RogueLeader

In India, you must show an id to buy a sim card for your mobile phone.

In some states, you also need a letter of recommendation from your landlord and if female, from your husband or father.

As Myamaar heads towards democracy

*snort*

Minutes from meeting with Phuket Authorities.

Chairman Somchai: How can we increase the numbers of foreign wallets, sorry, visitors?

Poomchai: Maybe if we extend the runway at the airport?

Somchai: Excellent idea! That would automatically bring in millions more visitors each year.

Poomchai: But there is the question of the need for more infrastructure with more visitors?

Somchai: No problem. Just increase the number of tuktuks. That should solve it.

Poomchai: But we have not solved the problems with sewage from the new hotels?

Somchai: No problem. We shall require all tourists to bring their own plastic bags to use in the bathrooms. And when they are filled, they just empty them on the beach. And reuse the bags, not leave them on the beach. Think about the environment. Problem solved.

I will talk to the airport people. Any more questions or we can go and eat?

Meeting finished.

In a nutshell. +1000000000 internets.

"...set to bring 12.5mn visitors"

"PHUKET International Airport (PIA) will be able to receive 12.5 million visitors per year by 2014..."

Complacent much?

The redshirts are a symptom. 'Disbanding' them (which would in effect mean killing many of them and destroying some of their villages) will only address the symptom. Thai people have their livelihoods stolen through corruption and their votes bought by ambitious mediocrities.

There is an elephant in the room.

Only as far as it being sourced on the other side of the world but he's wrong on Thailand's humidity making jack shit difference to cocaine's potency and he's arguably in error about its suitability for the "mood".

The latter depends on individual tastes whilst the former poses no problem for users I've observed nuking it in a microwave for a few seconds.

It makes no difference to its potency, but chopping a sodium-based substance that's extremely hydrophilic with a blunt plastic card tends to be a frustrating experience in a very humid climate. Happy nosebleeds.

I'm not knocking anyone for having a go, I'm just saying that I don't think it's worth it, especially when you factor in the particular vigilance of law enforcement officials when dealing with drugs not natively* sourced and being used by foreigners. This latter reason is why I don't do drugs in Thailand, full stop.

*Burma sort of counts. Anything that profits Burma ultimately profits Thailand anyway.

Are you suggesting that everybody who "f@cks whores" has no sufficient social skills?

Ooooooooh....the arrogance......

No, of course not. But also, someone who comes to Thailand in order to pay women for sex is on shaky moral high ground when criticising other people who come to Thailand for different reasons.

Also, I'm not sure why anyone coming to Thailand would want to take cocaine. It isn't suitable for the mood or the climate (sulphates tend to clog and clump in humid climates) of Thailand and is sourced on the other side of the world.

For example you might be right that cocaine is more addictive than alcohol but that doesn't mean that everybody that uses cocaine becomes an addict.

Plenty of folks around that snort a line every once in a while during parties or the weekend for example and they don't become hopelessly addicted.

Sure it depends a bit how you define addiction but in my view people that use on occasion illegal drugs for recreational purposes are not addicted until they go over the edge which depends on many variables.

They myth of cocaine's addictiven potential was exploded long ago

http://www.tfy.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm

Please note that I am not endorsing cocaine use in any way at all: I think it's a horrible drug that changes a room full of friends into a room full of people bragging about their jobs. I'm also not defending people who sell heroin and profit from addiction. All drugs have their down sides: even marijuana, probably the mainstream drug with the least downside of all, is a potential carcinogen and has been known to trigger psychological problems in those prone to it. But in the end, cocaine in its sulphate form isn't that harmful: it has low addictive potential and the main risk is of heart attack from overdose. There are some occasional, recreation users of heroin but such is the drug's pull that these people are very rare.

Those who criticise drug dealers for profiting from misery would be well advised to remind themselves of the addiction, unemployment, domestic violence and misery that alcohol brings.

