monkeycountry

Why don't you use a private (but fully legal/licenced) taxi service?

Some of my family members operate legal taxi-meter cars at the airport and the fee to Patong at any time of night is 800 baht if you prebook with them.

A little-known fact:

The rate is only higher at night if you use the taxi-meter office at the airport. but if the taxi-meter drivers (not only my family but any taxi-meter driver) has a prebooking with you and meets you at the airport with their signboard, then the rate is not increased just because the sun has gone down!

you can PM if this sounds of interest.

Simon

NOTE to mods - this is not my hotel taxi that I'm promoting - it is a normal yellow/blue taxi-meter service that operates from the airport, but a little-known fact about their service which they probably prefer night arrivals not to know.....

If it is a legal taxi meter service, then why is the price fixed? Why are they not using the meter?

Face it, your family is part of the scumbag taxi mafia. And just because the taxi mafia and the corrupt politicians that run them, agree to rip off everyone, does not make it legal or ok, and definately not something you should be promoting on their behalf.

As someone already said, take the hotel deal. Even if it is expensive, I would feel good knowing I was not supporting the scumbag taxi mafia :-)

Mr Sanya said the BMA has prepared five million sandbags to prevent overflowing water and floods in areas where construction of embankments is not yet finished. The remaining section is about 85 metres long

Come on only 85 meters left ? Cant this be done in one or 2 day's ?

At least now we know what happened to the 350 billion baht flood prevention money. Seems we got 5 million sandbags for the money, plus of course gasoline to the "water pushing machines", so not all was lost to corruption

The wife showed me a picture of a dam bursting north of BKK. She said it hasn't been put on the news yet, but someone put a picture they took with a mobile and posted on a Thai forum..

She isn't here at the moment, but when she returns from town, I will get her to send me the link and better info.

As with the 2011 flood, please understand the difference between a dyke and a dam, before posting these stories.

I won't even bother reading the rather long article. Every single person on that council is getting a share of the money, one way or another, although some of them pretend to be politicians, so no surprise they all agree

Monkeycountry: "Please note that I specifically excluded those not in support of PTP/Plodprasop. They are simply victims of their neighbours poor decisions.

True, the lack of education, means they are not able to distinguish good from bad, but then they should perhaps leave the voting to someone who is? This is the same reason children are not allowed to vote. And no I do not know if things would have been different with a democrat government - did I say that?

It still does not explain why they only demand free cash (for themselves), instead of demanding ministers who are experts in their fields - or both.

And do not forget, when someone does come around the village to try and educate the villagers a bit by explaining what is wrong with the PTP promises, or if some scholar explains that in a newspaper, then they are usually attacked one way or another. Seems to me the villagers do not want knowledge, they are happy with the herd mentality - and the free cash :-)"

So, let me get that straight: for centuries they are denied education - by the likes of you and your knuckle dragging friends- and now you want deny them to vote...because they are not educated enough? Very convenient, isn't it?

And instead of making their education better, so their life may get better...you send some "lecturers" in, when their life (subjectively) got better...and explain to them, why it is not?

You have no clue, what you are talking about!

...or even worse: you have!

I did not say anything about who should be allowed to vote, and who should not, I said that if one has no clue what one is voting about, then it might be better to not vote at all (voluntarily). I then also wondered why a grown up who knows nothing is allowed to vote, but a 17yo with good education/knowledge is not? But yes, I do think the western voting system is unsuitable for Thailand - and many other 3rd world countries.

The problem with the western voting system is that you can have 4 people. A professor and 3 idiots all voting if they should kill the last few chickens and eat them, or if they should wait till they lay some eggs and sell them to buy more food. Unfortunately the 3 idiots vote to kill the chickens and so they all 4 die of hunger.

Similarly, when I was a child, my mom did not let my siblings and I vote on whether we should spend my moms salary and max out her credit card to buy icecream. She understood the long term impact of doing that, while my siblings and I did not even know nor care where the money was coming from (does that sound familiar)?

Reg. sending in lecturers, what is wrong with that? If I had to vote for something I had no clue about, then I would very much like to listen to someone from both camps, before making my decision. No matter how little education I had, I would never choose to throw out one of the camps before I even heard what they had to say.

