BIC

The whole Koh Phangan / Koh Tao province is under the leadership of Officials, Tax office and Police located on Koh Phangan. The Military visted Koh Phangan two months ago and closed down ALL parties saying they were cleaning up the island. Full Moon party was then the only one given the go ahead. It should be noted that Full Moon Party is in fact ILLEGAL anyway as under Thai law all parties/music should stop at 2am. After a week of the military departing some of the other parties were back operating i.e. Half Moon, Maya etc. The parties near the beaches/towns were not allowed, such as The boat party, Eden & Guys Bar. Two months later ALL parties are back operating and flouting the laws of Thailand including the DRUG parties on Haad Thien at Guys Bar & Eden. The question that MUST be asked is how this province in Thailand can be governed in such a CORRUPT way with total lack of concern for Thai Law & local residents and the TOTAL lack of safety for foreign tourists. These islands are two of the main regions of Tourism in Thailand so surely this alone should be an incentive for the new Military regime to prioritise sorting out the serious problems here, especially following public meetings that were recently held and locals expressing their concerns. All these illegalities are in Full View of the Military vistors who can obviously see multiple party advertising signage all over the island on every street. There are no drug tests, there are no drink/drive breath tests, there is no explanation or accounting as to where the 100THB entrance Full Moon fee is given to (about 2 Miillion Thai Baht every Full Moon!). How and why are the illegal bucket stalls allowed on the beach selling 'home made' spirit which is causing alot of the foreigner accidents and deaths. Note a drunk guy walked through a plate glass window earlier this year at Full Moon and died and another drowned in a rip tide at 6am on Full moon night. This lack of concern for tourists and locals, increase in parties and corruption has spread across the water to Koh Tao and now with two deaths there surely something has to be done about these two islands. I emplore Mr Pryuth to clean up these two islands and REMOVE corruption there and rule by the LAWS OF THAILAND. So please NO SCAPEGOATS, NO COVER UPS and most important clean up the officals and leadership on these islands!

Andreas RIP - I still remember that smile everytime I saw you. Such a short time back on the island and your gone. So sorry for your wife. Peace.

On the snap thanks for your supportive response.

To give credit to Bangkok Airways they have responded and are aware of these issues, and may, in the future address the problem.

In the meantime, it appears nothing will change so simply have to accept it as it is.

Post closed.

the open market in thong sala has a stall on the right hand side near the end of the street on the bend (before the french/italian coffe shop) that sells lots of western style produce - real plain (not vanilla!) yogurt, fresh home made pesto and good beef in their fridges - so try here for some things not supplied at tesco's! Also try the new limpipong (entrance side of coverered open market before traffic lights) for kettle chrips - only 45baht a medium packet ( 60baht for same in Big A!!)and other western produce and then you are also supporting locals rather than corporates.

I don't think a 2 month olds ears should be subject to the changes in air pressure at such a young age smarty pants.

I thought that as well, but according to several baby-centered internet sites, while the child can experience some discomfort on take-offs or landings, there really isn't anything to worry about- it's safe for babies 2 weeks and up to fly (though the younger the baby is the less-developed his/her immune system will be, which means a higher risk of picking up germs from other passengers).

Thanks 'onthesnap' - good that someone else understands my post and can pass on useful information. :-) Thanks.

2 month old babies shouldn't be on planes imo and certainly not given preferential treatment , buy your own plane problem sorted.

DUH!!!! Get a brain 'BusyBee123' ... What??? Should we take a 12 hour boat/road trip or 17 hour boat/train journey instead to Bangkok? Great idea!! Sure the kid is going to love that! Get real!! What's your next point? - children shouldn't travel at all at that age?? You know what, we do have family to visit here in Thailand who want to see our child or should we restrict them from seeing their grandchildren? Stupid remarks like this only go to show how limited intelligence some people have. Children whatever age have the right to fly just as you do. The W.H.O. or the Airline don't state any issues with young children flying. And statements such as no preferential treatment for children is just pure stupidity and selfishness. God help any kids you have! No more stupid remarks please.

Well, we all know Bangkok Airways have a monopoly at Samui Airport - which we all suffer from due to excessive fares - so for this money you would expect a good service - well, not so, as well as having the most expensive short haul fares in Thailand they are also providing the lowest grade service.

