Why did you people come here originally?, i came for the women

[JLCrab]

I can go for days if not weeks without encountering anyone in person or on the mobile with whom I would be required to speak English and, when I read some of the stuff on here directed at me or otherwise, I am content with that state-of-affairs.

Edited September 14, 2013 by JLCrab

[Alwyn]

the OP is utter twaddle, when will people learn that as much as they would like it to be, their experience is not universal.

and yet you call yourself 'girldrinkdrunk'... seems you might have something in common with the OP?

[Trentham]

I came her cos Australia is so boring.

You should try living in a town of 7000 people >8 hours drive from Sydney. Makes Nakhon Nowhere look like Hollywood

Deniliquin is not so bad.

[Alwyn]

I came here for the colonic irrigation spa on Samui, it didn't work!

I'm still full of crap

CCC

Don't know about you but a lot of others here are! Mostly the of the arrogant brand!

[taqila]

I came here cuz my friend back home told me if I ever visited Pattaya once in my life, I'd never go back to Tijuana again. He was right, I never went even home again and move here! I like the heat!

[Neeranam]

I have been here for over 6 years and maybe it is my ignorance i never thought it was possible to get a job here that actually paid aswell as the Western world, so i applaud your ingenuity.

I for one need to travel to get money to live decent

Please tell , whats a frangipani?

If one has the skills, knowledge experience etc they are looking for there are jobs in Thailand for farangs that pay more that western world, and these jobs are not restricted to senior management type jobs either, I came here originally on a short term basis to look after one specific job, they must have like what they seen, got asked if I wanted to stay, and almost 13 years on still here, the job will end in the foreseeable future due to nationalization , I would say next 3 to 5 years, but can't complain, been longer than I ever expected, so must be doing something right

I have a degree in civil engineering over 20 years experience in construction/ mining /civils , i am 43 years old and not passed it. I have had one interview in Loas on a mine, never seen a job in Thailand for a westerner, i have worked in a few places around the globe , my last job was in Mexico on rotation , what a flight that was.

I would love a job here

I had a couple of friends working in the mines here as geologists. In Loei and also Laos. They were Australian and getting an excellent expat wage. Neither came here for the bar scene.

I agree that there are many foreigners who come here, meet a "bar girl" and marry her. Mostly, they are guys who come here on holiday because of reputation for cheap, beautiful prostitutes. People who have lived/worked in Thailand for a few years wouldn't be a foolish as to marry a prostitute as they are wiser. I do admire you're honesty to say you did.

I came her for medication(drug and alcohol) and meditation(cure for my alcoholism/addiction). Things have changed amazingly, it would be hard to compare my life then and now. Strangely, never had a sexual addiction - I believe there are many of the type you describe that are in denial there.

[Sydebolle]

I came here for the reliable and honest work force using all their acquired skills on a daily, if not hourly basis

[Zumteufel]

Came here to work; the company I worked for in Europe was moving its software development down here. Was here "on trial" for a month to see if I liked it, took just two days for me to take the decision.

I do the bar hopping once in a while (not playing with the goods, just enjoying the views and having a good time), but I would be bored doing it more often. Besides, I have a university educated TH girlfriend, I am not sure I could handle a longer relationship without the intellectual reciprocity.

[pigeonjake]

i went to my mates weding england, to his thai wife, i was married to my ex wife then,

after i got divorced, my mate asked me to come out here to see him,

i did, stayed at the farm for a few days, he took me to pattaya droped me off and said have fun,,lol

i couldnt believe it,

ill admit i did that for a couple of years, got some good freinds there too, one owns a bar from my own town in england, hes been there over 20years,

anyway i got fed up of the pattaya thing, it changed in a way, in lots of ways, you started to see football shirts and trouble,

so i started to go and stay with my freind again on his farm, and thought this would do me when i retire,

well it got me before i retired, i met my wife, and now we have our beauitufl daughter and also have a farm,

yes as some put it nokon nowere,

but thats my home,

just my opinion but i think there is more who came for the women then came for the temples, me for one of them,

and yes ive worked here, i was operations manager of a stainless steel fabrication company in samut prakarn bkk,

but got offerd a much better possition in africa,

just my opinion people,

i would bet a lot of money that there isnt many in thailand who havnt been with a working girl, but they are to high and mighty to say so,

some working girls in thailand dont work in bars, there is some in clubs and other places, ready to play the game, if you know what i mean,

jake

[Spaniel]

I first came to Thailand in 1967 on a contract with the US military. Back then Thailand wasn't yet known for it's nite life as it is today.

