Poo Ying FeFe

Best advice: Don't bother with it. Second best advice: Don't stay there. It's such a dump now, and for more expense and less vibrancy compared to Phuket.

In low season... Restaurants are closed by 10pm and many bars do not even open (if your looking for nightlife). It's probably very appealing to chill out on PhiPhi Don if you're a Hippy, some people smoke quite openly there but it's a pretty sad set up.

If you really really must visit PhiPhi - Pop over during the day by ferry from Rassada Pier, also spelt Ratsada Pier in some searches. There's plenty of parking and it's easy to get there by renting a scooter.

As above... Tons of info listed online and plenty of speedboat operators to choose from. You can buy some cheap packages on PhiPhi Don to do a boat tour of the main attractions but you will be squeezed for time to do it on a day trip.

The islands are pretty run down. If you go in high seasons be prepared to find hundreds of tourists wondering around and ruining any decent photo opportunites.

Why don't you book a standard day tour on a good quality boat. All the best views are from the ocean looking at the PhiPhi's. That I do highly recommend but it depends on your budget.

Bottom pics are from the crap tour. My good tour and pics are too special for TVisa sorry.

Fefe.

Did anyone take the Camaro for a test? It looked pretty old and dull but it's got to be new... Imagine sitting at the traffic lights at Central Festival in 35degree heat with no air-con...

The Camaro's asking price can easily fetch ฿6mill here. If retail price sits around $100,000 in the U.S for a rare limited edition version...http://static.thaivisa.com/forum//public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif image.jpg

Overpriced VW. Depreciation is ridiculous and so is the costs to maintain it.

The Camaro is more attractive.

Not 100K, but about 1/2 that for a fully loaded one, like the ZL1 Coupe at around 56K

Chevy Camara COPO starts somewhere from $89k. Yes regular Camara's nearer $40k. I didn't check out the showroom on Chaofah West so have no idea about what he actually stocked. Poor guy may have even purchased a regular spec model thinking it was a limited spec.

Also, nothing wrong with German engineering. Bugatti don't seem to suffer from a VW engine

Did anyone take the Camaro for a test? It looked pretty old and dull but it's got to be new... Imagine sitting at the traffic lights at Central Festival in 35degree heat with no air-con...

The Camaro's asking price can easily fetch ฿6mill here. If retail price sits around $100,000 in the U.S for a rare limited edition version... Then add Insurance, Handling, Shipping, Import Duty, VAT. Of course he's going to need $200k out if it. He would look for nothing less than a 30% margin and price it knowing the customer will knock him down.

Simples.

I personally prefer a Bentley... Hahaa just show-rooming.

Hi, only last week, BA's official site offered the direct flight BKK direct to London Heathrow for £750. That's using the site from Thailand. I couldn't book it because you have to pay using a credit card but you might still find it on there.

Even checking discount sites in Thai - there are not any discounts on the good airlines that can offer the same kind of deals that we get offered from the UK. I have no idea why on average it costs 25% more to travel BKK-London-BKK compared to the opposite route. Maybe travel agents are more competitive in the UK and can pass on great deals.

I just booked Emirates for £850 but with a two hour stop in Dubai. It was a steal compared to Thai Airways, Malaysia Air, Eva Air and Quantas who are currently priced at £1000.

India Air, Jet Air, Vietnam and Sri Lanka are priced nearer £650 but with multiple and longer stops. The Indian operators offer promo rates throughout the year... but they get bought up seriously quick - i wonder if they are just being sold in bulk to tour agencies then passed to flyers at the inflated rate.

I personally feel that it's more a task of continuously clearing your cache and checking each day until one of the airlines drop in a discounted fare. If you find a return flight with a 4* or 5* operator near to £750 with short legs, then i recommend that you snap it up. I've not seen any deals close to £550 from Thailand like they still offer from the UK.

Good luck.

Fefe

It doesn't matter what country you are in, the job description seems to attract some really sick people.

