mikebike

Its just the local news is littered with assaults, sword wielding nutters etc..

So is the local news in every region of the world - here's one from Canada - Did you feel the need to be so cautious at home?

Who said the poster wanted to feel Manly? Perhaps it is a woman.

If I am paranoid then so be it, I think it is justified paranoia and better then having the illusion that Phuket is so safe and none of those smiles are contemptuous and that it won't happen to me.

Again, I just don't see the difference from most peoples home countries... did you feel the same way at home as well?

I have a gun by my bed. In daytime I keep it in a safe... develop real estate... Bulletholes in our car and house window are facts to relate to.

Now there's ample reason for self defence!! Most of the rest of us have not had to, nor care to, relate to this level of threat... therefore we don't feel the need to go to such lengths. Hope the development(s) were lucrative!!!

Seabear nailed it. Vision Institute and Dr. Sey will give you western-style testing and care with Thai style customer service and humility!!!

this is 2010 and everybody should be allowed to do what he/she want

That has to be the stupidest, most naively idealistic statement ever posted on TV - maybe the entire web... A Darwin Award nomination for our HD ridin' friend!!

If some guy went for a midnight swim & then got gang raped by a bunch of homosexual drunkards I seriously doubt anyone on this forum would intimate he was asking for it or it was his fault.

The more likely scenario for a single guy swimming at 4am would be a robbery, beatdown/knifing, and/or murder (but a little jail-house coitus wouldn't be out of the question...). And yes I would say he was asking for it by putting himself in a VERY RISKY situation.

I have had sex on the beach late at night... I would never have thought it could lead to being attacked, and the girl being raped... and I am an old man now...

I was gearing up with a longer reply but LivinLOS summed things up quite nicely...

Specifically regarding the above quote: Your naiveté (or age) is showing if, "you never thought [late night sex on the beach] could lead to being attacked", my original analogy stands... even though "rape is about power" in current academic theory and theft is about greed the basic methodology to avoiding either is to not put yourself in situations where the perpetrators of such acts would perceive you as an easy mark. The intent of your actions is as irrelevant as is the intent of the potential perp - personal safety can never be taken for granted and it is the individual's responsibility to avoid (or not if you're a pathological risk-taker!) dangerous situations.

In Malaysia I remember the govenor of one of the states where women must wear a hijab claimed the reason rape still occured was because of lipstick... to any sane person, that is ridiculous... the suggestion that her being on a beach at night is only an extension of that stupid statement...

No girl does anything that should be suggested invites these acts...

death to all rapists...

Are you serious? Comparing applying lipstick to a drunken self-gratification on a public beach with a local at 4 AM?? Some girls definitely DO things that invite unwanted attention (you are correct that almost no-one would invite such horrible acts acts and no-one is saying that this individual did). Whether it is naiveté or bringing a false sense of security from the home culture/society, it is patently obvious that better decisions could have been made in this case to ensure personal safety.

If I was to walk around inner Motor City at 4 AM wearing my Rolex, a suit by Hugo, and carrying a Louis Vuitton brief case I'd say I'd made a huge error in judgement and would expect a beatdown and robbery... I wasn't inviting it, but you better believe its gonna happen like the sun rises every morning!

gvallee - hmmm - same <deleted>'s been happening in the Caribbean for as long as I could read... No tourist destination has an exclusive on this type of crime... get real!!

SB is correct - if wrapped no evidence...

"It was good luck that Mr P.. felt the sharp end of Mrs Phimphimon’s cleaver, he (The Police Man) said.."

the last one tops it. I have been told 'Good Luck!' many times in Thailand, only now do I fully realize the full meaning of those wishes

This quote by the officer has nothing to do with creative writing... this is simply and logically the way anyone socialized/culturalized in Thailand and Buddhism would assess the event. The "offender" is obviously meant to suffer for transgressions in this and/or past lives and he has inevitably brought this upon himself, he should consider himself fortunate and begin making merit vigorously!!

24 hour drinking pls; back to the days when the place doesn't close till last customer leaves

I remember it well. That was the period I lived in Thailand. Half way to Cambodia on a visa run in the middle of the night on

your own bike. Pull into a gas station and buy a Heineken. Instead of everybody creeping around and covering there mouth

and whispering and pointing - The nice little cashier girl would whip out the bottle opener at 3 AM and wave it. Being from LA I would

laugh practically and look over my shoulder for the sheriffs. (What a trip I would think)

I'd say "Oh no - thank you - no that's very nice"

Then you were sitting on the typical marble table outside, waving to all

the curious lookie lews that had never seen a falong. Even the police would roll through.

