Bangkok Reports

[Crocodilexp]

Have booked my tricker for late summer, so was a bit unnerved to read this report in Time magazine about random police extortion in Bangkok and (I presume) elsewhere.

Thai police will very, very rarely stop and try to extort you just for walking in the street, though that has been known to happen on the stretch of Sukhumvit road between Asoke and Phrom Phong.

If you're riding a motorbike, they might stop you, and fine you for whatever alleged violation you committed, perhaps extracting a bribe instead of issuing a ticket. If you buy drugs, they might stop you, having been informed by the guy that just sold them. Obviously, in that case, you'd be in a real pickle.

For people doing certain types of business, police can be an expensive and unpredictable hassle, but a normal tourist / monger is unlikely to interact with them much (and is well advised not to seek out interaction).

Thailand is not like the Philippines where they're actively working to scam you, even if you've done absolutely nothing wrong (like placing bullets in your bag at the airport). If you mind your own business and don't get into any conflicts with the locals, police trouble is unlikely.

[SuperMarckus]

Have booked my tricker for late summer, so was a bit unnerved to read this report in Time magazine about random police extortion in Bangkok and (I presume) elsewhere.

The report's a year old now, so I wondered. Is it still going on? And was it ever really going on that much?

I guess it ties in with the discussion below about how martial law / the new more puritanical regime is changing the game.

[MichaelSamuel]

GoPro's are fairly price fixed so I would be surprised if you can do much better than regular retail, but always worth a shot. One other note for those with gopros. I had my camera out of its housing in the safe in January and went to pull something out and it fell maybe 3 ft and landed right on the lense and cracked to pieces. If you take a good look you can see the dome of the lense extends beyond the rubber surrounding it so it's really susceptible to this type of break. Ordered a replacement lens on the internet but haven't tried to replace it yet. If that doesn't work is going to be a $400 mistake and gopro doesn't repair them at all. If you are US based costco has the 3+ for a deal right now.

I believe some of you will be able to answer me with this query of mine.

I'll be travelling to LOS coming weekend. Apart from mongering activities I've reserved 1-2 days for shopping & sight seeing as well. A friend of mine has asked to buy an Action camera like GoPro or SJCAM from Thailand. I'm also planning to get one, but I've no clue where can I get it. I know it will be available in BKK. I'd be thankful if somebody can help me out with locations / shops from where I can get this item for the best price.

And to this help I can give a beer party if we meet.

[Robert Long]

I believe some of you will be able to answer me with this query of mine.

I'll be travelling to LOS coming weekend. Apart from mongering activities I've reserved 1-2 days for shopping & sight seeing as well. A friend of mine has asked to buy an Action camera like GoPro or SJCAM from Thailand. I'm also planning to get one, but I've no clue where can I get it. I know it will be available in BKK. I'd be thankful if somebody can help me out with locations / shops from where I can get this item for the best price.

And to this help I can give a beer party if we meet.

I bought a SS S6 Edge for my employee in Bali. She had problems and when she went to SS in Bali they told her she would have to take in back to Thailand to honor the warrantee. I live in Hawaii and so I called SS America and they confirmed that wherever you buy a SS product you must return to that country for repair work.

This is interesting as the phone was made in Viet Nam. But this is a Sam Sung policy.

You might want to have your friend check with the company in your country on repair and warrantee issues.

RL.

[Ixgzca]

Thanks all for the suggested comments. I've prioritized to check first with Pantip then MBK. Unable to locate "Fortune Mall" in Google maps, is it near to Pantip plaza?

Apart from this I checked "Lazada Thailand" is also offering the same product with a decent discount. I was wondering if anybody has used this website to buy anything & tried getting the delivery at one's Hotel?

Fortune Town is on Ratchada. Take the MRT and get off at Praram 9.

[MusicalToM]

Thanks all for the suggested comments. I've prioritized to check first with Pantip then MBK. Unable to locate "Fortune Mall" in Google maps, is it near to Pantip plaza?

Apart from this I checked "Lazada Thailand" is also offering the same product with a decent discount. I was wondering if anybody has used this website to buy anything & tried getting the delivery at one's Hotel?

[LA Guy 5]

Might also try Pantip or Fortune mall. I saw some gopro cameras there, and some other brands. There are many shops at pantip that sell cameras.

Yes, I would add Fortune Mall to my earlier recommendation of Pantip and maybe MBK. From among Pantip and MBK I would say Pantip is better for this, but I cannot rank order Fortune Mall because of the three it is the one I haven't shopped at. Indeed, I usually go to Pantip for camera supplies if I run short while in Bangkok (e.g., camera batteries and so forth, which I sometimes forget to pack); there are indeed quite a few camera shops as well as electronics shops that carry cameras at Pantip..

Depending on where one is from Pantip and MBK may also be worth seeing as part of Bangkok sightseeing as they are quite interesting as they are a bit different from shopping centers one might see at home.

[Lord Farquard]

I would go to MBK to shop for something like that. Check the 4th and 5th floors. I don't know how the prices compare with the internet on those particular items but when I shop for smartphones snd tablets a moderate amount of negotiation at an MBK shop will lop off a good 20-30% from the posted full retail prices found in PowerBuy, PowerMall or the brand label's own store such as Samsung, LG or whatever. Just confirm that you are negotiating for an original, new item not a copy or used one. The fact that you are looking to buy 2 gives you another advantage for a negotiated price reduction.

