WOOHOO

Whether you consider the man right, or wrong, he reacted in the same way most of us would if we were given a self-righteous lecture by a perfect stranger.

It would have been better if the OP had just kept his mouth shut.

If that isn't a post by someone with no children, and who isn't likely to have any, then I don't know what is.

How you can turn that around to criticize the OP is jaw dropping.

I think the OP has the patience of a saint! I would have told him straight, exactly what I thought of him and he wouldn't of liked it much.

The bloke is a cretin and if he was in the West would probably have his children forcibly removed from him. His wife is equally to blame, we don't need to surmise where he found her!!

Not always true - I speak from personal experience.

Personally, I suspect Wolf5371 is probably right - "I might suggest that he is new on the scene (maybe none of the kids are from his loins) and it is an excuse to cover this fact."

Nothing else makes any sense. He obviously has some sort of chip on his shoulder.

If that was the case, which I would say is not particularly likely. He didn't seem the shy retiring type, from the OP's description, so I would guess he would have told the truth, but that wouldn't be a good enough excuse anyway. If you are in that position you do what's right regardless. If you're not prepared to do that, you don't get yourself in that position in the first place.

My wife are now the guardians of a boy who is almost 7. We have only had him since last summer. His mother died and his dad is not interested. I speak Thai, but I have a long ways to go. All day long there are things I want to say to him, explain, teach, I really want to be a real dad. But I continually find there are words missing and there are so many moments that pass where I don't say a thing. My wife is good and she translates a lot for me, but I desperately want to improve my Thai and I can't think of a greater motivation to do so. I am working on it all the time.

But in the meantime I am really impressed with the English he has picked up and there times now when we can communicate in English, and that is very encouraging. I am glad he is a sharp kid, it makes this whole thing a lot easier.

I can' imagine what would be going through the mind of the guy mentioned in the OP. I don't envy him one bit, he must feel like a visitor in his own home.

If this man has this attitude to a kid that's not his and has only parented for a short while, then doesn't that highlight what a low life, scus bucket, the man being described in the OP is, to take no interest in his own childrens education. Still can't believe some people are defending him!

Fair play to you mate. I'm sure with that attitude you will both be fluent in both languages in no time, nice one.

In ideal world the whole family would be bilingual.

I don't think that it needs to be an ideal world, just a normal one!

If two people from different countries have a child, I can't think of any circumstances where that child shouldn't end up being fluent in both languages. As someone said toddlers are like sponges, they are more than capable of being bi-lingual without lazy shits for parents.

I feel sorry for this guy who cannot communicate with his kids. I couldn't I

agine that.

I find it very worrying that at least two people have expressed concerns for the man!! That his life will be harder as a result of his neglect.

If he has had two of those three children, since they were born, and they speak no English what so ever, the bloke needs shooting, simple as that.

I usually transfer $10000 aud minimum and the bank gives me travelers cheque price or better with no fees.

You cannot open a bank account here with a tourist visa you need non o or similar.

you have to open the account yourself and have your passport with you which they photocopy

the details including your visa.

The OP doesn't need to open an account, his niece is going to do it for him. I thought it was you who suggested that in the first place! and didn't you say you get charged $30 for the transfer before?

If it's traveler cheque price with no fees, you couldn't ask for more than that. I'd do it that way myself if it wasn't for those pesky kids form the IR

You cannot have a bank account in Thailand if you don't live here, going by the original question i would say he does not.

You also get a better exchange rate on a direct transfer of funds.

Carrying a lot of cash i would not recommend here or anywhere else.

You're probably right. There's probably a lot of people that wouldn't feel comfortable doing it they way.

I personally never enter Thailand without at least 2 or 3 grand cash on me and sometimes much, more. It won't surprise some TV members to hear me say, 'I've never had any problems yet'. Obviously if the OP was talking about moving 50K then it wouldn't work.

To having access to a Thai bank account, I was referring to the previous posters comment about using a Thai friends account.

Will the better rate on a direct transfer, equate to a saving, after the charge has been taken? If so, then that's obviously the way to go.

I heard a story about a man who traveled to a Pacific island where pidgin English was used.

Reminds me of a sign outside a bar on Nai Thon beach, Phuket. It reads: "Pidgin English spoken perfectly" What more do you need than that!

Of course, I cannot disagree. But when a new word evolves that covers a multitude of meanings and is imprecise. Then that is not evolvement, but rather a lazy distortion.

That doesn't make any sense. All words have a multitude of meanings and are imprecise.

