BOS2BKK

hahah that's some funny picture and i can imagine him walking down the beach road and yelling some s_it.

maybe somebody should tell him the fact that if you consider a "working girl", professional sex worker, as a normal girlfriend and think you are having a healthy relationship, it's your fault, not hers.

cheers!

Seems like a pretty typical TV poster right?

Unbelievable people continue to visit Phuket. Travelers too stupid to do any "discovery" before traveling anyplace have little excuse for finding bad trouble at the destination. That said, Phuket is a dump, has been a dump for several years now. Plain and simple....... STAY AWAY FROM PHUKET! I now have my customers here in China sign a release if they insist on booking into Phuket. They are 100% responsible for any and all occurances during the duration of their time there. More often than not, they decide to change their plans and travel to another place.

Of course people continue to visit Phuket. Hardly anone has problems, and the island has much, much to offer.

Much to offer yes for sure... Hardly anyone has problems??? Not a compelling argument...maybe if you do the math the percentage of problems/tourists is low...but the problems are severe...often involving brutal beatings, murders and stabbing...a mark above the usual tourist paying too much for a carved frog that croaks type issues. To say their are hardly any problems in Phuket is like saying hardly anyone died in the London subway bombings...you're kind of missing the point...

This follows hard on the heels of the new "Miracle Thailand " campaign NOT !!

The Miracle will be if he survives. so last week the top cop had a meeting with these thugs telling them no more tourist beatings and VOILA the next week a guys is beaten unconcious

Whats it going to take before this stuff stops ? EVEN A TOURIST DEATH wont stop it I predict.

Phuket is a place to avoid like the plague a den of thugs what with the Jet Skis and the Tuk Tuk drivers and regular tourist beatings

DK

Certainly an excellent example of two sides of an argument both being totally in the wrong.... Arguments like this happen all the time in Phuket, Patong beach in particular, In my experience usually involving a fair that was not negotiated prior to the ride, and a drunken tourist not realizing his destination was only meters away. It is most definitely exacerbated by the fact that TukTuks in Phuket are the most ridiculously tolerated mafia scam in all of Thailand. Why exactly aren't their any meter taxis in Phuket???

But...A...rule of thumb anywhere in the world...and any travel blog/guide book/buddy who travels alot will tell you....always negotiate your price before you get in a taxi, and if you don't know where you are going and it turns out to be a 2 minute walk... hey...lesson learned... you don't have the right to refuse to pay just because you were unaware how close the destination was. The German was wrong in thinking he could refuse to pay the fair, and then even more wrong thinking he could bully the TuTuk driver. (Insert any number of historical references to Germans being bullies here)

If you are drunk and pick a fight with a local taxi driver ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD not just Thailand, you are more than likely going to end up with an ass kicking, and probably a deserved one, although nothing warrants this severe a beating.

No matter how you look at it, this is one more gigantic nail in the coffin for Phuket, which is rapidly turning from tourist paradise to tourist hell. Just like the Balinese discovered after the bombings. Western tourists will tolerate alot, but they won't tolerate being unsafe on holiday. Their money will go elsewhere, and the honest hard working tourism dependent business people will suffer for it.

"she will sign papers for me to give me the pattaya house and my car back."

You can get the cars, but the land is not available for you to own legally, unless you form a Thai company to own it, which to me is just asking for troubles later on.

If you don't have a home in LOS you might as well sell the vehicles, because you'll have nowhere to park them.

i do not want the car i want the money for house and car i dont want anything only the money i have lost over the last while, if need be i will get her to sign some kind of document to enable me to live in the house in pattaya if i cannot own it r sell it. she is not getting 50-50 as it was all my money that bought everything.

ive lost too much !!!

She seems keen to wanting you to want the money as well. Don't rent any rooms above the 3rd floor for your next couple of stays.

I am aware of some individuals buying the cheapest one-way ticket they can find, usually Air Asia. They go through immigration and loiter in the airport for several hours, coffee, internet, read a book, and never leave BKK. After sufficient time and coinciding with the arrival of an aircraft from the country they had a one-way ticket to, they proceed back through immigration and receive the 30 day airport visa on arrival. Thus avoiding the visa-run debacle and the 15 visa on arrival received at land entry immigration points.

This became very popular when the visa on arrival was changed to 15 days for overland travel. This may be a direct response to this activity.

Surely the required arrival/departure stamps in the passport, from the destination country would beat this.

There is no such requirement. Many people leaving Thailand return to their home countries which do not stamp you in or out, such as myself. Often I leave Thailand and go home for a month or two, the last stamp being that of my exit from Thailand. Upon my return to Thailand I am stamped right back in.

