Biggest Mistakes You Have Made In Thailand?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Most embarrassing, expensive, politically incorrect.

Mine is not so bad but can't shake it from my lobes.

Was on overnight bus trip and stopped at a station so I head to the bathroom

I kick off my sandals and use the sandals they have to go into the business area.

Turns out it was a decently dressed middle aged Thai guys sandals and I took them into the germ zone.

When I came out he rashly took them and stormed out... I was expecting to see steam shoot out of his ears.

I was saying sorry sorry but he stomps off. I thought wow that was bad Falang P.R.

Didn't help that the Thai cleaning ladies where howling and cackling like Hyena's

Anyone have some good stories to share?

[Chicog]

Not Thailand, but I was in a hotel in Florida once queuing up for the Breakfast buffet and this old bag in front of me was giving me the right evil eye as I loaded up on bacon.

I just glared back at her and carried on. The place was very busy so I asked a waitress where I could sit, to which she replied "Are you with the wedding party, sir"?

Doh!

Anyway, as we were on our own honeymoon, we went over to apologise and ended up being invited to the bride and grooms table for lashings of bubbly, and everyone was as nice as pie about it.

After that, I've always checked a bit more carefully in regards to where the hotel breakfast is supposed to be.

[pmarlin]

My biggest one was to lend 50,000 baht to an ex- US Army Special forces Captain to help keep his beer bar open in Queen Park. I will never see that money again. By the way he still lost the bar.

[DLock]

I have many stories.

Only a few weeks ago I came home in the dark and there were little flags in the dirt on either side of the dirt road to my house and beyond.

I had heard they were widening the dirt road and assumed that these little flags were the markers and thought they were eating about 1 meter into my land all along the boundary.

So in the darkness I collected all these little flags and dumped them in the forest.

The next morning my wife and I were going out and she said it was such a shame that the temple had gone to all the trouble of putting out little flags to celebrate Buddha Day and direct people to the temple and some idiot had stolen them.

That night, when she went to bed, I went out in the darkness and put them all back in place.

I felt like a complete dick and am just waiting for Karma to punch me in the face.

Edited March 19, 2013 by DLock

[mickjn]

My biggest one was to lend 50,000 baht to an ex- US Army Special forces Captain to help keep his beer bar open in Queen Park. I will never see that money again. By the way he still lost the bar.

I was lucky only 40000 baht to a good mate,who was going so good in LOS,he had <deleted> all,got the arse out of his pants

[phuturatica]

Biggest mistake in Thailand?

Making friends with people who turned out to be mental and compulsive liars.

Needless to say, I have got rid of them out of my life and now it's hassle free.

[BookMan]

Biggest mistake in Thailand?

Making friends with people who turned out to be mental and compulsive liars.

Needless to say, I have got rid of them out of my life and now it's hassle free.

This is a teaser to the full story i hope

[Travel2003]

Let an x-colleague (and now x-friend) borrow a lot of money from me (in Bangkok).

Never to be returned.

[TommoPhysicist]

Biggest mistake I am making (ongoing) is buying my wife a house in her name.

Doh!

[TommoPhysicist]

Biggest mistake in Thailand?

Making friends with people who turned out to be mental and compulsive liars.

Needless to say, I have got rid of them out of my life and now it's hassle free.

But you no longer have any friends.

[rattler]

probably thinking the Thais would have some common sense, at least when it came to their lives, but sadly not.

[phuturatica]

Biggest mistake in Thailand?

Making friends with people who turned out to be mental and compulsive liars.

Needless to say, I have got rid of them out of my life and now it's hassle free.

But you no longer have any friends.

Haha... Very funny. It was just one person. It's only been a positive thing getting rid of them from my life.

[phuturatica]

Biggest mistake in Thailand?

Making friends with people who turned out to be mental and compulsive liars.

Needless to say, I have got rid of them out of my life and now it's hassle free.

