Thailand Thread

[ThaitoUSA 15]

I had said it earlier in Sawasdee 3, but I fell in the love with country. I also fell in love with a couple of Thai girls, but it was Thai culture that grabbed me. I first arrived in May 2002, fresh college graduate (1 week earlier), along with about seven others in my cohort. None of us had teaching experience and we were all given remedial English classes. The first few months were a bit of a challenge to say the least, but by the end of the first month I had a private Thai language tutor who charged only 50 Baht an hour, my first Thai girlfriend who certainly helped acclimate me to Bangkok, the culture, etc., and enough good experiences to say to my colleagues "I'm signing on for a second year." Six of the original eight ended up staying two years, three of us stayed three and I spend four there. I did not meet my fiancée until halfway through the third year. By then I was becoming fluent in Thai, had a strong grasp of its history, culture, society, politics, etc. Traveled extensively all over the entire country, experiencing regional differences.

I have joked frequently with Thai saying "I am 45% Thai and 55% farang." Some would reply "We think it's the other way around; you're more Thai than farang now." Quite a compliment indeed.

Who knows, but I have this intuitive feeling that I had been born in Thailand in a previous lifetime and have been yearning to get back ever since.

[*Robert* 2]

Wow! Agreed. That'll probably bring some replies. I learned the hard way with that. My first girlfriend in Thailand was a 19 year old hottie. At the end of the day, that's all I had... a 19 year old hottie. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but I never would've married her. Especially due to how I met her if you know what I mean.

My friend, you're talking to a former U.S. Sailor! Been there, done that! In every port I've been to I could sniff out the "Red Light" district. From San Diego, Tijuana, Reno, Fallon, Honolulu, Olongapo, Subic City, Angeles City, Hong Kong, Mombasa, Sasabo, Perth, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok, Pattaya, Pattong Beach, and Chiang Mai... just to mention a few!

I love bars, and I love bar girls, and I have even been married to a bar girl. Let's just say I have finally grown up, and learned the hard way. I still wouldn't trade all those experiences for anything!

[bill13060 0]

gettin a little ugly in here. Can't we all just get along?

On the contrary Bill, it’s not getting ugly at all. Just some spirited discussion. The only people getting ugly would be anyone disrespecting the King of Thailand that has a Thai spouse or plans to marry a Thai citizen.

Only if there is name calling is it getting ugly!

Okay... group hug for Bill!

i'm a Chief, i've heard and said alot worse. i'll kill anyone that tries to give me a group hug!!!

I'm kidding, just trying to lighten the air.

Edited April 17, 2009 by will92104

[*Robert* 2]

One of my former colleague have said to me that everyone in Thailand loves their king. They even have a giant picture of him at the Savanpumi Airport.

I was the only Cambodian on board the flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, Thailand. The rest were Jap, Chinese, other foriegners. The reason I'm suspecting is that the Cambodians are biased people so that's probably why there was no Cambodian on the flight. I know it's not right to talk negative about my own people, but, they are biased towards the Thai.

Anyway, the Thai King has very high powers. Try insulting the King in public indirectly will definitely get you straight to jail. I wonder if you goto Jail in England for doing that. The king does have powers, but, he doesn't use it ever.

They DO love their King, and in all business' in Thailand (and Thai business' here) you will find a picture of the current King (Rama 9), and many will also have a picture of the most beloved King in Thailand, Rama 5.

Insulting the King in Thailand will definitely cause problems.

i'm a Chief, i've heard and said alot worse. i'll kill anyone that tries to give me a group hug!!!

I'm kidding, just trying to lighten the air.

Atta boy Chief!!!

[*Robert* 2]

I had said it earlier in Sawasdee 3, but I fell in the love with country. I also fell in love with a couple of Thai girls, but it was Thai culture that grabbed me. I first arrived in May 2002, fresh college graduate (1 week earlier), along with about seven others in my cohort. None of us had teaching experience and we were all given remedial English classes. The first few months were a bit of a challenge to say the least, but by the end of the first month I had a private Thai language tutor who charged only 50 Baht an hour, my first Thai girlfriend who certainly helped acclimate me to Bangkok, the culture, etc., and enough good experiences to say to my colleagues "I'm signing on for a second year." Six of the original eight ended up staying two years, three of us stayed three and I spend four there. I did not meet my fiancée until halfway through the third year. By then I was becoming fluent in Thai, had a strong grasp of its history, culture, society, politics, etc. Traveled extensively all over the entire country, experiencing regional differences.

