pomchop

Once upon a time most bar fights were over girls.... for decades many guys came to thailand and found out that there was no need to get into a fight over a girl as there were always more gals right around the corner. You had to be the biggest idiot on the planet not to be able to get laid or "relief" in Thailand and that generally calms most any and all guys right down. Then something changed. Yes the gals raised the going rate but compared to their home countries getting relief was still a massive bargain and no matter what you looked like there was always a gal that would "take care" that. Now it seems that more guys come to thailand to see how drunk they can get and then go out of their way to pick fights or seek out some nationality they don't like to start some nonsense or maybe become a you tube idiot of the day star. Fortunately I am now home and asleep long before the sxxt hits the fan. Maybe nothing has changed and all this is just reported more now then it was prior to phone cameras etc. but even when i used to stay out much later i do not recall ever seeing any fights. Sadly it appears that more of the types of guys coming to thailand now are more interested in fighting than getting laid. Dumb is too kind of a word.

A good read is the book American Dirt....tells a story of how drug gangs tell young people either join our gang and work for us or we will kill your entire family which is no idle threat....story is about a family that flees and tries to make it all the way to usa to escape....not everyone who tries to cross borders is doing it because they want to but because they see no other choice then to try and escape the cartels enforcers.

You can't fix stupid and you can't stop you tube and click bait from promoting stupidity.

Driving drunk hit the guys bike then throw garbage at him yell abuse at him attack and assualt him and shove Thai gal away who tries to calm things down? Then decide to try and order cops around and insult big group of Thai people.and then want to get into a street fight while surrounded by thais... You can't fix stupid but maybe you can deport people that are that drunk and stupid and violent?

I accept that i will never be willing to put the effort in to be fluent in Thai . However I did at least learn a basic amount of thai decades ago and while i will not be able to watch tv or carry on any serious conversations at least i know enough to get along in everyday situations. Yes it did take an effort on my part as it does not just drop down from the sky. A decision that has brought me a lot of fun as thais seem to love to try and figure out what is falang trying to say and have a lof of good laughs...not at me but with me. It will never cease to amaze me how many falangs seem to spend decades here and can't count to ten or much of anything else which would maybe take a normal person a few days to learn. IMO their loss.

praise jesus buddah and the lucky charms it finally seems to have ended...music stopped at midnight after 15 hours or so of non stop blasting mostly rap music and all the water throwing seems to have stopped. first day great fun...second day ok....days 3-10 sucked

Today the 19th is so far the worst yet...not only all the water but the music has been playing along beach since about 10 am at ear splitting volumes...almost 6 pm and louder than ever. I will be very very happy when it finally ends. Good news is I already planned and began booking to get the hell out of pattaya next year for song kran as it is likely to only get worse. There is no excuse for it to last longer than a few days but obviously the mayor and the tourism authority think it is a great idea to turn what was once a simple relative gentle thai tradition into a total clusterfxxk of 10 or so days that is only getting more violent and dangerous every year.

pick a story from most any country or city in the world that starts out with somebody was killed or mauled by a dog and you will win a lot of $$ betting that it will be identified as a pit bull...bred to fight with a bite strength beyond comprhension..yes sure there are a few "sweet little things" and there will always be those who blame the owner but in the end they were not intended to be pets and should never be breed and sold or given to anyone....ever. Seems the only way some people learn this is when their kid gets mauled or killed by the sweet little thing and then they have to live with their stupid decision the rest of their lives.

I suspect anyone with a few working brain cells knows the "rigged election" is the one that has been blah blah blahed about by trump and the maga mob for years...remember that one where trump refused to accept the results and tried to foment a coup to illegally stay in power...remember when his followers were chanting hang mike pence? remember that one with 60 court cases and several recounts and investigations in state after state mostly all done by republicans that over and over found no evidence of any rigging? remember that one where trump orchestrated fake electors to try and over turn the election? remember that one where trump refused to concede, refused to meet with the real winner and has whined about it pretty much non stop for going on 5 years now? Oh but u must be talking about HRC who called trump the very night of the election and congratulated him and that was the end of that. Have a another glass of the cult kool aid and don't forget to harp on hunters laptop as well.

like claiming rigged elections for years?

oops..just googled viet nam and see no they do not confiscate motorbikes...friend there told me they did...apparently there is a big fine...in any case however or whatever they do in nam certainly works.

Meantime in Viet Nam almost every one wears a helmet all the time. Very rare to see no helmet. Amazing what having your motorbike confiscated for no helmet will do to convince everyone to wear a helmet. Meantime back in Thailand almost equally rare to see people wearing helmet. If serious about at least attempting to cut down on deaths and serious injuries just copy viet nam??

so is koh samet relatively free of the massive song kran and relatively normal? got any hotel/bungalow recommendations? thanks

Already looking to get out of pattaya next year during songkran as personally I just do not like what it has become. If it were two or three days ok...but it now seems to last about ten days and to me that is just over the top too much. Watching and being assualted by a bunch of mostly fat falangs drunk and with no shirts acting like 13 y.o. kids night after night and getting massive buckets of mostly ice water thrown or shot into your face is not my idea of fun. I am very much aware that if anything it will likely get worse...so only real solution is to just leave town which i will certainly do next year.

The worst the traffic gets the more i enjoy living within easy walking distance or easy short baht bus to most anywhere i want to go....central mall, the beach , buahkaow, etc etc...don;t have car or bike and don't want one especially if going out to have a few beers...may pay a bit more in rent to have great location but more than worth it in my life.