TheGhostWithin

I am glad we donated 2000 baht for 2 bags of concrete last year at this very site... I would be very interested to be sure that my donations as well as the hundreds of other tourists I saw on that days' donations were spent for purpose. Judging by the filth of rampant corruption within the political circles of Phuket, I am not confident.

I bet there are no nail traps on the route to the Gucci store

Misogynism rules - and no, it's not OK. Ever.

You and the rest of the TV forum's verbal abusers need to get a life, grow a pair and realise that this world was not delivered as a gift to the male sex complete with females to serve and be victims. It's men and their predisposition to violence which has , so far, almost wrecked this planet through greed, wars, riots and suchlike.

You've had your fun, now can it and give the woman some credit for her non-violent stance up to now. It's not her fault she's got a brother!

Most of the most heinous crimes in civil war were not perpitrated directly and notmordered directly trough its' leaders. Instead intentions communicated troug backwater channels and criptic communications to ensure true intions are carried out for the end game. And yes; te cruel fleecin off all Thais for the profit if the few has been going on for far too long. I am glad we finally have unity; even in this demented form. Perhaps te stron can get together and make something beautiful of this scorched earth which is present day Thailand.

I rarely get chated up in bars ,when i once asked a girl why ,she said"you live here ,you know to much ,not worth wasting time on people who live here".

I have noticed that as time has progressed in my 8 years of visiting Thailand that girls have become less friendly in general, but that the best looking girls in bars I visit tend to come and talk to me. I suspect that it is because they can smell my understanding of "Thainess" in all senses of the word over other visitors to their "establishments". I have also learnt this is a curse as the best looking girls are also typically the sharpest tools in the draw.

I do not take girls home, I tend to visit the same bars as I have for the past 8 years so most that do not know me and are not pre-warned by their friends do not come back a 2nd or 3rd time to talk to me and I just get a hello or a wave. But that is OK for me, I go there to look and not for take out. I am 28 years old now. After the first meeting they realise I speak Thai (well beyond "bar talk"), and understand "the business" very well. I am slowly learning not to speak Thai and to try to appear as though I know nothing about Thailand at all.

I would say I am not the best looking by any means but spend a good amount of time at the gym and in front of the mirror being a modern day metrosexual. I want to be 60 and look 40, not the other way around.

I usually get picked up by one of the many bar girl friends I have made over the years on their way to work, and dropped off at the end of the evening too if I want after dinner - they are old friends and we have a mutual understanding and respect for each other. We eat "cart food" in the bars together and have a good time as I bar hop in whichever city I am in. My girlfriend knows what I do and has no issue with it.

I sleep alone, unless I am with my girlfriend of 3 years. But that is by choice. It is not the "fun" that scares me, but what comes after (or sometimes before if you pick the wrong one).

We flew with them into Bangkok from Wellington on November 30, and back from Bangkok to Wellington on January 5 for the first time (we have flown with Thai Airways in the past).

After my experiences myself and my girlfriend also downgraded them to "junk". We will not fly with them again.

- Our flight from Wellington was late into Sydney and we asked them to confirm we would make the flight but they told me I was paranoid and the flight was on time.

- Requesting confirmation our luggage would be transferred when we got onboard the ongoing connecting flight on board staff told me my bags were transferred onto the next flight at Sydney when they weren't (along with about 30 other passengers whose bags were left behind) and then refusing to compensate my partner because "we do not compensate Thais in Thailand".

- Qantas refused to repatriate us with the remainder of our missing luggage 3 days later as we were in Yala and they told me it was my responsibility to fly from Yala to Bangkok to pick up the luggage.

- The flight from Sydney had a seat in front of my girlfriend which would not lock, meaning the passenger in front could have it permanently reclined and could not lock it in the take off position. Complaining to on-board crew saw them somehow lock it in a temporary position, which the lovely man in front promptly unlocked as soon as they turned their back. Upon complaining again I was told nothing further could be done to ensure the safety of my partner or the passenger in front during takeoff.

- Our returning flight from Sydney to Wellington was delayed by 1.5 hours after a 2.5 hour scheduled transit wait meaning 4 hours at boring Sydney airport.

My complaints to Qantas have not been answered (in written form) and I assume they will tell me that I cannot complain when I call tomorrow as it has been 14 days since my Wellington to Bangkok leg.

A big thumbs down from me, I hate this airline with a vengeance.. TG should thank these guys as I will be travelling with Thai now no matter what price they charge provided they can beat the service outlined above.

