Weasel100

Yes, I know what you mean. There are hoons in Australia of course but nothing even approaching the percentage of hoons if we want to call them that in Thailand.

 

1 minute ago, jgarbo said:

Drive below the speed limit in Oz and you'll get tailgated or abused by a "moron" who won't go round you. The Oz hoons make Thais look polite. Lived there, done that. 

The Thai authorities really just on't care about road safety. This is just another attempt to try to give the impression that the authorities wish to do something to reduce the appalling annual road death toll in Thailand.
The authorities don't give a shit about all those 34,000 odd deaths each year and the corrupt Thai Police only care about road safety to the extent that they can enrich themselves through on the spot fines that go straight into their corrupt little pockets. 
I read some time ago that Thai driving rules are based heavily on those that apply in the UK but, as others have observed, road rules only have a use if they mean anything at all to road users and if they are enforced. Neither of those things is going to happen in Thailand because 90 per cent of Thai drivers are ignorant morons who don't care about road safety and because Thai Police are corrupt and don't care either.
I deal with the many millions of morons driving on Thai roads simply by slowing down (not over 70 kph of smaller roads and not over 95 kph on highways). Simply doing this gives one time to evade the morons and to stay safe on roads that are deadly by any world standard.
I am a very different driver in Thailand to the driver that I was in Australia where it may not be legal to drive quickly but where that doesn't matter so much because roads are generally good and drivers are properly trained.

Where are the pictures/ That's what I wanna know

The answer is simple.

Criminals from the West are likely to be nabbed in the West if they stay there.
Here in Thailand crime a free-for-all. Police aren't interested in doing anything about crime because that would mean getting off their <deleted> and doing what they're paid to do. Much better for them to turn a blind eye to crime and participate in it by taking bribes and being corrupt.

Thailand is a country that's not serious at all about crime. Any crackdowns concentrate on easy targets like foreign overstayers. The authorities really couldn't give the tiniest shit, just as Thailand doesn't give the tiniest shit about the daily carnage on Thai roads.

Criminals can get away with anything in Thailand simply by paying the bastard Police and Customs officers. Nothing will change for the better in Thailand while corruption is rife everywhere.
What a backward country.

30 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

While this thread is not about the wine container, I would just like to clarify some possible misconceptions...  The wine container, whether a bottle with/without a 'bump' in the bottom, or a bottle that is corked versus capped, or whether it is contained in a box has NO AFFECT on the taste.  The only difference is that boxed wines are not designed for long term (like years) storage.  Mont Clair red "Celebration" from RSA, for example, is sold in both bottle and box.  It is the same wine, the same taste from either.  I find it much more pleasing in taste than any of the cheap imports sold in bottles.  Yet the price for the box Mont Clair (before this latest tax craziness) is much lower per liter.  Again, bottled wine doesn't make it good and boxed wine doesn't make it bad; it's all in the wine itself.

With respect, I think it is true that bottled wines are often better wines than those sold in boxes.
My country Australia invented the box of wine as I understand it. Australia's greatest contribution to the welfare of humanity? I wonder??

But, here's the point. Boxed wine is (or should be in Thailand) cheap BECAUSE it's not terribly good, generally speaking. Some boxed wine is fine (I used to quite like the Castle Creek Dry White sold in Makro) but it was by no means a quality wine - wine and fruit juice yes but it was 12.5% alcohol so it did the job it was intended to do.

Similarly, not all wine in bottles is good either. The good wines sold in Thailand in bottles (here I will give the example of a good French Bordeaux) will cost you close to 1,000 baht a bottle these days. Perhaps more and that's just crazy ridiculous. And because of the heat in Thailand and sometimes a  lack of appropriate storage, such a wine that you might choose to buy even at that crazy price could well be off when it's opened. And good luck taking such a wine back to Villa Market or anywhere else that sells decent wines if it is off. Am I alone in always having to fight for my consumer rights in such a situation? 

And it's all because of greed and the fact that Thais are quite OK with their national game of screw the falang. Certainly the container (box or bottle) shouldn't affect the taste of the wine they contain if it's the same wine. But, generally speaking, the better wines come in bottles, not in boxes.

