roamer

Stayed in the Hadthong hotel 3 years ago, certainly wasn't new but we found it fine, clean rooms, great sea views and on the beach. Gets mixed views on Trip Advisor but thats par for the course. Checked out a few others but preferred the Hadthong. As far as the beach is concerned though, like many others we headed over to Ao Manao on the end of the bay, great beach and seafood though maybe a little crowded at weekends. Might get a better response if this was moved to the Hua Hin forum.

Statistics. I would very much suspect that if you don't spend your time cavorting with hookers and getting mashed out of your brains on booze that Bangkok is as safe, if not safer, as many of our home cities. And I'm sure even those who do choose a more risque lifestyle in Bangkok would be first to admit that to do similar "back home" would be to invite a robbery or assault on a much more frequent basis.

Neither of the active ingredients in Dutross cough syrup are reported as having psychotropic effects, nor are they meth precursors. More likely just the alcohol content we are talking about here. As for the opium content of the cough sryup pictured above, it's a tincture and a tincture can be any strength, like homeopathic medicines you could probably screen it with the best equipment and still come up blank.

Good for her. What good is having a powerful family in a currupt country if you can't do shady things like this?

Her name is nobel with relation to royalty. She can do whatever she wants.

It may be unfair, but that's life. This is what power can give you. May as well use it. Her punishment will not bring back the dead and there is no such thing as true justice here, especially not for people like her, so she may as well make a mockery of the system and do what powerful people do.

My view is in the minority, I know. But there is no sense in dreaming about a justice that will never happen.

Fair enough.

Wonder what would happen if her sur name was Shinawatra?

50 years hard labour under this government.

The advent of the mobile phone and internet bought a wave of people travelling around the region who would never previously strayed beyond the bounds of a package tour. Whilst in the days where a well thumbed LP guide did tend to produce a type of travellers trail I think that trail has become evermore rigid. Possibly due to being able to see at any minute where ones friends are by social media. Certainly backpackers are few and far between once you are off that trail.

"Journey choices, and the scope for true independent or even spontaneous travel, appeared vastly reduced, the study found."

Explain to me how this is possible ? The reverse is the case, it's possible to travel far more independently and spontaneously than it ever was before, low cost airlines, hotels that can be booked online, a wealth of information on the internet. The people (sheeple) travelling becoming more herd like all heading to the same places is the largest factor in increasing costs. You can take the person out of the package tour but not the package tour mentality out of the person

Bangkok is what you make of it. I have lived like the OP ( even with trips to villa market) and I live like I currently live with 120,000 baht/month rent which I wouldn't recommend for anyone.

Regardless of your income. I'd be happy to have never rented the unit but that's just one of those things I hopefully laugh about when I get old..

Anytime I eyeball a condo for 50M+ or rented out for 90k+/mo, I'm thinking somewhere in the back of my head:

These guys are specifically targeting foreigners (2 years ago, probably Russians) who have an abundance of money and can be easily taken for a ride. That alone is the reason I avoid them (it's not the money, it's the idea of someone laughing as they take advantage of me).

Obviously exceptions (huge size, ideal location, amazing facilities and services). My general rule of thumb is to compare it to what I paid in San Francisco, Zurich or Singapore: If it's more, here, there might be something wrong

Hopefully you are getting your money's worth!

Don't think I will ever understand the BKK condo market and it's insane pricing. London, Sydney, yes, severe shortage of accomodation and large amount of relatively high earners. Bangkok, vast excess of accomodation and limited amount of high earners. And yet if you were to judge by the classifieds on this forum (I don't) the reverse would be the case considering the asking prices. Recall a conversation with a Thai guy a year or so back who informed me his ownership of 4 condos could provide 300K monthly in rental, subsequent probing revealed that he hadn't managed to rent any of them. Supply and demand doesn't seem to be a consideration here. No different to driving up country and pass one stall selling pickled eggs, then another and another till you've passed 40 of them all with the same product and not enough customers for two stalls. La la land at times.

"The law is the law — whether you are rich or poor you have to pay for what you've done..."

