Jaydillon

I am a well respected Thai businessman in Bangkok with my own restaurants. Recently my farang friend and I were waiting for another friend in Silom Complex at the bottom of the moving stairs to go to Powerbuy. Before our other friend could join us a security guard came up to me and told me to move away. I refused as there was no reason that I should, that area is the area for you to stand and is not in anyone's way. When you go to a shopping mall you can stand wherever you like, if they have the sign up that is different but there was no sign. I did tell the first security guard that I was waiting for a friend to join us and then we would go up to Powerbuy to look at some LCD TV's, he seemed ok with that but the second one did not listen to my reason and said :

"why don’t you go and discuss the price for your services somewhere else".

I asked him " Why do you think I am a money boy? Please be polite and pay respect to people" and then I said yet again" I am waiting for a friend to join us here and then we will go power buy"

He said ( security guard ) " Whatever the reason you can not stand here , go somewhere else , here there are many place places to sit"

I was so shocked that all I could think to do was to ask to see his manager. Even more shocking was the reply to me that he was the security manager ( thats what he told me, but by the look of him he did not look like a security guard manager ). I said to him that I will complain to the management and the owner here about your attitude, he said " go ahead and do it , I don't care !!!!"

By this time our other friend had arrived so we went to powerbuy to get away from this disgusting man. After my friend bought his TV , I did call to the customers service center to complain about it all, but I am not sure they will do anything with it or just leave it. But I will also write to Human Resources department at Silom Complex to complain.

This topic, I just want people to be aware of the security guards there , they not friendly, they searching for gay people who looking to hook up there. I have a friend who was forced to pay money after they set up the boy in the toilet there. I am regular customer who goes there to pay bills , and buy stuff because it is convinience for me to get there.

Anyway are you Gay buddy

I am a well respected Thai businessman in Bangkok with my own restaurants. Recently my farang friend and I were waiting for another friend in Silom Complex at the bottom of the moving stairs to go to Powerbuy. Before our other friend could join us a security guard came up to me and told me to move away. I refused as there was no reason that I should, that area is the area for you to stand and is not in anyone's way. When you go to a shopping mall you can stand wherever you like, if they have the sign up that is different but there was no sign. I did tell the first security guard that I was waiting for a friend to join us and then we would go up to Powerbuy to look at some LCD TV's, he seemed ok with that but the second one did not listen to my reason and said :

"why don’t you go and discuss the price for your services somewhere else".

I asked him " Why do you think I am a money boy? Please be polite and pay respect to people" and then I said yet again" I am waiting for a friend to join us here and then we will go power buy"

He said ( security guard ) " Whatever the reason you can not stand here , go somewhere else , here there are many place places to sit"

I was so shocked that all I could think to do was to ask to see his manager. Even more shocking was the reply to me that he was the security manager ( thats what he told me, but by the look of him he did not look like a security guard manager ). I said to him that I will complain to the management and the owner here about your attitude, he said " go ahead and do it , I don't care !!!!"

By this time our other friend had arrived so we went to powerbuy to get away from this disgusting man. After my friend bought his TV , I did call to the customers service center to complain about it all, but I am not sure they will do anything with it or just leave it. But I will also write to Human Resources department at Silom Complex to complain.

This topic, I just want people to be aware of the security guards there , they not friendly, they searching for gay people who looking to hook up there. I have a friend who was forced to pay money after they set up the boy in the toilet there. I am regular customer who goes there to pay bills , and buy stuff because it is convinience for me to get there.

Well I would have told him to fuc_k right off

Pattaya is finish with high crime rate,you need to think very hard about this one buddy please

Happy in general.

I wake up to a beautiful lady on a morning before I pad off down the stairs and make a coffee, go back to bed and ......

Thailand is like many places, has its ups and downs but as there are far more ups than downs it is a good place to be.

In 3 years I have had a lot of fun. Been to a lot of places and done things I would not be doing back 'home'. Met a lot of great people too.

Met a few bad ones (people) along the way and had a few incidents that would have had me tearing my hair out if I had any left. Frustrated at the way Thai people seem to be able to botch so many simple jobs. Had one car ruined by 2 engineers.

