Baloo22

Thanks for the report. Good info to know. I flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket on Air Asia and used the bording pass pre-printed from computer. So, good to go for domestic but not necessarily for international.

Let's say he doesn't have a visa. That puts the US government in a sticky situation. If they report no he doesn't have a visa, that disrespects Sister's government. So I bet they would say nothing. Either way.

First, I doubt very much if he has a visa, US Immigation is not stupid. They know that giving T a visa would open a big can of worms. Second, US Immigration is not in the habit of reporting about whether anyone has a visa or not. So, we are never going to know, unless someone happens to either take a photo of the US visa in his passport or take a photo of him strolling down the streets in New York City. Maybe holding hands with Bambam (Obama).

... Your terminology for President Obama is racist. Not cool.

Bam-Bam (Bamm-Bamm) was actually a white character. So the accusation of racism is false and silly. Not cool at all.

Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel on Huay Kaew Road has a 50 meter pool. If you are not a guest, it's 100baht per swim. It's an older pool with some broken tiles so watch your feet.

That's the price you pay for paranoia, sorry homeland security...............

Sorry for enforcing our right to determine who enters our country.

That's getting more and more difficult with Barack the Babbling Buffoon and his back-door amnesty program. Add to that; “Dear Janet” Napolitano and her latest instructions to Border Agents to “run away and hide” if they encounter a “active shooter”. Truly the "Idiot Administration".

Any mention of America brings the nutters out here. ...

You hit the nail on the head with that one! The tin-foil hat brigade certainly came out for this thread.

I can speak to this with absolute authority. That ride is TEN BAHT. No doubt about it. If they push for 20 baht, walk away, they won't do anything. Bring exact change to avoid conflict.

The controversy does start AFTER Pattaya Klang. If you go as far as Big C, it's more of a grey area. Cheap Charlies, please don't lynch me, but in that case I would just pay 20 baht.

Agreed. When I lived in Jomtien; If I went from Jomtien to Central and points south of Central, I gave 10baht (per person) exact change and walked away. Never had a problem. If I went from Jomtien all the way into North Pattaya (say BigC), I paid 20baht. IMO, fair is fair. These drivers are working stiffs trying to support themselves and their families. They are not Shinawatra Pu Yai and 20baht never destroyed my budget.

Unless you specifically want to negotiate a special trip, never go up to the driver and ask "how much?". Just get on one going in your direction. If it turns away from where you want to go, ring the bell, pay your 10baht and get on another one. That's the system. Keep a good stock of 10baht coins.

No doubt you,ll be hounded for being alarmist by both those who have vested interests in maintaining the facade of Thailand as a dream holidat destination and those who prefer to keep there heads burried in the sand.

Phuket truly is a wretched place, I was beaten unconcious by two Thais outside 7*11 around 3 years ago myself, all for the grand sum of around 600 bht.

check this link http://www.thephuket...amily-31469.php

The fact is the veil is really being lifted oh Thailand these days as the crooks and skum become ever bolder, with scams and deciets getting taken to a whole new level.

Just last week I had a Thai guy come up to outside the mall in Siam square and demand 20 bht, I politely said mai pen rai cap and moved away. The nutter started screaming and frothing at the mouth calling me everything under the sun. I do not doubt he was on the point of attacking me until the mall security overheard and started coming in my direction. He walked away pretending to shoot me with his finger.

These stories are everywhere everyday and soon people will start turning there backs on the place en masse.

I've also seen incidents like that in UK and USA. Not just a Thai problem. I've been here for 2 years and haven't seen any violent incidents at all. I've spent 6 months In New York and seen a few. And I've seen plenty of incidents like this in the UK. What you describe is just one mad person. It sounds like an isolated incident. I've been to Siam Square lots of times and never seen anything remotely like what you described.

Good for you, although you seem to be in the minority.

I read comments like yours and have to wonder where you live and whether you ever leave your home, because I have regularly seen farang being harassed, corralled, conjolled, intimidated, pushed, stomped and beaten by locals.

