PatinBKk

Honda always has people in their showrooms, they dont need to discount as you need to buy the bike

A lot of people come to Thailand and get carried away, make up stories about their previous lives etc.....everyone seems to have a Thai 'friend' who is either a 'policeman' or someone in the 'Mafia'.....it makes for an exciting life, makes people feel important and gives them adrenalin when they talk about it.......of course there is low level corruption, that is widespead throughout Thailand and is just part of life here....as far as real organised crime on Samui, forget it. The border areas North and South have organised crime profiteering from drugs, petrolium and human trafficking but Samui, a few jetski guys with a bag of weed hardly amounts to organised crime.....

There are a few places in the Cha am area that have units for rent but the current owners cant give a contract.......' Dont worry I have been here for years, its all right just pay on a monthly basis ' anyone stupid enough to believe that gets what they deserve....and it has happened....Land next to Tara Montra is being cleared for construction of a new hotel.......one guy paid 200,000 baht only a few months ago, another very expensive looking Dutch bar that was for sale at 600,000 is now worth nothing...just be careful and always get a contract with the ORIGINAL OWNER of the property

Just a shame the there arnt women police officers.....would be happy being searched every day

He gave her the money!!!! is there a loan contract, did she say she would pay him back by a certain date......he was reeled in hook line and sinker...learn his lesson and forget the money...amazing these stories still continue.

The Thais seem to call anyone that has had as much as a parking ticket 'Mafia'....theres more organised crime and Mafia in Milton Keynes than Samui

Phuket safe?.

October 14th, 2007 by The Lost Boy The recent spate of attacks on foreigners in Phuket has a lot of people on the island worried. These attacks occur late at night on quiet stretches of road. Thai youths are targeting foreigners driving motorbikes.....Read the rest....http://whatismatt.com/foreigners-attacked-in-phuket/

Bangkok Post......http://www.bangkokpost.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=&t=1844 (May 10th)

In the past two months there has been a rash of unsolved deaths of Farangs in Phuket. One Canadian man in Patong,shot multiple times in dispute over property, one British man living and working out of a shop house, head bashed in, near-by the Lotus Super Store By-pass road, poisoning of an American lady, a Norwegian lady and two other foreign persons on Kho Pi Pi island, and lastly one British lady found face down in the sand on Keron beach strangled to death.

The murder of Norwegian Simen Knudsen....murder of Swedish woman Hanna Charlotta. The death of the guy found floating off Patong beach. The shoot out in the midst of foreign tourists in Patong, this shooting in Chalong, the repeated attacks on foreigners in Rawai.....and on and on. What about the shooting into Spicy on Sea Dragon...and any other that has been kept under the carpet?

Yep...my subjective opinion is that Phuket is proportionally more dangerous compared to other tourist destinations.

I just don't see it. Sorry guys. The Canadian was shot in a dispute over property. The British man near Lotus - 'possibly' the same reason - he owned a property company. The two deaths on Phi Phi - the autopsy (including independent ones) are inconclusive. The woman on Karon beach - didnt a Thai get arrested for that? The Knudsen incident - i believe some Thais got arrested for that and also the police have put surveillance posts in the area. The one at Kor Tor Mor - again a Thai got arrested, and furthermore, Kor Tor Mor is mainly a Thai venue.

Phuket has it's share of problems, sure it does. There is no media cover up - the Phuket Gazette doesnt work on Sunday's so i guess their coverage will begin today (Monday).

Phuket is a big place. It has holidaymakers in it - which bring their share of drunken problems too.

It has expats in it, some of whom have 'colourful' pasts - which again bring their own share of problems.

Then there are the Thai and Burmese problems - compounded by alcohol and ease of obtaining a gun.

But to say Phuket is significantly unsafer than any other holiday destination of comparable size just isnt true.

There's been a handful of foreign murders over the last 3 years. Hardly the wild west. That's just life in the 21st century.

If you're not in business here, and you just want to come on holiday, then you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder.............unlike, say Majorca who've just had their 3rd ETA bomb blast.

Try New York if you think Phuket is unsafe. Or Rio. Or J'burg.............

I still maintain that there are very very few places of similar size and demographic to Phuket that are significantly safer.

Phuket's pretty safe. Not completely safe, but then again, no where is.

Spot on!!!!!.....Thailand, including Phuket and Samui is still a very safe place to live as an ExPat or take a holiday.....probably one of the safest places in the world....

And Pattaya-Victory Monument BKK is a whopping 800 Baht...... ......

