Post deleted by Mat Sklansky

[TheDudeAbides]

[ QUOTE ]
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.

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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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[Madd]

[ QUOTE ]
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"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not Degen, but anyway:
A couple should get by very, very well with 2-3k $. The reason why it isn't less is that you can afford to do many nice things. The price is cheap in each case, but it adds up.

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

[/ QUOTE ]

You are far away from friends and family.
It is dirtier than in america/europe/australia.
The traffic is chaotic.
See question #3.

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

[/ QUOTE ]

You have power outages (arund 1 per month where I live). DSL is not very reliable, so you should use a UPS and a second internet connection to be fine. The roads aren't great, but not that bad either. I don't know much about public transport because I use taxis (very cheap) in general.

[ QUOTE ]
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?).

[/ QUOTE ]

You shouldn't have problems here with law enforcement unless you kill somebody or do drug trafficking.
That said, I always hear that before and after loy krathong (sp.), xmas etc. the cops need more money and stop more cars for speeding/motobike-driver for not wearing a helmet. 100 baht = around 2.50$.

[Alobar]

How much English is spoken there? Is it hard to communicate with most people?

[KJS]

Have you tried to learn Thai?

I know it is not easy but you can get a hang of it. The grammar is super easy. I learned quite a bit having a college student come to my place about once a week to tutor me. Along with going through instruction books on my own and making flash cards. And my main Thai buddy and I would only speak Thai to each other for the most part, which helped a lot.

You will get a lot of respect from Thais if you make an effort to learn it. You will also eat much much better if you learn how to read menus in Thai so you are not limited in where you can go eat. And also learn directions so you can ask anyone how to get somewhere if you are lost.

Sure you will not be able to analyze things with folks but in my opinion if you are going to be a guest in a country, you should learn the language instead of expecting everyone to speak yours. I am not saying that is what you have done, but I knew a lot of other expats who made no effort whatsoever and I think their experience was much less rich, culturally speaking, than those of us who learned Thai.

KJS

[farang0]

Looks like I am late to the party. 12 pages...damn.

Just got back from my visa run (Koh samui - Malaysia - Samui) 12 hours in a minivan but not too bad I guess.

KJS is correct: If you make an effort to learn thai then Thailand is sooo much nicer. I have a decent vocab building up and get a lot more respect now that I can communicate on my own.

[Alobar]

Does being around thai women make it harder to have a relationship when you come back home?

It would be a lot harder for me to deal with [censored] from my GF if I was used to a woman giving me what I wanted all the time

Same thing for being somewhere that is so relaxed. Is it hard to readjust when you get back home. Or does it carry over and you just generalyl have a better attitude when dealing with "normal" life back home?

[Audrey Hepburn]

Assess the veracity of Brokedown Palace.

[Farfenugen]

Whats up with this "saving face" BS I keep reading about? Can you really not criticise anyone?

[young Nut]

Very cool thread, and it really makes me want to go to Thailand. Thanks for the great info degen.