californiabeachboy

Ahhh, the passions of TV - we can argue about anything.

But my post was not so much about the quality of Starbucks coffee, but about how you make a profit in Bkk when you provide a relatively cheap product, and you have air conditioning ( and apparently cheap wifi).

First, I guess I was wrong about the free wifi. When I was sitting there almost everyone was glued to their computer or other device, and only looked up every few minutes (to see if the building was on fire?), so I assumed it was free, but maybe they were just doing work offline. My bad.

But I agree with the above posts that it is very much about the "herd" mentality. I also went to a coffee place on lad prao, located in a new condo, with a very nice setting - newspapers and magazines (some in English), and good coffee - but it was empty. There are so many coffee shops in Bkk that have air conditioning and I just wonder how they make any money unless they mark up their coffee by a huge amount.

Lastly, if anyone wants to see a great routine about Starbucks by the comedian Lewis Black here it is:

Sorry mods but this video is a bit off topic so feel free to delete if appropriate.

Anyone can see by googling Lewis Black and Starbucks. maybe Thai young people are not as different from Western young people as some of us might think.

Cheers.

So you are another free-loader?

What! I spent 90 baht for a cup of coffee (twice what it costs here in the USA, by the way). My rule is that if I buy a coffee in Starbucks and spend less than 30 minutes simply for the air conditioning, I am NOT a freeloader!

I recently was fortunate enough to have another visit to Bkk.

I always stay near Ari, so I arranged to meet a Thai friend at the Starbucks next to Ari BTS. But she was late (big surprise there), so I sat in the Starbucks for about 30 minutes and had a chance to survey the field.

There were so many 20 something Thai/Asian/Western people who were obvioulsy camped out there - they had their mobile phone, laptop, and God knows what else. And a cup of coffee, and from what I could tell, they never bought another. If they had a tent they would have camped out there.

I felt sorry for Starbucks, if that is possible. We all love to complain about the price of coffee at Starbucks, but in Bangkok I believe that they are not a coffee company, they are a company that rents air-conditioned space with good wifi and comfortable chairs.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, the work problem is a big one for me. I am retired, and tend to hang around the house way too much. If my wife is not working and hanging around the house as well, we would both be miserable.

i live in a medium sized city (San Diego), but there is no Thai community here at all. There are about 10 Thai restaurants within 1 kilometer, so for work, she would be looking at working at a Thai restaurant, a lousy job and no benefits.

When i posed this question to my two female Thai friends, neither of them mentioned the separation from their family, which surprised me, because in Thailand I know that Thai women are very close to their families. Maybe because for a Thai woman in her 40's, with responsibilities for her parents, the layabout brother, and her 20 something kids, they see distance as a benefit.

Cheers.

This is so sad. I lived in San Francisco for many years and his reputation within the community was great - a kind man with a big heart.

I live in California but I visit Thailand often. I have been lucky enough to meet several wonderful Thai women. I have two Thai female friends, so I asked them "how many Thai women would be happy living in a Western country", and both said about 90%. I disagree with this, but I wanted some opinions here.

The reason I am asking is that I like where I live here in the US and hope to live here the rest of my life, with several visits a year to Thailand. If I marry a Thai woman, I would want us to live here in the US, not in Thailand. But would she be happy here? Such an aggressive culture here, no Thai spoken, and the wife would be separated from her Thai family (very important in my experience).

I am interested in hearing any stories from Westerners (US or Europe) who brought their Thai wife back to the home country, and how that worked out, good or bad. My thought is that she should be educated, which sounds a bit hi-so, but my experience with Thai women is that if they are more educated, they may be more flexible in terms of living in a foreign culture.

P.S. - I am 63, so if I am going to do this, it would be with a woman in her 40's or early 50's - no young kids to deal with.

Thanks

I am an American, and I admit it - I do not understand cricket.

I lived in Brisbane for two years, and my friend (mate?) dragged me to a cricket match at the "Gaba". I knew I was in trouble when I looked at the Aussie next to me, and he had several Sunday papers, his phone and computer, and kept getting up every half hour for a coffee. These games go on forever.

This game moves too slowly for a Neandrathal

I have no idea who to believe here. Wouldn't it be great if Thailand had an independent judiciary, with an independent prosecutor and defense, with witnesses under oath, who are subject to perjury if they lie? And the trial is open to the public.

I know I maybe be dreaming, but small steps are sometimes necessary, and I think that some small steps would go a long way towards eliminating the corruption here, more so than creating another "commission" to look into corruption.