[MrWorldwide]

I came her cos Australia is so boring.

Agree. Its also dirt cheap for us Aussies to holiday in Thailand. Actually cheaper than holidaying in Australia.

Way cheaper, short of being 'the man' every single night of your 2-week holiday in Thailand, even WITH the cost of the airfare. I've been to most of the 'holiday hotspots' in Northern NSW and right up the QLD coast and I was always happy to go home, particularly when I had to spend hours wandering various arts and crafts markets with a former partner and taking valuable drinking time out to ensure that her teenage daughter wasn't being impregnated by a third-cousin (I kid you not ..). Even a long weekend outing like that would see me short of several hundred dollars - at the time, I felt I was doing the right thing having a 'real' relationship, but that's a whle other thread in itself.

Makes me laugh when I see comments re how 'sad' it is for a Farang to park his butt on a barstool in Suk Soi 4 or Soi Bukhao and watch the world go by - right now, I could use a leisurely afternoon doing precisely that. Not sure that I would want it to be my only option, but I don't knock the VFM involved in buying a Tiger and watching the circus acts out front of the bar

[Digitalbanana]

Thought I'd opened the Pattaya Addicts web site by mishtake :-)

[slipperylobster]

i came here for the street food....

[kevvy]

I really came here just to join Thai Visa , JING JING ......

[loofa]

husband is a teacher, I am writing about traditional Thai medicine. I know many people who come here to study Thai bodywork, study Buddhism, or to teach. I've also met westerners who own yoga studies here, herbal product businesses and import/export businesses and happen to love the culture. These are the people I gravitate toward. They are not my community, but I also have met a large number of people who come here as missionaries. There are also a lot of people here working with NGOs and doing charity work. I'm not sure why this forum seems to attract such a narrow slice of ex-pats, but trust me, there is variety here. Hopefully posting here may bring some balance - and let onlookers know that there are many many reasons one might end up in Thailand.

[JcPotter22]

Just want to say people have never seen jobs in Thailand for westerners.. I'm 22 and still got a lot to learn.. I'm working as a HSE coordinator and on more then enough money to live and actually have savings living here... You just need to look hard enough or know the right people

[Jack Mountain]

I didn't came to Thailand .... I left Holland and finally found here a place.

[TheSpade]

Very first time I came was with my dad. He'd just broken up with his gf of the time and I'd just graduated from uni not long before. They were sposed to be going to SE Asia for a 2 weeks tour at Xmas time so he said he'd take me instead as a graduation / Xmas present.

Spent 3 days in BKK and a week in Phuket. Wasn't impressed with Thailand at all. Loved Cambodia and Vietnam though.

The following year I was backpacking Australia, my first big backpacker trip, and I got a bit bored with Aus after a few months and came to backpack SE Asia instead.

Was going to avoid Thailand based on first impressions but passing through was inevitable and I actually really enjoyed it.

Nothing to do with bar girls though I did hook up with a girl who used to pick me up in her BMW and drive me around town lavishing drinks on me.

Now several years on after travelling most of the world I live in BKK and still don't indulge in the bar girl scene but the fact it's just so easy to hook up with attractive and slim regular girls (students / girls with reasonable jobs) certainly helps keep me here. It's not the sole reason I'm here but if it was a difficult place to meet good looking girls I don't think I'd live here.

[CIHUAHUA]

"It would be stupid to say every man came here for that reason, but i suspect the majority did,

I met my wife in a bar and the majority if not all of my expat mates did, so where is the stigma?

Its a part of the felang / Thai culture here , stop pretending it isnt"

I met my wife when I was forty-two and she was seventeen and that was about twenty-five years ago. She is a Scot and I am a little of everything and we are from the USA. So why did we move here to Thailand ten years ago? I could say it was to make our money go further but we make enough of it to live anywhere in the world. The real answer would be that we just got tired of the same old bull the USA was feeding us with Bush- war – taxes – and the list goes on. Here in the LOS I only get the news if I want it. We like Thai people and the culture. We are centrally located here and go to other countries in Asia. I don't eat much Thai food but cook what ever I want shopping at Rim Ping market where I can get food that is not available in the US that comes in from parts of Europe and the land of Oz. They deliver it so I don't even have to carry the bags. I order from a delivery service here in Chiang Mai that brings restaurant food to my door. I drink a little rum that comes from Cuba and I can't get that in the USA. We are friends with couples that are the Thai/farang sort that did meet in a bar and they have the same age spread as we do , thank God for that. They seem to be happy and love each-other so whats wrong with that! There is something here in the LOS for everyone just like the used car salesman said “There is a butt for every seat.”

