billythehat

On 1/5/2019 at 10:39 PM, stevenl said:

He is just a frustrated former resident. Couldn't make it here, so now everything is bad here.

Hilarious, Dutch, I’ve never lived there! 

35 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Why wouldn't he be????

 

If the member has been "visiting" Phuket for several years, he would see the big change here.

 

I often think that living here could make us expats "boiling frogs."  We don't see the change as much because a day becomes a week, and a week becomes a month, and a month becomes a year. 

 

The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is.  

 

Most have no financial or emotional interests here.  Thus, they comment on their observations and experiences only, with no conflict of interests. 

 

Even a tourist visiting Phuket for the first time has something to offer the tourism industry here, by way of their feedback. 

"The holiday makers who can compare Phuket annually, or bi-annually, tell it as it is."

Yep!

7 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

And, what the Thais fail to realize is that is not always that people don't have enough money for a 150 or 200 Baht plate of fried rice and ground pork... It is that the value of such is only attractive at a very low price.

 

Thais need to acknowledge that Thailand is a rather crap place in many ways but only valuable if it is cheap. You cannot charge developed country prices without any of the developed country benefits. You can't even walk as there are no pavements!

 

Ridiculous

Agreed and my recent visit concurs that ‘ridiculous’ is putting it mildly.  

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

Changing tack slightly here, although the subject matter (Fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy 2019 [Editorial]) does mention Phuket and on this thread about Patong, the subject has often been discussed and commented on and it relates to the property sector and the unbridled building going on here, and it makes interesting reading.......

 

"While the after-effects of the Phuket ferry tragedy that killed dozens of Chinese tourists in July might have faded, hopes of a quick return to the good old days are unlikely to be realised since the Chinese economy itself faces a new reality of slowing growth amid the trade war with the US.
 
Hence, Thailand can expect fewer Chinese tourists and investors, including those looking to buy Thai condominium units and other property.
 
The Thai property sector is also witnessing the spectre of an oversupply which is turning more worrisome. Besides the emerging glut from several mega-development projects – especially those combining residential, retail, hotel and office space – household and personal debts have jumped among investors-cum-speculators who are over-leveraging their borrowing capacity in hope of lucrative returns in the property sector.
 
One banker reports that property speculation is rife among unscrupulous borrowers, who are securing multiple multimillion-baht loans to buy condo units beyond their payback capacity. For example, with a monthly salary of Bt50,000, you can get multiple loans for, say, four or five separate condo units whose developers are desperate for buyers.
 
Each unit may cost anywhere from Bt2 million to Bt5 million, boosting the individual borrower’s debts to over Bt10 million on a monthly income of Bt50,000. Investors can load up their borrowing in this way by applying for loans simultaneously so as to evade banks’ risk-assessment mechanisms"

 

Many posters here have commented on the empty buildings, sparsely populated hotels, guest houses and apartment blocks, but the building goes on. It goes on despite the fact there is a glut of houses, apartments and condos on the market, some which haven't moved for years.

 

As I write this I stare out of my window at a medium to large hotel which would be at best about 25% occupied, with another one nearby in a similar situation and I would be one of many who have suggested that this market is overheated, but this does not seem to deter the developers/builders/sellers of such projects – – such is the way in Thailand until they complain about the "unexpected crash".

 

A good thing for Patong, or not, whichever way you look at it, you could still apply the terminology, "Patong the wake" to it.......

 

"One banker reports that property speculation is rife among unscrupulous borrowers, who are securing multiple multimillion-baht loans to buy condo units beyond their payback capacity. For example, with a monthly salary of Bt50,000, you can get multiple loans for, say, four or five separate condo units whose developers are desperate for buyers."

Did these scum learn nothing from the 2009 global crash? If they know they are being scammed, whatever happened to due diligence by the bank(s) to protect its' own customers money? "risk assessment mechanisms"....sheesh...

18 hours ago, xylophone said:

I think my words have come back to haunt me and your post has prompted me to post this.

