My Thai Girlfriend Comes to Baguio Philippines

has written 205 comments

ANDY SAID :My Thai Girlfriend Comes to Baguio Philippines
My Thailand girlfriend text messaged me yesterday
“I am at Baguio Bus Station?”

I broke up with her last week we have been dating for over 5 years...............

Got some bad news for you Andy. Your soon to be partially fed to the ducks. Dont believe me ? Check the links.

http://clipsyndicate.com/publish/video/464466?wpid=1904

http://www.thaimed.us/thai-girls-cut-off-penis-video/2007/12/08/

P.S. Good Luck and may Buddha bless you. Keep a Thermos and some Ice handy.

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Thanks Chuck, now I know the worst possbile situation. I am betting on my personal belief that I am sane and she is sane, just confused.

TheKeeper from has written 25 comments

Hi Andy,

I was just checking out your FAQ - it looks like its time to update your favorite places to travel:

I think most about returning to Thailand, it has the cheapest living, with the most options or choices. I can live in a beach hut for 3 dollars per night, watch a movie at a restuarant, while eating for 1 dollar. Then meet persons from all over the planet, when I am bored the plane fares are cheap from Bangkok, therefore I can fly anywhere on the planet for less than about 700 dollars

I would love it if you would even write more about the vices that you come across when traveling. Not because I like to partake but because its interesting and a big part of travel for some. Writing about travel to Thailand and the Philippines with out mentioning the bar girls doesnt give your readers the whole story.

Hell yes, put some of those freaky comments up - fun to read the writing of the crazies.

Best,

Frank

Gadget from has written 831 comments

To read deleted comments you will need to sign up and get a Hobo account, you will need to log in,
http://www.hobotraveler.com/signup/

Vice and Crazies, thanks Frank for the feedback, I cannot say I ever thought of the quirks by people as vices, I guess I think of them more as crazy or abnormal or people strayed away from the norm.

Vice is maybe more acceptable.. hehehe

Ok, I will put Boy Genius from India on this project, get it up this week. (July 2009)

YOU NEED TO SIGN UP TO READ THEM
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Note, this whole signup is in an India organized fashion, we are trying to merge the sign ups of HoboHideOut.com and HoboTraveler.com. (It is some techie thing...)
Just sign up so you can see the inside of my world story without the moderation.

VICES
1. immoral habit: an immoral or wicked habit or characteristic
Lying is the least of her vices.
2. depravity: immoral conduct
3. prostitution, gambling, and drugs: criminal activity connected with prostitution and other sexual offenses, gambling, and illegal drugs (often used before a noun)
4. mild failing in character: a mild failing or flaw in somebodys behavior or character

Andy,

I have been reading your travel info. for years. Although, I have done my share of overseas backpacking , Ive alway found new nuggets of information from you. Lately, however, you have been posting more than the usual negativity.

Look, a large percentage of people are prostituting themselves daily--that is selling ones abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose. Especially now, in these poor economic conditions, a huge part of the U.S. population is doing work it doesnt desire to do, but we do it. We carry on. You may think we are living a lie, but most of us are just looking for a bit of life, liberty and maybe, just maybe, a bit of happiness down the road.

Now, if you mean sex work, is the sole meaning of prostitution. Well why should we care? Live, and let live. As long as no one is threatened or coerced, lied to, stolen from, or physically injuried... why intrude in their reality? Try seeing people without a Scarlet Letter.

Thanks for all the travel info.

P.S. Your Ex must deeply love you...to run away with a Hobo.

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Live and let live, I am 100 percent in agreement, I am 100 percent sure I cannot change people. This is an INTERNET PAGE, you have the complete ability to stop reading.

However in this overly stupid Politically correct world, I also request that you apply your theory of life to me. Live and let live, I want to say what I want, and guess what, I am not going to stop saying what I want.

I came to the Philippines to watch this soap opera, I do not want it to stop, it is my the tourist attraction I came to observe. I truly enjoy watching dysfunctional people of the planet waddle around. I guess I can say to myself, there but for the grace of God goes me... hehehe

LEARN about the HOBO Theme.

A HOBO Travels to work
A tramp travels and wont work
A bum neither travels or works
http://www.hobotraveler.com/hobo.php

THE KICKER is this.
I am a Hobo that travels to work, and I make between 35,000 and 50,000 USA per year, paying no USA taxes because I can earn 80 K plus without paying taxes outside the USA.

I am often richer than the Expats on pensions, the cost of living doubles as you move, they sit stationary and control their bar tab.

