Katia

It doesn't matter.  You do realize drugs are found packaged in seemingly-sealed containers of food and other items, concealed in furniture, souvenirs, and children's toys, etc.?  Just 'cause your tin of Spam, bottle of Gatorade, silly wooden tchotchke, and stuffed Winnie-The-Pooh aren't in a box doesn't mean there's not something inside.

I get what you're trying to do, but it's risky for someone who doesn't know you.

As it is, it's a wonder muggings haven't gone up outside airports, if thieves know tourists are supposed to be traveling with this kind of cash...

It opens for me...

Surely not the same color as the 100-- on my monitor it looks brown as the old ones were?

Admittedly still too close for comfort-- I've nearly handed over a 1000 a few times when reaching for a 100 if I don't look closely, especially in bad lighting that makes it difficult to see color clearly-- but there *is* a difference.

I don't mind it, but I don't think I'd buy a metal box to live in in a hot country like Thailand any more than I bought the polyester clothes and plastic shoes...

18 hours ago, madmen said:

20 hours ago, Bundooman said:

Maybe inform her that you are contacting the Inland Revenue people, (or whatever it's called here), and tell her you are checking whether she is/or has been paying tax on your rent, including your deposit. Tell her you are contacting the police, all relevant agencies and that you will have her property blacklisted - then tell her your lawyer is a red-hot wizard from Bangkok. 
 
It might put the fear of god into her, and it might not. But hey - you won't be going out without a fight....

Police will do nothing Its a civil matter. How can he get access to another person's tax records? There are privacy laws

If the Thai Inland Revenue/whatever is anything like the U.S. IRS, my guess is that you don't need access to her tax records... just the suggestion that there may be a situation where tax should be paid would probably have them looking into it themselves!  I assume that's what the threat is...

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

 

I asked if what you describe will occur by withholding rent for the last month and was told by a poster that it is illegal for them to lock you out if rent is not paid (without going thru other procedures first, I suppose).

 

Does anyone know for sure?

Illegal, perhaps, but what will be the consequences for them if they do it anyway?  You'd still be locked out of your house until you were able to get legal help in rectifying that.

35 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Who's going to trek off to a remote market when they're out in lower Sukhumvit and peckish? 

Precisely.  Plus there's always the element of the "impulse buy"-- "Oh, that looks good" and the convenience of "I need fruit, I'll pass a vendor on my way home" and "Wow it's hot, I know I'll come across a drink vendor soon though" & etc.

And that's assuming one's road is cleared in any kind of timely manner.  Even in cities where they're used to snowstorms, when enough snow hits-- especially if it just keeps snowing-- they have a hell of a time keeping up with keeping the roads cleared.  Major roads are the priority.  They'll get to the smaller ones when they can-- and yes, this can take a while.  (My small cul-de-sac is going to be no priority at all for the city, even though it's right off a major street that will probably be cleared out pretty quickly.)

Never mind older or disabled people who will have a hell of a time digging their car out no matter how clear the roads are-- and no, they can't all afford to "just hire someone," especially since the snow removal places are also going to be swamped and in these kinds of situations they sometimes have trouble getting to all of their regular clients, never mind anyone else who might call.

Even in cold states, there's a run on the grocery stores before every big storm (half the time it seems the "we're all going to die!!!" dire predictions end up with a couple inches and that's it, but sometimes they're correct and we get slammed).

Can't go 1-2 days without the grocery store?  Maybe not, but if you shop once a week and tomorrow's your day to go and it's supposed to snow like hell tonight, you're going to make sure you get there today.

13 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

And people wonder why I moved from the Midwest (Indiana) to Thailand. 

My friend: "Why do I meet so many people from Michigan in Thailand?"

Me: "DUDE.  It's WARM here!"

52 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It makes life easier if you can speak Thai , can you speak any Thai ?

1 hour ago, Katia said:

chatted in my limited Thai with the conductor, 

 

tried my Thai with vendors,

 

ordered in Thai and English,

 

surprised a few people when the "tourist" spoke some Thai to them,

 

I told them in Thai that I enjoyed the food,

I imagine CM is like anywhere... your experiences are up to you.  (Which, I realize, is pretty much what everyone else has said.)  The time I went, I rode the train from Bangkok in a second-class sleeper car with fellow travelers both Thai and Western, hopped in a songthaew from the station (with a bunch of tourists who I laughed at when they tried to complain I shouldn't be allowed in because the vehicle was "full" with 7 people...) and chatted in my limited Thai with the conductor, stayed at a hostel with a bunch of westerners, wandered temples and tried my Thai with vendors, stopped for a slightly-but-not-entirely-Western snack at a cafe and ordered in Thai and English, got interviewed in English by students doing a survey at the event I went there for, surprised a few people when the "tourist" spoke some Thai to them, stood in a crowd of mostly Thais to watch a parade (but didn't go native and stand in front of the floats to take a selfie), wandered the streets to get to a Thai-food restaurant where I told them in Thai that I enjoyed the food, etc.  IOW, I had a lovely mixed weekend in which I was well aware that I could have made the entire experience one or the other had I wished to.

