spidermike007

Went to a bit posh Italian restaurant in BKK.

Ate some mediocre food, drank some mediocre wine (house wine, 0.5l). Waiters always pestered to drink faster and sell another jug. Thai style.

Bill came with 3500 Baht for 2 people.

In Italy it would be half of that price. And twice as good.

"You must live Thai style" I hear the crowd shout.

90% of the customers were Thai. People here do not always live on Somtam and noodle soup.

So back to the OP question: is there anything cheap here? Yes, if you live the life of a low-class Thai, it is cheap. Otherwise, no.

That is why we look at the menus first. I avoid anyplace that charges service or VAT. Should be included. Most Thai places overcharge for wine. Many good places have Xlnt pizza for around 300 baht or good pasta in that range. Any higher, and they do not get my biz. Look before you leap.

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How much truly original thinking do you see here? Very few Thais think outside the box. So, it is easiest to just follow what others have done. What is fascinating is when they follow a poor formula, all the way to being broke. One sees this in Samui, alot. Coffee shops are a good example. Samui is screaming for a great coffee shop, that serves large pots of high quality exotic teas, for a fair price, along with world class desserts. And a great cup of coffee, at a fair price. New coffee shops open all the time, and they assume all we want is a cup of coffee. If they have desserts at all, they have anemic, dried out cakes, and muffins only. Really horrific quality. Items few people would want, and then they say desserts do not sell. What about trying 40-50 different types of really fresh, homemade cookies, pies, pastries, brownies, crepes, cakes, muffins, etc? What about tropical sorbets? What about live jazz? Spoken word? Poetry readings? Culture anybody? A fun place to hang out, that stays open adult hours (past 7 pm!) and is an alternative to the bar scene? Anybody thought of that? A fortune could be made. Many of my friends would spend alot of money there. But, it would take a very sophisticated Thai, who has lived overseas, and actually experienced a coffee shop of this caliber, to get it, and pull it off.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

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Four months, six months, etc. it looks like white collar crime really pays. Little deterrent. Same in the states, especially if you have a name like Jamie Dimon, or Lloyd Blankfein. These maggots are above the law. Why does this Danish scum have so cash, after ripping off so many people, including his brother? If you cannot even be a success at stealing, with the willingness to take from anyone who associates with you, what a waste of humanity. What a low standard. What a sorry soul. Cannot say my heart bleeds that the Thai thugs kicked his ass.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Is this sponsored by the Japanese? Does this make every vehicle in Thailand useless? What is the cost of switching a car over to the opposite side? Which goombah will profit from this?

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My son told me that the police are paid 100 Baht for every addict they are able to lock, but are paid nothing for locking the dealers!

I asked him WHY?... his reply was "They don't want to stop the dealers because then there will be no addicts and then no money for the police !!!"

This is an accurate statement because my son has friends in the police farce.

Shouldn't someone make an official complaint about this very very serious problem?

An official complaint is suggested. How very quaint. Do you think an official complaint would help? You are assuming they are paying attention to corruption, at the highest levels. I do not think that is the case.

The consensus is that the police are underpaid. And they are EXPECTED to make money in any way they see fit. Do you think there is even a 1% chance the division captains either do not know what is going on, or are not profiting from it? The only way to eliminate police corruption, would be to institute some of the following recommendations:

1. Begin to arrest, bring to trial, and convict officers found taking brides, soliciting bribes, and charging for their services. Sentence them to long prison terms, and force their families to pay heavy fines.

2. Raise the salaries of the policemen, so they are not forced, or compelled to take bribes in the first place. This requires a fundamental change in Thai society. The government has to be willing to increase their budgets dramatically, to accommodate the hundreds of billions of baht required to institute a top down change like this one.

3. Start realistic funding of the police departments. This will allow them to purchase up to date forensic, and crime lab equipment. I am told by informed sources, that Thailand is in the lowest 20% of undeveloped countries, when it comes to this standard of equipment. That would lead to #4.

4. Start to hire, and train crime scene investigators, detectives, and blood analysis experts. This requires a huge increase in the budget, and more than likely many of these experts will need to be trained overseas, as there is little in the way of expertise here currently. Very little. Shockingly little. One of the reasons why crime goes unsolved.