First the food - The last few times we have flown the food they have provided has been disgusting. Simply a dried out bun, overloaded with old lettuce and something they call 'chicken' - but not real chicken - a horrible cold minced patty which simply turns your stomach when you smell it. They offer no options on the flight - if you dont like it you go hungry and to make things worse every flight we have been on in the last year (and there have been over 10 trips) this was the 'lunch'. This last time we told them no we dont want your bad food! Now we have learnt to eat in the VIP area before we got on the flight and the pastry snacks there are fine.

Secondly, the last trip we travelled with our 2 month baby to BKK and when booking we tried to request the front seats due to the baby as there are no seats in front of these to recline should my wife need to feed the baby - most airlines automatically allocate these when they know there's a small child - our baby was in fact just a couple of months old - but not Bangkok Air... we were told that we had to do this on arrival at the airport. So were queued early and when we got to the check in desk they told us as we had a baby to go to a special desk to issue the baby's ticket so lost our place in the queue!! - and to make matters worse my wife waited there for nearly half an hour when they processed this, thus losing our early space in the queue and subsequently all front seats were then allocated to other customers. They also had the cheek to charge 850baht for a baby who had no seat (sat on mothers knee) and ate no food.

Thirdly, after queueing again and we got back to the check in desk we were told all these front seats were taken, so they put us on the second row. We were so angry when we saw that the front seats had no children on them whatsoever - just normal people and another child behind us on row 4 was screamed the whole trip as he had no space to move. When the people in front then reclined their chairs my wife and baby were pushed with no room to spare into their seat. Should be have hit an air pocket or something for sure my baby's head would have smashed into the headrest in fornt which was only 2 inches from his head. Disgraceful. The air hostesses didin't even have the courtesy to ask them to change seats with us.

Fourth - when ferrying to the airplane - we were told to get on the trolley bus shuttle to get to the plane, which I have to admit they gave us priority - BUT then we and our baby were put on the trolley bus shuttle with all other passengers ...yet, next to it was a small 8 seater cart and to our amazement they let on a girl with a bandaged ankle and drove off leaving our 3 months old baby in the heat of 35 degrees sitting on this shuttle bus for nearly 15 minutes on the tarmac ... whilst the bandaged ankle girl was comfortably seated on the plane when we got there.

Then when we dis-embarked the trolley all the customers with their hand luggage barged through us - there was no priority for babies/children first and no Bangkok Airways staff helping us.

Personally, if I had an option at Samui Airport I would NEVER fly Bangkok Airways again!!

I was wondering if any one else has experienced anything like this with Bangkok Airways .... as I am putting in a written complaint to their Director.

Milky Moo Kra Ta - started well .. went downhill fast ... the meat is really low grade now ... heard he's not making any profit so maybe cutting corners - my thai wife thinks its the worst moo kra ta food she's had anywhere in thailand - nice ambience though with the girl singer, low lighting and planting... next stop ... must try that seafood place you are all ranting about though ...

Phangan when I moved here after the Millenium had no lady bars, at least none that were visable .... a very nice change for Thailand. Then ...... Shroooooooom .... Tsunami ...... no work in Phuket ... they all head to Samui ... then when that was full they overflow to Phangan and.....Shrooooooooom ....... Ban Tai now laden with them ....and only 100 meters down the road from the main school there's scantily clad ass shakin ladyboys shakin themselves at every car or bike that passes - now lady bars every side of the street for 3Km all the way to Thong Sala .... a sad sight for the school kids ..... and for the island...

Graham Gold is the guy - these dayz he's an old short bald bloke who looks like Gary Glitter did when he got of of a vietnam Jail!!! GG lives on Koh Phangan. G Gold that is!!! Funny that they both have same initials!! Its Early days and Not sure if this is gonna work out though from what Ive heard from the horses - no rush hours or congestion to get an audience on these islands!!!

