Kerryd

Where would AseanNow be if it weren't for The Thaiger copying news stories from the Bangkok Post !

Love that we get our Pattaya news from a Phuket based media site that copies it's stories from a Bangkok news site !

Riding bikes at night here is like playing Russian Roulette. Even without the drunk/untrained drivers on their cell phones, you still have crappy, poorly maintained roads with numerous hazards.

It's bad enough in the daylight when you can see what is happening ! I go for my morning walk just before sunrise when it's light enough to see but I can be back before the sun is glaring in my eyes.
And it's light enough I can see any new hazards along the way to go with the old ones that have been there forever. Like rebar sticking up through the concrete. Bent manhole covers almost falling into the drains. Garbage tossed on the side of the road. Construction material (including left over sand and concrete slowly being washed down the roads). Low hanging wires that you hope aren't electrical.

And of course, the drivers who, even at 6 am, are not paying attention to anything but the phone in front of their nose. I always walk "against the traffic" so I can see the motorcycles and cars heading at me or coming from side roads.

So many times I've had to dart off the side of road into a shop "parking" area or behind a power pole to avoid getting scraped by a car/scooter that isn't paying attention or someone coming from a little side-soi that zooms to the main road and starts turning into it before having to stop because there's oncoming traffic. 

At night though ? It's probably way safer to be on a scooter than walking - or biking - on the side of those same roads !

So it was actually THREE Brits, 5 transgenders and two "other women". Maybe.

"The holidaymakers allegedly called the five transgender escorts to their villa for a mass romp along with two other women on the island of Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of February 22."
"When we arrived we learned that the foreign tourists had reached out to three transgender prostitutes to come to their villa and agreed to pay them 4,000 baht each."

During the party 2 of the ladyboys were asked to leave. The Brits then tried to short the remaining one by only giving him/her 2,000 bath instead of the 4,000 originally agreed upon.
So it was between 2-7 women and transgenders, depending which line of the story you read.

Interesting video. The one with the knife is butt naked - but apparently stopped to put his shoes on before running around with the knife. The boys got some licks in themselves before the end. That ladyboy probably woke up with a massive headache the next morning.

And you see one more in just his underwear and another (driver of the white car) so it's not like they showed up, had a beer and were then asked to leave. Seems they'd gone way past that point before the trouble started.

Wasn't that story from like - early last year or something ? (Yeah, like last September when his name was one being considered for the Police Chief position.)

It was quite awhile ago. Why is it coming up again when it seems to be the exact same thing ? There's nothing new in that story to suggest there's new allegations or charges.

You can be sure we are only hearing one side of the story and you can bet he's full of gut-wurst because he's not about to admit what HE did to provoke the confrontation.

 

4th case in less than 2 weeks of someone having a motorcycle accident that no one has heard of until it shows up in a UK "newspaper". What is with the media in Phuket/Krabi these days ? Sheesh, if it wasn't for "online media sites" and places like the Mirror and Sun, we'd have no idea about what's happening literally in our own backyards !

Of course, this story already had a convenient GoFundMe set up and linked in the story (it's in the linked article).

However, it this case he apparently had the accident in Krabi when he and his wife were there visiting his daughter who was travelling in Thailand at the time.

It says he and his wife were on the scooter when he crashed into a metal barrier.

But he apparently did have insurance that paid his bills in Thailand and flew him back to the UK, despite it being a "motorcycle" accident.

Accident apparently happened on 19 Jan. He spent "weeks" in the hospital in Thailand before being flown back to Wales on a stretcher and he spoke to the (online) media site 5 days later. (The article is dated 11 Feb so he returned on the 6th ?).
So he gets back to the UK on the 6th and in less than 3 days they already know the renovations he wants to do "probably" won't be covered because they are "means tested" and he thinks he won't pass the test.
So they set up the GoFundMe on the 9th. (Only looking for £30,000 though.)

(Got to start bookmarking all these stories. It's happening so often maybe they should stop renting motorcycles to people in Phuket/Krabi altogether !)

You people just - don't - learn, do you ?

1) It was reported in the Daily Mail (UK). NOT in local Thai news media.

2) NO date or even time period mentioned, not in the Mail story or on the GoFundMe page.

3) NO location other than "Thailand".