As for "these things happen everywhere", I disagree. Show me a news article from any country where a tourist was attacked, beaten with a foreign object and robbed as they exit a 7-11. I'll be waiting with baited breath.

Also, how about sharing some of your experiences where you have "seen" these types of incidents in the west with your own two eyes?

Not a 7/11 (not sure if they have them in the US, but it does happen elsewhere!

http://www.thesun.co...dead-in-US.html

Yes, violent incidents involving tourists do occur in the U.S. They also occur in Canada, Australia, England, and other countries in Europe (and elsewhere). As I have stated before; The major difference between such incidents in those countries and in Thailand is the attitude and approaches taken by the police and local governments involved. In the countries that I listed above, the police actually consider enforcing the law to be their job and do not approach criminal events with their sole consideration being what their personal profit will be. They make genuine efforts to investigate, locate, and arrest the criminals. In this particular case, the criminal scum was arrested, tried, convicted, and given a life sentence. He was not given the death penalty because he was a "minor" at the time of committing the murders.

In the U.S. you will find that the vast majority of police and other law enforcement personnel are dedicated people doing a tough job and are not for sale. Are there some "bad apples"? Sure, but they are the few, the exception. I have lived in Germany for three years and travelled to England, Norway, Denmark, and Italy. I have confidence that the same applies to the police officers and law enforcement organizations in those countries also.

And how are importing 600 MORE criminals supposed to help??

Oh yeah, do the math; 600 times two million baht each will keep the money flowing around Phuket!

Most of the problems I see aren't related to buying commercial goods or credit, but to Thai's pandemic addiction to Yaba.

Amost everybody underestimates how many people here are addicted and how far they will go to have more.

I agree with you that drug addicts are probably a contributing factor in the "crime wave" of Phuket. But, IMO, the much larger problem is Thailand's pandemic addiction to corruption. What kind of "clean-up" is possible when a country has a national police force that has very little connection with enforcement of laws but instead is often an integral part of the criminal activities and criminal organizations?

The thing that seem to really frustrates so many posters here is not solely the crimes committed but rather the attitude and reactions of the Thai police and Thai government to those crimes. Crimes are committed against tourists and residents in U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and other countries also. But there, the police, for the most part, seem to consider public safety and enforcement of the law their job. Crimes are actually investigated and, in most cases, best efforts are made to arrest, try, and convict the criminals. Reaction is not guided solely by how much money the police can extort or "how bad it makes __________ look".

Didn't the Thai government do a performance just like this last year when the U.S. had several Navy ships in the area with large helicopter assets and offered them to help Thailand assist it's under-water citizens? As I remember it, the government dithered and dithered and dithered until the Navy finally gave up on the effort and the ships steamed away.

what does this say about some Americans attitude towards their own country.....?

Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request

The following letter has been circulated mostly in the United States by Just Foreign Policy. It was hand-delivered to the Embassy of Ecuador in London by Just Foreign Policy Policy Director Robert Naiman on Monday, June 25. It has now been signed by more than 4000 people.

" We also call on you to grant Mr. Assange political asylum because the “crime” that he has committed is that of practicing journalism. He has revealed important crimes against humanity committed by the U.S. government, most notably in releasing video footage from an Apache helicopter of a 2007 incident in which the U.S. military appears to have deliberately killed civilians, including two Reuters employees. Wikileaks’ release of thousands of U.S. State Department cables revealed important cases of U.S. officials acting to undermine democracy and human rights around the world."

http://www.justforei...y.org/node/1257

It is especially comical that these left-wing twits are asking Correa to stand up for "press freedom and on the public's right to know". Correa is an enemy of "press freedom" in his own country! He has used "libel laws" against journalists that speak against him pretty much the same way the little tyrants do here in Thailand. Then he "expropriated" or, more accurately, stole television stations that dared to criticize him.

And now this wanna-be Nazi Correa is supposed to care about press freedom?

Giving our father's land and territorial sovereignty away for scientific research?

I rather Thailand live without scientist.

