Retired paraplegic Brit: "I am like a prisoner in my own home"

[colinneil]

11 minutes ago, poanoi said:

given he was already 50 when he came here first time,

"I came here for the ladies"="sex tourist",

cause, there aint none interested in a 50 yo fart without financial compensation

Well at least i am honest about it, i suppose you came here for the scenery and culture.

You came here as a ... Using your words Sex tourist, just the same as the rest of us... OK .

[cornishcarlos]

I came here for the cheap dive courses, honest gov'na ?

[impulse]

44 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I was forced out of Thailand after living there for 12 years or so. The reason? Drug-dealers invading my property and death threats (2 of my local staff had already been shot dead and their killers never brought to justice).

This wasn't in some Issan back-water, but within spitting distance of Phuket International Airport.

I despair of the direction in which Thailand is heading, with increasing use of drugs and extreme violence to settle the most minor of disputes.

 

 

Not meaning to split hairs here, but is it the drugs or the war on drugs that's causing your issues?  Because there's a lot more booze and a lot more alcoholics than drug addicts.   Yet it's been a long time since I've read about a rum runner shoot-em-up. 

 

I'd contend that it's the so called war on drugs causing a lot of these problems.  Making them illegal and risky just ramps up the prices, supports criminality, and makes people do despicable stuff for the resultant money.

 

That's my shameless plug for legalizing weed and giving the people a better choice than booze and yaba if they feel the need.  Not that I imbibe.  I took the oath in 1988.  I just hate to see lives destroyed by the laws meant to protect us.

 

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, cornishcarlos said:

I came here for the cheap dive courses, honest gov'na ?

It would not be polite of me to say you are telling porkies.

[InMyShadow]

Ever thought of selling up and moving to the relative safety of Pattaya? 

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Ever thought of selling up and moving to the relative safety of Pattaya? 

 

Of those two, which do you recommend?

 

Edit:  Sorry, couldn't resist...

 

[cornishcarlos]

4 minutes ago, colinneil said:

It would not be polite of me to say you are telling porkies.

 

No, I actually did... Worked at Easy Divers on Koh Tao back in 2001 ?

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, Pat in Pattaya said:

 

''Colin came more than 50 times to Thailand over a 21 year period''

 

Mmmm. Now I wonder why that was? All the lovely places to visit in the world (many closer to the UK) but was a serial visitor to Thailand. That said, all the best Col.

What are you doing in Pattaya?

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, InMyShadow said:

Ever thought of selling up and moving to the relative safety of Pattaya? 

Have thought about moving, but being paraplegic makes things a lot harder.

I cannot get on my bed without assistance, ok have an electric winch but still need help.

If we did move, the home would have t be adapted for me, ramps/ winches etc.

Also my wife was born only 100 meters from here, her family are all here.

[InMyShadow]

Just now, impulse said:

 

Of those two, which do you recommend?

 

It's refreshing to finally get the truth about village life instead of the usual dribble. Thank God most of us didn't lose our marbles and blindly chased a skirt into the jungle and set up house on papa's farm... To late to walk away then 

[simon43]

@Impulse, speaking in general terms, and of course IMHO, it is the growing use of drugs such as Yabba and kratom which is making Thailand drop down my list of retirement locations.

I can manage old drunken men, but not unpredictable young men high on yabba or kratom. (Before you tell me that kratom is a minor soft drug that causes no harm, tell that to my Chinese female guests who were chased through the nearby wood by an idiot high on kratom and waving a loaded gun at them - it is documented by them on TripAdvisor!).

I imagine that many users of these drugs partake because they see little future in their lives. Whatever - I personally don't need those hassles, I want to enjoy a quiet life.

[BritManToo]

36 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Had 4 days in Bangkok, not impressed, then went to soi 8 in Pattaya, enough said.?

Yes, I didn't think much of BKK either.

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

No, I actually did... Worked at Easy Divers on Koh Tao back in 2001 ?

you need a t-shirt ..... "I survived Death Island".

[ChidlomDweller]

11 minutes ago, simon43 said:

@Impulse, speaking in general terms, and of course IMHO, it is the growing use of drugs such as Yabba and kratom which is making Thailand drop down my list of retirement locations.

I can manage old drunken men, but not unpredictable young men high on yabba or kratom. (Before you tell me that kratom is a minor soft drug that causes no harm, tell that to my Chinese female guests who were chased through the nearby wood by an idiot high on kratom and waving a loaded gun at them - it is documented by them on TripAdvisor!).

