caulfield2

Here would be my list of criteria to judge by, kind of in ranked order:

--Able to gain some stable immigration/residency status.

--Affordable cost of living, leading off with quality housing.

--Safety / lack of crime.

--Availability/affordability of good quality medical care.

--Pleasant environment in terms of weather and surroundings.

--Ability to get by speaking English.

--Availability of common Western foods and goods.

--Attractiveness-availability of companion.

--Ability to work and/or run a business and-or own land.

--Availability of international and domestic/local public transportation.

It seems that you are describing some parts of North America or Europe, EXCEPT for item two (affordable) ! This level of perfection (all elements fulfilled) shall (may) prove to be very difficult to attain in most if not all the listed countries currently topping the charts of World's best Places to Retire.

It's a bit strange that some are complaining about the prices in Spain....seems to be a total disconnect from the economy and unemployment rate (25%, roughly) with the opportunities for travel/retirement there. One would think there would be some cheap foreclosed properties available in many of the countries like Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece that have been suffering the most during the financial crisis.

Of course, you also have to consider the "feel" of living in a country in decline, versus the palpable excitement of cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Abu Dhabi/Dubai, Rio, etc.

Probably it would be best to do your own reconn and spend a month or so in Europe for a better idea. I did that once when I considered teaching in the Czech Republic, and found I didn't feel 100% comfortable there, as opposed to countries like Colombia where everyone invites you to have a beer, dance or play futbol with their family as you're walking by in the streets.

That said, I married a Russian once upon a time and love the Eastern European "look," so maybe I'll teach in Hungary in 2013 or 2014, just for a change of pace after spending most of my time in Asian countries.

Central/South America would be a lot of fun, too.

I lived in Colombia for one year, and would consider it for retirement, but probably not if I had children under 18, because of the educational system there. It's beautiful, great weather (don't need an air conditioner or a heater in winter), many things to see and do, beaches, scenery...I think the Caribbean coast, like Santa Marta and Cartagena would be a tad too hot for most, though. It's the kind of heat where you don't even want to go outside from 10 am until 3 or 4 p.m.

I lived in Thailand for two years (Eastern Seaboard/university city) and don't consider it a viable option because of the property and visa issues, but mostly because of the concern about what will happen to the stability in the country if something were to happen to a certain someone's health...

I live in China now and wouldn't want to retire here, lol.

Speaking Spanish, countries like Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia as well as Ecuador are better options than the Asian countries because of the ease of communication.

Have visited the Philippines many times (just came back from 2 weeks) and it's becoming a bit more expensive...especially with Koreans buying up lots of properties in Angeles (the Pattaya of Phils), Manila and Cebu, to name a few. The Phils definitely isn't as cheap as Thailand, although both countries can be quite expensive if you travel frequently and go to the malls for a majority of your meals.

In Asia, I would CONSIDER the SW coast of Cambodia if the political situation improves...it's a bit of an undiscovered treasure and not so touristy yet. The central coastal area of Vietnam (Hue, Da Nang and Nha Trang) is quite beautiful. But always, you're looking at cultural/language barriers with the Asian countries. Malaysia was surprisingly modern and cosmopolitan to me, at least Kuala Lumpur.

I was interested to note Bali wasn't on the list, Indonesia and Malaysia are both rising economies (along with Vietnam) and, as long as you never had to deal with the traffic of Jakarta, a city like Bandung might be ideal, as you could always fly to the resort areas within an hour or so.

Caicedonia, south of Armenia, is the prettiest, most picturesque area of Colombia (to me). For the Philippines, it would probably be Siargao, which is a surfing haven...although I also like Baguio, because of the cool and crisp weather.

Will travel to India for 3 weeks in February so that will give me some first-hand insight into China's global rival. Definitely not a country coming up on anyone's retirement list. None of the Middle Eastern countries did either, like UAE/Dubai/Abu Dhabi...despite efforts to make it a combination of Las Vegas and New York/London.

Singapore is just too expensive now, although it's great fun to visit for a week or less.

Taiwan would be another place I would at least consider. At least they like baseball there, haha.

I think it's an intimation that it's possible he didn't even pay any fine to get off....that he convinced the Thai police he could turn "state's evidence" against the bigger fish in the porn industry pond and help to bring them down too....that, despite the article raising the number of over $1 million USD in revenues or profits (no idea which), he still was just the bottom part of the food chain.

He seems to be running around with the type of attitude that he's almost untouchable and you can see him smirking on the printed page without even seeing his face.

In the original report this guy was also caught with ilegal drugs and a long expired visa! So what happened there. But most of you seem to be obssessed about his porn movies and wether the ladies were treated fairly!

So is it envy?

By some reactions on local newswebsites sombody claimed that he ring a girl involved the busts lately from gogo's that the "undercover"farang looked "David Beckham type " nice looking no beerbelly....... 1 + 1= ? (maybe?)

Your grammar and punctuation seem a bit "David Beckham". What are you babbling about ?

It's pretty funny stuff.

This guy has obviously been drinking his own Kool Aid too much, because he sounds like a faux celebrity from one of those so-called reality tv shows.

Obviously, he feels that Thailand is so lucky to be graced by his presence, and then there's the typical judgment passed on other farang tourists....“I am not a foreigner with a beer gut. I am handsome, well educated, sophisticated and I dine with the best." So everyone else is old (he forgot the age dig), fat, ugly, dumb/blue collar laborers and truckers and factory workers who are rubes who eat at McDonald's and Burger King. He probably considers Sizzler fine dining.