 

A month or so ago I suggested that the numbers of Chinese tourists was noticeably down and others have also posted likewise, and I alluded to the same in my previous post, however today was a day when Patong had a Chinese invasion.........they were everywhere, a bit like ants swarming.

 

It was almost as if a score of jumbo jets had landed and disgorged the contents, mainly towards the venue of Patong – – Big C today was crowded with Chinese buying their usual junk (sorry about the pun), clogging up the aisles and just about everywhere else that could be clogged up, with nary a thought for other shoppers.

 

Although the Siam basement in Jungceylon wasn't too bad, the food hall was a sight to behold; the place was almost packed with Chinese, with just a couple of farangs in sight and something which made me chuckle, a table around which sat six Indians, all asleep and either slumped in the chair or with head on the table! Obviously learnt from the Chinese how to sleep in busy and crowded places on uncomfortable chairs.

…and talking to my hotel owner he said that business had been pretty pony all year with no real spikes to smooth out the low season pain. All the hotels in his soi were suffering badly too with a few reports of banks starting to call in the repeated missed payments. The story flowed down to the restaurants/Bars/other businesses, ‘no people, don’t know what happened…’ a common response when asked about the state of the industry. My own observations have been similar to some of the inmates here; packs of rude Chinese and Ruskies but far less Europeans as seen in previous years. The over-supply off massage shops is even more apparent now and a once charming bunch of lasses have become a quite distasteful mercenary pack of Hyena’s – desperate business indeed. Dreadful shame (my opinion as an occasional visitor) as I knew the place in its halcyon days, but nothing lasts forever and the island will evolve into whatever it will for the prevailing demographic.

5 hours ago, hydraides said:

 

expensive even though they're still a bare fraction of what they'd cost in the West

 

Not really anymore , 400 baht = £10

I could get a 1 hour massage in the UK for £30.

 

Anywhere even without comparing I would not want to spend £30 on a massage in the UK, And I would think twice about getting a massage here in thailand regularly (once a week) if its going to cost £10....

 

I am just comparing Phuket to other places in Thailand and asking what privilege does Phuket have to charge extra?

 

Phuket Dairy Queen in central festival in Phuket town charges 45 baht for a medium kit kat

Dairy Queen in Terminal 21 in Asok charges 40 baht

 

I would hazard a guess that dairy queen in terminal 21 pays higher rent. 

 

So why on earth does everything in phuket have to be 10-50% high price. It makes no sense......

 

 

 

 

 

Guv, the best you’re gonna get for 30 quid in the UK would be the same thrill one would get if when reposed on an old smell plastic mattress expecting a svelte lovely to step through the curtain, ya granny staggers in clutching a rubber hot water bottle, a length of plastic tubing and starts barking orders in German. You forgot the advantage of getting a massage from a dear old Thai lass and that is you’re unlikely to get a boner and therefore no need to tip big for the happy ending; everyone a winner. Massage is very cheap in Lalaland and if you’re lucky enough to find a good quality Thai masseur you’ll not find the same outside of the kingdom. I’ve had traditional Chinese massage and it’s also very good but with the downside that Chinese people tend to hate everyone equally which doesn’t help with the relaxation part. My Thai rattly-cart loves chocolate but always complains that it’s expensive and not good quality in Lalaland – meaning bring her some Swiss chocolate. I duly due this but as the goodies start to melt leaving the winter climes of northern Europe and seeing the possible waste, I dob in and scoff half the box. I explain that they had melted when I hand over what is left but she points out what looks like a chocolate stain on my lower lip but I quickly parry the inquisition by saying I have a cold sore. There’s just no pleasing some people.

9 hours ago, xylophone said:

Some of the bars were reasonably busy, but as this is now officially the “high season” the patronage is not what the owners were hoping for at this particular time.

Hmmmm…I would comment here that most folk (Europeans) who have to work in December cannot actually come over until at least 1 week before crimbo and normally have to return to Outer Earth, say, in the first week in January. So possibly a small boost for local businesses for that period but still not long enough to cover crippling losses in slack periods. What is not often covered is the effect on the supply chain connected with running any business; a typical instance when A supplies B who supplies C etc. When the top card falls over the rest can/usually fail too with the consequent misery to the folk and businesses that support that chain, particularly the small hotel/guest house sector.

