Your mishaps/confrontations in Thailand

[Marc26]

Thinking about John's thread.............I don't think he's the only one who has had some mishaps and confrontations in Thailand

 

I definitely have had my fair share and can say I lost my temper when I probably shouldn't have and have been wrong on some occasions......

 

So maybe we can share some instances......

 

One I remember

We stayed at a shitty hotel on Soi 4

It was a big hotel, but don't remember the name............very dated

My stepson was 6-7yrs old and our niece was 8yrs old

I didn't know at the time, but the guests were mostly Muslim

 

So me and the kids went to the pool and it was just us down there.........

The kids were playing in the pool and I was laying out, reading

A Muslim lady, full garb, came down with a bunch of kids

 

After a bit, the manager came over and asked if my niece could put on a swimming cap

I asked why and he said the other guest requested it

I told him no, but he kept insisting........

He lingered by me, and I finally told him "she is not putting on a swim cap, so get away from me"

[Marc26]

One other one......

 

My wife and I went out on Bangla Rd and it was real late.........the discos were closing

 

I went to get BBQ and my wife went to order som tam

As I was waiting for my BBQ, this drunk Thai girl kept propisitioning me, I kept politely declining. Never raising my voice or being impolite.

But she got fed up and decided to try and hit me with the big beer bottle she was drinking

She was tiny so I just sort of hugged her and put her on the ground.............

Basically laying her gently on the ground

 

But of course, now so many of the Thai touts wanted to get involved and go after the farang

But one of the bartenders I knew came to my defense  and calmed them down and we walked away

 

But the drunk girl accused me of hitting her and the police came with her and stopped me............

But, so many Thais came up and told the policeman I did nothing wrong and didn't hit her at all

And to the policeman's credit, he listened to all the wtinesses and let me go, while admonishing the drunk TG

[BigHewer]

Good stories and good topic. I've had to think about this one. I've never had any confrontations or blow-ups in Thailand, certainly none with raised voices or frayed tempers. But that's not to say that I haven't seen a few in my time . That's from 20+ visits and one extended stay. Went to Korea and Vietnam once each for three days and had a blow up in both.

I would say that Thais are very good at defusing tense situations, which is something I'm inclined to do.

[Marc26]

47 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Good stories and good topic. I've had to think about this one. I've never had any confrontations or blow-ups in Thailand, certainly none with raised voices or frayed tempers. But that's not to say that I haven't seen a few in my time . That's from 20+ visits and one extended stay. Went to Korea and Vietnam once each for three days and had a blow up in both.

I would say that Thais are very good at defusing tense situations, which is something I'm inclined to do.

I've cursed and yelled at a tax driver that purposely block my MB in, in Samui

 

But I've never cursed and screamed at regular service people

 

There has been times I've lost my temper a bit and was wrong to do so

But more raised voice than cursing and yelling 

 

But I'm older(thought not much wiser  )

So have mellowed out.....

[steve860]

8 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Thinking about John's thread.............I don't think he's the only one who has had some mishaps and confrontations in Thailand

I definitely have had my fair share and can say I lost my temper when I probably shouldn't have and have been wrong on some occasions......

So maybe we can share some instances......

One I remember

We stayed at a shitty hotel on Soi 4

It was a big hotel, but don't remember the name............very dated

My stepson was 6-7yrs old and our niece was 8yrs old

I didn't know at the time, but the guests were mostly Muslim

So me and the kids went to the pool and it was just us down there.........

The kids were playing in the pool and I was laying out, reading

A Muslim lady, full garb, came down with a bunch of kids

After a bit, the manager came over and asked if my niece could put on a swimming cap

I asked why and he said the other guest requested it

I told him no, but he kept insisting........

He lingered by me, and I finally told him "she is not putting on a swim cap, so get away from me"

There's normally signs at swimming pools if bathing caps are required, been to many that have this signage.

[Marc26]

44 minutes ago, steve860 said:

There's normally signs at swimming pools if bathing caps are required, been to many that have this signage.

