stoffel45

Let me try to throw in a cent's worth.

I am very familiar with this problem and spent 9 years in Thailand helping distressed foreigners - there are ways.

1. Make up a Central File - stick it on Cloud or put it in PDF form. The File.

2. Contact U.S.Citizen services in the U.S. Consulate in Bangkok. 022054049. Be prepared for "If you can call in at our office...."type of help. In my many MANY run ins with USCS - it took dynamite to move them a millimetre. You must persevere.

Suggest: Send the file to a friend in Bangkok. Have the friend take the file (the whole file) to the USCS in Bangkok. Get a receipt. The File includes ALL Consular passport information, next of kin info. employers company, address and phone and email contacts. Names of friends in the US. Former employee status in the US with links to named companies, bosses and colleagues. This is the File.

Take a covering typed letter BRIEFLY (oh but these guys are so BUSY - respect that).

This Letter should in bullet points.

Name. Passport No. Date of issue. Photocopy of passport and visa entries included.

Subject: Current whereabouts. e.g Hospital in Phuket.

If possible a doctors "Fit / or not / to Fly x hours - needs accompaniment/ not.

Outstanding Medical Bills in Thailand. Details not older than 5 days.

What would the Subject NEED - cash, airticket, assistance on arrival.

If USCS are "too busy" - get the American expats to send a letter to every US Senator and Congressman. Send a copy to every Newspaper in the US.

Use this only if they are prevaricating. It does help light the fuse.

Immigration: The hospital can take care of Immigration Procedure to extend the stay due to hospitalisation. Normally the charge is 1800 baht and the Subject has to provide two photos - usually done and charged for by the hospital. If for any reason the hospital cannot do it - have a friend collect the information and forms completed by the Hospital - take two photos of the Subject - name and date on the reverse. The Subject's Passport and give to Immigration. It is normally a rubber stamp job.

If there is overstay PRIOR to the accident - that opens up a whole new can of worms.

Churches.

If it was not for Christian Churches (of all flavours) many of our 72 expat casevacs would not have happened. Christianity is in the business of helping neighbours. Heck we even repatriated 4 muslims.

You in Phuket who are this man's friends. Make a list of the Churches. Take The File and the Summary Letter with all the mini details to the pastor of the Church to an appointment with the Pastor. Ask if you can make an appeal during Service or ask for a member of congregation to help you .

Remember that Churches like all charities, are targets of con-men. People who came to Thailand, were conquered, ran out of money and sense and spiralled down. I handled a load of these and yes they are difficult to tell - at first.

So be factual -not emotional in this matter.

Back to Family.

Yes, I have been turned down by families who mostly view the Subject as a waste of time. They've poured money into fun binges on all sorts of pretexts. "Mom I am in Jail - I am in hospital - the Mafia's after me and will kill me if I don't pay." Endless.

Do not just telephone the Family. Get email addresses. Send the File. If you have difficulty with USCS - give them the details in email. Be utterly truthful.

I do not believe that the Family - and former friends or employers cannot help. Maybe they cannot pay 100% - but 80% IS possible. They have Churches in his town too.

Get a FUND established - NOT in Thailand - not at this Bank - it is a RED Flag to would be donors.

Once the FUND is established (takes a minute in the US) and there is enough - inform the US State Department and it can have the money IMMEDIATELY (and I mean that) in Bangkok.

Thus the Embassy/Consulate pay the Bills with NO risk of "local commissions" if you take my drift.

Now when you have ALL that done - contact me on < Email address removed, please use PM function to contact >

Good Luck.

Amnesty - in translation means that Taksin, the scofflaw, succeeds. He will return to Thailand on a wave of murderous Red. A salute to Beijing to be well rewarded.

But Taksin in Thailand is within reach - and that is good.

Thaksin told the red shirts that the previous government led by Abhisit did not come to power through democratic means.

Almost true. the good part is Abhisit was ousted by democratic means when the electorate voted him out of office.

the judiciary has to accept the peoples choice who they want them to govern. Abhisit should also learn to accept that he isn't the people choice and never was.

