geisha

Do whatever you did on your previous stays in Thailand concerning lodgings. It’s just probably a bit more expensive than 2019:. Booking somewhere for one month will be double the price of a one year lease. I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, you can’t ask prices etc when you have no dates, high season, low season, just look at all the different options online. Everyone has different likes and necessities.

I was young in the 60s and 70s , had lots of friends who were mostly normal. There were plenty of drugs about in those days too, and I must say I never heard of kids selling drugs. If you wanted them they were everywhere in the nightclubs and sold by adults , not kids., Parents were a bit stricter too, you never missed a days school , didn’t talk back to the teachers or beat them up !! You might think that’s old fashioned, but now often on my way home from shopping in Thailand the bus was full of kids stuffing their faces with crap food or drinking beer ! Never seen any adult complain. How do you imagine the lives of todays youths , do you believe they’ll have all the advantages we had/ have ???

The huge thing here is the boy was 16 ! Didn’t he have parents, schooling, a job, family life.? Lack of any education again, as seen all over Thailand. Anyway, odds are, he wanted to rent a place for him and his « minor » girlfriend. So they cooked up a job with a local lowlife. Something went wrong , the boy was murdered, the girl either got away on the bike, or is hidden away somewhere. The police might have found her and is keeping her safe, who knows. Other news was the two young Russian kids creating hell in a Pattaya market. Really ?? Are kids that crazy stupid these days , or do parents really not care a damn ?

I think Malaysia actually refuse in / out air passengers , or they did a while back., If it’s a money problem, take a travel agency same day border hop and spend stuffy boring hours hoping the driver slows down !

I add to Brit Tim’s advice, don’t fly back the same day ! A few days somewhere nice, good food,,change of air , and without enquiring looks and even questions on why you are doing this ! Plus, you will still need a visa for Cambodia or Laos, go through immigration and then back again !! maybe not for Vietnam you can check. What on earth is complicated about booking a hotel and cheap taxi ride into town , don’t understand that remark.

RIP dear Joe, I asked for your help over many years and you were always there !: sincere condolences to your family, you will not be forgotten.

Get your passport , Move out immediately, (!!!!) get the bank to cancel all payments Cards etc. Change phone . Get a lawyer , let him work something out that will bring you money. If no money, move to a Nice quiet beach area and chill. Don’t let her know where you are!!!!

Trecking to the hill tribes 40 years ago, being stopped by opium field guards who let us go as our guide assured them we were young tourists. Sleeping in the village huts , being amazed at the beautiful people and their customs. My most frightening experience was the tsunami on Patong beach. Although I was fine, I thought everyone I knew was dead. They weren’t, but I cried for days .

I think the Thai driver was turning around to go in the opp direction, which was why he he was looking for oncoming traffic and not at the two men crossing in front of him.

Read the pattaya news article underneath it is much clearer.

Thousands die from overdose, « bad » quality drugs, adverse reactions, etc every day the world over. I grew up in the LSD era many people were fine taking it, quite a few died, usually from reactions after , maybe wasn’t researched a lot in those days. Classed as drug accident or overdose. , same with todays best known drug cocaine. Before you actually buy it, it could have been « mixed » many times to earn even more money. Some people take cocaine all their life! Usually hard working business people, who initially take it to manage travel/ work hours. That’s where the respected dealers come in. The ones who can usually be trusted to sell you the best quality. Millions die from drink, people eat themselves into morbid obesity, people take Valium or other « legal » opioids. Accidents happens , to everyone. It’s not a choice to be stupid, or choice to die. Nasty way of looking at things.

First, why are you frowning, do you need glasses ? Secondly, how’s your body looking , do you exercise, are you eating healthy well balanced food, not drinking too much ? How’s your clothes, hair cut, teeth ? start with those for 6 months, don’t forget you’ll have to keep your face out of the sun forever, sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses. Then, and only then, if you are so unhappy about a few wrinkles, go to the best that use quality products, google it. Don’t be taken in with sales talk !!! personally if I were to want this, I’m 70 and a lady, I’d take the best qualified cosmetic experts. Anyone , can give you injections, avoid that like the pest !!! Try smiling and looking your best.

Well, they’ll just have to root out the Chinese criminals from the bona fide tourists ! Stricter immigration rules, phots / fingerprints and no more crooked immigration officers.

Laos Luang Prabang , Mekong river lovely temples. then to Siem Reap Cambodia to see Angkor Wat at sunrise and Sundown. Then Thailand , either Ayutthaya ot Sukhothai which ever suits you better. Chiang Mai , trecking trip or not, but not in the high pollution season ( slash and burn). A few days to end up in Bangkok and really see the historical sights, All this can be done by bus if you have time . If not ,eliminate Laos and or Cambodia. if you want to spend a few days on a gorgeous beach or small island, head to TRAT, take the ferry to Koh Chang, from there are many idyllic islands. Play Robinson Crusoe !!Easybto get to from,Cambodia or Bangkok by bus . There are flights nearly everywhere of course. All depends you’re budget and preferences.

