YaiJung

Good to hear that Mike's is open again. Hopefully the new owner will make sure his staff keeps the Pla Chem out of the deep fat fryer when he isn't around. All it takes is once...

I hope you all have the opportunity to see your new president's awesome inauguration speech!

I read it. Seemed to cover all the bases, but was pretty strange in parts. For example:

"... and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

Where did that come from and <deleted> is it supposed to mean?

....overuse of oil is making our enemies wealthy and ruining our planet...duh!!

What is so strange about that simple statement??

Shocking news, but not completely surprising. I have only eaten there maybe 10 times, but it was obvious that the place was hangout for coppers who appeared to be slightly higher up than the usual traffic cop. Don't know the connection with the owner, or if there was one, but it was something both me and my gf commented on several times. We don't usually feel comfortable spending too much time in police hangouts after previous unpleasant experiences in such places(guns being waved around etc..).

Btw, the food is outstanding and very reasonably priced.

We have never seen a policeman eating/drinking there, although we only have lunch there. Never been in the evening. Sure you got the right place .... ?

Definitely got the right place. In fact you are the one who recommended it to me. I've eaten there probably 10 times and seen cops there probably 8 of those 10 times. Always during the day. Ate there only once at night and no cops, place was full of farangs and wealthy appearing Thais. Sometimes the police were in the little aircon room and other times in the main open air area and yet other times we saw them just pull up, park out front, and then hang out in the kitchen with the staff. We figured somebody in the family was a high-up copper.

Apparently there was much more than meets the eye going on with the owner. I doubt he was shot just because he was successful, although I am well aware that this does happen in Thailand.

Regardless, the food/service has always been excellent and the family warm and welcoming. Tragic loss for them. They seem like a very capable bunch and I have no doubt that they will continue in the restaurant biz and hopefully continue to serve such sorely needed, wonderful food in Phuket.

Shocking news, but not completely surprising. I have only eaten there maybe 10 times, but it was obvious that the place was hangout for coppers who appeared to be slightly higher up than the usual traffic cop. Don't know the connection with the owner, or if there was one, but it was something both me and my gf commented on several times. We don't usually feel comfortable spending too much time in police hangouts after previous unpleasant experiences in such places(guns being waved around etc..).

Btw, the food is outstanding and very reasonably priced.

Just a few days ago I found out that he's already dead, and never worked for the Tesiban. He just gave out the impression he was a government official. BTW he died of some medial condition.

Best news I've heard in a while. That S.O.B. was truly a menace in Patong.

2-3 yrs ago in Patong the tesseban came around and dropped off huge piles of poisoned dog food in various locations in the Nanai area. Our landlord's dog got into it and nearly died, luckily was saved by the local vet at the last min. One of our neighbors was heard shrieking when she found her poodle in a garbage bag filled with dead dogs that was dropped off with several other bag-fulls of carcasses in the garbage dump at the end of Nanai 2.

There weren't so many strays around for a while, but it sounds like it might be time for another round. Dog owners beware and keep tabs on your dog!!

In Phnom Penh, Pharmacy Le Gare is ok, but I went there for a nasal spray for a cold and they tried to sell me $40 worth of nonsense when all I needed was a $1 item. I got it, but they tried their best to get me to buy more expensive meds and had about 6 options before finally showing me the one I came in for. Also refused to sell me Diazepam several yrs ago. Le Gare is in all the tourist books, but I would never send anybody there.

I went down to the block of Pharmacies near the Olympic Stadium and found the Diazepam and other meds, including opiates. One tip I can give is to look for pharmacies with aircon. The meds tend to be in better shape. Btw, I bought real Valium made in France by Roche for 1/3 the price I paid in Thailand for Thai generics(which sucked and barely worked).

Sad, but not unexpected. There are tons of murderers/criminals running around free in Thailand. The place is a mess and the Thai cops/authorities have ZERO CREDIBILITY.

It really pisses me off to hear how the victim's family is being treated. Hate to say it, but dealing with the Thais will no doubt bring more grief to them as they will be lied to and misled until they finally give up. It's the "Thai way" to let them discover for themselves that nothing will really be done.

