007

Obviously alot more to this story that we are not hearing.

I think (and left out for that reason), that the Korean, in response to the Thai on the bike, who stopped the Korean and girlfriend with his outstretched arm to tease(??) them, kind of pushed the Thai back(??). Perhaps the Thai was enraged, so he went to get the machete...

How does he know or have 'first hand knowledge' of these mafia-types that attacked him with a machete?Everywhere I've been in South-East Asia the Koreans seem to continually get themselves into problems,deservedly or not!

I rented a house in the North and the previous Korean tenants had taken all the air-conditioners with them when they left the house!

No, not the victim (had) first-hand knowledge, but I, the OP! (Years ago, if you had asked me where to buy ya-ba, I could have told you what alley, what apartment building, what room... Not because I was into drugs, but because I knew someone, who sold this stuff, plus her friends who sold (and re-packaged) even more drugs! So, I know, that the Korean lives in an area (Soi 101), where you better don't live as an expat. As for Koreans, well, what was it about the owner of that visa run company? (Still, I am sorry for the victim, no matter what nationality.)

A Korean expat has been attacked today near Bangna with a machete! Earlier today he went jogging with his Thai girlfriend, when a "Thai mafia-type" man on a motorbike tried to 'stop' them by extending his arm in front of the couple. The Korean held his hand in front of the Thai, in order to stop the intrusion. He, the Korean, later went to his apartment building, followed by the mentioned Thai man, who took a machete to cut the Koreans face several times. The Korean was admitted to hospital.

(Remarks: OP is not the victim, but has the info from a travel agency, mostly catering to Koreans. Victim lives in the mentioned area close to Bangna. OP lived in mentioned area in the past, and has first-hand knowledge of Thais who could be called 'mafia', i.e. professional drug (e.g. ya-ba) dealers. OP has never taken drugs, but thinks that such ctiin that part of Sukhumvit is plausible. Best luck for the victim! Everyone, please be careful.)

Smart move. You can bypass their rude employees.

The only thing I would be concerned about is they would unload their older merchandise on you.

Its managed by Falang who want to be the leaders.

Can't see the mum and pop stores being happy about this!

I don't think it's managed by 'falang', cause I once had a serious complaint about one of their stores here in Thailand. After searching without success for a customer complaint email, I wrote to (what I thought) the head office in the UK. They answered that they were

'sorry', but unable to help, as they had no influence on the stores in Thailand.

Quote Wikipedia: "Tesco Lotus is a hypermarket chain in Thailand, Cambodia and China (卜蜂莲花 Bo fēng liánhuā). In Thailand, the stores are operated by Ek-Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd."

Anyhow, I miss my local Carrefour store...

Situation: landlord cancels contract, wants me and Thai partner to move out on the 15th. Anticipating that deposit not being returned by this landlord, I withhold rent and utilities* (*from last month). On the 15th move out, but big trouble with security and landlord. They want us to pay for the full(!) month, plus utilities. They actually owe us money. Calls for police; Thai partner forced to pay while I'm away. (She signed the contract.)

Is this "legal": full rent for 15 days. No return of deposit. Threatening tenant with police... How to handle the situation, and get the remaining amount of deposit back?

Does your Thai partner lie, and, when you give her hints that what she says must be untrue, she still keeps on lying: OK with you??

Asking the Thai police to solve a computer crime ????

I once went to a police station in Bangkok to report a theft. The cops there were very busy: playing a football computer game, so they are obviously qualified..

Report: a child is sexually assaulted.

Response: The mother/ parents are unfit. The mother/parents have sold their child. The mother herself is selling her body in the toilet. The Thai culture condones it.

The truth may be much simpler. Perhaps it was one of those buses that stop every few minutes, passengers getting on and off. Maybe the child was just travelling from/to home on a 30-minute trip. It is common that children travel alone here. The bus might have stopped at a petrol station, and everyone, except girl and driver left the bus to use restrooms, or eat something. The girl then was an easy victim...

If it is proven that he committed this sick offence then he should be locked away for the rest of his life, people who prey on young children have no place in society.

Agreed.

He is charged with raping a girl under 13 years old who was not his wife...

Anyone knows what the girl was doing all alone in a parked(?) bus toilet? Where were her parents?

You should bear in mind, that she didn't tell you all. 'I take care you.. first day, after which you, farang, will take care of me and my kids financially.'

With the extra bonus, perhaps, of getting your country's citizenship for herself and her kids, plus golden opportunities living in your country.

Whether the Kiwis have the same clout as the Dutch had is a good question.

I am sorry for the victim and the victim's family. Kiwis are among the nicest people I've met in this part of the world. Unfortunately, I have to agree, what clout does the New Zealand embassy have? The authorities don't care to work with Brits or Americans. The Dutch, at least, could get backing from the EU, if really necessary, but a small country like New Zealand will just get ignored by the Thai authorities, no matter the foreign trade and tourism.

