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keithaustin
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Posts posted by keithaustin
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I couldn't agree with you more. Very insightful post. I for one was considering moving to Thailand next year when I retire, but am weighing all the pros and cons now very carefully. I am going to take a trip soon to the Philippines to check it out as another place to retire. I really fell in love with Thailand, its culture and the people, but everytime I see a foreigner do or say something out of line, I cringe. It's no wonder that in the big cities and tourist areas that they see us as nothing more than a target. I'll have to see what the future holds before I make a decision on where I will retire when the time comes. Gook luck and good on you for your words of wisdom.
I have lived, on and off, in Thailand for 7 or 8 years, had 2 wives who swore blind they were Thai, had Thai ID cards which meant they could get a Thai passport. It was several years down the line before they admitted they were not Thai, but they were in fact Cambodian and proud to be Cambodian but would not admit to it because falangs want Thai women, not Cambodian women. I then learnt quite a lot of the Thai language, lived in tourist and non-tourist areas and spoke with thousands of falangs and Asians covering a large cross-section of society (including doctors, police, dentists, bank workers et al). In the bars, I would pretend that I could understand no Thai (I could, of course, which meant I knew when they were talking Laotian or Cambodian). This, along with first-hand accounts from trustworthy people, led me to the conclusion that very few of the bar girls are anything other than Laotian or Cambodian. The huge majority of falangs with 'Thai' wives, do not have Thai wives and most will carry the fact that they have been duped to their graves.
Having said that, I still love Thailand, but I am also seriously considering retiring in the Philippines. And one of the reasons is this - can anybody tell me why Thailand is the only country (that I know of) that has a much stronger currency in times of strife? Even since this latest trouble the pound has dropped from 55 to 45 baht, whereas against the Philippine peso it has stayed roughly the same. We falangs cannot plan our retirement in Thailand because they 'mess around' with the exchange rate so much. Our pensions could literally halve within a few years. If the tolerance, either side, was 20% and the exchange rate was not 'messed around' with, then one could plan one's future better.
I suppose I'll get the usual 'rubbishing' of the true facts I have said which will probably include something along the lines 'you expected being rubbished, so here it is'. I'll preempt such people by not just saying 'get a life' but 'get into the real world, and stop letting Cambodians run rings around you (like they did to me).
<Removed duplication>
Many Thais living around the borders speak Lao or Kmer. It was not that long ago that the borders were very different also there was an exodus during the Pol Pot days. I know Thais who call themselves Lao although they were born in Thailand to parents born in Thailand and have never been to Laos - just as there are Brits/Yanks/etc that call themselves Scots, Irish etc due to descent that may actually be many generations past. If they have Thai ID cards and can get passports, odds are they are indeed Thai.
The Philipines remians a more dangerous place for foreigners than Thailand IMO; I was there a few times (only month stays), and never really felt safe as I do in Thailand - even with these troubles. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but I lived and worked in London when the IRA was doing its worst - I was just down the road when the bomb that took out the 700 year old church and badly damaged the NatWest Building went off - I heard it and felt it. I often walked to Hyde Park at luch time; the IRA planted nail bombs and killed several horses, a millitary band and many multi-national visitors. On 7/7 I was on the tube just an hour before the bombs went off. I was at the Thai Food Festival in London when they evacuated the park because of bomb threats just after 7/7. None of that scared me (though some shocked me) becuase I knew it was much more likely I'd be hit by a car or even lightning! What is scary is walking home from a club in London at 2am - or walking down any street in Manila after dark - here, in Chiang Mai, never felt safer out at night.
I have never been to the Philippines, so I'll bear in mind what you've said. I remember the IRA days - my sister was on her way to one of the pubs that got bombed in Birmingham (a few more minutes and she may well be dead). I also remember the odious red-shirt leader type graffiti fron the extreme left wingers (such a 'The IRA are great, Birmingham proves it'). I never voted Labour again and will never forget that many Americans funded the deaths of British men,women and children.
I have not been without close calls of violence in Thailand but, again, I agree with you that I feel much safer in Thailand than the UK.
