Thailand Lounge and Chat area

[Franciscass]

Just wondering, has anybody else had these thoughts.

Some 20 years ago I cashed out and moved here at around 50 to the Euro. Now I can buy back for less than 35. That together with accumulated capital gains which excepting property (even there its more than manageable) are mostly tax free I have considered moving back better heeled, where there is no immigration rigmarole, good health care is free and the air is cleaner but then I think of what I would be leaving, the ladies, the massages, the food, the warmth and spirituality of the people and the buzz of Bangkok and I say nay not now maybe later.

[Smoothy]

No better country "to live" in? No better country to make money in! So long as that money continues to be spendable elsewhere. But, best to live? Not so much.

Haha, I'm with ya! Only because of the girl situation.

[EihTooms]

I did good under Clinton and crappy under Obama. I don't let other peoples TDS take the smile off my face, enjoy yourself! Oh and thanks for your advice, perhaps you have a good private banker to recommend to me?

No, I don't use a private banker or investment advisor for these things. But if I did I would keep it fee only, not commission based. To have done crappy during the Obama years would have required serious effort in my opinion. Those first couple of months before his first proposed major economic legislation was passed were certainly painful since, as is always the case with a new incoming administration, the economy and markets continue to go in the same direction they were already going until shortly after that first major legislation is passed.

But after that, early in his presidency, you would have had to ignore almost every important economic report and believe the self-serving blather of his political opposition for the next 8 years to have missed some massive gains. Even the critical housing market, which finally found a floor below which overall prices did not continue to freefall in the Crash by March 2011, was a great place to invest. It sounds as though your advisor kept you on the sidelines watching gains on almost all fronts for about 10 years until just now. Or maybe he advised you to jump out at the bottom, a move a lot of people made. Recovery from a disastrous move like that is very difficult.

I don't see another massive Recession and Crash on the near horizon. So there is still some life left in this bull market, imo. Corrections possible, yes. But there is nothing in the economy we had as of January or December 2017 to reasonably suggest a Recession or Crash is right around the corner.The slow and steady recovery from a very scary historic downturn made the current economy quite strong and resilient. Thankfully. And stock markets tend to grow just fine in the absence of Recessions. Of couse, anyone in a position of power with a determination to drive us into another economic and market Crash can certainly do so or at least inflict plenty of damage in the effort. That is what we need to be mindful of now more than ever, imo.

[Franciscass]

Western countries economic influence on mongering doesn't hinge on the daily financial or stock markets.

An unfavorable exchange rate has an immediate affect.

Higher airline tickets will have an immediate affect.

Aging mongers unable to get it up will have an immediate affect.

Long term down stock market will adversely affect retirement money, thus lack of mongers in the future.

From Thai Visa.

A leading tourism official has confirmed what many Pattaya residents have suspected for a long time.

The days of Europeans visiting Pattaya in large numbers for the entertainment industry are gone.

The strength of the baht, alternatives elsewhere and the rise of Chinese and now Indian tourism has seen a marked shift on who is coming to Pattaya and what they are doing there.

Secretary of the Entertainment Industry and Tourism Association of Pattaya Damrongkiat Phinitkarn gave Sophon TV some frank and damning statistics about the low season in Pattaya this year. Down 20% to 30%.

[Dg8787]

Western countries economic influence on mongering doesn't hinge on the daily financial or stock markets.

An unfavorable exchange rate has an immediate affect.

Higher airline tickets will have an immediate affect.

Aging mongers unable to get it up will have an immediate affect.

Long term down stock market will adversely affect retirement money, thus lack of mongers in the future.

[EihTooms]

Have things really gotten worse in the US under Trump? Back to mongering, our hobby has certainly deteriorated in the US under Trump although I thought it would have improved given his history. I guess I'm being naive in my hopefulness for the decriminalization of sex work in the US and would just follow up on my plans to live in Thailand.

Worse? That isn'tt the word I would use regarding the general USA economy. We're in the 11th year of the longest bull market and uninterrupted economic expansion and job growth in USA history. They began in early March 2009 and June of that same year, respectively.

We are not in the 3rd year of either one. We are in the 11th year of them. The trajectory of those metrics did not change dramatically on January 20, 2017 or, more pertinent in terms of judging the effectiveness or not of an administration's stewardship, December 22, 2017. That was when their first and so far only significant economic legislation was signed and passed. They have so far underperformed what came before on the important metrics I cited, but we are still doing okay.

However, I would say other factors that might or might not have an impact on funding our hobby in the near term or in retirement, such as foreign relations and diplomacy, national security, trade deals and border control are faring worse.

[Turgid]

Why are people investing internationally rather than in the USA with all that surplus money they got from those USA tax breaks and eliminating regulations? As of this writing, the USA Stock Market has only gained a paltry annualized 6% or so since that tax cut legislation was passed 1 1/2 years ago and only an annualized 13% or so since January 20, 2017. Maybe it is because the USA created almost 1 million fewer jobs in the past 29 months vs the previous 29 months and annualized real GDP growth is not meaningfully improved in the past couple of years despite adding $2+Trillion to the deficit trying to buy an improvement.

It can't really be because illegal immigration crossings have skyrocketed in the past couple of years vs what they were in the 8 years prior, can it?