I completely agree with improving education. In fact I think it is the most important thing in Thailand today, way more important than high speed trains and rice scams. Improved education would not only improve peoples skills and thereby salaries and the BNP, it would also improve democracy and reduce corruption. In short, improved education would over time solve most of the problems Thailand faces today - including floods.

Theft of one's innocence maybe...just curious, does your cleanup include all the pesky ladygirls around town constantly barking at me to have a drink, massage, etc., with many even reaching out to touch me or grope me in public?

No, for most people, and for the law, there is a big difference between the things you describe and stealing. Theft is illegal, the rest is not, although you may find it annoying.

reaching out to touch or grope in public is the method they use to steal, theres no difference at all

I agree with the groping part, although I am not sure we agree on the theft part? Girls generally reach out and grab you because they want your as a customer, unlike the LBs who generally grab you because they want to steal from you.

Funny I've lived in Thailand over a decade and been pawed over by both types of sex-workers and have found exactly zero correlation to what you state, in that I've never been robbed by either one of them.

I don't subscribe to the belief of many forum members that ones propensity to commit crime is related to one's gender identity.

I am glad to hear that you have been lucky. Unfortunately many others have not been so lucky, as you can see from the comments and daily news reports. Similarly I have never been scammed by a jetski operator, yet I have no doubt jetski scams happen quite often :-)

By the way, I think you will find that any prison, justice department and police department in the world, not to mention any research you can find online, will confirm that the vast majority of crimes, incl. theft, robbery and pickpocketing, are committed by men. The only crime where women "win" over men is probably prostitution :-)

I never claimed ladyboys don't commit crimes...just as I don't claim women don't and men don't. My point is all people commit crimes and singling out one group of them as a criminal class based on their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc, is just wrong. Not really sure what the men commit most crimes comment is about...most psychologists will confirm that transsexuals are women and exhibit the physical and psychological traits of that gender.

Now, if people have other issues with ladyboys, well that's their problem and not the ladyboy's.

You did say though that ones propensity to commit crime was not gender related, and I simply point out that any statistic you can find or law enforcement you ask will prove you wrong. Statistically men commit alot more crimes than women, and more specifically news reports and the police in Pattaya should be able to confirm that on average ladyboys commit alot more crime than the average male (and female).

Ladyboys may pretend to be women, and may even feel like women, but biologically they are still men, just like any other man, and are therefore prone to the often stupid behavior of men. Try agitating one of them, and you will see their true nature

It took them a year to paint that nonsensical picture?

It's called spin doctoring and it won't fool many

On the contrary, it will fool about half of the country!

Pattaya ... Hub of dishonest Ladyboys alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

As compare to what? an honest ladyboy? I'm yet to hear of one,

Get out a little more.

Lady boys are people. There are honest people everywhere. They make this world go round.

I have to agree with ezzra, I have also yet to hear of one. And I have been out alot :-)

Anyway, I am quite sure the world, and Pattaya, would go around just fine without ladyboys and other thieves.

Tricked into [going] to a room...right!

Does it matter if he was tricked into the room or not? As we discussed yesterday, contact with a LB once again resulted in theft/robbery. I predict there will be a similar story tomorrow reg. theft/robbery by a ladyboy, and the day after as well, the only difference will be where the tourist comes from

Hehe, and of course there is a new incident today, this time the LB robbed a guy from Oman. I wonder who the Pattaya LBs will rob tomorrow :-)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/670096-oman-tourist-tricked-drugged-and-robbed-by-ladyboy/

If you see ladyboys walking beside you and want to talk to you , my advise would be to RUN RUN RUN

...to the nearest short-time hotel!

Isn't that where the LBs hide under the bed to steal your stuff while you are having a good time with a girl?

Theft of one's innocence maybe...just curious, does your cleanup include all the pesky ladygirls around town constantly barking at me to have a drink, massage, etc., with many even reaching out to touch me or grope me in public?

