BobMarleyWannabe

Going to Thailand for 6 weeks and bored after two... obviously bad preparation, no plan what to do in his holiday...

Going to Pattaya during Sonkrang AND staying in Soi Metro... obviously no idea where to go and when to go and what to expect...

So OP: no wonder you ended up in the mood you are now... next time, I would suggest to do some pre-reading and planning...

P.S.: I spent two days in Pattaya during Songkran (18/19) with GF and daughters and we enjoyed it tremendously... driving in in morning before traffic jam started... new hotel near Centra Festival with all decent chairs... got wet cause that is part of Songkran... and even driving out of Pattaya was no issue on 20 morning... great fun for all of us...

Hey Swiss I agree with everything you stated in your post, sheesh ! Why go to Thaland during Songkran if you are not going to enjoy the holiday, at best plan around it. Now I wish I was in Pattaya during Songkran even Chaing Mai or Khon Kaen for that matter. It was way to quiet on Koh Chang. I enjoy watching the Thais celebrate Songkran fun seeing people enjoy themselves and while I do not particpate I do not mind getting soaked even with ice water. As far visiting my wifes Thai family I always make a deal with my wife we spend time with her family but give equal time to visit places that we like to go together .

There are no jet ski rentals in Koh Chang

I don't think Thailand is the best country in the world, but it is the best place for me to live, as long as I can afford it.

I don't think that my home country - USA - is the best country in the world, but it has a lot of good points and, generally, it does protect the world from things being worse than they could be.

I would agree with you Ulysses problem I find with the States is that it is getting to be a fear based society and maybe it is a bit regional living in Southern California but being friendly and saying hello to a passerby on a public street is looked at as being strange behavior. When I am in Thailand just going to the 7/11 I smile and greet more strangers then I would in a entire year in the US.

If you never been to Mexico it is definately worth a visit, on the East coast you have the beautiful Carribean, I would stay away from CanCun unless you are into crowds and a Las Vegas strip on the beach, but go further South down around Playa Del Carmen or even further South. You can visit the ruins and the pyramids and other historical and cultural places of interest. Then you have the beaches on the Pacific coast while the water is not as beautiful as it is on the Carribean side it is still worth a visit. The interior of Mexico is also worth checking out plenty to see and do. Check out the street vendors the food is absolutely incredible. I as well enjoyed cities like Taxco, Cuernavaca, and Guadalajara, I liked Mexico City as well but like Bangkok, the smog blankets the city, sometimes you just want to stay indoors. Now I love Thailand and if given the choice would make Thailand a priority but that is only because I been to Mexico many times and prefer Thailand as of this moment

Beg to differ Hitler was not a leftist but a corporate right wing fascist, he allowed the industrialist to create policy and govern the country.That is why people like Henry Ford admired Hitler.

The original post got me to thinking, after reading about the charmless bastard and his equally sadistic Thai wife beating their dogs. The comment he couldn't see any lefties doing that made me think of a few lefties that have done it to people, such as Mao, Stalin,Hitler, Pol Pot etc where they were lefties and put down millions of people. I guess people aren't as good as dogs. (although I know a great many good dogs in comparison to good people)

I met and married my Thai wife in the US over twenty years ago, my wife is a couple years older then myself although you would never have guessed it. I do not try to look any younger or older then my age nor does my wife but we have met plenty of Thais and foreigners while in Thailand that are surprised when my wife or I tell them that we are married.

There's a type of farang, often with a thai working girl on his arm, that throws money at everything. This type of farang doesn't know how to speak Thai, his girlfriend translates for him so he has this warped view on the world he lives in. He is basically buying his way through life.

There is another type who works here and pays the going rate for everything, speaks some of the language and muddles through life happy

There is the balloon chaser who is at the end of the dream. Money running out. Looking at the balcony.

The farang that has decided to become a monk and renounced all material possesions.

Then there is the farang that looks at all the other farangs and decideds he is better than all the above.

Then theres the farang that has been living in Thailand so long that he doesn't bother to catergorize others.

Which one are you?

You can categorize people any place in the world by why does one have the need to do so. As long as they are not a threat to society then whats it too you ? Just live your own life the way you see fit.

