sfbandung

"Instead of just paying the THB900 fee to have the bag checked, the mans temper tantrum caused the cabin crew to invite him off the plane.

900 baht to check in your luggage? Rip off merchants.

It may not have been $30 had he checked it in like he was supposed to. We all know the carry on rules. I personally hate selfish turds who, to save a few bucks, take on stupid amounts of carry on. Then us people who are behaving according to the rules have nowhere to put our stuff because the overhead lockers are full.

His fault he knew the rules. Cop it sweet. It should be enforced all the time.

Over less than $1.50 ... just silly not to pay up.

So do you just 'pay up' to every random Thai who demands money from you?

If so I'll be sending all the kids off the estate round your house (on a 50% commission).

To those cretins bleating on about this fella being out at 2.30am, last time I looked the curfew was over and he has every right to be out at what ever time he so chooses.

I didn't say it was right. Just silly. He is a 70 year old man who parked somewhere that enabled this young (thug? who knows) to have an excuse to demand what is in fact a very small sum of money. It is 230am. I say pay it and don't park there again. And when he went for the car the old guy gets out and takes on a youth with a lump of wood.

Don't get me wrong, the young bloke is an <deleted>. But the old guy got his ambitions mixed up with his abilities and was clearly angry and his self preservation instincts failed him. What if it had been a blow to the head? $1.50? We have to live in the world the way it is, not the way we would like it to be.

Over less than $1.50 ... just silly not to pay up.

With the greatest respect you are living in a foreign country with less than 6,000 quid to your name?

You need to head home where you have a public health system you are entitled to use.

You don't watch The Dog Whisperer? Cesar Millan would say, "You need to be the pack leader". Take control and be calm assertive. I assume we are talking village or soi dogs. Not a pack of trained rotties.

Any one of the humane deterrents above will work, I think I like the vinegar the best, it will irritate but not hurt the dogs. Being a cruel bastard is loathsome and not necessary. The main thing is stand up to them and be the boss. I would ride in really slowly and let them approach and then spray away but still stay there until they have buggered off, then ride confidently away.

Edit to use Cesar's correct term, "calm assertive"

It's a nothing story. He got ripped of by a hooker. Big deal.

The real issue is, did he dress like that in the UK? Aussies (I am one) are the worst though. Get to Pattaya (or Phuket, or Bali) and wander around with either no shirt on or a bloody singlet the whole time. Jesus lads you're in a smutty town but keep some semblance of class about you. I bet he's wearing thongs (flip flops) too, and not Haviannas.

OP - your main mistakes, in no particular order were:

1. Letting your GF do the typical cruise mode thinking (which means NOT thinking). She should have been your saviour - take that as a hint. If she cares that less, or thinks that little.....I'd be worried. Hopefully she's not taking commission on your condo/hotel/market purchases.

2. You used public transport in Thailand. Public transport consists of Suicide Motorbike Taxis, Suicide Car Taxis, Kamikaze Vans, Kamikaze Busses, and Death Trains. You should have hired a car and driven yourself - your safety is then in your hands, and not the hands of a cretin that's high and drunk, can't drive to save himself, and actually DOES aspire to be an F1 driver.

3. If approached by anybody who offers to help you, pretend not to speak English and walk away. That way, you avoid getting scammed and have a chance to figure things out yourself. Also, you won't wake up in the morning with a headache and a phrophylactic hanging out of your rectum.

4. Do your research. This applies to everything in Thailand. Even something simple like going to the toilet has specific differences to western countries. That can apply to knowing how to use a bum gun without spraying your shirt, or how to politely get the plonker in the gogo bars from giving you a massage while standing at the urinal - which tends to affect your aim, thus you end up pissing on your shoes. Before doing anything official, research, research, research!!

We look forward to your future exploits of getting a drivers licence, buying 100 rai up north and building a lean-to that costs three million baht.

(p.s. all tongue in cheek, but take the core messages as gospel - Cheers )

Seriously... It must be knucklehead posting week....

Point number 2 is just ludicrous... Show some respect... granted there are a few dingleberries driving, but you make it sound suicidal!

Ha ha. Every week is knucklehead posting week on TV. Always amazed that the forum rules disallow anti Thai stuff. The mods would be spending all their time deleting 90% of the posts.

I must have over spent by $50 usd......

My favourite quote from the article too.

A whole 50 dollars! You are joking! Why weren't Interpol involved in this large scale international fraud racket?

50 bucks. Get a life. 1500 Bt check bins don't faze me too much.

It seem to me that you have a big problem when you have a requirement for so many bomb disposal robots that unit cost becomes an issue.

They have been using the name for ages. It amazed me from the get go that they gave it a name so few Thais can pronounce properly.

"Thank you for flying Thai Samai"

Hi,

As usual at Christmas and New Year we will have an extended stay in Thailand. My 13 year old daughter (Australian passport) will stay in Thailand for just over 7 weeks. I will return to work in between with both stays shorter than 30 days.

With the current clamp down I am wondering whether children are still specifically excluded from overstay fines.

Cheers,

Steve

I only visit Thailand (3 or 4 times a year, we have a house there) as still working overseas. But I am in the tropics (PNG) and drink 5 - 10 "standard" drinks 4 days a week. It's too much and am addressing it as I turned 50 last month but I know a lot of blokes who drink 10 + drinks, 7 days a week. I am told 13 or more a day is regarded as being a severe alcoholic.

