Essential Packing For Thais

[GuestHouse]

Inspired by the "Bringing food into Thailand" thread - have you seen the piles of stuff Thais take out of Thailand with them?

I've a Thai colleague who got slapped with a Bht15K excess baggage allowance flying from Thailand to Italy - He complained bitterly that he had been had to pay so much, but meanwhile he had a 10Kg bag of Thai rice with him.

The rice alone pushed him over his allowance, meaning it cost something like Bht1500/kg (30 times what it would have cost him here in Rome). What is more, my wife explicitly told him that he could by very good Thai rice here at a reasonable price. (Go figure – he certainly didn’t!)

Every time one of our Thai staff come back to Italy after a vacation in Thailand they come into the office with piles of stuff that is EXACTLY THE SAME as is available down the local Asian market THE EXACT SAME BRANDS.

I've plenty of friends married to Thais who tell the same story. Their wives cram all manner of food into their bags, often going over their allowance and often bringing stuff that is thrown in the bin because its going off by time they get around to using it.

I put a stop to this in our household - The rule is NO FOOD in the bags, this after a jar of 'Nam Prik' leaked out and ruined a suit that cost dozens of times more than all the food my wife had been brining with her. Perhaps a hundred times more than she was hoping to save.

A friend has had no such luck - And he lives less than a mile from a huge Asian Food Supermarket - replete with Thai stuff.

He sits with his face in his hands bemoaning his wife's pre-return to the UK packing. As he put it:-

'Twelve days holiday a year in Thailand, and his wife spends four days of it running around buying stuff that she can buy back here... and then when they get back she throws half of it in the bin'.

There is no logic in this - but then perhaps that is the first mistake, expecting logic.

[t.s]

Inspired by the "Bringing food into Thailand" thread - have you seen the piles of stuff Thais take out of Thailand with them?

mama. they all bring mama.

[OneeyedJohn]

Exiting the UK we spent more on transport costs bringing stuff to Thailand than the stuff was worth.

Sentimental value aside the logic my wife applied was at best ' skewiff ',

I just try try and try to look on the best side of life when confronted with Thai logic

[ling men]

Make up seems to be another thing that can only be bought in Thailand, even though it is available in uk shops.

Medicine is more complicated, the stuff required in Thailand is only available in the UK and the stuff required in UK is only available in Thailand.

[Donz]

I went to Thailand with 2 pair of shirts, jeans, shirts socks and undies.

I came back to Australia with 140 kgs, The buggers wanted to change me as my limit was on 20 kgs, with my gf i could have 40 kgs.

She had about 10 kgs and so we were oinly 130 kgs over, after talking and talking they agreed that they would let me have 100 kg because the flight wasnt fully booked. Still I had to leave 30 kgs at her mums house and she had to send it by DHL.

If it wasnt for my looks then I probaly would of had to repack all my crap again.

[JetsetBkk]

...He sits with his face in his hands bemoaning his wife's pre-return to the UK packing...

In the current vernacular, I think this is called being "pussy-whipped".

[mrbojangles]

Last time i had to bring an heavy wooden bowl (you know the one's like for making Som Tam or Pok Pok) as well as Plaah etc. etc.

The Mrs is in the boonies again for the last 3 week and i'm meeting her in Patters for 3 weeks before we fly back to the UK. Can't wait to see what she has for us to carry this time !! Still, anything that makes her life in the UK a bit easier, i don't mind doing

[ColPyat]

I feel so good to have a Thai gf with logic etc.

No doubt about that.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Inspired by the "Bringing food into Thailand" thread - have you seen the piles of stuff Thais take out of Thailand with them?

mama. they all bring mama.

Well, they are 25p per packet in the UK!

[migrant]

I feel so good to have a Thai gf with logic etc. I would like to know if many of your girls are hi class or from the bush? because the Thai girls I know are very different to what many people claim they are on here

I'm helping divert the thread, but my Thai fiance would qualify as middle class. Father was a cop, Mom stayed home. She went to uni in Thailand for teaching, then was brought to USA by Thai husband. From a small town/village outside Cha Am.

She taught herself english, and after Thai hubby died, went to work (2 jobs) and school. Learned to drive, etc.

Before her I met my share of bar girls (Thailand and other countries) and came off a divorce to a Korean lady, so radar was on high, with no expectations.

More than 2 years now, and I couldn't ask for a better companion.