Wow...if you were so well-educated and sophisticated, maybe you could help solve the problems (economic) which you are preying upon instead of rationalizing your "work" there as somehow beneficial (as a whole) to the social fabric of the country. If he wasn't exploiting the women, maybe some of his intelligence could be applied to creating a program that puts the girls in opportunities to get college credit, work study, internships with legitimate businesses, etc.

This story continues here:

‘I am helping Thai tourism’, says US porn photographer Tony Poer:

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....ys-us-porn-man/

But he would do exactly the same thing were he operating in the US....it's simply that the profit margins are obviously higher in Thailand (for the time being)....to describe a girl as "pure" or "innocent" or "virginal" if she's 18 but looks 15-16, it's just marketing. Let's say they are paying the girls 10,000 baht ($300-350 USD) for a shoot, how much would the same girl make in the US or Europe? You'd have to multiply it by a factor of 10 probably. It's what has happened in Europe....Hungary and the CZ Republic were the heart of the business but costs for the models got too high (spoiled a bit) and many other studios popped up in places like Holland, Germany and even Poland.

I mean, if he wrote "these girls just go through the motions, they've never had an orgasm in their lives when filming but are just faking it, they're scared to death to get an STD but nobody will watch porn where the men wear condoms...they're probably having sex with their 3rd or 4th partner in a 24 hour period by the time they get to the "set," etc....

Well, no guy would buy a subscription to a website that actually dared to tell the truth about the process. But let's say he was a Thai pornographer who went to the US and filmed movies....would anyone bat an eye or say he was subjecting those naive American girls to terrible humiliation? I would argue that the percentage differential between the pay for a porn performer (on film) in Thailand is a lot greater than the difference between a Valley-based girl compared to a "middle class" American worker's salary.

It's all relative, of course. I would have a hard time believing that more than 5% of those girls were terribly upset to find themselves on the Internet or street vendor's cart. The reason is simply....ever since the Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Kim Kardashian trend started of the "stolen" sex tape on line, being marketed to millions online is the way to potentially become a star and make something of yourself. I bet all those "one name" actresses that are famous in Thailand and with Westerners like Lulu, Thainee, Tussinee, etc., are incredibly well-off if they've saved/invested their money intelligently and found an honest financial advisor. Twenty years ago, boys would be embarassed to walk into a book store and buy a Playboy or Penthouse. Now, everything under the sun and some things you've never dreamed of are out there on the Net (especially those twisted Japanese, who seem to have corned the economic market in only one area the last two decades) and it can accessed anonymously.

Those 3 "actresses" I name, their porn appearances actually enhanced their worldwide profiles. Now there's always a counterexample like Dana Plato, Elizabeth Berkeley or Chloe Sevigny who pretty much destroyed their careers by going hardcore (so to speak), but that's the exception to the rule. Think of it. There was a time that anyone would be ashamed to date a porn star. Now, everyone from Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez to Eliot Spitzer and everyone in between sees no stigma at all in doing so.

As noted, the only objections would be losing money from their b/f's or sponsors when they found out their honey was starring in porns, but I can't believe more than 1-2% of those guys would be too surprised....

Actually, I am dating a 1/8th Chinese (I would say she's definitely not fair-skinned, but not dark either) doctor/ER resident who attended Chula.

But when I am with her in Thailand, I hate the way some people assume she's a bargirl just because she's with a foreigner. Yes, I could stop all of those who give a wayward look (no, I'm not 20+ years older than her, lol) and say she's a doctor and makes more than you at her private hospital...but what's the point?

It's not about being insecure. I just don't like to see people treat her that way for being with a foreigner...and no, we don't live in Pattaya or BKK, we live in the heart of Chonburi.

I don't have the energy to fight against all of Asia.

Yes, I could date an exotic dark-skinned girl, but if you were to live long-term in Thailand, you get a lot more respect if you are with an educated, fair-skinned girl.

Now of course, that's not fair. It's not the way it should be it. I guess it is what it is.

Also nice to see you cow tail into line of what others expect and respect.....you seem to have no self respect.

I have lived here long term and have a rather nice golden skinned wife.

I came from a white skinned country.....that prefered suntanned skin.....I find someone that supposedly might come from an educated western background to think like you seem to do is shallow and perhaps insecure enough to need to date girls that others think are ok.

I don't have the energy to fight against all of Asia.

Yes, I could date an exotic dark-skinned girl, but if you were to live long-term in Thailand, you get a lot more respect if you are with an educated, fair-skinned girl.

Now of course, that's not fair. It's not the way it should be it. I guess it is what it is.

I also think it's a lot more challenging and interesting to date a girl with "white" skin....it seems to be a lot more respected in Thai society, rather than being with an Isaan/province girl.

Nice how you find it better to fall in line with the Thai bigots.

Did you enjoy your time living with those girls? From my experience, that situation always sounds better in print (having married a model, it sounds great, in theory, right?) than the reality or actuality of the situation.

It's really a bit like babysitting, unless the girls are mature enough to take care of themselves.

In the end, from two years living in Thailand, I found it's 100X more fun to meet women who are well educated, independent, trustworthy, ambitious (for their own careers and futures, not just to be taken care of or have the "easy life" at home doing nothing but watching tv, shopping or travelling)....have their own car, etc. Hard to find those girls in most places outside of BKK, where a lot of great girls work for multi-nationals and have far better salaries than I made. I also think it's a lot more challenging and interesting to date a girl with "white" skin....it seems to be a lot more respected in Thai society, rather than being with an Isaan/province girl.