The Thais just DON'T understand that boxed wine is not the same as bottled wine and it necessarily has to be considerably cheaper than bottled wine to fulfill the purpose for which the wine box was invented, a cheap alternative to good bottled wines. A wine of which you can have a glass or two often without breaking the bloody bank. As with so much, Thais just don't get this basic piece of information. Wine is for foreigners whether in a box or a bottle so let's screw the foreigners. Only the foreigners like me will simply not buy ANY wine at extortionate prices and the income stream from sale of wine will dry up, as I suspect is happening in Thailand right now.

3 hours ago, Weasel100 said:

Look folks. I think I'm pretty typical of foreigners here although I seem to be more down on the Thais than most.
I am not short of money but, as anywhere else, even in my former home Australia, I will not allow myself to be screwed by people I wouldn't piss on for wine that's at best just passable as wine of a kind.
Decent bottled wine is ridiculously expensive in Thailand. $AUD45 or more for a French Bordeaux. Why? Because, by and large, Thais don't drink it. Most Thais drink beer or cheap shitty "Whisky" - I hesitate to call it that.
I will drink beer mainly as an alternative to incredibly over-priced wine. I will not play their stupid game and I will not let them rip me off. They are the ones who will suffer when importers stop importing wine altogether because it's too ***ing expensive to be saleable. The previous revenue that these stupid ****ers had from wine sales will then simply be gone and up will go VAT from 7% to 10%. Watch this space

Look folks. I think I'm pretty typical of foreigners here I think although I seem to be more down on the Thais than most.
I am not short of money but, as anywhere else, even in my former home Australia, I will not allow myself to be screwed by people I wouldn't piss on for wine that's at best just passable as wine of a kind.
Decent bottled wine is ridiculously expensive in Thailand. $AUD40 or more for a French Bordeax. Why? Because, by and large, Thais don't drink it. Most Thais drink beer or cheap shitty "Whisky" - I hesitate to call it that.
I will drink beer mainly as an alternative to incredibly over-priced wine. I will not play their stupid game and I will not let them rip me off. They are the ones who will suffer when importers stop importing wine because it's too ***ing expensive to be saleable. The previous revenue that these stupid ****ers had from wine sales will then simply be gone and up will go VAT from 7% to 10%. Watch this space

We all know that the Thais are remarkably stupid people and successive Thai Government have been playing screw the falang for years.
They are so stupid and short-sighted that they just can't see that incessant increases in the cost of wine will backfire and we falangs who did drink wine before simply won't drink boxed wine at ****king extortionate prices. They also just don't get the fact that boxed wine is supposed to be a cheap alternative to proper wine in bottles.
STUPID, STUPID STUPID

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

It is not just the speed freaks, they also need to do something about the lane hoggers, lot of tea money for the cops if they get off their bahookies and do some work.

Hear Hear!!!

Radar detectors will become more available in Thailand I'm sure. But, as in many Western countries, I would predict they'll be made illegal to own soon after with life in prison or death by lethal injection sentences for possession of one soon to follow.  Such is the civilized country in which we live.
You heard about the 100,000 baht fine and a year in gaol for smoking on a beach?

This is one respect in which I will say that the Thai authorities are at long last catching up with the rest of the world. Western countries discovered long ago that there is a shit load of money to be gained from speed and red light cameras and it is encouraging finally to hear that speed cameras and red light cameras are at last coming to Thailand's roads in numbers.

In my own country Australia, I have decried speed cameras as being primarily money based with a side benefit to road safety. However, if ever there were a country that needs to start enforcing speed limits with speed cameras, it is undoubtedly Thailand. We all know that driving in Thailand is lethal, especially for those who ride motor-cycles. Something like 33,000 deaths a year on Thailand's roads and 74 per cent of those deaths happen to MC riders and pillions - these are close to the true statistics, not the fudged numbers provided by Thai authorities to hide the true scale of the problem. So many violent deaths each year on Thailand's roads should be a national disgrace but, it appears to me that until recently with the introduction of speed cameras etc, the relevant Thai authorities simply couldn't give the tiniest shit about road safety.

