PingRoundTheWorld

I usually do $1000 transfers so that's definitely not the issue. And we're talking a popular bank (Capital One) so it's very odd that they claim to not be able to direct debit it after being able to for years. I think the move to Plaid messed things up.

I know exactly who you're talking about. They were starting trouble and fights every night all winter, but the venues do not dare kick them out for whatever reason (connected? or just perception as big spenders?). Funny enough speaking with one venue manager it seems like they aren't actually big spenders - they complained that these guys would buy 150k worth of bottles on their first night in town - but then keep checking out the same bottles over and over and spending next to nothing for a month. That averages out to only 5000 baht a night - between a group of 5-10 guys.

OK. After watching the video it looks like the wife completely made up her side of the story. You can see in the video that Frenchie was actually knocked down (first second) and a bystander tries to pull the Thai away but he pushes him away because he wants to continue fighting. Clearly he wanted the fight and probably started it. Frenchie even tried to walk away after the first time he knocked Thai down, but he attacked him again so he had to finish the job. Seems more like self-defense than "unprovoked attack". It's disgusting that Thai media is going with the wife's story completely ignoring what actually happened. Unfortunately for them, the Porsche and the swagger will only play against them in this case as it's easier to portray them as ruthless shady thugs. Whether that's true or not is another question, but the video suggests otherwise.

That's probably what happened. Unlikely they really thought "they needed directions". Thai guy shouldn't have stopped for a fight, Frenchies shouldn't have knocked him out. I'm sure they didn't mean to nearly kill him, but the problem with fights is that you can't control the outcome. Most likely French mafia either vacationing in Thailand or escaping legal reach in France. Thailand does not have an extradition agreement with France, so you get some real shady characters sometimes with lots of money to wave around and a talent for causing trouble. It would be quite ironic if they end up spending jail time then deported to face more charges back home.

I've been using Wire (and TransferWise) for years now, it used to arrive in seconds or minutes every time - no problems until a couple months ago when all of a sudden every transfer says "in seconds" then before completion switches to 5 business days which is ridiculous. This is US banks (tried 2 different ones). When contacting Wise support I was told that "we do not have a direct debit agreement with that bank so there is a delay". This is for an account that worked fine for years, mind you. Something definitely changed/broken on their end, but not sure what. A "workaround" I found was to use debit card to pay, which processes in 30 minutes - but the fee is double. Are there any alternatives to Wise that operate similarly with low rates? I'm tired of paying double fees every time now.

No kidding. He has "bad guy" written all over him, quite literally. I'll never understand why (some) Thai women think it's a good idea to date or even talk to guys like this - don't they understand it will end badly? or they just think "it won't happen to me"? And to all the tattoo-fan crowd - this isn't some nice guy who grew up in a good area and just likes tattoos - when Thai guys have these kind of tattoos it usually means gang, jail experience, etc. The issue isn't that they have tattoos - it's the type of tattoos and reason they got them.

Uhhh... or- I can just avoid public transportation and cinemas. Not that this will be enforced anyway - it won't be.

I was wondering the same thing - if the Emergency Decree has ended, then based on what legal basis is this doctor saying this? Sounds more like opinion than an actual rule.

There is zero percent chance that a respectable attractive lady walks down soi 4 at 4am. Zero.

You obviously haven't been to Phuket recently. Taxis are quite reasonable booked via InDriver and Bolt - 100 baht inside Patong. Grab is terribly overpriced. Tuk tuks are a mixed bag with some honest ones (relatively) charging 200 baht, while others try for the 300-500 baht scams. As for Bangkok - sorry but if they don't like how much the job pays they should quit. You mentioned "what the market demands" but ignored supply and demand - there's a ton of empty taxis for every possible passenger at most times - obviously if they're willing to drive, the job pays enough for them to do so. The fact that some try to run fixed fare scams, especially on tourists, does not mean those are fair prices, it just means those drivers feel entitled to charge foreigners more. Reminds me of the time a driver demanded 100 baht to go one soi over with no traffic. Told him meter or I don't ride, he drove off in the same direction of the soi I wanted to go to. So he actually preferred to give up 40 baht going in the same direction anyway over giving up his "100 baht" scam. What a clown. Next taxi of course agreed to meter.

Don't even have to wait for a rainy day. Just go to soi 11, Cowboy, Nana, etc. any night of the week - 95% of taxis will refuse to use the meter. And yes the only way this would get solved is if they put some effort and used undercover cops and/or farang volunteers with cops backing them up. Expecting tourists to put their lives at risk by taking pictures of license plates is ridiculous. Some of those drivers keep deadly weapons in the car and won't be shy to wave them around if challenged.

This would be funny if it wasn't actually correct. No doubt we will see this play out with more cases soon.

Exactly. We don't know the full story. Soi 4 at 4am it could easily be that the woman (or ladyboy) instigated the fight, and 4 Thais lurking around decided to join in on the fun. The type of people hanging out there aren't exactly typical good samaritans. Looking at these guys' wounds the alleged victims' claim that they just tried to break up the fight seems unconvincing - these guys were hiding on the rooftop likely because they feared for their lives at that point. As for the stabbing - we don't know that it was a knife - could've been a broken bottle or something else laying around. From the looks of it one of these guys forehead he might've been bottled too. I think if there is CCTV footage it would tell a very different story than the Thai guys' version of how it played out.

