mancon

As many have stated earlier on the subject, the problem and sceary thing is not the drug tests them selves as long as you know that you don´t use drugs, the problem is the corruption in the system and if someone tries to set you up for a shakedown. Even if that is more usuall in other monger places like the Phillipines or Mexico it is not compleatly unheard of in Thailand!

I just love this bullshit! Who would expect any responsible people to go out to the press and confess that there are in fact "black sites" in Thailand or any other place? It is as dumb as when reporters qoute terrorists or criminals stating that they are inocent, of course they say that since it is in their own interests! Surprise!!!!

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years jail. (Australian Federal Police)

Teen charged with smuggling heroin in shoes

Customs officers in Sydney last night caught a teenager trying to smuggle heroin hidden in his shoes from Thailand. The 19-year-old man was stopped for questioning when he arrived at Sydney Airport on a flight from Bangkok last night.

During an examination of the man's bags, officers say they became suspicious that the man may be concealing something in his shoes. The officers X-rayed the shoes and when they pierced the soles they found a white powder hidden inside.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have charged the man with importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug. This charge relates to quantities ranging from two to 750 grams.

The man will face Sydney Central Local Court to face the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years jail and/or a $550,000 fine.

The AFP say they will do further testing to confirm the substance is heroin and to find the exact weight and purity.

- ABC News (Australia) / 1 hour ago

I just can not feel sorry for people like that, everyone knows that this is not right and what kind of risks that are involved, so when they get caught they just have to suck it up!

This now makes sense, especially with the overall reduction in flights and passenger-numbers, as the global economic slowdown has its effect on long-haul travel.

It clearly is better for passengers if all domestic flights, from every domestic airport, can connect with all international flights, at the same airport.

However there is still a need for a low-cost terminal, for those passengers who don't need the more-expensive full-service facilities, and I hope that AAT finally makes a start of building this. It has already been announced a couple of times. It would make a good infrastructure investment, for a government seeking to spend money productively, to boost the economy.

Building a LCC-terminal will also release more existing gates for the regular full-price airlines, deferring any need for expensive expansion of the main terminal, by at least a few years.

I agree with you Ricardo, but this as with everything else in Thailand will remain to be seen!

Actually the Pattaya Tai-Jomtien taxi drivers are getting more aggressive. It is probably due to the slow-down in tourism. 10 Baht should be the fare, but male drivers demand 20 baht and after sunset it is more dangerous.

I try to look at the whole situation philosophically: It is still good value for money.

Recently in the UK I paid 2.20 GBP for a bus ride lasting eight minutes.

I agree most baht bus drivers are bad, but in the hot humid months ahead.... 10/20 baht for a few miles is good value.

I agree with you Syd, in comparison with bus fares in the States or Europe it is a bargain but that is really not the question is it.

To start with there is not one public bus or public transportation company in USA, Canada, Australia/NZ or Europe that would demand one fair for the people of the country and another for the tourists.

For a long time now the bus drivers behaviour in Pattaya have been an ongoing debate as well as the fact that they do not always drive their designated routes. But as always nobody in charge neither understands the problem nor care!

The only thing in this mess that I have ever thought was funny, was a couple of years ago when one bus driver tried to stitch up a couple of bodybuilders from the States. After a long couple of minutes of verbal abuse from the bus driver when he wanted them to pay 20 instead of 10 bath for the fair "because they were so big"???, they simply turned his bus with him in it over on the side.

I have seldom laughed so hard in my life!

Rule number one when you are in a big city or are travelling in rough places are how you allow your inner force to be displayed. Walk with a straight back, don´t ever let your eyes betray that you are afraid, take charge of your situation, let your aura/body force tell people that you are in charge and that you know where you are going and never let anyone intimidate you. If people try to stop you just walk on!

Thank you all very much for sharing and coming with great examples! I will treasure this info!

I think that we all can agree on that the beaches in Pattaya are in a sad state, I would never go near it myself! The problem is that since the Thai don´t understand that they are sitting on a goldmine here, (if they clean it up and develop it like for instant they did in Italy and Spain when the competition from Turkey and Greece hit them), nothing will ever happened!

The only thing that the Thai seems to care about are ventures that can make money, then they can go to most any length to do anything. I think pressure must come from the big travel agencies not only the once from USA, Canada, Australia and Europe but also from the Asian ones!

It is not the travel agents job to try and change a tourist destination to fit the discription that they advertise. They should not promote a place as a beach resort when the beach is a mess. There are many nice beach resorts in Thailand, Pattaya is not one of them.

It is up to the government to make improvements to Pattaya and then tourist agents can promote the place accordingly.

No, you are absolutely right, it is not the travel agents job to try and change a tourist destination to fit the description that they advertise, but what I am saying is that their criticism and ultimatum could be the thing that made the Thai understand that they need to change, to clean up their beaches, to build and fix up the beach and its ventures, to improve the conditions along the beaches etc.

Yes, once again Thai politics is back to do as little as possible, what a surprise!