I would suggest to those who have some fear of Muslims that they perhaps go meet some? Generally they are decent gracious people, have good values, and seem to be more mentally agile than the norm. I lived in Phra Kanong near the mosque. My only complaint was the fact that condo I rented was on 7th floor, about level with speakers calling to prayer, but you can get used to many irritants. Maybe being in a minority, they have some sympathy for a farang like myself. And could get some good Southern Thai food, which makes standard Thai seem almost like English fare... The idiot grenade thrower that blew his own leg off was from Iran, can't really hold that against the locals.

I am glad you have had good experiences with the locals.. I often eat at Th. Petchaburi because it is the best place in central Bangkok for southern food. The locals there are hesitant but generally friendly too.

But I also spend a large amount of my year in the deep south and can assure you that not all Muslims are like those in your neighborhood nor the soi I eat. Infact, my favorite Noodle shop was bombed a few years back. The petrol station I stopped at to buy food and gas up 2 months ago was bombed a week and a half ago. We own land which we cannot build on because it is not safe to do so (it is in an area surrounded by Muslims and has a history of violence against non-Muslims.

I love this country, but I do not love the separatism of the south. Sakhon Nakhon is a lovely place, and coincidentally most of my best friends all over Thailand (Udon, Bangkok, Khon Kaen) are from Sakhon. It must be something in the air out there.

I have just come back from 5 weeks in Thailand.

Week 1 I drank a lot and began coughing a lot and bringing up yellowish bile, and eventually a little blood. At first I thought it was the drinking so I stopped drinking completely after the second week. I spent a lot of time riding on my motorbike (I discovered the joy of the Honda MX125) so probably took in a lot more fumes than I am used to - I do not drink nor drive at home.

I have been back home 2 days and have noticed that the first day back I coughed up a significant amount of bile and it now appears to be slowing.

I would agree with the poster earlier who said it is related to the coal fires as I spent a lot of time with friends in Udon who swore by their coal fires to sit around and tell stories at night. I also noticed the heavy haze which was most evident on the sky train to and from So-you-wanna-boom-boom.

I have been coming to Thailand for 8 years now and have never seen pollution haze like I did November 30 through January 5.

Thanks Sceptict11. I had suspected as much but wanted to confirm NOK did not have some special arrangement with customs to enable a 30 day stamp. Looks like Ill have to burn a few hundred USD and fly down to Bangkok, then up to Udon Thani to finish off the trip. An aweful long way to go to get back to Udon from Vientiane.

Hi all,

I am currently in Vientiane and not really enjoying it. I am wanting to "escape" back to Thailand. I seem to have two options though my situation is a little complicated.

I had originally intended to remain here for 3-4 days, and then head back to Thailand to finish the remainder of the trip with my girlfriend. I am currently alone I should add. I will leave Thailand on January 5th and only intend to obtain visa on arrival, meaning a land border crossing would result in an overstay of 3 days for a January 5 departure.

An inbound international flight would give me 30 days as an NZ citizen and be sufficient to see me through.

Nok are advertising a service from Vientiane though I note it is a shuttle service through the land border crossing at Nong Khai, does this mean that arrivals only get a 15 day stamp for visa on arrival or do they have a special arrangement to get a 30 day stamp?

Any other suggestions on how to get out of Laos without having to wait another day and apply for a tourist visa would be greatly appreciated.

Seriously though, Thailand is resolving its differences a lot better than, let's say, Egypt.

IMO, the only difference between Egypt and the current situation, is that the Army has not stepped in because it is not necessary, and that the main aggressors have been agents acting with agression on behalf of criminal elements residing abroad. In my eyes the situation in Thailand is not much better than Egypt, and the economy is heading the way of Greece if the Goose that lays the golden egg/s are not identified and protected with sound and prudent planning... in reference to the export sector and tourism.

I don't think anybody doubts the corruption and mistakes/wrong doings of the current government.

However, they were democratically elected.

Democracy means you stick to the results of an official election untill the next election, even if the government does things you don't like.

Creating a "people's council", probably containing all yellow shirts, would have no legal or constitutional grounds and give the redshirts a legitimate reason to start the massive protests all over again because they would be, once again, illegally replaced by the opposition. This would create a never ending circle, bringing only more misery and problems for the country and the people.

The only way for the opposition to legally take over the government, is by winning the elections. But in order to do so, they must make the Thai people understand WHY the Thaksin regime is bad for the country.

If they can't do that, they must wait and hope that the people will come to "see the light" themselves and realize they made the wrong choice.

