Angelo99

Sucks for them but maybe this will reduce the hoard of Russian tourists to Thailand (fingers cross). Doubt it though. The Thai government could literally shoot every Russian as they get of their plane and broadcast it on TV across the world and they would still come in droves on these low budget tours. Especially to Pattaya which I never understood anyone going to who wasn't a single man or with a Thai girl at least.

Before I thought they just had no idea and were being lied to by tour operators but Thailand is the #2 tourist destination for Russians now (why, God, why!?). It's not like there aren't websites and other Russians to tell them that Pattaya isn't a wonderful place to bask on white sand beaches with your wife/girlfriend/17 year old you paid to join you.

20 years to move BKK? It's taken the local government in Patts 6 years to widen a 1.5k strip of road between Patts and Jomtien and it's still only 90% done.

I'd say 10 years to come to agreement to do it, 10 more to agree on how to do it and another 30 to get it 90% done.

Try going through immigration in Paris at CDG. Worst I've ever seen. I'd say book flights that either get in during the morning or the night. I've never spent more than an hour in immigration in BKK and by far the longest was when I came in on a mid day flight like you did. Avoid 11am - 7/8pm and you'll be much better off. Early morning or night arrivals I've spent like 20-30 min, maybe one other flight was there at the same time as mine.

pretty much anywhere in thailand other than the touristy islands...depends on how u live. I can easily live off about half that if I wanted. apt or small house.. 5k or less. food, 6k or less. internet 1k. visa fees figure average 2k per month. that's 500usd ...then whatever extras u require... eating out, drinking, gf...etc...

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Yeah but add on transportation costs, toiletries/household items, medical costs, unforeseen/emergency costs, any sort of entertainment besides watching tv or wandering around the village and you can't realistically get by for $500. Even if you never bought any new clothes and gave yourself a bowl cut and could get by for say $750, it would be a miserable life. Doing nothing, have no social life or relationship (unless she supported herself or helped support you and why not, you're a real catch!). Forget having a family or taking a trip anywhere.

One motorbike accident or illness and you're screwed. Why not just save up until you could live realistically.

You could get by in Laos or Cambodia much better for $1000 and if that's all you can really afford, I'd look there. You won't have money to do anything so I'd think Laos would be a better place as it's cheaper than Cambodia and more laid back plus you're close to Chiang Mai if you need a decent hospital or something (not that you'd be able to afford it on that budget).

They do seemed to have reduced the number of West African trash hanging around lower Suk in BKK but not nearly enough. You still get cased and harassed half the time you walk around there. If they're not pimping their women or trying to sell you drugs, they've got some "business opportunity" to talk to you about. At least when the Thais approach you with some scam they piss off fairly quickly when you say no or ignore them. The Africans doing this stuff just won't quit. They follow you and keep at it.

The Nigerian government even publicly admitted about 5-6 years ago that they estimated that 98% of Nigerians traveling to Thailand were doing so to either smuggle in drugs or work as drug dealers or other criminals in Thailand. No surprise their embassy doesn't give a crap about them, they know they're nearly all criminals.

Never understood how the Thai mafia and police let them grow to such numbers in the first place. They've been steadily moving into the Patts area over the past year and half as well. Between the Russians and the West Africans, they're really setting themselves up for a big hurt in a few years. Stamp them both out now before their foothold gets any stronger.

Well at least it was Don Muang.

Just imagine the torture it would have been if he had had to handle arriving and departing from Survanabhumi.

No, in Survanabhumi you're just arrested for supposedly shop lifting from the King Duty Free shops and held in a small hotel room on the outskirts of the airport until your family can wire enough money to bribe your way out. Not torture per-se but certainly kidnapping and extortion.

In all fairness, a handful of those people accused of shop lifting did so but many more did not, nor were there any video evidence to prove that they did, yet they were held as captives without any sort of due process until they could bribe their way out.

Amazing... er... Miracle Thailand.

Also, what's with all the Russians getting arrested in Patts lately for shoplifting? A Thai girl friend of mine even had a Russian lady steal the phone out of her bag as she tried one shoes at an Adidas store. The thief was on holiday with her husband and children.