There are also some issues directly related to point of departure. I carry a US passport but recently was doing work in South Sudan. Every time I returned to Thailand from Sudan I was required to present my vaccination certificate to the Airport medical officer and getting my entry form stamped before being allowed through customs. Holders of African passports from that flight were going through a much more complicated process than I was. It was a pain in the ass and added 20 minutes to getting through the airport.

I can see someone being aware of this, and claiming to have arrived on a plane from Europe, when he actually arrived on a plane from Africa, just to avoid the additional line...not saying that I ever did that of course... but had I committed such a horrible transgression, asking me to show my boarding pass would have nabbed me.

There is also the issue of people getting off onward traveling planes.

Maybe there was just an problem with an onward bound passenger deplaning in Bangkok thinking he was in Hong Kong.

The Thais have perfected knee Jerk reactions to almost every issue.

I think there's really a need for foreigners to secure their financial concerns especially when they wish to stay here longer. But I commend him of having the guts to ask for help lots of people in here ended up killing themselves.

Don't marginalize the value to society of certain types of people taking the final solution into their own hands. Just one more entitled dirtbag who has probably never accepted personal responsibility in his life. He winds up in Pattaya, the rectum of South East Asia, and we all know the story from there. When he gets back to mother England he should be jailed for fraud and extortion.

If your friend is really keen to go on vacation with a woman he has never met in real life, he probably deserves to learn any such lesson the hard way.

That's what I was thinking.

1. Has this guy actually met the woman?

2. Does he know for certain that she's a teacher?

3. How long has he been in Thailand?

4. Does he live here or is he just visiting?

And do respectable teachers really meet men on the interent and then go on holiday with them six week later?

In general I would have to agree that teachers don't normally meet a man they have never met for a vacation because that implies sex with a stranger.

However, is it possible? Sure Thai women don't think as much about consequences as the average female.

The car I think is a the giveaway. Playing the odds most hookers are not going to show up with a car.

If the teacher is fat then I think it is probably real.

Fat teachers on the INTERNET only seem to pull men from ethnic groups that they really don't care for.

And fat ladies in Thailand in business or teaching usually have higher positions than skinny ladies.

Face it you get more bang for the buck with a chubby chick in both business and pleasure if you can get over the difficulty shopping for plus sizes.

What is the worst thing that can happen? Drugged, rolled and tossed in the ocean. It happened to me once and the water usually wakes you up before you drown. What little I remember about it was a fun night and beats an Aussie pub in the outback for sentimental memories. If I had the choice of spending a week with crocodile Dundee or a Thai hooker masquerading as a teacher I would take the Thai lady.

Lets say she is a phony. It will make a great story to tell the grandkids. 60 years is a decent life, so you go out in a blaze of wild sex and drugged glory, who cares. Live a little. 60 is not the time to be conservative. One should have done anything you wanted to do by 60 so now is the time to have fun and take some chances.

A good friend of mine met a girl in Bangkok. She went out with him a couple of times, didn't put out, she said she wanted it to be special, so she convinced him to book a Holiday in Chiang Mai. She insisted her friend went on this great tour, and they should book the same package. He went ahead and did it...not too expensive, but not cheap either. She never showed at the airport. Being a genuine person, my friend worried she had an accident or something, and spent the afternoon trying to find her. He never did. Never got on the plane, never took the tour. He bumped into her a week later out on a date with another guy. She didn't see him, but he overheard her telling him about Chiang Mai. Turns out she works for the travel agency, she gets guys to book non refundable tours, which she got commission on. The moral of the story??? Caveat Emptor, everywhere....not just LOS

Another bright idea would be to move to a cheaper house/apartement, skip the car use a motorcycle instead. I live comfortable with 35K per month, as I think many other expats do.

Sounds like a pretty typical example of a human ATM being sucked dry. They play guilt better than an Irish nun.

My mother passed away not too long ago, and I got a modest estate settlement, which appeared to be a small fortune in Thai baht. I make a decent living, so I didn't need the money for anything. I put it to work for my future. My fiance saw some of the paperwork, and now suddenly the 15K a month apartment we have been living in for 3 years is no good, we need to move to a new place that costs 45K a month, and the 2 year old Vios she drives is not enough, she needs a new Fortuner. When I said it was too expensive, the reply was simply "but you have the money from your mum". She see's only the immediate rewards of what to her is an unbelievable sum of money but is, in the grand scheme of things, relatively little. My only saving grace (intentional pun) has been up to now she doesn't know how much I actually make, or I would have been spent into debt long ago. I am not a cheap person, and I have plenty of working years left, but I am trying to look towards making my retirement worry free, and maybe, with a little luck, even retire early. The very idea of budgeting for the future is impossible if a Thai woman has any say in how your money gets spent. It's not a dig, or an attack, it is just a simple truth.

