OxfordWill

Thais are like the internet- each one a node connected to all the others in some way. They value dependence NOT independence. We value independence NOT dependence. We valuer independece very strongly and thais value dependence just as strongly. Think about this for a second or two and cultural oddities like this make sense suddenly.

put your email address on a public internet page and it is only a matter of time that it is added to one, two and then 500 000 spammers databases.

That's right.

As for is it a home- it would be that 'security' in the event of a problem. I think perhaps I need to look into what options if any I have with the uk market. I suppose that means finally getting my tax status sorted out (groan). Also I don't like the idea of hooking myself to a mortgage, I just dont, however commonplace it is. Once again thanks to all for your advice.

Given the situation in Thailand right now I suppose acting too soon might be unwise.

I am not keen on stocks- partly because I am so ignorant and not enough time this year to improve myself on that score- and partly because when I think of investing in business/business industry I think of other people's money, not my own. Economies are basically business, I guess. I dont know. Completely stupid about financial stuff, so its just a non starter, couldnt invest in something I know myself to be so stupid about.

When you put it like that... !

Thanks for the replies!

I am looking at places in the almost bottom of the market price wise. I think the average price I looked at was 45 000 baht per sqm?

I think like Benjie I will still be here in 8 years. But of course none of us can say anything for sure. Barring an act of god or other disaster I would still be visiting and have interests here, for sure, even if not living. and in 8 years, I would have enough money to have purchased another condo by then. I know "life savings" sounds big but think about my age and how long ive been working full time- not long at all in a normal human lifespan. Of course many people have more at this age and many people have less.

I am tired of throwing money away at rent (which is a sign I think I am not "temporarily" in thailand, I feel like I want to be the one receiving that rent money not the one providing it) and I am tired of worrying about what I would do if, tomorrow, I had a motorbike accident and my hands got mangled. Replace motorbike with any kind of activity and hands with any part of my body required for my earning power.

Say I put it in a savings account which is either locked for a period of time or not- this doesnt give me the security I seem to really want. If a condo is a more risky idea than I realised, then what else is going to provide security of the sort I mentioned? And this year, not in 5 or 10. Thanks again.

JT- appreciate your negative advice, its important to hear both sides. Ive never seen a rotting apartment though, does that really happen? Or will the whole city be underwater by then anyway?

Me! Plus I work from home so travelling to silom to buy the gear and back to rama 9 where I live during their open hours = loss of money.

edit: but really, I am so lazy. The whole point of living in asia is to live like a king and have other people do boring shit for you. Isnt it? I dont cook I dont clean I dont shop I dont walk unless I choose to and most of the time I even have someone else wash me.

well the cruz of it is that no, in this land it is not fair enough to offer someone a beer mid conversation like you might back home. You set the whole thing in motion. But, on the plus side, you seem to be a sensible chap who knows this doesnt matter, it wasnt alot of money and you did some good. The only puzzle is why you started a thread about a scam.

I am hoping you older and/or wiser people can give me some honest advice.

I am 26, I have some savings in the bank. Enough to buy a small modest condo in a good location in Bangkok.

I have no assets. I have very little job security- I work for myself and a business partner and while the relationship is good, you never know what can happen. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that tomorrow, I lose any income and have to start again from scratch.

So I have this money sitting in the bank. Is buying a small condo a good way to start building wealth (I dont even know if thats the right terminology, I'm a computer tech with very little financial know how)? Should I continue to save and buy a larger property in time? I feel that property is a relatively safe, responsible and appropriate choice for my situation. It would give me some life security, if the need arised, and presumably is one of the safer investment opportunities to boot.

I am not from a rich background and have worked hard to make this money, and such a purchase would deplete my savings back to nil. Is the exchange a wise one?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

I got mine from nadzproject - google em - they delivered the system and even dliver games - on same day. You can pay the delivery boy, very easy no hassle and no issues.

Play him at his own game. Cant imagine adding law into it will help at all. Remain on good terms. Take the chance he actually isnt a professional scammer. Maybe hel_l empathise with you eventually and do his best. Or not. At least you wont have wasted anything but some time trying

It has been resolved ox willi no more games

Ah Sorry- and great to hear.

yes or just less instances of fraudulent use - in our company we are certain prejudiced against non western client- submit their purchases to more scrutiny, etc.

Play him at his own game. Cant imagine adding law into it will help at all. Remain on good terms. Take the chance he actually isnt a professional scammer. Maybe hel_l empathise with you eventually and do his best. Or not. At least you wont have wasted anything but some time trying

if we stop eating meat possibly we can change the climate to be more friendly, I don't expect governments to stop this madness.

This is a very good point but since it sounds so laughable to those who haven't looked into it (and still seems implausible nonsense for a second even to those who accept it as fact having done so)- and we have not had an Al Gore style movie to explain it (rather- its in books- and who reads those anyway?) I think unfortunately, itll be realised by most only when its too late, if ever at all.

As for bangkok- anyone know which areas are safe to buy condos in for the next century?

have been using pp since the start, multiple accounts over the years for business and personal use. Never had any big issues with them. One tip- call the numbers listed on the uk paypal site- youll get through to Ireland.

so you mean I shouldnt be putting the condom on my big toe then?

darn it sbk stop showing me up for what I really am!

meh, if youre that easily scared by the lack of "protection" I dont know why youre travelling in the first place- probably much better that you just avoid Thailand and any other developing country completely- I assure you the same issue of "dark side" exists in ALL of them outside our nanny countries like the UK and Holland. If you're so risk averse then you should even reconsider international air travel.

