A Few Notes On Leaving Thailand

[Mobi]

I've just been reading the latest edition of Pattaya Today, and found someone else's notes on the new airport by Peter Lloyd.

I have to say I agree with him on all counts.

The ‘New” Airport

I was glad to have given the new airport a month’s worth of operations before flying out of it and then back again this week. Unfortunately I have little positive to say about the experience, except to say I hope the airport’s construction made many people richer, and not just a couple of people, as every single thing that can possibly have been shaved, squeezed, slid, removed and nicked out of the construction budget seems to have been done with remarkable efficiency.

It could have been a world class airport, but it just looks, from the inside, tatty, poorly built and a massive rip-off of taxpayers money. Admittedly it looks superb from the outside both day and night, and the road access to it is excellent, and I like the statuary on the airport approach roads. Once you are inside, it all changes. The nasty, cheap finish to everything that can possibly have been nastily and cheaply finished, from the nasty cheap plastic finishes on the carts, to the nasty cheap finishes of the ceilings, which have completely inappropriate grills over them (see photo of giant cobweb by the light). It all smacks of skimmed money and threadbare finishing to make the best of a well-plundered job. Here are some points I noted, in no particular order, although I am only writing about my own departure and arrival. Others may have had a better experience:

1. You STILL do not have carry on bags security-checked before or after immigration, so you arrive in the departures lounge with no security check, which is only done at the gate. This is absolutely astonishing, not to mention dangerous. Did someone skimp on the security budget?

2. You STILL have to pay cash for departure tax. That easily raided, primitive tax

collections system must be a nice little earner for someone.

3. As befits the world's capitalist Capital, the departures terminal is a tribute to unbridled capitalism. The best thing about it is the expensive finish and well-planned layout (and signage of course) of the shopping areas. No expense has been spared by the retailers or the airport. Unfortunately it throws the cheap finishes, bad design and signage of the rest of the airport into sharp relief.

4. Toilets - few, dirty, wet, smelly, badly designed, and poorly finished. They are

such a disgrace I didn't even use them when we came back, but held on until the services en route to Pattaya. The old airport's toilets were spotless and plentiful.

5. Signage for almost everything in the airport (except the shops) is appalling. Really unacceptable. I hope someone is enjoying the balance of the signage budget somewhere.

6. King Power's outlets, adverts, signage are everywhere. Anyone care to hazard a guess why? On arrival I was appalled when I finally got to present my passport, to see King Power brochures on the arrivals immigration desk, plugging their shopping complex in Bangkok. Surely immigration forms might be more appropriate there?

7. The arrivals immigration booths are too few, too small and have been located in a

congested area, so there were huge queues when I arrived (the longest I have ever had to wait at immigration in Thailand in my life). Many people were frustrated at the slowness of the lines, and the lack of staff on duty. Still, it gave us all time to admire the giant cobwebs in the ridiculously covered ceiling and to fire off a few photos. The arrivals area creates a poor impression after a long flight.

8. The fact that the predominant airport finish is grey and gloomy might conceivably be down to design, but I prefer to see it as being another skim job on construction funds, going for the cheapest finish possible - ie unfinished.

It is a disappointing experience. And I am being KIND in my comments above.

[astral]

Langkawi Island in Malaysia, is virtually 100 % Muslim, yet we found a lovely little bistro in the shopping mall which served us beer in the middle of the afternoon with no problems or fuss.

Langkawi is a duty free area, so booze is cheaper than on the mainland!!

On the mainland a large beer costs at least MYR12 (120 baht),

one of the disadvatages of Malaysia.

[astral]

1. You STILL do not have carry on bags security-checked before or after immigration, so you arrive in the departures lounge with no security check, which is only done at the gate. This is absolutely astonishing, not to mention dangerous. Did someone skimp on the security budget?

This was true at the old airport and it is sad to hear the same applies at the new one.

The security breach here has been pointed out ad nauseam.

I guess we have to wait for a bomb to go off, before it corrected.

[sabaijai]

Great OP, Mobi! I am also becoming a Malay convert. I feel the infrastructure [not without its own problems] is far better geared to tourism these days. Of course, if you only want to drink yourself blind and screw, Malaysia is not the place if you do not wish to pay top Dollar, but as a destination to take the wife, enjoy great food,have more than a few beers, talk to friendly people all the while being governed by rule of law and policed by men and women who seem truely professional, Malaysia is becoming very hard to beat.

Malaysia is of course not Heaven on Earth, but they are doing their damndest to make it that way, especially as regarding their attitude to foreign GUESTS, along with the money they bring in. Even the [Tha] missus sighs after the train departs Padang Besar. Does that not say something?

I bet this couple would have trouble agreeing with you... Have you ever seen the sharia police in action? First day in KL, police stopped us on street (just outside KLCC) and rudely demanded my wife's passport. You people promoting Malaysia are being extremely naive.

My wife sighed in relief that after living there for over a year and we left.

TH

<deleted>? Sharia police? You sure you didn't get on the wrong plane?

I have worked here in KL for best part of a year on this occasion and I have never been stopped or even questioned by the police. The times I pass by them at their posts I nearly always get a cheery grin and a "good day sir" and my apartment is about 100 metres from the US embassy so there is a higher than usual police presence. I believe that the police do get a bit heavy handed during their raids on nightclubs when they are after drugs but provided you have ID and are clean there is no problem.