Stare straight at you drinking a beer at 3AM and wave real friendly.

No - now your a criminal like you always were in Western society.

Your sitting there drinking a beer - You're a criminal.

And now in Thailland - the same thing - You're a crimminal

Just like that - over night . The entire population changes

how they view someone sitting there drinking a beer.

The end of the world must be near.

Uhmmm... where exactly has this practice stopped and who's getting busted for it? Yeah, bars in controlled areas may be occasionally monitored but having a cold beer, anytime, (almost) anywhere, isn't a problem today... sat drinking cold ones on a bench outside the train station in Surat Thani with a couple of BIBs recently...

.

bellste: "As far as I know, all the companies you mention, is in Thailand Thai owned."

Tesco is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, with profits exceeding £3 billion. It is currently the third largest global retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour, but second largest based on profit, ahead of Carrefour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco

Yada, yada with yer wiki quotes... Its Tesco-freakin'-Lotus and its Asian controlled... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco_Lotus "Tesco Lotus is a hypermarket chain in Thailand and China. In Thailand, the stores are operated by Ek-Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd."

we categorise alcoholics, drug addicts and psychotics as criminals instead of recognising that these are conditions that need treating - of course the "model citizens" will say that many of these conditions are self inflicted, which they are... pedestrians take chances and run across the road in heavy traffic but when they are hit by a car we treat them - we dont say "it was self inflicted"

What an exquisitely bizarre analogy... of course we say it was self-inflicted (unless it was that pesky dwarf in the red suit on your shoulder whispering,"jay-walk now, jay-walk now, jay-walk now..." SPLAT!)

Where are the legalize drugs people? Isn't it about now when they appear to say that if drugs were legalized all of the problems associated with drug use would go away?

Wow... talk about bizarre - its daja vu all over again! Please explain the quantum leap from lao khao saturated potential rapist to legalizing drugs/drug use? :D Maybe you were confusing this thread with the Kiwi kid with valium thread?...

The measure of a society is how safe it is for those whose judgment is impaired because of momentary distractions or inaction.

Are you serious?!?!?!

Unfortunately I'm guessing you are. Litigator mai?

You're saying the measure of a society is how safe it is for;

1. the total alcohol/substance abuser who beats his/her partner (judgement impaired);

2. the dumb-arse who spills searingly hot Mickey D's coffee in their own lap while driving and takes out an octogenarian (momentary distraction);

3. the Karla Hololka's of the world (inaction at best, collusion at worst)??

Why, in your mind, should those who have abused socio-cultural privileges be protected by those they have abused ; since when is impaired judgement, inaction, and/or a propensity for distraction rubber stamp for societal safeguarding??

Four years in Rawai/Nai Harn with my farang wife... never locked car or house... not felt the need... haven't had an issue. We both bike around at night... haven't had an issue. Occasionally have our own (two person) parties on Nai Harn beach at night (I've actually slept on the beach)... haven't had an issue. We have many good friends, both farang and Thai, in the Rawai/Nai Harn area and their experiences seem to echo ours... My wife has stayed alone extensively if/when I am away and feels more comfortable than in our home country (where we never locked doors either). Don't know if others have shared our experiences but we truly feel no threat here... “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.” Benjamin Franklin has been a truism introduced to me by my grandmother which I have found to be useful throughout my life. Life's like an acid trip... you get out of it only what you bring into it... enjoy the ride!!

"Do you also automatically just let people cut the queue in front of you without pulling them ?? "

Yeah, pretty much... I'm very rarely rushed to reach a destination at a particular time and the queue jumpers are hel_l-bent to get to theirs, so I just say good riddance Dick Head!

So you just live in fear ?? No thanks I'll take my chances..

No... the ones livin' in fear are those who are afraid they're manhood is in question if someone does something to invoke their ire... the ones who fear that giving way to an erratic driver will somehow diminish their superior driving skills, the ones who are so afraid that they must carry a weapon to defend themselves from the unseen villains lurking in the shadows... that, mon ami, is livin'(LOS) in fear.

Throughout the world's people eat but only a few Countries have a "cuisine" worthy of the name (sure not England or USA or Sweden...etc etc...IMHO.

