Chads

What is their opinion of people from Singapore?

Just say you are from KL...

Why is saying I'm from KL better?

Wow. That's some tv. Lg 42" lcd is like 10thou. But ok. Best of luck.

And some run 80-90 thou so not sure of your point.

My point was IF you were having to rely on finance when 1st arriving in Thailand just because you want the latest biggest tv then whats the point. A 42" Lg can be got for less than 10 grand. That was my point.

sent from my Wellcom A90+

I didn't know a 42" is 10 grand. The ones I saw at Big C were close to 20 grand for that size.

I actually have well over 20,000 to spare, but 20,000 seems to be the cost of the tv.

I need to factor other devices and furniture that I would need to get in the week I get there itself, and that's why I'm asking about this.

Is an ATM card sufficient? Or are there ATM cards that double as "credit/debit" cards?

What is their opinion of people from Singapore?

I'm moving to Thailand soon and I need to get some electronic devices such as a TV and electric cooker.

I noticed that BigC offers payment by monthly installments. Can foreigners pay in that manner or is it only for locals?

I did end up going to SuperCheap but didn't get a chance to check out the electronics and furniture prices. Will do that soon!

Perhaps the only thing that's non-partisan is corruption.

Learn to read Thai then take out a membership one of the top Thai language discussion boards and learn what the Thais are morning about.

Then there is that other Thai language forum that gives the otherside of the stories we read here.

Having followed this advice sit back have a cold beer and contemplate the rich diversity of life.

Can you provide me a link? I'll use a translation software to read (not totally accurate, but close enough)

You could say the same basic thing about every Ski Area in America or Everything from Disneyland to Vegas ..... It's called a tourist trap over here , and it's not really a scam or a rip off it's just that tourist places charge more for the same thing , a subway sandwitch in Vegas is easy 2 times what I pay back home. Try buying a Burger at Aspen sometime and you will know what a rip off really is !

The jet ski thing does qualify though , I actually would rent one once in a while if it weren't for the scams.

Regarding the jet ski thing, a friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a gun was pointed at his head. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

Yes prices are more expensive here than other areas of Thailand and it is annoying. However this is the richest province, sees huge numbers of tourists and the prices are generally fixed.

In Trafalgar Square the ice cream vans charge more than elsewhere but they have the price printed on the window. It's hardly a scam if I chose to buy one.

Peterocket, below is the definition of collusion. So you can understand, let's just say the ice cream van owner in Trafalgar Square had a meeting with all the other ice cream van owners in London and they all agreed to set the price of ice cream, across Greater London, at the Trafalgar Square price. Everyone who WANTED ice cream, as opposed to NEEDED ice cream, would be paying over the odds and supporting the criminal enterprise.

Transport is an essential service. It is a NEED, not a WANT. It doesn't matter if the prices are displayed if collusion is taking place. It's still a criminal act. The scam comes about due to the criminality involved in the collusion.

I understand your point that if you agree to 300 baht for 1 kilometer - than you have a verbal contract and it can not be a scam.

My point is the 300 baht price for the product, the 1 kilomter journey, is the scam, due to collusion setting the price. Do you understand where I am coming from?

COLLUSION: Collusion is an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage.^{[citation needed]} It is an agreement among firms to divide the market, set prices, or limit production.^[1] It can involve "wage fixing, kickbacks, or misrepresenting the independence of the relationship between the colluding parties".^[2] In legal terms, all acts affected by collusion are considered void.^[3]

At the airport I have the choice of the Airport bus, Car Hire, Bike Hire, Meter Taxi (if they have the meter on), Limousine and Van share all of which are clearly marked with the price. Pretty simple system and scam free as far as i am concerned.

Yes the prices are printed. So you could call it a "rip off", but not a scam (in the sense that they tell you one price first and ask another later, or strangely negotiate prices right from the start).

Cheating and lying culture : You certainly won't be able to debate this here. Most of posters have Thai gf/wives after having a bad private life experiences in their own country. You can't say anything bad about Thai culture, they take it as personal offense.

Really? I got the impression from the forum that more people had negative things to say. Perhaps I need to read and observe more.

I think everything has its good and bad points. I personally enjoy Indonesia and Thailand more than my country of origin. It's the vibe, the amount of life and things going on, and it's hard to describe. I'm not saying it's euphoric, it's just different, more lively, and more interesting to me.

I sometimes feel that expats in Thailand live in a world of their own (incl. the places they gather, shop, eat, and live) so they don't really have to deal with culture and society here that much.

Ah the old why haven't you left saying. Why do you continue to live in such a terrible place.

Fact is why don't they leave? Why do they choose to live here. Are they socially unacceptable back home.

Why does no one ever answer this question?

Yes there are people who are here because their company sent them.

And some because they have a wife and children. How they got them in such a obviously terrible place to live is beyond me.

But for the most part we choose to live here. And most of us are able to accept the good with the bad not just focus on what we see as wrong. Get out of the tourist areas if you don't want to see all the scams.

fully agree with the poster who posted this.

"This country detaches you from the culturally relative notion of progress that exists in the minds of most of those in the Western world"

I see he is leaving the country. Rather than sit around and bitch about it.