Not sure why hotel workers get a bad rap in Thailand, . On one of our trips my wife noticed that when we came back to the States that she lost track of where she ;left her very expensive diamond broach on a 24k gold necklace. She did not remember where she had lost it, since it is to expensive to wear everyday. She last remembered wearing it in Koh Samui but we went to Koh Chang and Bangkok afterward, so she may have misplaced it at any of these locations . So when I got back to the States I e-mailed the last place she remembered wearing it an the hotel in Koh Samui and within twenty four hours they responded with pics of the necklace and sent the necklace promptly back to us via express mail at their cost. I usually never leave valuables in the room but on occasion with my forgetful mind have left valuables such as electronics in the room without ever having anything removed from the room. I guess it is just luck of the draw.

Before I met my Thai wife here in the States see had a couple cosmetic surgeries to have more Western facial features. Upon first meeting her I never really noticed the surgery until she told me, then I saw pictures of her a few years before having the surgery and honestly I said to her that she looked as good before the surgery as she does with the surgery.

Furnishing a house in three weeks ? Not sure how to go about this in a limited amount of time. I currently live in the States but planning to retire in Thailand in the near future. My wife and I have a home in Koh Chang but it is currently unfurnished. We both are still employed in the states and just counting down the days to our retirement days. I take three and my wife takes four week holidays to Thailand every year. My wife usually leaves before me and spends a week to go to her hometown hang out with friends and family and meets me in Bangkok a week later. We want to furnish our home in Koh Chang and make it livable in the short time we have, Is it possible to get teak wood furniture at a decent price and get it shipped within three weeks. Does anyone know of any online sites that I can pre-order with confidence.

I usually lurk and rarely post on Thailand forums but having been reading postings on a competitor forum I was shocked at the ignorance of the subject matter and the moderator who allowed a non related subject matter to go on and on. The subject matter dealt with the age old questiont why Jews are hated . As if these posters do not realize that these same people have been hated since the dawn of the Jewish religion. I am not sure what this has to do with Thailand anyways there are plenty of forums with similar minded people can share their ignorance. As I originally stated in the beginning of this post, I have been lurking on this board for a long long time and I know for a fact that the moderators on this board woud not allow this type of content to go more then a few post before it woud be closed down. Just giving some credit where credit is due

I am not to keen on tattoos myself and my wife shares the same view. If your girlfriend is into tattoos then who are you to deny your girlfriend of what she likes as long as she pays for the body art herself. I think that you should let her go her own way and find someone that has no interest in body art.

Obviously, not so many are interested in this subject, but who cares, some are. Jews are a widely stereotyped people, and some people do find it fascinating to learn about finding Jews in unexpected places. Black Jews of Ethiopia, Asian Jews of China, Indian Jews in India, Argentinian Gaucho Cowboy Jews. So the idea of Thai Jews fits in that vein. If you don't like, don't read.

I find this thread very fascinating quite obviously because I happen to be Jewish and as well married to a Thai women. I currently live in the States but plan to retire in Thailand very shortly, my wife and myself already have two homes in preparation. Now I am not religious so keeping kosher will not be an issue nor do I have a need to visit any house of worship. I do keep traditions occaisonally only out of respect for the past and maybe its my way of honoring my mother and father. I have been married to my wife for twenty years now and have spent a month out of every year in Thailand for the last nine years. Now this is not exactly living in Thailand so I am not experienced but only can learn from what I read, and one of my concerns is with safety, my wife said not to tell anybody that I am a Jew, but I believe that is rediculous not that I would shout it out to the world but it is part of my heritage as well as being honest about who I am. Now even if I wanted to take my wifes advice I am not sure how I can do that conciously the way I talk and gesture anybody that is familiar with Jews will know I am a Jew. I never had any problem in Thailand where ever I went in Thailand whether it was up North, South NorthEast etc. but living there is different from being on a vacation and my wife is quite paranoid after 911.

Again I find this thread very interesting

This is one of the reasons that the USA is the greatest nation on earth. Lets hope Obama doesn't get the chance to change that.

Barry

Always referred to myself as a Canadian when asked my nationality when I was in Thailand. Now that Obama is President I now feel OK to be an American again. As far as American being the best nation in the world, what is it best at ? certainly not at providing healthcare for all of its citizens as some other countries provide, even Thailand has Universal healthcare.

