I am going to Thailand tomorrow.

[Rock]

I'm sure I'm expressing a minority opinion here, but some westerners, who are also apparently not made of stern stuff, probably should read it. I am counting the minutes until I can get out of Thailand. After two weeks, I can't stand to look at or smell the place any longer. I go out only to eat nearby or to take morning walks along the beach before most of the freak show comes out. It's just complete and utter revulsion. And places like India are actually dirtier? I'm quite certain I'll never set foot on Asian soil again.

The point of view I'm coming to is that you should find a place you really connect with, and then keep your eyes open for an agreeable woman.

I think I can kinda relate. I'm guessing you are in Pattaya? If so, it's not just the physical infrastructure but the whole energy of the place. It attracts some of the worst elements from Thailand and various countries around the world. So there's just a lot of evil there. However, it also seems to be changing and I see a higher and higher percentage of legitimate visitor families and tour groups in the mix. The pace of new construction of condos and shopping malls has been rampant and even the beach walking area has been improved.

If you go to a part of Asia without the sleaze element, you will probably get a whole different feeling in your gut. Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Japan are all really fine as long as you don't mind crowds and high population density. Even China is much much cleaner than it used to be and continues to head in that direction. The spitting and public pissing is something you will see less and less of and in fewer and fewer areas. And yes, India is going to be by far the worst hell, in league of it's own, not for sleaze but just for disgusting filth.

[tamdrin12]

The thing I f***ing hate about Thailand is the transvestites.. God some of them are so f***ing ugly and make me want to puke.. I went into a restaurant and this ugly he-she came out from the back and started cooking my food after I had already ordered.. I wanted to run away but since I had ordered already I stayed.. Geez im a tolerant guy but I need to have my limits of what I can accept..

[gsjackson]

I'm sure I'm expressing a minority opinion here, but some westerners, who are also apparently not made of stern stuff, probably should read it. I am counting the minutes until I can get out of Thailand. After two weeks, I can't stand to look at or smell the place any longer. I go out only to eat nearby or to take morning walks along the beach before most of the freak show comes out. It's just complete and utter revulsion. And places like India are actually dirtier? I'm quite certain I'll never set foot on Asian soil again.

The point of view I'm coming to is that you should find a place you really connect with, and then keep your eyes open for an agreeable woman.

I think I can kinda relate. I'm guessing you are in Pattaya? If so, it's not just the physical infrastructure but the whole energy of the place. It attracts some of the worst elements from Thailand and various countries around the world. So there's just a lot of evil there. However, it also seems to be changing and I see a higher and higher percentage of legitimate visitor families and tour groups in the mix. The pace of new construction of condos and shopping malls has been rampant and even the beach walking area has been improved.

If you go to a part of Asia without the sleaze element, you will probably get a whole different feeling in your gut. Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Japan are all really fine as long as you don't mind crowds and high population density. Even China is much much cleaner than it used to be and continues to head in that direction. The spitting and public pissing is something you will see less and less of and in fewer and fewer areas. And yes, India is going to be by far the worst hell, in league of it's own, not for sleaze but just for disgusting filth.

Yeah, you got it, Pattaya, though I've also taken three bus and taxi rides to Bangkok to get fitted for a suit, and didn't feel like I'd left the infernal regions. Why Bangkok is the world's most visited city is completely beyond me, and with several million English-speaking visitors a year, you'd think the cabbies might pick up a word or two of English here and there.

Anyway, you're probably right about Pattaya, and I'm not doing justice at all to most of Asia. I'm in complete culture shock, and I haven't even been to Walking Street or out at all at night. Just walking 500 yards to Jomtiem Beach is enough of a freak show. There are a lot of (mostly Russian) families around, but the decadence/evil is the first and biggest impression.

[newlifeinphilippines]

Ha ha if you think Thailand is dirty....India is not 10x dirtier, it's more like 100-1000x dirtier than Thailand and I'm not joking. I'm pretty adaptable but even I found most rural parts of India like living at the town dump or something. A few years back I went up and down the East coast of India. Other than a few tourist pockets that are kinda cleaned up most of the country is just piles of garbage, trash and massive air pollution everywhere. INDIA = I'll Never Do It Again!

The younger crowd in their teens and twenties can maybe tolerate India since they don't know any better and don't have much life experience yet and their bodies haven't slowed down with age. However if you are older in you're 30's and above I personally would only go to India again if I had money to spend to avoid the lower end experiences of traveling in India. Staying at mid range to lower end hotels is risky and unsanitary. Trying to wing it by taking the bus or train around is a big mistake unless you have lots of time like months traveling to be flexible with scheduling conflicts. It's best to either hire private taxis to take you around the city or between cities or fly between cities. Stay only at 3 or more star hotels. Only eat at higher end food places that cook the food. Only eat fruits you can peel. IT's better to go on organized tours than try to wing it, too much lost time trying to navigate on ones own if you don't speak Hindi. It's supposedly an English speaking country but most people here can't speak English actually.

