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Just now, Peterw42 said:

Pattaya a couple of times a week, shopping malls, cinema etc and in the middle of the day, not much contact with the bars, bargirls, sexpats etc. I even drive down walking street to get back home, the bars are shut during the day.

"not much" so there is contact then.  I'm not criticising you, it's just unavoidable.  and the youth will mix more because that's just what youth do,  they have lots more friends and socialise more than adults do.

and walking down walking street in the middle of the day as an impressionable young girl, you think they don't look at all those signs with half naked girls on and after a while it starts to become normal to them?  I wouldn't take my daughter or son down there at any time of day, personally.

Just now, trianglechoke said:

Many BKK hooker girls are not isan girls but actual bkk girls who now see getting paid to sleep around as close to normal.

I've found the same attitudes.  Maybe growing up in a western country where prostitution is more taboo, it's more shocking to me to see how relaxed their attitudes are towards it, and perhaps I'm a prude, after all, they're just having sex.  Their attitude is, I'm single, I would be having sex anyway, why not get paid for it?  And you can't fault the logic.  If half-decent looking girls were offering me 2000 baht to have sex would I say no?  No...

Just now, Peterw42 said:

So logically speaking, most bargirls and hookers come from issan, they were raised in issan. Therefore isnt it irresponsible parenting to raise your children in issan. The place where many go on to be hookers.

Quite possibly yes but not in the same sense.  There is no direct exposure to it in Isaan, or at least much less.  Girls who move from Isaan to Pattaya are doing so because they are actively seeking out what Pattaya has to offer.  Girls with no interest in that sort of career move will not be inadvertently corrupted by it because they are not exposed to it.  Nobody moves from Pattaya to Isaan to be a prostitute do they, so that suggests that the 'problem' is Pattaya, not Isaan?

Just now, manarak said:

and that would be very bad, wouldn't it ...

 

The opposite I'd say, why do you think it would be bad?

Just now, Blackheart1916 said:

If, in a city the size of Pattaya, you can't manage to keep your kids away from Soi 6/WS/Bukhao et al, you are not fit to be a parent.

What about walking through Big C, the white guys with thai women a third of their age?  The queue of bleached haired tattooed scantily clad females queuing up at the western union desk to collect their monthly stipend from their overseas lovers?  Etc etc.  These examples are a little tongue in cheek so don't take them entirely literally, but the point is that you can't escape prostitution (I'm not saying every white guy with a younger gf is dating a prostitute) and other nefarious goings on in Pattaya, because the people engaging in that don't spend every minute of every day in those areas you mentioned. A young child would not be aware of it or understand it but a teenager would start to cotton on.  It would be mentioned at school a lot more.  Certain abnormal behaviours might be observed and copied by impressionable teens.  How some people dress in Pattaya is not typical with the rest of Thai society; that might be copied as well...

Just now, darksidedog said:

A number of Off Topic Bickering posts have been deleted. This whole thread is on very thin ice.

 

I missed those posts but why is it on very thin ice?  I think Thai visa forum has a lack of content and closing threads for no apparent reason is not healthy for the forum.  Civilised debate is to be encouraged, even if the topics are a bit taboo.

Just now, chrisinth said:

Wonderful example. Up here in Phitsanulok my son and daughter were surrounded by farmers (and their wives)throughout their growing up years. Strangely, neither of them went down that road.

 

Not quite sure farming is the same.  Not much money, a lot more work etc.

Just now, sanemax said:

Its a bit harsh for her , probably got tested against her will and then having the results spread in the media .

She made her choices.  She probably had unprotected sex for the price of a few noodle soups and she got unlucky, such is life.  No sympathy from me.  Use a condom if you're too lazy to get a job in Family Mart.

Just now, soalbundy said:

Easy, now any time you need a blood test for something the anti-bodies will show up in that test, nice.

Really?  I'm not the sort of person to care about that.  But interesting all the same.

So reading between the lines, it might be reasonable to assume that my friend has paid for a 2 year visa which is more complex to obtain than a tourist visa, and that the visa agent might have to pay somebody off or fix some paperwork to get my friend a work permit.  And this has resulted in a hugely increased cost because it isn't completely kosher.

Am I in the right ballpark?

Just now, jimn said:

What has this got to do with Australian visa's? Have you been on the Fosters mate?

I mentioned an Australian visa in the OP.  But I wasn't suggesting they were the same, just that the visa agent has a known history of getting people visas.

Just now, brewsterbudgen said:

If the child is raised well why would it matter where they are raised? Very strange thread.

I think that no matter who your parents are, or how well you raise your kids, there is always a chance they can go off the rails or so to speak, through no fault of the parents.  In Pattaya, they perhaps have more opportunity to do so than they would elsewhere/they're more exposed to corruptible influences?

Just now, Will27 said:

Your friend tried to buy a fraudulently obtained visa.

 

Why do you think that?  Can't visa agents deal with legitimate applications?

Just now, bkk6060 said:

Yes.

Doesn't it cost a fortune in baggage fees?

On 10/20/2017 at 7:55 AM, webfact said:

A Big C supermarket near the Erawan shrine buzzes with Chinese tourists who fill their trolleys with bulk packets Tom Yum Goong flavoured instant noodles, crispy seaweed and dried squid snacks.

I see this happening everywhere not just in BKK.  Why do they do this?  I mean I understand one of each item or whatever, but trolleys full?  Are they taking it home with them?

Just now, torrzent said:

You seem to be confusing the real world with the cyberworld.

