Judo Chop

There are plenty of qualified life savers here in Oz and clearly a large shortage on Phuket.

Why don't the authorities put out the call to volunteers from Australia (maybe offer free accommodation or subsidised airfares)?

Problem solved (for this year at least).

Someone's got to put up those red flags!

is this the man who wears a balaclarver on his head when on the news in hand cufffs. is this the best picture we can get. why does he get specail treatment. i have never seen that before in Thailand.maybe that is is real face just looks like a balacalaver maybe that picture is his mask. maybe he is some freak like out of a bat man film

The caption actually suggests that the photo is of the deceased, not the alleged murderer!

The last time I checked, Phuket's beaches were a major draw-card.

Time for the greedy authorities to spend less time promoting the destination and put more money into ensuring the safety of it's lifeblood, the tourist!

Just think of the money and the time and resources they are going to have to invest once the authorities go into full damage control mode after the first couple of deaths occur this season on 'once patrolled beaches'.

Shame.

If you think these announcements are great news, just wait until next week!

I have it on good authority that the Thai telco's will be unveiling their latest technology, 'Dial up'.

more aussie bogans heading over to the LOS. thats all we need. Cant they go to bali to surgically improve their looks.

No one is holding a gun to your head. You could always leave if you're disgusted by Aussies. Just saying.

If you need a lawyer in Thailand - you have either done something wrong, or about to do something wrong.

How observant of you

You are wise to ask this question. There are many scams running. Current prices are 200B for shared van, (agents desks will clearly show this option in arrivals area) 600ish baht for metered Taxi.(out doors turn right) 750-800B for "limo" (Toyota Camry) but they often open negotiations asking for much more. One of our guests did not do the research you have and was charged 4000B to Kata. They often do this for late night arrivals as the metered taxi and shared vans don't operate late at night.

Be careful as there have been multiple reports of touts showing a map to arriving tourists with the price of 1800B or more to the beach towns. This is a scam. There is a bus system that was supposed to be running by now, but at present the Kata Karon taxi mafia have threatened to blockade it if it runs, so it's operation has been postponed.

Now if only hotels, resorts and guest houses actually informed their guests (at the time of booking) about this potential 'issue' that they may face on arrival, less folks would fall for this scam.

The only reason these drivers try it on is because of the fact that so many schmucks before them, have accepted the extortionate rate.

Will there be little kiosks set up at the beach in Phuket and Pattaya to deal out instant justice to the jet ski scammers ???

And apparently, all whilst senior police were dining downstairs with guests!

Reports suggest that many passports were stolen (I assume the passports were in the safe).

Just goes to show that in room safes offer around the same level of protection as a petty cash tin.

Always try 0000 on the safe, as this is often a default code the hotels use for when guests forget their own codes.

If it opens with the default code, you may as well leave your valuables on the bedside table.

Love the finger pointing. Forget saying 'cheese', just point at the low life scumbag instead.

I enjoyed reading about the OP's trip and their perspective, which is not too dissimilar to my own views.

In fact, I read it twice and there was nothing in the OP to warrant any sort of accusation or attack.

I know it's selfish to lump it on others but I wish more of these d1ckheads types would leave Australian shores only to wind up in a shithole prison.

Well that, plus the fact that it would be nice to see a few present day stories in the Banged Up Abroad episodes.

Time to be aware of box, irukandji and morkeba jelly fish in southern Gulf , is from start of NE monsoon to the end of it. Plus another month of Sw winds to help clear them.

Be particularly careful after a large blow that has lasted several days from the NE monsoon, these things are getting more and more prevalent.

Which months would that be? May-Nov (Dec)?

Yeah no doubt more and more people will be hit as they get more numerous here. Maybe it'll be like W Australia one day, hopefully not too soon...

I think you might mean 'Northern' Australia. WA is no worse than North QLD as far as boxies go.

Give the guy a bloody chance. Come back and slay him all you like if nothings changed in 6-12 months but he deserves a fair go and the opportunity to back up his words.

Helmet and insurance. Now there's 2 words we seldom see in the same sentence.

Why can't the negotiations be finalised at the victims hospital bed side? Why does it have to be done at the station?

What a crock of shit excuse for having failed to take any action against the owners of the dog/s.

I also didn't realise that criminal charges were up for negotiation in such an instance but I guess you learn something new every day.

What's the point of having a psychic sit an exam? Wouldn't they already know what the questions were going to be

OK guys, on the count of 3 smile and move forward for the camera and appear to look like you've done this before.

They really need to create a special levy for all tours to Racha for the purpose of cleaning up the waste and using environmentally friendly ways of disposing of the rubbish.

I've seen the many day tours arrive and it's scary the amount of rubbish they leave when they depart.

Sad.

Too big a problem, Too small a budget to fix it.

How about tourists start taking responsibility for many of their own actions.

You know, like the things people are in full control of eg: amount of alcohol consumed.

Of course you're going to be targeted if you get yourself legless and appear vulnerable.

This is precisely the scenario the crims and scammers are waiting for.

Let your guard down, it's your fault.

I can't say I would ever hand over a whole bunch of keys to a stranger. Just the relevant key/s needed to complete their task.

Go into her wallet. Find any credit card that should not be there. Pull out scissors. Use said scissors to cut the card into no fewer than 200 pieces.

Problem solved.