dumbnewbie

My wife gets her fair share of looks from guys.....the odd comment or two

She gets her fair share of bad looks from other women here.

We both get some strange looks from others when we are together. some sre total disdain....others almost admiring...some just curious.

She has been hit on a few times by farang guys here.

Guys here especially in the pubs will wait till I go to the toilet and then move in on her, usually backing off when I return. One time a guy got angry when he sat uninvited at our table and she wouldnt talk to him. A lot of the time it is guys who have been to Thailand and want to practice Thai lingo with her...sometimes it is guys who think that because she is Thai, she must be available irrespective of the fact she is married.

Point is............If I go around decking all these people I would probably be spending a lot of time in jail.....my wife usually deals with it well and occasionally I have to intervene, which I do with a mix of humour or sterness depending on the situation.

You are married to a Thai girl......get used to it....it is part of the package.

I take it as a compliment that other men think my wife is attractive enough to hit on.....means I am not the only who thinks she is sexy and attractive.

C'mon Graham - stop trying to debase the Aussie vernacular with use of a term like "hit on".

In future posts I look forward to familiar terms such as "crack on to", and the like

Sorry mate, playing to an international audience.....if I went into Oz speak they bloody wouldnt understand me

Ya got that roight, mite!

To the OP:

When a guy says directly to your wife; she is sexy, what is her reaction?

I don't believe you are paranoid, but rather that you think maybe your wife enjoys the attention and could if you're not around be lead astray.

I would guess that somehow your wife is giving the impression that she could be up for it if caught in the right place at the right time, especially if you're not on the scene.

It is your wife who should be getting angry and telling these guys to be more respectful as she's married and not that type of girl.

If not, than you have a serious problem and completely justified with your concerns.

I certainly wouldn't go in for any children just yet or make any investments such as a new home until you are convinced of your wife`s loyality to you.

Bingo! Spot on.

SHE should be telling these guys simply "Sorry, but I'm married". If they continue, she should be firmer: "I already told you I'm married - now leave me alone". If they still continue, she should scream "I TOLD YOU I'M MARRIED! Leave me the fuc_k ALONE!"

Only then should you have to worry about getting involved, if the guy still continues. At that point, everyone around will understand the situation and support both of you.

well trained muscles.

Can they fetch your slippers for you while you're watching the television?

I have the same problem.... Interestingly they don't bother my Thai wife at all.

Anyone know why this might be?

Wow - what a depressing thread, especially when many feel the situation is the same in US, Canadian, UK etc.

I'm not sure where to ask this, but now I'd like to know some places where this is NOT the situation, i.e., places where if you were being attacked or lying on the pavement people would come to help you?

Nobody says Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos or China?

I don't know, but aren't parts of these countries pretty cheap & chill like Thailand, with beautiful girls to boot?

What about Yunnan or Hainan in China? What parts of the other countries might be good? How do they compare to Thailand?

Boy, that long thread on mosquitoes really got me thinking. Here are the key points I took away:

1) There's practically no way to avoid being bitten - if mosquitoes are around, it's just a matter of time - you will be bitten.

2) All it takes is ONE bite from the wrong mosquito to give you a life-threatening and/or incurable disease - malaria (4 different kinds?), Dengue fever, West Nile virus, Yellow Fever (not that kind!), various kinds of encephalitis, and "god" knows what else. (And even after being ridiculed on another thread for bringing up the question, I still don't understand the official party line about mosquitoes not being able to transmit the HIV virus... if they can transmit all these other diseases from one person to another, why not HIV too?) This is not a hypothetical danger - every year over a million people die from mosquito borne diseases, while millions more suffer serious illness short of death.

3) All these chemical mosquito sprays, lotions, smoke from burning coils, etc. aren't exactly harmless to us - even while far from 100% effective against mosquitoes.

SOOO.... it seems to me that the best thing to do is to carefully choose where you live, travel, and otherwise spend your time in order to avoid mosquitoes in the first place.