4) GoFundMe set up BEFORE the news story was published.

5) GoFundMe set up by "non-family" members. GoFundMe set up on 8 Feb. Story appears in the mail on 9 Feb.

This is the 3rd story in what, a week, about someone that has had a motorcycle (scooter) accident and their insurance has (allegedly) refused to cover them.

Note that Brenton's Facebook profile is "locked" as is one of the people organizing the GoFundMe. Her partner (the other organizer) has a few posts going back almost 2 years. Not one photo or mention of Brenton.

Surely some of you know people in Queensland. (Note they don't say more than just "Queensland".)

Maybe give him a call and best wishes on a speedy recovery.

My buddy flew back to Canada yesterday. I told him he was nuts but he said it was already getting "too hot" to stay in Thailand.

I reminded him that it was like -20 where he lives but he said it should start "warming up" next month. I told him I'd spent time in Alberta and -10 in March is not "warming up" !

If I was put on a plane heading back to Canada now I might consider trying to escape as well !

I generally try to arrange my trips for late June/early July. Last time I was "home", late June 2019. I was "at the lake", sunny afternoon, close to 28 degrees. Then it started clouding over. Then it stared raining.
An hour late I was shivering and looked at the temperature - it was down to 7 degrees ! In an hour !!!

I had to scramble and tear open some boxes of old clothes that had been packed for nearly 15 years to find something warm to wear.

Next time - early August. No more of that "winter weather in the summer time" stuff for me !

2 hours ago, Korat Kiwi said:

See he was wearing blue top and in photo just now, it's green. 

 

I don't see that pic in any of the articles posted yesterday or today.

I knew there was something missing from the story.

"Upon learning of Hughes’ predicament, her friends and family quickly rallied together to support her. Kerry’s colleague and friend, Tammy Hudson, set up a JustGiving page".

Same idea as GoFundMe.

She arrived in Thailand on 9 Jan, planning on staying 1 month.

Accident was on 22 Jan (according to Glasgow Live which seems to be the originating media site). 
" I had large lacerations to my face needing sutures, horrendous back pain, a head injury with bleeding to the back of my head, broken nose that needed surgery and a wound in my left knee. I was unable to walk unaided but needed to get out of hospital"

"After finding out about the freak incident and realising that Kerry would not be making her flight home, friends and family rallied round.

The nurse's colleague and close pal, Tammy Hudson, organised a Just Giving to help cobble the cash together to get Kerry home and make a dent in the medical bills. More than £10,000 has been raised so far."
(About 450,000 baht.)

Uh huh. It's always "a friend" that sets up the fundraiser, isn't it ? 

And she apparently flew home - Business Class - on 30 Jan.
Which is odd as she was supposedly staying 4 weeks so would have flown home around 7 Feb, yet her friends and family "rallied round" when realising she wouldn't make her flight home (which would have been a week after she apparently did fly home). 
(Amazingly fast recovery !)

Pretty bad when Thaiger (based in Phuket) has to get it's "local" news from an online click-bait site in Scotland.
You'd think an accident on Koh Lanta that involved a foreigner (white woman at that) would have made the front page of every media site in/around Phuket. Yet when I do a search, all the results stem from that GlasgowLive site/story.

And wow - her "friend" was able to set up a fundraiser almost immediately after the accident and in less than 6 days had already collected more than £10,000 !
Especially considering they (supposedly) waited until after the Insurance company refused to cover her.
How did her insurance company even know what kind of "scooter" she had rented ? 
And !
"I was admitted to ICU for days then had an email from my insurance saying they rejected my claim due to the scooter I hired being classed as a motorbike."

So, accident on the 22nd. Treated on Koh Lanta and transferred to "the mainland". In the ICU "for days". Finds out that her insurance claim is denied. "Friend" sets up a fund-raiser. Apparently raises over £10,000 in less than 6 days. She recovers and flies home (business class) on the 30th.
(I'm guessing her "friend" must have brought a laptop into the ICU so the woman could check her emails.)


And shocker ! There's another story of another person who had a motorcycle accident and their insurance won't cover it ! And in that story, the accident happened on Koh Samui on 30 Jan but they've already set up a fundraiser and collected over $17,000 (US).
(Of the $35,000 US they are trying to get. About 1.25 million baht at today's rate.)