One thing Bberg. It's not the Thai bath that has increased, it's the pound and the krone that have decreased. Which means that your problem is not exclusively related to Thailand. It is exactly the same for every country. Everywhere you will go beside your home country will be a lot more expensive to you than it was last year. In this case, it's your currency, not the Thai baht, that is to blame. The value you have lost is at home not here.

Yes the bath is (too?) strong but this is not new. It was even a lot stronger a year and a half ago if you compare with the Euro by example.

This make no sense at all! I have two diplomas in International economy, one in Asian politics and another in international trade and there is nothing so far in my years of education that explains why the Thai bath is still so strong.

To start with so is England as well as Norway standing outside EMU so their currencies will not be saved by a strong US Dollar or a strong Euro. Thailand is also not bound strong to any currency officially so if the Norse Krona and the British pound should fall to the Euro and the Dollar so should the Thai bath equally, (plus/minus some percent), but so have not happened?

When you value a lands currency you use a couple of established international models that take different key figures into account. Things like trade deposits, international debt, political stability, national levels of education, low percentage of poverty, modern industry, natural infrastructure, industrial infrastructure, import/export numbers, key export values, natural resources and so on.

Norway and England both have natural resources like oil, gas, lumber, minerals/mines, water, and so on Thailand do not.

Norway and England both have a fairly good trade deposit, international dept, national levels of education, low percentage of poverty, Thailand do not.

Norway and England both have a fairly modern industry, a good natural infrastructure, a good industrial infrastructure, good import/export numbers, key export values, Thailand do not.

Thailand's main BNP incomes comes from rice and tourism and the rice harvest have not been the best during the last 5 years time and the truism have gone down with 40% the last 2 years and are believed to decrease a lot more in the next couple of years world wide.

One thing that have always happens when a land have had big domestic political problems are that their currencies have dropped in values like a rock, (Argentina and Japan fairly recently, Spain, Italy and Portugal further back as good examples), but by unknown reasons this do not happened in Thailand?

During the last 4 month I have talked to international traders, old University professors, banking people as well as people high up in the current administration working international finance, and so far NO ONE can come up with a good answer to why those rules and models do not apply to the Thai bath.

I would love to hear someone come up with a strong and probable explanation to this!

This is sad news indeed. I could never understand why so many people goes to Mcdonalds and KFC in a country with some of the worlds best food for a mere little percent of the prices at those places?

The interesting thing is that you can by Chang Beer under the same brand and same bottle more or less all over the world, but when you check the alcohol level it is different from country to country, no wonder that it tastes different?

I think that we all can agree on that the beaches in Pattaya are in a sad state, I would never go near it myself! The problem is that since the Thai don´t understand that they are sitting on a goldmine here, (if they clean it up and develop it like for instant they did in Italy and Spain when the competition from Turkey and Greece hit them), nothing will ever happened!

The only thing that the Thai seems to care about are ventures that can make money, then they can go to most any length to do anything. I think pressure must come from the big travel agencies not only the once from USA, Canada, Australia and Europe but also from the Asian ones!

Let´s hope that it was all of natural causes, RIP.

The only thing that bothers me a little bit with this story is that I have heard of several cases recently where men have been drugged by spiked drinks in Pattaya and then cleaned out by the lady or ladies they picked up. It seems that there are several different gangs that are working this scheme in the Pattaya/Jomtien area right now.

The problem with this scenario is that it is almost impossible for a non medical educated person to spike a drink without a risk of overdoing it. Then if the victim are having a heart condition or are on medication all kinds of problems can come up and in worst cases it can mean death for the victim.

let´s just hope that that is not the case here!

When your 90 days are up you can always take a flight out to a neighboring country and come back. Remember that as long as you fly in you always get an automatic 30 new days. On the other hand there is nothing that stop you from applying for another multiple entry visa as long as you do it from an Thai Embassy in another country. It will cost you a couple of thousand THB depending were you go but as long as you have been a good boy at your previous stays you will always get a new one!

Good luck and have a blast!

The absolutely best visa run on all accounts in my view, is to go to Bangkok and the Lao embassy and apply for a 14 day visa. take that visa and go to the train station and by a train ticket first class night coach to Vientiane. With the Lao visa in your possession, you get on board the train at around 20:00 in the evening and you weak up in Vientiane, Laos 08:00 the next morning ready to go straight to the Thai embassy and apply for a new visa. 1-3 days later you can go back, after a great mini vacation with no problems!

Good and interesting info worth checking up on, thanks both of you!

Interesting tread with some good comments and really nice pics, thanks all of you for posting!

I used to like AW a lot, but in the recent past I had there two incidents with highly unfriendly staff (one of them involving a moderator of this distinguished board ) I will never ever return to that place again.

Moreover, there are much nicer pet zoos down the same soi....

I had the same a few months ago when in Angle Witch, never been back since.

