parallaxtech

If you are in Thailand and rent a jetski there is a better than fifty percent chance that you will be scammed. I have lived on Koh Samui for five years and can't count all the jetski scams I have seen. I worked for the Tourist Police several years ago and we helped many tourists until we started getting death threats. Working for free is one thing, but dying for it? The only solution is to not rent jetskis. Take the banana boat, or waterski, or scuba, etc.

For the last five years a small group of farangs have organised a lifesaving service on Chaweng Beach about 200m north of the Centara Hotel. At least three of them are on the beach every day from about 2-6pm during the season (Nov-March) when the sea can swell up to two meters and produce a very strong undertow. They have a large raft, first aid kit, vinegar for jelly fish, and know cpr. They coordinate their efforts with the jetski cowboys when they are around. It might not sound like much, but those who have seen them in action can tell you that they rescue several hundred people each season. One day last year the water was incredibly dangerous and they pulled in approximately sixty people within just a few hours. Even with red flags flying and verbal warnings, people still go in the water.

They wish to remain anonymous, don't want or accept donations, and don't advertise or wish to be interviewed. The only way you will likely meet one of these guys is if you are drowning in their area. My suggestion is that anyone who frequents a particular beach, just take along a float or rescue ring with rope during the season.

As for the original op, we have seen plenty of swimmers go off into the horizon. Those guys are usually pretty experienced swimmers so I wouldn't worry too much about that particular one.

I applaud anyone's good intentions to right a wrong no matter where it happens. However, there are several guidelines we must all adhere to, not the least of which are the rules of international law. Thailand is a sovereign nation, not an oulaw state like North Korea or Myanmar and, therefore, no other state or its citizens can interfere in their legislative or judicial system. We are here as guests only, just as our embassies with its diplomats, and must follow all laws. One can only report an injustice to local authorities and/or their respective embassy. The embassy can then through official channels voice a concern, but in no way can intervene in any action carried out by the local government or its representatives.

On a smaller scale nobody would take kindly to a neighbor who was invited to dinner who then began dictating how one should govern their own children. I wonder how the Aussies would react if the Blue/White Men from Thailand went to Australia and began rescuing underage children who were working in brothels. This is a worldwide problem and there is plenty of rescuing that can be done in one's own state where you are a citizen and have the rights provided to you by your native state.

When I first arrived in Thailand I was given good advice by a Thai: "You will live happily here if you don't interfere with our laws and our politics." Later when I worked for the Thai police as a volunteer medical adviser and was involved in a pedophile case, I was warned by a Thai policemen to cease and desist in my investigation if I wanted to stay alive. The only reason I can fathom that the Thai police have put up with these "good samaritans' is that they would lose face on an international level if they killed or arrested them. It's probably easier just to let them grab a few kids and write about how they were assisted by the Thai police.

This is a Thai problem, so let the Thais handle it. Those of us who have lived here for a long time know the real story about who profits from these children and how powerful and unstoppable they are. If you want to do something for the poor children, raise funds to build a small school. This won't make the headlines or give you a medal, but it will make a difference. Just like the last "politically correct" movement to rescue the underage children who were working in the factories for 50B per day, those women returned to their spoiled lives in the west, and the children returned to the factories, wondering who those crazy farang women were.

SamuiJimmy: Sent a PM to you. If you didn't get it I will find out from TV what is going on.

I would certainly agree with the first builder! At that weight it might momentarily slow down the rocks/boulders and smash up the wall.... and then???

With out seeing this it is hard to say, but my thought is that a trench dug out by a large excavator might better catch anything coming down.... or even digging out holes on the downward side...(of the larger boulders) and or using smaller boulders, worked in front of the larger ones. .... but a 45 degree slope is pretty steep for a excavator to work on....even if it could access the area involved.

Alternatively building a wall with smaller rocks/ boulders that are stacked up... the base would need to be in the ground.... another excavator job...

Might that be a feasible option to consider?

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SJ: Thanks, I agree with you. What about huge concrete planters every 5m with boulders in between? I believe that most of the large boulders have already fallen. Most of them now look under 200kilo. The problem is if they roll down my hill and then bounce and go down the street right through a window. If you know where I can get a tractor w/driver let me know.

All farangs be very careful out there as this is becoming a major cash cow for the police.

This is probably the most important point made on this thread so far. If you're a foreigner, be careful. This is all just a scam to con farangs out of cash. So many thai adult males are having sex with underage girls in Thailand and nobody seems to care. It's part of the culture. Travel outside of the big cities and you'll see this in brothels and such. Nobody give a f***! The only people who care are the police who can extort cash and the holier than thou westerners who like to label anything that looks young(even if it's 18+)as underage and then ostracizing an older man for liking a perfectly legal(18+) girl.