This was because the Muslim lady complained 

 

But I've also stayed in about 100 hotels all through Thailand and never seen a swimming cap requirement

 

Not saying there isn't in some hotels

I've just never seen it 

 

 

[OOber]

I used to walk my dogs every day in the morning and we passed a large house where the elders would come to the fence making shoo sounds and gestures, although I would walk on the other side of the street. One day the lady of the house, who I assume is a high ranking government official since she lives in a very large house and hardly ever goes to work in the morning, anyway, she approached me at the fence and said in near perfect English that I am banned from using the streets in our village since I am a dirty foreigner and all of us smell like dog feces. I said nothing since why wife always reminds to let Thais deal with Thais.

Later that day, my wife and I wrote a letter to our committee to report the incident; just to let them know. The committee went in full force to her house, told her she was a disgrace to the community, which she never contributed to, unlike the 'dirty' foreigner and they would seek police action if she ever talked to me again. Needless to say I really appreciated this and feel very much part of the community. And that lady and I haven't spoken since.

[BigHewer]

I was talking about this thread with my wife yesterday and she reminded me of one incident about 10 years ago in Ao Nang, Krabi. Just as a side note before I tell the story, my wife is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, always friendly, smiling and positive. Certainly non-confrontational. She does however, take food rather seriously and that brings us to Ao Nang. If you ever want to try the worst version of all the famous Thai dishes, spend a few days in Ao Nang and visit some of the restaurants there. Bland flavors, inappropriate ingredients, the wrong rice, all the boxes are ticked.

Curiously, most of the restaurants along the main tourist strip have south Asians in the kitchen, i.e. from India or Bangladesh. Now I love an Indian curry as much as the next person, but there is something not quite right about using Indian spices to flavor Thai dishes. Basmati rice also doesn’t belong in a lot of Thai dishes.

We stayed there a week. One ordinary meal after another. By about day 4, we noticed what was going on in the kitchens. We entered a restaurant for dinner, started looking at the menus and suddenly, the wife stood up, boldly walked to the back of the restaurant where the kitchen was, strode back to the table grim-faced and announced, “we’re leaving”. 

Next restaurant, she asked the tout out front directly, “Are all your kitchen staff Thai?”. No dice there, so we moved on. You know those nights when couple tension starts to rise when you can’t agree on where to eat? Well it was like that.

Finally, we found a Thai restaurant and triumphantly took our table. Ordered almost immediately. My wife wanted a good quality tom yam goong. The waitress took our order, then shouted across the restaurant, “Tom yang goong sorng, mai phet” (2 Tom yang goong, not spicy - the last part was her own addition). The wife stood up and sternly said to the waitress in our broken Thai: “Not spicy! You don’t understand spicy. We know spicy! We are from Indonesia!”. Another restaurant exit.

Finally, we found a ma and pa Isaan food cart way down the strip and it was brilliant. 

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, BigHewer said:

I was talking about this thread with my wife yesterday and she reminded me of one incident about 10 years ago in Ao Nang, Krabi. Just as a side note before I tell the story, my wife is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, always friendly, smiling and positive. Certainly non-confrontational. She does however, take food rather seriously and that brings us to Ao Nang. If you ever want to try the worst version of all the famous Thai dishes, spend a few days in Ao Nang and visit some of the restaurants there. Bland flavors, inappropriate ingredients, the wrong rice, all the boxes are ticked.

Curiously, most of the restaurants along the main tourist strip have south Asians in the kitchen, i.e. from India or Bangladesh. Now I love an Indian curry as much as the next person, but there is something not quite right about using Indian spices to flavor Thai dishes. Basmati rice also doesn’t belong in a lot of Thai dishes.

We stayed there a week. One ordinary meal after another. By about day 4, we noticed what was going on in the kitchens. We entered a restaurant for dinner, started looking at the menus and suddenly, the wife stood up, boldly walked to the back of the restaurant where the kitchen was, strode back to the table grim-faced and announced, “we’re leaving”. 

Next restaurant, she asked the tout out front directly, “Are all your kitchen staff Thai?”. No dice there, so we moved on. You know those nights when couple tension starts to rise when you can’t agree on where to eat? Well it was like that.

