richard_smith237
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Posts posted by richard_smith237
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23 hours ago, PB172111 said:
Stupid tourist. Drunk, lying on the floor. What does he expect. I feel sorry for the bolt driver.
I too feel sorry for drivers incapable of seeing obstacles in front of them....
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The 'availability' depends purely on the model... and of course mods you want.
Three experiences:
1) Walked in - Saw the Bike - Left 45 mins later with the bike (obtained my own number at the DLT) - and gave the dealer the receipt - did all mods myself.
2) Walked in - Saw the bike - Waited about month for delivery - Picked up bike. As above (obtained my own number at the DLT) - and gave the dealer the receipt - did all mods myself.
3) Wanted a certain model - called around various dealers - availability anything from 3 months wait to not available. Gave up on the ADV. Went to different brand, saw the bike I liked, made the purchase - selected a load of Mods (also gave dealer the Innoc Cam) - gave dealer all my paper work, picked up the bike about 5 weeks later when I returned from overseas (fully registered).
In short - experiences vary based on availability.
Prices are all online - ANY dealer who things its ok to add this 'farang' tax others have mentioned, tell they why you are walking out and not paying - they won't care (they never do) but if enough people behave like this then they get the message.
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17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:Overcome with anger, he lashed out when the passenger ignored him.
& it was exactly this sort of character the passenger was trying to avoid by using the ride hailing service (BOLT) in the first place...
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48 minutes ago, Cornish Pasty said:49 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:It can't hurt for foreigners to take a written exam so they better understand the rules of the Thai roads
…What rules??
Mark.
Those Thai road rules that we argue about all the time on these forums…… is that shoulder actually a shoulder or a motorcycle lane ?
Really though - as farcical as it seems, there’s no harm in doing an online test.
The outstanding issue is the amount of untrained drivers out there - no idea of defense driving etc…. But more than that. Basic rules such as keeping junctions clear (box junctions)….
But… the truth is much of the issues are enabled through selfishness behind the wheel & absent enforcement.
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I don't see this as a bad thing - in isolation. It can't hurt for foreigners to take a written exam so they better understand the rules of the Thai roads.
However, the issue lies with the quality of examinations in the first place.
Then of course , this completely ignores the elephant in the room... a bit elephant, knocking one out and spaffing in the face of common sense....
Thailands traffic woes are created primarily by the the drivers on Thailands roads... from blocking box junctions, creating gridlock, to pulling out without looking, jumping lights and riding down pavements etc...
Thailand 'has' to start looking inwards to see improvements - it can't always 'look' out for external reasons for its issues - when many are so obviously home grown.
This isn't an anti-Thai rants - its an anit-absence of common sense rant - ALL licensing needs to become more strict with greater training and oversight - not just foreigners.
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19 hours ago, MalcolmB said:
Have you ever been with a Thai prostitute Richard?
Saw one once in Aus in an open doorway.... a crusty old hag opening her door to a line of twitching junkies like it was some kind of back-alley blessing.... Each one shuffled in, hollow-eyed and stinking, and she lapped it up like their misery fed her...
She clung to her phone like it was holy.... showing off a photo of her greasy little freaky fetid wreck of a son - some drink-driving, hooker-chasing foot-stink factory. Called him her “baby” like he wasn’t a sewage leak in human form.
You could smell the failure through the screen - apparently he moved to Pattaya to chase his dream and post on forums about prostitutes a lot...
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13 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:
Ramathibodi hospital in Bangkok on Rama VI in Ratchathewi. It came very highly recommended by a friend of mine and I was very satisfied with their level professionalism, their expertise and reasonable pricing. Like most public hospitals it's not easy to get an appointment with a specialist, but it can be done if one is patient.
It is very likely the best public hospital in Thailand.
Appreciate the heads up - from someone such as yourself who's been a long time member here - this is solid info.