From a Taksin Shinawatra point of view - a good Judge, a Democratic Judge is one who will overlook Taksin's crimes.

Come on folks. PM Y is low lying fruit. You dont have to invent stuff to criticize of her.

She does fine on her own.

Coming up with this kind of sh*t only reduces the impact of legitimate concerns, and reduces the credibility of the reporting.

Hell i change cloths 2 - 3 times a day just because of musk and sweat. If you don't, i hope you buy antiperspirant and deodorant in bulk!

I will say that she could have avoided all this by having multiple copies of the same outfit, and therefore she can look fresh without looking like she changed cloths. Like I believe most other politicians do in the more developed countries.

An excellent point of view Jamhar - thank you.

Sorry to read of Phronesis's bad luck - I promise you it is not typical.

I do have one funny story about a Sukhumvit tailor, recommended by the then Delta Grand Pacific's concierge. I ordered 3 different business suits each with two pairs of trousers. Two were perfectly made and the price was excellent. I had paid for the 2 completed suits but the third suit was having problems.

I am leaving tomorrow.....reply - oh no problem pay now and we'll send it to your hotel. Nope. I will call in in the morning - No sir please not the morning - how about 19:00 before you leave for the airport. Very odd.

It turned out that one of the pairs trousers had two different materials - one leg with a micro thin red stripe - the other plain blue/white pin stripe.

In neon light nearly impossible to spot. In daylight easy. The boss of course fluffed his turban and huffed about the new tailor's eyesight.

I left them the lot and never went back.

In Bangkok, reasonable price, good bosses, Jimmy the obligatory Indian and Lek the tailor ARE a good team, make an excellent product. For uniforms or civvy wear you can't go wrong. Corner of Soi 13 called George Tailor.

In Pattaya - excellent value, great fitting (but you must insist on at least two fittings) is King Tailor - Second Road across from Caesar Palace Hotel. You can park at Central Shopping, come out the front and just walk about 100 metres. Enjoy.

What a load of &lt;deleted&gt;. I eat some of these, and I'm fine. I've eaten them every summer.

Me too and my family with no ill-effects.

That is one of the most condescending statements about tourists i have ever hear a PM of any country say. If she is going to say this it should said in private to the TAT executives. Thinking like a hi-so and speaking like a hi-so.

Like Father - Like daughter. Taksin Shinawatra, son of a small movie house manager who probably did not enjoy the HiSo label, was the first idiot who told TAT to go for "more upmarket tourists". Mind you, at that time he was pushing his "Prestige" card, which in true Shinawatran Hokum - died a horrible death from bankruptcy. He couldn't give them away.

Now, Prestige is back and daughter Yingluck is singing Daddy's Song - again.

It is not just Phuket which is becoming unaffordable.

During any of the "European School Holidays"....

In Koh Tao and Samui, rooms in a 2-3 star hotel cost the same as a 5 star hotel in Bangkok.

Even without currency devaluation/appreciation Thailand is getting a wee bit pricey.

In the course of a "normal" year, our family of 3 persons would stay for 72 - 75 days.

For the same budget as in 2010, 38 days costs the same - to us - in euro.

A huge percentage is due to the fall of the euro. (Hell I wish it would totally collapse). To help offset this we moved savings into US dollars since 2010. Most monthly surplus is immediately converted.

Our airfares have gone up by an actual 35% from then until now.

My daughter and wife used to come with nearly empty suitcases and then "Hit the shops" - it was part of their holiday and such a change to have polite and cheerful shop assistants. Now - shopping is cut to half.

Too many Russians and Indians in the hotels - so we have started renting apartments. Accidentally, this showed a major saving in accommodation costs and easily covers the cost of a car.

Sorry to take so long - but thought you may be interested that we costed similar holidays in the EU.

Yes, there is a fairly insignificant saving on airfares - and that is where the saving stops dead.

By Thai standards (room size, appointments, restaurant choice, pool etc) Europe is pretty second grade even third.

And in the EU, for lesser quality accommodation we could only afford about 26 days.

Even the periphery, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan are heftily priced to catch the northern Europeans fleeing

the gloom and pollution of their countries.

