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Phython, You're 38, so rather young compared to most, so have many years of youth still in you. You say you have enough to buy a place for 6.5 M baht.. which for the baht at 32 is 203,000 USD.. If you were to invest the 203k at 4% conservatively you'd have $677/month income from it and an emergency fund greater than the 20k you mentioned set aside. That $677 a month could get you a nice place in Pattaya also.. You say you will make 55k baht a month, the $677 is 21.7k baht a month. To me the thought of locking up 30% of my income into a residence is rather large. I'd rent and have a much larger emergency fund.. and you'd be living off of 76.7k bath a month with the ability to get up and move if conditions beyond your control happened without having 1/3 of your worth invested in a condo.. You could find a place with a pool to rent for the 21.7k baht/month still, likely less I'm thinking if you were to pay for a full year at once or such.. I would rather live off of 76.7k baht a month in thailand than 55k baht..

Good for you helping out like that. Many Farang are afraid to be involved due to the mentality 'it would not have happened if you weren't in Thailand, so you are responsible' .. I hope the ladies were okay, and they are able to track down the moto driver so he gets his just rewards..

FLB is open in evenings, used to be during the day a thai bussiness sold stuff (clothing) in front of it and moved aside come evening. I usually found it open about 6pm on.. Unless hours have changed.

I agree, Spicy reminded me of the way the old Thermae in BKK used to be before it was overrun with high paying Japanese and GFE girls were driven away.. Spicy is a must if you visit CM, but remember not all girls there are 'available'..

last trip to CM I stayed at the hotel Porn Ping, there is a disco in the basement and a concert club on the first floor. ran me 800 baht a night and was worth it. Spicy Spicy is the place to go after the bars close, it somehow stays open until early AM.

Hi, In case any of those expats out there are allergic to Sulfites.. This was a recall in the US, these products may also are sent to Thailand. Link to Story Chinese and Vietnam foodstuffs recalled disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only by Staff Writers Washington, April 22, 2008 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Ying Feng-brand dried bulbus lily and dried snow fungus and Golden Girl-brand sweetened ginger. The FDA said the products, sold in uncoded clear plastic containers and distributed nationwide by the Fine Land Corp. of Brooklyn, N.Y., contain undeclared sulfites, posing a health risk to people allergic to sulfites. The recalled dried bulbus lily is sold in 10-ounce containers, the dried snow fungus is sold in 3-ounce containers and the "Mut Gung" sweetened ginger in 7-ounce containers. Consumers who have purchased the products can return them to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers needing additional information who have purchased the dried bulbus lily can contact the company at 917-939-5595, while people who bought dried snow fungus or the Golden Girl-brand sweetened ginger can contact the company at 718-714-1850. The FDA said the dried bulbus lilly and dried snow fungus are products of China, while the sweetened ginger is a product of Vietnam.

Hey Pete, a thought... you're illustration of the sign says 'Pattaya Beer Garden' two times, are you certain that when the thai authorities see it in their 'logic' they won't charge you for having 2 signs up? Glad to hear you're still working towards this project! I'll stop by next time I'm in town.

Fuck Her Gently

Isn't it 500 baht per day overstay fine?

Looks like a great time, thanks for sharing!

I used to skate myself.. No shops there, and if you were to skate you're looking for a disaster... irregular sidewalks/potholes/small gravel.. I wouldn't recommend it, very skate unfriendly and the thai people ignore objects moving which are smaller than they are when in cars (a recipe for disaster).

rather than kiss your tirac you catch yourself sniffing her..

