monkeycountry

I am still wondering how a tiny island with a couple of thousand rooms can cater for 5.5 million tourist a year? I think someone messed up the numbers :-)

There is a hotdog stand called "Hamburger Denmark" in one of the small sois in Walking Street. If you like danish style hotdogs, that is the place to go. Best in Thailand imo.

Ironic how Thailand wants to attract the exact people many if not most others want to avoid

The problem with populist policies is that they seem very attractive to the poor and the poor will not realise the damage until it is too late.

imagine a party that promised to borrow a ton of money from abroad and give all the money as cash to the poor - and actually did as promised. Such a party would be guaranteed to win an election in Thailand.

Of course the dept to GDP ratio would soar and eventually Thailand would no longer be able to borrow money. Thailand would then be forced to stop free education, free hospitals, rice pledging scams etc. All the stuff that usually benefits the poor. And alot of people especially in the government sector would lose their jobs. Private sector jobs such as construction workers would be lost too, as the government could no longer afford to build new hospitals, roads, airports, trains etc. The poor would demonstrate on the streets, but with no money available the government will not be able to help, even if it wanted to. At this time the poor will finally realise what happened, but it will be too late.

The rich will still be fine as they don't really need the government. They can afford private hospitals and schools etc.

Basically it is the same if you give every poor person a credit card or if you give the government one big credit card to use on behalf of all the poor. No money is being made, just borrowed, and eventually the bill has to be paid - with interest!

I have no idea how to address this problem, and it is a problem. I too live in Jomtien, and have just about had enough of these mindless idiots. A question I keep asking myself ( without getting any reasonable answer) is why do they do it, and why in Jomtien ? Why don't they go and play their music indoors at their homes, or in their gardens ( and annoy their own families and neighbours ) ?

People have loud bikes, loud cars etc to impress other people. Hence they have to take them where there is alot of people to impress. That explains why they go to Jomtien and not their own garden :-)

I am assuming he wants to fight thai charges from the US, since he does not yet face any charges in the US. It is quite convenient to fight criminal cases while abroad. If you win, everything is fine and you can go home, if you lose you just don't go home, but stay abroad. This is probably why few if any countries accept this practise :-)

I don't want to poor scorn on what this bloke says as I agree with most of it, but...

But people's greed has grown, which has resulted in their good-heartedness shrivelling and criminality growing.

According to the owners of the supermarket that is up on the left in soi Cokmakham in Rawai (the soi opposite Nikita's restaurant on the beach), the land opposite the supermarket - on the east side of the soi - is owned by this man. And all that land has now been fenced off. So no parking there any more while visiting the supermarket and almost impossible to turn around in the soi. A lot of premises in that soi with wide access have now put down items to stop vehicles turning round.

The supermarket owners said they offered to rent some land opposite their supermarket as a car park, but he wasn't interested.

Yes, I know it's his land and he can do what he wants with it. Flame on!

In Thailand, once you let people in, it can be very difficult to get them out again!

I certainly don't agree with Monkeycountry's statement.... especially that Thai's not understanding about internet etc etc....every Thai I know does...

Many houses around Maenam under 10,000 baht... My house is pretty decent one large bedroom, living room, kitchen bathroom and walled garden and 300 metres from beach and 100 metres to Ring Road, very quiet with only two close neigbouring houses... ...also has hot water, asking price was 8000 b a month including water and electric ... on long term I got that down to 7000 baht a month...without much effort.... other houses in area same sort of prices... with long term expats...not tourists

I could use the slowish internet included, but choose to have my own line.... same with satellite, I use my own.

One generally only find these places by either driving around, or word of mouth... they are not advertised....(usually) ...

It was a figure of speech, but to clarify, yes everyone knows what the internet is. However, many, especially elderly local thais, have no idea how to use it though, and would not know how to advertise their house online.

Put them in your car and drive them to a temple. The guards probably won't mind as long as you mention the temple part.

