srchino

I called the tourist police for help once. They gave me the telephone number to the real police and told me to call them. I was left wondering what purpose the tourist police serve. All I can say is the acronym TP is appropriate.

This is going to be a double wammy for Thailand. It's going to damage tourism and it will (yet again) embarrass and shame the police force here. It's well known they can't protect tourists from violence, but it makes it 10 times worse that they can't investigate a crime properly.

When a significant portion of the average Thai police officer's income comes from somewhere other than the official channel (payroll), the result is the complete absence of justice in the country. It's very sad but that's the reality. Everything from a gruesome murder like this, to a commonplace pickpocketing or swindle by a taxi driver goes unpunished, all. the. time.

Does anyone really expect a different reality when law enforcement officers live off of bribes as the rule rather than the exception? Do we really expect them to be good at their "jobs" when the majority of what they do all the time is conduct shakedowns of small businesses, do favors or intimidate for bribes, etc? The flow of illegal income goes right up to the top. Everyone who's ever spent any decent amount of time in Thailand knows this, yet many are outraged that there's no effective investigating happening.

Personally, I would be absolutely shocked if the police did something in the public interest as an outcome of this sad series of events.

H.I.S. is a worldwide agency with an office above the ASOK/SUKHUMVIT BTS/MRT stations in the building with Citibank on the ground floor.

Agencies do frequently get unique promotions that don't appear online so always worth checking when shopping for a low fare.

Seems popular because they're often busy, but I had some issues with agents not calling me back when I was requesting an itinerary that wasn't just a straightforward round trip ticket. I think they focus on volume, so if part of what you need is advice and customization then HIS is probably not for you.

Baan Pictory Resort is perfect for you in terms of a great and safe place for your family. It's about a 10 minute drive or so out of Pattaya towards Sattahip. Love that place.

And who pays for their airfare to go home. Surely they lost their tickets once they missed their flights. If the police are asking\demanding they stay then they must be doing so for more than just qeustioning

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Please, 2 people have been murdered and all you are concerned about is the cost of a plane ticket?

I would also be worried about the Thai police desperate to pin this crime on someone/anyone that wasn't a local.

Me, I would be out the country the next day and back in a country where some semblance of justice, evidence and rule of law are required ASAP.

Agreed. The Thai version of "justice" is typically apathetic but in cases motivated by politics and influenced by media can be downright scary ("investigations" seem to start out with a conclusion to which the Thai police work backward toward the evidence).

The friends wanting to leave the country doesn't imply guilt, but rather could be an indication of fear, imho.

Well, hopefully the DNA analysis isn't tainted and everyone can eventually find out what actually happened (the detained Brits could be in a room having semen milked out of them right now, an insane thought just about anywhere else but actually a remote possibility in Thailand).

RIP and condolences to the family of the deceased.

Why doesn't immigration just charge more and let people do the visa extensions without leaving the country? What an inane process for all involved (except your new friend).

Wow, that is a lot of data on a tiny card!!

I was not a part of the conversation. She showed them a letter from her employer confirming her job in Thailand (clerical/admin position). The interviewer then asked her what she planned to do in her travels. She mentioned a few cities and places she wanted to visit as a tourist and that she also wanted to improve her English along the way. The guy then said it sounded like a nice trip and have fun. Literally took less than 10 minutes.

We were freaked out about the process from reading all these horror stories but in the end she did all this homework and had all this documentation ready for nothing. Well, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared I suppose.

My girlfriend just got one, 10 year tourist visa. We prepared like hell after reading this and some other threads. It was totally unnecessary as the whole thing was a breeze. Interview took 10 minutes tops and no hardball questions at all.

I love the fortune teller shenanigans in Thailand. Just keep going to different ones until you get one that foretells what you want them to and BAM every other Thai person will immediately heed your ominous warnings.

You mean you haven't found a way to stamp out your bargirl gf's remaining sense of loyalty and responsibility to her parents yet, so that you can fully control her with your measly financial leverage? The nerve of that girl and her family. Her parents must be really poor and uneducated to miss recognizing the opportunity that is having you as their daughter's top priority. smdh

Fantastic value for quality of life, wonderful people, delicious food, close to so many fascinating places to explore and near enough to the coral triangle to hit world class diving anytime I want. What more could I ask for?

Thanks for posing this question. Sometimes I get the impression that this forum is just a place for foreigners to bitch about things they don't like or understand about Thailand. To those ppl I say, go home!

