Part5

TheDudeAbides 09/27/06

Excellent post man.

I too am interested in the cost of living and quality of life.

1. What would a middle class (North American standards) couple with no children have to spend per month on food/lodging/entertainment etc.. if they wanted to "upgrade" and live "well"?

2. What are the biggest issues with living in what is commonly accepted as a third world country?

3. How reliable is basic infrastructure (electricity/cable/internet/roads/public transport - etc...)?

4. How corrupt is law enforcement (a 2+2 poster was caught with some weed and extorted out of $2000 USD in exchange for not getting booked - is this common?).

TIA - I will ask more as I think of new questions.

At the full moon party they have a nice little racket going. If you are caught with drugs you owe a very large fine in cash on the spot, or you go to jail. I beleive its about $2k US and that might be what happened to said poster.

The cops dont get paid much so I'd imagine if you were in some ish you could bribe them...but there really isn't the need for that. If you are coming to cause trouble...go some place else.

I'll own up to it - it was me. I certainly wasn't looking to cause any trouble (especially because in my short experience the Thai people are extremely humble and welcoming people). I was also young and stupid and thought I was safe, and couldn't pass up the chance to buy an ounce of weed for <$5. It was actually in a Songtow (sp?) coming back from a trek in Chaing Mai. The cops pulled us over for a 'routine' spot check, but I have a feeling they were tipped off by the driver (who, ironically, was high as hell on opium at the time). Is that common?

Also - how do you handle the influx of North American, White businessmen who come there with the sole intention of getting some 12 year old Thai boys? I found that the most difficult thing to get over when I was there (again - mostly up North). Just seeing it made my skin crawl, but I'm certainly not one to impose my values while in another county. But I will say it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the trip.

Is it true the STD rate among prostitutes is >90%?

Awesome thread by the way.

= =    	veganmav 09/27/06 I think with Thai girls you just have to be there. Grow some balls and talk to them. If you do that in America, you have a higher percentage chance of finding a gf. If you do it in Thailand, you are almost guaranteed a gf.

So go out, party, and have fun, and when you see a girl who you like, just freakin talk to her, and it's very likely to happen.

I know it sounds simple, but it's pretty true. Degen

'' How bad a problem is AIDS/STDs? According to the cia they have a 2% rate for aids (sounds pretty big).''

I know a lot of guys over there who do a lot of crazy [censored]. Everybody has been tested and everybody has had condoms break. I know one guy who got chlamidia (curable), got meds for it and that was that.

Look on Wikipedia at the AIDS transmission rates. It is pretty hard to get it even w/out a condom from a chic you know has aids even while SIIHP w/ no lube.

I know one guy who never uses condoms and bangs hookers all the time. He's been there awhile and is still walking around. I think he's a retard and will probably die of AIDS.

The biggest problem with this is that Thai chics dont make you wear condoms. Hookers or otherwise. You dont' have to wear one when getting head or when [censored] them. Its up to you. Is AIDs concentrated in certain regions? Is there anyway to know if they girls you are having sex with weren't hooking the night before?

I don't know for sure but I'd be willing to bet it is concentrated in the area's where the hookers work and Isaan, where they all come from.

No way to know for sure about the girls. It is a fine line over there, it is really weird. There are like these half and half girls who go to school and don't work in bars but go to clubs and go home with guys they like who think might support them. It isn't so transactional as you'd think...maybe you don't pay them anything ever, maybe they just want you to buy stuff for them or whatever, maybe she just wants you to marry her so her family will be proud of her and you can buy them a goat or something lol It is a complicated thing.

Straight hookers are pretty obvious, tend to have much different style of dress as well as mannerisms than normal girls. Its those halfway ones that can be hard to spot veganmav So when I got to BKK it was like 11pm and I was tired. There was a long ass line, maybe 60 or 70 people for the standard, taxi. I'm like eff that, so I walk around the corner where some sketchy dudes are like, "you need taxi? we have taxi! we take you anywher".

I get in with them, aware that it could be a scam. But I was tired and didn't think too clearly or care too much.

I arrive at Bill's place after like half an hour, and they say "ok 2000 BAHT" i'm like "that's too expensive'.

Oh yeah tehre are 2 sketchy taxi drivers not just one. So they look at eachother, then look at me and repeat "2000 baht". I kinda was scared, and was like oh well whatever, so I gave them 2000 Baht, and was a fish.

Moral of the story: Only ride in Taxi's with a meter, and make sure they start the meter when you get in.

