geisha

The girls that fall for a scam like this are usually uneducated girls from poor families. Don’t be harsh.

Bangkok has some great opportunities for tourists, especially families, The river boats for a start to get to the Grand Palace, flower market , Wat Arun, I paid a local taxi to drive my nephew and friend around for the day, I made a list, no shopping stops etc, lunch with the boys. They had a great day and cheap too. Free boats to Iconsiam side, free to Asiatique etc. Pattaya and phuket could learn a bit from Bangkok about attracting tourists. Starting with decent taxi prices.

No, it’s been a problem for a good few years before Covid. Taking Kata Phuket as an example, Thais burnt down the awnings of Russian run/ owned businesses. Spent 3 months in 2022 in Kata where I lived for many years and have lots of Thai friends with business and normal working people. The Russians have bought up all the cheaper condos ! They have their own taxi service , hairdressers, restaurants, and even massage shops are Thai run, but Russian owned. Add to that the internet /bitcoin , workers / nomads. Sure, maybe the Thais didn’t complain much during /after Covid, as they were broke and bankrupt. I saw a few of my elderly neighbours forced to beg for money for food, there was a queue outside the Club Med with their bowls every morning. The authorities did bugger all, most food etc was provided by expats / foreigners who organized themselves through supermarket donations mostly stationed in Rawai and then handed out where needed. It was dire, so any foreigners arriving after Covid were welcome. Nowadays it’s ridiculous, Russians here Russians there ….. The beaches are crowded with their picnicking, the restaurants over run with their families , you go to a supermarket you’re pushed out the way. They are sullen and unfriendly, mostly downright ignorant and impolite. Not that Pattaya doesn’t have the same problems, especially Jomtien. They work openly around Jomtien nightmarket, and that huge condo complex with restaurants/ laundries/ agencies ground floor. I cut through there from second road often after going to the German delicatessen to eat or shop. Ive seen Russians waiting on tables etc. As for the gogo bars with extras, the Russian girls have been there for over 15 years if I remember right. One of my Phuket neighbors was a regular client, and what about walking street Pattaya ?? All this brings Thailand down another notch again.

The problem is, how do you tell the difference between normal tourists, and criminals ? You see all sorts in the airport who look like respectable tourists. Tattoos are very common these days, lots of men wear bermudas and tshirts, not like years ago when everyone dressed for travel. Ive seen some awful scruffs at immigration, doubt they all all criminals . So how can airport staff or immigration ? I have noticed over 35 years that the criminal population of Thailand has soared lately. Maybe they are more savvy and shrewd with all the options open to them/ technology etc.

Gosh, I thought those particular districts were famous all over the world!,

The 2 girls in my condo office were slim and lovely about 4 years back, now they’re Rolly Polly’s. Such a shame, their prettiness has gone.

You can enter and leave anywhere any how. I’ve left by boat , and the border crossing into Cambodia. at Ha Tien .,PS visit the Central Post Office in Saigon, it’s beautiful and built in the 1980s. The city cathedral is opposite * Notre Dame*.

As said , best to take a car and driver , really reasonable prices. More comfortable than the bus.

Hi, best IMO , fly into Hanoi. Lovely city with old Vietnamese character. From there, take a one night trip to Halong Bay and a boat trip, wonderful scenery. From there travel to Hue, visit imperial citadel etc and Perfume river trip. From there you can visit Hoi A for a few nights, beautiful old village, historically a Japanese trading center, try and visit a Japanese house, there is the covered bridge , so special. What is so great about all these suggestions, is that you get to see the real Vietnam with its people who still wear their au dai . From there to Dalat if you fancy a few cooler days rest and repos before heading to Saigon. It’s a more modern city these days with a strong French influence. Have some cocktails on the Rex Hotel roof top, fab view’s, get the feel of all the ambiance of the end of the Vietnam war as the north Vietnamese Army approached Saigon. It was from there that the American news filmed. Very sad times. A must is the War Remnants Museum, don’t leave Vietnam without going . From Saigon , by bus , a must trip is the Mekong Delta and one of its floating markets which are the most interesting and colorful in all of Asia. Surrounded by orchards, farms, fresh noodle factories, all their produce is fresh and you can eat on your hired boat with oarman from other kitchen boats. A fantastic experience which was one of the highlights of my long trip. The best are Cai Be and Cai Rang. I stayed overnight to have a whole day and sunset . From there I came back by river boat direct to Phnom Penh Cambodia, but you can also return to Saigon and fly home. It’s a wonderful country that still has the exotic feeling of south east Asia, and fantastic food, please read up on each destination as I can’t name all there is to see in each. I have Vietnamese family so have good experience of this country. Happy travels.