To avoid a place you've never been because you want to guess that it might be more Western than you're into...!  Especially since a bit of research would tell you that from Chiang Mai, you can always take a day or short trip into a less-developed area if the foreigners get to be too much for you.

Quote

Unfortunately the lease agreement I have signed doesn't mention anything about repairs. As far as I know, a tenant doesn't have to pay for damage which was not caused by him/her.

Here's what they're going to say, though: the damage was caused by your negligence.  Had you caught the leak right away and called them to fix it right away, there wouldn't be damage created by standing/and or repeated water soaking into the floor.  It's legit.  My former partner used to rent his house... had a lot of mold to clean out of the basement (pretty much ripped the basement down to concrete, had to use hazmat cleanup company to do so it was so bad) because there was a major leak (like, standing water on the floor) the tenants didn't bother to tell anyone about.  Not their fault there was a leak, but their fault they didn't let someone know about it so it could be repaired before damage was done.

18 hours ago, JoshBe said:

 

That's an interesting strategy, but how could I get away with not paying 2 months rent? I could squeeze out 1 month I guess with some excuses (sorry my bank account got closed, I'm on a business trip, etc etc) but 2 months might be tough without finding a padlock in front of my door at some point.

In the U.S., the advice is normally not that you don't pay it-- you put it in escrow until such time as the repairs have been completed.  This shows you're making a good-faith effort rather than just not paying rent.  How it would work in Thailand, however, I haven't a clue.

7 hours ago, les Dennis said:

Their job to start with. Were the Cambodian authorities told, I would doubt it. They broke the law in Cambodia and then tried to breach an immigration border control point and got away with a piss pot fine. Remind me of the point of  having to show a passport at an international border if upon returning you can tell the immigration officer that you lost it in a gambling debt in exchange for a small back hander. And the passports  could probably end up on the black market creating a further problem for a legitimate (sic) rural Thai immigration border later on. And with regards to your last comment, how are they going to rectify their crimes ? Get a new passport, return to Cambodia, pay their debts, get the old ones back, return back to Thailand and hand the old ones back to passport control, I would doubt that. They should not have been allowed back in to Thailand without correct documentation, which they knew, simple as.

So they shouldn't be allowed back into Thailand so they can get a passport to be allowed back into Thailand so they can work their job and make money so they can return to Cambodia to pay their debts so they can get back into Thailand?  Okay.

2 hours ago, les Dennis said:

So they commit a crime in Cambodia, and immigration let them back in knowing that they have effectively lost their passports in a gambling debt, and thats ok ! The mind boggles

What was immigration going to do?  Unless Cambodia wants them extradited or jailed-- which would require the person(s) they owed the debt to to go to the police (are Cambodian casinos state-run?), and then for the police to be interested enough to seek arrest or extradition-- what's to keep them from returning home?  Immigration is going to stick them in a holding cell and leave them there indefinitely just in case someone comes after them someday?  Refuse to let them enter the country of their home/citizenship for who-knows-how-long when they haven't the means to rectify the situation and let them figure out how to support themselves in the meantime?

On 11/30/2018 at 1:44 AM, from the home of CC said:

I can understand the consternation concerning 'hidden checkpoints' but I also understand why the Thais don't 'advertise' where they're set up. Considering that there are literally tons of hard drugs being ferried on these roads and the propensity for Thai drivers to 'run' when facing arrest, to give advanced notice of them defeats their purpose. I do know that the biggest mafia in the country (the police) do abuse the system for self enrichment but the fact remains the check points are a necessary evil. The drug trafficking will never cease (unless the profit is removed) so there is little the authorities can do except to use band aid solutions like these check points. When driving on any road you're expected to have care and control of your vehicle, coming across a 'sudden' check point isn't any different than encountering an unexpected obstacle in the road. It's on you to drive at a speed that allows you to react to the unexpected.  

If a person had to drive at a speed that allowed them to react to every possible scenario, we'd all be creeping along at 10 mph.