With that in mind, I hope this thread can shed light on what places are relatively (or totally!) mosquito free - both within Thailand and anywhere else in the world. Do some regions, cities or parts of cities have more mosquitoes than others? Beaches, mountains, rivers... which are better/worse? The Isaan region is supposed to be relatively hot and dry - so does it have fewer mosquitoes?

Also, what conditions or seasons produce fewer mosquitoes? My guess is that the best time in Thailand is just before the rainy season - after the long, hot "dry season" - this should be the time with the fewest mosquitoes, right? So is the rainy season the worst, or that intermediate season between rainy and dry?

Are there any mosquito-free countries? Apparently they are a problem anywhere it's wet enough and warm enough. So dry and/or cold should be good.

Does anyone know how cold it has to be for mosquitoes to disappear? They don't seem to do well inside air-conditioned buildings - does anyone know what the threshold temperature is?

What about elevation? Are cities/regions at high elevation mosquito-free? I'm thinking places like Tibet, Denver, Mexico City, etc. Can they not exist above a certain elevation for some reason? (I guess I ask because high-altitude places have a reputation for being healthier than those at sea level and I'm not sure why).

What places do you have experience with that have a lot of mosquitoes, or few? For instance:

1) What months are mosquitoes active in the Scandinavian countries (and Canada, Alaska, etc.)? What

2) Are they active year-round in all parts of the UK? If not, what temperature seems to kill them off for the winter? What about other European countries?

3) What about Australia and NZ? What areas have a lot, or none? And what times of year?

What I can say is pretty basic - in the US, mosquitoes are a problem in the summer time in the Midwest, Northeast and South, and I guess also in the Rocky mountain states (but only below a certain altitude?). Not sure about the Pacific Northwest. But in Southern California I never encountered them. I assume the same is true for the entire desert southwest area of the US and Mexico. The only exception seems to be man-made bodies of stagnant water - i.e., swimming pools of foreclosed houses - apparently if you don't maintain the pool water by adding chlorine periodically, the water becomes an ideal breeding ground for swarms of mosquitoes. Fortunately, I've only read about this sort of thing in the newspaper.

On another forum there was a post quoting an update on the British Embassy website regarding Dengue fever, including the following:

"Rayong Province is among the areas worst affected, in August 2008 the Rayong provincial administration declared the Province a Dengue fever disaster zone." No stats quoted to support this statement, although it mentioned over 31000 cases in Thailand in the first half of 2008.

Anybody seen any evidence of particular contrameasures in Rayong? Having declared the place a disaster area, are they doing anything about it?

I don't know, but I'm guessing that Rayong is one of the poorer parts of Thailand. Could that be why it's experiencing a plague of Dengue fever, rather than, say, Bangkok or Hua Hin, or any of the tourist hot spots, and also why there's a question about what (if anything) the authorities are doing about it?

Reading this post reminded me that the border areas (w/ Cambodia & Burma especially) have a lot of malaria. I guess it means that governments don't bother spraying/combatting mosquitos at the far reaches of their territories.

These thoughts then led me to the idea that maybe it's a good idea to stay away from poorer places and try to stay in areas that the rich and powerful frequent. Why? Because they don't want to end up in the hospital anymore than we do, and they have the knowledge, power and connections to make sure that at least SOME effort is made to combat mosquitos and otherwise prevent epidemics of disease.

Not foolproof by any means, but following this advice would seem to at least reduce your chances of getting a mosquito borne or other type of disease, wouldn't it? What do you guys think? I know it's not fair or pleasant to think about - on the contrary it's horrible. But then, I believe this world and life in general are basically horrible. We cope by deluding ourselves about this reality and distracting ourselves with pleasant thoughts and experiences. But at the same time, it's a good idea to be aware of the dangers so that we can minimize our exposure to them, right?

What are your thoughts?

Which banks offer the best deal on checking accounts for expats living in Thailand?

What are the terms you get at your bank? (no monthly fees? no ATM charges? interest rate? no minimum balance? free checks? free Visa or Mastercard debit/ATM card? etc.)

Also, what documentation was required to open your account? (i.e. - just a passport with a Thai tourist visa? Or a residence visa? Or proof of employment? proof of residence/local address? Thai drivers license? what?)

