spidermike007

11 hours ago, AlexRich said:

 

Where is the safest place to stay in the Philippines? The one thing that comes up time and again is how dangerous it can be, compared to Thailand. I just wondered if there was an area that is generally regarded as being safe?

In general the PI is safe to visit and spend time. You just have to be more careful than you would normally be in Thailand. The place is alot poorer, so there are occasional crimes of desperation. You have to be discreet, and keep your eyes open. Most Philippine people are really lovely. Far friendlier, and far, far more open than most Thais. They are more aware of the world, and are far more Westernized than the Thai people. They do not seem xenophobic at all, and the nationalism bug has not bitten them, like it has here. One thing to be aware of is that alot of PI men are skilled fighters. Much, much more so than the average Thai man. So, you do not want to get in a scuffle with them. It usually does not end well. But having said that, most are far friendlier than most Thai men. In general, they are much more open minded people.

13 hours ago, bannork said:

all in the name of investigative journalism of course.

Definitely not something to be proud of. Just consider what he will be thinking, when he looks at this photo in ten years.

16 hours ago, phycokiller said:

I could be wrong but I seem to remember this particular vendor being in the news before for similar behavior, but considering the jetski boys got away with their violence daily for a decade or two and bar bouncers still regularly beat their customers in the streets I dont think abuse of tourists is the biggest concern Thais have

That is a fairly astute observation. The little man talks about how important tourism is, and the midget mind heading the Tourism Ministry always goes on and on about what a great job everyone is doing, and how tourism is booming. But, how much time and energy and resources are devoted to the safety and welfare of the much coveted tourists, once they arrive here? What kinds of resources are available for tourists? How strongly do the police advocate for the safety of tourists? 

There is dreadfully little energy put into this on the part of the authorities. Public safety, traffic safety, and the welfare of the people has never been high on the agenda of this non-visionary administration. 

1 hour ago, rott said:

Can you even lie straight in bed? I think the violence the OP had in mind is the habit of every Thai in sight joining in when there is a dispute between a Thai and a farang, and all putting the boot in together.

 

I think it was the unnecessary and pathetic "whinging pom" comment in your first post that initially put me off you. Nothing the junta has done has had any effect on my daily life either, or on anyone else's that I know of. Pity nothing has happened about the petty corruption after we were told it was going to be eliminated, but perhaps they will do it before the election. There is possibly still time.

 

What did you do before TV? You have done almost as many posts in 10 months as I have done in nearly 10 years.

 

Anyway, have a good day now.

The corruption that he promised to eliminate, was corruption amongst those without much money, power, connections, family name, political or military office, or influence. Those people are seeing some resistance, and some are getting arrested or jailed. Absolutely NOBODY in a position of power or influence is seeing any difference in their lifestyle. The term above the law has always been applicable here, and the Little man has done everything in his power to protect the elite, powerful and wealthy. Everything. And nothing to disrupt the flow. 

2 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

Did you live-in jerry seinfelds building?

 

 

Funny man. No, just had alot of friends nearby, and it was considered perfectly acceptable to just knock on someone's door, and say hey. Not so in LA. Not so here, from my point of view. NY is just a spontaneous kind of culture. A unique place, on alot of levels. From my point of view, the center of the universe. Culturally, most definitely. 

On August 23, 2016 at 11:56 AM, DennisF said:

I can fully understand the wanting to get back here, really!

 

The so called pressures are nothing specific, just a build up of straws that have broken the camels back.

 

Not sure which straw was the final weight!

 

I have lived in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Issan and found them all to be acceptable and enjoyable.

 

I just feel quality of life here has deteriorated substantially in the last 10/12 years.

Not to sound too pessimistic, but I find the quality of life has deteriorated nearly everywhere in the world in the past 12 years. People are under more pressure, lifestyles have diminished, salaries have barely risen, inflation (despite the nonsensical drivel they keep trotting out) keeps driving up prices, the political climate is bad in most places, and in general people seem more disenchanted than they were before. 

So, my question is where to? I continue to ask myself that same question, from time to time. If not here, where? I have considered the PI. Nice people, gorgeous water, reasonable, etc. But horrendous food, security issues, storm issues, and other problems. So, where to?

