thaigold

Tell your friend to expect a 60% discount on his purchase price. Unless he wants to lose his book price, better keep it and rent to a friend.

Where I live, we have a lovely pool and garden. The pigeons like to bathe and shit by the pool in the morning. There is a lovely old British lady who lives by the pool. She feeds the pigeons. She's been told that these vermin defecate in the pool and then her grandchildren swim in it it. No use, she says, in her inimitable British accent, "but the birds are my friends." Full stop.

The cure...put a cat on patrol. We had a cat that had her kittens in the garden. While the cat was in residence, there were no pigeons. So, although there are thousands of pigeons in the area, the minute the cat went on station, no pigeons.

Since the Thai believe all life forms are past or future humans, this method gets around the moral/cultural restraints. Get a cat.

Go to my country, the USA. The Congress is full of these slugs.

A careful study of French Indochina and Thailand during the Japanese period is quite enlightening.

My suggestion is: Get out of the "Farang Ghetto" and move out of the Sukhumvit Corridor, Rents are higher there because of Japanese and foreign subsidized rents. Use the BTS and explore Soi Aree, and other outlying areas. You'll be glad you did.

If there is anything on the drive that you don't want your mother or Jesus to see, take it apart and destroy the disk. Done deal / 100%

The rule here is the less computer resources you use, the more efficient your machine. So, number one, use only one browser. Two, go to your task manager and review running processes, and download a workable utility that can manage memory hogs.

Google and learn - it's fun.

AUA is viable, but not the premiere Thai language source in the Kingdom. Twenty years ago I spent innumerable hours in AUA's natural method. Basically it was the thesis of a Dr. A. Marvin Brown. A university level course (I still have the books), but useless to a student of colloquial Thai. There are only one or two really effective Thai language schools in Bangkok, but you must seek them out on your own. Thai Visa site rules prohibit me from naming these no nonsense schools of Thai. But one hint here: Start ... as soon as possible to learn written Thai. Once achieving this, the language will open like a rose.

As always - it's better to "over-visa" and do an authorized translation. Better safe than sorry.

WiFi through 3BB is excellent. Super fast and dependable. (Victory Monument area).

To many readers this language requirement for spouses of English citizens seems exclusionary and unfair. I would suggest the Foreign Office perform a due diligence inquiry on British war brides in the forties and fifties.

I had a British acquaintance in California whose wife (German) would weep and wax poetic when the subject of Hitler came up. MaybeThailand should require a certain level of proficiency in Thai prior to granting marriage licenses for Thai / British unions.

Shame on Britain.

Keep smiling and profess that there is a slight misunderstanding. Allude to the fact that you have other friends interested in term leases. Keep smiling, and engage her greed. I have found that greed, as in all countries, is the basal instinct. Play it out ... enjoy, it's Asia.

More Satire

Actually, leaked mission orders for the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz include a general order to the captain of each super carrier. The directive reads in part:

CINCPAC HAWAII

SHORE LEAVE / PATTAYA THAILAND

ALL FLAG OFFICERS ARE DIRECTED TO CONSULT US EMBASSY BANGKOK PRIOR TO PORT CALLS IN THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND. THAILAND ENJOYS MANY HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL PERIODS WHERE GROG IS PROHIBITED. DECK OFFICERS ARE HEREBY DIRECTED TO TIME VISITS TO THE KINGDOM DURING WET PERIODS (not the rainy season, you fools) OTHERWISE YOU COULD INVITE MUTINY AMONG THE SHIP'S CONTINGENT.

<signed> D Rummy

Secretary of War

Many Americans say Kent State was a very effective implementation of "Planking." Although it wasn't called "planking" in those days...it was called, 'Civil Disobedience.' It worked.

Sex-pat is a libelous label and unprovable characterization. There are sexual deviates at all levels of society. Just look at the millionaire French guy in Rikers Prison.

No, my friend. I'll tell you how to grasp it. When you work for a company, you get fringe benefits. I personally think capitalism is an economic system without a soul. But it is a system, like any other, to be mastered. It served me well for over 40-years - I got all the benefits. It is also giving investors in Thailand all the benefits, with little or no employee protection and / or recourse.

It's not illegal / but it's wrong.

Many seasoned travelers to Thailand say it's always better to "Over Visa." If there is any chance you may need to stay beyond the tourist visa's time limits, it's better to do a "multiple entry" at your home country's embassy or consulate. Ounce in country, the cost of remedying this situation will cost you threefold. And remember, all consulates have different guidelines.

Some say the wait for a USA visa in Manila is measured in years.

Actually, I believe there's a copier / internet shop for sale on Soi Wattanayhotin just off on Rangnam Road. It's in the Jarerm Apartment bulding.

Actually, this law may prove beneficial to these silly grandpas walking the Sukhumvit catwalk. Several times a year you read these terrible stories of Farangs being tossed out of the home they built for their "innocent" girlfriend. Sometimes these guys are found dead near their Pattaya condos.

Some say the Thais are correct in this regard. I say put the burden on the grandpa's own government. Just get her a visa to London and marry her there. Problem solved.

Do not gamble and try to be a "cheap Charlie" when it comes to immigration rules. I've a British friend who, although comfortably retired, tried to save a few pounds by opting for a "free" Thai visa in Britannia. By the time he cleaned up the mess of his own making, it cost him triple damages.

Free? You got that one right. Free to freeze to death in cardboard box in a NYC gutter.

Bangkok Bank is very helpful. My income stream comes from investment income and direct deposit from Uncle Sam to my Hawaii bank. I just write a personal check drawn on my Honolulu account ($1000 max) per transaction. My personal checks include my Thailand address, including my wife's name. It's a joint account and she is Thai. Never had a problem, just my US Passport and supporting documents. Easy - in and out in 15-minutes.

It should be noted that we have been living in the Kingdom for almost a decade and that I do have a banking relationship with another Thai bank.

No court will touch this one for sure. The opposition should drop this "hot-potato" soon, because everyone knows where this leads - not a pretty picture.

I fail to understand how his dual nationality status effects his ability to perform his duties as prime minister. Some say there are highly placed Thais who were born in the U.K. and the United States, who suffer no loss of social standing, including the attendant prestige, honor, and salutations due. To many this is just another political red herring - it's politics.

Not fair. Implying that Thai wives are venal money grabbers, or Doopelgangers is unfair, and indirectly says there is a lack of morality working here.

My Thai wife of almost twenty years is on all of our security instruments and checking accounts in Hawaii - she has lived in California and Hawaii, I trust her with my life. I don't want to insult anyone here, but painting all Thai women with a wide brush is unfair and a bit racist in content.

The bottom line question here is: Why would and sane expat husband and wife want to live in Pattaya, the Tijuana of Asia?

My wife would not be seen in Pattaya under any circumstance. The same holds true for most Thai women of station and breeding.