indiefan

Hey Terry, I play guitar (have with me), penny whistle (a little bit, but have with me) and bodhron (have a tipper with me). I'm in Chiang Mai right now, but I'm totally interested in playing some tunes. I'll pm you too, but you can reach me at 0806291239.

Is there anyone in the Pattaya area who is interested in playing irish traditional music on flute, fiddle, banjo, mandolin or whatever ? I play fiddle and have most of the other instruments. Call Terry at 089 248 4422 anytime.

And.... I choose this post to reply to. Mostly because right at the time I found her out, she wanted me to go to the beach with her family, her 'brother' was going to come... and she wanted them to see what they thought of me. I don't want to go into details, but wanted to say thanks to everyone here, so much good information. The article you guys gave me didn't scare me but got me thinking straight again. Stick's site is awesome and uber helpful for that.

Anyway, yes, I busted her, and she just went right on lying. Its a crazy feeling to know someone is lying to you, but feel yourself being swayed at the same time, catch yourself, and then be swayed again.

Anyway 2, thanks guys and gals of TV for anyone who posted on a topic thats as common here as . I don't think I would have ever given this girl money... tha's a red flag I pretty flatly reject, but it could have put a major damper on what has been an awesome trip so far and potentially could have ruined a lot of it, I guess. If anyone's interested in what happened, send me a PM, but u know, I want to keep sensitive matters private for various reasons.

So yea me... my head is back on straight and I can deal with this. Thanks for like, the third time.

As mentioned on this thread, the mobile phone is your ticket to knowledge. These poor saps who are working outside of Thailand have the same instincts as the OP. Any number of clients have to keep in almost constant contact with the "girlfriend" to allay their fears of being cheated on. These girls are cunning and may clear their text messages and call logs from time to time but once they get a little comfortable they will become a bit lazy and leave you some good reading and possibly some juicy photographs. Dude! It's a business. The most number of mobile phones I've seen one girl carry is four. Yes, each one was purchased by a visiting client. She may think it's cool to be so popular and get a little compatriot status but after she discovers that all these phone calls are a lot like work it begins to take a toll. Eventually she will let the calls of the less generous clients go to voice mail and revert to the Prostitution 101 list of standard lies when out of contact.

The OP can do the PI thing but it cost money and may be a waste of time. Put a little effort in and you will achieve results on your own and possible feel a sense of accomplishment. If the girl has a Thai boyfriend you may be introduced to her "brother". Somewhat of a red flag when that happens. On the plus side, if the girl has given him any of your money he will send photos of himself from time to time to raise his self esteem regarding the girlfriend he allows to work the foreigners.

Good luck.

Yep, I think you're a bit right there. ;0

Previously I met a girl who I liked a bunch. With her I was much more sure of the possibility she was lying. She was and I found out, she was a prostitute and lied about everything, so for this girl, I think we should give her a little benefit of the doubt because I'm fully aware that I'm paranoid from the previous experience. I'm much less sure of my suspicions then before, but can't deny that they are there. So you know, while I'm on the brink of actually really caring about this girl, I think its wise to find out if everything she says adds up now before I'm vested instead of later when bad news will break my heart. Know what I mean? Any advice peoples? Maybe I should purchase a fedora, dark glasses and a trench coat and try to find out where she hangs out when not with me.

Sorry to hear you're having dramas indiefan. I remember reading somewhere that if you think you need a private investigator then you probably already know the outcome and this will just confirm it. Not my words but after thinking about it I thought they were probably quite accurate as we generally have a reasonably good idea something isn't right. I don't know of anyone here personally but I would imagine a bit of Googling would get you a fairly long list. I hope it turns out to be you worrying over nothing.

Cheers

Jimmy

Hey all, this is kind of sad, and I've never considered it before, but I want to find out if someone I'm seeing is lying to me about who they are. I have no idea how much it costs (I'm not made of money at all), but maybe hiring a PI to check it out is a good idea if the price is reasonable. So does anyone know a PI who speaks good english and does good work for Farangs? Maybe its a bad idea? Any advice is much appriciated.

Is this a set up already?I never ever even let my card go out of my hand to anybody,have to have it? They lose my buisiness,there are so many ways today,not only to steal your money,but your complete identity,just a scan is enough to 'Get at you ' a secure bank number,are you kidding?Read up on this and you will find in 99% of instances of monetary fraud, the crooks have broken just about every safety measure known to man,if not today,tomorrow is soon enough for them.They have even hacked into 'Safe

'government sites and computers,CAUTION should be your one and only piece of advice.