Roll on speed cameras all over Thailand but, for God's sake, hit the maniac Thais in their pickups and SUVs where they'll really feel it. In their bloody wallets and seriously enforce collection of fines. And make the fines significant - 1000 baht for a first offence, 5000 for a second inside 12 months, 15000 and cancellation of licence for a third in 12 months. And how about introducing the 12 points system that's so common in the Western world? The Thai road safety authorities need to be serious about this because the death toll on Thailand's roads is disgraceful.

Reduce speeding in Thailand through proper enforcement and I would predict a 60 per cent reduction in road deaths in Thailand almost immediately.

However, there is a problem. When speed and red light cameras become commonplace in Thailand, Thai drivers will do the following:

1 they will take the number plates off the front and or the backs of their vehicles so they can't be identified - a fine for missing licence plates may be small compared to speeding fines, or

2  Thai drivers will routinely lie about their not having been the driver of the vehicle at the time an offence occurred.

How to handle this?  Hmmmmmmm?

Finally, I am a very different driver in Thailand to the driver that I was when I lived in Australia and the driver I am when I go back to Australia on holiday. I am a "brisk" driver in Australia. In Thailand I am very very wary, rarely going over any posted speed limits. And, by the way, why are there so few posted speed limits in Thailand. In Australia, on'e rarely in any doubt about a speed limit at a particular place. In Thailand, It's quite difficult to know what speed I should not exceed when there are so few speed limit signs about.

21 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

I would think higher minimum charges is the throw away line of the week. 

They spout a figure off the top of their heads, sometimes I think to put you off, so they can get back to sleeping. 

 

If they dont use the meters anyway what does it matter.?

It matters because they are required by law:
1  to accept fares and don't have the option to refuse without good reason, and
2  they are required by law to use the meter in the cab.
That's why

On 7/23/2018 at 2:00 PM, Jingthing said:

A raise from what!?!

The PATTAYA taxi FAKE meters don't use their meters in the first place.

This discussion is truly absurd. 

I agree. Only those Government officials responsible for taxi service providers have any power to approve an increase in what in Australia we call the flag fall amount of money - 35 baht in BKK.
As I said here previously, if taxi drivers in Pattaya are refusing to use the meters in their cabs, they are clearly breaking the law and the whole lot of the bastards who refuse should be prosecuted. But, of course, this is Thailand, where there is essentially no rule of law, or where the rule of law can be circumvented by being paid off.
Are there buses in Pattaya? Are they not convenient? If there are buses that run major routes, why not use buses and cut the taxi thieves out altogether?
I have no personal experience of taxi drivers in Pattaya. I've only been there once, stayed in Jomtien and walked everywhere I needed to go.
I do have experience of taxi drivers in BKK though. Not a happy experience there either with drivers routinely refusing ride requests but almost always ok with using the taxi meter in my experience.
If it is an option, cut the taxi drivers in Pattaya out altogether. Ride sharing might be a good idea. One person with a car agrees to take friends to supermarkets etc and people share a fee for this. Walk as much as possible to where you need to go. I admit that Pattaya is quite large and this would be difficult or impossible for many.
The bottom line. If taxi drivers in Pattaya are the dishonest thieves that they appear to be, don't use them. Find other ways to get around. Buy a cheap motorcycle or a small car. Put the taxi bastards out of business. They deserve it.

1 hour ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Hmmmm  I did get ripped off for nine baht in a 7/11 one night.  Your statements on the surrounding countries being way ahead of Thailand accepting Western Ways??  Rubbish. Mongolia??  Ulanbataar is still stuck in the Soviet Nineties.

It would be handy if people bothered to read posts properly before denigrating those who have taken the time to post thorough impressions of life in Thailand compared to life in other countries in this region. I didn't say all the countries in the region were ahead of Thailand. I singled out South Korea and Malaysia if you'd bothered to read.
Been to UB recently? It's becoming Western very quickly and I predict that Mongolia will certainly overtake Thailand in the next ten years.

You can disagree. That's fine

20 minutes ago, The manic said:

I get the impression police in the USA are more dangerous for black males.

That is certainly true!!

Hi there
I just picked up on this thread a short time ago and I'd like to offer my perspective if I may.
There is another specific thread about whether expats who have come to Thailand to live would leave if they could or indeed as many of them do.
I put up a comprehensive post yesterday here 

I don't say that my comments and my feelings are any better than anyone else's but I did go to some trouble to write my initial post which sets out quite clearly the many problems that I have in living in Thailand, having moved here from Australia nearly seven years ago.

