Acharn

2 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Why is this important? So you want to act the Thai way and put your head in the sand b/f people are higher up on the social pecking order? Typical non democratic way of dealing with an issue in a dysfunctional law and order society 

If they're richer than you they may have very powerful friends. It's not a matter of democracy, it's a matter of having bad things happen to you. I remember a case at an international school, many years ago. One girl (from a very rich family) threatened to kill another girl student (from a less rich family). After a few days of discussion and thought, the threatened girl left the school. Because the danger was real. Very few farangs are likely to run into this problem, but it is foolish to talk about "putting your head in the sand."

12 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

With the GIs invading the girls.

No, it was a few years later, after Vietnam ended. I'd guess during the '90s, but the World Bank study recommending they take advantage of the sex trade to lure tourists was back in the '50s. It didn't really take off until after the GIs left. I guess they spread the word.

On 5/29/2024 at 1:31 PM, Will B Good said:

Could be looking at what.....a 12 hour sentence?

Fifteen years. I'm surprised he still has such powerful enemies.

11 hours ago, 0ffshore360 said:

My question is how did Microsoft receive the request for an otp to access your account? And why did they not require some verification before so happily  providing  an otp?

This is the request for verification. Somebody tried to log in to his account and had the correct password (or at least one that the operating system recognized). It's called two-stage verification. After they received the log-in they sent a request for verification to him. Since he didn't log in, the one time password (otp) is of no use to him, but the person trying to log in will be unsuccessful, too, because they won't have the otp. The op is confused, though. This can't be about his gmail account, because that's administered by Google. Whatever account this is, he should change his password immediately. Don't you have any accounts with two stage verification?

On 5/26/2024 at 8:39 AM, bob smith said:

what kind of truth is it?

 

are you saying that foreigners cannot naturalize and become Thais?

 

and let me guess, those foreigners aren't really thais, right?

 

bob.

Just so. They may become Thai citizens, but they will never be Thai. Maybe their kids will be.

10 hours ago, lou norman said:

the spot y'all talking about is not Thermaes. It's (or at least used to be) the Constellation, a coffee shop. Thermaes is the massage parlor above. I haven't been there since the 90's. The entrance used to be through the toilets in back. Best after-hours pickup spot in the town.

 

The Old Thermae closed (and was torn down) after the Flood of -- was it '92? Anyway, they tried to stay open for a while, but the place developed fungus and stank pretty badly. The New Thermae opened a couple of doors down Sukhumwit in the basement of a hotel whose name I can never remember. Most people started going in the front door, and you didn't have the stairway going down. Damn, I just realized I haven't been there for twenty years.

19 hours ago, degrub said:

Subsidence is the more direct issue. You cannot pump out the groundwater and not expect the surface level to drop. That is one of the larger drivers for Jakarta government relocation. I understand that Bangkok has a similar issue.

I remember reading an article about the subsidence problem at least 50 years ago. Nothing has been done about it since.

On 5/15/2024 at 2:51 PM, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Dont get sick or have an accident, the medical charges for foreigners are way more higher than for tuk tuks. And dont come without medical insurance.  

Go to a government hospital, not a private one. Foreigners are charged the same as locals, except we don't get the "one disease, 30 baht" deal. Of course, you'll wait a long time, but it's cheap.

1 minute ago, susanlea said:

If Thai wages were doubled then the cost of everything goes up and less people visit Thailand.

So?

On 5/15/2024 at 2:30 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Yes a simple solution...BUT ...what if someone may DESERVE a tip ?

 

<snip>

 

Nobody deserves a tip. The practice of tipping is a pernicious innovation by American rent-seekers, who refuse to pay their workers a living wage. Some workers become so desperate for food they accept work that pays too little, but they don't deserve my money. They deserve a raise.

19 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

The old  ekkamai change scam. Perfect. ”Sorry”.

Do a few dozen times per day money spinner.

 

Years ago was this bus not targeted for passport checks and roadside piss tests or have the Thonglor thugs been tamed?  They were  pulling farangs out of taxis too

Good grief, that was more than twenty years ago. I don't even remember what year it was. Was it after they caught the truck full of fertilizer with the dead body rotting in it, or after the threat to bomb the American embassy. Lasted for about two weeks, IIRC.

11 hours ago, ronster said:

If he was wanted on such serious charges by the FBI then how did he get out of the country and into Thailand ?? 

Probably because the court did not confiscate his passport. The American courts are very busy places, badly overworked. If you go to trial you might have to wait two or three years for your case to start. We have the most prisoners of any country on the planet (including China), but Congress does not want to increase taxes to pay for their War on Drugs. Most Americans, including judges, never think about overseas travel, so I can see how it could be overlooked.