SBK - To clarify the situation. Mr Beckman is no longer on Koh Phangan. After being shot ONCE in the hip (3 shots fired and 2 missed) Mr Beckman was treated in Bangkok Samui hospital on Koh Samui. The wound did not put him in any danger and is healing fine. Mr Beckman remained in hospital for just a few days then stayed on the island of Samui to organise his personal business prior to his planned return to Germany. At this time, it is unlikely Mr Beckman will return to live on Koh Phangan. The important point here is that Mr Beckman is fine.

Yes, there is an Indian Tailor in Haadrin - On the next parallel new soi to the 7/11 & chicken corner about 4 shops up. Dont know the name of it though or if its any good or well priced.

For quality Thai food try Boat Ahoy...

Next door to Boat Ahoy is Somtum

Quality? Hmmm... Well, let me tell you about our experience dining at these two prominent eateries.

The first time we ate at Somtum back in 2004 resulted in myself with a bad case of diarrhea. I put that unpleasant experience down to bad luck, and knowing that it is owned by the same person, decided to try Boat Ahoy next door in 2007.

On that second visit, my wife ordered a sticky rice which came served in a tastefully presented bamboo stick (kratib). Her first bite at the sticky rice almost resulted in a broken tooth when she bit into some very coarse sand embedded within the rice. We put this down to bad luck or lack of care from one of the kitchen staff, and asked the owner politely if she would replace it, which she did grudgingly.

When the second lot of sticky rice arrived, the rocky sand was still there. At first the owner refused to even look at the rice, saying that it was just hard rice. Then when we begun to take out the rocky sand from the rice, she claimed that we had put it there.

We kept our cool, and asked for a third and last serving of the sticky rice. When it arrived, we asked the waitress to stay with us at the table as we proceeded to take out the sand stones from the sticky rice. The owner stormed to our table, and in a very ugly manner told us that all rice in Thailand have these stones, and that if we have a problem with that we should take it up with the farmers.

We paid our bill (including the uneaten rice) and left quietly, never to come back.

Living locally, I eventually found out that the restaurant owner pays her Isaan staff some of the lowest wages on the island (2,000-3,000 Baht per month), and that does not include accommodation or even food. If she is prepared to cut corners with staff, it's no surprise she will do the same when it comes to food quality.

1/2 a page of this screen you write complaing about rice?? .....and low incomes ....Well, they wouldnt work there if they did not accept the income..... Get a life!

Ive never ever had bad service in boat ahoy - they have always been excellent with their friendliness and service. Shame for you Anguid as the food is so good ... but I agree it often looks empty but I doubt for the reason you mention ... it is possibly because of its bad location on the main road in Ban Tai (not many resorts near) but also because of its massive size - It often looks empty even when 6 tables are full due to its size - thats why I advise sitting in the cosy area at the side.

Its very sad that this shooting happened, and I am sad for Mr Beckman as he will probably lose his home in Thailand, but we must all remember that we are guests in Thailand and their rules and workings are not the same as back in the west and we should try and respect that - if not, then at least ignore it.

BIC, I remember not so many weeks ago, you try to push to break the 'rules' about Haad Rin situation

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2595233

So, respect or break the rules?

Depends on which side of the bed you get out of :-)

I sypathise with both sides and it needs a balenced view.

Sadly with this negative publicity on the world wide web and in newspapers inevitably Phangan businesses sadly will lose money - both Thai and Foreign buisnesses and I really feel for those people who this is affecting.

The other side of the story affects the local Thai people who live near the parties and cannot sleep at night and the type of crazy tourists these parties attract with many not spending much money on the island other thank alcohol and cheap rooms.

I also understand the party organisers - they want to have a business and the parties are popular so they should be able to do this but maybe they could be better organised if they all worked together to consider make them in an organised zone that does not affect the local population. Create a single party area at least 3Km away from the villagers that all parties could use each on different designated nights.

Websites such as Mr Beckman's do impact on people's impression of Koh Phangan- and I must say Koh Phangan is a beautiful island with many nice people - but it is quite a large island and many areas do not have parties such as Thong Nai Pan, Haad Yow, Haad Salad, Haad Thien etc ... and these places are very tranquil.

The island is sufferring from it being 'unbalenced' and a more positive appraoch could be adopted if people could work together and promote the island in both directions - a fun party island in some places as well as a beautiful peaceful island in some places.

