blackion

I know that while applying for visa my passport has to have at least 6 months of validity. 

1) For how long the passport has to be valid prior to entry though? 

2) And for how long passport has to be valid for visa exempt 30-day entry? (Land border from Laos) 

If someone got a gf who used to work in 7-11 she might shed more light on this. In my opinion this scam will only work if all shift is involved. They will check how much stock remains vs money, and pocket the excess money. Or the management is involved. 

Now,  the last cashier even refused to give me the printed receipt. Why he would refuse, if he wouldn't know that he overcharged? So I had to insist to get it, and voila - overcharged. They rescanned all items and found it, but again, only after I insisted. 

Btw, do the 7-11 has email for their HQ or complaints? 

I'm not talking about short changing. Unless one is drunk, it's difficult to short change. Let's say the cashier machine shows 250b. You gave 500b note, so you know you should get 250b change. 

But let's say, you bought products for 250b, but was charged 270b. The cashier machine shows you 270,the receipt is for 270 and your rough estimate is about 270. Now, unless you read Thai, or remember price of every item, and will check item by item you won't find you have been over charged. 

Out of 30 times or so I was given incorrect amount, all 30 times the amount I was requested to pay was higher than the actual was higher than the real amount. , it's no bad math or mistake. 

How  they do that?  Sometimes they enter bar code by  hand.  You bought  smoky hotdog for 10 b?  They write big bite hotdog for 17.rOr bacon hotdog for 20.Or foot long for 27.

Sometimes  they will increase number of items. 

But I found former they do more often. 

I have been over-charged many times in 7-11 shops. If I do check the bill, and say they over-charged, which is basically stealing, they will say they have simply mistaken. But they always "mistake" towards charging you more, never less. 
So, let's say if they can overcharge 20 customers for 15 baht a day, that runs to 300 baht per day, 9000 baht per month. Like a second salary. 
And, they mostly like to do that to foreigners, because foreigners cannot read Thai. 
I believe it's quite rampant, I was overcharged like 30 times in one year. 
Today was a new style though: the cashier charged me 266 baht and when I asked for receipt he refused to give it, because he understood I know Thai and will be checking. So, I had to call other attendants and eventually they printed the bill, and my guess was right, he over-charged. So nowdays it's a hassle to get a correct charge. 

So how he could do 5-6 trips on VEs this year ? :) 

Is there Uber in Ubon? Which one is cheaper: taxi, grab or uber? 

Is there any service for a motorcycle rides? 

Is there a fb group for Ubon in English? 

Does immigration in Pakse-Ubon border strictly enforces the two times per year rule? My friend who stays in Laos has made successfully 5-6 trips to Thailand (he might have a Lao PR since he is married to Lao woman). 

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

If you call for a taxi it is 20 baht for the service. The meter starts at 30 baht here in Ubon.

Two days ago and yesterday I used a taxi in Ubon. Both started meter at 40 baht. 

Btw: I stay near Ubonrak hospital, could you please recommend nearest money change place? 

20b for service +meter starts at 40b?

For the love of god....here....happy?

Man gets punched in head, losses consciousness

Udonthani, 24th May, 2016

A foreign man minding his own business was viciously assaulted in Udonthani during Songkran, similarly to a famous case of British family.

"I was walking when a man jumped from behind and punched me in the back of my head", said Blackion from his apartment in Thailand.

"In all my time in Thailand I have never had any trouble with anyone", he said. The attack left Blackion with possible nerve damage, memory problems and abrasions on his body.

Police are currently looking at CCTV from UD TOWN and hunting the suspected perpetrator and appealing to anyone who saw the attack. They believe they will make arrest soon.

Tourism Minister, Popkorn, said that she did not believe this would harm tourist arrivals in Thailand.

Did a bit of corrections, now please get it published in Bangkok Post . Thanks for the write up, actually it looks great.

Sad to say the police won't be interested. We are tolerated intruders - as per a previous post - & I personally think there is more than a little "Farang fatigue" of late. I think many Thais feel disempowered / so easy to vent frustration on vulnerable farangs. I expect this to be a continuing trend

You have rightly pointed out the current situation. However, tourism brings a lot to Thai economy and the Thai Government is interested to preserve a safe image of Thailand as a traveling destination. Therefore, it is upon us, the foreigners here, to make sure that every case is reported, if possibly made known, with follow up and sentencing. The current government is actually interested in this as well, and it won't be unreasonable to ask to fast-track cases in which foreigners have been attacked, because their stay in the country is usually limited.

