kennypowers

It appears all your questions, not prayers, have been answered. This almost makes him sound like a nice guy I have a few questions for him, but guess I'll have to wait until I get really old, desperate and insecure and end up living on Beach Rd. http://www.timsharky.com/we-answer-the-thaivisa-com-haters/

his gold necklace looks very classy. where can i buy one?

You could not afford it

I saw his gold chain collection online somewhere and its 4 Kilos in weight LOL you do the math

The guy is an interesting character and had close to 50,000 followers before facebook shut him down now he is back on FB and his twitter account has close to 50,000 followers so he obviously has something most of us on here dont LOL I only have 1500 fb friends LOL.

you are right, i couldn't afford to wear one. the Mrs would go after me with the sharpest object she'd find in the kitchen or workshop.

as far as buying one, let me tell you a secret. my cheapest car costs more and a dozen TV-members who have been guests in my house can confirm my claim.

But does your car collection look like this http://www.timsharky.com/the-shark-garage/

The reason all these kids look up to him is that he's a gangster who beat the system. He went from not having a dime to one of the richest Aussie underworld figures. They took 240,000 off him in court and it seemingly didn't even dent his wealth. He takes a baht bus to visit the orphanage in Pattaya yet has over 3m dollars worth of cars in his garage on the Gold Coast. His house is worth 4.3m alone. http://www.timsharky.com/sharkys-house-in-surfers-paradise-gold-coast/

He wears crocs and football shorts all day every day in Thailand and then books himself two first class seats to fly back to Australia. It's rumoured that he owns about 25% of all clubs on the Gold Coast.

He's an interesting guy, but for me not someone to admire by a long shot. The way he talks about women and the way he exploits Thai prostitutes on Twitter is disgusting. One minute he is banging on about animal rights and the next posting naked pics of 18 year old hookers about to get "sharked" (his words) at his apartment. If he is pimping girls in Thailand, I just can't believe he hasn't been arrested. Surely the BIB would love to get a photo op arresting a high profile farang like him for pimping?

Those who talk the most, do the least. All the tattoos, steroids, stories, gold, LV bag...can't say I've ever seen a more insecure person.

Typical "mommy died and left me some money, so I went to the 3rd world and tried to life like a bigshot.". Has fun until he accidentally falls off his hotel balcony. Only surprise here is that he is not Russian.

He was an Orphan he made his millions in the Loan shark business, look up his court case in Australia where he was found guilty

This is true. He is self-made. He still has a fleet of luxury cars and a 4.3m $ home on the gold Coast. Details of his case in Australia: http://www.timsharky.com/the-truth-about-shark-financial-services/

Does he even speak Thai?

Sawadee krup. Sabaidee mai krup? Hmmm, arroy! Oooh, suuway mak mak!

I brought this up on TV in another thread last week. He's quite a legend on the Gold Coast, and certainly on Twitter, where he regularly posts pictures of himself with "his girls" and "other girls" nude, to his 50,000 followers.

He's one of those really annoying thick foreigners who lives in Pattaya and tries to educate the world on Thai people and Thai culture, based on what he sees on Beach Road.

That said, he does love animals.

His website: http://www.timsharky.com/

His Twitter: https://twitter.com/timsharky

I don't think it was ever going to have much new to say but given that I got 30-40 likes its nice to see that others share my view of this city. The myopics, bigots and haters of Pattaya had their day in the sun and generally revealed themselves as people who see one thing and hate all things. Overall an entertaining diversion but, like my learned friend Mr. Worldwide, I agree its time to put this baby to bed until the next time!

As Kris Kristofferson said during an encore, "You might as well go home now, it don't get no better than this."

I think you are wrong. I have been following this thread from the beginning, and not one Pattaya lover has successfully defended the den of iniquity against the accusation that, for the most part, Pattaya is a place where sad aging men go to take advantage of the abundance of misguided youth selling their souls for what they believe will provide a better like for their parents, kids, themselves, whoever.

I won't debate the whole bar girl-hooker life thing here. But the fact is, seldom does the Pattaya story end well for the vendor or the buyer, thus the huge number of girls hooked on yaba and alcohol, and the number of sociapathic foreigners who end up jumping off a balcony, losing all their cash in one way or another or returning home spouting inaccuracies regarding Thai women and Thailand in general.