I imagine that many users of these drugs partake because they see little future in their lives. Whatever - I personally don't need those hassles, I want to enjoy a quiet life.

Have to agree with you there.  While in theory I'm all for leaving people free to harm themselves, pragmatically speaking I'd rather never see it legalized.  You can argue about soft drugs, but we all know how selfish hardcore drug addicts get, even stealing from their own family and friends.  

 

Then there's also the irresponsible quoting of that Lancet study by Felix Qui, forgot the exact cite, but that ridiculously flawed Lancet paper (not a scientific study, just a summary of a panel discussion) that says alcohol causes more harm than heroin WITHOUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that there are vastly more alcohol users.  It's like saying ocean liners are more dangerous than homemade rafts for crossing the ocean, which I bet is true by that reckoning.  Fact is, about 1 in 50 people who get involved with heroin dies from it.  It's just mendacious to say alcohol is more dangerous.  I just mention heroin because that's the number I remember.  I'm pretty sure uppers like meth and coke are equally bad, as the thread topic illustrates.

[marko kok prong]

Love Colin's post's and his exceptional strength of will in the face of an extremely difficult situation.

[Dmaxdan]

A sad state of affairs for Colin the Cranky Old Bugger. I genuinely feel for you, but it is difficult to comprehend how you actually feel yourself. I have always counted myself lucky that I live in a village where the locals are friendly and so far pretty much nothing bad has ever happened, certainly in the 9 years I've lived here.  Famous last words of course....   

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

32 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Have thought about moving, but being paraplegic makes things a lot harder.

I cannot get on my bed without assistance, ok have an electric winch but still need help.

If we did move, the home would have t be adapted for me, ramps/ winches etc.

Also my wife was born only 100 meters from here, her family are all here.

Are there any nearby towns (within easy visiting distance) you might move to? I realize the hassle involved in moving into a new house but might be worth it in the long run. I would not count on law enforcement improving matters.

 

Would not suggest  nearby village that is safer because in small villages that can change pretty fast, as it did where you know are. But a town/city is usually much safer and likely to stay so, if there is one that would be in commuting distance for your wife and day visit distance to her family.

 

Being closer to medical facilities would also be a plus especially as you get older.

 

[impulse]

31 minutes ago, simon43 said:

@Impulse, speaking in general terms, and of course IMHO, it is the growing use of drugs such as Yabba and kratom which is making Thailand drop down my list of retirement locations.

I can manage old drunken men, but not unpredictable young men high on yabba or kratom. (Before you tell me that kratom is a minor soft drug that causes no harm, tell that to my Chinese female guests who were chased through the nearby wood by an idiot high on kratom and waving a loaded gun at them - it is documented by them on TripAdvisor!).

I imagine that many users of these drugs partake because they see little future in their lives. Whatever - I personally don't need those hassles, I want to enjoy a quiet life.

 

I'm suggesting legalizing alternatives to yaba.  For workers and drivers needing to stay awake, I use caffeine tablets.  Can't buy them in Thailand.  For escaping the hum drum lives, weed works for millions around the world.  And I have never seen anyone go ballistic on weed.   But if it's just as illegal as yaba and hard to get, guess what they're going to choose?

 

As far as your Chinese guests, that kind of thing seems to happen a lot with or without kratom.

 

And to the other poster writing about heroin, I'm not suggesting legalizing heroin.  Just some alternatives.  Like caffeine tablets and weed.

 

 

 

[colinneil]

4 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Are there any nearby towns (within easy visiting distance) you might move to? I realize the hassle involved in moving into a new house but might be worth it in the long run. I would not count on law enforcement improving matters.

 

Would not suggest  nearby village that is safer because in small villages that can change pretty fast, as it did where you know are. But a town/city is usually much safer and likely to stay so, if there is one that would be in commuting distance for your wife and day visit distance to her family.

 

Being closer to medical facilities would also be a plus especially as you get older.

 

Read your post with interest Sheryl, my biggest problem is getting my wife to agree to move.

I was born here, my family are here, you want to move because you and my family do not get on, bla bla, bla.

We could move into Banphai, it is only 3 kilometers away, but she keeps saying a like village not city.

Regarding health care, we are only 3 ks away from the hospital, so distance is not a problem.

