macaroni21

Apologies in advance, but I am about to hijack this topic 🤪
There's the term "gym rats" which is used to mean folks who spend perhaps half their lives in gyms, obsessively building muscle. Then there's the danger of using such terms in the company of Thais for whom English is not the first language.
So... There was once when a newly minted Thai friend and I went to a gym. Neither of us had bodies one would associate with gyms but we thought it would be good to at least do something for fitness sake.
So we went. Bad choice. It was a gym for very serious body builders. The men there (I don't recall seeing any women) were almost obsessive compulsive in their workouts, and we looked like pathetic wimps in their company. We got looks (or more likely, self-conscious me imagined we got looks) that kind-of queried us, what are you two doing here?
I remarked to my Thai friend that maybe we should look for another gym, at least the next time.
"Why? What's wrong?" he asked.
"This place is full of gym rats," I whispered, which I thought was more than obvious why.
"Eeeeeeeek" ran off my friend. 
I had to run after him as (this time) real looks focussed on us.
I'm pretty sure he never actually saw a physical rat.
 
 

From Bloomberg: 

Rich Russians isolated from the West are flocking to Thailand’s Phuket
PHUKET, Thailand - Russian businessman Alexander Nakhapetov has been a regular at the “banyas” in his adopted home of Phuket ever since several of the traditional steam baths opened in 2022.
Lately, though, the 41-year-old’s routine has been disrupted by an influx of his countrymen to Thailand’s biggest island – which has resulted in those new bathhouses being fully booked most of the time.
While Phuket has long attracted Russia’s wealthier citizens, the influx is accelerating as President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine makes competing destinations in Europe and elsewhere harder to enter.
The number of villas sold on the island in 2022 surged 82 per cent to 338, about half of which were purchased by Russians, according to real estate agency Knight Frank Thailand. Enterprises from restaurants to saunas and concerts have sprung up appealing to the new clientele.
Some 791,574 Russian nationals arrived in Thailand between January and June, an increase of more than 1,000 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, according to the Thai Tourism and Sports Ministry.
More than half that number flew directly into Phuket airport, and they were the No. 1 source of tourists to the island in 2023, according to the Phuket Tourist Association.
Russian speakers are the biggest single nationality of buyers in Phuket at FazWaz Property Group, said Mr Christian Steinbach, sales director, who in 2022 made one of his most-lucrative deals when one Russian buyer snapped up 16 villas.
“You can generate high rental returns,” he said. “And there are many people who just want to live in a nice place.”
In a sign of the island’s importance for expanding Russia’s diplomatic reach in South-east Asia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov officially opened a consulate on Phuket in July and met with his Thai counterpart during his visit.
The diplomatic office is within the Royal Phuket Marina, a seaside community that includes moorings for yachts and apartments and stand-alone villas priced from about US$300,000 (S$400,000) to multiple millions.
While countries in Europe and the Middle East have long been the main havens for Russians, Thailand’s beaches, nightlife and openness in places like Phuket, Krabi and Pattaya provided an affordable alternative in Asia even before the war in Ukraine started in February 2022.
Since Mr Putin began his invasion, the European Union has made it harder for Russians to travel to the bloc, with many direct flights to European cities abandoned. That has pushed people to countries with easy-visa entry such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Thailand.
Indeed, Thailand has introduced several new visa programmes over the past year that allow longer stays for those who bring in money or special skills – such as in the IT, social media and crypto-asset industries, according to Ms Prakaipeth Meechoosarn, head of Phuket property sales at the Thailand unit of CBRE Group.
Concurrently, the resort islands in the southern part of the country have also attracted many similar specialists, digital nomads and young families fleeing Ukraine.
According to Ms Elena Marinicheva, vice-president at Russia Sotheby’s International Realty, a typical Russian buyer in Thailand might be an entrepreneur in their mid-30s from the eastern part of the Federation, such as Vladivostok. But increasingly, investors from Moscow and St Petersburg are seeing the Thai market as more and more attractive, she said.
That has helped create an array of cottage industries. For example, Mr Alexander Nakhapetov said his entertainment business is booming. A 250,000 baht (S$9,650) box at a Russian rock concert he organised in Phuket’s Laguna Grove earlier in 2023 was sold out within the first hour, he said.
In December, he is helping to organise a performance by the St Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theatre on the island.
Sanctions have weighed on transactions, with Visa and Mastercard among the many global financial firms that suspended operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Still, people have found workarounds such as linking to platforms of China UnionPay, digital assets, as well as paying with cash denominated in dollars and euros. As time goes on, though, it is getting more difficult to transfer funds out of Russia – and the rouble has also weakened against the Thai baht, Mr Steinbach said.
Thais – especially those in the southern islands – are adapting to the needs and habits of Russian visitors. Phuket International Airport makes announcements in Russian. Many shop names and street signs are in Cyrillic. Street vendors sell borscht and blini side by side with local classics such as pad thai and spicy tom yum soup.
Russian restaurant chain Veranda recently opened its fifth Thailand location, adding to the eateries and food shops across the island. Mr Nikolay Batargin, the owner of Chekhoff restaurants in Phuket, recently opened his third location serving Russian cuisine. Business was particularly “mad” during island’s high season from November to April, he said.
Super-rich
Thailand’s appeal extends to the super-rich. The 237-foot yacht Cloudbreak, believed to belong to Russian real estate tycoon Alexander Svetakov, was spotted in Phuket last Christmas, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Construction materials billionaire Igor Rybakov held business-coaching classes for a group of 20 on the island in January, starting with qigong exercises to relax the participants.
“Everyone is welcome in Thailand,” restaurateur Batargin said.
While commerce has boosted the economy and provided much-needed jobs in tourism- and investment-dependent Phuket and Krabi, the influx of Russians has also pushed some potential buyers from Thailand and other nations out of the market. Local workers are also feeling the sting of inflation on basic goods and their own rents.
But in the wake of Covid-19, most people are willing to put up with side effects as long as Thailand remains an escape from war, sanctions and vitriol. Indeed, tolerance is a mantra for those who come to vacation or find new homes in Thailand’s islands.
“The atmosphere for everybody is wonderful and peaceful,” said Mr Yuri Vorona, manager of Roadhouse restaurant in Phuket, which caters mostly to Russians and their Thai friends – but sometimes Ukrainians come for a meal.
“We have everyday Russians, who just want to rest and not fight.” 
 