Are you kidding me? I'm setting the person up by telling them about pay pal? Millions of people use pay pal every day, and you can regularly empty it into your bank account. If you want, you can set it up so that no money will come out of your bank account. Its pretty secure and used by millions.

not in NY- it is the most multicultural city in the world

Toronto is the most multi-cultural city in the world there Yank.

Hi Jim. I know nothing about Thailand or the laws here, but I'm going to give you solid advice because those two previous facts just don't matter. It does not matter which country you're in because this is how things work and its universal.

You are not a unique snowflake. Theres nothing special about your situation and very little thats complicated. What is different is that you're not used to being scammed and are not overly familiar with these situations and would not be unless you were a lawyer who specialized in them. Lawyers who do specialize in these situations deal with them every single day, and are as familiar with what has happened as you are with brushing your teeth. Bad deals go down every minute in every country in the world and resolving those issues creates a market for law types to earn a good living off.

So, your only wise solution is to find a lawyer who knows his stuff and speaks great english so he can educate you on what your position is and what your options are and advise you which option to take. A consultation will cost you X ammount, but a few hours going over things will be very low risk compared to some of what you stand to lose if you go into some of the things you've mentioned without buying solid advice from someone who's competent. Even the questions you ask your partner might weaken your position legally and or strategically. If this goes to court, do you really want to know the details of what he did? Knowing that may implicate you in something more.

So, get a lawyer, let him do his job and educate you with his experience and knowledge from the other 10000 farangs he's helped in your position, get as much of your money back and get out of this business relationship. You seem like a nice guy and this is exactly why you need to pay a lawyer slime ball to do this dirty job for you. Simple as that, and good luck.

Hey TV world. I need wireless internet and am not sure where to find it on the island. Can anyone reccomend places with free wifi (like, resturants/coffee shops) and guesthouses (though I'd prefer a bungalow) with wifi included? Thanks!!!

You're 'system' is retarded. You make a small mistake and lose track of time so you get a $6,000 US fine? Or, 5 years in jail? Sounds like a great way to totally destroy your tourism industry!

This guy has no work permit which probably means also has no confirmed references. There are law breakers like this who could be teaching my daughter or children.

These morons make it bad here for the rest of us, actions in which could provoke Immigration into tightening up the rules even further.

Obviously this guy is a loser and anyone who gets involved with him will also become losers.

I would like to see the following Illegal immigrant or visa overstay punishments introduced:

200000 baht fine for each month up to 12 months of overstay, include part year over 12 months as one year and immediate deportation at their expense. Indefinite stay in jail until can raise funds for fine and deportation

Tourist visa

6 months maximum stay in Thailand per year over any time or in split periods within 12 months. Overstayers, 200000 baht fine for each month up to 12 months of overstay, include part year over 12 months as one year and immediate deportation at their expense. Indefinite stay in jail until can raise funds for fine and deportation

Work visa

One year maximum. Change or lose job before 12 months without informing Immigration: 200000 baht fine for each month up to 12 months of overstay, include part year over 12 months as one year and immediate deportation at their expense. Indefinite stay in jail until can raise funds for fine and deportation. Penalty for claiming work permit by deception or having no work permit, 200000 baht fine and a mandatory 5-year jail sentence.

Married to Thai visa

Non (O) visa for a maximum of 12 months. Increase visa stake to 1 million baht, present rules pertaining to property ownership etc to apply. This method makes it easier to eliminate marriages of convenience. Overstayers: 200000 baht fine for each month up to 12 months of overstay, include part year over 12 months as one year and immediate deportation at their expense. Indefinite stay in jail until can raise funds for fine and deportation

Retirement visa

Non (O) for a maximum of 12 months. Increase visa stake investment to 2 million baht, including for those retirees who are still residing here for the ridiculous low amount of only 200000 baht per year visa stake. Present rules pertaining to property ownership etc to apply. Overstayers 200000 baht fine for each month up to 12 months of overstay, include part year over 12 months as one year and immediate deportation at their expense. Indefinite stay in jail until can raise funds for fine and deportation

Other

All foreign visa applicants to acquire documents from their home country police departments confirming what is, or what is not on criminal file about them.

Terminate the visa runs and impose all foreign visa applicants to use the system as I quoted above.

