Tyree D.

I see a lot of posters criticizing Thailand, its authorities and the establishment owners themselves. Although it is obvious that many things can and should be changed with regard to safety aspects in Thailand, just where does personal accountability come into play here?

Stop asking for and/or counting on government officials and business owners to babysit you, ultimately each person has the most influence upon their own safety and making the prudent decisions about such are your responsibility. If you don't like the arrangement of a certain establishment's exits.....leave. If you walk into a situation that is overcrowded.....leave. Take responsibility for your own safety and stop counting on or demanding from other people that they assure safety for you.

I have left many overcrowded establishments, changed taxis and even avoided certain places at certain times because it was prudent to do so in the name of safety. None of those people deserved what happened to them and it is a tragedy in anyone's book. Instead of looking for who to blame and criticize, take a minute and realize it is up to yourself to avoid these situations and assure (as much as possible) your own safety.

Let us hope that all societies learn from the tragedy but seeing that this has happened before in many other countries, it is doubtful that we, as the human race, will be wise enough to learn from history.

Regards to all!

Martian

I disagree 100%. Good for whoever already saw this was a hazard and left but not for those who came with a large crowd and was forced to stay. Plus for you first point, how many of us farangs questioned something about Thailand and tried to do something about it and FAILED? There were many times I got into arguments when Thails filled their car with gas with the engine still on and lost every time. There were times I put on a seatbelt and they ejected it saying "mai pen rai". My individual concerns for safety failed.

And when you live somewhere, you have nothing to do with a neighbor causing a fire or gas leak but your property and life is still in danger.

You can't escape certain hazards.

edit: I am glad I won the arguments where some drunk person tried to give me a ride home when I was gonna walk. Took over 20 minutes of bickering but I did that.

with those conspiracy pics you can also find something to relate the people in the pics to something. One of my Korean colleagues doesn't like the Eagles because her Christian friends said they were evil but couldn't figure out why. It's because one of the people on the album cover is supposedly Satan. I knew some people whose parents wouldn't let them listen to them. The world could do without Hotel California.

I'm glad that I found out here that the performers I know are safe. I looked on their myspaces and they haven't logged in for days so I was worried.

This was all on topic and my feelings and semi-related concerns are all serious.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/style_images...-align-left.png

They'll be back, they always come back. Also Thailand doesnt really have any competition in SE Asia.

um, that was only true 10+ years ago when Vietnam was still closed and people didn't know Laos and a place called Angkor Wat existed.

here's an update since my time here has doubled:

First of all, I have just discovered my teaching visa (E-2) is multiple entry! No more going to Burma realizing I gotta go back to Laos to get my nonImmigrant-B visa back or getting it in Cambodia and the school rejected it because I didn't go to Laos.

I've never had to pay a tip for anything. I never did in Northern Thailand but when I went to Bangkok they expected me to pay the inflated prices and still request a tip. We'll see what happens xmas when I go to tourist-ville.

The nightlife places are in buildings and seem to be equipped for groups. They got these places called sexy bars but you gotta pay for like a 6 drink minimum. The catch is come with as many people. I wish I could glance from a distance but I gotta go on the floor and inside to see what a place is like.

The ladies here buy me drinks. In the LOS it was of coarse the other way around.

The local pop and hip-hop is better. The remix dance is the same.

I'll keep y'all posted and others give me some insight and personal stories.

Thaksin was not the first PM elected by majority vote. Every PM chosen by an elected government has taken office via majority vote of the dominant parties.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong with cited sources. Thailand has had PMs since the late 60s. 1992 was the first election where citizens could vote for them. Thaksin won with 49% in 2001 and in 2005 he was the first to be reelected and won with over 50% of the vote.

sources: Thai Society class in 1999; a 2005 Thaksin biography and the 2004-06 experience.

You made your point. I still stand by my second post where none of this current mess would have happened if the Thai PM was commander-in-cheif of the military.

But you can look at the current mess as a "removal from office". He did something impeacheable but he should've have have a congressional vote (which the majority of America was against when it happened to Clinton). Democracy does work in it's purist form, even if the vote is "wrong".

