JensenZ

Oh goodness. The virtuous members never quit. I expected a fine - I got a fine. It was the drama they caused over 2 rotten bananas that made the story a bit more interesting. Had I just received a fine, I would not have written about the event. It has nothing to do with excuses or ignorance - I just plain forgot.

My overripe banana story has attracted too much attention from virtuous members with great memories who never make mistakes, and then proceed to lecture me about Australian regulations, that I am well aware of. You obviously didn't read my post. Had you read it, you would have understood that I forgot about the bananas after a very long flight. I'm quite aware of the law and the discard bin as I've flown into Australia many times over the years. This was the first time I had forgotten my packed food. This has nothing to do with common sense.

So according to your good reading skills, you discovered this is what "usually happens". Perhaps you could explain the reason for this warning about a fine/jail time if they "usually" just confiscate the items. Is it just to scare people, or only for the unusual occassions?

It is comparible as a lot of people pack food in their carry-ons to eat on board, and on long flights, forget about the items... potentially getting a year in jail according to the new regulations in Thailand. On shorter budget flights, the airplane food is terrible. I've carried my own lunch on many flights over my many years of flying around the globe. I forgot to eat my carry-on fruit one time --- sorry!

Your answer is absurd. Had I remebered the 2 bananas (that I packed in my backpack in Atlanta to eat on board) by the time I got to Brisbane airport about a day later, I would have thrown them out on the plane. LOL. Second option would be to throw them in the discard bin before going through customs. You think I should have declared the 2 rotten bananas so I could eat them later or make a banana smoothy? That the dumbest suggestion I've ever heard - declaring rotten bananas on the arrival card.

Yet most people feel that threatening tourists with a huge fine and imprisonment over a piece of fruit is too much. This is not just an "excuse to bitch", but an actual good reason to bitch LOL

I'm not importing anything. Sniffer dogs have no problem detecting forgotten lunch and rotten fruit, which is something a lot of people inadvertantly do.

Everyone must have felt really safe, having police checking all IDs and doing body searches. It would be really dangerous if customers were underage or patrons were trying to sexually harrass others. Next time I go to a night venue in Pattaya, I really hope the police conduct a raid so I can feel safe.

This was back in 1998. I'm sure they have changed their policy a bit after my incident. Brisbane had always been a difficult airport with attitude... much worse than Sydney or Melbourne. They have fewer incoming international flights, so more time to hassle people. When did your incident occur, and where?

You might have read my post first - I was fined. I wasn't complaining about the fine, but the enept way they handled it and the way they made a huge deal about it... just as they are in Thailand.

This is a worn out old cliché. If you're 20, 30 or more years older than the girl you're taking out of the bar, you're serving only one purpose and the bar is the least of your worries.

This is absurd. Police searches inside nightclubs does the opposite of making people feel safe.

You must be living on a different planet. Here in Pattaya, the last several months the air quality has been very bad and outside air stinks.... and there hasn't been a lot of breeze on most days, and when there has been a wind, it's hot wind, over 30C. I keep the doors and windows shut in the day and open them only at night.

Stange comment. I have 15 BTU Daikan Inverter units in 2 rooms. They are exactly the correcit size units for the size of the rooms. One is on the sunny side of the building (afternoon sun) and one in the shade all day. Both are working perfectly and keep my room temperature exactly where dialed. I find 26 - 27C is sweet spot for comfort at about 50% humidity. My wife runs it at 28C. The humidity is the key to comfort. If your unit doesn't drop the humidity, then it's not working properly and should be serviced or replaced.

It was a genuine question about how they would perform if wet - which has since been answered.

Are N95 masks waterproof?

Pattaya was just starting to improve the last 2 weeks, and we had some green on the IQ Air scale... now it's heading back to yellow and possibly red.

This year, and 2020 are the driest years I've ever experienced in Pattaya (since 2005). In 2020 there weren't any tourists, so it wasn't as critical. I suppose the council is not talking about it much, so they probably think we'll soon get a lot of rain to fill the dams. Let's hope we do.

7 days of fun. It might be the biggest event in years as this is the first real Songkran in Pattaya since 2019. With most dams in Thailand reaching critically low levels due to hardly any rain for 4-5 months, you'd think there might be some restrictions on wasting water. https://thethaiger.com/thai-life/thailands-reservoirs-and-dams-reaching-critical-level

Some sort of communication between the Thailand Tourism Authority and Customs/Immigration would be a start. Perhaps a crash course on how to treat tourists with some respect would be a good start. Would it hurt to make tourists feel welcome? The first time they see any of Thailand's LOS is after they leave the airport.

Well said! When there were no tourists they were crying, then as soon as they started arriving, they bring out the sledge hammers.

There's no need to inject your own words into my story. The reason for the banning of fruit are clear and not disputed. They also have bins asking people to discard fruit and other food. My story was about how customs handled an obvious and honest mistake. It's pretty obvious that no traveller would purposefully import 2 rotten bananas.

What was nonsense? You should try reading a post before making a reply.

This reminds me of my own experience back in about 1998. I was flying from US to Australia. I packed 2 bananas in my carry on bag which I intended to eat on board. I'd forgotten about them, and when I was picking up my bags at the Brisbane airport the sniffer dogs were getting excited at the smell of overripe bananas. They did a full search and treated me like a criminal due to an obvious mistake. Wtf would anyone smuggle 2 overripe bananas (practically mush at this point) into Australia. Customs officers are not allowed to use common sense. The whole customs team was totally bamboozled and didn't know what to do. I was there for hours, waiting for a decision. Luckily they didn't arrest me and sent a fine in the mail. This is no way to treat tourists... over fruit. A tourist is not importing fruit, but bringing something to eat. Just throw it in a bin and tell the tourist it's not allowed.

Having spent a lot of time in both countries... if you can't "have a bloody good time" in Thailand, you're not going to have fun in Philippines. In fact, Thailand is a much better place to be and I have no desire to go back.