So let me reassure you - Thailand is STILL very good value - you'd have to drop to one star or camping in the EU for a much shorter period to match costs.

Happy Holidays.

Is being 'anti-Russian tourist' racism?

Yes, it is.

My family must therefore be racist.

I will always check with a hotel what their Russians/Indians ratio of guests is. If it is above 40% we will not stay there. If there is a significant percentage of Russians or Indians we will leave.

WHY?

Two main reasons.

1. We have a very beautiful daughter who is 12 years old. Indian men, in majority those of low class, will follow the kid. No they don't touch and No they don't try to talk to her - they just come within 2 - 3 metres and they STARE intently. They will follow her and it is very disconcerting for her.

I speak to the Manager, but she tells me she already knows the problem - it is an Indian male thing, she explains. "Yes we get a lot of complaints but what can we do?"

Being a non-confrontational Thai - there IS nothing she can do. She said guests had called the Police who would just have a "Strong talk" with the starer and that feels better - for a few minutes.

So we leave and now we find apartments or houses to rent and we always check with Reception if there are a lot of Russians or Indians.

2. Russians. Very occasionally, one meets the educated Russian and that is fine.

Russians get drunk very easily - OK so do the Nordics. But when one is in a Restaurant and Russians are "Screaming Drunk", then brawling - it does little for the evening. I have visited Russia many times and they are not so "openly" badly behaved.

Accordingly - in contradiction of my first para - it is more the way people of low class behave whilst drunk - especially if they come from Russia - rather than racism.

It's not fair. Mugabe and his democratic ZanuPF won't release the results of the Zim Referendum before it is held.

Apparently, the results are kept in a locked box in the trunk of a car "somewhere near Darwin".

Well done the Thai Police......now.....there's this fugitive from Thai justice with a whole parcel of crimes committed in Thailand rumoured to be living between Dubai and Hong Kong.

Can a fugitive have diplomatic protection?

When is a fugitive Not a Fugitive?

Is there a one armed man involved?

It's no laughing matter.laughing-monkey.gif

How DARE you say my children look like monkeys!

It's no laughing matter.laughing-monkey.gif

How DARE you say my children look like monkeys!

Hi Steve, I must agree with Phronesis above. Getting a proper and FULL diving certification, in the UK or even the USA (where it is warmer) will set your son up with a career. (just remember that there are few "oldish" divers.

PADI is wonderful for "Recreational" diving. It does not really offer a career - but does offer a lot of fun. Your son's a greenkeeper now - hmmm - I am wondering, as a parent, who serious he views work at all.

If your eyes are open, as Paymaster, and his as a prospective student - then heading to Koh Tao is heading for FUN, FUN, FUN and only a little bit of education, which I suspect is not your son's primary motivation.

Koh Tao - in contrast to an earlier post, Koh Tao really IS a party island. It is a young divers' paradise. Lovely weather, nice dive sites, a few wrecks, not too dangerous currents. A party a night, 365 days a year.

Koh Phangan by comparison has its Full Moon Party - which your son would visit - though it is greatly overrated and bloody dangerous. (drugs and bent cops).

Cost of living. Dive accommodation - very very basic, no aircon, a lot of wildlife - about 600 - 900 baht per night.

Eating. Eat Thai - 140 baht per day - good. Eat foreign - 400 - 500 baht per day.

Booze - depends. Drugs. If you even suspect your son is inclined - don't let him go anywhere near Thailand.

Iphones and Galaxy tabs et al - plenty of Internet - good mobile phone connections. Call rates about half of the UK. So no worries about comms.

Medical care. My wife is a doctor and we have been called out to hotels in Koh Tao. There IS a Sort of a doctor on the island. And a very expensive pharmacy. Nearest, semi-competent hospital is on Samui - 2 - 3 hours by boat/ferry depends on weather conditions.

If your son has health issues - avoid Koh Tao.

In closing - we love Koh Tao - some really lovely bays and dive sites. I think the average age of tourists is under 23 years. A LOT of them are there to dive or learn to dive. Dive instructors are paid peanuts and most do it for the diving and the lifestyle.