I didn't start out with the idea of living with 6 bar-girls.

I had one. I complained to her that the house she wanted and we moved into was too expensive. It had three bedrooms and there were only two of us. The next week one arrived. The week after that two. And then two more. They shared the rent. They were nice women. Clean, well mannered and took care of the house. Four of them worked at the same club. They wore different color outfits every day. I could tell what day it was by looking at the laundry drying on the line.

It was like having a small village of go go dancers. There were roses and big teddy bears all over the place new every day. I Have never had so many roses and teddy bears in my life. I know which clubs test the ladies monthly and which check them weekly. I know which clubs have women working there with HIV. The ladies talk a lot. I know where they go after work and what they do with their money.

They would introduce me to their boyfriends as father. I would speak Thai to the guys and they would look at me a bit funny. Some of the Falang BF's would bring me cigarettes and whiskey.

I have met a couple of other men who have done the same thing. Do I think I know more about bar girls than anyone else in Thailand. More than most probably. How many men have you met who lived with 6 bar-girls? Not as a customer or sponsor or boss. I was like an older brother to them. I bailed them out of jail. I took them to the hospital when their Thai boyfriends beat them up. I made sure they didn't do drugs. I made sure they had enough to eat and got their rest. I babysat their kids when they visited. I didn't have sex with them. If you lived with six women who had no secrets from you, you wouldn't have sex with them either. At one time or another 4 out of the 6 asked me if I knew anyone who made porn movies. I didn't, so none of them did any porn. But men would take pictures of them all the time. They charged more the bigger the camera. They charged the men to take photos and this happened at least once a month. It is not uncommon at all. To go from photos to videos is not a big leap.

Wow from this and many of your other posts seems like you've led an interesting life there Mark45Y, to say the least. Ever think of writing a book about it? I'd buy a copy.........

I worked a lot for the past three years. Sometimes seven days a week sometimes 14 hours a day. Three months ago I quit my job. Bought a new computer, new operating system, new word processor, told the GF to go home. I am now alone and writing. I try to write a couple of thousand words a day. Most of the time I think my writing sucks. I get a few pages a month that I like. I keep trying.

I mean, if you, andrew drummond or stickman want to really get into hot water, they'll write that story about child trafficking and forced prostitution, but that story doesn't sell very well.

It's obvious that there are and have been millions of foreigners involved in the economic exploitation of women, but there are undoubtedly more men and women in the countries where the girls are working....selling their children into prostitution or "mamasans" introducing young, impressionable girls into the business. For a good account of this, check out the new book "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times. When you start reading about acid throwing and genital mutilation and multiple gang rapes, then it kind of puts the overall world scene of women's rights into sharper perspective.

I still think there's a HUGE distinction between the girls in Pattaya working willingly and making 20-100,000 baht per month or even a girl on a webcam making less but not being forced to have sex...heck, you could write a story about how the average university professor/teacher in Thailand makes 20-30,000 baht with a Master's or PhD whereas the majority of Thai bargirls are undoubtedly making much more.

Let's face it, for every Tony Poer or Nigel, there will be 100 foreigners who replace them, as long as it's profitable...and with the internet proliferation and increased video speeds, the margins will be even tigher as sites continue to fight against the typical trial membership or one-month members who download exclusive content and then share it for free. Hard to stop, just like the music and mainstream movie industries have learned, ever since the advent of Napster.

For the majority of those girls in Isaan, it's the best option available because access to an education can be very limited...it's not easy to get student loans for low income students like it is in the US, and the return on investment of getting a BA or BS degree simply isn't there in NE Thailand for a university graduate. Everyone around the world is drawn to shortcuts to get money....to get their "dream house," and it usually involves some type of exchange of money from older men going towards younger, pretty girls....whether they are prosititutes or not, girlfriends, fiances, or wives.

I do think the most interesting stories are when you follow a specific girl or set of girls over a long period of time....it tends to humanize the story. How many of the 18-20 year old bargirls when they are 40 or 50 years old would have felt their decision to get involved in sex for money was the right one? How many live to see age 50? How many end up having long-term, stable relationships...families, husbands, etc.? How many actually save money from their work and think long-term instead of spending/wasting it all in the short term? What percentage of the marriages of bar girls and foreigners actually work out and last 10+ years? How many relationships when there's a 15+ age difference end in success? You always read stories of the women ending up with palatial mansions or having 3-5 "suckers" sending money through Western Union or xoom.com when they secretly have a Thai b/f or husband...or the stories where the women ends up killed, the victim of DV at the hands of a foreigner, etc. But what about the ones who are "average" who don't end up i the news, aren't pretty or young enough to be porn stars, what is the result or outcome for them?

Personally, I could never trust a girl who sold herself....and I have great sympathy sometimes, because drunk/fat/old/drugged out/smell foreigners (the stereotype), well, it sucks if the girl has to pay a fine or penalty for refusing to go with a customer....that's one element that should be changed and would make it less onerous.

"Credit where credit is due. Stickmanbangkok (wrote this) a month Before Andrew".

and "I would think Andrew got the idea for the story reading Stickmanbangkok.

etc

---------------------------

Thanks for that.No dispute, but I did not get the story for Stickman. I was, however, provided with the Stickman link by the original informant. I have provided a link to Stickman at the end of my story. Stickman and I operate in different worlds. I think he is fairly solid. But I am a journalist and I generally do not write stories, exposes or whatever without naming people as the Thai press do. I try to take the story to its natural conclusion if possible.