I have joked frequently with Thai saying "I am 45% Thai and 55% farang." Some would reply "We think it's the other way around; you're more Thai than farang now." Quite a compliment indeed.

Who knows, but I have this intuitive feeling that I had been born in Thailand in a previous lifetime and have been yearning to get back ever since.

Thanks for sharing that Pete. I knew you were young, and I knew you were a teacher, but the rest is news. Wow what I wouldn’t have done to stay there 4 years straight as an Ajarn! I have toyed with the idea of just moving there now and getting certified to teach English as a second language, but I’m not quite ready to give up my current salary!

Though I didn’t have any formal training, I just have a knack at picking up languages, and speak at least 5. My weakest language is the only one I took in college, and that is Spanish… until I’ve had a few margaritas!

I always tell Thai people when I speak to them in Thai that I only speak Thai “nit noy”, but they never believe me, and they always tell me I’m “geng”. The compliments that mean the most is when they say they like my smile, and that I’m “jai dee”.

One of my old shipmates has lived in Bangkok for 20 years now, and is a manager with a Toyota sales company, for which I am totally jealous of him!

[scandal 951]

My first girlfriend in Thailand was a 19 year old hottie. At the end of the day, that's all I had... a 19 year old hottie. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but I never would've married her. Especially due to how I met her if you know what I mean.

Inquiring minds want to know, with all explicit details included. Just how DID you meet her? And does she have a sister?

[daboyz 36]

My first girlfriend in Thailand was a 19 year old hottie. At the end of the day, that's all I had... a 19 year old hottie. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but I never would've married her. Especially due to how I met her if you know what I mean.

Inquiring minds want to know, with all explicit details included. Just how DID you meet her? And does she have a sister?

I met her in the bar of the Sheraton Sukhumvit about 10 minutes after I arrived in Thailand for the first time. I found out later she had a fake ID to get in there. She was born 2528, but scratched out half of the 8 to make it look like a 3.

Yeah she has a sister. Her sister stabbed me, and all 3 of us got hauled off to the Lat Phrao police station. While the cops drank my whiskey, I was threatened with jail if I didn't sign a confession in Thai. Fun night. Dont bother calling the emergency number at the US Embassy, they dont answer.

You want her sister's number?

[scandal 951]

My first girlfriend in Thailand was a 19 year old hottie. At the end of the day, that's all I had... a 19 year old hottie. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but I never would've married her. Especially due to how I met her if you know what I mean.

Inquiring minds want to know, with all explicit details included. Just how DID you meet her? And does she have a sister?

I met her in the bar of the Sheraton Sukhumvit about 10 minutes after I arrived in Thailand for the first time. I found out later she had a fake ID to get in there. She was born 2528, but scratched out half of the 8 to make it look like a 3.

Yeah she has a sister. Her sister stabbed me, and all 3 of us got hauled off to the Lat Phrao police station. While the cops drank my whiskey, I was threatened with jail if I didn't sign a confession in Thai. Fun night. Dont bother calling the emergency number at the US Embassy, they dont answer.

(you've actually told us a version of this story before, involving the knifing... but I don't mind hearing it again as many times and in as many variants as you care to tell it )

You want her sister's number?

Actually ... on second thought ....

[*Robert* 2]

Inquiring minds want to know, with all explicit details included. Just how DID you meet her? And does she have a sister?

I met her in the bar of the Sheraton Sukhumvit about 10 minutes after I arrived in Thailand for the first time. I found out later she had a fake ID to get in there. She was born 2528, but scratched out half of the 8 to make it look like a 3.

Yeah she has a sister. Her sister stabbed me, and all 3 of us got hauled off to the Lat Phrao police station. While the cops drank my whiskey, I was threatened with jail if I didn't sign a confession in Thai. Fun night. Dont bother calling the emergency number at the US Embassy, they dont answer.

You want her sister's number?

DAYUM!!!!

And I thought my first night was bad because they didn't have my room ready for me when I got to the Nanna Hotel at 3am! Luckily I met a girl named Cooky in the lobby, who was kind enough to keep me company till I could check in. While we waited, we got aqainted, and she even trimmed my finger nails! Let's just say I didn't regret the wait once we got to the room. That was just the beginning of great things to come!