Have things really gotten worse in the US under Trump? Back to mongering, our hobby has certainly deteriorated in the US under Trump although I thought it would have improved given his history. I guess I'm being naive in my hopefulness for the decriminalization of sex work in the US and would just follow up on my plans to live in Thailand.

[DonBusch]

Thailand has high strategic value to the Chinese government. As such, the Chinese have been launching a charm offensive in Thailand for quite some time now. Chinese money has been flooding Bangkok in the form of tourists, students and investors. I suspect the Chinese government has even made it easier for Chinese investors to invest in Thai properties.

[EihTooms]

I don't know who is buying all these new Condominiums in BKK and Pattaya. The developers must be making a fortune. But it looks like a real estate bubble in the making to me. Too much supply at too high a cost. Of course no one knows when the market will top out. I sure don't want to be left holding the bag (any Thai real estate) when the market collapses. But in the meantime, it looks like there are lot of excellent rental opportunities in these new buildings with all the amenities and in great neighborhoods. Time to rent if you ask me.

+1. That has been my observation, too. Plus, prognostications re the birth rate suggests there will be fewer people living in Thailand 20 years from now than today. The population is declining while all these condo projects are being built. Of course, more and more Thais will likely be moving from the outer provinces into Bangkok as education and income levels improve, I suppose. I have not bought in Thailand. For one thing, I don't want to be saddled with what to do with a condo that might stand empty for months if not years without a renter should I decide to live somewhere else. And I still have rental property in the USA that I'd rather deal with and profit from in that regard.

Guys, good to have as many different sources of income as possible if you're going to weather all kinds of possible goofiness in markets and the economy on your way to a comfy retirement boffing 20 something year olds in Thailand.

[EihTooms]

The end of Obama's first term was the best time to buy a house in the USA because housing prices were at their lowest. But as far as having surplus money to invest internationally, that just happened recently under Trump due to his tax breaks and lifting regulations on businesses (unless you already had a bunch of cash in the stock market). Now is not a good time to invest in real estate in the USA because housing prices have sky rocketed since Trump was elected, but it is a good time to invest Internationally.

Here's a pic of a chick I met in front of Nana hotel recently.

Why are people investing internationally rather than in the USA with all that surplus money they got from those USA tax breaks and eliminating regulations? As of this writing, the USA Stock Market has only gained a paltry annualized 6% or so since that tax cut legislation was passed 1 1/2 years ago and only an annualized 13% or so since January 20, 2017. Maybe it is because the USA created almost 1 million fewer jobs in the past 29 months vs the previous 29 months and annualized real GDP growth is not meaningfully improved in the past couple of years despite adding $2+Trillion to the deficit trying to buy an improvement.

It can't really be because illegal immigration crossings have skyrocketed in the past couple of years vs what they were in the 8 years prior, can it?

[Nyezhov]

Oh, please don't tell us your investment advisor was advising you to steer clear of buying and investing at the beginning of the Clinton and Obama economies. If so, you need to dump him and find a better investment advisor.

I did good under Clinton and crappy under Obama. I don't let other peoples TDS take the smile off my face, enjoy yourself! Oh and thanks for your advice, perhaps you have a good private banker to recommend to me?

[Smoothy]

Oh, please don't tell us your investment advisor was advising you to steer clear of buying and investing at the beginning of the Clinton and Obama economies. If so, you need to dump him and find a better investment advisor.

The end of Obama's first term was the best time to buy a house in the USA because housing prices were at their lowest. But as far as having surplus money to invest internationally, that just happened recently under Trump due to his tax breaks and lifting regulations on businesses (unless you already had a bunch of cash in the stock market). Now is not a good time to invest in real estate in the USA because housing prices have sky rocketed since Trump was elected, but it is a good time to invest Internationally.

Here's a pic of a chick I met in front of Nana hotel recently.

[Penguin69]

Here we go again. ...... I don't care what side you are on. Stay on topic!

Well said.

+1.

[GDreams]

Please name one of these countries. And keep in mind they need to have a population of at least close to 300 million like the USA and as diverse a population as the USA. Small countries, and countries with little diversification in their population have far less issues to deal with.

There is no better country in the world to live right now than the USA under the Trump administration. The economy is rocking! I took an extra trip to Thailand this year with my tax break.

I agree with you about disliking the pettiness of US politics, but at the moment, almost all of the pettiness is on the Democrat side of things.

Australia, Canada, half of Europe.

[Franciscass]

Here we go again. Someone on your side started it up again for no Goddamn reason. Then someone on my side responded, then someone on your side, and now you have responded to their responses.

The time before it was a different BM on your team who started it over in the PI forum and finally after way too much back and forth BS everything was deleted as will be the case here.

So can we just cut to the chase and not go there again? Is that not possible? Or does it have to get dumb and stupid first? I don't care what side you are on. Stay on topic!

Good luck to anybody trying to police the forum.

Supposedly ISG is an open platform for guidance and sharing information on sex services in different countries. Let's be honest it's often a soapbox for members airing their opinions on a wide variety of issues, political, social and cultural.

Personally I use the ignore button to filter out what I know from experience will be mere navel gazing, misogynistic or a doom and gloom view of the world.

I do enjoy reading some member's posts even when there are not on message because they can be entertainingly humorous and well written.

The current conversation on Trump is interesting in how it divides his supporters and detractors and their corresponding views on P4P.