Apparently his travel insurance doesn't cover "motorcycle accidents" 
And shocker - the fundraiser was set up - by a friend ! 

And here's where it really shows.
"Bad compound fracture. A clean break of the tib and fib in his lower leg.”
Followed by:
"Following the accident, Kirk underwent emergency surgery to save his leg."
"Last week, doctors were scheduled to implant an internal fixation rod to stabilise the fractured bone. However, the surgery was postponed until today due to the discovery of sepsis in his lungs."

"Despite the necessity of the procedure for his safe return home, it is considered elective."
"He faces the daunting prospect of having to fly home in business class after further procedures to mend the shattered bone."

Uh huh - saving his leg is "considered elective" surgery ?
And I've flown Business Class many times and if you are booking a one way (or upgrading from an Economy fare) it's not that "daunting" considering the circumstances. And the fact he's only flying from Thailand to Australia.

And sepsis is when the body screws up while fighting an infection. Mainly starts in the lungs (according to the Mayo Clinic and the NIH). Even these days the mortality rate is 20-65% in severe cases.
If the accident was on the 30th and the doctors had scheduled that surgery "last week" but had to postpone it because they discovered sepsis in his lungs - it would have had to have developed and spread in mere hours after his accident.

Sure hope he survived. 

Dang. I'm doing something wrong.
I had a motorcycle accident a couple years ago (hit the rear of a truck that ran a stop sign right in front of me).
Had a crush injury on one foot (nearly severed the big toe and part of the foot completely) and a shattered wrist.
Even the very expensive Bangkok-Pattaya hospital was only going to charge me 500,000 baht total (hospital stay, operations and other expenses).

A hospital in Sri Racha did it for 280,000. (My Thai friends drove me around to different hospitals while I was in the back seat zoned on a dose of Morphine I didn't want but the little "village" hospital doctor insisted I needed. My friends were trying to find the "cheapest deal" even though I had 4 insurance policies. The mandatory motorcycle insurance, a separate "motorcycle accident" policy from the bank, my health insurance from the bank and my Class 1 motorcycle insurance.) For some reason I can't figure out though I still ended up paying a whack out of my own pocket. Not sure if I was supposed to submit a claim afterwards or what (and of course, no one could explain it to me).

Note to self - next time stay at Bangkok-Pattaya. Better care and closer to home. (Less than a year later I was having major issues with the plate the doctor in Sri Racha put in my wrist. The screws were tearing up the tendons in the wrist because they weren't put in properly. The wrist specialist at Bangkok-Pattaya looked at an x-ray of my wrist and literally started laughing ! (I'm serious - he was looking at the images on his computer and laughing at what the other doctor had done !)

It seems what I should have done is immediately get "a friend" to set up a fundraiser, then make up a sob story and sell it to a "reputable" media site like the Mirror or Sun and then have others pay all my expenses. 
For 1.25 million baht I could have had 1st class care at Bangkok-Pattaya, fixed my motorcycle and gone on a nice long 5 star holiday to "recuperate".

Sheesh, why wait until an accident ? Just need a generic photo of someone in a hospital and a sob story with no actual details. Oh, and a "friend" to set up the GoFundMe (and give me the cash). Hmmmm - that might be the hardest part.

Back in '04-'09 I was renting a room in South Pattaya so I didn't have to keep checking in/out of hotels on every trip while I was working overseas.

One day I was having coffee at the "bar" on the bottom floor when there was a commotion from the building next door.

Girl (early 20s) comes out onto the street screaming and crying - and holding a large butcher knife.

A minute later a guy (early 20s) comes out clutching his upper arm which was bleeding from a large cut.

I was sort of "ushered off" by the family that owned the building I was in so that no one would try to involve me. Not sure why but the argument may have been about "foreigners" or "not about foreigners". (As in, maybe he was angry because she wasn't bringing home enough money and she was angry that he wanted her to shag foreigners for money. Someone thought seeing a foreigner sitting there might trigger one or both of them so they hussled me away.)

A couple years earlier there was another girl that was living in the same building I was in. She and her "sister" worked in a go-go bar that a friend of mine managed. Turns out one of them met a "karaoke boy" soon after arriving in Pattaya and he immediately moved himself into the room she was renting with her sister.