Funnily enough when I was once charged with libel in court here I was asked by the judge: "Why did you name these people?".

That is the cultural difference. Normally one would argue how can you warn the public unless you name the people you are warning them about. The appeal court, thankfully agreed.

Whast was the libel case about ?

I seriously DOUBT the FBI was actually "on the ground" here in Thailand. That's beyond their jurisdiction, and it's certainly not the CIA!!!

The only connection with the FBI was the child pornography exchanges of photos, advertising and solicitation over the Internet to "US customers," at least that's my reading of it.

It doesn't matter what agencies (Interpol, FBI, etc.) are co-operating, as long as they're working together, it will get more of these predators off the streets.

Some additional charges for such activities outside of Thailand (violations of interstate commerce, for example, in the US) will be added on to the list to get the biggest sentence possible.

is this a joke ? "It is suspected that many of these rendezvous are sexually related, police said."

Good one. I walked through the streets of Pattaya one evening and right next to the Starbucks side of Central World and the beach I discovered there is a police station. There at about 8 or 9 pm, police are standing outside directly across from the beach where girls are soliciting customers, as well as surrounded by sex bars that are obviously that and that alone -- large windows with strip poles and girls running out and groping you in the street. It is utterly impossible for police not to know that these are foreign-funded sex bars, especially with all the American and other memorabilia of classic cars, baseball photos, etc. This whole thing is absurd, an absolute facade. Statistics are that Pattaya runs the largest prostitution business in the world, and is number 2 for child pornography, after Phnom Penh. There near the Starbucks, I saw a young girl, perhaps 6 or 7, dressed in the same garb as the pole dancers, soliciting grown men as customers, rubbing against them as they were sitting, and when I looked over I saw that the police were right there, knowing and accepting it all. And the reason? Almost all of the kids there are Cambodian, Burmese or Laotian. I felt absolutely helpless to do anything.

"Where did the money come from? Who is behind it? Where does the money go?" asked one policechief rhetorically.

It comes from sex tourists. Foreigners and big business Thais are behind it. The money goes to them, to the police, to the government workers -- to anyone and everyone who issues licenses, who enforces law, who regulates law -- Thais don't want to be reminded of their shame. My wife is Issan, and as we walked through the streets, she literally wept and wept as she heard the sounds of her native tongue coming from every side. The sight was unbelievable for her, she never knew anything like that existed in Thailand to that level -- Thais like to believe they are modest and that it is Americans and other foreigners who are the "free sex" purveyors, but anyone who's walked through Walking Street knows it is the backside of hel_l.

Statistics also show that there are more foreigners than Thais in Pattaya. It is estimated that ninety percent of the prostitutes in Thailand are from the Issan region. It is exploitation of the third world through a vulnerability of poverty.

A friend of mine had a face-to-face chat with a foreigner who owns a sex bar in Pattaya. At one point he asked him, point blank, "come on, man, don't you know this is wrong? These are girls with families and you're using them and helping people ruin their lives. You've got to know it's wrong."

The guy's response: "what do you care? I've got to take care of my family." This is the response so typical to anyone who is so corrupted and twisted that they can no longer feel anything but what they desire for themselves.

Sources close to police leaked this to the press. I read that as a press release from the police masquerading as privvy information when in fact it is good PR for the police and a very common tactic in Thailand done every year or two in various forms to dissuade the public's fears about the statistical facts they don't want to know.

Dude, you are saying the bar owners take advantage of the poor issan girls, I think the poor issaan girls are pretty good at taking advantage of the falangs. Also, let just assume all the bars closed who is really going to get hurt, the bar owners? dont think so they will go to another country and own another business. It would be the girls, where are they going to go? Where are they going to work? Maybe in a factory if they can find a job and make what 4000 possibly 6000 baht per month. In most cases nobody is forcing them to do this job, like i said in most cases. I have known girls that are smart know exactly what they want and have a plan. Go work in a bar, save every baht they can, build a house get some money in the bank or enough to start a small bussiness back home and then get out. Some get lucky and find a husband / boyfriend to take care of them, some get 3-4 boyfriends and making more than some of the bar owners. think about it... Im not saying it's right, but it is helping allot of girls and their families to get out of poverty. Can they do other type of work...maybe some of them the others would be just getting by. again Im not saying it's right, but I would not blame the bar owners. No I dont own a bar...

I can just imagine the outrage if the government announced plans (it would never happen, of course) to provide every boy/girl from Issan a free university education. Of course, even with that education, the chances of earning much more than 20,000-25,000 baht for most graduates isn't that high, but most would consider it perhaps a better option.

I think a lot of it depends on whether the girls have a choice whether to go on a bar fine or not...if she has no choice and she's fined/penalized for turning down a customer and potential profits for the bar, I do have a problem specifically with that.

There's also the option for a girl to work in a place (I live in Bangsaen, very different from Pattaya) where she just dances as a coyote and makes 18-32,000 baht or so from her ladies' drinks, tips, plus her salary and her split (w/ mamasan) of the 400 baht per 40 minutes they charge for girls to sit at the tables with the men. AT LEAST, while it's still "objectifying women," they aren't being forced to have sex and they can still make more money than MOST college graduates. Of course, the problem occurs when they have no long-term thinking, save no money and get pushed out of the business when they're in their late 20's or early 30's and they have nothing to fall back on.

I also think there's a distinction between trafficking/child prostitution and/or those terrible situations where girls have their passports taken away or confiscated, they're underaged, they're scared to death being in another country and they are basically prisoners kept under lock and key with a failed escape ending up in a terrible physical beating (just not the face, that would make them less profitable to their boss).