I’ve had these and you can’t get better . I once had even heavier drapes in Phuket and it was hard to open them they were so heavy. In my French home I also have roll down alu blinds which stops the initial heat before it hits the windows. Helps a lot , I’m in the south , 30c ++ and sun morning to night.,A problem in Thai condos is all the climes are on the terrace which heats up the air like hell.

Ah, I was waiting for your hate of Surachat to pop up ! Makes me wonder what he’s done so wrong, except that you don’t like him being what you call a « poster boy » IMO he’s straight enough, does his job and there hasn’t been a single better police man in Thailand so far . Enough for me, if most of Thailands police force had his integrity, then it would be a much safer place.

They don’t need Thaksin to do that !

That’s the best post I’ve read in a long time ! I laughed out loud !!!!!

I think his money will be kept safely out of Thailand.

Don’t need to show my list, everyone knows who I’m taking about !

There’s a few who need to be sent to prison, and Thaksin is very low on my list.

Why would I buy anything off FB ? Surely people should be responsible for their acts . I only buy online from trusted companies, and only then if I can’t get it in the shops. FB should ban advertising, and anything dangerous for children. I once opened a post about a famous artist whom I was interested in. The content was really not for anyone’s eyes ! Why wasn’t it banned ?

Let’s be honest, most tourists came to Thailand because it was so cheap. Nowadays, unless you buy an all inclusive package , it’s not cheap any more ! Just calculate a long haul flight, 14 nights hotels, meals, entertainment, attractions etc , thats double what you’d pay for staying in EU ! Imagine what a family would pay in airfares ! Add to that you’re only a 90 min/2 hr flight away , some great clean beaches and delicious food as well. No fuss of flights, insurance, language barrier, and the whole inconvenience. France Spain , Italy , Greece , for example have had a very good year, with tourists staying close to home. Thailand has also made the mistake of opening its doors to Chinese and Indian group package tours, that brings peanuts to Thai businesses. You reap what you sow. Infrastructure is catastrophic , imagine the money that the government / authorities have earned over the years from tourism and not reinvested to upgrade . many people don’t like the in your face prostitution . Yes, loads of you will say that it’s exotic and colorful and don’t come if you don’t like it. That’s not a view that will bring in more quality tourists.

Snowbirds are the thousands of tourists that flee their own freezing winters for sunny shores. I was once part of a click of people that met up nearly every year on Kata beach Phuket for sunset and beers , at the time when phuket was idyllic. Myself 1984 to 2004 . We were Germans, Brit’s , Italians , Austrians all spending around 5 months in Thailand. This was the time of double entry visas , so easy for us, with a quick trip to Ranong for a border hop ( driven by our Thai friends) . We stayed in bungalows and small hotels as no condos , I think even Patong only had 2. Made lifelong friends , and even now, I try to go there every year to see the few that stayed on, and my Thai friends who were, and are still, wonderful people . We’ve grown old together.

Thailand has many safety problems mainly death trap roads and condos. Before Covid I rented in a relatively new condo (5 yrs max). The pools were not maintained, but one day after an hours sunbathing early morning with my neighbor , the pool lift wasn’t working. So we went to the fire escape, Ok one flight down, ( 7 th floor) and then…locked doors !! Started to get a bit worried so called the condo office where luckily I spoke to one of the girls I know. Half an hour later the doors were unlocked by the security man. Unbelievable, we made it known how dangerous this was, another office girl from the office butted in and shouted at us . Luckily the two of us were at the end of our contract so moved out.

France is also hit or miss. E Visa a huge problem here. Hence the many Visa Exempt entries.

Snowbirds like myself would appreciate a 90 day Visa - Exempt entry. Why is he saying a Visa 30 days? A tourist Visa is valid 60 days. 30 days is Visa Exempt.

Well, let’s just look at Thailand and the convicted criminal that Prayut choose for his government ! Haven’t seen that before, oh sorry , forgot Columbia and maybe Ecuador ? Same kettle of fish. How about the health minister and his idiotic choices and hatred of foreigners ? And while I’m at it, don’t forget the watch collector.

Because Prayut wanted to send a man to the moon ?

I Hope those tourists left immediately ? Those (boat ):types are uncouth, unwashed and drunk most of the time. Also, those boats have no maintenance so are unsafe as well. Put the rogue taxi and van drivers and jet ski owners into the same category. You have to choose wisely in Thailand if you value your safety. Hard words but true.