PingRoundTheWorld

How about starting with actually enforcing current laws? Smoking weed in public is already illegal - but you can't go two meters in any nightlife venue without getting some stink in your face. And while they're at it they should enforce the shisha law too - it's a huge nuisance and makes any venue that allows it like being inside a chimney. It's illegal but they're openly selling it.

This clown again? Covid is no longer available so he's moving on to the next "crisis"? Monkeypox is very easy to control - don't have gay sex - problem solved. (and for those who are gay or into chicks with ***** - limit your sexual partners and make sure they are clean - which is kind of good advice regardless...)

Sounds like a good way to get yourself killed.

Whatever happened with that guy? Did he walk or get some sort of sentence? Anyone know?

Very likely an inside job then- if they just got back from France how would the robbers know they were there and had money and watches with them? What likely happened is they carelessly left money and watches out in the open while the "friend" was there, and they told someone. But regardless- that house does not seem expensive - especially in the middle of nowhere - I doubt anyone who's actually wealthy would stay in the middle of nowhere in a house like that, with no security and no cameras. But then again according to Thai media we're all "rich" so I guess it fits in their world. Anyway- makes me happy I choose to live in a condo, with security guards and access keys and cameras. And even then I don't leave valuables visible for others to see.

Just another day in Thailand- a young lady manages to get 1mil baht in debt, gets tempted by an easy "job offer" (most likely some form of prostitution) that would solve all her problems (until she creates new ones), then whines about her dire situation (that she created to begin with) to media. Funny how normal Thai women who hold normal jobs and don't drink and gamble manage to make ends meet, but not this delicate snowflake. It always astounds me how terrible with money some of the women here are- I know a woman who was living on next to nothing (a few thousand baht a month), but when she got a foreign boyfriend (sponsor) she started spending more and more (gambling, drinking and buying drinks for ALL her friends, buying gold, unnecessary shopping, etc etc) to the point the guy was spending over 100k baht a month on her and he had enough. Now she's back to living on next to nothing and all she's managed to "save" was the gold (which is probably already gone too as it's the first thing they pawn when they get dumped).

It's quite amazing how they don't understand this. I remember pre-Covid on our vacations in Pattaya, me and my friends made it a point to visit the 100 baht drinks bars and the ones who had 2-for-1 specials every night, while mostly avoiding the bars that were double priced (or more). It's not that 100 baht extra will kill us, but if we drink 10+ drinks each the difference adds up fast. Also it helped that the cheaper bars were always full and lively while the expensive ones were struggling to get customers in...

Was the price not clearly displayed on the menu, or did you not bother to look? 55 baht is a little high and personally I might think twice before ordering if I saw that price and maybe opt for a water instead, but I wouldn't go as far as calling it greedy. You can always vote with your wallet and just not buy.

Are they sure it's monkey pox and not an STD????? Joking aside, my friend recently nearly died from Syphilis complications, which he acquired in Phuket. There's some scary **** out there.

What's this about?? If the TM6 is suspended how exactly are they going to make sure? stop tourists on the street and demand papers? That always makes me feel welcome...

Huh? What crime? He left her alone for 2 years with the bike, and came back as a surprise without even letting her know he's coming. There is nothing criminal about her using a bike he essentially gave her. Yes, she needs to give it back, but between that and "she's a criminal" there's quite a few leaps.

Leaves her for 2 years and expects to come back to everything fine? sorry mate but that's not how females work, Pattaya or not. Anything more than a couple of weeks and that pillow is not the only thing she'll be riding. He could've come back to Thailand a year ago, even earlier with quarantine. Why only now??

Did they even check CCTV?? I mean, it's pretty suspicious that there is a beer bottle AND whiskey, and a guy who's clearly trying to get laid isn't likely to be drinking alone in his room in the middle of the night when he can just walk down for some company.

Did it though? Sounds more like he made it up to gain some fame. The whole story sounds suspect - why would someone drug him just to leave him on the pavement? usually when guys are drugged it's in their hotel room because the girl (or "girl") wants to rob them - not randomly outside. I'm making assumptions here, but how would a Thai guy much smaller than a Scandinavian dude pick him up and carry him? Sounds physically difficult if not impossible. And let's not even start with him starting to take the pills on his own (what does that even mean?) or how he got free (and alive!), or why this was never reported to law enforcement.

More likely she covered a gambling debt or another stupid decision with a loan so she doesn't have to tell her husband. Well, now he knows....

While I do agree loan sharks are parasites, I doubt it's small business owners or innocent poor people who are their main clientele. More likely gambling addicts and people with poor self-control. I've seen some girls take loans for the stupidest, unnecessary reasons, and pay insane rates on those loans (1k a month on a 10k loan, for example, and I'm sure there are worse out there).

