Jump to content

The Bar With Everything ....


gobbledonk

Recommended Posts

Indeed, no point being as dumb as a box of monkeys, always pays to be cautious no matter what. I was rather referring to what I sometimes see as this - as I see it - perception that Thailand is somehow a dangerous place. Shit my kitchen is a potential war zone come abbatoir in the presence of a suitably dumb person, but just HOW dumb do you have to be?

 

I couldn't agree more mate.

 

I will be the first to admit that Thailand does have a high murder rate and a high incidence of physical violence than its neighbouring countries but these are mainly Thai on Thai as opposed to Thai on Farang, in fact the majority of reports one heres of a Farang being the victim of a violent crime the perpetrator is also a Farang. For expats one is more likely to be taken for a ride in white collar crimes such as business deals or marriages where the partner is on a long term scam only in it for the money.

 

There is a high proportion of "Non Confrontational" crime against Farang, pick pocketing, bag snatching / slashing, scams etc but again the majority of the victims are tourists who let their guard down when on vacation in the "Land of Smiles", it was only last weekend I saw a Thai slash into the backpack of a tourist in JJ Market, my Girlfriend shouted and he ran off before getting his hand in there. Once I pointed out to the tourist what had happened she was shocked, she was carrying her passport, airline tickets cards and cash in the back pocket of a pack she was wearing on her back where it couldn't be seen, I gave her a piece of advice in crowded areas always wear in front of you where it can be seen. She wanted to reward me but I refused, instead I saw a young child busking with a Khim (ขิม) and said drop her 20 Baht rather than give it to me I think she dropped her 100 Baht but that's Karma.

 

I don't wish to come across as a "Know-it-all" expat but I do come from a slightly rough Inner City area of the UK and have been in Thailand for near on 22 years now, I have spent most of my adult life in SE Asia (I left UK for Korea when I was 24 years old) damn I have been in SE Asia for nearly half of my life now, but one does tend to get a sixth sense of ones environment.

 

I have felt more vulnerable in majority of cities I have visited than the ones I have felt safer in, maybe speaking a little Thai helps to make me feel more comfortable here, at least in Thailand if I walk past a group of "Dodgy Looking Characters" and they start talking I know if they are talking about me, someone else or between themselves 90% of the time it's about where to go and eat and have a drink later but I can understand why people get paranoid.

 

OK back to work

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I 've taken walking around with all my stuff in my wallet, but I'm gonna reconsider this, as one night I was handing out 1,000 bht notes like confetti. I had a real hangover the next day. And I swore never to take that much money with me again...

 

Coss my Friend

 

You were mugged by Alcohol which could happen anywhere in the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed, no point being as dumb as a box of monkeys, always pays to be cautious no matter what. I was rather referring to what I sometimes see as this - as I see it - perception that Thailand is somehow a dangerous place. Shit my kitchen is a potential war zone come abbatoir in the presence of a suitably dumb person, but just HOW dumb do you have to be? In another thread Coss mentioned his prefernce for some sort of gene pool streamlining, strikes me as not such a bad idea.

 

I just do not think Thailand is a BAD place, sure there are parts of the city I wouldn't want to walk at night alone, or in company. Show me a liveable city of 10+ milion people that doesn't have such places.

 

When I refer to the 'denizens', I am referring to the various middle-Eastern/African/Indian criminals who have been busted in Pattaya and BKK attempting to rip people off. Card skimmers are a reality in every country I know of, and there are more sophisticated methods of raiding an ATM account - the suggestion that I get a Thai account and keep limited funds in that account is a good one. As for 'paranoia', mine isnt directed at the Thais, its firmly aimed at other foreigners. I recognise the cultural implications of keeping Thai notes anywhere near my feet, but I sincerely hope I never have to resort to said stash. Several of the guys on my Patts board report pickpocketing attempts in Walking St - in at least one case, the pickpocket was successful - having been the victim of that particular crime in China, its not an experience I care to revisit.

 

As far as the card is concerned, if I find myself spending more than 10K in a single night, particularly in Patts, it might be time re-visit the fiction I laughingly refer to as a 'budget'. :yikes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMHO it's different if you live in a country and have a daily routine or if you are on holiday.

 

Living in country usually means that you know 95% or so places and routes well. Therefore you know the "feel" of the places and how to behave/dress accordingly.

 

On the other hand, especially as a first time tourist in SEA you might be overwhelmed by your surroundings and might not detect dangerous situations/scam initially.

And of course Farang punters who drink all night and stagger drunk back to the hotel at 3am belong per se to a high risk group.

 

Actually, when I travel solo I have some basic rules, be it in Europe or Asia: I don't carry my passport with me (but a German ID card in case of an accident), only as much money I want to spend during the day/night and when I go out at night I carry only one ATM/credit card with me.

 

Current status of 34 years of traveling abroad:

- someone stole my beautiful Finnish hunting knife at a beach in Naxos, Greece, when I was 18. But I had left my whole backpack at the beach, while going swimming (we slept in a self build bambus hut at the beach)

- a team of pickpockets stole my wallet while leaving with my girlfriend the subway station at Place Pigalle, Paris. Loss 50 Deutsch Mark/ 25 EUR

 

I never had any problem in SEA.

 

PS: the most dangerous situation happened in front of my apartment house, when I lived in Bonn, at that time capital of Germany. I lived near some ministries which meant that this area had the highest number of police in Germany. Two junkies, one of them flashing a butterfly knife, asked for my wallet. Loss 50 Deutsch Mark/25 EUR (as a student I never had more money to spend.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

actually im not shy to admit i was robbed off my wallet with several cards including a thai atm debit card that was cleaned off (shop purchases faking my signature) some 50k before I managed to block it the next day! sure I was drunk & in a rugged afterhour club & of course driving home too!!

never again :surprised:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...