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hmmm....not particularly a lover of French whites and IMO they are at their best with food whereas the New World wines can be drunk all day long (if one has a mind to!). 

 

And not being a fish eater perhaps I have missed out on a few culinary delights with the pairing of French whites.

 

Saki doesn't do it for me, but reading your experience with the 80% proof stuff took me back to my days in the Sahara where brewing home made beer had become an art and the White Lightening that was distilled in copper stills hidden behind showers in guys rooms, was almost literally mind blowing!

 

Didn't stop many a drunken night in the desert in a Muslim country!

 

Red wine is my main drink and has been for years, although as a lad, beer was the thing.

 

Having said that I have enjoyed some delightful German white wines in my time.

 

As has been mentioned many times on this thread and others, there really is no need to tax the hell out of wine imports as there is no real wine industry here to protect, and the everyday Thai doesn't drink it, so us farangs bear the brunt of what I consider is stupidity or short-sightedness and for those on a budget, have to put up with Montclair and its ilk.

Some good points there, chuckles.

Some notes here regarding the tax levy on the devil farang booze imports:

https://www.wine-cheese.net/single-post/2017/07/13/Wines-in-Thailand-Why-they-are-so-expensive

…and here’s one in the eye for our frog munching friends over the channel…sacre bleu!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/english-sparkling-wine-beats-champagne-in-paris-blind-tasting/

13 hours ago, xylophone said:

Ah yes, a bit of MP humour and p1ss take (sorry about the pun) however so far from the truth nowadays, with Australia making many top class wines, and can still be good at table wine levels...…..

 

So quite why they have had to damage the "Aussie brand" which has come a long way in world wine standards and quality, by producing the "fruit wine" crap that we get here, is beyond me.

 

Yes I know they are making it to a price point for this market, but it is taking it back to the "Aussie Chateau Chunder" days...….such short term and narrow thinking IMO.

Sir, I’d agree the sentiment regarding Chateau Aussie Chunder and I think I’d give the Perth Pink a big swerve too. Being an ale drinker (not the bits in the bottom of the glass real ale as I refuse to grow the requisite tangled beard and sing folk songs), I have the occasional dabble into the world of fine wines, and a fine wine is what I want. I was in a Bangkok hotel and some lad was celebrating something or other and asked the manager for the wine list. Cutting to the chase, a semi-chilled white (French) was bought out and I was offered a glass to join in his celebrations. I took a sip and hoped to Buddha he hadn’t paid too much as it was quite awful, only to find later he’d been stripped the equivalent of 80 quid for something I wouldn’t put on me chips. The bottle has disappeared before I had a chance to scan the label and warn the world that such a wine ever existed. For my palate, those fruity wines usually have so much sugar added to compensate for the acidity that this spoils the enjoyment. Many moons ago, I was in Mai Sai having some lunch before sloping over to Burma via the access bridge. On the booze menu was something unpronounceable that roughly equated to Rice Wine; only ever having sampled Japanese Saki (of which I found rather good) I ordered some. Not bad, although too warm I mused, and you really want too much of it as the label stated 80% proof. I’ve never seen it elsewhere Lalaland so maybe just a Chinese influence thing. I don’t have clear preference for white, rose or red wine as each wine province can excel at one or the other, southern German wines as an example, especially around the Lake Constance area.

9 hours ago, xylophone said:

Sorry to disappoint you, but I believe that is also a "fruit wine" RP………..at least some of their range is. 

 

Blended with fruit juice in Oz and exported here. But will check it out as if it is a "real wine" then it could be a good accompaniment to pasta and chilli dishes for me.

...or you could try it with a few glasses of the following wines 

 which has a bouquet like an Aborigine's armpit....????

19 hours ago, xylophone said:

I know a couple of Swedes, will one of those do...……….?

Hmmmm…possible, but does she like turnips? 

