Shiver

So it was a fishing village, and now it's a 'fish in' village.

No need to be a tree hugger to see that if we destroy the sea we're all toast.

First, paragraphs please.  Makes it far more readable.

1. Don't pay for items before delivery of goods - interpret as you will.
2.  Relationships are best kept as in person and daily.  Long distance is fraught with issues unless you've already established a very solid foundation before you go out 'hunting' for resources for her (oil rigs, own country part time occupation etc) - if not, then the solo life and a bit of exploration isn't so bad.
3. Check for gambling/alcohol/'sketchy' drugs or ideas of pseudo-entrepreneurial spirit based on others assets (without you knowing)..
4. Know yourself. Consider advice from others for augmentation, but your gut will not lie to you.

The usual stuff out of the way, you pointed to many failures already (not being smart enough to talk her way out of a flat battery on a phone - I mean who doesn't have a phone charger these days?  probability suggests likely reasons why it was inconvenient to ask almost anybody to borrow their charger for 30 mins..

My guess is even if she doesn't have another sponsor, she'll have many trickling sources of income, and you'll become popular and pariah and back again as it suits her situation.

At 35 the world is your oyster here even with modest reliable money, so you know my suggestion, but your gut will tell you....and *don't* listen to your heart unless it agrees with your gut, in which case you may have a cause to tolerate it further to find the truth, but honestly, I think a drop kick and run the other way would be your best option.  And change your SIM while you're at it..

14 minutes ago, fxe1200 said:

The main point is, that you get stuck with your knee-pads in the plastic while cornering.

I've never tried taking my scooter 63 degrees out of vertical for cornering.  You first...

"Thai Rath gave no explanation about the different grades or why B and C were the same price." ....LOL.  The use of 'grades' in this kind of application does make me a little concerned though.

I've seen something very similar in Udon a few years back where the lady at "99+1" bar rented out bikes with them on with stiff plastic as the wind shield that extended overhead.  As I recall though, I don't think they had sides on that version, which would be fine so long as it wasn't sideways rain.

7 hours ago, jay1980 said:

I had the same problem, I wanted a car with the performance of a fun hot hatch that would be affordable in the west, but because of the tax structure for imports is  overpriced and rare in Thailand.

 

In the end I could find nothing suitable in my budget, so I swapped out the stock engine and gearbox in my standard 2005 Mitsubishi lancer for a very free revving JDM spec Mivec Engine with a manual close ratio gearbox and LSD, swapped the suspension for coil-overs and upgraded the brakes.

 

My main aim was to make a fun car to drive, not a monster only good for the drag strip  so I did not go for a full Evo spec engine but if I had wanted that it would not have cost much more.

 

I had all the work done at an independent garage in BKK  who specialize in Mitsubishi's.

 

The car cost me 200K a couple of years ago and I did the conversion earlier this year all in (including putting in a new clutch, all new belts etc) for a little under 100K.

 

I now have an almost stock looking car that is fast enough to be fun, is practical for every day use, so far has been totally reliable, does not draw the wrong sort of attention and most importantly is fun to drive.

 

Anyone who says it is not worth having a fun sporty car in Thailand needs to get out of the cities there are some great driving roads in Thailand!

Sounds like a great result.  One of the benefits I guess of living in BKK is that you can have competent engineers. 'up north' I don't know anywhere that could do a job like that.  I assumed I'd have to do it myself, though I'm not tooled up (and it isn't my main skill set either).

GF wants to learn to drive, and I'd really like her to be able to use a manual gearbox, but they seem to be dying out these days.  I did say to her "you *will* crash your first car, so why not make your new car your second car?"

"Me? The 13th Duke of Wynburn? at a French maids finishing school? 3 o'clock in the morning?  with my reputation?.......Bingo!"

Isaan version "I want a new car not and old car,  I'm up levelling".

I guess that means if it's going to be new then it'll be auto parking, auto warning, auto changing, auto vicinity alert, auto servicing and bluetooth text2speech for LINE.....and a cushion for the boutique dog.

9 hours ago, Techno Viking said:

Yeah sounds boring, drifters are rear wheel drive.

