captpkapoor

Mostly I read news like this involves Europeans of various nations. And yet, there is so much India bashing on this website! Some poor sod loses his gold chain to a tranny in Patts and then one reads all sorts of negative comments.

What a stupid comment. You prix (spelling intentional) can't get over your racist rants.

yes 45 days, i always do it 45 days in advance at CW

First time newbies come on cheap package tours to Thailand, no one has warned them about the dangers of too good looking to be true transgenders, especially in Pattaya. A lot of Indian men do wear gold chains, it's a bit of a macho and status symbol thing. Bu, overall, this country is no longer the LOS it used to be. They only tolerate foreigners for the money they bring in.

Overall, this country is no longer tourist friendly. They've always been xenophobic, the only reason they tolerate foreigners is for the money. Any farang is a walkie-talkie ATM.

Just too, too many accidents in Thailand. Not a week passes that you don't read some scary stuff. Yes, night driving should be a no-no. I do a lot of driving here but always check into a hotel near the highway before dark.

Buy a magnifying glass. But be careful not to use it in the sun :)

Isn't this an insurance scam? If an Indian loses his gold chain to a ladyboy in Pattaya, it is.

This should be opposed tooth and nail. The Chinese are famous for arm twisting smaller countries.

Correct. Puzzled me too

The Vedas may have been first written down after 3500 BC. Indus script is earlier than Brahmi script, which was used to write down Ashoka's Edicts.

I'm sorry but you have zilch idea of what you're talking about.

Well, Bharat IS written in the Devnagri script, but obviously it has also t be wwritten in the Roman script, for those who can't read Devnagri. The Japanese call their country Nippon (pronounced Nihon), Egypt calls itself Masr, Germany calls itself Deutschland. And so many other examples of different national names and anglicised names. Where is the dichotomy in this?

He's probably the most popular leader they've ever had, and international polls regularly show him as one of the top heads of state globally.

The depredations of the British Empire particularly of India, the jewel in the Crown, would make any country want to forget their rapacious rule, I'd think!

India or Bharat existed well before the Brits came! It is one of the oldest civilisations. Of course, at different times in its 5000 years of recorded history, there were different dynasties ruling over various swathes of territory.

The most sloppily dressed WHITE farangs, in singlets with bellies falling over their shorts, and flip flops, quite a few on scooters, living in owned or rented miserable 28 to 36 sqm studios in Pattaya etc!

Yes you're correct, they'd never seen a sex show at home, so I think it was a ping pong bar. It was in Pat Pong (Sala Daeng) as I remember.

We went to a go-go bar with friends who were visiting from home. After 5 minutes, without having had a single drink, my friend's wife said she wasn't comfortable in such a place. We got up to go, and were immediately presented a bill of some 5000 baht. Despite many protests that we hadn't ordered a thing, and much treats from their bouncers, I believe we paid 2000 baht and left. My friend and his wife were very shook up and doubt if they'll return again. The cops are in on it.

I wouldn't consider this option.

Especially in summer, when a lot of tourists visit Europe, one needs to be very careful. At Ibiza airport at the arrivals, I was stupid enough to put my laptog bag on the trolley. I bent forward to pick up my checked bag off the carousel, turned around to place it on the trolley, and wham ! - no laptop bag on trolley. CCTV coverage no help, police badly overworked. My brother was relieved of his handbag at Geneva airport while having a coffee. Skilled pickpockets operate all over the touristy areas, and sorry to take names, but Italy, Spain and France are especially dangerous.

You can have your wife drop you at the entrance to building B. You wheel yourself into the building, she goes around and parks on the road right down there. It IS wheelchair accessible. The level you will enter at, is the same level where the Division 2 office of Immigration is.

I do agree that mainstream media can and often does reflect the views of the owner (read large industrial house/ media company/ host country), by reading a diverse and eclectic mix, one does get a better idea of the world at large. There are a lot of op-ed pages in good newspapers and their online websites. For example, The Economist. Anyway: my point was not so much about whether reading newspapers is good or not. I'm just saying that a lot of educated Westerners ALSO have not been educated sufficiently about the history, geography, cultures, languages, origins etc etc of the world.

At Chaeng Wattana each year, I apply for my extension of stay 45 days before. To be safe with any miscalculation of number of days, do it 44 days before. No problems whatsoever. Then take a single or multiple re-entry as required at Suvarnabhumi airport.

While this may be true of a lot of (even educated) Thais, in my almost 50 years of work in various countries as well as working alongside various nationalities, I can honestly say that I've come across many Western (even educated !) people with very poor knowledge of international geography, history, cultures, languages and origins. The average newspaper is full of extremely local news, with barely a page devoted to international news - and that's for those who even bother to read a paper.