chrisyork

Looks like Bangkok's a gonner in a few weeks time then......

I don't quite understand the problem with this scam.... It apparently involves selling very cheap tours and then "capturing" the tourists and selling them over-priced goods and services.... The money stays in Thailand. So what's the problem?

My retirement Visa will be coming up for renewal in January...... If this carries on or stays at this level I may not make the monthly earnings threshold..... Anybody else in the same boat? Any strategies out there for what to do? Any sign of Immigration being considerate / changing the rules?

RIP this guy.

My two pen'uth here. The Police have done this right and well. They have visited the crime scene/accident scene, interviewed the ladyboy, preserved the body etc. That they can do nothing further until the British Embassy report the dissapearance is not their fault. And it seems the Embassy has not reacted until the message has got through to them from the guy's scottish relatives. Strictly speaking, that is correct too. Distraught freinds are not the same as a police missing persons report from the UK.

I would like to know where the wife hails from. If BuriRam there could be some explaining to do. (ladyboy from BuriRam...)

Otherwise it does appear to be a tragically straightforward accident. And with excellent attention from the Boys in Blue.

Moral of the story? Please try not to croak in anonymous surroundings in a foreign land.....

djvolak especially, thank you all.

I really am with djvolak in saying not to quit. I wasn't brought up a quitter and quitting now is just going to reinforce all the negative worthless thoughts in Amnuay. It will therefore make me really unhappy. So self first - I'm not going to quit here until I've had a really good crack at solutions.

The medical input has been most interesting. It seems to me that it has a place here in giving the addict space to sort out the underlying issues.

Thanks again all

Thannks all

ThePool, you're quite right. I also posted this in the health section, but without the gay reference. It just feels nicer to be able to be totally open here.

Chris

Thanks for that. Yes I'm acutely aware of the potential dangers. We live in a rural community, so money is less easy to source than BKK, but I agree with your concern. I was hoping for some inspiration, but unsurprised by your response.

Chris

It transpires that my boyfriend and partner of 13 years has developed a serious YaBa addiction.

Are any treatment programmes available through the state? With or without a prison sentence? Any available in the voluntary sector, eg through particular temples?

My reading to date suggests that any treatment programme has a limited chance of success. Anybody got any specific knowledge?

Obvious first steps have been taken already, eg cutting off money supply from all potential sources.

Chris

It transpires that my partner has developed a serious YaBa addiction.

Are any treatment programmes available through the state? With or without a prison sentence? Any available in the voluntary sector, eg through particular temples?

My reading to date suggests that any treatment programme has a limited chance of success. Anybody got any specific knowledge?

Obvious first steps have been taken already, eg cutting off money supply from all potential sources.

Chris

The Visa was obtained from the Thai Consul in Cardiff. It's a "retirement" visa, although I was unable to discern any criteria other than they wanted to know my income after tax. Mine actually fell slightly below the alleged threshold, but the Consul didn't seem too concerned by this. They took copies of recent bank statements to verify the income. I rang first and spoke to the Consul in person and this seemed to greatly ease the process.

Chris

I am a UK citizen and have a non immigrant O 12 month multi entry Visa. I'd like to stay as long as possible, so clearly will be doing "visa runs" to renew my entry stamps (3 months at a time). When I get towards the end of the validity of my Visa, will the permitted stay until date extend beyond the Visa date?

In other words, can I do a journey outside of Thailand, return to the Thai border on the last day of validity of my Visa and still get a 3 month entry stamp?

Chris

Thanks for that. Can't beat an unambiguous response!!

Chris

After a certain amount of conflicting info from UK Embassy and Consul sites, I now have a one year multi entry non imm O visa in my UK passport. And to go with it a 90 day stamp on arrival at Suvanubhumi. The conflicting info didn't end at obtaining the Visa, but appeared to give new requirements for renewal of the stamp once in Thailand - I'm here for 6 months.

I've had a good look around in this section and I haven't found what I think I'm looking for, so:

• I used to simply pop up to Nong Khai (we live quite near there) and do a land run across the Friendship bridge into Lao. Will that still produce a 90 day stamp or is now only a 30 day stamp?
• Is it possible to get a new stamp, either 30 day or 90 day, at the immigration office in BKK Satthorn Soi 2?
• If I travel by air out of the country and back again to any airport other than BKK will that provide a 90 day stamp?

