anddy

totally agree! Even happens to me sometimes with American or English speakers, even though my own English is 100% fluent (not saying perfect, vocabulary probably lacks tens of thousands of words lol)

not correct, there are gazillions of homophones in Thai, both of the type with identical spelling and with different spelling. just to name a few simple ones: kâa: ค่า (price, cost) ข้า (subject, servant) ฆ่า (to kill) sii: สี (color;; paint; to mill [think Silom=Windmill) ศรี (noble) kii: ขี้ (shit) คี่ (odd [number]) sat (or sut if based on english ponunciation): สัตว์ (animal) สัตย์ (honesty, loyalty) There are many many more, inlcluding more from your example nâa หน้า : face; page (in a book); season

I have trouble understanding romanized Thai, precisely because I don't know what the exact pronunciation (for some vowels proper approximation in English/romanized is not [possible) and tone is supposed to be. So if knowing the potential Thai candidates for a romanized word, it is possible to guess which one from the context, yes. Looks like Christian is better at guessing from context than me then lol. I leave it to Christian to give examples of where he finds them most, can't think of too many now... To me Thai is sometimes are rather contextual language anyway. Indentically pronounced words (though spellings might differ) may have vastly different meanings (especially if the spellings are different, which often has it's reasons in the origins of a word from, say, Sanskrit or Khmer), so the actual meaning is only becomes evident from the context. The same phenomenon exists in our western languages, of course, but it seems to me there are many more such words in Thai. That's just a personal feeling, though, I have no evidence or statistics to back it up. Simplest possible example from English: "can" - what does it mean? You can't tell without context. "I can do this" "a can of coke"

I won't disagree with that. That's what I do, and I mostly avoid hanging out with other western expats. Believe me, it works. As adults we do not lose the ability to effortlessly pick up language. The only thing we gain as adults is the mental capability to ask questions and pressure ourselves, which are things kids do not do when acquiring a language. If we switch of our intellect and just immerse in the language with comprehensible input ((as provided by AUA, sadly apparently the only place in Thailand and possibly the world to do so) we do pick up the language in the same way as children do, and that is effortless. I am living example that it does work. I am lazy and especially too lazy to study anything which involves self-discipline and homework etc. That's one reason I chose that program, because it promised to cater to my laziness, yet be effective. And so it was. Also, the result is that it feels rather natural to speak Thai. Anyway, thanks for the chat, too :-)

first things first: Yes agreed. I've been living here for 4+ years though with zero issues. Admittedly, I didn't buy a condo, so didn't need to read a purchase contract. Rental contracts I've had so far were either in English only or bilingual. I have dealt with administrative issues (such as registering motorbikes, taking out extra insurance for it, visa exotension, etc) with no problem. Just for educational purposes, as it were, let me correct some things you've said: With "effortless" I was referring to the language acquisition (though the AUA method, not other schools) itself. Of course it takes a commitment and an "effort" (though not a learning effort) to go to school preferable every day. At school itself there is no effort involved (this is ONLY referring to AUA!!!). True, though I find such circumstances rather exceptional and wouldn't (in fact haven't) let those prevent me from living here. In fact, those points apply to ANY foreign country to retire in that has a language different from your own. If that's a concern, that's a concern, sure. You are wrong - Thai has even more characters LOL. 44 consonants, 36 vowels plus 4 tone markers. The lack of spacing is a pain in the neck, true. The number of character actually makes it EASIER to master, not more difficult, because it is highly phonetic, unlike English where spellings and related pronunciation make no sense whatsoever (presumably because of the adoption of a foreign alphabet, namely, Latin, for the "wrong" language). Consider the pronunciation of the letter combination "ough": - enough - plough, drought - through -though - tough - thought - thorough - cough and maybe more. Try to explain that to a Thai! I fully understand why Thais find English reading & writing much more difficult than Thai - because it is. The same is true for the language itself, English has all those difficult grammar things like tenses and conjugations and singulars and plurals and what not, compounded by irregular verbs.. Very difficult indeed. None of that in Thai, structurally MUCH easier. Literacy has nothing to do with the ability to master the SPOKEN language. In fact, every single human being that ever lived, including yourself, learned to speak their first language rather fluently BEFORE reading and writing. Also, many lagnnuages in history exited without ever devising a script to write it. Literacy is completely irrelevant to speaking a language. You may wish to acquire that ability, too, as a bonus so to speak, but necessary it is not. I have a farang friend who has lived here for 25_ years or so, speaks fluent Thai, but can't read and write. Language ability, however, sure does vary, and so does vocabulary. But again, that has nothing to with literacy. Literacy or the lack thereof, in turn, has most likely more to do with poverty and access to education, certainly not with the complexity of the language, which it isn't there. Again, this just for educational purposes and based on my own observations. Guess we can and should close the language off-topiic and get back to the retirement related issues ;-)

