GinBoy2

Well social norms have changed. Back in my youth, it was only sailors and women of 'ill repute' who had tattoo's. Today I often joke that I'm about half a dozen men on the planet that doesn't have a tattoo!

I must have lost the plot somewhere; Her House Her Mortgage Just walk away, lick your wounds and move on

I always told my kids. I look at pictures of me in the 70's wearing clothing which at the time I thought were pretty cool. Today I'd look like an idiot. Tattoo's however unlike clothes last a lifetime. What may look good on a 20 year old body, maybe not so much on that 50 year old body!

So just canvassing thoughts here. But do you think a woman 30 years your junior would be interested in you? I'm very sure you are a Hansum Man, as are we all, but really gotta think about why any woman young enough to be your daughter has any true sexual interest in you

Well this happens all the time. I'm totally fluent in Thai and Lao, yet I can talk to some shop girl, and if my wife is with me the response is always directly to her. I think this sorta explains it!

So again I am not British, and Brit's can comment more on specifics. Generally for tourist visas Western countries don't do background checks, but be aware the UK and the US are tough for single women, especially if young. So you can tick that box for no criminal convictions if you want. And lets not conflate a traffic offense with a felony and jail time. Then you get down the line should you get to it, wanting to take your tillack back to the UK as a bride. Thats when things get tricky. Thai's often think that emigration to mystical magical farang land only requires the MFA clearance they get when they go work overseas. I 'think' any convictions for that are expunged after a few years. And again, I can only speak for the US, but emigration visas require that Police report, where nothing is expunged. Maybe the UK is different

Well never having heard of this woman, of course I followed the well trodden path to Google. Quite the train wreak, although her relationship with her son does seem a pretty redeeming feature among all the rest of the trailer trash nonsense https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61813593

I think you have that a***ss backwards. Most of us do our level best to take care of our passengers. But people lose their mind when they walk into an airport. I've been screamed at, cursed at , threatened with physical violence, puked on the list goes on. We don't run the airline we just work for it. "I need to be in xxx by tonight, get me on a plane right now you a*hole" Well madam look outside there is a blizzard no planes are landing. The days of 60's and 70's are gone. The airlines have changed, but I'd suggest the traveling public have definitely 'downgraded' also. And newsflash, contrary to popular myth, we don't have a secret hanger full of reserve aircraft just ready to service you

I can't really comment on Jetstar, never been on one of their flights, however been on plenty of other LCC's. Trouble is we all got what we wanted price/mile in real terms has plummeted over the past few decades. The airline industry is brutal, margins are really tight, basically invest millions in hardware to make pennies. The industry is littered with airlines that went to the wall Richard Branson has a great quote; "The fastest way to make a Millionaire is to be a Billionaire and buy an airline" I work for an airline, so if you think the passengers have it bad, try being an employee! But at the end of the day millions more people can now afford to fly half way across the world without taking out a second mortgage. At the end of the day, it's a few hours of your life, nobody dies, maybe your seat is uncomfortable, or you get delayed, but it was cheap. So suck it up

I think the bigger issue is if ever they want to move to the UK. I'm American, but I'm sure the UK immigration system isn't much different, where you have to obtain a police report as part of the process. For us at least, you have to list previous tourist applications. If you lie on the tourist stuff, it'll come back to bite you

The myth of cheap quality medical care in Thailand is rapidly imploding. Yes if push comes to shove you get treatment in the local Nakorn Backofbeyond government hospital it might be cheap, but cross your fingers you'll come out alive. If you're talking about any Western style hospital care, you'd probably be better off at home As for dentistry, I had two crowns which failed after 20 years replaced by a top ranked dentist in Thonglor, Both failed within 24 months. My US dentist who replaced them wasn't exactly complementary on the quality of the work I had received!

