I am going to Thailand tomorrow.

[Jester]

Me too. Headed for Pattaya Sunday, will stay a month. First time in Asia.

Oh man you do it ALL.

We need an EE vs SEA (vs LA?) trip report.

If it's not your style, well I understand, but at least I hope to chat with you on Skype.

[Jester]

I left Pattaya and am headed to Chiang Mai. Two days in Pattaya were enough for me. But now that I banged the hottest chick of my life.. a bar girl.. my standards are set high for the rest of the trip... I won't be settling for ugly girls I think!!!

Wow I definitely see how guys fall in love with bar girls even though its a bad move...

I like how you, as a man, came clean and told us you had your salad tossed and emulsified by a hot Thai, bar girl. That takes big balls.
Now if you had your salad tossed and emulsified by that 'chick' in The Hangover 2 whom claimed that Stew was a "superstar" after he shot his load in him, and he shot his load on the floor, then one of the mod's would have to create a special VIP section for androgynous men being happier abroad. IJS. PS: f.uck you, grammar nazi's; this run-on, fragment sentence was of the essence!

LOL

Good idea

Hey Winston I think in addition to a mod we should also have a Grammar Nazi

[Jester]

I left Pattaya and am headed to Chiang Mai. Two days in Pattaya were enough for me. But now that I banged the hottest chick of my life.. a bar girl.. my standards are set high for the rest of the trip... I won't be settling for ugly girls I think!!!

Wow I definitely see how guys fall in love with bar girls even though its a bad move...

+1 for going to a new country
+1 for enjoying a hottie
+1 for knowing when to move on

BTW if Chiang Mai is too urban etc (I think the pollution is only 2 months a year in April/May or so due to forest-burning) then you could try Chiang Rai. They say it's "like Chiang Mai used to be."

[Jester]

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

Gotta be the ultimate karioke song.

[gsjackson]

Me too. Headed for Pattaya Sunday, will stay a month. First time in Asia.

Oh man you do it ALL.

We need an EE vs SEA (vs LA?) trip report.

If it's not your style, well I understand, but at least I hope to chat with you on Skype.

Just gave a week one report to E Iz via PM. My first time in Asia, and the environment is just positively revolting -- ugly, dirty, smelly, overcrowded, air that knocks you over, faggots all over (at least in Pattaya). I can't stand walking around in the streets. You sit down somewhere for a drink and bar girls pester the hell out of you -- tough to shoe away if you're polite. Pattaya seems like just one giant brothel, everyone sexually commodified and having a price tag, for which I guess the city fathers can thank US military types on R&R from Vietnam. You can't walk thirty feet without some sort of commercial proposition, usually sexual, from both and indeterminate genders. The entire economy seems to be tailors and massage parlors.

But, anything you might want is on offer, and at attractive prices. The girls are talented and enthusiastic. And you could almost certainly get it for free anytime you want it. If you want an extreme experience that will both allow you to get your jollies in any way imaginable, but also appreciate the hell out of where you live (especially if it's in a pleasant climate like Ensenada), then Thailand is a must.

EE is like the US in that you have to make it happen. Thailand you just pick from one offer after another -- and not just P4P. Almost all the girls make their interest clear. Definitely EE for a long-term relationship, or at least Poland. Thailand if you want the ultimate in different. Very, very different.

[MrMan]

I agree with taking immodium with you on hand or having it in the hotel. Find out the local brand, too. Don't get the expensive US brand. In Indonesia, either the medical name or the brand was something like Loperimide. It won't cure you, but it does away with the symptoms so you can eat, drink, go out to do so if you have to, go to the doctor, etc. instead of languishing at home with the squirts every few minutes. I don't know how well it would work against E. Coli though. If you get vomiting, in Indonesia, there is a kind of powdered orange flavored drink that has glucose in it that you mix with water and it's easier to go down if you drink it with bottled water than just water, straight.

I spent nearly a decade there and had a pretty strong stomach by the time I left. I would eat at food stalls on the street. But I would not eat any raw vegetables at those places or even restaurants most of the time. If I ate them at a restaurant, I'd make sure they weren't washed with tap water. Koreans in Indonesia were pretty good about washing their vegetables with clean, potable water or some kind of cleansing agent, better than Koreans in Korea, IMO.

