Richard Barrow may not have his visa renewed and could be forced to leave Thailand

[Heppinger]

Just now, tribalfusion001 said:

Iran, Saudi Arabia, the list goes on. Another bitter expat, lager is better.

No the list does not go on, as even in these countries there are scantley clad women looking for money just not in public view.  Your either a child or have been drinking to much fluoridated water

[Jack Hna]

3 hours ago, anchadian said:

I doubt very much you have been following him for 6 months.

 

I would think that Richard Barrow is in his 40's and not 60's as you stated and his surname is Barrow not mr burrows.

 

Another incorrect post.

 

 

Incorrect. I say he is 50. Based on reading his info. Max 55.

[Heppinger]

Just now, condobrit001 said:

Saudi Arabia.

wrong

[Eindhoven]

51 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

YAY good work Richard, now tourist attractions will have to lower foreigner prices to meet Thais price meaning revenue will drop and staff will need to be fired, or Thai prices will have to be raised to foreigner prices ensuring your average Thai citizens who make up 95% of visitors wont be able to afford to visit these attractions meaning revenue will drop and staff will need to be fired.  Such a courageous trail blazer you are Richard deserving of praise from your half baked supporters

 

Perhaps you can explain how these attractions survived before raising the price for foreigners.

I visited the same attractions before the advent of dual pricing. They are still there, but now they have different prices for foreigners.

Why, pray tell me, would revenue and staff be affected if the 5% of foreigners(your wild claim) paid the same price as Thais? Why would they need more staff for those 5%?

 

You post is full of hyperbole. It's really unbecoming to be an apologist for such disgusting behaviour.

Daylight robbery is what it is.

[Jack Mountain]

Luckily he/we still have pictures.

[condobrit001]

Have the moderators gone to sleep? So many off topic posts here.

[tribalfusion001]

3 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

No the list does not go on, as even in these countries there are scantley clad women looking for money just not in public view.  Your either a child or have been drinking to much fluoridated water

You are the one drinking too much lao khao. Thailand's reputation has been built on easily available women and beaches, nothing much to do with the culture.

[checkered flag]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If he actually said that on a public platform and can be identified, he must, IMO be a bit thick to do so. Lives in LOS, but apparently knows little about how things work there. Perhaps he needed to get out of his digital bubble and smell the traffic fumes.

I think he feels protected because of his notoriety. However, he acts very entitled to criticize his host country. The norms of etiquette are very different from Britain and he should have learned this long ago. I do enjoy his travel blogs but not his social criticisms. 

[tribalfusion001]

6 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

wrong

Scantily clad whilst wearing a burqa pmsl.

[utalkin2me]

Well, he can return home and come back and write off the return fees as a business expense since it is obvious a large chunk of his income comes from "donations" through his vlog.

 

It makes me laugh. Can I just open up a Thai internet shop and put paypal "donation" buttons on each page and remain off of Thai IO radar? 

[Heppinger]

2 minutes ago, Eindhoven said:

 

Perhaps you can explain how these attractions survived before raising the price for foreigners.

I visited the same attractions before the advent of dual pricing. They are still there, but now they have different prices for foreigners.

Why, pray tell me, would revenue and staff be affected if the 5% of foreigners(your wild claim) paid the same price as Thais? Why would they need more staff for those 5%?

 

You post is full of hyperbole. It's really unbecoming to be an apologist for such disgusting behaviour.

Daylight robbery is what it is.

I stated that the 95% of Thais are your average working class Thais and not wealthy,  Of course you overlooked this point as you were to busy assessing your feelings and deciding whether or not your anxiety medication would need to be doubled.

[herwin1234]

4 minutes ago, checkered flag said:

I think he feels protected because of his notoriety. However, he acts very entitled to criticize his host country. The norms of etiquette are very different from Britain and he should have learned this long ago. I do enjoy his travel blogs but not his social criticisms. 

+1. Well said. Enough of the petty social criticism and burning a country bc they have dual pricing for tourists atractions... 

[fondue zoo]

18 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

Can you name me a country that doesn't have scantly clad women looking for money?  enjoy your utopian western country built on harmony, equality and fairy tales.