Edited September 14, 2013 by CIHUAHUA

[john fogerty]

About 4 years ago, I had a heart bypass operation back in the UK. Whilst doctors said that I could go back to work once I had recovered sufficiently, I couldn't go back to my old job as I had already resigned (hated it with a passion, anyway so I was glad to be out of it). I was 58 at the time and I wondered where I could get a job at my age that would pay enough money to support a family. I tried to apply for benefits but again I wouldn't have got enough to survive. I have a Thai wife & we've been married 14 years so I just suggested to her that the only solutuon might be to move to Thailand as we both knew the country well. We've now been here nearly 3 years and have absolutely no regrets. Our 2 kids ( aged 13 & 11) have settled really well in Thai schools and have learnt the language remarkably well. Can't see myself ever moving back there. Basically, couldn't afford to live in England so moved here.

[theblether]

I've never been to Thailand, what's it like?

[super22k]

I came here because of the currency difference.You can get bar girls anywhere in the world if you look for them.The UK is a rich,but expensive country to live in. Thailand is a poor, and inexpensive, country to live in. So if I live here my pensions are worth more.

As Michael Caine the British act said,"Ive been rich and I have been poor,and rich is best."

[khunpa]

I moved here because I feel in love with my Thai-girlfriend and found out that I need to be around her to be truly happy. Have now lived here for 4 years and loved every moment of it.

[watcharacters]

I have been here for over 6 years and maybe it is my ignorance i never thought it was possible to get a job here that actually paid aswell as the Western world, so i applaud your ingenuity.

I for one need to travel to get money to live decent

Please tell , whats a frangipani?

look at my pic, plumeria or lillawadee

jimbobs1, on 13 Sept 2013 - 23:48, said:

Please tell , whats a frangipani?

It's a tree. They are very beautiful. We have a few of them.

That's a tree?

[rosst]

hahahahaha, mate, I never came for the women, I came over here originally for the frangipani as that is my business and Thailand has some of the best in the world. All my mates were telling me to enjoy the ladies but I didnt particularly want to take anything extra home so I simply ignored them until I accidentally met my future wife(not in a bar, I am not a drinker), she is also a frangipani enthusiast(and very close to my age & not out of my league) so we hit it off and I just kept coming back to spend time with her then we married and I moved over here to live with her & grow/work with my plants. There are some of us that didnt come here to play hide the sausage with all the ladies or to get on the piss, we have met our partners/wives but not in the usaul way(bar), I suppose this means we can still hang sh*t if we want too

And so say many of us!!

Unfortunately there are many who come here who represent the worst of their culture and they meet the worst of Thai culture and the result can be ugly.

On my first trip, I was shown around Chiang Mai and all the bars etc. etc. Interesting for a visit, never been back. I then travelled to Nong Khai and a village that shall remain nameless where I met the real Thailand and have travelled back and forth a few times enjoying the company and buying a house and renovating it and generally enjoying this beautiful almost falang free zone.

I love the place but specifically, the Thai people who are my friends who share their meals with me and whose company I enjoy.

I have taken steps to keep my assets at my disposal only and I believe they respect me for that.

[rosst]

I've never been to Thailand, what's it like?

Read my post. LOL

[cardholder]

I've never been to Thailand, what's it like?

Very often warm and moist....

[Bpuumike]

Please tell , whats a frangipani?

It's a tree. They are very beautiful. We have a few of them.

Have always liked them until someone told me the Thais and Chinese call them the 'flowers of the dead' and are associated with death.

Any truth in that one?

[cardholder]

I have been here for over 6 years and maybe it is my ignorance i never thought it was possible to get a job here that actually paid aswell as the Western world, so i applaud your ingenuity.

I for one need to travel to get money to live decent

Please tell , whats a frangipani?

You may know it better as Leelawadee.

[seajae]

I've never been to Thailand, what's it like?

Very often warm and moist....

you are talking about the country itself I pressume,