Its very sad that this shooting happened, and I am sad for Mr Beckman as he will probably lose his home in Thailand, but we must all remember that we are guests in Thailand and their rules and workings are not the same as back in the west and we should try and respect that - if not, then at least ignore it.

SBK stated this post was a 'non event' and questions why it was posted?

Well its been a busy thread and had over 1500 reads nearly 60 postings so its certainly generated some interest and discussion and many postings have expressed differences of opinion which I see as democratic and healthy.

Forums are here so that anyone who wishes to post a view/discussion/event be it a small point or a large one can do so at the freedom of their own leisure .. this 'non event' has generated discussion and whether it generates 'theorists and gossip' is irrelevent - it is generating discussion and awareness so I see no wrong in that... or should we be all be talking 'big bang theory'??? ...yawn!

For quality Thai food try Boat Ahoy, Ban Tai on main Road. Its a massive restaurent but sitting on the wood tables down the side is cosy. The Chicken Cashew Nut is the best Ive had and they do lovely big Oysters and fish dishes. I think some of the best thai food on the island.

Next door to Boat Ahoy is Somtum - North Thailand food - delicious!! Same Thai owner as Boat Ahoy.

Little Hanoi is the Vietnamese name near Thong Sala - good quality and tasty food for when you want something different.

The Pork Noodle shop opposite sexy scissors (on dirt road behind the Guesthouse opposite) is the BEST- they have jars of red hot sauteed chilli on the tables to add to the soup to your liking!!! Dont forget the pork scratchings - the best!

For Pizza's try Same Same in Haadrin (only at full moon) ot Ladybar2 on Thong Sala Road as they both have proper clay ovens - both make fantastic thin based Italian style pizzas - you can order your own versions! I like mine with extra extra extra chilli! Yum!

Italian - Mona Lisa behind Drop in Bar does awesome home made pasta.

Cookies in Haad Salad has great food - the chef who used to work in thier WokTum resort is now at the Haad Salad resort which is probably why the food in Woktum gets mixed reports! The view from their Restuarant deck look over Haad Salad is stunning!

Another local great thai place is the one down the road (on same side) as the Post Office -next door to the Limipong Electric shop - they do awesome Yellow Curry Rice with Chicken, their boiled Chicken with buttered rice is great too as is their red pork. Cheap as - 35baht a dish!!! Don't miss it!

MENU closed down a few months back!!

John's Bar & Bistro (John Pie Man) next to MAsons Arms is good for farang food.

The 'real' British Indian restaurent on Ban Tai Road is actually really good. Dont know if they buy in the curries or make them themselves but they really do taste like real curries!

And not forgetting .. the night market in Thong Sala... the stall right at the back on the right side does really good cheap Thai food...

And finally don't forget the local 7/11 chicken steak burgers - they taste awesome after a few beers. Dont know how they are when sober though!!!!

anyone have the link that was there this morning showing the story link to the newspaper?

****Boater is asking for a link, the article is already posted on the first page so there is no need to reproduce it again in its entirety. Post edited. --sbk***

a day in the office in Thailand

Pattaya folks would not give another thought...

but I am not a Pattaya folk and I am concerned

Mark Samui is right in the other one - Justice is not an issue of location in our world

...

Smart fella that MarkSamui....!

I agree with SBK on this thread. Run a bar of this type you are bound to get the odd trouble maker.

SBK thanks for clarifying what happened - however, just so you know the information I recieved came directly from the bar owner via someone who he spoke with and who repeated that exact information to me - maybe he got it wrong?? It is true what you say and this does happen in bars all over the world and this may seem like a small issue but I raised this posting to highlight the dangers of running bars of this type.

The Ladybar 1 on Ban Kai Road, Koh Phangan a couple of nights ago had some unwanted visitors.

The thai bar girls who were working were grabbed by two drunk Thai men requesting free sex.

The English Farang owner, Nick was not there - apparently he was at his other ladybar 2, near Thong Sala when the action was going on.

Nick's Thai wife (?) and joint owner of the bar got into a verbal confrontation with these two guys who man-handled her and she fled into a back room and locked herself in leaving the two men to their own devices.

The two Thai men then vandalised and trashed the bar.