No, for most people, and for the law, there is a big difference between the things you describe and stealing. Theft is illegal, the rest is not, although you may find it annoying.

reaching out to touch or grope in public is the method they use to steal, theres no difference at all

I agree with the groping part, although I am not sure we agree on the theft part? Girls generally reach out and grab you because they want your as a customer, unlike the LBs who generally grab you because they want to steal from you.

Funny I've lived in Thailand over a decade and been pawed over by both types of sex-workers and have found exactly zero correlation to what you state, in that I've never been robbed by either one of them.

I don't subscribe to the belief of many forum members that ones propensity to commit crime is related to one's gender identity.

I am glad to hear that you have been lucky. Unfortunately many others have not been so lucky, as you can see from the comments and daily news reports. Similarly I have never been scammed by a jetski operator, yet I have no doubt jetski scams happen quite often :-)

By the way, I think you will find that any prison, justice department and police department in the world, not to mention any research you can find online, will confirm that the vast majority of crimes, incl. theft, robbery and pickpocketing, are committed by men. The only crime where women "win" over men is probably prostitution :-)

Theft of one's innocence maybe...just curious, does your cleanup include all the pesky ladygirls around town constantly barking at me to have a drink, massage, etc., with many even reaching out to touch me or grope me in public?

No, for most people, and for the law, there is a big difference between the things you describe and stealing. Theft is illegal, the rest is not, although you may find it annoying.

reaching out to touch or grope in public is the method they use to steal, theres no difference at all

I agree with the groping part, although I am not sure we agree on the theft part? Girls generally reach out and grab you because they want your as a customer, unlike the LBs who generally grab you because they want to steal from you.

I have no symphathy whatsoever for most of those people now being hit by floods. They are mostly PTP supporters, hence directly or indirectly voted for Mr Plodprasop, a guy with no relevant expertise whatsoever, a guy who believes floods can be avoided with "water pushing machines", and who does not need or take any advise from foreign engineers or flood experts.

So to you guys now sitting in your flooded houses in the central, east and north east provinces. Most of you got exactly who you voted for, and now your house is flooded - again.

Next time I suggest you ask Yingluck to hire some experts with engineering degrees for technical jobs like flood prevention. In the meantime, have fun with the water :-)

Complete and utter bull- dung!

They get flooded every year, because no matter what party rules, no one gives a f$#@ about the subject!

Many politicians, from all parties, since forever had the chance to make a difference and they didn't!

Because their villas and condos and estates are not the ones that drown in 1,5 meter of liquid feces ...and if they were, they would just move somewhere else!

Have some empathy <deleted>, even you are in love with Abisith!

He would not make anything different!

Now that they have Yingluck in power, they seem to be able to get at least some of what they want, the rice scam as an example, so why do they not block a street and insist Mr. Plodprasop is replaced with an expert in flood prevention? Not to mention the rest of the government, most of whom have a red t-shirt or a last name as the only qualification for their job.

It seems to me they do not care what the government does, as long as they get some free cash. Well, they got the free cash, and now the government gives them lots of free water too :-)

...and if you gloat about that, you are sad human being!

Following your logic, what about the many people who did not vote PTP...and are flooded nonetheless?

And do you believe, the people who voted PTP did so, to p1$$ everybody off, deliberately?

What would YOU do, if you are not given a flying frog about and someone suddenly comes along and promisses you a better life?

Especially, if you did not get the education to make neither heads nor tales of those promises?

And again: do you believe, we would be looking at a different scenario now, with another-color- government?

May I remind you of the abysmal reaction to the exact same situation in 2011, by a Democrate governor of Bangkok?!

I bet you forgot about that...or do you just wear yellow/blue'ish and slightly rosey glasses?

Soon they will get a high speed train that they cannot afford to ride, and which will be so costly both to build and operate, that it will take even more resources away from schools, hospitals and other stuff that benefits the poor.

At least the villagers cannot say they were not warned, as lots of people have warned against it, including some of their own. Yet the PTP supporters have not even bothered to ask the PTP to see a budget for the construction and operation of the high speed trains. Nono, if the PTP says it is good, then it must be good. The PTP also says the floods are under control, so it must be true - right? Well, at least I hope they build the trains on pillars, so it can get through the floods :-)

I have no symphathy whatsoever for most of those people now being hit by floods. They are mostly PTP supporters, hence directly or indirectly voted for Mr Plodprasop, a guy with no relevant expertise whatsoever, a guy who believes floods can be avoided with "water pushing machines", and who does not need or take any advise from foreign engineers or flood experts.

