firemans35

In January 2012 I was tourist sitting on a bench in from of my hotel, the flipper house (Soi 7 I think)in Pattaya when I was approached by a man looking distraught and wearing a small backpack. He claimed to be a Norwegian man down on his luck, money stolen, no way to get home, he claimed he had tried begging for money at a Norwegian bar just down the soi, all he wanted was enough money to get to the Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok. I knew it could be a scam but didn't mind so I gave him 140 baht if I remember correctly, he said thanks and took off. Fast forward two years. I was living in Pattaya on Pratnumnak Hill ( I think that was Soi 7 also) when I went for a walk. Just at the top of the street was a man looking lost carrying a small. I recognized him almost immediately. It was the same man from two years prior. I'm not sure if he asked for money I said "Oh I guess you never made it home to Norway. I gave you money because you said you need to go to your Embassy so you could go home." His only reply was "You must be mistaken." A few weeks later I saw him behind Big C Extra on central Rd acting the same way. Then not long after that I saw him with a group of other men talking. If it hadn't been laughable I would had a Thai friend call the Police.

On 9/1/2023 at 12:58 PM, Harsh Jones said:

who was her new bf ?

A Bosnian man she meet in a Bosnian bar in St. Louis Missouri.

In the U.S. the typical height of a "Floor" is 10 feet. He went to the 29th floor which means he had 28 beneath so 280 feet, In Thailand the standard is probably 12 feet, I'm not sure but if so that's 336 feet. I did just a little looking online about how many feet it takes for a parachute to open. The one answer I will attached below says it depends on the type of jump and the parachute. Perhaps the jumper didn't know. 

It depends on what you mean by NEED to pull your chute. A BASE rig that’s packed properly and deployed properly can open pretty fast (100 feet or less). I’ve seen video of someone doing a BASE jump into a quarry filled with water from less than 100. He had just enough time to slow down before hitting the water. The guy helping him jumped in after him without a rig on and was fine. For most BASE jumping, 300 feet is the general rule of thumb, that gives you enough time for your chute to deploy and get to a safe place to land.

If you’re talking about a skydiving rig falling at terminal velocity, it takes a lot longer. I pull at 3,500 feet above ground level. People I know with a lot more experience pull at the same altitude, I’ve met some that go down as low as 2,500, but not many and everyone thinks they’re crazy. If anything goes wrong, I want time to cut away my main and pull my reserve before it’s too late. Depending on your equipment and how it’s packed, it can take around 500 - 800 feet to deploy, a hard opening will open faster, but that’s gonna hurt.

The last resort on a skydiving rig is an Automatic Activation Device (AAD). Mine is set to pull my reserve at 875 feet if I’m moving too fast. That gives me just enough time to pull my brakes and land were ever I happen to be. It’s a last effort to save your life and basically does it at the last possible second before you die.

6 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

I think that’s a little overkill…

 

Not at all. I had a friend robbed at gun point by a Thai taxi driver.

2 hours ago, Lopburikid said:

6 days in hospital, dengue fever, private room, doctor every day, treatment every day 24-hour attention. After 6 days B38,300 paid for by health insurance, 1 hour after sending bill. My annul Health Insurnace is B58,000. so got most of my money back after one visit.

What Insurance do you have?

A few years ago the Chinese tried doing this in the U.S., to the best of my knowledge the U.S. Gov stopped it. Below are a few comments from others I feel is so true about Thai's and their government. 

"I wish there was a place to send these Thai politicians to grow a spine or grow a pair. No wonder self respect is one trait Thais aren’t aware of."

"Nothing like demonstrating to the whole world that you are so inept, so pathetic that you give up your sovereignty to allow a foreign power to come in and look after public safety.

Dont expect an average person there to realize how appalling this really is!"

I've read two stories about this guy. 1. While PM he had many Northern people suspected of drug trafficking killed. No prison no trial. 2. There was an article about Japanese WWII gold being found in a cave, he said he saw it and it would solve all of Thailand economic problems, in another article he said he was mistaken.

I had a wife that went missing for 2 weeks, came back a few days and was gone again. Didn't know where she was. Ended she had been in a few different places hundreds of miles apart traveling with her new boyfriend. Ha ha. Biggest C U Next Tuesday I've ever met in my life, not just because of this but because of many other things.

