149 replies to this topic

[thailover57]

I retired 2-1/2 years ago and have been on an Ed visa. Go to school for 2 hours twice a week. I'm happy with the school. The teachers are good, speak English well and are positive and polite. Most of the schools will allow you to sit in on a class to get the sense of their teaching method. I have difficulty with the language because the language is tonal and for the most part is spoken so fast, I have difficulty translating quickly. I can have a limited dialogue with someone as long as it happens more slowly. As for reading, there are 44 consonants and 32 vowels and then add tone marks! If you've seen a Thai newspaper, reading is mind-boggling! The sentences have no word breaks, so if you don't have a large vocabulary, you can maybe sound out the letters but what are the words?

I'll own up to being a little lazy in my studies, but hey, I'm retired! And I do notice that Thais, in general, appreciate the effort to speak the language. When I first started taking classes, I was staying in a hotel on Buakow with a bar at ground level. After class, I'd stop in for a nightcap. When the bar girls saw the class book, they'd sit down and look through it and start helping me with pronunciation or spelling - a good conversation starter.

[Spyder Rocket]

@Thailover57

How much are you paying for your Thai courses if you don't mind me asking?

From the little bit of googling I've done, I've seen prices range from 27k Bht to 65k per year.

Four hours a week sounds about my speed; I'm a little daunted at the prospect of learning Thai, but it is worth a try.

I struggled with Japanese, and at best I probably sounded like a precocious four year old.

[thailover57]

The course was 29k for the first year with a 10% discount in subsequent years. And there's a 1,900 baht fee every 90 days at immigration, but fortunately no visa run. I also found a Flash card program for iOS and typed in all the vocabulary words from the first book (about 700) and review them as time allows. Working on the second book. The physical act of typing them in was really helpful. Took forever to type using a Thai keyboard, but adult learning theory has always said that we learn by doing (concrete vs. abstract). So it's baby steps for me but I can see improvements. Students younger than me have been able to move on faster. Some of them study more and a few are mongering more and getting more practice. It can be frustrating at times, but after "hitting a wall" with my progress, I've lightened up and see the improvements.

My choice of an ED visa was based on the fact that while I had visited for short times over the previous 5 years, I wasn't sure I should go for a retirement visa. What if I didn't like retirement here? Well, I love it and continue with the ED visa because I don't want to tie up my money in a local bank. I still have 7 years to renew my ED visa. Then maybe I'll go for the retirement visa.

[Macman]

You are continually watering down useful threads with your madcap assumptions and uneducated cynicism based on reading craigslist, cam chats and other threads on the site.

 

Some people find your godawful grasp of the English language and depressing cynicism towards imperfect ladyboys and Thai culture amusing at times, while the rest of us are getting a bit tired of it. Stop trying to dominate threads with your hate and nonsense, most people are here to share genuine opinions and useful information.

 

Until you've actually been to Thailand maybe just stick to the Off Topic section instead of trolling good threads, and please, get a spell check installed, it takes just seconds and saves the rest of us hours of pain and misery.

Will you marry me?

[Swedeman007]

 

Moo Young, you're dead on. boomdraw has admiitted he has not been back to Thailand for several years - perhaps closing in on 10. He's an "armchair" expert now, supplementing his old experiences with knowledge he's gained from the forums and internet. His advice is not always accurate or up to date.

 

RX, you are spot on here, over time he has definitely been gaining knowledge from various LB forums, but his selection of available forums is becoming less and less and others have chosen to show him the door and give him the boot. His negative attitude towards Thais, Thailand, and anyone working in p4p is beyond belief and I have never found any of it either entertaining, or educational. I doubt any BM from any forum has ever met him, which will attest that he is just another dreamer/troll.

 

LOS is much better off without him there on holiday, trust me. "L" -Swedeman007

[Spyder Rocket]

Ko Chang Island:

Has anyone visited Ko Chang recently? I was last there in 2006 for a week with my ex Thai girlfriend and had a wonderful time, but I wasn't looking at it from a perspective of a potential location for a long-term stay back in those days.

