According to most experts USD will continue to fall against most other currencies. According to a recent report from Goldman Sachs USD to EUR will in one year from now be 1,55 (today 1,39)
The good thing is that visits to USA will be cheap again

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I wonder why someone would want to visit a country whose people he tends to consider dimwits. We don't have even the same sex appeal as Thais.

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From today's BKK Post;

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's proposal to raise the daily minimum wage to 250 baht nationwide - 21% higher than today's rate in Bangkok - continues to provoke a lively debate among employers and economists.

I doubt any of us have any idea how hard it is for the working class in Thailand. In rural areas the rate is as low as 151 bt a day - for those who actually have jobs. Sort of puts the red shirts into context !

The economic intelligence centre of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) said that if 250 baht was the final rate, entrepreneurs in 39 of the 76 provinces would be hard hit, because they now pay their workers much less than that.

It said a rate of 250 baht would be 66% higher than the lowest daily wage now paid - 151 baht in remote provinces including Mae Hong Son and Phayao.

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The 'hard hit' claim needs some further analysis.

The truth is that 99% of these far flung employers (and Bangkok employers) have been making very large margins (profits) for years and the bottom line is that the sooner there is pressure to 'cut up the cake' in fairer proportions the better.

There is deep inequity* in Thailand in many respects and it could be better and the actions needed do not necesssarily need to raise cost of good and services, just a more bal;anced better sharing of the profit margins.

*No, I'm not suggesting more red shirt protests.

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It also illustrates why Pattaya has a constant flow of fresh young farm boys willing to throw themselves at old farang queens ( I guess self included ) for 500 bt or 1,000 bt a go, plus a good feed and a night of condo luxury.

However their sexual prowess and versatility at such a tender age is a source of constant wonderment to me

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Is the 250 baht and 151 baht for a 12-hour day? Is 12 hours a typical Thai workday (my general impression)?

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12 hours is typical for unskilled / blue collar.

Regular office hours mostly apply for white collar.

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Well, I dont know the exact meaning of "dimwit" but I can guess :-S.
Sorry if you were offended, but the initial poster of that topic thought that a low-valued USD would make prices in Thailand lower. So - only trying to put USD in some perspective of world economy.
So - sorry if I was expessing myself badly
And - for US-visits. There are other reasons than sex.....

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last week went to ocean boys on a thursday. was surprised to gave moist towelette and free potato chips. about half full at 9.30pm. they had an early show at 9.45pm. returned again on a weekend, again half full customers, smoking allowed, show started at 10.30 they seemed to get the best of shows from other bars - ie. a better version of the tawan s&m with a slightly chubby guy being beaten with a rubber hose by the fucker in the fucking show. they also had a single performer for the chuck wow which amazingly spewd his man juice across half the stage. boys wear a very novel trunks where the belt can be drawn down to the balls to enhance the goods. drinks for boy and customer is only 200bht. tip for boy for short time is 1500.

visited fresh beach boys on a monday, less than 10 customers. show started at 10.30pm. the mamasan immediately came up to me smelling of garlic. good thing i like garlic so i can tolerate his smell. immediately asking me to choose the boy i like. i asked a familiar face to sit with me. he seemed to have eaten the same thing as the mamasan. the smell lingered even after he did the shower show. ;-( the only thing different in their show is the bowling ball competition with the boys using their cocks to roll the balls. smoking permitted, some lady customers, drinks for boy and customer @240bht. tip for boy for short time is 2000.

i was at tawan last thursday, few customers. the usual show and guys there. some of the guys a bit more on form for the december bbing contest. a very rich farang was giving the boys on the chukwow show what seems to be 1Kbaht each. the boys was obviously ecstatic about their good fortune despite the seemingly few customers. saturday night the bar was entirely different atmosphere with customers everywhere. they have a new show where 2 beautiful muscle men was dancing and fondling each other. drinks at 250bht, smoking permitted in the hong nam. tip for boy for short time is 2000

visited xsize when ocean boys had an unscheduled closing, i saw some of the ocean boys there, so not sure how many boys xsize actually have. most of them are the scrawny types. i don't know if they were on a type budget, but this is the first time i saw a fluorescent show where there is no painting, just ink that the boys spews over themselves while dancing. certainly did not need an artist to do the painting for them. the only different act on their show is the their interpretation of a circus game where you try to land a ring in one of those pegs. the pegs used this time are the cocks of 3 well endowed guys. prize being a free drink. it seems to be a good prize as they giving away free drinks mean keeping the customer in their seats which means greater chance for customer to off a boy. a lot of caucasian women customers. not sure about the drink fee 240-250?

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You wrote 'TIP FOR BOY FOR SHORT TIME':

- Ocean Boys - 1,500Baht

- FRESH BEACH BOYS - 2,000Baht (not too many are actually fresh, in fact most are very stale, reflecting the fact that many bar owners/managers don't realize that they need a fairly continuous flow of new talent to run a continuous / long-term viable / successful business)

- TAWAN -2,000Baht

I guess one can assume the above also means minimum tip.

Can I ask where these numbers came from? Is it now management policy in these places to up front state a tip / minimum tip amount?

Or did this amount come from a / some working Boys in these bars?

If so, possibly it's really coming from nobrain captains and mamasans who encourage boys to say these things to customers because they have private arrangements with the boys concerned for 'commission'. And some boys, especially new ones, are often quite frightened of captains and mamasans and often for good reason.

Please share some more details.

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The poster seems to be saying that because the US dollar has lost value (big time) it would therefore mean that things were now cheap in Thailand? Strange assumption!

It does mean:

- Change your US dollars to Baht and you get a lot less Baht then you might have received 6 months ago, 12 months ago etc. A reflection of the US internal economic downturn, greed and mismanagement of US banks etc. And there are international economists who are predicting further collapse of the US economy and therefore further devaluation of the US dollar compared to other currencies.

- That's absolutely no reason whatever to assume that prices have gone down in Thailand! Prices inside Thailand mostly reflect local Thai economic factors, plus a basketed impact of world economic factors.

I hope the poster is not expecting that all countries should adjust their pricing to ensure that US people still have the same purchasing power as they did one year ago, or whatever the timeframe.

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We Americans are just hoping the world becomes one big discount! Hah! That time has passed.

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the prices are what the boys i had invited for a drink quoted for them to have a short time. it is not the mamasan or the bars that have these posted somewhere in their premises

your comment on the fresh beach boys is kinda true. as i mentioned before, i asked a familiar face to come sit with me and have a drink. when i asked him how long he worked here, he said 3 days. i told him how can that be, i saw you last year in this bar doing the show. he sheepishly said he went back to his province and went back 3 days ago. don't you just love recycling.

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I went twice to Soi Twilight this week. Tuesday was quiet except in Boys Bangkok . Thursday more crowded. As I sat in Maxis, I watched the people coming in the soi. At least 75% entered the BBB empire. I followed suit, and it was well attended. The show was as usual. The off fee asked was 500 bahts : "because first boy's bar in Thailand" ! The very nice boy I sat with, told me : "Too many boys, too few customers". One of his friends had not been offed in a month !

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