FarangULong

I don't have an issue with people doing drugs itself, I have an issue with the crime that goes along with it, depending on the drug. Sure, it's not much good to lock people up purely for having the drug on them/taking it (if it's in quantities that are obviously for personal consumption, not for dealing), I agree with that sentiment. But people who are on certain highly addictive drugs, that require them to constantly come up with money to finance their habit, usually turn to either prostitution (that's more women though, but not exclusively) or violent crime in order to finance it. It starts out with petty crime like thieving, then gradually becomes stuff like robbing people and/or breaking into homes and shops etc. And if they're really itching and someone is trying to be a hero or hardman might get himself stabbed or killed, for not wanting to give up the 30 € he has on him and/or his mobile. THAT is where my problem lies. I'm an ex junkie (opiates, and because we have a relatively liberal drug rehabilitation policy that allows easy access to a lot of substitution medicines I ultimately got hooked faster and worse on those than on the cheap, boshed up heroin I was buying from the Africans at the subway train station) but I was a comparitively high functioning one (I committed very little crime, and those I allegedly committed I targetted dealers, not random people) who held down full time jobs for years and was mostly able to hide it from his family. But that's not the case for most. A lot of the people I was "friends" with (more like affiliated co-drug users, in reality, since most people are no longer capable of true friendship when the drug always ends up coming first) or knew are either dead from overdoses, in prison/multiple prison stints behind them, with very few who got clean like myself. And the vast majority turned to one form of crime or another to finance their drug habit. This is not just true for opiates, but also for meth addicts (which is why it's a lie when American leftists claim that Blacks get harsher drug sentences with Crack, since Whites get punished approximately just as hard, except with the laws regarding Meth... just different strokes...) and certain other drugs. You can offer as much help and substitution as you want, if people aren't themselves REALLY ready to quit it won't help. In fact many are on much higher doses than they actually need, so they can sell the extra capsules (ie Substitol, which is an opiate substitue prevalent here, that contains wax balls in a capsule that you can cook up, let it cool down so the wax settles on top, remove that, then filter it into a syringe the same you would with heroin) for extra money, creating even more addicts who're not in any program and who get hooked faster due to higher quality and then commit crime to be able to buy more. I agree that the war on drugs is unlikely to be ever won, but is giving up and liberalizing and decriminalizing hard drugs really an option? I don't care about the marijuana, obviously. Decent people with decent morals can and will turn into real rats (violent and treacherous), who simply don't give a <deleted>. Not to mention the impact on families, the burned bridges, the deaths, et cetera. Yes, decriminalizing, liberalizing and maybe even legalizing brings in additional revenue for the state, and sometimes (but not always) drives organized drug traffickers out of business. But there's a cost attached here as well, and I'm not sure it ultimately adds up to less.

What an idiotic system. Normally (with exceptions, obviously) banks will give you more interest the more money you park there. Because it's more money for them to lend out, et cetera, and thus make money with. Not sure if that's still up to date, but they have to roughly keep 10% (or thereabouts) of deposits, on average, and can lend out the rest + get a multitude of that as a loan from their respective central/national bank, at very low interest. Even in the age of low interest...

And this is one of the main reasons, why I like going to Thailand for holidays, but why I will never consider settling there, investing/buying property there, let alone retire there. Kinda makes me laugh, that allegedly it's "the best country in (South East?) Asia for retirement"... Yeah, maybe in the 80s, perhaps 90s even. Now? With the Baht the way it is now, with the power any immigration officer has over you (sometimes seeming more arbitrary than based on any regulations or laws, from what I've seen in these threads), the way they went about Covid, and many other factors... That's a huge "hell no" from me. But each their own, and good luck to OP...

I have no idea, I don't live in Thailand. It's probably not going to be huge, esp. being that interest is generally low these days, but it's better than nothing. Particularly if the money is just sitting there anyway. Why throw away free money, even if it's not much? When I was working doing deliveries (not food, and quite a while ago), I noticed something.. those living in the run down apartments/lower end apartment blocks were always far more likely to tip me, particularly come Christmas time. They'd be the ones leaving me 10 Euros, sometimes even 20. The ones with the nice houses, that are 500k-750k (Euros, not Dollarettes) a pop at minimum, didn't give me <deleted>. I only ever got money from one of those houses. Don't get me wrong, a) I didn't feel entitled to anything (huge problem nowadays, seen some of these kiddos rage over getting a 20 dollar tip, for ONE delivery, claiming it's not enough...) and b) I don't think it was greed. They simply didn't consider giving me even one Euro, as I was just doing my job, and because they have more appreciation for their money. It's just a euro, or ten or 20. Nothing really. But it's money that can go into an investment (obv. with other money). I learned from that, to appreciate my money more, and to always get max value out of it, when possible. I'm 36, I work less than 25 hours per week and I make more money than the average person in my country.. Which has one of the highest living standards in the World. Cute doggo, btw. I have a Rottweiler girl myself. Best dogs imo.

This is exactly the mindset and "reasoning", why some people will always have more than others. Because change or not, money generated at no risk/not doing anything anyway, is still money, and with inflation also being a factor, the depreciation is less. Most, but not all, wealthy people have far more appreciation for the value of even a single dollar, than those who have less. Not talking about some daddy's boy from Dubai, but in general & esp. people who created their wealth themselves...

I can't speak about Panama, but Colombia has extremely high crime, lots of women willing to set up foreigners (both tourists and expats/people planning to be expats) and killing them even, et cetera. Sure, that probably happens in Thailand too (at least setting them up), but to the same degree? Naw...

Well yeah, Japan as well. But I thought we were talking about Thailand.