Simple Life, Ban's, Coral Grand, Seashell - Easy Divers - all good - much of a muchness.

Be careful - it is a den of wonderful iniquity. Maybe best you suss it out first.

Could this "Furby Warning" have anything to do with Pheu Thai?

http://www.coconutsbangkok.com/news/red-furby-stands-in-for-pongsapat-in-sripatum-debate/

I worked for 8 years with a charity in Pattaya. We were connected to many Christian Churches. Many times the pastors of those Churches would ask me to help with people who had approached them asking for help.

Africans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Iberians, Congolese, you name it - all had only two purposes for being in Thailand. Drugs and Cheating.

I had a bet with one of the pastors that I could find an honest African. I was wrong.

If you go to ICT prison in Bangkok you will quickly see the African population - they are in the cages on the ground floor. At visiting time they mount the cage walls, hanging on with fingers and toes. As you pass they ask for money for 'phone cards. There is one priest, Father Oliver, who knows them well.

When they are arrested, they are imprisoned, then sentence served they end up in ICT. By this time their airticket has expired and their passport (even if it was real) is invalid or gone. They have no embassy in Thailand except South Africans but they don't bother. So they languish there. They are a huge percentage of the ICT population.

Mostly the police don't try to pick them up though they know they are up to no good - always. Usually they have NO money, no assets and are just a liability.

It is very sad and very annoying at the same time.

And Chalerm's failures obviously reflect Yingluck's little care and attention toward the southern situation. Had she really cared, she would not have assigned such an important task to Chalerm.

the clueless assigning the clueless

.

I seem to remember last time our hero was in government and responsible for the south he flatly refused to visit the area as he feared for his life and was eventually dismissed from his post. Now he's back in government and is a prime example of Carl Marx' dictum ' those who fail to learn from history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them " or in other words just a normal day in Thai politics

Actually, it was George Santayana who originally said this and his quote was,"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Santayana was born in the mid-19th Century, so it is possible that the none too erudite Karl Marx MAY have misquoted Santayana - but I don't think so.

Chalerm? What an indictment of Thailand to have this man free on the streets let alone as Thailand's deputy Prime Minister.

Surely, Taksin makes Thais make fools out of Thais.

Guilty or not guilty there are two points which merit a bit of thought.

1. Criminals cannot skip Thailand and hope "it all goes away." This case and one I have just finished, shows the arm of the (Thai) Law is very long indeed - which is as it should be.

2. Citizens of the EU (including the UK) may not be extradited to face charges in any country which uses the death penalty for such charges.

This means that the UK Government must have done a deal with the Dept of Justice in Thailand - that regardless of the murder charge sticking and a sentence of death applied it will not be carried out.

But we all know - that conditions in a Thai jail are not conducive to good or prolonged health.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, responding to recent security cam footage of three police officers “requesting” money from an Indian tailor shop owner, claimed that said behavior was acceptable during the Chinese New Year as it constituted religious tradition and was not merely an act of bribery.

Of course it is acceptable!

Where do you think you are?

Of course, if you have to hand, a big stock of explosives and a large team of unthinking soldiers to carry and stack it in two piles. If the two piles or explosives are then concreted into position. If you then detonate the explosives, in their two piles, with a small gap between the two explosions - why - you get the same signature "double-tap" caused by a nuclear weapon.

Of course, deep is deep and the seismic wave occurs.

I feel there is a great deal of doubt that N.Korea has actually detonated a nuclear weapon - ever.

However, it is highly profitable to do so, as the Americans in particular and the South Koreans found out the last time.

N.Korea should be treated the same as Iran. If you really develop a nuclear weapon - you are gone.

Of course, there is no connection with the recent re-arrest of Kamnan Poh.....is there?

Apart from its - not so lovely weather - and its very high percentage of the criminal classes - and the danger in just being there - and the super high extra costs of everything - and the rudeness of its touts and the dangers of cross currents off-shore and cross Thais on shore - it is quite a nice place for the foolish to holiday.

I note it is very popular with the Russians now......