One time I recall the owner of the Integra sliding it around a motorway roundabout in the rain above motorway speed limit with Police on the inside and him saying "not to worry, this isn't classed as part of the motorway". Sure enough they didn't do anything.

It's just a different technique that's all. You just come into the corner faster, stomp the brake momentarily and turn inward to get it off balance, the put the wheels where you want them to be and swing-a-roo right around it.  I say it's not quick (in terms of power) but as a point to point car it took some beating at that time.

1 hour ago, Techno Viking said:

Aren't they front wheel drive ?

Yeah, FWD, but you can get it to drift (weight is on the front) with steering more than throttle only (that is to say; you use throttle so the front keeps up rather than rear throttled where you do the steering). The Civic understeers like most FWD do.  I'm talking about maybe 2000 model or similar year.  Civic to me just didn't feel alive (even though it was one of, if not 'the' quickest stock hot hatch at the time If I recall).

Integra wasn't the quickest car, but it was a lot of fun.

Since the above thread I looked at SuperChips website, and that'll take a Focus 1.5 to ~205hp and 303Nm torque which kicks in around 1500rpm and goes near vertical.  Tiny engine so would imagine it spins up easy enough, and can be a family car when you want it to be..

It's a shame they don't make any 'interesting' cars here, they have to be imported.

Before I got here I was itching to get an F355.  The moment I got here and saw the roads that dream died.

Now I'd prefer to be more discreet than when I was testosterone laden, and thinking of a Focus that nobody would look twice at, but since it's turbo and you can remap the ECU here, it could still get you out of trouble.

If you were considering an old Honda Type R then I would go Integra rather than Civic, similar performance but OMG can you have fun drifting it on corners.

Sure there must be some Skylines around here if you want a project car.

49 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

"Tough call.  Don't want them to confuse generosity as stupidity."

 

Its not that, its because I don't want them to know it is 'charity' .

 

One of them helped me out when I was in a 'bad' situation ('bike fell over on top of me, and he picked up the 'bike and walked it to my home) and I offered him 100 bht as a 'thank you'.  He refused it and was clearly horrified that I'd offered him money for helping me out.

I tip my hat to you.  I had one run in with a fellow english person a few years ago.  He was/is a sociopath if not a full on psychopath.  Nobody I was with wanted anything to do with him and so moved tables (a 'mom & pop shop'), so I bought him a drink and said I was going to the toilet then I was going to sit with my friends.  As I got up to go to the toilet I got a whack on the ear/cheek bone, and next thing I was aware of was the world had rotated 90 degrees and I was on the concrete.  There were 5 Thai guys at a nearby table who didn't waste any time taking the opportunity to kick the  sh1t out of him.  I continued to the toilet and cleaned up, came back and the guy was gone, everyone seated and chatting away.  Next time I saw the Thai guys I tried to buy them a bottle of what they were drinking, but they would have none of it.  An Irish friend said 'do nothing.  You're insulting them by implying that they can't take care of themselves'.

So damned if you do and damned if you don't.  I'm still an absolute beginner despite all I've learnt.

23 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Know exactly what you mean about obviously extremely poor people, and the best way to help them out in some small way.

 

There's an obviously poor man who rides his samlor here every few days to fish (edit - and another on a bicycle), and I've often thought about leaving a 1,000 bht note in the 'basket' of their 'bikes.  Problem is that it would be obvious the money came from me - as I'm pretty much the only person living in the area.

Tough call.  Don't want them to confuse generosity as stupidity.  Maybe if you could find out where his route tends to be you could drop off in a place not local to you when nobody is looking (the things people do when there is no overseer are a much better measure of someones character).

There's a local samlaw rider here in Udon.  His name is Moon to anyone familiar with the city centre area. I think there's only perhaps 3 left, now that they all have skylab tuk tuks, whose father was American so he is fluent and has an obvious skill to offer.  He rides it even without customers  -scouting - as he enjoys his job and it keeps him very fit.  I normally offer him a beer at destination (I'd rather walk to be honest, but his needs are greater than mine) and one day he said "I appreciate you buying me a drink, but could I ask you for money instead as I've only made 20 baht today and my wife and children are why I work".  Of course he got a beer (which I think he drinks only out of politeness) and a good chunk of cash as well.  Valuable people abound, we just need good filters to distinguish the difference between contributors and sponges.

