parallaxtech

Called Nissan Surat today and they are opening a dealership in two weeks in Maenam.

This is probably in the wrong forum, but does anyone know where to buy the Nissan March in Samui, Suratthani, or Bangkok for the best price?

I have to renew my 5-yr license next week and would like to avoid the SIO if possible. Has anyone tried showing their blue housebook or corporate papers in lieu of the immigration letter? You would think that owning a house, company, and expired 5-yr license would prove that you live here.

You should rent for several months or years until you are sure of where in Thailand you want to live. During that time you will have a good picture of renting vs buying. I rented for three years before investing a huge amount of money (for me). I talked with several rich friends who had invested $1-5M+ in Koh Samui and they had already made money on previous investments here and were not concerned about losing anything. We all seem to have one thing in common, though, nothing is in our female partner's name. Many here trust their other halves with huge investments but that is a risk I would never take. If she is a wonderful person and companion for many years you can always will the property to her, but I would not recommend telling here this while you are still alive. You can just tell her that she will be taken care of as long as you die of natural causes.

The visa issue is really a non-issue. I have several friends between 25-40 who have been here for years. Many on this forum such as Mario can tell you how to get visas and then once you get here and talk with others they will give you the skinny on how to stay here as long as you wish.

The hotels did the same thing in Koh Samui. When you checked in, on the registration page was a notice about jet skis. Of course the mafia threatened to blow up a few of them, but if many hotels do it collectively it will have an effect. I know the owner of the jetskis in KS and he told me revenue last year was down 80%. I am on the beach every day and rarely see a scam now so maybe it will work in Pattaya. Good luck.

You can do what I did when I first came to Thailand. Start in Bangkok, then Pattaya, then Phuket, and finally Samui, spending at least one month in each place. I decided on Samui in 2005 and have lived here ever since. Once I established a base in Samui I began visiting the rest of Thailand. You know that you are living in the right place when every time you visit somewhere else you miss your home. If I ever find a place where I don't start missing Samui then I will move there. It's not for everyone, but then what place is? Get started on your journey and just have an open and clear mind. I would also suggest that you come with a friend (not a girlfriend).

My 85-yr-old, partly senile, friend was in the exact same situation. In fact he didn't know what country he was in so the police told him to go back to Koh Samui Immigration. KSIO immediately threw him in prison and after 40KB he was released to his home without a passport. He then was ordered to return to his home country, which was not on his agenda. He also had to pay for the plane ticket to Bangkok for the accompanying officer. He had a hearing in KS, banged up for a few hours, and then when he arrived in Bangkok he was banged up again to wait for his flight. He had to pay BIB, judges, etc. all along the way -- something in the neighborhood of 100KB. All IOs are not the same, and none are as bad as KS, but I would strongly advise that you not just humbly approach an IO with hat in hand. I can remember the Laos border guards around the Golden Triangle being very lax and friendly in fact they just gave us a 30B ticket to enter. So I would probably try to go to one of those border crossings where there are no Thai officers and just give the border guard a few hundred baht and ask him for an exit stamp. I would then ask him where the nearest official Thai entry point was and go there for the entry stamp. Mario can correct me if I am wrong as I trust his judgement.

He is training a 14-yr-old top junior player from Slovakia every morning from 8-10 at the Bangrak Tennis Center. Here are other links to him:

http://www.dominikhrbaty.com/

Dominik Hrbaty who has wins over Federer and Nadal is in town this week. He is retired from professional tennis now but still playing tournaments and commentating on tennis worldwide. This morning at 9:00 he will be playing at the Bangrak Tennis Center. The Samui Express will be writing an article on him this week. For more information on his life: www.dominikhrbaty.com .

I know one of these guys and you will never know who they are unless you see them rescuing someone and then it might just be another farang on holiday helping out. Their goal is to not let one person die on their watch and since they have been on guard no one has. Last year I believe two people drowned on Chaweng Beach one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon. These guys are usually there from 3-6 every day. There is no organized group or anything. What they would like is that if you see someone drowning, yell at one of the jetski guys first and if they can't help, look for a rescue ring or float, and then only go out if you are a strong swimmer. Grabbing a panic-stricken Thai, while trying to support both of you in 2m waves is suicide without some type of flotation device.