Does Thailand deduct taxes from your account?

You have to be Chinese to have the HKSAR Passport

edit: spelling

You do not have to be Chinese to have the HKSAR passport. I have Pakistani/Indian/US friends that have it.

That is interesting - I was also under the impression that you had to be ethnic Chinese to get a HK SAR passport.

How might a non-Chinese US citizen, for example, obtain one?

Is it true that with a HK SAR passport you can travel, live and work anywhere in China w/out a visa?

(Thanks)

The western passport will be handy for travel, but those who think their foreign passport provides protection in Thailand or anywhere else in the world, think twice.

These times are over.

True, a Western passport hardly puts you above the law in another country. If you smuggle drugs, etc., you will be thrown in jail.

BUT, don't you think a foreign passport still offers a foreigner more protection than the local citizenship would? I mean, I think governments treat their own citizens worse than foreign citizens... or at least we can say that third world governments treat citizens of rich countries (not just Western, but also Japan, etc.) better than their own citizens. For instance, I hear that in many third world countries police will tend not to extort foreigners the way they do their own citizens. Probably less likely to arrest them on bogus charges too, as the government knows they'll have to deal with that foreigner's government, whereas they can do whatever they like with their own citizens. I just think it's an extra level of protection against capricious police and government officials. (But if you commit a serious crime then you're still gonna be in big trouble).

Today, only a handful of countries do provide assistance to their citizens in distress.

France is such a country. Germany is not.

I don't know for the US or UK...

This is very interesting. My impression is that the UK and especially the US won't do much for their overseas citizens... am I wrong? Anyone?

What about other countries? Switzerland? Canada? Australia? Can you give any examples? What would the French gov't do for it's overseas citizens that the German gov't will not?

(Thanks)

Without some very powerful 'assistance', there are large official fees and big 'hidden' costs. Without powerful assistance it's a long and slow process, others have quoted 2 to 3 years.

2 to 3 years? That's not bad - that's less time than any Western citizenship process takes...

What sort of "very powerful assistance"? Could you list a few examples?

Roughly what are the official fees?

What are the big hidden costs? Could you give a general idea?

Again it's far from easy...

What are some of the other difficulties?

(Thanks)

Yes - the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, NZ and Australia all allow dual- or multiple-citizenship, and not just with Thailand, but with any other country.

Most Western and Latin American countries allow dual/multiple-citizenship. The problem is that most Asian (and Middle Eastern) countries do not allow it. But even in these cases, there are often exceptions - every country is different. Thailand, as far as I know, does NOT allow dual citizenship, but maybe there are exceptions if you guys know of Westerners who have Thai and another citizenship.

Then there are people who maintain two or more citizenships even though one/some of the governments don't allow it. I think in these cases the worst that can happen is that if the government that doesn't allow it finds out, they will revoke that citizenship.

But centipedes - huge mothers . Half a meter long and as thick as a snake. Outside, not in the house fortunately. Even the wife gets freaked at them. I've had to send about a dozen back to meet their Maker since being here.

OhMyF-ingGOD! No village life for me!!

Yes, I've heard Bumrungrad is probably the best hospital in Thailand, and one of the best in Asia. And it's nice to hear that you're very happy with your doc. May I ask a few follow-up questions?

1) How did you go about finding this doctor?

2) Did she ask you about insurance? What will you do if you need care beyond regular checkups - say, a major accident or illness?

3) I always wonder - all these doctors who get their training in Western countries and then return to Thailand, Mexico, etc. to practice - why don't they stay in the US, Europe, etc. and make a ton more money? I know, maybe family, culture, etc.... but still? Is that it?

I'm guessing roughly 40% British, 30% other European, 20% Australia/NZ and 10% North American...

Just a wild guess. Am I in the ballpark? Are such statistics to be found somewhere?

Oh, I'm also guessing the breakdown is very similar for tourists and expats. Is it different?