Thanks all

Chris York

What I find a little strange is how so many of those you see in "Pride" parades in the US look stereotypically gay, while so many of those in the UK just look perfectly "normal". On the other hand, no-one seemed to notice that Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess were gay, so who knows ....?

I think that's really quite peceptive. There's clearly a cultural thing at work there in addition to any innate sexuality. A bit like the difference between function and presentation. For me Gaydar is about spotting the function - "can I get sex with this person?" - and is quite different to the next question, which is "do I fancy this person". Intrigueingly, the answer to the second question seems to vary for me according to how horny I'm feeling, whereas the results from the first seem pretty consistant.

As to how to spot a Gay Thai, well the first question still works for me regardless. The cultural clues required to help make the second question work well are undoubtedly very different in Thailand, though. You could characterise the USA stereotype described above as being overt advertising, with the UK version being overt conformity. Thailand strikes me as being completely relaxed, neither advertising nor repressing.

Observations like the pointy shoes discussion earlier, strike me as simply a fashion spreading amongst a group of freinds and followers - I think that's how things get started in the Gay community and are picked up later by the staright?

Chris

Suradit is quite right. I find a more helpful model is of the poor family who suddenly find a wealthy barrister thrust into their midst by marriage. For sure the family will want to test the limits of generosity of the barrister, be they Thai, English or American!

I approve of (almost) anything that allows Thailand to be energy independent! The political consequences of being dependent on Burma for Natural Gas are obvious and very damaging.

But I do wonder what the life span of such a dam on the Mekong would be. The river carries large quantities of silt and there must be a serious risk of the reservoir silting up in pretty short order.

Chris

Thailand isn't easily compared for taxation to the likes of USA or Europe because of the overwhelming proportion of business and employment conducted by cash. In these circumstances it becomes very difficult indeed to administer an income tax. Just think of the beaurocracy and tea money involved in trying to interrogate the affairs of middle income earners in Thailand! Not worth the aggro!

This throws the government back onto VAT, import and export duties, customs duties and stamp duties. Stamp duties in particular could be made to be very effective at taxing the rich. Nevertheless, it is difficult to see overall taxation as anything other than regressive, thanks mainly to the VAT and customs duties. In these circumstances the only way of balancing the tax system is to give things back to those on the lowest incomes. Hence nearly free schooling, health care, water supply and electricity supply.

The one thing that Thailand doesn't do that could make a huge difference to less well off people is to provide a state pension for the elderly.

I'd aslo like to know a bit more about Thaialnds stamp duty system - a tax per transaction on share sales and purchases, land sales and purchases and contracts - and the potential for increasing tax take this way.

Otherwise Thailands' tax system is in my view remarkably well balanced.

Chris

RickBradford, none of these criticisms apply in Thailand. Biofuel production is a switch of existing agricultural land, and, at least in the case of Ethanol, is produced from cassava. We have a brand new World Bank funded plant down the road from us, slated as the most efficient in the world. It uses the waste from the distillation to power the boilers, surplus steam from the boilers then generates electricity for the local grid. I'm not aware that this process takes any significant amount of water. How cool is that! Plus plenty of opportunity for "tea money" from all the construction involved!

Chris

If the photo is anything to go by the upper floors have fallen past intact pillars. That is usually a sign that the floors have not been adeqautely tied to the pillars - a defect in construction of the rebar as the floor is laid. Once that's happened then the shuttering for the next floor up is stood on the floor below as it is poured, so depends totally on the floor to pillar integrity.

Chris

In the UK I have converted all my cars to run with GreenStuff pads on microgroove rotors for many years. The result is never less than a step change in braking performance. Because GreenStuff are a Kevlar based pad, they "Gas" between the pad and the rotor surfaces under load. If you don't groove the disc (or drill into the vented centre - but I don't like that as it introduces fracture sites to the rotor) the pad "floats" on the rotor and braking is far less than can be achieved against a grooved rotor. The grooves allow the gas to escape from under the pad.

