Murgatroyd

You might also wonder what happens each time someone flushes a lavatory in Pattaya..... The bay has become an open sewer. San Antonio in Ibiza was like this back in the late 60's but they cleaned it up because the tourist industry was dropping off... there seems to be little will to do likewise in Pattaya.

On my first visit to Thailand, back in 2007 at Christmas time, I booked everything through a travel agent, Hotels, Airport transfers to the hotels and back again, the lot. Big mistake, but I learned better.

After four pleasant days in Bangkok, I flew down to Phuket, arriving late in the evening. A taxi driver was waiting for me, but said I needed to talk to the rep from TAT before he could take me to the hotel. The TAT rep turned out to be an oily little man , rude and condescending, to whom I took an immediate dislike.

He told me that he would arrive at my hotel next morning "To arrange all tours, shopping, and tourist activity" for me...

I was extremely tired and my plans for the next day included a long lie in. I told the man that I wouldn't be awake early and that I was extremely tired and wanted to leave immediately for my hotel.

"No, I will come to your hotel no later that 10.00 and I will have the reception staff call you if you are not there to greet me when I arrive. I am a busy man". I explained that he would be wasting his time as I had no intention of getting involved with commercial tourist activity over and above what I had already booked. I had no intention of going shopping for suits, gems, or gifts, or booking any excursions. He got cross : "But this is my job to do this! This is how I support my family". I said that I was sorry, but that I had come on holiday to relax, not to be dragged around the island on tourist excursions.

All I needed from him was my pre-booked taxi to my hotel, and the pick-up and drive back to the airport on the day I was leaving. Both these trips had already been paid for through my travel agent, and I had booking vouchers and receipts for my money.

With a poor grace the tout walked off muttering and "Allowed" me to take the taxi to my hotel. I wont bore you with details of the holiday, which I enjoyed.

On the last morning, I was ready packed and waiting in the foyer of the hotel about 15 minutes before the 09.45 pick-up time... No taxi appeared. My flight to Bangkok was due to leave at 12.30, and I was supposed to check in before 11.30. The flight connected with my international flight home from Bangkok at 15.00.

By 10.30 I was beginning to panic... The hotel staff were somewhat amused, but agreed to phone the emergency number I had been given... no reply.

I asked the hotel to get me a regular taxi as quickly as possible... This took ages. By that stage I was a gibbering wreck, and trying to work out how I was going to get home on a maxed out credit card. The hotel taxi finally appeared at about 11.25, five minutes before I was due to check in...

I was happy to pay the driver the 600 Baht he asked for, and explained that I was now very late for my flight... how long to get to the airport?

"Airport one hour" I was told... I had about 500 baht left. I said "500 Baht says Airport in 40 minutes... if it takes longer I will need this 500 Baht to put towards a new ticket!"

"OK... airport 40 minutes" was the response. The ride to the airport must have broken every traffic law on the island, and was a frightening experience. But 39 minutes after leaving the hotel we pulled into the airport. The time was about 12.07... the driver got his 500 Baht and I was rushed through check in and made my flight... just.

When I got home I went to the travel agency and complained about the lack of my pre-paid pick-up... They said they would check and to come back in a few days. I showed them the unused voucher for the journey.

When I returned to the travel agency they said that they had been told that I had been picked up and taken to the airport as per their contract. I said this was a lie. I asked how it could be that I still had the unused voucher in that case. "The Driver said that his passenger had lost the voucher" was the response. I got a refund for what I had paid for the cab back to the airport, eventually.

It was quite obvious that the oily sod from TAT had cancelled my pick-up out of spite because I hadn't booked any of his over priced excursions or trips. I never made the mistake of pre- booking a transfer again, or of arranging a domestic flight on the same day as my international flight home.

So on that occasion the problem wasn't the fault of the taxi driver as such, rather the TAT rep, whom I would have happily beaten to a pulp if I had ever got my hands on him, lucky for him and for me... as spending time in a Thai prison wasn't part of my holiday plan.

Although I now live in Thailand, and have spent several happy weeks on Phuket with my family, I won't be going back there now... the continuing sage of violence and rip offs has soured me on the place for good now.

