Luke's 4K post: How to GTFO! (And into Thailand)
- Thread starter lukep
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Yes, Thais prefer to swindle rather than to rob, which is a good thing crimewise.
Thailand is very safe if you mind your manners. If you're an asshole then your ass whoopping is probably going to land you in the intensive care unit fast.
The point is and anyone who has visited will be able to confirm, that even if you stumble home dead drunk from a shady nightlife area, the risk of getting robbed or beaten are miniscule. I'd like to see you take those odds in Rio. Or how about just taking a stroll through any American ghetto? I am willing to bet I would be safer walking thorugh the Klong Toey shantytown than going for a 15 minute walk in Detroit or Washington DC getthoes.
I'm not really into winning e-arguments so take it or leave it, but for people considering living in Thailand it's worth noting that it's probably safer than their own city as long as they learn what not to do.
I have an idea. Get it through your thick skulls that an MFA farm is not a solid long-term business plan, make some real money, and then you won't have to move to Thailand lol. If I was going to leave SoCal Thailand would be about the last place in the fucking world I would move to.
A lot of people missed the point of Luke's post that leaving the US is not about moving somewhere cheap but moving to somewhere more free. Despite quite a number of restrictions on foreigners Thailand is much more free than the US. If you live here and visit the US you will really see and feel it.
A little bit of a chuckle when people say Thailand lacks freedom of speech because you go to jail if you defame the monarchy. Any Thai person can go in public and shout they are going to kill the POTUS. You can't do that in the US without going to jail so hah, more freedom of speech, not less. Seriously people.
There are oh so many other off target coments about living in Thailand but I'm not going to try to educate everyone.
The bottom line is that living in Thailand is not for most people, but for none of the reasons mentioned by detractors.
A little bit of a chuckle when people say Thailand lacks freedom of speech because you go to jail if you defame the monarchy. Any Thai person can go in public and shout they are going to kill the POTUS. You can't do that in the US without going to jail so hah, more freedom of speech, not less. Seriously people.
There are oh so many other off target coments about living in Thailand but I'm not going to try to educate everyone.
The bottom line is that living in Thailand is not for most people, but for none of the reasons mentioned by detractors.
TRAFFIC FUCKING KILLS..... Thai traffic is fucking horrendous, here is some stats actually 33 swedish people died in thailand SO FAR THIS YEAR...
I think that it was 27 of them died in car crashes, most numbers like this are constantly silent by thai government for obvious reasons. I can only assume that tons of people die on traffic everyday, since that was only swede's of those 33.
I think that it was 27 of them died in car crashes, most numbers like this are constantly silent by thai government for obvious reasons. I can only assume that tons of people die on traffic everyday, since that was only swede's of those 33.
Oy that's a lot of questions... This might take a while:
Let's address this King business once and for all here: The king makes NO laws. He doesn't give a shit one way or another if you disrespect his name. His entire lineage exists to serve the people by doing wise and philnathropic acts. This enriches the entire country greatly, and the people there HIGHLY, almost religiously, respect their king for this. If you read his history you'll be SHOCKED at how much of a slave to society he is and how much he has given of himself.
So the Thai People DO NOT want you dissing their king. Them there are fighting words! THEY will send you to prison for 7-14 years, (being a democracy, the government is run by the people, just like here) not the royal family. So just don't do it. OK?
Thailand is the ONLY country in all of SE asia that hasn't been colonized by whitey at some point in its' history. Don't let the small size of thailand fool you; they are a world power that no one denies controls that whole region around them.
I haven't pulled the trigger yet but I'm looking at a very swanky 3-bedroom penthouse within walking distance of the finest mall in all of asia. It's fully serviced and cleaned daily, and when I stayed in something similar down the street in January, my expenses totaled out to around $7,000 for the entire month, eating, shopping, driver and all. That's high luxury though, it could easily be done at one tenth the price without all of the lux.
Back before the King cleaned it all up at great expense in the 1970s, the north of Thailand was war-torn over the poppy trade for eons. I don't think Thais hate the idea of people using drugs as much as they are just seriously butthurt over that war-torn history.
