Another procrastination post

Life has been throwing too much my way lately. Annoying life.

So, I thought, why not give you a sneak peek into what this old, or should I say, dirty old man’s life in Pattaya, Thailand, looks like? I’ve gathered seventy photos – could’ve been more, could’ve been less, but let’s just say it’s a fair representation of this man’s sexpat life.

Before you judge too harshly, I was here at the ages 25-30. I did not choose this life for me then, nor would I advise any young man in such ways now. In fact, I eventually returned to the USA after a 2-year detour in France. I married, and it was a good one to a good woman that lasted 20 years. We moved on, still friends to this day.

I could have done anything. I decided to return to something I knew well, but in a wholly different life context. I hope that gives some perspective.

… I had to split the photos into two parts because TikTok, that cool and easy platform, only allows up to 35 photos per post. It picks some music, and you know, you can scroll through alternate choices, but the first one it throws at you is often the best, at least for me, six or seven times out of ten.

Now, to give you the backstory – about a year and a half ago, a British friend of mine from Phuket, where I lived for two years before moving to Pattaya, contacted me. He had this beautiful 15th-story condo with a view that would make your jaw drop, overlooking the entire Pattaya Bay (there are archived posts about it). The market rent was about 20,000 baht per month. I told him, “Tony, that’s a bit steep for what I usually pay.” He asked, “Well, what do you want to pay?” So, we struck a deal, way below market rate, with no contract, no lease, just me sending him the money every month.

After a few months, he hit me up, saying he got an offer he couldn’t refuse. He was selling the place. But, in a consolation, he told me not to pay rent until the sale closed. Turned out to be two months of free living—win-win all around.

I moved to a different condo building by the same developer, just a couple hundred meters away. Got myself a studio unit because I didn’t want to break the bank. But over the year, I wasn’t quite myself. Maybe it was the environment, maybe it was just the change.

My lease expires in three weeks. I decided not to renew or go month-to-month at a higher rate. Instead, I went back to my old stomping grounds, and lo and behold, I snagged a one-bedroom unit with separate living and sleeping spaces—a view of the ocean, and all. 23rd floor.

It’s what’s been on my mind, and I think once I’m settled, I’ll get back to my groove—the mental stuff, the sleeping patterns, hell, even the chick scene.

So, before I drop these 70 photos on you, split into two parts, let me give you a little taste of what I’m stepping into. Here’s to new beginnings and maybe, just maybe, less of the bullshit.

$530 per month. The most I’ve paid for rent in roughly 12 places in my 5 years here.

As a bonus, let me drop once again the idea of Geoarbitrage. The word probably makes most people’s eyes gloss over and scroll more.

When I told someone that back in 1995 (30 years ago) I rented a similar sort of apartment in downtown San Jose, CA for $1,000 per month and by 1995, they wanted $1,500.

The response was, “yea, but you made more money back then.” True, but it misses the big picture. I had Grok3 give a primer. Assume you made $2,500 per month in 1995 and 30 years later, you still make $2,500 per month. But, you live in Thailand. Your rent was 1000 bucks in USA 30 years ago, 500 now, in Thailand. Analysis…go see the whole thing.

To nutshell it, even at the minimums, what geoarbitrage does is free you up from the 1st World rat race of having to make more money to maintain parity and because you’re forever being priced out of markets you’ve grown accustomed to.

(Many people reading this are like ‘what? 2500? I have to make 10k or I’m growing broke.’ I’ve been there. In 2006 – 2011, my “nut” was $22,000 per month personal income…or I would go broke.)

OK, so now onto the TikTok videos. I will be deeply and profoundly disappointed if it doesn’t trigger some people. Just one simple preemptive tidbit because I know what the haters will reflexively do because they’re only humanoid. There are a few included pics with kids in them. Those are the sons and daughters of the gals, and not only do they let me around their kids, they encourage it.

I’m reduced to that. A TikTok screen clip. The embedding war runs apace in 2025. Now WordPress doesn’t embed TikTok vids just like Substack won’t embed X posts and who else is childish? The adult, long-term strategy is unlimited embeds of everything from anywhere.

Here are the links, then:

• Part 1 – I do not lie about what it’s about
• Part 2 – The life of a 64 year old in Thailand

Stay tuned. Back to normal real soon. Stop worrying about me. I’m fine, as you can plainly see.