richard_smith237

I know only a handful of people without a FB account.. One of them is my father!... 

Its a handy communication tool, it nice to see photos of friends and their growing families back home. 

There's some fun stuff on there, but it does seem a little too addictive for some and tends to bring out the narcissistic tendencies...  

This thread reminds me of an accident I witnessed a number of years ago. 

Lady reversing a pickup onto the street. Another lady in a Merc driving slowly past. 

The pickup continues reversing into the road and into the slowly moving passing car on the street. 

The lady in the Merc asks the pick up driver - "why didn't you stop ?"

The lady in the Pickup replies - "why didn't you hit your horn and stop me ?" 

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Another one...

I was stationary in a Car Park, queueing to exit. A taxi reverses straight back into my car.

The Taxi driver claimed he didn't see me. I was in a Range Rover, the only thing larger is a bus !

30 minutes ago, the guest said:

Thailand isn't the place to work as a foreigner, that is for sure, they are aways trying to catch you out, and could at any time arrest you, fine you, and then deport you. It isn't a place to live either, continually having to do nothing, in fear of being arrested for not having a work permit for say gardening or even painting the house or indeed any activity that could be regarded as work in the eye of the authorities. 

 

 

 

 

Lets keep this in perspective...  Thailands laws are often daft and somewhat draconian especially when taken directly at face value. However, has anyone really been arrested for gardening or painting the house and then deported? or is this another one of those barstool myths ?

You are going to get a lot of varying replies... 

Raja Fashions and Narry Tailors both in the Nana area both seem to be the popular Tailors when this thread pops up (as it frequently does). 

Price wise: I seem to remember paying about THB 14,000 for a Suit from Raja's. Price depends on fabric. 

That said: IMO if your body shape is 'normal' you can find a quality suit off the Rack in most department stores and have slight adjustments made. 

6 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

There is a taxi radio channel that deals with complains and stuff all day long. The people that call in to complain are all Thais.

 

I don't know how so many of the posters here have problems with Bangkok taxis, whenever I use them I never have a bother. 

 

Must be something to do with the way you guys are interacting or dealing with them. 

 

Don't get them outside major tourist areas.

Don't use the ones parked on the street.

Flag down a moving taxi with the red light in the window.

Ask destination and don't get arsey if they say no. They might be on shift change or not know where they are going. Flag down another.

If they roll down the window wave them on.

If they ask a flat fare wave them on.

If they agree get in and remain quiet. The driver will run the meter.

Now is the time to ask for special instructions like using the expressway or stopping at 7/11 etc.

 

Really, it's pretty simple stuff. 

You say getting a taxi is simple stuff, but you then list 9 lines of things to do to avoid trouble... 

When in fact the only thing to do in a taxi is a list of 1....  'get in a give your destination'...  the rest should be automatic for the driver - this is the issue. 

"Its not Gay if you Don't look down" !!!... 

Some very pretty faces there... definitely beautiful enough to 'fool' the most experienced of male cynics. 

I very much doubt you see any of these 'prettys' pickpocketing and robbing tourists on Pattaya Beach Road !... 

1 minute ago, tryasimight said:

Based on my observations of my 3 year old nephew being brought up/raised by a Philipino maid in Hong Kong when my brother and his wife were simply too busy and important to be bothered by trivial items like that. 

There's nothing like projection your own experiences on others... 

Your nephew is 3, his language skills are still developing its a bit early and unfair to judge him. 

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

If that is true, then I am glad to hear it, but as usual it will probably be a 24 hour crackdown.

I too have seen images of hoards of Labourer's rounded up like cattle... 

It is quite shocking the level of disregard people here have for their neighbors whom they seem to believe are sub-human. 

When looking at these fines and drawing a comparison with the penalties for violent crime there seems to be a huge discrepancy.

Thailand 'could' make the labour laws for people from ASEAN countries much much easier if it wishes to or cares enough to do something about this issue other than provide increased fines and staggering levels of bureaucracy. 