Plus the overall problem here seems to be the general mood that is assumed with women in Thailand. Thai men are taking advantage of vulnerable foreign women - Foreign men are taking advantage of vulnerable thai women. Men who think that they are mini-Gods, you guys must see them around right?

Espen & Hansgruber, how did that make you guys feel when that happened to your partners and does it effect you when you read the stories in the newspaper from other women's reports? Did you stop using the taxi's too after that happened? It must have caused a lot of problems for you.

@IrishIvan and co, I wouldn't disregard carrying a spray or a tazor but it's really not suitable to move it between your hand bag and Checked in luggage at the airport. Especially since the cab drivers at the airport are insanely annoying. You couldn't put a weapon drop-box in the airport like they do at the ones abroad because somebody would just take the stuff back out and sell them to rapists in the car park.

@andreandre, the last time i went to a nice hotel with my friends and asked for a taxi... the driver came over to greet us in the reception and lead us to his taxi which was a minute down the road, at the regular taxi spot... So the same taxi drivers we are thinking about avoiding. I'm not familiar with which local hotels have their own chauffeurs, as far as i have seen, they use the local guys in their 10 seater Mercedes. I don't live near the big tourist resorts. Is that what you meant?

Cheers fellas. Good to get your feedback. It's not nice hearing about the number of bad Journeys but good to understand where Phuket stands with its loyalty to womens safety. I honestly thought it was much better now - and i was just worrying about lame conversation. Now all we need is SuperWoman to clear this mess up.

I just googled that story on the chinese tourist, I haven't been following that kind of news. My brain has been elsewhere. I imagined there might have been some improvements in their industry, what with the issuance of the green number plates etc. - easier to get caught raping and so on...

I'll take my own transport, otherwise i'll be sitting behind the driver with a cord in my hands waiting for him to do something suspicious.

Shame the Russian taxi's arent around anymore. Especially since people generally say that Russians don't fancy Chinese and Thai women... They would have a niche market there.

Well, I'll throw my 2 satang in.

Many people, for the sake of saving a few baht, end up spending more. Example: you drive to the airport to save a few baht, but someone breaks into your car by smashing a window, now, it's cost you thousands of baht.

It's peace of mind to know your car is safe at home, less km's going onto the clock, no airport parking fees, no gasoline to pay, no risk an accident can be made to be your fault.

Thank you dear Namkangman, i do agree with those points.

For me - it's not a money influenced decision. It's not for a quick visa run or anything.

So i'll put it to you all this way - if you were unable to take your Wife or grown up Daughter to the airport because of prior commitments. Would you feel relaxed to pop her into a taxi, or would you insist she drive herself there and park up? Forget about how much the car is worth or how many days she is going for.

Fe.

My lamps are just yellow today, anyone else on the island with lower than usual power?

Yes....my bathroom water-heater could only manage tepid water instead of the usual hot water.

Aawww i love a cold shower but i don't get a droplet of water when the powers out. In fact i get locked inside my home when the powers out. Not much fun.

Sorry, are you a man or a woman? And what is a WC... WC is the abbreviation for a toilet right?

Price depends on how the taxi driver is feeling and how well you can negotiate. ฿1000 is a good estimate for my location but you might be nearer to the airport.

(My Wifi keeps dropping out).

Hello Phuket neighbours,

What is your oppinion about women travelling by taxi alone in Phuket.

I'm struggling to decide if i should park my car at the airport or organise a taxi pick-up. I'm 45mins from the airport and travelling in the daytime.

Both options are convenient and affordable but i'm a bit of a nervous traveller in taxi's by myself. I avoid taking taxi's on my own because of:

1) lame conversations with taxi drivers (pretending to sleep doesn't work).

2) weird diversions between pick-up and drop-off points.

3) crap, dangerous driving (too fast)

4) crap, annoying driving (too slow)

Then again, maybe cars get scratched or dinked when left at the airport...?

If you have some thoughts you'd like to add which might help, please do.

Thanks.

Just to expand on those above recommendations. There is a real magazine called HiSoParty that you can check, ive never read it myself but the title stands out like a sore thumb.