While Pattaya is hardly more inconvenient to get to from Suvarnabhumi compared to downtown Bangkok, the play options in Pattaya simply don't compare, especially with the two-decade long decline of the scene.
It's not as if Pattaya/Jomtien is such a great beach either. Between a mediocre scene and a mediocre beach, I can see why it's losing its attractiveness.
And the traffic on second road, with interminable roadworks... Now that's another thing.

While Pattaya is hardly more inconvenient to get to from Suvarnabhumi compared to downtown Bangkok, the play options in Pattaya simply don't compare, especially with the two-decade long decline of the scene.
It's not as if Pattaya/Jomtien is such a great beach either. Between a mediocre scene and a mediocre beach, I can see why it's losing its attractiveness.
And the traffic on second road, with interminable roadworks... Now that's another thing.

Germans always excelled in equating humans to comedies. They lost the camps but not the mentality. 

This is an area of small row houses, so there are more leasing options for small shops rather than look for a space with large floor area. Having multiple small shops also makes the business more flexible. If times are bad, one can close the worst-performing shop and keep the rest running.  It allows the business better bargaining strength with landlords. If one landlord asks for a steep increase in rent, it is possible to walk away from the deal and still have other shops in operation. 
Another possibility is that each shop is structured as discrete businesses with different minority shareholders. That way, the main shareholder can tap on multiple minority shareholders for capital, so although to us they may look like a single buisness, in fact the ownership mix of each shop is different.

I find it rather inaccurate to call them "masseurs", when they hardly know the first thing about massage. "Moneyboys" may be more accurate, but I guess we've developed a habit of using this term to mean those on apps, and not those in shops...

I find it rather inaccurate to call them "masseurs", when they hardly know the first thing about massage. "Moneyboys" may be more accurate, but I guess we've developed a habit of using this term to mean those on apps, and not those in shops...

I find it rather inaccurate to call them "masseurs", when they hardly know the first thing about massage. "Moneyboys" may be more accurate, but I guess we've developed a habit of using this term to mean those on apps, and not those in shops...

I find it rather inaccurate to call them "masseurs", when they hardly know the first thing about massage. "Moneyboys" may be more accurate, but I guess we've developed a habit of using this term to mean those on apps, and not those in shops...