What kind of human garbage goes on holiday with their family and risks imprisonment by stealing a bit of food from a 7-11 or a phone worth 3,000 Baht from a Thai girl's purse?

I can remember seeing a Swastika badge on the shirt of a BTS station cashier/clerk a few months ago. You can see them on bags , T-shirts, Even on the painted company buses that are everywhere, Clearly WW2 was something missing from the ciriculum in Thailand

The swastika is a religious symbols, don't mix it up with the nazi swastika. See the link in my earlier post.

The ancient symbol you are referring to is not set at an angle. The Nazis took it and set it at an angle so it's corners are at the top and sides. There is a very clear distinction between the two.

It's like the difference between a Catholic/Christian cross and and inverted one. Different meanings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

So if they are sporting the Nazi version then it's not the same as the Sanskrit version. But bottom line is, most Thais are ignorant of it's meaning and that it offends some people and this is a 95% Buddhist country so if they piss off a few Jews or people who are overly politically correct, tough shit. Is it in bad taste? Sure but so is half of modern pop culture. I find Lady GaGa more offensive than a bunch of Thai school children wearing Nazi uniforms.

I find all the idiots riding around Patts on stupid loud choppers in lame attempts to draw attention to themselves and make up for their small penises offensive. I find the mass influx of rude Russian and Middle Eastern tourists that have no regard for others whatsoever offensive. Let's ban the Nazi swastika along with the chopper riders and third rate tourists and make everyone happy. We can work on getting rid of Lady GaGa later.

First time I notice you have not blamed some Thai. I will bet a Western. Sorry for the family

I don't recall seeing many cases of Thais murdering falang women aside from that rash of cases in Samui some years ago. I have seen a fair number of cases where a Thai man raped a falang woman in Pattaya, usually some drunk Russian. Would be a bit surprised though that someone would mruder their girlfriend/wife while on holiday in Thailand but I guess it does happen if it's a fit of rage sort of thing. Maybe she's a Russian working girl that pissed off her pimp or something.

At any rate, it's nice to see the police not declaring it a suicide. At least not yet.

Crappy little pics taken with a webcam aren't going to help much with a woman who's been floating in the Chaopraya for any length of time.

Actually, I used to own the exact same Logitech web cam that they use and the still pics are are pretty good quality and resolution. The bloating of her face from being in the water for a while might make it a bit difficult but facial recognition software could at least narrow down possible names to a very short list. It's then quite trivial to submit the names and photos to the embassies of each person on the list to have them contact families to see if any of them are unable to contact the person. If it was anywhere else, I probably wouldn't be surprised if they don't already use such common technology that even the shittiest Vegas casino has been using for years. But, TIT.

I'm sure they mean double the number of Russians. Pretty easy. Set up more scammy travel agencies in Russian and the Ukraine. Double the number of flights and offer discounts.

Won't make em much though. Only paces that will make any money are the places serving Russian food and the big resorts they're booked into on discounted package deals. Although, for every 3-4 Ruskies, that's like one beer sold by a bar. Good times ahead, lol.

It's not just traffic that makes the response time of emergency services a joke here.

I was playing pool at a bar on the corner of 2nd Rd and Soi 11 in Patts when I heard an accident. A farang on a motorbike had plowed into the back of a Baht bus. The farang was on the street, unconscious and bleeding quite badly. The Baht bus driver fled the scene and all the Thais in the area were more concerned with taking pictures with their phones than calling anyone to help. Luckily a couple of motorbike taxis working across from the bar I was at went to block traffic and called the police and hospital.

It took over 20 minutes for a joke of an ambulance (a pickup truck) to arrive from Pattaya International which is just 8 streets away and almost 10 minutes more for the police to come (their station is even closer than the hospital). This was at 4:00am, no traffic at all. I could have walked to both the police station and hospital and back in 25 minutes.

Just lucky they didn't call Pattaya Memorial. Would have taken 3 hours to show up and they would have stolen the guy's money and kicked him out of the ER because he had no money.

There are already in Pattaya some places exclusively made for Scandinavian , so I propose they stick to it , if they cannot accept that other people have different way of being on holidays ,they should stay home.