sure, but those are exceptions rather than the rule yes but actually learning a language the way it is taught at AUA is not "learning" in the traditional sense (as in learning maths, for example) but it is "language acquisition" which happens in a different, non-conscous way. It actually works automatically, no effort required. There appears to be little if any age-related limitation to that ability. tone-deafness for music seems to me a different thing from language tones. If that were true that 1 on 20 (i.e. 5%) have difficulty distinguishing tones, then 5% of the entire Thai (and Chinese and others, for that matter) population would have difficulty understanding and speaking their native language properly. I don't believe it. Having said that, it may be true and a valid point that you might never get to the desired proficiency to discuss medical conditions and legal affairs in the foreign language. However, that's non concern at all to me as doctors in the private hospitals (in BKK) all speak English.

that "tone deaf" argument is simply bullshit and untrue, and I mean for EVERYONE, regardless of country of origin and age. If you make a conscious effort to "hear" the tones for a couple of months or so, yes you will fail. It does take time (1 to 2 years) and patience to "tune in" to the tones, but it is actually possible and rather effortless. One or two years may seem long, but so what, if you're retired time is the one thing you have in abundance. Also, it is a complete myth that western languages don't have tones. We don't have tones in individual words changing their meaning, but we do have tones in sentences, changing them, for example, from bland statements to a question or to convey some emotion such as surprise. Consider these three sentences, which are absolutely identical in their (spoken) wording: It is raining. It is raining? It is raining!!! How do you tell the difference when this is spoken to you? By means of the tone of the sentence. So none of us is "tone deaf", it just takes time and some getting used to the tones being within words. If you study Thai at AUA it will go as I said, effortless. Only thing required, again, are time and patience. See this blog to learn more about language learning the effortless way: https://beyondlanguagelearning.com/

correct, just saw those signs today while driving past

that's a bit outdated, from 2013....I certainly wouldn't recommend the shrinked copy, better have full size as others have mentioned here. I always carry a color copy of the picture page and normal b/w copy of visa + latest entry stamp + TM6 Regarding overstays, the advice is certainly no longer accurate regarding long overstays: Nowadays, such long overstays will result in blacklisting for long periods. edit: wasn't this thread about bars, not passports? LOL

always a pleasure to partake in your adventures through these reports, and even more so to meet in person if and when possible. So I say: see you next time

[emphasis mine] yes that's a change of heart about the hotel, I remember how you exclaimed "never again!" that night when we met at Maxis! Happy to hear you repeat - for all the good reasons - your revocation of your promise made to yourself in Pattaya not to return to Thailand, also made in person at Maxis

I know, but it gives you something to look forward to for your next trip!

it is definitely true, I can personally confirm it. Drove past a night or two ago and the lights were on, and just again now and saw them doing some work. They have big yellow new "Senso"-signs, too. Here is the proof :

Simple solution without need for any app or for laptop or any other device at all: on your phone, simply view the photo in question, then make a screenshot of it. The resulting screenshot will be a MUCH smaller file. I just did the same trick (incidentally to post a picture here as well). The original photo was over 3MB, the screenshot only 300kb.

that's incredible, you outdid yourself - yet again - to an astonishing degree! You mention efficient time use on short trip, yes, but my desire for such "time utilization" would just dwindle to zero after the second encounter (if not sooner). Impressive and enviable! And of course great pleasure to meet you again on this trip, twice even

there is actually another relatively new budget option on Saladaeng road, very close to Cube, called Smore.