Wow that's a very strong point you have made & I have some sympathy with it ; 8 years ago to this week when I married my Thai wife in the UK ..the only other farang husband present interjected my speech because at the wedding I praised the beauty and friendliness of Thailand etc., - I can't recall his comments now perhaps it was about corruption etc., But with solid experience you do really begin to see some serious weaknesses in their culture .

I think the one that struck in my visit last summer down in the Hua Hin area ...was Thais do not read. Further from Hau Hin along the posh coast near Banbury there were scores of Farang reading, books, papers or laptops along the beeches and hotel pools. It struck me you never see a Thai reading - they sit on their bums eating, gossiping and watching but never reading. They are fundamentally a semi-peasant society.

Most of the Thai girls back here in UK come for economic reasons - their plan is to amass wealth and send some of it back, they are jealous of one another, they gossip about one another ...rarely do they have true friendships. My wife and a local thai woman fell out over the fact that my wife could n't help this woman with some cooking Thai meals one day ; they have stopped talking to each other since their tiff. Separations and marital strife are very high here as its impossible to argue logically and calmly and I would say to any farang taking a Thai woman ... do not marry here! live with here yes BUT do not marry her ; keep your power because that lovey sweet smiling politeness is a Thai front- inevitably stuck in a semi suburban house in an expensive country like UK they will get painfully restless ; they will urge you to go back to Thailand after a few years and you will sink in your social position by buying some peasant place but you will have a 4 * 4 . If you must buy buy in a farang area.

The driving problem in Thailand is a symbol of its fundamental cultural problem - a lack of logic and reason and foresight.

I think the only way I'd get married to a Thai or Filipina would be if 1) I lived in another Asian country and both of us were working or had something challenging to do in our lives, or 2) if I were 20 years older (retired), but even then I simply wouldn't build a house or do anything but rent. I certainly would leave all my assets in the US.

This year, I made a rule to only date women who can speak English pretty fluently, have a Bachelor's degree (or higher) and a job. It has saved me a lot of money and stress from having to "take care" of people you're not even sure like/love you for any reason other than your money.

My current g/f is a doctor who graduated from Chula and she makes 2.5 times what I do...in fact, I think I need to convince her family of my "worth/value" if I am every to marry her, which is kind of a change in perspective. But her parents are very anti-farang and I'm 14 years older than she is (40 to 26).

In the past, I married a Russian (and brought her to the US on a K-3/spouse visa) and the only thing that kept her from going crazy was going to university classes to finish her degree and working part-time. She would never have made it without those things...even taking care of two Labrador Retrievers wasn't enough to keep her from feeling a bit stir-crazy and depressed.

NOW, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED THREAD

Iceland is strictly because of the economic meltdown, and because it was so pricey not long ago.

They could have just as easily mentioned Ireland as well (they did cite "Cork")...countries like Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, ones the most adversely affected by the subprime mortgage fiasco.

I went from Thailand/Mukdahan through Savannahket to central Vietnam (Hue/Da Nang) then south to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh and then came into Cambodia from the southeast on bus. (The "sleeper" buses in Vietnam are great...however, don't get trapped on a Laotian bus, there were only two every 24 hours to Vietnam, so we were STUCK all day in the bustling 2nd largest city of SAVKHT!!! It was an okay time until our bus ride, without air conditioning, riding on top of bags of rice, with a herd (I know the wrong word but that was the feeling) of live chickens and about 5000 crates of Red Bull that was obviously overloaded, and just as obviously the MAIN goal of the transportation service was to double as a cargo company....we stopped at 3-4 am and took another 2-3 hours to load and unload and then take on MORE cargo for Vietnam. Capitalism at work, quite an achievement in logistics. Lo and behold, we arrive at the Vietnam border and 100 people show up with wheelbarrows, donkeys, carts and kids to carry off rice bags.

The one thing I really have a negative comment about in terms of Cambodia is that road from Siem Reap to the border (Poi Pet)...it seemed to take hours and hours on that horrible "washboard" dirt road which was overwhelmed with rain, ruts and bridge construction. I have never been so thankful to get back to Thailand in my life. Now I understand why people are willing to pay $300-400 just to fly from BKK to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is very amazing and worth seeing for sure (compared to say, The Great Wall)....it's essentially 2 days if you want to see everything and really enjoy it to the fullest extent, just like Forbidden City in Beijing.

I would pick Colombia as one of the best values as well (northern coast, like Cartagena, Santa Maria, etc.), but then again you have to factor in the "danger" factor...for a single guy who's relatively young, it's a different destination than for a family of four.

Thailand is definitely a better value than say, the Philippines...in my mind. I would also think that Vietnam would be one of the up-and-coming countries and would be featured ahead of Thailand, for a number of reasons. I went to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia last year for a two week tour and really, really enjoyed Vietnam a lot. (Just watch out for all those motorcycles in Ho Chi Minh!)

I've never been to Spain, London, Paris, Rome, Venice, etc., because they always seemed pricey...heck, Prague, when I was there in late 2006, was becoming too trendy and expensive as well.

I was in Taiwan a couple of weeks ago and I felt I was paying the same prices I would be paying in the US, except now I am living on my $1250-1500 USD per month teaching salary working 2 jobs here in Thailand.

I lived in Cebu City, Philippines probably for six months in the last 2-3 years and it's definitely much more expensive than where I live here in Thailand (between Pattaya and BKK). Rent here is 25-30% cheaper....electricity about the same, food costs and vacationing costs are probably 15-30% lower as well.

