Simon1287

Pretty much always, if I am running and see any kind of dog I just stop running and walk until I am well past it. Saves the situation getting worrying most of the time and, certainly, carrying an umbrella (great for sunshade too) or a stick have kept all aggressive soi dogs I have ever met (1000's) at bay. Never ever had one even as much as make contact with the umbrella I was holding between me and him. Not that most soi dogs cause serious damage but it's all those trips to the hospital for rabies jabs that is the real annoyance. Always good to carry a few dog biscuits but not too many. I have had a few too many in my pockets on a couple of occasions and a most likely really hungry dog has actually smelt them and quickly become over curious. Keep them well wrapped maybe in a plastic bag if it's easy and fast to open.

I had a post with a quote removed too! I will try to be more careful in future. 68 seems almost certain yep.

Years ago I used to really enjoy wandering round with a water squirter spending all day soaking wet. Drenching people passing by in Baht busses and stuff. These days I love watching it as long as I am at least 4 stories up and dry! Though I do confess to emptying the occasional bucket of water from on high :)

It does seem pretty obvious that he is 68 but as I am not one of those people who automatically assumes that whichever news outlet first reports a story necessarily had it given to them by the hand of God Almighty himself that other news agencies or forums might later learn something different.

I did read the original story. I also read the first post in this thread. They do not concur, hence my question.

After years of jogging in Thailand I would say the best way is just to carry a few dog biscuits to give them. Instant friends. Certainly, especially if you have problems with dogs near where you live it's worth thinking about. I will say that after dozens of times (more probably) that aggressive noisy dogs have tried to get the better of me just carrying an umbrella has also been 100% effective. There are some viscous ones available in shops with metal pointed tips that won't get you into trouble with the law (I have never had to actually hurt a dog with one I hasten to say, the threat is enough) but just a 120 Baht 7/11 one will do. The thing is, unless it's a "devil" dog ie pit bull etc etc in which case say your prayers and be prepared for a fight to the death, the ordinary alpha male in a pack of soi dogs is a great big coward. No point anyone arguing against that point it has happened to me more times than I can remember over the past 30 years or so. If you are carrying an umbrella it will not cross that line to get to you. Just stop, face it and keep the brolly "aimed" low at it. They just bark and snarl and seem to be panicking about losing face with the other dogs now a farang has actually chosen to call their bluff and not run away and can't think what to do. Once it know's it's not your boss just back off and away you go and they save face by "chasing you off" and away they go back to the pack. 20 years ago I used to carry pepper spray (and worse) everywhere as dogs do seem to like joggers. Very effective but not legal so best avoided. I well remember going for a late evening run in Ubon Ratchatani many years ago and turned a tight bend in town and surprised a couple of Alsatians just a few feet away from me. Very unusual to see even one but two is very rare. They were startled and probably due to that were obviously intent on harm and luckily, due to it being night time I was actually carrying a very strong and very big can of spray of some sort in my hand and let rip with it straight into their faces. In a couple of seconds the two big aggresive dogs turned into meeping puppies. That's one of the very few times I ever had to use spray and I would far rather have not had to use it but suddenly running, almost literally, into two large Alsatians in the dark I had no time to think of any other escape plan other than being carted off by an ambulance in bits. Far more often than not though, it's not the dogs that come at you barking and snarling you need to worry about it's the ones that come at you quietly and unseen from the back, like assassins. Then they rip a chunk out of you and run away. Not much you can do about them unless you have eyes in the back of your head.

Yeah stones work well if no other way. No need to actually aim at the dog just the noise and sight of a stone flying along the road should do the trick. If walking, just the act of bending down to pick a stone up will scare most of them off as they are well used to Thai's throwing things at them. Problem is if a dog even just breaks your skin (or where do you draw the line exactly?) it's off to the hospital for multiple rabies jabs so it's not worth taking any chances.

No, I think you will find that means it doesn't matter if the girl gave consent. The parents, I think, are able to give consent. Problem is they then withdraw the consent and <deleted> happens. At least, I think that's how it works. Where does it say he paid her? Is he 28 or 68? If he is a 28 year old farang it's not inconceivable she would go with him free, which may be why the charge is not more serious. He seems to have got away with the least possible so far. Is there obvious signs of sex having take place? etc etc. It's far easier for the police and parents to get bribes, sorry, see justice done when the farang takes an underage girl from a bar as she is pretty much deemed to be a prostitute. I haven't seen the whole story (we never do) but there we are.