I actually just started another thread about this "Why don't you leave" topic, trying to learn more because I plan to move here soon: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/569548-reasons-for-not-leaving-thailand-loving-or-hating-it/

Just forget about it:

You have 10.000 western expats without any problems. Than you have 2 posting some nonsense.

Maybe another 2 posting some real things. So you get the impression 50 % of the western expats have this negative mindset.

But in fact it is just 0.02 %.

For me, I've been coming to Thailand at least once a year for 10 years now. And the more regular trips have been over the past 2 years. Recently I've learnt enough Thai to hold conversations, and I'm working daily to improve it (also speaking Thai as much as possible when I'm here).

I've spent a lot of time in Indonesia too, and I'd say the while the cost of food is about the same, property costs are much higher in Thailand. But the MRT and BTS lines in Bangkok work well, and beat transportation in Jakarta any day.

Maybe being "Asian" causes me to be seen differently (I've noticed that most of the news articles on scams, deaths, suicides, and other tragic incidents seem to mostly involve "Westerners"). Maybe I'm a little "street smart", but who knows, I've been robbed in Indonesia once too.

I agree with the general idea shared on this thread that any place is (mostly) what you make of it.

I've been traveling up and down to Thailand, staying for a week every 2 months for 2 years now, and I've been thinking of moving there as my work is internet-based and involves traveling in the region from time to time.

I've read so many posts on this forum by people who hate life here, and I'm just wondering why they don't leave if they hate it so much? I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, and I'm asking more because I want to understand varied opinions.

I'm also wondering whether the negative experiences here come more from "Westerners", and whether "Asians" who move to Thailand have a less negative experience? I'm an Asian from a Southeast Asian country by the way.

Another thing I hear of is the "lying, cheating" culture in Thailand (something even an Asian friend has told me about, though not in detail). So I'd like to hear of some examples of this.

Thank you so much for taking a minute to reply to this.

This country detaches you from the culturally relative notion of progress that exists in the minds of most of those in the Western world. Bangkok is proof that if you want to exploit your way to riches, you will be amply rewarded (caveat: you must be incredibly cognizant of the current power order that is based on a local notion of reputation, mostly incomprehensible to the foreign world). Then you will become fabulously wealthy (while being compromised by the constant need to show heed to hi-so's and other local higher-ups [you're a foreigner; good luck!]) If you work for a Thai company, be prepared for a mind-enema. You're about to be shown up. It's a world unto itself, and that is the general attitude. So many foreigners commit suicide here. They lose faith in humanity, and they are emotionally vulnerable. Also, the police generally declare most foreigner deaths 'suicides', especially in Pattaya.

In my reasonably long life (65) I have known three people who have committed suicide, not friends, just people I knew. Not one of them was ever in Thailand.

Thailand is not the problem, the persons personnal situation and mental state at the time are for me the main factors.

All I can say is it's sad to hear.

Thailand may not be THE problem, but it most certainly is a mitigating factor. Friends and family described the man as generally happy, so it seems strange that at the age of 37 he suddenly up and kills himself after living in the Kingdom for one year. When I first moved to Thailand, I nearly had a nervous breakdown, as the lying, cheating, quality of life (pollution, heat, crowding, garbage), general malfeasance, spaced-out mindsets, isolation, job problems (the business I began to work with had been established for five years when I came and signed a contract as Education Director; within five months of working there, a falling out with the franchise based in America led to the collapse of the business) etc. really took a toll. I got over it and survived the next three years but I had already lived in Korea without ever experiencing what I experienced in Thailand. The Kingdom is a bizarre place. It's great for retired people, but for young people from developed countries, it can be a nightmare. I was warned by many in Korea not to come. Looking back, I might have taken heed a bit more.

Hi Unkomoncents, what are the specific instances of lying and cheating that you experienced? Just trying to get an idea because I've heard of it, though yet to experience it to a large extent.

Also to some others, for those who feel so negatively about Thailand, why haven't you left yet? (I know that some of you have, or are leaving soon though)

Tit for tat?

Funny story.

I've got a Samsung Galaxy myself! Good phone! I prefer it to the iPhone actually.

I've only got one reply. Lady Gaga without makeup: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jc74boCC3NA/T1P1F3r_f_I/AAAAAAAACiI/yVY0nRTMc5s/s1600/lady-gaga-without-make-up.jpg

That's cool Steve, I'll let you know when I'm over there.

Thank you all. Kata, yes I asked before in a post but got no replies, now there are plenty

But wait, there's more...

There is a female blogger who had to go to the hospital several months ago due to the very same thing. Her and her boyfriend were sprayed in Bangkok. If memory serves, the police didn't believe her. So if this whack job has only been doing it for 2 months, that means there is another or this clown has been spraying people for longer than he claims.

It's a bathroom-cleaner-acid-attack gang!

Where's a good place to buy affordable furniture and electronic appliances? SuperCheap Warehouse as well or are there other places?

here's me hoping we can get back to the subject of finding musicians and forming a band.

chads, where are you? what are your ideas?

Haha yes Steve, there have been many comments but they've been fun to read too. I have no intention of actually playing at bars for money or something.

I'm wondering if there are garages / rehearsal studios people can rent by the hour in Phuket for playing music?

I'm not at Phuket at the moment but I'm moving there really soon (in June or July).