The ones I hate are the parents who park their unruly children in economy and then head off to their nice quiet seats in business class whilst we have to cope with the bickering mayhem of their unsupervised progeny.

Or the times I've wound up in the middle row stuck between two hugely overweight people who then overhang their seats and crush me between them, making it impossible to get my table down to eat or drink.

As to looking out of the window, I plead guilty to that... views of the mountains or of a sunset lasting several hours as we fly towards it are rare treats for me.

I always understood that a Royal Pardon was only available to those who admitted and showed remorse for their crimes.

I'm really pleased that things worked out so well for you and your father. I hope he'll make a full recovery soon.

I gave up ordering items from e-bay except for items that can be posted to me on a registered basis... anything that doesn't need signing for on delivery tends to go walkabout. Things were fine for most of 2009, then some packages started to go missing... then no packages at all arrived. I think we got a new postman around that time.

Interesting thread...

I've been here nearly four years now, when I moved over here it was to get married and enjoy being a husband and father again, nothing has changes there. I don't monger, and have never been unfaithful to my wife, but I do enjoy going out for a social drink from time to time, (Whilst I usually keep a few beers in the fridge at home, I seldom drink one alone at home from one week to the next).

We live at the far end of a gated village in a small town about three quarters of an hours travelling time from Bangkok. I know one other English chap in the village, but he's always working and has little time to socialise. I must admit that I do get very bored sometimes. I tend to find an excuse to go into Bangkok every two or three weeks to have a drink and meet other English speaking people. I have a few casual friends whom I bump into from time to time in one bar or another, and I enjoy meeting new people even if most of them turn out to be holidaymakers or otherwise passing through. I also have a number of friends who live in and around Pattaya, but I don't get down there very often as I find it very expensive.

I've made a number of good friends on the internet, some connected with hobbies, and some of my old friends from the UK with whom I keep in touch with via facebook.

I'm a member of a gaming group based in Bangkok and have made several good friends there.

One of the problems with popping into Bangkok for a drink or two is one that other ex-pats must have come across before... I love my wife very much, and as I've said would never be unfaithful to her. However she knows full well that there are thousands of other Thai women, both bar girls or just lonely women who would like to meet a farang either for commercial reasons or to form a supportive relationship with. Now I'm no oil painting, nor am I rich by the standards of most people from back home. However this doesn't deter local ladies looking for what might reasonably be termed a commercial relationship, be it a single encounter or a longer scene. The knowledge that even as a fat, spavined old git I am considered fair game by so many of the locals worries my wife, and makes her rather insecure. She's had some health problems this year culminating in a mastectomy and worries that I might go astray. I try and convince her that this isn't going to happen, but it doesn't really seem to help.

I've tried staying home and not going out, but I go stir crazy after the third week or so. When I lived in London I had loads of mates, and a good social life, and enjoyed going out most weekends, and popping down the local pub a couple of times each week. I've always lived in a town or city and am used to an urban lifestyle. Again, I've tried to explain this to my wife but she feels slighted because she thinks our home life isn't enough for me. We have a child, (or at least, my wife has a daughter by a previous relationship whom I love to bits and regard as my daughter) and the child is very clingy... which means that I can't invite my wife to come out with me for an evening without our daughter coming along.

I wonder if other ex pats have come across this situation before? I fully understand the way that a Thai woman might fear that her man might be tempted away by another eagerly available woman, and to be honest, beyond reassuring my wife that I love her and won't cheat I'm at something of a loss as to how to deal with the situation.

I'm normally a very sociable sort of person, and I do find the village very isolating and I really don't want to become a hermit.

I had a bad fall a couple of weeks ago and hurt my shoulder. It was extremely painful. I went to the Thainakarin hospital in Bang Na, on the Bang Na - Trat highway. The doctor sent me for an X-ray and when he had seen the results said that I had broken my collar bone. He suggested an operation which he reckoned would cost about 100,000 Baht. I asked if there was a cheaper alternative. He said I could wear a sling for about 8 - 10 weeks instead... the sling, and some medicine, cost about 1,500 Baht!