5. Train the government to care. For some reason, many of the ministers just do not give crime a high priority, and the fight against it continues in a very anemic fashion, unless you count the non-stop ramblings of Chalerm. Which most of us do not.

Given the terrible drugs problems in Thailand at the moment, the Thai Government need to pass a law as quickly as possible to have every single person entering Thailand from overseas strip searched, they should be subjected to anal and vaginal cavity searches at the port of arrival, this will stop them, the evil bastards! It should also be carried out in public at the arrivals hall, just to make sure that these evil dope smoking fiends are publicly humiliated - In fact, it might be wiser to carry out an autopsy on all arriving tourists just to make sure they haven't stashed anything.

If they can make any money out of it, they will probably find a way of testing you for NICOTINE after you have been to the bog on a plane and fine you the 2000 Dollars as a suspect for smoking in the aircraft - How long does Nicotine stay in your blood?

The full cavity search for "all tourists entering thailand" would sure boost tourism. Maybe you can apply for the position of tourism minister. Got any more wonderful ideas on how to solve the Kingdom's problems? LOL. This is meant in jest, for those of you who are feeling serious today.

What an ass backwards country! Yes if you are a regular smoker and come from an enlightened country like Canada you may still have THC in your urine even after a month. It deosn't mean you were smoking here in Thailand but try explaining that to these clowns.

It is simply not their business. Period. What a man does in him home should not concern them, unless what they are saying is that the country is becoming fascist. A breath test on the road is one thing, this is quite another. Just say NO!

Why not spend police man hours doing some real work and get the suppliers.

Perhaps its too much work?

How does a cop tell his boss (drug baron) that he is under arrest? -sic-

Simple answer. The suppliers are paying the cops to not arrest them. The Thai toy police like to go where the problem is not. Why arrest the suppliers? That causes the police captains to have to cut back on their villa construction, and their yacht purchases, which shrinks the local economy. Better to go after the tourists. Better for the tourists to just say no. Do the police have a legal right to administer a random blood test to a foreigner in a bar? I would say "eat me policeman. Eat me. Leave this bar right now. I am enjoying my beer. Get the hell out of here. Now. Before I report you to your superiors in Bangkok. You are not wanted in this bar. Get out!".

I do not think any tourist, or expat should ever have to be submitted to a random drug test. That is past ridiculous. Past inane. Just say no. Lock me up bitch. I will not take your test.

Is time they begin to think ''outside the box''...this increase in tourist traffic has caught everone off gaurd,they predicted this 10 years ago...lets start with the most dangerous and the most comon weapon is thailand...''the vehicle''.the bus,the scooter the taxi etc......when we teach these operators how to respect the law and the people around them....then,we have a safer place for every one....im not worried about getting shot here, im worried about druged out tour bus drivers,methed out scooter taxi and raged out drunks.operating the most dangerous weapon we have in thailand......

There was one Thai person who "thought outside the box" about ten years ago. He was labeled a heretic, and asked to leave the country. Since then, nobody has thought outside the box. When was the last time you ran into a Thai person who was a truly creative thinker, and did not care what others thought of him, or her? Is this the most conventional country on the planet? Are there creative thinkers here? Where do they hide out?

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Great idea so now how do they get motor cyclists to actually wear their helmets ? The Monty Python team had a Ministry of Silly Walks and the Thai government seems to have a Ministry of Silly Ideas

its a awareness campaign. everything else is up to you.

what kind of approach would you prefer. 10 years gulag for any Thai who does something that annoys the farang because they do it different in kansas?

That's the problem. Many farangs on here want everything to be like back home, but they don't want to go home.

Thais are happy, tourists are happy, many expats are happy, but a contingent of the TV expat community is forever complaining. They can't figure out why the developing country they moved to isn't developed. They just can't bear that others want to do things differently from them. I'll be throwing water full-force on any grumpy farangs I see on bikes. The aim will be to knock them off. The only reason being that I will give them something else to complain about.