Speaking of which...FYI, I was in Thailand in 2005 during the reelection. Thaksin was the first PM ever reelected and the first to get a majority vote. I was living in Chiang Rai's bar district. They were all for him. I would reply, "But he made you close at one and made your girls claim they are 20". They had a blank faces but still supported him. He was also the only candidate I saw campaign. I didn't know anyone else running until the last week besides Mcachon. And there were about 125 candidates.

I left Thailand in April 2006 when Thaksin announced his resignation. I saw the tail beginning of protests. Apparantly he took to long to leave so there was a coup in September.

I'm 26, got wife and kid over here wouldn't change for the world for now has I have a good job. If your thinking about teaching then I'll feel without the right qualifications your'll be wasting years of your life

Oh, I'm not a teacher and never will be

what do you do then? I think this post was really negative to not say what you do but to talk down a profession. tell those that want to know what options there are to fully enjoy Thailand as a resident in your 20s. And don't point out my intentional grammatical mistakes

Where I come from, wearing certain colors identifies yourself with a certain gang. Just avoid the colors to be safe. Don't be selfish if it can cost you your life.

or

I wear red and yellow because I am a Hulakamaniac! If you hurt my friends, you hurt my pride. Whatcha gonna do!!!

sounds just like America. Thailand IS a democracy on record and the examples you mentioned.

Great!!! Maybe you could develop a little, because people on the forum are not in your head and probably didn't understood what you meant.

rich vs. poor...inferior vs. superior...skin differences...everything you mentioned. This is the same in America. Thailand the past 17 years has been as much of a democracy as the USA has ever been. The only difference is the gov't controls the military in the US. That's why you've never seen in America what happened in LOS in 2006 or Burma/Myanmar 1988 on (military kicking out democratically elected government).

Wrong.. Take for example, Obama. Even though I did not vote for him and do not support him, Obama is now going to be president of the USA. He's pretty dark skinned. However, I would never go against the will of the "people" by protesting an election just because my "side" lost...

Thailand is not ready for democracy. Violence should not be allowed to "nullify" elections.

Hmm, I can remember the national guard been called to the scene, to keep the democratic thinking citizens apart during the last elections in the US .

And people do have short memories, look at all the clowns which have been elected and the scandals they caused. Even impeachment procedures have been a part of history, but that is all OK because it is " western democracy".

And don't say that it was all some time ago.. because the last bozo lied through his teeth about just almost everything, and guess what, he is still in the seat. So much for democracy western style. Don't want to elaborate any further, but please don't say that western democracy is better. Because it is not.

The same mistakes Thailand makes, are made by the ooooh sooo valued democracies of some great nations too, and are still made every day.

Yes it is true that what happens now like in Thailand would have been stopped, but that is because some western democracies have become police states. People don't even notice anymore, they are used to it .

Even after a hurricane the first things you see are armed national guards in the streets coming to "help" . It says something about the the democratic atmosphere...

Don't make things look better than they really are. The west is not really all that much civilised, we just advertise better.

This poster gave a better explaination than mine. Plus to the earlier guy, why did you have to bring up Obama and explain how you do not support him? This is self-contradictory. So you are saying just because America elected a "dark looking guy"(in your own words), that is an example that America is a true democracy that does not have a light vs. dark issue like Thailand? Maybe America is also a true democracy because the guy elected before him was the "village idiot" (supposedly Nostradamus' words )

Plus, how can any of you say Thailand is not ready for democracy? Because the majority are poor farmers that got paid 100 baht to vote a certain way then the military kicked the guy out? Democracy will work anywhere if done right and not if a constitution is redrafted twice a decade.

sounds just like America. Thailand IS a democracy on record and the examples you mentioned.

Great!!! Maybe you could develop a little, because people on the forum are not in your head and probably didn't understood what you meant.

rich vs. poor...inferior vs. superior...skin differences...everything you mentioned. This is the same in America. Thailand the past 17 years has been as much of a democracy as the USA has ever been. The only difference is the gov't controls the military in the US. That's why you've never seen in America what happened in LOS in 2006 or Burma/Myanmar 1988 on (military kicking out democratically elected government).

if you are a legal farang not doing any illegal or fishy stuff , you should love to have thaksin back .

that eliminated 95% of us

sounds just like America. Thailand IS a democracy on record and the examples you mentioned.

if you won't mind making little money go for it. read my last couple of months of posts. it was fun at age 20 then 24-26 but I won't go back...especially if all the flights are canceled. now i wait for somebody to point out i didn't capitalize and letters.

yeah, if only farang women fell over a 1000 baht note...

