GuestHouse

Thailand gets the police service it designed.

At its very foundation it was provided with no operating budget, this was to be obtained from fines and penalties the newly formed police force levied on those it policed.

Those it policed are of course the poor and powerless - because it has been set up that way.

The OP's observation is however founded on a truth, the police can act effectively ( almost always when the perp is poor but occassionaly when protection is 'removed' from the wealthy/connected).

But there is something else, behind the disgraceful and very rightly criticised behaviour of the police in such cases as Kho Toa, the investigation of the murdering police officers children and many others there are officers who do a good job, there are plenty of officers who deal with and witness things the rest of us hope we never have to see and there are officers who die in the line of duty.

Thailand's police force was established to meet the ends of the rich and powerful, Thailand has changed and the police force needs to change.

The people of Thailand deserve a better police force and so too do those officers who do their best in a very difficult police culture and despite what they see or the very real risks they face.

Put my tick in the 'glimmer of hope box'.

The rules are no secret; foreigners are not allowed on Thai military facilities.

Welcome to Thailand.

Odd that because I have on a number of occasions been to the open day at Sattahip, including on one occassion a ride in a navy helecopter.

Coulor blind guard perhaps?!

OP you should have asked one of the 'Commanders' standing around if you could have a tour around his Sub' instead.

Well locking up/executing drug dealers/traffickers and locking up drug users is really working.

The drug problem is almost solved.

"Don't enjoy your life. Spend it working like we did."

I get it. But we can only give advice from our own personal experiences. The young lad is going to do whatever he wants regardless.

And so he should.

One of the flaws if giving advice based on our older experience is the world has changed.

When I was the OPs age the whole financial system was set up to reward work, provide long term financial security for those that did work and importantly provide the means and support from government and employers to build substantial and secure pension savings.

The training I and many my age had received by the age of the OP is another example of the 'help' we had.

Non of this is available to young people today.

I doubt any of us over the age of 35 have any idea of the challenges the OP faces or what he himself brings to the challenge.

We do perhaps understand that opportunity is far more restricted here than in the UK, that despite the removal of the support we enjoyed he still has far more options in the UK than in Thailand.

A few suggestions for you:

Are there any Thai food wholesalers near you? They might be able to source/import the aga aga for you.

Have you contacted the Thai embassy/consulate? They will have a trade office that may be able to help.

Can aga aga be grown locally and if so have you considered contacting farmers who might already be growing the crop? A good tip here is search for the plant's scientific (latin name) with seed distributors.

[edit]

You are probably aware of the stringent controls on impotimg plant based items to the US, for this reason I expect a food impoter is your best bet as they will already be aware of and able to manage the regulations.

Again the embassy may be able to advise on suppliers.

OP, it all depends wat you want to do with your life.

There are opportunities for a full and fullfilling life in Thailand, but far fewer oportunities and far more restrictions and risks than in the UK (and the access the UK currently gives you to the rest of Europe).

Just as there are opportunities for a good life in Thailand there are expats living that good life, but as you rightly point out the needs of a young man are very different from those of older men.

Two observations not to miss:

The vast majority of expats living in Thailand do so by means of wealth they built up in their home countries. There are expats who have made money in Thailand, I've done so myself, but its a small pond of opportunity with a lot of fish.

The horror stories you are reading are not the main risk. The biggest risk to expats in Thailand is probably social isolation and alcoholism.

You are a young man asking the right questions - what ever you choose live a full life.

For the avoidance of doubt: a supposed legal quote from a web site that sells First Responder Courses in Thailand has been posted, that however is not necessarily the full extent of the law on this subject, almost certainly it is not, neither is what was posted entirely accurate either. It's also worth reminding here that whilst my earlier quote was never intended to directly reflect Thai law on this subject, the associated legal pitfalls of helping are outlined in post 28 above.

You're as slippery as a wet bar of soap.