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/22...g.ap/index.html Rising seas, sinking land threaten Thai capital Story Highlights: Bangkok is at risk of being swamped as sea levels rise in the coming decades The loss of Bangkok would destroy the country's economic engine The city, built on clay, is sinking up to 4 inches annually Options to keep the city afloat include water diversion channels and dams KHUN SAMUT CHIN, Thailand (AP) -- At Bangkok's watery gates, Buddhist monks cling to a shrinking spit of land around their temple as they wage war against the relentlessly rising sea. A Thai Buddhist monk walks along a dam constructed to hold back the approaching sea. During the monsoons at high tide, waves hurdle the breakwater of concrete pillars and the inner rock wall around the temple on a promontory in the Gulf of Thailand. Jutting above the water line just ahead are remnants of a village that has already slipped beneath the sea. Experts say these waters, aided by sinking land, threaten to submerge Thailand's sprawling capital of more than 10 million people within this century. Bangkok is one of 13 of the world's largest 20 cities at risk of being swamped as sea levels rise in coming decades, according to warnings at the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change held here. "This is what the future will look like in many places around the world," says Lisa Schipper, an American researcher on global warming, while visiting the temple. "Here is a living study in environmental change." The loss of Bangkok would destroy the country's economic engine and a major hub for regional tourism. "If the heart of Thailand is under water everything will stop," says Smith Dharmasaroja, chair of the government's Committee of National Disaster Warning Administration. "We don't have time to move our capital in the next 15-20 years. We have to protect our heart now, and it's almost too late." The arithmetic gives Bangkok little cause for optimism. The still expanding megapolis rests about 3 ½ to 5 feet above the nearby gulf, although some areas already lie below sea level. The gulf's waters have been rising by about a tenth of an inch a year, about the same as the world average, says Anond Snidvongs, a leading scientist in the field. But the city, built on clay rather than bedrock, has also been sinking at a far faster pace of up to 4 inches annually as its teeming population and factories pump some 2.5 million cubic tons of cheaply priced water, legally and illegally, out of its aquifers. This compacts the layers of clay and causes the land to sink. Everyone -- the government, scientists and environmental groups _ agrees Bangkok is headed for trouble, but there is some debate about when. Anond, who heads the Southeast Asia START Regional Center, believes total submersion may not be imminent, but Smith disagrees. "You notice that every highway, road and building which has no foundation pilings is sinking," says Smith. "We feel that with the ground sinking and the sea water rising, Bangkok will be under sea water in the next 15 to 20 years -- permanently." Once known as the "Venice of the East," Bangkok was founded 225 years ago on a swampy floodplain along the Chao Phraya River. But beginning in the 1950s, on the advice of international development agencies, most of the canals were filled in to make roads and combat malaria. This fractured the natural drainage system that had helped control Bangkok's annual monsoon season flooding. "It's the only city in the world where a car has collided with a boat," says Smith, recalling a deluge where residents commuted by rickety boats down roads flanked by high-rises. As head of Thailand's meteorological department in 1998, Smith warned with little success that the country's southwest coast could face a deadly tsunami. He was proven right. He urges that work start now on a dike system of more than 60 miles -- protective walls about 16 feet high, punctured by water gates and with roads on top, not unlike the dikes long used in low-lying Netherlands to ward off the sea. The dikes would run on both banks of the Chao Phraya River and then fork to the right and left at the mouth of the river. Anond, an oceanographer who studied at the University of Hawaii, says other options must also be explored, including water diversion channels, more upcountry dams and the "monkey cheeks" idea of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king, among the first to alert Bangkokians about the yearly flooding, has suggested diverting off-flow from the surges into reservoirs, the "cheeks," for later release into the gulf. "There is no one single solution to respond to climate change," says Anond, whose team is putting forward recommendations based on several scenarios. "We have to start doing something about this right now." As authorities ponder, communities like Khun Samut Chin, 12 miles from downtown Bangkok, are taking action. The five monks at the temple and surrounding villagers are building the barriers from locally collected donations and planting mangrove trees to halt shoreline erosion. The odds are against them. About half a mile of shoreline has already been lost over the past three decades, in large part due to the destruction of once vast mangrove forests. The abbot, Somnuk Attipanyo, says about a third of the village's original population was forced to move. The top of a broken concrete water storage tank protrudes from the muddy sea, which swirls around rows of electricity pylons and telephone polls now stuck offshore. The monastery grounds are less than a tenth of their original size, and the waterlogged temple is regularly lashed by waves that have forced the monks to raise its original floor by more than three feet. Among a group of villagers attending morning prayers at the temple, 45-year-old shrimp farmer Rakiet Phinlaphak looks toward the watery horizon from the promontory and says, "I have seen the sea rising higher since I was a child." ------------------------------------------------------ A link that I found that is interesting as well, that shows maps of sea level change is here: http://geongrid.geo.arizona.edu/arcims/web...orld/viewer.htm you can zoom into regions of the world for the projected 1-6 meters of sea level change. look at the region of Thailand for the 2 and up meter rise in sea level...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sou.../299850/1/.html By Channel NewsAsia's IndoChina Correspondent Anasuya Sanyal | Posted: 14 September 2007 1819 hrs Organic farming takes root in Thailand BANGKOK : Small farmers in Thailand are learning that growing organic produce can reap better returns. Clusters of organically-grown langsats beckon at one farm, and farmer Sunthorn Rachawat readily shares his secret behind them. Fifty kilogrammes of fish bones are left to ferment in blue barrels - creating a natural growth hormone that is applied to young tree shoots. Compost is also spread around the base of trees while plants that naturally repel pests grow liberally nearby. And Sunthorn has another home-made concoction. He said, "A very stubborn friend of mine didn't believe me at first about my organic pesticide, but later he bought two boilers to make it himself after I gave him 1,000 litres to spray on his mangoes." Sunthorn and his produce are living proof that organic farming can be viable but there is one thing he still cannot change. One of the obstacles facing organic produce is that it does look a bit different and not as attractive sometimes as traditionally grown fruits and vegetables. The traditionally-grown mangosteen has very smooth exterior, very even colour and is actually a little bit bigger in size while its organic counterpart does not have quite such a cosmetically nice texture or colour. But organic farmers said that the difference is in the taste. Most of Thailand's organic produce is still grown for the domestic market, except rice, half of which is exported. Latest figures show that between 2002 and 2005, the kingdom's organic market almost tripled in value to US$28 million, due to rising affluence and health awareness. With over 21,000 hectares of land now devoted to organic farming, the country's only internationally-accredited organic body is teaching farmers how to optimise the use of their land. Nartrudee Nakornvacha, General Manager, Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand, said, "Most of farmers who start working on organic farms in Thailand are small farmers, so they have to make decisions - can they divide some part of their land to be organic or can they utilise their whole farms?" Besides being environmentally friendly, moving away from costly fertilisers made by large companies also helps farmers break out of the poverty cycle. Some are have started exporting to Singapore and Japan - the Kingdom's main export markets in Asia. With so much potential, Thai agricultural authorities are looking further afield to European countries despite their high food safety standards and regulations. - CNA/ms