It is called Luk Thep. A celebrity showed up on a TV show some time back, with one of these fabulously ridiculous dolls. He talked about the monk blessing it, and installing a real soul inside it. He claimed it was alive. It became a nationwide phenomenon, with the airlines going as far as developing seating policy for these stupid dolls. Many are still drinking the kool aid. My guess, is that most of these people do not have real lives. Whether or not the men were gay has nothing to do with anything. It is people from all walks of life here that have participated in this utter and complete nonsense. And these dolls sell for around 20,000 baht! The entire planet is mocking Thailand over this.

The phenomenon of Thailand’s luk thep dolls reached viral status in January 2016, when Thai Smile Airways started to allow passengers to purchase seats and meals for their realistic dolls. Luk thep, which translates to child angel, resemble American Girl, or Reborn dolls, and have become an intriguing part of Thai culture to the outside world.

http://time.com/4353544/thailand-luk-thep-doll/

Nobody ever comes to my place unannounced. When I lived in NY, it was part of the culture. You would just be walking around town, and you could knock on a friends door. But here? Never. Announce your arrival in advance please. 

There is a percentage of the male population that just allows life to happen to them. If it works for them, power to them. But, for most of us, we prefer a bit more control over our lives, and prefer to deliberately limit the amount of chaos we have to deal with. 

15 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Of course Thailand has had such positve luck in manipulating their currency for the benefit of the export section.....I mean the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997...barely impacted Thailand because the BOT acted with such acumen  NOT

 

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis

Let us not forget that benevolent citizen Thaksin was partly responsible, by shorting his home currency to a massive degree. He and his buddies made a fortune on the economic downfall of his nation. And that was before he became PM!

Speaking of toads, at this present moment, there are two toads running for the office of president of the United States. 

2 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

Well 18B baht doesn't convert to US$6B.

At Oanada 18,000,000,000 THB is USD$519,845,000 or GBP 397,107,000

 

yes, I stand corrected.

8 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

Simple solution so Thai vendors wont have to think. All tourists boycott Pattaya; then there is no need to chase tourists off the beach. In CNX it happened to the Chinese being boycotted but now who pays the vendors money? LOL.

While it is a decent concept, it would never happen. Pattaya is now part of many Chinese tours. It is easy to get to, relatively inexpensive for the tour operators to book rooms (as there are hundreds of hotels willing to discount their rooms substantially, as long as it is not public knowledge) and they can include:

"tour of the wild crazy sex workers zone"

"see how the Thai sex industry thrives"

"witness the lives of the Thai hookers"

"come and see hundreds of lady boys all dressed up"

"visit the morally depraved zones of Sin City"

Has anyone really stopped to consider these prices? Nine acres for $600 million US? 

There is a second reason to not eat toads. Self esteem. Why would anyone who is sane, and living on the same planet as we occupy, want to eat one of these horrendously ugly, and slimy beasts? What on earth makes them think that is a good and correct thing to do? What are they thinking? Are they thinking? Are they from planet earth?

There are countless reason to not eat toads. Common sense dictates that. Oh I forgot. 

There is plenty of room for both deck chairs, and people laying on the beach. The deck chair worms do not own the beach. All that is required is for the police to give them a major slap up the back of the head, and fine them 50,000 baht for abuse of tourists, payable within 24 hours, or the permanent loss of their concession. The word will get around, and within 24 hours all tourists using the beach without renting chairs will be left alone. End of story. All that is required to resolve these kinds of problems are a firm hand on the part of authorities, and some coherent and consistent policy. Problem solved. 

The few remaining Western tourists who are visiting Thailand, deserve more hospitality and respect than this. The last thing in the world they want to encounter is a screaming, petulant, entitled, arrogant, small minded, non-visionary Thai harassing them on the beach, because they are not renting one of their chairs. How boring. How petty. How unintelligent a thing for them to do. They need some discipline. The police need to do some real law enforcement work. I realize it feels alien to them, but they need to do it. 

If the same vendor is charged with a second offense, they should be permanently removed from the beach, their concession should be permanently revoked, and they should be blacklisted from having a beach concession anywhere in Thailand, for the rest of their lives. Problem solved. 

The reality is, if Obama was not so soft, and easily bought, they would be paying this amount to the US. It is an American company, that has been allowed to skirt US tax policy for quite some time, due to ridiculous loopholes in the law. Corporate tax policy in the US is completely broken. Why not just admit that fact, and begin to reform the system? Most corporations pay far lower taxes, percentage wise, than most individuals, that are not super rich. The super rich pay very little as they can afford creative advisors, and the tax code was designed with them in mind. 