I only hope that they can somehow find peace. My heart goes out to them.

Sadly most of the locals just don't care. They have learned to look the other way. When I lived in Patong our lazy neighbors (the jet ski renters) couldn't be bothered to take the trash 40 ft to the bin, instead they just dumped it all out behind their house less than 20 ft from where they eat and sleep. Then the other locals noticed this and began doing the same. It wasn't long before half the neighborhood was dumping their trash there and to top it off burning it day in and day out. This mess was right alongside a klong that empties directly into Patong Beach. The smell was atrocious. They live in their own self-generated filth and just don't care....

On a side note, I have always been struck by the huge amount of garbage strewn about the Rawai/NaiHarn area. What a mess!!

I agree with girlx. The island aren't too bad. Samui or Phuket can be alright if u find the right place to live. Ocean breezes are much nicer than Bangkok smog. Phuket has decent internet these days, don't know about Samui. You are kinda limited to third-world countries since they are just about the only places your gf can go. The Philippines might be worth a look because of the sweet visa deal they have going. You can stay for at least 2 yrs without leaving on any tedious visa runs.

Jeez, what a horrific crime. The lowest of the low are living on this island. Beating an old man almost to death after knocking him off his bicycle. I'm speechless.

I hope the part about the outside cops getting involved is true and they throw the book at this scumbag and the lowlife corrupt cops too.

Sadly though, I don't expect much to happen other than the victim will be forced to relocate to another province/country. What a nightmare...all he wanted was a nice early morning bike ride.

There is a real vicious nasty side to the locals that comes out when they get behind the wheel. Its dam_n near impossible to have a nice relaxing drive anywhere around here. I just came back from a road trip through some other provinces in South Thailand and didn't encounter nearly as much road rage as I do on Phuket.

This incident needs more media attention. Be great if the international media (who aren't afraid of the perp) pick it up.

My friend has a dvd player in his vehicle and now every time he takes his young kids anywhere they throw a fit if they don't get to watch their favorite cartoons. Last time I rode with them i wanted to rip the goddamn thing out of the dash and chuck it out the window.

Am I ripping into Phuket? No. I still think it's a great place to be. Am I bitter? Yes. I miss the situation 10 years ago when it was still modern but there was still real green space and development was manageable. People came for the atmosphere, not for the girlie bars of patong like they do. I remember when Phuket was exotic, now parts of it are like western suburbia. All they're missing are more fast food joints & Walmarts. I love my Carrefour, but how many more big box stores do we need with the massive parking lots and traffic problems like there are at Jungceylon? I guess, I just want a little bit more of Thailand to be around including native trees, critters and what not.

So you think that 10 years ago people came for the atmosphere and now people come for the girlie bars. Well, let me tell you that IMHO there was a greater percentage of sex tourists 10 years ago than now. I remember the days when all the girlie bars were busy after 22.00. Now very few of them are busy.

As for big box stores, at least they provide much needed car parking spaces.

When I came to Phuket in '99 it seemed like much more of a sex-tourist place than it is now. Don't recall seeing many families or even farang females in Patong. The bars were open until the last customer went home and the nightclubs were open until after the break of dawn. While not that long ago, it seems like a completely different place to me now.

With the development have come some amenities that I love, but I also miss driving around full speed ahead on my motorbike without a helmet(or international permit) and barely any traffic.

Around 2002-2004 it seemed like everyone and their brother bought a car and parking/driving became the nightmare that it is today. The soi I lived on in Patong had maybe 2-3 cars parked on it...now cars are parked on both sides the whole way down and u can forget about parking anywhere near Bangla. Used to be able to drive down soi sea dragon and park easily in the back. I admit to contributing to the car problem myself, but what can one do, its too dangerous to be driving around on motorbikes now.

So I guess, while I miss phuket how it was when I first came here, I also appreciate the amenities. There are days when i long to move out into the jungle up near Kao Lak or somewhere similar, but we will stay here because of the schools for kids.

