Back in Bangkok

It's been nearly a month since we returned to Bangkok. Total flight time from New York to Guangzhou to Bangkok was 26 hours including the layover. Part of me is happy to be back, another part misses the United States. Like I always say, I am an American and first and foremost will always be an American.

Photo of the week - this guy was sitting in Bangkapi Market drinking whiskey with his friends. They were a friendly lot and when they saw my camera, of course they had to have their photo taken. This guy was the most animated of them.

The truth, at least my truth, is that no place is perfect and no matter where you are there will always be aspects of places you like and dislike. It's good to be back in Thailand, good to be in my bed, in my house, but the trip to the US was needed by all of us. My wife needed a break from work and to see more of the world, my kids needed to see their country. After all, in addition to being Thai, they are also Americans.

​So contrary to what some might think, I had a great time in the US and have very few negative things to say. Make no mistake though, my holiday in the US was 23 days and I'm not living there. This makes a big difference. If I were to move back, first, we would need to earn about double what we earn now to have a lifestyle remotely close to the lifestyle we have now. Easier said than done.

Thailand is a pretty good place to live and honestly, at least for now, I have no major complaints. As I always say, things could be worse. Life's a journey and an adventure and as much as I grumble, I'm in no rush to leave. Bangkok is still a decent base to travel from and there are several places our family would like to visit and check out as a future part-time place to hang our hats. 

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This week's video is another clueless sap who wants to move to Thailand (or the Philippines). What makes him clueless? He's yet to be to either of these places and yet he wants to move to one of them and find a woman. Okay, it's possible, but this doesn't make him a chowderhead. He not only wants to move, he wants to find a woman who doesn't care about money and who likes him for himself, not for money. I got news for him, even if a woman isn't a money-hungry whore, if she's involved with him, she will still expect him to be moderately successful financially. He thinks Las Vegas women are reared to objectify men and doesn't want to move anywhere that has women who do the same. So before he's even left or even been to any of these places, he's laying down stipulations. Yea, right.