The Cambodians and Lao I referred to fall into several categories. Those born in Thailand, genuine Thai nationality, speak fluent Thai but indoctrinated with the mindsets of their parents. Those who were born in Lao/Cambodia, have various levels of Thai language knowledge, have mindsets of their country of birth and obtained a Thai ID by bribing a corrupt official. And there are illegals, hundreds of whom are deported regularly, only to return some time later. I knew a born-and-bred Scouser who would support any other country in the world against the country of his birth - England. He classed himself as Irish who just happened to have been born in Liverpool. This I find true of the Lao/Cambodian people. Actually born in those countries or not, they consider themselves as 'of that country' and willingly learn or are indoctrinated with the mindsets of those countries. There is a particularly big difference between the mindsets/values/morals of Cambodia and and those of Thailand and Laos. Finally, what do you think of the 'messing around' with the exchange rate?
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I couldn't agree with you more. Very insightful post. I for one was considering moving to Thailand next year when I retire, but am weighing all the pros and cons now very carefully. I am going to take a trip soon to the Philippines to check it out as another place to retire. I really fell in love with Thailand, its culture and the people, but everytime I see a foreigner do or say something out of line, I cringe. It's no wonder that in the big cities and tourist areas that they see us as nothing more than a target. I'll have to see what the future holds before I make a decision on where I will retire when the time comes. Gook luck and good on you for your words of wisdom.
I have lived, on and off, in Thailand for 7 or 8 years, had 2 wives who swore blind they were Thai, had Thai ID cards which meant they could get a Thai passport. It was several years down the line before they admitted they were not Thai, but they were in fact Cambodian and proud to be Cambodian but would not admit to it because falangs want Thai women, not Cambodian women. I then learnt quite a lot of the Thai language, lived in tourist and non-tourist areas and spoke with thousands of falangs and Asians covering a large cross-section of society (including doctors, police, dentists, bank workers et al). In the bars, I would pretend that I could understand no Thai (I could, of course, which meant I knew when they were talking Laotian or Cambodian). This, along with first-hand accounts from trustworthy people, led me to the conclusion that very few of the bar girls are anything other than Laotian or Cambodian. The huge majority of falangs with 'Thai' wives, do not have Thai wives and most will carry the fact that they have been duped to their graves.
Having said that, I still love Thailand, but I am also seriously considering retiring in the Philippines. And one of the reasons is this - can anybody tell me why Thailand is the only country (that I know of) that has a much stronger currency in times of strife? Even since this latest trouble the pound has dropped from 55 to 45 baht, whereas against the Philippine peso it has stayed roughly the same. We falangs cannot plan our retirement in Thailand because they 'mess around' with the exchange rate so much. Our pensions could literally halve within a few years. If the tolerance, either side, was 20% and the exchange rate was not 'messed around' with, then one could plan one's future better.
I suppose I'll get the usual 'rubbishing' of the true facts I have said which will probably include something along the lines 'you expected being rubbished, so here it is'. I'll preempt such people by not just saying 'get a life' but 'get into the real world, and stop letting Cambodians run rings around you (like they did to me).
I have lived, on and off, in Thailand for 7 or 8 years, had 2 wives who swore blind they were Thai, had Thai ID cards which meant they could get a Thai passport. It was several years down the line before they admitted they were not Thai, but they were in fact Cambodian and proud to be Cambodian but would not admit to it because falangs want Thai women, not Cambodian women. I then learnt quite a lot of the Thai language, lived in tourist and non-tourist areas and spoke with thousands of falangs and Asians covering a large cross-section of society (including doctors, police, dentists, bank workers et al). In the bars, I would pretend that I could understand no Thai (I could, of course, which meant I knew when they were talking Laotian or Cambodian). This, along with first-hand accounts from trustworthy people, led me to the conclusion that very few of the bar girls are anything other than Laotian or Cambodian. The huge majority of falangs with 'Thai' wives, do not have Thai wives and most will carry the fact that they have been duped to their graves.
