britpop

Just wondering, has anyone ever stood up for themselves regarding these extortion backhanded payments, all it takes is one farang i would have thought to say no, "take me to court", i got hit for 30,000 baht for playing spa music in my business, now i use a thing called green music, royalty free, I was in the UK at the time but when i asked my lawyer about it, he said next time say nothing contact him, the bangkok police turned up, are so they where meant to be, some months ago, now my wife stood her ground, they went through every aspect of the business, every bit of paperwork, staff and in the end, thanked my wife and left with there tail between there legs, without one baht, yet they hit other businesses around us and got money out of most of them. as best you can do, dot the i's, cross the t's

the best part of the OP is 'Chalong isnt really the talent mecca'. no shit Sherlock

I love it how some small average, anti social, maybe over weight, no personality, balding, diseased ridden, organ failure expat all the sudden is a babe magnet, meaning anywhere else in the world, he would be a non starter with "the ladies", i'm OK i look like David hasselhoff, a <deleted> in budgie smugglers, back to the subject, noise pollution in patong with these small hairdryer bikes with there exhaust modified is crazy, i think samui was trying to ban them, take them a crush them immediately, again i don't have to worry, i just turn my deaf aid down

Sweet Lemongrass or MAybe just lemongrass massage - Just off Nani soi 2, its on trip advisor

Yip, sweet lemongrass massage, nanai soi 8, as eezergood said, the highest rated massage place on tripadviser with over 335 reviews, proper spa massages and treatments at ordinary shop prices, best to call and make an appointment, they are always busy 0815379099

I sincerely hope that people don't judge all Lady-Boys by the behavior of a few.

During my 20 odd years in Thailand I have actually met a few of them and I must say that this is not a phenomena to be joked about; how would YOU like to be born a physical "male", yet inside you feel completely like a "female" - I don't know about any of you guys, but I find life touch enough as it is, without THAT extra baggage to lug around.

I am not saying that there are no 'crazy katoeys' around; but at least I try (successfully !) and feel compassion for those who are not . . . . . .

Well, this shopworn excuse that "there's a woman inside me just screaming to get out" may be true in some cases but in many others it's merely an easy alibi they use to indulge themselves in ultra-narcissistic behavior and make some easy money.

It's highly likely that a significant percentage of these guys are little more than lazy Thai village boys who after they talk to their village sisters see an easy way to make money. This self-mutilation and body modification is merely a group identity ritual for them. More than a few Thai male sex workers have women as primary partners and work gay foreign tourists to support their kids. They make regular appearances on the BTS and get off for the Silom gay action or they're with their "Kevin", their "Otto" or their "Bruce" as they "to and fro" from the Soi 3 clubs and show bars.

Their BTS "ride of shame" is palpable in the early evening.

They need money and this works for some of them.

Others are better able to convince themselves it's working for them by modifying their bodies and camping it up.

But my point here is that more than a few, transsexuals, tops, and bottoms would better be described as "lazyboys"

I'm reminded of a TV OP a month or so ago which declared he'd been to many countries; more than a few more "impoverished" than Thailand but he had *never, ever* met a populace so prepared to do ** anything, absolutely anything** for money to the extent that the Thais will.

Casual conversations with Koreans, Japanese, Malaysians and Singaporeans will bring this out as a common thread.

agree , i think things are diffinately changing.... less full ops around proportionally and a loads more top op Lbs. I assume they are just not so commited to being a 'woman' as to get their tackle chopped off

