Im so happy cause today I found my friends they're in my head.

IMO I have quite a few acquaintances. Very few real friends.

To me, a real friend would get me out of a jam, financially or legally.

Fortunately, I have never had to stress test any friendship I have, so whether I have any real friends is still conjecture.

15 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

IMO I have quite a few acquaintances. Very few real friends.

To me, a real friend would get me out of a jam, financially or legally.

Fortunately, I have never had to stress test any friendship I have, so whether I have any real friends is still conjecture.

You're not really doing too badly. Possibly quite a few of the regular posters on here don't have anyone they can ring to even meet them for a cup of coffee.

Perhaps that's what the OP was referring to. Not real friends in the deeper sense.

No. But I list;

Harrisfun,

Gammaglulin......and ( I think)

Bob.

....

as close acquaintances.🙃🙃

11 hours ago, SoCal1990 said:

So which is it? Are we meant to believe you are social dynamos who somehow squeeze in endless forum time between high quality outings, or is this your main gig and the grand tales are just window dressing. Because from the outside, it looks less like a thriving social network and more like an audition for relevance in an anonymous cyber crowd who don't give a toss who you are.

I've had many friends, but most of them have died now.

Two left, one I see 3x a week, one back in the UK that didn't come out this year (old and sick). Both of them were great when the hit and run got me 2 years back, came around, took me to the park, made me learn to walk again.

I've not really bothered making any more, not long enough left to make it worthwhile.

Happy enough with my wife, kids and pets.

8 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

No. But I list;

Harrisfun,

Gammaglulin......and ( I think)

Bob.

....

as close acquaintances.🙃🙃

George will be devastated that you left him out.

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I suppose I might be one of those people who post here fairly often - yet still lead a full and rather lively life.

I have a fairly busy social calendar, I am active at work, I participate in sports regularly, I travel frequently and I have a strong, happy family life....

Right now I’m at home typing this while my son is playing VR - he’s Chrome Casting it to me so I can watch. We’ve spent most of the day messing about together, and managed a stellar breakfast and lunch along the way.

The pass week is usually full. I met friends at the weekend, watched the rugby and squeezed in two international flights. Life isn’t exactly idle.

It doesn’t take long to write a post. Some days I spend more time on here than others. Today happens to be a relaxed one at home. I’ve had my fill of the news, the Olympics have been entertaining but not endless, and there are only so many television series one can consume.

The forum, for me, is simply a bit of amusement - a source of information, a place for interesting topics, the occasional controversy, a few excellent contributors and, inevitably, a few tools...

I struggle to see the problem with spending time on a forum like this. It’s no different to watching a television series - just another way of passing the time and unwinding.

Exactly right. I too have AN showing on my PC most of the time, and reply when I think it is needed.

It’s great to have a little clutch of online friends, some of which transition to real friends, or just interesting people you meet, or you never meet, but you sort of follow their lives like a little reality TV show.

I mean, duh, who doesn’t know this?

I pop in here and also on the exlonely planet board every day for about 15 minutes combined.

Worrying about the off-line social life of people like Fred wiggy is flat out barking mad. Worrying if Fred wiggy is who he says he is, is bedbug crazy. I tend to skim or skip his long posts, but Fred wiggy is OK by me.

Again, my public service message:

Blocking the autistic Bogan dramatically improves the flow of even these stunted and stilted conversations with old drunks here.

You are doing him a disservice by engaging with him. If everyone ignores him, he will eventually go and get some kind of help for his untreated autism.

32 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

You are doing him a disservice by engaging with him. If everyone ignores him, he will eventually go and get some kind of help for his untreated autism.

There are always signs that say don't feed the animals, and they are there for good reason, but nobody ever listens.

Here's the truth.

1 hour ago, Prubangboy said:

It’s great to have a little clutch of online friends, some of which transition to real friends, or just interesting people you meet, or you never meet, but you sort of follow their lives like a little reality TV show.

I mean, duh, who doesn’t know this?

I pop in here and also on the exlonely planet board every day for about 15 minutes combined.

Worrying about the off-line social life of people like Fred wiggy is flat out barking mad. Worrying if Fred wiggy is who he says he is, is bedbug crazy. I tend to skim or skip his long posts, but Fred wiggy is OK by me.

Again, my public service message:

Blocking the autistic Bogan dramatically improves the flow of even these stunted and stilted conversations with old drunks here.

You are doing him a disservice by engaging with him. If everyone ignores him, he will eventually go and get some kind of help for his untreated autism.

If only Bob was so easy to drown

Expat friends, if not for an Udon forum, maybe 1, as daughter's classmate father & usually birthday parties.

Met more than a few ftom forum, at monthly meet ups. But as far as been to their house, or them mine, maybe 5 expats, and can count on my hands, how many times at either's house, total, in 16+ years.

So NO, no real expat friends here in TH. Been back to Udon 3 times, selling property, and didn't visit any of them while there. Just visited family.

47 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Expat friends, if not for an Udon forum, maybe 1, as daughter's classmate father & usually birthday parties.

Met more than a few ftom forum, at monthly meet ups. But as far as been to their house, or them mine, maybe 5 expats, and can count on my hands, how many times at either's house, total, in 16+ years.

So NO, no real expat friends here in TH. Been back to Udon 3 times, selling property, and didn't visit any of them while there. Just visited family.

Im in Prachuap soon if you want to have a beer or curry.

1 hour ago, gargamon said:

Here's the truth.

Funerals are good for spotting the fakes from the real types. Also who doesnt go.

2 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

It’s great to have a little clutch of online friends, some of which transition to real friends, or just interesting people you meet, or you never meet, but you sort of follow their lives like a little reality TV show.

I mean, duh, who doesn’t know this?