We spent a lot of time in our Bungalow and enjoyed our days on the beach, we only ventured out to a very small cluster of bars one night and it was certainly a laid back Thai style scene. I remember my girlfriend telling me that most of the people are ethnic Cambodians on the island, I'm guessing the Cambodians migrated to that island during the Pol Pot régime.

The island was very rural and had some impressive wildlife and scenery, we did a guided overnight hike across the island and slept in hammocks in the jungle. Pretty cool if you are into that sort of thing.

I have heard there has been a lot of condos being built there in recent years, but that it is still a very sleepy place.

I'm thinking it might be worth a return visit to explore for at least a few days. Just to avoid confusion, I could care less if there is not full blown mongering scene, besides, there is usually a tiny bit of that going around almost anywhere in LOS.

I'd be interested to hear about anyone's experiences on Ko Chang from any perspective.

Another reason I'm interested in going to Ko Chang again is that it would likely be convenient to stop and check out Rayong and Sattahip on the way out, as I have never been to either of those places, but have heard they are laid back and sleepy.

Cheers

[Spyder Rocket]

What makes a person want to give up their life in the west and move to Thailand? I suppose the reasons are as varied as the number of expats that exist.

I came to the conclusion that expat life was worth a try, after feeling completely suffocated by life in America. Although I have out-grown the first two themes in this video, I have lived them to the painfully, and fullest extent; the third theme is still there and rings loudly true.

Enjoy:



Sanity check question:

Is Thailand a cure for this type of mindset?

I suspect the answer is no! Any person who feels that their life is pointless, should reconcile that fact BEFORE stepping foot in Thailand.

Your views?

[thailover57]

Spyder, I lived the first two and the third? If I'm understanding it correctly (old man, give me some latitude), he's talking about the grapevine? I've had two experiences with it. One when I visited C&D's and returned alone to my hotel and a member of the staff said,, oh, you like ladyboys! The second was the death threat when I took a second ladyboy from a bar when the first went home for a couple of weeks (her comment, I can have you killed for 500 baht!)

I retired to Thailand in 2011. Worked on a project here for 6 weeks in 2005 and fell in love with the country (lifestyle, temperature, price, ladies [at the time]). Spent every remaining vacation before retirement here. Eventually, on a drunken night, met a beautiful ladyboy and visited the 'dark side.' Now, I walk both sides of the street and couldn't be happier!

[Spyder Rocket]

@Thailover57

The third theme is certainly about death. I have never thought about death as a grapevine; unless, you mean the grapevine that quickly and inevitably grows to encompass your throat and strangle the very life out of you.

However, I have never pondered the possibility of a "500 Baht death" at the command of a spurned ladyboy.

Thanks for giving me something to look forward to.

[thailover57]

Fortunately things worked out. The weird/stupid part about it is that the 2nd LB I took while the first one was back home was the roommate and was more than happy to share the info. Hence the death threat. Always a learning experience here.

[Spyder Rocket]

Fortunately things worked out. The weird/stupid part about it is that the 2nd LB I took while the first one was back home was the roommate and was more than happy to share the info. Hence the death threat. Always a learning experience here.

So you were involved in a "relationship" of some type?

I can not see myself falling in love or getting entangled in any kind of relationship with anyone in the P4P scene.

Once I am living full time there, I might even be wary of inviting P4P partners back to my apartment too often. It seems there are just too many complications attached to becoming too comfortable with prostitutes.

Hell, I am scared to death of letting an American female office worker have too much control over my life; the last time I did, I found myself in a situation like the one depicted in that video a few posts above.

[thailover57]

No relationship. I had taken her ST once and once LT. Many seem to protect their turf, as it were. I would not choose to pick another from the same bar again. It'll be one and then somewhere else.