geisha

Not all. Before Covid and Ukraine , the Russians coming to the south of France were a pain in the .. Drink a lot, eat, and then « offer » the money they want to pay and ignore the amount on the bill ! Seen this so many times that most restaurants/ bars and hotels either refuse them , or take only the ones they know. A good few rich clients who are travel educated, the rest, forget. I really think they come to Thailand because the prices suit them. They certainly buy up a good few condos as I saw last year on Kata Beach. Unfriendly and don’t know how to be polite. Poor Phuket !!!!

I dont understand. There’s already 30 days Visa exempt for a lot of countries. So what do they want to do ? Make the 60 day tourist visa free of charge ? In that case, I think they will bring in the failed system of the Covid entry for tourists , where you had to apply online for a Government Approved email , which mostly never arrived, or arrived after your flight date ! A complete catastrophe which made Thailand tech « experts ». a laughing stock . They couldn’t have done it worse.

Not everyone living in Patong or nearby goes to Bangla. The closest I got to it was Junk Ceylon for the usual shopping and parking., There are a lot of nice condos and villas reasonably priced, some very nice hotels and restaurants with scenic views, plenty shopping and the huge double Central not far away. I only left because the weather was too hot and humid for me. Went to Hua Hin for 2 years , good breezy air, but found it too boring and ugly beaches, so ended up in Jomtien where the prom is nice but the seawater disgusting ( as is Pattaya ). Lots of reasonable condos in Jomtien . Must admit Phuket has by far some of the nicest beaches ( apart from the smaller islands that have their own drawbacks). I have the best of friends there, great Thai people I’ve known for 35 years , so I go back for holidays only. ( PS phuket taxis must be the worst rip off scoundrels in Thailand unfortunately).

A very good friend of mine in France asked me for a loan of 5000 € to pay for his daughters piano conservatoire .( true). He sent me 100€ once . I kept asking him , with a yes soon answer. Never again. I really never thought that would happen. When I first went to Phuket in the early 80s, a very good Thai friend warned me never to lend money to anyone at all !! I agree with a comment above that Covid bankrupted many people, last year I returned to Phuket to see my many friends, the greeting at the airport with everyone in hazmat suits, the multiple rules , regulations and closures were enough to put everyone off coming to Thailand forever. The lines of hungry people sitting in a queue on the pavements was heart breaking. I saw a few shop owners I knew timidly begging . This was the work of Prayut and company., Those people are in debt for life.

Really the best, even in France.

I see too many Thai kids with newest iPhones and even cars. An office girl from the condo has a new car, I said it was very nice, a company car, no, I buy, she said. Next I see her on FB , bottles of wine with her friends, or other photos with Dior handbag. Really ? I have a lot of female foreign friends who don’t have a car like this or carry designer handbags but certainly have very good jobs. That’s where education comes in. As one of my Italian friends says ( married to a Thai) it’s want want want everyday. I find thais don’t have a reasonable limit.

Methinks someone has a plan, a clue, he wears a uniform.

Not in Thailand ! I heard a Thai lady mentioning to the owner of an Austrian restaurant « ohh kangaloos. « !

And please don’t talk to mama San*s.

Agree. I was on a Lufthansa Frankfurt BKK flight. Shortly after take off, the guy one down from went went crazy , in truth he was completely drunk. The hostess had come around with the meals, the drunk put his hands under the pull out table and sent it flying, food everywhere, then he threw his shoes - mostly on my seat neighbor who had never met his Thai in-laws and future wife who were to greet him. I beeped like hell to get the hostesses , they called help and 2 male staff came running. Then another turned up with the handcuffs and cuffed him to the back of the seat. They had to move us as everything was soaked, I was ok, but I refused to stay there near this maniac. My sorry - looking neighbor and myself were moved to the seats behind the pilots room, the flight being full. We were marvelously looked after, champagne etc , but imagine how my neighbour felt . Needless to say on arrival the Police were waiting for him, and I hope he was banned forever !