If you take some golden seal with you, that can help kill off stuff in your stomach, including good bacteria if you are taking it for something else. In Indonesia, you can go to the pharmacy and get amoxicillin or bactrin without a doctor's prescription and cut out the $10 charge and the wait. The doctor always prescribes amoxicillin, so once you figure it out, it's worth saving an hour at $10.

[Yohan]

If you stay in Thailand, I hope you will use your time also for something else but bargirls and regular visits to the restroom.

Please inform yourself about what you need if you consider to stay for a longer time in Thailand or to visit it in future again - like accomodation, visa regulations, banking account, buying a small condominium-unit, motorcycle instead of public transport, etc. etc.

[tamdrin12]

I really didn't care for Pattaya that much overall.. It's a very touristy place.. I felt like I was in a retirement community in florida or something like that...

Now I'm in Chiang Mai.. I think here suits my personality much better... It's a smaller city.. the environment seems cleaner.. people are more friendly. I rented a scooter and went to a beautiful temple on the mountain. I had a great time driving through the jungle hills and just enjoying being on a bike and in the country... saw some beautiful Buddha statues on the way and had a picturesque view from the top of the hill...

The only thing that isn't better in CHian Mai is the Bar scene and the shopping scene... That is best in BKK.. Oh BTW I have a great hotel room for $15 a night after tax.. The value for the money is great in Thailand...

As for the cleanliness.. If I had come directly from the USA it might seem a little dirty here but as I have been accustomed to India and Nepal I can't get over how clean everything seems to me here! It's all relative..

And I LOVE the food in Thailand. At first in BKK I was going to sort of chain restaurants but now I found out its the little Mom and Pop restaraunts that have the best food. Just because your paying more at those other places doesn't mean your getting better food.. You really just have to search for a whole in the wall..

I'm not sure about the other foreigners here. I had a couple buddies in Bangkok but now I'm sort of traveling solo... That English Dude was cool and a couple of the people I've went out of my way to talk to have been friendly.. But I'm sort of picking up that vibe some foreigners get where it's like they don't want to talk to other foreigners or they think you are invading their unique status in a foreign country... Very lame... but I can't make any definite conclusions about that yet... I hope to find some more like minded people her soon..

Oh PS... Do Europeans seem like overly serious people to anyone but me? I know that is a broad generalization but I get that vibe a lot.. and they always have a bone to pick with Americans.. Like geez give it a break fo real...

[newlifeinphilippines]

Your a competitor to other foreigners. I have the same view in philippines, every white guy is my competitor hahaha

[tamdrin12]

That's a lame attitude and it destroys the overall quality of life... There is enough to go around for everyone in reality.... Some of the expats in Thailand are f***ing repulsive.... But I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.. Ya know... everyone is looking for happiness..

From what I've heard of the Philippines the food in Thailand must be 1000x better..

[Yohan]

Yes, especially in Northern/NorthEastern part of Thailand life is very cheap, if you like it there you should consider to come again.

It is indeed easier for Europeans and Russians etc. to visit Thailand as they have long vacation. Not so many people from USA in Thailand, I think it is because of a very long trip.

About Thailand and Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam etc. - There is no question about that the living standard is much better in Thailand.

In Thailand it is relatively clean, as there is plenty of water available and it is most time warm and sunny. Thai people are frequently using the shower and there are plenty of laudries everywhere. Not so much garbage in the streets, and fairly good roads too. And yes, a motorcycle is very useful.

Thailand is also a rather safe country for foreigners. Not so much criminality against people coming from abroad as tourists.

[tamdrin12]

Yeah it's an act.. but what to do if they are super hot.. There are going to be many guys falling for that... I guess it's ones own bad luck in some ways if one falls for a bar girl.. Like looking for superficial shit like good looks... I wonder if it isn't some guys bad karma to fall for chicks that end of taking all their money.. like some karmic retribution coming back to them in the sneakiest way possible... The only thing to do is to have short term fun with bar girls.. Take them for one or two nights and then never give them a second thought..

Yes that's the best way to do.
But the matter start to become a drama when the man come back to his country.
His routine,his asexual life for sure is one of the cause why some of them fall for bargirls.
It's like a huge power these bargirls have and if the guy doesn't keep his head..he is a future sponsor.

Believe me..as i've said on some of my messages,the situation where you meet plenty of nice,sexy,not expensive bargirls in Pattaya and you have to come back to the bleak,boring,complicated life back home,it's very disturbing and there is a personal fight to not become a sponsor or get emotionaly involved.