China is so different...I lived and worked in mainland China (away from Beijing/Shanghai/HK/Shenzhen/Macao) and I wouldn't call it a value destination anymore either. And my eyes are still irritated from the pollution...I think going forward, the issue of pollution and coal-burning energy production will have a profound impact on Asia, if it's not yet already.

As far as cheap/safe/interesting, I'd probably go with Peru, Cuzco, Macchu Piccu.

She has finished six years at Chulalongkorn Medical program, one year of internship and now is in her 3rd month of emergency room residency at a private hospital here in Chonburi.

She's my "private" student now at a language school...if she wants to work abroad, what ideas should I give her?

Of course, she can take the TOEFL or IELTS, but she's not trying to get into a medical school or study program, she's already past that point...I guess she's essentially looking for opportunities to practice medicine outside of Thailand in places where she would have to speak English everyday or improve her English and possibly be able to work at a foreign hospital in the future.

I thought about programs like Doctors Without Borders, but I'm not sure if they would accept a resident, and her English skills (while very good for Thailand), still need improvement.

But something along the lines of a medical volunteer program where she could either work in an English-speaking country or work with other doctors/nurses who would speak to her in English as the primary means of communication?

For instance, most of the doctors from abroad doing volunteer work in West Africa have to speak English and/or French there.

Other ideas? South Africa? India? Australia/New Zealand? Ireland/Scotland/UK? Canada? US? Belize? Mali? Philippines?

My friend who works in BKK says many Thais study at Stanford, in Seattle and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but she's not looking to enter a medical program, she's more looking for a "TEACHING HOSPITAL" I think. I don't have the feeling her current hospital, while a private one, gives her the mentors she needs....she mostly picked it because her family wanted her to live at home and be close, from my understanding.

Maybe the Philippines would be a good idea...she would have to speak ENG there, in Manila, for example.

Why was a Japanese national (male) in the same quarters with the Thai cook (female)? Strange.

I guess, with the two shootings in the news and now this, you can just never know when live will be taken from you. But I'm not sure that ever stops us from the everyday acts that end up randomly in people dying...

This is just the current fashion of the students in many Asian countries today.

The irony is that the country with the university policy on uniforms that's most "relaxed" is probably China, as most students don't have to wear them. Here in Thailand, grad students don't, at least at my uni.

A lot of what the students do is influenced by the Korean culture (think Wonder Girls group) and, to a lesser extent, Japanese culture...and also the West.

I've been to many Catholic high schools (in the US) as a speaker and they do the same thing....shirt 2-3 sizes too small, tight/short skirts...they change/adapt the existing uniform to make it their own style, because nobody wants to look the same as everyone else. They might even tie their uniform shirt off in the front (something you wouldn't see here in Thailand) until they're called on and it have to change or their parents are called too many times. Think about it...go back to the very first Britney Spears video, the whole "sexy schoolgirl" look.

Many of the students wear fairly normal heels, little to no make-up or jewelry, longer/pleated/billowy skirts....it might be 25-33% that dress in a different way. But I think that you would find this to be true in any country in the world with a uniform policy.

You also have to think of it this way....they don't have so many places like Victoria's Secret here and every girl isn't going out to buy a sexy new swimsuit each summer season...so this is the way they express themselves, by their uniform style and/or when they go out at night, especially on the weekends.

Is it commodifying women when all the Americans, Europeans and South American women wear g-strings/Brazilian style itsy bitsby teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikinis? Sure, if you're a pretty girl, you will buy a swimsuit that flatters your body...and if you're chubby, you will hide your stomach and accentuate your chest or wear black. The girls in Thailand are also very thin (usually), so they have to make their height (high heels, taller girls wearing even shorter skirts) and their tight t-shirts as a way to attract a guy. You won't ever see a Thai girl coming close to showing her cleavage in class, which is very normal in Western universities...and American/Western women definitely dress just as much, if not moreso, like "commodities" when they go out. If you don't think, check out cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, London, Prague, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, Milan, etc., on the weekends where the teens and twenty-somethings go to party.

The other thing I'm thinking is that this, at some point, will transcend money.

Your condition will deteriorate to the point where she will give up 1) because she's incapable of dealing with it anymore, 2) she cares for you and doesn't want to see you suffering and 3) the money won't be enough to compensate.

Things are relatively easy now...but imagine that you're one year into the "debilitating" condition and she wakes up and realizes its all not worth it...then what would you do? Who would be responsible enough to take care of you?

The only thing (and I keep coming back to it) that you can really count on in life is your family...if you're counting on a foreigner or girl/woman, that just seems like there are too many possibilities of things going awry...and leaving you in a precarious position.

It reminds me of the story of the farang who was handicapped/in a wheelchair and his Thai wife left him for a younger man (think it was Thai)...but luckily her family had the kindness in their hearts to take him in and to care for him, perhaps to equal/level out the bad karma from the actions of the daughter, or simply because they felt it was the right thing to do with him in such a vulnerable state/condition.

The common denominator that you see in both places in desperation...both on the part of the men, but mostly the women, because there is an incredible amount of competition.

Sometimes I wonder why girls don't leave those cities and work in places (in the case of Pattaya/Issan girls) like Chonburi, SriRacha or Bangsaen where they have the choice of sleeping with their clients or they can get by as coyote dancers and can make 20-30K a month from selling ladies' drinks and just sitting at the table with a group of men.

Angeles City is definitely cheap...but you also feel "cheapened" going there, lol.