Also, you will probably get scammed once, but learn your lesson.

It cost me 2000 Baht, not too much, so I learned cheap. I didn't get scammed again. = = Degen It would be cool having girlfriend(s) there, but does it get boring if all you can both appreciate is sex?

Get a girlfriend who can at least speak somewhat conversational english. I've tried it with girls who can't, and its cool for the first week or so...body language and smiling go a long way, but ya...it gets annoying. All future GF's will have to speak english pretty well.

Just go for college chics. They like white guys too How difficult is it to meet guys or girls to just be friends with and be able to commyunicate well with?

I've met tons through 2+2 and my blog and I suspect I'll have a few beers with people who've been in this thread at some point. So it shouldn't be hard for you to make white friends.

For Thai people, if you have some connection/job/class etc, not hard. Thai people are pretty nice.

If you have VeganMav skills and make friends with every single person that passes you at any point on your trip, you'll have tons of friends and 11 year old girls to go swimming with. Degen 03/15/05  how hard would it be to find a really big house or a couple of them in near proximity to each other?

Hard to get a good deal if you don't know what you are doing. There is a huge industry setup to scam foreigners on overpriced houses/real estate.

www.thaivisa.com would be a good place to start getting educated multious 09/27/06 Phi-Phi is the nicest place I have ever been. Can't wait to go back.

veganmav

09/27/06 	   If you have VeganMav skills and make friends with every single person that passes you at any point on your trip, you'll have tons of friends and 11 year old girls to go swimming with.

Obviously in the purest sense. I made friends with as many people as possible, and love hangin out with people. Bill and his friends went out to a bar, and I stayed and swam at the beach with a bunch of kids.

It was a lot of fun.

= =    	Degen 09/27/06	      Can any of you guys who live there tell us where specifically you live, what its like, and why you chose there?

I chose Bangkok for the reliable internet. I'm thinking of moving to an island when I go back. I spent a couple months traveling around and Bangkok just made sense.

I'd be very interested to here about KKF and others' answers to this. I assume its internet related and most live in BKK, but what you leave if internet were better other places? Degen 09/27/06 Phi-Phi is the nicest place I have ever been. Can't wait to go back.

For those who don't know, that is where the movie The Beach was filmed. If you haven't seen it, do so now! Leo DiCaprio pic.

Degen 09/27/06 Bummer man, I've never heard of anything like that and certainly don't know of anybody ever doing opium over there, they may well do it though.

I'd imagine the had a bad drug problem at some point if they have such strict laws now.

how do you handle the influx of North American, White businessmen who come there with the sole intention of getting some 12 year old Thai boys?

hahahahaha i didn't know there was that big of an influx. i know a lot of them come to bang 19 year old poor thai women. they dont bother me so much, a lot of them are pretty cool people. Anybody interested in this can read the great book Bangkok Babylon about different characters that come through bangkok, real stories. Is it true the STD rate among prostitutes is >90%?

god no. i've heard people say 50% and thats a joke. i mean i don't know for sure but its pretty standard that thats all urban myth.

i have seen several 30-35 year old looking dudes there who looked like they were pretty far into full blown aids. Degen 09/27/06 haha ya, least you learned man

2000 baht is about $50. standard taxi ride from the airport to my place should have been like $7. xxThe_Lebowskixx 09/27/06 i did that too the first time i went to thailand. will never forget it. was so scared i was gonna get killed or robbed. i only paid 600 baht though. oddjob 09/27/06 i read somewhere there are a lot of hot russian girls there too. any validity to this? and if so, are they all just hookers? = = 	xxThe_Lebowskixx 09/27/06 speaking thai is hard as [censored]. i just avoid words phrases i cant pronounce because people will try to correct you, and want you to repeat it (friendly) and it is just immpossible for me.

i understand alot, but speaking is pretty hard.

i learned from some books and gf. Iconoclastic 09/27/06

Did you only go to bars and such places to pick up girls or were there other different places where you got a number or sealed the deal?

Klompy 09/27/06 How's the healthcare? Did you have health insurance while you were there?

veganmav 09/27/06 Me and Bill were walking in a cab, he saw a girl who he thought was atractive walking down the street. I got out and got her #. Then at the McDonald's I got the McDonald's drive through window girls #.

Also just random people anywhere I guess...

On the street, or at the falafel stand or whatever.