I think @10tazione is correct. It so happens that "ganja" was one of the first Indonesian words I learned from a young employee in our office (he was Indonesian, or maybe Malaysian - I'm not sure now with the passage of years). And if one goes to Google Translate and look up the Malay and Indonesian translations of marijuana or cannabis, one will see "ganja". It has wide usage in those countries - and now I learn that is the case in Thailand and Cambodia* too  - and is part of the formal vocabulary, as opposed to being merely a fashionable slang term imported for exoteric effect in marginal corners of society serving Western tourists who cannot leave their Western bubble behind. The way the word is so deeply embedded in the local vocabulary strongly suggests much deeper roots in terms of the word's origin and 10tazione's explanation fits the bill. 
*Google translated marijuana into Khmer "kannchhea" too.
Unlike the UK, there is no Caribbean community in Southeast Asia to identify wtih the rastafarian movement. I've had blank stares in the past when I've mentioned Bob Marley even among educated circles in the  company branch offices around the region. I think it is an improbable stretch of the imagination to think that the Southeast Asian word ganja in its various forms had anything to do with the rastafarians. 
@Londoner I think the arrow of linguistic migration is in the opposite direction. Ganja was a wild plant across Tibet and Central Asia 2,500 years ago and smoked even then. The plant and its use became widespread in many other parts of Asia in the centuries following.  It didn't reach the Americas until European settlers got there. 
If I have to hazard a guess, I think the East Indian indentured labourers which the British Empire brought to Trinidad and other Caribbean islands after the African slave trade ended (and thus the plantation owners needed a new source of labour) brought the cultivation of hemp and the word "ganja" with them to the West Indies. 
 

This is an area of small row houses, so there are more leasing options for small shops rather than look for a space with large floor area. Having multiple small shops also makes the business more flexible. If times are bad, one can close the worst-performing shop and keep the rest running.  It allows the business better bargaining strength with landlords. If one landlord asks for a steep increase in rent, it is possible to walk away from the deal and still have other shops in operation. 
Another possibility is that each shop is structured as discrete businesses with different minority shareholders. That way, the main shareholder can tap on multiple minority shareholders for capital, so although to us they may look like a single buisness, in fact the ownership mix of each shop is different.

This is an area of small row houses, so there are more leasing options for small shops rather than look for a space with large floor area. Having multiple small shops also makes the business more flexible. If times are bad, one can close the worst-performing shop and keep the rest running.  It allows the business better bargaining strength with landlords. If one landlord asks for a steep increase in rent, it is possible to walk away from the deal and still have other shops in operation. 
Another possibility is that each shop is structured as discrete businesses with different minority shareholders. That way, the main shareholder can tap on multiple minority shareholders for capital, so although to us they may look like a single buisness, in fact the ownership mix of each shop is different.

🤣 give the poor guy a break. He didn't say he absolutely had to do all the bars in one evening.

This is an area of small row houses, so there are more leasing options for small shops rather than look for a space with large floor area. Having multiple small shops also makes the business more flexible. If times are bad, one can close the worst-performing shop and keep the rest running.  It allows the business better bargaining strength with landlords. If one landlord asks for a steep increase in rent, it is possible to walk away from the deal and still have other shops in operation. 
Another possibility is that each shop is structured as discrete businesses with different minority shareholders. That way, the main shareholder can tap on multiple minority shareholders for capital, so although to us they may look like a single buisness, in fact the ownership mix of each shop is different.

This is an area of small row houses, so there are more leasing options for small shops rather than look for a space with large floor area. Having multiple small shops also makes the business more flexible. If times are bad, one can close the worst-performing shop and keep the rest running.  It allows the business better bargaining strength with landlords. If one landlord asks for a steep increase in rent, it is possible to walk away from the deal and still have other shops in operation. 
Another possibility is that each shop is structured as discrete businesses with different minority shareholders. That way, the main shareholder can tap on multiple minority shareholders for capital, so although to us they may look like a single buisness, in fact the ownership mix of each shop is different.

Vinapu is correct that USD, especially small denominations, are widely accepted in Cambodia, and the exchange rate of 4000 riels to $1 is applied everywhere. He is also spot on that they can be picky about notes with grafitti or tears, but these are quite common so you have to be equally careful about accepting such imperfect notes from others as change. As for US coins, I have never seen them in circulation.
One has to remember that since USD is not the national currency in Cambodia, the notes they have are all second-, third- or twentieth-hand, having been passed from person to person till they reached Cambodia. As a result, I too often find them dirty, and prefer to use the riel notes instead. These are often newly minted and clean. 
I know riels are pretty much useless outside of Cambodia, but then things are so cheap there, I hardly had to have much of that currency on me. When departing from my last trip, I just gave most of what I had (unspent) to the hotel staff as a parting tip, keeping just enough for the taxi to the airport.
 