This is a teaser to the full story i hope

Unfortunately not. I don't feel the need to discuss it on a forum.

[boone57]

From a very young age I have always like to attract dogs attention via making funny noises. Well I'll be damn if one one those little F didn't run me down as I was rounding a corner and sink his teeth into my right leg. Bit me bloody. I am now on rabies shot number 3 of 5 costing me over 300USB. Now I obey the proverb "leave sleeping dogs lay". Twenty one people in Thailand died last year and twenty from dog bits. I won't even pet a dog in Thailand now.

[rene123]

Other than a couple of traffic tickets I've been fairly lucky. But, I DO have an elderly mentor that helped me a bit when I first arrived. He gave me a bunch of pointers to keep me from putting my foot in deep doo doo. He saved me a bundle when I was going to buy a fake Nokia cel phone up at the border in Burma. I took his advice about all the poorly made copies. He had learned the hard way. And, just the simple advice about insisting on a meter taxi in Bangkok has saved me money. His advice about not using bus station toilets was also a good one. After trying it once I can relate to the OP's story.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Was doing a bus and train tour of Isaan. You know the drill: If all the girls in Bangkok and Pattaya come from there, what am I doing in Bangkok and Pattaya? I was in Surin at the time and feeling rather lonely. Was in a bar the night before and refused to pay an outrageous 700 baht fee for each participant in a party package of two just to go to a disco.

Next day, I called someone I met in Buriam a couple of days before and she came to Surin. Paid the bus fare. After a night, she said she had a truck in her hometown of Pitsanoluk, quite some distance away and would pick it up since I expressed an interest in going to some Cambodian border temples. But she needed 3200 baht for fuel, bus fare etc. OK, I said. Didn't hear from her the next day but the second morning, she calls from somewhere (I forget) and needs 2200 baht for more fuel and expenses for the 4-door diesel pickup.

She called and woke me up at 9 in the morning. This was my introduction to the handy ATM money transferring service. She gave me her details and I foggily headed to ATM and successfully moved the money. Two friends came in from BKK, wanting to know what was so special about Surin. I had told them about the truck coming. To say they were sceptical is an understatement. Never heard from her again, until one night I was in my favourite Bangkok pub and she called.

I had sent an SMS some days before begging for the memory card inside the Nokia mobile I had given her for the trip. Wanted the pictures and numbers therein. That's all. Got a pub waitress who speaks native English and Thai to ask her. Whatever story she was telling the waitress, a friend of mine, it was getting to her as her face gradually softened. The girl had pawned the nice Nokia and the shop owner wouldn't let her take the memory card out. But if I sent some money, she could get the phone out and mail me the card.

I told the waitress, we're done here. Well that escapade probably cost me 7,000 baht all told, including a multi-night hotel room upgrade for the grand return of truck girl to Surin for our wonderful temple tour, with my best friends.

[aussiebebe]

getting married - but it's also given me a unique insight into how much worse a mistake I could have made with another woman.

[IrishIvan]

Helping your friends out and lending them money. You always end up being the bad guy when you want the money or the favour back

[cms989]

I have to use Vietnam. I was way out in the stick in north Vietnam. My buddy's motorcycle was busted in a head on accident with a motobike. I have to go to get cash to pay the guy because we had barely any money left and had planned on using ATMs in the next town. The nearest town I could get to, low on gas, had no ATM. Bank people had no idea what I was talking about. I was able to western union myself some money using the shittiest internet connection on earth in a cafe.

Anyway get back, pay the guy. We walk the bike to the nearest village and get a room in the only hotel there. Nice place with a little cafe where the owners sat with us for tea. We go to eat and here comes the guy again. He's hovering around us and I'm being a bit rude because I'm sure he wants more money from us. He keeps going on in Vietnamese about something or other. He follows us back to the hotel with the owners and is having tea, explaining everything to them. We are all trying to communicate and not getting anywhere.