"PM Yingluck won't go to Koh Samet"

"Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday visited Ao Phrao in Koh Samet"

Yes he did, and he was ridiculed for the visit. You might want to read Khaosod's article on the event. Here's an excerpt;

However, the public seemed to be distracted from what he spoke at the island to the photo of the moment Mr. Abhisit and his team reached the shore of Ao Phrao Bay. The photo showed Mr. Abhisit standing - looking impeccably dressed with his shirt unblemished - with his companions on a carriage pier being moved toward the shore with a number of staff. His critics of the social network forwarded the photo, saying it is yet another proof of Mr. Abhisit's elite aloofness and his unwillingness to get his hands dirty.

The Eton-educated former leader was also accused by some on social network of visiting Koh Samet only for photo-op and PR stunt.

The comedy Facebook page “Somrak Pak Puen Geng” (Somrak for Gay People Party) posted the picture with a caption saying that Mr. Abhisit and his fellows were having “good time” at the beach, while other people carrying the pier were wondering "why wouldn′t Abhisit and his friends just stay home and follow the news on TV?".

I feel sorry for Abhisit. Maybe he meant well, but look at the result. His visit become a political event and did nothing to help the cleanup.

The PM, has seen Abhisit's treatment and the negative reaction. I don't think she wants a repeat.

Several ministers have been to Koh Samet and have met with the locals. The minister of tourism and sports, Somsak Pureesrisak, is there now and is organizing a response to mitigate the damage to tourism. The ministers need to be able to do their job without unnecessary political sideshows.

"His critics of the social network forwarded the photo, saying it is yet another proof of Mr. Abhisit's elite aloofness and his unwillingness to get his hands dirty."

He was ridiculed by his critics, big surprise. It doesn't really matter if you like it or not, it is standard practice for country leaders all over the world to visit disaster areas. It shows they care.

"PM Yingluck won't go to Koh Samet"

"Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday visited Ao Phrao in Koh Samet"

The resorts will settle for a pittance out of court, because to sue, would tie them up in knots for years until PTT pays out. There will be no million dollar pay outs from PTT. Beyond that, isn't it a national park. What are all those developments doing there anyway? How does one get a license for an illegal business inside a national park.

Maybe that PTT pays zilch if that is the case.

I hope you are right, but I think the main reasons the smaller businesses will settle out of court will be 1) they do not wan't to pay for a lawyer, and 2) they know that they will "lose" in court, as few of them have any financial records to prove their revenue and profit. On the contrary, the few tax returns they do have most likely show little revenue and no profit in order to avoid taxes. Som Nam Na!

As mentioned above, I hope the PTTGC guys are aware of this, and simply tell everyone to accept a reasonable compensation amount or take their fantasy claims to court - where their tax fraud will be esposed. They should not even spend 5 minutes listening to all the silly fantasies about restaurants packed with lobster eating rich customers all day long during low season, or the expected 800% increase in tourism this year, which is now not going to happen etc.

Whilst I agree with your legal assessment (which is correct in law), the court of public opinion will flay PTTGC (and PTT) if they use those arguments (illegal businesses, understatement of income taxes) to wriggle out of reasonable compensation. This situation is no longer a scientific problem (how to clean up and remediate) nor is it a legal one, but it is a much more critical crisis of Reputation resuscitation. And PTTGC cannot expect any respite from the Govt officials either.

The public will not use more or less gasoline nor worry about where they buy it, no matter how PTT behaves in this case. PTT is almost (but not quite) like the water and electric companies - you may not like them, but you still need their services. Obviously PTT will not use my arguments as bluntly as I have, but they can, and probably will, still use them in a more discrete way if things went to court. However, the PTP government, who owns most of PTT's shares, does need public support (and they clearly don't mind paying for populist policies), so there is a chance/risk that they will directly or indirectly force PTT to pay more than they would have otherwise.

How big should the compensation be if the tourism numbers are 50% down for the whole island next year? It won't matter because it will all be settled by then.

