Gaybutton

Does LINE work in everybody's home country? I know LINE works in Thailand and India, but I have no idea whether it works in Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, or elsewhere. If not, I think remaining on this forum would be better.

I think most of that is also a thing of the past. I doubt much of it happens anymore. However, from many years ago I remember a boy, Won, who was walking around with 5 mobile phones. I asked him what he needed 5 phones for. He told me each one is for a different farang "boyfriend," none of whom know about any of the others. He was very proud about getting away with it. I haven't seen him in years. I don't know what became of him or whether any of the 5 ever found out about any of the others. I also remember a Sunee Plaza ladyboy bar manager who was doing essentially the same thing with 2 different farang - both of whom also thought they were the only one. Both farang showed up unexpectedly in Pattaya at the same time. For 2 weeks he somehow managed to juggle everything around and both farang went back home none the wiser. That bar closed years ago. After it closed I never saw that ladyboy again. There were a lot of such stories back then - in the "golden years" of Pattaya. But I have heard no such stories in quite some time now.

Absolutely right. What the boy does with the money is nobody's business but his own. I can't think of any job where how much the payee should receive is based upon what the payer thinks he will do with the money. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I don't understand farang who spend a lot of money just on airfare alone going to Thailand, stay in nice hotels, enjoy good food in expensive restaurants, drink as if the world will end tomorrow, and then try to justify giving as little as they can get away with to the boys. And meanwhile the boys are the reason these same farang go to Thailand in the first place. If you don't want to pay these boys 1000 to 1500 baht, which is a hell of a lot less than you would pay anywhere else, for what they do for you, then stay home and masturbate to a porn site.

That may have been the case years ago, but it hasn't been that way for a very long time. These days the boys are lucky to be offed at all. It's a little difficult to get offed if the bars are virtually devoid of customers or the customers that do come no longer spend as much money as they used to due to the strong baht. That's one of the reasons so many of them have turned to the apps in hopes of getting a few customers here and there. Times have changed in the bars, and for the boys the changes have not been good. Most of the boys are lucky if working in the bars brings them enough money to barely survive. I doubt there are any boys anymore who make 1500 x 25 = 37,500 a month. It just doesn't happen. Even in the "golden years" of the bars, it rarely happened to other than the few most popular boys.

I don't think any of us are really going to know until the rules come into effect and we start seeing what the various immigration offices are going to do. In all my years living in Thailand, if I've learned nothing else, I've learned that no matter what the immigration rules are, it all comes down to what the immigration officer you're dealing with decides to do, all too often at the whim of the officer regardless of the rules. My suggestion for O-A retirement visa holders who wish to renew, do so as far in advance of the expiration date as possible. That way, if there is anything they want you to do, you will still have time to get it done. If the immigration officer tells you something you don't want to hear, whatever you do, don't get angry or argue with him. It won't do any good, won't get him to change his mind, and will only make things worse. Whatever he tells you that you need to do, you're going to have to do it. It will be either that, or you don't get the visa.

I don't agree. I also don't agree with your reasoning as to why Jomtien Complex is thriving. Jomtien Complex is thriving and has been thriving long before Sunee Plaza started having problems and Boystown prices started skyrocketing. Jomtien Complex does quite well, even during the lowest part of low season. It's a different kind of atmosphere there. There are good hotels within the complex and nearby. The drink prices are quite reasonable. The off fees are reasonable. There are good restaurants in the complex and many more nearby. It's a short walk to the beach from the complex. It's on the baht bus route. There is good shopping nearby. The only thing Jomtien Complex doesn't have is go-go bars. While I'm sure most of us would love for go-go bars to be available in the complex, it's not a long ride to the Boystown and Sunee Plaza go-go bars. I urge everyone to give Jomtien Complex a try at least once during your next trip and judge for yourself. Between Jomtien Complex, Sunee Plaza, and Boystown, for me no question about it. Jomtien Complex is my preference and had been for a long time.

Do I need to tell you who owns it or can you guess . . . ?

Unfortunately there is an ordinance prohibiting go-go bars in Jomtien.

It could certainly apply to any immigration staff who mistreat people for no good reason in any country.

Part of that problem is many of them apply their own interpretation of the rules. Because of that, when you go to immigration you can never be sure what you're walking into. Too much seems to be at the whim of individual immigration officers rather than a reliable set of standards. Along with that, different immigration offices apply their own set of rules.

Especially if the person who wants only to spend the night has a departure ticket for the next day. Unless he is carrying contraband or something, what's the problem? I can understand immigration officials wanting to prevent the wrong people from entering their country, but I see too many reports of perfectly innocent people being harassed and treated like criminals only because the official they are dealing with is far too overzealous and apparently likes to assert his authority. While immigration wants to prevent 'bad' people from getting in, how about also preventing the wrong types of people from getting these immigration jobs in the first place.

Does the UK have the same problem Thailand claims to have - foreigners getting hospital treatment and then skipping out on the bill?

Seems to me that's the way it comes across. "Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I didn't know it had to be yours." - Ed Asner (Lou Grant), 'Lou Grant'

"The day I don't like living in Thailand anymore, I know where the airport is." - Geezer

My own favorite was when I had a boy at my house and it was raining rather heavily when it was time for him to leave. I told him he should stay until the rain ends. He said, "No problem raining. I have condom." Of course, he was trying to convey he has a raincoat.

