pattayadingo

IF he does have influence and influential friends and gets away with this, that makes his friends as*holes like him and the justice system a mockery.... not that it isn't a mockery already in most cases.

Corruption - alive and well?

Good Luck ... or Break a leg

Pattaya is a 'fun' city. Like any city there are deaths, murders, suicides, drug pushers, low-lifes, robbers and muggers and such like. Yet, many (not all) of these situations are avoidable with care.

If you look closely there are also many icidents that are Thai on Thai, especially on the dark side, but they do not get the same high profile coverage..

Though I've only lived here for a couple of years and visited many times from other parts of Thailand, I know guys who have spent 10 years or so in Pattaya and they have never been mugged, stabbed, jumped from balconies or anything similar.

Makes you wonder how some become the victims of crime and others do not. Is it attitude or a case of taking more care with what they do and who with?

If I remember correctly there was research that says some people are victims of multiple crimes because they 'look' like victims, or their attitude gives off some vibes and they are targetted more often. A bit like some houses / apartments are reported to be targetted time and again.

10 years in january next year.I know its not good reading,but i have never been in trouble,no house robberies,never had a cop try to get money out of me illegaly,never been bitten by a soi dog,no dengue fever,not had a thai say bad things to me,quite the opposite,never felt like killing myself,gf doesnt steal money, i nfact she works hard, 6 days a week.

BORING AINT IT

Murphy's Law !!

You should have said so far.

Now you will get robbed, mugged, beaten, scammed and then tortured amd murdered and it will be all Murphy's fault

The justice system here being what it is, I cannot see her doing much jail time, especially if this Belgian does not have any family to chase this up.

I sometimes think the local police stations have huge carpets that they sweep this sort of problem under.

£5,000 to be locked in a room on what appears to be yet another employment scam.

I bet they do not have a work permit for this

I currently use GMMZ box on a true satellite dish. You will find very little of interest on there either. Pay 1000 Baht for the box and the rest is free to air.

The GMMZ box is mainly for the g/f who watches Thai soaps, National Geographic and music channels.

GMM Sport does not have a lot to crow about either - maybe the U21 football.

I did subscribe to the movie channel at 200 Baht a month but find that is not much better.

Seems to me little point in subscribing to the extra sports, for me at least at extra cost.

Maybe CTH is worth waiting for?

http://www.cth.co.th/package-599/

^^^ Has a list of CTH channels incl 6 HD Premier League channels (currently cable) but with their satellite boxes (1800 Baht) available sometime in July according to my favourite satellite shop on Sukhumvit road.

The lack of decent television is why so many of us use torrents. Watch what you want, when you want. I transfer my television to a USB stick and watch them on my 600 Baht dvd player.

edit.... fat fingers & small keys = typos

http://farangdeath.tumblr.com/ Warning: graphic, although usually pixelated, images

I followed that link. So may reports of Farang deaths too. Albeit a lot are road accidents and drownings it still makes incredible reading.

Pattaya is a 'fun' city. Like any city there are deaths, murders, suicides, drug pushers, low-lifes, robbers and muggers and such like. Yet, many (not all) of these situations are avoidable with care.

If you look closely there are also many icidents that are Thai on Thai, especially on the dark side, but they do not get the same high profile coverage..

Though I've only lived here for a couple of years and visited many times from other parts of Thailand, I know guys who have spent 10 years or so in Pattaya and they have never been mugged, stabbed, jumped from balconies or anything similar.

Makes you wonder how some become the victims of crime and others do not. Is it attitude or a case of taking more care with what they do and who with?

If I remember correctly there was research that says some people are victims of multiple crimes because they 'look' like victims, or their attitude gives off some vibes and they are targetted more often. A bit like some houses / apartments are reported to be targetted time and again.

Yes, most types of rechargeable batteries don't have this problem at all, which is why I recommended that, but only makes sense for devices you use regularly. If you're keeping torches in storage for emergencies, or a clock that only needs swapping once a year, much too expensive for that.

Agreed, but regarding the torches, they are abt 99 Baht with rechargable batteries built in and once fully charged seem to keep that charge for months. Handy to have one stored in the car if driving at night. Something worth remembering

it says it cannot find the file rather than cannot open it…...

The OP says the file is there, though. So the above suggestions are good.

I've had some difficulty opening similar files and often opening MS office and then opening the file from within often works.

So I had a somewhat stressful drive home from Lumpini tonight. Being a Friday night there were cops everywhere trying bust people for drink driving and drugs.

First I saw them from 20 metres away and ducked down a side street. 10 minutes down the road there was another cop randomly pulling over bikes and I got flagged down. I took the advise of someone on TV who suggested I speed off. I was almost home when I saw another cop. I braked to a stop 10 metres away from him, he stared right at me as I did a U-turn in the middle of the road whilst I held up several cars who had to stop behind me. I was on Sukhumvit Rd with a concrete fence stopping me from crossing over, so I had to hit the footpath and drive for 50 metres before turning down a soi. I was worried the cop had put a broadcast over the police radio to look out for a falang girl in a cocktail dress and heels, so I drove down every back soi to get home.

It was the point where I nearly got run over when I stopped in the middle of the road and sped along a footpath to get away from the police that I had a moment of realisation. Can't I pay to get a fake licence from somewhere? Please PM me if you might know someone/something.

Exciting story

Just so you don't give people ideas, this would a pretty idiotic thing to do, risking life and limb to avoid a few hundred baht fine.

As you point out it would be much more expensive to have to get out of a fake documents charge than just not having a licence.

never carry your passport

This is counter intuitive but it is still very good advice. Carrying a passport only gives another party leverage to use against you. Carry a photocopy of your photo page and visa stamp if you want but personally, I don't even do that.