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Exactly! I am constantly amazed at all the westerners who claim to be lilywhite in of all places, Thailand. Some have even said to me that a man should be arrested for even looking at any girl under 18 -- I have met 14-yr-olds that would give a playboy foldout a run for her money! Basically, we are all animals with instincts and it is sometimes difficult for the moral conscience to fight pure animal lust. I live in a guarded farang development and have given the guards specific instructions not to let any Thai girl under 18 into the area w/o a parent; otherwise, we would be swamped with them. You guys living in a community of young Thai girls, I wish you the best of luck. They are relentless to land a farang, and now with the parents and police delivering them to you like a pizza, you have to be much stronger than the average man that I know. Just always bear in mind that the police are watching and hoping that you will take the bait -- children are expendable in Thai society, but money isn't.

I think the real question is what do you expect a 20 cm wide wall to retain??

Besides the quotation you should let the builder come up with the width...

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I have rocks up to 1000 kilo sliding down a 45 degree slope. One builder said a rw would not stop this. Another option I thought of was just pouring cement on the remaining rocks -- it would be ugly but perhaps solve the problem. I have two new houses below me in the 25-35MB range and I don't want to fight them if my rocks slide into their house. The last builder came up with the measurements.

just get another quote off another builder. either he might be less or the same or he might have a different excuss. should always get a few quotes. i know a not too bad contractor if u want his number he does not speak any english though

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Big C: Thanks, but I have a feeling all Thais are just ripping everybody off on Samui. I've checked with others, but you can tell they are just making the numbers up. Cement and steel are easy to calculate and the labor rate is 200-300b/day. I contacted a company in Bangkok and they said it would run about 650b/sqm, so if you add the Samui differential you still shouldn't be far from 1000b/sqm. I believe there is a place where you can rent workers by day or month, so if anyone knows please pm me. I want to try to get one farang I can trust and get him to supervise the workers. I would rather give the money to somebody honest than to give it to these cons on the island.

I fear this girl is nothing more than a tool of the male natives, and females accessories here. This would include her father (if she has contact with him), her male peers, who pimp her out, or "love" her and ask her to get them money; and even the police, who do not seem that interested in her personal safety up to the point of being violated sexually. Yes; she is simply a tool; and I submit that she is a willing tool. That incriminates her, as well as the male natives who use her. She performs for the native males, and gets something in return; something that she is willing to barter for that brings some sort of comfort or balance into her chaotic life. She may not be at the age of consent for the foreigners, but she certainly has consented to numerous encounters and abuses with her male counterparts. Otherwise, where are the rap sheets of all the native males who have raped her? And why is it that this particular girl always seems to find herself on her backside with a male on top of her? What part of "STAY HOME" does she not get?

She is 15, and probably fits somewhere into that percentile of teenagers who become impregnated by the native males while they are 13 years of age or so. She is 15 and clearly sexually active. One would be a damned fool to assume that she limits her sexual activity exclusively towards foreigners. I could just as easily say that she limits the major portion of her sexual activities towards the Thai males, which subsequently is a no-profit game for her, and only reaches out to the foreigners when cash is needed. Again, she is a tool of the native males.

As far as the emotional damage, I suspect there is not much remaining in her head or body to damage (according to Western standards) at this point of her life, and subsequently would be of little or no value or worth to the NGO's and Do-gooders. This, simply due to the fact that were they to rescue this poor innocent girl, then these groups would be responsible for ensuring (at taxpayer's expense) that she behave like a good little girl, and not take advantage of the new established environment, as well as slip back into her old behavior on the side.

As it is quite evident to me that these cast-off females in Thai society (made that way by their own masters) are of no interest to the Thai people themselves, then it is possible that these cast-off girls become the human resources for adult Thai males (and accessory females) to perform any act towards them as a means to an end; personal sexual gratification, or a method of increasing their income, and quite possibly as a means to create the illusion that the system "works" because these animals are in control. "Let's put her in harms way, and then rescue her, so we can mug for the cameras! Brilliant! And also, let's ignore how she got that way! Absolutely!"

Any police officer could swing a dead cat and hit a Thai breaking the written law. That is a certainty. From driving under age / without helmets / licenses, illegal squatting, drunkenness, prostitution, domestic violence, and on and on. It almost seems that there is no interest in enforcing the law against a people who do not respect their own laws, and do not have the finances to support the ones who are supposed to enforce these laws. Enter the foreigner and their bank cards. Use the natives to entrap the foreigner and generate the income to exist. This girl is a tool. Beyond that she is useless and a cast off. No money to be gained off her, but only through her, until she is no longer a shiny ornament to attract the moths.