You can't be serious. So you think that it is preferable to repeat last year with half of Thailand armpit deep in water? Perhaps with those evil scientists learning more about the climate, atmosphere, and weather, better predictions and better preparations (adjusting the water levels in reservoirs for example) can actually help the Thail people.

One thing I have noticed is that the age of the expat in Thailand keeps getting younger. What I can see happening is that so many young Westerners realize that they are like slaves in their own country. They get taxed to death to pay for the pensions and health benefits of the older generation. ......................

I'll let others speak of the government pension schemes in their countries.

It the U.S. we call it Social Security. I've worked and been forced to pay into it for decades. One of the big problems with it is that money is NOT saved or invested for me (or YOU) to take out later in life. The government likes to make people think that is so. They even talk about your "social security account" and the "social security fund". The fact is that it is, and always has been, a "pay as you go system". The money paid in is paid out to current beneficiaries.

Also, when social security started, the ratio of workers to retirees was 13:1. Now it is 3:1. See the trend?

And people are living longer and end up collecting longer. When I started working and paying in to it; the promise was to start collecting full benefits at age 65. Now, for me, the "promise" has been already changed to age 67.

Politicians have also continually expanded the payment of benefits to "disabled" workers and expanded what is considered "disabled"; Drug and alcohol addiction, "stress" conditions, “depression”, etc, etc, blah blah blah. Telling voters that they are going to get more money is always a popular choice among politicians. The fact that it did not have to be paid for then, during their terms in office, but rather years down the road by people like you was an added upside for those politicians.

Very few politicians want to attempt to fix any of the problems with Social Security. It has become known as the "third rail" of American politics. Touch it and you die! The last time any politician came up with the courage to propose anything substantial to fix it was President G.W. Bush. We could argue all day long over the merits of the changes he proposed and still get nowhere. But at least he tried to DO SOMETHING about it. …In the end all we ended up with is a huge amount of demagoguery and scare mongering.

Nobody currently in Washington, DC has the courage to make any serious attempt to fix it. It will probably need to reach absolute crisis stage before anything meaningful is done.

I did a "border run" to Mae Sai in May. I made it into a little two-day "mini-vacation" and stayed overnight in Mae Sai. Visited a neat Wat and stayed overnight at Navy Home Hotel. See http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/557089-my-border-run-to-mae-sai-last-week/

You said “The boy is physically disabled, and IMO has psychiatric problems as well” and that he's had behavioral issues in school. Has he actually been evaluated by a psychiatric specialist? If not, it could be a good idea to do so.

While it does occur that some kids back in the states are “drugged up to the gills by "well-intentioned" authorities”, there are also many that are receiving the medication that they need for their psychiatric condition and lead better lives for it. Like many other types of drugs, they can be used effectively and they can be abused.

He's got to go begging his own rellies to cover the wife's injuries, her bones need to be re-broken and re-set since the upcountry hospital screwed it up. And he just found out one of his own daughters has a hole in her heart and will need heart surgery within the coming weeks. I don't think he'll put too much time/energy/money into trying to find qualified psychiatric treatment for his SO's evil spawn ATM. At this rate even a multi-millionaire would be wiped out being a nice fellow. . .

In that case, your friend my not have other options than what has become known in the states as the "tough love" approach. I was once told by a professional counselor (she had the degrees and experience. Not a quack) experienced in counseling "troubled teens";

"Some times the only way they are able to move their lives up is to hit bottom and bounce up."

It may be necessary to let him experience Thai jail for a while. It may, in the end, do him some good. It may, in the end, also be the only way your friend can protect the rest of his family.

You said “The boy is physically disabled, and IMO has psychiatric problems as well” and that he's had behavioral issues in school. Has he actually been evaluated by a psychiatric specialist? If not, it could be a good idea to do so.

While it does occur that some kids back in the states are “drugged up to the gills by "well-intentioned" authorities”, there are also many that are receiving the medication that they need for their psychiatric condition and lead better lives for it. Like many other types of drugs, they can be used effectively and they can be abused.