Now even I gotta say there is too much generalizations here. The female farangs and married couples aren't here for the sex. There's other reasons.

I'm missing the food more than the sex. When it comes to that I'm craving a different kind of woman but nothing beats the food and the spices.

I don't know what the plug on an XBox looks like but if it's detachable all you need to do is buy a new plug here. .

I don' t know what kind of power supply the US X-box has, but in general be careful of just changing plugs without making sure that the power supply is of the right voltage or is the universal type. Actually moving from Europe to Thailand is no problem in terms of voltage, and it is mainly the North Americans who have to worry. Paradoxically the 2 pin US-style plug (for 110v) fits nicely into most Thai style (220v) sockets and - as we have seen on previous threads - that is where the trouble starts!

Here in Korea I'm using a converter and I just looked...it is 110 to 220. (insert whew smiley here)But it's only two pins and not the bottom round one. My laptop is from Thailand so it already had the right pins which is all over Asia but the sockets here don't have the vertical pins. I bought it here but they are all over the internet. I think my external HD is universal but I'm not taking my chances, which I can't anyway because the sockets are Asian-version only.

I did things the other way around. I boutht a Sony Vaio laptop in Chiang Mai; and the equivalent in America is cheaper. I bought a convertable plug in Thailand. The voltage automaticlly converts in these new digital devices. I could've bought a new adapter in America but didn't wanna spend $120 and this connector worked fine always. Got it repaired in America easily since it was a Sony even though that model was only distributed in Thailand and Australia.

I don't know what the plug on an XBox looks like but if it's detachable all you need to do is buy a new plug here. Thailand is Playstation-ville and I never saw a singlee X-Box there from 04-06. And yep, a laptop is the way to go. Like I said, the voltage automatically converts, just like ipods.

Hope my reverse experience helps.

Also, electronics cost more in Thailand because they are imported. An XBox will definetly cost you more. I would try to bargain saying how these things were cheaper in America and they would show me their own manuals with list prices.

I am a bright boy so just need a relevance for the CV.

First off, I currently have 4 years experience ranging three countries and a TEFL. With that said, in Thailand I had nothing. I got 25,000 baht jobs at universities without it. I decided to get my TEFL after Thailand in California where they already told us it means nothing in that state. Now I'm in Korea where the only requirement is a degree and I think I am the only foreign teacher with previous experience...and a TEFL.

In Thailand a TEFL will only move you in the 40,000 baht and higher bracket if you have two years experience to go with it. You say you only want it to put on your resume as opposed to learning a few new tricks so I can tell you from experience just go straight to looking for jobs. All you need is one to say yes and Thailand was the first place I ever got multiple job offers where the hard part was choosing which one and turning the rest down.

I feel like I've already said too much but what turned me off from Costa Rica was the number of Americans living there. But most of them are retired as it is supposedly a "401K paradise". That also indicates it's the place to be for the retired, not the career seekers like me or the OP.

My advice, if you are in your 20s and are willing to teach English, go for it. Otherwise, enjoy your long holiday then move to one of these places when you are retired.

Well back to the OP's given intentions, he must be ready to spend a lot of money traveling around, then make under $1000 a month with no benefits, 401K plan, etc. And I was generalizing my little research and advice on Ecuador with all of Latin America. The money is what turned me away from there and going back to Thailand.

Who knows what I will be posting about my one year mark here in Korea, but by then I will have money to go somewhere other than home instead of post about how (insert country here) sucks. Remember, when I first started posting here I had to fight off the jaded expats telling me I was still living a fantasy.

EDIT: so I've just read the OP and replies more closely multiple times. You must ask yourself: Do you have money and a job at home if this just ends up as a long holiday? If so, go for it.