Never, no, don't do it, you should not.

Now that you know that, heres what to do.

Open an account at pay pal or some other web banking site like that and let people donate to you using their pay pal accounts.

If you can't do that, show people methods to send you email money transfers.

If you get confused, just PM me and I'll set you up. I'm good with all that stuff.

Try searching for info on the 'dudesweet' parties too.

Sure, I truly love all music, but in a pinch to name my favs I would go with The Pixies, Pavement, Ween, Guided By Voices, The Fall, Misfits, Black Flag, Slayer, Metallica, Hierogliphics, The Roots, Stephen Malkmus, Beck, Dre and Snoop, The Advantage, anything Math Rock (genre if not familiar), Polvo, The Boredoms (ok, my one asian band I love, hence the topic), ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Blood Brothers, Captian Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Iron Maiden, Jurrasic 5, Pantera, Dinosaur Jr, Q And Not You, Built To Spill, and uh, Celine Dion. (okay, that one was a joke!)

Anyway, thats some of what I love. Any hits? Any reccomendations? If its great live I want to see it.

Try 'Mind the Gap' MySpace link for upcoming Indie events in RCA, Bangkok

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=174741226

Thats cool... anyone have some good names I should watch for? I'm going to see hip hop tomorrow, anyone wants to go just drop me a PM and I'll give you my mobile. They get mad if I post it here I think.

There is nothing wrong with the twitter group idea, but it would take some real work and organizing to make sure it worked and that it was con-artist proof.

Many interesting points of view here. The most important thing to keep in mind when you travel to a forgien country is that the laws of your home country " Do Not Apply". Each country has their own laws,

and visitors shoud be aware of that. I recall reading a post not long ago about someone having a Thai lawyer who is also a Thai policeman. I think a 5 minute phone call would give us an answer from both

the legal and police point of view regarding whether to sign anything presented if we are arrested.

I am trying to remember that posting but I am a "very" old man and and it escapes me at the moment.

Sawadee Kup

I hear you, if someone is connected to a police officer/lawyer, could you please ask for advice? I think it would be pretty helpfull for all of us who are just learning about the country. Cheers!

Why didn't you mention your alibi? Because I wanted to see exactly what evidence you have before I got together with some friends and concocted some cock and bull story to counteract your accusation. To claim that cops are crooked is rubbish, some are but the vast majority aren't, especially in the UK. A much higher percentage of arrested people are crooked however, and have no qualms in telling a few porkies. The right to silence has allowed many guilty people to manipulate the system and get off scot free, whereas the many systems and procedures in place nowadays make it extremely hard to frame an innocent person.

WRT your "own" lawyer see how quickly he/she turns up at 4am in the morning. Agree that a police cell in the west is unlikely to be as described here.

Personally I wouldn't say anything without a lawyer present unless I was sure of the law, which I am not here, and I was sure that I couldn't be fitted up, which I am not here. I would also be careful in how you approach paying off an officer here.

Because telling a police officer 'anything' can and will be used in the case against you in a court of law. To claim that cops are crooked is rubbish? Not at all. Its the police and the prosecuting attorny's job to make the best case against you to convict you, that is their goal. Its not a search for truth or something. Its you and your lawyer's job to do the opposite. If you get arrested, saying 'anything' helps further the goal of them convicting you, and your goal of an improved defense. Sure, guilty people get off with the right to silence, but it also helps innocent people defend themselves and avoid making pressue mistakes in extreme situations. Your trial does and should not start the momment you are arrested. Theres nothing just about that because its totally imbalanced... with no expereince vs police who are vets are snaring you.

Ha, my lawyer would show up at 4 AM... thats why he's my lawyer.

There is nothing wrong with the twitter group idea, but it would take some real work and organizing to make sure it worked and that it was con-artist proof.

I don't think it would really take that much work. Twitter is designed to be stupidly easy to use. All you'd have to do is create an account and follow everyone on the group. Also, its only to be used for emergencys. So, hmm...

1. Its not really a public group, but something you set up with people that you trust/know. Not closed, but not some totally public thing either.

2. If someone sends a distress message (or whatever, I don't want to be dramatic! ;0 ) the standard response would be to call their mobile/send a txt to see if its for real and if you can help. You can use twitter again to quickly tell everyone its a false alarm. If no response or there is a problem...

3. Start a thread on a forum (this one seems uber active, so probably the best place?) about the situation and call on people in the forum to help the person out.