If you call someone obnoxious, the word obnoxious has only one collective meaning, but there are thousands of different ways you can be obnoxious. The same goes if you describe something as being appealing, again, there is a multitude of ways something can be appealing but the word only has one meaning. Flaming and trolling are exactly the same. One meaning that covers a multitude of scenarios. Every word is the same in that respect so that's a very poor argument against such words.

You are very likely to be charged here then hit with fees at your bank at home. If you have

A VERY TRUSTWORTHY FRIEND in Thailand who has a THAI bank account You could do a

bank transfer of funds into his account then get the money from him it costs about $30 aud

to transfer any amount.

If you have access to Thai bank account, then why not just bring cash. No charges what so ever. I can't remember what the limit is before you have to declare but it's quite high.

Once you've deposited it though, don't check the exchange rate for a couple of days. I've lost several thousand baht from one day to the next, with a slight change in rate.

Not recommended for forgetful types who lose things mind.

There was no tsunami warning last week, only an alert (meaning: there may come a warning, but not yet).

In that case it's definately a no. As someone who likes his sleep, being woken up by a warning, warning me that a warning may be on its way, isn't going to work. Somewhere else, but the risk here is way too low for that level of worry.

That sounds like a great service, especially if it's reliable as you say it is. But for me, to consider something like that I would have to live in Indonesia or somewhere much more prone to problems. The 2004 event was the biggest of it's kind for something like tens of thousands of years. The chances of it happening again are slim to non existent, certainly in my life time, and we are so more knowledgeable now, with just 20 minutes notice everybody could get themselves to safety. It was the not understanding last time that kept everybody to close.

It would only take me being woken up by a false alarm once or twice for me to say enough is enough. Perhaps if I stayed on Phi Phi for any length of time again, I was there for 3 months once, then I would consider it, because there you really are at the mercy of the sea, but not in Phuket. Thanks for the info though, may help somebody sleep better.

I was commenting on this earlier..this practice of creating multiple identities and backing up your own position explains why we get 2 or 3 people that take an inexplicable position on an issue that is fairly cut and dry. It's really only one person.

Ah...you would love to gather info on me wouldn't you. I won't do that because there are just enough of you sympathizers and confirmed farangs that are relatives of tuk tuk drivers that would just love to pass on information to your tuk tuk relatives. I simply don't trust you.

Firstly, I explained earlier what happened, you obviously skipped the reading part and went straight to the writing again. That is the first and last time I have created an extra account. I wrote posts exactly how I would have if my normal account was active. Two regular posters (who read posts as well as write them) knew it was me straight away, hardly a good attempt at pretending to be somebody else was it.

Please tell me that second paragraph is a joke. You're calling me a sympathizer? and accusing me of being related to Tuk Tuk drivers!! and undermining your movement. You haven't being watching re-runs of 'Allo Allo' recently have you? I'm going to pass on information to the enemy?? are you pulling my plonker?

No offense mate, you need to have a word with yourself, trust me or not, that's your call, but seriously, let it go.

An example I have used is before. If the shoe was on the other foot, and it was Thai or any other Asian nation who poured in to the UK every day to throw their money around and behave as if they owned the place, there wouldn't be a slap here and there, there would be deaths and lots of them.

Again, extraordinary...

Again, Thank you.

woohoo .... yes i too feel safe but without continued tourism dollars coming in, Phuket will suffer and the small incidents you see now will escalate , less money coming in equals , loss of jobs , increase in crime , increase in prices etc , if this is nipped in the bud now it can be saved ...... the last thing on my mind will be less stress on the infrastructure if we are not safe to live our daily lives ....... the experiment will not work as you are aware of the pitfalls of the tuk tuks unless of course you were pissed and it was late night / early morning and we made you haggle for a discount on every ride ha ha ........ enjoy your posts by the way .... Cheers

You're probably right mate, it's just not something I allow to bother me. It may sound selfish, and I assure you that's not the case, I'd be the first person to jump in if I thought an innocent person was being unfairly treated. But all the time it doesn't affect me or my family personally, I won't let it worry me, it's just not my fight. If things change, as you say they will, then I'll move on to pastures new, simple as that, but I'm farly sure they won't.