I'm only 5 years in and don't really live full time (just have a house there we live in a few months a year) so perhaps not qualified.

But I'd give the north a try before you throw it in. And 4 weeks isn't long to be home (or anywhere). Before you pull up stumps completely here go back home for 3 months.

A bizarre situation has un unpleasant outcome. Who'da thunk?

Price is not flexible, but, like in America, dealers can make some extra money dealing with the bank financing the buyer. That's why sometimes dealers will prefer to finance the car than to sell it cash.

In my experience it isn't sometimes, they always prefer you to finance the car.

Because there isn't.

Because it's Thailand.

Because it's not New Zealand.

Because it's a largely agricultural country where most people are farmers and don't live in cities.

Because not everywhere wants to be a mirror image of where you come from.

Because it's getting slightly pissed off of strangers turning up and telling it how they think it ought to run itself.

A pretty savage attack on what appears to be a rather benign question. Why the aggro?

I was not upset as can see how my question might have been interpreted as criticism.

Ha...I grew up planting cabbages in Poverty Bay (east coast of NZ); have travelled through miles of empty rural space through both islands. All of us (six siblings) moved to cities for education and work.

For me inner Auckland city living is lovely...walk the harbour/viaduct Wynyard Qtr enjoying the sunshine/clean air with boats bobbing on the lovely blue waters of the Waitemata Harbour, then choice of 55 free libraries for books, magazines, cds/videos, internet etc, with uni lectures just up the road, art exhibitions, music school recitals etc. Of course it's a big cost for tax and rates payers as all is free to those who have never worked too, which is why the country has difficulty keeping its population stable...an immigration employee told me that he was reprimanded for applying the criteria strictly as "approval" rate was too low! NZ is usually bottom of the list for well-qualified immigrants wanting to live in an OECD country.

Love being in BKK (more lively in some ways) where one son works....other off to USA permanently soon so I shall probably move to Thailand.

Was it last year, or this, that stats indicate more people live in urban, than rural, areas worldwide?

I'm Sydney born and bred and whilst I love visiting BKK I'd never want to live there. If work forced me to then so be it, but while I have a choice a few days at Lebua does it for me.

Your question surprised me as I assumed that lots of cities in Thailand had more than a million people. I would have guessed even Udon Thani would have, but checked and apparently it only has 400k. Seems more when we drive around there that's for sure. And Chiang Mai seems huge, it has this urban sprawl that feels like it goes on and on.

Looks can be deceiving or the published numbers are rubbish. Who knows?

Because there isn't.

Because it's Thailand.

Because it's not New Zealand.

Because it's a largely agricultural country where most people are farmers and don't live in cities.

Because not everywhere wants to be a mirror image of where you come from.

Because it's getting slightly pissed off of strangers turning up and telling it how they think it ought to run itself.

A pretty savage attack on what appears to be a rather benign question. Why the aggro?

They "seem" to prefer Brits simply because there are more of them. This is for three reasons I have noticed:

1. It is easy to export a British pension and the GBPs go a lot further here than in the UK.

2. The UK is a miserable place compared to just about everywhere, but particularly Thailand.

3. The girls are prettier here than in the UK.

Are there any stats on the % of retired (workers and tourists don't count, they're transient) people in Thailand by nationality?

My missus is from Udon Thani (Band Dung to be precise) and I have not noticed them to be taller than ladies from other provinces.

She is a looker though and this is definitely a trait I have found in Isaan girls. Despite their terrible reputation.

Her name's not Nunjaan is it?

A mate dragged me up there some years back to see the family of a girl he was "dating". I don't think I ever seen such a concentration of Thai women with farang boyfriends/husbands in one place. Later down the line it turned out she was also "dating a few others.

No mate she's a Noy. A lot of them about too. She has lived with me in PNG for the last 5 years. We get home about 4 times a year. The area does seem to attract farangs and so far my experience is about half work out.

But I got a good one Famous last words.

My missus is from Udon Thani (Band Dung to be precise) and I have not noticed them to be taller than ladies from other provinces.

She is a looker though and this is definitely a trait I have found in Isaan girls. Despite their terrible reputation.

His facebook page is revealing. He is multi-tasking by giving Australia and Thailand a bad name at the same time. This is on the Sydney Morning Herald website as well.

Nice work you narcissistic idiot.

My missus is in BKK right now. Flying to Udon this morning staying at Best Western next to Bumrungrad. She is scared to death but she's like that.

I'd really like some info on traffic and whether the military is visible on the streets ...

Traffic will be very light and she should not be scared. She should go to the airport in time as their might be only few taxis. She is safe in her hotel room and even outside.

Bang Na area blocked by traffic. 9 lanes stopped. Don't go that way.

She's at Swampy mate. All good.

My missus is in BKK right now. Flying to Udon this morning staying at Best Western next to Bumrungrad. She is scared to death but she's like that.

I'd really like some info on traffic and whether the military is visible on the streets ...

Traffic will be very light and she should not be scared. She should go to the airport in time as their might be only few taxis. She is safe in her hotel room and even outside.

Probably safer now than before.

I hope she gets her flight OK

All good. She is at Swampy now.