Russians can be noisy but they pay like any body else , dont forget that Russian only travel not long ago and they have to learn many things. Do you want to lock your tourists in some "ghettos" to have peace ? Ridiculous ..... I been in many hotels full of Russian tourists , they are not more noisy than some drunk English or Germans. And without those Russians , many hotels would have already closed in Thailand.

I dont like Chinese tourists , they have no manners at all , shall I ask the hotels to change their policy ?

I've been living in Patts for over 4 of the past 6 years. I've seen first hand the transition it's taken between having a handful of Russians here and not being able to swing a cat without hitting 10 of them. In that time, I've also had a sharp rise in the number of issues I've had with non Thais in Thailand and it's been due to annoying, rude Russians. For whatever reason, the majority of them simply seem to not care about others. They have this unfounded sense of superiority and are oblivious to others. Sometimes this works out as they simply ignore anyone that is not Russian that they don't HAVE to interact with. But the rest of the time, they simply act as if they're entitled to do as they wish.

I've stayed in hotels with a large number of Russians, Indians, Arabs and Chinese and I can say, completely based off experience and not prejudice that the Russians and Arabs were the worst. In terms of being loud and inconsiderate of others, they win hands down.

Who cares if they spend some money? I guarantee I've spent more money than many dozens of average Russian tourists and I did it without being an asshol_e to others. They don't make up the even a quarter of the total tourism market so if thy're annoying the other 75%+ then it's a problem. Russians may spend money on hotel rooms but that's about it. They don't spend money in small/medium locally owned business unless it's selling Russian food or one of the few nightlife spots that cater to them. They are quite stingy, don't tip and don't spread their money around.

So if the few hotels, restaurants and nightlife venues that cater to them went out of business, no one would notice except that Patts was a nicer place of all sudden. This town does not need them to survive at all. It did just fine 6-7 years ago when the Russian market was a tiny fraction of total tourism and it was doing much better without their wanna-be mafia crime groups.

As for the Chinese, it's completely different. I've never seen Chinese tourists mingling with others. They go to hotels that exclusively cater to the Asian tour operators, stick together in tight packs with tour guides and that's about it. Unless you purposely sought out a hotel or restaurant that the tour operates bring them to, you would never see them. Well, except for when they are being bussed in and out of town.

And why should I have to accept other people being rude and inconsiderate or stay home? Why should the status quo be to just assume that when I go somewhere on holiday that I will have to deal with low class, annoying people?

Sorry but it's other way around... If you can't act like a decent, civilized person and have some respect for others, then YOU stay home.

So they have a problem with those over 50 who have more money to their name than most Thais yet they have no problem letting in tons of scam artists, pimp and drug dealers from Nigeria and Ghana who harrass tourists in the lower Suk area every night. Yeah, makes sense.

I have a BS and an MS from good US universities. I have several years of teaching experience both in science and general topics (I don't hide that I don't have TEFL experience, but I do have experience teaching kids of all ages and am able to engage them so they're interested). I applied to and was offered a job teaching science and math at a private English immersion school in Bangkok a few weeks before the semester started last fall. While I was in the airport in Seoul in between flights (airfare coming out of my own pocket mind you), I got an email from the 25 year old American running the English department saying that he'd decided to give the job to his friend who happened to call up that morning looking for a job. He had no science or math background, but he had a degree, spoke English, and was the guy's friend, so I guess they chose the most qualified guy

So, I was in Bangkok with a 60 day visa. I decided based on what I hear about native English speakers in Thailand that it shouldn't be hard to just knock on a few doors and find a job. Even if it's not teaching science, I would be happy to get the experience.

You know, I truly enjoy teaching, and I like interacting with Thais. I have spent a lot of time with my girlfriend's young relatives and relatives of friends (she's from Chiang Mai) as well as a lot of students from Chiang Mai University (where I did some research for my MS in geology). Young Thai people seem to like me, especially kids. I'm young (24), smart, reasonably good looking, and I dress nicely (as we know these things can matter a lot in Thailand). I won't get into the accent argument, but I come from a region of the US with a very mild accent - most native English speakers don't recognize any accent at all (other than being obviously American rather than British - due to the lack of the British accent, not because of a strong American accent).

So if there's a shortage of teachers, why couldn't I find a job?