I've worn the sling for two weeks now and feel much better, the pain has gone and the movement in my arm is much improved. I'm to go back in about 3 weeks for another X-Ray at which time I confidently expect that it will be almost mended.

I think Doctors at Private hospitals in Thailand tend to suggest costly operations as a first choice of treatment, because when it really comes down to it they are in the business of selling their most expensive services. It pays to ask for cheaper alternatives. I'm not an expert, so I can't say what treatment your father needs, from the X-Ray it looks as though he's damaged his shoulder a lot worse than I did mine. I'm really sorry for his pain.

If you go to a Government Hospital the costs will only be a fraction of the cost of private medicine, but you will have a huge amount of paperwork to fill in, and loads of waiting around and queuing. It will also help if you can get someone who can translate for you to come along if you don't speak and understand Thai fluently.

A team of Australian scientists have discovered a way of preventing mosquitos from infecting people with dengue fever: See BBC Report

Do they do a steak & kidney pudding?

The OP's gone!

Probably very busy what with paying off the wife's house, supporting her (and probably her extented family), buying her cars, paying top notch medical bills for her and her family and on top of that...he has his own extensive medical bills to pay!

Yes...the OP will be FAR to busy running backwards and forwards from the ATM to spend any time on TV.

Poor Bugga

No, I'm not gone... I just find it a bit awkward typing with my left hand, (my right arm is in a sling).

As I've already said, I don't support my wife's extended family, We're not going to buy a car, She is having her Cancer treatment done in the National Cancer Hospital, not a private hospital, and paying the monthly mortgage of 5500 Baht is by far the best option... renting a condo would cost me far more.

Whilst I find your sarcasm mildly amusing I'm not sure you needed to post the same comment three times.

Just to put the tin lid on it, I've had another dam_n medical problem:On Monday evening my wife Na and my stepdaughter Pim asked me to rescue a tiny frog that had got into the house, and was being chased around by our dog Willow. I caught it and took it outside to release it over the gate where Willow wouldn't be able to get it again. As I got to the gate my feet slipped out from under me on the wet tiles and I came crashing down on my right shoulder. To say this was painful was to put it very mildly! As it didn't seem to be getting better we wen't to the hospital today. They X-rayed it and told me that I've broken my collarbone. The doctor suggested an operation, which would cost about £2,000 at the private hospital. As I thought this was over the top I asked what else could be done. The other option was wearing a sling for 6 - 8 weeks. Most of what I've read on the internet says that the sling treatment will be effective in 85% of cases, and it looked like a clean break on the X-ray. However it is extremely painful, and makes it very difficult to get to sleep.It just doesn't seem to be my year! So I'm typing left handed, for the duration.Botheration...

Report it.

So the lease has already expired then?

Thank you johnbits, much appreciated.

I know for a fact that this is very much the frame of mind that she is in... She has said to me " Darling, I don't know how much longer I will be alive. I want to be a driver"... That's the reason that I said I felt guilty that I cannot afford to buy her the car she wants. It's not because I'm some sort of a doormat or an ATM to her as some posters have suggested.

She has hardly ever asked for anything during our marriage. Most of the household items that I have bought have been of my own choosing. She didn't even ask for a washing machine, though I bought one as soon as I saw that she was washing several loads of clothes every day. I've bought a fridge freezer, a proper four ring cooker with an oven, Air conditioners for the main living room and our bedroom and a few other bits and pieces.

She seems to have accepted that we cannot afford a car. If our finances change for the better I'll do my best to find her one.

I do keep trying to reassure her that now she's had the "All clear" on her cancer there's no reason why she shouldn't live to a ripe old age, but there seems to be a certain fatalism in her attitude that causes her to expect the worse.

In her position I fear that I would think along the same lines.

The idea of a holiday is also an excellent one. It would be nice to go away together by ourselves. The problem is our daughter who is very clingy and who would feel very hurt if we went away and left her behind. I'm hoping that my wife's mother can come and stay and look after the daughter for a week or so soon. My wife would love a holiday I'm sure.

