NamKangMan

@ Peterocket

Nice try, but what is on their website, and what happens in reality, are two very different things. In any case, they have a long list of flat fares.

If we took a poll of TV members and/or tourists, how many would say they can regularly, and easily, flag down, or phone a taxi, in which the driver automatically turns the meter on and takes you to your nominated destination?

Unfortunately travelling to Phuket town in the evening and then back to Patong negates the whole experience due to the cost of the taxis.

Of course, the main thing keeping western tourists away are the sun beds and umbrellas on the beach - right?

The difference being that taxis are readily available and beach chairs are not

Please post the phone number for the Government regulated Phuket taxi service in which a METERED taxi arrives, you inform the driver of your destination, he turns the meter on and conveys you to your destination.

Surely, Phuket has such a service, being a "World Class Tourist Destination" and this being 2015 and all.

He should have done like the Phuket Governor did - just put his hand in. Such is the danger of the water here.

Let me guess, this Indo guy life's is expendable and not worth the chair he sits on, he's a smuggler's

fodder who couldn't give a toss what will happened to him, as he's only the mule here....

Yes. Looks like Grandfather has taken a red card fo the team.

The family in Indo has probably got a new piece of land, better school for the kids, maybe even a new motorbike, for one of them to "do the run."

Thai Customs may have caught the drugs, but not much else.

A full clean of a 30sqm condo will be 500 not including laundry in Pattaya. Im waiting for the 300 baht per day brigade to say it shouldn't be any more than that lest forgetting travelling time, expenses etc. I have nothing but for praise for Airbnb, no com and more quality tenants than Agoda and booking at my resort.

So, at 500 baht for a clean, and extra for laundry, depending on the quality of the condo, and tne per night price it may, or may not, bring in, it might be best for the OP to leave it vacant.

And some thought "Southern Engineering" was bad, of course you would need to be from the Southern USA to understand the "Political Correctness" of that term !!

Is this the same place where a Lady drove off and her Baby was injured and died ?

Not the same place, just the next place!!!

Those in authority need to be held accountable for the injuries or deaths caused by their negligence in these matters. Not just give some s#!!tty lip service about how sorry they are after someone dies from their negligence, then finally fix the problem after it's too late.

The idea is it doesn't need fixing until someone dies, and only if the locals, or foreign media complain about it. Then, and only then, does it get fixed, in order to protect Phuket's "image" for the tourism industry.

No finer sight in the world than to see a Thai on the mend, hope he has learnt his lesson and aims higher next time

Maybe his next aim might be at you.

"On a Case-by-Case Basis" - that would be a "case" of Johnnie Walker Black Lable to the police station. All sorted.

Unfortunately travelling to Phuket town in the evening and then back to Patong negates the whole experience due to the cost of the taxis.

Pretty much negates the whole experience of everything on Phuket.

Crazy how transport costs more than food and beverage storage, preperation and service, and also, in many cases, accommodation per night.

Of course, the main thing keeping western tourists away are the sun beds and umbrellas on the beach - right?

next time walk better ...more action ....without lights .....

Ok, I'm right behind you...

On second thought, I would like to highlight that there's a difference between calculated risk and plain craziness -- we should at least wait til the next full moon...

Fair play, but what is your contingency plan to deal with said "calulated risk?"

Well I was kinda joking around with the poster, but good question you ask (though takes a bit to explain in writing, plz excuse the length):

1) Nearly 40 years experience in adventure & extreme sports (as participant and instructor). Also where I grew up in Alaska if you go out into nature (which means 10 ft from your house), don't respect Mother, don't prepare properly and don't have contingency plans, there's a good chance you will die, simple as that. Given this scenario such practices become ingrained in your character. For the record, I most likely would not do such a nighttime ride in Alaska -- just too much chance of running into/surprising a bear or moose.

2) Knowledgeable and trained in First Aid (requisite of my job) + Search & Rescue techniques / good First Aid kit in backpack during all adventures, day or night (also 2 knives, MTB toolkit & mozzie spray -- I never leave the house on any adventure without these.)

3) Quite powerful lights, with back-up batteries (despite in-video joke).