Talk to people. pokerraja 09/27/06 Great thread Degan. I have spent the last hour at work reading it. now time to go home! How are other 3rd world asian countries, such as Vietnam, Phillipines or Indonesia? Just curious if these are one in the same or not? I always assumed they all had similar cultures.

Vegan, Your taxi story is very standard and im sure anyone who has been to a 3rd world country has a similar taxi story. Also your avatar is one of the best i have ever seen.

Degen 09/27/06 i read somewhere there are a lot of hot russian girls there too. any validity to this? and if so, are they all just hookers?

Ya there are. There is one club in Bangkok called Novotel where a lot of Russian hookers hangout. They fit the 'hooker' stereotype way more than the Thai women. I've never had any interest, if i wanted to have sex with fat, bitchy white women i'd do it in america...

I've also heard there were lots of them in Pattaya but I've still yet to go.

Again, if people are interested in that type of thing at all, checkout This Forum NSFW

They talk about different clubs and hookers and all of that like we talk about poker.

veganmav 09/27/06 Great thread Degan. I have spent the last hour at work reading it. now time to go home! How are other 3rd world asian countries, such as Vietnam, Phillipines or Indonesia? Just curious if these are one in the same or not? I always assumed they all had similar cultures.

Vegan, Your taxi story is very standard and im sure anyone who has been to a 3rd world country has a similar taxi story. Also your avatar is one of the best i have ever seen.

yeah, i'm sure its not uncommon. Thanks about the avatar... stuey made it Degen 09/27/06 Did you only go to bars and such places to pick up girls or were there other different places where you got a number or sealed the deal?

Where can one pickup women in Thailand? lol

Below is a picture of my buddy putting in work on a bus headed to Koh Samet from Bangkok. = =  	Degen 09/27/06 How's the healthcare? Did you have health insurance while you were there?

nah, that stuff is cheap. you can get prescription meds on the street w/ no prescription (valium, xanax etc) and its cheap to go see a doctor.

i got a cavity filled for $50 Degen 09/27/06 Me and Bill were walking in a cab, he saw a girl who he thought was atractive walking down the street. I got out and got her #.

This was so classic. We are stuck in traffic so the pace they are walking is about the pace the car is going. Patrick spitting to this random shy thai girl with a great ass. the fact that he exited a moving car to come and hit on her didn't seem to phase her at all, nor does the fact that there is a taxi full of white dudes rolling around laughing staring right at them.

ship the digits. Degen 09/27/06 How are other 3rd world asian countries, such as Vietnam, Phillipines or Indonesia?

This I do not know, but would like to. If anybody has been to all of the above, please weigh in. Alobar 09/27/06 the million water bottles in this pic makes me ask

hows the water? Is it like mexico were you have to drink bottled water the whole time? multious 09/27/06 Let's get a 2p2 mansion going in Chiang Mai with a summer home down on the islands. Degen 09/27/06

How hard is a 10 to come by for a typical average dude traveling over there?

missed this.

10's are rare over there. I've seen maybe 8 girls like that in the time i've been there. i mean like if you have some in, they'll be nice to you and give you their number. i've never gone past that stage with one so i can't give you too much more info that that.

they are very nice about even rejection i guess, you'll never know you dont have a shot lol they'll be very nice to you about it.

thai people are just nice Degen 09/27/06 the million water bottles in this pic makes me ask

hows the water? Is it like mexico were you have to drink bottled water the whole time?

yes. i wouldn't/don't drink the water. our apartment building sold huge bundles of bottled water to us for cheap....which was nice cuz we rarely went shopping and bought most food from www.foodbyphonebkk.com or restaurants Degen 09/27/06 Let's get a 2p2 mansion going in Chiang Mai with a summer home down on the islands.

in = = multious 09/27/06 ugh i shoulda taken this year off university to travel Jasper109 09/27/06 I spent 6 months in Korea a few years ago, and found that they ranged from very friendly to completely obnoxious towards foreigners.

I'm curious what the Thai attitude is among parents when it comes to their daughters dating and possibly marrying a caucasian. Typically, Koreans very much frowned upon this.

Also, what are the chances of meeting a Thai woman 35+? Is divorce accepted within the culture? Are there single women in their 30's like in N.Amerca, or is it much rarer in Thailand? xxThe_Lebowskixx 09/27/06 divorce rate <1%.

unless you want someone 35+, you can easily get someone younger. xxThe_Lebowskixx 09/27/06 poor families welcome a rich husband they can extort money out of.

rich familes, chances are they have been overseas, they may or may not be crazy about the idea.