keestha

Italian involved in ATM card snatch and run attempt in Phuket

Reading the title of the thread, I assumed it was the Italian who had done the snatching and running.

She don't look Irish.

A honorary consul doesn't have to be a national of the country he/she represents. The honorary consul for Austria in Phuket is a Thai guy who doesn't speak German.

Compared to the UK prison system, the Thai prison system does not only have disadvantages. In many British jails, they spend almost the full day in the cell, whilst in Thailand for a big part of the day they are in the open courtyard.

This blog is written by a British guy who was transferred to a prison in the UK after having been incarcerated in Bangkok for a very long time.

She don't look Irish.

Just what should she look like?

Keesters,

Your screen name resembles mine too much. You risk being confused with me. Most of my posts are obvious trolling attempts. I say attempts, because a good trolling post should be subtle, not instantly recognizable as such. Sadly in my case, the intelligence is lacking for doing it that way.

Sorry for going off topic.

Karon again and again, it doesn't stop. Once ever I spent time in Kovalam/India, where like in Karon the sea looked very inviting for swimming/bodysurfing. But when I checked into the hotel they sternly warned me not to go into the sea further than the water being at hip level, telling me many people had drowned there. Possibly hotels/guesthouses could be requested to hand out a leaflet to guests checking in, written in their language, warning about the dangers of swimming at that beach.

In June this year I spent one day in Pattaya. No signs in English anymore, only in Russian. Except on one occasion when I heard people speaking Dutch, the only language I heard spoken by tourists on the street was Russian.

Sorry, again a "where to find" thread which pushes down the more interesting threads.

I need to buy letter stickers, both normal and Thai script, the somewhat bigger variety, where in Phuket should I look?

Thanks, K.

Learning Thai it wouldn't bring so much talking to other foreigners doing the same thing. They are likely to teach you incorrectly, or you might do this to them.

Lately sitting in a restaurant I heard an expat teaching a tourist how to call the waitress in Thai, he instructed her to call out a word that can be translated as "filth", similar to the correct word which is pronounced using another tone (rising instead of flat).

The only advantage would be to exchange tips about learning materials. OP, did you download fundamentals of the Thai language ?

Maybe a North Korean on a super secret mission.

Third possibility, Surin Islands@2400 Baht.

If you are staying in Khao Lak, with a bit of looking around you should be able to find Similan@1800 Baht, and Koh Ta Chai@2300 Baht. If they have to pick you up in Phuket it will be a bit more.

Better to wait for the toxicology report and results from the CCTV footage, instead of speculating. There are always more possibilities than those you think of straight away. It might for instance be an allergic reaction because she had been drinking something she usually doesn't drink.

My impression is that the dry season has become wetter than it used to be, the last 5 years or so.

Why do the loops when you can park your vehicle? Furthermore, the flight could be delayed.

Not quite sure how accurate this is to check if the flight is delayed and what is the actual arrival time.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByAirport.do?airportCode=HKT&airportQueryType=1

and to check the planes up in the sky http://panphuket.com/flightradar

Easier: just google the flight number, and the info about real arrival time will pop up straight away, no need to open a website.

Nothing new here, not an earth shattering news, if the immigration authorities

will dig deeper, the will find hundreds more, if not thousands of, wanted

foreigners living among us, some holding elevated position within the farang

communities, it has been like that for many years and it will continue like

that for many more, TIT....

Right. Sometimes it can come as kind of a shock, a "prominent" expat suddenly disappearing because he has done #$@!& in his home country or even in Thailand itself, most likely nobody knowing about this.

A German guy had been running a pub in Hua Hin for some time, even making it into a popular travel guide. But then one day he was standing in front of his shop, and a German tourist from his home town passing by was shocked to recognize him as a person being wanted for rape. He called the German embassy, and the same day the guy was arrested.

On another occasion I was at the lawyers' office in Hua Hin, when she suddenly had to go because a well known Italian running a restaurant had been arrested, officials of the Italian embassy accompanying the BIB. Word was the local Italian community knew more, but kept their lips sealed.

Another example would be the Norwegian accused of murdering his Thai girlfriend a few years ago, he was prominent at least in this forum.

The trip by longtailboat through Phangnga Bay is very nice, but you have to do it in the afternoon, when the tour groups have left. Best to just go to the pier, and haggle with one of the boat men.

I was told the original Eric was Austrian. When he bought or leased what was to become Soi Eric, everybody said he was crazy, but he ended up making a lot of money.

Marriages are known to have broken down because of air conditioning wars.

Train running down to the Andaman coast would be a great idea indeed. Tourists love trains. I have always found it a mystery why Trang is the only west coast city which can be reached by train.

Ultra annoying are loudspeakers in villages, like in the Isaan, broadcasting loudly from about 7 AM on. Common complaint for farangs who followed the Thai wife to Ban in the middle of nowhere, many of them opt for having a house built a bit outside of the village.

you're right, that is worse, and in my wife's village it starts about 6am. at least that's one thing we don't have to put up with in phuket.

What is this? Static loudspeakers on the road corners or mobile on top of the car? Advertisements?

No.....mostly it is just announcements by the local authorities, like they are planning to get tough on narcotic drugs for instance. Sometimes mixed in with music. Loudspeakers are attached to power poles.

Ultra annoying are loudspeakers in villages, like in the Isaan, broadcasting loudly from about 7 AM on. Common complaint for farangs who followed the Thai wife to Ban in the middle of nowhere, many of them opt for having a house built a bit outside of the village.

She's lucky not to be seriously injured. But for the rest of her life, a prospective employer doing a simple Google search will come across this incident.

So what? The girl had an accident, why should a prospective employer be concerned?

Wrongly or rightly assuming excessive alcohol consumption caused this accident. Oh well, if I would be a prospective employer I would give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume she was sober, and an unexpected gust of wind made her topple over.

For visiting Khao Sok, Phangnga Bay and the Surin and Similan islands, you could use Khao Lak as a base. In Khao Lak there is a range of accomodation options varying from 5 star to rock bottom backpacker.

Day trips to Khao Sok and Phangnga Bay can easily be booked in Khao Lak. From Khao Lak you can also go to Phangnga bay and back by public transport, works out cheaper. Also easily booked are day trips to Surin and Similan. My advice would rather be to skip Similan, and only go to Surin. Similan is hopelessly overcrowded, and the corals at Surin are in a somewhat better condition. But at Surin avoid the weekends when there are a lot of Thai tourists. If you want to stay in a tent overnight at Surin or Similan, try to book just the round trip transfer, don't go for an all inclusive offer which travel agencies probably will try to sell to you. Tents are always available, you can pay for a tent once at the island.

From Khao Lak you can also easily go to Koh Yao Noi (public bus to the pier in Phuket), and to the Trang islands and Koh Tarutao, book the minivan/ferry combination ticket.

She's lucky not to be seriously injured. But for the rest of her life, a prospective employer doing a simple Google search will come across this incident.

I don't have to deal with the shop-owner and driver today. My Thai family have told me to stay in the background and they will take care of everything

Right. They will tell the shop-owner he did a terrific job, but they need a bit of additional help, and then he will try to solve the problem. Navigating should be done cautiously in a culture where it is a no-no to criticize people.