For instance one day last week near the Centara Hotel there were 2m waves rolling in and four Thais (3 girls, 1 boy) were warned not to go out there. Hearing screams, one farang went out on a raft and got three of them as one was beyond reach without endangering the other three. Even though she was screaming for help he had to concentrate on the three he had and just sadly had to write-off the other one. Out of nowhere he saw a jetski and after screaming for a minute or two the jetski came over and was told to search for the girl who had drifted off at least another 50m away. Everyone was saved. Ironically, the farang was chastised by the jetski guy for taking Thais to play out in the dangerous waves, probably not realizing that he was the rescuer. This is another reason they remain anonymous. If a farang is rescuing a Thai who dies in the process, he can possibly be charged with the accident. This is, unfortunately, why many farangs do not interfere or involve themselves with any Thais who are in trouble. On the other hand how can one enjoy their Sunday on the beach while someone is screaming for help and one simply ignores them? If anyone wants to help just bring along a flotation vest or ring or raft and be observant. You will be doing your good deed for the day and that is its own reward.

Who in their right mind believes it is normal to have a wife 70 years younger? Or worry that their own wife is 24 years younger and is way too old? What is this talk about 16 year old girls on fake IDs, many of whom are pregnant? And as to references to human beings, potentially wives, as black bananas, fresh fruit and green fruit, well this is all beyond me.

If the OP seriously means all these things, then I am not surprised he is having some problems. What sympathy had has now gone!

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Unlike others I don't impose morality on anyone. Nobody on TV or even a monk would pass a morality test, so it's a fool's errand. If friends or others want to date much younger women or even a kangaroo, more power to them. It's their choice and has nothing to do with any relationship I have with them. As they say, "The moral majority is neither." The only place I draw the line is with the law. If someone I know is breaking it I warn them of the consequences.

Never asked for sympathy, but only wanted two things:

1. To warn others about these pikeys/gypsies

2. To ask if I should have the guy arrested (answer was no)

\Roo: You should close this thread as it keeps getting off topic and I received the answers I needed. Somebody else can start a topic on "Relationships with Thai women" if they want.

Spot on. When the OP refers to children as "green fruit" I find that very disturbing indeed.

You don't pick, touch, or eat green fruit. So, what is your problem with that? As I said from the getgo I am not interested in anyone under 18. Some of you either can't read or are just blockheads. Those of you who want to commit a felony by attacking someone who asks your wife or daughter the time, directions, or how they are doing

in school, good-luck to you. Girls can easily handle chitchat or even a comeon. There is no reason for a male to intervene unless it is out of her control. You can not be there all the time so it's best that you know she can take care of things on her own.

Now that is quite insulting... However, I suspect its simply a group of uneducated monkeys doing nothing more than getting a laugh.....

I would doubt that there is any genuine ill intent going on here. I'm sure if you actually caught someone doing this and faced up to them it would very much be a School teacher scolding a scared child type scenario !!! (careful though !)....

yes i am quite upset at it....am sure my friend will handle it though...i am very recognizable as they see me every day and i always smile and say hello....it may be for a laugh but it really is nasty and am trying very hard not to take it personally as that will just give them the reaction they want. Sad though as if goes on shopping will be done at tescos and the market can say bye bye to my money no one wins

Funny, i stopped any shopping at a market in lamai years ago because whilst i thought i'd rather give money to locals than say a supermarket they thought it was fine to charge me more because i was a farang.

They'll just never learn. People don't like rewarding dishonesty.

lol Thai and foreigner prices could you imagine how that would go down back in the UK. for example i am serving in the market. a white customer comes up to me i charge him or her 20 pence for some bananas. though the person next to him might be an indian or a colored person and i charge them a pount for the same bananas.

if they asked me why i charged them mor ean di say " because u r indian or black" that would go down relly well.