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53 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:
Well the one possibility that you didn't mention is using the best public hospital that you can find. I have one in Bangkok that I use for things that are of a serious nature and the treatment is outstanding and world-class, and the cost is affordable. Even for things that were of a fairly serious nature, they never even approached the amount that you're looking at, as an annual premium.
May I ask which Public Hospitial you use ?
Siriraj comes highlighly recommended - but of course wait lists can be long - thus I'm wondering which other hospital you have been very happy with - might give it a try (even though I'm covered - its good research for the future).
An additional facet to using the public hospitals is that many of the Surgeons and specialists at the private hospitals, also work at the Public hospitals.
But, another point: at public hospitals such as Siriraj, a lot of Operations (simpler ones of course) are carried out by trainees, under the supervision of a senior surgeon - they have to learn somewhere, but that is also worth consideration.
53 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:And then there is a great deal of satisfaction in just saying no to the insurance mafia.
I have potentially 800k bahts worth of treatment required this year alone (if carried out at a private Hosptials).
Thus: I wonder how much and MRI and arthroscopic surgery is at your Public Hopital and how long the wait times for treatment are.
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On 6/19/2025 at 12:20 PM, save the frogs said:
There seems to be a lot of BS in this article.
Dual pricing at medical facilities? I seriously doubt it.
Street markets? No, there's no dual pricing. And things are so dirt cheap in street markets anyway. If you can't afford street food, you ain't gonna survive in Vietnam either.
Yeah. National Parks maybe. And people are flocking to National Parks every day, right? And temples.
Dual pricing in hospitals is not 'BS' by any means - in fact Thailands Administrative Courts set a legal precedent allowing the practice of tiered driving in hospitals...
Thus: @save the frogs - you might want to reconsidered your angle on this - Dual Pricing in Hospitals is very real.
Primary Example:
Summary:
A Dutch expat, Mr Erwin Buse - who has been living in Prachuap Khiri Khan and undergoing cancer treatments at Hua Hin Hospital. He filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court in Phetchaburi, claiming Thailand’s tiered (dual) pricing system for public hospital services was unconstitutional and discriminatory against foreigners
What the Case Was About:
Thailand’s four-tier pricing structure (effective 2019):
- Thai nationals
- Foreigners from neighboring countries
- Expats with non-immigrant visas and work permits
- Tourists and long-term retirees
Mr Buse argued that this system violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection, especially since his cancer treatment at Hua Hin Hospital was significantly more expensive than it would have been for Thai nationals.
The Court's Ruling:
The Administrative Court dismissed the case, ruling that:
- The tiered pricing “is not unfairly discriminatory” because it reflects the socioeconomic status of foreigners, who are generally wealthier.
- Charging foreigners more is justified “for the benefit of Thailand” and is considered constitutional.
Consequently, the policy remains in effect: foreigners, retirees, and tourists in tier 4 may still pay substantially higher fees - even double - for the same medical services, such as MRI scans or lab tests, and cancer treatments.
Key Implications:
Legal precedent: The ruling supports ongoing acceptance of dual pricing in public healthcare.
- Financial impact: Expats with serious conditions like cancer may face significant extra costs - hundreds of thousands of baht.
- Broader context: This aligns with wider government policies mandating private health insurance for foreign residents.
Takeaway from this:
The Administrative Court has upheld Thailand’s tiered hospital pricing system, finding no constitutional violation and affirming the right to charge foreigners more.
As a result, expats seeking long-term healthcare in public hospitals - especially for big-ticket treatments like cancer care - should be prepared for significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses unless they opt for private hospitals or secure comprehensive private insurance.
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6 hours ago, spidermike007 said:
Total agreement here. I travel back to the States frequently, a minimum of twice per year and I can tell you for a fact that Americans right now are rather joyless, and lacking in humor, they don't seem to be enjoying their lives very much, they're living, working, eating, and sleeping. Not much of a life, and many of them seem bitter, disenfranchised, disappointed, highly divided, and utterly joyless, no thanks.