It was this hot for thirty days a few years ago (2018?). The whole month of April. I haven't seen any rain for four months this year. This might be the new normal, but I hope we have a couple more cooler years first. By the way, I live in Nakhorn Sawan, too.

On 4/30/2024 at 11:40 PM, JimTripper said:

They don't really need money for the family. One can make all you need farming and passing the land down to your children.

You've never visited a farm in the Northeast, have you? Say Buriram or Surin. Although I'll grant that after Thaksin a lot of them are able to make a decent living.

On 4/26/2024 at 10:40 PM, BangkokReady said:

 

Indeed.  They just relocated to service the troops.

By no means all of them. Every small town has at least a couple of hookers, and often it's girls of 16 or 17 years old. Because most of the American troops were stationed at air bases in the NorthEast, the myth grew that they preferred darker-skinned women, opening up new career opportunities for the women who previously only worked locally (the lighter-skinned women from the Northern provinces were/are recruited for the rest of the country. Most of them did not work for the Americans).

On 4/23/2024 at 9:15 PM, Hummin said:

Sex industry but not sex tourism

Well, no, there was no tourist industry here until the 1960s, and then it was stifled by the Vietnam War for a while. However, merchant sailors and various navies loved visiting Thailand. The Erawan Hotel was opened in 1956, but did not start prospering until the 1960s, and for several years it was the only hotel for foreigners.

On 4/23/2024 at 8:37 PM, Bill97 said:

Misinformation,  strong sex industry here before Vietnam War R&R.

Absolutely right. The World Bank recommended to Field Marshal Sarit Thanawat that he adopt tourism and the thriving sex trade as his development strategies. That was even before the CIA's first anti-communist loan to FM Sarit, just a month before the first attack by the Communist Party of Thailand.

On 4/23/2024 at 3:29 PM, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   The legal age to get married in Thailand is 20 years old .

Even if the 16 year girl did give consent at the time , she can still change her mind afterwards . 

She can consent to sex one day and change her mind and then file Police charges the next day 

Do you have a reference to that legal age for marriage? Please see this article from Thaiguider. It's really quite complex, but I think from this that the age to give consent to marriage is 18. As far as the granting of consent, the Thai police have complained that it is almost impossible to prove whether or not sex took place. Two people going to a privacy hotel is not proof that they had sex there. Sexual assault charges are underreported in Thailand.

On 4/24/2024 at 6:09 PM, Bday Prang said:

        Errrr.... They are married he has every  right to comment on how his wife wants to squander money, I'm pretty sure my missis would have something to say if I returned from the casino 500,000 baht worse off, despite it being my money   What contract are you referring to?

        

I'm referring to the contract with the caterer, and possibly with the local wat who provide the monks for the chanting (I don't know if that falls under Thai commercial law, but I think not). I presume your wife depends on your support, so she has a right to comment on how you spend your money, unless ฿500,000 is a trivial amount to you. If you're married in Thailand, by the way, the money is half hers, not yours alone.

28 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

This is hilarious, the sky is the limit with Thai weddings.

Set the limit.

Errr... He says his wife is paying for the wedding. If she has her own money, what right does he have to interfere? Thai law does not require a man's approval for a woman to sign a contract any more.

On 4/20/2024 at 6:43 PM, malct said:

<snip>

 

My wife is paying for wedding , So its nothing out of my pocket, But i don't want her getting ripped off , I question Why the GF hasn't been married before and why the rush, If it was me , I would run a mile  with talk of marriage so early on...   And no babies on the way yet LOL

<snip>

I think you can trust your Thai wife to not get ripped off. She knows the culture, after all. I'm sure she knows the appropriate cost of her son's wedding.

On 4/23/2024 at 3:30 PM, FritsSikkink said:

A usefruct doesn't mean you own the land, you can use it.

Exactly. I think he's assuming family relations will be good forever. It might work. It does for millions of people.

On 4/21/2024 at 3:15 PM, Nick Carter icp said:

The girl and the Parents can file police charges for underaged sex 

Not if the girl is 16 and the farang married her in the amphoe. Probably not at all since the parents seem to have consented to a marriage. The law on prostitution passed in December, 1996, even allows marriage at 14  with the parents consent, IIRC. Not sure if parents' consent is needed at age 16.

23 hours ago, Smokin Joe said:

 

I feel sorry for you.

Thank you for sharing.

18 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

 

That's a first , no one else has admitted not tipping 

I guess there is a lot more and that can be for various reasons 

Great post

Bangkok is not Thailand. Thais don't tip, Thai employers pay livable wages (a lot less than farangs could live on).