Shaksey

Going to SE Asia with potential mental health issues sounds like a bad idea, people in weak/poor states of mind get eaten up in SE Asia very often. You need to be on your A-Game for a move like this, especially with limited resources and no firm plans. 

My advice is to try the Oz working/holiday visa thing while you're still young enough for it. 

I miss Stick's Sunday musings. Enjoyed reading them with my breakfast and coffee. 

Some of the readers submissions were very good too, and yes I also agree that the best were from Steve Rosse. 

He, and the other very good writers no longer send pieces to the site though because the new owners sneakily changed the T+C's to make any submitted piece their own property to profit from in any way they like and also refused to take down any previously submitted pieces.

I hope there is room for the museum for some good displays and info about Sir Henry Morton Stanley, very misunderstood but truly a hero of Africa and the greatest land explorer in history. He went a long way towards tempering the softening the darker intentions and desires/aims of Leopold but due to his funding by and close ties to him Stanley has traditionally been thought of in much the same way as Leopold. 

It was Stanley who did most of the discovering and exploration and hard work for Leopold but ultimately found himself misled and lied to by his benefactor over his intentions for Africa and Africans.

I'll use this for longer distance trips that involve going on highway/tollway.

Big accident in a Merc, even "just" a C Class Vs an old Toyota you will likely walk away from the Merc. Same reason I use the AOT Mercs or 7 Series from the airport.

Poor mans Rihanna....and Rihanna is way over rated.

Oh, and FWIW, Thonglor police at Asoke don't make you take a pee test on the street anymore. They will initially take you to the Asoke junction police box/mini station.

I think one way to avoid a pee test that I have actually tried and it worked is to suggest it and offer to do it before they ask you to. Then if you were to pass it's all a bit of a face loss for them and it puts you on the front foot. Who's going to suggest/ask to do a pee test if they've been taking drugs? I suppose there is a risk they will think you're playing the reverse psychology game and make you do it anyway. I did this when stopped and pocket/bag searched on Soi16 outside Exchange Tower a few months back and they let me go on my way.

40 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

An oldie but a goldie....  of course, you have to be in the market for buying dope to get caught out by this one. 

 

I imagine it has happened to someone at some point... but this is different from saying 'it happens'...  or 'these things happen' which implies a greater frequency and that we are at a far greater risk than we imagine. 

 

Are we really at risk of having drugs planted on us or having our urine samples tampered with on the streets of Bangkok?

 

I for one still believe the police are just not interested in catching honest folk, but they won't blink at extorting someone who has failed a test. 

You are more at risk of peeing a false positive due to other completely legal things you have consumed.

20 minutes ago, timendres said:

The event happened in a well known central Bangkok police station. The person was collected on a sidewalk, and escorted to the station for the testing. That phase of the operation appeared to have been well coordinated. At the station, they were faced by eight police sitting around the table to intimidate them. The rigging could only have been done in one way - the bottle that was used to collect the sample must have been tainted. I say this because the person being tested had never used any form of ice (or it's derivatives) in their life, the test kit was new and sealed (the police made a big show of this fact), and the test showed positive for ice. Simply not possible. The police then suggested that a payment of 30,000 baht could "make it go away". By repeatedly, but politely, insisting on a blood test at the hospital, the police reluctantly let him go, but only after a further 2 hours of pressure to "just pay the fine".

 

From what I witnessed, I would never pee into a sample bottle. I would insist on peeing directly onto the test strip, and I would insist it come from a sealed package from the manufacturer. Even then, I would first request a blood test at a reputable hospital. If this was refused and a pee test required, which then showed positive, I would then demand the blood test.

When I was at the station I refused to do the pee test on their crappy basic kit for a couple of hours. There was no intimidation, no hard pressure. They just kept politely asking me to take the test. Eventually I realised I was not going anywhere until I did this and so agreed. This was all in their air conditioned squad room, it was all very pleasant atmosphere really.

You can't pee directly onto the test strip. A very small amount is transferred onto the strip with a pipette. I was escorted to the head and an officer let me pee about 20-30ml into a test bottle from a sealed package while I was standing at urinal while he observed but at a respectful distance. I carried the bottle back, it could not have been tampered with at any time.

All packages were sealed in my experience and the procedure explained well in English.

Plenty of reasons why you could pee a false positive for ice. Lots of over the counter and everyday products you may consume can make you do this, especially with the very basic test the Thai police use.

If you failed and didn't want to pay up then if you wanted hospital or blood tests then you would be put in the system. You'd get exonerated eventually but you would be spending a few days in the cells before this happened. If you have the time and nothing else to do or have no money then this is an option if you really are clean. For most people paying up and walking away is the better option.

4 minutes ago, buick said:

first and last points, i fully agree with (i've read ibuprofen can give a false read but forget which drug).

 

but the middle commentary, are you sure this info came from people getting caught at this particular checkpoint ?  not all operate the same way.  i've been on the beer drinking circuit around asoke/sukhumvit for quite awhile and during the bar talk, a 50,000thb number is tossed around frequently (for this area/checkpoint).   who knows, maybe all the guys are telling the same story over and over !!!!  not trying to say you are wrong, just wondering if we are talking apples to apples (or checkpoint to checkpoint !!).