I partook in hookers. I assume (apparently wrongly?) that bargirl is merely another euphemism.

All this, and still you question why I say the stuff I say about (most) women? ????sheesh... That being said, my condolences you had to go through that. Good thing you recovered, it's hard but not worth it getting hung up on people who treat you like <deleted>. Good for you.

Neither old, nor skint. Just not willing to pay for a 14 day quarantine. Don't need to go Thailand, if I want to indoors/only go out for a swim, for that long & pay for it on top of that. Although I read that they want to open certain "sandbox" areas without quarantine? I'm not vaccinated though, and probably won't be anytime soon either. I'm NOT an anti-vaxxer (I probably have had more shots than the average person), but I'm not too excited about taking anything, that was emergency approved and where there aren't any mid- to longterm effect studies yet. I might have to, if they introduce more restrictions, but we'll see about that.

A) that's <deleted> up, but it's the norm in our "women are oppressed + male priviledge" system in the West. I'm sorry to hear that. B) Well if that's the case, then that's great. I simply avoided anything long term with women BOTH here (in the West) and while in Thailand, if they mentioned kids, because here they usually are like (when the kid does something wrong, and you discipline it [NOT beating the kid, before 2long or jak etc. put words in my mouth...]) "YoU'rE nOt HiS fAtHeR", yet expect you to play daddy otherwise. Is that a thing in Thailand in general, that they - the women - give you full parenting "rights" as well as wanting you to assume the responsibilities, or is that more of an exception? I still wouldn't do it, just wondering. It'd be just one more thing, where they're less c u next tuesday-y than the average lovely lady here..

Why am I hung up on prostitutes? You specifically talked about bar girls, and my comment was in reply to that. I'm just saying, that imo it's naive to be like "they're not bad people". Of course you're not a bad person, because you sell yourself. And of course not all of them are just out to take your money, while having 3+ other guys send them money at the same time. I think I even stated in an earlier comment, that best chance is probably to find one, that only just entered the business, as they tend to be less messed up in the head, lower chance of being addicted to yaba and such, lower chances of being an alcoholic, etc. Can't remember if it was this thread though, and too lazy to scroll. There's no longer such a thing as getting free sex, technically speaking, at least not in most parts of the World. Except when you're still a teenager and too young to go to ("normal") bars etc. They all (or rather almost all of them) expect at least a drink, but that's hardly the same. Why do people always put words in my mouth on this forum? How is replying to a comment SPECIFICALLY about bar girls "being hung up on prostitutes"? Or are there bar girls that just do the drinks for company thing, and might hook up without paying for it? Because if there are, and that's not a rare exception, then I was wrong, and I "apologize" for making wrong assumptions. I've never been to one of those types of bars while in Thailand, other than to play some pool with mates, watch sports, and have a couple drinks. Just heard, that "bar girl" is just a euphemism for hooker / that the drinks for company bar girls hook up if you pay them/pay the bar fee.

I don't go by emojis, since certain people have nothing better to do, other than to react to some peoples' every single post with sad and laughing emojis. So this is meaningless to me. Just like someone isn't right or wrong, judging by the amount of positive or negative amount of emojis (and/or feedback) they're getting to a comment. Majority consensus is pretty meaningless, even in scientific theories. Even more so on a forum like this. I never said I was the ultimate authority, nor did I ever claim that every single woman is the way I'm describing either. However divorce statistics, along with the main reasons for divorce, many polls on who is cheating on whom/more often, etc., as well as a string of recent articles written by female authors regarding themselves or women they know cheating on their men, and feeling justified in it, seem to agree with my point of view. Not to mention books written by females, thus out of the horse's mouth... Then of course, there's my own personal experience, the experiences of people I know, plenty of threads on this (and other) forums, etc... Not that my own (&such) experience(s) are relevant in terms of empirical data... then so again are the experiences of some in here (this thread & forum), who claim they know women so well, because they have (or think they have) a happy marriage for 3-4+ decades... Women are far less complicated, than men think they are. Still more complicated than us, and far more of a hassle to keep happy. But hey... facts, data, statistics, etc. are all racist, misogynist, sexist, etc., and emotionally charged mimimi, devoid of any logic or reason, is king/queen/(not sure what the 439583409583409853049853049580349580349+ gender correct terms are, but insert them here) these days... Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't "come at you" either, unless asking you not to claim you know what peoples' motives (ulterior or otherwise) equals "coming at you". I didn't call you any ad hominem, did I? When I write a comment, it's devoid of emotion, other than maybe mild irritation at some people and how blind they imo are, except when it comes to politics. I'm not writing a job application either though, so it might also lack in the politeness department. Feel free to be offended, feel attacked, or not. It is naught to me. P.S.: I just saw your other reply. You "attack" me personally, make assumptions about whether I get rejected, am bitter, etc., and then whine about me "coming at" you, because I called your comment "high minded", and suggested not interpreting any (ulterior or otherwise) motives into peoples' comments? Ha. I love irony.

How is that contrary to the stereotype, that they just want a financial care taker? I will never understand this mentality either, why raise some other man's kids (where you will NEVER have full say), when there are plenty of women who don't have kids yet? For me that's already a deal breaker, being a prostitute is yet another. They might not be "bad people", but again. There are women who are not prostitutes, who are not spreading their legs for dung loads of guys, etc. So why would I pick the former? If it's what they want to do, that's fine. That's their life. Same as a guy who would want to be with/marry someone like that. Doesn't mean I have to or should want to either, though.

I agree. Someone else claimed certain things were Thai only culture, when really it's just a general overly spoiled women who never take (or are made to take) responsibility for their actions thing.