Truly the the wanted and unwanted, those who promote vices, debauchery all want the ones behaving to be tolerant. I am tolerant, an intolerant person must stay in one place so they can control their world. I have zero control over the world and am happy to know this, however I also have a right to say what I want.

Remember, I can go anywhere I want and live anywhere I wish, and say anything I wish, I am uncontrollable and free. Truly outside the rules of society, I must make my own and live by them.

Pato from has written 55 comments

Hello Andy,

This is a very good, honest, first person account of Westerner living in an Asian culture. The statements you made could have been said by foreigners living long term in almost any east Asian country from Thailand to Japan . . .

Only you have the honesty to state them, whereas most people try to ignore their true feelings.

Good work, really, good work.

Wade

Mobilemac from has written 6 comments

Dear Andy,

What an exciting development! Best of luck during this charming engagement time.

At which transient room or bedspacer are you and your girlfriend lodging?

I always trust that you do what you say, and follow your own advice...
So which transient room did you pick?

Marriage might be good for you, help to cut down on some vices weve noted:
Poor diet choices, Coca-Cola (poison), lack of proper chiropractic care, avarice, envy, a strangely misanthropic view of our world...
a Thai wife cold help eliminate all these.

My wife is betting you end up doing the right thing, marry the poor girl.
My bet is on the other aisle, so to speak - youll soon fly the coop.

Time will tell the tale.

Mobile Mac
Elko, Nevada

has written 19 comments

Good post, truly.

The last thing I would try to accomplish as a commenter is to try and change someones mind. That is and always will be an exercise in futility. It amazes me to see adults attempt to do this with one another on a regular basis, and become frustrated and even angry with the result. Live and let live is the name of the game, and when you understand that there are no absolutes in this world, and no perfect people, than the burden of judging others dissipates and frees your soul to live your own life. A judge cannot ever truly understand the person whom they are judging, the judge will have opinions and actions of his own that other people would feel worthy of their judgment. Everyone is generally guilty of something in someone elses eyes.

However, we certainly have the right to our opinions and to avoid behavior which we find distasteful.

However, one thing that I do not understand is that blog authors will often be overly sensitive to their commenters who are also practicing free speech. I always have viewed blogs as interactions between the reader and author, and therefore having no limitations on what can be said. If the author does not wish this to be so, then comments can be easily turned off. If I was a blog author, I would have learned not to take anything to heart shortly into the venture. And of course there are crazies who will say things that are so outrageous that they dont make any sense or are off subject. Hense, the power to delete the comment is a valuable one. But in general, as long as it is not outrageously offensive, just what constitutes writing within norm of society? Just curious.

Also, maybe a post about why you feel USA culture is the best on the planet? That would be interesting coming from someone with your experience. However, perhaps you think this is true because that is the culture into which you can participate fully due to family ties? That certainly goes a long way to endearing a culture to a person. That is, the ability to fully understand and participate in it. What do you think?

Motorcycle Bob from has written 82 comments

I have been following your site for years. Andy, I love this post. It explains a lot. Your writing seems to go in phases as the the quality, readability and positive/negative ratio. This, from a quality of writing and readability standpoint is one of your best. It also appears to be the most honest and heart felt one I can remember. Let the losers make their snide remarks. I think we are going to see a much happier Andy now. Congratulations on finding a woman that is interesting in traveling with you. Congratulations also on figuring out yet another aspect of your likes/dislikes. Sometimes defining things to ourselves about ourselves is the hardest thing to do in life. And the lack of definition can make us ugly, as we dont understand why we are not happy, when we should be.

I am glad you shared this with us. My recommendation would be to leave this young lady out of as many of your posts as possible, as anonymity is a very valuable thing, and hard to come by. And almost impossible to regain once lost.

Bob L

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Moderation is a very difficult job, I have a few guidelines, not rules.

1. This is not free speech, readers do not have a right to say anything, this is my house.

2. If a person calls me name, they are deleted.

3. If they use profanity, they are deleted.

4. If they word things very well, a very good insult disguised as constructive advice, they are deleted.

5. I have as the writer the right to call names, describe a culture, describe an anonymous person as an idiot, or explain how they are an idiot, I keep it general or towards a person.

Provoking controversy with no goal of resolution of issues or ideas is a Troll, they just want a rise for the fun of having the power to get rise.

I do not pretend to be God, I am not God, I know this, I am not perfect, I also know that readers can get a rise, if they get too much of rise, I will not reward them, they will be deleted. I do not reply, I do not enter into their crap, I allow jerks to be jerks alone, I do not feed or enter into the argument.

Bottom line, there can be no argument if I do not participate.

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Wade, that was well worded, most people ignore their true feelings.