[Camelot]

Alas, 'Thai logic' is the ultimate oxymoron and not relevant to one's place in society. Maybe this is because foreigners view it in western terms where the rationale for doing something is usually seen as black and white rather than in shades of grey.

If you doubt this, listen to the reasoning put forward by senior government officials, ministers and academics on issues such as the recent debate over raising the minimum age for buying or drinking alcohol to 25. There are many other examples.

I've worked with the hi-so crowd and bought drinks for bargirls and a common denominator is this lack of logic Donz thinks might be a class thing. It's not, although exceptions do exist.

[Donz]

Alas, 'Thai logic' is the ultimate oxymoron and not relevant to one's place in society. Maybe this is because foreigners view it in western terms where the rationale for doing something is usually seen as black and white rather than in shades of grey.

If you doubt this, listen to the reasoning put forward by senior government officials, ministers and academics on issues such as the recent debate over raising the minimum age for buying or drinking alcohol to 25. There are many other examples.

I've worked with the hi-so crowd and bought drinks for bargirls and a common denominator is this lack of logic Donz thinks might be a class thing. It's not, although exceptions do exist.

I know many Thai girls in sydney, most of them have pretty good logic, there not as dumb as what people on here make them out to be.

Also the the alcohol limit story is a whole different story, it was dicussed and then rejected. I mean many countries dicuss some funny things also. Doesnt make them all stupid

[Mobi]

My ex Thai wife, with whom I lived in the Uk for some 20 years , would seemingly spend every day of every trip to Thailand buying stuff to take back to England. The last few days were always the worst, because then she would go to the markets and buy the fresh stuff - everything from Mangos to fish, to vegetables and God knows what else.

We were always at least 20 kilos overweight, not counting all the crap we hand carried on the plane. How we ever got away with not paying any excess baggage, and getting it all through customs in England I'll never know.

It used to stress me out no end, and quite frrankly drive me round the bloody bend. But she would never change - even though a vast majority of the stuff was available in England, and we wree comfortably well off and could easily afford what ever it cost.

Thank the Lord all that is long behind me - gives me the 'eeby jeebies' just thinking about it.

[Donz]

My ex Thai wife, with whom I lived in the Uk for some 20 years , would seemingly spend every day of every trip to Thailand buying stuff to take back to England. The last few days were always the worst, because then she would go to the markets and buy the fresh stuff - everything from Mangos to fish, to vegetables and God knows what else.

We were always at least 20 kilos overweight, not counting all the crap we hand carried on the plane. How we ever got away with not paying any excess baggage, and getting it all through customs in England I'll never know.

It used to stress me out no end, and quite frrankly drive me round the bloody bend. But she would never change - even though a vast majority of the stuff was available in England, and we wree comfortably well off and could easily afford what ever it cost.

Thank the Lord all that is long behind me - gives me the 'eeby jeebies' just thinking about it.

Can you take fresh food through customs in england? I thought fish wouldnt be allowed either? fruit too?

Are you sure about this?

[Mobi]

[

Can you take fresh food through customs in england? I thought fish wouldnt be allowed either? fruit too?

Are you sure about this?

Of course you can't! That's why I was so stressed out. I would say a vast majority of the food we carried into England was illegally imported.

But you try arguing with a headstrong, bloody minded Thai woman who couldn't be told anything, and never ever admitted she was wrong about anything in her whole f..cking life.

Don't get me started

[Donz]

[

Can you take fresh food through customs in england? I thought fish wouldnt be allowed either? fruit too?

Are you sure about this?

Of course you can't! That's why I was so stressed out. I would say a vast majority of the food we carried into England was illegally imported.

But you try arguing with a headstrong, bloody minded Thai woman who couldn't be told anything, and never ever admitted she was wrong about anything in her whole f..cking life.

Don't get me started

Ive had a few ex's like that too.

[Camelot]

Forget about going overseas...my wife seems to empty the local supermarket and try to take it along with her on regular trips upcountry, usually Lopburi, Phichit or Chantaburi.

Not exactly Darfur in the Sudan.

[GuestHouse]

I feel so good to have a Thai gf with logic etc. I would like to know if many of your girls are hi class or from the bush? because the Thai girls I know are very different to what many people claim they are on here

The vast majority of our Thai friends here in Rome are, because of the type of place it is, diplomatic staff and/or work over at the UN.