The reason if you can believe it is from what the lady boys that work in the local massage community say is "they keep there tackle because those guys who indulge in ladyboy sex want that, if they have there old chap removed most ladyboy intruders are quite put off by the full female conversion, as in just get a real girl instead, but i would have thought, if the desire to be a full female is so strong, no excuse or situation would delay that process, has the population of ladyboys increased or have more just come out the woodwork, 10-12 years ago there was a few, but now they are on every street corner

normally it's communication problem and i'm not making excuses for the Thai's, because the german froline is saying "car, car" and i bet the Thai girl on the checkout is pointing a row 4, i was in immigration last week and a Scandinavian guy was starting to loose it with the front desk, he didn't have photo copies and photo's, so the officer sent him down stairs to the copier place, he come back upstairs with all the wrong stuff, by now he was blowing his top, cursing and swearing, i simply said to him "just talk to these people, there are here to help you (tourist police)"they did help but told him not to carry on in that fashion in a government building, don't know if he got seen!!!!, but i think we've all been in some frustrating situation over here, these days i just roll with it, in fact i try to help when i see a farang struggling with the Thai ways.

there always been talk of a big tesco lotus within patong, at one point it was mentioned to go on the large piece of land at the back of jungcylon, remember all those years ago when living in Patong the trip over the mountain to tesco's and when patong just had one 7/11 on rat-u-tit road, ah the good old days!!!!!!

The transport ministers, what a joke, it must be, you mean they have a person responsible for the driving abilities of Thai's and the new road system in patong, best to have a international licence for sure, just another excuse for your holiday insurance companies or the other party in a accident not to pay out, stay safe and legal

we've a friend who is ladyboy inclined and was devastated to here we all new straight away that his lady was half cucumber, she spoke like the little Britain guys "i'm a lady", a other thing we ponder on is why there are so many, it seem to be a trend, as in it's hip to be a ladyboy, as crazy as that sounds, it's fashionable and the Thai culture see them a beautiful, someone post the statistics regarding ladyboys, transsexuals, though out the world in regards to the countries populations, is Thailand at the top are is there a country where all blokes are in heels and bra's.and before anyone says anything i say live and let live,

Sadly the worst part of the story is not that your friend was found out, but that he felt the need to keep it hidden in the first place. Maybe have a word with him and explain that he shouldnt have to keep his sexuality all hidden away from the people he trusts. Of course, your benny hill like comments (half cucumber, im a lady, blokes in bras and heels) kinda subverts that so maybe have a think about why he might have tried to keep it on the QT.

ah, the defender, Mr PC, OK what should i have said or phased it, your transsexual boyfriend, your boyfriend with breasts, your cross dressing partner, i can't say girlfriend because in the eyes of the law, they are still male, please get in touch with the BBC and explain that Benny Hill and little Britain offend you, but if they don't then you are a hypocrite, i believe the word bloke is a slang term for a male, it's a fact that ladyboys are males in heels and bra's, the fact is we are really supportive of our friend, so is this like a disabled person thing, don't look at them or talk to them, yet they are just normal people like all of us and are quite happy to mention there disability, your making assumptions and presuming my friend is gay, he is not!!!!!,oh i here you cry, he must be, no he is not, so who is at fault, me for a few quips or you and your assumptions.

You brought your wife to Patong lor? :-)

Just head for Bangla. Plenty of good bars around Sansabai and Nanai road too.

I'm always puzzled when people say "why bring your wife" as though every guy has low moral values and it's compulsory to sleep with a bar girl , every single country in the world has some sort of prostitution, but how many blokes take a lady of the night in the UK, USA, Oz etc and think, hello i'll through money at her, get married, have kids, get divorced, through more money at her, give her the house, but i was proud to have them as there wife's, it just wouldn't happen on a daily bases in other countries, pretty woman the movie i thought was fictional, but in Thailand it's reality. i've listened to all the B/S and having to defend there decisions saying "well they've got to support family, no welfare",etc, tell them to get off there backsides and find work, i don't know one relationship from that background that is what you would call normal, happy or stable. obviously guys are going to defend there decisions as mentioned, but let those that have been ripped apart speak out, as for good expat bars, years ago the place was full of great characters, every bar had something, thoses days have long gone

Well I really hope, for their sakes, they don't come across you on any of their nights out, they will be on the next flight out.