Greenland..cause it's really cold? I suppose they could be scantily clad under a thick jacket..  ????

[Heppinger]

Just now, fondue zoo said:

Greenland..cause it's really cold? I suppose they could be scantily clad under a thick jacket..  ????

Good point, I actually didn't think of Greenland as i thought Trump purchased it and was therefore a part of America, ???? 

[Greenhill]

5 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Same as last year.

 

Extension will be approved.

 

 

I agree and the publicity will do him no harm!

[tribalfusion001]

Just now, Greenhill said:

I agree and the publicity will do him no harm!

That's how you build a following, add some drama to the mix and get people commenting.

[checkered flag]

It says normally he would do a border bounce and start over. Since this isn't the normal procedure for a Non O B visa, I wonder if something is a bit shady and he isn't meeting the requirements to extend. If this is so he's  either gutsy criticising things in Thailand and starting petitions etc. or a complete fool. A lower profile would seem prudent. 

[KhaoNiaw]

He's in with the TAT and I don't see anything controversial or get how people think he attacks Thailand. I doubt anyone in authority cares about Richard tweeting about dual pricing.  He does occasionally go into much more dangerous territory, though tries to do it in a way from which he could plead innocence. It's just trying to be that bit too clever and the kind of thing that could come back to bite.
Mostly though he does a useful job with all the retweets bringing information from other sources together in one place and his own travel reports. He should stick to those. Having said that, I still think his immigration problems most likely stem from his business set-up rather than any perceived challenge to the authorities here. 

  

[checkered flag]

3 minutes ago, Greenhill said:

I agree and the publicity will do him no harm!

Or do him in.

[Eindhoven]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

That is true - but not sure 2PT is the primary issue.  For that matter, it is a stupid issue (IMO).  Why do I care if Thai-citizenship gets them a break on some admission-fee.  Good for them, getting something back from their govt.

Meanwhile immigration is shattering families with agent-extortion, due to many of us unable to get visas from the less-corrupt MFA.  2PT somehow doesn't get on my radar.

Barrow's other "transgressions" include:

• Shamed immigration forcing 'landlord must come in' and 'under-consideration' dual visits (each applicant had to queue 2x or more) for the early "with embassy letter" covid-extensions, causing massive lines, while the govt was pushing a "social distancing" narrative.  Barrow's pics of lines forced the govt's hand, overruling immigration's fake "national-security" excuse, and leading to the cabinet's 'auto-extension' system, which denied IOs massive agent-bribe-money.
• Told his followers to NOT pay the 20K+ agent-money bribes needed to get Non-B 90-Day stamps in-country.  This is long-standing practice pre-covid - either "pay us off" (usually through an Agent or Law Firm) or "you go out for a new Visa" - using the PITA of a trip to extort their agent-bribes.  But no one can "go out" for a Visa, now, and agent-bribes must be short due to fewer farangs to fleece, so ...
• Leaked news of a probable covid-extension deadline in-advance, before the Sept date was announced, leading some to NOT pay off immigration via-agents for their extensions after an Immigration spokesman said "time to clear out," to scare-up a wave of agent-money bribes, before the announcement.
• Talked about himself and others as "Foreigners who made Thailand their home..." which is something Immigration deeply resents.  Even if married to a Thai citizen, you are "allowed" to stay with your family only 1 year at a time - forever dealing with that corrupt-crew.  The only way out is the long and difficult process to PR or Citizenship.  Short of that, we have NO rights / right to be here - can be booted, as may happen to him.

 

New to Thailand it seems.

Thais aren't getting a break. They pay the normal price. The foreigner price is set simply to make the maximum profit from tourists. Nothing to do with Thai people getting a discount.

In fact any extra people visiting and paying the local price is extra revenue, on top of the Thai visitors.

 

An attraction that I visited had previous pricing of 75 baht for Thais and 100 baht for foreigners. This moved to 100 baht for Thais and 300 baht for foreigners.

 

So where is the discount for Thais? In your scenario the price for Thais would have needed to move to 275 baht if there were no foreigners to subsidise them. Do you think that is the case? Of course you do not. Dual pricing is simply a populist cash grab and drives a further wedge between the locals and ourselves.

