DonniePeverley

In Pattaya and with a Thai partner half his age? Of course mate.

Makes for a good spf. Local receptionist wears one when she doesn't have time to do her makeup.

Got a few weeks off ... let's have some inspiration where you guys are heading, and some info. I've done the usual Singapore, Malaysia, Seoul, Taiwan, Shanghai, etc some good, some bad - most major metropolosis cities unfortunately in Asia are all looking the same. Looking for something different. Now i'm getting older i actually prefer more slower type places, rather than hectic cities. One country i didn't quite enjoy was Japan. I know alot of hipsters go on about it, but i found it rather unremarkable. Where you all heading this year ?

Not all Malaysian Indians are all immigrants, but actually locals. The British bought loads of Indians into Malaysia (along with Chinese) to work in their industries there during colonial era. The problem i have with Malaysia is it can be rather sterile and boring at times. Malls, street life, the people are all rather bland. Whilst not as bad as Singaporians, still pretty dull. Only thing it has going for it is the different mix of cultures.

Punjab is rife with drugs unfortunately. The population elite are also obsessed with leaving the Punjab and heading abroad - leaving a brain drain. Most of India, but especially Delhi is very dangerous for women. You cannot walk out alone once sunsets if you are women - any age or looks. I've seen first hand families keep their daughters at home permanantly once they reach puberty till marriage. Goa used to be pretty cool, but then domestic tourism has really taken off and it's become a real dump. The problem with India is it's so bloody dirty. They've made strides with having toilets now everywhere, but those toilets are awful, and most still urinate outdoors. I've been to awful African countries that are cleaner than parts of India. Education is needed.

Nothing has happened. 1) 6th biggest economy in the world. 2) 'Free universal health care' for all - taken out of taxation. 3) Free education for children under 18. 4) Subsidized university education for citizens, in some of the best universities in the world - very cheap compared to other countries. 5) Ability to hold dual citizenship. 6) Brits move abroad, knowing full well they can come back and be taken care off. Americans for example will not have that same security, particularly for health care. 7) Clean air. Compare this to the pollution in Thailand. 8 ) Strong laws to protect against racism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc 9) Low crime rate - despite the media rhetoric, crime rate in the UK is still very low. I could go on .... Some of the bad things - abuse of generous handouts, corruption is rife with government money, unable to build infrustructure, Brexit has damaged the economy, etc THE ONLY PLACE THE UK IS NOW NOT GREAT FOR IS RACISTS.

SHOCK HORROR middle class white people see no racism shocker.

They;ve urged thailand to diversify their economy too and stop being reliant on cheap mass tourism. But they never listen.

Maybe Chinese tourists are sick of the violent crime from the Benidorm Brits, sex pest indian men, marijuana shops everywhere. Thailand will look to everything but the obvious. Vietnam still require Indians to get a visa and a hotel booking in their name which weeds out the cheapos.

I firmly believe none of the politicians in charge ever holiday in Thailand. It's absolutely carnage in Phuket, Pattaya, and other zones. They could literally adopt an approach that pivots to quality tourism. Why do they always take the soft easy option and just let in the masses? This approach turns away so many people.

This is the strategy they will adopt .... ALLOW EVERYONE IN, NO RESTRICTIONS, PAY THEM TO VISIT, BEG THEM. THE TRAUMA FROM COVID AND NO TOURISTS IS REAL. ALLOW TOURISTS TO RUN RIFE WITH CRIMINAL ACTS BECAUSE THEY ARE TOURISTS. What they will not do - clean up tourism. Quality tourism - less is more. No one wants to share a beach with a thousand other people littering everywhere. An immediate return to visas for some nationalities. Return back to 30 day visas to stop criminal enterprises. A no nonsense approach from policing to protect tourists from Benidorm Brits and draft dodging Russians. Improve tourism standards, food, hotels by adopting international standard checks on. BAN HOSTELS - to stop cheap tourists. Ban criminal enterprises and scams targetting tourists. Install cameras in every taxi to stop the 'no meter'.

Pattaya smells like a urine hole these days too. Thailand has ruinedi t's reputation by removing all visa protocols. At least visas ensured each visitor from India had a hotel booking in THEIR NAME. Now you have scenarios with 10 of them bunking down in one room illegally. The vast majority are cheap visitors. What i do admire about the indians however is there pure lack of shame in approaching prostitutes in packs. They simply do not care if there is police, families around, tourists, in the near vacinity. Nothing stops them. Got to admire that.

Could be acid build up from the coffee ? Try tea, it has less caffeine content.

There's quite a few British lot who are doing tours around these islands too. Many try creative ways to get around the protected job ban - it's an utter disgrace. The amount they charge is insane.

To conclude, even though the UK got of lightly with tarrifs chaos - one thing is guarenteed the Pound will always sink.