Yet there is a sense of calm and peacefulness here and I enjoy that.

Engineers in LOS your having a laugh buddy

Nope, life in Thailand really sucks Maigo6

view from my front door:

nice answer sdk

Thanks for letting us know,you are a gentleman I would have told the <snip> Russian <snip> to <snip> right off

Jaydillion.

Village Idiot here asking for the info. If you or your contact can guarantee that i can get a bike into Thailand quickly, legally and efficiently with the pre-agreed duties only payable and a new green book within 2 month. Then I'm all ears.

It has been written on this forum many times about people who have tried doing this and the customs just bump up the duties or make up new ones until you either abandon your vehicle or pay through the nose .

So waiting eagerly. Allan

Allan mate don't get your knickers on the twist mate,take it easy pal.Send me a Pm I will give you a good link

just remember these are professionals at playing mind games , been there done that and as much as i would like to help you i am sorry to say you will not change her , there is only one person going to get hurt , and thats you , Do your self a favor and move on and forget, there are more people than you have tried to make good from bad , best of luck matre

100% spot on,this is very common in LOS,

No she is not cheating on you , she is cheating her boyfriend when she is with you,

Very good point,I have seen it all before in LOS

Hi mate,

I have asked a couple of questions here, and after doing some searches, and unable to find an answer, I have taken the plunge and submitted a post. I have had similar responses. This website is fantastic for answering all the things you need to know, and most people here have been great. There are some cranky ones that give you a hard time regardless. I do wonder why they bother making such remarks, as they are unneccesary.

I am looking at moving to Thailand, should my job come through. I have a beautiful Yamaha XVS 1100 cruiser that I would love to bring in. Unfortunately, every way i look, I hit a dead end.

If you import the whole bike, you have to pay so much duty, it is not worth it. I have found out if I import the thing in separate pieces, it can come in as parts. The only issue there is getting the bike registered, and this thing called a green book. This proves you own the bike, and payed taxes on it ( I can feel I have made a mistake here, and going to get hailed down for it). It is very hard apparently to get this "green book".

These people are right, don't risk it.

Hi don't bother with these village idiots,send me a PM I will give you a good link in BKK that specialist in big bike imports.He will go through all the pros and cons. Good luck XVS 1100 is a cool bike

Go with a quaility disc lock, not a padlock. You can't cut a disc lock off with bold cutters, due to it's design. Xena disc locks also have motion alarms, that are LOUD.

Here's how I lock my bike when at home. I bought about 2 meters of the heaviest chain I could find at HomePro and the heaviest padlock they had. Later I bought some fabric at a local Market and had the seamstress across the street from me sew it into a 3 meter tube to fit over the chain and protect my wheel. Total cost about 800 baht.

I also put a Xena disc lock on my front disc. It's expensive, but well worth it. It has a motion alarm, which also keeps the Thais in my building from climbing on my bike all the time. The first week I had it it was going off all the time, but pretty soon everyone in the building quit messing with my bike.

It would be better to put the disc lock on the rear wheel if possible. I can't on my bike.

The chain and disc lock help me sleep a little better at night, but they are too heavy and bulky to carry around riding, so I have a smaller, cheaper Xena lock that I carry around with me when riding. It's much lighter and fits in my pocket or under the seat. It has a motion alarm too.

What ever you do, don't forget you have a lock on the disc and try to drive off. You will seriously mess up your bike. Tie a piece of string to your handlebars or on your keys to remind you to take it off.

So where do you get those disc locks and how much are they? Anyone know where to find them in Chiang Mai? I think the alarm part is more effective than the actual disc lock although it looks well made. Most times I think the bike just gets picked up and put in the back of a truck anyways so the alarm is the only thing that will scare them away from it.

Good point to remember,I use a home made plug (Bun) which I have painted in red this fitting goes on to the ignition hold,so before I put the key this reminds me to unlock/remove the disc lock.

