Where I live, the first dispensary opened in 1999. There is never a line here.

We are in the process of trying to either move the cannabis cup from Amsterdam to Humboldt or starting a new international competition. It’s about time the emerald triangle gets recognition for decades of cultivating the highest quality most potent unadulterated marijuana grown in America, maybe the world.

Though they had a bit of a Katzenjammer sound/feel or for whatever reason it's who i immediately thought of when listening.
https://videosift.com/video/Katzenjammer-performs-live-A-Bar-in-Amsterdam-HD

I went on a Rick Steves tour of Belgium and the Netherlands a few years ago, and one of the places we visited was Amsterdam. While there, we were given a good, close look at the Red Light District (which was packed to the tits because the Super Jews were in the playoffs for the first time in a bazillion years). The tour went to a "Coffee House" and it was fulla Brits and Germans. Even totally stoned, those people are fucking insufferable -- loud, demanding, rude -- so I can only imagine what happens when the Swiss cut loose.

Your video, There is no Garbage Day in Amsterdam, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 445 Badge!

Your video, Lions Fight Over Duck At Amsterdam Zoo, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Pretty good video. Specific things:

Too many prostitutes: Most of the non-Thai people that complain about this went to the wrong places in Thailand. Pattaya was a tiny fishing village before the Vietnam war. Then, soldiers started getting shipped into the country for R&R. The Thai government didn't really know what to do with them, so they sorta passed the buck and decided to send them to Pattaya to relax. Bunch of stressed out dudes there, nothing to do, high demand for alternate activities ... the market answered.

Fast forward to today, and Pattaya knows exactly what put it on the map. I hate that place -- it is like what would happen if you took the worst/sleaziest elements of Vegas and Tijuana, and then built a "city" around it. Shittiest beach in Thailand, chock full of sleaze, disgusting. However, it is one of the most major tourist destinations. Gee, why could that be? Is it in spite of the nature of the place, or because of it? No false advertising here, you know what you're getting when you book a trip there. And if that is your thing, more power to ya.

Now, I don't want to act like prostitution exists in Pattaya and Soi Cowboy / Patpong in Bangkok, and is absent elsewhere. Far from it. Every town, down on to tiny ones, likely has a red-light district and brothels. The ones you hear about are sex tourism pits like those major ones, but the trade is alive and well pretty much everywhere -- and mostly caters to local Thais.

I've honestly never been to such an establishment or sought those services (in 11 years of being here), but I don't care that they are available. The most significant negative is that they are NOT well-regulated like, say, what I've heard about Amsterdam. Prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand. So the de-facto situation is that brothels have to pay protection money to police in order to avoid getting shut down or "inspected", etc.

Corruption is a major problem -- much worse than prostitution, in my opinion.


Too many ladyboys: It is certainly true that there are more trans people per capita here than pretty much anywhere else that I know of. It took me a while, being a country kid from Kansas, but I see that in pretty much the same light as the German narrator in the video at this point. Acceptance is good. You do you, man.

As a stereotype on the flip side of the coin, I think the ladyboys tend to be great in custom interaction kinds of jobs. Cashiers at 7-11, waitpeople at restaurants, etc. Polite, attentive, helpful. And often the most willing to attempt to use English. A lot of the best students that I've taught English to have been ladyboy leaning.


Freedom: I'm with @Mordhaus here. When your personal liberty is mainly due to the apathy / incompetence of the governing authority, and they may choose to get off their asses and revoke that at any time ... perhaps it isn't something to brag about. Very basic stuff like dissenting speech and protesting is met with being carted off for little re-education chats, etc. Pretty scary shit, actually.


Basically I tend to think that just like anywhere on Earth, there's a lot of good here and plenty of bad too. There's plenty of legitimate gripes with cultural elements and stuff in Thailand, but the most common ones (that the video pretty accurately listed) are pretty insignificant in my opinion.

What, no Scott Walker and "In The Port of Amsterdam"?

(not really work safe):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_eVJ7WYaY

Your video, Port of Amsterdam - Timelapse SAIL 2015, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

That's gotta be either Aeroflot, Iceland Air or Easy Jet.

Oh, wait, you're actually flying somewhere so it can't be Iceland "Thanks for the six-hour wait in Amsterdam, you fuckers!" Air.

So I just got back from Paris.

If you think traffic in the US is insane, try getting from one side of the city to the other. There's no traffic flow; everyone just goes when they want. And peds are the worst. They will step out on the street whenever, instead of waiting for the "green man" (the 'ok to cross' light), and damned whoever is driving on the road at the moment.

The first day I was there, I saw the body of a struck Frenchman laying in the middle of the road by Ecole' Militaire (sp). In America, this would have drawn a huge crowd. In Paris, no one even slowed down.

Don't get me started with bikes in Amsterdam, either.

http://www.amsterdam-mamas.nl/articles/privilege-paradox-bilingual-education

I ate a space-cake on arrival in Amsterdam after being up all night on the flight from Boston. And did exactly what I was warned not to do, kept eating more of it because I wasn't feeling any effects. After curling up in the fetal position for 4 hours in my hotel bed feeling like I had the flu I finally felt normal after a few beers in the hotel bar. The rest of my vacation got better after that.

So they hadn't heard of Amsterdam before that?

On a somewhat related note, on one of my several trips to Amsterdam on my first day there I did what everyone says not to do, which is to eat one of those brownies quickly. Ugh, I felt like I had the flu, I couldn't figure out how to work the a/c controls or make a phone call. I had to lay down for a few hours, I was pretty miserable until I got up and had a few beers. Never again.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'comic, offensive, obscene, sex, masturbation, amsterdam' to 'comic, offensive, obscene, sex, masturbation, amsterdam, Jim Jefferies' - edited by eric3579