DonniePeverley

I had Russian cut my hair. Was she allowed to do that ?

Go on TikTok and there's a raft of these 'influencers' who have popped up around the past few months, all with the same age range, and all with the same rhetoric. It can't be a coincidence which leads me to believe there may well be some paid influencing going on - not that i am saying this guy is doing that. Age range - early 20's. Say your country is boring, dull, and you won't get anywhere there (usually USA, UK, Australia, Europe). Play on the fact it's cold in the western countries. Don't mention the gdp per person in Thailand is a fraction of the western world. Go on endlessly how Thailand is cheap (it isn't). Repeat the mantra how it is cheap a few more times. Mention safety. Explain how easy it is to come. You just leave your job, come here, and it will all be okay. Never mention the visa issue. At no point do you even discuss it, even if 90% of the replies are asking you about it. You ignore this because you are cool innit. Now the bizarre co-incidence, is they all push you to do 'social media' here, and you can make a living to survive. This to me is the 'got ya coincidence moment'. Why would a TikToker want others to do the exact same thing he is doing and creating competition. Only Thailand gains from getting people to come here and post on social media. Never type anything negative. Never mention you are unable to work here. Because remember you have to keep pushing the mantra 'everything is easy' when you get here. Never mention you won't get free health care. Never mention you won't ever really be able to own land to own property. Never mention education can be quite expensive if you settle down with a family. Never mention pollution. Then finish of with a dose 'it's cheap in Thailand'. One of these Tokers (i forget his name), who looks like he is wearing a wig, even turned up a TAT event at a mall and spoke on the virtues of Thailand ! Bit too much of a coincidence for me. Thailand certainly been looking at Dubai's 'soft power' on social media.

I've followed him in the past on TikTok, before getting sick of his nonsense rhetoric. At first i thought maybe he was some TAT paid influencer, as a quite a few guys popped up at the same time, all with the same rhetoric and age range (move to Thailand, it's cheap, your home country is crap, anyone can do it nonsense). But who knows. He posts alot of crap on how bad the UK is, some completely not accurate. He like many others, know they have the safety net of returning to the UK. Some posters have told him to give up his citizenship if the UK is that bad, but he doesn't entertain that idea. He doesn't answer the question on how he is staying their long term. Visa wise, we know their are 'wink wink' routes you can do, but they are a pain to do, and not cheap. But he is never open about it. Infact he is never really that open about certain issues. But he continues to 'influence'. What i do find very offensive about him, is his constant call that ANYONE can do it. It's false influencing, and quite harmful to impressionable idiots who may well be naive enough to just run out here, without realising they are unable to work here easily, long term visa issues, no free health care, and the actual fact Thailand is not that cheap, etc As someone from an immigrant background myself who lived in the UK, the fact he too is from an immigrant background and hates on the UK so much is very poor and an awful look - despite the opportunities it's clearly afforded his family. 99% of Thai's would swap places with his family and move to a western country if they could. The sad part is, this little bit of publicity may well open him up to check what visa status he is actually on here. If i was him, i'd buy an onward ticket just incase. This 'large group tour' he has planned - hmmm 🙄

For research purpose, the state of ladyboys on Thai Friendly this morning is horrific. The top brass were all filipinos, now left with the rough Thai's.

They're running the prostitution business now on Phuket too. According to my 'research' that is.

Turf war. Filipino Ladyboys now much more in demand, they can speak fluent English for a start.

I think They've bought the sunbed chair business on Kata beach. Monopoly.

The behaviour towards the ambulance was even more disgusting. Sheer cheek of him.

You clearly haven't been to Dubai. Sri Lanka have recently moved to suspend long term visas for Russians for this exact sort of behaviour. They were literally taking over the island.

He is correct. Kata / Karon has now been over taken by Russians. Restaurants, nightlife, massage shops, tourist shops, boat tours, even getting a hair cut is all now Russians. Yes they may employ the odd Thai upfront, but these businesses were run by Thai's in the past. Putting aside the moral issue of letting Russians stay so long - they simple have to address the issue of local Thai's been hurt by their behaviour. They've also pushed rents so high, that local Thai's have had to move out. One reason for short term visas historically was so Thai's would always have places to live and not be outpriced. In a whim it's been tossed aside. A once beautiful paradise island has been ruined by them. Furthermore, if you want a free for all and invite the whole world to Thailand, you must make sure you have the infrustructure in place. Phuket roads are at a standstill at the moment because it cannot cope with the gates just being opened like they have over the past few months. I often go on tripadvisor, and even though they do their best to remove any negative comments, that vast majority of complaints are against Russians and their behaviours.

Here on O visa. Have income in Scotland. We are taxed there. We bring savings to Thailand, to help pay for fees for condo/utilities/schooling etc. Will we have to file taxes ?

At the risk of scouring 232 pages, can someone give me a VERY brief description as to what is going on ?

He loves tourism. What about all the other problems in Thailand ?

Patong area needs a congestion charge.

Dubai is packed with Russians too. Seems the elite have headed there.

Russians in Phuket. What happens when the war is over. Will they go back ? What happens to the market then.

Phuket has to be careful. Once the Russian colonise they may well claim the country as their own. lol maybe

I think probably you'll see stricter rules regarding licenses, so you can't get tin pot foreigners just opening up shops on a Thai mates name. License's will become more expensive - the gov't will want a cut of that billion. Furthermore tougher penalties for misuse etc, advertising and what not.

How many 'refugees' from Russia ?

They've just dropped visa fees for their biggest tourists.

Nonsense. 28 million tourists last year. On course to hit 40-50 million this year, if you look at how busy January and February were. Of course cheap over tourism creates problems.

He loves tourism doesn't he ?

They had massive tourist numbers last year, when you compare it to the rest of the world. The first two months of the year show they are going to be back and break pre pandemic visitors. Getting rid of visa fees and waivers was done in too much of a panic, and has been a needless massive cost that is barely been spoken about. Chinese visitors have began resuming to normal all around the world over the past few months, the visa waiver has made no difference whether they would have come or not. Of course it will be spun as 'the visa waiver' is the reason they are returning, but that is just not the case. How many visitors are Thailand looking at ? They will smash through 40-50 million this year. What do they want - 60-80 million ? You try to move around the roads on Phuket and it's a gridlock. You better then make sure you do some prior investment in infrustructure before allowing this. Airports are jammed to the queues. Furthermore, what happened to quality tourists over quantity ? It seems the leadership is purely focussed on the overrall number, regardless whether it's good spending tourists or not. It's a very naive approach, i predict within a year the locals will start to become angry at the volume of tourists taking over. You already have local thai's furious they are being priced out of flights to move around the country as tourists take over. The decision to allow Russians to stay longer is deeply controversial. Again, it's barely mentioned by the media, but they've pushed rental prices up so high, creating a bubble. Will they return nack to Russia after the war? If so, what happens to these properties they are renting out and have inflated the prices. It's meant many local Thai's have been pushed out further in the housing market. There are so many issues in Thailand - inequality, education, pollution, policing, exports, yet the overall focus on tourism is just far too much.

They're an absolute nightmare. We have the same problem in our condo. Most are inviting extended families over, and despite the condo warning you aren't allowed to short let your room, i am assuming there is no rule to prevent extra family members staying with you. As a result the population of the condo has balloooned up. The pool area is now a nightmare as it's just packed with Russians.

Japan is worst. They've actually suffered stagnation to their economy for decades, an ageing population, but they refuse to let any immigrants in. Old British guys in Pattaya would love to hear that.