Trying to illegally remove a government which has been democratically elected will only end up in a never ending spiral of violence, problems and misery.

Wait for the next elections or dissolve the House and create new elections: that's the only correct way to go.

The beauty of democracy is that agreements can be reached through negotiation. The government would be able to negotiate the terms of the "peoples council" prior to the dissolution of the house. It could suggest things such as fair representation for all, ensuring representatives from all provinces, and all allegiances. I have seen no suggestion that all members would be yellow shirts, and certainly hope (but do not have faith) that the administration would have the nous to negotiate this out.

The fact of the matter is neither side is or ever was willing to negotiate, and so now both sites have decided it is better to use gun powder than brain power.

Simply sitting on their hands watching the current administration systematically dismantle the bare bones system which was in place would have implications which amplified well beyond the current administrations term. And this is the key - the things which are now in play (amnesty bills, rice pledging schemes etc) will break the country for generations if allowed to continue any longer.

I can only suggest that this move was as a result of government seeing too much poo being extracted from areas of civil influence. They now wish to see the return of poo flowing freely and openly through the streets whilst hard working men and women in red gumboots restore the faith of the people by giving their poo extractors to someone else and waving to the crowd; who are probably going to be waving their fists and jeering in kind.

Thanks for all the constructive responses so far they will be very helpful.

LaoCoowboy: I will return after about a week from Ubon, I have time to pass so will be slowly dawdling back through the provinces avoiding the bulk of the summer breakers as much as possible. I will check ot Rajawongse, I actually pretended t be a customer in their shop to take advantage of their air con while I waited for a friend on one of my first trips to Thailand 8 years ago, so I know their shop and remember their suits were nice.

Daftvader I know the Thaniya building in Silom also as I had a friend who worked in a call centre there a few years ago. I do not know of the tailor, but I will go searching.

PrBKK: You have sent me on a mission, I have friends living in the area so a good excuse for a cup of tea and to find somewhere new and totally amazing I did not know about. Your regular now has a mystery shopper, or something similar

Good to ask, as Bangkok has changed a heck of a lot since I was here last nearly 1.5 years ago. More tailors than ever now!

I will choose to ignore all the idiots who chose to comment on how "cheap" I am rather than just moving on and finding someone else to disappoint. You must be very sad and lonely individuals. So that you know, I used to get made to measure suits (they used to take 1-2 weeks to be made) from the old tailor, who had a store front but made the suits from another location. They were good quality in my eyes.. I do not wear brands but have an eye for something that feels right and prefer to find something that compliments me rather than wearing it because it "wasn't crap". Ill pay more than indicated, but I oly pay what something is worth, I don't buy something expensive to "keep face".

The nature of the injury of the guard who lost an arm seems to suggest he was about to hurl a bomb or throw it back to the attackers...

As to the persons suggesting this is the work of the reds, I would suggest to reconsider. The interest of Yingluck and the reds right now is to defuse the situation to avoid fuel coming to the protests. Considering these attackers seem mercenaries, I would suggest that they might be hired by the party having an interest in the government being unstable.

Not to be rude or impolite, but do you mind if I ask you how many of these coup de tat you have observed with interest here in the Kingdom?

The reason I ask is that my own personal observations have me understanding that the violence and death is only a small aspect of the "game" which is played. The game being, how many lives of your supporters, and how much of your personal "sinking fund" must be risked to crush your enemies either financially or politically. Very rarely are wars here won with guns blazing. When the first shots go off, you know it is either going to get worse than any other coup before, or the battle is already over.

It is also standard military training in most cases of VIP escort protection to dispose, diffuse or deflect (with your own body) anything which would likely harm the person(s) you are protecting. Your life as the courier is worth less than the package. I speak from experience but won't go into that any further in fear of certain members of the group spouting off for no reason.

I would say if the guard was throwing the grenade/live shell/firecracker back towards the attackers he was trying to kill two birds with one stone by protecting his own and attacking the enemy and was doing the right thing. ANd I would suggest that it is not the work of the Red Shirts either, but probably the work of the leader of the same organisational movement they fight for. PTP and the red shirts are part of a single unified movement, always have been and always will be.

I do not want to pay what the lovely street side sellers on Suk try to pitch to me.. 5000 baht/suit, it is the same price as a suit at home. That is what I would consider expensive. The cuts I take are fairly standard Thai-style suits, and I usually by 2-3 at a time. I know what I paid at the place that I used to shop at, which was below the price above

Im probably a cheap charlie, but you can find anything at any price in Bangkok if you find the right person in the know

Hi all,

I am back in Bangkok for my bi-annual trip. Sadly am crushed to find that the suit maker that I have used for the past 8 years has now closed.. I really loved those suits so I am gutted I did not know prior to closure. Now having to search for a new one and looking to avoid those side street dodgy Indian places.