Some places think they can get away with everything when they're busy, slower times will show them they were wrong

I have been a frequent guest to Angelwitch in Bangkok as well as in Pattaya for the last 6-7 years, but i had a couple of bad incidents at Angelwitch in Pattaya in January-March that made me decide that I will never spend one more bath there ever again! To start with I was there 3 times with a group of friends and time and time again the bill did not add up. At each time there were 200-500 bath extra on a bill for 12000-15000 bath, but since I just had a mental notice about that the bills were not right, I let it slip!

Then I came in alone one night and recognized a girl I knew, so I asked her to come and sit with me. At the same time the mamasan came over, (I also know her quite well) and she introduced another mamasan, (a lady boy, and apparently the co-owner of the place). I asked them if they wanted a drink and they said yes thank you, so I ordered 3 drinks to the girl/mamasans and a bottle of Corona and a shot of Jack Daniels to my self. After 5 minutes the waitress comes back with 7 drinks a Corona and a Shot of Jack Daniels. At once before anyone have even touched the drinks, I point out to the waitress as well as to the mamasans that this is not my order, and I ask the waitress to take it back and come back with the right one 3 drinks, a bottle of Corona and a shot of Jack Daniels! This is when it gets interesting.

All of a sudden the co-owner/mamasan flips and trow a fit and start yelling "you have to pay bill"! I very politely tell her that I will pay my bill after I get what I ordered. She turned very aggressive and start to shout "you pay, you pay". I told her since I did not get what I ordered I wont pay, stood up and left.

Out on the street I was hassled time and time again and finally the tourist police came. After a lot of discussions the Tourist police came up with the great idea that I had to pay my bill. I then told them that since I never drank any of the drinks that were faulty placed at my table and since I was never presented with a bill I thought that Angelwitch were at fault here and not me! The Tourist police then asked the manager for the bill and one of the employees ran away to get it.

He comes back with a bill for 3 drinks, a bottle of Corona and a shot of Jack Daniels that is time stamped about half an hour ago!!! When the manager see the bill he says that it is the wrong one and the guy runs away again and comes back with another bill for 7 drinks a Corona and a Shot of Jack Daniels that is time stamped 3 minutes earlier??? When I point this out for the manager as well as for the Tourist Police, the manager gets very nervous and say that Angelwitch will take "the 4 extra drinks on the house" and I only have to pay for 3 drinks a Corona and a shot of Jack Daniels!

I protest and say that since neither me nor any one else have touched the drinks I should not have to pay anything. Then the Tourist police say that since I am Farrang and I have money I have to pay.

Since it was not worth carrying on the debate at that point I paid and walked away.

After this incident I have listened around and heard from many different people ex employees as well as guests that this behaviour is common at Angelwitch in Pattaya and apparently they have let the bouncers beat up more than one person because of incidents like this.

I will never go there again!

I have never understood people that want to get gifts back after the relationship is over! If you give away a gift you do it out of kindness, love or affection and you GIVE IT AWAY! How can you even ever consider asking gifts back in retrospective?

Australian beats wife to death with a hammer in Bangkok

Published on Dec 23 , 2005

An Australian man was arrested Friday and charged with beating his Canadian wife to death with a hammer, Thai police said.

The arrest took place shortly after the body of Barbara Lynn Mceod, 61, was found dumped in bushes in a residential area of Bangkok, according to police Maj. Gen. Kosin Hintow.

Her husband, Stewart Keith Mceod, 44, went to police early Friday morning to report that his wife had left the house and not returned for several hours, saying that he was concerned both for her safety and his own.

Detecting suspicious behavior, police interrogated Mceod for several hours before he confessed to beating his wife to death with a hammer and disposing of her body in the bushes, Kosin said.

Mceod, an employee of True Corporation, a communications company, is in police custody pending trial, while the body of his wife has been sent to the Police Hospital for an autopsy, police said.

She must have been a Montreal Canadians fan!

A couple of nights ago I dropped into a beer bar on walking st bought a beer

to see the price was 110฿. I made a comment about the price, only to have

the owner explain to me that she has to put up the price becaues "now no have too

many farlangs" I thought to myself no wonder with the beer at that price.

Thai logic my friends, pure Thai logic!

Note JD says "baby" monger, not "baby monger" meaning he was a neophyte at the mongering game. Possibly read all those farang sexyman superhero stories on the main Pattaya mongers forums, came here and overwhelmed by the amount of totty he could gargle and rinse every day, possibly started popping 'enhancing' medication and basically shagged himself to death. A not unrealistic hypothesis.

Happened to me a few years back. Never again.

Yes, the combination of Viagra and such together with drugs or medicine as well as alcohol and the heat can have a lot of side effects if one is unlucky, but at the same time there seems to be at least a couple of criminal groups who are specialising on drugging punters with spiked drinks/fruit/candy and such. The problem is that they seldom know how much of the spike drugs to use and if they are unlucky they could easily end up killing one of their victims!

I am sorry for your misfortune and I understand that it must feel terrible. Unfortunately this is an inside scam that goes on at a lot of places where the owners or at least someone from the management are the inside man!

Thanks for the update and for the warning, good work!