richard_smith237

I have no reservations whatsoever to call myself a cheap charlie when it comes to getting a beer in a pub... The Old English Happy hour is rather excellent IMO.... Indeed - point in hand above.... OMF usually doesn't gauge the temperature so poorly in his comments... Its great if you want a good burger (opposite - Easy Burger) and a couple of beers... But, its doesn't have the same 'warm-up' vibe as the old place.... Its more of a 'destination' location now, where you go there, if you are going there, not passing through for one or two before getting led astray by friends.... The old place (when Cheap Charlies was on Soi 11) used to make me chuckle... they'd have that plastic chain demarcating the area we had to stay within lest other bar / restaurant owners would get angry if we strayed outside and blocked the passage of potential (non-existent) customers... It must have been a lot of hassle keeping all owners of neighbouring but less busy places happy because of how busy your 'cheap-dive' bar is !!!... It had character and the decor has been transfered in an attempt to maintain that... though, like every old timer, nothing is as good as it 'once was'... Londoner and Burbon St. case in hand...

I have no reservations whatsoever to call myself a cheap charlie when it comes to getting a beer in a pub... The Old English Happy hour is rather excellent IMO.... Indeed - point in hand above.... OMF usually doesn't gauge the temperature so poorly in his comments... Its great if you want a good burger (opposite - Easy Burger) and a couple of beers... But, its doesn't have the same 'warm-up' vibe as the old place.... Its more of a 'destination' location now, where you go there, if you are going there, not passing through for one or two before getting led astray by friends....

I've had success on Facebook market place selling both cars and motorcycles. Lots of time wasters though.... but thats part of selling something here - usually, if someone is coming to look at the bike they are a serious buyer, but you will have dumb-@ss responses such as... Can you bring it to xxxxxx place (i.e. 50 kms away) so they can take a look at it !!!... ... its astonishing the entitlement that goes through the minds of some just because they think they are the potential customer !!!... Loads of people hit the auto-question - is this still available, and you'll never hear anything again. Others will negotiate, you'll agree, then you'll not hear from them again. But... persevere and you'll get a sale if the motorcycle is priced reasonably and in good condition. The best responses you WILL get are from other foreigners (Western men) here, who'll try and lowball you to a ridiculous degree and then start getting angry with you because you've simply ignored them.

I think its also illegal in Thailand too.... But that doesn't stop them... At least its more honest..... I wanted to max out 1.2MB my credit card on a car so I could get loads of points (which = airmiles - I was paying in cash anyway)... unfortunately, the dealership wanted to to take 3% extra for the card feeds.... In other area's that allow for card payment I suspect they've added the 3% already, even if you are paying cash.

Always good to have both options IMO. I'd never want to see cash disappear.... We (society) functions better with the convenience of cashless payments, and the balance of cash payments.... Both should always be free option. BUT - I see a lot of the 'anti-digitial' arguments as rather silly and based on emotion and fear rather than serious intellectual thought. Some arguments get ridiculously close to the 'gun arguments'... i.e. we have to keep our guns / cash to prevent the tyrannical governments taking over... these nutters must have rooms full of tinned food ready for when society breaks down !!!...

Wait until you have disc problems in your back, standing in line waiting for some moron to get their phone synchronized won't be so pleasant then. Does your disc problem on flair up from the additonal microwaves emited from all this excessive phone use when paying digitally? Or... does it also flare up when a disorganised person is paying in cash too ??? Because - I can pay digitally far more quickly than most can pay in cash...

Agree.... and the argument you use is one I often use to counter the boomers complaining that cashless payments are slower. IMO - cashless is faster, because I'm used to it. Its faster most of the times I see it, becasue most of the people I see using it are used to it. BUT... there are times when its slower because someone is used to cashless payment (QR Code, or a Tap-n-go').... It is the very same people who are disorganised or just habitually slow, who are the same people who take an age to get their money out of their wallet then count out exact change or get left waiting for change etc... Pro's and cons for both systems - but the 'slow' argument that I often read on here is so very flawed and is an example of nothing other than someones cherry picked bias. --- 7-11 used TrueMoney Wallet (stupid IMO)... but if you know that and have that read at the Check-out, its a quick as any other payment.