Also, regarding expats living in Thailand... do they tend to socialize evenly across nationalities, or do they tend to form national cliques, or groups of nationalities (I imagine Brits, Aussies and Kiwis hanging together; Americans mostly to themselves (though not necessarily by choice); Canadians mixing with either Americans or other Commonwealth types (or both); and then the European nationalities according to language (German, French, Dutch, etc.). Or are expats mostly loners who hang with their Thai girlfriends/wives?

What do you guys do for health care in Thailand? What are the best insurance companies, the best plans, best hospitals, clinics, doctors & dentists? How do you know?

Or do you go back to your home country for health care? Or to another country? Singapore? Malaysia? India?

If you're from a country with nationalized health care (i.e., not the U.S.), can you go back and get treated for free in your country even though you've been residing overseas?

And what do you Americans do for healthcare? Do you maintain insurance back home, or just in Thailand, or what?

I'm hoping this thread can shed light on the health care situation of expats in Thailand and be of some use to everyone here.

I'd contribute something, but at the moment I'm an American living in the U.S. with no healthcare whatsoever. Anyone have a suggestion for me? I'm too young to qualify for Medicare and unable to find work lately (most Americans get health insurance as a "benefit" from their employer). Private insurance here is ridiculous - it costs a fortune, then still has deductibles and co-pays, excludes pre-existing conditions, is full of loopholes so that if you need it the insurance company can easily drop you, or, etc.

I don't know about you guys, but I think this is such a critical topic that hardly ever gets discussed, and I think we could all benefit from sharing information.

Some things that really bother me about health/dental care in general:

1) How do you know who the good/caring/honest doctors & dentists are? If you want to buy a car or a cell phone, you can research Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, and other ratings agencies. There's tons of info on quality, reliablity, customer satisfaction, etc.

But with doctors and dentists, absolutely critical to our life and well-being, it's mostly "ask a friend for a recommendation", as if our friends are in any way qualified to know who's good, honest, etc.

2) Inherent conflict of interest: just like auto mechanics, doctors and dentists have an incentive to find something wrong and then fix it. That's how they make money. Would it surprise you to know that many of them are very aggressive in diagnosing problems, often doing completely unnecessary surgery, just to make money? It happens - A LOT. The vast majority of patients are too trusting, so doctors and dentists usually get away with this.

3) On the other hand, insurance companies and HMO's (don't know if they exist outside the U.S. - they're basically insurance companies that employ their own doctors, whom you're restricted to, and run their own hospitals, clinics, etc.) - these bastards basically want to take your money but deny you care as much as possible.

You might hope that the self-interest of doctors competing with the self-interest of insurance companies would result in optimal care for the patient, but I'm not at all confident about that. My impression is that the whole industry is just a corrupt, inhumane mess. I read that something like ONE THIRD of the time doctors actually make patients worse rather than better. (Oh well, more stuff to treat and bill the insurance company for!) Maybe this is why health care providers are so slack about washing their hands, sterilizing equipment, removing all sponges and instruments before sewing you back up, etc.

4) One of the reasons healthcare is so expensive in the US is that we can sue doctors for malpractice, and punitive damages are often in the millions of dollars, resulting in higher costs for everyone. Theoretically this should be a good safeguard against malpractice. So do you worry that you're not allowed to sue doctors in most countries?

What do you guys think?

The actual answer to the question "why do farang like girls with dark skin" is "we don't, and we don't dislike it either - we don't care much about skin color one way or the other. Western countries are very mixed nowadays, so we don't care so much about race and skin color. We care more about general beauty, figure, personality, compatibility, etc."

It's not that farang like dark skin, but rather that Thai look down on dark skin, which is why they're so shocked to see "high status" white guys choosing to be with dark-skinned girls (which Thai guys look down on).

One likely reason for this prejudice that I haven't seen mentioned here in this entire thread is that the Thai (and Vietnamese) originally came from the north, in what is now southern China, thus, their lighter skin. Much of what is now Thailand and Vietnam used to be part of Cambodia. So these lighter-skinned northerners conquered darker-skinned Khmer and became the warrior/priestly/governing elites, ruling over the darker-skinned Khmer peasants who gradually became lower class Thais and Vietnamese.