Hefty fines, a few days in the monkey house and deport the worse cases .

Surely they are not asking for university degrees for cleaning staff and kitchen helps ? Most of my usual haunts have employed Burmese , excellent workers, some Cambodian but speak little Thai. All legal. One very good restaurant in Phuket has had 3 chefs in one month ! Left for no reason ! Then there’s the long hours., low pay, and huge problem, nowhere decent to live ! Every year I spend a few months in Thailand, buy my own fans as don’t like constant air cons, pots and pans ,towels. Clean pillows, hate ones that aren’t new. Then I give them to the waiters and waitresses when I leave. Ive seen plenty of awful lodgings, clean enough, but really basic shared between a few, one as a waiter I know with his whole family on the floor! same problem in lots of countries beach resorts, no decent lodgings , low pay, long hours. No staff . Have a look at some of the places for rent around Soi 5 Jomtien, or that Russian enclave further down after the temple . 10,000 Baht a month for a ….hole, and the 5000B ones forget it., The government lives in their own cosy homes with transport and good pay, they have no idea.

Hey, anything could have happened, heart attack, accident, robbed and beaten, food poisoning ( yes, seafood left me practically unconscious in my bathroom for over 2 days) . I just hope that it’s something less dangerous to this man’s health. The lack of empathy here is disgusting.

Rubbish, try renting any vehicle in an first world country if you don’t have the correct permits ! Thailand is still third world. The legal companies that rent are also very well covered by legitimate insurance companies.

Whatever, wherever, it’s wrong. When someone is in dire straits through illness etc, that’s different. Ripping off your family is disgusting, and yes, you do see a lot of it in Thailand, especially if it’s the foreigner they’re ripping off ! I arrived in 1984, and saw it happen often, fell for it once, a girls child in hospital !! Never fell for that sort of story again. Luckily , we’re were a close knit crowd of foreigners in the small village of Kata beach , that was live and learn in Thailand.

Well, just so you know, I’m not setting foot on this submarine !

Just back from,Bali, food shops flooded with Russians, not the restaurants, they are eating home. In my hotel there was a young mother with a very young baby, Russian, we spoke every morning at breakfast. Obviously couldn’t go out due to the extreme heat and humidity( 95% ). She had hired a Balinese nanny, and the hotel being a 5/star must have cost a fortune, she’d been there 3 months. I think if you have the money, it’s no problem in most of Asia., A friend’ of mine in phuket real estate since many years, told me the Russians were buying up any sort of condo , business booming. Local western expats finding it very hard to get decent priced lodgings apparently.

Why speculate ??? she might be the sister and has no contact with her at all, lots of questions, I doubt the police want to answer all’Asean Now and all the other newspapers.

There seems to be a lot of evidence so far. All these unfortunate people she knew or met over the years all dying of cyanide poisoning ? Surly not a coincidence ! And with all there is money concerned. I doubt you have to be a genius to produce cyanide if you have the interest and maybe scientific literature from the sister helping you. I am not saying the sister is guilty of partaking in these deaths !!! This case seems to be just starting so don’t expect answers soon . she certainly seemed to get around a lot ? Wonder what her job was ?

I can confirm that luxury goods are well over priced in Thailand. You can go to the upscale Malls around Bangkok and you’ll see hardly a customer. Compare that to a shop in Cannes on the Croisette, where there is a healthy queue outside waiting to get in. They are fully stocked with all the latest models. I have a friend working for C Dior and the takings are astronomical. Prada, Chanel , Vuitton Hermès, Givenchy, saint Laurent, they’re all there. Of course there are other cities, Dubai, New York etc. same with vintage wines and top class restaurants. In my 38 years of Thailand I have never found decent ladies clothes, all cheap Chinese rubbish. Men do have it easier as it’s more a classic thing. And of course , life in Thailand doesn’t call for designer goods. So don’t expect Singaporeans, or Tourists from Hong Kong to come to buy Chanel. They have all they need at home. A cheap one will cost you from 5/6 thousand euros up to 10 thousand € and much much more for the best. A Birkin will set you back about 90 000 €. well off Thai ladies are best sticking to traditional Thai silk from Bangkok shops. PS, I have no personal views on this, just stating facts.

It’s about time that the government enforced laws on these scamming crooks who rent out anything to anyone. I’ve seem young kids driving, disgusting. It’s all very well selling Canabis on every street corner, getting blind drunk and causing trouble, foreign hookers ignored by police, rip off artists everywhere ( please don’t disagree!) , they should close everyone down who rents out these illegal killing machines businesses.