So to you guys now sitting in your flooded houses in the central, east and north east provinces. Most of you got exactly who you voted for, and now your house is flooded - again.

Next time I suggest you ask Yingluck to hire some experts with engineering degrees for technical jobs like flood prevention. In the meantime, have fun with the water :-)

Complete and utter bull- dung!

They get flooded every year, because no matter what party rules, no one gives a f$#@ about the subject!

Many politicians, from all parties, since forever had the chance to make a difference and they didn't!

Because their villas and condos and estates are not the ones that drown in 1,5 meter of liquid feces ...and if they were, they would just move somewhere else!

Have some empathy <deleted>, even you are in love with Abisith!

He would not make anything different!

Now that they have Yingluck in power, they seem to be able to get at least some of what they want, the rice scam as an example, so why do they not block a street and insist Mr. Plodprasop is replaced with an expert in flood prevention? Not to mention the rest of the government, most of whom have a red t-shirt or a last name as the only qualification for their job.

It seems to me they do not care what the government does, as long as they get some free cash. Well, they got the free cash, and now the government gives them lots of free water too :-)

...and if you gloat about that, you are sad human being!

Following your logic, what about the many people who did not vote PTP...and are flooded nonetheless?

And do you believe, the people who voted PTP did so, to p1$$ everybody off, deliberately?

What would YOU do, if you are not given a flying frog about and someone suddenly comes along and promisses you a better life?

Especially, if you did not get the education to make neither heads nor tales of those promises?

And again: do you believe, we would be looking at a different scenario now, with another-color- government?

May I remind you of the abysmal reaction to the exact same situation in 2011, by a Democrate governor of Bangkok?!

I bet you forgot about that...or do you just wear yellow/blue'ish and slightly rosey glasses?

Please note that I specifically excluded those not in support of PTP/Plodprasop. They are simply victims of their neighbours poor decisions.

True, the lack of education, means they are not able to distinguish good from bad, but then they should perhaps leave the voting to someone who is? This is the same reason children are not allowed to vote. And no I do not know if things would have been different with a democrat government - did I say that?

It still does not explain why they only demand free cash (for themselves), instead of demanding ministers who are experts in their fields - or both.

And do not forget, when someone does come around the village to try and educate the villagers a bit by explaining what is wrong with the PTP promises, or if some scholar explains that in a newspaper, then they are usually attacked one way or another. Seems to me the villagers do not want knowledge, they are happy with the herd mentality - and the free cash :-)

I have no symphathy whatsoever for most of those people now being hit by floods. They are mostly PTP supporters, hence directly or indirectly voted for Mr Plodprasop, a guy with no relevant expertise whatsoever, a guy who believes floods can be avoided with "water pushing machines", and who does not need or take any advise from foreign engineers or flood experts.

So to you guys now sitting in your flooded houses in the central, east and north east provinces. Most of you got exactly who you voted for, and now your house is flooded - again.

Next time I suggest you ask Yingluck to hire some experts with engineering degrees for technical jobs like flood prevention. In the meantime, have fun with the water :-)

Complete and utter bull- dung!

They get flooded every year, because no matter what party rules, no one gives a f$#@ about the subject!

Many politicians, from all parties, since forever had the chance to make a difference and they didn't!

Because their villas and condos and estates are not the ones that drown in 1,5 meter of liquid feces ...and if they were, they would just move somewhere else!

Have some empathy <deleted>, even you are in love with Abisith!

He would not make anything different!

Now that they have Yingluck in power, they seem to be able to get at least some of what they want, the rice scam as an example, so why do they not block a street and insist Mr. Plodprasop is replaced with an expert in flood prevention? Not to mention the rest of the government, most of whom have a red t-shirt or a last name as the only qualification for their job.

