News Forum - Recent crimes in Phuket are damaging its reputation

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

Well you may not care about anything else but money, but I do.

Actually, my point was that "paying the same as the locals" didn't really worry me, as in nearly thirty years here I've probably paid a couple of hundred baht more in entry fees so less than 10 baht a year and that REALLY doesn't worry me unduly.

 

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

I’d like to be treated equally and fairly by the police.

... and you think Thais are "treated equally and fairly by the police"?

 

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

I’d like to be treated fairly and equally when I’m being served at the bank and a local feels they can just interrupt the person serving me.

... and that doesn't happen just as much to Thais?

Seriously, you need to get this chip off your shoulder and open your eyes a bit more - what you're getting upset about and see as happening because you're a farang happens to EVERYONE here, Thai or farang.

You're not 'speshul' - you just want to be!

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

Beyond that, I’d like to be able to own land and property and own my own business. But let’s start with a few basics shall we. 

Well, I'd like to have no inheritance tax on anything below 100 million baht, as I do in Thailand - that's pretty "basic" for me, but different countries - different rules!

[LoongFred]

10 hours ago, Fundok said:

I have done a fair share of travelling myself. Now expat for a 2nd time. Have a Thai wife which explains my affinity to Thailand. I think that I as a farang traveller am not always treated fairly, i.e. different entry fees, the extra test on day 5, taxi and Tuk Tuk rip offs.

Will I continue to go to Thailand? Sure (unless I get a new wife who is not from Thailand). But then, I am not a "normal" tourist because of my family ties.

If you go to tourist destinations especially Pattaya or Phuket there is a constant tug for tourist dollars/euros, but you'd see the same in tourist places back home. I've always been treated very well in other places and people are very honest. I  guess it helps because I speak politely and speak Thai. I really don't like places that cater to falang tourists because I understand what people are saying. 

So if you enjoy being hussled and cheated go to places that cater to such. Other places are better in my opinion. 

Pre covid we went to Chiang Mai every month or two. We frequently went with Thai friends to places that were almost all Thai,  they were always great and staff friendly. Of course they'd always ask where I was from etc. But mostly making conversation. 

My advice is to avoid the sleaze of Pattaya and  Phuket and see the real Thailand. It really great.

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, francoa said:

But I know personally too many people who were forced to bribe police in many occasions. People who are randomly stopped and illegally searched for drugs they dont have, asked to piss into container on the street. People stopped on their motorbikes, surrounded by 8 cops and harassed. And me walking by, stopping to see what is going on immediately pissing them off and now I was the target of them too, just for looking. People who actually bought a bag of weed from a police paid provocateur to end up being asked thousands dollars to let go…and the list goes on. So dear smartass, no, we just want to be approached normally, not as a milking money cow or some target of their hate towards us.

So, I'm sure, would Thais!

4 hours ago, francoa said:

And as I said and you ignored, to own people as well

Well, ummm ..... so you're being treated the same as the Thais are ?

[LoongFred]

21 hours ago, francoa said:

Lot of violence and homicides around Thailand. The police does not much.

Maybe they are focusing on farang abuse, own people bullying and closing bars way too much, instead of doing something actually worthy. 

Lot of violence if you hang around bars and such. Ordinary people don't experience it.

[LoongFred]

3 minutes ago, Stonker said:

So, I'm sure, would Thais!

Well, ummm ..... so you're being treated the same as the Thais are ?

Well if you dress and act the part. Act goofy and the police will ask questions. 

[LoongFred]

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

Well you may not care about anything else but money, but I do. I’d like to be treated equally and fairly by the police. I’d like to be treated fairly and equally when I’m being served at the bank and a local feels they can just interrupt the person serving me. Beyond that, I’d like to be able to own land and property and own my own business. But let’s start with a few basics shall we. 

You ask for a lot. Are you entitled to special treatment or something? As a tourist you need to follow the rules and learn to get along. One of the things I love about Thailand is the normal outstanding service. It's rare that someone jumps the line unless their transaction seemed incomplete. 

I don't expect special treatment and am happy to acomindate others.

Land/ house ownership is not a problem for me. My wife owns everything, but after nearly 47 years she has never let me down and I'm not interested in starting a business. 