I gave up after a month (the semester started) of putting in applications and knocking on doors. I spent a few weeks with my girlfriend then went back to the US.

From what I can tell, even if you do one of the TEFL courses offered in Thailand, you're not guaranteed a job or anything - a couple places offer cut-rate TEFL courses and claim guaranteed job placement, but they don't seem very reputable.

As others have said already, there are obviously big problems with the system in place. That the infamously bad backpacker-type foreign teachers are able to get a job no problem, while people who take it seriously and have a good education and so on either can't find a job or don't want to go through all the hassle that's required, that's pretty bad.

And yes, I am still interested if anyone can help me with a job in Thailand!

Those crusty backpacker types are willing to take teaching jobs for 15,000-20,000 and work in rural towns. Want to make 40,000 and work in Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya then there's a line of applicants out the door.

But you get what you pay for.

I have met Filipinos that I can understand easier than some Americans.

Obviously, no offence intended.

Unless you're referring to Americans who speak ebonics/ghetto slang or someone from the deep country, most non-native English speakers will tell you that it's easier to understand the American, Canadian or Aussie accent than say the British, Indian or Filipino accent.

It may come down to the fact that American English is the most widely spoken form of the language. Especially in movies and music where most non-native English speakers encounter the most English.

I do find that it's much, much, much easier to understand Filipinos than Indians on average. In fact, I employ two full time Filipino writers for my internet business for this very reason. Before I had my own business I worked with many Indians in the US who were educated computer programmers and had been in the US for many years. Despite their time in the US and college education, most of them were still quite difficult to understand.

84,000 baht is pretty dam_n good for teaching English. I wonder if that's just a high number that they are advertising to attract applicants. Most of the English teachers I know who work in Thailand are making between 20,000 and 40,000 a month. 84,000 seems quite high.

I for one would prefer to see a "Russian" couple naked or otherwise,rather than the normal DROSS along Pattaya beach, 50 year old hookers, 70 year old pot bellied white guys and tatooed toothless euros!...Odd thing , I have met many russian people both here and abroad and I have NEVER met a rude, loud or obniquious one, can't say the same about any other nationality..

In that example I would agree with you. But you're missing the point... The Russians have proven that they've got a very strong notion that they can do ANYTHING they want in Thailand and there are no consequences. They come from a lawless and corrupt country yet even there they wouldn't do half the things they do when on holiday in Patts. Let them get away with having sex on public beaches with a tiny slap on the wrist and it just reinforces their belief that they can get away with anything. For most of us westerners getting away with anything would be walking drunk down the street with a few bargirls on our arm or maybe popping a few naughty pills. For many of these mid 20s, mid 30s Russians who fancy themselves as some sort of gangster and spending their ill gotten money while on holiday, that's probably having someone killed over a spilt beer or something. Believe me, give them an inch...

Russians caught frolicking on Pattaya Beach

PATTAYA: -- There is no doubt our Russian friends here in Pattaya know how to have a good time, however sometimes their fun can go a bit too far as demonstrated in this story from Pattaya Beach only 50 meters away from Pattaya Police Station. Members of the public spotted a couple, presumed Russian, cavorting in the water.

Full story and pictures HERE

-- Pattaya One 2011-03-02

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Again!! Again and Again. Russians welcome to Thailand. You fit totally being QUALITY TOURISTS......:jap:

without Russians in Thailand you can say good bye to many hotels , restaurants , tours etc .... they might be low class and have little manners or anything else but they spend money and much more than many other nationalities .. Next time they will go back to their room .. lol

The surge in Russian tourists is quite recent, maybe the last 4 years. The vast majority go to Pattaya and stay at a handful of bigger resorts that cater to them and some smaller ones up around Pratamnak hill. The nicer areas like most of Phuket, Samui, Koh Chang, Koh Samet and Chaing Mai would hardly notice a difference. They tend to spend most of their money at the resorts where they stay and on some trinkets. Those resorts might suffer but they are quite few in number and honestly, not a place where most of us would stay anyhow just as you wouldn't probably stay in the hotels that cater to the bussed in Chinese and Korean tourist groups.