Yes, same checkpoint, Thonglor police.

Someone also mentioned the cheapness/poor quality of the tests and I fully agree with this. I have been stopped at Asoke, refused to do pee test there and went back to Thonglor station. Exactly the same cheap piece of crap pee test kit was the only thing on offer. I passed and it was handshakes all round and I left obviously without paying anything. They wouldn't discuss a price until I had taken the test and so as I passed i didn't find out. However, it means i know exactly the procedure for this kind of thing and when i talk to people or read stories about it i can tell which ones are truthful sounding and which are la la. The OP's is leaning more towards the second option btw. Prices i mentioned are from people/stories that sounded truthful with the right details and procedures the same as i experienced.

I've always liked the Dominos Air Kings, and also the Pool Intairdril ones. It's a shame Rolex won't supply dual logo's anymore.

In general, Bangkok is just not a good place to get a good value deal on a Rolex though, I wouldn't bother. Some of the shops in MBK, the one's selling genuine watches actually have signs up saying their prices will be more than in your home country to stop so many people asking and then being disappointed. People assume Thailand = cheap, maybe 20 years ago there were bargains but not now.

I'd also rather have a Grand Seiko (important distinction, GRAND Seiko, not Seiko) tbh, in fact that's what I did and sold all my Rolexes apart from one. FYI my Grand Seiko cost more than the equivalent Rolex in 2015 and was technically better in pretty much every measurable way apart from water resistance depth. The level of finishing, detail and quality is far superior. Rolex have introduced and are rolling out a new movement through their ranges since then though which is more on a level with the Grand Seiko movements.

Unfortunately in these circumstances the law and your rights are what the police present with you say they are.

If OP paid 40,000b then for this type of offence he paid about 4x more than he needed to or could likely have got the "fine" down to. 10,000 is the usual "fine" for this type of issue and 20,000 for the harder stuff. They expect you to negotiate. This info is from knowing people who have had the same sort of experience and from anecdotal similar reports from the web over the last couple of years. I've never heard of anyone having to pay anywhere near 40,000 before.

For all those saying don't do this type of thing then have a look at how many other normal things you may consume will give a false positive. If you've had a headache of muscle pains for example and taken Ibuprofen....you will very likely test positive on these basic tests the same as the OP did. Plenty of other over the counter products will make you test positive for meth too btw.

52 minutes ago, Voodoochile said:

NONSENSE! some people deserve even worst

Rapists deserve harsh punishment but no-one, not even those who have done it themselves should be raped. 

Tried this when it came out last year, quite liked it. I don't generally buy beer to drink at home though.

Gullivers seconded, they usually have it on the huge HD projection screen.

Thanks, will look into their service provision.

In the book A Woman Of Bangkok, written and set in the 1950's, all reference to money is Tics or Ticals so it was still well in common usage then.

• getting a fresh beer during the day - The place under Asok BTS, next to the steps, has the misted water spraying all day. OK crowd and good people watching.
• getting lunch - Quite liking Bad Burger or various places in T21.
• getting dinner (both non western food) - Favourite in that area is Gaucho but not too often $$$.
• and hanging out at night (preferably with live music or smooth atmosphere) - Checkinn99, Soi33.

Can anyone recommend a treatment centre/clinic/hospital in Bangkok that specialises in Lymphatic Filariasis please? Or a Doctor who perhaps works between a few different locations?

Many thanks.

Somerset Lake Point, Soi 16. 4* serviced apartments.

50k for a big studio, 60k for a big 1 bed. Lake views over Banjakitti Park and the Silom CBD behind it. 10 min walk to Asok BTS/MRT, Terminal 21 etc. Somerset has 25M outdoor pool and a big v well equipped gym. Soi 16 has many drinking and eating options. Make sure you ask for lake view.

Edit - Oh, Lumpini is 20-30 min walk away (depending how hard you hustle), via the "Green Mile" raised walkway through the Tobacco Monopoly projects/slums. Or Benjakitii park is 5-10 min walk away,

9 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

Buzz-word Bingo!

I'm in my safe space where buzz words can't get me ;-)

Millennials are growing up now and a lot are into their 30's. They are also thankfully growing out of these listed behaviours just as the generations before them grew out of behaviours that their elders thought were terrible.

It's the "Gen Z's" or "Snowflakes" that are the new/current group you need to pick on ;-)

A lot of people mistake Gen Z Snowflakes for Millennials but they are two distinct demographics.

13 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Still doesn't tell us where the bloody thing is!

Level 3, G Section, opposite the Cathay Lounge (which used to be the BA/QANTAS First Class lounge).

That's the old BA/QANTAS Business Class lounge.

That's cool, it's nice to see them used.

I drove (among a lot of others)

308 GTBi

308 GTBi QV

308 GTSI QV

328 GTS (the final evolution of the 308)

On the roads of the UK and all around central London for many many days. They're perfect for looking cool, having fun but without really being very fast, easy to handle and not too much risk of losing licence in 2nd gear like all the modern supercars but they still all revved to 7500rpm or more which considering when they were made is damn impressive.

Everyone knows who ordered it gone and as such it will certainly stay gone.