I'm very aware of not being visibly angry in this culture but I was the most upset I'd been in SE Asia. Nothing too bad but I obviously was annoyed with the guy and wanted him to go away. It had been a very stressful day. I had more experience in SE Asia than my buddy and was sort of the voice in his ear saying this guy is a scammer.

Guy goes home for the night and shows up again the next day. We finally get it figured out as he leads us down the road to a mechanic. The mechanic had to weld the bike back together. The guy knew we were low on cash and offered to pay for the repair. We took care of it and I felt like the biggest jackass ever.

[Sharp]

Thinking Tuk tuks and taxis were nice guys

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Dancealot]

Getting married, oh naive me, ohoh.

Oh and proposing while being, slightly, intoxicated.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Dancealot

[evadgib]

Wondering why on earth 2 pairs of socks suddenly hit the floor soon after I unclasped a bra:)

[dean999]

My first trip to Thailand and i went to Koh Chang with my now wife. Second day there, we got a twist and go scooter from the hotel. The wife and i jump on and woosh, we go staight across the road and into the bushes. The hotel staff couldn't stop laughing.

The problem was, i hadn't ridden a scooter for about 15 years and wasn't expecting the speed and just kind of froze with the excelerator wide open. Everything was ok, well....apart from my pride.

[NanLaew]

evadgib, on 19 Mar 2013 - 13:55, said:

Wondering why on earth 2 pairs of socks suddenly hit the floor soon after I unclasped a bra:)

...or, as the girl tells it, wondering why a tube sock fell to the floor when he unzipped his pants.

[hanuman2543]

To assume that Thai lawyers know the law.

[FunFon]

Had a three-year relationship with a lovely young lass fresh off the rice farm, boy did she work hard to give me everything I wanted, only had to send B5K a month home to help support her family each month and a little pocket money and occasional shopping trip to Bobae for her.

One day she let me know her clock was ticking (twenty years early by farang standards) and she wanted to tie the knot and have a kid or two, and I let her know I wasn't ready to do that all over again (50 at the time).

She said she'd give me three months to change my mind and in the meantime would start fishing in the online chat scene.

Three months later to the day she was gone, pre-sales tech support guy in the UK flew her off, she's now well settled with a couple of kids happy as a clam over there.

The next girl I hooked up with presented me with a fait accompli that she was preggers, I did the right thing by her, she turned out to be a complete psycho bitch, made another spawn before I was rid of her, am now supporting the lot and single to boot.

Mind you only the first part above was actually a mistake, the kids turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me no regrets.

And maybe if I'd have had them with the angel, they would have turned out to be devils themselves so who knows, maybe no mistakes made everything is the way it's supposed to be. . .

Once again a plug for the free vasectomy service at Cabbages and Condoms 8-)

[FunFon]

To assume that Thai lawyers know the law.

-

To assume that just any joe blow off the street isn't allowed to practice law here, that they have the same regulatory standards here as back home.

To assume that the law itself is as relevant and powerful here as back home.

[infinity11]

Hoping or thinking people in TV give a darn about what i think, my experiences, and what i post.

But honestly best to stick with facts!!!

I have had a few horror stories but tame in comparison.

Thanks for the thread and the responses!

[barefoot1988]

biggest mistake made in thailand.

possibly spent too much time in tv instead of exploring around

[bawheid]

My first trip to Thailand and i went to Koh Chang with my now wife. Second day there, we got a twist and go scooter from the hotel. The wife and i jump on and woosh, we go staight across the road and into the bushes. The hotel staff couldn't stop laughing.

The problem was, i hadn't ridden a scooter for about 15 years and wasn't expecting the speed and just kind of froze with the excelerator wide open. Everything was ok, well....apart from my pride.

Similar situation on Koh Chang. 5 miinutes after checking in at the hotel, tgf rented a motor bike. 5 minutes later we were heading for the treatment room. She managed to rent a bike with no front tyre tread