Some observations

[timendres]

37 minutes ago, timendres said:

Gutter language? Did I miss a post?

23 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Post #11 - refers to a post being removed.

Ah. Indeed, I had not seen that. Thanks.

 

[Pilotman]

OP,   you clearly haven't been in London lately.  It's a thousand times worse in all the ways you say Thialnd is  and wet and cold to boot , and peopled by miserable moaning folk.  

[Suradit69]

19 hours ago, Rc2702 said:

Forgive me but why on earth were you with your daughter in an area that had ping pong shows? Do you think the person waving signs  thought it was your daughter?

Quite. There are plenty of places in Thailand far more suitable for families and children where one is not accosted by vendors or where the lowest forms of "entertainment" are not on display.

 

I've lived here for more than 15 years and am not set upon by vendors nor do I spend any time in the relatively few places intended for sex tourists. I've never been in a restaurant where vendors harass diners.

 

I wonder if the O/P has taken his children to places like Amsterdam, London or Las Vegas and walked them through the red light districts. 

 

 

[colinneil]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

Gutter language? Did I miss a post?

Yes it has vanished, language was disgusting, appears mods have deleted it.

[buick]

the freelancers don't even show up on bangla until 11pm.   i lived in patong in 2007 and it was making the transition to family zone back then.  and it has fully transitioned now based on my visits over the last couple years.  sure you can hit the go go bars on soi sea dragon around 9pm or so but that is a side soi and not so many families strolling through there.  in some cases, the girls can't be bar fined before midnight so they aren't strolling down bangla until then.  i think the jungceylon development is a big reason for the change.  people go there and then want to stroll along the beach road and take bangla to get there (it is the most convenient way).  i'm not sure why the OP would even complain about the ping pong show advert.  so what.  you can endure worse sitting for a meal somewhere while a couple of loud mouthed farangs discuss their exploits from the previous night.

 

i have a number of friends with families who live in HK, singapore, and the PI and they stay in kata when they visit.  but we always go to patong for a night (i stay there) with the familes.  never heard any of them complain about the atmosphere not being appropriate for the kids.     

 

 

[Wilso]

My very smart and worldly young daughter wanted her photo taken with the lady boys. That's why we were in Bangla road. Mission accomplished. But I'm still going to ask. What would make anyone think that slapping a ping pong show sign into the face of a man walking hand in hand with his wife and nine-year-old daughter is acceptable? The fact that ANYONE could defend such actions (and I'm assuming their Thais) is incomprehensible. What the hell is wrong with you? I really feel sorry for the women and girls in your life.

[shadowofacloud]

Well, if she's smart and worldly enough to understand what ladyboys are about, I suppose she would understand the idea of a ping pong show. :-)

 

And I guess whoever "slapped you" with the sign, saw you let your daughter pose with a ladyboy for a photo and assumed that you guys are a fairly liberal bunch. ;-)

 

Nothing wrong with being liberal, of course.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

21 hours ago, sirineou said:

I have being coming to Thailand for the past 15 years and I have seen great improvement.

I cant Talk about all Thailand but in my neck of the woods there are cameras for speeding and  traffic lights all over the place. IMO it has made a big difference.

 No disrespect to places like Puckett and other tourist places but IMO these places are not Thailand but a commercial version, not unlike many places in the world with similar venues . 

IMO if you want to enjoy what Puckett has to offer you need to be prepared for all it has to offer and make effort to avoid that which does not suit you.

Puckett is not created only for you and your needs.

But I understand your frustration.

 

 

5

I agree that traffic lights are great but people need to understand that you are supposed to stop when the light is red.       Otherwise they are as dangerous as hell.

[sirineou]

16 hours ago, csabo said:

Phuket 

bless you

[sirineou]

18 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Coming to Thailand for 15 years and still hasn't learned how to spell Phuket . Amazing. And we accuse Thais of living in a bubble.....