Hope I run into you, so I can teach you some amusing things about life, after you have dumped your water on me. And, yes I am very happy. All the time. Without fail. No, I do not want things to be like home. No way. But, addressing issues is a nice thing for a government to do for it's people.

pads ok, awareness campaign ok too. can you tell the police to stop riding motorcycles against traffic, on sidewalks, between cars in traffic. when cops start to behave as role models while riding bikes the behavior of the rest of the bike riding populace will improve. who cares if the cops don't bother?

Police behaving as role models? Are you going to take that routine on the road? There are comedy clubs that are seeking comedians with that routine. You could make some real money with a cop as a role model routine in Thailand. A Pauly Shore version of that? Now that would be funny.

I always just assumed that a skull hitting concrete is not a problem. Skulls are very strong, and can withstand the impact of either concrete, or being smashed against an oncoming vehicle. Why engage in preventative measures, when it comes to ones own safety? Why prolong life? Why prevent ones family from the pain and suffering that comes with losing a loved one? Why try to prevent hospital bills, and injuries that could change you life? Why take precautions at all? What is the reason for all the fuss?

Why are these questions being asked at all? Why is there such an aversion to self protection here? Why the sense of immortality? Where does that come from?

Here they were transferred, with full pay, to another station, with a pat on the back. Don't worry, this will blow over. You can come back with full honors. In China they would be executed. In Indonesia, or Malaysia, they would be given 5-15 years in prison, and the families would be fined over a million baht. Here, they are transferred. This kind of nonsense will continue FOREVER, unless Thailand somehow, somewhere, sometime, figures out that it is of vital importance to establish effective law and order, of they will go the way of Mali, or Timor. Irrelevancy to the planet. That appears to be the direction they so desperately want to head, based on their leaders fabulously myopic lack of vision.

Any sort of real police work would make us feel safer. Like not allowing 9 year olds to drive motorcycles on Samui. Or seizing vehicles after someone causes am accident while drinkimg. Or how about politicians getting arrested for stealing billions of baht? How about people with cash actually serving time in jail for manslaughter? In other words any show of law and order?

I think it is safe to say ignorance plays a great role in the lack of a coherent policy with regard to the baht. Not sure how many qualified people there are in the finance ministry, nor on the banking commissions. If they are appointed with the same level of cronyism as the other ministers, than the answer is very few indeed. Let us hope finance is one of the only areas of government here, where expertise in the specialized area one is appointed, is considered important, and necessary.

Interesting appointment. Here is his background:

He served as Minister of Justice, Minister of Energy, Minister to the Prime Ministers Office, and Deputy Leader of the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai party, which was dissolved in 2007, and whose members were banned from politics for five years. The ban was lifted June 1, 2012. Additionally, Phongthep is a former member of the House of Representatives of Thailand and was a member of the 1997 constitution drafting assembly.

Phongthep earned a LLB from Thammasat University, a Master of Comparative Law in Foreign Practice and a Master of Comparative Law in American Practice from the George Washington University Law School, and a Barrister at Law from the Thai Bar.

So, where does that leave Thai education? Has anyone EVER considered appointing an education minister with a background in education? How about a background in education overseas, in one of the top performing countries, like somewhere in Finland, or Denmark? I know the Thais typically do not do things that way, but what the hell is so terrible about change and progress, especially when you are falling behind the curve, to a dangerous degree? Since the neighboring countries are putting more and more emphasis on education, has anyone in the government considered the possibility that Thailand is going to fall hopelessly behind, in this incredibly important area? Perhaps to the point where they begin to become overtaken by countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia (almost there by some standards, and far beyond Thailand in others), Burma (eventually) or even the Philippines, who already possess decent educational standards, and a very intelligent population? Perhaps it is time for a bold, and forward thinking revision of a nearly dysfunctional educational system, that is not serving the needs of Thailand's youth? Food for thought?

This ISN'T an education system!!!!!!

This is a mind-blowing propaganda and common sense eradication process that serves the benefits of the rich and corrupt Thai-Chinese Elite AND it's ministries aka mafia henchmen in power for decades now.

This elite cannot allow the ordinary people to "know too much" or it will be a loss of face... High education, means high status, that's their mind set,...

But you and I know better that's not the case.. Learning something does not have to be expensive nowadays in the Information Age.