As I say, after a few harsh sentences, and more importantly of a mention that the attacker had to pay all medical expenses for the victim, with the numbers, I'm sure Thai's will be less eager to vent their frustration in a form of violence.

BTW: Someone along the posts mentioned that without solid evidence going to media is futile, I assume it may be the other way around: ie: a post in media can ask if anyone witnessed the attack. So, it just might be that 1-2 conscious Thai people among hundred+ that saw me being attacked can actually agree to be witnesses. I'm also sure that many people who where at that place know who the attacker is, Udon is after all not such a big place, so this might help too.

Finally, I saw some members complain that other member insult them and so they won't be replying anymore. So, dear members, let's keep the discussion civil and remember that the reason I opened the thread is to ask for an advise how to make this story public.

Oh come on....

how difficult is it to google contact the sun/mirror/times/guardian etc...

This is exactly the topic of this thread. I'm asking for an advice how to contact the above mentioned newspapers. A Guide for Dummies please.

Let me give some background. ....

I have suffered brain injury from the concussion, it affected my memory. Pain in the foot, so after 1 month I still have pain every time I step. A patch on the skin on my leg is like numb, probably a nerve was damaged.

If you think you have brain or nerve damage, get it professionally assessed. That would mean going home to your country and getting it done for free since private medical diagnosis and treatment here without insurance is as farcical as it is expensive. The same goes for requesting the local police to investigate something and also seeking any professional legal counsel.

Having said that, if you walked into your local police station back home and made medically unsubstantiated claims for brain and nerve damage from a previously unreported, 5 week old incident, do you think arrest warrants would go out?

Unfortunately since I have been outside of my home country for 10 years, I don't have my insurance anymore. But if that guy is found, it might be possible to make him pay for all medical expenses.

That is the main point, if via several publications, Thai's will know that when they hurt a foreigner they will have to pay for all medical expenses arising from it - they might actually reconsider doing so.

I don't really know why you jumped to several conclusions, such as I haven't said I reported the incident after 5 weeks or I went to the hospital after 5 weeks.

What happened, is that once that guy stopped attacking him and went away, I called for police, and after two minutes a Thai police without uniform arrived to the scene. He called Tourist police and they came after about 5 minutes. Then they saw me, freshly beaten so to say, blood coming from abrasions. Immediately after that I showed them the group from where the guy emerged. After that they brought me to police station and I filed a report.

Let me give some background. I have been living in Thailand on and off for about 10 years. I'm just an ordinary guy, as any of you, the members here.

I read and watch sometimes news about foreigners attacked in Thailand, and well, I wouldn't believe it could happen to me. First of all, I'm a polite guy. Secondly, I know Thai culture and people quite well. Thirdly, I speak relatively good Thai for common communications.

In 10 years in Thailand, I haven't attacked any Thai, not a punch, not a slap, neither I was ever slapped or attacked.

The reason I want to make it public, is as my case highlights, that this can happen to anyone, anytime. Even after 10 years of peaceful stay. Just like that, out of nowhere. There was no arguing, no pushing, no escalation. If that would be, I could down escalate the situation. The guy came from behind and hit me straight at the back of my head. Would I be Mike Tyson, I would still not be able to protect myself from this development. (Of course would I be one, once I stood up.. ) But I decided against this course of action because other guys from his group could join in, they were about 15 people, or I could have become accused, instead of a victim.

The reason I would like to make this case known, is because other foreigners, one of you guys, or family members, your friends, can be attacked just like that. But, by making this case advertised, with hopefully a harsh sentence for the perpetrator, will likely deter some of the Thai's of using (unnecessarily) violence against foreigners.

I have suffered brain injury from the concussion, it affected my memory. Pain in the foot, so after 1 month I still have pain every time I step. A patch on the skin on my leg is like numb, probably a nerve was damaged.

Do I, when I write I am talking through experience, do you understand that, or are you not English ?

A similar thing happened to me, the difference was, there were witnesses, and the assailant was known by me.

Got a hospital report, only a few abraisions, and went to the police.

As I said, they really were not interested.

What I will add about my experience is that it was not a random assault, and there was provocation by both parties.

I suggest the same is true of the OP.

What was the outcome of your case? What have you said to the doctor while making a medical report?

send your story to as many newspapers as you can especially in the UK, might do something then expect to be accused of ruining (sic) the Thai goodname

What is the way of sending the story to newspapers in UK? Should I message them on fb, or via e-mail? If via e-mail, 1-2 e-mails would be handy, thanks.

Sorry you had that experience...though, as others have said, if you don't have video footage of it or can otherwise locate and identify the assailant, you probably aren't going to get very far with pursuing any sort of justice.