That came to an abrupt end a couple months later when she came downstairs one day with bruises on her arms and face. When the "elder sister" of the family that owned the building saw that, he was out the door and gone within minutes, never to return. (Apparently he'd roughed her up because she wasn't sleeping with foreigners for money and he wanted her to start so she'd have more money to give him.)
(She ended up moving back home not long afterthat as well.)

I just told my buddy to be really careful about getting involved in domestic disputes over here. He had a bit of a scare last year when he saw a Thai guy he thought was beating up a girl near the apartment building he was living in.
He tried to intervene and of course the guy started threatening him. My friend was 76 and skinny as a rake so he wouldn't have had much of a chance but luckily there were other people in the area and the situation settled down.

I told him he had to be careful because he might think he's saving the girl only to end up with her and the guy both attacking him.

 

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I saw one guy many years ago in the airport he approached us asking for 500 baht, in the days when you had to pay as you leave, he was a farang

Happened to me on my very first trip here back in 1993. Spent all my money except what I needed to get back to the airport. Got to Don Muang with 35 baht in my pocket. I'd screwed up looking at my ticket and thought "12:05" was 12:05 "am" and not "pm" and found myself there 12 hours earlier than need be.

So I spent some money on a sandwich and newspaper and hung around for hours until check-in opened. In those days, they did a security check and secured your bag/suitcase with a security strap before you went to the check-in.
I'm one of the first in line and when I get to the counter - there's a sign saying I have to pay a 500 baht "Departure Fee" ! Nowhere was that mentioned except at the check-in counter.

I had to leave and have security cut the strap off my bag. I went to an exchange booth but all I had was some Croatian and Hungarian currency (I was on a Peacekeeping Mission in Croatia when I went on holiday.) They wouldn't take it because they didn't know the exchange rates (no internet yet back then).
I went to the airline office (Lufthansa) and they suggested I speak with the flight steward (head guy for that flight). So back into the security check and while waiting in line I saw some Germans who were on a Peacekeeping Mission in Cambodia who had the same problem I did. They were talking to the co-pilot of the flight, who agreed to loan them them the money. I tried to get him to do the same for me and showed my UN ID and everything but because I wasn't German he wouldn't help.

So I get up to the front of the line (again) and the guy ahead of me is causing a problem. He's drunk, missed the flight he was supposed to be on and was demanding to be let onto this flight. The clerk told him he'd have to talk to the steward.
I step up and tell the girl that I need to talk to the steward as well as I didn't know about the departure tax. A guy behind me, who was a bit frustrated at this point, asked what the problem was and I told him about the tax. He asked the clerk how much (500 baht) and gave her 1,000 and told her to pay for both of us just to speed things up.
I told him I'd pay him back in Frankfurt as soon as we landed. He was in business class though and even though I rushed as fast as I could (being in economy class), he was long gone by the time I got to the luggage carousels. (Not sure he even had luggage actually.)

After that though, I always made sure I had a couple thousand baht extra on me at the end of every trip "just in case". If nothing else, it was "taxi fare and first night in the hotel" on my next trip, which was important back then as the exchange booths in the airport closed in the evenings and ATMs weren't common. So if you arrived at 1 or 2 am with no local currency, it could be an issue.

Not a big deal these days of course.
 

2 hours ago, Ironmike said:

I used to donate to these people when I travelled to the UK, in London subway but then I watched a very informative show on tv about a blond women that woke up in the morning in her Knightsbridge  house,, she did her dirty make up and put on <deleted> clothes then went begging,, never again will I give money to these people

We had the same problem in Canada. Back in the late 90s a newspaper did an "undercover" story on the beggars and buskers around Vancouver. Turns out the average beggar was making over $200 (Canadian) a day ! Which was quite a bit more than I was making as a Sergeant in the military at the time !

And they found a lot of the "beggars" were actually spoiled rich kids from well-to-do neighbourhoods. They'd get paid to watch someone's dog, take it downtown, through an empty food bowl on the street and pretend they needed money to buy food for the dog.
And, like all of them, as soon as they have a couple dollars in their hat/bowl/guitar case, they scoop it out and leave a few coins to make it look like they haven't been getting many donations when in fact their pockets are nearly overflowing.

