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chateaujade
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Nikko, you are quite correct. It is easy when new in country to become paranoid, and to form a Them (Thais) and Us (Farang) attitude. However, it's as you say, an error, and it's based solely on assumption that the Thais who are preying on you in the tourist centers are representative of the Thais as a whole, which is (again as you say) fortunately not the case.
It is also all too easy to become so acclimated to the local economy that one overreacts to petty ripoffs by virtue of becoming sensitized -- so what if a tuk tuk driver cheats you for 15 baht? It's about an American quarter. Believe me, I used to be like that (and sometimes still am!) flying into a rage when the taxi driver pulls the no-change stunt and nails me for 30 baht extra...but the other side of the coin is that even with the 30 baht f_cking, the fare is still only $2.25 when in USA it would have been $22.50 to go to the supermarket. In a taxi, one way.
One of the reasons I prefer a single house rental to an apartment is that the apartment houses always rip one off for phone, electricity, and water. I used to pay more for electricity for a 3 BR apartment than I do now for a 5BR two storey house with 200,000 BTU or air con and a 100 Amp electric service. What sort of sense does that make? The worst rips on utilities? Sukhumvit Road. The farang ghetto.
I am sure that, were I still living on the third floor of Nana Plaza in the (vanished) Royal Siam Guest House, and hardly ever leaving a 300 m radius of the front end of Soi 4, my posts would be very different.
Getting to know Thais who are not of the sand-shark, predator second rate class, really helps a lot. Even if some of my friends might really be battlestar-class predators, they are my friends and aren't preying on me!!
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:24 pm on Sep. 18, 2002
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chateaujade
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OEJ thanks. I probably 'knew' that at some point but had forgotten it....can't recall how much I've forgotten...
An old friend is from Hawaii, but now lives in GA, Portugese-Irish-Hawaiian and I dunno what else. Family name is Naihe, pronounced na-hee, first name Wayne, to make matters worse he used to come to LOS a lot. A really funny name to have here, I'll leave the translation to you.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 4:31 pm on Sep. 18, 2002
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One Eyed Jack
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Spent a year at the University of Hawaii and have lots of good friends and connections there. Not an authority on the language by any means but being a Haole, this one stuck. I developed my ability in college to run the 400 in around 50 seconds by fleeing from 350 lb Hawaiians. Good ting de no can run.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:41 pm on Sep. 18, 2002
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chateaujade
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Had a couple friends go through the Asian Studies graduate program at UH after their Vietnam tours, they always spoke very well of the school.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 5:23 pm on Sep. 18, 2002
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Deleted Member
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I resent the Grace/bin Laden slander! Just because we're stumbling around an after-hours coffee shop doesn't mean we're ripping the girls off... I've got a number of girls I actually consider sort of friends down there at 3 am, and the deals that they (and I) make are perfectly reasonable. Most won't state a price at all - Lae tae khun kaa! Up to you... And they get the same that I and my friends would give to a NEP dancer, Patpong ripoff artist, etc, and more than a Pattaya BG. Long live the Glace (at least until something better comes along -- where are our entertainment zones?!?).
ok, enough incoherent rambling... only seven hours until I hit the bin Laden Hotel!
tfo
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 8:15 am on Sep. 22, 2002
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