Islander restaurant off Bangla road usually has a few worthies hanging round Dereks' (owners partner) table of knowledge

Decent food at reasonable prices if you want or just a drink or three, weekend best bet to connect with the local expats.

Aussie bar on Bangla good for sports at weekend if thats your thing but it does tend to be more tourists than local expats.

may be if more people had come across me they would be a lot happier, richer and in some cases "alive", so are you saying sweep these issues under the carpet, we haven't even touched on the decease side of the bar girl industry, but what the hell it can't kill you, oop's sorry it can!!!!

we've a friend who is ladyboy inclined and was devastated to here we all new straight away that his lady was half cucumber, she spoke like the little Britain guys "i'm a lady", a other thing we ponder on is why there are so many, it seem to be a trend, as in it's hip to be a ladyboy, as crazy as that sounds, it's fashionable and the Thai culture see them a beautiful, someone post the statistics regarding ladyboys, transsexuals, though out the world in regards to the countries populations, is Thailand at the top are is there a country where all blokes are in heels and bra's.and before anyone says anything i say live and let live,

You brought your wife to Patong lor? :-)

Just head for Bangla. Plenty of good bars around Sansabai and Nanai road too.

I'm always puzzled when people say "why bring your wife" as though every guy has low moral values and it's compulsory to sleep with a bar girl , every single country in the world has some sort of prostitution, but how many blokes take a lady of the night in the UK, USA, Oz etc and think, hello i'll through money at her, get married, have kids, get divorced, through more money at her, give her the house, but i was proud to have them as there wife's, it just wouldn't happen on a daily bases in other countries, pretty woman the movie i thought was fictional, but in Thailand it's reality. i've listened to all the B/S and having to defend there decisions saying "well they've got to support family, no welfare",etc, tell them to get off there backsides and find work, i don't know one relationship from that background that is what you would call normal, happy or stable. obviously guys are going to defend there decisions as mentioned, but let those that have been ripped apart speak out, as for good expat bars, years ago the place was full of great characters, every bar had something, thoses days have long gone

Yes, back on the topic of massage. I've been paying 300 baht for quite sometime now. There is a "massage mafia" on Phuket and they collude to make the price 300 baht over the whole island.

i've never heard of a massage mafia, i know that for a fact as i have 3 of the most successful real massage places on Phuket, certainly the property rental for the businesses doesn't help, not cheap!!!!!, we buy the same product that is used in the Amari and Meridian, from bangkok, again quite expensive, the happy ending places are trained for a few hours to get a certificate, to keep the police and authorities happy, to train up to 5 star spa level take a minimum of 150 hours, thats normally 4-6 weeks and it's pretty expensive to do and you have to be certified by a independent tester, none of those mats on the floor, proper hand made massage tables, to me to get a spa 5 star massage experience at street prices to me is total value for money, comparing city with city where ever you are in the world is really unrealistic, the simplest way is to check "tripadviser" , normally honest reviews by the money paying public

The "massage mafia" was a joke for our new friend in Phuket.

"Check tripadvisor" - that's my laugh for the day.

A lot of businesses owners here make false comments on tripadvosor to market their own establishment. It can hardly be relied upon.

Please NKM, i absolute love you know it all pundits, tripadviser is a great business tool, but just reel your head in and think about it, a business owner put false and inaccurate reviews, in turn that draws new customers, they don't agree with the false reviews, i can assure you, all it takes is a hand full of people realising the reviews don't reflect the business, they review the business as terrible and down goes your internet side of your business, as a owner i can only answer reviews, can not delete or alter reviews, i can assure you again any review internet side is a double edge sword, if the reviews are not honest, you'll be caught out, ive heard competitors openly say "my mates are putting loads of reviews on for us", my reply to them is say nothing and them and when they are leaving there business, closing the door for the final time, i simply say "there are no short cuts", professionalism, service and value for money

Yes, back on the topic of massage. I've been paying 300 baht for quite sometime now. There is a "massage mafia" on Phuket and they collude to make the price 300 baht over the whole island.