 

[The Deerhunter]

I am not sure that moving would make life better off.  The scourge of Ya Ba on top of Lau Khao addiction is every where with it's attendant violence.  We have 6 dogs and they are very  security conscious at night.  We have 3 young men in our extended family in prison now, Two for selling drugs and one for violence that I suspect Ya Ba played a part in.  Some very up market gated villages and Condos might avoid the drugs and violence problem  but at the drop of a hat it could change anywhere.  We live well out in te sticks, 4km to the nearest small commercial centre. We have a number of unfenced properties with trees on them, around us,   as ours used to be.   Now we have fences.  Cars and motorbikes that used to stop near our place, at all hours of the night reputedly to do drug deals, now move a bit further down the road.  Even in daylight I see cars and people on bikes down lanes  etc where there are no houses an I can only assume that deals are going down.   It is a national problem.  I don't think anyone knows just how much amphetamines are an important part of so many lives.  Out of 67 million people I would think that there are as many as one or two million drug users in this country now.   Maybe more. It has accelerated in the last 5 years and country, village, town or city, drugs are just everywhere.

 

I can sure understand your feeling of vulnerability but you may be reading too much into it.  Unless there is some reason to feel personally concerned, this guy is now arrested and as long as you are not involved with his friends or family in a way that would put you in danger then maybe it is just an unpleasant coincidence that it was so close to you.

 

Have you thought of getting a dog, a biggish one possibly a female that might bond better to you a male,  but male or female, dogs are very aware of how people are disabled.  Make it "your" dog and get it used to going with you outside in your chair.  Maybe teach it to drag you down to the shop.  Also train it not to scavenge food and only eat what you give it in the same time and place, (to help guard against poisoning) .  A big dog is not something people take lightly.  Many people come to our house and do not get out of their car until we go out.  Only one of ours is actually stroppy but they all bark at strangers and most Thais are simply frightened of other peoples' dogs.  They do not seem to understand dog psychology at all and do not understand rabies. (Dog barks and challenges them - It must have rabies,)

I am sure a dog would enrich your life in a lot of ways.  It doesn't have to be a pedigree.  Two of ours were soi dog pups in a village friend was developing.  They have fabulous personalities and our latest one (Scruffy, because his hair grows in all directions) adopted us 2 - 3 weeks ago and he has fitted in famously.  Personality of a dog is much more important that breeding and many expensive Thai "pedigree" dogs are overly inbred.  6 dogs  Five really intelligent dogs and only one dumb one (from a temple of all places.)  But even she is noisy at strangers and protective of us.    Think about it and hope it all settles down for you.

 

Dogs barking  Visitors here.  Must go.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

For your information mate, yes i came here a lot, after visiting 24 other countries found Thailand better than most of the others, and yes i came here for the ladies... You happy now.

I'm sure you take no notice of the usual spitemongers, but apparently they just can't help themselves from making unpleasant accusations on TVF.

I've had to ask for threads I've started to be closed because of a few nasty individuals that think flaming people is fun or something.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems, but lacking a Duterte solution I can think of nothing short of moving that would help you.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Even Thais don't have any rights in Thailand. I don't know what to get out of this article except the fact (which is a broken record to many, I'm sure) that you shouldn't buy any property in Thailand - ever. You will be stuck with nowhere to go. I mean, this is how I read this story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

They do not seem to understand dog psychology at all and do not understand rabies. (Dog barks and challenges them - It must have rabies,)

LOL. I made the mistake once of walking through the local town at night, and every property had dogs barking at me. Lucky that none got out.

I'm sure Thais understand why dogs bark, and not because of rabies.

[Scully]

I had the misfortune of having  a Yaba dealer as a neighbour when I lived in a village appoximately 60km from Udon. So many posters claiming their village is different, however I can assure you 90% of their customers you would never have guessed were users. Well dressed, nice cars, young and old Yaba doesn't discriminate, certainly opened my eyes that it is rife in the boonies.

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

That's not what he said !!! He said "I came here for the ladies"....

But they threw him out of the ladies and made him use the gents.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Even Thais don't have any rights in Thailand. I don't know what to get out of this article except the fact (which is a broken record to many, I'm sure) that you shouldn't buy any property in Thailand - ever. You will be stuck with nowhere to go. I mean, this is how I read this story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pro buyers are adamant that it's perfectly safe to do so, despite masses of evidence of the things that can go wrong.

Like anything, it's always OK till it's not.

I never bought property, but I still made the mistake of getting married, despite all the evidence that it's not a wise thing to do. I can only excuse my stupidity as excessive misplaced belief that humans are basically good. At least I won't be making that mistake again.