Not one person has made a successful case for wanting to live there other than for the 'hookers on tap' lifestyle. I'd go as far as to say that 97% of men who move there do so because they took a holiday there and for the first time in their lives experienced women that apparently didn't find them repulsive or socially inept.

I posted an excerpt from BKK magazine detailing four incidents over four days of naked foreigners going crazy in Pattaya. None of you guys battered an eyelid, as if this was normal. You don't need a debate to ascertain whether Pattaya is a decent place to live. As I said in my very first post, just compare the news stories coming out of Pattaya on a daily basis to anywhere else in the country.

What has been proven beyond doubt in the debate is that Pattaya does not represent Thai culture or the average Thai person's experience of their country on a day-to-day basis. Neither does it represent the experience of the majority of foreigners living in Thailand. It is, by and large, a place where lost souls meet other souls, believing they are taking advantage of each other's misfortune.

I also think using the word 'haters' is misguided. It somewhat implies that people are jealous of those living in Pattaya. In truth, people don't hate, they pity the lost souls. They pity those who will die alone, those who will be bled of all their savings, those who will drown their inner sadness in the bottom of a glass every night for the remainder of their lives, surrounded by women who are happy to pour them another drink and take them one step closer to their maker.

It's also desperately sad for the women. Women who are daughters and sisters and mothers. Women who once had dreams like every other girl in the world; aspirations of a rewarding career and a man who loves and takes proper care of them. No girl dreams of sleeping with men twice or three times her age for a living when she gets older, or living in a town infested by the underbelly of society, for that matter. I salute many of these girls because although entirely misguided in their choice, they are willing to sell their soul, their identity, their culture, their moral compass down the river to try and give their kids a better life and better opportunities than they had. Sadly, that is rarely the case.

<Women who once had dreams like every other girl in the world; aspirations of a rewarding career and a man who loves and takes proper care of them.>

Seriously???????

Do you not know that the only alternative future the average bargirl had was a life of hardship in the sweatshops or the rice fields working for a pittance?

What country are you talking about? You don't seem to know anything about the reality for the Thai working class.

No one forces them to go to Pattaya, and they can leave if they don't like it. Many of them ARE looking for "a man who loves and takes proper care of them" having been knocked up and abandoned by their Thai BFs or husbands.

<not one Pattaya lover has successfully defended the den of iniquity against the accusation that, for the most part, Pattaya is a place where sad aging men go to take advantage of the abundance of misguided youth>

Doesn't need defending.

The aging men that you so obviously despise aren't sad in Pattaya- they are having the best time of their lives. If they were staying in whatever dump they could afford back "home" and just getting drunk or watching rubbish on tv every day they would be sad.

<selling their souls>

Do you believe that ALL prostitutes sell their souls, or is that reserved for Pattaya girls? What about the ones that work legally as prostitutes in NZ, Australia, the UK and the USA?

What about the ones that have young good looking guys in Pattaya, of which there are many, as customers. Is it OK if they aren't old and fat?

And you think that alternative makes the job more glamourous? You think that because the other choices won't suffice it makes this the best one? Are they lucky? Is this a good career choice? FYI, I work with bar girls every week. I have done for 4 years. I also work with girls from the Thai, karaoke bar side. These are the ones you don't see - beyond the mini skirts and the smiles. The ones who get repeatedly raped and beaten up by pimps and loan sharks. The ones who fall pregnant and can't face the prospect of abortion. The ones who are abused at home, failed by society and then abused for money. The ones hooked on drugs, the alcoholics. The ones seeking refuge at shelters because their families don't want them around anymore having shamed the village that they are working in prostitution, even though it was the family they were trying to provide for. It is you who has no idea of the emotional scarring, the mental and physical abuse. It is you who has no idea of the construct of Thai society, if you did your argument wouldn't be so blind and lacking in depth. And yes, they are looking for a man who loves and takes proper care of them, but how jaded, lost and desperate does a woman have to be to do that among men in beer bars she wouldn't look twice at if she were offered the same opportunities that our children are.

Why don't you open your eyes, do some reading, a bit of truth seeking. Perhaps even help out and make a difference to someone's life? You, like so many others, have absolutely no idea.

In the majority of cases, until a bar girls is completely broken, she will never talk to you about rape, debt, drug addiction, her illegitimate kids, her abusive uncle, etc. Why? Well seeing as you know so much about the Thai working class, you tell me.