It is understood that the english owner has returned to UK for an unknown time and his wife has fled to another part of Thailand.

It's been a busy week on Koh Phangan!

Two nights ago in the village of Ban Tai two masked men entered the property of a German long term resident of Koh Phangan, Mr Beckman, and subsequently beat him. When he fought back they pulled out a gun and released two rounds - one of which entered his body. He survived this attempted murder.

The reason he was attacked is that via his website forums at kohphangannews he has launched a peaceful campaign with support of Thai Ban Tai local residents to try to have the closing time of the parties in Ban Tai where he resides controlled as none of the Thai locals can sleep. This includes half moon, shiva moon, black moon, jungle experience parties.

This campaign was ignored for many months by the officials of Koh Phangan who were trying to keep the parties running to what ever time they liked ... then officials in Surat Thani called a meeting and controls were put in place.

Since he started the campaign on his website and in the local community, Mr Beckman had been recieving threatening phonecalls from Thai's men, a number of gunshots were made outside his property, some Thai people came and threatened him and now he has been shot. He is lucky to be alive.

Kohphangannews explains in more detail the lead up to this event.

Yes, sometimes its a good idea to know what you are talking about before you post. And let me remind everyone that before we start posting unfounded rumors that Thailand has very strict libel laws and the owners of this site would not be pleased to have problems due to posters who prefer to post anonymous gossip.

BIC,then might I suggest that you make clear that which is hearsay and based on nothing known for fact, thanks.

In request for clarification of the posting, the original posting details are repeated with a further comment below each section.

The Hadrin Business Association (a non TAT registered group) is run by the family of the Village Chief Mr Khao and also has members such as Pewan PJ Travel and Kit from Siam Spa Ya and the owners of Phangan Buri and Phangan Bayshore. This group of people price fix all the internet and travel in Haadrin. They also have opened Hadrin Arena putting on Thai Boxing fights.

FACT

They have been intimidating and threatening farang businesses for a number of years and forcing Haadrin Thai businesses to price fix. They tried to do the same with Massage businesses but many massage owners refused.

ASSUMPTION - The HBA cannot be accused of intimidation or threatening BUT certain members of this group have been involved in this. The price fixing is lead by HBA and the local buisness often meet and vote on the prices. Each month prices are upgraded by HBA and issued to all agencies. FACT: Massage parlours refused.

The local Police are also extorting 'protection money' asking for around 5,000baht each month from farang buisnesses - one of the Haadrin Police is married to PJ Travel woman so they are all interlinked.

HEARSAY that it is the Local police. However, 2 cases of uniformed officers requesting and taking payment have occurred but this may be done independently.

There are two locations for the 100baht fee - one at Haadrin pier which Mr Khao profits from and the other on the road into Hadrin near Phangan Bayshore. There is word that Phanagn Bayshore owner and the Ban Tai Oba-dor profit from this. There is gossip also that the HBA want resorts in Hadrin to charge for everyone who stays in hadrin to also pay a 100baht fee.

HEARSAY on who actually profits and who takes the funds.

There is now a new Koh Phangan Tourism Group recently set up at a meeting of all island businesses invited to Thong Sala government office with 15 buisness members voted in .. the meeting was run by the HBA and subsequently it also has the members of the HBA as its senior decision makers.

FACT based that 5 members of the HBA are the leading members in this KPTG.

This means that the whole island is run by the HBA.

FALSE ASSUMPTION.

It is understood that the KPTG group is not registered so far with TAT either so could be seen as being illegal but word has it that millions of baht are being made availableto them from Government to have a 25th anniversary Full Moon Party week long celebration in October 2009.

ASSUMPTION based from someone at the meeting

So there you go ... this is how Koh Phangan runs ... as of 2009 at least. It is unlikely that anything will change in relation to the power the HBA has as they are so interlinked with the Police and the Islands officials. The money being made by the few members of this group is so substantial that it is unlikely they will back down. The expression 'the only way is up' applies to the HBA who will most probably continue to find ways to make themselves more money.

ASSUMPTION

There is one individual who should be recognised on Koh Phangan. His name is Sooty and he runs Paradise 'The Rock' bar - it is Sooty who started the first FMP all those years ago but he makes virtually nothing from it other than selling drinks in his bar as the HBA of which he is NOT a mamber has taken control of his FM Party and now 'own' it.

