keestha

chiangmaibicycle.com , Dutch guy named Hans, has been in the Chiang Mai tour business a very long time.

Sigh tour buses......yesterday between Khao Lak and Takua Pa I was completely forced off the road by a tour bus carrying Chinese tourists, which was blindly overtaking in a curve. Just good luck there was no motorcycle overtaking me at the left hand side. I recognized the type of bus, white with Chinese script on it. They often stop in front of the 7/11 in Khao Lak, to give the Chinese the chance to buy their instant noodles.

The social services in most European countries do not help those poor people.

Why?

Because they did not pay the required premiums, or whatever names are used.

Face it, they left the country, most do not pay taxes & all any more, and are not welcome back.....at all.

They won't exactly have a smooth ride, but if they are still capable to sort things out, they will be helped. First of all they need an address to get registered , if there is no family/friends who can help out some internet searching will show them where to get help with this, and then they can apply for financial assistance from the state (municipality).

Good question OP. Maybe you could throw in a poll?

Would maybe make sense for him to google his own name or "Dutch consulate Phuket" frequently, and then react himself when mentioned in a webforum or whatever, when possible. You can also subscribe to a service doing this for you, they notify you whenever your name/business/whatever pops up online.

Not so difficult to make sneering comments. Sure, nobody posting here or even reading this would ever fall for this scam. But never forget the world is not entirely populated by internet savvy native or fluent English speakers. The mainstream of information runs in English, and I noticed even German speakers are often poorly informed (like applying for a multi entry Thai visa in Singapore though it is all over the internet this is not the right place to do it) - so what about Thai speakers? Ask yourself, would it be so easy for you to be the smart well informed guy if 90% of the information on the internet would be in French?

I visited Hua Hin in April. My hotel was a little far from the beach, but I suggest you go north to the Khao Takiab. It has a great beach with great views and a couple of temples. One of the temples is on top of a hill which gives you a spectacular view of the beach. Also there are a bunch of restaurants at the beach. They offer mouthwatering fresh sea food as well as your beer!

Khao Takiab is south of Hua Hin. Nice beaches nearby such as Suan Son Beach, but far from the nightlife area. For families/couples quite OK.

Seven Smulders, hm. No Dutch person is called Seven, in the Netherlands there is a list of allowed first names, and Seven is definitely not on it. Maybe his name is Sven, which will be pronounced by many Thai people as Sewen.

Take a look at the picture again. The guy's gaze isn't fixed upwards, he even doesn't seem to be looking at the girl at all. To me it really looks like the girl is blocking the fridge, and he is quickly taking a look if something he wants to buy is in there. The whole thing probably happened in a split second. Following anybody around and having a quick eye for it, you could make compromising photos of the person.

I went there in May (low season), the boat leaves from Ranong pier at 14 hrs.

When stopping over in Hua Hin I always stay at the Subamitra hotel, small aircon rooms around 800 Baht, close to the nightlife area and fairly close to the beach, big parking lot, swimming pool, restaurant which is OK for breakfast. Tel. 032-511208.

What is the advantage of booking through Thai Smile instead of through Thai Airways? I made a trial run, initiating a phantom booking (Bangkok - Phuket one way), and it resulted in offers for the same Thai Airways flights for the same prices. Not impressively cheap.

Happened again....assumed it was a new thread, was surprised by the avalanche of reactions and started reading, only to realize it was an old thread when the name of a long ago retired member popped up.

Construction called Usufruct, it would mean he has the exclusive right to use the real estate and what is on it for the rest of his life.

They should have researched the impact on tourists from different backgrounds.....

In Dutch "to buy a cat in the bag" means to buy something completely useless and/or far too expensive.

The bags look kinda cute though, would like to have one.

Recent informative thread about this http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/655759-phuket-to-hua-hin-best-way/

Never received anything either, though the embassy has had my contact information for a very long time.

But consulates are usually more focused on business interests than on assisting/keeping in touch with individual citizens.

It's a shame, I would have loved to get to know you guys/ladies at a jenever drinking/herring eating party at the Dutch consulate.

I wish people would stop encouraging Thai hospitals to rip us off.

Sure, it makes sense to compare prices for medical services. But don't assume too quickly Thai hospitals rip "us" off. What Thai people have to pay also varies from place to place. And it is not a specifically Thai thing. Lately I saw a program on Dutch television which was mainly about the fact that what elderly people have to pay for a fit to drive a car test varies wildly between hospitals and clinics in the Netherlands.

Now this guy went for a completely different Phuket experience. Respect. Reading the report, I vaguely remembered reading/hearing about a trail which starts somewhere west of Phuket Town, and going through the jungle and across the hills, it ends in Patong.

It is also very doable just to take the public bus to Ranong and back, if you say "visa run" to one of the taxi drivers meeting you at Ranong bus station, he will know exactly where to take you. It is more time consuming, but it costs less, and might be less of a nerve wrecking experience than a racing minivan. Doing it this way should make a very early start.

Any lower price bracket hotel will be able and willing to arrange a reasonably priced airport pick-up any time of the day/night. Higher price bracket hotels might be a different story, they are likely to charge more for it.

The part of Phuket which is most similar to the touristy part of Pattaya, is obviously Patong. I always had the impression people in Pattaya tend to be friendlier than people in Patong. One reason could be, is that almost all Thai people in Patong come from somewhere else, whilst many of those living and working in Pattaya are locals. Sure, not the bar hostesses/massage ladies of course. The unfriendliest place in Thailand I have ever been is the island of Koh Samet off Rayong, where all the people have come from somewhere else, originally it was uninhabited.

4396, only once got the continent right, when it very obviously looked like Thailand or somewhere close to it.

Sure, many expats going around on salaengs (mororbikes with sidecar), seeing them always makes me feel they are more successfully integrated than I am. In Koh Lanta, salaengs are very popular among young tourists to rent, cheapest way to get around if you are with a few people.

Lenghty waits in lines I think is a lifelong frustration for just about everybody. Getting pissed off at the person who seems to need so much time. People for whom buying stamps at the post office seems to be a matter of long drawn out negotiations. It is the worst at banks, people who seem to have chosen residence in front of the counter, frustration rising to the top when the bank employee stands up to disappear into a back office to consult a superior. But it is easy to overlook that time zips by when you are being serviced yourself, and when you are waiting the clock seems to have about stopped. Getting worked up about it, you only spoil your own good mood.