Then the Chinese immigrants came to these countries and quickly became the business elite, mixing with the Thai and Viet elites, thus lightening up the skin even more.

So it's all a matter of socio-economic status for these people. Of course, most people tend to prefer "their own kind", so that explains the elites preference for others with light skin. On the other hand, people also look up to wealth and power and want to improve their own social status - so that explains why even darker-skinned Thais prefer lighter-skinned mates.

Of course, this is a world-wide phenomenon - lighter-skinned northerners conquering and dominating darker-skinned southerners. Indo-European tribes from Central Asia conquered India and stayed on as the ruling upper caste. Later the light-skinned Mongols and Persians came and mixed with these upper caste people as well.

The Spanish conquered Latin America and mixed it up with the native Americans, so that most are mixed, but the elite are still pure Spanish or other European. In Brazil the Portuguese did the same, except there weren't so many natives, so they imported a lot of African slaves to mix it up with. Again, the elite is still mostly white.

Later the British and French conquered the Middle East, Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Not so much mixing, and they didn't last long, eventually going home, but not before impressing on the people (rightly or wrongly) that light skin = wealth, power and status.

Finally, Hollywood (and Bollywood, as well as Latin American and Southeast Asian film and TV industries) broadcast the images of beautiful light-skinned stars far and wide. There are plenty of beautiful dark-skinned people, but they are not shown, and this perpetuates the idea that "light skin = beauty".

My personal feeling? I think all of this will change in time as the West continues to age and decline in population, wealth and power and darker-skinned peoples continue to improve their relative economic and social status. After all, civilization started in China, India, Mesopotamia and Egypt - not in Europe.

Also, as Western countries continue to become more diverse, I expect their film and TV to show more and more diversity in beauty. This has already been happening over the last several decades in the US - moreso on TV than in the movies, and I think it has had a huge effect on perceptions of race and beauty in North America. I expect this trend to continue and to increasingly influence the rest of the world in the same way.

Funny that no one is considering who the gals like.

They like me because I'm gorgeous, though limited in funds.

They like you because you're a land owning fascist rich bloke, but not much to look at.

Come the revolution, and land re-allocation, I'll still be gorgeous, and you'll be single...

(just in case the revolution doesn't come, I'm planning further steps down the slope: Cambodia then Bangladesh then Swaziland, not sure after that, but those Swaziland chicks have beautiful bone structure...)

British weather, British food and British women: all the makings of a great seafaring nation!

Have any of you become citizens of Thailand?

Do you want to?

Do you know of any foreigner who has?

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

What are the requirements?

Can one become a Thai citizen w/out giving up their former citizenship?

Everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality...."--David Ellner

That, my friend, is one hel_l of a quote!

Who is this guy?

Foldgers Hazelnut. 8'oclock Hazelnut Cream is good too.

Good god!

You really need to try Starbucks. Then again, maybe you wouldn't appreciate it if you think coffee should taste like artificial hazelnut flavor.

But seriously, if you ever want to know what real coffee tastes like? Try Starbucks Ethiopia Sidamo, or Kenya, or Komodo Dragon - all excellent coffees. Grind them yourself just before brewing. Heavenly!

I wonder how long before this thread goes flaccid?

Chances are, these 'problems' aren't any more in abundant than they we're 100 years ago. Classic American social engineering combined with marketing. This is uniquely relevent as it applies to the Medical-Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex Mafia. The fabricated and make-believe ailments, conditions, and syndromes are a way of life for most of the accepting public. Easily taken in.....

Actually, no. Erectile dysfunction is caused by the same thing that causes heart disease - plaque buildup in the arteries. Since the population has been getting ever fatter these past 30 years or so, we would expect both heart disease and erectile dysfunction to increase. Fat and cardiovascular disease are both caused by sugar, flour, corn syrup, trans-fats, alcohol and other junk food.

But I think you're right about there being a Medical-Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex - I imagine it is closely allied with the Agri-business-Junk Food-Tobacco-Alcohol Complex. The latter makes us fat and sick, then the former sells us "health care". Of course, governments are at the top of all this...