For me Thailand is not so much the environmental or environment that annoys me but their fake 'smile' culture. They pretend they are friendly and nice but actually most people there just want to use you for something rather than genuine interest reasons. Plus they bottle up their emotions and explode over stupid things at the least expected times. Thailand is okay to visit but I don't think I'd want to live there long term like other expats like to do.

When I came back from India I got a new appreciation for the Philippines and MAnila, and I think MAnila is really dirty and traffic so just use your imagination what India is like!

If you're looking for a compromise 3rd world part of Asia I thought Vietnam was pretty clean for a third world country. OBviously there were parts of the cities that were typical 3rd world but in comparison to other parts of Asia I've visited they were pretty clean and organized fro a 3rd world country.

what about indonesia? You said the women were ugly but so are filipinas. I want to check that out for a brief time just out of curiosity on my way to thailand.

[tamdrin12]

After 2.5 years in Asia I am considering returning to the USA. I'm pretty stressed out about my financial situation. I havn't worked in over 5 months and have just been travelling around spending money. Chiang Mai and Thailand feels like an O.K. place but the honeymoon period in New countries is very short for me. It lasts no longer than I week. I guess it's like this with everything... Nothing can be exciting all the time and the more you do it the more normal it becomes..

Don't get me wrong I love traveling in Asia. I have learned a ton and grown as a person... Everyday is an opportunity for growth. The thing is I'm sure that when I get back to the US I will be bored as hell over there and want to come back to Asia. It could take me years of working in the US to be able to save enough money to come abroad again which could be a major drag...

Part of me thinks I should just gain more experience as an ESL teacher as there will always be a job somewhere for ESL teachers...

[newlifeinphilippines]

After 2.5 years in Asia I am considering returning to the USA. I'm pretty stressed out about my financial situation. I havn't worked in over 5 months and have just been travelling around spending money. Chiang Mai and Thailand feels like an O.K. place but the honeymoon period in New countries is very short for me. It lasts no longer than I week. I guess it's like this with everything... Nothing can be exciting all the time and the more you do it the more normal it becomes..

Don't get me wrong I love traveling in Asia. I have learned a ton and grown as a person... Everyday is an opportunity for growth. The thing is I'm sure that when I get back to the US I will be bored as hell over there and want to come back to Asia. It could take me years of working in the US to be able to save enough money to come abroad again which could be a major drag...

Part of me thinks I should just gain more experience as an ESL teacher as there will always be a job somewhere for ESL teachers...

I think its time for you to come home IF you can't find a english job. Im not sure why your unemployed and running around for 5 months with no income im kind of confused by that. Your just spinning your wheels. After awhile in a country i dont want to leave but the benefits of spending money to stay longer and longer just because im afraid of being alone and have less of a life becomes a law of diminishing returns. the longer your there the harder it is to justify staying.

Im in america now one month and its nice and peaceful. Lonely but drama free. I could technically travel but it would be a lot of blown money and id lose focus on my work and i wouldn't get to see my family. Much better for me to focus on my work for now.

[Repatriate]

Thailand's cities look like ghetto cesspools but there is charm in it once you get to know the area. It's like a living breathing bladerunner.

[MrPeabody]

I stayed in Bangkok for a month and liked it and thought it was comfortable. If you get an apartment next to a Sky Train stop you can go anywhere in the city by Sky Train. The Sky Train also is connected to an underground subway and the river boat platforms. And in Siam Square there was a food court on the top of one of the department buildings with food from all over the world. It always boggles my mind when mongers go to Pattaya and then complain they are in a sewer. I have never been there and have no desire to go.

[gsjackson]

I stayed in Bangkok for a month and liked it and thought it was comfortable. If you get an apartment next to a Sky Train stop you can go anywhere in the city by Sky Train. The Sky Train also is connected to an underground subway and the river boat platforms. And in Siam Square there was a food court on the top of one of the department buildings with food from all over the world. It always boggles my mind when mongers go to Pattaya and then complain they are in a sewer. I have never been there and have no desire to go.

I came to Pattaya because I thought the air would be better than in Bangkok. And indeed, only the odd person in Pattaya wears a mask to protect himself from the air, whereas in Bangkok it's about five percent of the population.

I've taken the bus three times to Bangkok to see a tailor. It is my idea of what the capitol city of Hell would look like. Ugly Bauhaus towers rising up out of squalid shanty towns, marinating in this dense, soupy, humid/polluted air. The traffic is absolutely nightmarish -- you sit 95 percent of the time, and then when there's a little opening and room to run, all hell breaks loose. No rules, just take whatever you can. The taxi drivers serve several million English-speaking visitors a year (God knows why they come), yet most of them speak no English at all. I'd have to go through five or six to find one who could understand "Landmark Hotel" (one of the biggest in town).

You would have to pay me a substantial sum to spend a month in Bangkok. And there literally is not enough money in the world to get me to live there.

[MrPeabody]

I stayed in Bangkok for a month and liked it and thought it was comfortable. If you get an apartment next to a Sky Train stop you can go anywhere in the city by Sky Train. The Sky Train also is connected to an underground subway and the river boat platforms. And in Siam Square there was a food court on the top of one of the department buildings with food from all over the world. It always boggles my mind when mongers go to Pattaya and then complain they are in a sewer. I have never been there and have no desire to go.