I ride a Ducati 998S and I had a DataTool Cat1 alarm installed in the UK before I brought the bike to Thailand,I also use a Oxford harden disc lock,so far so good no problems.At home I also use a Oxford harden chain and harden padlock ,you need a angle grinder to cut through these locks. When I go out I do not park the bike in remote desert places and I do not leave the bike unattended for long periods of time.I can only make it difficult if the really want to nick my Ducati the bastards will find some way around it.I wont live in fear I will carry on riding my bike.

Take care Ride safe

i have recently sold my house in uk and am in the process of retiring to live permanently in Thailand.The money from the sale of the house i was going to invest with ING direct now i find you cannot invest with ING direct in UK unless you you have a permanent address in the UK.Any advice other than transfering everything to a bank in Thailand..........Bri.

Dependent on the size of your invesment, you could open a Premier account with HSBC and they will allow you a free second account with the local HSBC branch in Bangkok. This makes transfers easy and cheap and gives you a local ATM card.

I think this thread will be moved to its rightful place once a Mod wakes up.

Good luck.

Regards

Please don't transfer all your funds to Thailand,best leave it in the UK or in a bank like the HSBC.I have a HABC premier account and it works well.Take only what you need to LOS

Good Luck Mate

I will believe this, when I see it. The customs department is about as corrupt as the police. Here is a recent post from one of

my thai corruption rants:

This is one of those posts that gets right to the heart of an issue that seems to really bother alot of ex-pats, who are

exposed to the corruption here. I have read many of the replies, and there seems to be a sense of resignation. How

can anything change? Well, it is changing throughout the region. Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are making

serious efforts to root out the corruption. Officials, CEO's, and people in positions of authority and power are getting

arrested, and sentenced. Of course, that seems almost impossible here, but I do hope it happens. I guess the aspect that

is not getting mentioned much, is why Thailand has so little interest in addressing it's staggering level of corruption. Malaysia

has set up a corruption commission, and is making DAILY arrests of top officials, ministers, local politicians, and businessmen. Indonesia

has set up a corruption commission, and so far their antigraft commission has achieved a 100-percent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery

and graft related to government procurements and budgets. And where is Thailand in all of this. Why aren't men like Newin, and others, who

are coming up with expensive schemes to line their pockets being arrested, and tried? Why is the CEO of King Power still employed? Why is the

Police Captain in charge of the airport security, who appears to be involved in the King Power scam, still in his position? Does anyone really think

there is even a chance that the King Power scheme is not real? That they are arresting only guilty shoplifters? Does all King Power have to do is

post one video on the internet, of a guilty party, for all of us to let them off the hook? Is that all it takes? Even India is getting actively involved

in tackling corruption. When was the last time we heard of a government minister, or top official, or corporate CEO being arrested on corruption charges,

here in Thailand? There was a recent story of jet ski operators in Koh Samui, extorting $1,000's of dollars out of tourists, with the threat of,

and occasionally acts of violence, right on the beach in front of dozens of tourists, for supposedly getting a scratch on a jet ski. When one tourist

caught this on video, and presented it to the authorities, the culprits were confronted, and forced to a pay a fine of 1,000 baht! I am sure they

have not stopped laughing since the incident. Unless Thailand gets serious, and starts introducing fines and jail sentenced that are in proportion

to the crime, nobody will take them seriously. Thailand will continue to be the laughing stock of the world. They will continue to be considered

"that 3rd world country with so much promise, that could not do ANYTHING, to help itself". Or, "the country that always shoots itself in the foot".

Thailand is rapidly approching a point of being way past redemption. If nobody does something truly gutsy or courageous, the time will pass, for

Thailand to turn things around. History may show Thailand as having achieved it's greatest apex of development in 2000-2005. History may show

it being all downhill from there. The Thai people nor the Thai government seem to have no realization of how serious things are, and how perilous a

time this is for the nation. Very, very, very few people here seem to get it. A country can only make so many mistakes before the world leaves it

behind. Especially when neighbors like Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and others are making so much progress, and trying so hard. This makes

the lack of effort here seem all the more staggering, and shocking. Someone needs to act. So what if jobs are lost. So what if heads roll. So what if

people in power are humiliated, and their lives are ruined. So what. It is not too late for Thailand, but the time when it is, is rapidly approaching. Change

is hard. Progress is difficult. But, not impossible. Thailand is not beyond redemption. There are many good people here who would like to see things

different. Conviction, with fines of 500,000 baht and up, and jail terms of 5-10 years is a good place to start. Tony, of course would be a great example

for a first conviction. I would suggest a fine of 2,000,000 baht, and a jail term of 20 years for him. He deserves it. He earned it.

