faranglaw

Very wise words, Divine Madman. I couldn’t agree more. One of the toughest life lessons is learning to see shades of grey. After you start seeing shades of grey, you realize that just about everything in life is shades of grey. I agree with you, DM. There is no conspiracy to make farang life in Thailand miserable. In fact, it just might possibly be true that, just maybe, it’s not actually about us. Strange idea, isn’t it, that other people exist, see things through the lens of their culture and experience, may not think the same as we do, may have other priorities besides our precious little selves. Oh, the humanity!

REGISTERED mail, or so I read.

I have a similar story. I visit Thailand yearly and met a nice young Burmese man at Babylon. I got together with him three or four times. He never asked for money but it turned out he was a massage boy at a shop near the Malaysia Hotel. We had a very sweet time together. I went back to look for him two years later and found out he had been murdered, beaten to death and left in a room in the Malaysia. A farang was arrested but it seemed he had injected drugs into my friend’s body to make it appear to be my friend’s fault. My friend never did drugs of any kind when I knew him. The farang was released and sent back to his country. The mamasan where he worked set up a memorial service for him, and his two siblings who lived and worked in Bangkok came. His ashes were sent back to his Mom in Yangon. No rich relatives came flying halfway around the world demanding justice for him. No report of any kind appeared in the news. He. Just. Disappeared. My friend had a name. It was Daeng. He was 23. I love Thailand but the way Thais treat some people, especially Burmese immigrants, as garbage, is disgusting beyond any words I can find. Obviously these two boys have been framed.

I only got to Sauna Mania once. I was about 55 at the time. No extra fee but I felt VERY unwelcome there. I think it’s just for younger men.

Thanks all. I just hope hope they fix this before I try to move to Thailand with Dear Husband on a retirement visa next year. Sounds like it has become a nightmare for some long stay faring.

I’ve been reading a great deal lately about the new enforcement of the requirement for landlords to file a TM30 every time a foreign renter or guest leaves their permanent residence. Have any of you run into this? There is a great deal of discussion on Richard Barrow’s blog and in the Bangkok Post. It seems to have developed into quite a headache for everyone involved.

My husband informs me that this shop was raided about two months ago for illegal immigrants. All the positive reviews seem to be from before that.

Thanks

Good topic. I am married to a wonderful Thai man I met in 1993. We moved to Canada together, he from Thailand, me from the US, and have made a good life in Vancouver. It has now been almost twenty years, and he wants to move back to Thailand to be with his aging Mom. Having hauled him to North America for all these years, I can hardly say I won’t live in his country, so it looks like, at age 70, I will move to Thailand next year. I will give up a lot, my community, universal health care, creature comforts and cool weather, but hey—it’s marriage and for better or worse. I am trying to look at it as an opportunity for discovery. I am fortunate in that I have a hobby that allows me to meet new people and develop community. We also have a beautiful home in On Nut. So I’ll do it, with moments of fear and sadness mixed with the anticipation. Life does not stand still even when we get old.

and Thailand, before the previous Parliament was dissolved for the election.

In view of political developments in the UK and US over the past few years, is it really so out of line to suggest Caucasians are an inferior race? Just a thought...

I like Google flights. I fly from Vancouver and we have used Korean Air for several years now. They usually have the best price, service is very good, and if you have a long layover at Incheon, they often offer you the lounge or even a hotel. Incheon is a beautiful airport, especially the wing they built for the Olympics. The past two years we have booked in advance for our three month winter stay, booking in spring for a late November departure. Price: $850 and $950 in Canadian dollars! On December 1st the prices jump up to about $1400, so keep that in mind if your dates are around that time.

My favorite neighborhood is Suan Phlu. Close enough to get to Silom or other attractions, far enough away to be cheaper. Making friends, stablishing community is way harder than picking up boys for sex. I'm workng on this myself. A couple things I'm trying: 1. My hobby, which happns to be bridge, but any hobby that brings you in contact with others should help. 2. I just started Thai languag classes, thanks to anddy here in this blog. It's only my first week, but it seems theree are loads of (mostly straight) people to start up acquaintance with.

Are you familiar with the song sung by Alberta Hunter, "My Man...Is Such A Handy Man?" Seems it would be right up your, um... "alley."

In other words, vinapu, you personally have skewed the results? ;-)

At least it wasn't Hotel California. He'd be dead.

Interesting. I taught English in Japan and hung out with students and other gaijin, but not salarymen. On weekends I went to the boring ni-chome gay scene. There seemed to be numerous subcultures in Japan, and as a foreigner, one needed an invitation to join one of them. Lucky you to be asked to join that one!

Really? I'm very skeptical. I lived in Japan for four years and never heard anything like this, except perhaps the very ritualized summer festival linked here: https://www.insidejapantours.com/blog/2009/05/28/naked-japanese-men-the-japanese-festival-of-hadaka-matsuri/ In my years there, I saw no evidence that "when guys get drunk one of the first things they do is get naked." Not that I think it's a bad idea, mind you!

According to Theravada Buddhism, it will be there until it's not. :-)

Thanks Anddy, very helpful.

For me it's street food whenever possible. I'm not familiar enough with Silom to comment, but the street food on Suan Phlu is wonderful. The Isan style place near Mybed hotel has the most divine grilled pork, very spicy somtam you can ask them to dial back, and many other wonderful dishese. Sit there with a beer and flirt with the Vietnamese waitstaff, watch the people parade--nothing better. On Soi 8 there are a number of good places, the one with loud music has good roast chicken, again with somtam. For dessert you can go up the street and stop at the ice cream cart. One should always top off coconut ice cream with corn, wouldn't you agree? And on the other side of the street, my Vietnamese friend Linh whips up cheap and delicious crab fried rice. Also there are a number of good places along Ngam Duphli, where The vile Malaysia Hotel sits. Up the street next to Pinnacle is a Chinese reataurant I like, and then around the corner on Rama IV lots of noodle shops. Cross the pedestrian bridge to the other side of Rama IV and try some of the really cheap places the massage boys go to. Too bad it's a bit far from Silom.

...and you think this is a good reason NOT to learn Thai? For myself, I can hardly think of a better reason!

Thai partners are not necessarily good teachers. Dear Husband does not have much patience with my clumsy attempts at Thai; after all, he wants to communicate, and his English is good, so why bother? But then when I get to Thailand and spend a few weeks to months there, which we do every year, I stay with his family. I want to communicate with them! DH's 80 year old Mom speaks not a word of English and never will, so I need at least some rudimentary Thai to communicate with her. And his sister and others have very limited English, so I need to make the effort. So now I can at least have the standard conversations--where you from? Do you like Thai food/girls/country/boys/beaches, etc. Thai acquaintances appreciate the attempt, and last year, I reached the point where I could jump on the back of a mocy taxi and tell the driver in Thai where I wanted to go and how to get there. I was also navigating a number of other situations alone without needing to rely on him all the time. DH was impressed--and, I think, relieved!