Not everyone is a <deleted> genius like you

[bandito]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 6:28 PM, Wilso said:

I was walking through Bangla road with my wife and daughter. There were plenty of other families. Or maybe you'd prefer families stopped going to Thailand at all, and it existed purely for sex tourists?

 

That's the way it should be

[bandito]

16 hours ago, Wilso said:

My very smart and worldly young daughter wanted her photo taken with the lady boys. That's why we were in Bangla road. Mission accomplished. But I'm still going to ask. What would make anyone think that slapping a ping pong show sign into the face of a man walking hand in hand with his wife and nine-year-old daughter is acceptable? The fact that ANYONE could defend such actions (and I'm assuming their Thais) is incomprehensible. What the hell is wrong with you? I really feel sorry for the women and girls in your life.

 

Tell me, why did you agree to let your NINE year old daughter make a picture with a LADYBOY?

And walking with her in a prostitute zone?

What is wrong with you?

You know what?

I feel sorry for your daughter as it was you who exposed her to see this.

And believe me, it is going to make a life long impression on her thanks to her father.

Some father.

[buick]

21 hours ago, Wilso said:

What would make anyone think that slapping a ping pong show sign into the face of a man walking hand in hand with his wife and nine-year-old daughter is acceptable?

 

i don't think these guys put alot of thought into their 'work'.  they are like robots.  when i lived in patong, i would be asked if i wanted a suit, a seafood dinner, a tattoo, etc....  by the same people every single day.  even though my response was 'no' they kept asking and asking and asking, day after day, after day.  it was ridiculous.  after about two months, i would stop and talk with each of them 'you know me right ? you know i'm going to say no, why do you keep asking ?'.  they just kind of shrug and give a half smile.  and sure enough, the very next day, here we go again 'do you want a suit', 'fine seafood dinner here' (i hate seafood), 'tattoo for you sir'. 

 

you know how it finally stopped ?  i paid about 15 people 100thb each to stop with the madness.  and that ended it !!!  i was able to do my daily routine in peace for the next 10 months. 

[rickudon]

Well, i am not going to criticise him for going there, but yes you might get more than you bargained for, I would agree a bit OTT for the hawker to push his ping pong offers to a family, maybe some families go for it .....

 

Personally never been to Phuket in my 7 years here, and although have been accosted by a few touts in Bangkok have practically never been accosted up in Isaan., so not an issue for me. Again, in a tourist trap you get tourist prices and scams, not usually a problem elsewhere.  Driving? I wouldn't say particularly fast, in fact average speed is slower than Europe, just driving standards are poor.

[paulsingle]

On ‎25‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 1:06 PM, Rc2702 said:

No Wilso but it's widely known the area is not too family friendly at certain times and there is plenty of other places where you could have gone to which were the opposite of your experiences. Tarring thailand on the basis of one road. I guess HK is the same everywhere as chunking mansions.

I sympathise with Wilso about having Ping Pong flyers waved in his face while walking with his 9 year old daughter but as Rc2702 says, there are certain areas where this can be anticipated and especially certain times.

I have spent hundreds of evenings at a popular bar on the main street in Karon and the goings on there make the place unsuitable for children after about 10pm. It makes me angry to see families in there later at night drunk and raucous with their kids in tow. I've never been offered any sex show flyers though. I thought that only happened in certain streets in Patong and generally in the evening. Easily avoided I would have thought.

[Rc2702]

12 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

I sympathise with Wilso about having Ping Pong flyers waved in his face while walking with his 9 year old daughter but as Rc2702 says, there are certain areas where this can be anticipated and especially certain times.

I have spent hundreds of evenings at a popular bar on the main street in Karon and the goings on there make the place unsuitable for children after about 10pm. It makes me angry to see families in there later at night drunk and raucous with their kids in tow. I've never been offered any sex show flyers though. I thought that only happened in certain streets in Patong and generally in the evening. Easily avoided I would have thought.