Even something as simple as someone who speaks thai calling to assist, or contacting a lawyer could make the difference between screwed and saved. I don't want to be that old man. If cops at home can plant drugs, frame people and screw you, I can only imagine what can happen here.

Also, I'm not thinking 'huge network of 100's'. A small number of people could acomplish a lot. Beyond that, maybe using facebook to oraganize people's contact info/passport numbers/emergency contacts would be usefull. Travelling alone and not knowing people here, it would make me feel way more secure. Thoughts?

Hey all... love indie rock as my handle suggests... I was just wondering, this forum seems to be frequented by the more experienced Farang in Thailand so maybe someone can give the low down on which music is really good? I'd love to go see some talented bands here that are for thai people and not tourists covering westren music. I've heard there are some good clubs around victory monument, and got a list of a bunch of good bands, but then when I tried to find them I found groups like Silly Fools had broken up.

Is anyone plugged into the scene here? Hopefully I'll see some great music. In a city this size, it has to be out there.

Cheers!

No there wasn't a return, but he was the one who chose to break the law there. Their prison system is clearly a very hard environment, he should have thought about that when he was perpetrating his crimes - som nom na.

Unfortunately, prisoners in the UK are well taken care of. I'm in a reasonable mood today, but if I get started on that subject; that will change for sure.

Karma, Clayton. Wether you believe in it or not, you'd better hope its false. The day you or a loved one ends up in a harsh prison your tune will change dramatically. The people who are all about harsh treatment and 'I have no sympathy' are almost 100% those who have no experience or contact with the penal system they are talking about. Most prisoners, in all countries, have a documented history of legitimate mental issues to go with abject desperation. If you knew prisoners for who they are instead of the demons you make them out to be, you'd never speak the way you do.

So what did you think of starting a twitter group? Most people here have cell phones, it could only help... or do you think its a little lame? I don't.

Hi , thank you for comment. The question was asked by indiefan and my response was with facts. As to the original post I am not a Thai lawyer so I have no "opinion" as to what to do in that situation. It makes for interesting reading only when there is some free time.

I am not one to deal in hyperbole. " Again, just what I've read here " Do you really believe what you read here? Opinions are like--we all know this one

Choke Dee

If you get arrested and the officer does not inform you of your 'right' to remain silent, anything you say is thrown out. Now, cops will try to convince you and trick you... thats for sure, but they can't hold you for more then a day, and if they put you in brutal conditions, they'll lose their jobs. Also, if I did get arrested, I would see a lawyer within an hour or two, before which, the only words I would utter would be 'laywer' and 'phone call'. There is not a whole lot the police can do about it. Theres a civility to the process that is taken very seriously. Violations of that process are dealt with harshly and entire cases thrown out of court if violations occur.

There is no 'right' to silence in the UK as such. You don't have to answer any questions but the courts can draw inferences from your refusal during interview, especially if you mysteriously come up with a watertight alibi at court, and there's no reasonable reason why you didn't mention it during the interview. No entitlement to a phone call either, the only entitlement is to have someone informed of your arrest. And good luck trying to get a duty solicitor to see you within a an hour or two, especially if it is late at night. Sure you cannot be interviewed without one present if you request one, but it can mean you sitting in a a cell for hours waiting for the lawyer to arrive.

That is in the UK with all the legislation in place to protect suspects rights. Don't imagine Sgt Somchais hands are tied quite as tight.

Yea, I'm from Canada and you are pretty protected. The right to remain silent is essential IMHO to a proper judicial system. Why didn't you mention your alibi? Because cops are crooked and you don't trust them, therefore remain silent so you don't get screwed. WRT the lawyer... if I was in jail, I'd be contacting 'my' lawyer who would be there ASAP, no doubt. As for a public defender or what have you, you might have to wait for that, but again, the holding cell will be nothing like what was described in this post.

And I agree, I think this thread is very important and informative. I still don't know wether to sign the papers or not. And I still don't know how to properly pay off an officer if I really have to. :/

From what I have gathered here, it seems the most important thing is to get bailed out as quickly as possible, by any means neccesary. From what I can tell, there almost seems to be a different court system for those who pay bail - i.e. people with access to enough money to defend themselves. If you don't get bailed out it sounds almost like playing Russian Roulette, whether you are guilty or not guilty.