If money was paid then obviously not. I did mention that then somehow cut it out when I edited ! The charge in most "western" countries would not be statutory rape was my point. Age difference's come into play in various countries maybe but the basic age in the vast majority of western countries is less than 18. That is the law and we all have to stick to it. Anything else is a moral choice and none of your, or my business.

Did I read their "millionaire" parents flew in to Thailand? It's going to be a very expensive trip for them.. Even if justice needs to be seen to be done so the average Thai hooligan doesn't get the idea it's fine to beat up policeman, and a long sentence is imposed they will most likely "slip out the back door" in due course (within a year?) when it has all died down and everyone has forgotten about them. The only thing for sure here is that they are two very lucky men to have such a rich mummy and daddy as the end result, whatever it may be, would be vastly different for a poor pair of dickheads! Maybe it will turn out it was all just a misunderstanding and a picture of the brothers presenting the policeman with a pretty bunch of flowers will appear in the news :) No, probably not but in Thailand best not to make any guesses about anything really as it usually ends up being the opposite.

Assuming she was 16/17, how many "Western" countries can you name where it actually is though? Even at 15 some "Western" countries are ok with it. Just saying.

I was wondering that lol. Maybe they are using NZ as a testing ground before possibly rolling it out across the rest of the ones they don't care about. I doubt they'd give a stuff if a handful of Kiwis got upset so lets try a "grab all we can" as far away from anyone else as we can and see how it works. If it does then "Whooopeee! let's fleece more"

Yes, I was thinking it changed about a decade ago or something like that. Until then I used to spend the 800,000 every year, get more if needed but whatever happened made sure the full amount was back in the Thai bank three months (?) before the next retirement extension was due. No one at immigration cared back then if there was only one Baht left in the account three months and one day before the next extension.

But is that really the case. I know the memory plays tricks as the years go by but I really do not remember anything like the current levels of pollution say 20 or 25 years ago or I would never have stayed in Thailand so long. Maybe in the far north in the burning season (I can't remember) but in Pattaya etc it never used to be like this. (did it?) I well remember telling my mother I was off back to Thailand again just before Christmas, maybe 25 years ago, where it would be "just about solid sunshine for a few months" There is nothing in my head about "but air pollution so bad you can't even see Ko Larn sometimes" If it is really farmers burning rice fields to blame I don't see much will have changed there in 25 years. The huge amount of sugar cane burning that goes on nowadays, which was on a much smaller scale years ago, is a major culprit but mega money interests do a lot of it so don't expect a solution anytime soon, for obvious reasons. I can't remember if I am allowed to post an external link so if the following link vanishes just do a Google for "think global health Thailand sugar cane burning" where the very interesting article is at the page top. https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/tangled-problem-sugarcane-burning-thailand#:~:text=Sugarcane Bane,black carbon into the air.

So he sat there honking at a group of gogo bar male staff (Thai men well known for their great love of kicking the crap out of farangs at the slightest excuse) who were determined to stop him parking and then, presumably, he got out of the car to go and argue with them… Sounds like he got off lightly to me. I’ve seen 3 people shot dead in a side street (Hua Hin) for less.

If you must stay in Thailand for these few months of the year then move far south if it's at all possible for you. Anywhere south of about Chumphon is usually far better in the polluted months.

I do see a very small number of Thai's wearing them now but that is a very recent development indeed. In previous years you would have to have held a Thai down and forcibly put a pair of the things on them and then give them 6 months pay to walk even 100 yards wearing them. If walking past anyone they knew then a years pay would have been needed, for the humiliation. I imagine 99.99% of Thai's still feel the same way now though it may be changing. Slowly. As someone just pointed out in another post, any farang wearing a pair is instantly viewed as a cheap charlie. Actually, much worse than that.. Over the years I have tried a pair for a laugh that were intended to be a present for a farang in farangland, on a couple of occasions. Never again, which is a shame as they are actually super things to wear in the Thai climate, but I could see I was instantly transformed from a foreigner with money into something the cat dragged in the eyes of any Thai that saw me. If you must wear them then stick to backpacker ghettoes. The Thai's there are experts at hiding their disgust, for obvious reasons. Simon