I don't now, though I used to.  I stopped when they started inviting their friends because they saw a sucker that would give them money every day (20 baht) and the new friend said "what about me?'  I said to ask your friend to share it with you (they don't appear anymore).

What I will do with some people I know are on the street and making an effort for themselves (eg. bin filtering) and *not* asking, is drop them 500 baht while they're sleeping at random infrequent times.  They don't know it's me and probably think it's Buddha 'luck' or something. 

The worst of it was when I was chatting with a friend and someone was annoying me with his hand out while I'm trying to communicate something.  The hand was between both of us and he said "100 baht'.  Embarrassingly I got all 'farang' on his ass and told him in impolite words what to do.

On 6/30/2017 at 6:20 PM, LuckyNo4 said:

define terrorism

It's war on an abstract noun, creating the 'enemy' alluded to, to fight it (except not really) but that's their pitch.  Throw in a few people of colour/religion/ethnicity for seasoning that are easy to point out and... you got you a pitch fork army of supporters.

On 6/30/2017 at 6:01 PM, Tofer said:

Such as where?

USA is the major one, along with all their lap dog countries (unfortunately including the one I come from).

I shouldn't say USA as that is the people, the constitution and all the stuff to aspire to.  I should say US the corporation, or D.C that are snakes in the grass..

Although OP didn't say, I doubt very much that it is Bitcoin mining unless he has free electricity as it wouldn't be competitive. There are other coins/tokens where it might be viable for non ASIC, but then you can buy GPU here in Thailand for that if you get in the queue at the shops.  ASUS have a card for exactly that purpose.

In the earlier days I GPU mined for a year or so just for kicks.  I wouldn't call it work as I was just sat on my butt trying to keep away from the noise and heat (fried most cards as I was trying to keep them below 100C in the heat).  On reflection I didn't make any more than if I'd just bought the coin and saved myself the trouble, but thought I'd at least have the hardware as value at the end, which ended up as fried junk.

If you could get a heat exchanger to convert all that heat then you might be onto something, but that too would be a world changer in electricity usage.

If you do want to import then it would be no drama to get a Thai to import for say, an internet shop? (although most use a phone for that now rather than regular computers - not I - but majority do).

15 hours ago, Tofer said:

I think you'll find that the vast majority of current terrorism acts are carried out by Muslim extremists. I am however willing to stand corrected if you care to highlight any major exceptions. 

 

It clearly is the extremist / terrorists view that these despicable acts are carried out in the name of Islam albeit, I appreciate, not the view of the general Muslim population. I believe the list of countries on Trumps proposed travel ban are all  Islamic countries.

 

The IRA and the ETA are now defunct, and off the top of my head I cannot think of any other major contributor to the current terrorist situation. 

So Governments of certain countries don't make it on the list?

If we did that, there would be no government left 

If BX terms were taken as written then nothing would move ever.  I guess that for them to operate they have to be seen to be proactive in terms of capital controls for the country which I can understand, but even I could write clearer terms than that and I have zero legal copy expertise.

Thankfully for us their rates can at times be pretty decent when volatility is low (never the best, but good enough).

Some exchanges won't send to other exchanges and you have to drop them in your wallet first.  I opened accounts at BX and COINS just to get the verification out of the way and be able to be nimble if/when I have to (I don't like to hold much Gov-coin, except when I have to get money in THB and fast such as a hospital event), but haven't used them yet (likely will do within a month or so just as a top-up - hoping to avoid external wire deposits and all that chicanery that banks do,  If Thailand could see what they're missing out on by restricting us they'd change policy in a femtosecond.

Wellll, what they should have done is buy it off you and resell it.  What if you decide you quite like your old refrigerator and it is no longer for sale.  Do you get the horses head in bed treatment for them making themselves lose face?

What if it broke and they wanted you to honour the deal they negotiated?  What if it accidently broke before you let it go and their ' counted yet unhatched chickens' don't appear?  They've probably spent it already after borrowing from someone else.

8 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

The twist, friend had MIL visit same day he made a big pot of traditional Italian spaghetti sauce, Italian style and no chili, as requested by his wife. Wife served it out and it was so spicy wife and kids and farang couldn't eat it.

