Felt 35

These were not really the type of holiday tourists that Thailand wants.

Thailand get the tourists the Country are made to get.

Thailand is still much much safer for foreigners compared to other countries..

kwiz117

Which "other" Countries do you compare with?

Indonesia?Sri Lanka?,Nicaragua,Irak?

The problem is always the same...

The people (generally) make you feel so welcome and are very embracing.

The officals (generally) make you feel like you're not worth the sh!t on their shoes.

You have to go through one to get to the other - a strange hot/cold scenario.

BRAVO

The ones who want to help people know the difference between God and Evil, sure they are Christian.

The ones who want to control Thailand and the rest of the world. Well I guess we all have seen who they are the last three years....

I have my own National flag and the Thai flag side by side on the balcony.

It have nothing to do with be "proud or show of" or the statement below.

But it have to do with not to forget who you are and your family and home country.

BTW, I have not relocated permanent to Thailand. The plan is still to turn home when the farm shall be overtaken. But are here because thats the easiest for one of us. . as for now...

When you approach the Immigration checkpoint, you might be taken a side, get your picture taken, be interrogated about what you are doing in Thailand, and how you are financing your stay here. And it won’t help you to show THB 20-30.000 in cash. They could be income from illegal work in Thailand. You will have to prove that you have been transferring not less than THB 20-40.000,00 a month from abroad to cover the costings of your stay.

That means I have to carry my bankbook and my income statement from my Embassy with me if I tavel in the region.

Okay fine.

Hope my own country make the same easy rules for any foreigner who live there are married there, and are the main income source.

Yeah, it's to weed out all the unsavoury hangers on who look like <deleted> and taint this beautiful country's image.

jackr

Sure most decent people agree with you on that, but you forget one simple but very important thing here:

"Everything is for sale, included immigration and the law, and that not really fit with politeness, honesty, and strong moral and good behaviour which they will need if they want to make this place any different from what it is.

So let the time roll, and we will see.

Someone taking a 5k return to to KL or Singapore and having a night on the town so spending perhaps 10k is not in the cheap tourist category they are attempting to control.

How shall they know why i go!

BTW, I take a trip like that almost every second/third month except form the period March to August.

No not because of Visa.

I’m member in a kind of "Club" which regularly meet in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and next is 9. October in Kuala Lumpur.

So what to prepare. Weekend in Kuala Lumpur full of Thai baht notes in my wallet or do I have to sign a document when I leave that I’m not a going for a new entry stamp!!!

Yes I know the Immigration can think so, but if case then I not need to go before December.

30 days "on arrival" entry 'walkers': 10,000 Baht

90 days Non-Immigrant visa holders: 20,000 Baht

If this mean what is written, well then I guess many will leave and not return!

To set a standard higher for everyone, except your own, can hit back in one or another form.

On the scanned document of the actual regulation it stay "Cash monies" or Cash document.

What do they mean with cash document?

However I think Mr. T spit against the wind, because I saw on my Embassy web page yesterday that the regulation for Shcengen visas will be straighten up.

I just called home and told family (6) which usually come here every year late November and stay at LagunaPhuket that they ned to try and change some Euro to at least 60K Thai Baht home before they leave, if not you cannot enter Thailand.

Yes they will do, but if they come next year, well I dont know, but Mr. Tosk..in

do you think this is a smart way to get high spending tourist here......anymore

lopburi3

That closing at 1800 would prevent anyone who works from doing any shopping. Even now people are having a problem getting to store before it closes.

Unfortunately this is not any problem for my Thai wife, and she is a full time employe with a 50 hours working week.

Axel

So Thailand was great. Could do your shopping relaxed

Don’t know where you shop Axel, and it’s not my business, but try Lotus in Phuket a Friday after 1800Pm.

That’s almost as relaxing as the rush hours in Bangkok.

Can I assume you are using the Europe model (remember Germany where you could not buy anything at night or on weekends)?

Yes it was a European model. It was, but now it looks like that time is gone.

I can see your point in relation to this competitive consumer world we now live.

Personally I don’t believe this do any good for the human mankind.

Life is more than competition and consuming.

