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Samus Aran,
I read about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy you mentioned. How much does that cost? I’d appreciate that information. I am not making any rash move to LOS (or Eastern Europe for that matter) but I am trying to plan out a strategy to live abroad. Insurance is one thing I have no data on.
OldAsiaHand,
How much money is enough to do it right in Thailand? I’ve read a lot on the matter and I think it depends on the person. There is a website I found that compared three lifestyles. Well, the comparison was how much each person spent a month in Bangkok, not how much they make. The first needs about 26K Baht, the second 34K, and the third 47K. Are these reasonable numbers? Which one is the closest you think to being able to do it right? For me I pick the 47K but that is probably out of a desire for security. What would you say? Higher? Lower? How much is enough to do it right? Thanks in advance.
By the way, anyone else feel free to comment on this. I know that a lot of you guys have a lot of really good information in your heads. Thanks in advance to all posters.
Okay, I am going to write one more post tonight. I’m not sure what Thai board it applies to. It could be fit in the Bangkok board, this board, or the Thai women and advice board.
Cheers
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Hello all fellow mongers and TG aficionados. Has anyone ever gone to Bangkok to stay with one girl at her place before? I never have but that is exactly what I am about to do on July 21st, this 2000 and three.
I was in Thailand back in April (my 3rd trip... newbie here) and I had some amazing experiences as probably anyone did that went there or lived there at that time. One of the girls I met is still in my mind. What can I say? I have become attached to her. I met her on ICQ before my trip. I already had my tickets and was looking forward to a week of bliss in the mongering scene. I ended up meeting her at Siam Center at Starbucks one night. We had dinner, went to the Hard Rock afterwards to buy my sister a T-shirt, and then took a cab to Khaosan Rd.
After two hours of drinking she asked me if I would take her to my hotel where we could talk in quiet. I agreed. We had sex that night and spent the next three days together. I can’t say I really liked her that much after the three days but later, I started to like her a lot. She’s never asked me for money and I’ve never given her any. But I have to say I’ve been spending about $150 to $200 a month talking to her on the phone. She has near perfect English. She understands all those crazy poems I was posting on here after my last trip. I quit posting them on here but I still send them to her and the 196 girls in my email list. It’s my hobby or MO, so to speak. :)
Hmmm. She has quite an Internet following as well, many fans. She was telling me how some fan sent her a bunch of books by a famous female British author the other day. I’m pretty sure she may have slipped the snake for money before but she’s never asked me for a monetary contribution. Though sometimes when I call her, she can’t talk, you know, won’t tell me anything like I love you or I miss you. The last time this happened I just said, “Hey, is this a bad time?” She told me yes and I said no problem, just call me on a good time. She called the next day and told me I was cool for having the attitude I had when she couldn’t talk. I said no problem.
She says, “call anytime you want,” and most of the time it’s cool but... Maybe four times in three months she has had that; “I can’t say anything,” attitude. To me that means there is a boyfriend or a client. I can’t really complain. It’s not like I haven’t been to Mexico or an AMP or a strip club since I left her in Thailand.
It looks like my next residence will be somewhere near Soi 70 and Sukhumvit. Maybe I should post this in the Bangkok Hotel section. Hell, I can’t figure out where to post this thing! 1) Post it in the Bangkok section. It’s where I’m going to be. 2) Post it in the Living in Thailand section. I know I’ll be staying in a Bangkok apartment with fans only. The Internet is 20 Baht per hour in this neighborhood, etc. I hope I can cope with no Aircon. 3) Post it in the Thai Women - Opinion & Advice section. What the hell am I getting myself into?
Personally I think this belongs in number 2 and number 3 the most, because i will be living in Thailand with a Thai girl, if only for a week. On the other hand I think it belongs in the Bangkok section. Anyone that spends too much time here will end up like me. :)
But I won’t know till I get there and I’m going! What else is there to say? Amazing Thailand? Land of Smiles? Tropical Fever? White boy in trouble? Who knows! It sounds like a reality TV show. Can he go to Thailand and only poke one hole? Will he poke at all? Or will he get poked? Tune in at channel five on prime time Wednesday to find out...
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If you didn't have that good of a time with her the first time, why spend so much money communicating with her? I know that a perfect woman is a very different thing for every guy out there. Perhaps she was like a fungus, and was slow growing on you. :)
I think that the ones that you give NO money to are the most dangerous.
I wish you luck, and let us know how it works out.
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Jaimito Cartero,
That's two good points. I can't explain the first one. That kind of stuff is somewhere in the stars. I dunno. She writes and speaks the same "look at the sky and flick the cigarette ash with the eye of sorrow" stuff that i do. But the second point... Yeah, that's scary. And maybe dangerous too. If I survive I'll let you know. I figure I will survive so there will be some kind of trip report about this on here. The ones that ask for money are a known quantity. It's like there is a primordial understanding. The ones that don't ask are the ones where anything might happen. Ah, s h i t! I think these two points are really one and the same. lol. :)
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Remember awhile back when Posterlion said Dick Johnson is keeping a secret that is tearing him up inside? I have no problem keeping secrets esp other people's secret. Posterlion just announced his big secret which he told me not to tell anyone lol:)!