Can anyone recommend a suit shop which is not expensive and makes nice threads? I am looking for a plain black style, full super-black light weight fabric. Looking for one suit with a standard collar and a second with a Chinese collar, this is quite important to me.

Can anyone give me any recommendations and an indication of price as I am only in Bangkok for 1 day before taking off to Ubon and returning on New Years day.

Will post a report of the outcome on this thread of course as a thanks for the advice.

Many thanks in advance.

I would be interested in your reasoning on why the Democrats can not do it. So far all I hear is talk.

I was here when they were in office and know that they had way to many people to please to do the job properly. Piss one party off and they would with draw there support and it would be election time. They were not given a chance and people who don't know any thing about the government are thinking they did have a chance. If they had been able to push through bills there would be a far better Thailand today. They were not perfect but there is no such thing as a perfect party unless you count the perfectly corrupt PTP.

Would some one explain to me how a party leads a minority government depending on Thaksin trained corruption specialist and the main opposition has a military arm that they are using.

How do they do that and still do every thing perfectly for Thailand. Even against those odds they did better than the current government who needs no outside support. They have more seats than all the other parties put together. Now even a half wit would know that with that kind of support they could do great things for Thailand instead they did great things against Thailand.

Heya HelloDolly,

After many years of pondering and sharing threads with yourself I have come to realise that one party is self-serving, one party is less self serving. One party has a leader that genuinely cares, has international experience, and another does not. One has international respect, and another is tolerated by title only while her unelected relation illegitimately negotiates shady back door deals with other countries ranking low on the survey.

What needs to happen IMO is that a major shake up needs to take place, removing people who make statements such as "I would not allow my daughter to marry a Farang", and "The UN is not my father" - two statements made by the genius currently leading the protests. They may as well put a TradeMark on the statement "Mai roo" (I don't know") for the leader of the current political establishment, it has been worn out more than the bottom of an Ethiopian marathon runners shoe.

I agree with the movement, but the leader is not internationally respected and the wrong man for the job if they wish the movement to get positive press abroad. Only then will the government be forced to buckle, unless they continue gunning people down in the street and allowing their supporters to burn people alive in buses.

We don't hear much about the political issues here in the Deep South (Yala) at the moment BTW, less what we see on the news - it doesn't seem to count for much here.

You should be Buddhist because you want to, not because it is a convenient way to travel. Get a job and save your money.

Your post is shameful. The OP is looking to "experience" a world which he has not experienced. He is not looking for go go bars or street side bucket bars on KSR. I considered it once but did not go further because money has been my king for too long.

I am now 28 years old, in an incredibly well paid but stressful job, and regret like crazy that I did not do more than "envisage" a different path to finding myself. My life is less than happy and I am anticipating death by any number of stress-related issues at a young age just as I see my older colleagues with all types of cancers, a few with heart attacks, all with weight issues. I have put on 25KG myself since starting 3 years ago.

This thread has reminded me of what I should do the day I decide to walk away from my job and life in NZ, whenever I decide that day will come. And I won't be paying astronomical amounts of money either, not because I am greedy, but because it is against the concepts of all forms of Buddhism. Greed is a no-no in Buddhism.

Good on you young Scotsman. Look into the Ubon/Sisaket thread, I have been through the area and it is currently my favourite part of Thailand.

That is because they are wrong. Passport is irrelevant. If the airline doesn't get you to where you are supposed to go through their fault then they pay compensation. Regardless of where you are from.

Under the Warsaw Convention (which applies here), if you are travelling to your country of residence they do not need to pay compensation for delayed baggage.

Link: http://www.mcgill.ca/files/iasl/warsaw1929.pdf

Thank you for the link to prove the airline was wrong. She had a Thai passport but was not travelling to her country of residence. She resides in NZ/

did she show her supporting documents that proves her NZ residency status ?

Yes, that was fairly easy.. her residency visa is slapped into her passport. She is rather proud of it.

I know I am a pain in the butt for my "principles", I know I could have ignored the issues as they were not major in the eyes of some, but issues ignored grow bigger and bigger, because industry gains the idea that it is OK to undertake certain behaviours. You are right, I will not be travelling with them, and wanted to share my story with other potential flyers this high season.