You may have been approached by scammers as we were all warned to be wary if approached by people claiming to be, amongst other things, police. The advice by the staff at the accommodation is that Malaysian police do not demand to see ID from foreigners unless they strongly suspect that something illegal is going down.

I worked in Thailand for 12 years, paid taxes blah blah etc and what did I get for it? Nothing except the pleasure of being fleeced, officially and unofficially, at every occasion possible. Here in Malaysia I have an expatriate ID card which enables me to use the Malaysian channels at immigration and they don't need to stamp my passport. An insignificant benefit you may say but a gesture of goodwill absent in Thailand.

I have been working towards retirement to Thailand (once I've got the requisite funds) but with the way the country is going other options are looking more attractive. Next weekend I'm off to Philippines and February it will be Viet Nam. Thailand is still my preference but I am looking at the alternatives.

Try Googling for "sharia police" and "Malaysia." Or more hits from "religious police" and "Malaysia".

Sample article:

Malaysian religious police slip up

Kuala Lumpur (dpa) Malaysian authorities on the northern island of Langkawi have issued an apology to an American couple after anti-vice religious authorities stormed into their home in the middle of the night and accused them of improper behaviour, a news report said Friday.

American tourist Randal Barnhart, 62, and his wife, Carole Joanne, 61, were fast asleep when six officers from the state's religious department pounded on the door of their rented apartment last month.

The officers demanded to see Barnhart's ``woman,'' following which they demanded that the duo produce their marriage certificate as well as travel documents before agreeing to leave.

The religious department in mainly Muslim Malaysia is empowered to enter the homes of Muslims suspected of having sexual relations outside of marriage.

An enraged Barnhart lodged a report demanding an apology, a letter pledging that the couple would not be bothered anymore and compensation of 4,315 ringgit (1,166 dollars) to cover the cost of the airplane ticket to send the traumatized Joanne home to the United States, the New Straits Times daily said.

Barnhart said that he was satisfied with the apology issued by the tourism board but said the religious department had yet to answer his complaints, it said.

He had earlier threatened to cancel plans to retire in Malaysia and accused the religious department of misusing its power.

State religious departments have often come under fierce criticism for the overzealousness of its officers in staking out deserted parks and even apartments to nab suspected sexual offenders.

Source: Apostille

When I taught at MARA University in KL, they made regular visits to make sure the students weren't committing khalwat.

[roguegirl]

When I taught at MARA University in KL, they made regular visits to make sure the students weren't committing khalwat.

I thought their targets are Muslims only...? Are you saying that they go after just any Malaysian citizens?

[OlRedEyes]

Here in Malaysia I have an expatriate ID card which enables me to use the Malaysian channels at immigration and they don't need to stamp my passport. An insignificant benefit you may say but a gesture of goodwill absent in Thailand.

It is this basic goodwill that is so sadly lacking in all Thai dealings with foreigners nowadays.

I spent many years in account management for a large international IT firm, handling very powerful banking and retailing customers. It is amazing how much <deleted> my firm could get away with (problems in spares availability etc) simply by showing a good attitude, decent communication etc. towards the customer.

The double pricing, ripoffs and general lack of decent service would be mostly ignored if the Thai didn't have this pervasive arrogant and aggressive attitude that is so evident nowadays. The smiles used to cover all that quite well years ago. Certainly doesn't anymore.

There is a glaringly obvious lack of goodwill anywhere you go.

[PhilHarries]

When I taught at MARA University in KL, they made regular visits to make sure the students weren't committing khalwat.

I thought their targets are Muslims only...? Are you saying that they go after just any Malaysian citizens?

I can offer my experiences from working in Terrengganu state (Muslim) and Kuala Lumpur.

Terrengganu, immediately after they went Muslim thing were a bit tense and hotels and resorts were raided to ensure compliance with their interpretation of sharia law. After a while they realised that tourists were voting with their feet and they backed off. There still are a few quirks to watch for but provided you aren't stupid they leave westerners alone. Dress code, outside the resorts, you are advised to be modest. The vast majority are Muslims and I can't comment on how a Christian Malay would get on. This was back in the mid nineties so things may have changed a little.

Kuala Lumpur is far more laid back and abounds with night clubs, pubs, bars and other forms of entertainment. Dress code generally is pretty well what you want although you are advised to avoid being too outrageous. There are plenty of beautiful Malaysian young women, very trendily dressed gracing the streets of KL every day and no public floggings. Malaysians, as with most Asians, are not comfortable with overly intimate contact between the sexes (or the same sexes I guess) so you are best advised not to indulge in a full on tongues snog in public.

As I said, ignored as it don't fit the opinion, I have been here a year and almost never even spoken to a policeman. There is no sharia police despite urban mythology to the contrary. There are "religeous departments" in the Muslim states, to which the article refers not sharia police, but they target predominantly Muslims. That they occasionally get over zealous is testament to human nature and occurs with police/security forces worldwide. Or have we forgotten a Brazillian gentleman in London a while back?

In my exprience I have found Malaysia to be a very tolerant society towards foriegners and if the gentleman in the article wishes to take his retirement dollars elsewhere he could always try the Philippines. I am sure he and his good wife would feel very secure there although he might find lugging his .357 around gets a little tiring (only joking it aint that bad, well only a little ).

Apologies for being but I prefer to believe what I experience. The stuff on the internet is all to often somewhere between biased (at best) and utter cr@p and best taken as a rough guide.