You did the right thing, 40 Baht will stand him some pork and rice with a bottle of water. Hopefully then he will feel a bit better/sober and be able to sort himself out......robberies on Thai transport are rife so it is believable he had his money/cards stolen......though he should learn from the mistake and keep his wallet safely in a deep front pocket

If I look at an OPC in Samui or Phuket an then look at some of the sorry states down KSR that are supposedly teachers with a WP.....OPC deserves a WP hands down

31,900 Baht is £600 almost..we used to call it 'Rip off Britain'...nice to see the tables turned for a change

So do they have WPs? It's bad enough with the local touts without these pests making nuisances of themselves.

Highly unlikely. The job does not qualify for foreigners under the Thai labour laws.

Aach position I held as either OPC or Rep came with a legal WP, so the above statement incorrect.

Thats the Annuities Dept in Livingstone so you are Ok

As long as they're honest in their actions and tell the people what they're doing, I have no problems with them. But I hate it if I see people getting scammed. Normally I don't see them here in the street.

But him accusing me of 'stealing money from him' after I told the tourists it was a timeshare, made it very clear to me that he did not tell them that.

Plus it's sunny at the moment, so there must be better places to amuse yourself than listening to a timeshare tout.

So how would you like it if someone came into your shop and told your customers they could purchase the same items far cheaper in a shop down the road, you wouldnt be happy would you?...please also explain why it is a scam, do you know the true meaning of scam, look the word up in a dictionary....only adults are pitched and they can always say no, if they choose to go on a presentation and maybe purhase they are old enough to decide without people like you poking your nose into other peoples business....if you had done that to me when I was an OPC I would of broke your jaw......bet the OPCs were Farangs???....you would do it to a Thai OPC,

I am very suprised at that. I worked at the Pru and specifically with pensions.....did you speak to an administrator in the U.K. or ws it one of the idiots at the call center in India...if it ws India I would double check.

Dry as a bone up here in Cha am and the beach was looking absolutly fantastic today, all 4 miles of it...

No you can not transfer it and depending on which type of pension will determine at what age you could vest the pension. Regulations changed this year so minimum age is 55. If you are no longer a U.K. Resident you should not make any further contributions to the pension..., the pension when vested can be paid into some foreign bank accounts.

Muppet.....

Probably not, far more other reasons not to visit Samui which have been dicussed in other threads.

Eva air are direct also and I can remember that their inflight entertainment kept me occupied most of the way with a little snoooze along the way.....they had a games panel and also the two movies were great....

It really is only the past 12 years or so that it has become popular to live and breed offspring here, previously Farangs would take ther wifes back to wherever and live so not many Look Krungs are of the working age yet...give it another 15 years and you will start seeing them woking everywhere.....there is one that is a cleaner in Tesco Hua Hin...not related but I wonder how the proud Thais feel about being bred out

so you don't think there would be any discrimination against the half fa-rang kids getting the job as opposed to a full Thai , as this discussion comes up many times in our bar meetings .many say that Thais would be put first,i have a long way to go as my daughter is only 10 months old and i hope she aims higher than a cleaner in tesco.i have raised 4 Thai family members and 2 have came to nothing 1 i have high hope s for but the one i thought would do well has came to a stand still.in my daughters case i will be proud of what ever she chooses to do.thanks for the replys .

Why would there be discrimination, if the kid is only a Thai national and was brought up and educated in Thailand???...bar meetings and what people say is one thing, fact and actual events are another

It really is only the past 12 years or so that it has become popular to live and breed offspring here, previously Farangs would take ther wifes back to wherever and live so not many Look Krungs are of the working age yet...give it another 15 years and you will start seeing them woking everywhere.....there is one that is a cleaner in Tesco Hua Hin...not related but I wonder how the proud Thais feel about being bred out

99% or pretty much of people that invest in a business in Thailand loose money..bars/restaurants/salons/dive shops/real estate agents/ice cream parlours etc etc....Thailand isnt the place for foreigners to invest...look elsewhere

Now you know what pockets are for...always carry money/cards etc in front jeans/trouser pocket....never where shorts etc without pockets if travelling, come on, you have passport/tickets/cash and cards, would think even a ten year old would have the intelligence to keep those items on ones body

He already said he was tired and he let his guard down,why are you rubbing his nose in the crap now.This board can have some realy insensitive posters and dont even read the posts first before trying to come back with a clever answer.

The guy was lucky that he didnt have to cancell his cards so not much harm done,and he also said thats the first time he has been robbed.

Surely a seasoned traveller as the OP states he is, would never put a wallet in a bag..no matter how much your guard is down...maybe you didnt read the post correctly befor commenting

Tailors keep details of their customers and many customers order suits/shirts/dresses and have them sent to their home.