connda

Dave. Dave? What are you doing Dave?

Oh. And if you really want to make somebody's day. Look around the hotel before you leave, find them, and give them the tip around their friends. It's throwing rose petals on your path back.

Wow! I've never thought of a Thai cleaning staff 'giving me the Evil eye!" Usually when crossing paths (cleaning staff are usually, well, cleaning) as I leave the premise, I don't have a lot of contract with them during my stay. I smile, exchange pleasantries "Hello. How are you today <in thai> Have you eaten yet? (purely thai phrase). But leave the cleaning crews do the cleaning. And if they are not done? I leave. Go do something else and come back later when they are finished. Do I tip on a daily basis? No. Do I give a trip on my last day as I leave? Yes. I'm sure they appreciate that. And if I was in New York? Seattle? LA? I'd tip too. Why should Thailand be different. I tip because I appreciate what service people do, here and aboard (home country). So, 'No.' I've never had Thai cleaning staff give me The Evil-Eye. Now cleaning staff in NY, SEA, LA?

First off - you need to be a HiSo Thai. Lower your sights a little and find a gal from a good family. You'll be happier.

Yep.

That's a clear as mud. Like what?

Talk about hyped excitement over nothing. Amazing. The US response? Hit it with a missile. That was stupid. Fire a few bullets through the balloon once it was over the Atlantic and then wait for it to drop and then recover the equipment. If it's "spy" equipment - then "Tada!" A Geo-Political win. If it's weather equipment - then, admit it and let the Chinese come pick up their equipment. Instead they hit the equipment dangling from the balloon with a missile. Well, so much for recovering any intel. Now we're going to be deluged with "China China China" just like we're deluged with "Russia Russia Russia." The US and the West just has to have 'enemies' everywhere. It keeps arms manufacturers busy. They could have downed the balloon with a couple hundred dollars worth of 20mm shells. Instead they used a 188 pound AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the cost of somewhere between $370K to $470K USD.

Ditto - there is no such thing as a "Free" Thai wife.

I've been here 15 years. At some point in time you just have to get over it. Yeah - it sucks. What I do is talk and joke with those selling over-priced entry fees about being Puu Sung Ayu or a elderly person over 70 years old. The conversation I use generally is to mention whether or not there is any respect for elderly farang like their is for elderly Thais. Age does mean something to Thais. Sometimes it works (I don't get charged), sometimes I get a discount (most of the time), and sometimes they pretend they can't understand me (they do but the are saving face). What I do is to simply make them live up to their own rules about respect for the elderly. I keep the conversation light and humorous if possible. What I'm doing is pulling down the mask of their own "Face Saving" and then hold up a mirror, metaphorically speaking. Don't confront these people with anger, confront them with humor. And remember, the person selling you the ticket probably makes 10K THB a month or less.

@Crossy I voted "No Opinion" but I will chime in to say that I believe there is enough interest in these subjects to warrant a separate sub-forum. I'd just go the Nike route and say, "Just Do It!"

That's the Thai equivalent of "Where you go!"

Maybe they added in all the times we have been threatened with being banned? ???? <laughs> I'm being funny ya'll. I actually like the New Aseannow a lot more nowadays, along with it's much more pleasant moderation. Kudos to the Mods. We love ya! ❤️ You are part of us, especially those of you have been around a long time like some of us.

#MeToo!

I never hung with the guys other then the Filipinos onboard my ship. I was much more enamored with the young ladies on Magsaysay in Olongapo. My favorite which sticks with me to this day. Suzie BJ. And she didn't say "BJ." She was a little more specific about it. Suzie: "My name is Suzie BJ, I give you BJ, you be my Boy Friend!" That is indelibly ingrained in my psyche - forever. I never went with Suzie BJ, but she opened me the the possibilities available in the PI. In fact, to this day, I prefer the PI over Thailand as far as women. You'll find a god in every golden cloister A little flesh, a little history I can feel an angel sliding up to me Yet? Here I am. <walking in to dark Air Conditioned bar; order a San Miguel; To quote Murry Head's One Night in Bangkok which I consider to be one of the best songs every written: One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble Not much between despair and ecstasy One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble Can't be too careful with your company I can feel the devil walking next to me ❤️

We have the POTY member. We should have a PITA member as well. I nominate - myself!!! I probably won't win as there are many more PITA members out there, but I'll put myself up to start the bidding. I think we need a "Poll."

How do I get recognition as a PITA member (Pain-in-the-<errrr>-buttocks-member)?

And no one will be the wiser as the entire affair is "memory holed." I'd posit that Thai "Investigative Journalism" ends between 48 to 96 hours after the event and then - hai bpai - disappears!

My Thai wife was discussing that with me the other day and I didn't even ask her about it. She brought up the subject. I just nodded my head.

Sweet Buddha. Make it legal and tax it for revenues. Throwing people in jail simply drains the state coffers to incarcerate them.

I'm not criticizing, but just wonder what happened over the last few days. <smile>

Not that I'm status conscious but I sort of liked the new ranking system on Aseannow. However is seems that over the last day or so my ranking has fallen from a Star Member to a <drum roll> Newbie!!! <cymbal crash, slide whistle> That's ok. I notice that others like Webfact and other long-term members have been 'demoted' as well. However, on the plus side, I seem to have a s***-load of new "badges!" Whoo Hooo!!! Welcome to AN. To paraphrase Whose Line Is It Anyway, we have a forum where "the points don't matter!" Anyway - I'm not sure how the ranking works. Perhaps an AI back-end that went crazy. <laughs>

That's one of the reasons we have a camera in the car. If stopped, I swivel the camera over to the cop. Amazing how smooth things go if BIB Bob is being videoed. Fyi, considering that motorcycles are prime targets for shakedowns, if I still lived in the city and drove my motorcycle (the best way to get around in Chiang Mai imho) I have a helmet mounted camera as well. For farang driving MC I'd consider a helmet and a mounted camera to be top priorities. It solves a lot of problems before they begin.

I've got a home treadmill that cost me about 24K THB. I has served me well over the years. Pacific Fitness OMA Model 1610MA. Occasionally it will give me errors when I start it, but at this point it hasn't completely failed. But.......... We may be getting to that point and use this pretty much daily. Also the push-buttons for increasing speed and incline are not functioning properly which is not big deal right now as there are alternate ways to get the speed and incline to increase and decrease. I've seen people doing maintenance and repair on treadmills like this in gyms, both in Chiang Mai and Lamphun. So there are outfits out there that can do repairs on these in our area. I just don't know who? Does anyone know or have used a company that have mechanics who can repair and service treadmills? I need an outfit that can do onsite service. Considering the price of the treadmill, I'm not adverse to paying service personally for their drive time to come to my home if the service center is in Chiang Mai.

These 3M P-100 masks do work.

Let my wife handle it.