While I don't put a lot of store in any Farang claiming any Thai they know is 'Hi So' (it rhymes far too well with 'How would you know?') - I can safely say they are defienately not, as Donz so colourfully puts it 'From the Bush'.

I know for certain that they all bring back heaps of the same kind of stuff, including as we have been reminded 'Ma Ma'.

Our Thai staff here in the office, between two and three Thais (depending on who's out on other projects) are well educated (all have masters degrees), I would say 'solidly middle class' - the absolutely bring back the same heaps of stuff... and yes, including Ma Ma.

One has just admitted she never eats Ma Ma in Thailand but never leaves Thailand without half a suitcase full.

[Donz]

I feel so good to have a Thai gf with logic etc. I would like to know if many of your girls are hi class or from the bush? because the Thai girls I know are very different to what many people claim they are on here

The vast majority of our Thai friends here in Rome are, because of the type of place it is, diplomatic staff and/or work over at the UN.

While I don't put a lot of store in any Farang claiming any Thai they know is 'Hi So' (it rhymes far too well with 'How would you know?') - I can safely say they are defienately not, as Donz so colourfully puts it 'From the Bush'.

I know for certain that they all bring back heaps of the same kind of stuff, including as we have been reminded 'Ma Ma'.

Our Thai staff here in the office, between two and three Thais (depending on who's out on other projects) are well educated (all have masters degrees), I would say 'solidly middle class' - the absolutely bring back the same heaps of stuff... and yes, including Ma Ma.

One has just admitted she never eats Ma Ma in Thailand but never leaves Thailand without half a suitcase full.

Well I know a few hi so Thai girls, you might not like the idea but they do exist.

So you know for sure that ALL thai people take loads of food out of the country when they fly out?

I think you are vastly over exaggerating and just trying as hard as you can to make a point.

[bkkmadness]

What's your definition of Hi So Donz, are the people you know really from the upper levels of Thai society?

[Donz]

Well my gf family are in the hi-so group, but i wont go into details.

A few of her friends parents own multiple companies/celebraties siblings and they all got masters here in sydney (or still in uni doing there masters) not all of them are in the hi so, maybe more in the middle.

Edited October 25, 2006 by Donz

[bino]

A few of her parents

A few? Does that mean she has more than two parents?

Amazing.... must be a hi-so thing.

[Donz]

I just edited it, i forgot to put friends.

[Mobi]

This is getting pretty much off topic, but the business of Hi and Lo So Thais overseas is an interesting one.

I wouldn't presume to be an expert as to which is which (or who is who?), but when My Thai wife and I lived in England, we had a few friends in the Thai Community there. One particular couple (English Husband, Thai wife) were mad keen on Golf, and invited us on a couple of occasions to attend a Thai embassy sponsored golf day out in the leafy suburbs of up-market Hertfordshire.

At the end of the day's play, we all assembled in the club house for food and presentations, and I have to say I have never seen such a varied mix of Thais from all walks of life (to say nothing of some of the farangs there) in my life. Clearly the ambassador and his staff were Hi So's, and as far as one could tell, quite a few others were as well. But then there were the Thai girls with farang husbands, and many of those were clearly not out of the "upper crust" basket, and it wouldn't be uncharitable to say that quite a few had not long ago been cavorting on poles in Bangkok's fleshpots. There were even some single 'blokey' Englishmen, who openly admitted they took regular "sex Holidays in Thailand.

I am quite sure that our friendly Thai ambassador and his cronies wouldn't be seen dead socializing in such circles if they were back in Thailand, and I remember having a quiet chuckle and thinking that good old 'egalitarian" Blighty', had brought down these stuffed Thai shirts a peg or two.

[Jeff1]

[

Can you take fresh food through customs in england? I thought fish wouldnt be allowed either? fruit too?

Are you sure about this?

Of course you can't! That's why I was so stressed out. I would say a vast majority of the food we carried into England was illegally imported.

But you try arguing with a headstrong, bloody minded Thai woman who couldn't be told anything, and never ever admitted she was wrong about anything in her whole f..cking life.

Don't get me started

Im there with you. My wife has kids in the village climb up trees, pick some sort of leaves and brings them to the U.S. Then there is the dried fish that gets mashed to a powder in a kilo size bag.

Then there is the moldy fish in jars that stinks to high heaven. Thank Buddah, they have not stopped her for a peek in to her siutcase(s). If they ever did I would keep walking like I never knew her.

