PaPiPuPePo

I have a 2 mo. visa but something came up, and so I would like to first enter Thailand overland without having this visa stamped, stay in Bangkok for just a couple of days, fly out for a week to take care of business, then fly back to BKK and start my two-month visa from that point.

I've heard of asking the immigration officer to allow visa-free entry under such circumstances (I can show the R/T ticket confirmation exciting BKK a couple of days later, and returning before I need to use my visa), but would like to check if anyone's had personal experience with this recently and can share. I'd hate to have to depend on a 50/50 situation or whim of the guy/gal in uniform at the border. TIA.

They should make the ban permanent. Booze is a cause of so much grief that far outweigh the "benefits" (giddiness, horniness, saying and doing stupid regrettable things). Buddhism is fundamentally opposed to inebriation and especially that which is carnal i.e. drunkenness.

It would also have the benefit of ridding Thailand of the numerous farang drunks, like the ones who get their panties twisted over the slightest restrictions on their boozing (sure sign of addiction btw). And it would benefit the thousands of women and girls beaten and/or sexually abused, or murdered, every year by drunken men, Thai mostly of course.

Not that enough men, Thai or farang, care enough about those social ills to  consider reducing them worth impinging on their need for inebriation. Party on boys, your alcoholism is officially sanctioned minus brief periods, stock up ahead of time and you'll get through, be brave!

I just outed a Chinese tourist's bad behaviour--made it verbally clear I knew what she was up to and it wasn't going to happen--then a bit later apologised to the Thai seller (whose last few of a particular item the Chinawoman behind me tried to manoeuvre me out of) for arguing with another customer, she actually thanked me for saying something and insisted on giving me a little gift. The generally very well-mannered Thais esp. in the north where this happened are as annoyed as I am by this crassness that is acceptable in China and now being exported around SE Asia.

"Cultural misunderstandings" is too neutral; there are standards of behavior like waiting your turn that are nearly universal and no matter how proud the Chinese are of their country they'd best learn sooner rather than later that the rest of the world won't conform to their standards (god I hope not at least).

And the vested interests here can bend over all they want but the populace isn't going to lesson their distaste for the behaviour of their neighbours to the north even if they have to put up with ever increasing amounts of it. There are already 25,000 Chinese arriving in Thailand on average every day of the year, that's nearly 100 planeloads.....

Here's one for the doggie-wuvers who think every canine no matter how dangerous has a little fufu deep inside trying to get out. Dogs are listed here as one of the world's deadliest animals:

www.bbc.com/news/world-36320744

Good dogs can indeed be man's best friend, I've had dogs as pets and will again, but I've no illusions about aggressive street dogs.

I'm just an occasional visitor to LOS but the last time I did have more refusals than usual. I also fell asleep in the back on a known route, woke up when we arrived and the meter read 120B instead of the usual 60 or so. Wasn't worth arguing about and I had the give the guy credit for being clever.

I can understand because the flag fall is too low IMO, it's been the same 35B since at least my first visit very long ago. So if the drivers are a-okay, probably about 3/4 of the time when I factor in not driving like a maniac or being otherwise unpleasant, I always round up or tip extra beyond that.

Not sure if raising the flag fall would improve behaviour....

I'd go further and make the amount 3 times that, at least. This poor young girl's future marriage prospects have been fundamentally altered now that she'll have a large scar on her face. Sad but true. With the best medical care that can be minimised, but no guarantee she'll get that, certainly not with 150,000B. I wish her the best of luck.

The dog problem in Thailand is definitely one area it's still 3rd world. The obviously dangerous ones need to be put down, but it's highly unlikely a systematic culling will happen. When I have to go through dark sois at night I grab a good-sized stone or two but that's because I played ball for years and can throw hard on target. It's hard to find dark chocolate in Thailand but it's dual purpose, it can stop a dog in its tracks in more ways than one. Not that I'd ever condone such behaviour, of course!

Can't find dark chocolate in Thailand..........Seems like you could do with a good guide dog!

Go the guts to say what you want to say or do you need to couch it in passive-aggressive pseudo wit?

I don't know about guts, but obviously:

a) you don't bother to read the TV rules, but as you say, with a little bit of "passive-aggressive pseudo wit" (555) I think I managed to hit the nail on the head without any of the usual transgressions - and that only takes pseudo-skill, pseudo-guts not required.

you clearly didn't bother to read many of the previous posts associated with this topic before leaping into print and that takes no guts and no skill.