i've never heard of a massage mafia, i know that for a fact as i have 3 of the most successful real massage places on Phuket, certainly the property rental for the businesses doesn't help, not cheap!!!!!, we buy the same product that is used in the Amari and Meridian, from bangkok, again quite expensive, the happy ending places are trained for a few hours to get a certificate, to keep the police and authorities happy, to train up to 5 star spa level take a minimum of 150 hours, thats normally 4-6 weeks and it's pretty expensive to do and you have to be certified by a independent tester, none of those mats on the floor, proper hand made massage tables, to me to get a spa 5 star massage experience at street prices to me is total value for money, comparing city with city where ever you are in the world is really unrealistic, the simplest way is to check "tripadviser" , normally honest reviews by the money paying public

please don't ask me how i know, i have lushes beautiful hair, but thats under my armpits, "nowt on ma heed", there's a place called "beauty land" it's a whole sale outlet for the hair trade, in one of the soi's opposite the main SCB on rat-u-tit road, they sell everything!!!!!, okay okay, i'm blonde and i dye my roots black

I'm not going to hold my breath, if the infrastructure for buses is like the roads, drains, water supply, electric, so on and so on, then it's typical Thai propaganda, smoke and mirrors, it's a excuse so in the future they can say "oh in may 2013 we looked into that" the place is literally falling to bits, great!!!, have more buses but in the next few years the roads will be so bad, the old chicken and egg dilemma, get the roads sorted first, of coarse that will reduce traffic jams, buses would be great, but i simply can't see it happening

i have the 2002 model for sale, especially designed for " THE LADIES" how i hear you scream, all of the above as mentioned, it's coin operated, power settings, fantastically powerful to vibrating out of control setting, comes with the attachments to clean your teeth as you use it as a refreshing mouthwash thingy-ma-bob, come from a smoke free woman, also have the dwarf version, special edition!!!!!

well, lets see what the death toll is for this years Thai new year, can someone post the figure when they know, i reckon for the whole of Thailand less the 10

From the Bangkok Post around noon on Saturday the 13th:

A total of 62 people were killed and 496 injured in 465 road accidents nationwide on Friday, the second of Songkran's "seven dangerous days" (April 11-17), the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on Saturday.

The department on Friday reported the road death toll at 39.

Combined accidents over the first two days reached 791, with 101 deaths and 838 injuries, according to the department.

Chiang Mai had the most road accidents at 18. Provinces with the most fatalities were Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Khon Kaen, Roi Et and Prachuap Khiri Khan, with three each. Prachuap Khiri Khan had the most injuries at 21. Accident-free provinces were Si Sa Ket and Trat.

The main causes of the accidents were drunk driving and speeding. Motorcycles and pickup trucks were involved in the largest number of accidents.

no deaths in phuket though.

Wow, i know very sad even if there is 1 death, but 62 deaths is a massive decrease from previous years and not 1 death in Phuket, somebody got something right for once, Happy songkran, good luck to everyone!!!!!

well, lets see what the death toll is for this years Thai new year, can someone post the figure when they know, i reckon for the whole of Thailand less the 10

"20 condo's in the building have sold in the last year" - and you would like to be number 21.

I don't know what the other 20 guys were thinking, but I would be thinking, "Why is everyone selling in this building????"

The building for years was mis-managed, we got the old management out, all the maintenance fee's now get spent on the building, major work has been done over the last 2-3 years, it's a 2 way thing, where owners couldn't sell easy before, now with the buildings new reputation,look, security, size, pool, these owners have been able to sell so easily, 1 owner had 10-12 condo's on the market for years, but now he could have sold them ten times over, secondly, the size of the condo's, with all the facilities, beautiful pool, sea views or seen as a great deal and investment by new buyers that have made comparisons with other condo's. it's not owners leaving a sinking ship, rather new buyers wanting to board the new remodeled boat in town, either way it's always been a great rental income for me.

