GeorgeCross

2 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Too bloody right if you haven’t got the common sense to have tourist insurance go home! Dumb <deleted>!

If you don’t have funds to take complete care of yourself then don’t travel!!

to anyone on this forum who uses this story as a platform to trash Thailand and Thai law you can go back to your country of origin too.

its a good point and well articulated but i think i'll disagree with your last statement and just head to vietnam with the other 15.5 million or so tourists this year.

i'll take my family and credit cards too.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thaivisa notes that this comes at a time when immigration has been trying to root out agents who arrange long stay visas for foreigners with money in bogus bank accounts.

no chance they will find anything wrong.. the fox is guarding the hen house

more chance of finding prostitution in pattaya, a few may be hung out to dry but nothing of substance will happen

27 minutes ago, Centra said:

1 hour ago, marcusarelus said:

I guess that's why Thailand has 40 tourists to Vietnam's 1.

Not for long.

whats this 40 to 1 crap??? and check out the growth!!!

vietnam had 15.5M toursit arrivals in 2018:

Data source: Ministry of Culture, Sport & Tourism^[8]

source wikipedia.

6 minutes ago, Psychic said:

Tourists are creatures of habit. If they start going to places like Vietnam and have an affordable, pleasant experience that's where they will go back to.

And that's where they will recommend others to go.

and in a world connected as it is via social media EVERYBODY gets to hear about it and fast.

vietnam is going viral

even expats who live HERE are now taking their holidays there instead of phuket and the southern islands

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

That is not the way I play it. Pushback is my game. I have done this a dozen times. They ask for money and I say no. They get belligerent, and I say BACK DOWN! And start in with a whole litany of law (half of it is made up on the spot), my rights as a Thai resident, my expertise with social media, blah, blah, blah. You do not like it, arrest me, and take me to jail! I want to have a word with your captain. Or the mayor, whom I know. Or I might even talk to Prayuth. They always back down. They get scared and confused. I am not nasty with them. Just very firm. They are looking for an easy mark. They do not expect pushback, and are always surprised by it. All of these guys are basically franchisees, and I do not buy into their level of corruption. Sometimes I offer them 100 baht. Not often. The cops here and immigration are the last people in the world I am afraid of. They need to see more pushback. Thais are afraid to do so. But, I notice a bit of deference to foreigners, and I take full advantage of that! 

i agree, i do the same, and never had any ill consequences or ever been conned. the trick is to lean in, be confident and firm but NOT angry.

they are looking for easy marks, be one and pay or not and walk away with a smile.

thai baiting is a personal joy of mine, got to get those little victories where ya can! ????

the baht is only half the (financial) problem - domestic inflation has been on a tear these last 5 years regardless of what official inflation numbers suggest. 

even earning in baht things are getting damn expensive and the locals are suffering much more than us expats

53 minutes ago, Bullie said:

Tourists are opportunistic and go where they get the biggest bang  for their money. This, due to a bad exchange rate and inflated prices (not in the least by the ladies of the night) for practically everything tourists enjoy has not been the case in Thailand for several years now. Practically all surrounding countries now offer more or less the same, but often still more authentic and cheaper experience.

We've seen the same ting happening in Europe: first Italy, then Spain, Greece and Turkey respectively.

Nothing new under the sun.

i must have read 10 articles this year in the mainstream media (guardian, new york times, etc) singing the virtues of vietnam for the young, backpackers, nomads, the adventurous. before it was all thailand, thailand, thailand.. now they don't mention here at all or if they do (rare) its as a not friendly country.

so i'm not surprised, its not only the young that read these articles, thailand is just not "cool" anymore.

they've lost their mojo and this is echoed by the reports i've had this year from my friends in and visiting vietnam

one final word they will be toast when the islands along myanmmars west coast open up

57 minutes ago, BestB said:

did not want to keep quit, told him who I was, and he was not interested at all, not even a sorry.

shocked he didn't know you were the infamous BestB from thaivisa forum.. 

i'd have been on my knees wai'ing 

wait a minute..

if visitors from china, europe, oceania and the middle east are down but tourism is still up where are the new tourists coming from?

russia, india? they dont have the numbers to offset europe never mind china, so are they counting surrounding countries too?

this cannot be good either way (well for thailand, good for me :D)

pay the fine then tell the landlord you are leaving.

with a big smile of course. the thais like smiling..

then move out, you are a westerner not a doormat.

7 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

 

You marry a Thai which will be costing you a lot more than 500,00 baht...lol

 

not if you choose one carefully.

don't take in the "strays" at home or here! ????

now ya talking, where do i sign up! 

2 minutes ago, neeray said:

This is just not good for the image of Thailand !!!

need to shoot that messenger NOW.

????