17 Aug 2009

So, the real question is, who in the government is prepared to grow a set of balls big enough to tackle a problem that is holding Thailand firmly

locked into 3rd world status? Abhisit? Who else could do it?

All Governments are corrupt to a certain extent. It actuality the lobbying of politicians in the USA is corruption, it has just ingrained itself into the system. I suspect the Thai government is no different. You cannot have a non-corrupt government. Obama has standing orders not to hire any past lobbyist for government work and it is not working --they are the only people who are experienced enough to get anything done. There several hundred positions he cannot fill.

Instead of picking on Thailand maybe look at your home country --England for example just went through a whole series of news breaking corruption--MP's misusing fund for personal use. It is not that I agree with corruption it is just that is it never goes away. But yes I ham happy when a they are stripped of their "ways and means" but it is usually just a scapegoat for the rest who are never touched. Wall Street and the bank boys rip off the world everyday -yet a common thief or a simple drug user go to a prison for a long time --we never see the real bastards in there.

Yes England is not perfect we do something about ii when people in authority take the piss.With the MP's scandal steps have been taken to stop it from happing again.there is NO comparison between Thailand and the UK.

Hello,

A few weeks ago in a post on another topic someone suggested to me I read "Thailand Fever" in order to better understand my Thai girlfriend.

I got my hands on a copy and wanted to ask for some thoughts about the book from anyone else who has read it.

Briefly, it attempts to explain some (not all) key Western values and key Thai values and how these need to be understood and can often clash in a relationship. The book focuses on most typically a male Westerner having a Thai girlfriend (but says some points are still relevant to other combinations). It is co-authored with a Western man who has lived here a while explaining the Thai perspective to us Westerners and a Westernised Thai lady explaining values and thinking that are important to Farangs to the Thai reader. The book is written bilingually.

The key Western values cited are 1. independence (say from parents, and controlling your own affairs) 2.Privacy (my business, my space) 3. Fairness 4. Equality 5. Truth (as opposed to face saving lies).

The key Thai values are 1. Generosity (Thais derive self-esteem through giving, helping others) 2. Honouring debts 3. Honouring the ultimate debts to, especially, parents 4. the importance of hierarchy 5. saving face & avoiding confrontation 6. lastly, there is no privacy in Thailand - they tend not to like to be left alone.

Although I have some gripes with the book I think it is valuable for couples as at least a talking point and as a way of "walking in each others shoes" and trying to understand why perspectives and reactions to various things may differ. For example, a couple may have an argument about something and at the root of it is different cultural perspectives. If both sides are aware of the perspectives they can, and this is a key stated thesis of the book, COMPROMISE. It says if you are not prepared to compromise your values then you should not go through with your relationship.

I guess I am still forming my views about the book but some initial concerns are as follows:

1. Most importantly, did it favour Thai values over Western ones? 20 pages on Western values and 34 on Thai. The Westerner must accept that he has to pay dowry, have his girlfriends parents live with him one day and subsidise his girlfriend and her family. The female author tells the Thai female reader that she must tell her partner how much money she needs but must also be clear with him that she can get it no other way. It explains to her that (I paraphrase) "although your boyfriend can probably afford the things you ask him for" it is important to him that equal effort is put in. Also, the book tries to explain that Westerners are not all rich and that although salaries in Western countries are higher than Thailand the cost of living is too. It said a few other things in this vein but I sometimes wondered if the book was an apology for how Westerners should give money to Thais.