First you give us chapter and verse from the bar stool book of Thai law, then when confronted with the actual law you resort to claims it's not the whole collection of Thai law and/or the law might say one thing buy the sneaky people involved might rig the application of the law.

It would be far simpler, and you might at least retain some credibility, if you admitted your extract from the bar stool book of law was the hogwash it clearly is.

If, for whatever reason, you personally would not stop to assist someone injured in an accident at least have the honesty to admit it, rather than dreaming up reasons why you or anyone else should not give assistance.

Unless you hold a First Responder certificate and you intervene in a medical emergency and that person dies, you can be held liable, regardless of whether Thai or foreigner.

Source?

I used to ride school buses as a kid in the US back in the day. No seat belts. I haven't ridden on a bus back in the states in a long time, but don't recall seat belts on them.

Well life moves on and we have learned that accidents have causes, injuries and deaths in accidents can be significantly reduced by a few very simple safety precautions.

The efficacy of these methods, seat belts, motorcycle hemets, vehicle, tire, break and light maintenance, drug and alcohol limits for drivers is well proven and coded in law.

Thailand has these laws but a poor record of enforcement and appaulingly high road death and injury rates.

The OP makes an factual observation on the matter of transport safety in Thailand and you leap on him and accuse him of "Thai Bashing".

Your alternative to the well proven methods of improving road safety is to hark back to some imagined idylic period when kids all happily bounced around in the back of pop's station waggon.

I guess you missed the tragedy that befell many and unecessarilly occurs daily in Thailand of people killed and injured in road accidents. Deaths and injuries that are avoidable.

You tell us you don't have children but that if you did you would not let them ride a motorcycle, these are similar thoughts I had before I had children. Then my kids came along and, as I was warned, everything changes.

As parents we naturally become concerned about child safety, the future, the environment, the world our children and other children grow up in. Our children connect us to others in a way we can't imagine before they came along.

The OP and others who observe and comment on problems in Thailand are not as you are so keen to claim "Thai Bashers" they are people who are genuinely concerned becase they care.

A parent of children in Thailand is committed to this place and must concern themselves with a whole range of issues in a way those without children can't even imagine.

I will not judge others for the choices they make.

I'm quite certain you do, probably a lot more often than you care to admit.

More than you do? I doubt that very much.

I made no claim not to judge people on the choices the make, I fequently judge people for their criminal choices, the choice they make to abandon their responsibilities, the choice they make to be violent or cruel.

I do not make the simply absurd claim "I would not judge others for the choices they make"

Though I certainly might make a judgement of anyone who chooses to make such an absurd statement.

I will not judge others for the choices they make.

I'm quite certain you do, probably a lot more often than you care to admit.

The OP makes what are actually valid observations only to have the usual suspects jump down his throat and call him a 'Thai Basher' or acuse him of attacking 'Thai Culture'.

Meanwhile the offensive post from Koosdedooes goes without comment from the self proclaimed defenders of anything Thai - perhaps they swallowed Koosdedooes' faux Tinglish.

But faux it is.

A quick search for posts by Koosdedooes reveals he is capable of writing English as his mother tongue.

Why Koosdedooes should wish to adopt fake Timglish, or indeed a Thai alter ego, for this thread is a mystery but that his representation of Tinglish is crude is without question.

It might also be regarded as offensive except it seems the guardians of all things Thai (and perhaps faux Thai) seem to have been taken in Koosdedooes' sad little game play.

Some of you blokes are soooooooo stuck in farangland...........

Says the man who has offered no insights into Thai culture and who's only other contribution to the thread is some mention of "Christmas Lunch" (back in 'Farangland').

"Gentleman"

I love the knee jerk accusation of the OP being a "Thai Basher" when there are clear indications that a whole range of cultural factors at play.

As others have noted it is not at all unusual for Europeans to have been raised to eat the food put in front of them, my own parents brought this into play as soon as we were old enough to serve ourselves or order for ourselves.

Its not just a matter of not wasting food, when someone else is paying its a matter of good manners.