Gang, I agree, not universities for Thailand, best positions are indeed international schools for which one most of the time needs certification and teaching experience from the west. I've been looking thru the Booklet of Salary and Benefits /Selection Criteria for the 2005 International Recruitment Center (ISS co), it's a 80pg booklet of descriptions of the most recent teacher's salarys and benefits data and screening criteria for the (~270 international) schools that attended. Four Thai schools attended and they are all International schools, no universites. salaries listed ranged from 23-50k/USD yr. Here are the Thai International schools listed that attended, I'll type the information in the booklet as it states, I cannot provide any further details on these 2005 numbers from the Booklet - International School of Bangkok Contract length- 2 yr. Reporting date- August Requirements - BA Degree, certification required Salary Data - 36 - 50 k USD, 36- BA+Cert+0 yrs exp, 50 - Ph.D. +cert+5yrs exp. local taxes - 20-25% Allowances - Baggage/Shipping 1500 cu pounds sea freight/single; 200 for family. Additional Benefits- Sick Leave, retirement plan, 100% tuition for resident dependent children Insurance- Health, Dental, Life, Long Term Disability Housing- Furnished Housing provided Visa Data- Visa procurement assistance provided Additional Details- Yearly home leave allowance for teacher and dependents Redeemer International School (Bangkok) Contract length- 2 yr. Reporting date- August Requirements - BA Degree, 2 yrs experience required, certification required Salary Data - 23 - 28.5 k USD local taxes - 10-30% Allowances - 770 USD for relocation Additional Benefits- Sick Leave, retirement plan, tuition for resident dependent children, contract completion bonus, contract renewal bonus Insurance- Health Housing- Housing allowance $4615 USD Visa Data- Visa procurement assistance provided Additional Details- round trip home annually, round trip at begining and end of contract, Contract renewal bonus: double-step increase every 4th yr. Contract completion bonus: one months salary on continuing 3rd yr., less than 5% tuition/all resident children. $1282 USD Signing bonus, Attendance Incentive provided, Professional Development fund available. Ruamrudee International School (Bangkok) Contract length- 2 yr. Reporting date- August Requirements - BA Degree, 2 yrs experience required, certification required Salary Data - 23 - 28.5 k USD local taxes - 10-30% Allowances - 770 USD for relocation Additional Benefits- Sick Leave, retirement plan, tuition for resident dependent children, contract completion bonus, contract renewal bonus Insurance- Health Housing- Housing allowance $4615 USD Visa Data- Visa procurement assistance provided Additional Details- round trip home annually, round trip at begining and end of contract, Contract renewal bonus: double-step increase every 4th yr. Contract completion bonus: one months salary on continuing 3rd yr., less than 5% tuition/all resident children. $1282 USD Signing bonus, Attendance Incentive provided, Professional Development fund available. International School Eastern Seaboard (Pattaya) Contract length- 2 yr. Reporting date- August Requirements - BA Degree, 2 yrs experience required, certification required Salary Data - 29.75 - 46 k USD (salary paid in Baht with Thai government COLA) local taxes - 25% local taxes after 2 yrs. Allowances - 1500 USD single/ 2000 USD family for relocation Additional Benefits- Sick Leave, 100% tuition for up to 3 resident dependent children Insurance- Health, Dental, Life, Long Term Disability Housing- Unfurnished Housing provided;new hire selects housing; Housing allowance - $500/single;$1k family Visa Data- Visa procurement assistance provided Additional Details- contract completion bonus $1k, round trip at begining and end of contract, transportation for dependents. Anyways, I hope that clarifies and helps those out there who are looking for ways to move to thailand.

