Why is this place addictive??

[lesmiles]

I have been here 3 times in the past 2 years. Spent a lot of money to do that too.

Yep I can see that it is a good break from normal life so it must be like getting drunk, the same kind of addictiveness. I'm trying to figure it out. People that do I think never come back so maybe I should enjoy the ride and not think too much,

This place killed an old friend of mine but I don't hate it for that. The people are simple and childlike and appeal to my stupid side. I feel sorry for this place.

[Muadib]

As others have stated, Thailand is good for an occasional holiday or for retirement... People in their salad years find it a struggle to make it work day-to-day and to make a suitable income, unless on an expat package...

The child-like quality quickly turns to aggravation once the veil has been lifted and you have to deal with Thai racism and xenophobia on a daily basis... YMMV...

[Jet Gorgon]

I have been here 3 times in the past 2 years. Spent a lot of money to do that too.

Fek, you paid money to join Teak Door? 55555555

[Moonraker]

I have been here 3 times in the past 2 years. Spent a lot of money to do that too.

Fek, you paid money to join Teak Door? 55555555

shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[DaffyDuck]

I have been here 3 times in the past 2 years. Spent a lot of money to do that too.

I've been here roughly 25+ times in the past 6 years - and spent a relatively small amount of money to do that.

Thailand's nice, convenient, inexpensive, and offers up a lot of convenient benefits (cheap medical treatments, inexpensive and good quality tailoring, some excellent beaches, good and cheap food, able to spend time and money on daily massages, and, of course, cheap and excellent quality hookers.

Not really addictive -- I can stop any time I want, I just don't want to right now, and I will when I feel 'ready' (cue scripts regurgitated by every smoker in the world :-) - seriously, though, I dig Thailand and vacationing there, but I'm not willing to spend any amount of money on it. I'm fortunate enough to be able to have a pretty good control over my time, and able to take off for a week or 10 days when I want to, so I basically fly when I find and secure inexpensive flights ($650-$750). I see no reason to spend more than that, and would not be going regularly if the prices would be far beyond that - it's simply a limit I set for myself. Besides, I much rather prefer spending the money in-country on things directly benefiting me, than on a space in the plane that I will essentially only sleep in.

At this point, it is more cost effective a destination than most places in the proximity of where I live - which only leaves out a handful of destination that I want to go, because I want to go there (Brazil, Barbados, etc...)

Addictive? Comfort and Convenience are addictive.

[Jet Gorgon]

^^ OK. Which poster killed your old friend?

[DaffyDuck]

Ssshhhhhhh!

[lesmiles]

what is a salad year?

[Looper]

Why is this place addictive??

Why is anything addictive?

As Renton says:

......Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got ........?

[Thetyim]

what is a salad year?

salad years - Wiktionary

[panama hat]

what is a salad year?

I thought it meant later years . . . as in not being able to chew solids anymore, but it refers to the younger years of inexperience.

Learn something new every day

[mooncake]

what is a salad year?

I thought it meant later years . . . as in not being able to chew solids anymore, but it refers to the younger years of inexperience.

Learn something new every day

Well duh duh ... me2
I thought....the years when you don't have any teeth left for real crunchy foods!

[Thetyim]

I thought....the years when you don't have any teeth left for real crunchy foods!

That would be the soup years

[mooncake]

I thought....the years when you don't have any teeth left for real crunchy foods!

That would be the soup years

More like the "broth" years?...

coz many soups still have some cut-up meats/or veggi in them

[Begbie]

Perhaps that should be "Porridge years".

Course some folks have done porridge years at a young age.

[mooncake]

"Porridge" ???

Would that be...."groupie" or "hilton"
or....."groupie at hilton"?

[kingwilly]

haggis years?

[Panda]

I think most people fall in love with the place after the first visit, but the novelty wears off for most after they become hardened travelers on repeat visits and start to see the other side of LOS.

I think most of the expats who make Thailand their home now either have Thai wives, are on a permanent pussy bender or have work contracts.

As for the casual tourists who make multiple trips to LOS year after year, I suspect the vast majority make the effort for the abundant cheap pussy rather than the culture or scenery. There are dozens of boards around dedicated to whoremonger tourists addicted to Thai pussy. The Thai sex scene is one of the countries biggest drawcards and something its famous for the world over.
While I am sure the high end family tourists spend more per capita than the sex tourists, the whoremongers just keep coming and coming year after year.

[robuzo]

I think that everything else being equal, the appeal of Thailand lies in its being a place that combines an infrastructure sufficient to provide Westerners (as well Japanese and Asians from developed countries) the necessary comfort level, while still being the Asian equivalent of the Big Easy- a place where you might escape the pressure of Japan/USA/Europe just by imitating the locals; they don't seem to take things too seriously so why should the visitor? It is difficult to say to what degree this Thailand of the imagination ever existed or exists now- and I think it is a reflection not only of what Western/Japanese visitors project but also a self-image inculcated in the locals (chai yen yen, mai pen rai, smile when you are hurt, don't buck fate). Scratch the surface and of course you will find a harsh reality, but I think the visitor (or visitor-cum-expat) can be forgiven for taking a while to reach this realization, in part because there is almost no exaggerating the depth of Thai superficiality.

The man (and it is usually men) who expects to move here and continue to live the mai pen rai fantasy can probably be blamed for thinking such a life sustainable, but we are all of us to varying degrees accomplished at rationalizing and lying to ourselves. The trick is probably, like Pinocchio, to flee the Land of Toys before the acquisition of donkey ears leads to walking on all fours. From what I have seen that transition can occur irrespective of the wealth or employment status of the farang (etc.) male, and additionally, avoiding it doesn't necessarily mean fleeing the country. The trick to avoiding any kind of addiction is the ability to recognize in time that the behavior in question is not only killing you, but that you no longer truly enjoy it- becoming aware of the point where what was a pleasure has become compulsion. One way to avoid that here is stay briefly and remove oneself physically; otherwise, finding meaning to one's life in Thailand requires effort, as it does anywhere, but here perhaps more so.

[mooncake]

.....
As for the casual tourists who make multiple trips to LOS year after year, I suspect the vast majority make the effort for the abundant cheap pussy rather than the culture or scenery. There are dozens of boards around dedicated to whoremonger tourists addicted to Thai pussy. .....

Hmm...what about those single farang girls/women,..they couldn't be all lesbians?..lol

Why do you think they are here....mostly?

[panama hat]

the whoremongers just keep coming and coming year after year.

Umm, surely you mean cumming and cumming, no?

The trick to avoiding any kind of addiction is the ability to recognize in time that the behavior in question is not only killing you, but that you no longer truly enjoy it- becoming aware of the point where what was a pleasure has become compulsion.

Well said, but how many here have admitted to not being able to afford returning to their homelands because they have burned bridges both financially and socially?

I'm sure it is tough realising that you're stuck in Thailand after you've given everything to set yourself up and knowing that you can't get anything back

[Panda]

^^Thai cock?

[mooncake]

No kidding
hmm....I don't know

But many of them will tell you, they don't need a man to be happy....well according to the "other forum" anyway.

So u say...they're lying?

[chitown]

The child-like quality quickly turns to aggravation once the veil has been lifted and you have to deal with Thai racism and xenophobia on a daily basis... YMMV...

Going to the circus can be fun, but joining the circus is another story!! Once the clowns makeup is off it ain't pretty!!!!!

[Panda]

No kidding
hmm....I don't know

But many of them will tell you, they don't need a man to be happy....well according to the "other forum" anyway.

So u say...they're lying?

Care to expand on that a little Mooncakes? Not exactly catching your drift there.