I think even their main destination of Pattaya would do just fine without them. Those hotels would simply find another nationality to target and yes, maybe a few would go out of business but it's not like anyone would notice if Pattaya lost a few hotels and restaurants. If anything, Pattaya needs to slow down on their rampant development. They don't have the infrastructure to support a dozen big hotels and another dozen big condo projects each year and they won't anytime soon.

The only reason the Russian numbers are increasing is because of the weak dollar, euro and pound. The Russian economy wasn't hit much by the global credit crunch and the rubble has gotten fairly strong in the past 2 years. It's not just Thailand, they're all over places like Jamaica as well. The tourism industry is targeting them directly. Also, lots of Russians are looking for ways to get their income out of Russia and Thailand doesn't ask many questions when it comes to bringing in money. It's one reason why the Russians have become the top buyers of condos in Patts (although the vast majority are cheap properties).

Once the western currencies jump back up and oil prices dip back down a bit, the rubble will weaken and you'll see less of these clowns in Thailand.I'm honestly surprised that the Thai mafia has let the Russians and Nigerians get a foot hold in the country. Guess they think they can just milk them for money then dispatch them whenever they please. Unfortunately once you've let in a large number of them and they've brought their lovely organized crime groups, it's like trying to dig out a tick.

This "crash n grab" stunt has been going on for ages, especially in Jomtien at night since there's no police presence and no CCTV. I know one Thai girl who had two accidents just two months apart from this. The first accident was when some Thai guy tried to grab her bag while riding on the back of a motorbike taxi. The second time some Thai guy kicked the bike and stole her gold bracelet and mobile phone while her and her boyfriend lay on the street unconscious. She had to get quite a few stitches in her head.

The Russians are just going to have to learn not to walk around with big, tacky gold chains. Maybe they'll also stop wearing beach gear from the mid 70s, walking around non beach areas with no shirt and/or speedos and sporting bowl cut hair doos as well. Ahh, who am I kidding, that'll never change.

I had my card skimmed about 4 years ago. They duplicated my card and sold it to someone who used it in Amsterdam to get cash from the ATM and book an airline ticket which was pretty bold if they didn't also have a fake passport. I got the money back from my bank but it took 6 months.

Now I ALWAYS cover the number pad with my hand or wallet as I enter my pin number and haven't had an issue since.

french they must from one of the north african parts of the old colonial then , both look distinctly arabian to me not european???????

Half of France is Arab now so who knows where they're actually from.

Pattaya A-Go-Go Staff Beat Up Foreign And Hi-So Customers

What ? You mean people who enjoy waching sex slaves having to humiliate themselves for a couple of dollars and a life of mistreatments and misery, get beaten up?

What is really surprising to me, is that they dare to complain and that people do feel compassionate about this.

FYI in Sweeden prostitution customers are getting criminalized and IMO so should customers of GOGO Bars.

99% of prostitutes are non-consent forced sex slaves and 99% of prostitutes customers think prostitutes are free spirits

Your joking right? 99% are forced sex slaves? So that means all the white women working as prostitutes in Amsterdam and making $100k+ a year are slaves? I suppose porn stars are sex slaves as well then since the only distinction between them and a prostitute is a video camera in the room. What about attractive Swedish women who date or marry rich, older men for financial gain? They must be sex slaves as well since the only difference between them and an a gogo girl is the a gogo girl doesn't spend a week pretending to fall in love with you before she sleeps with you (she does that in only 10).

Who is forcing these girls and keeping them as sex slaves? The only thing they're slaves to are their unfortunate financial/educational circumstances that makes prostitution an attractive option. And quite a few are honestly just in it for quick, easy money. They would rather make a school teacher's monthly salary in a few nights because it's easier than going to university and working a real job every day that pays nearly nothing.

For every actual "sex slave" in Thailand there are probably hundreds of girls working of their own free will. They may not like it and many are pressured by family to earn money regardless of how they have to do it but that no where near actual slavery.

Simple soultion. Get a new passport. Americans can renew there passport even if the old one is not expired. New passport + blank pages = no stickers to count.

Simple solution? Simpleton Solution, I'd say.

Frivolous replacement of passport for any reason (especially for subverting a country's visa rules) might get one on a DOJ or State Department watch list these days ... or worse.