Actually they're all over, but I know that about 50% of the skyscraper I stayed in was farang.
Like any country there are bad parts of town, but you simply do not have to go there. They good parts of town have the best stuff, even in touristy cities like Phuket. I personally don't know anyone in BKK who has even been the victim of a crime worth speaking about. There is simply more integrity in the Thai culture, so wherever crime exists, chances are it's some farang...
LOL! Um, yes. They don't have a crooked FDA requiring bad foods in every part of your life over there.
Once you realize that the king has abosolutely NOTHING to do with the government (and constantly critisizes them) you realize that his entire role is basically that of being a very rich & respected Philanthropist... Nothing more.
Let's address this King business once and for all here: The king makes NO laws. He doesn't give a shit one way or another if you disrespect his name. His entire lineage exists to serve the people by doing wise and philnathropic acts. This enriches the entire country greatly, and the people there HIGHLY, almost religiously, respect their king for this. If you read his history you'll be SHOCKED at how much of a slave to society he is and how much he has given of himself.
So the Thai People DO NOT want you dissing their king. Them there are fighting words! THEY will send you to prison for 7-14 years, (being a democracy, the government is run by the people, just like here) not the royal family. So just don't do it. OK?
What, like big banks, buisiness, schools and Corps? Not in Bangkok. I don't know any US cities (that includes new york!) that are as massive and filled with so many Skyscrapers.
...That aren't really enforced, or even when so, you can't bribe your way out of.
LOL! I had a great laugh over that one; thank you.
Thailand is the ONLY country in all of SE asia that hasn't been colonized by whitey at some point in its' history. Don't let the small size of thailand fool you; they are a world power that no one denies controls that whole region around them.
Wonder what China's up to?
Good luck holding onto your money here long enough to buy that palace... Hyperinflation can be a biotch.
You of all people should know I just can't compete on that front LC!
It certainly would. Oh the trips I would take being so centrally located to the far side of the world... Americans just can't imagine how many different cultures are a short jump away because there is just too much America in the way.Nice post...just not highly relevant to my interests, although it does mean if you all head over there it would cheaper to fly over and say g'day.
I have already started to think of the US as 2nd world and Bangkok as 1st world... The degredation of society here is all but too obvious lately.
Some people get bothered by that but I married into a Thai family and find them far superior to the family I was born to... So that won't be a problem at all for me.
That's pretty stereotypical stuff that doesn't show one bit of the average Thai City dweller's lifestyle. (Ok, the pollution can get pretty bad.) But seriously, visit BKK one day and see for yourself, those megamalls make american malls look like mom & pop corner stores. It can be far better than the USA as far as civilization goes, if you're deep in the heart of Bangkok.
When I visited outside of BKK, I always stayed in 5-star resorts that are considerably more expensive than I would try to do if I lived there. Even when I visited Chiang Mai, so I should only talk about life in downtown BKK.
I haven't pulled the trigger yet but I'm looking at a very swanky 3-bedroom penthouse within walking distance of the finest mall in all of asia. It's fully serviced and cleaned daily, and when I stayed in something similar down the street in January, my expenses totaled out to around $7,000 for the entire month, eating, shopping, driver and all. That's high luxury though, it could easily be done at one tenth the price without all of the lux.
Those people will have much larger belligerence to worry about than me soon. Heck, they already do.
I haven't lived there yet but my family is from there and I usually visit for a month at a time every year or two. There are several people on this forum living there now, but I'm planning for my move late this year or early next year.
Damn Turbo, you do get around. Where did you live there? Do you miss it?
They are like being sent to prison for life. Don't do anything harder than Mary J there, especially anything poppy-based. It's SRS BZNS... But I'm told the pot is excellent.what are the drugs like?
Back before the King cleaned it all up at great expense in the 1970s, the north of Thailand was war-torn over the poppy trade for eons. I don't think Thais hate the idea of people using drugs as much as they are just seriously butthurt over that war-torn history.