And I have to call Bull Excrement on that statement. Everyone in Thailand knows that is a crock of creamy crapola. Hence the outrage. But it has to be Thais who demand justice and a change to the justice system, although this two tiered system of justice seems to be seeping it's way into all countries of the world.

Yes, you only have to speak to many Thai's who are getting increasingly outraged at this sort of incident, social media means this type of behaviour is much more difficult to sweep under the carpet. Those at the top of the pecking order have the most to lose from public unease at a two tiered justice system and demands for change. I think change may come, not out of a sense of morality but an awareness that the ladder is getting shaken a little too much for comfort,

Her daddy is military she is untouchable.

Much more than that, it's the surmame that makes her untouchable.

Why would someone in Canada buy a second-hand computer, even high range, from Thailand?

It just doesn't make sense. Not cost-effective with shipping charges, most people in the western world would think high risk too.

When it smells fishy, it is fishy IMO.

my thoughts exactly ,im just thinking if he dumps 63k in my bank tomorrow

how does he plan to get it back out ?

i had a friend paid rent money into a wrong thai account by accident ,the bank couldnt give a monkeys

and refused to even speak to him him about it as he wasnt the "account holder " and theyrer only permitted to

discus transcations with the account owner .......and hung up the phone on him ......

That's what I thought. Telegraphic transfers require the consent of the receiving party or a court order to return the money. This is why they are considered to be a guaranteed payment for all kinds of commercial transactions worldwide.

And it's not only Thailand where money is mistakenly paid into an account is impossible to retrieve. My wife made an error on her mobile phone on a transfer involving Nationwide in the UK (customer friendly bank, don't make me laugh), the error was by 1 digit on the account number. Both she and the account it was being paid (mistakenly) into were Nationwide customers. We contacted Nationwide and alerted them within 1 hour. They failed to put a stop on it, refused to recall it (although their own &s's allow them to do so). After going through the complaint process and Financial Ombudsman we found the account holder had withdrawn the money a week after we had alerted the bank. The only thing they were obliged to do by the Ombudsman was to write to the customer asking them if they would repay it. The customer ignored the letter and it ended there. The sum involved was £300 or 15000THB. There are extremely expensive court actions we could have taken to get disclosure of the customers name and take civil action. Costs would have far outweighed the sum involved.

I suppose the moral of the story is once the money is in your account you're fine, and more to the point be very, very careful about how you go about these types of transactions, especially on a mobile phone where it's so easy to transpose a digit!

If I was the seller and the money cleared as it did with the ID that was provided I would be happy. No, I wouldn't be worried about providing my bank account number and swiftcode, already on my website. As for the buyer, I'm always amazed by how much people pay on ebay for used items when they can buy it new for the same money.

Maybe they think they can get the rents that are being asked in the classifieds here.

Scams don't often run the way they are set up. Expect an email purportedly from the bank confirming the transfer and then he has found a courier or "friend" who can collect it.

Always found I can tolerate the heat (or cold), albeit reluctantly, if I'm where I want to be. If I'm not where I want to be it's always going to be too hot or too cold. Life ain't perfect.

Why not consider yourselves lucky if you managed to visit places like Phi-Phi or Samui before they have become what they are today? I certainly do.

Having first hit Samui early 80's, magical. I'll tell you how magical, even in the late 80's stayed at a place called Samui Cabana, up market huts on the beach.The girl running the bar would finally declare herself sleepy,push over her pad and tell you just to write down any further drinks you helped yourself to, and we did.No roads there, no lighting. It was never going to stay like that. Watched it over the next 20 years, gave up @2001.

Not tried a Thai island since then.

However, there are still great beaches to hit in Thailand with a nice relaxed buzz to them, just not on islands, the tourists nirvana.

Great islands still out there in SE Asia, you just got to work a bit harder. Sometimes the bee's have to leave the honeypot.

If you have the old style paper licence it is valid until it's expiry date. If you have lost it or have to apply for a new licence for whatever reason then you will be issued with a photo licence. If you have an address in the UK where you can have the licence sent you can get a new licence. If you don't you cant. For your purposes you are resident in the UK when you arrive there unless you have declared yourself non resident for tax purposes. Temporary car insurance is expensive and you will have to provide evidence of your licence.