I used to be somewhat against the idea of ‘self-insuring’ – it was the last resort, something I never wanted to consider. But now, I completely understand why people feel pushed into it.
It’s not a choice, it’s a consequence. I often wonder what premiums will look like in 20 years – if they're already this high, how much further can they climb?
Having comprehensive cover through my employer has been a blessing of the past years. But as is often the case, when the job ends, so does the policy. There’s no option to carry over that corporate cover to a personal plan, which means starting afresh (first hand experience of this a couple of times) – and with that, comes the realties of facing exclusions for any pre-existing conditions.
Even worse: our family’s premium has almost doubled this year from to around $6,600 USD. Naturally, I refused to renew. But any new policy comes with the inevitable catch: exclusions on pre-existing conditions.
Then there’s the situation with Thai insurers. Many impose a moratorium on serious illnesses like cancer. So if you go for a check-up and something suspicious shows up – say a mass on the lungs – and it’s within the six-month exclusion window, you’re out of luck. Coverage isn’t truly continuous or secure.
Frankly, we’re held by the short and curlies. And as we age – like you, Spidermike – adequate cover becomes less a matter of cost and more an impossibility.
This, in my view, is one of the most pressing issues for long-term expats in Thailand today.
We can get our Marriage Visas, Retirement Visas, even the 20-year Thai Elite Visas… yet there’s no meaningful pathway into the national healthcare system. There should be. A system where we can contribute – financially and consistently – and in return, be entitled to care at public hospitals.
Take the UK as an example: the NHS surcharge for those on a Spouse Visa or ILR is currently £1,035 per year (roughly 46,000 baht). That seems entirely reasonable – even by Thai standards – and something many of us would gladly pay for reliable, long-term security.
As it stands, the only real options are:
Be wealthy enough to self-fund your healthcare indefinitely, sticking with the same insurer to avoid exclusions (but you're looking at over 600,000 baht per year for such cover)
Or, acquire Thai citizenship and join the public healthcare system - not possible for most who haven't been working here for 3 years.
Well… there’s one more route, but wives' tend not to let us marry a Thai government official just to piggyback on their health coverage!
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3 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:
Pot, kettle, black.
Didnt even answer the question, just tried to attack other forum members opinions as usual.
TrollAww, bless... couldn't get a sniff back home, so you washed up in Thailand and now spend your days churning out daily threads about Thai prostitutes.
You're the perfect case study of the bitter monger – the very caricature I referenced earlier. A walking, talking embodiment of resentment wrapped in self-delusion.
And you're not alone. There’s a whole tribe of twisted, world-weary romantics out there who genuinely believe last night’s "queen of fellatio" thought they were special.
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6 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:
The last one I went down on the clitoris nearly choked me. I was gagging.
It’s hardly surprising you can’t tell Arthur from Martha, really....
Poor bloke… having to subject himself to your company is enough indignity already...
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5 minutes ago, Cornish Pasty said:I meet many farang men in Thailand and many Harbour a lot of resentment toward western women.
I personally don't, and still bang as many as I can get my hands on.
But to those who have been burned by a western woman in the past, was that why you moved to Thailand? Is that why you think Thailand is some kind of utopia, when in fact it isn't?
Are you still that bitter about western women in general that it clouds the rest of your judgement and moral compass?
Curious.
Mark.
Its a fairly common threme among many men who’ve settled in Thailand following divorce or separation, where there's a strong tendency to speak disparagingly about Western women.
It’s not unusual to find threads where such views are aired with a sense of righteous conviction. However, scratch the surface, and what often emerges is not reasoned critique but a thinly veiled bitterness laced with misogyny.
Many of these men seem to lack the emotional insight or willingness to reflect on their own role in the breakdown of past relationships. Rather than engaging in honest introspection, it's easier – and perhaps more comforting – to lay the blame entirely at the feet of their former partners, or to extend the grievance more broadly to Western culture as a whole.