If you were at a product launch or gala event than they may put some images in Thailands Tatler and Hello.

Content based mags like Di-chun and Preaw rarely feature party snaps. Touch and Volume magazines may feature party photo's if it was Product promo related, same for all the international titled fashion mags. There are a only a few other Prints to look out for but i dont know what they are called since i'm not a HiSo. Your basically searching for a needle in a haystack. Thailand currently have just as many mags as many Western countries.

If it was a regular event than the person who invited you will know which Instagram user to search for. Social media apps are the liklier place to find the photographers.

Mosquitos biting through jeans?This is hard to believe. Especially on the ass where the rear pockets add thickness.

No... You've missed a wedge of the conversation. The time that i was bitten on my arse - i was wearing the breathable yoga style pants, that are a light jersey type of fabric, this was while standing around at an exercise class when the teacher was talking out some coaching tips.

I don't expect all men to have an informed understanding of women's fashion, so just to clarify, the style of jeans are unlike mens thick denim fabric. They add a large amount of elasticity to women's jeans so that we can attain a slimline 'Skinny' look. I was bitten through the fabric and on the sides of my thighs when i wore this.

I avoid full lycra items like the plague because its well known that mossies can get you through that fabric - unfortunately a lot of fashionable items contain some lycra to allow a better fit.

Bates Motel sitcom - playing on Universal channel on Thai cable. Features some very cool movie actors/actresses.

worst : ive moved to lad phrao and im stark white skinned and white hair, the way i am looked at, told by men they love me, or i love (then action out grabbing their brests type motion) and then theres just the very awkward taking photos of me on their mobiles, or following me.

i am uncomfortable to say the least.

The best. i am unsure yet, maybe exposing the thai people to other types of people, and also exposing me and opening up my eyes to the thai culture.

btw - does anyone know if i can buy probiotics in the small chemists along the streets in lad prhao bangkok, and also something for this anxiety that im feeling since moving here!!

Woah - Jasmineelizabeth... Banned after 2 posts... am i reading that correctly?

(In case you are reading offline)

Sorry you're having a hard time settling in - it just goes to show that even the more 'Cosmopolitan' city areas, still home people who do not practice good social skills. Your local pharmacy will offer you a range of strong meds - but you will be better off researching different meds online and checking the side effects out prior to making your purchase. Im not in BKK but there are a number of health food/organic stores down here that use suppliers in BKK. 'BOOTS' chemist stock the imported varieties at a premium.

Good luck x

Hi all, thanks again for helping out with your wise words.

Fortunately there is hope for the worst of us sufferers. Long term exposure has been my answer - The bites gradually stopped swelling up so badly. I began reducing the Cetirizine pills and now i only pop an antihistamine very occasionally for the rare occasions when that the Mosquitos attack me. My body has finally adapted to it's surroundings and doesn't flare up like before. I only use a very light spritz of DEET on my bare ankles in the evenings. No more need for the intense DEET gels.

Another tip for anyone currently suffering from the Mossie feeding frenzies is - do not leave clothes or linen outside at night in the garden. The moisture from the temperature changes during the night seem to attract the horrid things to rest on the material. Forget about stagnant water... If you have linens that get a bit moist at dawn... they will happily hide themselves on that.

Khun Nam Kang Man, cheers for your advice... I love my Racquet but I'm not crazy to carry it around outside of my house although the thought did cross my mind just once...

actually I live next to a muslim neighbourhood, I'm not really worried about offending anybody here. Strangely enough, It was a gift from my Buddhist friends.

"Thai Time"... is definitely an advantage.

If like me, you put things off till the last minute and dislike rigidness, then you are in the right place. Thai Time is your ticket to freedom, especially if you organise business with Thai people (quote: Not All Thai People!) because you are suddenly working in sync

Happy days.

Thanks again for all the input.

