Gary

I have not heard any rumors but I did venture my opinion here that I believed it to be a risky scheme when it first started. I like to think that it may cause potential investors to look at it carefully and determine if the scheme is even financially viable. If something looks too good to be true, it likely is not true.Why would they want private investors when bank interest is cheaper?

I have no brand loyalty. I think all the Thai built vehicles are quite good. The only advantage in buying an import is the big face value. I don't have to impress anyone. I bought a new top of the line Isuzu three years ago. Four wheel drive and three liter diesel. They had a special deal that if your family drives an Isuzu, they give an additional 45,000 baht discount in addition to a regular decent discount. The only drawback is that it had to be in my wife's name. Anyways it cost 866,000 baht out the door including some goodies and a years insurance.It has been flawless and I really like it. Great fuel economy and lots of power. Two years ago I bought my wife a new vehicle. She had a top of the line Ford Focus Ghia. (1.3 million baht) She hated it from the day I bought it. This time I told her to buy whatever she wanted so I wouldn't have to hear her complain. I did limit her choice by giving her a budget of 800,000 baht. After taking a month or so to decide, I was surprised that she chose another Ford. She likes her Ford Eco-sport. It too is top of the line and she was finally able to get the price down to 800,000 baht. She likes the idea that it has a lot of ground clearance and she sits higher than in a car. She never did like the low slung Focus and never felt safe in it. She really wanted a Mitsubishi Pajero but no way was I going to pay the 1.4 million price. In the future she may get another new vehicle but I think my Isuzu will last until I am no longer able to drive. I bought my last pickup new in 2004. It was a Nissan Frontier and I still have it. It serves as her farm truck.

Nothing surprising to me. I concluded from the start that is was a huge scheme, maybe even a Ponzi scheme. Then again, I'm an old fart who avoids things that appear risky. Young men can afford to make some mistakes because they can make more money. Once your working days are over, you have to carefully guard what you have accumulated. I was called stupid because I couldn't understand what a sure thing Bitcoin was. I still don't understand how computers can generate something from nothing.

I don't see any humor in it at all. I'd like to see some of those thieves shot. So far no violent muggings here. Is it worth taking a life? You bet your ass. Got to get their attention.

My wife faithfully fed her fish. Thai thieves netted most of them out. Maybe it didn't matter because now the cold weather has killed the rest of them. I was going to cook the dead ones for dog food but the wife in going to make pala out of them. Pala is that horribly stinking sauce that the Thais love. Considering what she spent for fish food, that is going to be expensive sauce. As a side note, I have a small house by the fish pond. It is off the electric grid so I built a solar power system. Last week the thieves broke in and stole the four deep cycle batteries and the inverter. Makes me want to move back to Jomtien. Thieving bastards.

Loei has the dubious reputation for being the coldest province in Thailand, It may be true. This morning it was 7 C here. I'm freezing my ass off. For the first time in about ten years I'm looking for a house or at least a room heater. Where the hell is this global warming?

I had a friend who fell off a ladder and shattered his elbow. Of course he had very little money and was taken to a government hospital. His elbow as mentioned was shattered and not just broken. The local doctors did not have the expertise to even try to put it back together. They were planning to amputate his arm. Fortunately a skilled bone doctor. whatever you call them, was there on rotation. His elbow was a mess but this doctor gave it a shot. His arm was saved but was pretty ugly when healed and he never regained full use but he still had his arm for which he was very grateful. Maybe he was just lucky that doctor was there?

I bet he won't call it Secrets.

Why do they want to align themselves with Secrets? I think, at least in my opinion, that Secrets should be buried and forgotten. Make a new fresh start.

You really can't blame the Thai employees. They live from week to week is not from day to day. All farangs are rich so they expect to be paid promptly. A rookie bar owner with limited funds will be in trouble quickly in the this sorry environment.

I have no idea why the place was open such a short time. I suspect that the previous owner/owners stuck the new owner with employee and other liabilities that he didn't understand. In any case, it's a strange situation. I'm willing to give the new owner the benefit of the doubt.

If the bar manages to re-open, it will be one of my first stops. I do believe that anyone who does business with Ben is taking a huge risk and it is very likely that this guy got the short end of the stick. I don't know this guy Paul, but I do hope it works out for him.

Unfortunately forums have a lot of bullshit and even some from people who are not even here in Thailand. There are a lot of wannabes who don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. They are jealous of bar owners and think how lucky they are. I can tell you first hand that it is certainly not a bed of roses.

Wooing Chinese tourists is a tough, probably impossible job. They try to patronize only Chinese owned places. 😜

The shit has hit the fan over there? Please explain.

Years ago, I used to frequent a bar that had good hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and very good simple hard shell tacos. Once in a while they prepared chili bean soup. If I want a good meal, I go to a good restaurant. The tacos were surprisingly the most popular and priced right with bowls of freshly prepared condiments, The chili was pretty tasty but they always quickly sold out. and didn't have it every day. I think it is a mistake for a bar to try to offer a large menu. Quickly prepared food with no chance for it to be out of date is the best route for a bar.

Ben was never a favorite person of mine. I well remembered him from the FLB. I liked Larry and Moulie and did stop in once in a while to say hello, mostly to see Moulie.

When the Secrets forum got in bed with Tapatalk it irritated me because I don't like Tapatalk. I quickly got tired of logging in each visit and have recently deleted the shortcut link from my computer. Not that anyone cares, but, the forum is dead as far as I am concerned.

I would guess that Egg just didn't offer enough money. I did try Tapatalk and didn't like it at all. It didn't take me long to uninstall it. I was not happy that Secrets jammed it down my throat.

From the threat of shutting down to recent major changes leads me to think that someone may have bought the site. I really didn't think that Ben would simply shut it down when there was a possibility that he could make some money selling it. The question is why the big recent changes?

In all my years here, the worst addiction is NOT drugs or alcohol. It is gambling. I have seen girls give up drugs but it appears that gambling is a permanent addiction.

I would have liked to retire at age 47 but I knew I'd eventually run out of money and Thailand is not the place to retire on a tight budget. I was able to retire at age 59 and although I'm certainly not wealthy, I don't have to live on a budget.

I had health insurance and the policy stipulated that they would never cancel me because of age. The problem was that nothing was said about pricing me out, which they did when I turned age 65. Since I have a nest egg that can pay more than the limits of that policy, I canceled it. I had a stroke a couple years ago. My wife took me to the provincial government hospital. I had an MRI and so many different tests that I had no idea what they were all for. When they gave me a chest X-ray, I was afraid they were just running up my bill. I told my wife to prepare to go to the bank. After three days I was released. We went to the pharmacy and then to the cashiers office. My total bill including a bag full of drugs came to about 7,000 baht. I should add that I wanted a private room but they were all full so I ended up in the stroke ward. Not pleasant but my wife was there with me most of the time so it wasn't too bad. She made sure that I didn't go hungry. The hospital food was pretty bad. After all these years I am still not a big rice fan.

Way back when I bought my condo, I chose Jomtien because it was no where near as congested as Pattaya was then and is much worse now. Now even Jomtien is too congested to suit me. My condo is on Soi Chaiyapruk . I used to enjoy walking down to the beach. Now that road is built up end to end and walking is dangerous. I have vehicles but on the VERY few times I go into Pattaya, I take the baht bus rather than try to find a place to park. I guess that I don't like this kind of progress, that's why I live in the boonies upcountry. Maybe being an old man has something to do with it. I have seen enough bright lights and city life.

Gardening for me is now out of the question. My wife has at least a hundred chickens running free range. Anything that sprouts gets eaten.