In Thailand, where the social dynamic may feel more favourable or traditional, some men find validation for attitudes that would be challenged back home. They may feel respected or even revered in ways they never experienced in the West – but this can create a skewed lens through which they view gender relations. Instead of healing, they end up reinforcing a narrative of victimhood, positioning themselves as casualties of a supposedly broken Western society.
This mindset, left unchecked, often leads to a kind of cultural resentment – not just towards Western women, but towards modernity, feminism, and anything that contradicts their new-found sense of control. And while some do find genuine happiness and partnership in Thailand, others simply exchange one set of unresolved issues for another, never truly reckoning with the real reasons their past failures.
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1 hour ago, Donga said:* Struggle with this dual pricing whinge as vast majority of our spending goes on groceries from Lotus or market, cafes with menus, petrol, some beer, uh? Doesn't bother me to pay more when visiting a National Park, such a petty whinge.
2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:5. I've had some very positive experiences with the healthcare system here in Thailand, and I consider it to be on par or better than it is in the US for a fraction of the cost. Can Vietnam rival that?
I wanted to take just these two particular points because many of the others are largely subjective. That said, I broadly agree that Thailand stands out as a significantly better destination for foreigners compared to its neighbouring countries.
However, healthcare remains a serious concern.
First, there's the issue of dual pricing. At the lighter end of the scale, we see it in places like national parks - and while it's objectionable in principle, most people aren't too bothered. In the private sector, we have the freedom to take our business elsewhere. The real problem arises with state-sanctioned dual pricing in government hospitals. If we fall seriously ill, we're can be charged substantially more than a Thai citizen would be for the same treatment (i.e. long term cancer treatment and operations costing 2 Million Baht instead of 1 MB.
In my view, this is indefensible. When it comes to healthcare, there should be an option for long-term residents to pay into the system and receive equitable care. For me, this is where dual pricing becomes genuinely troubling - it's the big stuff that matters.
Secondly, while the quality of treatment is generally excellent, there's a troubling lack of accountability when mistakes are made - a factor that certainly helps keep costs down. Personally, I’d prefer to be in a private hospital in Bangkok over most places in the world. But the question is - at 80, will I still be able to afford the premiums? And that brings us full circle, back to the need for a system that ensures long-term, affordable care.
I can’t say whether neighbouring countries offer anything better in this regard, but this remains a major red flag when considering a long-term life in Thailand, especially if one hopes to grow old in comfort with the security of health care.
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2 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:
I was tempted to take a video, but no, I don't like confrontation.
Seriously, this MAN was dressed in a woman's outfit, Pattaya attacks all the Nutjobs
These days I just avoid all foreigners (not close friends.... I have many) in Thailand.
Reckon he was about to hit beach road and start snatching gold necklaces ??...
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2 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:Lots of weirdos here these days they need to snoop.
Just returned from TUKCOM, I went to the toilet level 2, some weirdo foreigner putting on his lipstick.
Welcome to the FREAK show, get the f out of here.
Did you ask him if he's going to be posting any more baiting threads about bar-girls or Brit-Indians ?
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27 minutes ago, ukrules said:
Only Thaksin himself can sort this mess out, what's the odds he leaves the country for Cambodia in the next couple of weeks on an emergency mission to save the day?
He’ll leave ‘quietly’ in the noise before a certain court hearing…
Meanwhile the Military are perfectly posed to hold a Coup in no confidence of the current PM.Who then gets the concessions for those Casinos on the boarder town ??
Oversimplified perhaps - but that’s how this seems to be being played out….
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1 minute ago, Jack1988 said:
my life isn't expensive at all, as i am happily single and i don't have children
ok your thai wife does all these things but for a big price
We have quite different situations - what you see as a huge price…. I see as phenomenal reward…Many wives have given up & compromised their careers more than many husbands care to admit.