I went to china recently. Even though the people look similiar i found it hard being talked to as an equal.

I think i would have a big culture shock after many years out here going home.

or my old home.

I might open a thai restaurant in the uk but charge more for thai people.

thats fair isn't it???

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Exactly, I got my answer on the first page as several suggested I stay away from the pikey markets, which I do now. These pikeys or gypsies travel all over Samui and are not the most reputable people. Give your business to Tesco 7/11, and Big C. Thanks again for all the great advice and thanks to Roo for keeping things on topic.

You still don't get it do you

Did it ever occur to you that it might turn some Thai fathers stomachs like it does mine and probably all the fathers in your home country to see their daughters trying to be chatted up by an old man. Do you have any morals. The more i read your posts i think you deserve what you get. I think you came here thinking you can do what the f***k you like, you want to start showing a bit of respect and you might get some back. I bet you believe your wife when she calls you handsome ma

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Bruce, you need to read the op. I was buying shoes, not hanging about in a schoolyard or bar. I don't go after any girl under 18 (green fruit). And, no, I have no respect for pikeys. My wife calls me "uan" (slightly fat man) and she is a top chef at a big restaurant in Chaweng, not a bar or massage girl, plus she doesn't speak any English. If any woman said "Hi handsome man!" I would run.

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There is clearly something very disturbing about you as far as the Thais are concerned. A Thai attacks you when you talk to his daughter or sister. Some people you were talking to were told you were "a very bad man" and now apparently when you met your wife, she was told you were a murderer!

For goodness sake!

Either you are an unfortunate victim of mistaken identity or someone has been saying bad things about you, or there is something about you that is freaking them out!

Try and work it out.

However although there may well be some endemic resentment towards us by Thai males, I think your case is so extreme that it could hardly be regarded as the norm.

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Once again I asked my Thai wife why such nasty rumours were spread about me and she said it was not just me but about every farang who was living here, but only by some Thais. She said that she ignores it and I should to and just to stay away from Thais on this island, which is what I do, unless I have to transact business with them. Through her, though, I have met some wonderful Thais so I am not bashing all Thais.

Have you ever seen a farang with a Thai woman his own age?

YES

perhaps that's your problem.

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Bruce, please take a picture of them. If I wanted black bananas I could find plenty in my orchard back home. Like most men here, I came for the fresh fruit. My wife is 24yrs younger, but I still feel she is way too old. My buddies who are ten years older have girlfriends/wives much younger than mine and it bothers me. That's the wonderful thing about life, though, you can choose anyone you like. If you prefer an old beater more power to you. I'll take the sleek new model.

This thread got seriously side-tracked early on.

The operative phrase here was: "One of the vendors stepped in and said to them that I was a very bad farang, ..."

Those of you living here in Thailand/Samui for some length of time ought to have picked this out right away. The subtext here is that for whatever reason (which obviously has not been posted, assuming it is even known to the OP), there has been a rumor(s) started regarding this farang which casts him in a negative light. I don't believe the Thai man was having a bad day, or overprotective of his daughter (a rather paranoid and naive specuation); he had simply heard something from someone and was treating the farang as he had been told: as a bad man. I'd ask the OP to think back and let us know if in the past there was some incident with someone else -- however minor -- that was the kindling for the current fire. Did you innocently tell someone that their mangoes were "แพงมาก" (very expensive) as you practiced your Thai or otherwise rubbed someone the wrong way. I bring up the "expensive" idea because it is one example where something you might say in English, and use when practicing Thai, could be taken the wrong way by a Thai, and could be taken as rudeness.

My feeling is that the OP has some bad press out there (deserved or otherwise) that is queering his pitch.

