Merylhighground

SO how did that 'good guys in, bad guys out' thing from two years ago pan out?

Not a roaring success I see, as this seems to be the third or fourth such 'round up' in the last month.....

A word of caution, if anyone asks where you are going before you get into the main terminus building at Ekkamai, keep walking on by, as they will try and foist you onto the second class bus which takes ages, stops at every lamppost, can get horribly crowded, sometimes goes the 'long way round' through Pattaya and Rayong.

Head to the window inside (on the far right hand side) and ask for 'Pornipa Tour' who run a decent service which takes around 3 hours to Chanthaburi.

It must be coming up to 'performance review' time in Chonburi Province as it looks like the BiB are hitting the easy targets which is so much easier than going after real criminals who might have guns or connections in high places....

There have been Lao women plying their 'trade' in the Eastern Seaboard for yonks now. We used to have some stunners in one of my old locals in Bang Plee though none seemed to last long either getting snapped up by a 'sugar daddy' or going home once they'd made a few quid. It was quite a high turnover trade, the human tide in action...That this wasn't well known by the authorities is a nonsense as most of the main clients were BiB/Local Officials or their cronies...

Let's hope the injured kid is a member of a Hi-So/Important family then they might actually start sorting out the pavements....if he's just a pleb nothing will change....

My immediate reaction to this is don't your employers handle this side of things? 

All of our visa/WP matters are handled by our Human Resources (personnel) dept. 

I'm always wary of any 'consultancy services' and if you meet the criteria required, (which you clearly must do as you are a current holder of a WP and Non-Immi  my advice would be to go to your nearest Immigration/Min of Labour office with all your documentation and do it yourself.

When in Thailand I'm lucky enough to have a work provided car and driver, however in rush hour times if I want to get home in a hurry, I have every now and again used the BTS which I take to meet my driver at one of the suburban stations for an easy run home, or have to nip across town.

I find it horribly overcrowded even in off peak times. If, unlike in the West, fare increases actually mean an improvement in service (more carriages, more train frequency in peak hours), this could be no bad thing, however as mentioned by other posters I wonder if this is a move to price some folks out of the service which could lead to less overcrowding and reduce the actual need to modify the existing service.

11 hours ago, Searat7 said:

Going after people on overstay (particularly from certain countries) would definitely reduce criminal activity in those areas

How? Please enlighten us. I hope you're being sarcastic.

Most of the worst villains in Thailand are there on legit visas as not to draw attention to themselves or they are Thai nationals.

If you follow some of the scurra rag 'news' sites in Thailand, sure the odd 'criminal' on an overstay gets nabbed usually for a petty crime which reflects their status like shoplifting or being drunk and disorderly. 

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If any of you want to see what a fun devoid place with virtually no nightlife looks like take a break in Chiang Mai. If they keep this up in Pattaya it is going to become another Chiang Mai.

 

The way it's going, I'll be able to leave LOS without a regret when the time comes.

Killing, golden and goose comes to mind.

I can't disagree with this. While the 'scene' may not be appealing to many, the fact that it brings tourists in from all over the world can not be denied.

Looks more like someone is in fear of their job and wants to be seen to be 'busy' before the next round of appointments comes around. 'Rounding up' a few 'hookers' is a lot easier than dealing with any real criminals who might have guns or more important relatives.....

I'm sure had you had just proffered the money there wouldn't have been an issue, the geezer would have probably slid it into his money bag erm, I mean, pocket, and gone on chatting up the elderly lady....

Oh dear. I'm sorry you were assaulted. Whatever state you were in is no excuse for a physical attack.

Shame to see the bitter Thai Visa Puritans out in force spouting their usual venomous bile because their 'wives' don't allow them to spend any of their own dwindling pension money/meagre TEFL 'salaries' in bars anymore (it can only be used to support her family).

I'd say it could have been a lot worse for you and you got off lightly.

Assaults like this can happen for a number of reasons.

Either you inadvertently did something wrong in the bar or something that angered the man and his 'small man' mentality which given the low self-esteem level of some of these cretins doesn't take much.

I'd steer clear of the area for a few days and let the whole thing blow over and go into the book of 'experiences I learn from'.

10 hours ago, SidJames said:

It's to protect the families who grow & run the local tobacco industry.

The e-cigs are imported as is the vaping liquid.

 

Spot on. Vaping products are affecting the vast source of income going to those few influential, wealthy families tied in with the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. It's not called that for no reason.....

My last 'bender' in Bangkok was a good one, spread over almost a week.

I'd had a few pals returning to Thailand for their first visit in a long time, just before I had to return to the UK to complete my latest studies. Their arrival offered me an excellent chance to bid a temporary farewell to Bangkok and environs (back in a few months for another  ten year slog ) which had been home for the best part of twenty years, plus my pals wanted to go to all the old places we used to visit 'back in the day' and see what had changed, which of our old haunts had survived the ravages of time, who was still knocking round etc.

It was a blast for a few days, until they slowly found Bangkok's increased prices combined with the dismal exchange rates no longer offered them the 'bargains' they once did in the 'golden years' of the late 1990s-early 2000s so they slowly drifted off to pastures new which offered better value in their eyes.

That suited me very well, as it gave me a couple of nice, peaceful, nostalgic days on my own, drifting around my personal favourite places to bid farewell to some excellent people and places without having hangers on mithering to go to where the crumpet was, come seven, eight o'clock every night.....A very nice way to close that chapter of my life.

I'll probably do the same again soon, though in reverse (if you will) to open the next chapter.......can't wait.

Quote

How was he breaking the law ??. The man had Thai Citizenship.

Has this statement been confirmed, supported or refuted?

If he is a Thai National, then I fail to see what his problem is anywhere, behind his stall or in cyberspace.