Does anyone know where you can get GreenStuff in Thailand? Our Tiger 3.0D Auto is horrendously underbraked and could do with this attention! I do agree with an earlier poster that the next problem in line is being tail-ended by other ill braked Thai trucks, but I'd rather that option than not stopping at all!

Chris

I'm quite certain that is illegal, even without bothering to check! Actually I'm sure I've seen the signs at Customs when coming in via Suvarnabhumi.

My real difficulty here is what possible motive could you have to do that? As the previous poster observes, if you know what you are doing, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Thai supplies. And they are more likely to be suitable to the climate and growing conditions (lack of mechanisation etc) than a US variety. Plus I suspect there is a strong chance of anything from the US being GM. You certainly don't want that getting out in Thailand!

My suspicion is that maybe your wife has spotted an opportunity to acquire free, decent quality seed. If that is the real motivation, just provide the money to buy in Thailand.

If you send a quantity suitable for a whole crops' worth of planting then I'd reckon customs will definitely stop it. For starters it will initially look quite like a drugs shipment! If you send a very small sample, it may well get through, but what would be the point?

Chris

This one is a bit difficult for Westerners to get their heads round. There is no Gay Life in rural Thailand - just Life. And that includes all the categories that we keep separate and distinct in the West. I live around 300km from BK in a rural farming community. We're simply part of the family, live in the main family house, take part in bringing the kids up, all the things that families normally do. Everybody in the village knows us, Police, Wat etc etc. Simply no issues - except perhaps the pitty they won't have children one. There are at least two other gays in reasonably close parts of the family, similarely a non issue.

So how do you meet them? Well you won't except completely by accident. Relationships are formed through knowing your school buddies, family connections etc. Plus Thailand has a feature unlike any other country. There is really only one city - BKK. So all Thai's count "Home" as the rural village they were born and brought up in; But, they all spend time in their twenties working in Bangkok. So an awfull lot of relationships are formed away from the prying eyes of family in BKK and then exported home when all parties are sure its a keeper. That goes for straight as well as gay.

So if you are looking for Thai Gay Life as opposed to commercial gays - who are often straight - then BKK is the place. But expect to have a really exciting time visiting all sorts of dives that you wouldn't have dreamt of going to! My personal recommendation would be to visit some of the gay sauna's that are not frequented by westerners. Go in the late afternoon early evening and simply wait and see what happens. Let them approach you, not the other way around. Then you might find yourself on a rollercoaster evening out to all sorts of weird places. Expect it to involve Karaoke - the Thai version is reallly brilliant, not at all like the west - and expect it to go to at least 5 am. View the sauna as a meeting point, not a destination.

Elsewhere in the country, just go and lurk somewhere for a while - perhaps a few days, for people to get used to the fact you are there and for the word to get round.

Chris

Thai society has always accepted a degree of control that would be unthinkable in the West. It is still within living memory that the police would prevent villagers from leaving their home villages! It is entirely natural that Thailand should expect to be able to control web content. It is a sobering revelation to discover that the internationalised nature of the media and the web makes this extremely difficult. I believe this realisation will have really taken hold from the reporting of the Bangkok red protests. "Keeping mum" about all the issues involved and failing to assist the media with their reporting merely lead to grossly innacurate portrayals of Thailand to the frustration of all of us who love this country.

I share everyone's frustration at web censorship, I've even had a webforum I help run for the owners of a particular model of motor car blocked! But, just as free movement is now an established fact after generations of restriction, so too will freedom of expression become so. It just may take a little longer than impatient farangs are used to! When I see my 11 year olds in rural Thailand glued to the web it is clear that free access to information will become a defacto fact in less than a generation. The law will no doubt take longer to catch up, but Thailand is expert in the ignoring of inconvenient laws.

Chris

Depending on your budget, a safe intro to Thailand in BKK might be better at the Tarntawan Place in Suriwong. For a first timer, I personally wouldn't set foot out of Bangkok. It's a real city so the in yer face aspects of the gay scene are softened somewhat. Pataya might just be a culture shock too far for a first time. I presume you have found the invaluable "Dreaded Ned's" guide to Thailand? Google that and I think most if not all of your questions should be answered.

Of course these are not normal times. Be very cleasr on the BKK security situation before you travel.

Best of luck

Chris