First of all, it won't be. Most foreign tourists who arrive next year, or even next month, won't even know that there was a problem. Unless perhaps they decide to go to the tiny beach in question if it is not clean by then. In fact according to people on the island commenting on TV, many tourist who are there right now are not even aware of the problem.

Anyway, IF tourism is down by 50% next year due to this, then they should of course be compensated for that. But again, with a reasonable amount. Remember, when revenue is down, so are expenses, although not by the same percentage. As an example, a restaurant with few customers needs to buy less food than a full restaurant, but still need to pay rent and staff.

People can't expect damage payment in advance for what may or may not happen in the future. If they want money now, it should be based on already incurred losses. Future losses should be compensated later once the amount is known or can be reasonably predicted. Right now it is simply anyones guess.

The resorts will settle for a pittance out of court, because to sue, would tie them up in knots for years until PTT pays out. There will be no million dollar pay outs from PTT. Beyond that, isn't it a national park. What are all those developments doing there anyway? How does one get a license for an illegal business inside a national park.

Maybe that PTT pays zilch if that is the case.

I hope you are right, but I think the main reasons the smaller businesses will settle out of court will be 1) they do not wan't to pay for a lawyer, and 2) they know that they will "lose" in court, as few of them have any financial records to prove their revenue and profit. On the contrary, the few tax returns they do have most likely show little revenue and no profit in order to avoid taxes. Som Nam Na!

As mentioned above, I hope the PTTGC guys are aware of this, and simply tell everyone to accept a reasonable compensation amount or take their fantasy claims to court - where their tax fraud will be esposed. They should not even spend 5 minutes listening to all the silly fantasies about restaurants packed with lobster eating rich customers all day long during low season, or the expected 800% increase in tourism this year, which is now not going to happen etc.

Hey, I don't look at it like that. They damaged an island and have done financial damage to people. Fishing and other things will be paying the price for this for a long time. PTT should pay, irrespective of whether these businesses are completely legal or not. But it of course hilights the problems with liability litigation in this country. The big boys NEVER pay.

I agree that PTTGC should pay of course. But they should pay the actual damages, not damages invented by opportunists who are most likely not only trying to cheat PTTGC, but also cheat the rev. dept. and thereby all of us on a daily basis. Therefore PTTGC and the government should calculate their own reasonable figures for settlement, and forget about all the fantastic revenue and profit figures I have read about in related news. If people are not happy with the settlement offered, then they always have the option to go to court, where the legal operators will eventually win as they have evidence of their success, and the illegal ones will lose due to lack of evidence of their success.

Just like with insurance claims, damage claims should only be based on proven success (ie. past records), not on future dreams of success.

Further, I feel sorry for the fish, but having seen the garbage the fishing industry is constantly dumping on the beaches combined with their overfishing, I think the fishing industry does alot more damage both to the fishing industry and to the tourism industry, than the PTTGC has ever done.

The resorts will settle for a pittance out of court, because to sue, would tie them up in knots for years until PTT pays out. There will be no million dollar pay outs from PTT. Beyond that, isn't it a national park. What are all those developments doing there anyway? How does one get a license for an illegal business inside a national park.

Maybe that PTT pays zilch if that is the case.

I hope you are right, but I think the main reasons the smaller businesses will settle out of court will be 1) they do not wan't to pay for a lawyer, and 2) they know that they will "lose" in court, as few of them have any financial records to prove their revenue and profit. On the contrary, the few tax returns they do have most likely show little revenue and no profit in order to avoid taxes. Som Nam Na!

As mentioned above, I hope the PTTGC guys are aware of this, and simply tell everyone to accept a reasonable compensation amount or take their fantasy claims to court - where their tax fraud will be esposed. They should not even spend 5 minutes listening to all the silly fantasies about restaurants packed with lobster eating rich customers all day long during low season, or the expected 800% increase in tourism this year, which is now not going to happen etc.