In general, the Filipinas do have the big advantage in terms of communication skills, and that means a lot. The islands/resorts are comparable as well....Boracay, Subic, Palawan, Bohol....in fact, the best thing (and what I'd recommend) is guys find a girl they really like and enjoy being with and take her on vacation with them. This is pretty common in the Phils...there are so many bars, the girls just "quit/disappear" and go with you and find a way back at the end of the trip if they want to return to work.

[discussion of prostitution removed]

I think you have to turn this situation around and try to look at from her perspective...

Imagine you were 22 years old again, right out of college but with lots of student loans to pay off, and credit cards to keep up with.

You're in Australia and a 52 year old Asian woman comes to your country to seek out better health care and/or a long-term nurse/helper/aide. This woman is obviously declining in condition...and you're young, sprightly and feel like you should be having fun every night with your mates, going bar-hopping...travelling, seeing the world.

Can you for even a second imagine that you would want to take care of her? Realistically? Can you imagine that your relationship could be about anything BUT money? Could you imagine how happy/grateful/overjoyed you'd feel after you could get rid of this responsibility and move on with your life? Could you imagine being happy (long-term) making roughly minimum wage for the "priviledge" of taking care of her? Why is it okay to ask something out of someone else that you wouldn't do yourself?

This isn't about lack of sympathy/empathy. If a family member was in your condition (or future condition), it would be taken care of, no questions asked. My mom is going to be 80 and I would leave Thailand in a heartbeat to take care of her to the best of my abilities, even though I'm not a trained caregiver and/or mental health practitioner.

I feel sorry that it doesn't seem your family has shown much willingness to help you out...maybe you believe you are in love with her and have the fantasy her "care" has grown or evolved into more for you...but I don't think you should take advantage of her poverty or lack of education, either. You never mentioned why hiring a nurse (Thai or Aussie) wasn't possible. Money?

Well, at least do this...if you're going to continue in this situation, the very LEAST you should do is also send her to school and/or teach her English or something practical (see the story before about the woman who learned a Nordic language and was able to apply it to her benefit) that will help her family both in the short and long-term, something that will be sustainable.

this is a great thread ,makes me laugh so much,great big trolls too.

one poster mentioned about white thai or thai/chinese,actresses,so you dont know they are covered in white cream and have white lighting to make them look some kind of freak.

Aliens have landed,they are horrible.

Ummmmm...obviously, I've lived here for 8 months!!!

My point was the BKK/"elite" version of beauty is very much white...but the majority (95%) of those actresses or models on t.v., if you look at their hands or feet, they're pretty darned fair-skinned. Maybe not SUPER-white like the Wonder Girls singing group from Korea, but a close enough approximation. Of course, they copy the hair and clothing styles, too.

There are plenty of beautiful medium or dark-skinned girls who cover themselves up in foundation to look like Caspar the Friendly Ghost...and I just feel sorry for them. Maybe their clients are Asian men who prefer this look to dark skin, but it's really creepy.

I'm always mystified by the lengths Thai girls go to stay out of the sun versus the lengths we Westerners go to during winter/spring break/prom time to get that "healthy" brown-tanned look.

I've also lived/taught in China, have many Japanese and Filipina friends, so I can certainly tell the difference. But thanks for comparing me to Wall-E!!!

sharp reply HD,very sharp indeed.

Yes you're right, it was a sharp response. I should have added that I think the op is totally BS and is just posting for amusement, thus I took the opportunity to post some more of my usual, beloved Thai bashing

No Thai woman would embarrass herself by writing publicly about being back doored in such a manner. In fact few people of either sex or nationality , anywhere would.

Let me add that any woman who expects fidelity from men is setting herself up for disappointment - it ain't the nature of of the beast, it is an unnatural state, for men AND women pushed upon society by repressive religions .

I'm just wondering if you have ever been married, lol...?

I understand it's very possible to find lots of women out there who also share your view/s, but does this ever cause a problem in relationships? Do you date "younger" girls who like to play around/party and aren't serious about marriage or do you tend to date older women who either don't want marriage/kids or have just reconciled to the fact that marriage isn't in the cards for them?

Would you EVER get married,under any circumstances? In other words, if you ever fell in love with a girl/woman and she at some point threatened/intimated she would leave you if you didn't come up with well-laid plans to get engaged or set a wedding date, you would just walk away every time? Or you just are clear from the beginning that you don't believe in marriage and/or monogamy, that it's impossible?

Well, since it's human nature when the board is mostly farangs to turn on people from another culture and blanket stereotype or generalize....not sure what you do about that. Truth is subjective, there are two sides to every coin and perception substitutes for reality.

I think Candy has a lot of serious thinking to do. I'm not sure how old she or her b/f are...what their future plans were, if any. Live together/cohabitate? Marriage? Convenience/economics? If they are living together or in separate apartments.

After I got back together with my Filipina g/f (I was already in Thailand), I had to go on a trip I'd planned with one of my former students, a Japanese girl who ended up making a Filipino b/f at the University of Philippines. She was an ESL student, and we shared a common passion for travelling, so she had agreed with me a month or so b4 I got back with my g/f to go with me to Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and back to Thailand over 11 days.

Sometimes we had to sleep in the same bed, other times not, but absolutely nothing happened. She is 20 years old and I am 39, and her former ESL teacher. She's very pretty, fun, super smart, we have lots in common, but never once on our trip did anything come close to happening...in fact, over the time of the trip, any thought I might have had romantically evaporated, lol. If anything, it made me want to see my g/f even more...and to apologize because I know the trip made her feel uneasy/uncomfortable.