They can't - that's why they bitch so much.

Ha! Okay. Well they could be "trapped" in worse places I suppose (several come to mind).

Funny that some feel trapped by their work here, and others (like me) worked so hard so that we could enjoy life here and leave behind crappier existences elsewhere. I guess it's all a matter of perspective and different strokes for different folks.

Fantastic value for quality of life, wonderful people, delicious food, close to so many fascinating places to explore and near enough to the coral triangle to hit world class diving anytime I want. What more could I ask for?

Thanks for posing this question. Sometimes I get the impression that this forum is just a place for foreigners to bitch about things they don't like or understand about Thailand. To those ppl I say, go home!

Wow. If all those laborers come back, what a hellish ordeal they've been put through for no good reason.

I hope that the junta tackled immigration reform, for the sake of many types of people.

You don't understand Indians. Actually, I don't think you understand Thais either.

I agree completely.

Thailand brings out things in most Farang that average Thais don't really want to associate with more than they are required to. If you really care to get to know Thais then I suggest:

1) completely stop hanging out with other foreigners/expats

2) do some activities different than your usual patterns (socializing in places other than alcohol establishments, etc)

3) meet some Thais outside of work circles. Even after you worked together it's hard to shed that professional rapport.

I've been here 12 years and I have only one foreigner friend, who lives in anther city and is more assimilated into Thai culture than I am. Despite my wholehearted attempt from the start to get to know Thais on a deeper level it took me years, maybe 8, to start seeing it happen. Once it got going it was like a tidal wave and many friends and their friends have adopted me as sort of the one outsider in their group- it's been fantastic to get to know them and yes, they think and talk about many things of substance, but it is very hard to get past that initial, cordial but politely unapproachable outer shell. It's not being elitist, but rather they mistakenly (or sometimes accurately) assume that foreigners are here for the traditional types of things that the somewhat conservative mainstream Thais don't want to associate with.

PS- nothing against drinking, my Thai friends and I go out a lot, but I was just thinking a change of place or circumstance might get you off to a different start. I have had just as many great times touring the temples in the provinces with friends' families as I have out partying the night before.

Get to know them, amazing people!

That means they are being skimmed.

Someone is definitely making some good money in the current arrangement of the exchange rates being "fuzzy".

I am aware of the 11am rate swing and do time things around that. My large withdrawals are large enough that the discrepancies in sum add up to a substantial amount, that's why it's worth the hassle to me to do the small withdrawals often when the rate is in a favorable range (if it's not close to a recent high I don't bother). Anyway, thanks for your help and I will surf around the forum and see if there are any other threads relating to this. So far I've had the feeling that I'm the only one who wants to know the exact rate beforehand.

I have had multiple lengthy conversations with two of my banks about this. Neither of them can give me a way to calculate the rate ahead of time. Didn't you mention that you have a way?

Basically I just have been withdrawing those small amounts and when the effective rate is good then I make large withdrawals. That's the best I've been able to come up with. Would love it if someone had an answer.

Hi Bob, can you help a brother out then? I used that visa calculator with a 0 fee (my bank doesn't charge a fee for foreign withdrawals) and it spit out 32.56 today. My withdrawal today gave me a rate of 32.43.

Since I cannot find any way to know the rate beforehand I've resorted to this method: I just withdraw 1000bht on most days and calculate the rate on my own. If it's favorable then I withdraw more. It costs 150-180bht per withdrawal, but my bank reimburses me for those fees. Seems like there should be a better way and I guess it's the Thai banks and their ATM fees that win in this method.

Yes, this is the same page my bank gave me to calculate the rate, which never actually matches what the calculator yields.

Try this site:

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

Thanks for this, but this too is inaccurate. I just tested it. Withdrew 1000bht from a Bangkok Bank ATM, checked my balance and it costed 35.46. 1,150 baht (including 150 fee) / 35.46 = 32.43. The site you gave me a link to states that the rate from Bangkok Bank is 32.31. Today the discrepancy happens to be in my favor but most of the time it is not. I wish there were an accurate and reliable way to know what exchange rate you'll get from ATM machines before making the withdrawal, as opposed to calculating it after.

[emoji8]

Retired young (long way to 50) and got an ED visa (one year multi) just before the "crackdown". Got hassled on my first entry with it. Wish there was another option for those of is who genuinely just want to enjoy the good life in Thailand, spend money and not work illegally. Unfortunately the system here forces us to say we're students or employees.