Thank you Harrry,

I had thought that might be the case but was unaware of the 14 day claim period. I will proceed toward this with urgency then it seems. I'm glad someone is in the know. Also interesting about the Montreal Convention, as I know how much of the minimum statutory requirements work however have never come across the actual documentation - I have been enlightened.

For those of you who enjoy criticising me for having my ATM in my check in, it was partial arrogance but I have been travelling on TG for the past 6 years and never once had an issue with anything, not even a delay. This I guess is why some might see my post as an overreaction, because I assumed that nothing would go wrong, and that if it did it would be corrected in under 24 hours. I expected the same service, care and proactive approach which I had been provided on the other carrier time after time in the past. I have learnt but have also learnt enough to know which airline is more likely to cause me frustration by not communicating with me any issues until it is too late, not taking care of the safety of myself or my loved ones, and not ensuring that I am safe and well after an event has happened whereby I am left high and dry as a result of their actions.

One poor British lass was in a singlet and jandals, with all her travel plans and travellers cheques in her luggage.. the staff told her they couldn't help and that she needed to leave so they could speak to other passengers. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep.. this is not the mark of a 4 star national carrier of one of the most up and coming democracies in the world.

I am not here to take criticism but to communicate during the high season that perhaps choosing which airline you fly with and why is an important decision which can cause or relieve huge amounts of frustration.

Your bags can go astray with any airline. It's not exclusive to Qantas.

According to an agent I know, it is the 5th case he has dealt with personally this month of customers flying New Zealand to another destination via Australia. It appears this is much more a common occurrence than one would expect of a "4 star" airline.

I would also like to add and agree wit above a I have been to 48 countries..... That once you enter the AIR SPACE of another country that country has RIGHT OVER YOUR PERSON - that is you fall under their rule of law. That is why alcohol is turned off on some arabian countriry flights.

Yes you LANDED at Sydney so you are AUTOMATICALLY going through Aussie customs and immigration same same if I went to New Zealand or USA and EVEN if I was only transitting.

Transit passengers in many counties are obliged to go through customs control procedures or immigration as it is also called.

And what about the people on board the flight? It makes it seem to me that Fillipinos are lesser than you or your Thai partner? Not nice to read about demographocs when you are a FOREIGNER here.

Mark, agree and did not have such an issue with having to clear Aussie customs but it did slow down the transit process a little.

The reason I raised that they were Filipino is that if you travel often you will notice that they tend to carry very large amounts of overweight luggage with them on their flights to bring things back home. The full flight only had 4 non-filipino families which I spotted (3 Western families/couples, and 1 Vietnamese family).

Despite your attempts to discount me as a racist, I actually love the Phils, I travel there annually and my best friend is a Filipino. My travel agents entire staff (in New Zealand) are largely Filipino and lovely people. It was not a racist swipe but more so a descriptive. It was also confirmed by a Qantas Thailand staff member that it was the reason our luggage was left behind on the second attempt to get our luggage over at Sydney (due to excessive aircraft overloading).

In NZ we have laws which state that any service which is purchased in NZ, weather intended to be used within NZ or not, must be clearly described and stand up to its' description or be subject to penalties applicable to that law (the Consumer Guarantees Act).

Why did you sleep on the floor of a friends apartment for the first night, did Qantas leave your hotel booking in Sydney as well ?

We needed to pay cash on arrival, my ATM card was in my bag. We had a choice of eating and sleeping on a friends floor along with getting from the airport and back there the next day to get on our flight to Yala, or staying in a decent hotel. We chose to live for tomorrow. It is one of those principals I was raised to appreciate.

wow really, between yourself(a self proclaimed long time traveler) and your wife the only access to funds was a sole atm card in your check on luggage.

Iam speechless.

As stated in the OP, we hand funds - but not enough to last us 2 days of moving, sleeping and eating around. It was not at all how we had planned our trip. I am not here to take criticism but to communicate during the high season that perhaps choosing which airline you fly with and why is an important decision which can cause or relieve huge amounts of frustration. We had a few thousand baht between us which would last 1 day at best. We stretched it and made it happen.

Why did you sleep on the floor of a friends apartment for the first night, did Qantas leave your hotel booking in Sydney as well ?

We needed to pay cash on arrival, my ATM card was in my bag. We had a choice of eating and sleeping on a friends floor along with getting from the airport and back there the next day to get on our flight to Yala, or staying in a decent hotel. We chose to live for tomorrow. It is one of those principals I was raised to appreciate.