Old Croc

Victim named, offender granted anonymity.

This family are not influencers, they have the biggest sailing channel on Youtube with about 1.8 million subscribers. "Sailing La Vagabonde" They make much more money sitting on their boat than the character above who boasted he earned more. They are pictured with Greta Thunberg because they famously transported her on their boat from Europe to the US to address the UN after criticism she would add to climate warming by flying.

If I had my druthers of the 2 principal characters in that pic......

I believe the parading of transgressors in front of the press in the Thai manner is archaic and obviously about officers seeking publicity for reasons of pride, promotion or re-election. Other countries may occasionally publicize cases to advise citizens of the extent of the problem, or be seeking budgetary increases, but generally would respect an individual's privacy. The posters who consider lengthy overstayers to be not really breaking the law, but instead are just good old boys contributing to the economy without bothering with red tape - how naive. The main reasons someone overstays long term is a lack of funds to avail themselves of one of the many methods to continue living here. In some cases, they may be here because of problems with the law. I know of many crims from my country who come to Thailand and continue to ply their trade. I know that overstayers are more likely to have a criminal background than the average tourist. THey may even be "murderers." For some who believe the abolition of country borders will instantly result in peaceful and harmonious mixing and coexistence of all peoples despite the massive differences in culture, wealth, law, religion, government, hygiene, health practices, etc., etc., good luck with that! I don't want to be around for the first hundred years of that experiment.

Nixon was a creep, but he wasn't responsible for the deaths of massive numbers of stupid citizens who believed the lies, the lack of action and direction about a pandemic from the leader.

I have a visiting friend from oz who is returning home in the next few days. He was very proud of the cheap flight he bought on Scoot which cost $AUD400ish return. He's 70, has back, heart and blood circulation problems, but was pleased as punch to get a such a cheap seat in cattle class. It involved a couple of lengthy layovers just to get to my part of Thailand. He still works remotely in a high paying profession and is conservatively worth 2-3million. I spent some time futilely suggesting he retire (to Thailand where he could live like a king without even touching his principal), or at the very least to sit in the pointy end of the plane in a comfortable seat. No deal loves the bargain.

Because he can. The biggest criminal in US history pardoned most of his criminal co-conspirator's. He stacked the courts with inexperienced justices, sacked long serving officers in intelligence and justice agencies replacing them with unqualified flunkies. He awarded the nation's highest civilian awards to media liars. He delayed action and lied to the public about covid, resulting in hundreds of 1000s of deaths. He treated the Presidency as part of his business empire, cheated, stole, incited insurrection, used the military for personal and illegal means, raped and demeaned women and still exhibits a desire to become a dictator of a country once considered the world's most democratic.

Some States in Australia have a "One Punch Law" which allows for a long prison sentence for fatal king hit attacks. It's more common than many may think as drunks/druggies/bouncers can swing at the unaware. Cricketer David Hookes died this way. Had to believe the Belgium was running and slipped over as instinct should have saved him.

When I saw this thread yesterday, I made a bet with myself that the "dumb" guy would be all over it with his form of verbal fecal matter in the first 5 posts. I lost the bet. He made the 6th post. It's not a good look, and it seems almost a perennial thing for a story about black water flowing on to a beach to appear on the forum. It attracts the same old predictable comments from posters and the same old promises from authorities to overcome the problem and find culpability. They have upgraded water treatment plants over the years, there is a large plant at Karon, but still this happens at times. Money needs to be spent to find a permanent solution.

Wow. People get old and infirm wherever they reside. Phuket would be better place to grow old than a million other places I could think of. Do your "friends" know how you feel about them? Do you really have friends?

It's called silica.

Good question. I would probably go with better safe than sorry. Rabies free yesterday may not apply today. Lots of riff raff come in from neighboring provinces all the time.

You have a point, but it doesn't just apply to, nor gauge, anything about the subject matter. It just illustrates laziness and possible theft of stock images by a publication. It can be seen everywhere. far too often. I don't know how often I've called out obviously incorrect pics. I recall a few years ago one of the haters placed an image of rubbish and rotten old boats on a beach in an attempt to belittle Phuket. It was an obvious pic from Indonesia, easily spotted by the boat design and their country flags. Was it you?

Somewhat ironic that the worst part for you is all the tourists who come in their millions because they regard it as the best part to visit.