The thing that have have to know is that disenchantment among expats with the way of life in Thailand is very common and that many expats choose to leave Thailand for various reasons after living here for a time, often for many years. My post from yesterday I think if you look at the above page sets out I believe many of the problems that expats have in Thailand. There are of course many who don't regret moving to Thailand and who think that people like me are just griping unreasonably. I am pleased for them that they are happy here.

For what they're worth, here are my feelings about your particular situation based on what you've said about yourself.

1  I think it would be fair to say that foreigners (falangs in Thai) are not generally all that welcome in Thailand - the Thai authorities refer to foreigners as aliens which I find offensive but then I believe that's also the case in your country, the US. While foreigners are generally unwelcome in Thailand, our money certainly is welcome

2  to live in Thailand as a young person is not easy. You would probably have to live on a tourist visa which requires your leaving the country and coming back in again through an immigration post at the border or at the airports every 15 to 30 days. Most of us who live in Thailand are here on what is known as a retirement visa which requires a certain minimum age (50) and a certain income from abroad OR money in the bank in Thailand (about $US26,000 at today's rate)

Otherwise, you would have to obtain a work permit which can also be problematic unless you're prepared to pay backhanders to people who specialize in immigration matters and who can (at your expense of course)  pay the right people the right amount of graft money and get a work permit for you. Others who have greater knowledge of this than I will probably chime in to set me straight

3  you say that you are a young black man but I notice that you also say that you don't look black.
Others have already pointed out earlier that white skin is highly prized in Thailand (except on people like me) and you just wouldn't believe the number of products and other shit that's on sale in Thailand which are claimed to lighten skin colour.
I may again be wrong but it is my impression that people who are of darker skin colour may have additional problems in Thailand due to what can only be described as a prejudice again dark skin.

Finally, for a young swarthy man, I would have to say I would NOT recommend Thailand as a potential home. You may be better off somewhere like Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica which is a popular relocation home for many US citizens or somewhere else in the Caribbean, rather than in Thailand. Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the very best of luck in finding a place that suits you better than the US with all the political problems that it has at the moment due to the moron that now occupies the White House.

By all means though, come to Thailand for two or three months initially to make an assessment for yourself. However, you have to understand that the Thai people you will meet and have to deal with in restaurants, bars, tourist attractions and hotels in Thailand are NOT your typical Thais. They generally present a friendly and helpful face to foreign tourists because that's their job. Living in Thailand and having to deal with ordinary non tourist industry Thais is a completely different matter. Generally speaking, as I have already said, your average Thai does not like or respect foreigners although they love our money and they have myriad ways of trying to relieve us of as much of it as possible in whatever way they can, often by deviousness, lying, swindling and cheating us.

So, be careful in all matters of a financial nature when dealing with Thais. In my view, based on seven years here, the great majority of Thais are not to be trusted. I have been ripped off, lied to, cheated and misled by Thais many times and it has always cost me money, sometimes significant amounts of money. Others are welcome to disagree with me based on their own experiences.
 

And you my friend have found a happy balance that works for you and your family. Good luck to you. Many others like me took the plunge to live full time in Thailand and now, to some extent or other, many of us regret having done so.
You speak of racial tensions mounting back in Australia due to immigration. I expect that will just continue to get worse over the coming years. However, Australia has been and will probably continue to be much better protected by successive Governments because of Australia's policy not to allow unfettered  immigration as has happened across much of Europe in the last 20 odd years.
Many countries in Europe are in serious trouble and have a very bleak future due to their having opened their doors to immigrants who commonly either do not value or respect Western society or will actively seek to destroy it.
Back to you and your family though. Glad you're happy with your Thailand/Australia compromise life.

Despite all my bitching about what I find either annoying or nearly intolerable about living in Thailand, I'll be here until stumps unless health problems force me to return to Australia for a time. I'm in fine fettle right now at age 62 so no immediate cause for concern.
I'm not truly unhappy and thankfully not suicidal as some others have regrettably indicated here. I feel for them very much and I urge any of you out there who may read this to try withdrawing to a quiet and somewhat solitary way of life. Thailand I find can best be tolerated when largely on my own. It'll work for some and not for others I guess.