Well, if that is the truth, and the way things actually are, that is a sad and debilitating fact, that deserves reform, at the highest levels. If they are indeed trying to hold back the masses (which I do not doubt) that is a heinous crime, that should be severely dealt with, and those accused of perpetrating this crime should be severely punished. Of course we know that will not happen, but it is sure nice to dream. The Thai kids deserve better than that. Especially the ones from families that are not rich, which is the vast majority.

Interesting appointment. Here is his background: He served as Minister of Justice, Minister of Energy, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, and Deputy Leader of the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai party, which was dissolved in 2007, and whose members were banned from politics for five years. The ban was lifted June 1, 2012. Additionally, Phongthep is a former member of the House of Representatives of Thailand and was a member of the 1997 constitution drafting assembly.

Phongthep earned a LLB from Thammasat University, a Master of Comparative Law in Foreign Practice and a Master of Comparative Law in American Practice from the George Washington University Law School, and a Barrister at Law from the Thai Bar.

So, where does that leave Thai education? Has anyone EVER considered appointing an education minister with a background in education? How about a background in education overseas, in one of the top performing countries, like somewhere in Finland, or Denmark? I know the Thais typically do not do things that way, but what the hell is so terrible about change and progress, especially when you are falling behind the curve, to a dangerous degree? Since the neighboring countries are putting more and more emphasis on education, has anyone in the government considered the possibility that Thailand is going to fall hopelessly behind, in this incredibly important area? Perhaps to the point where they begin to become overtaken by countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia (almost there by some standards, and far beyond Thailand in others), Burma (eventually) or even the Philippines, who already possess decent educational standards, and a very intelligent population? Perhaps it is time for a bold, and forward thinking revision of a nearly dysfunctional educational system, that is not serving the needs of Thailand's youth? Food for thought?

Not sure why, but Phuket is fabulously overpriced. Most everything there costs more than anyplace in Thailand. Drinks, food, hotels, etc. I had to search for hours to find a reasonable room, on a recent trip. And it took days to find some restaurants that were reasonable. Same goes for Ao Nong Beach in Krabi. About the same prices for food, but hotels were a better deal. They may be pricing themselves out of the western market. Most of the tourists I saw there were Asian, or Russian. As they say in thailand, up to you. It is their choice if they want to kill their own market.

Unless you got a rock solid prenup your wife is entitled to half your shit. If you actually married her officially and not just a Thai ceremony then get yourself a good lawyer mate. Your marriage is legal and stands by the laws of marriage in your own country.

Not sure how sound this advice is. A legal Thai marriage is definitely NOT recognized in the US. It means nothing to the US authorities. May be the same with OZ law? Not sure. Check it out.

That is totally incorrect. A legal Thai marriage (a wedding at the amphur) is recognised by the US as such, as many mebers can contest too. What is not recognised is a traditional marriage cermony, as that is not the legal way to get married in Thailand.

Now, I wonder who is right. Spoke to the American embassy in Bangkok, and the State Department in Washington. They told me a legal marriage to a Thai woman here in Thailand will not help me one iota, when it comes to getting her a visa to visit the US. Not one iota. Was that bad info?

Not second world. Third world, positively, and definitely. The one area that sets Thailand apart from the second world is the legal system, the police, the judiciary, and the govt. In a second world country, there is an effective judiciary. Thailland does not have one, as there is very, very little here in the way of an effective judiciary.

Some examples:

1. Thailand is one of the few countries in Asia that is virtually free of a war on corruption. Virtually nothing of consequence of being done to prosecute and jail corrupt politicians, or police officials. Remember the transport minister who was caught with 2,000,000,000 baht (yes, 2 billion!) cash in his living room? Did he go to prison? No. Was he even arrested? No.

2. Lack of a deterrent factor. Why do the police, tuk tuk, taxi drivers, etc behave like they do? No consequences to their hooliganism. When is the last time a policeman was tried and convicted on corruption charges? When was the last time a taxi driver lost his car, due to refusing to use his meter in the nearly lawless zones of Phuket or Samui, especially.

3. Crony politics. In second world countries politicians are appointed based on qualifications. Here, they are appointed based on who they know, and how much assistance they gave to the elected PM. Not an effective way to run a country. Not a sign of progress.