Giving them control of what exactly ??? Unless you are keeping your cash under your mattress your money is all digital already - you just remove it from an ATM into cash form.

Agreed..... If only we could go back to the bartering system and remove all centralised control.... ... But its too late we're in the digital age already... If only there were a decentralised system...

In your case... I'd go back to school so that I'm capable of a better retort than the well worn, over used, and wholly uncreative "if you don't like it go home" type of comment.... The Ops criticisms are valid... for the vast majority of us, not exactly worthy of a dedicated thread, nevertheless, we all encounter the daft, juvenile, pathetic and often ridiculous 'silly stuff' on a regular basis... and its often put down to culture.... ... But its not culture, more often than not its just a combination of laziness and poor management that some try and mask by throwing out the word 'culture' as if that washes the negative behavior in some manner.

Yeah... 'cos the price of a TV is the true measure of inflation... no other metric needed, right ???? I do agree though, the price of TV's has reduced significantly... but there are reasons for that which have nothing to do with inflation. 20 years ago my 55" LED Sony Bravia cost about 100,000 baht (or something like that)... 15 Years ago.. at 65" LED Samsung was about 80,000 baht. Recently at 65" 4K UDD QLED Samsung cost about 25,000 baht. But, at the same time where were also top of the range 8K Neo QLED TV's which were about 180,000 baht. The older tech gets cheaper... the newer tech remains expensive....

Its ok.... following this news, there will be an investigation and all the bars will be inspected... The follow up news article will read.... "Samui Bar's inspected, no prostitution found".... (just like Pattaya).... The associated photo with be of a bunch of very serious looking Police officers, peaked service caps with scrambled egg and custard, fully loaded epaulettes.... Hmmm.... we've never seen that before have we ????

Tip-off from a Concerned foreign national about the suspect.... Hmmm..... could this concerned foreign national be the 'competition' perhaps ???.... oh how cynical I am. This 'crackdown on foreign criminal activities' disgusts me... it reeks of xenophobia..... Why not just a simple crackdown on any illegal activity.... the race, nationality, creed of the person or persons involved completely irrelevant ??? ... Answer is obvious - that puritanical Xenophobia rears its head....

This surprises me... a Grab Car actually arriving.... ... How many drivers took the ride then cancelled before you actually had a one that turned up ?????

It depends how the 'feed back or complaint' is given.. In the past I've had situations resolved because I've been polite but 'pushy' and got through the 'cannot' and been judged up to someone more senior... Thai's also complain about a lot of things that aren't right, just as we do - the difference is the articulation of the issue and the response. The issue itself may not the act of complaining, but the manner with which we as foreigners may enter the discussion of complain in a frustrated or annoyed manner, rather than as a calm and polite discussion.

Here... corrected it: Is admitting to a mistake and apologising to a foreigner not possible? ------- As a generalisation, criticism of any form is poorly tolerated here because a lot of people have not grown up with the tools to handle disappointment, criticism or any form of what could be considered conflict - this is why we see in the news so freqently issues which go from Zero to 100% in an instant... The examples you provided are one of many we face on a daily basis - a lot of it is 'little stuff' we can readily ignore - but sometimes there are issues we can't. ... I often here the excuse.... "Its Thai Culture" usually when someone wants to get away with doing something wrong ! In this case of the OP... the throw away excuse would be used...."This is just the Thai way".... or "This is just Thai culture"... but its not... its the Lazy way and it exists due to poor management of a business that has allowed a degree of entitlement to slip in amongst the Thai Staff.... IMO - There is only one solution... and thats to walk away. Reward the positive experiences, walk away from the negative. IF you have already received treatment, but they are not ready to take your money, no casher... That shouldn't be a problem... Leave your phone number and / or Line details and as you to send them the bank details and you'll transfer later - there is no reason at all that anyone should be waiting for a cashier to show up an hour late. ----------- I had one of these silly issues yesterday: Purchasing 12 bottles of wine at about 4:45 pm... No issues. I also wanted to add 2 bottles of Cider, but was told I couldn't becase was before 5pm !!!... Me: WHAT ???... I can but 12 bottles of wine (Alcohol).. but can't buy Cider because its Alcohol ????? Staff: Yes..... Me: Why ???? Staff: Because its different Alcohol... Me: "I love Thailand" !!!.... Staff laughed.... They knew the utter ridiculousness of the situation - no point arguing, they're just doing their job.

