spidermike007

All I know, is that throughout Latin America, I can be understood with my Spanish, despite how poor my grammar is. Even in places where the accents are very strong, they make a supreme effort, and their open minds and creative juice allows them to extrapolate and guess the meaning of what I am trying to convey. That is impossible for the Thai mind to perform. They simply don't have those creative faculties and if not pronounced nearly perfectly, their minds shut down

Just another bad apple within the ranks of the sorry and hapless RTP. They bring shame to the nation, on a daily basis. These guys are above the law. Any and all laws, and unfortunately they know it, and some of them behave accordingly. Any efforts to bring them in line, always seem to go nowhere. Some of the big mouths talk, talk, and talk. And what happens? It just goes away.

The people will not tolerate these goons much longer. My theory is that the army brass already knows this, and are now forming an escape plan. Hopefully into exile, but far better, into prison. They can fight a few tens of thousands. They cannot possibly beat many millions. And that is what we will see when this army created debacle is over with. They are utterly desperate to hang onto power, and access to the trillions of baht that likely generates for them. Using the LM and sedition laws shows how utterly intolerant of criticism these very small, very weak men are, that they need to hide behind and utilize these laws, to attempt crush the will of the people. The time is coming, when this will no longer be tolerated. Just wait. The army is on it's way out. It could take awhile, and it could get ugly, though it will never get to the hellish level of Burma, as the Thai parents would never, ever permit that kind of genocidal behavior from their sons. You take out one more Thai, and you are forever disowned by this family. That is all it would take to bring about mass defections from the army ranks. That would sure be fun to witness. Are the pompous generals going to put themselves into harms way? Never. They do not have it in them, they are cowards.

It is the people who count. In the past they have deferred. Now? Everything has changed and that is not good news for the army.

Well, you obviously did not satisfy her, if all she did was hold your hand. She was just having some fun teasing a young man mercilessly.

Yes. Have alot of friends who date Thai women in their 40s. Many are bored to tears with Thai men. Many are looking for a change of pace, or just curious. And those are successful, high functioning women. Then, you have the women who want a guy who is financially stable. Yes, the opportunities are endless here.

Hundreds of times. Same applies to jazz. I adore the ballet and live jazz. Opera, not so much. Stand up comedy. All the time in the US. Museums and galleries. All the time. Independent film. Alot. The list goes on.

Again, I ask why is that info so hard to find, about Thailand? There has to be a reason. My guess, is that there is no cooperation from the government here.

Depends on where uou are. There are some very nice areas in Mexico. But, the nicer areas tend to be quite expensive. Alot more than here.

Interesting. Which crops has she tried? Have you considered fresh herbs? Exotic fruit? Greenhouse stuff?

So, why is it that Thailand is not on the list? Surely there are more than 36,000 expats here. Why is that info so hard to find? Does the govt. here suppress it?

I have traveled all over Latin America, including Cuba many times, and can converse easily with the locals. But, I know the language is harder in Spain. But, I could adapt and learn. It would be infinitely more fun than learning Thai. Frankly, there is nothing about the Thai language I like. Nothing. Spanish sounds like music or poetry to me in comparison. And using the same alphabet is immensely easier, in addition to not having to deal with the ridiculous tones. And the last part is the most important one. I find that throughout Latin America, when I am trying hard to be understood, people reciprocate that effort, and try hard to understand me. And I think they may be more creative, or more linguistically skilled than most Thais (able to dance in circles intellectually, to interpret and figure out an answer to an unfamiliar problem). You seem to get huge credit for trying to speak Spanish, even if it is very imperfect. I do not get any of that here. Nunca. Nada. Zero. You do not pronounce it perfectly here, we have no idea what you are saying! And there is no effort made to attempt to figure it out. Lame. Very lame. That gets very old.

Far easier than Thailand to get a long term visa. More options.

That is very relative. Very little live jazz. No ballet, opera, live theater, independent film, stand up comedy, poetry readings, spoken word, art museums, fine galleries, handicrafts, etc. The list goes on and on. A puppet show here and there does not qualify. Thailand has a little bit of traditional culture. Not much, by international standards.