4. Education. A second world country has an effective educational system. Most international studies place Thailand very low on that scale. Little seems to be done to improve that. Are the elite trying to keep the masses dumbed down? What other explanations are there for such a poor system? Why are most Thais who study English unable to speak much English? Why can't they add in their head? How can they compete with their neighbors who are putting alot to time, effort and money into improving their educational systems? Will the country continue to lose their place in the world due to this lack of effort?

5. Infrastructure. Laos has 3G throughout the country. I have traveled to many areas of Bangkok that still do not have it. While many places are installing 4G systems, Thailand is still sorting through this, and is years behind the curve. They just installed a new electric cable from the mainland to Samui. They have not completed paving of the main road on the island. This kind of amateur hour politics is reminiscent of the third world.

6. Ineffective government. One of the primary issues with Thailand, is the ability to follow thought on the initiatives of previous administrations. How do you grow a country if you cannot maintain the momentum from one administration to the next? How do you continue progress? That is a third world mentality.

7. Ineffective regulation of policy. The parliament seems to be quite busy creating law, on a daily basis. But, once this law is created the govt. seems to have little ability to implement it. Much is being made of the upcoming ASEAN summit and Thailand's leadership of it. Well, they may be unqualified to do so. During the 6th ASEAN summit Thailand agreed to participate in a campaign that allowed the free transfer of all alcoholic beverages manufactured throughout all of the ASEAN nations, within the region. They signed the pact, and it went into effect as of Jan. 1st, 2011. How much Laotian, Vietnamese, I

Indonesian, and Burmese beer have you seen on your supermarket shelf lately? It is quite obvious someone bought off a senator, who then prevented the implementation of this policy to this day. So, how do you lead an organization, who's very policy you ignore daily? Why is the govt. so inept at enforcing these charters that it signs? Why don't they care? Why wasn't the senator who prevented the implementation of this policy arrested, jailed and his impressive assets seized? How very third world of them.

8. Foor safety. The lack of a health safety campaign, an effective health department, that inspects restaurants, supermarkets, distribution chains, etc, prevents the country moving forward to improve its health standards.

9. Pollution and the environment. While the Philippines, and some other countries in ASEAN are making strides in eliminating the use of plastic boxes and bags, Thailand is doing NOTHING. Absolutely nothing is being done to curb the use of plastic. How about a littering campaign? In the US littering really stopped after a fine of $1,000 was imposed on the highways. Imagine the reaction of the average Thai, if they were fined 30,000 baht for throwing a plastic bag out the window? Entire regions of Issan have no trash pickup! So, they either bury their trash, burn it, or dump it. In the case of waste, the sanitary standards are at the bottom of the third world. Though the average Thai person is very conscious about keeping their environment clean, the govt. is doing little. In Koh Samui alot of toilet waste is piped directly into the sea. So is alot of the sewer runoff. After all these years, not one sewer plant has been built to treat waste water. Not one. Is that a result of apathy? Here is a multi billion dollar tourist island, where all of the reefs have been completely destroyed due to govt. apathy and negligence. And the water continues to be fouled to this day. Tests show a frightening level of bacteria in the water, in the local beaches. The local mayor refuses to establish a litter collecting campaign on the beaches, despite years of pressure to do so. He has been effective in improving the roads, and there is slow progress in improving the place, but this kind of work should have been done a decade ago.

I could go on and one filling up many pages with this kind of detail. I could spend a week listing all of the things that are not happening here. But you get the point. Let us call a spade a spade. Thailand is definitely not second world. They have accomplished alot, in very little time. Alot of what they have done is impressive. But, so many details have been cast aside. Much attention needs to be paid to the details, before Thailand can be awarded second world status.

Yada, yada, yada, if you didn't know these things before you came you shouldn't have come in the first place, begone with you.

Thanks for not only your compassion, but also your wit, and your stunning intellectual prowess.

Unless you got a rock solid prenup your wife is entitled to half your shit. If you actually married her officially and not just a Thai ceremony then get yourself a good lawyer mate. Your marriage is legal and stands by the laws of marriage in your own country.

Not sure how sound this advice is. A legal Thai marriage is definitely NOT recognized in the US. It means nothing to the US authorities. May be the same with OZ law? Not sure. Check it out.