I used to send a few pairs of those pants back to a family member every now and then many years ago. No Thai would have been seen dead in them at that time. I once wore a pair to see what they were like out of interest and every Thai I passed looked at me like I was about to ask them for money or a free meal. They were disgusted, though in the usual disguised Thai way not wishing to offend, with the exception of a couple of girls walking together who actually stopped and looked at them in total disbelief (down in the far south somewhere I think that was). I wore a pair on another occasion with the same result. I never wore a pair again. It was exactly like the time i took a Thai to Khao San Road for a wander round back in the 90's. She was utterly horrified. "Do they wear those horrible clothes in their country?" "No" "Then why they rude to wear them in my country??" Now, in very recent years I notice many Asians (including Thai's) wearing them. How times change! Simon

I bet you did though but yes, fun though this is the mods will tell us off soon so probably best we get on and do something more useful :)

Quiet? I have no need to to repeat myself. Only people like yourself do things like that. If you have not yet worked out how everything intermingles here to extract money from wherever it can be extracted from by saying, doing or writing whatever needs to be said, done or written then you really ought to go back to basic Thai school. On the other hand, you seem to enjoy the sport of winding as many people up as possible (nothing wrong with that. Its quite good fun) so you probably are as aware of stuff as anyone else really :) Simon

Yes, I speak with a lot of people. It's what most of us do to avoid living in a fantasy world. I suggest you try it sometime.

LOL you are the only one who does then judging by peoples reactions to your posts :) When I first arrived in Pattaya in about 1993ish just about any farang you could speak to would gladly have banged any of the multitude of 16/17 year olds that were in the bars then (as young as 14) but now most would say they wouldn't. Odd that. I once asked an old school friend of mine who is a psychiatrist why men had, apparently, changed so much in 25 years. He laughed and said they haven't, only what they say has changed to fit in with what everyone else is saying and some may even have convinced themselves its true, though most will be lying. He pointed out that when men have all moral and legal constraints taken away, as with ISIS and the like, its teenage girls they almost invariably prefer even if they aren't aware of it beforehand. In fact he went so far as to say that they might actually believe that even if they had permission from God Almighty himself to be teleported a planet a few million light years away from anyone they know and to do whatever they wanted to do with whoever they wanted to do it with that they would choose 30/40 year old women to do it with. Then he laughed. He also made a comment about men who post too much on online forums soundly condemning certain things done by other men. The phrase "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" came into it somewhere.

Who gives a crap what you believe.

With certainty, if you ask a girl who is 17 years and x months how old she is she will say 18. It's not a lie it's just how they think. Which I suppose could make sense especially if she's 17 years and 7 months as she's more 18 that 17 anyway I remember hearing about a farang in Pattaya I think it was years ago who was thinking of banging a 17 year old who claimed to be 18 and whose ID card showed her as 17 so he asked a policeman if she was old enough to which the very Thai reply was said to have been "Yes she is but not yet". Simon

As someone who has watched the bar scene change all over Thailand over the past 30 years, first hand, I can pretty much say without any doubt at all that finding a 17 year old in a normal tourist beer bar since about 2017 (?) is very very rare indeed and if one was found she would have tricked her way in with the help of a friends ID or a fake ID (of which there are many "legal" ones actually issued by corrupt officials for money) or by the owners wife lying to him about her as she was a friend/family member. The vast majority of beer bar owners in Pattaya etc etc won't allow an under 20 year old to even work in the bar selling beer in 2024 let alone go bang customers. They know if they get caught pimping her out the police will most likely take over the bar if they can't pay the enormous bribe and they will quite possibly still go to jail. For anyone who saw the thread about the German guy who was accused of taking an underage girl from Cobra bar in Pattaya then finding a way to flee Thailand (!) I seem to remember reading some posts that said the girl was 14. Made no sense to me at all as NO bar owner would be that stupid nowadays so I asked a policeman I know in Pattaya. He was involved in the case and confirmed she was in her 18th year. Ok, 17 but not far off 18 so though illegal hardly warrants stringing the guy up by his balls from the nearest lamppost as some on here would like. He may even have thought she was over 18 for all I know as after a dozen Beer Changs any ID card checking can be a bit cursory and even if sober the girls own mother probably wouldn't recognise the photo on 50% of them. Simon