thai_time

When you are no longer suprised that the bar or shop owner can not change the equivelent of 10 euros.

I started my travels as a backpacker.

Like many of the backpackers I met in Thailand on my last trip, traveling was something I did between University and Career.

My second round of backpacking was as a career break (actually a break away from Thailand). And that gentlemen is another aspect of backpacking, take some time to talk to backpackers in Thailand and you'll find many are mid career professionals enjoying some of their hard earned money.

Backpackers are on the whole, well educated, middleclass and very sociable. My guess is most go on to good jobs earning the kind of money and getting the kind of employment conditions people preaching off bar stools in Thailand dream of/resent/BS about (select the cap that fits).

It's also my observation that the backpackers, smelly as many claim them to be, are not paying for the company of the women they are with, unlike many of those denigrating them on the basis of blind ignorance and prejudice.

If Thailand had any sense they would realize that attracting well educated people to spend time in Thailand when they are young is a great way to build loyalty among the people who will later be able to afford the up market hotels and holidays that Thailand is trying to promote.

Very well said. I backpacked around Thailand for 20 months in 2 different times when i was 23 and 24. I was not dreadlocked or smelly. I spent a lot of MY hard earned money in small restraunts, guesthouses and bars. I didn't use prostitutes i just chilled out on the beach and travelled around this great country. I have since returned on 3 week holidays 4 times spending more money and seeing more of the country. I hate this backpacker vs expat debate. Its based on ignorance and stupidity.

I don't know where they get this figure of 20,000. They used to say 12,000 which seemed way too much. I have been to a few full moon parties around the time of the Bali bombings and this threat was overhanging the party and was in the back of peoples minds. I hope nothing happens but the risk is always there. I honestly don't think any Thai political faction would do anything so extreme. Muslims maybe but anti-government elements, no way.

I was one of the people who did border runs. I travelled around Thailand for 10 months twice. I spent over $25,000 in that time. If these rules had been in place i would have spent a fraction of that amount in Thailand. I really can not understand this rule. What benifits will it have. I mean how much work are farangs really taking from Thais. A few bars in Pattaya and Samui and alll the dive operations that will now be screwed without the farang dive instructors. This is another hair brained idiot law that has been introduced for no reason.

I agree with thai government, (well done) these multinationals has knock it off.

We have to remember that the multinationals brings poverty not wealth.

I agree with you. There is no end to the rampant expansion of huge multi-national coporations into everyday life. I am not just talking about Thailand. I think the Thai governmant should be applauded for this action. No country in the west seems to want to stop the destruction of small scale shops and butchers ..etc. by the hypermarkets. Yes we will all get cheaper rice and sugar but at what cost. Most towns are losing thier identity and small busineses to unrelenting greed of these coperations. I wish other countries would take Thailands example and least try and acknowledge that this is a problem rather than just saying 'this is the capitalist way' and hiding thier heads in the sand.

to be sneering and taunting the authorities with cries of "i told you so" for falling for his delusions is surely missing the point. this country is better off without him .

as for him making vast amounts of money out of this , well even i would credit the american media with more sense than to promote the story of a pornography addicted paedophile who has also confessed to the murder of a child.

I personally was talking about the US MEDIA, namely FOX and CNN.

They have been thoroughly embarassed by this rush to judgement and they deserve to be reviled for their shameless folly. These are truly not news outlets, but rather delivers of propoganda and infotainment.

As far as crediting the American media with anything, you have really got to be kidding. This guy will write at least one book or have a ghostwriter write it, and the world will eat it up. I would bet the house that within 2 years this guy will either be filthy rich or dead because I also think he is a serious suicide risk. He badly needs a very good psychiatrist and also probably a wealth management advisor.

Why do you keep defending Karr? He is a sick pervert who has wasted a lot of peoples time and played with the emotions of the childs family. I hope he goes to prison for a long time.

Anyone who goes to Pattaya deserves all the pestering they get. Most of you fly half way round the world for cheap bar girls nice to see you getting some of your own medicine. The perterees become the pestered.

ps. i don't know if pesteree is actually a word.

You don't think its a bit over the top.....no?

Take a pair of rusty pliers and pull 1 tooth out for every day that he doesn't pay you back. Once he has lost all his teeth, take a crowbar to his face.

I am getting married next february in Bangkok. My family are all heading down to Samui after the wedding. I have to arrange a hotel for them. I am looking foe somewhere that is nice with a pool on the beach. Under 2500 baht/room. Anyone have any suggestions or recomendations.