I didn't think pot would cause hallucinations sp I looked online, apparently it can cause them. I'm heard of people smoking marijuana cigarettes laced with PCP and they go crazy and killing people.

I lived in Pattaya for 2 years and knew most of what was happening now I'm out of the country but still have two bank accounts so what is this 50k photo verification?

I have a russian friend who speaks perfect thai, German, English. I will ask him if he can and will do. I think he's in Pattaya at the moment.

A few years ago, I opened an account at Kasikorn but I needed to buy some kind of insurance from them. If I remember correctly, it was 15,000. Even further back in time 2013 Bangkok Bank in Pattaya (main office) let me as a tourist open an account. 

More bd news for you if you are setting up a company to buy land. The last paragraph says

“There are about 100 companies which have been registered by foreigners with this company. Of those, 44 companies are involved with land which have cost about 100 million baht of damages. Most of their customers are Russians. 

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

I have been using this very nice lady lawyer by the name of Patchara Lennie (018094491)

LINE? Website?

While writing my last post a story popped up, i clicked the link finished my post the read the story. Not long into it this was said "In reality all they have is 4.9 per cent of a company (there were  10 foreign investors) ,Foreigners can only have a maximum of 49 per cent shareholding in a Thai company. It is illegal for a foreigner to set up a company for the sole purpose of trying to own property." 

In reality all they have is 4.9 per cent of a company (there were  10 foreign investors) ,Foreigners can only have a maximum of 49 per cent shareholding in a Thai company. 

If the Thai company is set up correctly without using nominee shareholders who can prove that the capital for setting up the company was from their funds and the company is a genuine company trading and employing staff and paying taxes the company can own property.

But this does not make the property the ownership of the foreigner it is the ownership of the company.

Buying property in Thailand through a Company can therefore be illegal if you do not follow the law and is thwarted with many complications and dangers.

3 hours ago, Thalueng said:

If you want to establish a Thai company to purchase the land you will need 2 share holders (since March this year, before 3 were required), and the required minimum share capital is 1m Thai Baht (price of the lot has nothing to do with opening a Thai limited company). You are obviously one of the share holders, the other one must be Thai, for example your wife or anyone else, and must prove his or her 510k (equal to 51%) in a bank account in his/her name only prior to establishing the company. You can establish sole authority to run the company. The process takes 1-2 weeks. I'm using Tuk accounting for all my accounting and legal needs, google and you find their details, they have very reasonable fees, are reliable, and they have an office in Pattaya. They can also help you checking the Chanote, obviously.

This explanation of how to form your company sounds about right. I use to live in Pattaya and had a company formed and I knew the process but I'm sure it changed a little. I would go with this. Having said that, A few years ago I read forming a company with Thai share holders can of course be done but the Thai government may crack down on foreigners forming a company with Thai's that didn't in fact actually have the money or weren't actually in control so buying land and then losing or having to sell may be something that could happen. 

Like many on here, I think there isn't enough information. Did he leave the UK alone, did he fly to Bangkok with family and then take off? As someone here mentioned, in the UK at 16 he doesn't need to answer to parents so at 17 I assume he's considered an adult and not a minor as his Aunt said. With todays technology it's hard to not stay in touch with friends and family while traveling so there's more to this. Story also mentioned he's been missing since the 12th but his whereabouts were known until the evening of Sunday 14th. 

28 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Ok John! 

Ha ha I'm definitely not John.

a South African tourist, 40-year-old Mr. John (full name withheld), 

When the situation escalated, the guards intervened, and in the ensuing struggle, Mr. Viljoen fell, hitting his head on the edge of some stairs.

I assume when a reporter says "full name withheld" that would include first name and last name. So much for top reporting and privacy. 

She's wearing a bikini top not a full bikini and looks nice but this isn't at all a story. I agree with a previous comment. If Thai people think this is an issue then they are a fragile people.

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Eyewitnesses reported that Mr A. had been involved in several altercations during the festival, including hitting two French tourists with a bottle, causing damage to a nearby marijuana shop.

 

Didn't understand the custom? No, he had been out and had seen what was happening. Just a thug that deserves what he gets. Probably get off with a light punishment, perhaps he will need to pay for the thai man's medical bills.

Haters gonna hate

Being sold on a popular auction website. If I were living by myself in a very remote location I might buy one. Ha ha