I'm having a much better time with the mossies now! Hoorah

Firstly, I realised that the creams I was using had a really low Deet ingredient of 13% and were lightly floral fragranced. So I started using the 50% concentration and its like wearing a Mosquito-Shield. They just cannot sense me and fly right on by. Thanks Namkangman for bringing that to my attention.

Second thing, I guess it's just down to body-chemistry but the antihistamine Loratadine was not helping my allergic reaction to the bites, it's very affective for pollen and animal hair - airborne style allergies. But for the skin Cetirizine came up with top marks. 10mg twice per day after a bad mossie attack completely calms the itchiness down and prevents it from getting bigger and bumpy.

Lastly and most ultimately... I came across this bad boy... (You did ask for pics)

A mosquito electrocution racquet. I can play tennis with them all day now and I catch them before they catch me. It's much better then spraying chemicals indoors but you still have to sweep up the corpses.

Hi all. Sorry I've been away for ages and ages.

So coming back to the 'Integration' question; it was not intended to baffle you folk, I was asking how the two sides (specifically non-Thai & Thai) come to be together (through relationships, friendships, occupation) to make a whole new & unique entity and the feelings that come with it. More so, the personal aspects - not the administrative. Apologies for the vagueness.

The topic is NOT... How does a westerner completely convert themselves to become a fully accepted, legal Thai national, who is able to live in total peace and harmony in Thailand. That would be a crazy persons question.

I can of course sympathise with many of the members frustrations here, about the lack of support one can experience in Thailand and the barriers one can run into. Trying to do something which can be as simple as buying a motorbike, opening a regular bank account, hiring a maid, taking a taxi... (the list is endless) can be totally vexing.

Also, please remember that I did offer you guys the Best & Worst; we know its not all 'plane sailing'.

Happy days.

PYFF.

my daughters only 6 months old, she looks more thai but is light skin, she also looks very much like me, but looks far more thai if that makes sense.

Are you Thai? Or do you just mean that she looks like a Thai version of you because of her similar features?

rubbish thru the window? WHIMP! )

Just kidding. I grew up in a mixed household in the 50's and 60's in the states. Army Brat. Kids growing up in the MTV era, have NO idea of opression. In the civi schools that i went to, there were "whites", "blacks" and "japs". if you were chinese, you might be lucky enough to be called "chink", but mostly you were a "jap". if you were asian, but not japanese, or chinese, you were still "japs". If you were from a mixed home, they really didnt know what to call you. So you became "jap" to the blacks, "nigger" to the whites. Execpt among the army families. There people understood, and we got along,,,,,,,,, somewhat.

It was ok. i just kicked everyone's asses in every achedemic test they gave me. That pretty much shut them up.

If you havent figured, the above was the worst, and the last line was the best . Just trying to fit into the topic parameters lol

Hey, no worries. I've always imagined the mixed kids growing up in the 50s & 60s & 70s had it a hundred times worse than what I'd ever experienced. It's beautiful that kids these days can wake up in a more culturally diverse and accepting world. It's how it should be and I'm glad. Your story is important. Your Mother & Father where braver and stronger than many of us to integrate their cultures at that time

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

OP hasn't shown up since his 1st post nearly 2 months ago. Guess he's got his rocks off by now.

Or, he is a regular member who signed up with a new profile to post a thread which is rather personal. I respect if someone wants feedback and maintain anonymity.

I can think of a dozen reasons why some women are more prudish than others and these have nothing to do with being of any particular race. However, it doesnt help that Thailand doesn't allow their women to purchase sex toys (legally anyways). My advice to foreign guys... Bring your gal a nice little gift next time you're out of the country

Hiya, sorry if I'm repeating something, I haven't got enough time to read through all the replies yet...

Have you talked to her about what birth control she's using? If she's on the pill it an play havec with the hormones (libido) and emotions of course!! We ladies experience all types of horrible ugly side affects from these. Perhaps discussing something like ths with her will help you guys to pick something suitable.

Also, some skinny Thai girls take diet pills/ diet drinks and depending on which one, they destroy a woman's libido.

Hope this helps.