A good thread to read. One thing to mention, aside from location, and supply and demand, what about the wages and/or income of the people who want to live in Thailand?

I use the example of my former home - San Francisco. The rents there are out of control - up 50% or more. The reason? - of course supply - it is a small city (I have run across it, and I am not a great runner - it is 7.8 miles to be exact, nearly killed me). But the wages have increased to ungodly amounts because of the new Google and Twitter millionaires, so the rents have gone up accordingly.

Someone upthread mentioned London. My guess is that prices have gone up because it is a magnet city, and rich people from other parts of the world want to live there (think Russian Oligarchs).

For Thailand, I don't think the lack of visa runs will affect rents much. What is more important is wages in the area, or the desire of rich people from other countries to want to spend time there.

I was in Thailand in February and cashed a tc at a bank in a mall in Chiang Mai. There was a notice on the window that the tc fees would soon be raised to 150 baht. The bank teller said it was because of American Express and/or the issuing bank raising their fees, not his (Thai) bank.

The best part of this story: According to several newspapers, the Mexican referee's nicname is ... Dracula.

Great game to watch (from a Yank perspective). We actually had a lead in a World Cup game, unusual territory for us. We weren't sure how to handle it so we flopped around like a dying fish for 60 plus minutes, then came alive again!!!

Good fun.

For years Bruce pointedly ignored Christie at his concerts. (Which Christie attended faithfully).

During the Sandy relief effort, Obama personally called Bruce to persuade him to acknowledge Christie. That intervention plus Christie's good performance post-Sandy is what achieved it.

BFF is going a bit too far though. Speaking terms is more like it, but that's a big step up from where they were and Christe is understandably ecstatic over it.

Yes, he (Springsteen) is at least King, if not God, in NJ. And almost as highly revered in NY.

Maybe we should start a petition to get him to play Bkk?????

Here we are, over a year later, and relations between Chris and Bruce seem to have soured a bit.

Here is a great video from the Jimmy Fallon show with your beloved Bruce. I hope the video works, if not just google Bruce S and Jimmy Fallon.

By way of background, Gov. Christie apparently shut down a major highway into New York because the local politician did not support him. Big news here in the US.

Jimmy Fallon does a great impression of Bruce.

Enjoy.

I just talked on Skype with a friend of mine in Bkk, talking about the martial law.

She said "I have a job to do so I am going to work".

Oh how I wish the leaders of Thailand had the same philosophy.

Great video. I was in Holland many years ago, and took a tour of the Heineken Brewery, or was that in the Netherlands?? Oh wait, they are the same!!! I wasn't sure after drinking too much of the great beer and eating the wonderful cheeses.

A fabulous country.

I realize that the OP was asking about cost, but I just want to add something - look at Route 66 for some of the trip. You can do it in reverse, and if you and the family want to know a bit about the history of the US along the way, it is great. You can do an internet search of the route - there are songs about it (get your kicks on Route 66) and tv shows (Route 66 TV show, but you probably will not be doing it in a corvette). Travel + history!

Cost is important, but what will you and the kids be remembering 10 years from now.

Have Fun!!!

Hi Mataleo,

Having lived in HK for many years, I would advise finding somewhere on the HK Island side...Central, Wanchai, Causeway Bay. If you're on the Kowloon side, remember that the MTR stops at midnight which may limit your social activities on the island side - it will cost over HK$120 for a taxi back to Kowloon. Take US or HK currency..... some shops and hotels do accept RMB - if you have THB, there is a Bangkok Bank Branch in Central for conversion at reasonable rates.

Really depends what you want to do socially - Lang Kwai Fong in Central has many bars and restaurants - good fun. Wanchai also has many bars and good live music....and lots of girls (maybe your gf won't be too impressed!)- but you will have a good time! Markets are mainly on the Kowloon side, there is also the Stanley Market on the south side of the island - take a bus, a really good ride. Go to the peak as well on the Peak Tram - do that during the week, not the weekend as its too crowded. Disneyland ok, Ocean Park better. Taxis are really good and relatively cheap.

Have fun!

I agree with this. I have stopped in HK for a few days each time I go to Thailand. It is a great city. The hotels are shockingly expensive, but everything else is ok. I usually stay on the Island, and love to walk the streets and find a little place with good food and not expensive at all. The ferry between the Island and Kowloon across the harbor is one of the best 2/3 USD ferry rides in the world.

I think Suthep's Plan A is to get the Armed Forces to take over, in which case there will be a vacuum for political leadership, and he will try to step in.