Green... China and India had what you snootily refer to as "cuisine" before Italy was even civilized... but it IS your old-school, euro-centric humble opinion after all... :D

I need someone to explain curling to me.

Or explain why people watch it anyway....

Curling is easy to explain... if you understand darts, billiards, or bowling!!! Its a social game which involves heavy drinking - easy no? As for watching it... see above. How much fun is it to watch darts, billiards or bowling... hmmm... get it now? Its a participatory endeavour!!

Italian food is the world's favourite

Green, where did you come up with that little gem? I believe, by sheer bulk of population that Chinese then Indian are the "world's favorites". I think you'd be hard pressed to prove Italian is even "the favorite" of the western world...

Agree with Stevenl... takes two to tango and escalate a situation...

Soi Naya collection has been twice-a-week, as ususal...

Anne's Beauty Salon on Sai Yuan past Soi Naya about 300 metres on the left (if you are heading towards Nai Harn).

Anne's Beauty Salon on Sai Yuan past Soi Naya about 300 metres on the left (if you are heading towards Nai Harn).

LivinLOS - this is NOT exclusive to Asia. Road rage and the perceived anonymity of being ensconced in large powerful vehicle is a deadly problem in many western urban areas as well AND the easiest targets are bikes there too!!

I never understand this mindset..

So you want an unspoiled beach with no electric and services.. You know how long you need to drive to find this ?? A hour perhaps ??

My buddy runs a resort on Koh Phayam island, no electric, no cars, dirt trails etc.. Just a couple of hours up the coast.

If people really dont want any services, stick a pin in a map on the coastline and your more likely to hit a beach like that than one developed.. So go to one like your asking for.

Phayam is a wonderful place for chillaxin' - but its about a 3.5/4 hour drive from Rawai to the pier in Ranong and what, an hour/hour and a half ferry ride? Frig, the last thing Phayam needs is dirt bikes... yikes.

Hi All!! We have been using a product called En-Dex 4000 for tick, flea, heartworm and mange control for a couple of years and found it to be very effective and reasonably priced compared to the western-style Frontline type products. Unfortunately our supplier, a pet shop called Euro Dolla in Rawai has closed and we cannot find En-Dex 4000 anywhere else. Does anybody here know where we can get En-Dex 4000 in Phuket? Thanks in advance for any help!!

Wow. My experience has been the total opposite of many of the posters... I have found the average Thai male to be infinitely more caring and trustworthy with children than their western counterparts. The average western male is a fumbling, disinterested clod when it comes to children - whereas even my two sixteen year old Thai male staff are loving and nurturing with children of all ages (check that with western sixteen year old boys - HA!)

The hygiene issue has been well covered... No need for western levels of hyper-cleanliness, common sense is all that's required, and you end up with a healthier, stronger human being.

Drunkeness? Spell it out again: C-O-M-M-O-N S-E-N-S-E!!

Check out the under five death rates for some common expat countries versus Thailand... hmmmmm - How's it going if you're from the US?

If you go on population density and using your attachment then Thailand is in line with the states. The States has close to five times the population of Thailand give or take the odd 100 thou....

Actually on a per capita basis the table would look like this:

U.S. - 0.011

Thailand - 0.011

Australia - 0.009

U.K. - 0.006

Canada - 0.006

France - 0.005

Germany - 0.004

Italy - 0.003

Sweden - 0.000

Switzerland - 0.000

With a group average of 0.008... Traditional western thought would see the "developing" nation (Thailand) as far more apt to have higher under 5 mortality than "developed" western nations... As I mentioned in my previous post - how's the U.S. taking care of their most vulnerable citizens?

Wow. My experience has been the total opposite of many of the posters... I have found the average Thai male to be infinitely more caring and trustworthy with children than their western counterparts. The average western male is a fumbling, disinterested clod when it comes to children - whereas even my two sixteen year old Thai male staff are loving and nurturing with children of all ages (check that with western sixteen year old boys - HA!)

The hygiene issue has been well covered... No need for western levels of hyper-cleanliness, common sense is all that's required, and you end up with a healthier, stronger human being.

Drunkeness? Spell it out again: C-O-M-M-O-N S-E-N-S-E!!

Check out the under five death rates for some common expat countries versus Thailand... hmmmmm - How's it going if you're from the US?