geisha

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.

The restaurants serve the cheaper rice. There are many marvelous varieties in Thailand, you just have to know how to cook it right, too much water and it’s awful. Buy always last years récolte. Basmati has the same problems, buy the good stuff. It is totally different grain to Thai rice .. We buy triple A . AAA first quality Thai delicious. There’s red rice, blue rice, black and brown, love the brown myself , and black with coconut milk and banana as dessert. I have a cook .

A gold chain or a watch , iPhone could easily addd up to 400 thousand Baht. Nothing unusual there. I once advised a uK older couple in a hotel at breakfast to take off their Rolex / Panerai and ladies diamond rings, put them in hotel reception safe and never to go out with them !! I leave all valuables at home at Bank. But, something needs to be done about these Chinese crooks that’s for sure. They have totally ruined Cambodia and are well known for trouble in other countries.

Not the healthiest of Asian foods., Lots of fried ,loads of msg , lots of oil in the stir fry. Cant digest myself., :Thai is much better.

As a woman, I can tell you, you get what you strive for. Of course, in places like Thailand , not every child/ girl gets the education they need to get on in life. Especially in poorer areas in the north. My parents helped me, good education, setting an example. I wanted to be successful, takes a lot of hard studying and work. My siblings and school. friends have had good lives, married or not, most could be completely independent if they wish. Even tho I had a longtime companion, I was always independent, had my own money/ savings. He also pushed me into good investments, I’ve never regretted, and am thankful for my upbringing.

I’ve never used Airbnb, and usually book hotels that are well known with good locations. Easy to check distance hotel to city center/ beach name etc online maps. But, you could be in a very noisy neighborhood for example , or on a main road , that, the hotel/ condo isn’t going to tell you. Or the place isn’t up to standard. That’s why I stick to more well known hotels despite the higher costs. Booking in advance once in Old Ceylon had me in a hotel in the middle of a bloody jungle with nothing around so only suitable for people driving which I was not !! I was out the next morning . ( near Kandy). Or one of the best hotel in Canton , no heating and no hot water, winter !!!

It’s the low season and not the best in Thailand. Tourists can travel in Europe for sunshine and fun. And no top price air flights. Can go by car, train, even bus if you’re on a budget. Western Tourists won’t be back till around November . Real * tourists* usually go for two weeks, not 3 months. Snowbirds go for the Thai high season and stay 3 to 5 months using a border hop and extension. No big deal.

Very enjoyable!!!!

Well gas could blow up the neighborhood surely ??? I’ve been in badly located places with a few bookings, not Airbnb. Sometimes hard to see where the hotel/ condo is really. I put it down to bad luck., next time I’ll be smack in the center of town !

It’s true, I’m a snowbird so see Thailand in the high season. I’m quite surprised that the standard of tourist that Thailand attracts is very bad compared to around 5/10 years ago. I’ve been coming since 1984, have lived the marvelous years of Phuket and the the other islands. The other islands I’d never go back to, stayed 3 months in Phuket last year but that was a failure due to post Covid and empty restaurants, unlit streets, and general abandonment. My mistake, but wanted to see old friends. This year they warned me off, crowds , tons of arrogant longstayers ( won’t say the nationality)., beaches over crowded and restaurants submerged also because of lack of staff. So I stayed in Jomtien. There it was mostly the same, but I have my good addresses. Bangkok was the only place I felt was more upmarket and more to my taste. Definitely there’s a going to the dog’s atmosphere, and I’m thinking I might not be back so soon. I left for Bali, and sadly it’s no better. It hurts me to see Thailand , and Bali , like this, having known these countries and their neighbours for so long. Great memories to look back on .

I must say the small contraptions they have in the UK are ridiculous.. Taking a shower is a major event with water too hot one minute too cold the next and not enough water strength. My elderly family take baths every night.

My question to the OP. How on earth can you live somewhere infested with ants or any other insects ?? Did you not treat your home immediately to get rid of them ? I would not last one day there. First day in any new home, I clean, look and treat everything floors, drains, etc for a few days. Never had a problem in 38 yrs, even living in a Thai house near a forest on Phuket . There, we put cups of oil or water ( can’t remember) under each bed leg because of the forest and no glass windows.

About the deaths which happened in a hotel in Chiang Mai and on Samui I think, one of the islands. That was the fault of the stupid proprietors of those hotels who used dangerous sprays on their mattresses to prevent bed bugs !!! Nothing to do with anti ant / insect products put on the floor.I stayed once in a hotel in Chiang Mai that room and bed stank of disinfectant. I immediately left.

I had an acquaintance, a girl knew a bit. ( I’m a lady). She knew I was in phuket and, invited herself. Well, I thought, a few days is ok. She stayed 2 weeks !! I told her I wasn’t up to discos etc so she went by herself. I did give her a few tips on behavior, Thai men etc. one night 5 am, she wasn’t back. I was freaking out . In she wanders, shoes in hand. The tuc tuc driver lift back from Patong , suggested a beach stroll under the stars in, I think, N’ai Harn. Nowhere near my place and you don’t drive near it from Patong. Well, she must have been lucky, nothing happpened and he deposited her in front of my door !!! Could hardly believe it. I had to tell her to go, you just don’t do things like that, anywhere. We were about 30++.

it was always like that , no change.

Thanks Sheryl , wondering if there’s a similar drug in Thailand that is not dangerous to take.? ( Tanganil is an over the counter medication in France. )