Look at Phuket if someone dear to go near" Had Lotus, Had Big C or Had Central" on a Saturday/Sunday. It’s more people on the shopping centres than on what supposed to be Phukets attraction, the beaches and the nature.

However so sad and bad,

I don`t doubt this for a second.

1) that the current campaign by police is nothing more than a front to satisfy all parties concerned that 'something is being done' about the whole situation (hopefully for the families involved, I'm wrong about this)

2) that the tourism industry doesn't have the clout that many people believe it to have; that the correlation between between top government + police officials concern in this matter and it's impact on the tourism revenues is not as great as it's been made out to be; (hopefully for the families involved, I'm wrong about this)

Energy saving = electricity saving.

Here in Thailand Sun Rise and Sunset are more or less exactly the same year around + - 30 minutes.

So why not open 0900 morning or even 0800 and close the doors 1800 or latest 2000?

I can’t understand the reasoning behind open late and close late when the goal is to save electricity!

The visa expediters you find around Penang and other locations just act as a delivery service to/from Consulate and 99% are fine

99%, Well that mean it will be Grand Continental and self service, again.

BTW, Thanks for the info.

lopburi3

You stayed at Grand Continental if near Komtar but the guest house street is Lebuh Chulia which is near the other (North) end of Penang Street (East side). The very last hotel on Penang is Hotel Continental so it makes for a lot of confusion for taxis.

Probably right. Any recommendations for a good hotel in Lebuh Chulia ,and are this visa agents really legal?

I mean, is it sure you don’t get any problems with the visa you get next time you need to use your passport/visa for official use or next time you leave Thailand!

Thanks & Regards

Animal Planet

Prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males.

Early History In ancient times and in some primitive societies, prostitution often had religious connotations—sexual intercourse with temple maidens was an act of worship to the temple deity. In Greece the hetaerae [Gr.,=companions or associates] were often women of high social status, but in Rome the meretrices were on a low social level and were forced to wear wigs and special garments signifying their trade. In the Middle Ages prostitution flourished, and licensed brothels were a source of revenue to municipalities.

In Europe

As a result of the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases in Europe in the 16th cent., efforts were begun to control prostitution. Brothels were closed throughout Western and Central Europe during parts of the 16th cent., and stricter punishment was meted out to those engaged in the trade. When these measures proved unsuccessful in stopping prostitution, many cities instituted even stricter controls. Berlin required medical inspection in 1700; Paris began to register its prostitutes in 1785. In Great Britain legislation to control the spread of sexually transmitted disease was embodied in a series of Contagious Diseases Prevention Acts (1864, 1866, and 1869) requiring periodic medical examination of all prostitutes in military and naval districts and the detention of all those found to be infected. Having failed to control the diseases, the acts were repealed in 1886. In 1898 the Vagrancy Act prohibited males from living on the earnings of prostitutes.

Internationally. During late 19th cent. efforts were made to control the international traffic in women for the purpose of prostitution. Cooperation on an international scale to stamp out such traffic began in 1899 with a congress in London. This was followed by other conferences in Amsterdam (1901), London (1902), and Paris (1904), which resulted in an international agreement providing for a specific agency in each nation to cooperate in the suppression of the international traffic in women for the purpose of prostitution. In 1919 the League of Nations appointed an official body to gather all facts pertaining to the trafficking of prostitutes, and in 1921 a conference held at Geneva and attended by 34 countries established the Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children (the work of the committee was assumed by the United Nations in 1946). In 1949 a convention for the suppression of prostitution was adopted by the UN General Assembly.

In the United States, where prostitution was widespread, it was thought to be closely connected with other crimes. No major effort to stamp out prostitution appeared until about the end of the 19th cent. In 1910 the Mann Act, or White Slave Traffic Act, was passed through the efforts of James Robert Mann; it forbade under severe penalty the interstate and international transportation of women for immoral purposes. By 1915 nearly all the states had passed laws regarding the keeping of brothels or profiting in other ways from the earnings of prostitutes. Nevertheless, during World War I there was a great increase in prostitution, accompanied by an increase in sexually transmitted disease. In 1941 Congress, spurred by reports of widespread prostitution near military bases and a rise in sexually transmitted disease, passed the May Act; the law made it a federal offense to practice prostitution in areas designated by the secretaries of the army and the navy. On a local basis all states except Nevada now have legislation that makes it a crime to operate a house of prostitution. Most states have laws against all forms of prostitution, although they often exempt from prosecution the customers of prostitution. Among the many agencies in the United States and elsewhere that have worked for the suppression of prostitution are the Society for the Prevention of Crime, organized in 1877; the Committee of Fourteen (1905); the National Vigilance Association; and the American Social Hygiene Association.