15 hours ago, xylophone said:

That's as good a diagnosis as I've had from anywhere, so I'll run with that for now "billy"...……..and your fee is??

One Turnip supplied in a brown envelope will do fine. ????

10 hours ago, xylophone said:

Thank you for the link bth, most informative, although the rashes look like hives, they last for more than a week or more and don't seem to fit the pattern described.

 

I am reliably (?) informed by two different Drs here that I am allergic to dust or pollen at this moment in time and am on a couple of antihistamine tablets, steroids (for a short time only) and cortisone cream, so lets see how that pans out.

 

I was sceptical about the dust/pollen link, however yesterday I decided to go and buy a very loose cotton top, very much like the ones that are popular here in Thailand, and this one was a bit longer and I reasoned that I could wear it around the house so that the airflow was able to reach the body more easily (cooling effect?).

 

I bought it from underneath Jungceylon in one of those Indian type shops and I was actually looking for a Kaftan thing, but this had to do. Now here is the interesting thing........ I put it on as soon as I got home, and within about 15 minutes I had a rash round my neck where this had come into contact with it, so quickly removed the garment.

 

Trying to think of an answer to this I reasoned that the shop under the Jungceylon complex also had an opening out onto the road just opposite where the new Central shopping centre is being built, and the amount of dust and other crap which has been in the air because of this has been immense, and I think it's quite possible that some of this has settled on some of the clothes nearby, especially as this one was in a rack open to this dust/etc.

 

I'm hoping that this will be a short-term thing as regards the pollen aspect, however there is quite a bit of building work going on at the moment, for whatever reason god only knows, so let's hope that this settles also. 

Sir, having exhausted all possible avenues of diagnosis, there remains the only possible explanation for your maladies and I think you better take a seat…seated? Okay, if gives me no pleasure to break this to you gently, but you have ‘Lalalanditis’…yes, you've become allergic to Thailand and there is, sadly, no known cure.????

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

And may I ask what form they took as I am suffering with several skin rashes at the moment, but no sinus stuff as in the past?

Sir, I occasionally suffer from Hives (Urticaria) when I visit hotter climes mainly due to sweating but not the other symptoms as per the attached link – stress, etc.  which I’ve included purely for reference. Talking to my doctor about this, he also mentioned that raised blood pressure can be a contributing factor to the severity of attack. It’s unlikely to be a skin contagion thing but more related to the nervous system. Unfortunately, the swelling will have little or no effect on one’s gentleman sausage. ????

https://www.webmd.com/allergies/cholinergic-urticaria-facts#1

(LIK - note the bit about affect to breathing)

14 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

"Outside of Lalaland, the term Freehold is completely understood in meaning" - I agree, however, the use of the word "freehold" in Thailand, by anyone, or any company, is misleading.  Freehold DOES NOT exist for a foreigner in Thailand.  It's as simple as that.  Like I have said, condo's DO NOT float in mid air. 

 

"I would guess the average Somchai fares no better should property issues go pot-over-teacup either." - yes and no.  If Somchai owns a condo in a block that has foreign "owners" in it then he is, or could be, in the 51% which gives him more voting power.  If Somchai is in a condo block completely owned by Thai's, and the said Thai's own the land the block sits on, not a developer, then he shares equal voting power, and whilst he can also be out voted, at least it was a fairer system of majority rules, whereas, a foreigner will ALWAYS be in the minority, thus, even collectively, never having equal voting rights.

Sir, unfortunately I chose engineering as a career and not one in the legal profession and so I’ll have to take your word for the points mentioned. Come to think of it, I don’t think such legal expertise would have the slightest bit of difference concerning the machinations of dodging the bullet in Lalaland. Furthermore, the only brown envelopes dropping through my letterbox are ones demanding cash for one thing or another, perhaps pointing to an earlier wrong decision in career choice.

5 hours ago, beechbum said:

This is gonna be good.

Favourite bits so far:

They see me working out and see I'm clean living so leave me be.

just play the grey man and keep a low profile. Everyone knows me as that farang guy who works out at the park

...just don't put sugar in his kerwoffee...????