Better idea than the guy who wanted to prance around Pattaya serenading bar punters with the mellifluous tones of a "Men's Quire" (supposed to be choir)

Or maybe supposed to be quire as in there were 24 or 25 of them

Not everyone realises that many UK banks charge a "non-sterling transaction fee" often around 3% , so you will be stung for that even if you do the teller withdrawal method. ATM fee also applies. So if you were with one of the worst, Clydesdale/Yorkshire using a debit card in an ATM would cost you a combined 6.5% . Really worth taking a good look at this guide and sorting out some better options of which there are many.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges

Donated. So sad, hopes and dreams shattered. Beyond my understanding, I suspect that applies to many of us. May you find peace Ananya.

Don't lets overstate this. Restrictions on foreign jounalists here are no worse than in Pyongyang and the food is better

So wanting to know more I typed CDC into Google.

Yep I guess democracy is a disease that has to be controlled & prevented. Wrong country & wrong institution notwithstanding it is still an incredibly apt acronym.

You guys considered consolidation? Seems to me that if there are a number of you, all sending items to the UK regularly, send them all together in one box, then get then re-posted individually on arrival in the UK.

Feaseable ?

For those selling online I think it would be a good idea. Use a fulfillment centre in the UK, it's a pound or so extra I'd think, but you can raise your price on eBay since it's a UK seller listing as far as anyone knows. Send a huge box full of stock and let them deal with it. People will always pay more for the quicker/non-abroad delivery, I know I always did on eBay. I'm not too sure if it makes sense since I don't dabble online much, but if you're doing that then you'll also be legal (assuming you're not at the mo)? Since all you're doing is just sending stuff to the UK from your side, it sells in the UK, pays to your UK bank, gets delivered by a UK company and so on? You're not doing anything work related from Thailand, just incase.

I don't think many sellers know about fullfillment centres, which is a shame. Take a look at these guys on the link I post. Is their product better than anything I could buy (and sell) at a fraction of the price in LoS, I doubt it. But the story is good (ebay can't give you that) and more importantly the customer gets the goods in days not weeks. I know that if I'm looking to buy stuff on ebay then mostly I will tick the UK only box. OK I get it if you're just trying to tick over but then you will always be at the vagaries of the postal system.

https://www.shopify.ca/success-stories/one-tribe-apparel?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=stories&ad_signup=true

Silly OP for sure, but interesting to me. Last year, BKK. In laws had a rat above the drop ceiling on ground floor. It must have come up the fake wall in the bath that has the plumbing. It lived there for some time. When we began the process of getting rid of it we discovered that this rat had gnawed through 1.5" pvc pipe but only up to the point of enabling a trickle. This rat ID'd a water source and ate through the PVC to access it like a drinking straw. The teeth marks showed the carving of the pipe with each stroke. I was amazed.

This pic is from google but it was pretty much like this.

I have seen human chew marks on beer taps in Pattaya...perhaps we are evolving on a parallel path ?

I might not be the only one to be concerned that we could be evolving on a parallel path to a Pattaya human.

I think you need to go on the local forum for this with a recommended hospital. You need receipts as you say. The meds themselves are not a problem, nothing there or the generic equivalent not available in Thailand I think, though a pharmacy could check it in Tims (Thai index of medical specialties). Would certainly take a look at the hospital, Udon Thani not Bangkok in terms of costs.

That shitty bar area was a disgrace and he did a public service ripping it down and replacing it with a park

I really don't think that people of a Methodist/Calvinist upbringing like yourself should be using words like shitty.

Either that or like so many others here you are geographically challenged as to the location. This was not simply a bar area as others have pointed out. At that time one of the few places in the area where our Thai female colleagues from the office were comfortable to come along after work.

You must have really celebrated when the Ambassador beer garden (opposite side of the road:-) sprouted a condo development.

I often think that if the lights were turned on at just roughly the same time in just 50% of the condos sold in Bangkok in the last 5 years the city would be plunged into darkness by power failure. If you extended that to the unsold units and turned on the air con the grid would melt.

If 50% of the condos were occupied by people who needed a poo in the morning then the journey to work would be an interesting one as the sewers backed up.

Still might buy a new condo next year, it's as close to living on the edge as I get at my age