I think the hang 'em high comments that we've seen on other threads about the rioting are a bit over the top... but I do reckon that some of the kids involved with the rioting could have benefited from a few bloody good hidings in their formative years...

But of course no one is allowed to give a kid a bloody good hiding these days... They just get benefit!

I do find it amusing that many of the looters seem to have forgotten that they're on candid camera. I guess they'll all feel a bit indignant when they are quietly arrested at home in the coming weeks after all the CCTV footage has been checked out. I don't think the courts are going to be inclined towards leniency this time round.

This thread has certainly taken some interesting twists and turns...

Again I'd like to thank those who have found the time to give me some excellent advice. However I'm not going to junk my marriage, or leave my wife and stepdaughter just because it might seem expedient to some posters.

I love both my wife and my stepdaughter very much, and I take my marriage very seriously. I figure the chances of my wife dumping me and moving on to someone else after she has "squeezed me dry financially" as minimal and ludicrous. The last thing she wants is for me to go broke, as it would leave her with no means of support. Her business wouldn't pay the weekly food bill, let alone the mortgage and the bills.

Although I think my wife is still very beautiful I'd doubt her chances of finding another life partner minimal after her mastectomy and the scarring she now has. The fact that she has a nine year old daughter would also decrease her chances of finding another partner.

I know that some people on this board perceive Thai women as commodities, to be acquired or dumped as and when it suits them, but that's not the way I think. I hope that I never become that cynical, because I don't think I would like the person I had become.

Having told my wife that we simply cannot afford a car, that's the end of that issue for now. I've made my position on the matter totally clear. We must reduce our spending, not increase it.

As to my diabetes, I will continue to take the medicines that my doctor has prescribed and stick to my sugar free, low fat diet. I will not become a vegan, or start swilling hydrogen peroxide.

As uptheos says, the fatal shooting of a suspect by police last week is nothing new... For a very long time the UK police, and especially the London Metropolitan Police have operated a shoot to kill policy in situations where the suspect is, or is believed to be, armed with a firearm of any description. That includes replica weapons, converted or otherwise, Cigarette lighters that resemble guns, and even plastic toys. The police have been trying to put over the message "If you go armed, we will kill you" ... and any citizen with a brain cell should know that by now.

What's the betting that after the fires are put out, and the cost of the looting and arson is totted up, that there will be calls for legislation to ban the manufacture, sale and wearing of Hooded garments? The "Hoodies" have for years ruled the streets in some parts of every large city in the UK for years now.

The looting of mobile phone shops, electronics stores, off licences and betting shops is merely a symptom of the simmering rage against the Police and the "Haves" by the "Have Not's" in UK society today. Most of the trouble has occurred in areas which have large ethnic populations, where young people have no real job prospect and are unlikely ever to have more than a giro to spend. The budget cuts, and the polarisation of society may be the given excuse, but casual criminality and violent disregard of the law is the result of the marginalisation of huge sections of the nation's youth.

If the Police are unable to restore order, and they're very overstretched already, the army will be ordered in to prevent further civil disorder. The politicians will have a field day playing the blame game, but in truth the country is just reaping the harvest of policies of neglect that were sown in the latter half of the last century.

Do any Thai Visa mods ever have a meet up in Bangkok? It would be nice to meet some of you for a beer sometime.

Thanks Latindancer, Much appreciated... I might be in touch in due course if and when we decide to try and find a 2nd hand car.

vpi78, Nice to hear from you. If you fancy a drink at some stage, send me a PM

Hello seriouseats,

We were introduced by her cousin who I met in a beer bar in Phuket the first time I visited Thailand... All the girls there thought I was a bit wierd because I didn't barfine any of them... I didn't go out to Thailand to be an sex tourist. Thus I achieved something fairly few tourists get... :A genuine introduction to a really nice non P4P Thai lady. We talked for several months over the phone and by text. At that stage her English was almost .non existent, as was my Thai. However we both perservered with dictionaries and after some months we finally met and I fell in love with her.

By all means poke fun at my spelling, but please don't do so about my wife.

