Travel2003

The OP has close to 600 posts under his belt, by now he should know the type of reaction he would get by posting such question, I suspect that rather than finding out where he can meet "a nice lady" he is more interesting in starting a controversial post where he can be entertained by the responses . If indeed  he relies on a forum for information where to meet a "nice lady" then finding a "nice lady" is the list of his problems.

The thing that strikes me about this kind of thread is how people love to clamber over each other and boast how much they could make it last, as if living some kind of ratsh*t existence is a badge of honour.

Sure you could make it last 6 months or 10 months, but do you really want to?   It sounds awful to me.

The other thing to consider is opportunity lost: those months living a squalid life in Thailand on a tight budget are months when you have no income coming in anywhere else.

letitbe, on 2012-05-20 23:31:02, said:

Sorry, but the absence of punctuation in your post made it a little unclear. Who is the 'average low scum sex tourist' you are referring to, yourself or the OP?

If you are asserting that you spend over 200,000 baht/week the I doubt anyone on this forum will believe you.

Unless you have 'complications' you need to assuage of course...

It really depends on what you do. There is surviving and then there is living and everyone else has their own expectations/needs. 4k is not a great deal of cash. When i stay with the missus (in the centre of bkk) i spend around £500 a month. we eat street vendor food and perhaps eat out twice a week. The neighborhood we live has few farang as such is fairly cheap (she rents out her second flat across the hall for 5000bht/month).  We both dont drink or smoke and we have a car so that cuts the costs down loads. with her job we get entry to night spots and soft drinks for free so entertainment costs nout too.

In contrast before i met her i could easily blow £2000 a month having 'a good time'. throw beer money into that, "dating" shagging, living in sukhumvit (or down south in the touristy islands where everything is deer) and internet etc and your looking at alot.

Sure if you really know what your doing and have a lil lady to help get you deals/speak then you can survive for alot less but if its a holiday and you want to have fun then minimum £1000 a month.

so answer your Q is 4 months.

Seems to be rather gossipy and judgemental for a distant observation.

I moved to Pattaya in 1984 or 5, can't remember exactly.
I loved it. It was great.
I had my own restaurant for years.
Rent for the whole 4 storey shop house on Second Road at the end of Pattaya Land 3 was 10,000 baht a month.
I had a Commodore 64 computer on the bar.
Shots were 35 baht and best seller Kloster was 40.
Fish and chips served on newspaper was 150 baht.

A plastic bag of Tom Yum Koong was 10 baht take away on the street. Rice free, ky dow 5 baht extra.

To boost the coffers I used to edit Pattaya Guide three times a month and contribute to Bangkok and Phuket Guides too.
But mostly we lived off the restaurant.

I was there when Simon Show was free. You just walked in.
I was also there when Simon Show packed up and moved to Phuket.
Everyone thought they were crazy.

I was there when the greatest show on earth was Marine Bar Disco after midnight (it wasn't always two bars).
And they played LP records and cassettes.

The 'purple persuader' was just fine, even with gogo bar girls.
'Lady off' was 100 baht.

Third road was the outer limits of Pattaya, and there were empty fields on Naklua road between Pattaya and Naklua.
Maybe 6 bars tops on that road, mostly near the dolphin corner (and mostly German).

Baht bus was 5 baht and baht bus drivers were just as fecking irritating.

There used to be a Soi Post Office and a Soi Yamoto and a Soi Yodsac.
Now all you get is Soi 2, Soi 2a, Soi 7, Soi13 or whatever.

The powers that be ripped down the big Boys Town sign days after it went up.
I don't know what they paid but it's back.

These same powers refused my mate permission to put up a sign on his bar 'Two Camels fuc_king'.
But the OK'd a 5' x 5' sign with a photo of those same two camels doing the same thing and the letters 'TCF'.

Pattaya Land 2 used to overflow with western bars, probably 12 or more.
Now it's just Cheers, Shamrock, Palmers and a load of mediocre girly venues.
(By the way, g'day Terry, Colin and Rod)

Nirun Condo was an empty paddock and there are quit a few who wish it still was.

If you turned right where the road hit Jomtien, there was no danger of running over a gaggle of gays.

And sadly, there was nowhere to drink on Jomtien beach once the sun went down.

Now the even more sad part.
I was back for 6 months in early 2011.
The beer is still cold and my buddies for the most part are alive and well.
But the same can't be said about Pattaya.

The Big Money guys, Koreans and Russians own it lock stock and barrel (same as Angeles).
Seriously, a suggestion.
If you want to know what Pattaya was like 25 years ago, check out Phnom Penh on your next visa run

Kenny

The UNHCR has five categories for who is considered a refugee.  People seeking refugee status must meet the criteria of being persecuted for one of the five reasons.  Discrimination doesn't usually count unless it cumulatively amounts to persecution.  The five are:

--race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group that is particularly targeted.

Most Western countries have signed the conventions on the rights of refugees and agrees to consider those in the above categories.  Countries may add additional groups/individuals if they want.

For a lot of people coming from places like Afghanistan, they face a life of hardship and uncertainty, but they are economic migrants looking for a better life.  They are not refugees.  As such, they should be returned to their country of origin, after having been screened.

A lot of NGO money goes into trying to make conditions better for people being returned.