6K? What about 5? You'd better not be skipping your 5K post!
The amount you need is up to your lifestyle choice... Go back and read the financial phase again and do the math. As for needing it all up front, no, I wouldn't say that's necessary... Not as long as you're still earning and have access to it like laid out. You'll be good as long as that access exists.
Possibly. I'm going to be looking deeply into it and let's just say this has the potential to hasten my departure. If I have to I'll transport all my money over in huge Singaporian banknotes though and get new Thai affiliate accounts over on the other side... Keeping my money in USD is not an option.
Wow, Nana is one station back from where I stayed all January. I mainly ate at the food lofts, but of course I could get much cheaper food downstairs. 150 Baht is cheap for western food man, what is that, like $4.50? Remember you're paying a premium not just for it being western food, but for it being downtown! If you want to get really cheap and pay about $1 per meal, you can easily do that down on the street eating like the Thais do... You know, Street hawker food.
Look west and up.
Actually they're all over, but I know that about 50% of the skyscraper I stayed in was farang. That's just an old tactic to make money off of ppl that lose coupons... Frankly I've only dined that way once... I prefer the type where you go in with an assigned credit card and pay it off when you leave like Food Loft.
Seriously? You live in a freaking sauna and you want to join a Gym??? The only ones I see are in the high-rise apartment buldings and condos.
I'm moving back to Bangkok in June.
The best way to get apartments is to go here Thailand Real Estate & Property Forum (. You talk to the owner directly and skip the agents.
Anyone that wants to live in the city I highly recommend moving as close to a mall / skytrain. Malls = gym, grocery shopping, food, dates, cinema...it makes life a lot easier.
I lived near Paragon last year and now I'm going to try to get a place near Terminal 21.
But yea Bangkok's amazing and developing at such a fast rate.
The best way to get apartments is to go here Thailand Real Estate & Property Forum (. You talk to the owner directly and skip the agents.
Anyone that wants to live in the city I highly recommend moving as close to a mall / skytrain. Malls = gym, grocery shopping, food, dates, cinema...it makes life a lot easier.
I lived near Paragon last year and now I'm going to try to get a place near Terminal 21.
But yea Bangkok's amazing and developing at such a fast rate.
Porn is NOT illegal to buy there. It may be illegal to make, but I've seen all types of porn in multiple chains of bookstores and video outlets for sale. Even in the most upstanding bookstores you can happen upon a playboy magazine or some softcore porn videos, and in the tech malls you'll easily find row after row of hardcore porn from other countries. (Mostly Korean if I remember correctly.) Porn is only blocked online to hide Thai children from it; I believe you can still get it online from sites which require a credit card first in order to see the first pair of boobies.
Don't scare them Mark! You know that was a temp thing when some Video was uploaded insulting the King... Once that video was removed from YT the country released the block.
Have you seen any numbers on how likely one of those accidental blocks happens? I know lots of people with websites on Thai servers that have never had a complaint.
You need to hang out in better locales, bro. I can honestly say I have no idea what you're talking about! (Except all the Russian & German tourists near the beaches...)
Thanks Rusky. Sadly the cruise line industry has the Gay travel niche cornered. I just couldn't get a single follower in that niche. ;(
You clearly aren't seeing the bigger picture of the concept of freedom here. A few blocked sites to protect children from porn do not take your livelihood away. Laws like the NDAA and SOPA can.
I wish someone published a comparison of all the individual freedoms we expect and rank the various countries against each other for them... Sadly it's next to impossible because Each country would rather not publicsize what they're doing wrong. Needless to say the USA is hiding a lot more than it lets on about, at least since WWII.
And about Asia: Hong Kong really is the most free country that I've heard of. Between it and Thailand the USA looks like a slave Labor camp to those who care about liberty.
Forbes was smoking crack when they printed that. There is a Royal fund that he has control over which goes to the upkeep of royal grounds all over the country, and from which he does all of his philanthropy... For some reason Forbes called that fund his personal wealth when other kings regular bank accounts were judged, keeping funds for those purposes seperate.