Very few residents of Phuket bother to comment on the threads anymore because of the flood of haters from elsewhere who regard any discussion of it as a chance to vent their spleens. Any thread is quickly taken over by these nutters who live elsewhere by choice but have a strange obsession with the Island. Most have only visited briefly and didn't like it, usually for financial reasons. The really strange ones lived there for many years then suddenly developed unreasonable phobias about it! Phuket is a small Island Province attracting huge numbers of tourists. If you can't abide the crowds, frequent heavy traffic, the taxi mafia, or higher prices in the tourist towns don't come. Get a life somewhere else! I've lived in, or travelled to, quite a few places I disliked and always moved on, vowing to avoid it in the future. I don't understand people who obsess about somewhere they're not forced to go to. The OP states there are 30,000 expats on Phuket, only a couple have bothered to reply to another bitch fest topic. Consider the good points raised there and the fact that so many have made a life on Phuket, rather than judge by the volume of the noise from the peanut gallery.

Another ill-informed post better aimed at retirees in places like Bangkok rather than on a tropical Island. My house in Phuket is situated in an area with views of mountains, jungle and farmland. I can even see a 60 meter waterfall from my yard if it rains hard enough.

I'm weak! Your current definition of an Island relates to the distance from the mainland in comparison to a Thai river! Strange! You know there are islands in rivers too? How far in kilometers would it be before something becomes an Island in your mind? Have you been in touch with DeSantis to let him know the islands of the Florida Keys will have to be renamed?

It's not catching, for most of us. It's a pity your brain and education didn't alert you to the theme of this thread.

What a ludicrous post! Road accidents are a Thailand thing. The highest death rates are in places like CM and the North-East. Left for dead? Not taken to one of the hospitals you berate in the same post? The private hospitals on Phuket are expensive for some. The same as everywhere else in Thailand. The government hospitals are the same as everywhere else in Thailand. In my ten years living in Phuket, I was never stopped by, hassled nor even spoken to by police. The exception being the Immigration police who have in my time morphed from difficult to the best Immigration dept in Thailand. (Based on comments on this forum) Hordes of tourists- yes. Spectacular and popular places have this effect. If a problem for an individual best to avoid it. Taxis - discussed above. Tourist and expat infrastructure - unsure what you mean unless it's just a different way of bringing up transport again. Who doesn't know or care about you apart from me?

This is Phuket and part of my whinge. S Thai are very nice, fun people. Most of the service people in Phuket originate from all over Thailand . Where do you think all the younger people in Issan migrate to for work? Places like Pattaya, Bangkok and Phuket of course.

Of course, it's an Island! Having a connecting bridge doesn't change that fact! There are hundreds of islands around the planet that have tunnels or bridges to another land mass.

The usual herd of Phuket haters have leapt onto this thread. Most have only ever spent a short holiday in the town of Patong and found prices above their budgets. Yes, taxis, etc. are a rip-off and more expensive than anywhere else in Thailand. It is a shameful national government failure that mafia organizations are allowed to ply their crooked trade there with impunity and can even dictate their own excessive price structures. Why surprised that the tourist towns are expensive? As one of the world's most visited tourist destinations it naturally has higher prices and more rip-off merchants than Nakon Nowhere in Issan. Try to find something cheap in London or Paris. However, this thread is about expat living and general COL expenses. Try reading the OP again! Expats rarely use the mafia products and generally do not reside, shop nor eat in the tourist centers. For the astute, Phuket has all the advantages of its world class scenery, beaches, Islands, etc. without becoming a patsy for the thieves.

Why would you say that? Phuket is one of the few Thai Provinces officially free of rabies.

Great Nik, well suited. Comments on a Thai forum about a topic discussing living in Phuket yet states he lives in Viet while raving about The Philippines. Well off topic.

Never let facts get in the way of a good hateful rant. This poster lived in Phuket for some time, then moved just off the Island to take up residence in a village to the north. IMO, a good lifestyle choice for a positive person. He still frequents Phuket for many services such as shopping and hospitals, but spews his hatred of the place in his posts and topics. The OP talks about expat living, not tourism, and states the west coast tourist areas are not recommended for residence, but ADumbRation ignores this in the rant. While some of his "reasons" listed above are correct, many are exaggerated or simply untrue. I could pick holes in many of his points, but there's little to gain when up against a closed mind.