Kenk24's observation regarding poor farmers eating all their food, especially their rice, mirrors my own observation. Rice is representative of the labour and hospitality of the host, it is ill mannered to leave it un eaten.

But like the OP I've seen many cases of Thai people over ordering food only to leave dishes completely untouched (not even tasted to see if the cook has made a balls up of the dish).

The common factor I've seen when Thai people over order is 'someone else is paying'. Occasionally I've seen this over ordering when they are inviting a third party, who they wish to feed/impress at the expense of their host.

My observation is that it is a mark of disrespect to over order at someone elses expense and that it would not happen if they had any real respect for their host.

Again I think the OP has made a very valid observation on cultural differences but suggest he has a hard think about his relationship with people who over order on his bill.

The OP is not wrong in his observation nor is he wrong to say he will not allow it. Most of us 'do not allow it' by not inviting such ill mannered and disrespectful people to eat at our expense.

The vast majority of people, Thai or otherwise, understand it is ill manners to over order at your hosts expense, simply choose better company.

Last week I saw a woman on the next table making her 'Luk Thep' comfortable in a high chair, setting a place for it, ordering food for it and talking/constantly fussing with it throughout the meal.

The rest of her family seated with her clearly regarded this as perfectly normal behaviour.

I can see precisely why a hotel owner might want to bar such self absorbed and mindless fruit cakes from his premises by excluding their 'Luk Theps'. They don't need hotel rooms they need the care and attention of the medical profession.

The hotel manager is clearly a smart guy, a sign reading "mentally ill people not welcome" might cause some negative press reviews. A sign saying "Luk Theps not welcome" tells the rest of us that at least we might avoid one form of nut job in his hotel.

The term 'Alien' was used for many years in US, UK and other immigration law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28law%29

As for the OP's dilemma over what we should be called - I think the term "Migrant" fits nicely.

You need to learn some history of the region you are discussing.

The British library has some sources you may not have access to from Thailand.

Perhaps its a point missed on expats who have cut ties with their own families back home, but this idea of love extending to parents and siblings, the extended familiy responsibilites and caring for the wider family is alive and well in British society.

If it is something you missed out on or walked away from do not conclude it does not exist.

His parents where undoubtedly nearby watching you kidnap their child.

The OP and his wife are making their decision for themselves and their children.

And as they say, having children changes everything.

So we can expect single foreign men living in Thailand to have a different view.

My best wishes to the OP and his family for the future.

I couldn't wait to head for the bright lights when I was young, growing up in the countryside is great when you are the age you want to play in the woods, build dens and camp fires, go out rabbiting or fishing or camping.

But it gets very claustrophobic when you get into your late teans and realise there's a wide world to see (nevermind constantly ariving home after 'enjoying your youth' only to find the old man already knows where you've been, who you've been with and has a good idea what you've been upto).

So off to the bright lights.

But I make a distinction -city, center of city - never the suburbs.

I've had the good fortune to have lived in a number of the cities that top the leagues of best cities in the world. Always in the center and I've always enjoyed living in these places.

But

When I retire, I shall retire to the county, to contemplate the places I've lived while tending my garden, and probably bees too.

I think AYJAYDEE must be the only person who has been lucky enough to secure a "good" education for his family. Here all the so-called middle class Thais are desperate for tutors, as there are no international schools, to try and compensate for the woeful secondary schools.

It's human nature, we all like to tell ourselves we did the best we could.

Sell nothing in the UK, come for six to twelve months, if all goes well if you need the cash sell up in the UK otherwise just continue staying with UK options not closed

al007 gives good advice.

The OP has visited Thailand many times, but has never lived in Thailand, it seems his wife has never been to Thailand either. \

So I agree with al007, take an extended break together in Thailand, October through March would be a good time to visit the areas the OP mentions.

Don't sell up at home, don't burn bridges.

There are lots of people, especially couples who spend the winter in Thailand and the summer in UK/Europe US etc. Its a very attractive prospect in you can afford to do it. Get the best of both places.