martyboy

Why is it that every time we get news of a drunken driver killing people or paedophile sado-masochistic sickos or drug motivated killings etc. etc. it invariably mentions Pattaya or Phuket? Twenty years ago Phuket was a true paradise. The scum of the earth gravitate to those places.

Surely the KR soldiers who did their terrible deeds were not educated political idealists like Pol Pot, albeit a lunatic idealism. Didn't they lust for the blood of their victims? The defence that perpetrators of atrocities were only taking orders is thank God no defence, if that were so all those Nazi killers would still be walking the streets, should they still be alive.

Wozzit. I was just contrasting the rapid post war reparations in Germany, enabled by vested interests and huge amounts of foreign money, with the pitifully slow and almost stationary progress in Cambodia after the country was reduced to year zero. As someone here said, much more needs to be done by other countries but as there is no oil or other riches to plunder I doubt whether the west will get involved but surely Cambodia's rich neighbours like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China etc. could do much more. It's amazing what a country will do when it has its self interest at heart.

What's disgusting about all this is why the hel_l justice is being sought decades after the event. The gross ineptitude of the the government and all the quagmire of officialdom, endemic coruption and indifference of the international community, and of course those members of the current government who can no doubt remember those halcyon days slitting children's throats and raping and torturing women to death - is nothing less than pure evil.

It has been mentioned that if more of those psychopathic killers were brought to justice it could trigger a civil war. Does that mean there are still enough Pol Pot sympathizers in Cambodia today who could take up arms against the present government? I have lost faith in humanity.

The delay is unforgivable, but seemingly tied up with Khymer Rouge loyalties and Vietnamese politics. We must remember that the present leader Hun Sen was a member of that Khymer Rouge Killing machine. He and some colleagues, including Heng Samrin, fell out with Pol Pot and fled to Vietnam in late 1978. The VIetnamese assembled a government in exile around them, and installed them in power after their 1979 invasion. In 1999 Hun Sen gave amnesty to several Khymer Rouge thugs, including Khieu Samphan and its chief idealogue Nuon Chea. At the time, he stated a trial would not be in the public interest!!

What does all this say about Cambodia today? Perhaps it will be a safer and more stable country when the last of the demented psychopaths have died and a new breed of educated, enlightened and compassionate leaders come forward and serve their people and country without self-interest. Or is there an evil that will always lurk amongst the gentle smiling faces? The poverty in the countryside is pitiful, and some 30 years after the event. How long did the German reparations take after the allies totally levelled the country? What would Cambodia do without the enormous level of financial aid from the west, mostly from individual benefactors. What is the government doing? It makes one ask whether the country will ever develop.

What's disgusting about all this is why the hel_l justice is being sought decades after the event. The gross ineptitude of the the government and all the quagmire of officialdom, endemic coruption and indifference of the international community, and of course those members of the current government who can no doubt remember those halcyon days slitting children's throats and raping and torturing women to death - is nothing less than pure evil.

It has been mentioned that if more of those psychopathic killers were brought to justice it could trigger a civil war. Does that mean there are still enough Pol Pot sympathizers in Cambodia today who could take up arms against the present government? I have lost faith in humanity.

Thai can occupy Cambodia anytime we want to.

We have jets from the US & in the future from Sweden.

They only have old Russian metals.

Rucharee you are very beautiful but why would Thailand want to occupy Cambodia? It is a much smaller country than Thailand and much poorer. The people have suffered terribly in the past and Thailand was no help during those nightmare times of the Khymer Rouge. And what most people have forgotten is that Thailand did nothing to try and capture Pol Pot knowing he was hiding out in the border country after the Khmer Rouge had been ousted. Pol Pot owed his freedom to Thailand. Why doesn't the Thai government give them the little bit of land. I am sure the Buddha would have done so. Or now your country is so rich and successful perhaps you are no longer interested in Buddhism?

Pattayabuggy.

You are spot on there. Somebody once said - 'The only thing we ever learn from history is that we never learn anything from history'. Homo Sapiens is trully an enigma. Capable of such compassion and altruism and at the same time dark and sinister and capable of unimaginable atrocities.

