torrenova

Not "almost" it was. But it was known at the time, no hindsight was required, that such a move would be the end. We soldier on in ever reducing numbers, with less and less content. Dulce et Decorum est pro mori forumia

My other half still thinks she will return to the boonies in Buriram when older and see out her days in her childhood village etc. On the other hand, I think she'll last a few months and then need a main city. All of this is somewhat hypothetical as it is 15 to 20 plus years away. Some land and associated buildings which were historically in the family might come to market but at a price I consider illogical. It was sold out of the family around 20 years ago for just under Bt1m and the thought is that it might be in the Bt3-4m range today. I think that is fanciful and no, not yet is this an inflated "farang" price. As a corner plot, on a village highway and side soi with a family house some way up the road, it really only lends itself to a commercial venture. However, the rent which could be obtained might be between Bt10k and Bt20k a month, which if Bt15k, would be a yield of just over 5% on Bt3.5m. However, significant investment in a new property on the site would be required, taking a likely capital outlay to around Bt5m and a yield of around 3.5%. The money is immaterial to a degree but as the property would never be sold and would never attract a high rental income, it is just like putting Bt5m into a hole in the ground. There is no way on earth our daughter will ever live in rural Thailand. I think it is about face, to get back something which was "lost" and I see no benefit but am I missing something ?

Thanks for the responses. Now she says she'll get it done when she visits ! Bloody women !

"On the rail" or street side in Golden is great for watching but I've often found problems if you wanted to "pounce", especially if alone, as you can hardly settle your bin in the half second you have before she walks past, unless you are fortunate enough to get eye contact and have her stop. Viewing and not being able to follow it up is just too frustrating sometimes.

Fucking 'ell "Likes to recieve presents like: House and car." http://www.spankysbkk.com/spankys-nana-girls-and-dancers/2012/ploy/index.html

Nearly a year on and seemingly swept under the Shangri-La carpet as is the way with things in LOS

We had issues with a 3.5kw one in Buriram in a bad winter where the inward water was so cold that the shower hardly had enough power to warm the water, hence my thinking of a 4.5kw / 6kw model. I guess a few baht more than the price you mention. Thanks for the post. I had ours run to a grounding rod, the cost of which seemed out of all proportion to its content, simply a metal rod. High wattage dictated a thickness of cabling which the local Somchai sparky thought wholly unnecessary even when shown the watts / volts / amps triangle. We put it on its own circuit through a PCB and circuit breaker (63A I think) had to upgrade the electric meter as well !

One of the other half's outlaw relatives has reached such seniority that they are (only) now worried that cold will kill her off. The missus desires to have a hot water shower installed somewhere in rural Buriram. Now the last one I put into our house was a huge 15kw monster so my ideas on prices for something more constrained are out of date. So potentially: Circa 6kw heater Wiring, grounding and plumbing Potentially water tank and pump Tiling (walls and floor) of bathroom Any ideas on costs ? Someone half sensible could buy the bits and pieces but Somchai to install.

Get on the management committee as you will be fighting tooth and nail for the first few years to try and get the sinking fund finances back under control. Likely is that long term, way over the odds contracts have been given to stooges of the developer for tv, satellite, security, all electrics etc. and cash will go missing. Of course, the unsold lots and those given away during construction in lieu of fees will never pay their subs so yours will rise accordingly. Only when in final control of the management company will you be able to sue to get the condos sold to meet missing fees (essentially cancelling their leasehold) and then they will pay up. Shit loads more to add if you want. I do quite some deals in Pattaya but not Bangkok so far.

The seed was sown not when she won the lottery but when she started to squirrel money away to first put down a deposit and then pay the mortgage on this Thai house, all without her husband's knowledge. If truth be known, I suspect she probably raised the issue of building or buying a house in LOS many times over and met with disdain and outright refusal. With no other option but to go behind her husband's back, the lottery win could hardly be disclosed when it would finish paying off the house (and presumably then some). So perhaps the husband is the root cause of all this, though he could presumably use some of the residual $300k. Perhaps she will "win" the Thai lottery and buy the house and admit it to the hubby ! Had she been a total bad apple, she'd never have done something so useful as buy a house and now with $300k in her pocket, she'd leave him in a heartbeat. Two sides to this story.

Book arrived, not read yet, pretty good condition. Sort of like that 1980/90s table book of semi nudes by (name escapes me) where I may not want it now but for the small fee, it would be nice to put in my library for the day I do want to read it, else it will not be available. Original price is listed as Bt430 at King Power

Could the atmosphere today ever hope to capture the atmosphere of yesteryear ? I don't think people are as shocked today and far more have been further and farther than back in the day. Pity I have no time now, not like before.