And about the road shut-downs, please name me a president whose family doesn't get the same treatment. Certainly not Obomba.
Wow you just don't get it. How can you live there and date a Thai and not get that the people there (at least the older generations) are actually THANKFUL for all he's done? Coming from the west that's alien to us I know, but this is not a government removal of freedom, it's the people protecting their own.
You're totally getting the wrong idea here. You can carry guns in Thailand too. Thais love their guns. -They don't need them though so it's rare to spot one on the street. The internet censorship is hardly noticeable and changes with the ever-changing laws there... And my ISP speeds in BKK were a lot faster (10x!) than they are here in Kansas on "Broadband."
Wow, you just named a few Marxist Dictatorships and places with very high crime rates. I think you'd better do moar research before you make your move bro.
Shellfish plans? Like to build a lobster? Nah, I'll just get mine from the sea, thanks. :thumbsup:
I enjoyed my week there but I personally need moar lux than the Chiang Mai lifestyle offers. Also watch out for the burning season there... The nearby farmers burn their crops for three months of the year and it's cough-inducing smokey in Chiang Mai that whole time!
Awesome, fruit is damn good (and common) stuff over there. I've never had a breakfast in BKK without at least 2 or 3 kinds of kick-ass exotic fruits. You do know all the best thai fruits gets shipped to the supermarkets in BKK too, right?
There are no scary insects (that you will ever see) in Downtown BKK, but when I went up Doi Inthanon a huge hornet flew into our car and made a dent! The fucking thing was so big it could fly away with small pets. I was fucking scared for my life.
Malaria? No. Mosquitos? Standard at all beaches and in the jungles. Get used to the smell of Citronella.
On the western beaches (like Phuket) they have a shitty little sand flea there that tries to lay its' eggs in your skin. I hate those but the locals act like it's nothing.
I think it's safe if you've had your travel shots but it tastes like muddy piss. It's fine to shower in but EVERYONE drinks bottled water there, just because of the overall pollution. Bottles of water are available everywhere for something like 20 cents, depending on the location. It can be a pain to haul & store them all though.
Despite the fact that the inside of the megamalls and high-rises in BKK are very western and worldly, westernization is not everything. You of all people should be able to appreciate the freedoms they have over there that the western hemisphere doesn't get to enjoy.
I only care about one number, the number 1, which is me, 'cuz it happened to me! One of my innocent little MFA sites was blocked for a couple of days. Called the ISP, guy said it is under orders of the MICT (Thai gov) which was just a standard response without actually looking at anything. Couple of days later it was back. Almost certainly just some dumb mistake at the ISP. Just saying you need a second ISP or proxies or a VPN if you don't want down time due to dumb stuff like this.
Also the response time when your internet goes down can be dreadful. A while back some idiot in the neighborhood cut down a tree that fell on my landline and cut off my ADSL. Two weeks before the phone company sent someone to fix it. Happened again last month. Now I know the local lineman so I kept calling him to find out when he would come to fix it. Took 4 days.
Awesome 4kth post bro. This place looked pretty cool: Accommodation In Bangkok: Monaco Hotel Budget Apartment In Bangkok With Internet Access - Privileged Penthouse
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-oCew_ef94]FIGHT! Life - Urijah Faber: Trouble in Bali - YouTube[/ame]
Can anyone else from Bangkok chime in on this? Not because I don't trust Luke, but rather because I don't fuck with that shit, and I wanna make damn sure I'm not gonna find some giant centipede that sneaked in through my AC or something.
I've seen cockroaches and rats, but that's about it. If you're in a decent apartment, you shouldn't have any problems with bugs.
Re:cars. I never even considered buying a car when I was living in Bangkok - taxis are just so cheap and readily available that it didn't make sense to me.
I'm currently living in Jakarta, Indonesia. It's alright, but it's nowhere as nice as Bangkok is. Bali, however, is a little paradise. It's definitely worth checking out.
Yea no point in a car. The traffic's absolutely horrible, you can go anywhere faster with the train system.
