Old Croc

No money in board games? Is the work permit office open on 1st April?

I'm confused. I don't even know where British Malaya is.

Our house in Phuket has been for sale since we moved to the Isaan property over two years ago. No agencies no hard sell, as it's been occupied the whole time. The sudden influx of so many visitors to the island has apparently put pressure on long term accommodation there. We are currently choosing from 3 definite purchase offers, with another probable, received in just the last couple of weeks. This, after we increased the price by 1 mill. The Russian invasion is not sad news for some. To the poster who said I would never sell for a profit in a House rent vs Buy debate on the forum years ago, I say HA!

HaHa

Perhaps thinking is your problem. One fool doesn't change an entire country's culture. Unfortunately, all countries produce young drunken idiots, even "civilized" Canada. Canadians are not normally known for bigotry, I guess you have just changed the perception of your country as being civilized!

A lot of nonsense written here. If the guy entered legally all those years ago almost certainly it would have been as a tourist. He never would have started with the TM30 or 90-day reporting regime, so likely was not recorded anywhere. I don't know if Thailand compares arrival and departure records to pick up overstayers, I would guess not. If you keep a low profile and are supported by somebody (wife), as this character apparently did, you could stay off the radar for a long time. However, there are always some people who will report somebody they dislike for any of a thousand reasons. The dob-in is a major way long term overstayers get caught, despite agencies here claiming it's because of their sterling work. Foreigners are disliked by many locals and can stand out in Thailand. Don't like this guy's future, I can understand his distress at getting caught. He probably has little money, no passport, no prospect now of being picked up as a refugee by a western country and has a bleak future if returning to Iraq.

Come on! Why would they arrest a Euro Citz on departure for a missing arrival stamp in this day and age? There' more to it than that.

Three, according to their website: International Patient Services | Bangkok Hospital Phuket – International Hospitals in Thailand (phukethospital.com) Phuket, as one of the most visited places in the world, is a center for international medical tourism and. of course with so many tourists, a certain percentage will come to grief during a visit. BHP is a truely international hospital, perhaps more so than almost any other in Thailand. They've always had a large staff of interpreters available. Obviously, they now have Russian speakers on staff..

Here is my theory, just for amusement, probably for my critics, and I am also risking being compared to a fictional detective from a TV show made 50 years ago, [Theory Only] The lady is not a Euro citizen. She entered some time ago from an unknown country with little protections for individuals. She worked (!) and overstayed (speculation), before coming into possession of a Dutch passport (illegally) and was attempting to use it to depart Thailand and enter the Euro zone where she could apply for refugee status. I don't think the modern and cyber equipped Immigration Dept of today would be mistakenly locking up legal tourists from Europe. Just a theory, and if wrong feel free to mock.

If you really have to diss something, you will look a lot more believable and less foolish if you were up to date on the subject. That crappy old airport, and probably most of the staff who annoyed you a dozen years ago, are long gone. It's been massively upgraded over the last 10 years to a point where it is capable of handling 15m pax in a year (before covid), second only to Bangkok. Phuket International Airport - Wikipedia

Did you read the title of this thread?

I made comment in another thread about why I think they do it. Unsure why you pose this question at me as I didn't make mention of it in my post here.

I remember that case. About 10 passengers found a door direct to the baggage area and by-passed Immigration processing. Technically entered illegally. Should have been handled differently by Immigration at the time. This case is not the same. I'll wait for further updates to find what this lady's story is.

That's not true, and I'm very sure the saying refers to a different part of the anatomy.

I wouldn't give 2 satang for that gem of a post.

If it was something as simple as a missed stamp on arrival it would have easily been checked and proven at the airport and she would have departed on her flight. The arrest shows there is more to the story than that. The thread headline states she entered without proper documents. Interesting travel outfit. I wouldn't be surprised if the Dutch PP didn't belong to her.

I'm going to make the assumption that she made a mistake by entering without being processed and Immigration quite rightly detained her for further investigation. Shouldn't take long to find the truth.

From the link: "However, most of the foreign offenders were found to have broken the law in the Patong area, with offences including drunk driving, visa overstay, illegal entry, and working without a valid visa." The answers to the problem would be to end the Russian war against Ukraine, overcome the mafia control of the Phuket transport system and create a new complete system with general Thailand pricing, and stop Brits boozing and fighting when on holiday. Easy, peasy.

It's obviously not the law, silly question. It's the culture, the tradition, the way of doing business in this country. Compare it to the US where you are expected (forced) to pay gratuities to wait staff so the establishment owner doesn't have to pay them a living wage. We proffered 2000 baht to our Immigration guy for lunch money. It enabled him to quickly wrap up the visit and go on his way. It was probably a bit higher than most would pay, but for me it's just the cost of living in a country where nearly everything else is exceptionally cheap. Some examples to show where I gain in this country: Rats chewed the rubber fuel hoses on top of my vehicle's fuel tank. A mechanic came to us over 2 days and spent 3-4 hours under the car dropping the tank, repairing and replacing it. He asked for 300 baht for the job! (I paid more) A recent doctors visit and a short stay in a ward for bloodletting (a medical issue) cost 175 baht! (I self insure) There are a lot of expats here who get up in arms over paying extra for some levels of service while completely forgetting about the exhorbitant ripoffs in the home country.

Bangkok is one of the world's great ant most exciting cities. If city life is what you desire, I think all round it would tick most boxes. I lived in cities all my life and couldn't even contemplate living in another in retirement.

Thanks for sharing. Pity the magazine didn't take just your personal foibles into account when compiling this list.

What a silly statement! There are friendly, and unfriendly, people to be found everywhere in Thailand. Obviously, the southern border region has security issues, but there are members on this forum living happily in the southern most areas of Thailand. To attempt to denigrate the tourism areas of Krabi, Phuket and even Surat Thani with your ludicrous theory that people are more toxic than in the north is a statement about yourself.

Interesting to see Luang Prabang listed. On my bucket list to visit as is the incredible scenery in much of Laos. Wouldn't want to live there with their style of government, and the looming neighbor immediately to the north.

Phuket can be very overcrowded. Have you ever stopped to think why it is overcrowded with tourists?

How on earth could you think your short experience of a place nearly 30 years ago is at all relevant to it being named as one of “The World’s Greatest Places of 2023”