Its just bl**dy lazy.

Incidentally, it doesn't need much guts when it comes to dark chocolate. Its a gutless crime, committed by gutless individuals.

I'm not going to wade into a sh*t-throwing contest with some anonymous guy on the internet, so will pass on line 1.

Line 2, I read the OP and have a right to my opinion, just like you, believe it or not.

Line 3, see line 2.

Line four, now you're calling me gutless, see line 1. And ridding the world of a dog that is aggressive and is threatening to attack me is only a crime in some people's minds, like yours. Others would more reasonably see it as self-defence and a pro-active act that serves the greater good.

You're welcome to your opinion, as are others to theirs, even if that makes you uncomfortable.

Getting back to my first sentence, this conversation's over.

I'd go further and make the amount 3 times that, at least. This poor young girl's future marriage prospects have been fundamentally altered now that she'll have a large scar on her face. Sad but true. With the best medical care that can be minimised, but no guarantee she'll get that, certainly not with 150,000B. I wish her the best of luck.

The dog problem in Thailand is definitely one area it's still 3rd world. The obviously dangerous ones need to be put down, but it's highly unlikely a systematic culling will happen. When I have to go through dark sois at night I grab a good-sized stone or two but that's because I played ball for years and can throw hard on target. It's hard to find dark chocolate in Thailand but it's dual purpose, it can stop a dog in its tracks in more ways than one. Not that I'd ever condone such behaviour, of course!

Can't find dark chocolate in Thailand..........Seems like you could do with a good guide dog!

Go the guts to say what you want to say or do you need to couch it in passive-aggressive pseudo wit?

The dog owner should be made to pay 100% of the medical bills, plus at least one million baht in compensation for the emotional distress caused by the attack.

The dog should be put down and the owner banned from ever owning a dog again.

Of course you are correct. Anyone who contradicts your sentiments is barking up the wrong tree.

And I'm not being sarcastic!.

Soi dogs should be declared as being owned by the local authorities, and the 'laws' stated above should be applied to these authorities.

Reckon that would deal with the soi dog problem quick sticks.

I'd go further and make the amount 3 times that, at least. This poor young girl's future marriage prospects have been fundamentally altered now that she'll have a large scar on her face. Sad but true. With the best medical care that can be minimised, but no guarantee she'll get that, certainly not with 150,000B. I wish her the best of luck.

The dog problem in Thailand is definitely one area it's still 3rd world. The obviously dangerous ones need to be put down, but it's highly unlikely a systematic culling will happen. When I have to go through dark sois at night I grab a good-sized stone or two but that's because I played ball for years and can throw hard on target. It's hard to find dark chocolate in Thailand but it's dual purpose, it can stop a dog in its tracks in more ways than one. Not that I'd ever condone such behaviour, of course!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/11/lost-city-medieval-discovered-hidden-beneath-cambodian-jungle

Khmer Angkor culture was even more developed than previously known. At the time this civilisation had the world's biggest city (and was producing traditional arts of the highest caliber, including, no doubt, Khol dance) the Thais were still migrating down from the north. Bolsters the Cambodians' case.

a lot of asian countries have these dances so how does Cambodia believe it is there countries alone and no other should do it

"Thailand is requesting for the World Heritage listing of Thai food, Thai boxing, Norah dancing and Khon respectively."

Thai food, boxing, and (I guess, no expert) Khon dancing are similar to and probably derived from the older Khmer versions, after all Khmer culture pre-dates Thai by a long time.

So a better question might be, why does Thailand think it can call this stuff Thai and only Thai?

And there's no indication in the article that Cambodia's purpose is "no other should do it" as you write.

I hear a lot of prejudiced anti-Cambodian sentiment among Thai expats (influenced by their "hosts"), few have ever spent any time in Cambodia (visa runs don't count) or know much if anything about the history. Is that the case here?

This business with the phone is very muddled. I read the whole buzz feed article and it's not a nail in the coffin, the timeline is not clear, it could have been planted, there's confusion as to the phones, custody of them isn't clear, and no doubt more than that.