Legalised marijuna, legalised chinese casinos. Mass open immigration into Thailand. What on earth have the done to this beloved country?

The danger is he could have gone outside and used that. It's about time Thailand really had a hard look at the narcotics issue in the country. If they are going to allow marijuana, then they simply must hit out hard against the other drugs. Because as it stands drugs are all over the place here at the moment, and it's attracting some of the pits of the world.

Absolutely the pits what they've done.

They're literally on course to smash their record number of tourists this year, smashing way past 40 million. No other country is even that close - due in part to having next to no visa controls, and allowing in mass cheap tourism. What type of low asteem is going on at the tourist board ? Utterly insane.

Show me the violent crime in Dubai ... show me social media videos consistently day in day out of violence from Benidorm Brits, Drunk Russians, etc Thai has it's own set of cultural behaviours, and these tourists stample all over them.

Dubai makes billions from tourism and avoids any issues. Singapore makes billions avoids any issues. Same with Barbados, Aruba, many Caribbean states. Soft touch policing and enforcement is the issue. It's got nothing to do with social media. I've been in Thailand so long, that i have noticed over the past couple of years there has been a huge change in the type of tourist arriving, and secondly the changing ugly behaviour of these visitors - absolute horrid they are. It coincides with relaxed drug laws, and the removal of all visa restrictions.

Animal behaviour. Benidorm Brits or Russians ?

We know what's going to happen. He'll pay a little fine and most likely that will be the end of it. No wonder then Thai's feel like taking the law into their own hands. Such is the fear of 'offending tourism' and not to make any headline they have literally allowed the country to fester in very bad behaviour from visitors. Dubai and Singapore will often make sensational headlines for their hard crackdown on tourists when they behave appalling, but they accept any headlines. When you allow in millions of visitors into your country you must police them responsibly to allow the law abiding to enjoy themselves, and most importantly to protect locals (ironically these Brits demand this in their own country from foreigners). And the end result is the people love it, because it creates a safe place for people to come and enjoy. At the moment the reputation of Thailand is suffering with these horrific videos on social media of badly behaved tourists. You do not see this behaviour of 'drunken Benidorm Brits' in Dubai or Singapore. The state will not tolerate it. They need to send a message to some of these tourists who behave this way - so word gets around. Ignore the short term headlines, and think of the long term well being of the country. I remember back in the 90's you would see massive messages on 'no drugs' into Thailand, and it worked. Now you openly have facebook message groups talking about raves and drugs on Thai islands. What on earth has happened? I honestly believe alot of this poor behaviour is as a result of being on some form of narcotic. This guy looks like he is on something, the girl dancing after her car flipping looks like she was on something too. It's just on and on - but it could end up really hurting someone, they aren't innocent crimes. The country seems to have been so effected by covid and that time without tourism, that it has essentially willing to accept any poor behaviour from anyone, it has destroyed the beauty of the country - which were the hospitable Thai culture, relatively safe place to come and enjoy (as opposed to the Phillippines or other regions). Thailand has been infested with 'Benidorm Brits' (i say that in jest as their are other tourists who are just as bad). Fake social media videos enticing them to come to Thailand, the crack down in spain on these sorts of visitors means Thailand is catching alot of them . These are the exact kind of tourists Thailand should seek to avoid. The treatment towards locals is awful. This all builds up into a resentment from locals that you need to be careful about. Go see headlines in Spain, Italy, Croatia, France, Greece about locals having had enough of the behaviour of these tourists. There should be an immediate clamp down on this behaviour. No tolerance. Visa rules must change too. The sheer volume on these easy visas long term is a disgrace - it's just basically an open border immigration policy now. No wonder many are calling Thailand the new Benidorm.

Christ ... there was a small child on that bike that he pushed over. Ask yourself would this guy behaved this way in Singapore or Dubai? Why does he feel it's okay to behave like this in Thailand? The Thai's on a whole are decent people. I am aware that tourism is important to the country. But when you open up your borders to literally everyone without any checks and balances, when your policing is soft for fear of offending tourism, when you allow long term stay for foreigners who cannot afford it which invevitably leads to working illegally or crime - you are asking for trouble. The level of drug taking i have seen around Thailand is astonishing. There was a time these places were seen as big no no's to narcotics. This isn't helping. There should be checks and balances. The level of horrid cheap tourism in Thailand is a disgrace and is turning away quality tourists. At the same time inevitbly it's going to lead to a backlash from locals who are not used to this brutish Benidorm Brit behaviour.

The US exports very little to the UK anyways. 10% is nothing, it's within the normal parameters of price changes. Leave well alone. Also just remove ourselves from Europe. And become a sponge for everyone - the USA, EUROPE, ASIA. The Singapore on the Thames.