FACT

This is to the selfishness of the HBA members in Hadrin. An Anecdote: The power of a group is far greater than that of any one individual.

HEARSAY

Tourism is massively down in Hadrin other than the 6 days during the FMP. Tourists dont want to stay as internet at 3baht per minute is the highest in Thailand! .. and room rates have increased massively over the years and so many tourists are being ripped off, room theft, bag snatching, pickpockets, bar attacks, police drug stings, violence and even murders.

FACT (except drug stings which is based on HEARSAY)

The Thai business owners are losing so much money from lack of tourists due to the policies set up by the Hadrin Buisness Associtaion and the island's lack of professional Police Force and security. The richer (HBA) get richer and the poorer (Thai local businesses) get poorer. Hadrin Buisnesses are closing by the many.

PART FACT PART HEARSAY

Anecdote 2: 100baht FMP also goes towards Safety: Let's all remember Danny Hall (and his family) who has been missing since February FMP 2009.

REMEMBER DANNY HALL.

I did not mention Mr Kao taking any protection money and actually I think personally he also does alot of good in Hadrin and Hadrin has a much cleaner beach thanks to him. The People who 'follow' him are often a problem from what I have heard on the island.

I agree.

Anguid, thanks for your postings to open up an objective view on the issues ... maybe as you have had buisnesses in Haadrin for some years you don't get problems as you are known there. The one I mentioned was a pretty new business and around a year ago the same happened to owners of who took over a resort heading up to Leela Beach - they paid every month until a local Thai woman spoke on their behalf then the Police stopped coming.

I personally think the Full Moon Party is a good thing for the island especially in times of recession where it pulls in the tourists and as I said Mr Kao does a good job keeping the peace and providing support and services... but if 100baht is being taken then accounts should be shown and if the HBA is running it, then fine, take an income by the individuals concerned but show open accounting to those who wish to see it.

I am not looking to directly finger point at any individuals, police, village leaders or any local persons, which is why my posting states assumptions on hearsay as well as fact, but any committees being operated should I believe show transparent accounts and be run professionally and be properly registered with the appropriate Authorities such as TAT etc.

Thanks for any constructive comments.

The Hadrin Business Association (a non TAT registered group) is run by the family of the Village Chief Mr Khao and also has members such as Pewan PJ Travel and Kit from Siam Spa Ya and the owners of Phangan Buri and Phangan Bayshore. This group of people price fix all the internet and travel in Haadrin. They also have opened Hadrin Arena putting on Thai Boxing fights. They have been intimidating and threatening farang businesses for a number of years and forcing Haadrin Thai businesses to price fix. They tried to do the same with Massage businesses but many massage owners refused. The local Police are also extorting 'protection money' asking for around 5,000baht each month from farang buisnesses - one of the Haadrin Police is married to PJ Travel woman so they are all interlinked.

Is completely fake. Nobody pay any kind of protection both to police or Mr Kao.

The post is a mix of some true and many fake assumptions.

Many thanks for your reply as its good to open up discussions like this - that was the objective of the posting. Let's hope there are many fake assumptions in my post as this would make Koh Phangan a much nicer place ... but Completely fake - sadly no. You have stated yourself that the post is a mix of some true and I would like you to elaborate on this and expand this discussion with more detail.

With regard to your commment about protection, this is actually true as after a recent full moon a member of Haadrin Police came in uniform to visit one of my farang friends with a bar/restuarent in Haadrin and was asked to come to over and meet 'his boss' - the Police guy asked for money and said as the business was making good money then they should 'donate' some money each month to 'help' the local police station then they could then protect his business 'should they have any problems with bad customers' etc. I do not state all the Police are doing this - it maybe just certain individuals operating on the their own. I did not mention Mr Kao taking any protection money and actually I think personally he also does alot of good in Hadrin and Hadrin has a much cleaner beach thanks to him. The People who 'follow' him are often a problem from what I have heard on the island.

But again thanks for your posting and please open the discussion with more detail as I agree any fake postings should be proven to be fake.