DiscoDan is wielding this like the hammer of Thor but it's far from conclusive. That it was enough to establish "beyond a reasonable doubt" doesn't mean that was anything close to an int'l standard. The vagaries of the investigation and the Thai justice system have been well establish.

So DD's several (dozen?) claims based on this are far from convincing.

Interesting, once again one or two people can tie up the whole thread and narrow the issues to be debated to those they can claim some certainty about or bandy back arguments against their points.

Disco Dan the fact is, the DNA wasn't handled in ways conforming to int'l standards. This is important because unlike fingerprints or other physical evidence DNA evidence can be manipulated easily. If you argue that point because you don't know what I mean then you're really just being a troll.

The chain of custody was revealed to have been broken. Their were claims by the RTP about processing and clearing individuals, who just happened to be from the #1 family on KT, that were impossible or incredibly implausible.

The RTPs explanation of the B2's motive is laughable and easily discredited by anyone with education or experience in criminology/policing. Even armchair detectives know that means, motive, and opportunity are the three keys, and this explanation doesn't satisfy that for motivation, while the other two have major weaknesses in terms of making a case against the B2.

Any attempt to "solve" this case that denies or ignores the social and power contexts is disingenuous. I'd suggest that anyone who hasn't been to KT and had a good look at the social situation there doesn't have much standing to comment on the case unless they accept the fact of the enormous imbalance that exists there.

If you don't believe me, maybe you should go there and try really testing the local boys' power, like make one of them lose face. They're easy to find. Then we'll know if you have multiple accounts here as has been suggested by how many go permanently dark lol.

It's not a normal society there (well I've only been to about 3 dozen countries and lived in half a dozen, but based on that sample) and the way this whole thing has played out is a perfect reflection of the feudal situation there.

If you have a need or strong desire to be convinced and convince others the B2 are guilty, then that's really your own problem to solve. I guess it's worth spending hours on the attempt. But know that even if you engage or convince a peanut gallery of TV members there's a silent majority (that I'll join, my time is valuable) that's not fooled in the least. Good luck.

i wonder how many thousands pounds, the british couple have to fork out at the hospitals?

and how many they wouldn't have if they had just walked away..if the son didnt FIRST push they guy, she didnt slap the guy FIRST, son didnt grab the guy in a head lock FIRST, dad didnt punch the guy FIRST.....but forget about all that!!, yeah, OTT what happened after..but lets just forget the first part aye.....

out of curiosity, how many fake accountS do you have on thaivisa????

because we all know that you are certainly one of our long-term resident thai apologists....

The post above yours gives a clear picture of what happened--which is what it looked like to me as well. The drunk Thais who showed themselves later to be utter thugs were the aggressors. Not the Brits who did get physical but showed themselves to be clueless about street fighting i.e. not the types to engage in it. The Thai thugs sucker-punched and kicked the old lady when down, then ran away. Gutless low-class cowards of the worst sort.

frank and the other guy trying to put the blame on the victims and take it off these creeps, read the above analysis and then decide if you can face the truth.

i dont know about you guys, but i found the few troll-thai apologists(soi biker bonkers, chiang mai, thaiduncack) as disgusting than the thai scums.

For God's sake, an ederly woman, age unknow, was kicked in the head and in the teeth, but you still have these stray dogs who will defend anything thai.(some of them have posted more than a dozen messages on this thread)

Nobody Mr Bender is attempting to defend the actions of those Thais and everyone agrees the beating was disproportionate, it's a measure of your poor reading and./or comprehension skills if you think differently. But what a few people, including myself have tried to do here is to account for why the altercation happened in the first place, to that end we've looked at the video several times and concluded that it started with a bump between two people that the foreigner should have acknowledged but didn't. The problem was later compounded by two of the foreigners hitting two Thai men in public and making them lose face, the rest is history as they say but the reasons I've outlined is why the problem happens in the first place.

Some people may say that bump between the two men was nothing, the sort of bodily contact that takes place every day in the streets of London or New York and they would of course be correct. Sadly however Thailand is neither of those places and bodily contact between strangers hence they are not correct in reference to Thailand. In the main, bodily contact by stranagers is frowned on, mostly it's avoided unless an apology or acknowledgement follows, think manners! That contact is about invading another persons space, it's part of the reason why Thai's will often cut across right in front of you when a Westerner might have waited a moment and gone behind you. Many will think that's a small deal and whilst once again it was disproportionate to the beating that followed, it is not a small deal, it's a cultural difference that visitors need to understand and judging from these two threads, very few people do.