[colinneil]

4 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

I am not sure that moving would make life better off.  The scourge of Ya Ba on top of Lau Khao addiction is every where with it's attendant violence.  We have 6 dogs and they are very  security conscious at night.  We have 3 young men in our extended family in prison now, Two for selling drugs and one for violence that I suspect Ya Ba played a part in.  Some very up market gated villages and Condos might avoid the drugs and violence problem  but at the drop of a hat it could change anywhere.  We live well out in te sticks, 4km to the nearest small commercial centre. We have a number of unfenced properties with trees on them, around us,   as ours used to be.   Now we have fences.  Cars and motorbikes that used to stop near our place, at all hours of the night reputedly to do drug deals, now move a bit further down the road.  Even in daylight I see cars and people on bikes down lanes  etc where there are no houses an I can only assume that deals are going down.   It is a national problem.  I don't think anyone knows just how much amphetamines are an important part of so many lives.  Out of 67 million people I would think that there are as many as one or two million drug users in this country now.   Maybe more. It has accelerated in the last 5 years and country, village, town or city, drugs are just everywhere.

 

I can sure understand your feeling of vulnerability but you may be reading too much into it.  Unless there is some reason to feel personally concerned, this guy is now arrested and as long as you are not involved with his friends or family in a way that would put you in danger then maybe it is just an unpleasant coincidence that it was so close to you.

 

Have you thought of getting a dog, a biggish one possibly a female that might bond better to you a male,  but male or female, dogs are very aware of how people are disabled.  Make it "your" dog and get it used to going with you outside in your chair.  Maybe teach it to drag you down to the shop.  Also train it not to scavenge food and only eat what you give it in the same time and place, (to help guard against poisoning) .  A big dog is not something people take lightly.  Many people come to our house and do not get out of their car until we go out.  Only one of ours is actually stroppy but they all bark at strangers and most Thais are simply frightened of other peoples' dogs.  They do not seem to understand dog psychology at all and do not understand rabies. (Dog barks and challenges them - It must have rabies,)

I am sure a dog would enrich your life in a lot of ways.  It doesn't have to be a pedigree.  Two of ours were soi dog pups in a village friend was developing.  They have fabulous personalities and our latest one (Scruffy, because his hair grows in all directions) adopted us 2 - 3 weeks ago and he has fitted in famously.  Personality of a dog is much more important that breeding and many expensive Thai "pedigree" dogs are overly inbred.  6 dogs  Five really intelligent dogs and only one dumb one (from a temple of all places.)  But even she is noisy at strangers and protective of us.    Think about it and hope it all settles down for you.

 

Dogs barking  Visitors here.  Must go.

Good post mate, but you say he is now in jail, ok, but his family live next to us ( 2 cousins in jail for dealing)

Also if you studied the OP it said sister in laws dog poisoned last night, so a dog is no use, there is nowhere on our property safe for a dog,  front wall 10 meters from house , rear wall 3 meters from house, north side wall 2 meters from house, south side wall 4 meters from house, so where ever a dog was on the property it would be vulnerable to someone throwing poison.

[kannot]

Lets hope someone with some BALLS in the govt can sort this out, sorry to hear about this Colin especially because of  your personal situation.

[wildewillie89]

17 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

I can sure understand your feeling of vulnerability but you may be reading too much into it.  Unless there is some reason to feel personally concerned, this guy is now arrested and as long as you are not involved with his friends or family in a way that would put you in danger then maybe it is just an unpleasant coincidence that it was so close to you.

Agree.

On a side note separate from the above quote, are we looking at this case like women do in a hair salon (no disrespect), rather than looking at it more logically? Sometimes murders happen and sometimes they happen near where we live. Poisoning of animals happens regularly in Thailand - sometimes even by the government. 

Have had 2 murders in my Thai village that made national news headlines in the 2 and a half years I have been here. Mrs was interviewed about one of them by the news crews as was close to our house. Had nothing to do with my family, so no reason to be worried about living here. If we worried/looked into every single murder/animal poisoning or bad neighbours that went on in Thailand/world there wouldn't be too many places to live. 

In my opinion, if it isn't somewhere like some areas of Jamaica or areas in South America etc. where drug/gang violence is resulting in daily, weekly, monthly deaths in the immediate area (village), then it isn't too much to worry about, well at least not enough to disrupt your daily plans. Be polite, don't make enemies and there is no real reason to be concerned. Or move to the next place, which will have the exact same situation depending on how people see the world. 

[Tradewind777]

Colin, This is more than awful. You are a brave boy with a great wit and keep all of us  our socks off. Keep up the positive work you do and I just hope somehow this situation you find yourself in can go far from you soon.