I think Thai women are fairly dramatic, and breaking up with them will not be easy.

In the thai news, all of the time you hear stories about so and so killing themselves or someone over relationships etc. It makes the news, and turns them into martyrs. Bill may not be aware of this cause its usually in the Thai language and he may not hear about it. The women see all of this, and it fuels the fire.

this would most definitely require a trip report if accomplished.

I had this information on thaivisa.com. But, If you can fly to a close asian foreign embassy and renew indefinitely your 90 tourist vise there is no problem at all, it will only cost a little bit more to stay in Thailand. Also, theres always this option : www.thailandelite.com or the investor visa.

degen - i believe southerndog is right, having several girlfriends could lead to something very dramatic. of course it depends on the type of girl - if shes something akin to a bargirl (not actually a hooker say, but hangs out in bars for gifts) and you've been seeing her regularly, no problem. ditto if they know you're a farang looking for some fun, but if its in anyway serious ala southerndog, you could be missing a penis if/when they find out.

by the same token, alot of older thai businessmen have mistresses that their wives sort of know abt and thats generally ok..

i like your phrasing on with the baseball bat thing


-pug

think my stepdad is going with thailand elite - i'll letcha know what its like when i get a chance to talk to him

-pug

Do you know a good tailor who could make me a quality custom suit? I imagine it would be the price of a good off-the-rack suit instead of the $5kish it would cost anywhere else. I'm a little short for an American so it probably wouldn't be that out of the ordinary for him.

Party works fine here (6pm 9/28/06) in Bangkok

Have you tried to learn Thai?

I know it is not easy but you can get a hang of it. The grammar is super easy. I learned quite a bit having a college student come to my place about once a week to tutor me. Along with going through instruction books on my own and making flash cards. And my main Thai buddy and I would only speak Thai to each other for the most part, which helped a lot.

You will get a lot of respect from Thais if you make an effort to learn it. You will also eat much much better if you learn how to read menus in Thai so you are not limited in where you can go eat. And also learn directions so you can ask anyone how to get somewhere if you are lost.

Sure you will not be able to analyze things with folks but in my opinion if you are going to be a guest in a country, you should learn the language instead of expecting everyone to speak yours. I am not saying that is what you have done, but I knew a lot of other expats who made no effort whatsoever and I think their experience was much less rich, culturally speaking, than those of us who learned Thai.

KJS

Looks like I am late to the party. 12 pages...damn.

Just got back from my visa run (Koh samui - Malaysia - Samui) 12 hours in a minivan but not too bad I guess.

KJS is correct: If you make an effort to learn thai then Thailand is sooo much nicer. I have a decent vocab building up and get a lot more respect now that I can communicate on my own.

Have you been to any Muay Thai fights? Are there many in the cities?

They are all over the place here. I believe most of the suits that are made are silk.

There is a big Muay stadium here in Samui but I never went. Ive heard about some cool ones in Bangkok though.

There are MILLIONS of tailor shops all over Thailand. You can get suits dirt cheap.

OK serious question here.

When you rent a motorbike if it says "full insurance" and I pop a tire, is that covered or does it mean insurance if I run someone over? Because I rented a bike and got a flat. The place I rented it from is closed so I can't ask. Am I going to get owned by a huge fine here? Should I get it fixed before I return it? Is the rental place going to try to rip me off (Pop's something in Chiang Mai). Do they have that fix-a-flat [censored] in a can here? Where should I go?

An answer by 10am Thailand time would really kick ass here.

Dude, there are motorbike shops EVERYWHERE! A new tube will cost you 50 baht so just go and get it replaced. It MIGHT cost you 100 baht but dont pay more then that.

Actually, looking at the clock just now they might all be closed. You can get it fixed in the morning or just return the bike with the flat. When you return the bike they might not make you pay anything if you complain that their bike was a piece of [censored] and almost killed you. If anything pay them 100 baht and leave it at that.

Chok dee

"suits" can be had for a couple hundred up to $1,000 for high end tailors in Hong Kong. But there are various quality levels in materials, tailors, etc. my buddy just got back from Hong Kong and got custom made shirts for $90ish each. This sounds expensive, but they were made by some of the best tailors in the world.

if you want to get a lot cheaper, you can.

Also what are you guys going to do about visas with that new 3 30 day visa thing where you can only be a "tourist" for 90 days then you have to leave for 90?

2+2 mansion would be awesome. It would probably come to like 250US per person per month for a super balla house.

I really want to live in Chiang Mai for a while and play poker. (not a balla though, would have to live cheap)


edit unless you superstars teach me

Alright thanks. After it went flat and I almost died I parked it at my guesthouse and walked to 3 shops but they were all closed. I'll get it taken care of tomorrow.

In fall 08 when the 3 of us roll into Thailand, you can be sure we will be inquiring about balla mansions either by ourselves or with 2p2ers if interested.

A balla mansion would be sweet. You could go the luxury route or even just get a big cheaper place and make it like a poker frat house hahaa.

There are some great places for rent all over.

Also, I only read the first few pages of this thread but I saw some questions regarding the costs of living in Thailand.

Degen mentioned that for 2-3k you can live nicely in Thialand, but this is really high end. You can actually live nicely for around $500 a month depending on how much you party. My general expenses are about $400 a month (rent, untilites, food) and then from there you just factor in beer money etc

farang is right. I know some people here in Chiang Mai who are living nice off about US450 a month. If I come back to live and play poker I'll be planning on living off a grand a month or so.

If I come back it will be after tax season. As of right now I really want to do it. Hopefully the current visa situation changes

IMO, a 2+2 pad would be a bad idea.

Being well off in thailand is a big deal. Your neighbors will want to know about you, etc.. Drawing a lot of attention while playing internet poker doesn't seem like a great idea.