Hankering for the "good ol' days"?

[lovelomsak]

I donot miss the good old days half as much as the good old nights.

[northernjohn]

wait, this thread is about how sex workers are putting on weight?

Try Laos, Cambodia, or Africa, cheaper and skinnier sex workers there eh

I will bow to your expertise.

I presume you had no good old days until you got into puberty. Seems to have happed to as lot here.

[nottocus]

Good old days for me….nana, cowboy…every night. Later Buckskin Joes

[jesimps]

Life is good. No complaints. If it's so dreadful then most foreigners have a choice

That didn't take long did it?

[tim armstrong]

ITs still way cheaper than OZ. So I'm staying here.

[Gecko123]

In 2003 the price of pork was 80 baht/kilo and the the exchange rate was 40/USD.

In 2013 the price of pork was 120 baht/kilo and the exchange rate was 30/USD.

In baht, pork increased 50% over this ten year period.

In dollars, however, pork increased 100% over this ten year period.

(2003 USD cost = $2.00/kilo; 2013 USD cost = $4.00/kilo)

I suspect for some this falls into the "who cares?" department, but nonetheless, here goes:

On an annualized basis, between 2003 and 2013

the price of pork in Thai baht increased on average 4.1% per year during this period.

the price of pork in US dollars increased on average 7% per year during this period.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Gecko123

[mrtoad]

Life is good. No complaints. If it's so dreadful then most foreigners have a choice

That didn't take long did it?

Didn't take long for what?

Lived here 10 years , been visiting since 91. There are still great places away from the tourist traps and lots of things have improved.

The OP made a good question.

I have no problem complaining about stuff here when its justified but i don't understand why some people live here and appear to hate the people and everything about the place.

[SoiBiker]

I have no problem complaining about stuff here when its justified but i don't understand why some people live here and appear to hate the people and everything about the place.

We never seem to get much of an answer to that question, which is probably why it's asked so often.

[mrtoad]

I have no problem complaining about stuff here when its justified but i don't understand why some people live here and appear to hate the people and everything about the place.

We never seem to get much of an answer to that question, which is probably why it's asked so often.

My guess is thst they are upset at not being Bwana

[thailiketoo]

I have no problem complaining about stuff here when its justified but i don't understand why some people live here and appear to hate the people and everything about the place.

We never seem to get much of an answer to that question, which is probably why it's asked so often.

My guess is thst they are upset at not being Bwana

In 1896, at the callow age of 18, Wood arrived in Bangkok to start work as a junior member of the British Consular Service. Over the next seventeen years, between periods in Bangkok, he served as British Vice-Consul at Nan, Chiang Rai, Songkhla and Lampang before, in 1913, being appointed British Consul at Chiang Mai. Here he remained for the remainder of his diplomatic career, becoming in due course British Consul-General in 1918.

In 1931, after three-and-a-half decades in the British diplomatic service, Wood retired and returned briefly to England. He found he could not settle outside Thailand, however, and soon returned to spend the rest of his life (barring only a bitter period of internment during World War II) at his home in Ban Nong Hoi, by the banks of the River Ping. Wood died in 1970, at the ripe old age of 91. He is buried in a mausoleum in Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery, beside his wife Khun Boon, nee Panya Chitpreecha, of Chiang Rai, whom Wood married in 1906, and whose ashes were returned from England to Chiang Mai after her death in 1982. The inscription on Wood's tomb reads, simply, "He loved Thailand.

http://www.chiangmaitouristguide.com/08-2005/feature1.html

Edited November 2, 2014 by thailiketoo

[chicowoodduck]

flew to Bangkok from Glasgow with Emirates, a round trip, about nine years ago, costs about 500 Quid, same today about 800 Quid.

Japan Airline, Vancouver-BKK return same price in 2014 as 1988.

LA-BKK-LA...790 USD on

DELTA...cheap, cheap, cheap! ???