Many writers want to write about another person or a character in a novel and explain their thoughts. I am explaining mine, I am not hiding behind a fictional character and I am not afraid to admit I have feelings.

A functional person takes all variables into consideration when making a decision. Sadly, most people make decisions and do not ask themselves.
- How will this make me feel?

I am an alcoholic in remission, I know if I feel bad long enough I will not take the easy way out and drink, I will get the job done. I will kill myself, a more efficient easy way out.

What is the easy way out, denying we feel, to accept that we feel, that we are not God is difficult for people. For me it is suicidal to not admit I feel, I know the end game, if I do not admit I am powerless of people, places and things, I will eventually kill myself.

Therefore I admit all my feelings, claim them, own them and deal with them, and trust me this is very confusing path.

However, I can live in temptation and not change my belief system, I fall to temptations, I like French Fries, a true problem in my life, I eat them too much.

I think it is annoys people to read my explanations of how I think and feel, and when I get the person really angry, I know Wade is right. I did my job, I made them feel, what is great is knowing a reader felt I was talking directly to him or here. Come on, lets be real, let us face it reality, I have 1000s of readers, I am rarely talking directly to one person, I am just talking and they person internalized the writing so much they reacted, and want to strike back against unknown little dark dragons playing ping pong in their brain that are living rent free in their brain.

I am earmarking my that my girlfriend in this post because I want you to add this to the equation in the evaluation of me.

I have a sciatic nerve that is driving me crazy, I have a girl friend who is so Thailand she things she owes the country a debt, and all the country does is abuse her. I have people think I am a typical man who goes to Thailand, and I am not, I am dating a girl who is a professional in a Hospital with a master degree. I am in a Hotel where I am afraid to allow here to talk with people, because she will tell them to stop smoking... aaagh, she wants to change people... stop it. I am surrounded by the unwanted and wanted Expats of the world that have escaped to a place where nobody passes judgement, so they are in remission from their demons.

Who am I, just a normal person having a normal life, with a different story line. What is different about my writing is I am not afraid of your judgements, there is nothing you can say or do that will change or hurt me, I will survive, I will not fall apart and I will not drink. I do not care about money, I have friends, I am not going to die if you stop reading my work, I do just do the right thing and know who my master it, I must only answer to myself.

A smart and wise man will include all variables into a travel decision, and the most important is how it will make me feel, and the to effectively make a decision, first manage the ones that make you feel bad. A well defined problem is a solution, the better I define a problem... i.e. my feelings, the more capable of implementing a solution.

Or we could just all get drunk and sit on the corner of the bar making noise, introspection is what separates from the animals.

Life is good, my girlfriend lives in an abusive culture, if guilt ridden, and she is the best of the best. I am not going to allow a culture to make me feel guilty for being a good guy, I am not going to allow readers to control my life. I am just have fun, if I get too annoyed with readers, I write less, KISS Keep it simple stupid.

Life is good.

has written 19 comments

Andy,

True. This is your house, and I see your point. Also, I would adhere to most of the same guidelines as you have if this were my blog. However, I believe that there is one small perspective missing from your statement above, and that is without readers your blog would no longer fulfill its purpose for you, monetarily or otherwise.

Where this becomes relevant is that, to me and I expect many others, blogs without comments are much less interesting to read. One of my favorite blogs turned off its commenting system about 2 months ago, and while I would rarely post a comment there, I no longer visit the blog because instead of a discussion it is now one individual talking to many. Its not nearly as interesting. He is not a journalist, and therefore does not offer the depth of information necessary to warrant repeated visits without the ability to interact. A commenting system that is too overly moderated may as well be turned off as well. However, I realize that your blog is not quite average, it is a bit more journalistic, and therefore may not have to adhere to the same rules as other blogs who wish to keep their traffic high. This point may be supported by the fact that I rarely look at the comments on your blog, but frequently look at the comments on other blogs.

Im not saying that your way of doing things is not working, Im not trying to change your perspective, and I wish you well with your blog for as long as you choose to run it. Im just offering my perspective on what makes an average blog interesting for the reader, and therefore what draws in traffic for the blog owner.

Thanks.

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Traffic on the travel journal has doubled since I stopped the RSS feed and forced readers to subscribe by email. RSS feeds are the same value as a bookmark.