Joekicker - You're right, teaching physics/history/math etc.. common courses in the west are the better paying occupations for international teaching. The original posting was really aimed at those willing to make a committment to a way to get to Thailand/out of their homecountry, and what is needed is teachers certification. This takes 1-2 yrs in the states, or is part of a teaching degree (4 yr). With this one can get the better international teaching positions, typically teaching schools of the thai/farang upper class, or even teach at Universities if one has a Phd or M.S. with lots of teaching experience. The Teofl is a quick way to use ones english ability to be able to get a job in thailand, but these positions are not as good as those a real and qualified western certified teacher can get internationally. Cheers, Shane

Plantains grow like crazy in the carribean, similar climate to SEA.. They are an alternative staple to bread/rice etc, and require little maintainance to grow... I don't know if I ever saw a plantain in a SEA market, which suprised me. could grow alternate crops beneath them or use as grazing land. Lemons, always seemed hard to find... Lime are hard also, there's those little lime like small green things, but not a lime. Turkey's especially around the western holiday times... Turtles, grow a local variety that people eat.. Snakes...ditto...not much space needed for these..where to get the mice to feed them though... In high mountains, Chiang Rai area possibly grow cold weather crops... apples-pears-strawberries.. Cranberries..could likely be grown in the same fields as rice.. Never saw them there, but they are useful in cooking and the health benefits would appeal to Asia. Goat farm.. live on practically anything... goat cheese and milk... Sell to the muslim population which doesn't eat pork. Balute? Thai's will eat anything, this is a delicacy that came from China...Has anyone tried to sell these in Thailand? Do your research! My Grandfather had a farm (220 acres) in pacific NW, he only made money off of it when he leased it out to others and turned some of his fields to grow hay and grain for resale.. small farms are difficult and should be a hobby not a dependency.

