Dear Folks,

Here in Thailand, I would be very surprised if our primary needs are not being met, fully, and satisfactorily, at minimal cost, compared to some people living elsewhere.

Therefore, we do not need to be overly concerned about not having our primary needs met, as Farang living here.

However, I ask you:

Are your secondary needs being met, while living here, fully and completely?

Also, what do we mean by Primary Needs and Secondary Needs….and do you know?

If you do not know, then why not itemize them, hierarchically:

PRIMARY NEEDS:

1. Oxygenation: Continuous gas exchange to support cellular respiration.

2. Hydration: Fluid intake to maintain blood plasma volume and cellular osmolarity.

3. Nutrition: Macronutrient and micronutrient consumption for ATP synthesis and tissue repair.

4. Thermoregulation: Maintenance of core body temperature within a strict physiological range via environmental shelter or behavioral adaptation.  (This is why I use ACs, 24/7/365, by the way…)

5. Sleep: Cyclical neurological suppression required for metabolic waste clearance and functional restoration. (The GD cocks crowing interfere with this primary need of mine, but I don’t know about you.)

SECONDARY NEEDS:

1. Security and Stability: Establishing predictability in the immediate environment. This includes physical safety, physical resource accumulation, and protection from external threats.

2. Social Cohesion: Integration into kin or peer networks. This facilitates mutual defense, resource sharing, and reproductive opportunity.

3. Esteem and Status: Acquisition of competence and subsequent recognition within a social hierarchy. This drives optimal resource allocation and mating selection.

4. Cognitive Actualization: The pursuit of systemic understanding, skill mastery, and the terminal utilization of individual physiological and cognitive capacities.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The so-called Sexual Need is not important for our survival in Thailand

Here is why:

1. Innate Origin: The reproductive drive is biologically intrinsic and genetically programmed rather than environmentally acquired.

2. Neuroendocrine Regulation: Motivation and arousal are modulated directly by the basal physiological systems, specifically the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and steroidal hormone concentrations.

3. Individual Homeostasis: Prolonged deprivation of sexual activity does not disrupt internal physiological balance. An individual organism will not experience systemic organ failure or death due to a lack of sexual release.

4. This is why, if one is deprived from sexual contact, one will not suffer any deleterious consequences.

And so, one might ask the question:  

Are your Secondary Needs being met in Thailand?

Might they be better met in some other country, such as China?

Personally, I am beginning to wonder.

I have a few friends who have invited me to China.  But still, until this morning, I have decided to remain here, for now.

What about you?

Best regards,

Gamma

Another Note:  I would say that my needs might be better met, here in Thailand, if I were to do a bit more planning.  I have never had a massage, for example.

Yes, everything is met, but clean air, peaceful walking, road safety and legal ownership are still clear weaknesses.

We are working on the peaceful walking part now. Instead of visiting tourist cities, islands and beaches, we are about to start hiking some of the more interesting trekking routes in Thailand. We have never really explored Thailand through hiking and trekking, so it is good to still have new things to discover.

If your primary needs aren't being met, you wouldn't be reading this topic. Secondary needs being met, and you're comfortable where you're living, then you're home. If not, you go where they'll be met, as there's no place like home.

30 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Yes, everything is met, but clean air, peaceful walking, road safety and legal ownership are still clear weaknesses.

We are working on the peaceful walking part now. Instead of visiting tourist cities, islands and beaches, we are about to start hiking some of the more interesting trekking routes in Thailand. We have never really explored Thailand through hiking and trekking, so it is good to still have new things to discover.

So this now, before you legs become too weak...and this is my best advice to you.

1 minute ago, fredwiggy said:

If your primary needs aren't being met, you wouldn't be reading this topic. Secondary needs being met, and you're comfortable where you're living, then you're home. If not, you go where they'll be met, as there's no place like home.

Are you sure that you are not a fellow alum of mine?

a. I know you are from the Pine Barrens

b. As I recall it, there is some guy on TV who also attened Penn.

c. I forget if it might be you.

d. But, reading your posts, sometimes I wonder.

Just now, GammaGlobulin said:

Are you sure that you are not a fellow alum of mine?

a. I know you are from the Pine Barrens

b. As I recall it, there is some guy on TV who also attened Penn.

c. I forget if it might be you.

d. But, reading your posts, sometimes I wonder.

No, I'm from Bergen County in New Jersey. The Pine Barrens are down south where I used to go fishing. This is Aseannow, not TV.

22 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

No, I'm from Bergen County in New Jersey. The Pine Barrens are down south where I used to go fishing. This is Aseannow, not TV.

So, you never attended Penn.

Is this correct?

Because, you seem like you had.

Just checking.

Note: Sorry, but I think I must have you confused with another TV member, here, who attended Penn. Perfectly honest mistake.