The shocking info about his daughter wishing to see ladyboys. Nothing wrong with this of course but you can do that at any shopping mall you need not drag youngsters around places like that on the evening. Shocking reason and to blame it on the youngster too.

[paulsingle]

10 years of visiting ought to have been enough to know that this area is not suitable to take a nine year old girl for a photo shoot with the ladyboys.

[joecoolfrog]

On Monday, June 26, 2017 at 3:21 PM, Wilso said:

My very smart and worldly young daughter wanted her photo taken with the lady boys. That's why we were in Bangla road. Mission accomplished. But I'm still going to ask. What would make anyone think that slapping a ping pong show sign into the face of a man walking hand in hand with his wife and nine-year-old daughter is acceptable? The fact that ANYONE could defend such actions (and I'm assuming their Thais) is incomprehensible. What the hell is wrong with you? I really feel sorry for the women and girls in your life.

The amount of touts on Bangla these days is ridiculous , they are a nuisance and in my opinion worthless. You are correct in saying that they blindly point a sign at anyone within reach , no real attempt to identify likely customers.

[joecoolfrog]

14 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

10 years of visiting ought to have been enough to know that this area is not suitable to take a nine year old girl for a photo shoot with the ladyboys.

 

14 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

10 years of visiting ought to have been enough to know that this area is not suitable to take a nine year old girl for a photo shoot with the ladyboys.

You are being somewhat puritanical and are also out of touch. There are more ' families ' strolling along Bangla than there are customers in the bars. A large percentage of the Chinese / Asian / Middle Eastern / Russian tourists who make up the majority will never sit in a beer bar but still like to see the sights.

[gerryBScot]

Wilson you need to get your Thai missus to stick the boot in!  She should be looking after you and making sure you don't get taken to the cleaners!

 

During the eight years I lived and worked in Thailand I hated visiting the big resorts in Thailand especially those in the south. It didn't matter that I could speak Thai, read menus, etc, I was always overcharged. So I stopped visiting these places. I remember buying a day package to Murder Island from a resort in Chumphon. I was charged at the local rate but when we showed up at the pier the hydrofoil people attempted to extort the difference. I said very loudly in Thai that I am not paying a special price which led to stand off; eventually they relented as my two kids started piping up: what's the matter dad they started asking. On the coach on they way back to Chumphon the bus stopped a little bit shy of the railway station, like 400 metres and the guide announced that my fellow passengers could use the facilities in the hotel/restaurant outside - internet, shower, food etc - and that they would then take folk to the railway station to connect with trains northwards later in the evening . She went ballistic when I told the bus load of foreigners that the railway station was four hundred metres down the road, turn left and your there and suggested to them they would encounter very special prices in the hotel/restaurant.

 

But of course this is not just happening in Thailand. Tourist are fair game all over the world. What about London's 'smudge' men way back when. Put on a suit and shirt and tie, get a camera, and hang out at London's well known tourist attractions. Snap tourists and get them to pay up front on a promise of delivering the pictures to their hotels. A nice scam especially as there wasn't any film in the camera in the first place! 

 

Similarly don't expect people who are promoting sex shows to exercise discretion. You're the target and they have a job to do. It always amazed me that anybody ever considered being led away to such shows.

 

Funnily enough I have never felt I have been overcharged in China where I now live, even though I don't speak a word of the lingo and most of the locals don't speak English. But it never appears to be an obstacle. I had to get some documents printed before signing them, then get the signed copies scanned and then email them. Eleven pages in total, cost for everything 13 CNY, about 65 THB; then some ID photos, four standard size at 25 CNY; then send original documents etc by EMS at a cost of 8 CNY; lunch in the local Indian canteen today: chicken curry, dal tarka, potato and vegetable curry with rice and four scrumptious freshly cooked chapatis -  33 CNY, just south of 200 THB.

 

 

Here's the thing - if you think something is expensive then don't buy it.!