1 hour ago, tryasimight said:

Another solution......look after your own kid!!

At least he/she will be able to talk your native language eventually.

First world problems......

My son won't be able to speak English because he has a Nanny ???....   erm... how did you jump to that conclusion ?

9 minutes ago, saakura said:

My advise : as a foreigner, it is always prudent to keep on the right side of the law. Even if it is cumbersome. Like getting a quota and registering the foreign maid at the correct address.

I agree... But in this case registering a Burmese Nanny at our rented address becomes a near impossibility, the law in this case is not just cumbersome, it is unworkable. It is also something which cannot be done until the labour department opens up applications for foreign labourers, at the moment there is no sign of when they may do this (usually its just for a couple of weeks per year).

The only real solution is to let the Nanny go and employ a Thai lady.

5 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

1. If a person deceives that he/she can bring a foreigner to work with a domestic employer without a work permit, he/she is imprisoned 3-10 years, fined 600,000-1,000,000 Baht, or both.

Any person operating as a foreigner job agency without a license, he/she is imprisoned for 1-3 years, fined 200,000-600,000 Baht, or both.

 

Look like its more the risk of the agency.

We have a cleaner come every week from an agency.

Its not everytime the same person , so should we ask to see their work permit even when we are not home ?

 

 

Our Son's Nanny (Burmese) lives with us. We can't find a decent Thai lady to do the job, they want to charge the earth and are unreliable. This Burmese lady is fantastic, works hard, we treat her well, she is part of the family. BUT, she is from an agency who is registered in a different municipality. 

Both she and the agents are breaking the law, we know this, but there is no way around this. We would have to get her placed on the House Book (a Condo we are moving out of in 2 months) and then move her into our new accommodation (rented) and attempt to place her on the house book. We would then have to go through the process of registering her at that Address, but that only works if the Address is allocated a quota (i.e. having a child or person older than 70) if registering a nanny. The process is extremely long winded and prohibitive. 

The only real solution - Take a chance with Thai Nanny's again, or take a chance in our nanny not getting caught. 

UBER have announced UBER Flash - which offers the closest options - UBER Black (Camry etc), UBER X (smaller car, Mazda-2, Vios etc) or a Regular Taxi which has also joined UBER.

The rates are the same as UBER X (starting fare (฿10), distance (฿4/KM), travel time (฿3.5/minute))

It would appear that this an attempt by UBER to appease the regular Taxi drivers and DLT in including Taxi's.

If this removes the 'service issues' and other woes encountered when flagging down a regular Taxi then this could be a decent move, especially with the dual *accountability the app provides.

*Dual accountability: Both passenger and driver are registered, any poor behavior can be reported and acted upon.

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Nope - That makes it 2:35 pm here... 

Indeed... You'd have enjoyed the replay, but lost the bet !

Those using foreign Maids & Nanny's from agencies now face some risk. 

The Maids and Nanny's are usually resisted and work permitted through an agency but in a different area from the home they work in and commonly under a different profession such as factory worker. This opens up a large can of worms for many who rely on such agencies. 

Find it on google maps on your phone... then search the Map on your Sat Nav and select the same spot.

Our son had one on his wrist... 

The Doctor (at Samitivej BKK) recommended that as he was so young not to do anything about it and that it would likely disappear (1.5 years later it has disappeared). 

The Doctor also recommend not to do surgery as he was so young, small hands, more intricate operation, higher risk of a mistake. 

Additionally, the Doctor also commented as that as we are dealing with a small child a General Anaesthetic would be required rather than local for the sole purpose of ensure our child remained still.

We also took advice on aspirating the cyst, but the Doctor advised against that, pointing out that as there is no pain and no associated risk with leaving it there really was no point in doing anything, also pointing out that Aspiration is often only a temporary measure and the cysts returns. 

Based on all of this my question would be: IF it is confirmed without doubt that this is a (benign) cyst causes no pain or discomfort, its out of sight under the toes, why do anything at all?