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"The only good farang is a dead one" is pretty much the attitude of many Thais on Samui. In seven years I have never heard a Thai say,"Hey, there goes a good farang." When I first met my Thai wife several years ago she nervously asked me if I had murdered my wife and children back home. After laughing for several minutes I asked her who had spread that rumour and she said that many people had warned her about me. I told her the next time she heard it to just say that the farang was offering a 1MB reward for anybody who could find a wife or children in his past. The longer you are here the less you are tolerated. Thais like tourists who come here and unload their wallets. If you can't kill the farang at least spread bad rumours about them. Again, this is a generalisation, as I have met many good Thais here, but it only takes a few disgruntled souls to rock the boat. And before you say it, I am here because I love the island, the food, and its attractions. As my wife said to me,"Stay clear of these people as they are not really Thai."

I thought you were innocent but with comments such as this, am not suprised at what happened to you....may I suggest you stop talking to young girls and stick to ones yourown age

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I would, but they are all dead! Why do you think I'm in Thailand? Have you ever seen a farang with a Thai woman his own age? My neighbor is 70 yrs older than his wife. Should I tell him to date someone his own age? Also, the op has nothing to do with dating some underage girl. Try reading it again, please.

Here as at many other places in asia I have however NEVER experienced any particular "agressiveness" directed either at me or other non-thai-caucasian-type visitors, even some, it dawned on me, may have very well deserved a good knock on their Ostrich egg heads.

But one thing is for sure the breadasket hangs a wee bit higher every day, it's way not any more as easy as it used to be for guides, taxistas and similar lurching bloopers and they are getting slowly, slowly stinky... understandable, was an easy and very cool life for years and years... so if... get out of their way, who assumes to be the smarter one - moves always first!

Could you explain your post to me, you've lost me

well I certainly don't mind mate where you get lost unless, ah' well.... some have this, some that, some other things... and some are those very sepcial selected ones... like an english teacher, a chosen one... you know... those who get "lost" or are lost already don't really bother me, never mind and have a nice day, every day!

And yes, by the way chatting up school age girls is a no, no! Doesn't matter with what intention!

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Samuian, you need to patent that herb you're smoking! Have you ever seen a bargirl or anyone eating rice on this island??? Many of the 16-yr-olds here are pregnant or have given birth so somebody is doing more than chatting! And many even under 16 are working the bars with fake ids so please drop the "hollier than thou" act. It turns my stomach.

If we are all honest with ourselves......when I lived in the UK, I tolerated all the foreigners from just about everywhere in the world that came over the past 50 years and were mostly useless idle scroungers....did I really like any of them or have any as friends..NO!!!........so why should Thais really like any of us.......there are so many that come here get drunk, abuse ladies, take drugs etc.....thats the reality

I am in some agreement about the situation in the UK. But here? You could hardly call the Farang as "useless idle scroungers".

Firstly, what is there to scrounge?

Secondly, Samui would not exist if it were not for the tourists. And expats. We all regularly pay over the odds for sub standard goods. We have made a lot of people very wealthy. The majority of drunks get their beer in a bar where a Thai is going to profit substantially. And who do they buy their drugs from? I am pretty sure it is not in Tesco.

I do see the animosity between the cultures and the nationalities. But I don't think it is for the reasons you cite.

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ITIS is 100% correct! The average immigrant to the UK and the US is looking to suck dry the remaining tit. Foreignors here are walking atms and make up the majority of the gdp. If one were a poor nation one would only hope and pray that this second group came calling. You don't have to bow before us for taking you from "rags to riches," but a nice "thank you" would suffice.

Back on topic, if I had a daughter working with me in a store, I would instruct her to smile and be very cordial with every customer as the object of any business is to relieve you of your cash, and happy customers buy. I would then tell her if someone crossed the line in friendship to just say, "I would like you to meet my father." Risking my life and livelihood by assaulting a customer would never enter my mind.

I agree with R Smith and a few others. Thais (not all) don't "bite the hand that feeds them" but rather take the whole arm off.