My wife and I planned to retire in Thailand, for a long time now and we already own a couple homes. Six years ago my wife saved money from her job and purchased a home in Khon Kaen, really nice place in a gated community. My wife and I wanted to purchase another home in a beach area but did not have enough time to really do a thorough search. We spent a week in Koh Samui about three days looking for a home, same with Hua Hinn, and a few others places. Now I saw a nice home in Hua Hinn, nice layout, wonderful surroundings a couple blocks from the beach, it was more or less about thirty miles south of Hua Hinn, and starting price was something I can work with but the problem is that while my wife liked the house she refused to even consider it because it was not in a gated community. Same problem in Koh Samui, found a real nice house in the foothills around Chawang but again my wife wouldn't consider it because it was not gated, now the the homes we saw in Koh Samui that were gated were way over my spending limit and decided to move on. Finally found something in Koh Chang that my wife fell in love with and I settled for, Again I am not all that happy with the development where we purchased the home, it is way to big and claustrophobic but my wifes happy its in a gated community and its a hop, skip and a jump to the beach.

Now, I have never lived in a gated community in the US, nor have I ever wanted to, I always felt that its not about keeping the barbarians out but keeping me caged in, plus having to pay for the monthly maintenance fees.

I understand my wifes logic that we will be leaving the house unattended over a couple months period of time going back and forth from one home to the other and she believes that leaving a home unattended will be a recipe for disaster, she said with authority that she is Thai and knows better and added that if we did buy a home that wasn't in a gated community we would have to rent it out and or have someone take care of it for just two months and that is hard to do, including and all the headaches that go along with having others stay in your home.

Is owning a home in a non gated community in Thailand really that much of a risk if you happen to leave unattended for a couple months ? I am not sure if my wife is just acting a bit snobbery and trying to up one on her sisters.

My wife purchased a small amulet with a valuble 24k gold necklace for me a few years into our marriage, my wife worked at a restaurant in LA during the time and it took her a lot of hours to save up enough money to pay for it. The least I could do is show my appreciation by wearing it.

Guess we were the lucky ones, while we were staying in Koh Samui my wife lost a gold necklace with a huge red ruby surrounded by diamonds amulet worth more then five thousand dollars. My wife noticed it missing when we got back to the States. I sent an e-mail to the resort where we stayed and informed them of my wifes loss expecting the worst, because as far as my wife and I know she could have lost it anywhere. To our surprise a few days later the manager of the resort returned my e-mail and said that the cleaning lady found the necklace in the back of the headboard. A week later we received the necklace, and the cool thing was they even paid for the shipping cost. The next year we went back to the hotel and immediately asked for the maid and handed her two thousand baht as appreciation, we were also going to give the manager a tip but he no longer worked at the resort.

I always wondered how a country that is overwelmingly buddhist can still use the death penalty as a form of punishment, but maybe they believe that life imprisonment brings on more suffering and that execution is more merciful and will free the mind from the body and will put an end to the physical suffering. OK I am reaching.

I submitted a post yesterday about my attempt to quit smoking once again, it has the been three weeks now that I have not put nicotine into my system, and hopefully I will not fall back into old habits. I do want to give a warning to those that recently quit smoking, you are never out of the woods until you see yourself as a non smoker. I have been a smoker for over twenty years, about seven years ago I quit, didn't smoke for two years, then sitting at a hotel bar in Bangkok a guy sitting next to me offered me a cigarette, after a few drinks I resorted back to old habits once again picking up the bad habit, and if you think as an ex smoker it can't happen to you, well I have seen it time and again ex smokers pick up the habit after thinking they can handle one with a drink just to reminisce. For some they can handle it but others having that one cigarette is like turning on a light switch, you will become involved with cigarettes once again. To repeat myself there are some friends I know that can have an occaisonal smoke, but I have seen many a smoker go back to their old habits after having quit for years by just having that one cigarette. If you quit, quit and never go back, always think to yourself as a non smoker.

After leaving Thailand and heading back to the states decided to quit smoking cold turkey, It has been three weeks without a smoke and in all honesty it has been rough. Thought best that I would get a fifteen hour headstart by quitting during a long plane flight but the problem is that not only had to deal with withdrawls also jet lag. I am not using any helpers like gum or patches so at the time of writing this post the nicotine has been flushed through my system, still dealing with the mental fixation. I have smoked for over twenty years, and quit once before for a period of two years, and know how easy it is to go back to old habits. Smoking is really a bad habit and after just purchasing a house for my wife and I in Thailand I really want to grow old and enjoy it during my retirement.

Thats to bad, I liked the food court with the live entertainment, and will certainly miss that beer Chang girl struting her stuff in her hot pants.