You're right about the experiment not working. Who was I trying to kid? I couldn't afford 2 or 3 Tuk Tuks in a day let alone 20 or 30.

woohoo..... pull your head out of your small orifice and have look around you ..... this is planet earth , we all want to live in a safe environment , why should i move because of some punks preying on innocent people , if you accept that kind of behaviour then i suggest you move to a country more suited to your liking ... lets move on and start to gather info so we can begin to put an end to this before its too late ..... Phuket as a whole needs to address these situations swiftly , only a fool would continue to think that Tourists will just keep accepting this , sooner rarther than later another more appealing destination will pop up and bingo the numbers will plummet ...... the odds are stacking up already ..... currency exchange not good , political unrest not good , violence getting worse daily , prices on the rise , tax increases on property , int media coverage tuk tuks , jet skis , duty free etc etc

investment opps limited ......

cheers CdM

That's just it. I do feel that I live in a reasonably safe environment. I like many others have children (child to be precise) The second I thought this place wasn't safe, you wouldn't see me for dust.

People constantly accuse me of wearing rose tinted glasses. What do you want me to do? Make up stories about bad things that have happened to me. Lie about bad experiences I've had, fabricate run ins with Thai people and Tuk Tuk drivers, just so I can fit in with the rest of the TV members.

I don't have these issues, and I know lots and lots of other people don't as well.

I personally couldn't give a monkeys about the state of tourism, I don't have a business here, so why should I? The infrastructure could do with less growth, and less people, so maybe things need to get worse for them to get better, these things have a way of sorting themselves out. Until then I'll accept things the way they are, and take it or leave it. Right now, and for the last ten years, I love the place, so I'll take it.

One day I'll do a little experiment. I'll spend a day taking Tuk Tuk rides, and see what happens. I bet I could take 20 or 30 in a day without a single incident. But then if I did that people would only accuse me of lieing and wearing funny glasses again.

easy, i feel the hatred here on the forum for the tuktuks is way over the top. Sure there are many things to say about them, but that does imo not justify the hatred from tv members.

Touche!

In London(capital of an island) where my family is, a black cab, with a driver that has passed the "knowledge" exam which can take several years,is about 150 baht equ.

You laughably say "negotiate a price before you move...."

I may be an appalling negotiator but the last time I tried 'negotiating' a short trip from Bangla area to Royal Paradise area we started at 200 b, and believe it or not, ended at 200 baht. We ended up staying in Bangla.

Joe, take off your rose tinted glasses, read the international papers and blogs, and open your eyes to reality.

Is there a record for the amount of times, someone has been accused of wearing rose tinted glasses, in a six month period? I want to lay claim to it if not.

I don't lie about these things. If I tell you I have had no problems with Tuk Tuk drivers personally, then it's true. If I tell you I think the behaviour of some of the drivers is appalling, but doesn't bother me personally, then it's also true. Rose tinted glasses has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I would say, like for like, distance for distance, Tuk Tuk prices and black cabs are about the same, so I don't see how that's that bad.

To negotiate does not imply you will always bring the price down. If there's set price then obviously you won't. The key to the negotiation is agreeing what the price will be before you move, that way, if you're not happy, you don't get in.

People talk about Phuket as a lawless place full of scammers. Someone just likened it to the Wild West. What bemuses me is why these people still want to call this place home, I just don't get it. If I felt the way some TV posters felt, it would depress me to be here and I would have to find somewhere that I felt more comfortable.

I like the idea of a documentary. I have thought about a tuk tuk hall of shame thread before, but I think the vocal minority JOESHEADS of the world will just flood it with flames. Better we give each incident it's own thread as to reach a wider domgraphic.

The next time an incident like this happens and I am present, I will have video of it and the police will not be able to cover it up, as has happened so far.

I'm not totally down with forum lingo, but I'm fairly sure I don't flame!! Anything I write I genuinely believe. I'm not looking to push peoples buttons, or provoke hostility just for the sake of it. That doesn't interest me in the slightest.

You sound like you genuinely want to start something more productive than a forum thread.

If it was me, and I was prepared to stand up and be counted, regardless of reprisals. I would start a partition, stating exactly what you believe should happen, in the way of regulation, what issues people have with their behaviour and asking what will be done about it. I would also threaten to do everything in my power to spread the word and damage their trade if things aren't done. If you are the majority as you claim, you should have no problem getting several thousand signatures, Thai and Farang. You then invite every media person you can think of to attend, while you hand it the union type boss of the Tuk Tuk drivers and maybe a copy to the mayor. A Farang doing something like that will undoubtedly get themselves on national TV. You then move away sharpish!!

Instead of all the hot air, why doesn't someone come back when they're prepared to fight for their convictions, and tell us all about it.

The way I see it, you need to go forward or just let it go, because staying where you are and just moaning about it on a forum is achieving nothing.

It has nothing to do do with a single person's preference, but, the majority. The majority of tourists are in the southern part of the island,

The majority of tourists are in the south. So if you were a retired couple in their late 60's, would that be the best place for your house to be situated?? Or perhaps the worst?