 

Wife asked how did it get so phet, MIL announced that she threw in a big handful of chili because 'farang food is inedible'.

Ha ha.  Although I wasn't 'spice enabled' when I first got here, that was just a part of naturalisation.  I'm still surprised how many people don't do spicy.  I can fully understand it from a holiday makers perspective as we've all been that person for a day or two.  I have a UK friend in particular that is friends with a co-friend in BKK before I ever came here (all 3 of us from UK originally), and he was quite disgusted (probably still is) how spicy my BKK friend liked his food. and that he "must have destroyed his taste buds".  I straddle the fence on that one but say nothing.  Spicy is good, delicate is good, why be forced to choose?

19 hours ago, Chou Anou said:

Really?  Are you sure about that?  Doesn't sound like typical human behavior to me.  People tend to hang on to their irrational beliefs and superstitions despite all the scientific proof in the world.  How else do you explain all the <deleted> idiots in my country, the US, not believing in climate control, thinking vaccinations cause autism, etc., etc., ad nauseam, to the point of electing a crass, uninformed, and belligerent idiot who believes the same (and understands nothing about the way government works) to lead them?

 

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a political rant.  The on-topic point is: the Thais have no monopoly on stupid, and the stupid are not easily convinced to change their ways based on scientific fact.

 

And to bring the discussion back to people wasting money on products for their beauty/health that have absolutely no basis in science: what about all the farangs who buy and take "mega-vitamins", thinking they will give them anything more than expensive pee?  Or the many farangs who take Vitamin C pills, thinking it will somehow magically prevent them from getting a cold (or cure a cold they already have)?  Yeah, it won't hurt them, but it doesn't get more gullible or ignorant of science that that.

Although I disagree muchly re Vit C, for all the other points you make, it has the same denominator we've all heard a thousand times which is "it's not about politics, or government, or products ....just *follow the money* ".

On 6/5/2017 at 0:31 PM, Baerboxer said:

 

Aren't all the Brits in Pattaya "business men, former SAS, or authors writing their latest novel"? Apart from the odd family on holiday (odd as in a few not strange!).

 

It must be the drugs that turn them into Walter Mitty; or believing all the whores really think they're handsome men!

 

 

Yes.... 

....and verbal novels are their new art form (all done with a lone bar stool at passers by).

Don't have many here 'up north', but imagine Pats is as full as it ever was when I went for a look-see.

On 6/2/2017 at 11:01 AM, Duff said:

Thanks a lot for this very helpful answer. There may be an arbitrage opportunity here indeed. I need to dig deeper

I was on the phone last week to my bank (BKK bank) about their $25K per day and $100K per month limit, trying (because Arbitrage) to say I wanted to move a lot more for a small % gain daily but it would all come back to them if I decided to use BTC to change to THB,  They asked me if I had an account (yes of course) and that I needed iBanking (have), how did I open the account (with GF - "no, cannot!" - but I did), what is my passport visa type (no type other than an 'A' visa so couldn't explain that in a way she understood), but still, many questions and never answered my question.  I terminated the call in frustration when I was told I had to go to the bank to open an account - didn't I just say I already had one?  Maybe they can speak English, but that doesn't mean they Understand any meaning behind it.

One more reason (if I needed any more reasons) why I don't want assets in a bank, and proud to say I have very little THB...and for a  very good self preservation reason.

23 minutes ago, SpeakeasyThai said:

Hmmmm. Do i hear a very loud and clear anti British chip on your shoulder?

I'm British, but didn't take it that way or even notice until people started flagging it.

He probably is British by the look, and I'll go further and say he's Glaswegian (unsubstantiated of course).

Looking at the pic some more, love the aspect of the 'normal Mr Big' authorities and the diminutive culprit ratio.  I couldn't have done better if I wanted someone to have a leaning opinion without words.

3 hours ago, daoyai said:

what are sex pills?

If you have a sex that you're not happy with, take a pill and change it.  Back home they would be Oestrogen pills ('the pill').

If you want a hard on, those pills are not illicit, Doc will provide.

Heroin...I think I'd want confirmation of that.  Who the heck would do Heroin in Thailand?  Doesn't compute, and suspect sensationalist media.