[HerbalEd]

Today is tomorrow's "good ol' days." Stop living in the past ... which ain't living. Compared to the farangs' home countries, Thailand is cheap and has many interesting and fun things to offer. I've been a very frequent and long-term visitor to Thailand for 30-plus years .... and have resided here almost full time the last few years ... and it's still my favorite country in the world.

[Tonawatchee]

If I had a magic wand, I'd swipe it through the air and wish I was back here again, in Udon, as 21 year old in 1968. Life was much slower then. Most people walked to their destination as there were few roads and fewer cars. Motorscooters were the up and coming mode of transport. Bicycles were everywhere. Lovely ladies gliding down the road single file with their colorful parasols round and bright. In downtown, the air was a pungent fragrance of camphor, spices and black klong water all waifing about the multitude of woodens shops and shanties where families lived and worked. A sizeable Indian population was thriving especially in tailor trade. Indian women in their colorful Saris added an exotic beauty to the scene.

.

The Baht at that time was about 20 to the dollar, about a third less than today. Even so, a taxi ride from the air base to downtown was 5 baht and a samlar ride across town was about two baht; same price as a plate of Kwaetiow Muu or Khaw Phat. At the Udorn Light Restaurant, however, a nice meal of Large Fried Prawns or Kobe Steak with assorted Mixed Vegetables, French Fries, Garden Salad and Singha beer could be 120 baht.

After eating all of that, it was necessary to get rid of that stuffed feeling and for 50 baht an hour, the Twilight Bath and Massage Parlor

was the place to go. Nobody ever stayed for just one hour.

My girl friend was ostracized by most of her friends when they learned she had a farang boy friend. It was the cultural thinking of the time. We couldn't hold hands in public. Two or three family members had to accompany us as chaperones whenever went any place together until we were married. That is certainly not the Thailand of today.

[SoiBiker]

So it stank, the transport sucked, there was only limited food available, and the locals were suspicious of foreigners?

Sounds great.

[Grindting]

How many expats who are in Los are considering vietnam?

It's still undeveloped like LOS before the sky train was implemented. Me and my mrs travelled for about 3 weeks through vietnam top to bottom and found that the food on the whole cheaper than LOS, especially compared with the tourist areas of LOS. And certainly the drink. A bottled beer of any of the local stuff (beer saigon or beer hoi Ann or beer hanoi etc) was 3 or 4 times cheaper than any offerings in LOS and is a WAY better quality beer than anything made in LOS. And that's just the bottled stuff. Freshly made Beer Hoi (I think is the name) which was available anywhere and is closer to a cask conditioned ale or craft beer as you would find in the UK or USA, was anywhere from 15p (20c) right down in some restaurants to 7p a glass!!!! (About half a pint). That's right, 7 UK Pence!!!! And was really really refreshing and not gassy you could drink it all day. The strength is low probably 3% but then there is an art to making a low strength beer anyway.

I know accommodation, beer and food is high on the list of priorities for a lot of expats. So I'm wondering why we didn't see more. The only expats we did meet were american ex service men or American former expats (the working kind) who had already gone mad.

There are girls available but no clue about the prices or quality. I had to pretend I wasn't looking when with the Mrs.

I'm sure price wise it's closer to the thailand good old days, and of the same quality infrastructure and orice structure of that time as well. Or I could be wrong

Not sure if I prefer the thais or Vietnamese. Vietnamese probably more pushy being closer to china, but most still friendly. And in the service industry they are less cheeky than the thais, less sass. They also come across as sharper and more focused than the Thais, they seem to have a better understanding of what's going on around them in general, decisive and hard working, not slothernly. The Vietnamese girls are very pretty though, although probably even more difficult to find a 'good' one compared with the Thais from what I've 'heard'. But in asian circles Vietnamese I've heard are more 'sort after' as a partner, for a Singaporean or korean man looking for a partner, rather than a thai.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Grindting

[SoiBiker]

I think you might have had rose-tinted specs on. Vietnamese beer is no better than Thai, and Bia Hoi is like sex in a canoe.

I like Vietnam as a place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. The people are a lot harsher, the whole place is a bit too loud and chaotic, and it's not that cheap.

