dottie

My policy in Thailand is that any pricing be it goods, services or national parks etc that I disagree with I do a U turn and never return especially the dual pricing system here. I believe everything comes under the buyers market category here and I as an individual deserve the right to pick and chose something that I consider to be fair. I can understand individuals pulling on the dual pricing system but here we're talking about a government supported department. In many foreign countries it would border on racism. In my estate there's many Thai Chinese with much better houses than mine, many own a Mercedes and a CRV and they are business men with multiple property and investment interests but they come under a different pricing category than me because of my race.

True, and I must admit that I empathise with this comment when I see a very arrogant Thai person rolling up with driver and Mercedes ... but, as a proportion of the whole population, such people are just a minority. Most Thais don't earn much and it would be a pity to price them out of a day out in the National Park.

Dual pricing is present in other countries as some posters have mentioned. While I don't have a problem with tourists having to pay more, I do have an issue if I have to pay the tourist rate when I work and pay tax in the country and speak the language.

In Nepal, the VSO (similar to Peace Corps) volunteers also had to pay tourist rates at famous sites, even though they were volunteering in the country for more than 2 years at a time. There was a huge battle by the VSO office to try to get dispensation which they did in the end, so I believe, but it wasn't easy. I was a VSO in Bangladesh where there wasn't any such dual pricing system (and precious few sights to see anyway!), but it would have riled me if I'd been in Nepal trying to help their country and been charged the same as someone on a 2 week holiday.

I have actually only had one jobsworth who insisted on charging me foreign rate despite my Thai partner being there and me showing my tax card ... that was by the Bhumibol Dam by the way. All other times, I've had no problems at all and the other day, at Wat Arun, the lady even said I could go in free without being asked (I'd just asked in Thai if my English friend was dressed appropriately). Suppose it all depends on the mood of the person on the day, like so many things in life.

Is it possible to obtain a Thai ID card if you are not a Thai citizen?

Talk to your wife and let her sponsor you into the Yellow Tabien Ban booklet.......

I am actually in the tabien baan but didn't have with me. I've had no problem at other places before, just needed the tax card and driver's licence. I've read people post there are rules so if I can find an 'official' source, I can quote in future.

Can someone educate me on this "tax card"? I'm a tax paying, DL holding farang for coming up on 4 years, but never heard of a "tax card".

I attach a copy of mine - sorry for blacked out bits. Like to maintain anonymity online - nothing personal. I got it from my employer, laminated it and now it travels everywhere with me. Hasn't failed me yet in any of the National Parks etc. Mind you, I always say in Thai when I present it that "tham ngaan ti Grunthep. Sia pa-sii ti nii" (work in BKK. Pay tax here).

Got my 5 year driving licence renewed for the new credit card style one last week, complete with scanned photo. Will try it on domestic flights - thanks for the tip on that one.

Also, I went to Wat Arun with some friends who are on first visit to Thailand and when I asked the lady at the kiosk in Thai if my friend was dressed appropriately, she asked if I live here and then let me in for free! Bonus!

I reckon speaking more than the minimum Thai is the clincher, but suppose there'll always be a jobs worth who digs his heels in.

Good luck.

Welcome, Dottie! We have more than a few things in common as I also lived & worked in Bangladesh although probably quite a while before you were there (1987-1991....four LONG years in purdah!)

Hi to everyone and thank you for all your welcomes. That's really nice! Sorry, been offline for past week moving house.

Sheryl, not sure what nationality you are but, if you are Brit or Canadian, you're more likely to know about the great organisation that is Voluntary Service Overseas, which sends vols to developing countries to share their skills, ie. you learn from the people and country you are sent to, not just telling the locals what to do. I was with VSO in Sylhet in north-eastern Bangladesh from 2002 to 2004 ... a challenging time, as you'll no doubt appreciate but an experience I never regret. Taught me a load about myself and makes Thailand feel like paradise. As I tell any moaners about Thailand, they should spend time in Bangladesh!! Would love to swap "war stories" with you though!

On that note, thanks for the tips about Private Messaging, will definitely give that a shot. Still working out how you get your "avatars" (is that the word for it).

Cheers again everyone, thanks for all the useful comments and tips. Have a great week!

As a woman, I've generally felt safe in Thailand, a lot safer than I feel in most American cities, and I've travelled alone in both.

Things you could do:

Would it help your father to be able to reach you at all times? It's really cheap to get a Thai simcard for your mobile phone, and I know it also makes me feel safer to have a working phone on me, especially at night.

Would it be an option to stay with a host family? Would something like that make your father feel safer?

If you're coming with a study abroad program, can you get more information on where you'd be living (on campus?), where you'd be studying, etc -- maybe knowing the specifics would help your father be reassured?

I found that most of avoiding problems in Thailand uses the same common sense as back home:

don't drink without having trusted friend to watch your back

avoid drugs like the plague

avoid taking taxis at night by yourself if you can. if you have to take one after a night of clubbing or something, bring a shawl or something to cover up your sexy outfit in the cab, don't act visibly drunk, and carry your mobile phone.

above all, trust your instincts!