On 10/31/2018 at 7:06 AM, simon43 said:

I left Phuket around August 2016 to work again in Myanmar (I was there in 2012/13) - this time in the new city of Naypyitaw.

 

I've enjoyed my time there, primarily because the lack of any sort of 'entertainment' encouraged me to go on a healthy food and fitness regime.  

 

Well, I'm fit and healthy now, and recently resigned from my job with an initial idea to return to live in Thailand, - if not Phuket, then nearby in Phang-Nga.

 

But having thought about the various pros and cons of living in south Thailand or living in Myanmar, (and there are plenty of arguments in favour of/against both countries), I have decided to remain in Myanmar and continue/expand the educational charity work that I started in my spare time.  Next week I hope to move to live in Kawthaung (the visa-run town opposite Ranong). 

 

Few foreigners give Kawthaung more than 10 minutes of their time.  I've visited K. many times and that is actually where my volunteer work began many years ago.

 

How on earth can I compare living in Kawthaung to Phuket?

 

Plus points:

- There are pristine islands and beaches in that region

- There is a small jogging track down at the sea-front (got to keep fit!)

- Myanmar soi dogs run away from foreigners!

- Myanmar people are much friendlier than many Thais (I attribute this to the low number of foreigners in the country - I'm still a curiosity!)

- Living costs can be extremely cheap

 

Negatives:

- Most Myanmar food is full of oil and fatty meat, (no problem for me 'cos I generally eat healthy fresh food nowadays)

- The infrastructure sucks, with frequent power cuts etc (but I also experienced many power cuts when living 5 minutes from Phuket Airport) Mobile internet in Myanmar is fast!

- Lack of a decent medical service.  This is one issue that concerns me.  I already have Medivac insurance to Bangkok etc.  But if one has a serious accident or sudden illness in Kawthaung, then the only route out is in a small boat across to Ranong.  I guess my Medivac will not be used because I'll be dead before any feasible help arrives.

 

I can't say that I miss Phuket.  It was great fun 15 years ago for me (well, not so much marriage fun..).  But living and travelling in Myanmar, with all its hardships etc has been an enjoyable challenge for me, and I'm not ready to stop just yet and put my feet up ????

-

you missed the plus point of Kawthaung having a domestic airport. ????

8 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

  I sleep well every night. Taxes paid, audited. 18 years now. Hope you sleep well too. Bye condo sales Troll.

Dunno why Mysto had to drag your dear old Trouble & Strife into this debate but I for one would say with absolute certainty that as a gentleman in his autumn years, you have no trouble nodding off for a quick nap. ????

On 11/1/2018 at 12:28 PM, NamKangMan said:

 

A foreigner can own 100% of the "strata" - the air space.  Like I said, they can do what they want in their four walls.  However, it sits on land that is 51% owned by a Thai, or Thai's, and you think that is "freehold" as in western property ownership "freehold."  Give me break. 

 

Doesn't matter which way you spin it, a foreigner can only own 49% of the land, and that is not "freehold."  It's that simple. 

 

Indeed, but it may be prudent to say that reference to ‘Strata’ (this is the plural of Stratum,) referring to geological formation, may not be entirely suitable for the debate here. Strata Title would seem to be appropriate for the point made. Outside of Lalaland, the term Freehold is completely understood in meaning and I thought you had a reasonable attempt to try and put this forward, but unfortunately the rule of law does not apply there if you are farang; I would guess the average Somchai fares no better should property issues go pot-over-teacup either. In the UK, owners of the leases of flats can (for some time now) buy the freehold to the land from the freehold management and get rid of the thieving scum once and for all.

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

It is also foolhardy to jump into a post in which you do not fully understand the subtleties being discussed, or indeed the possible hypothetical situation which I posted.

 

Technically NKM was right when he said, "A foreigner can own 100% of the "strata" - the air space.  Like I said, they can do what they want in their four walls.  However, it sits on land that is 51% owned by a Thai, or Thai's, and you think that is "freehold" as in western property ownership "freehold."  Give me break".