2. Did you recognise the values? I think it does mention key Western values though I wondered if some of them were only mentioned as a counterpoint to Thai values (but maybe vice versa could be said). Following on from #1 above the one that did strike me most was generosity in Thais. They get self-esteem from generosity and that is why they might ask you (the Farang) for things - because they want to make you feel good?? Well, I am still trying to digest this one. It sounds a bit contrived and also I just have not experienced much generosity here - it sounds like an ideal society to be pampered, in fact. This lack, though, is perhaps just due to my own limited experience. How about you - would you agree with this point about generosity and have you experienced it much?

Another thing about the values - saving face. I appreciate that this is important to Thais and should be considered sensitively. I personally have a problem with it as a value - I think saving face to the detriment of truth can be dangerous as well as plain immature. However, my other concern here was the distinction (or lack thereof) between saving face and just trying to impress the neighbours. An example being Thai families showing off the dowry at a wedding or women wearing gold as a sign of wealth. That is not saving face.

The book itself says both value systems are good and serve to maintain Social cohesion.

3. Sometimes the female Thai author threw in comments that, perhaps, misperceived Western thinking or were just pain crass.

In a part of the book explaining how important indebtedness to parents is for Thais she says that in the West it is opposite where parents have to take care of their children and have to put up with bad behaviour from them, as duty. She just overdoes it here and doesn't suggest that kids still have to respect their parents in Western countries too. I think she just doesn't get that parent usually feel a responsibility to provide for their children up to a certain age (say 18ish). The most important difference though is that Western parents do not feel their children owe them anything in contrast with Thai families.

In the same chapter she says that "your Western boyfriend doesn't understand you help your parents because you want to, not because you have to". Yet elsewhere in the book it mentions how Thai children are inculcated from an early age about their debt to their parents.

One good thing about the book is that it is non-judgemental and takes seriously that the male Westerner may have met his girlfriend in a bar. If that is the case it tries to take the relationship seriously and is sympathetic to especially the bargirl portraying her as often someone from a poor background rather than just the two dimensional gold digger that often seems to be the portrayal. However, again the female author says some strange things. She says that prostitution is not very socially acceptable in Western countries (even if you work in a "fancy" club) because the woman is losing her autonomy and this is a key Western value. In my experience, the key reason that prostitution is attacked in the West is due to the objectification of women - but this is not mentioned at all.

And there is a part of the book (in chapter 5) which is dedicated to spotting "abusive Westerners" . There is only mention of bad Westerners here - not bad Thais. And here I cringed when she wrote that an abusive Westerner can be spotted as someone who, amongst other things, expects "sex for free" and doesn't support you or your family (advocating that you "drop him" if this is the case). This made me think that the book was a polemic for Thais to get money and against Westerners rather than something trying to support mutually loving relationships.

There is some mention of "Thai Gold diggers" abusing generosity being that parents can sometimes get greedy when asking for level of dowry. I think if it wants to take the bargirl issue seriously it should perhaps mention something about gold diggers there, but maybe that is beyond the scope of the book.

OK, that is enough. In spite of the concerns mentioned above I liked the book and thought it worth reading. As I said, I am still forming my views (my GF is reading the book now) and would be interested in hearing other people's. It would be especially interesting to hear a Thai person's view (or what did your wife or GF think?).

The only Thai value is CASH my friend,sorry but that's how things work over in LOS

thanks for everyones help..

looks like i know what must be done..

just have to figure out how to wire 1,000,000 baht to Thailand

hahah

seriously tho guys much appreciated from those who have been around the block a few more times than me

ps. does this sound ok.. not too hurtful or anything.. i dont know thai womens psyche..

I have been thinking about this for a couple of days. 5 months is a long time to wait to see each other. We barely know each other either, so it would be quite silly for us to wait that long alone. I will come back to Phuket in around 5 months, in the mean time I think it would be best for us to just be friends and not get too serious. A lot of my friends and people I know think that this is the best for the both of us. No one gets hurt this way. Take care of yourself

Your having a laugh, She and her will be very hurt cause the (very possible)cash line will not work.Or well they will meet someone els.I get this all the time I ~F pay and RUN U2YOU

Hi I am new to these forums and found it whilst I was trying to get a grasp of the whole farang-thai relationship.