I keep seeing guys say this, but over the past month in BKK taxis seem significantly worse than they did when I used to live here pre-Covid. I've only had ONE driver actually use the meter, and most drivers will ask for ridiculous fares like 150-300 baht. In the past they were asking for 100 baht, but now seem to not even be happy with that - especially when it rains - they seem to think a few rain drops entitles them to extra fare which makes no sense. I never pay more than 100 baht on principal, but that can make it hard to find a taxi willing to take you when it rains. There definitely needs to be better (or ANY) enforcement of this. They keep complaining that the current meter fares are too low and that's why they refuse fares, but in reality what will happen when fares are raised is they'll still refuse to use the meter and quote even higher rates. Like the guy who wanted 300 baht for literally a 2 minute ride - we just walked away since this kind of driver does not deserve our business.

Period kill about a week a month, and most BGs don't get bar fined every night. A few times a week at most, on average. That still brings in a nice sum of money - but not 50k. Keep in mind most bar girls aren't young and hot and - most are just average - walk into any bar near closing and most of them are still there, alone.

Not sure what you're talking about. Last time I was in Pattaya (2020) WS was very much a red light district. Bar girls outside every bar in skimpy outfits, ladyboys waiting to pounce on any guy who goes near them, promo girls, etc etc. Not sure what you're on about with the "present day b/s" but unless WS completely changed after Covid then it's not a family friendly location at 3am. Victim of what? Was there a rape here, did anything actually happen to her other than getting startled and angry at the guy? She literally suffered no injury physically or mentally, and gets to walk away with 200,000 baht. Had there been an actual *assault* here I'd be more sympathetic. Next time when an innocent foreigner gets falsely blamed we'll know why - 200,000 reasons why.

Uhh no. She doesn't work in an office because she likes doing what she does. Very few bar girls hate their jobs - the ones who hate it don't make much money and don't stay long. In reality she's probably an alcoholic, loves to party, and getting paid to party and flirt with guys sure beats working in an office. 1. Bar girls lie. She could be exaggerating the figures for a variety of reasons - to make you tip better because you think she expects more, to make herself seem better than she is, to brag, etc. 2. The starting salary for bar girls isn't that great. Talking more like 10-20k, not 100k. They make probably a few more thousands from girl drinks, but the real money is "tips" from guys who bar file them and/or "salary" from boyfriends/sponsors. 3. Dubai is a whole other can of worms - girls who go there are essentially going to work in massage parlors seeing 20-30 customers a day. They do make a lot of money from "tips" there, but it is hard work that most girls wouldn't be able to keep up with - which is why they only do it for a limited time to make money quick once in a while. A typical bar girl who doesn't do Dubai/Singapore/etc isn't going to make much more than an office worker unless she is very good at her job.

At 3 am? At 3am? Again- groping a random stranger is always wrong, but the fact that she took money to drop the charges speaks volumes about the "lady" in question and what she might've been doing in WS at 3am. Enjoying the vibe? or looking for trouble/drama?

Well, to be fair, I wouldn't grope a stranger in either place. But the point still remains that a lady at WS alone at 3am is likely not a lady...

The broader family (uncles/cousins/etc) I could care less about - never had any sort of real relationship with any of them beyond family gatherings. My close family (parents - still alive and hope it stays that way a long time, brother and sister and their families) I do care about and in recent years made an effort to see more often especially as my parents aren't young anymore. My grandparents I loved but they passed a long time ago. But at the end of the day who you surround yourself with on a daily basis is who will have the most impact on your life - gf/wife, close friends, even drinking buddies, lol.

I have a friend who talked to the wrong girl in Roppongi (Tokyo) a few years ago - some promo girl for a shady hostess club he was trying to hit on while drunk - all of a sudden he sees police coming, and the girl claims he touched her boobs. They arrested him and then a "witness" African guy said he saw it happen. They didn't check CCTV which would prove his innocence. Basically it was an African mafia scam with police in on the deal. After a few days locked up he got desperate and paid around 5000 Euros for the girl to drop the charges. The fact that a woman can drop the charges based on monetary compensation is a huge problem and obviously the reason why this scam exists. Just because this guy wasn't innocent doesn't mean the next guy wouldn't be.

Are you seriously comparing Foodland to walking street? One sells food, the other sells, well, sex.

So I'm not alone in thinking something seems...odd...about her story? and who the hell doesn't lock their door - especially a female sleeping by herself? something in her story stinks.

Maybe because he was farang? they seem to go off harder on other Thais, I think. Why does your wife/gf have contact with so many strangers? My first gf in Thailand had thousands of guys on her Facebook which I found extremely disrespectful. Dumped her quickly for this and many other reasons. Future girlfriends did not have this problem, and I made it clear I'm not ok with them having farang male friends - I don't need some <deleted> badmouthing me in her DMs and trying to **** her - because that's what 99% of those guys do.

Was thinking the same thing- what kind of idiot posts on social media while cheating? the ironic thing in all of this is that the idiocy was rewarded - some random guy she just met was sacrificed, but her husband has been successfully removed from her life for good. Would be an interesting plot twist if she actually planned for this to happen.