I make about 20 dollars per day from the Blog, this is ok, however the bulk of my money comes from the main HoboTraveler.com directory site and HoboHideOut.com will soon pass it.
http://www.hobohideout.com

This link on -How to Travel Blog has a list of ways get readers to comment, please try to understand I normally do not pay attention to the list.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/how-to-travel-blog.php

To get comments it needs to be easy to do and we are doing great here, it is funny, my mother has started making comments. We made out own system and it so much easier than Blogger or Wordpress she is able to do it, she is 75 years old and truly gets lost on pages, the email sent say, go to this page and make a comment and she does.

Navigation of normal Blogs is truly nuts, you can not read this blog like a book, clicking on older or newer and continue to read in chronological sequence.
Thanks
We will soon put up the deleted or moderated comments so readers can log in and read them, they are full of prafanity, so they cannot be indexed by google.

has written 47 comments

Andy, your recent writings have been so much deeper and profound. I have noticed your crankiness and negativity of late which I attributed to your back pain and unsatisfactory contact with the locals in your recent travels.


I admit that I have had nagging questions about you, a single man and frequent visitor to Thailand and Phillipines. I am happy that you are being more transparent with your long term relationship, it will help develop our understanding of you as a person. Your frankness and honestly shines through.

Finally, listen to your Mother. People and systems often dont make much sense. Accept it and continue enjoying the ride of life.

Gadget from has written 831 comments

Frugal, I have proved I accept other cultures, I can even talk about it, I do not have rose colored glasses on. I am one of the worlds longest perpetual travelers on planet earth. 11 years and 85 countries of confusion, to me this sign in incredibly funny.

A person that stays in one location cannot accept other cultures, that is why they do not travel.

I do not consider calling a country dysfunctional an insult, I am 100 percent positive all people have trouble functioning. You go to China and you will know you are dysfunctional with communication.

Poor culture are poor because their culture function at a THIRD level, a lower level, or a developing or underdeveloped or whatever crap you want to call it.

They sabotage their own success, they do not function... too funny, and the reason I travel, to observe humility, humanity in action. If you do not want to see the crap of other countries, go to a 5 star hotel, eat pizza and pretend you visited the country.

My mother would go nuts if she was here for a year, she would completely shut down and hide in her room.

Expats shut down, they go to the exact same place, the exact same friends, nothing changes so they can remain sane, if you call this sanity.

I am the one that accepts, I change pile of stupidity ever month.

Poor countries do think stupid and rich countries do thing smart.

Poor countries are happy and rich countries are unhappy.

Talk about a world that is screwed up, or as I look at it, just a normal world, the good, the bad and the middle range. The world is great, and life is good,
Andy in Baguio 2009

A.G.

About damn time!

Anyone can tell the truth, not everyone can handle hearing it. - Katchus

travis from has written 22 comments

I met Andys girlfriend 1.5 years ago when we all went out for dinner together in Bangkok. She is great and I vouch for her. Saludos!

Travis

Andy, I do congratulate you on your individualistic way of life. I have only skimmed some entries from time to time but hope to read a bit more as time allows.... I have visited over 30 countries in my lifetime, and 48 states of the US. I find now that I am old by your criteria, I focus more on just going deeper into fewer places I really enjoy visiting. ( I ran across you again this time searching for Philippine expat info.)

I just want to voice my disappointment with your offhand comments about white men/asian women:

First you start......I do not know where to start it has always been easier to allow readers to live with their illusions and preconceived notions of me, Thailand or the Philippines. I can write something that is 100 percent facts and people will say it is not true, why explain myself. All well and good and more power to you.

But then you give in to your own llusions and preconceived notions about the above relationships. Girls in Thailand and the Philippines who date foreigners are generally prostitutes. I guess in Thailand is about 95 percent and in the Philippines it is 80 percent, this mean the average white man is generally married to a prostitute.
Even as you go on to state your own relationship doesnt fit that at all! Does your girlfriend know your opinion of Thai women that date western men? Im sure she would be thrilled how you percieve women like her.

Where did you get these figures? I suspect you just made them up, tarring all of us trying to maintain a successful cross-cultural relationship. Illusions and pre-concieved notions indeed.....

Why not just say the truth In the places I have been and in the circles I hang out it SEEMS TO ME that....... because I suspect you are not frequenting the places where modern international professionals meet and become involved, or the churches and community centers where the nice filipinas try their luck, in fact the myriad matchmaking services that have their scammers, but also their sincere, if perhaps dreamy matches. You are frequenting the bars, the NANAs, Khao san rds and Angeles of the world. It is the circuit you are on, why not just say most or largely... 95 in the PI really shows you are not in touch with the reality which casts doubt on your conclusions drawn elsewhere Im afraid.

Anyway I think you have a very interesting blog and I wish you all the luck in the world with your endeavors, but I know my reading will be through filters.
Good luck, Jeff