Like Donna, where I grew up was a rural area that is now solid suburbia complete with nightmare traffic and strip malls til hel_l won't have it. It saddens me to go home sometimes, but I'm only human and break into a big smile when talking about how much the price of land has gone up.

Personally I would do everything in my power to dissuade my sister (30-something attractive blonde) from going to Thailand alone. I know she can probably take care of herself, like girlx, but it still scares the crap out of me after what I've seen and heard about here in Thailand. In a group I wouldn't worry nearly as much, although I would make sure she was well informed of the dangers.

What some of the women on here have experienced, especially girlx, sounds horrifying. It must make getting around a real pain when you have to worry so much about the nut case taxi drivers raping you. A can of mace might be helpful. My dad's old friend Big Ed from the south side of Chicago says to go straight for the eyes if somebody starts trouble with u. Poke their freaking eyes out and they won't be much threat anymore.

My gf has several friends who have been brutally raped by strangers (they are all Thai).

Once I have caught the security guard at our hotel trying to break in while I was sleeping, he let himself in and unlocked the windows from the inside while I was out. Luckily i caught it as I tend to be very vigilant about such things and locked it again. Nearly clobbered him when I was woken by him trying to force the window open, but he ran away too fast. Next morning the Dutch owner denied the possibility of it happening and actually got upset with me for saying anything about it. Since I'm male the perp was just after my money, but still its scary when I think about all the single females that probably stay in that particular hotel in Ao Nang.

Another time I caught red-handed the son of a the bungalow owner (again in Ao Nang) masturbating while peeping in on my gf while she was showering. No real harm done, but creepy none-the-less.

I agree with the other posters who say that many Thai males resent us falangs. I have been spit on twice by groups of thai men and once a group of young men chased me and tried to run me off the road while shouting "glap bahn, go home". These incidents occured in rural thai settings and not in tourist zones. I suppose they had girifriends/wives who ran off to look for "rich" falang.

I take my shoes off when I come inside and agree its much cleaner than dragging filth from outside all over the house.

One thing I can't get past though is the eating on the floor bit. Barefoot or not, it brings my food a little too close to everyone else's feet for comfort. Not only am I now sitting in other people's foot grime, but I also can't help but use my hands on the floor to help my sitting position get comfortable which means my hands are no longer clean for eating...

OK for eating outdoors in clean natural environment, but inside a bustling house full of people....I dont think so.

We used to have mice/rats and after getting tired of the smell of them decomposing from death by poison we got cats and now haven't seen a rat in quite a while. The cats have done great jobs of warning us about poisonous snakes in our house too. They don't miss much...

The cats can be one hel_l of a mess themselves, so we let them run around outside too(actually impossible to keep them inside with kids in and out all the time). this means we lose a cat or two per year, but thats the price of a rodent free house I guess.

I would agree that Southern Thais are a rather straight forward bunch(something I appreciate coming from a western culture). I also find them to be very proud people...they aren't prone to groveling or brown-nosing. While there might not be as much wai-ing and other formalities, my gf(southern thai) it seems can walk up to just about anybody she has never met(while in the south) and they will start chatting away like they have been friends for yrs. In that respect I'd rate them as pretty darn friendly.

They can be stand-offish or aloof when it comes to tourists and I think they sorta detest the way other Thais seemingly kiss ass so much.

It's a myth that Thai street food is so healthy. Most if it is fried and full of sugary carbs, not to mention covered in god-knows-what from sitting exposed on the roadside. Also adding a tablespoon of MSG to your diet 3 times per day can't be healthy.

There is very healthy food to be found in Thailand, but its not usually cheap nor on the roadside. I think the OP's idea to get somebody to prepare their meals at home is a wonderful idea for somebody who is concerned about health.

The overweight people who lose weight when they come to Thailand are losing it for several reasons... not eating as much, actually getting off their fat ass and walking around, sweating it off, etc.

In the US, state universities have one set of prices for residents of the state and a much higher price for non-residents. Public elementary or secondary schools are mostly free for residents of the local area; I don't even know if non-residents can attend, even if willing to pay for the attendance.