........ A terror organisation would not send a team via this method as all refugees/asylum seekers are vetted by Australian government security organisations.

Yea great job they do. After they are let in they form a plan to attack the Holsworthy military base in the name of allah.

Is this the incident that you are referring to? I think the judge said it very well !!!

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/three-would-be-terrorists-jailed-for-plotting-sydney-army-base-attack/story-fn7x8me2-1226223584865

More and better info as May 22nd:

http://www.ajarnforu...in-bangkok.html

I particularly like one comment there; "California Ouch"!

Also, due to the old British empire, the British passport gave you easier and longer entry into many countries. It also allowed Brits to work in many countries, which mean't longer stays. For example, before the handover, Brits could live and work in Hong Kong for 12 months on just a British passport alone, and it was easily extended, so many stayed for much longer.

Good point, there is a common perception among many that the Empire was a bad thing and is still resented, many people I have met in former Commonwealth countries don't think that, in fact they think the opposite. It's strange though how people tend to believe " universal truths ".

I know the Australians are eternally grateful

I have heard that the Irish also enjoyed the experience!

I've been trying to remember a wise proverb about making money in Thailand. Now I remember.

"How do you make a small fortune in Thailand? Start with a large fortune!"

Seriously, remember that you are falang (or am I making an incorrect assumption?). IMO, your chances of losing money in any business or "investment" in Thailand is very much greater than increasing your money. Is there some special reason that you want to invest your money in Thailand instead of using investment options in your home country?

Only about 20% of Americans even have a passport.......................

30 percent now.

The percentage is higher for those that have ever had a passport. Historically most Americans get their passport in order to serve overseas in the military and then let it lapse. Currently percentages are indeed higher, but the fact is a much higher percentage of Yanks have been involved in our current/recent conflicts, not only as soldiers but private contractors. And also more places require a passport to get to that didn't used to, Canada for cheaper drugs, little island states in the Caribbean etc. Texas will probably require one soon. . .

If you ask the average American why they don't go overseas - and I'm just talking a short holiday - the answer would be "why would I ever want to do that?"

Out of those that do travel overseas regularly very very few would even want to consider living abroad, and out of that tiny percentage 99% of them would be considering Europe or maybe Australia/NZ, certainly not a third world country like Thailand.

Generally Americans consider their standards and way of life "the way the world should be" to an even greater extent than other nationalities, they're usually not willing to open up their minds to the degree necessary to adapt to living in other circumstances, and therefore very few places "measure up".

thats not true ...historicaly your military id card was your passport ..... it's not until 911 that military passports were issued to military folks .... the brown ones .... and most seem to have the blue one as well im not sure why

One reason is that the blue one does not automatically identify you as working for the U.S. government. In the 1980s, people in my unit were advised to get a regular blue passport. This was after the hijacking of TWA 847 by a gang of Pigsbollah vermin. The piglicking vermin singled out Navy Seebee Robert Dean Stethem and killed him.

Most Americans can travel withing the United States and find what they are looking for in a vacation. If you live in Ohio and want to take your family for a nice ocean beach vacation, there are tons of beaches in Florida alone that are every bit as nice as any in Thailand. The same for many states along the Atlantic coast. I lived in Florida for two years within 10 minutes walk from a un-crowded, white sand beach with fantastic clean water. Better than spending thousands of dollars and 20-plus hours for your family on an airplane for crowded Thai beaches with sewage water! And if you are in the western U.S. you have the west coast beaches and also the Great Salt Lake!

I lived in Europe for three years and constantly had to educate Europeans that the United States was a little larger and had far more varied terrain and climate than their postage-stamp size countries. (Did I say that out loud??) I will continue the effort. Pull out a map of the U.S. Find the state of Louisiana. That one state is larger than England.

We have the beaches, mountains (REAL mountains), rain forests, Grand Canyon, Great Lakes, and even a Great Salt Lake! And More! And if you really do want to travel outside the U.S. there are many great destinations in the Caribean, Central and South America that are much closer.