Sorry

Edited August 6Aug 6 by GammaGlobulin

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

If your primary needs aren't being met, you wouldn't be reading this topic. Secondary needs being met, and you're comfortable where you're living, then you're home. If not, you go where they'll be met, as there's no place like home.

Do you often click your heels, three times, and say:

There is no place like home.

There is no place like Texas.

There is no place like America.

Just to emphasize this important point, may I link one of my favorite tunes:

4 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Do you often click your heels, three times, and say:

There is no place like home.

There is no place like Texas.

There is no place like America.

Just to emphasize this important point, may I link one of my favorite tunes:

No, we'll just take United from Suvarnabhumi.

Maslow was much easier to understand.

7 hours ago, MIke B Bad said:

Maslow was much easier to understand.

Sorry.

I think you mean LAZLOW.....right?

Pure genius.

Totally understandable.

Enjoy the vids......

And, don't believe what they tell you.

15 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

1. Esteem and Status: Acquisition of competence and subsequent recognition within a social hierarchy. This drives optimal resource allocation and mating selection.

2. Cognitive Actualization: The pursuit of systemic understanding, skill mastery, and the terminal utilization of individual physiological and cognitive capacities.

Esteem and status. Lol.

What's your status out there in the mean streets of Thailand?

At least you are establishing your status and cognitive actualization on this forum?

29 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Esteem and status. Lol.

As has often been said:

One's esteem is only as estimable as one's last comment.

I would gladly post on Tuesday for an estimable hamburger today.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by GammaGlobulin

37 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

At least you are establishing your status and cognitive actualization on this forum ?

How can we accurately assess this status?

Yes to all except sleep.

Average is 3hrs a night without xanax assistance.

4 minutes ago, Mr Awesome said:

How can we accurately assess this status?

Please do not listen to him:

There is actualization, ie Maslow

But, there is NO SUCH THING as "cognitive actualization"....

Nonsense

The guy should be a salesperson for the Drug Companies.

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

Yes to all except sleep.

Average is 3hrs a night without xanax assistance.

That's not healthy.

Try exercising during the day to tire yourself out more.

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Average is 3hrs a night without xanax assistance.

Insufficient sleep is harmful to your health.

Yes

Yes = with one exception from your list.

Social Cohesion - not anyone to socialize with where I live and online communities are in many cases a detriment to mental health. People just scream at each other on any thread topic that is open for debate. Wish people would get over themselves and realize they are quite often wrong. Many people online take others opinions as acts of hostility. For example, I posted I "THINK" I may not get a measles vaccine if I hadn't already had one because people generally recover in 2 weeks today. Just an opinion of mine and the response by a couple poster was red hot rage.

I think many here in Thailand have to adjust to having much less social interaction than we did back home.

18 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The so-called Sexual Need is not important for our survival in Thailand

Speak for yourself sunshine.

On 8/6/2026 at 2:33 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks,

Here in Thailand, I would be very surprised if our primary needs are not being met, fully, and satisfactorily, at minimal cost, compared to some people living elsewhere.

Therefore, we do not need to be overly concerned about not having our primary needs met, as Farang living here.

However, I ask you:

Are your secondary needs being met, while living here, fully and completely?

Also, what do we mean by Primary Needs and Secondary Needs….and do you know?

If you do not know, then why not itemize them, hierarchically:

PRIMARY NEEDS:

1. Oxygenation: Continuous gas exchange to support cellular respiration.

2. Hydration: Fluid intake to maintain blood plasma volume and cellular osmolarity.

3. Nutrition: Macronutrient and micronutrient consumption for ATP synthesis and tissue repair.

4. Thermoregulation: Maintenance of core body temperature within a strict physiological range via environmental shelter or behavioral adaptation.  (This is why I use ACs, 24/7/365, by the way…)

5. Sleep: Cyclical neurological suppression required for metabolic waste clearance and functional restoration. (The GD cocks crowing interfere with this primary need of mine, but I don’t know about you.)

SECONDARY NEEDS:

1. Security and Stability: Establishing predictability in the immediate environment. This includes physical safety, physical resource accumulation, and protection from external threats.

2. Social Cohesion: Integration into kin or peer networks. This facilitates mutual defense, resource sharing, and reproductive opportunity.

3. Esteem and Status: Acquisition of competence and subsequent recognition within a social hierarchy. This drives optimal resource allocation and mating selection.

4. Cognitive Actualization: The pursuit of systemic understanding, skill mastery, and the terminal utilization of individual physiological and cognitive capacities.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The so-called Sexual Need is not important for our survival in Thailand

Here is why:

1. Innate Origin: The reproductive drive is biologically intrinsic and genetically programmed rather than environmentally acquired.