I hope i have to some point settle down this problem as i leave hopefully this time for good western women for Latin American women.
There i feel more protected as i shouldn't pass from the abundance of Thailand to a desert.

It seems to me that the odds of having an overall positive and meaningful relationship with a bargirl are just slightly better than they are for winning the powerball...

[gsjackson]

One thing that seems worth noting about Pattaya: the thing the Philippines is known for, western men 45-75 going around with young local girls in their twenties -- that's all over the place here. I'm in a large high rise near the beach, and I almost literally can't go in or out of the building without seeing such a coupling. And it's a different pair each day. They are the only couplings around here where you see public display of affection.

You're not used to seeing it in the west, so it's a little jarring, but there really doesn't seem to be anything particularly incongruous about it. It seems like a fair exchange of value, maybe even the girls deriving more benefit.

A lot of these guys have stayed in decent shape, aren't bad looking as western men go (though there are plenty who aren't), just a little bit of age on them. Presumably they bring money to the table, and these girls come from poverty. The girls are decent looking, if you don't mind the 12-year-old boy's body thing, but it's not exactly like beauty and the beast, in most cases.

What the girls don't bring -- and this presumably is different in the Philippines -- is any significant ability to communicate in English. They just don't know enough to have anything resembling a conversation (at least that's the case with all Thais I've spoken to so far). They smile sweetly, and I'm sure body language communication is profound, but thoughts expressed in words -- not part of the program.

I'm sure the guys think they are getting enough out of the deal from the girls' skills at making men happy (definitely part of the culture here), but it seems like the guys who go for the Philippinos have a better deal. I wouldn't want what the men here have, but more power to them. Everyone looks happy enough with the arrangements.

[Yohan]

One thing that seems worth noting about Pattaya: the thing the Philippines is known for, western men 45-75 going around with young local girls in their twenties -- that's all over the place here...

The point is that Pattaya is NOT like any ordinary city, it cannot be compared to any general city anywhere.

Pattaya is a 'holiday-city' - for example Pattaya alone has more hotel accomodation than ALL Malaysia. Over 30.000 registered hotel-beds!

It has 5 million visitors per year, who classify themselves by hotel registration as 'foreign tourists'.

Pattaya city is comfortable also for Thai people from Bangkok as a 2nd house for living, as it is behind hills and free of floods (no big river there) and there are no political demonstrations in this area.

Pattaya city is also popular among poor Thais and poor Asians from nearby countries, farmers and workers etc. as the chance to find there a job which pays better than anywhere else in all Thailand is really high, and there are plenty of long distance bus connections from Pattaya directly back to all provinces and to Laos and Cambodia borders, no need to travel via Bangkok.

For the foreigner the large international airport is very near, there are plenty of supermarkets, shopping malls, supermarkets, island with ferry for swimming, condominiums suitable for sale to foreign ownership, high standard hospitals, international schools, dental services, immigration department, consulates etc. etc. - Pattaya is one of the richest cities in Thailand.

Not only some poor foreigners are there for cheap girls, you will find big foreigner's housings, with private yachts, large swimmingpools, of course plenty of expensive shoppings, excellent restaurants. Some foreigners and some Thai are fairly rich in Pattaya.

The best of all is Pattaya is rather free of crimes. You can walk even in night to almost everywhere. Hardly any problem with security.
I know some girls steal from stupid foreign men computer notebooks and wallets, some Thai are selling drugs, some burglary from Cambodian gangsters... but all in all very OK. I am visiting Thailand since over 30 years, have my own rooms in Pattaya since about 15 years, and never any problem.

If you ask me the biggest problem in Pattaya is the traffic. Sometimes in evening it is terrible, even you cannot move on with a small motorcycle anymore in the city center. You can only park your motorcycle and walk.

Important is for foreigners to see also other things in Pattaya which are comfortable for your life, Pattaya is not only about 'bar-girls'.

[tamdrin12]

So.. I have a potential job option in Chonburi which is 30 minutes from Pattaya. Do you know anything about it Yohan? I'm curious as to what kind of place it is..

As it turns out CHiang Mai is the most competitive environment for English teachers as lots of people want to live here. It turns out Chiang Mai is a pretty small town.... might get boring after a while but I do really like the access to beautiful nature.. and the temples... There really isn't much of a sex tourist scene here which is OK b/c there are lots of normal girls..