It's true, for vacationers that want to see nature, hard to beat the diversity of the US. Not sure about the rain forests, Hawaii has them I guess. It really is quite amazing though.... you can go from a ski slope, to a beautiful desert, to a beach all in a day's or so drive.

Your comment "you can go from a ski slope, to a beautiful desert, to a beach all in a day's or so drive." describes my home state of Washington. As for rain forests, we have tropical rain forests in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa.

There are three temperate rainforsts; the Hoh, Queets and Quinault rainforests on Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. After visiting them, drive down to Westport for a charter fishing trip for Salmon, Halibut, and even overnight sailings out for Tuna! Me and my daughter went out on the Salmon charters several times. Great fun!

Most Americans can travel withing the United States and find what they are looking for in a vacation. If you live in Ohio and want to take your family for a nice ocean beach vacation, there are tons of beaches in Florida alone that are every bit as nice as any in Thailand. The same for many states along the Atlantic coast. I lived in Florida for two years within 10 minutes walk from a un-crowded, white sand beach with fantastic clean water. Better than spending thousands of dollars and 20-plus hours for your family on an airplane for crowded Thai beaches with sewage water! And if you are in the western U.S. you have the west coast beaches and also the Great Salt Lake!

I lived in Europe for three years and constantly had to educate Europeans that the United States was a little larger and had far more varied terrain and climate than their postage-stamp size countries. (Did I say that out loud??) I will continue the effort. Pull out a map of the U.S. Find the state of Louisiana. That one state is larger than England.

We have the beaches, mountains (REAL mountains), rain forests, Grand Canyon, Great Lakes, and even a Great Salt Lake! And More! And if you really do want to travel outside the U.S. there are many great destinations in the Caribean, Central and South America that are much closer.

My two satang. I lived in Jomtien near Pattaya for about 11 months and moved up to Chiang Mai about 4 months ago. I'm retired and more on a long-term vacation (until I get tired of it). I told one of my friends that the two main things I found better about Chiang Mai was: One, it's not over-run with drunken falang scum. Two, most of the Thai people here seem to just go about their lives and the falang go about theirs. Contrasting with Jomtien/Pattaya where every other Thai I met was trying to cheat/steal or pull some sort of scam on me. Of course, I am staying up in the NW area of Chiang Mai city which is opposite the touristy/backpacker area.

There are two negatives that I've discovered. One is that like other places in Thailand, the average driver possesses the driving skills and driving judgment of untrained chimpanzees. Two is the "smoky season" in February/March (mid-Apr?) time frame. They have a big problem with smoke pollution up here during February and March. The farmers burn off their fields, mushroom gatherers burn the forest undergrowth (apparently it helps the mushrooms grow after the rains start), and everybody else is burning leaves, trash, and whatever else they want to burn.

I arrived here in Chiang Mai early March this year and many days you could barely see the sun. Some days were so bad my eyes would be burning after a short time outside. And it was even worse further north in Chiang Rai. They had multiple airline flights into Chiang Rai cancelled because of the smoke "haze". It started to clear up the first part of April. I know I am not going to be spending next Feb and Mar here. I'll take a three-month "vacation" somewhere else.

Living in the West, we are used to public schools at least striving to prepare students to advance in society and move on and up.

Last year I had a conversation with an expat who has lived here around 20 years and he explained to me that the Thai public education system is designed to first properly indoctrinate and then to educate the lower class only to level required to perform their part in Thai society as farmers, menial laborers, drivers, etc. It's part of the whole system to ensure the continued effective control and position of the higher-class "pu-yai" or "better people" in Thai society. He also said that any parent that cares about their child and has any kind of money sends their child to a private school.

I do not blindly accept what anybody tells me but I will add that I had many conversations with this person and many things that he has told me about Thai society and life here that I have been able to substantiate have all turned out to be pretty much right on the mark.

20 years? Sheesh I must be a genius, I worked that out, as well as where this stuff originates, in three months.

I didn't say it took him 20 years to figure it out. Just that he has been living here for about 20 years. I take it your view of the Thai public school system is similar?