Cars are more for status symbol here. I don't feel right paying $50k for a toyota camry.
Technically, all porn is illegal in Thailand. Then again, so is prostitution, but you'd never know it if you went for a night out at the go-go bars in Pattaya. Again, there's loads of laws on the books, but enforcement of them is totally different than in the West. The police are more of a "for profit" organization, hence why I believe there's so many laws on the books. It's not because anyone cares, but just lets the police make some easy extortion money.
Again, keep yourself clean & respectful, and you'll never have an issue with the law.
As for Thailand being dangerous, that's ludicrous. I feel way safer walking around here at 2am than I did even in downtown West Vancouver. Thai society is far more communal than out West, and people spend much more time on the streets, socializing with their neighbors. That concept has somewhat disappeared in the West, and instead now it's, "my neighbors? why the hell would I want to know them!?!?".
Every Thai neighborhood has a couple convenience stores, whether it's a 7-11 type store simply a lady who turned the front of her house into one. Basically all day, every day people will hang out there, get something to eat, have a beer, chat up whoever comes by, etc. Because of this, everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone's business.
This is great in ways, because it keeps everyone at bay. You can't just go around picking fights, stealing, or being an idiot. If you do, everyone is going to know about it, and nobody will give you any respect or help. On the flip side, if you're a good guy, everyone knows this too.
Once you get past the fact that people you've never met know loads of details about you, it's a great way to live. For example, one time I picked up some potted plants from the market. The husband jumps up, and insists on driving me home, so I accepted. I started telling him where I lived, he just shrugged me off, and sure enough, dropped me right off at my door. Never seen the guy before in my life, but he obviously knew me. Or I can't remember the last time I had to tell a tuk-tuk driver where I lived. I seem to be able to hop into any tuk-tuk on the street, tell them I'm going home, and they know exactly where to go.
When I lived in Bangkok I had a tropical centipede inside the house one time and running around by the front door another time.
These things are big and scary and the bite very painful and potentially quite dangerous to some people.
Had a pit viper in the garden in Bangkok once. While not as poisonous as many other snakes in Thailand they do kill more people than most because they are quick to bite.
Now that I live up country the number and variety of encounters with poisonous animals is pretty large. On my property I have seen a variety of hornets including "tiger head" hornet that kills people now and then, many tropical centipedes, many other types of wasps and bees that aren't as dangerous but painful stingers (been stung many times), king cobra spotted twice on my property, and blue kraits almost every rainy season. Blue kraits are very deadly; they are shy and don't bite unless you step on them but if you get bit you are dead in five minutes - no anti-venom and no time even if there was.
If stuff like this disturbs you then just live in a condo that doesn't have a lot of landscaping or gardens around it and you'll probably never see any of it.
These things are big and scary and the bite very painful and potentially quite dangerous to some people.
Had a pit viper in the garden in Bangkok once. While not as poisonous as many other snakes in Thailand they do kill more people than most because they are quick to bite.
Now that I live up country the number and variety of encounters with poisonous animals is pretty large. On my property I have seen a variety of hornets including "tiger head" hornet that kills people now and then, many tropical centipedes, many other types of wasps and bees that aren't as dangerous but painful stingers (been stung many times), king cobra spotted twice on my property, and blue kraits almost every rainy season. Blue kraits are very deadly; they are shy and don't bite unless you step on them but if you get bit you are dead in five minutes - no anti-venom and no time even if there was.
If stuff like this disturbs you then just live in a condo that doesn't have a lot of landscaping or gardens around it and you'll probably never see any of it.
Moving somewhere more free?
lol thats the stupidest shit I've ever heard. The only logical reason to move to thailand would be because its so cheap. You don't need to move to thailand to get "freedom".
If you want freedom go buy a plot of land in the middle of no fucking where U.S.A. and feel safe knowing that nobody will be watching you jack off to your lady boy collection.
^^ Fuck yea, that shit disturbs me.. Things in my yard that kill me if I step on them? No thanks.