Well, I'm trying to ask police to get the footage, I'm amused (to some extent) they didn't do so by themselves. The tourist police came to the scene and I lead them to the group of people from where the guy emerged. They all seem to belong to one group, wearing the same t-shirts. The tourist police didn't ask them much, didn't bring the leader to police station, didn't interview witnesses, etc. They denied everything I was asking, the only thing they did is took a photo of the car number plate (with Udon plates) the group used.

If the police would really like, they surely can find the attacker via following the car owner and making an investigation in their mubaan. But I surely got the impression that they will do so only if that case will be publicized.

One of the core problems that leads to these nonsense beatings is because Thai people see foreigners as some type of cartoon characters, not 100% people, and definitely not as Thai people.

Even if a foreigner speaks Thai language quite well, the amount of politeness he receives is always lower than that Thai people receive. For a Thai to shout at another Thai, especially who is a customer, is to lose face, and is very uncommon. But if that customer is a foreigner.. , well, one cannot lose face by shouting or being impudent to a cartoon character, can one?

Lets see, what if these three British would be Thais, what would happen? A drunk Thai accidentally spilled a drink on another drunk Thai. I would imagine they would say sorry to each other, and each go on his way, or maybe even would drink together.

Anyway, as someone who has been attacked on the same famous Songkran 2016, I have made a thread so if anyone wants to drop his 2 cents - welcome: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/919093-assault-in-udon-thani/?p=10772897

Wasting your time.

I would rather welcome constructive suggestions. But, what would you do if an unknown Thai drunk guy would suddenly punch you in the back of the head, coming from behind, with such a force that you would lose consciousness and then run after you and deliver multiple punches? Wouldn't you feel angry? Wouldn't you like the police to catch that guy? What would you do in such a situation?

Well, I assume there are CCTVs, but I understand the police didn't get the feed. I'll try to ask the police to do that, however if the story could get media attention even prior to that I would assume police would be much eager in getting the feed.

Hundreds if not thousands of assaults every day worldwide that never make the news mate. While I am sorry to hear you got bashed why haven't you been kicking up a massive stink yourself or posting it all over the Web? Why wait till this other story came out.

Well, it seems lately that Thai young guys became too trigger happy. Not that it wasn't happening before, but it seems lately it became a new style: lets go drink, enjoy and kick some foreigner .

I didn't really wait for the story to come out, they got beaten on the same Songkran, just two days prior to me if I recall it right.

Generally I would assume I should approach some Thai media either in English or Thai languages, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that.

Well, I assume there are CCTVs, but I understand the police didn't get the feed. I'll try to ask the police to do that, however if the story could get media attention even prior to that I would assume police would be much eager in getting the feed.

I was also attacked in a similar manner to UK tourists during Songkran in Udon Thani. Reported the case to the police and went to evaluation at the hospital. In my case it wasn't provoked, as I didn't slap the guy. The guy came from behind and punched me to the back of my head. After regaining consciousness I stood up and called for the police. That guy came running after me for the second time and delivered more punches, however I didn't fight back throughout the whole incident, just covered my head with my hands.

Is there a way to publicize the story of my attack? I would be interested for it to become known as well, since if news papers will publish stories about such attacks and eventual sentences, it may deter Thai men/youth from attacking foreigners in the future.

(Reposting from http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/914216-police-not-behind-video-attack-leak-incident-a-nightmare-for-the-country-says-pm-office/?p=10769408 as the thread got inactive)

I was also attacked in a similar manner during Songkran in Udon Thani. Reported the case to the police and went to evaluation at the hospital. In my case it wasn't provoked, as I didn't slap the guy. The guy came from behind and punched me to the back of my head. After regaining consciousness I stood up and called for the police. That guy came running after me for the second time, however I didn't fight back throughout the whole incident, just covered my head with my hands.

Is there a way to publicize the story of my attack? I would be interested for it to become known as well, since if news papers will publish stories about such attacks and eventual sentences, it may deter Thai men/youth from attacking foreigners in the future.

Thanks you guys for replies.

My concern is: I want a phone with a very good camera with fast focus. The megapixels are not that much important. Was IQ-X that good and IQ-2 is?

In addition, as an "amateur audiophile" I would like the phones to have really decent sound coming from the headphone jack. And, it should be really loud, like in Iphone 4. (I don't like to use OTG and additional hardware for the sound.) Example: Oppo Mirror 3 has a really nice sound, but the maximum volume seems to be too low.

How about the photos and videos quality? How about the audio quality via headset? Does it support OTG?