Now, beyond that opinion of mine, this story is useless towards bringing about a stoppage of foreign predators. Since it is my belief that the laws are more or less enforced towards foreigners, and ignored towards the natives who do not respect them and can not produce any funds to defend themselves, it is my belief that crimes like these will never reveal the true source of the problem, simply because it is not a problem in the minds of these people. It is simply a means that gives Thais the right to set out bait to get foreigners to pay their way out of a situation that is ignored towards those who have no money, and who simply do not care.

Thai people are fond of defending themselves against foreigners by saying, "This is our country, if you were not here, this would not have happened." Perhaps what they are really saying, is, "As long as you are here, we will use little girls and boys (underage human bait) from the stables of what we like to do anyway (have sex with underage girls and boys) to do everything possible to tempt and lure you, the foreigner, into a pay or suffer situation." I see no other consideration towards the good will of any humans in this matter beyond the pocket books of the accusers and the offended.

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CoC is 100% correct. It is well documented that 99% of the rapes are committed by Thais, not farangs, yet where are their pictures in the newspapers? You would think that only farangs were committing these crimes. These police tactics have been going on for a while, but have increased since the financial collapse in 2008. In Koh Samui I have been approached by several girls from 12-14 who were soliciting their services. In each case they told me they were underage so I assumed it was a trap. Several of my friends have taken bar girls home only to find out the next morning that they were only 14 -- hard to blame them since they assumed all bar girls had to be 18. All farangs be very careful out there as this is becoming a major cash cow for the police.

I live on Chaweng Mountain about 60m up with paved road and am looking to build a retaining wall approximately 2.5m high x 50m x 20cm thick. I was quoted 4,500/sqm. He told me it was much more expensive since I lived on a mountain, which I find strange as all types of trucks drive easily up to my house. Any idea of a proper price for this type of costruction?

The article about his 2007 arrest states that the ages of the boys he had 'adopted' were 12 and 14. That seems criminal to me.

Nobody is disputing that he is a criminal as are many people on TV, because prostitution is a crime here. The question is should criminals be arrested for victimless crimes or ones where there truly is a victim? When those out there paid a hooker to service them did he/she scream for the police or smile at the money? If you abduct a minor and rape them you have induced serious trauma on this individual and should serve the time -- let the penalty match the severity of the crime. These boys and their family profited from this venture and it was encouraged and condoned by the parents. Is a prostitute a victim? Perhaps what got them into the profession in the beginning traumatized them, but after hundreds or thousands of customers, I would hardly say that customer #4,786 truly harmed this innocent creature.

Once again, an example of nabbing a farang because it is profitable and politically popular with the Thai public.

If the land where the boulder come from is in Thai hands this is act of God. If the land is "owned" by Farang, Farang must pay. In the last case if the damage is done to another Farang "owned" house they both go to the bar to discuss insurance claim and come out with bruises. If they finish up at the police to sort this out they will BOTH pay 1000 THB. This is the law of Thailand. Sawasdee Khrap :-)

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I believe you are 100% correct -- thanks for the Thai logic. I can see someone challenge you to prove it was their rock.

Shouldn't forget to mention that this is happening all around the world.

Your post is really nasty. How can you call him an underage prostitute????? What should victims think reading your post??????

Seems you're one of them appreciating some little hand jobs......:jap:

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I'm sure the boys were after his good lucks. The evidence shows that the boys were paid (prostitution). If they hadn't been paid he would have also been charged with abduction. I consider prostitution to be a minor crime here simply because millions are doing it without repercussions. However, I consider kidnapping and rape of a child to be extremely serious and should get the full extent of the law.

Go after the criminals who are truly torturing and traumatizing thousands of children, not the ones in a win/win situation - customer is happy for service and prostitute is pleased with the payment. Oh, I forgot, no money or political points for this.

Thousands of truly innocent children raped here every year, usually by a relative, and after an extensive investigation a farang is arrested for geting a handjob from an underage male prostitute? Wow, I feel better knowing this dangerous criminal is off the streets.

We really do have a victory to celebrate now! Anyone going to Samui Imm Office (SIO) will now see a 1x2m sign adjacent to the seating area with all fees posted in Eng/Thai and the top line in big letters "Extension of Stay - 1,900B." I was there this morning and the staff were all smiling and kind to everyone. I didn't see Khun Nut, though, perhaps he is trying to cancel the construction of his villa in Monaco.

All of you who contacted embassies, sent emails, and called Bangkok Immigration should be proud of your efforts. You saw a gross injustice and tried to right it. It just goes to show you that we, the financial backbone of this country, have a voice and don't have to always wai and bend over whenever some corrupt individual is attempting to extort money from us.

I suddenly feel a lot better about Thailand.