What it boils down to is this. The foreign sexpests would hate nothing more than for all these women to have far better opportunities, because then the dynamics would change. It's no fun in the UK or US sleeping with a high class hooker who runs her operation like a seasoned entrepreneur. The conquest is hers, not yours. She doesn't play the role, she sees herself as above you not below you. The dynamics don't suit your perversion. Yes, Thailand has prostitutes like this too, but these aren't the Beach road girls and seldom any of the bar girls. Nope, it's far more fun to treat a little farm girl like a dog because "they all f***ng love it". They were born to do this right? They're just hookers right? Don't fall in love with one just f*** them.

The oppressor always justifies his cause by stripping away the identity of the individual.

wake up.

I don't think it was ever going to have much new to say but given that I got 30-40 likes its nice to see that others share my view of this city. The myopics, bigots and haters of Pattaya had their day in the sun and generally revealed themselves as people who see one thing and hate all things. Overall an entertaining diversion but, like my learned friend Mr. Worldwide, I agree its time to put this baby to bed until the next time!

As Kris Kristofferson said during an encore, "You might as well go home now, it don't get no better than this."

I think you are wrong. I have been following this thread from the beginning, and not one Pattaya lover has successfully defended the den of iniquity against the accusation that, for the most part, Pattaya is a place where sad aging men go to take advantage of the abundance of misguided youth selling their souls for what they believe will provide a better like for their parents, kids, themselves, whoever.

I won't debate the whole bar girl-hooker life thing here. But the fact is, seldom does the Pattaya story end well for the vendor or the buyer, thus the huge number of girls hooked on yaba and alcohol, and the number of sociapathic foreigners who end up jumping off a balcony, losing all their cash in one way or another or returning home spouting inaccuracies regarding Thai women and Thailand in general.

Not one person has made a successful case for wanting to live there other than for the 'hookers on tap' lifestyle. I'd go as far as to say that 97% of men who move there do so because they took a holiday there and for the first time in their lives experienced women that apparently didn't find them repulsive or socially inept.

I posted an excerpt from BKK magazine detailing four incidents over four days of naked foreigners going crazy in Pattaya. None of you guys battered an eyelid, as if this was normal. You don't need a debate to ascertain whether Pattaya is a decent place to live. As I said in my very first post, just compare the news stories coming out of Pattaya on a daily basis to anywhere else in the country.

What has been proven beyond doubt in the debate is that Pattaya does not represent Thai culture or the average Thai person's experience of their country on a day-to-day basis. Neither does it represent the experience of the majority of foreigners living in Thailand. It is, by and large, a place where lost souls meet other souls, believing they are taking advantage of each other's misfortune.

I also think using the word 'haters' is misguided. It somewhat implies that people are jealous of those living in Pattaya. In truth, people don't hate, they pity the lost souls. They pity those who will die alone, those who will be bled of all their savings, those who will drown their inner sadness in the bottom of a glass every night for the remainder of their lives, surrounded by women who are happy to pour them another drink and take them one step closer to their maker.

It's also desperately sad for the women. Women who are daughters and sisters and mothers. Women who once had dreams like every other girl in the world; aspirations of a rewarding career and a man who loves and takes proper care of them. No girl dreams of sleeping with men twice or three times her age for a living when she gets older, or living in a town infested by the underbelly of society, for that matter. I salute many of these girls because although entirely misguided in their choice, they are willing to sell their soul, their identity, their culture, their moral compass down the river to try and give their kids a better life and better opportunities than they had. Sadly, that is rarely the case.

From the news bites section of BBK magazine last week:

In Pattaya, the latest foreigner to be found wandering the streets naked is an 80-year-old man.

On September 4, a 54 -year-old Finnish national was found naked, threatening people incapable of remembering which hotel he was staying at.

On September 5, an American bodybuilder was arrested after running around naked and kidnapping a girl from a 7-11.

Three days later an elderly man is found stumbling naked near a bar. The man is incapable of answering police questions but is estimated to be about 80 years old. Police are still looking for his family or caretakers.

To #114, I can't reply with the quote function as you have too many blocks, so here is my reply.