It's completely unacceptable for Thai men to touch Thai women they don't know, and (I think sbk mentioned this first) if you act super, super offended if one of them tries to touch you, they will realize you know "the rules of the game" and usually back off. but i never found sexual harrassment to be a big problem in thailand, especially not on the scale that i hear it happens in places like morroco or india. most thai men are respectful, in my experience.

i don't know if this gives me any real security, but it makes me feel safer in a place like Thailand: i always try to make friends and get to know the people on my street, chat with them, go back to the same restaurants, use the same taxi driver if I can -- so I'm not just an anonymous person, but someone they know, so i feel like they might have my back and give a shit if something happened to me.

oh, i think the biggest risk in thailand, as qualtrough was saying (wow, I'm agreeing with qualtrough -- this is a historical occasion! :-P are the roads. The roads are dangerous. I travel by train or plane when I can, to avoid the roads, never take night busses anywhere, and have a few seconds chat with taxi drivers before getting in to see if they are visibly drunk or high (a lot of them are, unfortunately).

good luck with your studies, i hope it works out!

I couldn't agree more with the things in red. Getting known in your neighbourhood is most important. If people know you, they will watch out for you much more. I make sure I buy things regularly from my local shops and restaurants and always acknowledge stall holders so they can see I'm not stand-offish and remember my face.

Even just giving a smile and greeting to the security guard outside the US ambassador's house means he now writes the taxi number plate down on a piece of paper to give to me when I'm getting a taxi home from work (I flag them them from there because there is a handy pull-in which means I don't get rushed into hopping into the taxi by the rest of the traffic ... don't actually work there)! That's why I like life in Thailand. The little things make me happy!

Not encountered too many taxi drivers being drunk or high, but I have had a couple of taxi drivers who've been on the night shift and actually fall asleep at the wheel while waiting at the traffic lights.

don't worry about it dottie, you'll be posting your views like a veteran soon & if you feel someone if giving you a lot of grief or flaming there is always the report button.

Heh heh, hopefully won't need to resort to that. However, if the original poster does come out here and wants to meet up, she is most welcome to contact me (I presume there is a mechanism for doing this on TV - haven't quite worked it all out yet). I am very sociable, almost always positive about Thailand/Thais and happy to swap stories about experiences in Thailand, despite my previous comments about getting drunk around town! Oh and I am Bangkok based.

welcome to the forum dottie.

Thank you! I have been a silent observer for quite some time ... ladies' forum always one of the best parts of TV. I just didn't want to get too much into the "leaping in" before I've got my thoughts sorted out and, despite being a confident girlie, am a bit shy about putting my opinions up here on the forum! Fear of getting shot down? Ah too late now ...

Ditto on Seonai's experience. Even if you don't have a Thai spouse, lie and say you do. And be sure to add he is from Nakhon Si Thammarat (or Surat Thani). The taxi drivers won't touch you with a 10 foot pole

All good advice on how to behave once you get here--bina gives excellent advice on how to reassure your dad as well.

Let me tell you the one thing that helped my parents when I left the US when I was 21. I asked them, do you trust my judgment? And when they answered yes, I asked them to continue to do so. I also contacted them regularly. And remember, this was before the days of email, IM, SMS and mobile phones. They worried but allowed me to be the adult that I am. Ask your parents for the same consideration.

Hello, this is my first post and I would like to say that I agree with the comments about saying you have a Thai spouse. I always sit in the front of Bangkok taxis for safety belt reasons and have some of my best Thai conversations with taxi drivers. I try to speak only in Thai even if it is a bit round the houses (eg trying to explain about former mining communities in UK which is not something I learn in Thai lessons!). We always seem to get on the topic of my Nakhon Si Thammarat partner (what is it about southern men?) and, apart from finding it really funny that a farang girl is with a Thai man, they are always super polite and helpful.

I'd like to add that I lived in Bangladesh as a development worker for 2 and a half years before coming to Thailand and in that time I had no end of problems with the local men. I am a confident girl but would never have sat in the front seat there and however conservatively dressed (local salwar kameez, even covering my head and face at times) I was regularly groped on the street and harassed verbally, including having a stalker for the best part of a year which was pretty scary. When I was with male colleagues, all such hassles stopped immediately. Unfortunately, many Bangladeshi men's experience of western women is largely from porn websites and western TV channels, so they do have a somewhat warped impression of us.

The best advice I can give is to try to be outwardly confident, be firm but polite if a man oversteps the boundaries of what is acceptable behaviour, and try to let them know that you have a local partner (having a little background prep is invaluable, eg. name and where he is from). It's best not to travel alone if you are drunk - that is when some friends of mine have had problems with taxis and motorcycle taxis here. Try not to take taxis from touristy areas but walk a little way away in the direction of the traffic flow so you are not obviously emerging from a bar, tourist site, etc. Cover your shoulders and chest area with a shawl to avoid any tempting white skin showing.

I am also Thai proportioned and I suppose could be construed as "cute" which would make me less intimidating than many taller farang girls. This is why I try to make it clear with a smile that I am not "available", have local friends, and that I know my way around Bangkok and the Thai language quite well (language and knowledge of the local area worked well for me in Bangladesh too).

Apart from that, I have to say that my impression, after travelling quite a bit in various parts of the world, is that Bangkok is much safer than many other big cities and that Thai men are pretty respectful. Getting drunk and not keeping your wits about you is about the biggest danger for most women (in any place). In my limited experience and maybe I am wrong here, my Thai girl friends are quite likely to be (like my Bangladeshi girl friends were) more in danger than western women.

I also started travelling when in my late teens and although my parents would like me closer to home, being an only child, they understand my need to explore the world. So on the one hand they sometimes worry about me, on the other hand they are very proud that I am making it in an alien culture and living a life which is much more interesting and different from many people. They come out here regularly and that has really helped them understand what I "see" in Thailand.

Sorry, this has gotten quite wordy. Just on a roll on this interesting topic. Maybe the poster can take advantage of this forum and meet up with some farang girls who are already here - plug into the network as it were.