[daboyz 36]

One of my favorite stories:

A warning. I had a regular tgf last year who like all of them was resisting my kiss goodby to her when i wanted to end our relationship. to cut a long story short she ended up putting a beer bottle through a tv screen and we where off to the monkey house(cop shop if you dont know). After talking with the room owner and police captain about paying the cost of tv, the nice little girl said to the cop,"he have picture of me, I want memory card from his camers". I am sure the cops eyes lit' up. well it ended up me being threatened with a court case accused of have indecent pictures in my possetion, or paying a "fine" of 80.000bt. I had to give the police my passport, ended up missing my flight and staying another month. Did you guys know, if the police make you stay over your visa time they will still fine you the overstay fine for every day.

So if you and g/f are happy, snap away, just dont fall out and end up in the monkey house like I did. wink.gif

[anya-D 8]

LOL

Ice cream kathi (coconut milk ice cream) from street vendor was great

Just the last thought about the King and royal family..

There are alwasy documentaries, books, news,.. you name it, about the King's projects, his research, his hobbies, etc... and the result of his projects which helps relieve people's debts and help them to be able to stand on their own and dont just wait for the handout from the government.

How did he has an easy life? how did you know he has easy life? from all the projects and places he visited, he did not just sit around doing nothing sipping wine and wait for the money to come in. He was out there with his people, with his camera to be with his people by anymeans, even walk. He is under the law, he did what he can and more. The people should deal with government's curruption, not the king.

By the way, he used money on his project for his people, hardly on himself. The money came from his salary from the government and the money Thai people gave him to use as he pleases.

How do you know he lives an easy life? What do you mean by easy life? H's not the king that does nothing and sit around sipping wine and wait for the money to come in. But he's the king for crying out loud. He just didnt use money on other luxuries, that's what I mean. He live as he thaught " Live within your mean" if he didnt live within his mean, how can he be a model for this?

And by live within you mean - doesnt mean have no ambition. But know how to do everything effectively, use every assets you have to the fullest, have the least debt or none at all, etc.. you actually have to study it to actually understand what consist of "live within your mean"

Princess Sirindorn (I do not know how to write her name) is also a great princess. She loves to learn and is the best ambassador to other countries. Especially China loves to invite her to visit their country as she is geniounly interested in everything. You can see from the news (picture dont lie) she asked questions, took notes,smile and talk to everybody, and carried her own backpack.

Have a lot more to say but it's my last day in Thailand so I'm going to the temple.

Peace.

PS. last post I called Victory monument "Anusawree circle... and lots of misspelled. even now

[daboyz 36]

LOL

Ice cream kathi (coconut milk ice cream) from street vendor was great

Just the last thought about the King and royal family..

There are alwasy documentaries, books, news,.. you name it, about the King's projects, his research, his hobbies, etc... and the result of his projects which helps relieve people's debts and help them to be able to stand on their own and dont just wait for the handout from the government.

How did he has an easy life? how did you know he has easy life? from all the projects and places he visited, he did not just sit around doing nothing sipping wine and wait for the money to come in. He was out there with his people, with his camera to be with his people by anymeans, even walk. He is under the law, he did what he can and more. The people should deal with government's curruption, not the king.

By the way, he used money on his project for his people, hardly on himself. The money came from his salary from the government and the money Thai people gave him to use as he pleases.

How do you know he lives an easy life? What do you mean by easy life? H's not the king that does nothing and sit around sipping wine and wait for the money to come in. But he's the king for crying out loud. He just didnt use money on other luxuries, that's what I mean. He live as he thaught " Live within your mean" if he didnt live within his mean, how can he be a model for this?

And by live within you mean - doesnt mean have no ambition. But know how to do everything effectively, use every assets you have to the fullest, have the least debt or none at all, etc.. you actually have to study it to actually understand what consist of "live within your mean"

Princess Sirindorn (I do not know how to write her name) is also a great princess. She loves to learn and is the best ambassador to other countries. Especially China loves to invite her to visit their country as she is geniounly interested in everything. You can see from the news (picture dont lie) she asked questions, took notes,smile and talk to everybody, and carried her own backpack.

Have a lot more to say but it's my last day in Thailand so I'm going to the temple.

Peace.

PS. last post I called Victory monument "Anusawree circle... and lots of misspelled. even now

I really like her as well. I wish that she could be the heir to the throne.

[Noi3125 1]

I was away from VJ for a couple days preparing for our interview and come back to see myself being quoted and rebuked. I just want to apologize to people... I must not have expressed myself well. I believe I said I try to stay out of the politics. I spend a lot more time looking at what other people think than actually making opinions... it's my way. As I said I really enjoy reading everyone's opinion's here and I am sorry if I offended someone.