Hi Gang, (Added information on the benefits of four thai International schools further down in the responses) After reading many people asking how to live and exist in Asia/Thailand, and full of disillusion for life in the Western world I decided I'd share some of my thoughts on how this would/could occur. I've PM'd this advice to a few people, and have seen other friends be successful following it.. Getting either closer to Thailand or in Thailand. I've gathered this information myself (weblinks below) because teaching internationally is something I'm considering doing in the future myself. International Teaching is a way I've found one might break free to live in Thailand/overseas, or at least to be nearby and get 4 months/yr off, international teaching is how one could do it.. If you have a Bachelors degree or more, and add some teaching experience and/or a TEOFL certification then this is a possible route for you. Several of my friends have gone this route, so I know it is possible. But, one must use the system that exists, rather than trying to contact the schools directly. The best schools in the world that hire foreign teachers don't typically hire in country, rather they recruit from International teaching fairs. Salaries range from subsistance up to 100k/yr in some of the Arab countries, which pay quite well. For jobs in Asia with a B.S. and 5 yrs experience friends of mine have found 25-45k USD/yr with no US income taxes. Here's how the international teaching works, as several friends have explained it to me, and I've read. You have to go to the recruiting fairs in the Western World primarily (around 2-3 a year) to get offers. The schools send recruiters to the fairs, and only hire in the abroad, not offering the good deals in country.. In other words, you cannot go there and get as good of a deal as you can at the fairs, as they'll lowball your salary and give you not benefits. The International Teaching recruiting fairs happen at lull times for teachers usually and they go over 4 day weekends. You have to pay to attend, usually $100-300, I've never done this and have no affiliation, but I've heard that the costs pay for the fair renting of facilities to put on the international teaching fair. My one friend who went off to a fair in the midwest paid and he arranged to have another person going to share a hotel room through email/message boards provided prior to the fair, and taxis etc to the fair to cut costs. He also was able to write off all of the costs in taxes as a search for a job (don't know if this is possible in Canada or Europe), hotel, airfare, taxis, etc... The fairs are big like 2-4 thousand people going there and usually 100 schools. Once you pay the registration fees, well in advance, they send you info on which schools will be there (usually it is the same as the year before) schools from all over the world. You then pre-arrange via email which schools/colleges to meet with daily, and have sent them your cover letter and resume/CV. When you get there save a few spots between interviews to look for unannounced schools, in case you are interested. The interviews are 5 to 30 minutes in length and commonly they will offer you a job on the spot if they want you, and give you 2-3 days to decide.. This happened to my friend who ended up going to teach in Taiwan, he had an offer the first day and accepted it at the end of the day, the next day he continued interviews and had 3 offers at schools in Thailand that paid better and all, but he'd already accepted.. So don't rush to accept, unless it is the school you want. One fellow I know went and got a job in South America for 2 yrs, then he came back to another fair and took a job in Indonesia for 2 yrs, and now he is working in Europe. All these jobs gave him xpat salaries 35-45k/yr tax free, 3 months a year off to travel and also gave him free housing/housing allowance, dental, medical, insurance, and retirement plans that he transfered into IRAs when leaving. Some places even provide you with auto. They all transport you and a moving allowance from your home stateside to the town of the school/your new apartment, and also provide you with a free flight home to the US, or elsewhere once a year. Those are typical benefits I've heard about, but it all depends on the contract you sign. Be careful of what currency you're paid in. Anyways enough babbling... Here are the websites you need to start off if you want to investigate this route.. Friends have recommended for me to join this site, if I decide to really go this route, if you are really serious, it's like $35 and can give you better advice than I can give (suspect tax deductible): http://www.joyjobs.com/ My friend who got the job in Taiwan and offers in Thailand went to this fair: http://www.uni.edu/placement/overseas/ http://www.iss.edu/ http://www.cie.uci.edu/iop/teaching.html http://www.overseasdigest.com/jobfairs.htm http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publicati...l_schools.shtml http://www.tieonline.com/ http://www.teachabroad.com/search.cfm http://www.search-associates.com/main.html The above should all keep you busy. I know that the one my friend who got the job in Taiwan went to (UNI) above is legit. No guarantee about all of them. My buddy joined the Joyjobs above and really enjoyed the connections he established and was able to figure out how it all worked, I learned from his telling me. Hope this helpful to all. Cheers, Shane

Flipper house or lodge, get a high level to cut down on the noise, should run 1-1.2 k baht/nite.

send her to work at FLB where she can wear a badge indicating she does not go with customers. You'll have customers that are upset who buy her drinks only to find out she doesn't barfine, more hassle than it is worth to have one girl like this, next thing you know others will begin to follow suit and you'll have a bar full of girls only wanting guys to buy them drinks and no barfines. This would degrade your business and lead to problems. Only other bar I know of that has girls who won't go with customers is the Atlantic Bar, and those girls where different badges to identify their availability.

Owen' is right.. I've also been researching this.. As have thousands of others 4%...30 years.... Here is a site with more detailed info etc... http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/novtips.html http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/safesum.html

A useful site for US citizens living overseas http://www.aaro.org/links.html

This Sign I saw in Chiang Mai back in 2005. Go figure??

Found on another website, a listing of monthly BKK wages - http://www.davetheravebangkok.com/tips.html hope this helps... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Below are some sample monthly base wage ranges paid in Bangkok. Keep in mind the wages are less in other parts of Thailand. Commissions are not included. Sales associate small store or department store 4,500 - 9,000 baht Restaurants 3,000 - 8,000 baht Police 6,300 baht Hotels 4,000 - 9,000 baht Below are average monthly wages in Thailand for 2005 Agriculture, hunting and forestry 3,019 baht Fishing 2,068 baht Mining and quarrying 7,646 baht Manufacturing 6,420 baht Electricity, gas and water supply 17,841 baht Construction 4,706 baht Wholesale and retail trade, repair business 6,760 baht Hotels and restaurant 5,680 baht Transport, storage and communication 11,752 baht Financial intermediation 19,325 baht Real estate, renting and business activities 9,571 baht Public administration and defense 11,375 baht Education 14,883 baht Health and social work 10,804 baht Other community and social work 6,311 baht Private households with employed persons 4,068 baht Extra-territorial organizations and bodies 5,753 baht

Found this site with tables on expat life and the costs of living in Udon Thani... http://www.udonmap.com/costs_of_living.html