Having said that, I will retire for a while now as this thread, as engrossing as it has proven to be, is taking up way too much of my time. 

Just now, Weasel100 said:

Better now??

Perhaps it's the maladjusted and self-appointed experts on everything that's wrong with Thailand who are right and that you're mistaken.
Ever consider that possibility?

16 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

@Weasel100

 

Sorry, bro, but after reading your follow up posts on this thread, I have concluded that you are more in need of a swift kick in the pants than any words of encouragement or commiseration. You are starting to sound like just another maladjusted farang who ia a self-appointed expert on everything that is wrong with Thailand. Just another guy who claims to love his Thai spouse to death but then turns around and spews contempt for the people and culture which shaped her as a person. A guy who faults Thais for not speaking better English when you've scarcely made an effort to learn the language of your adopted country. You need to look in the mirror and get off your butt. The majority of Thais are decent and honest people. Many know a lot of things you don't know. Many have a great sense of humor. Many know how to enjoy life...

Better now??

Thanks for what I accept as your genuine concern.
I do suffer from a diagnosed psych disorder (Bipolar Type 2) but I'm actually fine most of the time. This often sounds like an excuse to other people I think but psychiatric illness is very very real to those who suffer.
Leave me alone and don't make me have to deal with Thais and Thai authorities and I'm OK.
The truth here is that there were many things about Australia and Australian society and Australian people which drove me made for the 56 years that I lived there and it was I guess disenchantment with Australia that prompted my move to Thailand. I think I'm probably even more disenchanted with Thailand because I expected that it'd be better than Australia which makes me more than a bit down on Thailand and Thai people in particular.

I will say that one of the things that truly drives me crazy here in Thailand is the lack of proper education of the local people. My Thai wife is as intelligent as anyone I've ever met here (Thai or falang) and she has a University degree in something or other which I've never quite been able to nail down. But, here's the point. I love her and respect her but what she didn't know after having been schooled and university educated in Thailand would fill an encyclopaedia.
I find myself constantly having to lecture her regarding things that were routinely taught in school in Australia when I was young.
When we met, my intelligent wife had next to no knowledge of world history including such things as two pretty significant world wars, the great depression, Hitler and the Nazis, US, UK, European, Australian and other famous world leaders and those countries' political histories, next to no knowledge of geography and little if any knowledge of other countries and their cultures. It is gratifying to me that she often thanks sincerely me for my efforts to inform her about these things, something I might add that I am very pleased to do. We have travelled widely together in the nearly six years we've been together and she has become much more a citizen of the world. Quite different to the uneducated masses in Thailand.
It is often said that the Thai education system is deliberately designed to keep the populace "dumbed down". After all, an uneducated populace is much easier to control than an educated one. What is the very first thing that any dictatorship does? Yup. Round up and murder the educated classes. The m**itary in charge in Thailand now is not up to that I don't think but stay tuned folks.

In fact, I always have a great Christmas Day every year. I cook a roast for my Thai wife and I on Christmas Eve and have left-overs for lunch on Christmas day. Sit down, watch a traditional Christmas Day movie often on my own as my wife has a shop and works most Christmas Days, and I have a few beers of glasses of wine (if I can afford wine - who can in this bloody country with criminally high taxes on wine because it's predominantly consumed by falangs).

No complaint about Christmas Days Mate.

35 minutes ago, altcarrbob said:

The more you get to know about Thai society .the less you want to know,lying cheating ,scamming,part of life.  Surrounding yourself with dash cams no help,they will come up with a tale the dash cams were lying

I do agree

When I first moved to Thailand, I bought a ten CD course regarding conversational Thai language. I wanted to learn to speak the language here reasonably well because I previously liked the Thais I had met when on holiday.
I listened to the first disc only soon after I arrived and I haven't touched them since. The reason is not laziness on my part; I'll leave that to the Thais. The reason is actually that I have little if any respect for Thai people, so-called Thai culture or the Thai authorities including the Police and the Customs Service (both corrupt to the core), Banks etc (although I dislike banks everywhere in truth).

My disenchantment with Thailand and Thai people in particular has been complete for many years and now I just live a pretty reclusive life here with all the material things that I could want or need and alcohol when I need or want it. This life largely suits me fine.