Prostitution in Asia has been a serious problem for many years, mainly due to economic factors (i.e., poverty and unemployment) and custom. In countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, the problem is largely confined to urban areas. In India and Japan prostitution is fairly widespread in rural areas as well. In recent years most of these countries have made efforts to control prostitution by enacting legislative measures. Prostitution has been legally abolished in the People's Republic of China since 1949; however, it has had a resurgence in the special economic zones.

billd766

What is the name of the road where the "Visa agent (s) " are located?

I mean to remember to have stayed in a hotel with name Grand Continental or...Continental, but have not been to Penang for at least four years.

But I remember that Shangri-la hotel was near to where I stayed.

Are the visa agents in that area? With other words near "Komtar"

Grateful for info because I probably will do the trip later on.

What this thread is about is if, [the biggest word in the English language,]if we are in the midst of a world wide war that may affect virtually every SEA country in some way, especially if there is a cut off of the supply of oil for any length of time, is Thailand a good country to be in and if so, why?

Well I let the oil be where it is and answer the question above.

No, because In a war I belive "head of state" should be respected for what he is and not for what he have, have auotority and still be liked when he not can give away money and promises but only orders, and show excellent leadership even if he must suffer as his people, and not to forget, be able to say Yes or No, not both.

Foreigner`s are "very" popular here now and I guess that would increase a lot if the main population suffer.

How much is the average fixed salary for an waiteress/waiter in New York City, US 2k,3k or 4K, and how much are the the tax 30,40,50% or higher?

Interesting, but at the same time scaring to see that so many people support a system which is based on low wages to the employee and high profit to the employer. With other words keep the capitalists going, and the average Somchai down.

If the employee had a sufficient salary and the employer generally had to pay higher income tax I guess most people who used their service had been happy to only have to pay the bill and no tipping.

That would be one small step together with many other necessary steps to get this place on the way to a better place to live for the average Somchai which today have a daily minimum wage lower than what it seems many people here occasionally give in tip!

What amazes me is how very quickly some people forget or dismiss outright that this IS still a third world country with all the ills that go with it. The fact that we witness the presense of first world conveniencies provided by the major corporates present in Thailand does not automatically suggest a first world democracy ( not that that can be proven success model either). Sadly the presence of the above only serves the corporates themselves and the few locals who benefit from them here, - namely the ruling families. If this country really wanted to be considered as first world, benefitting from all the securities that all the people could share it would surely start with implementing a system that offered status quo. This sadly is far from happening and as a result the likes of the normal average individual will continue to suffer from the injusticies that exist here and throughout the developing world, regardless of their nationality, colour or creed.

To suggest a collective policing by the individuals who it affects is outstanding, if this could catch on to become a global movement, perhaps this could be the catalyst needed to really change the world in favour of the masses rather than the elite few.

Until then the institutions which are supposed to be in place to represent us abroad ( the embassies) will continue only to focus on those business interests ( and the people who run them) that creat corporate profits and thus civil coffers.

.....and while that is building momentum perhaps we should concentrate less on always carrying our passport with us and concentrate more on carrying a gun ourselves as we are our only first line of defense.

It is after all a persons right to defend themselves if the encumbent power fail to do so.

This LOS image has long since gone from Thailand if it really existed at all. If Thailand cannot protect its tourist industry and moreso the people who are...then we must do it ourselves or find somewhere safer to go. Leaving the locals to scrap amongst themselves for what crumbs remain.

If this incident is allowed to ' dissappear' like so many others... we are only to blame.

Change will only come when the pockets of these 'elites' are threatened. Toppling governments and economies is not that difficult these days with the advent of the net. The sooner this is shown as feasible the sooner the power eliments will start doing their job.

The people in power are still there to represent the people. It's about time we demanded they do.

[/b]BRAVO