[Rangers]

This forum is bonkers at times, the nonsense you read about thailand is incredible. "Don't go to phuket, it's horrible" "don't go to phuket it's too expensive" Expensive compared to what, a night out in Afghanistan? And what exactly is horrible about the place? People think Phuket is Patong and that's it, it's really not. There's Nai Harn beach, Rawai, kata, karon, kamala, surin. Not to mention the stunning islands that surround it. Holidaymakers base themselves in phuket and see all these places because they are beautiful. All you read on here these days is negativity. 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Rangers

[DWiener]

3 hours ago, Marc26 said:

It was super relevant that you made sure to include you stayed on your friends yacht   

Lol it WAS relevant because if he didn't have a yacht I never would have gone back to Phuket. Also it's a small yacht not big enough for any more than the 3 of them to stay on so we drove to where they were and spent the day on the yacht sailing up the west coast and they would drop us at a beach somewhere at night and then we had to deal with Grab vs The Taxi Mafia to get back to where our car was parked. 

^ was any of that detail necessary to make my point OTHER than the yacht being what it took to make me go back to Phuket? No. My mate teaches at an English school and the yacht is just sold for 1.8M baht. Hardly a fortune or a superyacht.

Sheesh, tough crowd

[Lowseasonlover]

58 minutes ago, Rangers said:

This forum is bonkers at times, the nonsense you read about thailand is incredible. "Don't go to phuket, it's horrible" "don't go to phuket it's too expensive" Expensive compared to what, a night out in Afghanistan? And what exactly is horrible about the place? People think Phuket is Patong and that's it, it's really not. There's Nai Harn beach, Rawai, kata, karon, kamala, surin. Not to mention the stunning islands that surround it. Holidaymakers base themselves in phuket and see all these places because they are beautiful. All you read on here these days is negativity. 

Yanui Beach is lovely 

[oldschooler]

15 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Tourist places all over are overpriced and over run

In most tourist places you have the main area that is over run and overpriced

All you have to, most times, is stay away from the main town

In Phuket, stay in any of the areas besides Patong 

Kata, Karon, Bang Tao

In Bali, we stayed in Seminyak, 20mins away from the busy area, and it was very pleasant 

“Where to stay” a different subject.

Patong 5 star resort way better than no star Karon room …

[oldschooler]

16 hours ago, Stonker said:

I've no great experience of either ... do the bar girls and boys in Blackpool go to Bournemouth when they can't make it in Blackpool any more, as the geriatrics won't notice, as they do from Pattaya to Phuket?

What I still can't get over is who do these people think they're fooling? Who goes to Phuket just for the beach? 

Seriously ?

My point was about general level of area Quality. Phuket is very decent overall whereas Pattaya isn’t. 

[Soidog]

4 hours ago, LoongFred said:

You ask for a lot. Are you entitled to special treatment or something? As a tourist you need to follow the rules and learn to get along. One of the things I love about Thailand is the normal outstanding service. It's rare that someone jumps the line unless their transaction seemed incomplete. 

I don't expect special treatment and am happy to acomindate others.

Land/ house ownership is not a problem for me. My wife owns everything, but after nearly 47 years she has never let me down and I'm not interested in starting a business. 

Good for you Fred. I’m delighted for you

[AussieBob]

7 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Yes Aussies know much better beaches in their homeland than Thailand has 

But many of the tourists that visit Thailand don't have beautiful beaches like Australia 

And I would say Thailand has the best beaches in Asia besides the Philippines 

Thailand has better beaches than Maldives or Indonesia or Malaysia - not.  Better marketed that is for sure, but not better.  As you say Philippines has far better beaches than Thailand - many better beaches.  

[AussieBob]

4 hours ago, LoongFred said:

If you go to tourist destinations especially Pattaya or Phuket there is a constant tug for tourist dollars/euros, but you'd see the same in tourist places back home. I've always been treated very well in other places and people are very honest. I  guess it helps because I speak politely and speak Thai. I really don't like places that cater to falang tourists because I understand what people are saying. 

So if you enjoy being hussled and cheated go to places that cater to such. Other places are better in my opinion. 

Pre covid we went to Chiang Mai every month or two. We frequently went with Thai friends to places that were almost all Thai,  they were always great and staff friendly. Of course they'd always ask where I was from etc. But mostly making conversation. 

My advice is to avoid the sleaze of Pattaya and  Phuket and see the real Thailand. It really great.

Unfortunately Fred a lot of tourists come to Thailand for the entertainment and fun - they have no interest in the culture or society.  Many do stay to live and they usually settle down and leave that behind and then they discover the real Thailand - some quicker than others - some sadly never do.   