Just be careful, P. JC said it, the one you gave no money to are the most dangerous.
SA ought to be reinstated as regular member since he is one of the most useful members on the Thailand board now, if Jackson is listening.
-DJ
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PosterLion,
Wait till SA reads what you intend to do! Haha....He'll go nuts! Anyways, I wish you luck but heed this advice for what its worth. Moving to Thailand to be with one girl who in your own words:
"She has quite an Internet following as well, many fans. She was telling me how some fan sent her a bunch of books by a famous female British author the other day. I’m pretty sure she may have slipped the snake for money before but she’s never asked me for a monetary contribution. Though sometimes when I call her, she can’t talk, you know, won’t tell me anything like I love you or I miss you. The last time this happened I just said, “Hey, is this a bad time?” She told me yes and I said no problem, just call me on a good time.""
Careful here ok? Personally, I think you're setting yourself up for a fall. What happens when you go there, set up camp and she starts to do this stuff with you in BKK? You're gonna get upset of course, and this will lead to a "broken heart" (As the Thais are fond of saying). No-one needs to be heartbroken esp. if the signs were there flashing in front of you.....
Really, I do hope it works for you. Just be careful and have a carefree attitude towards the whole thing because it seems like she does too! Don't get too serious too fast! And let us know how it ends up. Happy trails!
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by PosterLion
[i] .....I read about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy you mentioned. How much does that cost? I’d appreciate that information. I am not making any rash move to LOS (or Eastern Europe for that matter) but I am trying to plan out a strategy to live abroad. Insurance is one thing I have no data on. .....
[/i][/QUOTE]
According to their advertisments in Bangkok Post / The Nation you have coverage in the Baht million size order for about B 40 a day. Please see
[url]www.bupathailand.com[/url]
If you give Google the string 'blue cross thailand insurance' you'll get a lot of second part info too.
7 of 10 expats I have talked to use this insurance.
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Good Luck Posterlion
The area goes by the name Phra Khanong (girls say 'Pakkanoo') and have a BTS station with the same name. 90 % of the Nana girls live there.
I myself have now stayed 10 days+ with a girl in her room in the soi 2 off Sukhuvit Soi 71. Good experience. You'll will easily spot and can have a chat with a quite a few falang that lives there.
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chikan
"Wait till SA reads what you intend to do! Haha....He'll go nuts!"
Let SA talk some sense into what might be deaf ears lol.
"She has quite an Internet following as well, many fans."
Watch out Posterlion:). Don't get your heart broken.
-DJ
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Thanx SA.
I'll check out Korat. I agree that Pattaya is NOT the place. P is great for a party visit for the first trip. I am not looking to be surrounded by hookers any more. Yes, I got caught. She's not a young hooker but a 38 year old maid. She went to Pattaya for work in a bar but that got shortstopped by me and her own scruples so now she works at a grade school. September will be my 3rd trip now. Unfortunately my degree is in Studio Arts. I saw a diploma mill online that gives the ESL Certificate with some online training for $300. I don't have a teaching certificate of any type. I'm a certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor now. My pension will be around $600 a month or ß25,000. Almost anything I can earn will be gravy.
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Amen, SA -- the last thing I'd ever want to be is one of the ex-pats who I see each trip to LOS, hanging around the Biergarten day after day working their way through the girls there one by one. Or to be one of the guys in Chiang Mai who bitched me out for "hogging" the girl I was with cause he wanted to boink her before his fellows, so he could claim honors. Sheesh. Most look emaciated and just plain dismal. Gotta be more to life than that.
Najene, when I was on a bus from Mai Sai to Chiang Rai I met a fellow, also a retiree from the Bay area, who had been living in LOS for a year, quite happily and comfortably, on only slightly more than the income you describe -- I believe he said his monthly pension and Social Security worked out to around ß35000, so it can be done. He said he usually gave a bunch of baht away each month because he had extra. 'Course, he only had his mouth to feed -- not his, his woman's, and his woman's family...
PosterLion, good luck, truly and sincerely, as I think you're going to need it -- I'm all for following dreams, but you gotta know when you're awake and when you're asleep. I just don't see how your equation is going to work -- finding someone who professes to like and understand your poetry isn't much on which to base a relationship. You honestly give every symptom of someone cruising for a heavy emotional and financial bruising.
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Posterlion, Najene You will find a lot of info on living costs, working issues and other expat-realted stuff in these links:
[url]www.stickmanbangkok.com/living.html[/url]
[url]www.ajarn.com/living[/url]
[url]www.ajarn.com/living/living_costs.com[/url]
(ajarn.com is the main site for open teaching positions)
[url]www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/costs.php[/url]
[url]www.bangkokbargirls.info/news.htm[/url]
[url]www.philipwilliams.freeservers.com/costofliving.html[/url]
[url]www.boi.go.th/english/business/costs_bangkok.html[/url]
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I would also like to add a given for living overseas. Learn the language!