Try ant chalk, available at any better supermarket for 15 baht. Draw a thick line around the bed; repeat once in while.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guard and the receptionist let the guy drug them after receiving a red banknote each.

"The best countries to be born in are small, peaceful, homogenous, liberal democracies."

Those of us who aren't liberals might not agree. This is the most slanted survey of the day.

Hehe..., I think they mean liberal in the sense of "favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties". Probably not liberal as in left-wing.

By the way, Greenland on the Better places to be born list? Hmmm... Even better, Hong Kong and Singapore?? Singapore where you cannot spit or chew bubble gum, and where the government plans to get you married? And Hong Kong with all that interference from Beijing?

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

Who writes this stuff for Coconutz?

Have they been to Pattaya?

Wow, the guy who wrote this line got the blowjob of his life.. (Maybe even in Soi Pattayaland.)

He never even made it to the beach, but he was already very impressed of Pattaya. And the alc helped further to come up with a rubbish line like that.

Farangs come from a different kind of society where all problems need to be rectified. Thais simply don't complain and don't come back in the case of a crap restaurant.

Also, some places have trouble to hire good, reliable staff. I stayed in an apartment building, where the female receptionist not only was abusive, but also stole from the till! Still, the owner had trouble to hire new staff, and the thiefing receptionist was the only one at that hotel/apartmentt building that could speak English, despite of half of the guests/tenants being foreigners. It took them more than two years to lay her off! No wonder businesses in Thailand ignore customer complaints, if hiring new staff is that difficult.

I usually tip 20 baht for most things, but if service or quality of food not there, then I don't tip !

regards songhklasid.

I tip for good service, but if the staff in restaurants is rude or likes to talk about 'falang, falang...', I make it a point not to tip. In a taxi I usually round up.

If someone who doesn't tip in Thailand is a Cheap Charlie, then almost all Thais are Cheap Charlies.

Still, I would hand over a red banknote, thereby giving a small tip. Plus a green or blue one for excellent service.

The only ones to benefit from this are those not living in Thailand, they will get all the work and the thais will all be sitting on their bums. How this will leed to more spending on the products made has me beat, just another way for the govt to say its not our fault you are being screwed.

So you see, Thais are 'jai dee', and support the poor people in the neighbouring countries.

Perhaps someone in government could suggest to promote Thailand as "Hub for Labour Export"...

On the weekend I went to Ratchada. Looking out of the window from a high-rise building, I had a look at the cars: about 1 out of three was a taxi! Why does Bangkok need so many taxis, especially as they often don't stop when you need one (carrying a suitcase), while honking at you when you don't need one.

If they reduced the number of taxis by half, they would already have 1.2 million vehicles less on the congested roads.

Living for free in a nice spacious condo with a guy who pays for my meals, clothes, and later for my tuition - hey, can I be the one to live with you?

No, seriously, it sounds all very nice. Go for it, if you trust her. Just remember that you'll be expected to pay for most, if not all her expenses once she's a student (if not earlier). I'd be worried about the time that I'm not in Pattaya - is there anything worth selling in your condo?

An age gap doesn't seem to be an issue in Thailand. But it's important to set rules. Good luck!

That's easy; I tried for several minutes all my favourite login names when signing up, but they were all already taken. Frustrated I typed in the three digits, and voila I had my username.

You think ? i have a number of Thai friends between 38 and and 55 that are working full time, men and women, would like to change there work place, some are highly skilled, it would appear that the magic age here is 35, if your over that forget it, just stay at the present work place, or do something on your own, eg: Market stall, shop. noodle seller...

It always surprises me, why Thais see cooking instant noodles or meatballs on a stick, while standing on the roadside all day, inhaling smoke and excaust fumes, a viable alternative to a regular, salaried job.

There may be money in selling ready-made food, but I would never ever think of selling spaghetti or hot dogs, or whatever for hours on the roadside.

I just wonder; who will build the fancy shopping malls and condo buildings in the future? And who will catch the fish in Thailand's waters - the Thais themselves?

I don't think so; they rather pick the easy jobs like motorbike boy or Mama noodle-soup seller.

Just another sign of xenophobic paranoia... When Thais have political or economical problems, first thing they do is kick out the foreigners.

Thailand needs foreign workers, so why don't the authorities streamline the process to make it easier to get legit?

I'm looking for a removal truck to transport a large fridge, a few suitcases and boxes from the Onnut area down a few sois to my new place. Does anyone have a phone number or email address for a truck and two guys to hire? I was thinking around 1,000 baht for one hour, loading the fridge and stuff, driving, and unloading.