MyphuketLife

if his outlay was not much more per month, he is not really out anything, walk away and watch as she looses the house she can't pay for. Then the bank goes after her an her father. In the end she will be burned.. Walk away and laugh...

This isn't funny. We don't know if it is real or not, but IF a neighboring country is harboring an invading revolutionary force, by most international definitions, wouldn't that be considered an act of war by the neighboring country?

Not if it was 12-20 million illegal aliens (with a large bunch of criminals) invading the US, we just call them "undocumented workers"

A tea baggers job is never done. No connection to this Thai story. Next ...

Exactly, not to mention the undocumented workers are "stealing" jobs, not attacking.

I'm sure they will, just don't see them as representative the the expat community.

you are always funny to me. You can't deny that it is very common for locals (Thai's) to over charge non Thai's 20+ baht. So why upset or defend it? Are there good Thai's (of course), but the number of Thai cons vs cons in other countries seems fairly high to me.

Only in Thailand.... While 40 armed men showing up and blocking the parking lot at the airport could happen in any country... Only in Thailand would the police come negotiate with them, then declare its reopened, while letting the armed gunmen stay.... Amazing...

Also agree with Pedro01, with the "state of emergency" shouldn't they are have forces on the ground ready for situations like this?

I have lived in Asia for over twenty five years. I have seen in this time some first time tourists get into similar trouble as the age of a lot of Asian ladies is hard to guess with no experience. However if you have lived here for as long as this gentleman (hic) there is no excuse...........

ohh spare me. she was 14. You are telling me you can see some one mistaking 14 year olds for 20+? I don't care how long some one was living here or not, a look at the face will surely tell the age. If the perv would stop trying to sleep with 18-19 year old women and slept with women half their age instead they would never have any mix ups...

[qoute]Science and Technology Minister Virachai Virameteekul said this technology to coat textiles with mosquitokilling substances could also be applied to soldiers' uniforms to prevent malaria, dengue fever and other mosquitoborne diseases. Such coated textiles would be more expensive, but the efficiency made it worthwhile, he said.[/qoute]

I fail to see how applying it to uniforms really prevents the spread of malaria or other mosquito borne diseases... Unless Thai soldiers have uniforms that cover 100% of the skin.....

So it flies in to bite you, in the course of biting you it touches your clothes (you still get malaria or dengue), sure it dies 6 minutes later, but the soldier still got bit....

It's like everything in Thailand: 85%.

Some great ideas for projects, events or improvements, but at the end, the responsible people stop thinking at ~ 85%, so almost nothing in this country is done really professional.

The Airport link would have been a great thing to have, but with these prices and the flaws in the actual way the connection is implemented, it's a 'luxury thing' (if someone has time and pays quite a lot given the time it takes and problems involved) to use these services. After giving it a try and experiencing the hassle, most people will just continue to use the taxis, I guess.

85%?? I think your being overly optimistic with that high of a figure.

Why would anyone pay hundreds of Baht to see a magic show when there is an excellent magic show for free in Bangla road?

Maybe they object to the pick pocket process that comes with that one

Not to mentioned this will be aimed at families, and I don't know to many families that would take their young kids on bangla road at night (when the magic show your talking about happens). I would not want my kids around a bunch of drunks and hookers.

After yesterday experience with a tuk tuk in Chaing Mai I rate them as no go or dead last. My wife got out first paid the fair and as I was 2/3 out the typical peace of shyt <deleted> tuk tuk driver takes off at high speed and drags me about 20 feet. Black and blue I'll leave but never again.

did you demand money from him? or kick his a$$?

What a ridiculous basis for a thread. It's a fun poll put out by Expedia, which owns Hotels.com. The intent is to get the Hotels.com name in the media. Cheap, cheap advertising isn't it, because now Hotels.com benefits form multiple mentions. The survey for hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, was conducted among over 1,900 travellers between May 11-28 this year.

Sorry, I just wanted to quote this to get hotels.com mentioned 4 (oops, now 5) more times.

I suspect geriatrickid is a stock holder, and given the terrible state of the markets thought I would help him out.

But truthfully, who cares what the original poll was about. This has become a great thread about sleazy, slimy tuk tuk drivers and the unscrupulous activities they engage in.

For me, I still maintain that there has to be at least 1 tuk tuk driver out of the thousands who has the determination and diligence to put a meter on his tuk tuk, advertise that fact, and undercut the taxi drivers.

If anyone knows of any driver who has ever actually tried that I'd love to hear the story and the results. Because from where I sit the first driver who does it and doesn't get lazy stands to make a pretty good income out of the deal.

Can't speak for Bangkok, but In Phuket that is an oxymoron... Why would they put a meter on the tuk-tuks when they can charge 5*+ what the meter would charge, and have the prices fixed so all tuk-tuks all have the same overpriced charge?

I hope this can bring change.... When i lived in Phuket, the neighbors used to fight a few times a month. Always yelling, then one night he kicked the sh!t out of her, It sounded like he was killing her. I called the cops, who said "so what, this is between husband and wife, not police business". They refused to come stop it, so I rang his door bell and told him to stop, luckily he did.

I was shocked at the very lax attitude of the police.

I left Phuket after around 5 years. I am so glad I did. I found myself everyday complaining about things, and it slowly got worse and worse. I have been allot happier since leaving. Don't get me wrong I miss a few things like the food, the massages, and the weather. Don't miss the fake smiles, bad driving, the "farang" always wrong attitude, the trying to cut in front of you in line, the dual pricing, poor customer service everywhere... The list of bads goes on and on in my opinion.