Having said that, I still love Thailand, but I am also seriously considering retiring in the Philippines. And one of the reasons is this - can anybody tell me why Thailand is the only country (that I know of) that has a much stronger currency in times of strife? Even since this latest trouble the pound has dropped from 55 to 45 baht, whereas against the Philippine peso it has stayed roughly the same. We falangs cannot plan our retirement in Thailand because they 'mess around' with the exchange rate so much. Our pensions could literally halve within a few years. If the tolerance, either side, was 20% and the exchange rate was not 'messed around' with, then one could plan one's future better.
I suppose I'll get the usual 'rubbishing' of the true facts I have said which will probably include something along the lines 'you expected being rubbished, so here it is'. I'll preempt such people by not just saying 'get a life' but 'get into the real world, and stop letting Cambodians run rings around you (like they did to me).
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This all remind me of a song (In Norway)
Think it's in English too......( here it goes)...................( Kids singing): Lala Little Lamb,do you have any wool.
(Lamb sing the Aswer) :Yeah yeah my dear little child,i have the body full. ..Sunday clothes for Ma and Sunday clothes to Pa...(lalala) Aaaand two pear of suckers ( Ouch , those in rubber to suck on
) ( ( (( Ahaaa,,socks it was) ,to tiny miny bro.
There is an English one, The same (this is my version)
Baa Baa Red shirt leader have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full.
Two for me and one for the poor that live down the lane.
Agree with song, but want to change the words a little:-
Baa baa red shirt leader have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, A thousand bags full,
Nine hundred and ninety nine for my family,
And one to be shared by the poor families
same same I think
Same same if 1/1000 is the same same as 1/3!
The point is that people such as the red shirts leader rip of the people they are supposedly 'helping' by much more then 67%, more like 99.9%
So, the message is the same same, but the theft amount is different different
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This all remind me of a song (In Norway)
Think it's in English too......( here it goes)...................( Kids singing): Lala Little Lamb,do you have any wool.
(Lamb sing the Aswer) :Yeah yeah my dear little child,i have the body full. ..Sunday clothes for Ma and Sunday clothes to Pa...(lalala) Aaaand two pear of suckers ( Ouch , those in rubber to suck on
) ( ( (( Ahaaa,,socks it was) ,to tiny miny bro.
There is an English one, The same (this is my version)
Baa Baa Red shirt leader have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full.
Two for me and one for the poor that live down the lane.
Agree with song, but want to change the words a little:-
Baa baa red shirt leader have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, A thousand bags full,
Nine hundred and ninety nine for my family,
And one to be shared by the poor families
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Every single Thai I know supports this man - I hope in the weeks and months ahead, he shows everyone a path towards peace, reconciliation and unity.
Every Thai I know hate this man. He can not do anything, becouse he is a marionette of persons, who order to kill Thai protesters.
Alex, how can you possibly think such a thing? I can only assume you haven't been paying any attention to what's been happening. It would have been easy for the PM to kill the protesters if he had wanted to, can't you see that? Who got killed here, and by whom? I guess you think none of the protesters were shooting. I guess there will always be people who see only what they want to see, but it always amazes me how completely blind they can be. Man, what benefit do you think the government would have gotten from killing protesters? That is what the leadership of the redshits wanted, they wanted their own people to die so the government would look bad, and that's how much they cared about their own people. When the government didn't kill innocents, the leaders just lied about it. It seems you believe their lies. Better to look and believe your eyes. You do have eyes?
Not every single Thai I know supports the PM, but I bet a lot more do now than did before the reddies brought their lies and destruction. I can't believe those guys call themselves Thais, they're so un-Thai.
Totally true
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The Reds had a point: Thailand is a very unequal society, with a handful of key families controlling so much of its commercial life - & pocketing the proceeds.
Of course they were used by the odious Thaksin - who must never be allowed to influence Thai polity again.
And they contained their fair share of violent nutters.
But their key point remains valid: Thailand is precipitously unequal.
Unless that is rectified, the Reds will rise again.
That might be the end of the present elite, even the end of civil peace.
Better to make a deal now, to bring about fairness.
