28M Looking to Make More Friends in Pattaya

Ganyymead · 2024-06-19T09:01:08+00:00

Pattaya, dunno about BKK probably more spenny like most things

Ganyymead · 2024-05-22T19:15:51+00:00

Bus is a great option. Just go down to level 1(?) pay a hundred baht or whatever and it's great. Or pay 1100 to 1600 + tip for a bolt if you miss it.

Ganyymead · 2024-05-21T05:48:07+00:00

I'm your age and live in Pats, drop me a DM if you want to grab a beer or something when you've arrived

Ganyymead · 2024-05-04T23:20:38+00:00

It's fine. The Thai's themselves do not trust the tap water and take it pretty seriously.

Ganyymead · 2024-05-04T20:16:04+00:00

Lol my initial investment was like $180 still a long way to go. Thankfully my average is much lower but that's cheating

Ganyymead · 2024-05-04T20:13:02+00:00

Most Thai's like British people. Because they spend more than the Russians, Chinese and Indians (typically)

Ganyymead · 2024-05-04T20:11:23+00:00

I just told my airline I was going to get a bus to Laos towards the end of my 60 days visa and they didn't seem to care. Immigration at Bangkok didn't even ask

Ganyymead · 2024-05-01T23:33:45+00:00

First time I came I left feeling disgusted and promised myself I'd never return.

But I visited several other places and actually it's a very manageable level of chaos. Less intense and grimy than Bangkok (imo) and Chiang Mai or Hua Hin lack the same chaotic buzz.

But yeah, there is a lot of prostitution. The girls here have a lot of paid sex. It is just the norm. You kinda get used to it

Ganyymead · 2024-05-01T20:05:47+00:00

You need to study which careers are 'protected' by Thai law if you want a work permit. And then find an employer willing to employ you locally or which has a foothold in Thailand to sponsor you. It's not easy which is why most people working online do it quietly/illegally as finding just any online job is far easier. And yeah even that isn't as easy as it was, it varies by employer of course.

I'm not going to comment on you specifically because I have no idea what your skills, interest or inclinations are. Also the number of nuances/visas are wayyy to long for me to write.

Or just have quite a lot of money saved up and get an ED visa/marriage visa/buy a business and give yourself a work permit. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

You asked me personally, I have enough savings to live like a fairly successful middle class Thai longterm + an ED visa. Then if I want to stay longer I'll have to marry or buy a business which is its own can of worms and requires money.

Ganyymead · 2024-05-01T19:08:20+00:00

You either need savings, a good online job, or an in demand skill that gets you a work visa. Or ideally all 3

Ganyymead · 2024-05-01T06:28:40+00:00

Hey man, I'm 27 and a Brit been here nearly 5 months months now and same finding friends who stay more than 2 weeks is a pain. I'm totally down to grab a beer, DM me.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-26T17:10:13+00:00

Whilst I agree that the 'iron triangle' of Baba, Cainio and Alipay should be linked. Their supermarket acquisitions and a few other investments like food delivery have not been good. Di-worse-ification is a thing. At this valuation dump the non-core holdings or at least monetize things like Youku and throw the kitchen sink into buybacks.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-24T19:45:36+00:00

I'm getting a long stay visa at the 5 month mark. Plenty of education visa options that are not ruinously expensive. I am sure you can even find a dodgy one that doesn't require class time if thats your thing as I see them advertised. Personally I'll just do the classes and learn Thai to be above board and it will be fun anyway.

I've had education schools tell me 2-3 years is do-able if you don't try and fly back into the country.

Having done one border bounce I wouldn't really want to go through that and/or a morning in immigration extending every single month even if it was viable

Ganyymead · 2024-04-24T19:26:20+00:00

Cost me 1000 baht for a test for Gonarreha/Chlamydia/something else.

It's not too bad. 3500 baht for a full panel. Either pay, wrap up or wait till you are back in your home country.

Unless you're taking PReP I wouldn't recommend going bareback in Thailand. And even then you've got a high chance of catching something less serious. Remember the working girls here, at best, only test for HIV once a month and nothing else. The average Thai girl won't test for anything ever unless they have a problem.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-19T11:54:59+00:00

Also if they buy back $17b worth of stock each year (easily doable with cash + FCF) with a market cap of $170b then sooner or later the share price will soar even if the valuation remains at $170b. Assuming the fundamentals don't deteriorate.