17 hours ago, eddie61 said:

He could thank me for 25 years survival here. I am not complaining, just looking forward to my next 90 day reporting as an "Alien" ,which makes we feel as welcome as tertiary syphilis., after 20 years of paying more tax than he will ever pay in his life.

In Mexico, after living there for 10 years, you are treated, and regarded as an honorary Mexican. After 20 years you are fully assimilated, and considered Mexican. That is how hospitable hosts, who are not pathologically fearful of the outside world treat their ex-pats. Good, law abiding people, who have been contributing to Thai society on so many positive levels for decades, deserve some honor. 

With the TAT in charge, who has anything to fear? They are a peerless group, that hardly ever sleeps, nor rests, in an effort to make their country the best place in the world. The constant improvement of society, the improvement of the tourist attractions, public and traffic safety, are all high on their lists of ways to improve lives here for everyone. Whenever we are dealing with such high levels of competency, training, education, and excellence, there is no need to be afraid, nor to have any lack of confidence. 

Though this despot dictator is hailed as a democratic leader by docile and complicit supporters such as the US, he is a murderous, multi billionaire thug, and capable of any sort of evil and mayhem. She was wise to flee. There is little doubt who killed her husband. Sen's personal security detail of 5,500 men can handle any of his challengers, and since the worm is above the law, and the international community seems completely impotent to put a clamp on this super freak, he is free to do as he chooses. And what he chooses to do is to continue terrorizing his people. 

Wow. This move was so long overdue. Congratulations for the government. They did something that benefitted the Thai people. At long last. This is what I call moving the country forward! Keep it up. We need more evidence that you really do care Mr. Little Man!

It would not be like an average Thai man, to take responsibility for his actions, or the harm he has caused another. That would require the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of the problem. 

4 hours ago, Caps said:

I thought restaurants and bars etc had the right not to serve anyone they choose.  He said he doesn't want them in his place.  Is that not his choice? 

People might call it racist but at the end of the day if the person who owns the business doest want you there then tough.

Or are we going to start forcing people to take business just because it suits a certain group

This is absolutely correct. Restaurants have the right to refuse to serve patrons, for whatever reasons they want. It is the Muslims that are being thin skinned, and sensitive about this. Take it like a man. The people of your religion are blowing up women and children. Can you not see why a veil or habbib is considered a symbol of that mayhem? Instead of complaining, get out there into the streets, and start protesting against the extremist elements trying to hijack your faith. Do something productive. 

The veils are OK in Saudi, or in Pakistan, places associated with backwards, middle age beliefs. But, in the west they should be banned entirely. It is up to the Muslim men to adapt, and to allow their women to expose their faces in public. Veils are atrocious. They symbolize everything that is wrong with contemporary Islam. 

My Thai wife just got a 10 year, multiple entry tourist visa for the US. Same process as stated above, except we got the interview booked online. She as interviewed, and they seemed to spend alot of time looking at MY original passport, which I was advised to give to her to present. It seemed to make a big difference. They asked for very little documentation other than that, though we were very prepared. I think the fact that they saw that I travel to the US twice annually for a month or so each time might have helped too. 

We have been together for 11 years, and married for the past two years. 

YUKAKO ONO, Nikkei staff writer

BANGKOK -- Thailand will double visa-on-arrival fees for tourists from 19 countries and regions including China, its biggest source market, in an effort to bulk up income from tourism -- easily the most buoyant sector in the economy.From Sept. 27, the charge for a visa allowing visitors a 15-day stay will be 2,000 baht ($57.8). China provided 26% of Thailand's 29.8 million foreign arrivals last year. Other countries affected by the hike include India, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Thailand-doubles-fees-for-visas-on-arrival

First of all, is the kid someone the parents can trust? Is he prone to exaggeration and lies? Did he get in a fight, and has it in for the math teacher? If that is the case, he should be immediately expelled permanently from the school, though I doubt that is allowed, with these extremely coddled kids. If not, something should be done. Best to just find the teacher, and give him a bit of his own medicine. A little discipline never hurt a good kid. But, the blood appears to be excessive.