Ultimately, though, none of these things should be illegal: I decide what passes into my body, no-one else and I am entirely responsible for my actions while under the influence of whatever I choose to ingest, infume or insufflate.

Oh Thai Cheat Whore runs to Police when she isn't making enough money out of a scam

And description of sexual acts isn't OK but this sort of thing is?

I'm learning as I go here...

<deleted> are you on about wa**er you a user or what ?. you are just :sick:

Can I hire you for a wedding I've got coming up? It's just that I'm concerned that my best man's speech might not be very good and I could do with a jester to draw attention.

Interesting to note that 'profanity' is OK if one uses the hypocrisk to 'disguise' the word.

Another victim of the pointless, counter-productive 'war on drugs'. We continue to punish people harshly for what is essentially a consumer choice. And yet it goes on, listlessly cheerlead by complacent bovine brainfarts from unthinking beer-swilling hypocrites.

Do yourself and your country a favour: think.

Funny how many ppl come to Thailand because its different than home, then want to make it just like home. Some like the sleaze, some don't. If you don't go there, why do care what it's like? If you don't like the sex tourists, then isnt it better that they are condensed there? I have been to pat pong (not one of the "been here 20 years and only went there when I was lost and it was by accident" crowd) and didn't care for it, but if someone does, good for them. I came here for freedom of lifestyle, not to try to apply my original countries values on this country.

I've been to Patpong too, a couple of times. It's a bit tame for my liking.

I don't give a toss about the sex tourists. I just think it's amusing when the sexpats take the moral high ground. These are, after all, generally people who can no longer get laid in the west on their own merits.

Still, it's to their credit that they've turned the language barrier into a positive.

Mightn't you have a fatal blind spot?

While this is all fine and true, there's a limit. My feeling sorry is very limited if the victim is trying to take advantage of some stolen money. It's both greedy and stupid. Hence, som nam naa is appropriate in this situation.

Absolutely.

An anti virus scam is a different story as the victim is neither greedy nor stupid. In that case, all my sympathy for the victim. Same with the gems scam...

No but they are ignorant, because anyone with the slightest hint of knowledge about networking and user account control, and who could ask the right questions, would know that their claims were impossible. The ignorance is understandable because very few people do know about these things, but all ignorance is understandable because it's the default position of any given human.

I am agreeing with you. The bottom line...you dress like you can afford to be here, you have no issues...you show up at the airport looking like a backpacker...well....

And yet there are many backpackers in Thailand. How do you explain this?

Prostitute users > backpackers?

Unfathomable too!, I agree with Clarkson, they should all be taken out to long term parking & shot.

Edit:- doh, that's backpackers, not ladies of the night.

Why would you say such a thing, I wonder?

"I agree with Clarkson" is balding, overweight impotent middle-aged man code for "I wish I was young again, and didn't have to pay for pussy. I know! I'll disguise my seething sense of resentment by issuing risibly harsh authoritarian diktats from my spunk-encrusted armchair in the hope that someone will pay me some attention."

I am agreeing with you. The bottom line...you dress like you can afford to be here, you have no issues...you show up at the airport looking like a backpacker...well....

And yet there are many backpackers in Thailand. How do you explain this?

Prostitute users > backpackers?

Is it possible that you could start posting articles without a carriage return at the end of each sentence? It makes them irritatingly difficult to read.

When non-Thais are scammed by Thais it seems that everyone is up in arms - but when a Thai gets duped it's a different story?? Som - na - nah - karma?? People get involved in things that they shouldn't each day - not because they are criminals or stupid - mostly because they are vulnerable and gullible - it can happen to anyone.

In Oz, many people receive phone calls from 'Windows help desk' claiming that their computers are infected with a virus and for a fee of $300 the help desk can fix it online - if you don't know much about computers it's easy to get fooled by that scam. My wife's friend got done - she isn't a criminal - just a mom with 3 kids with little IT knowledge.

A friend of mine who works in IT in BKK was scammed by Dr David - some guy she met on MSN who was investing in Thailand - she is not stupid - maybe a bit lonely - but not criminally involved.

