fd2084

The beggars also are selling a product. For just a pittance they let wealthy foreigners feel good about themselves so they can go back to their selfish overconsumption and shallow lifestyles without worrying about the consequences.

You wouldn't normally return a wai in such a case, just nod your head slightly and smile. But if you're in a borderline situation and do feel like wai'ing then go right ahead. No one is going to be insulted if your honest attempt at a wai is awkward or inappropriate, and they won't think you're a moron for it. Well, no one whose opinion is of any value, at least.

This definitely comes under the category of "physical bothering" and must be outlawed immediately. It just goes to show how rude Thai people can be sometimes.

Really? Either your analytic or your math skills suck (my guess is both). Go back and check again. Continuing to be overly dramatic and playing the martyr is not going to win a lot of board members over to your side.

It doesn't matter to me whether the beggars are truly in need or being organized by the mafia. Let the locals sort it out, they are in a better position to know and do the right thing. And if they don't care enough to take care of these people then why should I?

To get away from the riff-raff constantly complaining about LDOPs?

Yeah, but that guaranteed roulette system is the real deal, right?

Risk in roulette? You just don't know how to play, check out this thread for a foolproof system on how to beat it: http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17745 Or pm member Canadian_verbal_kint for details.

And what does that make you? Are you the new forum shit stirrer? Anyone who takes an Internet forum too seriously is not real smart to begin with.

You're relatively new here, so I feel the need to explain how the board works. When someone posts a comment like Gary did, you have no choice but to take it personally. Don't give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was making a general comment or that it was just a loose, off-the-cuff generalization. It was a specific attack aimed at you and don't let him get away with it!

Timeshares can be a a good value if you like going to the same place every year and the timing works out for you. But make sure you understand all the caveats mentioned above. Double that for timeshares in Thailand where the likelihood of a scam or legal shenanigans is much higher. Unless you're an insider they drop in value almost immediately, so the most obvious trick is to not buy them directly from the hotel/resort. Let someone else absorb that first hit, and then it's more likely you'll be able to sell yours later for close to what you paid for it (minus all fees, etc.) I don't believe they appreciate in value (not much anyway) like other properties so don't rely on that. I think Zidane inadvertently gave the best reason for getting a timeshare in Thailand. Once you're locked in, you have to go back, whether you later get a new girlfriend or wife. Sorry, honey.

Before you go, can you point me to the thread where the forum members finally decided the definition of 'pimp' and how it applies in the Thai nightlife scene? I'd love to avoid little misunderstandings like this in the future and when I finally make my first trip to Thailand I'd know for sure how to address each establishment owner. Perhaps we can use that thread as a template for solving the old "'whore' or not" question.

Nope, never been to Thailand myself. Why don't you tell me more about it? I see, so your problem is not with pimps, in general. It is just with those pimps that don't let you ogle the girls for free first.

Great, so you guys finally settled this debate once and for all. A first on the internet! Call me skeptical. So your theory is that a gogo bar owner is not a pimp because he allows customers to buy the girls a drink and chat with them for five minutes before paying him for the rights to shag her senseless? Interesting theory. Your other issues with Evil, et al. are of no concern to me. You're wrong on this one, and that's all I care about.

I have no problem if you call him a pimp (using the dictionary definition) as long as you apply it to all bar owners. You can call all the girls whores too, if that makes you happy. But if you single out one to call her a whore and not the others, I expect you to have a better reason than 'it's the dictionary definition, idn't it?'.