Ok let me break down the situation for you guys and hopefully someone can give me some advice as to what to do.

Firstly im a young guy in his early 20's and was recently in Phuket for my 2nd time. Now im a pretty clued on kind of guy but I am just really confused about this whole situation.

I met a girl in a bar during my stays there, she is 20 and very nice. We danced, we drank, we kissed.. her older sister (mid 20's) asked me when I was leaving if i was taking her back to my hotel. Now because I am new to the whole situation I was taken aback and declined, more so because I was rooming with a female relative so as you can imagine it would have been impossible. I freaked out a bit because from her demeanor and the way she acted she DID NOT seem like a stereotypical prosititute. I replied with, "I am not paying for anything", and her older sister laughed and said "no no you werent going to, its not like that". The girl (younger sister) seemed to like me very much, more than one would presume if you were after someone for money. Now I met with these girls again the next 3 nights at the same bar.

The second night in particular was strange because I turned up 2 hours after our predetermined time and she was still waiting for me albeit not happy at the start .

Her older sister stated that she had many "customer but she wait only for you", in broken english which again freaked me out. We danced kissed etc and myself and my female relative walked her and her older sister back to their hotel. The older sister seemed to open up a bit, saying that yes she sometimes goes to bed with foreign men for money but she doesnt like it. Told me how much she got paid, spoke to me about her distaste for thai men and that she wanted to meet a nice foreigner to take care of her and her child. She has a daughter showed us photos etc. It was a pretty in depth conversation for us not knowing them very well. The younger sister said she had never been with a man for money unlike her sister and that she had no job and got money off her sister. They were in phuket to get some money and live in a town in the North east of the country. I had arranged to see her during the day and she asked if her sister could come with her, im not sure if that has any significance but im including it incase it does!

I have kept in contact with her over the last couple of weeks and I have already penciled in that I will be back to Phuket in January. She calls my mobile almost daily, sends me messages and emails on a daily basis. My friends and family think I am gonna get taken for a ride and are making sure I dont fall for this girl! She never asked for money off me even when I offered to give her some (testing the water). My question to you guys is how would I be able to know if I am going to get played. I dont want to get my feelings hurt, nor do I want to hurt hers. I also dont want to miss out on the opportunity of knowing if this girl is actually legit. She said that night she saw me in the club was the first time she had been there.

What should I say to her? Is 5 months too long to hold onto something that was built in 4 nights? Please help me out... this farang is confused

Ok you've got some research to do mate!

Thing is, she may have some 'customers' but don't necesarily let that put you off! If you like her and she likes you then you need to establish that honesty is the best policy. go see her again and enjoy yourself :-)

In the mean time try and find out as much as you can about Thailand and everything that happens there.

Some people will tell you you're going to be taken for a ride but if you understand how the game works you can't get burned, just the same as it is in your home contry.

Try and understand how these girls life has been and what has motivated them to end up in a bar in phuket. Get your head around the idea that there may well be other guys in the picture as well but that doesn't have to mean she doesn't have feelings for you.

Read as much as you can and try and get your head around it all.

there will be people on here that tell you they wouldn't touch a bargirl for longer than a couple of hours but you have to make your own mind up, you are both young so just enjoy your self mate. Sounds like she's a lot of fun and she's interested in you as well.

tell me, have you sent her any money?

if you do start doing that then only do it like you would if she was here, like to buy her something for her birthday or send her some flowers or something, don't get into the whole sending her half your wages every month and have her tell you ' honey i not work bar same same like other lady only sell drink and wait for you'

Make sure you get the whole truth and that you can get your head around it.

She might not understand that you value the truth so highly, but talk to her gently and if you can get an honest relationship going then great!

Be ready for the idea that she may well be working in the bar and has customers like the other girls do. It's just a fact of life. Doesn't make her a bad person, just makes her a bar girl.