A lot of those "beggars" were just collecting cash to party with on the weekends. When they got bored or scammed enough for the day, they'd go around the corner, hop a bus to the next stop, go to wherever they parked their car and drive home.
(It seems that a lot of them were also trying to "score" with whichever homeless chicks they encountered as they tended to be "easier" than the girls in their own social circles.)

Vancouver had to actually pass a bylaw to prohibit buskers and beggars from sitting within a few meters of ATM machines and the entrances to convenience stores, especially as many of those beggars had become very "aggressive" and hostile towards people that didn't give them money (and that's all they wanted). 

The city even installed "donation meters" in place of the old "parking meters" so you could drop spare change in them that was supposed to go to social services and helping the homeless. As you can imagine, that didn't go over well with a lot of those beggars.

And just to confuse matters:
"Thailand, at present, extends tourist visas on arrival to nationals of over 60 countries".

What they are actually referring to are the 30 day "Visa Exemption" stamps - not "tourist visas".

However, many places (like the UAE) give people (from some countries) 90 days "visa free" on arrival. If your economy is heavlily dependent on tourism, you usually want to make things easier for them - and more attractive for them to come to your country.

Thailand has used it's  "business school" system of making things harder for tourists and then when the numbers drop - increase the price of everything to make up the difference.

Maybe they've actually started to take notice that bringing in half of China and India wasn't making up for the revenue they were losing by deliberately shunning tourists from "white" countries (Scandinavia, Europe/UK, America/Canada/Australia/NZ/etc).

Was in Big C (Central Pattaya) yesterday visiting a friend. Rode down Soi Buakhao after and had coffee with another friend. Rode home just after it got dark.

95% of the "foreigners" I saw in the mall, on the streets and in the bars had one thing in common. Take a guess what that was.

Take a guess at who, on an average basis, spends more money on their holidays in Thailand.

Granting that "demographic" the ability to stay longer would no doubt add a huge boost to tourist revenues while making life easier for the beg-packer/fake "I'm a tourist - that's been here on short-term visas and border runs for 5+ years" crowd.

Which don't really make up that large of the "long term" stayer population anyways. Might cut into the revenues of the Visa agents a bit though.

My buddy has the hassle each year of trying to get a double-entry tourist visa, then and extension, then a border run and maybe one more extension to get him through the coldest months of winter "back home". He generally stays 5 or 5 1/2 months per year. A 90 day "visa exemption" stamp would be perfect as it would only require one border run each trip.

 

1 hour ago, Smithson said:

Are the planning another story to tell us what happened? Possibly the vaguest story ever to be put out by Thai media.

It's all in the Thaiger link underneath the story.

I guess it didn't occur to them that the proper way to do it (these days) is to set up a GoFundMe first, then have a "friend" contact the Mirror (or Sun, you know which ones) to "sell" their story - and get their GoFundMe link published.

Then sit back and watch the money pour in. And because your family isn't (directly) involved, no Police, no Interpol alerts and no visits from the local authorities.

Then, after your goal has been reached, announce that the "victim" has escaped and that the "authorities" have arrested the kidnappers - but don't give any actual details like locations, dates and names. Those kind of things can be checked after all. The key is to keep everything generic enough that no one can track down where you actually were, when you actually were there and who was actually involved.

That's why so many of those scams are set up by "a friend" and not an identifiable family member. And the incident happened "in Pattaya" during a trip "last fall" when you stayed at "a hotel" "near the beach" and went "to a bar".

(It's funny too, probably 95% of the GoFundMe scams that center around people in Thailand all seem to happen in Phuket. And the stories almost always first appear in a UK gossip rag (like the Mirror or Sun) - after a GoFundMe has already been set up.)

Why can't these scams happen more often in Pattaya so I can check them out easier ?

 

Have to give lots of advance notice so everyone can be in place for the photos and "gift giving" and so they can rehearse their stories in case someone dares actually ask them a question.

You can bet it will be just like whenever the Police tour Walking Street and then announce that they didn't find any evidence of prostitution happening.

And it's telling that they KNOW what is going on and they do NOTHING about it.