I highly doubt that unless you're flat out telling the gov that's what you're doing or you're getting a new passport every other year. If you say you lost it and need a new one, they won't bat an eye at you. I'm getting a new one even though mine doesn't expire for more than a year simply because I've only got 4 pages left and have already added one batch of new pages in Bangkok. It doesn't have to be expired to get a new one. But if you are foolish enough to "lose" your passport every other year, they're going to question you I'm sure.

Anyhow, Thai immigration is supposed to all be computerized aside from a handful of land crossings. Can't they just pull up your entire entry/exit history? I don't see why they can't quickly at a glance see how many visas you've had in total, how many in the past x number of months or whatever. Simple stuff if it's all in a centralized system, though TIT so who knows.

Unfortunately no one in a position to change Thai immigration/visa policy is reading this thread and saying "he made a good point there" so instead of debating the issue, just find out the best way around it and move on. They always close one door and open another.

And for guys like wtk, the education visa is your best bet. You can get them for up to 10 years, you don't have to do stupid visa runs and you can leave the country if you want to take a trip someplace else without losing the balance of time on your visa. And even though there are lots of crooked language schools that don't care if you don't show up for your minimum 4 hours a week of class time, it wouldn't hurt for some of these ex pats to visit a legit school and know more than sawadee krab after living here for 5+ years.

The cost of these schools are a bit more than two trips to Laos for double entry tourist visas plus 2 trips to the border and 4 30 day extensions but not much. And if you're time is worth anything to you, I'd say it at least breaks even.

If they do want to limit the type of person coming here they should start with the Russians and Nigerians seeing as how they've both gained a significant organized crime foothold in the country in just the past 5-7 years. Once they've dug themselves in, it's going to be impossible to get rid of them short of the King himself ordering the Thais to do so.

Some extension stamps indicate the reason for the extension, eg Thai Wife or Retirement. I have never seen an extension for medical reasons and do not know if it also comes with and indication of the reason. You can see here what other extension stamps generally look like:

http://www.thaivisa....extensions-etc/

Note that not all immigration offices use identical text for these stamps.

Thanks for the link to the gallery.

I checked this stamp with the other 30 day extension stamps I've gotten and they look nearly identical but there are slight differences such as the spacing between some of the numbers and on all my 30 day extensions there is a hand written "2.4" at the bottom. This one has "2.25" so not sure if that's some sort of reason code?

But there is nothing written about a reason and it came with a legitimate looking receipt of the 1,900 payment from the immigration office. I think I'm ok but just wanted to be sure as this is the first time I've gotten an extension like this.

I had a visa extension for medical reasons a few years back. The doctor treating me gave me a letter for a further 42 days of treatment. and visa was duly extended by immigration.

Were you told that you should bring your medical documents with you when leaving the country? Where you asked for your medical documents when you exited the country?

The visa extension wasn't for medical reasons, I was told after that that's how they were able to get it. So I'm assuming they forged some documents from a doctor.

If so that is a problem for me. The stamp appears to be valid but obtained under false pretenses. I'm wondering how diligent they are to check on that or if they just accept that the Jomtien Immigration office approved it and that's it.The back-to-back TR visas are technically illegal as well but if you're issued your 5th or 6th one, they just accept it. But with this, I'm not sure as it doesn't appear to be very common.At any rate, I'm going back to that visa company to find out exactly what they told Jomtien Immigration.Thanks for everyones insight.

Some extension stamps indicate the reason for the extension, eg Thai Wife or Retirement. I have never seen an extension for medical reasons and do not know if it also comes with and indication of the reason. You can see here what other extension stamps generally look like:

http://www.thaivisa....extensions-etc/

Note that not all immigration offices use identical text for these stamps.

Thanks for the link to the gallery.

I checked this stamp with the other 30 day extension stamps I've gotten and they look nearly identical but there are slight differences such as the spacing between some of the numbers and on all my 30 day extensions there is a hand written "2.4" at the bottom. This one has "2.25" so not sure if that's some sort of reason code?

But there is nothing written about a reason and it came with a legitimate looking receipt of the 1,900 payment from the immigration office. I think I'm ok but just wanted to be sure as this is the first time I've gotten an extension like this.