That said: As cancers can form from cysts, if you cannot be 100% sure that the cyst is benign I'd suggest approaching a public hospital as a minor operation under a local anesthetic is relatively risk free for an adult. 

Its often difficult to tell... 

Ultimately you have to place your trust in reputable vendors who will accept responsibility if you do find something fake or potentially damaging. Of course, this in itself becomes challenging in Thailand. 

Social Media allows for some form or public protest, but is significantly limited by Thailands Deformation laws. 

Once you open a bottle of 'something' there is no way to prove you haven't tampered with it yourself, this presents an accountability / responsibility issue, thus, if you find a place which sells genuine products keep shopping there. 

Sometimes common sense may be helpful - some products are more expensive to counterfeit that others, some (many) have sealed packaging which is extremely difficult to tamper with and use to re-sell.

For some reason I initially thought this thread was about a supermarket in Chiang Mai - I was kind of shocked to read of such an issue up there, extremely shocked to hear of the abundant disregard for someone else and the readiness of the security guards to use violence. I then noticed that this thread was in fact Pattaya based which immediately made sense...

It seems to me that these events and similar are not infrequent in areas such as Pattaya, Patong and Samui where in contrast to other areas of Thailand in general the locals seems to hold an elevated level of disregard toward foreigners when compared to other areas. 

OP: What can you do? Firstly, complain to the Store Manager. If he promises no action, don't shop there again... and, of course, use the correct exits !

3 minutes ago, aslimversgwm said:

Good sense prevails - properly licensed Uber and Grab  - this will be a great boon to Thailand and help sideline those awful songthaews and tuk tuks, let alone the current 'metered' taxis which refuse to turn on their meters.

This is the way the world is going and in the next decade or so we will have driverless cars, which will turn the whole car industry upside down and present governments with even greater challenges.

But who issues private vehicles with a license to carry fare paying passengers ???

.... The DLT does, the same DLT who will protect the Taxi's (under pressure from the wealthy owners of the Taxi consortiums).

This is simply a transparent and somewhat juvenile game. Next will be the announcement that unregistered UBER's are illegal and there will be a clampdown. 

For the record: UBER Black with the 'White on Green' number plates are register as Limo's and thus legal. The rest with conventional 'Black on White' number plates are not licensed to carry 'fare paying passengers', I also believe that insurance is also questionable when it comes to 'fare paying passengers'.

That said: How many Taxi's are insured ? How many are Safe ? How many are as Clean as every UBER we've ever sat in ?.... UBER remain a far superior service even with a one or two occasional poor levels of service (I had a negative UBER experience last week with an ill tempered driver).

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

You are limited in choice.I believe the kickoff's are 7.35 NZ time which makes it 12.35am here.

Nope, that makes it 12.35pm here 

Nope - That makes it 2:35 pm here... 

24 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

Just open the door, say Sawatdee Krap, sit at the back, close the door, then announce your destination. If they refuse, take a video, and tell them you'll report them. It's as easy as it gets.

Thats how someone I know received a beating !... 

Sometimes the right way isn't the best way. If a taxi wants to rip you off, just walk away.

Better still, book an UBER or GRAB taxi and preempt any silliness. 

I had a terrible UBER ride last week - The driver was swearing and driving aggressively. Through the UBER APP I reported him, I'm not sure what action UBER have taken but they guaranteed I would not have the same driver again - OK, not the perfect solution for someone else, but this UBER driver's behavior was extremely out of character for UBER, however, it was par for the course for many regular taxi's I have taken in the past. 

There seems to be an increasing number of aggressive a-holes on the road here... 

Just yesterday I was driving with my Wife and Son in the car along a Sub Soi in Bangkok, this Sub Soi is just about wide enough for two cars to pass each other with caution, I was also following a motorcycle which was following another car. 

A Wife Toyota Mini-Van was extremely close to my rear-end, then tried persistently to overtake me. In the end I indicated and pulled to the side as much as possible to let the twit pass, which he did at speed before slamming on his breaks so as not to rear-end the motorcycle. 