4) Close friend/adventure mate in Phuket notified pre-trip and following my journey in real-time using a very handy GPS tracker and our mobile phones (extra powerbank in the backpack:). Said buddy has instructions that if my movements were to stop more than 1 hr and he could not make phone contact with me after several attempts, he (and nurse wife) would mount a S&R with my (adventure co.) staff. GPS tracker accurate to within about 10-20m depending on signal strength. Of course it's incumbent on me to not lose or break my phone (carried in good protective case), the admitted weak link in the chain. Might all sound like overkill if not overly dramatic but we take it seriously.

5) Finally, one of my best clients for over 8 years is a company called International SOS -- they could get me out of just about anywhere in the world if called upon 24/7.

Guess that about covers it for a little 2-hour adventure

All good, but don't forget point number six.

6) A big bank account to pay for any, and all injuries incurred, whilst undertaking an extreme sport, which is probably not covered by insurance, in which the Phuket medical system will seek to extract the maximum amount of money out of said bank account.

Just a thought, apart from cleaning and security - who will hand over the keys to the various Airbnb short term tenants, and where will such hand over take place, on a regular basis?

Oh my god, this really is tragic .... an elephant tied to a post !!

What is "really tragic" is the cost of the tuk-tuk to go and see the elephant tied to a post.

Those phones and tablet would have some very useful information in them.

I hope the investigation doesn't end at just this arrest.

Not a good start to his mafia career.

Are you saying Pattaya is not in "the new thailand?"

Over 11,000 new tourists per day?

Does anyone (who has been to Phuket) find that hard to believe?

Domestic tourists? How do they calculate this?

Airport arrivals are firm figures (though some might be residents or business travelers), but where are the facts to back up these claims?

"Airport arrivals are firm figures (though some might be residents or business travelers)" - and visa runners, many of whom get counted as a tourists, four times a year, also, those using Phuket Airport as a stop over to another destination get counted, but do not stay on Phuket.

Phuket Airport arrival figures, alone, are not that "firm."

Thais and numbers ....

Their ability with numbers quickly improves when those numbers are printed on Thai Baht.

Can't remember the name of the hotel, but there's an upscale (compared to Bangla) open air bar called The Port on the beach road, north of the Holiday Inn. Walking from the Salathai, that would be before you get to the Holiday Inn. They generally have live Filipino bands playing western music. There's a big sign near the sidewalk, so you can't miss it.

As hansgruber mentioned, nearly all of the live bands in Phuket are Filipino, although most tourists think they're Thai.

That's the one with the revolving stage. Yes, they are Filipino. It's a nice place, with good food and atmosphere (provided the weather is nice) but I wouldn't call it a "quiet" place because it does get busy there.

I didn't post about "Thai's singing live music."

I posted to say, in general, there is not much live music here, compared to other places in Thailand.

In what other country can you change your name. And since Thailand lets this happen why does it take 8 years to find some one who changed her name. Thailand like the wild wild wesy!

"In what other country can you change your name." - why don't you ask your wife, or mother about it????

They changed their name.

I think it's time for the Phuket Governor to release a press statement saying, "Phuket has not got a drug problem" - just to put people's minds at ease.

"a quieter open area bar with music" - if you are talking about live music, this will be difficult. For some reason, live music in bars on Phuket is not as common as elsewhere in Thailand.

Thai's can't sing western songs, fact.

They import the philipino's for that.

Thai's can't do most things that involves "work" - they import Burmese, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Laotians for this.

Seriously, there is plenty of live music, regardless of who is singing, in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai. For some reason, not much live music here.

I want to add that I don't agree with it and I don't have my picture taken with captive animals. But I don't impose my beliefs and morals on a culture that is different than mine.

The solution is to eliminate the demand for pictures taken with animals or wild animals shows and the supply will disappear.

"The solution is to eliminate the demand for pictures taken with animals or wild animals shows and the supply will disappear." - make it a crime, with the death penalty attached. That will end the "demand" - in the same way it has with drugs in Thailand.

Never buy anything you can't walk into, feel, and touch. There is a condo project near me that has been abandoned for 5 years, except for the soi (condo) dogs that now live there. The website is still up and running with beautiful, scantily clad women swimming in the pool that is now a cesspool.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any regulations to eventually force the demolition of these failed constructions.

They end up having squatters in them, and people using them as a public toilet and rubbish dump, which attracts dogs, cats, rats and insects.

They become a real eye sore, a haven for undesirables, and a threat to public health.

"a quieter open area bar with music" - if you are talking about live music, this will be difficult. For some reason, live music in bars on Phuket is not as common as elsewhere in Thailand.