 

And his point was that freehold, as we understand it in the Western world, does not have the same meaning here in Thailand, so for many expats what they think they are getting, they are not. In some respects it could possibly be viewed as misleading advertising especially if it is aimed at the Western/farang market.

 

In common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, United States, Australia,[1] Canada, and Ireland), a freehold is the common ownership of real property, or land,[a] and ownership of it must be of an indeterminate duration. If the time of ownership can be fixed and determined, it cannot be a freehold. 

 

Also in my post I hypothesised as to what could be viewed as another angle in the "freehold ownership" statement, when you look at it again in a different way, but I did not state that this was the case, only that it could be viewed that way – – an alternative way to look at the NKM argument, which I believe holds water.

 

And again I state that if the 49% farang shareholders wanted to claim their part of the land should the condominium block be demolished, they would have no chance as land ownership for them is forbidden in most cases.

 

In summary, freehold here in Thailand has a different meaning and a potentially different outcome to that which is understood by most farangs……..and that was the main point.
 

Good post young man. ????

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

Confined to my apt at the moment due to some sort of allergy (I seem to get this about this time every year) so I thought I would add something to the “Wake” thread………..

 

 

Went to Bangla about a week ago and what was glaringly obvious this time was the number of younger folk milling around the place with many of them knowing all the words of the “rap” (crap) music that was playing in some bars, including the endless stream of profanities. Suffice it to say that the usual haunts of the previous older generation were not doing well at all.

 

 

And if you add to that the increasing number of Indians/Pakistanis, then it would be fair to assume that bar owners weren’t rolling in money at this moment in time.

 

 

I was tempted into a go-go bar by a friend of mine and was surprised to see the number of girls there with “plastic puppies”, in fact all of them had the implants, apart from one whose boobs looked a lot more like spaniels ears, and she was probably one that needed them the most!

 

 

Having said that the girls in the place outnumbered the punters by a fair few and from what I learned, it was pretty well par for course in that soi recently.

 

The Bar Funk bars had come along a little since the last visit, but if you consider that to get where it is, has taken about four months, then progress has been very slow indeed??

Moving around a little, I noticed the burger bar in Nanai, which seems to be shut as often as it is open, seems to be mirroring the popularity of its several predecessors, so how long it stays open remains to be seen.

 

Even Da Moreno, which usually attracts its fair share of diners, has been a bit slack on a few nights however I do hope they stay open because their pizzas are great. Whereas at the other end of Nanai I have yet to see any more then a handful of diners in total in the reopened pizza restaurant there.

 

There seems to be steady stream of cheap Chinese tourists frequenting guesthouses/small hotels in Nanai and they are noticeable by the fact that they walk three and four abreast along that road and it surely won’t be long before some truck barrels around one of the corners scattering them like skittles, and it will be their own fault.

 

A couple of days ago a friend told me that he’d heard that the police/immigration were doing checks on the bars and some guesthouses in Nanai and I thought that might be the result of Big Joke now taking over the reins, and sure enough today I see that two overstayers have been arrested in lodgings in Nanai and I’m sure there will be more to follow, this quite probably from the southern end of Nanai where the “undesirables” seem to congregate.

 

Nearly got bowled off the motorbike yesterday when I just managed to avoid two huge thick metal plates (about 3 m²) which had been in place over drains in Soi Sainamyen and its extension, seemed to have lifted from the welds. They were unsafe at the best of times and surely an indication of extremely poor workmanship and road maintenance, and if something isn’t done soon, there will be some nasty spills I’m sure.

 

Speaking of nasty spills, I had my first one here about a week ago, when I was riding on the back of a motorbike taxi, coming home from Bangla, and I have to say that the motorbike taxi guys who usually bring me home are very good indeed, and always looking out for my welfare, but this was a new young guy and probably didn’t know the ropes!

 

In attempting to drive up my very steep driveway, he lost the bike and almost did a backward flip with it, which in turn made me do exactly the same and over I went, ass-over-head, clobbering my head on the concrete as well as landing heavily on the small of my back, not to mention ripping a 12-inch gash in my calf.