Hi Latindancer,

I have listed our annual, quarterly, and monthly spending and gone through every item on the list with my wife. I've showed her how much money I have coming in each month, and how, at the moment, it's less than we're spending. I've asked her to check our budget for economies we can make, so as to find the extra cash that would enable us to buy the car, and she has agreed that it can't be done.

I've showed her where the cash comes from, and explained that if we dip into that we will have even less income. I've also showed her how much income I need each year to qualify for my visa, and explained that if my income drops below that figure I will have to go home to the UK.

I've explained that if I have to go home I won't be able to send her anything like what we're spending at the moment because I will need money to re-start my life in the UK.

Whilst I'm fairly confident that she understands the figures , as you say, it's difficult to be absolutely sure that at gut level she doesn't think that I can somehow wave a magic wand and produce more money out of this air. I've done the best I can, and I'll continue to explain matters as they develop...

I fully agree about the process of buying a 2nd hand car... I'll try and find a mate who would have the expertise and language skills to help me with this if we go that route.

Thanks Olaf,

I didn't allow my wife to co-sign the loan... unless of course she did so behind my back. I really hope that she didn't because the sister is bound to mess up on the payments sooner or later.

Thank you all for your advice, much of which has been excellent. I think I need to correct any false impression that my wife tries to take advantage of me, or that I act like a doormat or function purely as an ATM. This is not the case. I'm only too well aware of the way that works, and if I thought I was being taken for a fool I'd be out of the marriage in seconds. (Though it's fair to say that I wouldn't dream of deserting my wife while she's ill, I'd have to be a sorry specimen of humanity to do that).

I've put my foot down about the car. We simply cannot afford it and it's really out of the question. If we can find a reliable 2nd hand car for around the 100,000 baht mark then I'll consider it. Even then I'm a bit dubious about it as 2nd hand cars tend to require a lot of repairs as various bits of them seize up.

Several of you have made the justifiable point that if my wife wants a car, and if she has her own business, she should pay for it out of her profits. That is a fair point. However her business of making ladies and children's clothing doesn't actually generate much cash. My wife makes the clothes, and various friends of hers, and her sister sell them from market stalls and small shops. Apart from the sister, turnover is fairly low. I rather suspect that she'd make more money if it wasn't for her sister, whom I believe pleads povety when it comes time to cough up for the stock she's taken. I also suspect that this issue over the car is of the sister's making. The sister and her husband recently bought a pick up truck on credit, and they asked my wife to co-sign the loan application and to secure it on her house. When I found out that they had previously defaulted on a vehicle purchase loan I told my wife not to sign the papers, as if everything wen't wrong it would be me paying out to keep our house. This wasn't well received by the sister, who I think reckoned that she should accrue some financial advantage from having a farang in the family. My attitude is that if the sister cannot rely on her own husband for sufficient support, tough titty... perhaps they should have thought about that before having three children of their own, and buying an expensive truck that they can't really afford. I'm fairly sure that the sister is shit stirring by way of payback.

Before buying my wife the business, I had tried giving my wife some money, (30,000 Baht), so that she had spending money of her own. (This was nearly four years ago, when cash wasn't so tight). Within a few months her family ( the sister) had borrowed the lot, never to be seen again.

When I married my wife I made it quite clear that although I would support her, her daughter, (then aged 5), and her mother, (widowed), I would not be supporting any other members of her family, (two married sisters, one brother, a cousan, and a flock of aunts). My wife has always been a hard worker, before we met she worked revolving shifts at a local washing machine factory, and paid her mortgage out of a fairly slim salary. She no longer works there because I asked her to give up her job and stay home with me. She was always exhausted and her little daughter didn't give her much time to sleep. She looks after me wonderfully, and I love her very much. Her mother, who used to live with us but who has now returned to Issaan, is also a gentle, kind lady who has never asked me for anything, bless her. The daughter, whom I now regard as my daughter is a sweet child, (As long as she gets her own way, like most little girls!). My wife is a lovely, caring, beautiful woman, but she's not the strongest of characters, and tends to be a little naive about the way that her sister takes advantage of her. Having lived more or less hand to mouth for all her live she doesn't really understand money, (Though kudos to her for buying her house and paying the mortgage, not just renting one).