'Day of Anger'. That's an appropriate expression for this part of the world. Is there anywhere in the world who's recent history is so steeped in war and bloodshed, endemic corruption, political ineptitude and genocide as in South East Asia? Those first impressions of a gentle smiling and spiritual people betray an insidious and dangerous reality. Civil war and genocide is unmatched elsewhere in the world save perhaps parts of Africa. Something sinister lurks behind those friendly smiles. One only has to look back to the seventies to witness the unprecedented lunacy of the the Khymer Rouge. How is it that young men nurtured in the ambulatories of Buddhist monasteries could follow the demented psychopath Pol Pot and torture and murder millions, obliterate villages and slit the throats of children in furtherance of a sick and warped political idealism? Something sinister lurks for sure.

I think this emphasises a problem which is always overlooked - the sexual drive of elderly men. You only have to visit the hotels in the red light district of Bangkok to see the swarms of elderly men who are there to accommodate that drive. I say this is a problem because most men retain the sexual drive and find women desirable but women don't feel the same way about them. It's a case of desiring but not being desired. That's a harsh reality of life and seriously affects a lot of men. Imagine an undesired elderly man with the sexual drive of a twenty year old and wherever he looks there are semi-pornographic advertising posters, suggestive movies and TV shows, beautiful scantily dressed girls everywhere he goes. He is only human and it's hardly surprising he might try to accommodate that incessant nagging drive. Unfortunately that drive sometimes leads him to persue children which is an aberration and certainly not shared by most normal men. It's a very unfortunate biological fact that plagues the lives of many men.

I wonder how many 'bar girls' are HIV positive? It's a concern for poor bastards like me who can't attract a normal woman and have to get sexual release with a prostitute.

I have been reading the thread 'Is age difference a problem' which is now closed. I have some info. on this topic hence this new thread.

Three or four years ago a 75 year old Brit wanted to marry a 32 year old Chinese woman and bring her back to the UK to live. They had known each other for a couple of years and he visited her in China a number of times so you would think it was all legit. She was a doctor, an asset to any country you would think! But the Home Office refused her visa. They declared the age difference was such that it was clearly a scam by the parties in order to get her into the UK. Quite staggered me when I read it. Can't you fall in love at 75? And she's not a kid.

I have been to Thailand many times but this time I am volunteering with a non-imm. 'O' visa. 90 days should be fine but if I decide to stay for another month I will have to do the border run. Couple of questions please:

Is it possible to get a visa extension without the border run? I know the regs say 'in exceptional circumstances' but I wonder what the chances are. Would - 'Desire to volunteer for a further month' be enough?

If I have to exit the country it will probably be to KL or Singapore. Will I need a visa to enter either of those countries or can you fly there, get your Thai exit stamp and catch the next flight back to Thailand without a Malaysian visa?

Thanks in anticipation.

Anyone have first hand experience? I will be in Thailand for three months with a 90 day non-imm. 'O' visa. I might want to stay for another month and I understand if I exit the country by air at the end of the 90 days I can re-enter with a one month permitted enty stamp. I could get a mult-entry 'O' visa and renew that for a further 90 days but one month extra will be sufficient.

I will be near Phuket and can fly from there to Kuala Lumpur quite cheaply. Main question - Can I enter KL without having to apply for a Malaysian visa? i.e. walk in with a 'permitted entry' stamp similar to Thailand and then catch the next flight back to Phuket (hopefully with not too long wait) Or are their complications?

Thanks.

There is no doubt that a WP is required by law to volunteer. The volunteer organization I am communicating with send volunteer teachers to rural schools who can't afford to pay full-time native English speakers. One could therefore describe the volunteer services as an essential service for those schools. I have been told not to worry because none of his teachers apply for a WP and no action has ever been taken. Furthermore he would incur a larger fine than the volunteer so maybe he has it 'sewn up' with the local police/immigration.

Incidentally, does anyone know the procedure for obtaining a WP and how much it costs?

I will be obtaining a non-immigrant 'O' visa for voluntary work. The visa is for 90 days unless it's a multi-entry visa but I understand you have to exit the country and return for a further 90 days and so on. Is it possible to obtain a single entry 'O' visa and get an extension for another month without leaving the country i.e. get an extension at an immigration office. I want to stay for four months total.

A bit more expensive is not a problem, at least there is a fair chance you will get there. Last 100mph burn up down the freeway in a taxi left me in a cold sweat.