2. Neuroendocrine Regulation: Motivation and arousal are modulated directly by the basal physiological systems, specifically the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and steroidal hormone concentrations.

3. Individual Homeostasis: Prolonged deprivation of sexual activity does not disrupt internal physiological balance. An individual organism will not experience systemic organ failure or death due to a lack of sexual release.

4. This is why, if one is deprived from sexual contact, one will not suffer any deleterious consequences.

And so, one might ask the question:  

Are your Secondary Needs being met in Thailand?

Might they be better met in some other country, such as China?

Personally, I am beginning to wonder.

I have a few friends who have invited me to China.  But still, until this morning, I have decided to remain here, for now.

What about you?

Best regards,

Gamma

Another Note:  I would say that my needs might be better met, here in Thailand, if I were to do a bit more planning.  I have never had a massage, for example.

Not even one off the wrist?

All my primary needs you listed are being met.

None of the secondary needs you listed are important to me, so they are not my "needs." Some of these are being addressed, and some are not.

These kinds of posts truly prove how ridiculous AI is. It is causing an intelligence decline that will only accelerate over time.

On 8/7/2026 at 6:32 AM, Mr Awesome said:

Insufficient sleep is harmful to your health.

Meh.

For me, a strong sense of community and being accepting and belonging are extremely important, and yet, after 16 years in Thailand, I have never felt any of that from the locals. Were it not for my wife and her two adult children, I would have been gone years ago. I walk around the lake in our village every other night, and after 16 years, I'm still waiting for my neighbors and other walkers to just make eye contact so I can greet them. Every now and again, one will nod after I force a greeting on them, but then the next time I see them, it's cold turkey all over again like they have never seen me before. They'll just look the other way or bury their head in their phone to avoid having to greet me. You'll never meet anyone who is friendlier or more approachable than I, so this kind of behavior just defies all logic and makes no sense at all to me. It's very disheartening and discouraging and had I the opportunity to do it all over again, I would never have set foot in this place.

1 hour ago, fittobethaied said:

For me, a strong sense of community and being accepting and belonging are extremely important, and yet, after 16 years in Thailand, I have never felt any of that from the locals. Were it not for my wife and her two adult children, I would have been gone years ago. I walk around the lake in our village every other night, and after 16 years, I'm still waiting for my neighbors and other walkers to just make eye contact so I can greet them. Every now and again, one will nod after I force a greeting on them, but then the next time I see them, it's cold turkey all over again like they have never seen me before. They'll just look the other way or bury their head in their phone to avoid having to greet me. You'll never meet anyone who is friendlier or more approachable than I, so this kind of behavior just defies all logic and makes no sense at all to me. It's very disheartening and discouraging and had I the opportunity to do it all over again, I would never have set foot in this place.

Are you wearing a shirt when you go out to walk around our lake?

I have a great life here. It's great because I have a great wife, Food and even eating out can still be inexpensive, we can holiday in NP for a month on 30k, Medical care is good, Medicine reasonable, My pension comes (thus far) like clockwork, I don't own or need my own transportation, 5G 70GB is less than 150b month, taxis are cheap, rail is clean and ok, I pay no subscription, rent and electric less than 15k pm, to this moment I am very healthy even able to jog/walk 1 hour, I have a few mildly interesting hobbies, I go to bed when I want, rise when I want and do as I please during the day. I'm invested in cash at 4% at the moment.

I live one hour or less to two major international airports by public transport no less.

Days are hot, the weather often unpleasant, but is never cold.

There are few cuisine especially non western that a western can live off of in another country... Thailand is one of those countries. Super delicious, super cheap

I am careful what I purchase. We've seen inflation in Thailand since Prayut II, but compared to the west Thailand remains inexpensive.

In Dec 26-Apr 27 I plan to be oceanside 9-11 weeks. Wife will join 3-4. Beautiful S Thailand remote island

I am still able to stay largely within under 40k spending budget per month incl rent, electric. Two bottles whisky and four special massages. I don't even try. The wife brings home food/I buy our weekend food.

It's not much, but my wife can save 20k of her salary on a good month.

I know I'd be miserable back in California. I left because SEA was infinitely more fun, dynamic. Last decades prices and taxes thru the roof. California...the women so mid except the Asian girlies. Everyone is twice as ugly and twice as judgy, no one is actually from California. There's sort of a sad grimy film of greasy bull<deleted> all over the US. California not exempt

If you made the leap, you know. Otherwise, you don't know.

So... y'all complaining about what again?

Edited August 8Aug 8 by KornPop

1 hour ago, KornPop said:

, I don't own or need my own transportation

This is a major advantage, and useful in establishing physical safety, or avoidance of external threats.

Why do people own cars if they do not absolutely have to?

Car ownership, and motorbike ownership, is a threat to survival.