 

I laid on the ground for a few minutes, unable to move and not really knowing where I was, but when I started to come round a little I was terribly worried that I had broken my back or similar because I couldn’t feel anything in my legs, but the feeling slowly returned and the young driver managed to help me to my feet, very unsteadily so I may add, and he was assisted by a nice Thai guy who had seen the accident from the nearby family Mart and had also come out to help.

 

They sat me down for a few minutes enquiring after my well-being and with the taxi driver guy uttering, “sorry papa, sorry papa” so many times that I felt sorry for him and told him not to worry as I would be okay, not really knowing that I would at that particular time!

 

Eventually I was able to climb the steps up to my apartment and immediately took two paracetamol tablets and cleaned the gash in my leg, showered and then applied some antibiotic ointment to it. I took some anti-inflammatories for a few days and also got onto some antibiotics because the gash wasn’t healing as quickly as I would have liked, however now all seems to be well apart from a bit of a stiff back.

 

Just goes to show that one can be as careful as one wants, and I believe I have here, having ridden a motorbike and driven a car here for 11 years, but still the unexpected can happen and as I’ve often said, it’s not always your fault.

 

The more I think about it the more I think how lucky I was when I relive the moment I did a backflip off a motorbike onto a concrete driveway and then tumbled down it for quite a way, at the age of 71, yet did not sustain anything serious in the way of injuries.

 

I want to be around for a lot longer to see exactly what Patong transforms itself into, because I, like others and particularly Hans Gruber who started the original thread, and Patong2, are puzzled about what it is and about what it’s trying to be??

…and they say those ‘Lucky Amulets’ are a waste of money and I will gladly advise on the design of a furnicular rail tram to assist in your access and egress to your pad after a night on the sauce.????  Glad to hear you’re not pushing up the Daisey’s and thanks for the Patong updates. As to what the transformation will be is a tricky one due to the eternal babbling of the blind talking to the deaf.

4 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Getting off topic here. Insurance here in Thailand is for the vehicle and any legal driver. If the insurance has this bail bond option then applies to any driver. I suspect that many of these 'road side' operators don't bother paying for that cover. The big companies do. That's why I never ever rent a car on the so called cheap. I have walked away from some small renters once wife has read the contract fine print written in Thai.

 

Edit. My wife has 2 rental cars with full insurance include bail bond.  

Off-topic? …possibly, but useful information to the green newbies who may catch a glimpse of this and pass it on. A hotel owner I know has a list of don’ts that he gives to his guests; dealing with ho’s, taxis, jet skis, humourless diving instructors and so on; I will ask him to add this nugget to the list.

6 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Jeez. That's terrible. Years ago my wife and I were involved in a building permit irregularity. Into police station and squeezed for money to make it go away. At least we could afford our bail money. We had to report to the court every 6 weeks awaiting our trial date. The government lawyers tried to squeeze us. We siad no thanks we will pay what would be a small fine. Many months later case dropped and bail returned.

 

And we both do have forward dash cameras. And I would not drive any car without bail bond money in the insurance policy. 

 

Welcome back.

 

Interesting note about the bail-bond item addition but is this available to tourists who rent vehicles there? Is it advice you would offer to your guests to consider should they fall foul of the ‘fair’ Thai legal system? My first driving experiences in Thailand were in the north-east and back then I never thought about too much about it apart from the fact that I assumed I was fully insured…very different experience though driving west from Nong Khai to Mai Sai 20 years ago compared to Phuket.

10 hours ago, Lashay said:

I would guess the good summer weather most of northen hemisphere had is also having an impact on early bookings. People tend to think about winter holidays early if the summer at home was bad, if not they leave to later, if they take one at all.

Not in all cases as it’s often cheaper to book in advance due to the outrageous prices asked as the Crimbo high season arrives. I’ve often saved £3-500 by booking mid-year. I know a lass who works for TUI and they operate the only direct service LGW-PHUKET and she told me that the upgraded seats are often sold out by February. A lot of folk think about the Crimbo holiday mainly because they can’t stand Crimbo at home!