So why do you want to get off the "new remodeled boat?"

i never said i wanted to sell, it was only a option, as a rental income it's a great rental yield for what i paid as a percentage, either way it's a asset,

"20 condo's in the building have sold in the last year" - and you would like to be number 21.

I don't know what the other 20 guys were thinking, but I would be thinking, "Why is everyone selling in this building????"

The building for years was mis-managed, we got the old management out, all the maintenance fee's now get spent on the building, major work has been done over the last 2-3 years, it's a 2 way thing, where owners couldn't sell easy before, now with the buildings new reputation,look, security, size, pool, these owners have been able to sell so easily, 1 owner had 10-12 condo's on the market for years, but now he could have sold them ten times over, secondly, the size of the condo's, with all the facilities, beautiful pool, sea views or seen as a great deal and investment by new buyers that have made comparisons with other condo's. it's not owners leaving a sinking ship, rather new buyers wanting to board the new remodeled boat in town, either way it's always been a great rental income for me.

Before you even consider buying a house, do your homework. The agent fee is paid by the seller, not the buyer. (at least not directly)

100% agree, i've sold a few places over here via real estate agents, i know what it's like to hand over that 5% fee money, normally when dealing direct with the seller, the non agents fee's brings the price down, i always do my dodiligence checks aswel

Been looking around at buying a 3 bedroom house in Kathu or Chalong, like everyone i'm looking for a good deal, i'd rather deal direct with the seller, so they don't incur a real estates 5% fee's, I would even consider a swap or P/X for a freehold condo i have in patong, currently valued at 3.4 - 4 million, over 20 condo's have sold in the past year in the building, so a bit of a hotspot. i check all the online media's, baht & sold, gazette, post, TV classifieds,real estate sites but then you have to inquire, there's that 5% fee for the seller, i driven around looking, but again you only know if they have a for sale sign outside, i'd be interested if any TV members know of anything for sale out there, please PM if you have any addresses/ details/ pictures or contact numbers, or any idea's where i should be looking that i might have missed!!!!

I'm on Nanai Rd as well and was talking to my landlord yesterday. I specifically asked him to make sure that there was enough water for the weekend and he told me that he had had to buy water in on Tuesday by tanker as there was nothing coming through from the municipality and the well he had dug was not running clear.

This morning at 6.30 the water tanker arrived again to top up the 7 storage tanks on this small residential plot. Good man our Landlord is!!!

There must be some money in this water tanker business.... many of them are running brand new, purpose built trucks.

Two years ago in Beverly Hills off Nanai, one cubic metre of water was 140 baht, god only knows what it is today - and the stuff was sh*t brown comming out of the tanker.

140 baht is the charge made by the property managers at Beverly Hills. The truck charges 100 baht/cub or 1,200 baht for 12,000 liters. That's today's charge. 2 years ago it was 800 baht per 12,000 liter truck.

LIK, i see there's a new collecting of water trucks delivering around patong, i bet new there a few million baht and more, i used to live on Soi veerakit, the Beverly hills street, in the end i was paying more towards the water trucks then what my maintenance fees were, even nearly 10 years ago, there were still water issues then. crazy thing was i had more water via leaks in the apartment through a bad build that the lessor would not repair, every wall, ceiling, electric point leaked water, needless to say it ended up in court, yes we won!!!

just done my 5 year renewal last week, you've definitely got 1 year after the expiry date and up to 3 years as mentioned in the instructional video you watch , so simple to do!!!, you need from immigration a document of residency, 300 baht but just 1 original, a photo copy will do if applying for 2nd licences, copy of visa and picture passport pages for each licence, No medical certificate, farang have to be at the driving licence office between 8:30-9:00 am, hand in the paperwork, then upstairs to do a foot brake light response test, say 3 colors as they change randomly, then wait till 10:00am to watch a 1 hourish video, back down stairs to have your photo electronically taken and receive your licences, the old days of getting a licence used to be a nightmare, definitely improved now!!!!hope that helps