A few international highly regarded newspapers and TV Chanel’s could help . I think they all should be egged on to help the world know what is going on here. General strike will be news worldwide , start with the airports, it’s been done before.

If the Thais who voted Move Forward really want to make their feelings known, do what other countries do, sit down peaceful protest and general strike . I’m not a radical or rebel, but I think that’s the only way to show the elite what they think. Stop the whole country, transport, airports, roads etc . Very important, let the world know, They’ve done it before. But can the Thais afford to ?

Everyone has différent tastes and needs, more or less money, bought your home or not. I’d think that those who have invested ,probably would stay permanently. Those who rent like myself , have much more freedom to move around, in Thailand or not.

That’s what I do , 5 months maximum and even then I go to Bangkok for Christmas, and have never wanted to stay for Songkran . I also do another trip somewhere, otherwise I get bored .

Since the last 2 years, and because of Brexit , the immigration in UK and EU look at the stamps and pages in your passport ! I’m British . I was asked in Heathrow where I lived, I said France as I’m a resident.I had my identity card to show.,This year, Swiss air Nice to Bangkok transit Zurich, forgot my French identity card at home . Got a right telling off from the strict Swiss as I passed through EU queue window , UK passport, resident of France , forgot card !! If you don’t have your card or proof, normally they’ll stamp your passport. In my case they were lenient with a warning. I think a load of visas. and stamps from Thailand didn’t help, although my maximum stay in Thailand is 4/5 months.

There have been reports of Vietnam being strict on entry rules. Haven’t heard anything about Laos.

TT best, I’ve exchanged there recently and they gave me exactly what I ordered and new. If in Bangkok, Superrich is everywhere and at Suvarnabhumi airport.

You’re late, the expats have called Phuket « little Russia » for quite some time. Went last year, it was awful, I’ll never go back. Shame as I’ll miss my friends there .

Years back four of us had a fantastic meal in Hat Yai , a hotel dining , ordered a load of dishes and every one was delicious. My favorite is a massaman.

Why was the OP in a bar with girls for hire ? Why did he speak to the mama San ? Did he expect the ladies to pay for him ? Where does he think he is ?

All I can say ( if they are talking about Rolex etc) is that the Thai youth are very well off today . I have many foreign friends of all ages and I’ve never noticed one wearing such a watch or Indian style gold chain. I’d be too afraid to be robbed, hurt etc. My Vietnamese mother in law was on holidays in Vietnam , her chain , which wasn’t that big, was ripped violently from her neck and hurt her badly as she also fell. The thought of that happening didn’t cross her mind. Expensive watch robbing is common everywhere, from driving in a traffic jam, on red lights, walking , and coming out of parkings. I wouldn’t wear one , although I like them . , and have considered it in the past.

No one wants a red stamp ( is it red?) in their passport, looks bad from the get go.

It’s probably from heat , like a heat rash., wash’often and only wear cotton clothes/ pants. Antiseptic talc fromBoots or Watsons might help.

It also stains the pavement !! after chewing it ( they roll it up and the vendor adds other herbs) and your teeth turn a lovely ruby color , when finished they spit it out everywhere. I thought it was blood when I first saw it in Myanmar. They say it stops hunger pans so might be a reason for poor people to chew it. Ladies do too.

Quite agree, the restaurant food hygiene is a bit lacking in Thailand. Seen some things that make my stomach do a flip. One Japanese restaurant I went a few times ( owned by Thai family) had little square plates with ready cut up raw chicken stacked in the heat. Probably the same as all other meats and seafood/ fish. I stopped eating there after that. Another terrible habit of Thais, is re - freezing frozen food that’s been defrosted. I’ve been to Japan , it looks a lot cleaner than Thailand , and the restaurants take hygiene very seriously. I have a good nose for that. Also, I’m,quite sure that most of the products are locally sourced in Thailand. You can also get food poisoning anywhere, even if the restaurant is a well known expensive one.