I rather like having a working spouse. Gives us something other than mundane sh*&*t to talk about over dinner. In many ways when we were in Thailand full time, and I couldn't work her work stories helped keep me sane through the boredom

On a somewhat serious note, I do worry about the effect of pornography today, but not for men, more for boys. I don't think it's a stretch to say that for many of us sex ed was rooting through Dad's sock draw for his porn stash. Thing was back then it was a lot more vanilla and for a lot of it even the teenage male brain could tell it was staged. Not so sure about that today, and I fear that what a lot of what those boys watch online gives them a very misleading idea of what is regular sex versus fantasy. It's not that I would want to restrict porn, I think as an adult I can distinguish reality and fantasy, but not so sure a 15 year old boy can make that distinction

I think that majority of those that settle in Pattaya are well aware it's one huge brothel. You certainly don't go there for the pristine beaches, so cheap sex, boys or girls, your choice i would suggest is the driving factor

That boy is in for a rude awakening! lol

Well male/female relationships are always complicated. My American wife was half Jamaican, so with my Thai wife I guess my predilection is obviously for dusky maidens. Are there major differences between them, I don't think so. Both strong willed women, both ruled our kids with iron, made them the men and women they are today, ruled me with a rod of iron! Major difference between the two, my Thai wife screams louder!!

I've married for a lot of my adult life, not the same woman, but I digress. I like being with someone, but equally I'm fine being alone. I was an only child, pretty odd in a Hispanic family in the 60/70's, but I learned all the skills to be self sufficient and pretty OK being on my own

Real Estate in Thailand is confusing, honestly it makes no sense. We owned three units in Noble Remix, and in all honestly the only reason we bought them was because the Japanese expat community liked them, and they were easy rentals. In terms of equity appreciation it was zero, With the amount of new build I was happy to get out without losing money. It's a weird market so buckle up

I rather like the Colbert version of truth, 'truthyism' Rather than actual truth it's so much easier and comforting to believe in what you 'feel to be true' Don't let pesky things like facts get in the way of that!

Now as I have said in a previous post health insurance is tricky. Often you will hear the phrase 'I self insure' thats just nonsense, it just means that you are going to pay everything out of pocket. Even in a podunk government hospital, which is going to be nothing like you have ever experienced in the US, you could eat through ฿5M in a week if something serious hits the fan. Private health insurance is just that. It uses underwriters to determine risk, and the older you get that risk goes up exponentially, and consequently premiums, which often results in just pricing folks out of the market at a certain point. Obviously I have no idea of you medical history, but bear in mind there is no version of ACA and pre-existing conditions will not be covered. We lived in Singapore prior to moving to Thailand, and while there my wife had a ruptured ovarian cyst which turned septic and required surgery. At the time of the surgery in Singapore she was in her late 30's, but upon disclosure to then Bupa, now Cigna they excluded ALL gynecologic issues, which for a woman is very common. You are right you will not be able to enroll in Part B or D without a US residence. But have a heart attack, or something equally immediate, do you think you are going to get on a plane for 24 hours to get back to the US? Lot to think about

Honestly if unless you are not looking for cheap sex, for retirement I could probably think of better locations closer to home. Health insurance will, unless as many here seem to think a glass of wheat grass makes you immune to illness, will over time become unaffordable. Your Medicare Part A is worthless in Thailand, and if at some point you call it quits, you'll pay a penalty on Part B. Think carefully, and explore Central American options

Hmmm, Me and Mrs G had been happily living together for 20+ years, had our son, and honestly neither ever experienced any stigma about not being married. My wife has several single female relatives several of then in their 30's and quite happy being single, again never heard any bad word said about them. Mrs G would still single, albeit 'living in sin' if she didn't have to marry me for a Green Card lol

Well when it comes to women and sex, men are inherently stupid. The frontal lobe can switch off and reasoning is delegated to the 'little brain'

Well to be sure, no one wants to actually utter the words but we are moving back into a cold war; Democracies vs Autocracies. The wonderful idea of peace and harmony we had after the end of the last cold war is pretty much shot to pieces. Global trade is rapidly returning home, or at least to like minded countries, and the idea of disarmament is now a pipe dream. Never was a fan of Reagan, but he had it right in the end. He saw that if you had an arms race the West could bankrupt the other side. I think it might be time to repeat history

I think the biggest issue, and it's one which affects many 2nd and 3rd world countries is onshoreing. Western nations after decades of being addicted to cheap manufactured goods from Asia got a huge wake up call in the past few years as supply chains buckled In the US the trend to bring back manufacturing is intense, additionally fueled by the badly named 'Inflation Reduction Act' who's sole purpose is to subsidize domestic manufacturing. That has awakened the EU who are now also considering similar measures If you get rid of sweat shop manufacturing in SE Asia, there ain't enough tourists on the globe to fill that void