[Benroon]

On 2/13/2022 at 4:11 PM, whitesnake said:

Good luck on that one!!! Thailand is in a sorry state at present I'm afraid. Most tourist destinations are either still closed or gone out of business! Chiang Mai (where I work!!!) is still like a ghost city! There's more life at a village cremation service than there is in the city centre at present! I'm sure "other" destinations in Thailand have a similar story to tell.

A holiday is meant to be time to relax and have fun and divert one's attention to more frivolous things to do; alas, you won't get that any of that here, at present.

Suggest: bring "War & Peace" or, "Calculus Theory Explained!" Both these will provide way more entertainment during your long days sat there thinking, "should I twiddle my thumbs a bit more?!" Apologies for p@ss$%g on your bonfire! 

Give your daily pessimistic anti Thai crap a rest mate - today I got up early to go and get fresh fish from the coast as the boats come in, cooked it for lunch next to the pool, then in the afternoon had a couple of hours on the jetski, frightening the crap out of myself mostly, tonight nice family meal out in a choice of restaurants and a choice of bars to have a few beers to top off a great day - I’ll get in and watch a rerun of Spurs getting slaughtered last night and go to bed happy. You get out of life what you’re prepared to put in. 

However whining and whinging endlessly as you do on expat forums which have never been the happiest of places, is not the best life I agree. 

If you’re skint, get a hammock, few cold ones and a good book - bliss ! 

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, oldschooler said:

My point was about general level of area Quality. Phuket is very decent overall whereas Pattaya isn’t. 

I suppose you get what you pay for, but those living in Pattaya seem rather happier with things than those living in Phuket, and that must suggest something!

[Rangers]

4 hours ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Yanui Beach is lovely 

Never been there but will give it a visit, looks lovely. Thanks mate 

[Tim_Melb]

On 2/13/2022 at 7:49 PM, dj230 said:

Sounds like a tourist trap, I have no clue why people go there

Partying and sex tourism. Not my thing either but I still understand it's a thing. 

[dj230]

21 minutes ago, Tim_Melb said:

Partying and sex tourism. Not my thing either but I still understand it's a thing. 

Doesn't seem like other places in Thailand are any different

[Tim_Melb]

11 hours ago, Marc26 said:

But people go to a developing and then are shocked when it isn't like a Western country

I don't disagree with this thought however I would not call Thailand a developing country any more. It's moved ahead of that, the pandemic economic setbacks will have slowed things down but it's the progress in the economy and standard of living that was causing the decline in sex tourism and complaints from that class of tourism and expats for several years before the start of the pandemic. It is also the reason the same community have been crying out about cities like Pattaya shutting down red light districts during the pandemic. Personally I'm sure that the walking streets will be back but not as big and a lot more expensive in the future but that is what you should expect as Thailand's standard of living gets closer and closer to that of Western countries. 

[Tim_Melb]

16 minutes ago, dj230 said:

Doesn't seem like other places in Thailand are any different

You obviously haven't seen much of the country then. 

[Marc26]

9 hours ago, Stonker said:

Agreed ... millions of Chinese people - they also go to Pattaya for the same reason.

Usually you are argumentative, but pretty smart

This is just stupid..............

 

 

[Marc26]

8 hours ago, Stonker said:

 

... and that doesn't happen just as much to Thais?

Seriously, you need to get this chip off your shoulder and open your eyes a bit more - what you're getting upset about and see as happening because you're a farang happens to EVERYONE here, Thai or farang.

You're not 'speshul' - you just want to be!

My wife wanted to buy PTT OR stock on it's IPO

She was directed to go to Bangkok Bank to participate

 

She said all the old Chinese-Thai ladies were trying to cut her in line constantly, the whole time...........

[Marc26]

8 hours ago, Rangers said:

This forum is bonkers at times, the nonsense you read about thailand is incredible. "Don't go to phuket, it's horrible" "don't go to phuket it's too expensive" Expensive compared to what, a night out in Afghanistan? And what exactly is horrible about the place? People think Phuket is Patong and that's it, it's really not. There's Nai Harn beach, Rawai, kata, karon, kamala, surin. Not to mention the stunning islands that surround it. Holidaymakers base themselves in phuket and see all these places because they are beautiful. All you read on here these days is negativity. 

I agree with most of that, but Phuket can be quite expensive, compared to anywhere

 

But as you said, outside Patong, can be quite affordable as well