I applaud the local police for the measured and civilized response. 500 baht fine for public sex at 4:30 am, sounds about right. Its also pleasing to hear they were both released. They sound like a lovely romantic couple letting loose on a holiday. I am sure they came here for more freedom and a wild holiday but they were simply misinformed. Who can blame them for thinking Pattaya is a place for libertine behavior?

'A lovely romantic couple' with tourists photographing them!!! I dare say in Iran they would have been flogged and in Saudi hanged.

I can't understand why the Thai visa system is so complicated and spiteful. Thailand has grown from an agrarian Third World country to what it is today facilitated by tourist's money rather like Spain. It's almost anti tourist. It's not as if the country has been plagued by international criminals to the same extent as the UK. It all seems a bit paranoid as if they are trying to discourage visitors who have been the lifeblood of the country. People who enjoy Thailand for holidays or working or volunteering probably don't mind paying for an expensive visa but object to the quagmire of vindictive regulations.

Apparently volunteers require a work permit and a non-immigrant 'O' visa. The visa can be applied for in the UK, no problem but the WP has to be applied for in Thailand. Some volunteer organizations arrange this, and so they should, but some don't. What is the risk of the local constabulary weeding out volunteers without the WP and what would the fine likely to be?

Hi folks,

I don't have any advice to offer, just a query. What's wrong with a girlfiend just applying for a tourist visa? Surely the millions of tourists who come to the UK every year don't have to go through all that procedure? How long does a tourist visa last?

A couple of years ago a retired Englishman, about 73 years of age, tried to get his Chinese fiance into the UK. It was their intention to marry, they knew each other for years. She was a doctor. Her application was refused mainly on the grounds the man was too old and it would clearly be a marriage of convenience. She was in her thirties. Can't a 73 year old fall in love?

The problem of course is the total ineptitude and laxity of the immigration authority in the UK over the years. The flood gates of immigration have been wide open for decades, they don't know how many illegal immigrants there are, foreign gangsters and people traffickers have become established in organized crime, there is a constant flow of drug 'mules' from the Caribbean filling our women's prisons. The Immigration Dept. headquarters Lunar House in Croydon has meen nicknamed 'Lunatic House'. In short the pricks who run this country are now getting the wind up and genuine people are being victimized.

Tragic business. Heartfelt condolences to the gentleman's family. Just a thought here. Lots of guys including myself have nurtured thoughts of retiring somewhere tropical away from the frozen dumps they have lived and worked all their lives. The Philippines comes up as a friendly tropical place where the cost of living is a fraction of that in the west and dare I say it, lovely women who are not ageist and demanding like western women. But this kind of news is contrary to that view. Is the Philippines a dangerous place? How true is that description above?

I welcome the views of resident expats.

Again, my deepest sympathy to Mr Burney's family.

It's obvious to most ex-pats living in Thailand and those who visit the country regularly that the Thai government are getting more greedy, opportunistic and scheming. Look at the outrageous visa fees and the cost of getting a few days extension and the prohibitive fines if you overstay a short time. Speak to any ex-pat teacher and see how disillusioned they are. The Thais seem to forget it is we farangs who dragged them out of their poverty stricken agrarian backwater with our money spent there over the decades. Now they are 'sitting pretty' they just exploit us. Time will tell when farangs put their two fingers up and go to Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam instead.

I am afraid I have seen this sort of thing in the UK over the years. My conclusion is that farang guys just don't consider that Thai women will be like fish out of water in the west. Just consider how your home town differs from Thailand, the food, the weather, and everything else. Also bear in mind nearly everyone is happy in Thailand. In the UK especially misery is the order of the day not happiness. I would never seriously consider bringing an Asian lady back to this depressing hole.

Quote - "how do you prove you intend to return to Thailand"?

If our governments over the decades had emphasised these few words we wouldn't have the problems we have now.

I find it amusing that a Thai's intention to return to Thailand should be questioned. Why in Heaven's name would she want to stay here?

>>>>>>>>

and fugitives from foreign justice etc. etc.

Thaksin is not in the UK any more. His visa was revoked !

And Pinocet! (excuse the spelling) and others who are now living here in exile. Their names escape me but they have been mentioned in the news recently.