As the road widened the driver pulled up to the right side of the road and stopped, so I slowly drove past the Van on the inside (left side), the passenger window was open and the Van driver was screaming profanities at me.

I've no idea what the guy was on, or what I did. But his driving and attitude was nasty... I don't want to mix with people like this, they probably carry weapons...

A couple of weeks ago it was a couple of girls in a Mini who drove around the outside of queueing traffic then tried to push in nearly scratching my car. At the time I was a bit of a jerk because I didn't let them force their way in. After the queue moved along they'd pulled in, then pulled across to the inside lane and level with me, lowered their window and shouted at me !!!... 

Too much aggression on the roads... too many poor drivers....  too many selfish and inconsiderate drivers who get angry at others... too many careless drivers who block innocent others at box junctions... IF traffic is an indicator, parts of society have gone to the Dogs.. fortunately, for the most part people are polite on very busy roads. 

Yes, I know, I'm not a cross section of Thai society, but I am an example of someone who lives in Bangkok, as are my family, and Thai and Western friends. 

In this cross section of people I know, in Bangkok, I see people using their Cards 'most of the time' when paying for a meal in a restaurant (or Mall restaurant) unless of course buying from the market or street food. 

When shopping, unless at a Market of MBK etc the transaction is by card. 

Shopping at Villa, Big-C, Tesco's etc a card is used. 

Shopping online, Tesco's delivery etc a card is used. 

Taxi unless using a regular taxi using *UBER and GRAB the payment is via Credit Card (Account).

Paying for Bills, TrueMove, Internet, True Visions, HDPrime, Water Bill etc - All paid with online Banking.

School Fees - Paid with online Banking. 

Fuel for the Car - Paid with a Card.

Income is received not in cash, but directly into the Bank. 

The Card is paid off at the end of the month using Online Banking.

The majority of our transactions are Electronic, we recently discussed this with our Thai friends who also have similar 'payment' experiences. 

This article, while it may not be entirely accurate for all sections of society does outline a shifting trend, a modernization of our spending methods, it is directly related to the rapidly growing 'middle class' and while some foreigners are only exposed to the poorest of society and fail to recognize that this growing middle class compete with our own levels of income / wealth it is fact that today in Thailand there are more people with exposable income than ever before and for the most part this exposable income is spent electronically rather than in cash transactions. 

On 6/24/2017 at 0:31 PM, starky said:

Mate these threads are all the same. Some will call them ugly, others say they look like lady boys, someone will bag for having too much plastic surgery and of course the old "the girls in my village.." It's hard to crack a decent compliment on TV too many narcs.

Agreed... but it is entertaining that some will comment that these women are ugly or that they have seen 'better looking women in villages' as if these critical posters would have ever stood any chance whatsoever with anything other than a poor undereducated rural girl in need of a financial boost...

4 minutes ago, RikDao said:

On just a practical level, Thais rarely seem to want to slow down on the highway. They try to change lanes no matter what, even if it means the car right behind them will run into the car making a right turn right in front of them. 

 

They don't seem to care. Well, not all of them are this way, but plenty are. 

 

My wife's brother drives like he has the brains and decision-making skills of a 9 year old, but there's a big hush in the car if I tell him to slow the f*** down, like I've questioned the King or something. I'll say, "His wife, sister, mother and son are in the car! Not to mention me!" Answer: "Brother know how to drive."

I tend to agree with this observation that in general Thai's hate to slow down for anything... they will speed up to block pulling into another lane, they will speed up as the lights turn amber, they will speed up in so many situations where a cautionary touch of the brakes is a far more appropriate and safe approach. 

In fact, the only thing they do slow down for seems to be the speed bump where they forget that their vehicle has suspension and they almost come to a standstill as they crest the sleeping policeman.

It could be that it is this reluctance to be cautious and slow down that increase the frequency of accident and also exacerbates the injuries.

However, in truth the fundamental issues are a very basic: Lack of adequate enforcement of traffic rules, lack of general education, lack of driving education, poor road design (frequency of U-Turns).