[Bernard Flint]

In 2003 the price of pork was 80 baht/kilo and the the exchange rate was 40/USD.

In 2013 the price of pork was 120 baht/kilo and the exchange rate was 30/USD.

In baht, pork increased 50% over this ten year period.

In dollars, however, pork increased 100% over this ten year period.

(2003 USD cost = $2.00/kilo; 2013 USD cost = $4.00/kilo)

I suspect for some this falls into the "who cares?" department, but nonetheless, here goes:

On an annualized basis, between 2003 and 2013

the price of pork in Thai baht increased on average 4.1% per year during this period.

the price of pork in US dollars increased on average 7% per year during this period.

eat chicken then

[mcfish]

Most of us have some sort of steady income usually a pension thats usually indexed so thats been going up as well...so whats the problem?

[Gecko123]

In 2003 the price of pork was 80 baht/kilo and the the exchange rate was 40/USD.

In 2013 the price of pork was 120 baht/kilo and the exchange rate was 30/USD.

In baht, pork increased 50% over this ten year period.

In dollars, however, pork increased 100% over this ten year period.

(2003 USD cost = $2.00/kilo; 2013 USD cost = $4.00/kilo)

I suspect for some this falls into the "who cares?" department, but nonetheless, here goes:

On an annualized basis, between 2003 and 2013

the price of pork in Thai baht increased on average 4.1% per year during this period.

the price of pork in US dollars increased on average 7% per year during this period.

eat chicken then

My post wasn't intended as a complaint. It was intended to be informative only.

[ableguy]

In 2003 the price of pork was 80 baht/kilo and the the exchange rate was 40/USD.

In 2013 the price of pork was 120 baht/kilo and the exchange rate was 30/USD.

In baht, pork increased 50% over this ten year period.

In dollars, however, pork increased 100% over this ten year period.

(2003 USD cost = $2.00/kilo; 2013 USD cost = $4.00/kilo)

I suspect for some this falls into the "who cares?" department, but nonetheless, here goes:

On an annualized basis, between 2003 and 2013

the price of pork in Thai baht increased on average 4.1% per year during this period.

the price of pork in US dollars increased on average 7% per year during this period.

eat chicken then

You mean chicks of course.

[Neeranam]

Back in 1992 I got a bottle of cheap Thai rum for less than 100 baht. A bungalow on the beach on Haad rin beach for 60 baht. A meal of noodles for 10 baht and 6 large bottles of water for 20 baht. There were 25 baht to the $ and 38 baht to the pound.

Do I want Thailand to develop and pay me a higher wage and give my children better prospects or Thailand to have a financial disaster and more farang OAPs coming to Khon Kaen with their floozies to moan about everything Thai? I don't think I have to answer.

[Cypress Hill]

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Most of us have some sort of steady income usually a pension thats usually indexed so thats been going up as well...so whats the problem?

Tosh

"Most" don't bother with medical/health cover, can't afford to drink outside happy hour and most have their pensions index linked to official inflation measures which are about as useful as <deleted>

CPI according to gov't agencies - 1.2%

REAL inflation on the street - 4-6%

[Kaalle]

I don't really get it, with the money I'm spending here back home it would afford me maybe rent for a one room apartment and food. Here I have a big house, air cons, internet etc, motorbikes, eat out every day, and a bunch of other stuff. Of course Thailand is cheaper, unless you originally hail from Azerbaijan or whatever.

[CharlieH]

Posts removed.

7) You will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members, (flaming) Stalking of members on either the forum or via PM will not be allowed.

[thailiketoo]

I don't really get it, with the money I'm spending here back home it would afford me maybe rent for a one room apartment and food. Here I have a big house, air cons, internet etc, motorbikes, eat out every day, and a bunch of other stuff. Of course Thailand is cheaper, unless you originally hail from Azerbaijan or whatever.

Everyone who lives in Thailand knows this. The arguments about how expensive it is are started by people who have a grudge against Thailand for one reason or another. Rent is by far the largest component of cost of living next to trophy wives and anyone here with half a brain or more knows the score on both.