donnacha

Strange how things change over just a few years.

Apart from the girls, European destinations such as Spain now offer a significantly better overall quality-of-life than Thailand.

If girls are your main thing, it is arguable that Cambodia, Vietnam, and The Philippines are a better overall deal than Thailand.

Just a few years ago, I would never have guessed that Thailand would fall so far from its #1 position.

 

2 hours ago, simplethings said:

I recently applied for a ED visa that is not a typical Thai language course, more leaning in the way of self defense. 

So ... you mean a Self-Defense ED Visa, which is not only "not a typical Thai language course" but is, in fact, not a Thai language course at all.
 

2 hours ago, simplethings said:

Upon return to Thailand, I was fully grilled at immigration, after a lengthy chat, test of Thai language skills and various profiling.

Might have been an idea to skip the Thai language skills test by explaining that your visa has nothing to do with that.

I only mention this because, when dealing with IOs, clarity is vital.

 

58 minutes ago, andre47 said:

Europeans will loose their importance for the Thai tourism market.

There was always one vital characteristic of Western tourism which actually made us very suited to the Thai way of doing things. Many (but not all) Western tourists would dabble in the nightlife, providing plentiful opportunity for scams and hustles. Conveniently, many of these incidents would never come to light, because the victims generally did not want to have to explain to their friends, families, and work colleagues why they happened to have ladyboy in their hotel room at 4am. In fact, if anything happened to you while in Thailand, the smart play would be to suck up the loss and never talk of it again.

So, while the existence of sex tourism was a terrible embarrassment to the Thais, it actually allowed enterprising locals to shake lots of money out of tourists with no real reputational downside for the country. What happened in Thailand stayed in Thailand.

Now that they are phasing out Western tourism, however, the natural impulse to scam or mistreat visitors is not being so conveniently swept under the rug. Chinese tourists, often traveling in large groups, tend to have more vanilla tastes and, so, when they get ripped off, have nothing to be ashamed of and are quick to share their story on social media. The multiplying effect of that means that even relatively small scams like this one (a few thousand baht from a few hundred people) get massive coverage and start to form a narrative that rapidly removes any remaining shine Thailand had for Chinese visitors. The prediction that ever-growing millions of Chinese would continue to flock to Thailand may turn out to have been a tad premature.

Thailand so badly wants to be a family destination but, sadly, the realities of Thai character mean that it may forever be better suited as a non-family destination.

 

 

On 11/14/2019 at 9:50 AM, Bill97 said:

Or is it alcohol and drugs?

Air pollution has a neurological impact. A series of minor strokes can go unnoticed but cause a significant reduction in cognitive ability. The other impacts of prolonged exposure to high levels of air pollution, including a decline in lung and heart efficiency, can also have a knock-on affect on mental ability. 

Some guys who have been in Chiang Mai for many years no longer have enough money to get out during the burning season. Sadly, these are also the guys least likely to have good health insurance.

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

They've been saying that since it was introduced more than 10 years ago.

Sure, but that something did not happen does not mean that there was no risk. When you pay far in advance for anything there is always some risk that circumstances will change over time, and it makes sense to factor that into any buying decisions.

By the way, if you had told people considering the Elite visa ten years ago that they would be a coup within five years, that would have changed the equation for many. Thailand today is not the Thailand that many thought they were buying into. It is also clear that the rate of change is increasing.

Again, if they sold a month-by-month equivalent of the Elite visa for 9 or 10K per month, they would eliminate a major barrier to 99% of potential Elite visa buyers. With the exception of buying cars or homes, very few consumers think 5 years ahead these days.

 

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

No matter where you go, there are always going to be nut jobs, who refuse to take their meds, and have never been able to, or capable of doing the inner work required to resolve their inner demons. Nobody deserves to be subjected to this kind of abuse. Just deport him, and blacklist him from ever coming back. He is fairly useless as a human being. 

What about his two young daughters?

As drunk and crazy as he may have been on this and, reportedly, other occasions, is it fair that they will pay the highest price if you boot him out?

Now, perhaps he is sufficiently crazy to be a danger to them, in which case, okay, they might be better off without him too. To ascertain that, however, he needs to receive some form of care, some form of assessment, possibly even some form of treatment. To say "just" deport him sounds good, but is is not a good match for the complexity of all human beings.

I'm not holding out much hope, but the poor bast*rd might have some good in him too.

34 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

I think you are forgetting that most people traveling here from far away places are coming here with at least two 23 kg bags

At least two 23 KG bags?!!

Surely that can't possibly be true. If you think about the people you see collecting their bags from airport carousels, most seem to have just one suitcase, and generally not particularly big ones. Even one 23 KG bag would be quite a lot to bring. Except for Americans, obviously, to enjoy their vacation they need to bring more possessions with them.
 

34 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

The suggestion of buying another round trip ticket from Singapore to Bkk back to Singapore with two 23 kg bags on Air Asia for example ( or another discount airline as you mention ) is quite expensive!

I didn't suggestion a round trip ticket for the budget airline hop. The advantage of those airlines is that there is no cost advantage to buying a roundtrip, so, you have the convenience of booking the return leg later.

Air Asia currently charge $19 for a 25 KG bag from SG to Bangkok. I feel that $40 for two 23 KG bags would not be excessive. Perhaps I am getting this wrong but presumably someone traveling around with such a massive amount of possessions, they had to have money to buy all that stuff, right? Surely $40 each way is peanuts compared to having to buy an emergency ticket back to Europe or Europe.

Just to be clear, I know nothing of this bizarre activity of shuffling around the world with heavy bags. It strikes me as a terrible way to start your vacation. A few clothes, perhaps some gym gear, some shower gel, your laptop, maybe a kindle. Even including presents, why would anyone ever need more than one 20 KG bag? The fact that the international carrier give you the allowance doesn't mean you are obliged to weigh yourself down with all that stuff.

34 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

the better advise is something I’ve mentioned before is buying a multi city ticket and staying in another city even one night or even a few hours.

Honestly, as someone who flies quite a bit, I cannot image any situation in which a multi-city ticket on an International carrier such as Cathay is going to work out less expensive than what I've suggest.

Is it possible that you might just not like the idea of using budget airlines?

I can sympathize, but if we are talking about a relatively cheap way to deal with a relatively low risk problem, budget airlines are the quick, cheap, flexible way to do it.
 

34 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

As a side note the hype in this forum on this topic is too much. Many posters are THINKING their time spent in Thailand is too much when it actually is not. These people are being hurt by this hype and making stupid travel changes that are both expensive and not necessary. READER BEWARE of the hype!! Please.

Wait, who is this READER guy? And has he been watching us this whole time!

No rational visitor to this forum is going to come away with any unwarranted fears. The threads are fairly balanced. There is a risk for certain categories of people and it is better that those people know, rather than not know, that it is currently a good idea to avoid entering Thailand via the Bangkok airport.

It is good to know what the precautions are. I speak as someone who has lived pretty much full-time in Thailand on back-to-back tourists visas even after things got tougher. That has involved taking exactly the sort of precautions that you dismiss as being "both expensive and not necessary". What I can tell you is that it was less expensive than buying an Elite visa, less stressful than getting rejected on arrival, and less catastrophic to my finances and mental well-being than getting married. My sincere thanks to all of those who shared their experiences, their knowledge, and their "hype" about how the system actually works.