The list of goods might make me come back for a vacation in a few years, but will more than likely never return. Plenty of other countries to visit.

Very good, but the standard of English has fallen in Thailand. Those subjects will help you get a good job, but to get an impressive job English is still a basic requirement.

Also look at the list of schools they go to, did you see Horwang or other smaller schools, I doubt it, highly professional teachers drilling the students in the subjects.

Absenteeism is the thing the Thais need to work on, from the kids on the street not attending schools, to the lazy University students who do not turn up cause it has been raining or there was a freshy party.

Is the whole school system great? hel_l no, but that does not take away from the fact of what THESE Thai students achieved.

this should not suprise anyone who has spent anytime in Thailand.

why try to control your wife. I let my wife dress how she wants, and don't give a $h!t if some guy looks at her or even tries to flirt with her. Just as my wife doesn't care if some woman flirts with me, as long as thats where it ends. It makes your wife feel pretty/good about her self when she knows men want her, just as it makes you feel special when/if women flirt with you. It should also make you feel good that you have a hot wife that other want. The only time I get involved with the flirting/starring is if my wife tell the guy to piss off (as she always does in one form or another) and he starts to harras her, then its time to handle the situation.

Men who "control" their wife's are sad individuals, if your wife is going to cheat she is going to cheat. If you believe your wife is the cheating kind why the hel_l did you marry her?

My wife has facebook, msn, and email, she also has a phone, and shoes, and is not handcuffed to the bed. My wife is a person, not a TV, she is free to do what ever the hel_l she wants, just as I am free to do what ever the hel_l I want. Now if her or my wants include cheating then its time to end and go our separate ways. But I will never try to control how she dresses, who she talks to, or what website she visits.

just ask the maid of your neighbor, she will recommend several.

Thats what we did, we interviewed 6 before we found one we liked. The neighbors maid set up all the "interviews"... And Valentine is correct. You need to check on paper work, if they don't have it, its best to take them to get it. We did, and where happy we did, as a couple of times the police came through our neighborhood and arrested/took large bribes from several of the maids that did not have the paper work.

That is not my experience. Thais accept given prices, it is the westerners who want to negotiate everything.

I almost fell out of my chair... You have never been to an open market? I saw it every week when we would shop for our local produce. I had a Thai friend tell me if I ever needed the hospital to be sure as try to discount the price... I was shocked and tried and guess what, the Thai was right... Phuket International does indeed discount.

Honestly the only place I have not seen a Thai try to negotiate was 1. at the movies, 2. food stalls, 3. national parks (not that they need to they already get in 10* cheaper).

You must roll with HI-SO's that pretend money doesn't matter, while they are maxing out their CC's to look rich.

heres a wild idea, how about go after the elephant handler. not the TOURIST... but I guess going after the elephant handler would not allow pockets to lined, and of course as with every thing in thailand

[sarcasm]

it's not the elephant handlers fault, it can't be as he is a Thai, it's the tourists fault as he has lots of money

[/sarcasm]

"My advice to this silly girl is to go and get a proper education,.. overseas!"

If I have the money to travel overseas, I won't be sitting here learning English via ThaiVisa.

The only other country I have visited is Laos, using a border pass.

You think USA give give me a Visa?

I smell a troll, no way are you a Thai "learning english" on Thai visa. Your english is far to good to be self taught from internet forums.

I have left thailand and this was one of my reasons. I can't wait for the day a Thai comes into my shop, and goes to pay, I will (don't care if I get sued) tell him flat out. Sorry that price is US price, You travel, must be rich, you pay 5* more. It would be nice if every overseas business treated Thai's the way Thais treat non-thai's.

Its not just dual pricing, they have segmented pricing,

Thai pays x

Chinese pays xx

Korean/Japan pays xxx

whites pay xxxxxxx

My wife and I bought a house under exactly the circumstances the OP describes, and like the OP predicts turned a nice profit.

Moreover, having bought one place under these circumstances we had two other Thai women offer us houses under similar circumstances.

The owner of a house or land is allowed to sell it - period.

I hope the same happens to you. Greedy people like you and your wife is whats wrong with Thailand. Forget legal, how about ethics?

He should have given his commission, then he would be free to do his extorting

Lived there for 5 years, to me it got worse and worse every year, I left and will not return until I read about massive changes. It is a shit hole. Even when leaving my son had overstayed, wich is a non issue as any one under 12-14 (can't remember the age limit) does not pay an overstay fee. But they pulled me aside and said "your son over stay long time, fee is 500baht a day but we can discount half price for you" I laughed at him and said, kids under 12 no have overstay fee. He laughed and said you caught me, have nice trip. That was my trip moving away from Thailand, and it was confirmation that I was leaving a totally corrupt place.

The corrupt people from the vendors, to the taxis, to police, all the way to immigration at the airport. Not to mention it is far overpriced in my opinion. For what they charge to the services received, Phuket is way off the mark.

But opinions are like a$$holes everyone has one, and I am sure for every person that hates Phuket there is one more that loves it. And for those that will ask, I am not a teacher, or a sex pat, or a drunk, or married to a Thai.

so what is thaivisa's involvement beside directing users? I see invade(insert what ever here) has there company logo, ads for webdesign and what not. I don't see any TV branding?

I for one would never use my CC on a website run in a third world country.

I say hello, normal price $4.95, but special price for rich Thai is $49.50