In their aim to be all encompassing and allowing freedom of speech the British Authorities are allowing the UK to be turned into a battle ground.... ... Free speech comes with responsibility and should be presented with restraint, those with the loudest voices show little of either. This is the UAE Foreign Minster predicting all thats happening... (particularly the 2017 Riots in France).... There's a perfectly good reason all the 'Arabs' are not claiming asylum on the developed Middle East Countries.... its because 'other' Arabs know what they are like, and these 'potential Immigrants' know their behavior will not be tolerated.

Deport him…. …. oh we can’t…. What are the ‘hang-the foreigner-high-then-deport-him’ brigade going to comment on about this ??? Hopefully the pr!ck will receive the same penalty as the ‘foreigner’ who while allegedly drunk just took out a motorcycle taxi with two females….

Come-on... you've been in Thailand long enough to know that as soon as you attempt to colour outside of the lines people can become quite difficult. In this situation, I imagine refusal to pay and even reporting to authorities could to harm to the son's quality of education.

Tea money.... a normal part of the systemic corruption in Thailand. Wife's parents had to pay a lot to get her into her high-school. I have also heard that 'some' high end international schools with a very strong reputation 'take donations' to secure a place for Thai students where the quota is extremely competitive ( Millions of Baht ).....

The “if you don’t like it go home argument”…. ….. at least you’ve stated commenting at a higher intellectual level !!! 😂 The issue here is two fold… … the context of a protected species being used to virtue signal by a corrupt organization & selective enforcement because non-Thai was involved. I know loads of Thai divers who have videos of their interactions with whale sharks & not one jot of netizen outrage. But, you’d probably tell us it’s ok ‘cos the Whale sharks are Thai !!!

Wife Son & I in a Grab car the other evening. Driving down a sub Soi, narrow lanes, oncoming traffic (wide enough for two cars to pass, just about). A win Motorcycle overtaking row of cars coming towards us. Car approaches from a blind alley to the left at the same time the motorcycle reaches us…. Driver can’t swerve left, car to the left pulled out too far & was inches away from our Grab car. Motorcyclist squeezed though a gap that wasn’t there. Impossible for our driver to avoid, although I suspect some may suggest he should have been going at walking pace so he can stop instantly…. But that may not have prevented the car from being hit from the left by the car & head on by the dumb motorcyclist. Sometimes, no matter how careful we are and accident is unavoidable. I’ve been hit twice (in my car while stationary !)

Oh no…. Look what you’re about to start !!!!! 🤣

Whale sharks migrate up to 7000 kms in the migratory range.... think that exceeds the range of the dive boats. IF the environments within which these dive boats observe the whale sharks were so disturbing for the whale sharks they can swim away !!! These simple tings you mention, are not that hard to understand at all.... quite simple really.... It could easily be argued that the whale sharks are in the area because the diving an other activities don't bother them at all. This is just a combination of those wanting to express anti-foreign sentiment and tree hugging wokeness... ... they're either grumpy old men or vegans - either way I bet their bed-sit reeks the same...

Sure... then get rear ended by an idiot using their phone... The safest speed to ride at (IMO) is with the flow of traffic (a lot of other factors too) but that principle is a strong one.