22 minutes ago, bangrak said:

Because banks want to feast on your money, you silly, not (any more) take care of it for you and produce interest for your pocket, pfff, some people really don't understand how the world has changed! OK: you're being robbed, there's no other choice, so just politely say: thank you! Simple though.  

Unfortunately true.  We live in a society of scams.  Other people are trying to scam you.  Businesses are scamming you by giving you less and expecting more in return, plus violating your privacy and selling your information.  There is no real opt-out to all of it unless you go completely off the grid and become a hermit who never interacts with other people; if you choose to forgo Facebook and smartphones and pay cash you're still on credit reports and at the mercy of various fees and price hikes for products and services you buy.  Doesn't matter if you don't like it... you still have to live with it.

16 minutes ago, CeeGee said:

can someone refer me to the "Taxi driver rips off(insults,refuses fare,plays with himself etc) story's as I appear to have missed the one that usually appears just before this type of "news" item.

I lost my wallet once in China and it was returned to me at my hotel but I never thought of that as a basis to move to China

And especially being a cop, you'd think he'd know better...

Maybe he was one of those "if I'm supposed to stay here, give me a sign" prayer types, and saw this as his "sign"?

 

Why are so many decent-looking men paired with mediocre-looking women, instead of vice versa?

 

I always see the opposite in the West-- lovely woman with a guy mediocre at best, or really goofy-looking or a total dog at worst.  And I just think, "Honey, I'm sure he's a very nice guy... but... I'm equally sure that somewhere out there is a very nice guy in a smokin' hot package, and it's not like you don't have the looks to score that."

Seems to me this would only lead to more confusion/fear/agitation in dementia patients... might be okay when Millennials get to that age as they're used to growing up with technology, but those who are elderly right now probably would think it weird if fully cognitively-healthy.

8 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

 

"...then she said she feels like dying on the way that I treated her. I replied, yes me too so then she went to the drawer and took a knife and some scissors and said choose."

 

Based on the above, we don't know if she was threatening violence, although everyone has chosen to see it that way.

 

Maybe she was calling his bluff on him saying "yes me too" re: feeling like dying and offering him the means to end his life.

 

Maybe she was asking him which weapon to use for her to commit suicide with.

Violence against yourself is still violence... and it's still not healthy behavior.  That was my point.  Doesn't matter whether she was offering to do harm to one or both... doesn't matter whether she was truly serious or just being dramatic... it's still not good.  Living with someone you're constantly having to talk off the ledge-- literally-- isn't much better than living with someone you're constantly trying to keep from pushing you off the ledge.  Hence why I suggested counseling for her and both, if he really wants to stick around.

Hard to tell from the OP whether either is being unreasonable.  Can a couple spend every waking minute together without having their own lives and some time apart?  IMO, no (unless both partners are in agreement that this is the way it will be).  Is it harder to have this apart time when the couple lives together?  Of course.  Should it be expected that the amount of time a couple spends together will change after marriage?  No.  Is it possible it's a shock to come to live with someone and realize just how much they go out because now you see it?  Perhaps.

I feel sorry for her if she's truly being neglected... I don't feel sorry for her if she wants him around 24-7; she needs to be a bit more realistic.  I feel sorry for him if she wants the latter; I don't feel sorry for him if he's always ignoring her.

HOWEVER.  The problem is that she has threatened violence.  Will she do it?  Who knows.  She could just be a drama queen (reminds me a bit of my ex).  Either way, it's unacceptable.  If she means it... there is no saving this relationship.  If she doesn't... she needs a lot of counseling to work on her maturity and expectations, she and OP will need a lot of couples' counseling to set relationship boundaries and agreements, and even then success is not assured.

18 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

inadvertently gets voted in as next PM. A fairy tale ending! 

...finds Yingluck and Red Bull boss, singlehandedly clears out overstayers.  Becomes legend.

I had a True tourist card... I used it for two years, would still be using it if I was still in Thailand.  Topped up whenever needed, no problems or expiration.  Maybe the rules have changed since I bought mine?  It was one of the 7-day ones (they didn't ask when I bought it how long I was staying, so I didn't get a chance to tell them it wasn't a vacation).

21 hours ago, Grusa said:

It would be a pile of nonsense, except that the mid-so losers of "face" have turned a simple minded soul into a money -laundering fraudster and international criminal, facing bankruptcy and years in jail.........for nothing but their own hubris.

 

And no reason whatsoever.  Unless they signed a contract to sell, they could simply have said "never mind, changed my mind, keeping the buffalo" when he showed up with money in hand, right?  But no, they had to resort to all this BS.