Pimlico last week, nondescript local pub near mixed housing: £4.70 a pint of wife beater (Stella). Sainsburys last week: £15 for 30 285ml bottles of wife beater or 1664. 50p a bottle. Pimlico last week, one pub closed forever. Any ideas why ?

Ah, twas I who single handedly raised the price from 5p to 10p a single back in the early 1980s. Economics dictated that you had to be able to sell half a pack for the price of a full pack to cover "overheads" and "profit".

Mine is with .co.uk as well Funnily enough, I bought But, I Don't Give a Hoot!: The Life and Times of Bernard Trink, Bangkok's "Nite Owl" yesterday. Possibly crap but as I've never read it and it is unlikely ever to be reprinted, I thought the £10 or so it cost a small price to pay. You could have had £0.40 to £0.70 if I'd known !

But isn't the price just what it costs someone to obtain that which they could not obtain through non monetary avenues ? Hooker v client Old v young Rich v poor etc.

I didn't like them when they first appeared, then I mellowed when they were limited in number and yet I hardened again when they expanded to every spare inch of the footpath. I have nothing against their trade, only that the huge number means that any pickings are scattered over too wide an area.

Would Nanapong of old ever associate with Stickman ?

Outside the post 1997 crash and the period immediately afterwards, Thailand has never been a cheap place really. Perhaps around mid 2004 for GBP folk when it hit 75 baht again. I was on the ground though then and people did seem to have more money. What has changed is the demands and from all corners. Doubtless if you went back over the forums you'd find posts by then well respected posters, saying they would never pay more than Bt400 for a go-go barfine or more than Bt1500 LT for a top stunner but my guess is that either they are or they have gone the way of Washington Square and are now history. I've had a few months on the ground again recently and found that hotels were somewhat good bargains (relative) again. $100 5* places seem good value to me and I see you can now stay the the Aspen Suites for a little over Bt1000 a night if the location suits. However, drinks have gone daft. Bt130 or so for a beer in little more than a hut of a bar around Nana seems OTT and go-gos at Bt170 or so seem harsh. Then again, the biggest con is the LDs at Bt150 to Bt250 and this can be a thimble of watered down tequila, swigged in a second and with the girl on her way for the next one. The old adage of paying for her time through LDs seems to have flown the nest. $100 to $150 for a girl would seem nuts to anyone who has been around for a decade or more and yet the younger brigade seem to lap it up with quite low expectations. Perhaps their being ripped off in Ibiza has something to do with it because the rationale I've heard is that they can spend well there and not be guaranteed any form of sex. At least the Thai working girls still offer that, though less of it it seems. Racking through $500 a day for a decent hotel, going out and a partner to come home with seems top heavy I'll admit but unless you are very frugal and stay in a dump, hitting Bt8-10k a day would seems fairly easy if drinking in the entertainment slots. Of course, options exist for lower expenditure but not many if you want to sample the wares at the more popular places. Pattaya too is afflicted but to a lesser degree. A quick roll call the other month had many in the bars saying they would be happy with Bt1500 LT but would like two grand. I guess some would settle for a single note of the right colour. So for me, the right noises come from the hotels and the food (as always) but the BFs and the LD scams are where you need to be more careful.

With the prices being touted around for businesses on SC these days there is little a non P4P place of suitable size can do if leases are up and go-go money wants to take over. You might be able to charge Bt185 for a beer or Bt1500 BF but you cannot charge Bt895 for a pub meal.

I seem to remember Peter Jones the department store in London taking a very long lease on a plot of land in Sloane Square (post part of London) at some (now) chicken feed rent for like 100 years. Perhaps from the Cadogan estate ? The rule of law dictated that however bad the business decision all those years ago, it was a contract and must be upheld unless the landlord bought out the tenant. Just another anecdote which drives down people's perception of this country.

And then you have to multiply those odds by the odds of anyone having the disease and then by your susceptability to contract it and you end up with mind bogglingly small percentages which show just how unlucky you are. The do gooders think you just have to go to bangkok and shag one P4P girl and you get HIV. Stupid feminazis. Keep your chin up.

And then you have to multiply those odds by the odds of anyone having the disease and then by your susceptability to contract it and you end up with mind bogglingly small percentages which show just how unlucky you are. Keep your chin up.

If that link cannot be worked around perhaps this is where it is supposed to point at http://www.hopkins-aids.edu/