In 7 years it has happened to me 3 times. I have been regularly going to the types of places they would and do target in Bangkok (NOT tourist places). I have had to run away from dozens of entering cops and TV cameras on one occassion, leaving by the fire exit which they had a cop at but he didnt seem to mind us jogging past him at all. I have paid off some cops not to test me on one occassion (they even bring an ATM with them for precisely this, one of those mobile FX counters!) and I have taken and passed a test on another. Its low risk but it does happen. They will not care when you took the substance- if you fail the test they will assume you took it hours before and they will not test anything further nor will anything you can say change their mind (they are not stupid they just want money / quotas met). One of these times they had a table setup manned by a guy not in uniform but clearly also a cop, who was selling clean urine- it wasn't in the corner, or hidden - but almost the focus of the whole event. All very funny.

I have heard of them doing sweat tests too but this could just be a rumour.

I have never taken drugs in Thailand and would advise you not to.

btw- the most recent time it happened to me personally was within the last 8 months and in December Thai news channels had a headline about a well known club (well known to locals who party hard, anyway) being raided with some 40 thais and 30 foreigners (white, big noses, just like us) being arrested. I never managed to find out what happened to any of them.

Be wary of friendly thais inviting you to places if you think or are told drugs are involved. Especially house parties. If you dont speak thai and understand how to tell thai BS its a much bigger risk of being setup than being randomly tested.

Anyway- youll be fine

First, you'll seldom meet a Thai who's fluent in English, and willing to have a significant conversation in it.

Interesting. I have near daily conversations with Thai's who speak fluent English. Granted they are not serving me food at restaurants or dancing on silver poles - but there are plenty of Thai's who speak fluent English.

Me too! Not sure if we live in the same Thailand. Had a conversation about Dawkins book and general related philosophy/science with one just yesterday. I had trouble keeping up!

Last friday met two new guys- both spoke perfect English with perfect accents to boot. Random meeting too- its not like I stalk university halls (Ive never been inside a uni here actually).

I know that as a man... we have certain desires... not NEEDS when it comes to sex

Yes and there are desires and then there are desires. What level of inconvenience a particular desire may cause an individual is dictated by his brain only and no two brains are wired alike. You managed to survive 5 months of sexual dissatisfaction which I applaud you for but I assure you I would have killed myself- does this perhaps make it a need after all, at least for me? Suicide does rather impinge on ones survival after all.

What kind of tourist travels somewhere and doesn't ask beforehand how much from point A to B. Shouldn't you, as a friend, tell him how much it would be for a Taxi?

I'm truly surprised by the comments of worldly people that do things and take part in activities without knowing some background history on it.

A fool is born every day.....

Little do you realise it but your argument here rests squarely on the assumption that if an individual does something foolish once, he is a fool rather than just a wise man making a mistake. The second assumption you obviously think sound is that upon doing something foolish, your fool always deserves whatever results he gets- however bad or "over the top" they may be. This, I postulate, is rather foolish thinking. Please don't embarrass yourself by asking why, or I will come up with the most ridiculous real life example I can think of and ensure it makes you look very silly. Speaking of which.

As for why I did not advise him- it is a little hard to advise someone before you have met them or even know of their existence. I was not born knowing this friend- and am surprised to hear you think that is normally how things work. But as you said.. every day.

@Ta22- happy new year to you too.

This is very sad but I must say I do frequently (really, really often) meet girls out "partying" who are perhaps slightly older- around 30 say- who claim to have husbands or partners who work on offshore rigs and come and go, sometimes for months at a time. My personal experiences in this have caused me to never want to have such a situation- at least not with women in Thailand. I know one who has a secret condo in Bangkok and the husband thinks she is in the province! Its all insane.

I think for the OP though he should do more fact finding first. He should drink of course, but try to avoid "filling the gaps" of what you dont yet know about the situation- be calm and cool if not for yourself then for your kids. One day they will be old enough to not only perhaps hear about this but also judge how you handled it, and it might really affect them and their view of you if you handle it badly in their future eyes.

--

maybe i should had said walk away from payment .

-- tell me if you are a Taxi driver in your country ,, and a thai . took your taxi .. and refuse to pay full fare as agree between you .

what would you advice . or what would you had done .

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You like to refer to theory so let's ignore the specifics of this Canadian and turn for a moment to the reality of what happened in my country when a Thai had a similar situation.

In 2003 my Thai friend came to England. He *agreed* a price of £250 to be taken from the airport in London to the address in inner London where he was staying. He did not, as a tourist, know how far it was and also was not yet familiar with local taxi prices. He knew this was alot of money but he also expected England to be expensive and figured it may be the norm. Upon arriving at the address later he realised it was a short trip and questioned the price. The driver said a deal is a deal but the Thai said it was very expensive for such a short trip so asked reception how much it should have been- and reception said something like £50. The Thai went out to the driver to collect his final bag and said would £70 be ok instead as he was not rich. The taxi driver said OK- and they shook hands. The taxi driver, I suspect, was slightly ashamed, as he was at core something of a decent human being and knew he was still charging way over the "actual value" of the service provided.

True story. The Thai felt his welcome to England was not a great one but he also felt happy the compromise had been reached. I know if I had been present I would have not only berated the taxi driver, I would have taken his license and done my best to ensure he had some serious trouble. How dare he treat a guest who was innocent and new in our country to such a sting? All other english people (at least, the ones I associate with) would be equally horrified, and would if present in the situation have ensured the taxi driver felt truly ashamed.

What I would not do is start trying to defend his actions especially not with ridiculous calls to theory as you do. It doesnt matter if the canadian in this situation started it, or if he just felt he said he should. None of the specifics of this situation matter since you are the one wanting to defend the theory of beating someone up after they question an obviously overcharged price agreed upon in what is in most ways a manner of deceit.

again and again this kind of news story from Phuket.