But, all countries have inequality and most have more inequality than Thailand and some MUCH more. One of the examples is that of sports, film, pop and other 'stars' being mega-rich and getting richer, the worst countries for this are USA and UK in that order. All the rest of us (and some extremely talented) partake in sports, theatre acting, singing for peanuts (or free) and/or have much better personalities/charisma. And then, of course, there are the fat cats - again the worst countries being USA, UK in that order. These people are not saints and do not deserve any of the hero-worship and other perks that they get, true saints are good-hearted, unselfish people such as Marie Theresa.
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The Reds had a point: Thailand is a very unequal society, with a handful of key families controlling so much of its commercial life - & pocketing the proceeds.
Of course they were used by the odious Thaksin - who must never be allowed to influence Thai polity again.
And they contained their fair share of violent nutters.
But their key point remains valid: Thailand is precipitously unequal.
Unless that is rectified, the Reds will rise again.
That might be the end of the present elite, even the end of civil peace.
Better to make a deal now, to bring about fairness.
But, every country has inequality and many are worse than Thailand and some are MUCH worse. And look at the privileged 'celebrity' clubs in the West, the relatively new, superior, condescending ego-class - especially USA and UK. Ditto the fat cats.
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Most Western countries have increasingly huge gaps between a tiny elite minority and the much poorer majority, none more so than the USA. And lately it is the 'celebrity club' where money keeps coming to money. This problem is worldwide and, although Thailand suffers from it, Thailand is far from the worst. Look closer to home.
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It is not only farangs that cannot touch a 'good' Thai lady (i.e. not a bar type), it is totally not etiquette for Thai men to touch a Thai lady. 99% of real Thai women (i.e. not Cambodian or Laotian) are 'good' women and no men are allowed to touch them. The reason why it is worse if a farang touches a 'good' Thai lady is that everybody will assume she is a bar type. I knew of a farang who got arrested for molesting a Thai girl. He assumed, like many ignorant Westerners, that all the women in Thailand are the same. Thailand, overall, is a FAR more moralistic country than Britain, if you stay away from the Cambodian/Laotian dominated tourist areas. I had a Thai wife and when I met her parents I put my hand on her father's shoulder and gestured to shake hands. He smiled, but he gently brushed my hand away and pretended not to notice my outstretched hand.
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Thai (Cambodian actually) voodoo not only exists in Thailand - it works. I know from personal experiences because I lived there for 6 years. Of course, the practitioner of the voodoo has to know what he/she is doing and the 'victim' has to be susceptible to voodoo - i.e. has weak or no defence to voodoo. The ingredients to uniquely identify the 'victim' are hair, skin or saliva (DNA), date of birth (and hopefully the time) and a recent photograph. It cannot be used for large financial gain (such as winning the jackpot on the lottery because there would be hundreds of thousands of winners) or widespread destruction. It is at its most powerful when one person is the 'victim' and the expectation is realistic. Loving or hating a person, making a person sick, have an accident and also killing a person are some of the things that can be done. Also it can make a person never or always be believed. I have written a book about my experiences in Thailand and though I have described the book as 'fiction', it is 95% based on the true experiences of myself and other people. The voodoo experiences are totally based on my own experiences. <spam deleted>
Keith Austin
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Curfew will remain Sunday, Monday's night
in Thailand News
Posted
I totally agree with your comments about me. After having it done to me once, I was incredibly stupid to allow it to happen again. I think, at the time, I thought I had just been very unlucky the first time and the second time had found a true Thai woman (born and bred in rural Thailand, though not Isan). But after a few years she started to show her true, repulsive mindset and finally admitted all her family were Cambodians and she hated Lao people much more than Thai people. I'm afraid I haven't got time to explain about the Cambodians. We all know that there is good and bad in every country but, if the truth ever came out, most of the 'Thais' who are of Cambodian parents, and therefore mindsets/values/morals, whether born in Thailand or not, quite happily give Thailand a bad name by behaving badly under the guise of 'being Thai'. Over the years, I have known 100s of British/Thai couples in the UK. Some of the women are really Lao, the rest are really Cambodian. None of the marriages have lasted.