It's funny what a difference a single hyphen (-) can make. When I was reading this, I came across "restaurants packed with lobster eating rich customers all day long" and a picture of lobsters eating wealthy people came to mind, whereas "restaurants packed with lobster-eating rich customers all day long" gives me the opposite picture -- one of wealthy people eating lobster. Of course, the hyphen changes the word 'eating' from verb to an adjective.

(Hope you see the humour, monkeycountry, and realize that I'm not ridiculing you or insulting your use of language. Just pointing out a peculiarity of English.

Upon reading my own sentence again, I completely see what you mean

A plausible, and possibly true, excuse would have been to simply say he thought it was his own phone he put in his pocket upon leaving. Of course that would only work if saying so immediately upon getting caught.

The resorts will settle for a pittance out of court, because to sue, would tie them up in knots for years until PTT pays out. There will be no million dollar pay outs from PTT. Beyond that, isn't it a national park. What are all those developments doing there anyway? How does one get a license for an illegal business inside a national park.

Maybe that PTT pays zilch if that is the case.

I hope you are right, but I think the main reasons the smaller businesses will settle out of court will be 1) they do not wan't to pay for a lawyer, and 2) they know that they will "lose" in court, as few of them have any financial records to prove their revenue and profit. On the contrary, the few tax returns they do have most likely show little revenue and no profit in order to avoid taxes. Som Nam Na!

As mentioned above, I hope the PTTGC guys are aware of this, and simply tell everyone to accept a reasonable compensation amount or take their fantasy claims to court - where their tax fraud will be esposed. They should not even spend 5 minutes listening to all the silly fantasies about restaurants packed with lobster eating rich customers all day long during low season, or the expected 800% increase in tourism this year, which is now not going to happen etc.

In other news, small restaurant owners are already telling how their usual fantastic sales figures of millions of baht a month, even during low season, have dropped to near zero. I hope the PTTGC guys are smart enough to request tax returns from these people to see their actual sales and profits from last year. In case they cheat and do not file tax returns, or file figures lower than the actual figures, then why should a government owned company compensate them? And even if they do go ahead and compensate, then what should the compensation amount be based on if not financial records?

I suggest the revenue department joins these negotiations, and have a close look at the claimant's tax records.

The problem is there aren't any nightlife activities that the OP likes or fits in with her interests.

There is no decline in Bangkok nightlife

.

There's loads of clubs in RCA, Ratchada, Thong Lo, Khao San that are full of punters every Friday and Saturday.

It's just that they cater to their clientele who are mostly Thai rather than Western.

They are not interested in an underground scene for the most part but want to hear Tunes that they and their friends know.

The music and club scene here is totally mainstream for the most part and that's because it's conducive to being Sanook.

When Thais go out they want Sanook, not too interested in being cool and underground or being educated about sounds either.

It's also about sitting around with your pals sharing a bottle and laughs rather than loosing it on the dancefloor for hours on end.

Clubbing in BangkoK is a very different animal to what it is in Europe or the USA

What Thais like: "When Thais go out they want Sanook, not too interested in being cool and underground or being educated about sounds either."

What the OP likes: "I would love to see more nights like the opening of Bash Nightclub where robots and midgets dressed like extraterrestrials splashed in silver paint"

I really hope Bangkok continues catering to the Thai taste. To me it sounds like the OP is looking for a circus, not a nightclub :-)

"Secondly, Im a woman. So no, I dont want to hang out at gentlemens clubs or Soi Cowboy and Patpong (most of the guys I know dont like to, either)."

I am guessing those same guys also told you that they don't watch porn either :-)

You could consider flying from BKK to Suratthani on the mainland (less than an hours drive from the ferry to Samui by car), and take the bus+ferry from Suratthani airport to Samui. I have never tried it, but understand from others it is a lot cheaper. The downside is that the bus/ferry part adds a few hours extra each way, but if your family has never seen Samui/Thailand before, you could consider that part of the trip an excursion/sightseeing Also, while you may still be on a bus, it is much much safer than a busride all the way from Bangkok. I suppose you can google the details if interested.