I came to Pattaya because I thought the air would be better than in Bangkok. And indeed, only the odd person in Pattaya wears a mask to protect himself from the air, whereas in Bangkok it's about five percent of the population.

I've taken the bus three times to Bangkok to see a tailor. It is my idea of what the capitol city of Hell would look like. Ugly Bauhaus towers rising up out of squalid shanty towns, marinating in this dense, soupy, humid/polluted air. The traffic is absolutely nightmarish -- you sit 95 percent of the time, and then when there's a little opening and room to run, all hell breaks loose. No rules, just take whatever you can. The taxi drivers serve several million English-speaking visitors a year (God knows why they come), yet most of them speak no English at all. I'd have to go through five or six to find one who could understand "Landmark Hotel" (one of the biggest in town).

You would have to pay me a substantial sum to spend a month in Bangkok. And there literally is not enough money in the world to get me to live there.

Try Chiang Mai. They have an elephant park there which is suppose to be pretty interesting. Maybe you can salvage your trip.

[gsjackson]

Try Chiang Mai. They have an elephant park there which is suppose to be pretty interesting. Maybe you can salvage your trip.

Too far. I've taken my last bus (minivan) ride in Thailand (another special little corner of hell). Heading back to Europe on Monday. Hoping to get a chance to meet up with Rock beforehand.

[Jester]

GSJackson, I learn far more from a trip report like yours, than one from a nice polite person.

I mean that in a good way.

Seriously, I know you've been to Serbia, Bosnia and Poland recently.

Not sure where else.

Do you mind reminding me where else you've been that you've posted anything about?

Not trying to hijack this Thailand thread, I was going to PM you but I thought others might like to have the same info as a reference.

It's a big world, the first thing a guy needs to know is what places to eliminate.

[gsjackson]

GSJackson, I learn far more from a trip report like yours, than one from a nice polite person.

I mean that in a good way.

Seriously, I know you've been to Serbia, Bosnia and Poland recently.

Not sure where else.

Do you mind reminding me where else you've been that you've posted anything about?

Not trying to hijack this Thailand thread, I was going to PM you but I thought others might like to have the same info as a reference.

It's a big world, the first thing a guy needs to know is what places to eliminate.

On this trip, Prague, where I also spent the summer in 2011. It's great in the summer time, except for all the tourists. Really a strikingly beautiful city, and quite an agreeable climate in the summer. You never need air conditioning. And there are a lot of attractive women there, especially in their 30s and 40s, which work for me.

After 2011 I was kicking myself for all the 30-somethings I didn't approach, but I found out this time that it wouldn't have done any good -- they don't speak English, and they don't want to try because apparently an aspect of the Czech personality is not wanting to do at all something they don't do well.

Now, most of the younger ones speak English, and I gave some serious thought to getting a self-employment visa in Czech (apparently not that hard to do if you've got some cash reserves), studying the language, and trying to integrate into the culture somewhat. I wouldn't have needed to make much beyond my passive income from the U.S. teaching English, as rents are pretty low, especially for a chic European capital. But ultimately I decided I just don't want to deal with eight months a year of cold and gray. Which eliminates most of Europe as a full-time living option.

But generally, thumbs up on Prague from me. An altogether decent place to be.

I spent a day in Berlin this time, three days in 2011. Initial impressions jive with Eurobrat's -- a pretty intriguing place. Would like to spend more time there.

I'm going to finish the trip with 10 days at my old standby Croatian clinic getting treatment for the knee, then 40 days in Dublin working on my handball game. People on the Roosh forum, and some here, dismiss Dublin as a place to look for agreeable women. But if I've learned two things on this trip, it's these: (1) the opinions of other people on these forums do not often square with mine; (2) I want a women who speaks English either as a first language, or a strong second. So I'll be keeping my eyes open in Dublin.

[gsjackson]

Just to add, jester, I posted a while back that I wouldn't go back to Bosnia or Serbia, and I'm not really interested in doing so. But that's just due in large part to a personal quirk, my very unadventurous American palate. Not enough American-type eating places there -- only McDonalds in Sarajevo, McDs and KFC in Belgrade.

That shouldn't stop other people without this quirk from checking out the Balkans, though. I thought they were a little down-market, with stray dogs, lots of beggars, etc. But after Thailand, they look positively utopian, and people feed the dogs. Plenty of good looking women, a little more interested in speaking English than in Prague.

But Prague, Warsaw, Berlin, and other German cities I've been to -- Munich, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Bamberg -- are all a bit more comfortable than the Balkans from the standpoint of someone used to a western consumer lifestyle.

[gsjackson]

One more point, Jester: If you put a high value on the physical environment, particularly climate, as we older farts tend to do, you are about as well located as you can get in Ensenada. If the squalor factor isn't too high, and the female pulchritude factor isn't too low, Baja is definitely a place I'd be interested in checking out next summer when Tucson starts baking.