Vinapu is correct that USD, especially small denominations, are widely accepted in Cambodia, and the exchange rate of 4000 riels to $1 is applied everywhere. He is also spot on that they can be picky about notes with grafitti or tears, but these are quite common so you have to be equally careful about accepting such imperfect notes from others as change. As for US coins, I have never seen them in circulation.
One has to remember that since USD is not the national currency in Cambodia, the notes they have are all second-, third- or twentieth-hand, having been passed from person to person till they reached Cambodia. As a result, I too often find them dirty, and prefer to use the riel notes instead. These are often newly minted and clean. 
I know riels are pretty much useless outside of Cambodia, but then things are so cheap there, I hardly had to have much of that currency on me. When departing from my last trip, I just gave most of what I had (unspent) to the hotel staff as a parting tip, keeping just enough for the taxi to the airport.
 

Never underestimate rich people with money to throw.

I had one. In Khon Kaen. We smiled at each other in a cheap restaurant, and before long he was following me back to my room. At some point along the walk to the hotel, he mentioned something about needing money because he had just finished his novitiate month - aha, that accounted for his bad haircut, I said to myself - though exactly what the relationship between finishing a month of novice monkhood and needing money I never really knew. But the point was that he made it quite clear that there had to be compensation. I cannot remember now how much it was, but it was commensurate with the lower cost of living in the far Isaan, and did not give me pause.
I remember nothing about the performance in bed, so it must have been something midway between memorable fireworks and throw-the-dud-out.
I did wonder in the days following, if, pre-novitiate, he had been working in the bars of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, and thus had the skills to identify horny foreigners from afar, reel them in, and negotiate a price. For all I know, what I paid him could have been spent buying a bus ticket back to Patpong.

Never underestimate rich people with money to throw.

I had one. In Khon Kaen. We smiled at each other in a cheap restaurant, and before long he was following me back to my room. At some point along the walk to the hotel, he mentioned something about needing money because he had just finished his novitiate month - aha, that accounted for his bad haircut, I said to myself - though exactly what the relationship between finishing a month of novice monkhood and needing money I never really knew. But the point was that he made it quite clear that there had to be compensation. I cannot remember now how much it was, but it was commensurate with the lower cost of living in the far Isaan, and did not give me pause.
I remember nothing about the performance in bed, so it must have been something midway between memorable fireworks and throw-the-dud-out.
I did wonder in the days following, if, pre-novitiate, he had been working in the bars of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket, and thus had the skills to identify horny foreigners from afar, reel them in, and negotiate a price. For all I know, what I paid him could have been spent buying a bus ticket back to Patpong.

Vinapu is correct that USD, especially small denominations, are widely accepted in Cambodia, and the exchange rate of 4000 riels to $1 is applied everywhere. He is also spot on that they can be picky about notes with grafitti or tears, but these are quite common so you have to be equally careful about accepting such imperfect notes from others as change. As for US coins, I have never seen them in circulation.
One has to remember that since USD is not the national currency in Cambodia, the notes they have are all second-, third- or twentieth-hand, having been passed from person to person till they reached Cambodia. As a result, I too often find them dirty, and prefer to use the riel notes instead. These are often newly minted and clean. 
I know riels are pretty much useless outside of Cambodia, but then things are so cheap there, I hardly had to have much of that currency on me. When departing from my last trip, I just gave most of what I had (unspent) to the hotel staff as a parting tip, keeping just enough for the taxi to the airport.
 

Vinapu is correct that USD, especially small denominations, are widely accepted in Cambodia, and the exchange rate of 4000 riels to $1 is applied everywhere. He is also spot on that they can be picky about notes with grafitti or tears, but these are quite common so you have to be equally careful about accepting such imperfect notes from others as change. As for US coins, I have never seen them in circulation.
One has to remember that since USD is not the national currency in Cambodia, the notes they have are all second-, third- or twentieth-hand, having been passed from person to person till they reached Cambodia. As a result, I too often find them dirty, and prefer to use the riel notes instead. These are often newly minted and clean. 
I know riels are pretty much useless outside of Cambodia, but then things are so cheap there, I hardly had to have much of that currency on me. When departing from my last trip, I just gave most of what I had (unspent) to the hotel staff as a parting tip, keeping just enough for the taxi to the airport.
 

Never underestimate rich people with money to throw.