<More likely they stayed in their parents house until they were old considered an adult and sent off to work and make money.>

REALLY- LOL. The girls in Pattaya are usually over 20 and left home long before going to Pattaya. A major reason for doing so is because their husband/ partner got them pregnant and abandoned them.

<I have no stats on STDs but it's common sense. Sex workers + whoremongers = STDs>

Obviously never heard of Mr Meechai. Sex workers + condoms + whoremongers = NO STDs.

If the infection rate was as high as you believe, hundreds of thousands ( ? millions ) of western men would be going home with infections EVERY year, and that just doesn't happen.

<not just left the girl go work in 7/11 or as a waitress at a regular restaurant and earn minimum wage instead of having to sell her body.>

Most in Thailand do. The ones that work in Pattaya, Patong, Bkk, Hua Hin, Samui etc etc either want a lot of money, or are looking for a husband/ sponsor. Did you not know that?

You have admitted that you don't know any bar girls, so why do you think you have any qualification to talk about Pattaya bar girls? You are just repeating what you have read, but you don't actually know anything. It's like claiming to know all about rocket science when you've never been a rocket scientist- who can believe anything you say?

I never said sex and going to the toilet are the same for me- there you go again. To the average prostitute though, it's just another bodily function. Do you actually think that they have to get turned on to have sex with strangers?

<most girls would not enjoy having to let sweaty, old, overweight men, have sex with them>

It's just a job. How many people really enjoy their job- I hated mine in the end, but I did it to make money, just like they do.

Besides, if you'd actually been to Pattaya, you'd know that many of the customers are actually young good looking guys.

<I'm sure the ones you enter 'relationships' with tell you otherwise of course.>

Do you actually think the customers care if the girls "like them" or not, 5555555555555555555555

<Let's see if any users of prostitutes who claim the girls don't mind, it's all OK, there's no problem would be happy for their own daughter to become a pro?>

See post 111.

I know a lot of Thai girls aged 20-30 and the majority still live at home with parents.

How do you know foreigners are not going home with STDS? You think they go shouting about it? Of course Pattaya is rife with STDs.

Sure for a hooker sex becomes something they do every day so it becomes nothing special but do you think that makes it OK?

If I had to have sex with horrible old women every day I'd be disgusted. I might get used to it but I definitely wouldn't like it. Thought makes me feel sick and I imagine it's the same for Thailands bar girls.

There's a reason you're in Thailand having sex with girls young enough to be your daughter it's because you find women your own age disgusting.

So how do you think the Thai girls feel about you? Remember that the next time you're having sex with one.

It's not 'just a job'. I'd rather spend 12hrs a day in 7/11 or a factory than stick my dick in manky old women and I honestly think it's easier for men to fuc_k just about anything than it is for women as we tend to have less standards and will bang anything if we're horny enough.

I have been to Pattaya most of the people I saw were over 50 years old. I doubt the girls mind as much when having sex with some of the younger and not so bad looking ones though.

I mean if I had to for my 'job' I could probably bang most girls under the age 35 but when it starts getting older and older no way. There's no way I'd have sex with a 60 year old women. Not sure how these girls manage to do it.

And yes I do think a lot of the customers are deluded enough to think the girls like them hence guys sponsoring, shacking up and marrying them.

Sure you can SAY you wouldn't mind 70 year old guys banging your daughter but if she's down on her luck, has no education and not much money and is doing it out of desperation I think the reality would be very different and you'd NOT be happy.

It's not the same as a girl with good education and money in the West making the decision to become a high end escort for example because she likely has choices and is entering into it through free will where as the average Thai bar girl has no education, no money and the pressure from her parents to bring home an income so feels like she doesn't have much choice (even though there are 7/11 and factory jobs)

So true. Real talk. This just about ends the debate for me.

I'm sure he will have paid them off. Didn't he openly admit to much worse crimes in the past?

I suppose he does, like other mafia types do. But I thought at the very least NGOs working for women's rights and protection in Thailand would have been all over this and made a song and dance. It's one thing for a Thai man to be a pimp, but a farang, on Thai soil, surely not!?

Read Frommer's travel guide to Thailand for a real eye opener. A whole page dedicated to telling you about the evils of the farang focussed sex industry. Saying that all girls working in the bars are sex slaves that have been sold into slavery by their families and implying that they are pretty much kept in chains when not working. By you the tourist supporting these places you are funding the international white slave trade and organised crime. Oh, and every girl also carries every sexually transmitted disease known to man including aids.

