Can you muppets please let this thread return to the focus of people asking questions about travel to Thailand and getting useful replies?

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Not dark enough.

PS is calling an asian girl "chocolate" racist?

They call black guys "chocolate men" so i suppose it's not.

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so you think pumping trillions of tax dollars into a war that no one wants except the administration equates to American principles staying intact?

all,

ofdabeat was banned for threatening a poster, and ur54sold was banned for trolling this thread. both are one day bans. please don't react to trolls in this thread. just notify me when someone like ur54sold is being an ass and i'll give him a break.

so it's okay to call black negros? cooooool

I just posted this in another forum, but figure this and any future info might help this thread as well.

"I currently live in Bangkok and play poker semi-professionally. I came out here almost 4 years ago after finishing college, now own a few businesses here, and play about 3-4 hours a day of mind-numbing 22 dollar SnG's.

Overall, I love it here. I look at my friends in the states and feel bad when I describe my life to them. I have a good group of poker friends out here, some professional, some just do it for the love of the game. Poker is illegal, but I have no problem getting on most poker sites. My connection is great, and I live a pretty sick life for a mere 25k USD a year (and have a great savings plan as well).

The most beautiful beaches are next door, friendly and beautiful smiles everywhere, wonderful food from all parts of the world, western infrastructure and convenience, and very relaxed people.

The good, though, comes with the bad. People are a little too relaxed and things don't get done as quickly/efficiently as one would want. Touristy areas have touts wanting to rip you off (you might pay 80 bucks for something thats worth 50...woohoo), traffic and smog is a bitch, and its a hard culture with which to fully integrate oneself.

For me, the good far outweighs the bad, however, and that's why I'm here. I have a house, a labrador retriever, an awesome girlfriend, and own some self-sustaining businesses that net me more than the average under 30 guy in the west makes. Life is good out here, and I highly recommend you guys to give it a shot while you still can."

I don't understand a lot of the posters in this thread. They respond to ur54sold by saying "Let me live my own life. You do what you want to do. I'll do what I want to do. I'm not hurting anyone." Now while the last part may be up for debate, it's a good response. But then you turn around and say "backpackers suck lol what a bunch of jokers." Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

I don't think that the appeal of Thailand is living like a millionaire without being one. Living simply among other people living simply is what I enjoyed. Of course it's nice to do that on a beach too.

I think Ski can provide more accurate information than me, but the bargirls than I hung out with during my week in Bangkok spent more money than me. We went to that nightclub Spicy and they probly dropped like 4-5k baht. I somehow doubt that these girls are whoring their way through university while also sending money back to their parents. And even if they are, I think it's unfortunate that girls who choose not to be bargirls have no realistic shot of making anywhere near the money that bargirls do.

I met a black guy when I was in Bangkok, and a bargirl told me "I like your friend the chocolate man." Standard?

We're just joking around when we're talking about backpackers but this guy was expressing real hatred for people living in Thailand and making all kinds of ridiculous assumptions. There's a big difference in tone.

edit: yay, 2000 posts

Here's the thing about bargirls: they're like irresponsible poker players. Unless they're really stunning and can get a guy every night, bargirling can be really high variance. When things are running well, they forget about the bad times and spend all their money. They have no concept of financial responsibility--if they saved even 5% of the money they made, they would be set for life. There are no bargirl retirement packages, you either find a foreigner to marry/rip off or you end up a street vendor or rice farmer making $3/day. If you gave a girl $100k, it would be gone within months.

I'm talking here about the career bargirls and not the ones trying to put food on their family's table.

Can someone give me details about the jungle treks and river treks I've heard about. I'm heading to Thailand soon.

how much baht per month is required for a semi comfy lifestyle OUTSIDE of bangkok. Near the beach.

Is it illegal to play online poker there? I would like to go there, play for a living, have a place to stay near the beach, is this possible?

There are many companies offer treks, but some are much better than others. A lot of places talk to you then send you off to some random guy and you follow him around with 10 other people like sheep. You don't go far from Chiang Mai with those guys, and the villages are far from authentic. You definitely get what you pay for when it comes to treks.

I will post more about this when I have a bit more time, but here's a preview:

Have any of you eaten at the huge seafood place? I dunno the name, apperently it has a sign that says if it swims we have. You pick out the fish a they cook it? I saw it on Anothony Bourdaine's show, it looks absurdly delicious. Also can you guys suggest any good Korean BBQ?

On a side note, for whomever is going to be around late Nov to the end of Dec. we should hang out. I def can't wait to come.

cool thanks. ya would definitely be interested in more info. do you just kill animals and walk through the jungle? or what is it that you do? from people who pmed me a while back if i remember correctly they seemed to really recommend it, so trying to get an idea if i'd like it.

Any 2+2 associates/paralegals/solos work in Thailand? Any associates at DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins, etc? TR? What is the quality of life there vs. cravel type firms in the US?

I'm thinking of moving there and could probably swing it just doing outsourced work but it would be pretty cool to really get into the business & legal culture out there...

also, how [censored] baller a lifestyle can you have on a $200-230k income in a place like thailand? Crazy baller or moderately baller?

Jungle treking/adventure travel might be better in Laos. You'll probably get more bang for your buck and the experience would be more authentic due to the country (especially the rural areas) being less developed. There's everything from anthropological ethnic discovery tours to hanging out with elephants to living in a network of tree houses connected with rappel lines. Try this site and google for more info.

how much for semi comfy life outside of bangkok near the beach? baht per month? ~ about

Without knowing it, I would guess its the same as Bangkok in the way that in Bangkok you can have that for 7K baht or 50K baht without there being much of a difference...

so I tried a midget trip report:
-was actually 1m45 so 50cm difference with me basically my palm is bigger than her whole hand - to me that counts as midget
-non pay4play kind. told me her ex was a 40yo unemployed UK guy, wtf (she was 25)
-somehow was waiting for Chris Hansen to walk in on us screw!ng someone so small is, like, weird
-anything else than midget on top is just not that practical

basically, interesting but not that good.

oh, I've met several "older" girls (like 25-35) with good jobs - architect, doctor, business owner (real business, not pad thai stall) either single or dating a 50yo white dude cuz they can't find anyone suitable, this makes me sad (even though it makes things easier for "us")