Well that's precisely the point isn't it.  This isn't real life and the Pattaya forum will have a strong bias of users in favour of people who live there.  Just as the Bangkok forum does and every other local forum.  I want a national opinion, not a localised opinion from mainly Pattaya residents.

You seem to be of the opinion that the word 'biased' always has negative connotations, which of course it doesn't.

Thai person paid 50,000 baht to apply for a Swiss visa to a Thai visa agent.  45,000 baht was promised in return if the application was not successful.  If it was successful another 270,000 baht was payable to be issued the 2-year visa.

Thai visa agent has since cancelled the application and not refunded the money, promising it will be returned 'before May'.  It's not clear if visa agent means 45,000 or 50,000.  They have admitted the application was not completed and that they just cancelled it.

Visa agent does have history of actually procuring visas - my friend's Thai friend has successfully used them for an australian student visa.  When pressed, visa agent say they are not working about visas anymore.  So it seems this is not some kind of well-planned scam but maybe some kind of opportunist thing, or maybe the visa agent just needed some money to tide them over for a while.

Personally I doubt whether any money will be refunded so would be interested in best course of action going forward.  Police?  And also anybody have any knowledge about visa costs and how Thais usually go about this/how much they pay?  Because I'm clueless.

I don't have any funds invested in this, I just want to try and help my friend get their money back.

I don't think they would introduce that because the BTS is used by so many foreigners already (I'd guess about a 50/50 split between foreign and Thai riders?  At least on the Sumhumvit Line, Silom maybe not quite as many foreigners).

I'd be forced to still use it, there's no other efficient way to get around a lot of BKK.

Just now, Crossy said:

For those over 60 it already is. Thais can get "Elder" cards (50% discount), non-thais cannot.

 

I thought that was just MRT.  BTS I think foreigners can get old-people cards.  No?

I had gonorrhea.  I had no idea I had it, I showed no symptoms.  I don't pay for sex but I'm sure I've had sex with some girls who were prostitutes.  First I knew was some girl telling me she had it and she'd only had sex with me recently.  For all I knew I could have had it for years.  I get tested for AIDS and syphilis occasionally but never gonorrhea chlamydia or any of the other ones.  They don't seem to be that harmful to carriers except in rare cases/people with poor immune systems/pregnant ladies.

I went to a clinic and it cost 600 baht for a shot in the bum.

I wonder if they begin to think of sex as more of a commodity.  Or maybe they just end up with a more liberal view about sex.  Or maybe there is no difference between what they think and what any other girl in the rest of Thailand thinks.

Just now, HerbalEd said:

The why do USA emergency rooms frequently get patients with so-called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome -- which is a negative reaction to MSG? 

Because they aren't used to it.

I've seen tourists picked up in ambulances in Thailand after eating food that was too spicy for them.  Are chillis bad for your health too?

By the way I did try some Vibram five fingers shoes which are a minimalist type of shoe, but it just didn't feel as good as running completely barefoot.  It felt like my feet were kind of slapping the ground rather than gripping it.  Your toes don't fit inside the openings either, your big toe and second toe probably will but after that maybe not; I think the shoe is designed to accommodate every type of foot and that just means it doesn't properly accommodate any type of foot.

I would consider trying some other kind of minimalist shoe but without the 'fingers'.

Just now, kekalot said:

hey, I would like an update on that if you kept at it.

 

I'm only running barefoot now, not run in shoes for a couple of months.  The short of it is that I no longer get any injuries or pains.  My achilles does feel tight but not in a painful way, and it is less tight each time I run, I think this is the muscle gradually stretching over time - before it was supported by a big 2-3cm heel on a running shoe so didn't have to stretch as much.  The blisters are the only problem but I don't worry about them much because it's just superficial, it heals overnight.  Adding a plaster or two before you run, where you usually get the blisters (where your foot impacts the floor), lets you run a few km more before the blisters start.  For me that's my big toe, my second toe to a slightly lesser extent, and the ball of the foot.

I think the blisters are a good indication as to whether you will be okay running barefoot.  For people trying out barefoot running and getting blisters on their heels, that might suggest that barefoot running is not for them, because those people should probably have some protection between their heel and the road.

I ran a 10km race in 39 minutes recently (personal best for me but I don't usually run 10kms).  I'm yet to do a 21km barefoot, I think I might strap up with tape before that because the blisters at the end of that 10km were pretty bad because I was pushing quite hard.

For me it's not just the absence of shoes which feels better (lighter) but it's the increased training I'm able to do - before I was having to leave it 3-4 days or more between runs to try and avoid injuries/pain.  I feel I can run every day now without having to worry.

You mean you walk around Thailand barefoot?  You must get a lot of dodgy looks, to 99% of Thais I think no shoes = homeless or a monk.  At least when you're running at a park the worst they're going to think is that you forgot your running shoes...

Pattaya forum is a biased audience so please don't move it...

Grown adults can make their own mind up about whether Pattaya is for them or not.  But there is a proportion of foreign men who are turning up and having kids/families with ladies in Pattaya, or 'adopting' children from previous relationships.  Whilst those kids are still young I don't see any problem, but as they hit their teens, they are inevitably exposed (no matter how you much you try and shield them from it, you have no hope of hiding the sex trade in Pattaya) to a lot of sleaze and one might worry it could corrupt them from what society considers normal behaviour.

For example I wonder if living in Pattaya as a young female, you are more likely to engage in prostitution later in your life, compared to say, a young girl growing up in Bangkok?  I have no data at all, but I hypothesise that the percentages would be higher for the Pattaya area, if for no other reason then for the simple fact that you are surrounded by girls who are already prostitutes.  Any drug user will tell you that it was their friends who introduced them to drugs...