I live in the Isaan... 80% of my village went and applied to go to Bangkok as red shirts. I don't agree with the protesting... I don't agree with what Taksin has done. But rather than express judgement I listen to the people. I was trying to share what the people around me... the red-shirt, largely Isaan people think.

I don't know much about Abisit, don't claim too but this is what the people say. About the "suicide bomber" the woman was shot by the police which caused the bombs which she had taped to herself to go off... okay, she didn't detinate but it is strange she had them on herself... again I am sharing the voices of the uneducated masses around. I feel like there is a lot of judgement on the red-shirt people without trying to understand where they are coming from... what thier understanding (may it be limited) is of the situation.

The people around me, Isaan people, often go ignored and they saw someone take interest in them, thier villages develop and beyond that they don't see much. I personally think rather than judge them for what may seem like silly political affiliations we should educated them, equip them to think as the rest of you do.

Again I really had no intention to spark so much controversy... and no need to correct me unless someone is going to come correct the people all around me.

Thanks for everyone's informative posts.

[Ning 619]

Thanks, Scott. That means a lot to me, because I think we have very similar views and experiences of Thailand.

Because of the Thai laws regarding disrespectful speech towards the King, I tend to get up in arms when someone says anything bad about the Royal family, because I respect those laws, and I respect the King. American's forget that our "freedom of speech" is not upheld worldwide! Even my wife, when I had her read some of the posts, was shocked and worried that "someone" would track the IP address and go after anyone saying anything negative towards the King!

I fully believe in the adage “when in Rome, do as the Roman’s do”, which means when I’m in another country, I learn their language, customs, and laws, and abide by them. It amazes me how anyone would go to a foreign country to find a wife, without any regard for that countries laws, customs, and culture, just so they can fetch themselves a “trophy wife” that wouldn’t necessarily be possible for them in the US. Respect is a two way street.

You speak for all Americans? You decide what we can & can not remember? You & your wife are warning me or others that you will track us down? Let me know what that means .

You are up in arms. I am really concerned now. Mabey you have forgotten some of us are in America, living under American laws.

You should go back to Thailand so you can sit at the airport & judge the farang as they enter, turning away all the ones that dont meet your standards. What is your opinion of the ones going to Thailand to sleep with the 19 year olds? Hows your wife feel about that?

Is the King proud to preside over a country that has a muti billion dollar sex industry?

Leave the throne to the King & go back to the two way street you said you lived on.

[*Robert* 2]

You speak for all Americans? You decide what we can & can not remember? You & your wife are warning me or others that you will track us down? Let me know what that means .

You are up in arms. I am really concerned now. Mabey you have forgotten some of us are in America, living under American laws.

You should go back to Thailand so you can sit at the airport & judge the farang as they enter, turning away all the ones that dont meet your standards. What is your opinion of the ones going to Thailand to sleep with the 19 year olds? Hows your wife feel about that?

Is the King proud to preside over a country that has a muti billion dollar sex industry?

Leave the throne to the King & go back to the two way street you said you lived on.

My my... a little sensitive are we? And why exactly is that? Did I say I spoke for all Americans? Please show me in which post I did that. Did I say that my wife and I would track ANYONE down? No… you might want to brush up on your reading/comprehension skills… seriously dude. She was referring to the equivalent of the Thai Secret Service who monitor communications to detect any possible threats to the King or royal family.

No $hit… there are people on VJ that live in America?! Well thanks for pointing that out to me… I thought we were all in Thailand. As for American laws, I already eluded to the fact that they don’t apply overseas. Americans are very fortunate they get to experience the freedom of speech, because not all other countries do.

And exactly what standards are you referring to? I was speaking for myself, not anyone else (Goes back to your reading/comprehension skills). So what if someone sleeps with a 19 yo? That is a legal age in Thailand, is it not? As for my wife, she doesn’t care for bar girls, but doesn’t judge them either, must be due to the fact she is college educated and graduated from Dhurakijpundit University. How about your wife? Does she care?

What does the sex industry have to do with anything? Is Thailand the only country that has a sex industry? I think not. If it hadn’t been for the base closings in PI, I’m sure their industry would be doing much better. Once again, it is up to the parliament and the police to control, not the King. Did you not go to any bars or go out with any bar girls?

I DO leave the throne to the King, as should you.