It seems to me they do not care what the government does, as long as they get some free cash. Well, they got the free cash, and now the government gives them lots of free water too :-)

I have no symphathy whatsoever for most of those people now being hit by floods. They are mostly PTP supporters, hence directly or indirectly voted for Mr Plodprasop, a guy with no relevant expertise whatsoever, a guy who believes floods can be avoided with "water pushing machines", and who does not need or take any advise from foreign engineers or flood experts.

So to you guys now sitting in your flooded houses in the central, east and north east provinces. Most of you got exactly who you voted for, and now your house is flooded - again.

Next time I suggest you ask Yingluck to hire some experts with engineering degrees for technical jobs like flood prevention. In the meantime, have fun with the water :-)

Omg, i am sick and tired reading everyday about ladyboys stealing from tourists. This is such predictable news.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I too am distressed to read about crime in our fair city, though I think the danger for the average tourist or resident is minimal. I just dont appreciate the vitriol directed at ladyboys by the media and many TV posters, when their status as ladyboys has no relation to the crimes being reported.

Last century, someone with a funny mustache started singling out unpopular groups to blame for problems in society and it didn't end very well.

And their status as LBs have everything to do with it, as it lets them fly under the radar as sex workers. If a group of gangster looking thai guys on drugs stood in the middle of walking street stealing from pedestrians, odds are the police would arrest or remove them and make sure they do not come back. But if those same guys dress as LBs, then suddenly it is ok??

Odds are if you take 10 random freelance LBs from Pattaya, who have been "working" there at least 6 months, then 8 of them will have a record at the police - most for theft or drugs, most likely both.

Stay way clear of ladyboys in Pattaya. Reputation for theft is well known.

Well known amongst those of us who live in Thailand or visit often yes, but I do not think it is well known amongst tourists, which is why the authorities should remove the ladyboys from the tourist areas, just as they sometimes remove youth gangs, thieves, drug dealers, mentally ill, beggars and other undesirables.

Theft of one's innocence maybe...just curious, does your cleanup include all the pesky ladygirls around town constantly barking at me to have a drink, massage, etc., with many even reaching out to touch me or grope me in public?

No, for most people, and for the law, there is a big difference between the things you describe and stealing. Theft is illegal, the rest is not, although you may find it annoying.

The difference between freelance bar girls and freelance ladyboys' motives is quite clear at the entrance to Nana Plaza. Early evening when everyone is sober there is noone blocking the bottleneck entrance, but later on the entrance is blocked by a bunch of freelance ladyboys, while the freelance girls are standing on the opposite side of the road in front of Nana hotel parking lot.
The girls are standing at a small distance. Potential customers walking in and out of Nana can clearly see them, and go talk to them if they are interested. The ladyboys are standing at the most crowded part of the entrance where it is easy to bump into drunk (or sober) guys and steal their wallets, phones etc. Obviously this would not be possible if they were standing next to the girls on the opposite side of the road - which is why they are not standing there.

I can't understand how some ppl are taking this as a joke. It is far from it, and this situation could of been alot worse, with the tourist being left on the street covered in blood. You can not say what these idiots are capable of doing to get cash from someone.

On the contrary, you can say exactly what they are cabable of doing to get cash from someone. They are simply guys on drugs (hormones and possibly yabaa) desperate for money to keep up with expenses to plastic surgeries (and general living costs). Guys like that usually do not have much to lose, and are therefore capable of doing anything!

Stay way clear of ladyboys in Pattaya. Reputation for theft is well known.

Well known amongst those of us who live in Thailand or visit often yes, but I do not think it is well known amongst tourists, which is why the authorities should remove the ladyboys from the tourist areas, just as they sometimes remove youth gangs, thieves, drug dealers, mentally ill, beggars and other undesirables.

Another report about thieving LBs in Pattaya. I wonder how many it will take before someone realises that they are generally there to steal, not to sell themselves or do any form of honest work :-)

How sad is that ..... those kids have no future ...... who must be blame ? the parents ? the government for the lack of education ? So young and already murderers ......

While we should probably blame both parents and society, don't forget that these boys have sisters, who have generally managed to stay out of trouble - or at least managed to stay out of the news. They have the same parents, go to the same schools and live in the same society, so perhaps some of the blame should be put on the boys themselves?