Hope it goes well and you get some thing out of it, when i say get some thing out of it i mean a beautiful Thai girl who treats you well when you're there and makes you feel good.

Good luck mate :-)

I have heard all this before pal,this is very common over in LOS when they meet a newbe,your friends and family are right,be very careful she will NOT want your cash right now but with the help of her sister she will take you for big £££.If I was you I will pay for her service and do your thing and Fuc* Off out of it mate.But it's UP2YOU as they say in LOS

I saw the news clip the too. It was a little hard to understand, but I think the tourist claimed he was stopped after having passed through customs. He said that he was given the cigarettes by a friend after he passed through customs and that he didn't bring them through. It sounded like he was lying though, he wasn't very convincing. He also seemed a little surly and argumentative, which never helps you here, as we all know.

The messed up part of the news story was all the marks on his body. He claimed that the customs officials were roughing him up in the back room, and he had welts and bruises all over his body like he was getting struck. That part was a little more believable because of the marks he showed the camera.

My thoughts: There are signs posted in the airport about limits for importing cigarettes and alcohol. If you ignore them and get caught, you should have to pay the fine, no arguments. That said, 25,000 baht is a hel_l of a steep fine for a few packs of cigarettes in your suitcase! There are many smokers that are just trying to bring their favorite brand with them on holiday, and almost $800 US fine is kind of outrageous. Part of the news program had the customs officer showing documents to the reporter to prove that this was in fact the correct fine amount. She even seemed a little skeptical.

Second thought: Mouthing off to a law enforcement officer in Thailand is stupid, but it still shouldn't get you beat up. Period. Roughing up tourists in the back room is unacceptable behavior for professional law enforcement officers in any country of the world. This being Thailand doesn't give them a special pass, and the guy being argumentative doesn't justify it.

Professional LOL mate

About time and all,cant believe that it has taken so long for them realise this issuer.

She is having a laugh mate,tell her to Fuc* Off,thieving little gid

know one stops me from Wanking

He would probably feel at home with that nutty Health Minister in South Africa who advised people to eat beetroot to cure AIDS!

I've long thought that most "alternative Medicine" advocates are simply charlatans, Dr. V. M. Palaniappan (an eminent practitioner of complimentary therapy) only goes to confirm my view.

Interestingly, how does homosexual activity create this "acidity", whilst heterosexual activity doesn't? Can anybody explain that?

I'll never stop Wanking

It amazes me that with all the life sentences handed out, fully covered by the media, that fools in full knowledge of the conditions in Thai prisons still take a chance with their futures when most have the safety net of a welfare system back home. I wonder if the success rate is so high that most mules make it through and they consider it a safe bet. Junkies numbed beyond repair, I can understand, but the rest. Madness beyond belief.

Regards Bojo

your 100% right mate

Well what bike is it?give us more details ple.Is it a colletors Harley,I might be interested.

Jay, U need to remember this is Thailand. Does not matter what any book says, it all comes down to the customs guy and what they want. If you do bring it in, it would be best to have a Thai bring it in for you. They see a farang and they will want more money. also a thai will know how to handle the guy better. Nothing is ever simply clear in thailand. I had parts shipped in and one time customs wants one thing another time they want something else, all depends on who you get and what they think they can get. I would suggest you sell and buy something here. It will save you allot of headaches.

Yes your right I have to agree with you mate.I have been in and out of Thailand for the past 18 Years and speaks fluent Thai,writing and reading skills are good as well,with all that I find it extremely difficult to get a commitment and sense of responsibility/ownership form any Thai authority. Rules are NOT obeyed and words do not mean anything.It's sad but I will keep looking in to every possibility to get my bike across legally.As the others have said it's very important to have all the right credentials so the bike can be registered and will be road legal. Two wrongs don't make a right.

With regards to selling the UK second hand market is not good.The bike has only done 7500 miles and I had it since new 2002.The bike is in very good condition and with a lot of extras.A Ducati in Thailand is over a million Baths and don't fancy the new Ducati's ,if I can get some sort of assurance from our Thai friends it might be worth looking in to this.

I will keep all of you Posted.

Safe Riding