The army does not have the guts to wage war against their people, Burma style. And the moral authority that was there in the past, is gone, baby gone. Nah. It won't happen. The Thai soldiers, and the families of the soldiers would never tolerate their sons murdering innocent Thais. And the Thai soldiers are not facing the level of desperation the young Burmese are. The poverty here is not as grinding as it is in Burma. I do not think it could be sustained, if the fools started it. Thailand is a very different culture than Burma, on a dozen significant levels. And the youth now, are very different people than they were during past coups, which were violent. Parents would give their sons a choice. If you kill fellow Thais for the murderous officers, you will be disowned by your family. Everything has changed.

Any excuse to deny the will of the people. The toxic dinosaurs do not understand the ramifications of this power trip they are engaging in. The people will not tolerate it again, and the army does not have the option of another coup, now that all the moral authority is gone. Granted, Pita should have seen this coming. The party should have selected multiple potential candidates and he should have divested the stock already. But, this is simply a ruse by the spectacularly corrupt, bought and paid for election commission. Hopefully, the people will rise up and not tolerate this kind of chicanery.

The seafood was in Ensenada. The prices are in pesos. About 17.8 to one dollar. Amazing seafood for the money. That would be a highlight for me. And the food is gorgeous.

There are alot of things I love about Thailand. I live very well on my monthly income here. But, if I were wealthy? I would likely only spend 2 or 3 months of the year here. Too many better alternatives. If you have alot of cash. Alot.

Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it is still reasonable. I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2000-3800 a month. That is 120,000 baht! In Mexico in nice areas, expect to pay $1,000 per month, and up for a nice condo or a small house.

Not true. Mexico is extraordinary, on so many levels. Only someone who has not spent alot of time there, can say something as uneducated and uninformed as what you said, about Mexico. There is poverty in Mexico, and alot of poorer people move to the US for the opportunities. But, Mexico has a huge and vibrant economy and a large middle class. It has a GDP twice the size of Thailand and the per capita income is 50% higher than Thailand, at nearly $10,000.

Mexico has ridiculously rich culture, compared to near bankruptcy here, when it comes to true culture. Dance, theatre, jazz, wine, film festivals, people who understand their own language, when you try to speak it to them, a language in our alphabet, without the ridiculous tones, etc. And gorgeous, wild, deep sea seafood cooked by people who know the difference between a grill and a frying pan filled with oil. The seafood on the west coast beats Thailand, hands down. Fresher, wilder, tastier and cheaper. Not to mention access to great tequila and good beer and wine. Those elements would be a joy. For me, as much as I love Mexico and it's people, the two biggest deterrents would be a far higher cost of living than Thailand, and the security situation. I don't like to always have to maintain situational awareness when outside and I would not tolerate the cartel goombahs well. Which could be fatal. I was recently in Baja, and it felt like an army seige. Here, I always feel safe. Here, the crime perpetrated against foreigners is quite low.

I don't hear many good things about growing rice, and would never engage in that kind of sustenance crop growing. So many more progressive crops out there. If you take some time to convert the soil, there are so many crops that are more profitable, and better for the environment. Rice has to be at the bottom of the list. Great to eat, horrible to grow.

I just do not understand this kind of thing. When a relationship is not working out, a real man tries to make it work, and when he sees that she is not who he thought she was, and things are just not coming together, he walks away, holding his head high. Anyone man with self esteem, who is in possession of his manhood, just wishes the woman well, and walks away. With a failure like this, one has to ask: 1. Who are his parents, and why did they fail so miserably? 2. Why did he stop maturing at the age of 13, and never become a man? 3. Why does he have no self esteem. What caused him to hate himself so much, that he could not just accept reality, and walk away? 4. Why does this worthless thug have so little respect for others, and for human life? One has to hope he will be locked up in prison for a very long time, and let us hope some of his fellow inmates teach him the kinds of lessons he should have learned long ago.

The Italian authorities have issued an arrest warrant, and are in the process of picking him up, so he can stand before a tribunal, and answer for his cultural and culinary crimes.