If Candy isn't a natural cyclist, I don't think she should pretend to be something she's not. We all have our own passions and hobbies...I'm sure BritBoy doesn't go shopping for hours with Candy either. Maybe he watches football with the guys or goes cycling. The real question is whether they have enough things in common for them to be compatible, or whether their relationship has reached the point of boredom/ennui.

In that case, I think it's simply the guy taking the girl for granted, that no matter how he treats her, she will be there, ready and waiting for him. So maybe he needs a serious wake-up call to realize he's being a jerk. It's not whether he is cheating, covering it up....being so open as to make her feel "how could they be cheating?" if they're being upfront/honest about the trip, sort of.

If you love someone, you tend to make them a priority in your life. If they aren't your top priority, they will come to feel that and resent it, especially if their top priority is you/the guy. This might just be selfishness, immaturity, a farang thinking he can get away with treating a Thai girl with less dignity than another farang girl, I don't know exactly.

I don't get the sense she's ready to break up with him over this...and maybe she just wants him to be more considerate, as it seems she has made a number of allowances and concessions. I know many girls would be furious if their boyfriends went to coyote/bikini bars or massage places or feel insecure if he went to a disco every weekend with friends/visitors who were trying to pick up girls and bring them home. Even if he comes/came home at the end of the night, it leads to an uneasy feeling. Maybe she just wants a "simple" life and to stay at home and "snuggle" and still is at the stage where he's caught between partying/fun and having a steady relationship and wanting to live in both worlds.

Lots of advice about Latin America, even Mexico and Colombia, neither of which is in Central America, and both overrun by druglords who kill judges and police, soldiers, alcaldes, etc. But it appears the OP has decided to return to Thailand. And I don't blame her.

Apparently, you've never been to Cartagena. Despite the heat, it's a beautiful/historic place and more Caribbean than you would imagine.

A lot of Colombians are returning there from the US to retire in highrises on the beach.

I wouldn't recommend anyone living there, though, who doesn't speak Spanish pretty well...living in the interior, well....that's dicier.

The most beautiful view I've ever seen in the world (except for Machu Piccu) is in Caicedonia, Colombia, looking at the sun setting to the west...I think an artist or writer would be so lucky to live there for the winter months in the States.

If you look social networking websites that focus on Thailand you'll find enormous amounts of girls that have a "second job": dating farang for money. Many of them don't think about themselves as bargirls. There's a whole new generation of modern bargirls coming and the scamming techniques are sometimes equal to techniques that Nigerian scammers use. They make up stories like:

- a brother in jail that needs to be bailed out

- a very young brother that has cancer and can only survive with imported, very expensive medicines

- a brother that gambled with the money of the parents

- a study loan that needs to paid back

- a husband that was shot or died in a terrible traffic accident, leaving her and 2 small children behind

- a husband that beats her up until she almost died

All stories come down to the same thing: the girl is basically a very good girl but she has very bad luck in her life.

Some of these stories are actually true, but most are not.

In some villages 95% of the girls dreams about having a farang husband. A very big amount of these girls is willing to travel to and work in Pattaya or Bangkok as a bargirl to achieve this goal. People are driven by materialism, they are blinded by the luxury girls in their hometown have that married to a farang. Many bargirls carry mobile phones that cost enough to provide 6 months income to average family is in North-East.

How much do you really know about this girl?

Yeah, it's moved off the streets and onto the dating sites as well as places like hi5.com (notice the story about that site being a front for prostituting girls out?)

The other big area of development is the webcam/chat girls...they wrote the book on this, especially Filipinas, because their English is so much better in most cases.

I actually met two g/f's (on-line) that turned out to be great girls in the Phils, but I was also scammed once (the only time in my life I've been burned giving money to someone, between $200-300 USD) by a girl I had been talking to for a long time and who had never asked for money...I always had the idea the pictures were fake (she wouldn't ever use a webcam), but I guess it was my wife of verifying it, I just learned a somewhat expensive lesson the hard way. But there are many worse stories.

The irony is that she SUPPOSEDLY went to the US on a K-1 visa, only to find out that the guy (much older) already had an American wife and couldn't actually keep her for more than 90 days as a plaything. Even though I doubt that story is true, it made me feel a little bit better...but I wouldn't be suprised if she made that up to.

The ones you most commonly get in PHILS are silly things like money for cell phone loads, sick relatives, putting themselves through school and trying to take care of older or younger family members, money for university exams/fees...this girl had me believing her family had died on a PAL flight about 10 years ago. I even looked up the names of the family members on the passenger list, and they corresponded with her family name, although I should have dug a lot deeper. She had a really well-crafted story...it was hard to poke holes into it, and she used the image of the girl from the picture to lure me in...and of course, we talked on the phone, too.

The whole scam originated in Russia and the Ukraine. There it's called the Smokinhotkova Scam. Just take pictures of Russian models, Russian Playboy Magazine, Anna Kournikova/Maria Sharapova...and pay men or ugly girls to answer all the e-mails and marriage requests....usually it's they need money for visa (you can't get a visa unless the man first visits, and then he applies for the girl, not the other way around), money for passport, money for English or driving lessons, money for computer, sick uncle/aunt afflicted by alcoholism due to the horrible economy and factory closings. Of course, the girl will never be able to show her face on webcam or prove she exists...but she will always make up excuses for not doing so....this doesn't work as well as it did 5-10 years ago, as most parts of the relatively industrialized world now have internet access/connections and webcam.