So what part do you disagree with?

Whilst they might not have technically been 'sold' as 'slaves' most are sent there by families who want them to send back money, right?

There is a lot of organised crime in Pattaya and other RLD in Thailand and around the world, right?

As a user of sex workers you ARE funding this sort of thing, right?

Lots of girls do have STDs it's gonna happen when she's a sex worker sleeping with lots of whoremongers, right?

So Frommers whilst may have used extreme language for the shock factor didn't really get it too wrong.

You've got that one wrong.

Most of the bargirls in Pattaya have left home long before moving there- they ain't kids anymore. They make their own choices.

There's probably less organised crime in Pattaya than in Soho in London or King's Cross in Sydney. There aren't any pimps in the Pattaya farang scene.

Funding what? Helping poor families in Thailand for sure.

Your statement about STDs is erroneous- do you have any stats to back that up? Bargirls are pretty concientous about using condoms.

Frommers is talking rubbish.

They certainly do have pimps. I hate to bring him up again but Tim Sharky has outed himself as a pimp of a notable amount of Pattaya prostitutes. It beggars belief that the Thai authorities let him run this operation openly. See this documentary clip that aired in Australia for evidence. http://www.timsharky.com/confessions-of-a-pimp/

according to alot of info on the apple forums, MacKeeper is not a good idea. Just passing along the info.....

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3036

There are other links in the apple forums on the RHS of the page with more info...

Appreciate you sharing...

Thanks for the heads up on that. I am going to do some reading on this.

Wow, so am not the only one! I am sure I got this redirect virus through my True connection but they won't admit responsibility. I got the Trojan dropped too, which I only realized after I read this: http://www.thethailandlife.com/thai-internet-forex-redirect-virus I think I fixed it but have a friend coming to double check tomorrow. I get so paranoid about surfing the web here, especially in cafes that require no password logon.

This doesn't appear to be wholly accurate based on what I've seen so far. Like I said before, I'm no expert, this is just what I've observed.

It doesn't appear to be a virus. My guess is compromised 3rd party scripts on some of the sites we visit.

It is not limited to just True, other providers in Thailand are similarly affected. The use of a VPN that shows a location other than Thailand appears to subvert the script. For whatever reason this looks like it's targeted at Thailand.

Blocking the scripts (obviously) alleviates the problem. While good, I don't believe HTTPS stops the script from running.

The claim that the sites (such as forex) install a trojan is news to me. It isn't outside the realm of possibility, I just haven't seen it.

It's too bad there isn't much real information about this, just what us amateur sleuths have been able to cobble together.

You're right, it's not a virus it's a javascript that gets dropped when you visit a site and redirects you, although it's being referred to as a virus as these things normally are. It can, however, drop a trojan horse on you if you run a PC. Talking with a computer whiz friend today he said the fact that the Javascript can be executed means the hacker(s) could exploit the system in a number of ways, which they are probably working on. He said this is probably happening at the ISP level. Apparently True have been unable to solve this security breach for near on a month, and it started with the parking.ps redirect that others on Thaivisa reported a few weeks back. All I know is it makes me feel pretty uncomfortable about my passwords etc.

Kennypowers - sure that link u sent was valid?? - I saw suggestions on it to download MacDefender or MacKeeper, which is apparently malware also.

You might have also installed some more malware now too?

Anyone else care to add their two cents. Just like other info on the internet, its sometimes tricky to decipher what's legit.

Thx

@Big G, the link is bonified. MacKeeper/Defender is legit software, I have that on my Mac. But you're right, you have to make sure you only install well-known malware/virus checkers or you can end up with more of the same!

This is pretty much exactly the same as the forex redirect virus I have. Like others have said this seems to be an issue with TRUE ISP, and the more I look into it the more it seems they are covering up the problem rather than fixing it.

See here for more info and fixes: http://www.thethailandlife.com/thai-internet-forex-redirect-virus

Wow, so am not the only one! I am sure I got this redirect virus through my True connection but they won't admit responsibility. I got the Trojan dropped too, which I only realized after I read this: http://www.thethailandlife.com/thai-internet-forex-redirect-virus I think I fixed it but have a friend coming to double check tomorrow. I get so paranoid about surfing the web here, especially in cafes that require no password logon.