Andrew65

My old friend was on lower Sukhumvit many years ago where we both lived. At one of the sidewalk stalls a farang spent what seemed like 15 minutes trying to squeeze another 10 Baht reduction from the stallholder, who got so annoyed that he told the guy to **** off. In my last 10 years living there I never bought things where haggling was involved, I just found it too tiresome in the end. When I did haggle, if they said 200, I would say 100, and we would agree on 150. That was my target, suggest 50%, and settle at 75% of the quoted price. I'm not gonna spend 20 minutes in the heat and pollution and crowds trying to stiff someone for 10 Baht (around 20p). Thailand being cheap Charlie-central, many will do so.

Their main function seemed to be catching tourists dropping cigarette ends, and then fining them for it (I expect that some of them were also smokers😊). They use to have a table set up on the sidewalk in a strategic position on lower Sukhumvit as like an observation point.

I wasn't saying that Thailand is more expensive, or as expensive as the UK, just that it's my perception that it's not as comparably cheaper than the UK as it used to be. It's no longer the cheap & cheerful destination that it used to be.

I would often be walking into 7/11 to buy my ciggies (I could actually afford to smoke in Thailand!😊). Often I would see Thais walking out of there, unwrapping whatever it was they had bought and dropping the wrapping on the ground. I was conditioned by the fact that I was paranoid about the fag-end Police (AKA the tourist Police).

The place that I lived in in Bangkok had no gym or swimming pool. (I don't use thise things anyway). What we have to remember is that this article is about tourists, and tourists tend to dwell in touristy (pricier) places. Conincidentally, I just saw an advert for a 500ml tub of ice cream selling for 150 Baht in Thailand, it's £1.50 for the same thing in the UK (imported Swedish ice cream). Another thing being is that this year is the 40th anniversary of my first trip to Thailand. In 1985 it seemed sooooo cheap compared to the UK, in my perception, it just doesn't feel that way any more. Some old friends moved to Cambodia years ago for this very reason.

In the UK (Bromsgrove) I can go out drinking more cheaply than in the downtown/touristy parts of Bangkok, where I lived for 20 years. My rent in the UK is similar.

A few times I bought expensive 100k+ Baht airline tickets, and because of the 2 or 3% charge for using plastic I used to pop down to Bangkok Bank and get the cash instead. I once did that for 3% on a 140k Baht ticket. (A 30 minute walk to the bank & back saved me almost US$150 in charges.) I don't think that they can charge you for using plastic in the UK, the bank or the merchant has to 'suck-up' that cost.

An old friend once got rinsed after using his plastic in Soi Cowboy, and apparently it had happened to quite a few people. (By that I mean non physical cash). Not saying that this was the case with the Hungarian guy, but there are also 'depth-charges', what my old Royal Navy friend used to call it. They're dropping extra bills in your check bin when you're not looking. I now use plastic for everything in the UK, but it would still be cash only in Thailand.

I'm 60 and lived for 20 years in Bangkok. In my whole 60 years I've never lived with anyone with whom I was in a relationship with..

A possibilty:Was drunk/high went in the sea and got swept away. My brother in law's daughter's friend disappeared whilst swimming off Phuket many moons ago.

According to the Thaiger website they're Brits.

Try getting housing, I can't even be on the housing list, AFAIK. I've long suspected that many expats can't really afford to live in Thailand.

Just had a look and listen, it's hard to hear if the guy has an accent to his English speaking.

In the UK I think that National Insurance is 9%, that's what the state pension is calculated from. We do still get healthcare included, and we used to get 'free' university, up until around 1998.

There's no foul-play reported? I lived there for 20 years, and in the first 15 years did my fair share of screwing around. In the last 5 years I just couldn't be bothered any more. My thoughts on the bar/bar girl scene were that it's just 'too easy' to be of any 'value'. I was never scammed. It was very easy to slide into just sitting around drinking every day, nothing much else to do. Also, if this guy was 52, a heart attack or stroke wouldn't be that unlikely. RIP

Many years ago the Australian authorities stated that more Australians die in Thailand every year than in any other overseas destination.

Being a married man means that you're less likely to be out 'gallivanting' at 01:35 in the morning? (Maybe/maybe not). This attack seems to be very 'random', and being attacked for no reason seems incredibly rare there, but it's best not to speculate, although I agree with what you say, he's probably p-----d someone off.

People who get busted for drugs in Thailand are probably involved in drugs/have drugs convictions in their home countries.

Many years ago a friend was busted when his cannabis stash was discovered at a hotel in Bangkok. We suspected that his lady friends dobbed him in. He got 18 months probation. Luckily his wealthy friend was around (on holiday from the UK), to stump-up the 100,000 Baht needed.

...not to be sniffed-at!😁

Hansum man🙂

When I worked in Saudi I had a digital thermometer that showed inside and outside temperature, it was often: Inside: 21.0C Outside: 47.6C (The outside sensor was positioned in the shade). I've seen temps reported as high as 54C for Kuwait.

Not saying that it happened here, but a 'golden-rule' that I learnt in Thailand was that you should never take 2 girls from the same bar (on separate occasions!). Who were once best friends will become sworn enemies.

About the same price as the UK. I just paid £4.50 for 12 XL eggs.

I remember the yellow intl phone boxes in Bangkok. I think a 500 Baht card got me 2 shortish calls home to the UK.