[binnsy]

ATM CARD

[bkkandrew]

After three years of my Ex Thai GF last coming to UK, I have JUST managed to finish eating the bloody rice from her Isaan Farm. Admittedly, I spend 2.5 weeks per month here in LOS, but even so!

Edited October 25, 2006 by bkkandrew

[GuestHouse]

Am I the only one here who's heard more than enough of Donz droning on about his 'Hi So' g/f

Let Me Remind You All

The purpose of the of this post was to discuss the 'baggage Thais take with them when traveling overseas

The purpose was not to discuss “The 'Baggage Donz carries around (in the form of a huge chip on his shoulder)" _ And please, Donz, I AM NOT referring to your g/f when I say 'Baggage'.

Listen up.

I had the good fortune to study at one of the two top universities in Britain (I would argue the world), people I got pissed with (when we should have been studying) were direct decedents of the people who's names filled the history books I read at school... I am guessing, but I am not insisting, they might claim to be 'Hi So'.

I don't give a rats arse about claims that some Farang’s claims that his Thai bint is 'Hi So'

A) Because most Farangs haven't got a <deleted> clue when it comes to judging the "Class" of Thais'.

Because it doesn't <deleted> matter! - The most sincere act of kindness I have experienced on the face of the whole planet was from a little old Thai lady who hadn't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. “Hi So” she was not - Class, she had <deleted> buckets of it.

SO!

Can we get back to discussing the baggage Thais take with them

And Donz, if you feel the need to tell the world at EVERY SINGLE <deleted> OPORTUNITY that your g/f is 'Hi So'...............

................. Find a professional who you can talk to about your own baggage problems… You might mention your new found avtar while your at it.

I for one am sick of hearing you droning on.

There is a world beyond 'T-shirt salesman shags girl with better education than he has'

[Edit] - Emotions switched off (believe it or not)

Edited October 25, 2006 by GuestHouse

[IMA_FARANG]

Inspired by the "Bringing food into Thailand" thread - have you seen the piles of stuff Thais take out of Thailand with them?

I've a Thai colleague who got slapped with a Bht15K excess baggage allowance flying from Thailand to Italy - He complained bitterly that he had been had to pay so much, but meanwhile he had a 10Kg bag of Thai rice with him.

The rice alone pushed him over his allowance, meaning it cost something like Bht1500/kg (30 times what it would have cost him here in Rome). What is more, my wife explicitly told him that he could by very good Thai rice here at a reasonable price. (Go figure – he certainly didn’t!)

Every time one of our Thai staff come back to Italy after a vacation in Thailand they come into the office with piles of stuff that is EXACTLY THE SAME as is available down the local Asian market THE EXACT SAME BRANDS.

I've plenty of friends married to Thais who tell the same story. Their wives cram all manner of food into their bags, often going over their allowance and often bringing stuff that is thrown in the bin because its going off by time they get around to using it.

I put a stop to this in our household - The rule is NO FOOD in the bags, this after a jar of 'Nam Prik' leaked out and ruined a suit that cost dozens of times more than all the food my wife had been brining with her. Perhaps a hundred times more than she was hoping to save.

A friend has had no such luck - And he lives less than a mile from a huge Asian Food Supermarket - replete with Thai stuff.

He sits with his face in his hands bemoaning his wife's pre-return to the UK packing. As he put it:-

'Twelve days holiday a year in Thailand, and his wife spends four days of it running around buying stuff that she can buy back here... and then when they get back she throws half of it in the bin'.

There is no logic in this - but then perhaps that is the first mistake, expecting logic.

On the other hand I once knew a Brit from "Tyneside" (wherever that is) who brought 8 bottles of good English mustard (or Moose-tard as he kept calling it) into Thailand. Reason was so he could have his English mustard for his sausages in the morning. When I looked at the bottles I found out:

1. It wasn't English, it was from Germany.

2. It was available in Thailand at the Villa market as well as other stores that carried farang food items.

3 It was almost as cheap to buy it in Thailand as to buy it in the U.K.

Which is just to say that every nationality has the same individuals to be found.

And just to be clear, Americans are also known for such nonsense.

[udon]

Definition of Thai society:

Lo-so: 1 T-shirt table

Hi-so: 2 T-shirt tables

Location

Lo-so Local market

Hi-so JJ Plaza