tom_pitt

What gets me is how unpredictable baht bus drivers are. I mean you never know when you get in if there's gonna be a hassle. Once I took a fairly long ride, gave the guy 10 baht and he gave me 5 baht change. Once I rode for about 500 meters and the guy told me loudly that only students pay 5 baht. If they were consistent, I could just gird my loins before disembarking. I wonder, do they own their own vehicles? If not, are they getiing ripped off themselves by the owner or some bbus mafia? As long as I'm asking questions, how do you say "Please don't take advantage of me." A friend told once to say "Ai ki gong," but that's pretty strong, even said with a smile.

I think there are evening classes at the Dusit on the Dolphin roundabout. Not sure about the details. I've seen it mentioned in Pattaya Mail, and I met a Thai gal who goes there.

Backdoor, that letter was one of the few decent things Trink has put in his column for a long time. One of the nicest requests I've had is -now I have problem, can you help me? at least it's not a lie. Trink had another good line "If a bargirl told me it was raining, I'd look outside before I'd believe her.

simon, go for it. but remember that while the basics of life are pretty reasonable here, the extras are dear if you're living on a teacher's salary. do not come here for the money, but the experience is valuable, both for gaining work experience and curing your addiction (it'll happen). september should be a good time to look for work as i think the semester starts in october, tho' often schools wait until the last minute (or later) to look for teachers. you might check out ajarn.com for jobs. good luck

Oz, my take on this kind of situation has to do with deciding to be an optimist or pessimist based on possible outcomes rather than on intuition or facts. If the consequences are not dire, be an optimist, if the consequences are potentially catastrophic, be a pessimist. for example, your chances of getting hiv from a bar girl are quite slim. but since hiv is so serious, you would be nuts not to wear a condom during the act. So, if you are not planning to mortgage your house to pay for her trip, if it's not big money for you to finance her, be optimistic. if, on the other hand, you're betting a big chunk of your change on her being there for you, then be pessimistic. this also applies to emotional investment, if you are the type who falls in love hard. if you're like me and a broken heart makes you a melodramatic, morose moron, i'd be very pessimistic/skeptical. like jimmy said, these girls are not evil, but their self-interest generally (not always) excludes taking others' feelings into account, they can be like sociopaths. having said that, i took my gf stateside and had a wonderful time with her, she wanted to stay. culture shock was minimal for her, I don't know why, but she does come from bkk, which can be a factor. so it can be and is done successfully. As Damom Runyon said, "the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet" good luck

Seems to me Simon said she was not a working girl. Simon, I figure you have a slim chance of getting away without repercussions (possibly on your noggin). This is a small town in a lot of ways, especially when you want it to be big. "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet" - Damon Runyon The funny thing is (that's funny peculiar, not funny ha ha), while many of these gals will be completely traumatized by a dumping :'( , they suffer no qualms about doing it to guys. There's not a lot of of empathy most of the time.

"The problem with these mobile phones is that when your back home and ring the girls you don't know where they are. " So perhaps when the mobiles with the built-in cameras catch on, we can say "Darling, would you mind showing me where you are?" I'm sure they'll find a way around that one too.

Huh? ???

Can anybody recommend a reasonable dentist in Pattaya? BKK/PTTY hospital charges 900 baht for a cleaning, I'd rather find someone a little cheaper. (I paid 300 b in the south). Secondly, I need my teeth cleaned because I smoke too much (and drink too much coffee). I've heard accupunture can help you quit. Does anybody have experience with this? Does anybody know an accupuncturist in Pattaya who might deal with this? Just as a side note, I used accupuncture for allergies back home and it worked wonders, but it was mostly because of the foulest herbal tea you could imagine rather than the needles.