 

[Satcommlee]

He's a drama queen! Nobody cares...  His desperation recently to score online hits by portraying Thailand in a bad light will of course haunt him.

[Miss Pickle]

Thailand do not like any type of criticism so I believe if you live in Thailand you abide by the rules or leave .I just read a article in the Financial Times that things have been posted on face book criticism of the Royal Family. I believe if you are a guest in the country you respect the rules they make you agree or not.I admire the Thais for carrying it through. 

[richard_smith237]

46 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

Guilty, i also care about the country they were born in and belong too.  That's why i'm passionate in protecting it's traditions from demoralized obnoxious westerners.  It's simple buddy, go home.

Yawn... go home if you don’t like it???

 

You think Dual Pricing is a tradition???....    another comical response. 

 

 

[Danny Australia]

Quite despicable that some people here attacking Richard or insinuating he should have bent his principles by shutting up and not criticizing negative things such as dirty beaches or dual prices. Richard in my eyes, is a brave man and should be commended for all things he did for the benefit of all expats. He could have been selfish by applauding the army and keeping quiet about corruption and all negative stuff in order to get his visa extended. Wish you well mate wherever you end up. Stay strong and don’t compromise you principles for a visa…any visa  

[Saint Nick]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Your life ‘could’ get better in Thailand because people like Richard Barrow draw attention to the inequalities Westerners face in Thailand. 

 

If people do nothing, nothing improves. 

 

If you go to Safari world / a national park / Siam Sea Life etc with your family and pay Double or more than your Thai Wife, its because there were not enough people Like Richard Barrow publicising such wrongs 10 years ago. 

 

If in a few years you go to Safari world / a national park / Siam Sea Life etc with your family and pay the same price as your Thai Wife, its because people Like Richard Barrow publicised such wrongs.

 

 

However, in publicising such wrongs Richard Barrow risks rocking the boat, upsetting the status quo, causes a loss of face etc... as such, it's possible he has become unpopular with those in decision making power. 

 

Why should you care?... Wouldn’t you like to own your own house etc, receive better rights in Thailand? 

Not have to put up with the banal hoop jumping for Visas etc? 90 day reports?

 

 

Remember TM30 ??? well thats changed just this year.... Why ??????  its quite possible that a ‘group’ of Westerners lobbied and protested such that sufficient attention was paid by those in positions of decision making power. Change was affected. A minor win, but life has been made just that little bit easier for many expats living in Thailand who no longer have to file a TM30 every time they return home from a holiday etc.

 

This is why you should care - People like Richard Barrow draw attention to the issues we complain about. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pearl before the swine!

For some, Thailand is just paradise and they don't bother or care about others!

Just let it go!

[Heppinger]

7 minutes ago, Eindhoven said:

An attraction that I visited had previous pricing of 75 baht for Thais and 100 baht for foreigners. This moved to 100 baht for Thais and 300 baht for foreigners.

 

So where is the discount for Thais? 

Does the concept of inflation escape you?

[SteveK]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yawn... go home if you don’t like it???

 

You think Dual Pricing is a tradition???....    another comical response. 

 

 

In my home city in the UK, if I show my council tax bill with local address I can get into many attractions for free, whereas people who don't reside in the city have to pay. What's the difference between this and Thailand's dual pricing?

[richard_smith237]

48 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why does he make it more difficult for the rest of us ???? in what way ?

 

This is interesting thought, I have no doubt that Richard Barrow has an anonymous account on TVF, so he is no doubt reading all this and maybe even commenting anonymously' it's interesting isn't it;   'Richard Smith 237', don't you think?  

You guys can’t help yourselves... a hidden agenda here, a conspiracy there....  and now fake accounts on this forum.... why?

Because I am not of the belief that we should ‘put up and shut up’ when there are things in this world we don’t like. 

[Heppinger]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yawn... go home if you don’t like it???

 

You think Dual Pricing is a tradition???....    another comical response. 

 

 

I do like Dual pricing, so it is you that doesn't like it nice try at deflection though.  Keep playing victim as it highlights your weakness

[Saint Nick]

Some really sad human beings on this thread!