unity among the Soi Bangla bars.

JJ.

Flew Eva LHR-BKK in peasant class a few weeks ago. Lots of room in back of plane with people sleeping across 3 seats. Planes seem a little dated with no individual in-flight entertainment (in coach anyway).

Got 6 month ticket for £480 and direct flight makes it real nice. Food OK too.

Met the Captain in the departure lounge at Heathrow, a rather gruff Chinese chap. When I asked if the flight would be late he said. Yes!!! and walked off...

JJ.

For the illiterate amongst us can anyone show phonetically how yang ngai should be intonated as it is the one interrogative that invariably gets blank looks from Thais I speak to. I'm either saying it wrong or just asking lots of stupid questions...

Maybe an example too if someone has time.

How do you know that? (Present tense)

or

How did you know that? (Past tense)

JJ.

LivinLOS, go and speak to a lawyer while you are here. They will certainly be able to offer you some advice on how you might obtain an appropriate visa at a much lower cost than the $25K you quote.

Alternatively, I do not know what nationality your are, but applying for a 1-year Non-Imm O Multiple Entry visa in the UK is very straightforward and costs £90.00

Good Luck.

JJ.

It has to be the ultimate irony that a website called thaivisa.com supposed to contain reliable information about laws and practices regarding the issuance and usage of Thai visas contains so much misinformation.

Especially it seems when it comes from the moderators themselves. If this new 'practice' by immigration turns out not to be the case I would expect a full apology for cluttering up my mail box with yet another visa scare story, and some kind of assurance that such threads would not be started until the information was properly corroborated.

P.S Will I get banned for making this point?

Jeddah Jo.