geisha

It seems that all Thailand has been invaded. My UK niece told me her neighbor just came back and said “ never again”. My friends from Phuket says it’s become a hell hole. Expats trying to sell up and leave. Im in Pattaya, and to be honest, have never seen so many tourists. Mostly Chinese , Indian and Russian. La crème de la crème , not ! From Central Festival to Terminal 21, 40 mins drive this weekend . It’s driving the Thais crazy , and angry. Nobody wants tourism at this price. I’m so glad I never retired here, it was my dream through my working years. I’d hate to think I’d sold my home and quality of life for this chaos.

What a trio, Trump, Musc and Vance . How can anyone trust them ?

I stay around 5 months a year through the EU winter period. I believe I know Thailand very well, as I’m a big traveler, I have many Thai friends, I eat Thai food , I’m not married or interested in the bar scene. I’ve been coming since 1984/85. I spent 20 years of winter on Phuket, 2 yrs of winters in Hua Hin, Jomtien and Koh Chang. I’ve visited every island over the years. My point is, I’m not an “expat” as the person who answered your post was very adamant about. But I believe , I ( and probably yourself) know more about Thailand than many bona fide Expats do! My backside is not stuck to a bar stool, Im not complaining about my Thai wife/husband / partner, and the tax subject does not concern me. I get the best of Thailand with how I live . So Im not an Expat , and dont wish to be living here 12 months a year.

Spoke to friends on Phuket just this morning . They’ve had enough, life has become unbearable, traffic jams everywhere, nowhere to park, beach chairs the whole length and width of the beaches, filth , rubbish bags lining the roads as the garbage trucks can’t manage. Rats. The Hoi polloi of the western world and the dregs of Russia , China and India joining in. Plus all the con artists, scammers and bitcoiners, drunks and stoned tourists, it’s hard to believe I once loved it there and planned on retiring. So glad I didn’t. Pattaya is the same , a concrete jungle and non stop jams. Tourism gone crazy. Greed.

How about paying for assistance at the airport ? Just like people who have a handicap or wheelchair. They are there all the way with the person, to the plane doors where the hostess takes the person to their seat.

What are they doing sitting around the Tuc Com area ? Plenty of them, but they just stand there , not stopping anyone??

I was talking about pattaya taxis , the yellow blue ones outside the malls.,

Thailand isn’t doing well on the international stage. Communication and technology are being held back by a lack of English. Education in schools and at home is a mess.

when you say Bangkok, where ? Do you mean the airport ?? I use Bangkok taxis often, and never have a problem. They are more than half the rates compared to Phuket or Pattaya. Phuket and Pattaya have a big problem with their over charging taxis. Think about it, example , a taxi from pattaya to Suvarnabhumi costs around 1300 to 1500 baht. 90 mins drive. A taxi from Pattaya centre to Jomtien charges 500 to 600 baht for 15 mins drive. I avoid them like the pest, except for the Airport runs or urgencies. I left Phuket years ago because of the lack of public transport and the scamming taxis . Pattaya and hua Hin has baht buses at least !

But how do you climb up on the bonnet of a car to do it ? Surly the police can block the area off ? Put a guard ? Whatever, I think it’s disgusting. Plenty room on that beach to put public toilets with cleaner every kilometer along. Charge each person 10 baht for the loo and 20 baht for a shower. They do in Phuket. And in Jomtien beach night market.

They arrested that old age lady on the beach in Koh Samui was it ? Her husband had died and she didn’t have access to any money. As usual with news reports, we Never read the outcome of these stories which is very frustrating !!!

Right, definitely a try .thanks all.

I’ll be staying near Dolphin roundabout. Thank for all these suggestions.

That’s right. Testing often is important. I was told only to eat fruit after a meal. Definitely not ripe bananas, full of sugar. Eat more green. Check each fruit you like for sugar count.

I’ll try that. Sounds good.

I love German food too.Thanks. Is there a good one in Pattaya ?

I have a French mate in Phuket who paid for a heart operation for someone’s wife as the husband didn’t have the huge amount needed. She was operated in Bangkok and is now a mostly healthy young lady and mum. Lots of people have fundraisers to send their family to America or wherever. You do anything you can for family or your friends. I think fund raisers are necessary. Thanks to anyone that helps others.

Hi all, will be in Pattaya all of February. Always rented in Jomtien so don’t know the ropes of Pattaya. I eat Thai food, but am wary of cheap places, so good clean Thai food suggestions please. I only ate at Chez Pascals which I like and has a divers menu. Hilton too expensive for daily . I loved Aquavit in Jomtien beach rd, so I suppose I could jump on a baht bus there and back ? ( they’ve changed to one way ??). How about the best British food ? I do love Indian too, but the only one I found clean is Indian by Nature in Jomtien. Yes, I’m a clean freak, which comes from running a very poplular restaurant in France for 38 years where hygiene is a big must. My favorite Thai was in Jomtien so I 5 , stuck onto immigration, but had to move. So now they’re in Banglamung and it’s called Sea Talay. Looks great and same staff. Can I get there with Baht bus from Dolphin roundabout ? If not too far can go with Bolt/ uber. Any suggestions very welcome.

They are a pest. I keep having to tell people that they are not the same as the average French tourists but they have French passports. Whenever there’s a robbery, murders , drug problem where I live,( the south of France) it’s one of them. They are ruining the country. They are taking over Phuket with their stolen / copied credit cards and schemes. They are not afraid of the police.

Covid. When at last the gates opened, visas took months to arrive. A friend of mine left without his and had only a 30 day entry and visa money lost. I decided on the 30 day visa exemption , but the online authorization ( or whatever it was called , didn’t work. Masses of people terrified of leaving without. Many lost tickets. I contacted an agency in Bangkok and got mine through them. It was catastrophic. How can they be so tech ignorant ? It’s hard to believe. I used to go to Myanmar often, Cambodia, etc, it all worked fine there. Easy.

Yes, and getting all those stinking vehicles, buses, cars, bikes, tuc tucs, off the road and destroyed. Anyone found burning gets their land confiscated. More police checks ( laugh) all round transport and on the roads. The problem could be solved in 2 years at the most if it was implicated now. New electric buses and money invested will fix it to a livable level. Years of 40 million tourists, should be able to pay for this. Otherwise, they are ignoring the health of their own folk and their children. We all know that costs in the long run. But with an irresponsible government there’s no hope.

It was on ITV news yesterday that he had been arrested.

When I lived on Phuket over the winter ( EU) months, I stopped using Thai because the planes were very old. After, I always used Bangkok Airways.

You can call him anything, but certainly not stupid. He didn’t become a billionaire Before entering politics for nothing. He was a very successful business man. As for a Hub in Phuket, Hub of Con men comes to mind.

Lots of Thailand rookies about lately.