Your mistake was showing her how much money you have as a lump sum. Thais are culturally conditioned to live in the present, they cannot generally conceive of the idea of making a lump sum last. To quell the drama in advance-This is not a derogatory statement, or an insult to the Thais. It is simply a fundamental cultural difference. The combination of fiscal irresponsibility, coupled with the incessant drive to keep up with the Jone's makes living on a budget possible only if your wife has no idea what your financial situation actually is. She needs to see only her allowance, and as far as she knows that is all the money in the world.

Just one more chang and id have bought that hook line and sinker...

I was 2/3 of the way through before I realized it was a joke. Nothing the Thai government does surprises me anymore. You can't apply the rule of sense, logic or reason to any of their decisions, so I just hoist that Singha, chuckle, and roll with it.

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

And England, and Germany, and France, and every other country who has had fugitives arrested in Thailand recently. But what fun is acknowledging that every country has criminals when you can bad mouth the country that the entire world depends on for prosperity?

Does anyone get the feeling we have been here before?

On the plus side, the Army has come out and said enough is enough. Even a totally corrupt court will think twice about a ruling that the Army is unwilling to enforce.

So you are saying the PTP will ignore the EC and court rulings?

I am saying even the ridiculously corrupt court that invalidated the last two elections that had identical results will hopefully think twice about it this time without the generals backing their play.

This is getting ridiculous. How many mandates from the populous do they need? I think the elite will not be happy until they plunge the country into full on civil war. They almost did it last spring. The army sees it. The "Let them eat cake" deluded arrogance is alive and well in Thailand. Remember it cost those elite their heads.

I am saying...when a government...including the courts...no longer represents the will of the people, it is the peoples duty to remove them, by election if possible, by force of arms if necessary. I love Thailand, it is my adopted home. I hate to think that it will be in revolution if the courts nullify yet another landslide election, but I fear that is the only result that they will accept.

Chamlong Srimuang wants a new election because he didn't get to put in a NO vote?

When k. Chamlong came to vote, he couldn't because his name was still on the 'advance-voting' list, he should have voted the week before. He was told he could lodge a complaint. Seems he did. Democratic right, etc., etc.

Forget about getting a new election now though, that would be a bit ridiculous, but at least once more attention is put on the advance voting issue. For next time it should really be changed into a 'one off' choice automatically withdrawn after an election

What are the numbers for this election? I think 2 Million is not enough to sway the vote. If there is a mathematical impossibility for the missing votes to change the outcome, then there is no point. I have not seen any raw numbers for this election, but I understand turnout was pretty high, and the vote was a landslide.

Does anyone get the feeling we have been here before?

On the plus side, the Army has come out and said enough is enough. Even a totally corrupt court will think twice about a ruling that the Army is unwilling to enforce.

The incident was reported to local police, who are investigating.

Consider it solved.

most probably.

Failed suicide attempt more than likely...Suicide is pretty common among Farang in Thailand.

Yep now the offer from Thaksins buddies will likely come in

to buy enough shares to make them legal again.

Likely at firesale rates of course.

Powerplay in the works for sure.

So you nasty Norwegians,

here's an offer you can't refuse.

Makes me think back to Monson,

Thaksin partnered with him to install technology,

but it came time to take profits and

he had Monson thrown in jail...

What a nonsense.. Is there any post where you do not mention Thaksin? Wonder what this man has done to you.

It's raining.... blame Thaksin!

Anyway do you know the democrates (your friends) are still in power? And that under their government this whole DTAC thing is initiated?

Better to know what you are talking about before letting your mouth run with vile...it is very well known what Thaksin did to his Partner in that deal in fact the guy was lucky to leave Thailand alive

I would much rather live in a country where billionaires in boardrooms screw over other billionaires for millions of dollars(Thaksin Thailand) than live in a country where the Taxi Mafia, and the BiB screw me out of 200-500 baht every day (Post Thaksin Thailand).

This would be the same UN that named North Korea to the international disarmament committee? The same UN that named Libya to HEAD the commission on human rights a few years ago? The same UN that refused to use the word genocide in Rwanda because it would obligate them to help...all the while they were bombing eastern Europe to prevent crimes against humanity?

Face the facts. Committees accomplish nothing. The larger and more diverse the committee the less it is able to accomplish. WHen you become as large a committee as the UN you not only accomplish nothing, you actually start to interfere with the people who are accomplishing things. The only solution is to do what the US does. Just ignore them. The UN is a FAILED EXPERIMENT!!! Nothing they do amounts to anything. Period. The last time the even came close to accomplishing their goal was in Korea, and that ended in a 60 year bargaining agreement that the UN has dropped squarely on the American taxpayers.