I grew up in a lower middle class area and I can recall the rich uncle driving up in his new roller. We put out the red carpet for him, the best we could offer from our meager holdings, and mother even made me go out and shine his car. In return we were rewarded with trips and gifts. When the day came that I was the "rich uncle" I did the same for my poor nephew's children. However, I began to see them taking advantage of the situation and not appreciating what I was doing for them. I immediately cut them off and never saw them again. In my family we do a good deed for the less fortunate, but if the recipient is not grateful than the act is never repeated. This is what has happened to Samui as farangs have seen resentment instead of thankfulness. And Thais are certainly not introspective creatures so they will surely look for the blame anywhere except within themselves.

I am not singling out Thais as I have seen this same thing all over the world but usually the government was quick to react when they saw the heavy loss in tourist revenue. There doesn't seem to be that concern here so it will just be self-perpetuating.

I am only worried about safety. Prior to Koh Samui I lived on a Caribbean island where resentment turned to violence towards the rich foreignors, and the government had to step in and take control. Since we all know how the police are here we won't have that added benefit of protection should violence occur.

"then again I do not speak to adolescent school girls. I do smile and talk to little kids and the parents are always happy and proud of their rug-rats and ankle biters."

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Thanks for the post and I agree that there are more good things about Samui than bad; otherwise, I would live somewhere else. I do take threats very seriously,though, and would definitely consider moving if it happened again.

I speak to anyone working in a store as this is the correct and polite thing to do. Adolescence is roughly 12-19 so I assume you don't speak to anyone in that age bracket? Then you mention that you speak to kids, which is also within that range. I think what you are saying is that you don't speak to anyone under the age of 18 without a parent nearby. Anyone with a daughter out there under the age of 19 ask them how many strangers speak to them a day. They probably won't answer you, because they don't want to frighten you. This is the information age. People of all ages talk with others of all ages and I would be appalled if there were ever a restriction on this.

I can tell, you dont have a daughter !!

Thats just what i was thinking!

I'm sure the OP was doing nothing wrong but it could also be a case of the girls dad/brother/friend having seen the behaviour of foreigners in chaweng. You know the ones, the ones that are old enough to know better, trying to chat up a girl young enough to be their daughter.

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In the civilised world if you physically assaulted every man or any man who asked your daughter where she attended school you would never get out of prison. Attacking someone with intent to harm or kill is an extremely serious action one which I would only take in defence of my life or my family. And keep in mind that the girl was working there. Anyone who has ever worked retail understands that chatting with the customers is part of the job. I hope no one is advocating violence against any person who utters a kind word or innocuous question to their daughter. It has become a "witch hunt" out there to find and accuse anyone who shows any affection towards a person under the age of eighteen, but let's not perpetuate this hysteria. And yes I feel for anyone with daughters, but part of being a parent is surely determining right from wrong, and not going berserk anytime someone says "hello" to a family member especially in a work environment.

On the other hand I see their view of foreigners grabbing every girl they see in and around the Green Mango. Their perception is that we can buy any woman. So I give them the benefit of the doubt and will try and avoid these situations.

Sadly, I follow the same rule. When I first came here years ago I was warned by an expat to stay away from Thai men. Since I had lived all over the world and enjoyed different cultures and languages I had a problem with that, so I mingled with the locals and learned the language. I quickly found out that the gentleman who had warned me was correct and have stayed away from most Thai men ever sense. The problem is that you sooner or later must interface with them. I was told also that the longer one stays here the more of a target they become. I have heard several false rumours about myself, but think about it, how often have you heard a Thai say something good about a farang? As everyone knows here our money is tolerated, but we are not.

I will take the advice many have given to forget about it and stay away from that market. Thanks again for all those who have given this some thought and provided insight.

Rick: No I was willing to pay the full price of 200B and I was smiling and in a good mood. I remember a few months ago going through the same market and some people I knew stopped me to chat. One of the vendors stepped in and said to them that I was a very bad farang, but since they knew me, we all just ignored him.

And as far as asking a school girl where she attends school, I have done this all over the world with no problem. Asking them out on a date is another matter entirely! It was obvious that I was not trying to pick her up. Anybody out there with teenage daughters, would you attack a man for asking her where or if she went to school? You would probably listen closely to make sure of his intentions, but just ignore him when it was obvious that he was just being kind.