My story is I came here on an accident settlement. I was 24 so teaching English for $600/month looked great when I realized that was my only option when my first choice was engineer. Traveled all over the country then settled. Fast forward two years my body breaks down again. I moved to a new part of a country and had to buy new shoes so my money was already gone. Had to go back to Los Angeles with Daddy. Since I now have teaching experience, I could teach but only get substitute work. My choice was Ecuador but saw the most I would get was $800/mo and didn't wanna risk a repeat of my last days in Thailand and remembered how I never had money to travel out of the country or save (run-on sentence!). Went to Korea after I got laid off from a park job due to budget cuts. They pay for flight and housing here. And I originally wanted to be an engineer. In Thailand those jobs were taken then also the stuff I knew how to make and fix are out of style.

For me it was fine because I was young. But you sound older and still need stability. Thailand works for the starting out and the retired, which I was the former. But returning for living is not a good option. I don't know about Latin America except the money and working options may be the same. Hope any responses help but only you can decide.

Never been to Latin America but reading stats and hearing stories turned me off. Do you wanna be around 90% practicing Catholics? Do you wanna be called Gringo daily? Do you want prostitutes saying, "I wanna have your babies"? Do you wanna be somewhere more nationalistic that Thailand ever will be? Do you still wanna make under $1000 a month?

I'm in Korea.

edit: just read the post above me. He talked about un-farangnized places. I moved to Phayao at my 11 1/2 month mark. By that time I was fluent in speaking and could read basic stuff. I became "Farang" even at school. And people still couldn't understand me and walked away. Before that, I would come to TV and make posts like "You are a farang, deal with it." Then it became me and I hated it. I was actually looking forward to being the only foreigner around. But my name became Farang and people expecting not to understand me despite my fluency in Thai. And there where the people that would talk shit not realizing I could understand.

Odd how none of the male members ( pun intended ) are mentioning it's very likely that a large portion of why they love living here is because of Thai women , young, beautiful and trained well in the art of Gold-Digging.

I believe low cost prostitution is a factor , also.

Take that element away....

Be honest...Give the women their due .

Yeah, once I grew out of sex and booze LOS was boring to me. Now I love Korea because of all the electronics I can play with and turn off whenever. And when people do come to me, they speak correct English and have more diverse personalities.

But for those that have been more places and longer and prefer Thailand, more power to you. But I went from "farang dum" to "looks like Obama".

oh, and the Nivea products are advertised as "toners" not "whiteners". and it's the same thing.

Glad to see you love Korea so much that you still miss TV, despite all the ills of the place. Diverse personalities you say? Anyone I have known that has lived in the Seoul of Asia (haha) hated it.

I herd the reason why people hate Seoul is because they couldn’t get any action of Korean chicks.

They are definitely less easy but that's the way I like it. In that "department" in Thailand I got tired of being hit on with the same lines in the same order and over 80% of the girls I hooked up with (hey, that's not 100%!) asking for money (usually 10,000 baht) on their way out the door.

I could see a tourist that has only spent two weeks both places preferring LOS but a long term resident like me is ready four a four seasons atmosphere and everything else I've already mentioned in my recent posts and threads.

I'm in Korea now. I haven't had sex yet. Thailand burned me out! When people e-mail me, they are like, "You just can't get enough of those Asian women, huh?" Actually, yes. Women hit on me but I don't respond.

Before I went to Thailand I hadn't had sex in three years. Then was with half the country. Now I'm semi-cellabate. Now I'm the one who only cares and thinks about money. Making under $1000 in Thailand just don't cut it, even if it's all you can eat.

Odd how none of the male members ( pun intended ) are mentioning it's very likely that a large portion of why they love living here is because of Thai women , young, beautiful and trained well in the art of Gold-Digging.

I believe low cost prostitution is a factor , also.

Take that element away....

Be honest...Give the women their due .

Yeah, once I grew out of sex and booze LOS was boring to me. Now I love Korea because of all the electronics I can play with and turn off whenever. And when people do come to me, they speak correct English and have more diverse personalities.

But for those that have been more places and longer and prefer Thailand, more power to you. But I went from "farang dum" to "looks like Obama".

oh, and the Nivea products are advertised as "toners" not "whiteners". and it's the same thing.

I always shake my head at guys in Thailand that are still on the internet looking for a partner. All you have to do is take a walk outside and somebody will be walking with you whether or not you expected. Or maybe it's just me.