I can't tell you how many expats I've met who after living in the LOS for years have accumulated a vocabulary of 50 words in Thai. Mostly bar-girl talk. Their whole existence seems to revolve around drinking, Washington Square, drinking and forays into Soi Cowboy/NEP. I visited one guy's room. Filled with empty hard liquor bottles and smelled. To me this is not living. Just waiting to die.
Many people's vision of Thailand is skewed because of the small areas they are familiar with. There's so much more to it than that.
If you can speak the language and get around a bit, you will see there is so much more to it than that.
The other mistake I see a lot of guys getting into is falling for a BG. My God, one guy I know has been there less than a month and already has a BG moving in with him! You'll find it's much easier to get them in than to move them out.
My next trip there, I am going traveling with a cutie I've known now for two years. She works for a cell phone agency and is a 'good girl'. The main reason I've held off is that I don't want to get into another long-distance relationship. I can tell you from experience that being with a 'regular' Thai girl, while it is not headache free, is better than having one with a bg. I was with one here in the states for two years and other than her fucking racist Chinese family, we got along just fine. I didn't have to worry about her being a part of a sexual rotisserie with fourteen guys on her call list. The sex, while crucial and incredible was just one small part of it. A microcosm of what Thailand can be if you take the time and effort to find it. Just my experience and my opinion.
I do like the bars, go-go's etc. It's a blast that to me still has allure after 12 years of frequent travel to Thailand. To me it's all about balance and keeping the proper perspective.
My personal plan is to remain in the states for about the next 5-10 years, paying off debt, then I will be in a financial position to move there part-time while still making a good income over here. Even now I travel about 3 months of the year and it's great having my sanctuary here in the states.
When I move, I don't know about living on the outskirts of the city, even though it is undoubtedly cheaper. I have a few friends that rent a house, and while expensive is close to many things given it's location to the skytrain. I do agree that if you are lowering your standard of living to make the move something is wrong.
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Najene,
My six week Tour of Duty kept me away from this page...
Teaching English in Thailand sucks bigtime. There are very few good positions, these are only found at major universities.
In the six months I've been away from the Kingdom two people I knew died. Probably because that is the easiest thing to do in the Kingdom. Death is not a taboo in Thailand, it's the most accepted thing you can think of.
If, that is IF, I would chose to live in the Kingdom, I would find myself a home near the sea. Even in the rainy season in can be incredibly hot inland, as I found out during this last trip.
I totally agree with Poobah. I also travel 3 months every year and my European sanctuary is something I won't give up easily.
Also: There are many BAD sites on Thailand, but the WORST is Stickmans stupid expat site. Stickman is a fool.
Look at mags like 'Farang, you, you, you' and others and find out that 90% of expats hate Thailand. Probably they can't go home: No money to live in the West, big debts at home.
I would almost ask Mr. Thaksin to throw all these bastards out. He already raised visa fees. GOOD!
The expats who are doing well travelled a lot in the past, lived abroad a lot and have their finances sorted out.
Indeed, B40000/month is plenty to live on, but you have to be absolutely sure you do get it every month. Or you go down the drain, with the rest of 'em.
Come to Thailand and enjoy!
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Here's the article on Visa fees as published by the PattayaMail, last week:
"Immigration service prices nearly quadrupling
Chief of Immigration Police Pol. Col. Somsak Senaweenin told Pattaya Mail this week that yes, it is true, fees for visas, visa extensions, re-entry permits, resident permits, in fact all immigration services will be going up significantly on August 26 (2003, F.).
The application fee for a visa extension, for example, will nearly quadruple, going from the current 500 baht charge up to 1,900 baht. Although the increase at this level is not insignificant, the nearly quadrupling of immigration service fees escalates as the length of stay increases, and will hit especially hard people applying for resident permits. The fee to submit a resident permit application, currently 2,000 baht, will rise to 7,600 baht, and the fee for receiving a residence permit book will go from 50,000 to 191,400 baht.
Immigration Chief Pol. Col. Somsak Senaweenin announced that immigration service fees will be nearly quadrupling on August 26.
The increases are a result of a new Ministry of Interior regulation, signed by Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha.
Immigration services most commonly used by foreign visitors and residents will be provided under the following price structure: Single entry transit visa 800 baht, single entry tourist visa 1,000 baht, single entry non-immigrant visa 2,000 baht, multiple entry non-immigrant visa (for use within one year) 5,000 baht, application for visa extension 1,900 baht, application for a single re-entry permit 1,000 baht, application for a multiple re-entry permit 3,800 baht, application for a residence permit 7,600 baht, approval of a residence permit (payable on receipt of residence book) 191,400 baht, approval of a residence permit (payable on receipt of residence book) for a foreigner married to a Thai, the spouse of a resident, and any of their children who have not reached the status of a Thai juristic person (i.e., unmarried children aged below 20 years) 95,700 baht."