How do you know he isn't the owner/management or there by leave of the owner/management?

What I find stranger is someone who would pick up an object belonging to someone else with no reason.

Just now, whatawonderfulday said:

what a ground breaking idea from this assortment of egotistical gun toting generals.  Hope these radios are buoyant so that they may actually help those poor people in the South.

So they can all tune into 'Uncle' Prayuth's latest nonsensical broadcast

 This is not a new trick. Back in the fifties and early sixties, Sarit Thannarat did similar in the rural areas of Thailand in order to spread his propaganda

I'm staggered they're still going as with some of the other posters here.

I recall them being all the rage 'back in the day' but then they seemed to fall out of favour (as places do) and I've not heard too much since those days bar the odd visit. 

Last time I went to a C+C (in BKK, but I understand they maintain similar standards across their branches) was admittedly a good few years ago with some of the staff from my office and a visiting client, there were a few gasps at the prices and the  typical 'you can get this way cheaper/spicier elsewhere' comments as you get when dining in an 'expensive' place with Thais....

FWIW they were very good in the past; a 'safe', clean place to take visiting clients, friends or family who might find authentic Thai food a little harsh.  

I'd agree 100% with the above post which states 'Western Friendly Thai Food'  which is bang on.

Not the place for an 'authentic' Thai food experience but the food was good, surroundings nice, ambience pleasant enough.

23 minutes ago, speckio said:

 

it has nothing to do with rubber tires or rubber shoes 

I have no clue what faith or religion you have if any... but its about showing respect

riding a bike through temple grounds is like riding a bike through a church, common sense you just don't do it out of respect for other people's beliefs!

 

and if you still dont get it... how would you feel if someone pissed on the side of your house?

These ruins are no longer consecrated, therefore no longer of any active religious significance, however in their historical significance they will still retain varying degrees of 'importance' to the Thais which is purely subjective as to who is causing offence. 

Some of the umbrage shown here founded in ignorance of the above fact nicely highlights how many members here are the truly ignorant ones....

It's hardly a bank-breaking sum of money to visit one of the world's most stunning sights.

Nothing can match that buzz one gets as one approaches the park along CdG Boulevard and the first glimpse of the ruins through the trees at the top of the road. 

I'd say 'see it now before it's totally over run with North East Asian tourists' as it almost was on my last trip there. No bad thing, especially running into gaggles of cute giggling Japanese lasses all over the place.

$37 - $72 is mere Chicken feed for the Thai Visa millionaires club surely?

'Indoctrination' has been going on in Thailand for decades.

I had hoped that in the light of recent sad events the nation would take the chance to move in a new direction but it seems they are making all the same mistakes all over again, with added gravy.....sad........

2 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

 

I'm far from being a dufus but you would qualify for missing my (sarcastic) point, there is no other place that it could have been.

Indeed pal, apart from that iffy upstairs place over Foodland with the pool tables and many dodgy Africans which used to have that lame Elvis show, the makeshift Heineken beer garden in the Bel Aire car park, or the sit down bar at the Seafood Centre on the corner where else is there that it could be? especially as all the above mentioned on Soi 5 are now defunct (I think) apart from maybe one of the massage places down the little sub-sois where you could get a beer while you waited before/after your massage. but a nip to Foodland to grab you a beer was the peak of their drinks service.

I find it a little odd as the place under discussion has always seemed one of the 'safer' better run places in that area, given that tourists seem to make up 90%+ of their customers that they'd run a scam seems very odd.....

10 minutes ago, Lamkyong said:

it always seems to be a high ranking police officer

Do TV members associate with any other type of police officer?

It is a meaningless, much bandied term intended to try to give a shred of credence to sheer, ludicrous, nonsense such as the OP here....

It can be stored on file along such other classic nonsenses as: 'non BG wife/GF, my professional Thai Friends...., my Thai/Chinese MBA wife......,' 'my high ranking military father in law'....etc.

Such devices are usually used by the TV fantasist type who see themselves as the pillars of society because their TEFL related 'high status' position once allowed them to shake hands with the mayor of whatever rat infested pissant burgh they infest.....

15 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

You do the math smart guy and tell me it's not so!

No need to do any 'math' to dismiss your earlier ludicrous claim as nonsense, for as to say the banning of thousands' would have no impact on the economy without you knowing anything of the individual cases involved.

It doesn't require any 'math', only seemingly some incredible insider knowledge you seem to possess, as to how every tourist and their spending goes in Thailand....even if it is only 5000B a day....

Do you stand outside the airport asking every tourist exactly how they spent every baht as they leave to give you the supreme insight as to how little an impact they may have had on the economy during their stay?

Maybe you need to get off your high horse and try meet some folks dependent on tourist income for their living before spouting such drivel (but I suppose you dine nightly with the Minister of Tourism or the head of TAT.....)

1 hour ago, chiang mai said:

 

If they ban thousands it will have zero impact on the Thai economy, nada, none!

Absolute rot and an ill informed guess unless you know exactly how each one of these 'thousands' would spend their money individually. 

If this lass was, for example, providing for a beach bum boyfriend and his family who now see their cash cow/income source removed for five years, I'd say that might have an impact on the economy no matter how small. 

Why bother posting if all, you can post is nonsense....?

Being unable to find the full story as to what drove this woman to such a vile act of violence against a child, I'll refrain from making an idiotic Thai Visa 'hang her high' style statement...until all the facts are out...

Blimey! Are they still banging on about this service?

This seems to have been mooted since the dawn of time but surely must now have been restored to the annals of history as unprofitable? 

I have an ancient Berlitz tourist guide from the late '70s which suggests that soon a 'modern' ferry service between HH and pattaya may soon be inaugurated, to replace a short lived service which had just been terminated. You think they'd have given up on it all by now.