So that was the issue that started the ball rolling, it escalated from there when the foreign woman hit the Thai male and her son punched another man. Some may say it was just a slap, nothing to speak of, she's an old lady and they would again be right. Except in Thailand and in other Asian countries a foreigner cannot just slap a local man, especially a drunken one and in public and expect nothing bad would happen, whatever was going through their heads that made them think differently on that point can only be down to alcohol I would guess. Face and loss of face is massively important here and it doesn't matter who or what the offender is, trouble will almost certainly follow.

There, we've explained it all to you, now you don't have to feel bad that you didn't understand what was going on and resort to calling people names.

Good job explaining exactly how toxic this aspect of "face" is. You've made it clear you think Thais are justified in kicking people unconscious and putting them in an ICU because they lost face.

Obviously the two drunks agree with you because they didn't run away, they weren't arrested for their actions, and they didn't apologise to the elderly people they brutalised.

Oh, wait......

From one of the articles:

"He said that a friend's Thai girlfriend heard some locals discussing attacking tourists at the end of a day of heavy drinking."

Yes, the old woman made a serious mistake slapping the Thai man, it looks like she was first trying to appeal to his conscience for knocking her son (or the other falang guy?) down, so she made two mistakes: assuming one of these low-class uneducated Thai men would have a conscience, and making such a guy lose face.

Kicking anyone when they're down and running away is as low as it gets, but that's the usual MO here, draw what conclusions you want what that says about the character of these low-class Thai males.

I'm experienced enough here to completely avoid eye-contact or even acknowledge any of them. I never wear flip-flops at night, and avoid situations where I could be jumped when on the islands.

It would be a good idea for officials to have a simple 10-point list of things to do in Thailand handed out at SVB-- starting with say sawatdee khrap/kha to everyone, as well as khawp khun khrap/kha, add a sabai dee to make friendly, and otoh never make a Thai (esp. male) feel "bad," meaning always fluff his thin and sensitive skin lest he have a hissy fit and kick or shoot you in the face.

Can't figure out why they don't do that

I'll add I get along great with the vast majority of Thais, who are good-humoured and polite (even if it's only skin-deep, as long as interactions are mutually polite, works for me), and the rest, these males I speak of, I just keep away from but keep aware of.

Of course what they did was stupid, incredibly stupid. But that's what addicts do. Self-destructive behaviour, but comparing them to rapists and murderers?

Buying heroin indirectly hurts others, to be sure, but their part in that is 1/1000th of the dealers and, if what's commonly said is to be believed, the corrupt cops are liable for.

Lots of kiss-up kick-down folks on TV, and a lot of folks (guys) who probably have drunk way too much beer and lost too many brain cells to follow a straight line of reasoning. Been away for a while, now it's all coming back to me.

Vigilante groups need to be formed to sort these pricks out.

She an older lady, I don't think she needs sorting out as you put, just some education in other cultures perhaps.

Im on about sorting the Thais out. Anyone who kicks someone in the head when on the floor needs a good hiding.

Why don't you go down there and teach them a lesson?

Be sure and pick a spot in front of a camera so we can see how you get on.

White Knight syndrome and no I don't mean misterphil.

Welcome to thailand land of gutless thugs.

Iv seen many a gutless thug in USA, England, Australia and so on.. My mate was bashed senseless in London earlier this year.. So your welcome to Thailand comment is irrelevant !!

No it is NOT irrelevant. This kind of thing happens much more often in Thailand than anywhere else. Next time, get your facts right!

Got any figures to support that 'fact'?

Maybe you should get yours right even if they get in the way of your ill-informed and prejudiced opinion. The English guy didn't apologise sufficiently to the Thai thug he inadvertently bumped into. Regardless, thug #1 in the black shirt with red in front makes a beeline for one of the Brits, punches an old lady in the face, and when he's done runs away like the coward he is. Thug #2 kicks her in the face when she's down.

None of the Thais standing around do anything until they're gone when a couple half-heartedly check if they're still alive.