To those who don't know, Suan Lum is a huge sprawling place, filled with rows and rows and rows of all different sorts of shops, and likewise many pleasant Thai and other restaurants, most of which have outdoor patio seating that makes for a very pleasant evening out. But my personal favorite, as has been mentioned above, is the huge outdoor food court and entertainment stage, that offers drinks at your table and then you can go around to dozens of individual food shops and pick your choice of everything Thai food you can imagine, all at pretty darn cheap prices. It makes for a great evening out with friends, family or others.

Indeed, this dispute has been going on for at least a couple of years. I remember seeing a newspaper report back when I was a tourist a few years ago indicating the place was to be shut down in favor of the looming hotel project. But it seems now, that reality, is coming closer to fruition. I was there last week a couple of times, and everything was open as usual, but who knows how long that will last.

The sad thing, I think, is there seems to be no public sign that Thai people in BKK or even the tourism-related parts of the city or the government are waging any kind of effort to save the place. I don't think there is anything else quite like it anywhere in Bangkok. I'll be very sad if indeed it does get demolished.

Problem is that I am a big college football fan and going to be in Koh Chang at end of December and start of January. Is there anywhere in White Sand beach or other locale on the Island that where the service provider might carry any of the college bowl games, especially interested in the Rose bowl. A couple years ago I remember staggerring into my hotel room in Koh Samui at about 2 AM turned on the TV before passing out and and noticed that the Rose bowl was on.

Here is a link to this Jing bashing. If you slow it down you can actually hear him say "JingThing is a commie" "JingThing is a commie".

http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?pl...listId=playlist

Thanks for the link.

What is it with US politics and religion? He keeps inferring Obama has no belief. In the UK this would be seen as intrusive really.

I mean slate his sex life or his policies but his religion is no ones business but his.

Do US voters care about this stuff?

Every time I am in Thailand and do a hotel stay I always hope they have CNN instead of FOX being carried by the service provider. Sorry to take this a bit off track but let me rant about the American new media. The news media in America pretty much sucks. Most the big news networks are owned by corporate interest who would never report news that would in anyway jeoperdize their own interest. NPR is OK but they do not always do fact checking so some of their stories may not always be true to fact. FOX is the worst, complete bias in reporting and they cross the line of journalism. FOX not only reports the news but they create it as well. FOX has in the past promoted political events and then had its staff members attend such events not to report the activities but to be speakers or supporters of the event. FOX is a really a political organization. About the best we have in America is the Public broadcasting system but they do not have all the bells and whistles to keep ones interest I mean how can you compete with FOX news while the newscaster is off on a rant, in the video monitor in the background there are images of half nud_e girls on the beach posing in provacative poses, now this is kind of journalism that brings ratings, and thats what it is all about.

That is totally untrue regarding gun control laws lead to to increased crime rate, there are a lot of factors that lead up to the increaed crime rate and has nothing to do with gun control laws. Poverty, lack of jobs and urban decay is the reason for the increased crime rate and then add guns which are so easily obtainable to the picture and it increases the death toll. I am not opposed to responsbnile people owning guns but problem in America is that there are more guns then people and a good many of these people purchase weapons for the wrong reasons the biggest being motivasted out of fear.

Well statistics & studies show it is true...

Many to pick from here is just one.

http://www.theacru.org/blog/2007/05/harvar...nterproductive/

The problems core remains..........Gun control denies Law Abiding Folks the right

It does zilch to control violent unlawful gun use.

I am not sure about Europe but in the US things are different

I have read many articles the NRA has put out stating that gun control does not prevent crime(like asking Limbuagh about health care), and they are somewhat right because in the United States gun control does not tackle the real problem, and that is gun control only works when it is regulated at all levels, including manafacturing.

Law abidding folks do not have anything to worry about gun control in the first place, anyone without a criminal record can purchase a gun, the real problem is their is no gun control or accountibility for gun manafacturers in the US. Anyone can buy a gun, just go to downtown and ask anyone on the street in any major city with cash in pocket . Problem is with manafacturers, they sell guns in masse across the US border to disitributors in Central and South America, as well as shady distributors in the US, most of these guns end up back in the US into the gray and black markets, you can go to any gun show and purchase a brand new gun without even being asked for an ID, just cash in pocket, where do you think these guns come from. So the question is how can you have viable gun control when they are so readily available, it is not law abidding citizens that we have to worry about, its about the fact that anyone at any time can purchase a weapon that is the problem and thats what gun control is supposed to address.