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

11. Your income in Thailand is defined as any money paid to you inside Thailand, as well as, any money you receive from overseas, both types are potentially assessable income for Tax Residents. There are many types of income that can be classed as assessable, the Thai RD lists some of them and is linked below, however, the list is not exhaustive:

https://sherrings.com/personal-income-tax-in-thailand.html#:~:text=Section%2040%20of%20Thailand's%20Revenue,Pensions%3B%20and

 

Note - this link just brings you to this thread. Needs to be redone.

How do they determine what is "income" and what is simply a transfer ?

I'm a "non-resident for tax purposes" according to Revenue Canada. As a result, they tack a 25% "Snowbird" tax onto my pension, which is deposited into my Canadian account.

Once or twice a year I may make a transfer from there to my Thai account. That shouldn't count as "income" and it's already been taxed, but if I go to an accountant, how much you want to bet they will say otherwise.

And then tell me that "for a fee" they can fix it so I don't have to pay anything. (When I probably don't have to pay anything in the first place.)

I can see it now. Having to take 12 months of (Canadian) bank statements into the RD every year to prove the money from my pension and not "income". 

The High Balcony Jump was such a frequent event in Pattaya at one time, I suggest it should be considered an Olympic event. One had to be wary when walking past hi-rise hotels and condos as there was more than just bird poop falling. It seems the city fathers rightly decided that placing warning signs on the sidewalks about possible "falling farangs" might be seen in negative light by some.

There could be a number of reasons one could end up a splat on the ground, regardless of nationality. If the condo has security guards, it should have CCTV as well. That would go a long way to solving what happened.

Note in the story that the police were apparently called twice.  Once when "AP" first tried to enter the condo site. 
"After security guards were called by concerned residents, AP climbed the condo wall in an attempt to flee and vanished. Then, Pattaya police officers were called to investigate and later found out that AP was a tenant and not a trespasser"

And a little later:
"After an hour passed from police confirming AP was a resident and not a trespasser, Uaychai said to the police that he heard a loud sound and went to inspect to find out that AP fell to his death. The police officers were called once again to investigate the case."

So the guy shows up, rattles the gate, scales the wall, then disappears. Police are called and determine (somehow) that the guy was a resident and then leave.
An hour later, the security guy hears a noise, finds the body and the police are called in again.

Looking at the pics, there is no way he scaled up the wall to the eighth floor so he would have had to enter the building normally and gone to his condo.

Normally the police would mention if the unit was "locked from the inside" or not (though that might not be much help unless there was a deadbolt or other device and not just the button on the doorknob).

Too many unknown details to determine what might have happened or why. "Erratic behaviour" could be from a number of causes, like getting home at 1am and realizing your wallet and keys are missing from your pocket. Or leaving a short time hotel after a "date" and seeing your "teerak" entering the same hotel with her (new) date.

I doubt he'd have been too concerned about any "notification" from home calling him up (at 42 years old) for military service. Not if he's been living here in a condo for any length of time.

When I heard "Russian" and "defenestration" one thing immediately came to mind:

Gathered his belongings - but left his passport behind. Uh huh.

And apparently dumped the gun (and extra ammo) somewhere it could easily be found.
This sounds like and episode of "America's Dumbest Criminals" (not a real show though maybe it shoud be).
You know, like the bank robber who wrote a stick-up note on the back of one of his own cheques and then handed it to the cashier.

Not hard to suspect that he was "staying with a friend" or at "the girlfriend's place" because he didn't want his name on a rental agreement (and being reported to Immigration).

Hopefully the media follows up on the story because I suspect there's more going on than reported on so far.

In Jomtien you can do your 90 day report up to 1 week before or 1 week after the due date. They do not automatically reset it when you renew a visa or apply for an extension of stay for an existing visa.

I'd messed up a couple years ago and had the same issue. Did my 90 day. 2 weeks later applied for a new extension. 10 weeks later did another 90 day. Had to go back 2 weeks later to do the bank book check.

Now I arrange my 90 day reports so that one is due the day after I apply for an extension. That way, when I go back to Immigration to get my passport, I can do the 90 day report at the same time and then, because I have to go back again in 90 days for the "bank book check" I can do the next 90 day report at the same time.

Then I look at the calendar and work out when to do my next two 90 day reports so that the 4th one comes due at the same time I have to do my next extension application.

Also remember that if you go out of the country for any reason, it resets the "90 day clock", which restarts when you come back into the country.