I remember back in 1987 in Bangkok I was approached by some tall guy in mid 30s dressed in a boy scout uniform - i almost fell for his 'donation scam'. - I remember that I had been ill - and i think that he targeted me when I came out of a doctor's office. He didn't get a dime from me - just a warning that his health would be at risk if he didn't go elsewhere.

While it must be easier to get money from the greedy - isn't it that greed in some form that makes the economy work?

I feel for the woman and her family - her shame explaining the loss to the family would be huge.

Doug

I'm glad someone said this. It is true that the most easily scammed are the greedy and the ignorant. While I was in Istanbul last year, I was approached by clip-joint scammers five times in a week. Luckily, I'd heard about this scam before and didn't fall for it and while I was in Sultanamhet I made sure to tell everyone I could about it. We laughed about it, wondering who falls for this sort of trick. Months later in Bangkok, I met a Belgian who'd been taken by the gem scam. Again, such an obviously risky venture, but it still makes money, as does the 'shoe shine' trick in India, the sealed box scam in London and Find The Lady in Barcelona and all over the world.

But we are all ignorant, by default. I was talking to a Norwegian about this over a game of chess in Mandalay and he passed over the book that he was reading. it was Murakami, and the passage he'd underlined was "

"Mightn't you have a fatal blind spot somewhere? "

Scammers prey on a wide range of human traits: greed, fear, compassion, boredom, snobbery dissatisfaction, sexual desire among them. We know about these scams and avoid them and we can ridicule those who do, but you don't know what's around the corner.

Mightn't you have a fatal blind spot?

You can't scam an honest man/woman. It is usually the greedy or crooked, who will be scammed. The minimart owner was probably planning to scam the Africans by getting them to invest in Thailand.

You can't scam an honest man/woman. It is usually the greedy or crooked, who will be scammed. The minimart owner was probably planning to scam the Africans by getting them to invest in Thailand.

Now that will almost certainly win the TV "Moronic Statement" of the month.

I strongly advise you read Thai Visa's forum rules with regards to altering quoted comments.

Don't be a repeat offender, or holidays are likely to be handed out.

Thanks.

How has that been altered? Are you actually claiming that formatting for emphasis is 'altering'?

Oh,. dear.

i know in phuket there are hundreds of farang "stung" or "tucked up" concerning business every year , i was one of the lucky ones and lost only about $3000 US , ........ Its nice to see it happen to a greedy thai for a change ! , ....what goes around comes around , any thai buddhist should know this .

How do you know that this particular Thai was involved in scamming foreigners?

Britain hasn't even got around to auctioning the licenses. I'm seriously considering moving to Sweden just for the broadband.

There'll be no end of private finance companies only too willing to provide emergency rescue funds. All they'll want in return is to own the land that they've recovered and everything that's built with the loan money.

Thailand: brace yourself for another crash course in the shock doctrine.

HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO POWER WHATSOEVER TO STOP IT.

Enough truly is enough.

The fundamental, inescapable reality behind the existence every farang resident of Thailand. Everyone realises it sooner or later.

Your problems will start before leaving home, you are unlikely to be allowed to board your flight without either an onward ticket or a visa

Are they enforcing this now? Last year, I entered Thailand four times without an onward ticket - three times without a visa - and never had any problems at all, even though quite a few people told me that I definitely wouldn't be allowed on the plane without one.

It's probably not a good idea to risk it unless absolutely necessary, but I've never met anyone who was refused entry into Thailand for this reason.

Bye bye, have a good flight home!

The reason for Thailand's looming tourist crisis in a nutshell: irritating complacency.

I've spent the last six months here on this trip, on and off, and I've noticed that there's more and more push to attract the 'high-end' tourist.I believe this to be a mistake on the part of the Thai tourist board. I have also seen more agression and greed on the part of the locals than before.

Thailand will lose visitors to its neighbours if this continues. It will lose foreign investment. After that, they have rice, bananas and palm oil.