Thanks for the replies. I agree it is an "Act of God," but I can see my neighbor saying, "God doesn't pay, so you pay." And remember all work here is pretty shoddy, so anyone can say your land wasn't excavated properly. It just seems odd that if a boulder rolls all the way down the mountain and hits a house one will have to see where it originated and go after the landowner. I'm sure he will just say that it was not his boulder, so prove it. My insurance man says there is no coverage or rider for this. If anyone has had this problem, please reply. I think possibly the answer is you fight it out verbally and, heaven forbid, get the police to decide, which probably means you will also be paying the police. My family lives in San Diego and I'm sure they have the same problem, but I believe in the west this would be covered by the victim's HO policy.

I live on Chaweng Mountain and the entire area is covered with boulders. The recent rainy weather eroded some huge rocks on my land that eventually landed in the street. I just paid a small fortune to have them removed by a tractor. My question is if a boulder on my land rolls into a house, person, or car, am I responsible for the damage? If so, then if a boulder runs down the mountain into my house do I have to retrace its track to find out where it originated and then go after the landowner? I asked my insurance agent and he basically said the victim would be covered on his insurance, but my insurance would not cover him. This doesn't sound really fair, because if your rock destroys somebody's house, I would not feel right in saying: "Sorry about that. I hope you have insurance."

I agree with coffee. Before you "morally pure" guys shout "cut his balls off, fry them, and then make him eat them," put your father, brother, or best friend in his position and then answer if you would be willing to do the cutting. Plenty of you out there have slept with underage girls whether you realized it or not, because many girls working the bars are underage with fake ids. Also, keep in mind that young girls are aggressively marketing their services and will even be delivered to your residence by the parents. They tried it with me numerous times while I was single, and once I moved my lady in, she had to chase them away, some as young as 10.

All farangs keep in mind that you have to be more careful here than back in your own country as there is a huge financial and political incentive in nabbing you, guilty or not.

From now on i am going to keep all my receipts from the immergration. So should everyone else. then if there is a problem i can take that receipt to bangkok and file it with the embassy.

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Big C: It is a good idea, but Samui IO has you once again, as they will never issue a receipt. Several of my friends demanded one and they simply told them to come back the next day at which point they said they didn't remember the person. This has been reported on several threads -- another reason it's such a huge criminal operation.

I am going to SIO next week and will post a copy on the bulletin board there. I hope a few will do the same as I'm sure it will be ripped off immediately. I have questioned a few people who have recently gone in for their extension and when they asked how much for it, the response was "the same as you paid last year." So, someone has said something to them or they are worried about being recorded. Anyway, keep the pressure on these criminals so we will all eventually be treated fairly.

For those claiming pedophilia and incestual sex is just hearsay in Thailand, you should try using a search engine like Google and Yahoo -- search "Pedophilia Thailand." It is well documented in several university studies as well as CNN and major publications. Here is one of them from Thailand.

http://www.thaipulse.com/cautions/pedophiles-and-under-age-sex-in-thailand/

Arresting a Thai for this offense is usually financially and emotionally detrimental to the family and also costly for the police. However, arresting any farang, innocent or guilty, is politically favorable to the Thais and a huge cash cow for the police.

Am looking for someone to do stamped concrete. Several companies in Bangkok like http://www.winflor.com (650B/sqm)but they won't come to Samui.

I am on chaweng beach every day and I was just commenting to a friend today how great the water looks at this time of year. I think you are talking about an isolated area.

The area is from the Centara Hotel north about .5km. Crusty may be right about the algae, so I will take a water sample today. Last year the water turned black and it turned out to be algae. This year it seems to be bubbling with a smell.

Has anyone been on Chaweng Beach in the last few days? The water is dark green to dark brown with yellow bubbles and starting to smell like a sewer. I met some college swimmers here on a holiday and they were complaining that they couldn't swim in it. The waverunner mafia said because of all the recent rain the sewers were backed up and being diverted into the ocean. Can anyone check on this and see if it's true?

Leemac: Exact, correct, and to the point!

To add, when most westerners think of the word pedophile or the term "old man sleeping with a minor," it conjures up the image of a dirty old man in a raincoat kidnapping the vestal virgin off a playground and raping her whereupon she will endure mental disorders ad infinitum. For this offense, I believe in the full extent of the law.

Typically in Thailand the "victim" is a 14-yr-old who was raped by a family member at 8 and has been pimped out ever since. After six years of rodeo experience she now has a police handler, pimp mother, and katoey marketing staff. Any punter (farang) who falls into that web is throughly fleeced whereas the girl is already on to the next punter. I believe that for a crime you need a real victim who has suffered a loss. She is already happily riding her next bronco and smiling at the cash she will make for something she does for free. Should the farang get a stiff sentence for sleeping with a prostitute? Your call.

One reason you will not see this happen in a western country is the police handler and mother would immediately be arrested and the girl put in a juvenile home for soliciting.

We are trying to warn all you farangs out there that you have a big target on your back with an ATM in the center. If you don't believe it or are not worried than please ignore the comments above and I wish you the best of luck.