I don't see what is so bad about catholics protesting about this movie. It is a direct afront to what they belive in. They have not hurt anyone they are just protesting. I know it is a movie and a work of fiction but some idiots do actually belive it already. there are tours in Italy to the place featured in the book and a lot of people take it as the truth.

If there was a movie that suggested that Buddah, or Mohamed married a whore they would be widely criticized worldwide but if people insult Christianity then it is accepted. Most of all by western Christians.

The fun police are on the rampage in Thailand. You can't get a drink after 1AM but you can go into most bars and get a BJ for a couple of hundred baht. ....strange.

When a farang kills a Thai wow, there is nothing much worse in this country.

I worked with an Ozzie guy(24) who is serving life in jail for supposedly killing a Thai girl. He is said to have pushed her off a balcony many stories high. In fact it was another Thai and it came down to who the police believed. This guy was drunk so of course they belived the Thai who I think did it.

But the hatred and torture that he got and probably still gets was unbelievable. I would be very very surprised if he were still alive after 5 years of that treatment. I couldn't think of a worse country do get stitched up with murdering a local.

Unless of course he was actually guilty.

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

This shows clearly that you've never been to Germany or Eastern Europe to make such a ridculous comment. (do you even speak German or any other language?) If you have been there then a few days at the Oktoberfest doesn't count.

But then I guess if getting pissed drunk is your idea of sanuk then it's not surprising. Possibly staying on the Emerald Isle is your best bet so you can pickle your organs and think you're having fun.

Ja ich spreche ein bischen Deutsch. I have been to germany and eastern europe and i think the people there look miserable. Especially Germans. The most boring race on earth bar none. I know this is a late reply but i am not on this board much. I have a life you see.

Does anyone know the name of a good wedding band in Bangkok. A band that plays western and Thai songs. Any suggestions would be helpfull.

I will be getting married in Thailand next year. I know that there is a large import duty on wine in Thailand but i checked a website and the cheapest bottles were around 700 baht with and average of around 900- 100 baht for a bottle. That seems extortionate. Does anyone know anywhere in Bangkok to get a good price on wine. How much is it?

ps. i dont want Thai wine.

Are electronic goods such as Digital cameras and PSP games cheaper in Thailand than they would be in the west?

I got told (I have no idea myself about it) that the germans were blond and blue eyes, the roman and slawic were black and dark eyes, only the origin people in my area who were celtic had this black/blue-greeny eyes.

That genetic is already complete mixed and very rare to find (somewhere between the mountains maybe).

If someone know more or something is wrong, please advise...

I am Irish and i have dark hair and Bluey/greeny eyes. I am not sure if this is only an Irish trait. To be honest i doubt that it is. it seems a common combination.

I am not really sure maybe it just seems common in Ireland. I know that a lot of eastern europeans have blue / green eyes. They usualy have light coloured hair tough.

I am Irish and i have dark hair and Bluey/greeny eyes. I am not sure if this is only an Irish trait. To be honest i doubt that it is. it seems a common combination.

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

If someone was looking to buy a business in Thailand like a guesthouse or bar why is the price always given on a 3 or 5 year lease basis. I know that foriegners can not own a business outright but do Thais also operate in this way. Are bars and guesthouses ever just sold outright like in the west or does the owner usualy want to keep control of the property. For example if a Thai was buying a bar would they operate in the same way or could they just buy the business fully?

A gig is a casual boyfriend or girlfriend. I don't think it is always sexual tough. Just some one to go out with. Well thats what my gf told me when she told me she had a gig. She doesn't anymore tough, i hope.

Thanks for all the information guys. My gf is from Bangkok and not from the country. I am not sure what difference this will make to the ceremony. To complicate matters i also intend to get married in a catholic church but we might make the wedding a 2 day affair. The mind boggles really.

Thanks for all the information.

I am planning on marrying my Thai gf, we are just make early wedding preperations. It has become obvious to me that people in Thailand and the west celebrate wedding in completely different ways. I have not been able to get too much information on the subject. It appears that in Thailand there is no real wedding party. My gf said there is no real emphasis put on the meal (very strange for Thailand i tought) and people just stay for a short time and then leave early and dont really get drunk. Where i come from weddings last all day and by the end everyone is pissed and having a good time. Can anyone run thru the wedding procedure as i haven't been able to get too much out of her.

thanks