I'm still not sure if one has the right to phone a freind or family member, but it seems one does have the right to contact one's embassy. If worse came to worse, one should contact them as quickly as possible and give them contact numbers to anyone who might bail you out or help you in any way at all. If you are a tourist, maybe you should explain what it is like here to the person you trust most, so they will be ready to help you right away if they ever get a call from your embassy. The embassy won't help much from all I have heard.

If anyone has better advice, please share it with the rest of us. I want to know the best way to handle a similar situation too. That old man scared the hel_l out of me and I have no interest in drugs or anything else illegal. That was the real reason I put up this thread.

Hey, maybe you'd be interested in this then...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/

Any interest in forming an uh, emergency network? I can rig my cell phone to send off a message quite quickly and update that emergency message for what ever place I am in. Its not always going to work, but if there gets to be a few people on it, it can only help to ask a number of people in the area for help at once. I know I'd try my best to help anyone who was in trouble and txt'ed me. I'm traveling alone, it would serve peace of mind if I knew there were people I could lean on if I got in a spot. Thoughts?

Hi , thank you for comment. The question was asked by indiefan and my response was with facts. As to the original post I am not a Thai lawyer so I have no "opinion" as to what to do in that situation. It makes for interesting reading only when there is some free time.

I am not one to deal in hyperbole. " Again, just what I've read here " Do you really believe what you read here? Opinions are like--we all know this one

Choke Dee

Thanks for the comments, but honestly, I don't trust the police and think your description is a little rose coloured. There is no due process here and abusive police are not really going to see much heat for it. There is not even a method to complain against police. If I didn't commit a crime in my country and got arrested for something, I know I'm innocent until proven guilty and the onus is on the state to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that I'm guilty. If I got a hotel room and there was a police raid, and they found 50 KG of heroin in the ceiling (hypothetically), I would walk because its essentially a public place and they would have to prove it was my heroin. Theres a reasonable doubt someone else left it there, so they'd have no case unless they could prove I put it there. It would not even go to trial. If I found the heroin, I'd call the police to alert them to it with 0 fear I could get tagged with it. If I was picked up having beer with the largest drug dealer in the country, and he was caught dealing at the time and had plenty of product on him, I would not really be worried about much because I have freedom of association with anyone I want without fear of being charged for their crimes via proxy.

If you get arrested and the officer does not inform you of your 'right' to remain silent, anything you say is thrown out. Now, cops will try to convince you and trick you... thats for sure, but they can't hold you for more then a day, and if they put you in brutal conditions, they'll lose their jobs. Also, if I did get arrested, I would see a lawyer within an hour or two, before which, the only words I would utter would be 'laywer' and 'phone call'. There is not a whole lot the police can do about it. Theres a civility to the process that is taken very seriously. Violations of that process are dealt with harshly and entire cases thrown out of court if violations occur.

Anyway, I kind of rambled a bit, but just trying to get a solid understanding of the system I am in. Traveling involves risks 'n I'm fine with some risk. I guess??? money is your protection from police in Thailand... from what I've heard from many first hand accounts. Which is why I'm asking how to go about this. I know how to stay safe in my country, and many of the same things (which you just mentioned) apply, but police that can unjustly harm you is something I've never dealt with. I'm guessing that if I get arrested, I'm not going to have much of an opportunity to call the number you gave me. But thanks for that info anyway. I'll put it in my phone now.

If you can get an intelligent Thai person to do it for you, it will cost a lot less and no one will get offended.

I don't think that I would offer anything myself unless they asked me. Too easy to make the situation worse unless you speak Thai like Joe Cummings!

Seems to make sense... where would I find one of those? ;0 I know no thai's here at all so how would I broach the subject? If its to the point where I'm going to be visiting the station, I'm not really concerned with getting a deal as much as getting out of that situation.

There was a huge rally in Bangkok today at Democracy Monument, someone I believe told me it was protesting the police corruption and abuses. People looked pretty riled up. Heh, then I did the smart thing and took side streets around that mess.

So, I'm not planning on doing drugs here. Nope. But if something happens and I run into issues with the law, what do you do? At the first opportunity, offer to pay off the officer? How much? Will the officer offer to let me pay my way out of it? Or should you offer to pay him off the first momment you realize you're into some trouble?

Hey, I'm staying at Erawan house in Banglampu. Their internet is fast and pretty reliable.

I know nothing of Thai law. In Canada the owner of the site would never be held responsible at all. Providing a service that can be used to break the law is not breaking the law. Otherwise, google would be shut down.