My Wife’s devotion to myself & our family by far supersedes any savings I’d make by being single.-
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1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:
It is no wonder you couldn’t make it in the UK.
More ‘classic cockroachery’ from the forums number one cretinous troll……. so very very desperate to bait & snag a bite like the true trolling verminous weasel you are….
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12 hours ago, novacova said:
Welfare only creates dependency and inspires weakness. This kid most likely will become a strong willed independent individual.
With a lost childhood - she’s an amazing testament to resilience… but this remains a tragic story & she’s been failed by the state & those around who may have known of her situation & shown no consideration until now.Props to those who did get involved - I hope she finds a deeply caring home for what remains of her childhood.
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12 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:
Yeah I see this a lot too, and a lot of my friends don't carry cash, their wife carries cash or she puts everything on a card. I don't get it, it's never been my style. I've always liked to carry a lot of cash, my woman has access to some money but she doesn't control our accounts. It's really up to the man if he wants to surrender all of his masculinity and his dignity that's on him, but I'm in your camp. The man's camp. I don't understand it, and I don't know why a man would want to do that.
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that somebody has to be in control of the ship, in this particular case a relationship. If the man's not willing to assume control, then the woman is forced into that position by his lack of cojones and masculinity. So that might be a factor, but I'm just speculating. I don't get the impression that that's required here, where in a lot of relationships in the West it does seem to be required. I know a lot of guys that are required to check their cojones at the door and they have no control over the finances back there. It is a sad thing to witness. No thanks.
Surprising comments from you…I thought you’d be more open minded to varying dynamics in relationships, why & how they work etc…
No hard rules - some just work with a better simplicity & balance than others it seems.
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3 minutes ago, Mavideol said:19 hours ago, Jack1988 said:
yes but with the man's money
ohhh boy, you must be new here, in case you didn't know/notice, here we are called walking ATM machines 555
On that perspective…- Driver (child to & from school)
- Cook (excellent food)
- Does all the grocery shopping
- Given up a good career (after child)
- lots more that I forget….
Whats ours is ours for very good reasons - a trusted life partner who’s sacrificed a lot…. Some of the comments don’t see things firing that perspective because they may not have been in the same situation…
… but it’s also clear many are in mutually caring, mutually respectful & loving relationships who do get the ‘sharing concept’…
Without my wife, my life would be a lot more expensive - child care alone…
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1 minute ago, Mavideol said:
it's an asian thing, Chinese, Vietnamese are the same, my wife takes or I gave her my wallet to pay, it makes her feel special
Maybe true - Wife always deals with the bills… I can’t be bothered…
She also drives mostly these days… I can’t be bothered with that either…We have the same account / card - so it doesn’t matter who makes the transaction- it comes from the same account.
If she’s busy chatting, I’ll get the bill, if I’m busy, she’ll get it - the action of who executes the transaction itself matters little to us from a financial perspective - it’s usually her though, ‘cos I’m taking with my son or friends etc & the wives will just sort it out.
I’ve never given it a second thought.
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1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:
I have a new thread lined up for tomorrow. Probably the best yet!
Hope it’s a better attempt at trolling than the cretinous bumf you’ve been churning out lately…Many are now wise to your parasitic vapidity - so you’ll need to up your game…
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CCTV Captures Moment Driver Runs Over Drunk Swedish Tourist’s Head Outside Pattaya Bar
in Pattaya News
Posted
Getting so blind drunk that he is so out of control and becomes unconscious is utterly idiotic - to do so and become unconscious in the middle of a car park is extreme to say the least - so those suggesting he brought this upon himself are not incorrect.
But, its also concerning that we have such drivers on the road that are so blind they cannot see a body in front of them in a well lit car park - one could argue that someone so oblivious to their surroundings should not be driving at all.
This is another one of those 'Thailand situations' where two wrongs combine with horrible results - had just one of the parties been 'sensible' this would not have occurred just like so many other events we read about.