r/nottheonion • u/novagridd • 8h ago

Thailand's Prostitution Patrol on High Alert as 5,000 US Sailors Drop Ship After 200 Days at Sea

https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/pattaya-police-intensify-prostitution-patrols-us-navy-visit-1763395
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u/IamGeoMan 8h ago

ExpatFIRE gonna have to re-evaluate their CoL estimates now that demand is gonna spike certain costs

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u/AzureDreamer 7h ago

You are joking but I bet prices of everything do spike geographically near where this boat ports, the sailors are problably going to have consumption rates of 2-3x and normal person so thats like 10k-15k visitor influx.

This would mean nothing to a city of a million but a city of 30k who knows.

I am just speculating I know nothing in specifics feel free to disregard.

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u/semisociallyawkward 7h ago

I was traveling through Thailand with a Thai and amused discover that Thai has its own number system. Every place had a Thai price and a foreign price, with the latter easily 2-5x higher.

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u/enceinte-uno 7h ago

Iirc some places in Japan also do this and honestly I get it. Locals can be repeat customers and you have to live with them. Tourists might only come once and could potentially have unreasonable demands/attitudes or might not understand local culture.

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u/stupidjapanquestions 6h ago edited 5h ago

Sort of. Bit more complex in Japan, though you have the right idea. But what OP is talking about is largely a SE Asia thing.

Japan does a thing where they have "tourist" prices, but they're mostly one or two items specifically aimed towards a western palate for tourists who are trying to have a specific "experience". For example, most people living here do not eat "Wagyu Burgers" with any degree of frequency. Those are basically tourist bait.

What OP is describing in SE asia, unlike Japan, is more of an "off book" thing that affects the final bill. And is at many places.

Japan, when it does this, which is pretty rare, is usually in extremely high frequency tourist areas and honestly, makes sense for the reasons you pointed out. There are exceptions, like super rare hole in the wall places which will try to charge you more off-book, but they're not even close to the level you'll see in SE Asia.

Those are usually places where tourists try to force themselves into a space that clearly does not speak English and are basically paying a higher price for the hassle, which is reasonable because, again, not everywhere speaks English. Most of those places have a staff of like 1 or 2 people and asking them to read your janky ChatGPT translation in addition to their regular duties, at a place that doesn't even take tips and is only earning a bit above a very low minimum wage, is kind of a crazy ask.

Source: Live in Japan. Lived in Vietnam.

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u/AgustinCB 6h ago

For example, most people living here do not eat "Wagyu Burgers" with any degree of frequency. Those are basically tourist bait.

That said, we went there a few months ago, eat some wagyu burgers knowing full well they were bait, and they were also delicious. I don’t think I ate better burgers in North America.

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u/nikchi 5h ago

Wagyu is known for its excellent marbling. When you mince it and put it through a grinder to make it into a burger that's no different than just making a burger with more fat.

It's the ultimate bait.

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u/duckamucka 3h ago

One of the best burgers I've had was by a small restaurant that ground their own mix of Chuck, brisket and back fat.

It was amazing and had more flavor in one burger than many places have in the entire joint.

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u/stupidjapanquestions 5h ago edited 5h ago

To be clear, it's not entirely bait.

Two days ago on national television here, there was a showdown between the major Japanese burger chains. The one offering a wagyu burger actually won unanimously among entirely Japanese judges. This program was not aimed towards tourists, it was completely in Japanese and intended for natives.

It's bait mostly because people Wagyu Burgers are aimed at tourists because it became popular on social media. Japanese people would never think to order one because, as you noted, it not meat intended for a burger and they don't consume content aimed at tourists lol.

But it is pretty dope in its own way, if not a bit of a waste of the meat being used. Not sure of the logistics, but I'm pretty sure they're not using high grade cuts for it.

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u/Ni_Peng_NeeeWom 4h ago

now I wanna see a blind trial with wagyu burger vs normal meat + extra fat