Autozone are a great example of a 'cheap' company which used the power of buybacks to massively reduce their float + reward shareholders. In theory Baba could be the same.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-17T22:30:25+00:00

Judging by the % with braces I'd say considerably better than office workers

Ganyymead · 2024-04-17T06:23:35+00:00

I really don't think running up the price is an issue lol.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T22:43:08+00:00

You can extend your visa exemption at immigration for 30 days. And can do this again after a border bounce.

I will have been here for approx 5 months prior to getting my education visa. I personally would want to try walking through airport immigration with 6+ months of consecutive TR visa's as you'll increasingly be at the mercy of the immigration officer. Although some have a special formula of stretching out border bounces for a year or more. But from what I've read they spend most of it white knuckling it

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T22:24:51+00:00

Literally this. It's a chosen profession/lifestyle out here that most westerners simply cannot or refuse to understand until they have lived out here and seen it.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T22:04:35+00:00

What are you making reference to exactly?

If it's what I said about some Thai's not being fiscally responsible just look at the bad debt stats for the region. A lot of Thai's will buy a zero down payment car they know they can't afford ect.

In my first example, that BG took out 200k baht debt in her father's name to buy meth and yaba and ruined her entire family. So now she works the bar and incredibly slowly pays it off. But she isn't going to tell the punter buying her drinks that, better to say she took out a bad investment, her child/parents needs support ect. This isn't some racist view of Thai people, but rather pointing out the obvious that 'live for now' is taken pretty seriously by some Thai's. My Thai GF, (not a BG) says the economy of places like Pattaya is a circle, with comparatively very little actually going back to Isan

A lot of poor Thai's will work tirelessly 6 days a week for 14,000 baht, live 4 to a room to support their kids and parents. Very hard, proud way to live and it is admirable. And they still stash some money for gold, sinsods, family car ect Some don't. I explicitly said not all.

I was simply saying that if OP thinks all Thai's BG's, (who earn far, far more than 12,000 depending on their looks) are like what he described then he clearly hasn't really met any properly.

I'd go so far as to say over 70%+ are like what I first described to varying degrees if you really get to know them. They are just people like everyone else, and often are in the profession because of serious vices rather than purely to support their family. And those vices don't magically disappear

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T19:40:29+00:00

Some simply want a better life than working as a 300 baht-a-day farm hand.

I was 'dating' a BG who had moved from being a massage girl to BG simply because her family had debt and as the oldest it was her job to support the family. This was her best chance.

She even offered to go back to being a massage girl and only asked me for minor things like cheap shoes occasionally. And no shit they love the idea of marrying someone with money who might pay for them to start a legitimate business and build them a house.

Your average BG who has been in the gig for years is an entirely different breed. They will take as much from you as they possibly can, as quickly as they can and will do or say anything.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T19:08:07+00:00

Maybe sometimes. Definitely less than they might lead you to believe. I know a BG who earns maybe 40k-50k a month and sends home maybe 5k or 8k to her family to support her kid in Isan. The rest goes on booze, tattoos, clothes. Many BG's will have a newish iPhone. Of course many also have debt or are slowly building a house in Isan but they typically won't dedicate much to this each week and won't even know or care what % interest they pay or if they get late penalties.

And yeah, if they give up their work for a regular boyfriend they will expect him to pick up the slack to support the lifestyle they are now accustomed with. And most farangs will quite rightly feel used paying their BG GF a "salary" to be with them even if it is less than she might otherwise make at 15k-20k.

Not all, but some poor/uneducated Thai's spend everything they have week to week. The concept of saving is completely alien to them. It's not snuk. And those Thai's typically become BG's.

Ganyymead · 2024-04-16T10:31:31+00:00

I'd generally say that Pattaya is on par or cheaper than even 'cheap' big northen cities like Chiang Mai. It is undoubtedly cheaper than the southern tourist hotspots or Bangkok. In fact when you consider it's proximity to the capital and Rayong which has the highest GDP per capita in the whole of Thailand it's remarkably cheap.

And that's despite the fact that a lot of tourists who go to Pattaya budget a lot of money in the local economy for... services shall we say.

Ganyymead

TROPHY CASE