Then you'll end up having to invite the BiB into your home when you're required to produce the original, or if that's not convenient they can always drop you back at the station while you have a friend bring it down.

Better to have the copy on you, in general giving bureaucrats the paper they're expecting is the path of least resistance, recipe for smooth living in the LoS.

For those of us who have driving licences we do not need to carry a passport as all the data is on the licence.

Anyone even contemplating using fake documents is being very foolish.

The thing is, you go out on a m/c or whatever and have no licence or helmet, you know what you are doing is against the law so why not be prepared to pay a few hundred baht fine?

Everything else - fake documents, taking avoiding actions etc., seems crazy to me.

Similar thing in a certain BigC store. I knew what I wanted but they tried to push a different model onto me that was not the same spec or as good. Difficult to escape some of these staff and then they make you feel like some lower form of life because you did not buy what they suggested.

Whenever I have walked around in Home-Pro, I too feel like a criminal or potential shoplifter and have to ask several times to be left alone, something they do after they eventually get the message.

I used to get some funny looks and comments when walking around various shops looking at and pricing items, but in the U.K. It is half the fun and often you will find the same item cheaper.

Now for hardware I tend to use one independent hardware shop here in Pattaya because they leave you alone to browse their aisles but the staff are happy to help find an item if you ask.

Unbelievable in the extreme.

With a female prime minister in this country this incident should be a starting point for a change in the law regarding defamation in cases like this....... but that will never happen.

People that cant understand that a cassava is not a POTATO, and this is not Ireland.

i had an Irish mixed grill once

mashed potato, roast potato, baked potato, boiled potato, croquette potato, potato salad and chips!

You forgot the deep fried potato skins !!

"some minor incidents mostly involving other farangs".......Why does that not surprise me ?

Your bill was 350 bt ?!!!!! I only wish I could do that, I usually spill that much

That happens when you drink a lot every day

A guy I knew years ago had the same problem spilling the drink even when holding the glass with both hands until he got the first few slurps down his neck and the shaking eased

Even AA could not cure him

My son told me he has no problem if I pop my clogs here in Thailand as long as he can come to the Thai style funeral, so to me, it does not matter where I die, though I'd prefer to die in bed making love with a beautiful woman.

Heat and moisture will do that.

For long-term storage, keep the batteries separate.

Ones you use regularly, use rechargeable batteries (lithium or NiMH), save money in the long run too.

i have 4 AAA and 4 AA rechargable batteries. Had them for the last 15 monts (bought in the U.K.) and they are still in great condition.

AA's used in the camera - no corrosion

AAA's used i8n the wi-fi headphones and transmitter - no corrosion.

Maybe better quality? Or simply the fact they are rechargable.

How are the grumpy men today? You guys are a hoot.

Where do women go when they feel grumpy?

.

They don´t go anywhere, they just take it out on the ones closest to them

Inbuilt monthly grumpiness,what was God thinking?

He was thinking 'What a good laugh I'll have.' & 'I'll make them pay for wanting to have so much fun at the altar of lurve.'

I've had a few narrow escapes.

Heart attack & a cholesteotoma growing into the brain and one really bad car accident.

Before I came to Thailand, I saw friends and friends of friends popping off like crazy from cancer, heart attacks and other problems.

The above reasons are why I came here in the first place instead of sitting at home wondering who might be next.

My attitude now is to have as much fun as I can before the great computer in the sky calls my number and drags me kicking and screaming into the fires of hell.

Death? It comes to us all and I've done my bit raising a family, done some hellraising too and I'm happy. though I'd rather have a lot more time for a lot more fun

A sad story, but he did seem very determined to end his life.

He must have had some severe anguish in his life or maybe some illness or mental illness but to suffocate yourself seems a terrible way to go. And not to even rip the bag open in a last desperate moment, he obviously wanted to end it all.

Giving a donation to the tip box for a specific song and then the band / group do not sing that song.

Where I was last night, in one place, the tip box stayed empty until almost 01-00 hrs after they had been 'forgetting' to play requested songs that many had donated 100 Baht for. (Are they not paid to sing anyway??)

Then they shake and tap the tip box on the floor because it is almost empty. Or they walk around and ram the tip box under your nose.

I used to be a regular punter in pattaya, but since retiring I have moved to nakonsawan, when on my visits ,alone my wife does not like pattaya, I get very up tight wewhen the bar girls try to get you to buy bar drinks,i have no objection to buying drinks but I hate the stupid prices they try to charge for a ladies drink

What always worked for me was offering the girls half the price of a lady drink to sit with me ( if I liked them ). Never had a refusal.

That often worked for me too when I was in that scene.

120 Baht for a lady drink * xxx drinks or 100 Baht to sit.

What is even more annoying are the ladies that have a lady drink bought for them and then they take the drink and walkk away to sit elsewhere. This has happened twice in the last week to a friend of mine.

Sorry if this was mentioned before....

I did notice today on the CTH site that they have 6 HD channels listed for The EPL.

http://www.cth.co.th/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Family_Entertainment_Cable1.jpg

My local Sat tv place on Sukhumvit road in Pattaya says he will have CTH boxes in for July at 1800 Baht.

i paid out 1,000 Baht.

That was for a dual offence - speeding and no car drivers licence on me (I'd left it at home).

Maybe I could have got it for less but that would have meant going to the police station in Bangkok in an area I did not know. To me it was easier and more convenient to pay on the spot.

Apart from that it has usually been 200 or 400 Baht for traffic offences ranging from running an amber light to no helmet on a m/c.