As always 'KB' your grasp of the English language and mine are extremely different.

The words 'well situated' mean exactly what they say. Something that's in a good location in relation to other things. For you to make the decision for everybody else, what those other things are, that they are tourist related, and land price related is simply wrong.

One will often go hand in hand but they are not exclusively connected.

Like most TV posters, you never answer simple questions that are put your way, when the answer doesn't suit.

Please explain to me. If I need a house that's within a 5 minute drive to the airport, because I fly to BKK several times a week, exactly why is it a house in the south is better situated??

No bearing whatsover? Seriosly? Wow man... your really showing your newbie stripes here.

I am curious JOESHEAD..do you live in Phuket? You must not. If you lived here you would or should know that the problem extends way beyond the mere fact that we can't/won't use them.

I suggest you pick an argument you have some chance of winning, possibly one you actually know something about?

I love the way people throw the word 'newbie' around, as if that could be the only possible reason that they have a different opinion.

I think you should stop using the royal 'we', as if everyone agrees with you. I think you will notice that there have been a considerable amount of people who have voiced similar opinions to myself. The fact that Tuk Tuks upset you so much doesn't mean they upset everybody. I for one, have far more issues with the behaviour of the average tourist, and have never had a single run in with a Tuk tuk driver.

I quite clearly, from my very first post, made it known that I thought their behaviour was bad, and I have never denied that there is a certain amount of Tuk tuk drivers that are morally lacking to say the least. I just knew that the hate for them, which I believe has grown disproportionately to reality, would mean that the Farangs behaviour (assumed) would be forgotten as if it wasn't even an issue. If you truly want Thai attitude to Farang to change, then the behaviour of Farang when in Thailand would need to change dramatically as well.

I don't profess to have 2000 posts worth of knowledge like your good self, but I used to use Tuk tuks a lot when I first came to Phuket 10 years ago. I used to fall out of Safari at 5AM every day, but never had any problems.

An example I have used is before. If the shoe was on the other foot, and it was Thai or any other Asian nation who poured in to the UK every day to throw their money around and behave as if they owned the place, there wouldn't be a slap here and there, there would be deaths and lots of them. On the whole Thai people have the patients of saints to deal with Farang tourists, I would like to slap some of them myself!

That's probably the worst state I've ever seen a Thai dog in, and that's saying something, so well done on the phone call and the foundation for ending a life that should have ended a long time ago.

Having said that. Lets not forget that Asians have a different culture to us and have pretty much always seen animals as nothing but food. Their lack of sympathy may seem harsh to a lot of us, but then spending 2k Baht on a little bow for Trixie the cherwowa, (sp) probably seems quite strange to a lot of them. Go on to 'youtube' and see what the Japanese and Chinese get up to!! Preparing, cooking and eating animals while they're still breathing for example!

Probably not the right thread to say this either, but I'm here now..

I have never understood animal foundations that spend a small fortune on re homing animals. It seems like such an illogical waist of money that could be spent on much better things. People for example. Owner less, sick, dying animals need to be put out of their misery asap, but spending vast amounts of money keeping them alive in cages, in an attempt to give them 'a second chance' as it's often called, I find truly bizarre.

Anyway, not trying to undermine the good work done by these folk, well done all concerned.

I love Vegemite on fresh hot buttered bread. Im also like a large spoon of it in a mug of boiling water with a dash of worstershire sauce and a sprinkle of pepper, just like Bonox but better.

So does that mean Bonox is the OZ version of Bovril then? I think that's what people do with Bovril, make a hot drink with it.

Slightly off topic, but my granny used to eat dripping on toast, which as far as I remember was nothing but the congealed fat from the frying pan!! Please tell me people don't still do that.

I enjoyed that post, cheers. Not enough threads with photos as far as I'm concerned. It reminded me of the ride reports you get on motorbike forums. Love the picture of the trainer, are you going to try and repair it?

I've been meaning to start following them for a long time now, so I'm going to try and get there this Saturday. I enjoy watching footy of all standards. I go to watch the mighty Blues at the Bridge whenever I can, but if I drive past a school where they're playing, I'll stop and enjoy watching them as well.

I'll be happy to meet up with you for a beer before a game one day 'MJP' if that's the only thing stopping you going. I have to be honest, although I wouldn't think twice about going to the game alone, I wouldn't really fancy turning up at the Roxy bar, where every body already knows each other. I'm sure they're nice fellas but I know how it goes. Everyone's deep in their own conversations and you end up standing there on your own like a lemon.