If you're looking for nice & beautiful beaches, I wouldn't stay in ugly Ao Nang. The beach there as far as I have seen it is arrow and not pretty. I've stayed at Railay Beach several times instead and found it to about one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. There are actually 3 beaches there, Railay (West) beach, Ao Phra Nag beach on the south side, and Ton Sai baech towards the northewest (mor a backpacker/hippie haven, not recommended as the sun disappears behind a steep cliff quite early in the day). Railay beach can only be reached by boat from Ao Nang and is thus kinda secluded, except for sometimes too many day time visitors coming on day trips in longtail boats. But the are all gone by 5pm, then it becomes quiet and one can have a sundowner right on the beach on mats with cushions they set up and watch the amazing sunsets. I've stayed at Railay Village Resort right on the beach and found it good. There are only I think 5 resorts on the west side directly on the beach. Then there is Railay East, which you can reach by walking just 3 minutes through several paths connecting east and west which are no more than 200 or 300 meters apart. On the east side, there is no beach at all, but many many more accommodation options of all types, from budget to luxury. Also many restaurants, and a rather vibrant nightlife - albeit none of it gay. And you can do day trips from there too, of course, say an island hopping tour including to Phi Phi Island or James Bond Island and the like. Very nice for a day. As for the gay side of things, like I said no gay bars or such there, so you'd be limited to tying the apps, but it's a small area overall and thus chances will be limited (presumably no MBs there, maybe some other regular guys being restaurant or hotel staff). So, if you can do without a gay scene (commercial or otherwise) for a few days and want beautiful beach days, that might be an option. Depending on the amount of time you have in total, maybe you could split it into, say. 3 nights Railay and 3 nighs Ao Nang.

lol guess that would be a "twinky" face with the quintessential "swimmer's body" as exemplified in the video?

+1 like this: https://youtu.be/THhxLBiL4uY

if you are deciding between Cube and bed Station, why even consider Bed Station? I looked for it on google maps and (if google maps is right) they have 2 locations, one on Petchaburi Road very close to Rathatewi BTS and one in Khaosan area. The latter is VERY FAR from Silom gay area and nowhere near any train. The first is at the BTS, so Silom is just a quick ride away (though you have to interchange at Siam for the SIlom Line), but as pong said that's only available until midnight. So location-wise, you can't beat Cube, which is a stone throw from DJ Station and Saladaeng BTS, and only a few minutes walk to either Silom Soi 4 or Soi Twilight. As with all real estate, the golden 3-L rule also applies to ho(s)tels: Location, Location, Location! Having said that, as pong pointed out you may get a proper hotel room with your own private bathroom at Nantra Silom (also excellent location for Silom gay area) for not much more than a hostel bed. I looked for a random date in November and Nantra had DOUBLE rooms for only 900 Baht, whereas a SINGLE Cube-bed is 400, a double bed cube in a mixed dorm is 800. Looks like a no-brainer for Nantra to me, especially if there is any chance that you may bring someone back to your room....

sounds great. I have a technical question, so to speak: You say "took him with me"- to where? Your place? Or a short time hotel? Are there any in the area?

Rates at green and orange Superrich are virtually identical: as of this post they have these rates (buy/sell): green orange USD 32.78 / 32.82 32.78 / 32.83 GBP 42.55 / 42.80 42.55 / 42.80 EUR 37.60 / 37.70 37.60 / 37.75 green: https://www.superrichthailand.com/#!/en orange: http://www.superrich1965.com/en_index.html Orange Superrich has the advantage of having plenty of branches whereas I rarely ever see green. Also, there is a relatively new booth called Twelve Victory on the ground floor of the DTAC office Building at Chamchuri Square (MRT Sam Yan) which also has almost identical rates.

Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat = no-go zone, for pretty obvious reasons You can easily go to Hat Yai though, plenty of flights there. Never been there, all I can say is from hearsay and maybe some websites such as tragelgayasia. As I understand it, there is a pretty sizeable commercial sex scene (str8 and gay) including male massage shops, mostly catering to Malaysians crossing the nearby border.

1. they often call themselves boys 2. the label "boy" probably has nothing to do with age (as in boy=underage) but everything with the boyish appearance so many Asian guys have sometimes well into their 30s. Where the term "boy" is totally unfitting IMHO is for Tawan guys, but it's still being used there out of habit I suppose. 3. it is a stern rule of this forum that anything underage will not be tolerated in any way, and rightly so, and as long as I have been here nothing to that effect has ever been posted, not even close. With that rule and understanding in mind I don't see any problem with using the term "boy". I'm no fan of political correctness and censorship... I don't believe we need censorship here (except when if it were come to attempted underage postings, of course) my 2 cents

actually there was an announcement today that Saranrom Park will be closed to the public, effective immediately. The new King takes it back to himself, like so many other things, including Dusit Zoo. What he wants with all these things is his secret I guess.... Source: https://www.thairath.co.th/content/1382810 (in Thai)