I pop in here and also on the exlonely planet board every day for about 15 minutes combined.

Worrying about the off-line social life of people like Fred wiggy is flat out barking mad. Worrying if Fred wiggy is who he says he is, is bedbug crazy. I tend to skim or skip his long posts, but Fred wiggy is OK by me.

Again, my public service message:

Blocking the autistic Bogan dramatically improves the flow of even these stunted and stilted conversations with old drunks here.

You are doing him a disservice by engaging with him. If everyone ignores him, he will eventually go and get some kind of help for his untreated autism.

Except I'm not a bogan. Via pm you are soft n friendly. On here acting tough. You must be a fake person or have a split personality. Childhood issues with your dad or your mum. You never addressed them.

I have a group of friends from my breakfast place that I do stuff with. Four of us are going out to see Mozart’s Requiem at the end of the month.

I also have a large group of people I might see four or five times a year from going to all those meet ups last year. You never know who is going to stick.

There’s a great line in the book high Fidelity, that my friends are the phone numbers I somehow managed not to lose.

But for some people here with mental issues, this place is indeed a lifeline. They shouldn’t be mocked for that. They should be pitied.

And if they are a little bit over aggressive and OCD, they should be ignored, for their own benefit.

I have a very small close circle of very old friends , and a few newer ones who i am close with , i also have a very wide group of lesser friends and aqaintences who drop in and out of my life ,some may yet become close friends,, i am also select in close family members as some are toxic .. Im als very fortunate to have outlived or seen off all my old enemies ,, but I could still make new ones if I want a challenge

28 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Funerals are good for spotting the fakes from the real types. Also who doesnt go.

So you hang around at funerals? That explains a lot.

5 minutes ago, gargamon said:

So you hang around at funerals? That explains a lot.

No weirdo I watch how people act at them. Spot the family fakes. The con artists etc. One woman even put on fake tears. She now has cancer. Karma for scum.

1 hour ago, Harrisfan said:

Im in Prachuap soon if you want to have a beer or curry.

Shoot me a PM, I may be home.

14 hours ago, Terrance8812 said:

I honestly do not think it makes much difference who writes the text you are reading online these days. These posts are not meant to be works of fine literature. They are simply a form of digital communication, and everything is anonymous anyway. Nobody knows each other. So whether it is an anonymous member you have never met or an AI tool, it seems to make little difference. What really matters is the content. Many news articles on this site are partially written with the help of AI, and people read them without hesitation. In my view, it is the message that matters, not the messenger.

Take one of the most prolific topic starters on this forum as an example. His ideas are often repetitive, rhetorical, and poorly expressed and most of all, uninteresting. I doubt AI could meaningfully improve that. Just look at his site reputation score, it speaks for itself.

On the other hand, if someone has interesting ideas but struggles to express them clearly, and uses AI to turn those ideas into well written text, I would much rather read that than something difficult to follow. Many people draft their thoughts first and then use AI to refine them. What you are reading here in this OP may be largely human work, with some AI assistance for editing and clarity. In the end, there is still a person behind the overall idea and direction.

If someone has thoughtful insights but lacks strong writing skills, would you not prefer to see those ideas presented clearly rather than struggle through confusing sentences?

There are a couple of posters for example with the initials GG who might both greatly benefit from the use of AI writing. Most of their posts are disjointed and difficult to follow, so much of the time I don’t even read what they post.

Much of what is written online today is a mix of human input and AI support. That also makes it harder for detection tools, like the ones you mentioned, to draw firm conclusions since very little content is likely to be entirely generated without any human involvement. But this brings me back to my main point. As long as the content is engaging and easy to read, that is what matters. At the end of the day, it is simply words put together to express an idea. It is not a fabricated image or video intended to mislead anyone.

I'll take authenticity over AI. You mentioned GG and I disagree. His posts can be interesting and he is weird. Authentic oddballs types are much better than the look at me, I'm much better than other posters type. As for the other poster you mentioned with the low rating score, I respect he doesn't care and remains authentic. He is confused often but authentic :)

1 hour ago, atpeace said:

I'll take authenticity over AI. You mentioned GG and I disagree. His posts can be interesting and he is weird. Authentic oddballs types are much better than the look at me, I'm much better than other posters type. As for the other poster you mentioned with the low rating score, I respect he doesn't care and remains authentic. He is confused often but authentic :)

Terry comes across as thick. Simply ignore the posters you dont like. He won't do that cause he likes to whinge.

I have a few very close friends and I have family. Here in Thailand? I have acquaintances and family. Close friends here in Thailand? At one time, but that's water under the bridge.

3 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Funerals are good for spotting the fakes from the real types. Also who doesnt go.

In this case Harrisfan, I agree 100%.

16 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The Thai Soi dogs and Chinese robot sex toys don't count...

Otherwise - why not, a solid friend from any nation is as good as any other.

What a relief.

Referring to those Chinese robot sex toys ? 🤫

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

Referring to those Chinese robot sex toys ? 🤫

Don't be silly.

It's too early in the day for that.

15 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Don't be silly.

It's too early in the day for that.

What has the time of day got to do with the enjoyment of that, or any, form of pleasure!

😅

Just now, scottiejohn said:

What has the time of day got to do with the enjoyment of that, or any, form of pleasure!

😅

I do not engage with friends before noon.

There are many intelligent people who prefer to work late into the evening, and then meet with visitors after the noon-day Sun passes its zenith.

3 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I do not engage with friends before noon.

There are many intelligent people who prefer to work late into the evening, and then meet with visitors after the noon-day Sun passes its zenith.

So you consider your Chinese sex toy to be a friend and not a simple tool for pleasure do you?

🥳

true dat, i didnt waste a second on anything else when being with my gf was possible

she was the best, most loyal and wise friend i ever had