Plan B is for him to reach an agreement with the government (I know that sounds crazy, but I believe these leaders are more practical than we think), that he will move back down South and be in charge of Southern Thailand - a big fish in a smaller pond, with minimal interference from Bkk.

I had a retirement visa, and let it die a painless and merciful death.

I discovered that for me, Thailand is like a beautiful woman that you have no real connection with (back many years ago when I was younger and better-looking and could actually date a beautiful woman). After 30 days, I would say "why am I with this woman??. That is the way I feel about Thailand. I love the food, the Thai people, the ability to deal with hardship and still smile (sanuk?), and many other things about Thailand.

But after several weeks, I discover that the chaos, the soi dogs chasing me during my walks, hearing the motorcycles roaring up behind me on the sidewalk, and that <deleted> humidity, just get to me, and I say to myself "why am I still here?.

I have a couple of farang friends who have made a good life for themselves in Thailand. But as they say, find your bliss. For me that is several visits a year with beautiful Thailand, then back home.

I think Suthep's (the anti-govt opposition) end game is to negotiate directly with Thaksin. Why should they negotiate with Yingluck, she doesn't make any decisions? The deal will be ... Thaksin can have some of his money in return for withdrawing his mob from politics. Then there will be another election. PTP will run without Thaksin and without his money.

Before the flames begin .... understand that I'm not saying that this is the best solution or that I support this. I'm only saying I believe this may be the strategy.

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On another point, the English and grammar mistakes in Kavi's op-ed piece or any other English language newspaper in Thailand article don't bother me nor make the article any less interesting for me. And whether I agree with it or not ... it's an opinion and not "news". The opposite opinions are out there too.

Interesting post. I don't have a dog in this fight, but as a frequent visitor to the country and someone who has Thai friends there, I have followed the events over the last few days. I keep trying to figure out how Suthep becomes a winner here.

The demographics won't work - like most developing countries the poor vastly outnumber the middle class and the rich, so he will obviously always lose an election (as he and we all know).

Violence doesn't work for him either. I have several Thai middle class friends who do not like Thaksin and hated the idea of the amnesty, and went out and protested. But they are not the type to pick up stones, knives or whatever and do battle - they have jobs and families to take care of. They are not thugs (and I believe most Red Shirts are not either).

Doing a deal with the Big Man is possible, but what about a deal with the military? I don't think the Thai military really wants to run the country, it is outside of their pay scale. But what if Suthep creates as much havoc as he can (shutting down government), then goes to the military (who, as I understand it, does not like Thaksin), and says to them - Let's get rid of the Thaksin family from politics, I will run the country (we will call it a "People's Council"), and you can sit back fat and happy and do your thing.

I think that is the only way Suthep becomes a winner in this.

I am also a Californian, and went through the same thought process as you. I ended up applying for a retirement visa here in California, for the main reason that I did not have to bring the 800,000 baht over right away - it gave me time to decide how long I could live in Thailand, what would I do, etc.

As to your number 4, keep in mind that if you apply for a retirement visa in Thailand, I believe you need to bring the 800,000 baht over right away (or maybe you qualify for the 65,000 baht per month income method). If you apply in California you have a year (or sometimes more) to bring it over.

In my case I am really glad I did not apply for a retirement visa in Thailand and move the 800,000 baht over there. As Mario said, holidays in Thailand are a lot different than living there. After about 6 visits there (some as long as 6 weeks) I decided I did not want to spend more than a month or so at a time there. I am really glad I did not move the 800,000 baht over there (particularly given the current political situation). Just something else for you to consider.

Good luck.

Several years ago I was down south and quite sick from a cold. Stopped in at the local hospital for help and heard horrible screams coming from a curtained off area. Absolute top of his lungs screams and quite a few foul words. I was told the young man had a Thai traditional massage on the beach and it was a bit too hard. They dislocated his ribs. Docs were trying to set it straight.

From them on, NO Thai traditional massages for me. I had one done before that, but wouldn't allow them to pop my fingers or neck.

My first Thai traditional massage was about 3 years ago - tiny woman - 30 kilos dripping wet. But ohhh the power. She got on top of me and with her bony little elbows dug into my back. I screamed in agony but it only made her dig more.

I stopped doing Thai traditional massages until one year ago, then I stopped in a place near my hotel. She asked me what I wanted how hard etc. And it was a great traditional massage. It didn't hurt, she didn't try to crack any bones, and it felt good during and afterwards.

I think the key to a Thai traditional massage is to find a place that asks you what you want (related to a massage) before they begin.