Back To Basics
I've been following Stickman's website for some time now, and just think a back to basics approach every now and again won't do the readers any harm. This is a common sense approach which may come across a little biased, but at the end of the day we need too reminded of some of the pitfalls that can happen in the land of LOS. A good read for any first time visitors.
1: BEHAVE YOURSELF!!
Don't get into a argument or a fight with a Thai person or anybody while in Thailand. Walk away from any trouble – you have no rights whatsoever in Thailand and Thai Police will always take the side of a local over a foreigner and be very eager too give you a hefty fine or worse lock you up in the Police cells. Thai police are known to be corrupt so be very careful. Be aware of Monuments of worship and show respect to the Buddhist faith.
2: LEARN ABOUT THAI CULTURE
Thai etiquette and politeness is taken seriously in Thailand so do your research. Learn the correct way how too meet and greet Thai people. This will go a long way in keeping things friendly. Learn some basic Thai language. You may not always be greeted with the same politeness by Thai people but that's up to them, just take it with a pinch of salt.
3: NAUGHTY NIGHT LIFE
Thailand is world famous for its red light districts in places like Bangkok, Pattaya, Patong to mention a few. But if you are gonna indulge in the naughty night life, be sure too use condoms at all times. DO NOT take any risks, keep sex safe at all times. If you do take a Thai person back to your room, make sure all your money and any valuables are locked away in your hotel safe. Don't leave any money lying around the place, just to be on the safe side.
4: FALLING IN LOVE IN THAILAND
Do yourself a big favour and don't go looking for the love of your life in the establishments that cater for men. Beer bars, gogo bars, massage parlours, karaoke bars – all these ladies are working girls, prostitutes, whores, hookers. Nothing good will ever come out of a relationship with these ladies. Have your fun and move on and forget them. So before you plan to visit Thailand, do your homework and research were to find a normal mainstream decent Thai lady.
5: MOTORCYCLE AND JET-SKI HIRE
A word of warning here when renting a motorcycle or jet ski, as there is a well known scam. You hire the machine and all is ok until you return it to its owner. The owner claims you have damaged it and demands money for compensation. If you rightly don't pay up immediately he will call the police and they will turn up to investigate. But here's the big picture: the police are said to be in on the scam also, so they will pretend with the owner to negotiate a fair price for you to pay because they want you to believe they tying to help you, when in fact they may get half the money from the scam for themselves. Here's a good tip to help avoid this scam: before you hand over your money, take lots of photos of the machine with your camera so you got proof of the condition of the machine before you hire it. This will make the scam much harder for the owner to prove.
6: DON'T SEND MONEY TO A THAI
Many people who get mixed up with people in Thailand and get sucked in to a hard luck story. This may be about a sick family member or the old favourite, "The family buffalo sick, papa can't work on farm so family not eat". But the sad story could be about anything but rest assured it's all just lies to extort money from you. Always remember that they managed before you arrived so they will manage when you are not there. Don't believe anything they tell you – it's simply lies, all of it!
7: SAVING THE PRINCESS
Some men who go to Thailand to meet the love of their life foolishly get emotionally involved with a working lady. They believe that if they support these lady financially they will stop working as a prostitute. But when these men return home from there trip, the lady is straight back to the bar working again. These ladies just take the money they have been sent and see it as extra income. These ladies can have multiple men sending money at any time and are scrupulous when it comes to money. There is an old saying, "You can take a lady out of the bar, but you can't take the bar out of the lady". Forget any idea you have saving these ladies, it's just not gonna happen! You may on your holiday bump into old expats or long term tourists who will be willing too give you their opinions on this matter, but always use your own common sense judgment as some off these so called "experts" can give you some misleading advice based on their own bad experiences.
TAXI BUS DRIVER SCAM
8: When using one of the taxi bus services in Pattaya, when you finish your journey and get off the bus, don't ask the driver how much! Just give him 20 baht, make no eye contact and walk away. Now the reason for this is if you ask the driver he may demand 100 baht or more and if you refuse he will get pretty grumpy and maybe even aggressive toward you. Remember that Thai people only pay 10 baht per single journey so you give him 20 baht which is double, so he's getting a fair tip from you at double the price. Ok you may ask why give him the tip in the first place, but I find it just saves the hassle of any arguments and better than getting totally ripped off my the driver.