There are so many examples of different pricings for different things for residents vs non-residents, citizens vs non-citizens, that I don't think Thailand is unique in having different pricings based on different criteria. The only thing is that I think such different pricing should be made widely known so that people can choose whether to attend or not.

In the US one can get the state resident price for uni by living in that state for just one yr. You then can finish school at the resident rate. Unless of course you are an international student and don't pay taxes in the US, then you will have a much harder time getting the cheaper rate.

As for elementary and high school, the kids go to school in the district within which their folks live and pay taxes. The differences in taxes paid between neighboring districts can be huge. The quality of the schools usually reflects this as well. If parents in one district are paying $25,000 per yr in property taxes and the people down the road in the next district only pay $3,000 then its only fair that the kids stick to their respective schools if they don't want to pay extra for private school.

The case of double pricing that the OP brought up is double pricing based purely on skin color and nationality, which of course is the Thais right to do, but it's also our right to discuss which places practice this so we can avoid them. In fact I think the place he describes is privately owned and not payed for by the tax-payers. The Phuket Zoo is another example of a private business charging 500 baht for farang and 50-80 baht for Thais. These are not national parks we are talking about.

As far as the Phuket Zoo is concerned, I wouldn't pay even 50 baht to see the sad depressing condition of those poor animals so 500 is laughable to me double pricing or not. Thats just me though.

Smoking pot is addictive as one sees everywhere,you ask a guy or lady to stop and they say its only recreational.

Sorta like watching Television and eating junkfood(both of which are arguably worse for ones health than smoking pot).

The other day I was wondering if it was just me or are less people smoking in Thailand these days. As a former smoker I have to agree thats it's a lot easier to quit when one isn't exposed to it all the time. While far from smoke-free, Thailand has come a long way in the last few yrs.

Now if they can just stop burning all that garbage...

I have to agree, K.L.Mart is a total dump, complete with grumpy staff, dusty old products, absolutely zero air circulation. It's one of those places that was built for aircon, but they don't turn it on, so it is hot as the hubs of hel_l in there. I think I lost at least a kilo of sweat just trying to pick up a few last minute items. I seriously doubt they have anything fresh in the store, especially fresh produce/meat. My gf reckons places like that turn off the fridges at night to save money(which helps explain the sour milk they sell).

Personally, I can't wait for the new Tesco to open. After being ripped off and sold out of date products by surly Thais for yrs at filthy mom and pop stores, I only shop at supermarkets that use price tags(unless forced to while out in the sticks).

The amount of extreme violence towards foreigners on Phuket is mind-boggling considering the amount of tourist money that comes in. Still blows me away when people I meet say the Philippines are too dangerous to travel to, yet they live on Phuket where tourists/expats are stabbed, shot, mugged, killed weekly.

To all the folks who still don't get it:

For Christ's Sake, don't go riding motorbikes around Thailand late at night, especially in tourist zones. Go in a car with locked doors or stay put until its light out and busy on the roads again. The police don't now, nor will they ever, give a rat's ass about safety. Thailand is a THIRD-WORLD COUNTRY with THIRD-WORLD COPS and THIRD-WORLD POVERTY/CRIME. Treat it as such.

get out of there and check out the next place for dogs some places dont have them .

Some places don't have them? What part of the country is that? Dogs are everywhere 24/7, from rural locations to gated communities. A hi-rise condo might not have any, but the instant you step foot outside.... you're back in dog territory.

Actually I've found Muslim neighborhoods to be pleasantly free of street dogs(and often cleaner in general). Much easier to find if you live in the south maybe not an option in Bangkok.

Chalong has plenty of places for under 10,000. Might not be as nice as living in nai harn or on the western side of the island though.

For somebody on a budget I would highly recommend Krabi/Ao Nang. Tons of basic bungalows for 3-5,000. I have friends who have lived there for yrs and love it. The nightlife is slowly growing and certainly comparable to the nai harn/rawai area of phuket. The cheap beach-bum lifestyle is still alive and well in Ao Nang(even though its developed quite a bit in the last few yrs). Plus you are only 2 hrs or so from Phuket when you need some bright lights.

Personally I'd give Chaing Mai a miss. Horrible pollution and no beach are my main reasons.