The UN is a waste of time and money. Any organization that tries to please everyone, and gives tiny worthless countries like Ghana the same weight of voice as world leaders like Germany, is doomed. Just accept it, disband it, and move on.

Notwithstanding a breach of international law, a 5-4 decision is a pretty close call and considering it was regarding an execution I would have thought a commuted sentence would be a more cautious route.

The overwhelming majority of Supreme court decisions are split at 5/4. It is not a close margin, it is a typical margin. That is specifically why the courts has an odd number of members, so they are actually forced to accomplish things, where Congress is constantly making bargains.

The simple fact is the Republic of Texas is a sovereign state, and acted in total accordance with it's laws. This man was not a federal prisoner. He is not subject to the whim of the federal government. I applaud Texas for standing up for their rights against the political nonsense that pleads leniency for a rapist. Who helped his victim when she was pleading for mercy?

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

Yeah because THailand was doing so poorly under Thaksin's rule. You could tell by the massive trend of foreign investment, infrastructure developement, higher standard of living among the working poor, and the aggressive policing of mafia and drug dealers. They have been much better off since his ouster with the return to the centuries old status quo.

(That was sarcasm, just in case you missed it)

The people have spoken, again, lets see if the corrupt elite, police, and Mafia will let the election stand this time. If they remove a 4th popularly elected PM they might as well just give up the charade of elections, dissolve Parliament and go back to being an absolute monarchy.

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

Living in Thailand for a while, but he can't get around his passport expiring. I am sure that is how they nailed him, when he renewed his passport.

Is this the sugar they use for the toxic lollipops?

55555555555555 There is not a grain of evidence in that

It is certainly creating a sticky situation.

Thais and honesty: I do business with this origin since 1976.

A police officer who wants 300 THB because.. he could not see your face behind the helmet screen.

You want a container our quick. Oh solly have to inspect first. unless 2000 THB call it " removable inlay paper"

Contract? As soon as the Thais see a reason to walk away from it, they do it. Result: a Thai contract is even not worth the paper it is written on.

I love that they blame the Chinese. At least this time it is not the Farangs fault. Someday I am going to meet a Thai who accepts personal responsibility for something and I will keel over dead from shock.

This story is way too fishy. I would walk away....no...run away...far and fast.

If this lady is looking to get child support for her UK citizen child she can seek help at the British Embassy. If you are really interested, go with her to the Embassy. She will have to show her child's UK passport, and even the best liar in Thailand knows better than to lie to an Embassy official, but they have no problem convincing someone to go to the Embassy and lie for them. There are 5 million sob stories told by women in Bangkok, and they all seem to find their way to the ears of westerners trying to do the right thing.

Have you considered maybe there is a reason the guy brought her to UK on a tourist visa in the past and not a wife? Is he really her husband? Is the man she is chasing really the child's father? Perhaps that is why he walked away, maybe he found out the child wasn't his? Have you seen the babies UK passport? These all sound like obvious questions, but they are all questions you need to know the answer too before you trust this ladies story. And they are not questions you ask of her, or her friends and trust the answer too. Thai women are master puppeteers when handed a western mans heart strings.

I am not trying to be cynical. Most everybody on this page will back me up. Is there a real possibility this guy knocked up his Thai girlfriend then fled his obligations? Yes, of course there is. That said, is there just as real a possibility, if not a more real one, that you are being fed half truths or outright lies in an effort to help this lady accomplish a mission? HELL YES. Thai women are not necessarily being malicious when they lie. This is a function of a combination of factors of Thai society. They are trained from a very young age to be duplicitous and manipulative.

Sure why not, the more the merrier, plus FREE massage for everyone, what a complete circus this election is going to be

Don't forget two of the three national ID databases are down, and I am sure the third will meet with a tragic "technical problem" just in time for the election. Just like it was in the USA back in the day. Vote Early and often.

"I have lived in this village all my life, these three policemen will vouch for me"

Hmm...Living in a Palace in Pakistan, eh?

Time to Nuke the rest of that country.

Good riddance

There duplicity is beyond doubt and it is high time the U.S cut all funding to Pakistan, the only thorny problem is they are a 7th century theocracy with nuclear weapons.

I suspect the Pakistani authorities have some explaining to do as to how they could be unaware of Bin Laden's whereabouts.

You folks are quick to drink the koolaid

Kool aide is quick and easy. It seems to be the preferred drink of our posters.