Every once in a while I read such articles where a person almost died of a food allergy at a restaurant (not just in Thailand) - and they always make a big deal about how the restaurant is at fault - but this begs the question: if you are deathly allergic to anything why on earth would you trust your life in the hands of complete strangers? Sorry to blame the victim, but if I had such allergies I would never let anyone else cook for me unless I'm 100% sure I know what went in the dish. Even getting my girlfriend to stop putting things like garlic (it causes diarrhea) in dishes has been mostly unsuccessful, so trusting strangers is just nuts (pun intended)...

Just another way the government and media failed them completely - wave after wave of "the tourists are coming" to spark their hopes, while in reality the millions promised are nowhere to be seen. Sadly though this translates to a distorted market where landlords sit on empty condos expecting to be paid premium rent, while the few renters are unwilling to pay those rents. In my condo I rented a unit for 15k a few months back (and even that is severely overpriced) - now I see ads for same size units for 18-20k. The only real change in demand between now and then is that now there is much *less* demand due to Russian tourists gone. In my previous condo the situation is reversed - the unit I used to pay 15k for is now being offered for 7-8k - it took them a couple hard years to realize no one is renting, but now they're finally down to reality. The kicker though is that even though Bangkok condo rent is down 30-50% - condo prices have only gone slightly down (if at all) - yields are terrible if you want to invest (why would you?). Generally I would prefer stocks and real estate to gold because the former two are producing yields, gold doesn't, but in Thailand there's a ton of reasons why you shouldn't buy, especially right now. Unless some miracle happens, Thai real estate is due for at least a 50% correction IMHO. With rising interest rates and empty units, landlords will eventually be forced to come down to reality and sell.

Ohh <deleted>. Nobody cares about mango and sticky rice. Tourists want nightlife that goes on until morning and doesn't get shut down by the fun police at midnight. They want no face masks, no restrictions, and definitely no Thai Pass or insurance requirement. They're doing the best they can to make tourists' experience bad, and then wonder why they're not coming. I mean come on - it's not rocket science - nightlife has been shut down for over a year - Thailand is a really poor experience now compared to what it was pre-Covid. I think they're still under the illusion that people actually come for the beaches and temples - some do, but many many come for the nightlife and craziness that used to be Thailand - take that away and there's really no reason to come for many. Thailand's real "soft power" that brings tourists is not mango and sticky rice - it's women and nightlife.

How a gf acts totally depends on you. Treat her too good - she'll get bored, put no effort, cheat on you, eventually leave you. Give her some drama (cheat on her, don't come home a night or ten, etc) - she'll go out of her way to please you in every way. Funny enough this works exactly the same with working girls as it does with non-WG. They are all women after all. This thread kinda got off topic. Wish there were more actual recommendations for places outside Thailand a singe (or not) man could have some fun. On the cheaper end I can think of Phnom Penh, Angeles City, Subic Bay. Dubai has a ton of women of course but it's definitely not a budget option.

Rent isn't directly correlated to inflation in the short term. Over the long term yes, but in the short term rent is dictated by demand - you may want to charge more, but if the tenant has other, cheaper options then they'll just move. 2000 baht a month is 24000 baht additional on a yearly contract - that's enough to make a tenant move if they find something cheaper. Personally I would move on principle because a landlord that arbitrarily raises the prices like that for no real reason is a bad landlord and who knows what else they'll nickel and dime me for later on.

The only ones booking 1-day stays would be expats and others who have a permanent accommodation in Thailand already. Actual tourists would probably book at least a few days as it's a hassle to move around hotels, and they'll likely pick a hotel they're already happy with if most hotels are SHA+ (and they will have to be if they want to survive). I think this is a non-issue, but even if they were to get a large number of 1-night stays - that's still better than rooms sitting empty. And it could easily be accounted for by increasing nightly prices and giving discounts for longer stays. Also don't forget that those guests who book 1 night wouldn't even sleep in the room - they'll check out immediately after the negative result, allowing the hotel plenty of time to prepare the room for next day.

I was thinking just that - even if this isn't what actually happened - the fact that if he dies or goes to jail the wife would get the house and probably much more (any known savings/investments, life insurance if there is, etc) is alarming - to say the least. If on the other hand he didn't buy the house (only rented), didn't marry her, and all assets were kept out of Thailand - her motivation would be to keep him as safe as possible. But to sum it up, as you said - if she knows you're worth much more to her alive and well than.. uhh.. not.. chances are you'll remain that way.

Personally I'd move and lose all contact with him. I actually moved countries when I broke up with my bipolar schizophrenic ex-gf a few years back. Our first month together she was fine, but the next couple of months went downhill fast. After she started getting violent and attacked me a couple of times, threatened to throw herself off the balcony if I left her, and even pulled up a knife (which I quickly disarmed) I figured the only way to get out of this was to cut all contact - so I went on an overseas vacation and never came back (to her). And of course she also had a psycho criminal ex-bf who was stalking her and threatening me. I got out of the situation pretty quickly, but I'm sure had I stayed I would've ended up either badly hurt or in jail.

I think the crime started earlier than that - buying a house and marrying the type of woman who'd bang other men behind his back. She's obviously exactly the type of woman who'd ruin his life, one way or another.