Finally, we found a Thai restaurant and triumphantly took our table. Ordered almost immediately. My wife wanted a good quality tom yam goong. The waitress took our order, then shouted across the restaurant, “Tom yang goong sorng, mai phet” (2 Tom yang goong, not spicy - the last part was her own addition). The wife stood up and sternly said to the waitress in our broken Thai: “Not spicy! You don’t understand spicy. We know spicy! We are from Indonesia!”. Another restaurant exit.

Finally, we found a ma and pa Isaan food cart way down the strip and it was brilliant. 

I actually really like Ao Nang but I didn't really put much thought into until reading this

 

That most of the meals I have eaten there have been rather unexceptional 

 

Both Thai and Western food

 

I chalked up the western food being bad for it is mostly Scandinavians over and I dont particularly like their pallet for food

[BigHewer]

1 hour ago, Marc26 said:

I chalked up the western food being bad for it is mostly Scandinavians over and I dont particularly like their pallet for food

The target market definitely affects what’s being dished up. 

It’s similar in other places. Si Racha is another dodgy town for Thai food, because of the large number of spice-sensitive Japanese diners they get. And the worst Indonesian food is in Kuta, because half the customers are drunken Aussies. 

[FTF020]

Not my mishap, but probably my most "WTF" night in the LoS.

 

First trip to Thailand, everything pre-booked, did BKK, Koh Samui then ended in Patong. I had already figured out beer bars are not my thing, but neither are clubs and I didnt find much 'regular' bars around (I was in Soi Sansabai). So I found one of the quieter beer bars, and hung out there. After a night or two they figure out i'll buy some ladydrinks/shots but not much else and they tolerate me/give me food etc. 

One of the last nights I was there it seemed busier than the others, and it turned out besides two groups of apparently returning tourists, there was a bunch of the girls' friends. One of the friends makes it very clear very soon I'm not to go home by myself that night. I give myself a mental high-five and start enjoying the drink and the company(except for the russian lady that kept handing me her phone with google translate saying I "shouldn't trust those 'black' girls").

Fast forward a few hours and many drinks (bar's officially shut, which just meant a thin tarp pulled down the front), and I am clear enough to notice the level of Thai voices going up. Turns out the lady I thought to be the boss/manager/mamasan was one of the bargirls' lover and they're having a quarrel. An icecube flies one way, a spoon the other, there is some punching and then a bottle goes airborne. The bottle missed, but burst on the floor, and one of the shards hits another bargirl in the shin. A surprisingly large hole appears and starts bleeding profusely. There is lots of shouting, some crying but at least the fight stopped.

The girl I was with tells me we're leaving, since that's her roommate and she needs to get to the hospital. I don't question any of the logistics(i'm a bit freaked out but still not giving up on free companionship!) and we get on her motorbike. After a while we get to a house on a sloped road and she goes inside. Minute later and she's backing out a car out of a garage that's at a nasty angle to the driveway and the road. She spends the next 5 minutes bumping it into the walls on both sides before I knock on the window and ask her if "maybe she's a bit too drunk to drive". As if it never occured to her she agrees and scrapes the car back into the garage. We then walk down to the main road(leaving her MB) and get a moto taxi. This gets a flat tire halfway through, and we end up walking the last stretch.

So, at least an hour later we're back at the bar and everyone is still there. Then 5 of us get on two motorbikes(don't remember if my friend was driving again) and we get to the hospital. Now although still slightly drunk, I could swear that the hospital wasn't all that far from where we were, and also in the same direction as their house. Despite it being near empty there is a lot of waiting and I think I dozed off. Next thing I remember there is shouting again and I look into the first aid place(?) and I see my friend throwing papers around and throwing money at someone from the hospital. She gets escorted out by the security guy and I meekly follow. Outside she says they were treated badly because they were 'party girls' but she set them straight and we have to wait for her roommate. We wait another while, the others come out, exchange no more than 5 words, and they head off on the motorbikes. We get on another mototaxi to my hotel (easily walkable distance) and turn in at like 8. Fun was had, she leaves early afternoon and didn't see her again.

Never got the chance to ask what the point was of getting a car (drunk) to go back to the bar to go the short distance to the hospital which we eventually did by motorbike anyway. Or how much her monthly bil in car repairs was. Also went to the bar one more night, no one mentioned the drama so I guess such things were a regular occurence.