Not at all. In Pattaya there are plenty of them all over town, and now more of them than before. They're not just for farang and Thais. Most accommodate Thai couples who need a place to go other than at home with their entire families present. As stated above, if you want to off a boy and take him to a short-time room, why ask us? Ask the boys. They all know just where to go. Have a look here, and these are just some of them: http://www.pattayasweethearts.com/loveinns.htm

Of course I do, but your post said, "I wonder what your opinion will be when you reach 70 years and cannot get or afford health insurance here." Maybe I'm wrong, but that comes across as directed toward me. At age 70 my annual premium will likely be somewhere between US $4500 to $4700 based on the rate at which the premium has risen annually.

As much as I hate to disappoint you, I'm with Cigna Global. As long as I pay the premium, it's good for life.

I wish whoever wrote the article in the first place would have clarified exactly who this would apply to. The sentence that has me the most confused is "According to Nattawuth, the new rule applies to both new applicants for the non-immigrant visa (O-A), which offers a stay of up to one year, and those wishing to renew their visa. Each renewal is valid for one year." I don't know quite what to make of that. "Those wishing to renew their visa." Who does that apply to? Isn't renewing our retirement visa the same thing? We can quibble all we want about whether we are renewing or extending, but the only thing that counts is how immigration will see it. It doesn't make sense to me that people applying for an O-A visa would be required to prove health insurance, but those actually living in Thailand under the retirement visa would not have to meet the same requirement. Once again, we have confusion. "What we have here is failure to communicate." - Strother Martin (Captain), 'Cool Hand Luke'

Sometimes rules that are in effect are not enforced. There are also plenty of instances where various immigration offices, and even individual immigration officers, make up their own rules. I think many of us have heard plenty of those stories. I can understand why Thailand would want farang retirees to have medical insurance that covers inpatient. But outpatient - for 40,000 baht, which is less than US $1300 for a full year? In my opinion that is asinine. Why not simply require 40,000 baht to be held in a Thai bank account, just like that 800,000 baht? If they ever do put this rule into effect, maybe that will be an option. The bottom line is we simply don't know yet what to expect or how this will play out. I have no idea if this rule is actually in effect and being enforced. If it is being enforced, how? What would immigration require as proof of insurance? All I know is when I renewed my retirement visa this past Friday, nothing was even mentioned about medical insurance. That means either nothing about this is being enforced or I just happened to renew my visa on the last day it could be done without showing proof of insurance. At the time of this post, so far all we have is a couple confusing news articles and a lot of people talking without having any idea what the hell they're talking about. I'm a believer in "Don't worry until you have something to worry about." If my visa renewal experience is any indication, then at least for now there is nothing to worry about. If anyone wants to worry, then if you are living in Thailand without medical insurance, unless you are independently wealthy that's what to worry about - rule or no rule. In my opinion people in the retirement age bracket are taking much too great a risk if they're here without decent medical insurance. I'm an example. About 2 years ago I ended up in a hospital for 7 days - pneumonia. If I wanted to stay in a semi-private room, then all I would have had to pay would be the deductible - and for me that is US $375 - around 12,000 baht. But I decided to pay the difference to stay in a private room. For the week, the total out-of-pocket I ended up paying was 42,000 baht - a little over US $1,300. Meanwhile the total bill was over 400,000 baht - almost US $13,000. You're not gonna catch me without good medical insurance - again rule or no rule . . .

It would be rather foolish for people to be living in a foreign country without adequate health insurance. If it makes you feel any better, I just renewed my retirement visa this past Friday, May 10. I was not asked to produce any proof of medical insurance. The immigration officer didn't even mention anything about insurance at all. Nobody else renewing their retirement visa at the same time I was there was asked about medical insurance either. So unless I happened to renew on the very last day when there was no medical insurance requirement, then there is no requirement - not yet anyway. (PS: please spare me the lectures about how you're not renewing, you're extending.)

I just looked at their web site and menu. Is it in the Lotus Hotel? I am definitely going to give it a try next time I'm in Bangkok. Thank you for posting about it.

Why not? Go for it and have a fabulous time.

Yes, I do. If someone on my board is causing problems I don't play games, give second chances, ask them to stop that kind of behavior, put them on moderated mode, or anything else. It doesn't work. I learned a long time ago to just solve the problem the easy way. I don't feel good or bad about it. How I feel about it is not even a factor when I decide somebody needs to go. I do it because I think it's best for the board and quite frankly I don't give a damn whether they like it or not. Since you ask it, I dumped bkkguy off my board a long time ago. All he ever does is submit these adversarial posts that he tries to couch in pseudo-politeness. I have yet to ever see a post from him that indicates he has ever so much as set foot in Thailand and not a single post actually helpful about a thing. Not exactly a major loss for the board if he, or anyone else causing problems, no longer has access to the board to continue doing that.

It's really not a problem at all. I'm much more interested in the content of the posts rather than the software used to contain them. Since the software responds the way it does, it takes a couple more clicks to get to the forum. Not a crisis. I'm already used to it. I'm sure my own board has its share of things that annoy the users - especially the board's owner . . .