Most Thai men of a certain class have a toxic mix of arrested development, self-entitlement because they're men, lack of education and ethical maturity, and burning resentment that they direct at falang, add to that the general xenophobia here. You can deny it all you want, doesn't mean it's not pervasive.

Maybe some night you'll be peddling down a soi and get jumped by two similar cowards, getting knocked out might be what it takes to wake you up.

The number of idiots in this world never ceases to amaze.

How anyone can be so stupid as to act this way in this day and age is beyond me.

I have never bought, sold or used heroin but even I know that acting in the manner these fools did could only end in tears.

Addiction is a disease that could happen to you. Sometimes you really should stop and think before posting - is it because of low self-esteem that you constantly try to belittle sick people?

I am belittling their stupidity at walking into such an obvious set up.

Because that's what it was, a set up.

And that's what they were, stupid.

Drug taking as a sickness, not sure? Might be, might not be.

However that's no excuse for acting in such a idiotic manner.

I take no pleasure from their situation, but I have no sympathy either. You reap what you sow.

If you don't know jack about heroin then you have no right to comment one way or the other. Your ignorance speaks volumes. Yeah, all the sociopaths in the world ruining millions of lives have certainly reaped what they've sown, haven't they? Or are you one of those deluded folks who believes "all will be sorted out in the afterlife" but still advocate ruinous laws that further destroy the lives of people already caught in the web of addiction.

Since you're so squeeky-clean and devoid of faults maybe you should start your own religion.

calamity of errors

RIP to the lady.

An "error" doesn't really describe the way that truck was loaded and not properly marked. Gross, criminal negligence is more like it. Whoever was in charge of that load is ripe for a lawsuit from the family, I hope they go after him or them.

I've been ogling the eye-candy in Thailand off and on for longer than I care to share, and I have noticed there are a lot more chunky young ladies than there used to be. It's inevitable when a country "develops" according to the IMF/World Bank etc paradigm.

And I'm not advocating women be undernourished, but the "nourishment" available in Thailand esp. in BKK since the '90s has taken a hard turn towards junk food and it shows.

It's a tree. Plant some. Why are there no plantations for this lucractive commodity after all this time?

A tree farm is not a forest. Better than nothing, but not the best solution by any means.

Too bad this headline isn't, I suspect, at all accurate; I doubt the loggers are getting cut to bits by small-arms fire or hammered by artillery. If only there were soldiers in those forests honing their marksmanship on these guys, it would serve two positive goals.

By the time the Chinese are done, there won't be much left of the planet. Enjoy your cheap manufactured goods.

Yes they are definitely in a hurry to spend all their "Greenbacks" before they become worthless. America thought they were giving China a helping hand when they agreed to all those trade deals with them and shipped most of the good paying jobs to Great Wall. They opened a Pandora's box and the horse is out of the barn on this one. The Chinese are clever people they are also taking their Yankee greenbacks and buying up American real estate by the billions. A stealth takeover from within. They will definitely beat the Mexicans and the Muslims in claiming the heartland.

That, of course, is the core of the issue. Had the USA in its extraordinary greed for cheap goods not funded the Chinese "industries" to produce those goods at rock bottom prices with slave labour none of this would have happened. You should blame the USA not China...though sadly the end story is no-one wins

You display an astounding ignorance of China, not that being ignorant ever stops people from sounding off, quite the opposite.

Looks like the dude scored, kudos to him.

Over pricing is everywhere in Thailand.

A few days ago i had a farang visit me.

It was very hot so the lady went to our village shop.

She bought ice, 3 small bottles of coke.

Price should have been 10 baht ice, 3x12 baht coke.

She was charged 60 baht. When she told me, i said thats wrong.

Next day my wife went to the same shop, bought same items 46 baht.

My wife asked why did you charge my farang friend 60 baht.

Answer was, she farang tourist she got big money.

Now we will go to the other village shop, he thought he was being smart but has lost a regular customer over his short sighted greed.

The 711 doesn't do that, only those mum and pap stores do. So i boycot them..

And it's too bad to have to give cash to a multinational corporation supposedly controlled by the Moonies rather than local people.

I'm in a tourist area at the moment, went to a pharmacy, they asked 240 baht for a strip of pills that should be 80 baht. They no doubt pay higher rent in that spot, but not 300% higher rent. I walked out and they said "okay 150 baht" as I left but I ignored them. No shame, just face.