.

Might also try Pantip or Fortune mall. I saw some gopro cameras there, and some other brands. There are many shops at pantip that sell cameras.

[EihTooms]

I believe some of you will be able to answer me with this query of mine.

I'll be travelling to LOS coming weekend. Apart from mongering activities I've reserved 1-2 days for shopping & sight seeing as well. A friend of mine has asked to buy an Action camera like GoPro or SJCAM from Thailand. I'm also planning to get one, but I've no clue where can I get it. I know it will be available in BKK. I'd be thankful if somebody can help me out with locations / shops from where I can get this item for the best price.

And to this help I can give a beer party if we meet.

I would go to MBK to shop for something like that. Check the 4th and 5th floors. I don't know how the prices compare with the internet on those particular items but when I shop for smartphones snd tablets a moderate amount of negotiation at an MBK shop will lop off a good 20-30% from the posted full retail prices found in PowerBuy, PowerMall or the brand label's own store such as Samsung, LG or whatever. Just confirm that you are negotiating for an original, new item not a copy or used one. The fact that you are looking to buy 2 gives you another advantage for a negotiated price reduction.

Be prepared to walk away if the discount offered is only 20%,. Every tentative step away is likely good for an additional 2-3% lopped off while they try to reel you back to the display case.

Again, I have never shopped for the items you mentioned so I suppose it is possible they are among the few items that are tightly price protected and there is little or no wiggle room for negotiation. Don't know. But there is plenty of wiggle room off of widely posted and accepted retail prices for most other items in MBK. Generally to the tune of 20-30% discount.

[LA Guy 5]

I believe some of you will be able to answer me with this query of mine.

I'll be travelling to LOS coming weekend. Apart from mongering activities I've reserved 1-2 days for shopping & sight seeing as well. A friend of mine has asked to buy an Action camera like GoPro or SJCAM from Thailand. I'm also planning to get one, but I've no clue where can I get it. I know it will be available in BKK. I'd be thankful if somebody can help me out with locations / shops from where I can get this item for the best price.

And to this help I can give a beer party if we meet.

I'm not sure what your home country is, and you may already know this, but the prices in Thailand for consumer electronics will not be overly attractive. For example, I find prices are somewhat lower in the US than in Thailand, particularly if one does comparison internet shopping. But if you have already taken this into account, you might try Pantip Plaza, or maybe MBK. Others here might add to these suggestions.

[Phordphan]

I don' think so at all.

Prostitution is so much an integral part of the Thai culture that it would take a few generations to change that.

Don't forget that the "farang" part of their sex-industry is such a small part of it that it hardly registers on the Thai's radar. Besides the whole sex-industry brings in so much money for so many people on all levels of the society that stopping it will make the military government very unpopular and that is the last thing they want.

Of course one can expect the regular token deference to "clean up" initiatives, but it will not go beyond closing a bar, arranging a press conference and carrying on as usual.

Yes, it's an integral part of society, at least "Thai-style" prostitution. However, the "Farang-style," I have long maintained, is an anachronism left over from the Vietnam war. Yes, it's a small part overall, but it's a very, very visible part. And, IMHO, an easy target.

There is no one thing that will kill off the Farang-style P4 P, but the writing's on the wall. Low unemployment, rising wages, bad attitudes, a change in the tourist demographic, all have been repeatedly discussed. Rising land values are making a huge dent in the viability of said venues. In the West, a place like Soi Cowboy would have been zoned (or eminent domain-ed) out of existence long ago.

But let's not overlook the religious aspect, especially concerning totalitarian regimes. Such regimes are extremely Puritanical. Look all over SEA for examples. A while back I showed the GF a video some clown had shot while wandering around lower Suk. He filmed all the girls propositioning him outside of some venue like Dr. BJ, and eventually went inside, picked a lady, etc. The GF was aghast. Not at the thought of what they were getting up to behind closed doors, but the brazenness of it all. "How can this happen in a Buddhist country?" So, we shouldn't overlook the effect of a totalitarian regime combined with a bit of religious zealotry. The Thais may not be Muslims, but they are every bit as proud of Buddha as the Muslims are of Mohammed.

No, as long as there are men and women there will be prostitution. But I will be very surprised if the scene as it is today is around in 5 years. And, frankly, I wouldn't miss it. I prefer doing P4 P the way locals do it, regardless of the country. I have never liked seeing some doddering fat fool dragging an obvious prostitute around town, acting proud. At home the guy wouldn't be caught dead taking some hooker with a 6th grade education around town and introducing her to his friends and business acquaintances. Neither would any respectable Thai.

[Phordphan]

And no doubt the sale of alcohol on the last day of the month has tripled.

Governments never learn. The USA banned the production and sale of all alcohol in the 1920's and that only caused the emergence of a huge black market for alcohol and a boost to organized crime.

Arguably it caused an increase of consumption of hard alcohol such as spirits and less of light alcohols such as beers.

Yes, and it almost killed the wine industry, too. Thank God for the religious exemption and the Catholic Church, who uses wine in their sacraments. It's a fascinating story how small wineries held on by their fingernails until that nitwit law was repealed. To this day you can still buy Old Vine Zinfandel made from some of those surviving vines.

[MusicalToM]

I believe some of you will be able to answer me with this query of mine.

I'll be travelling to LOS coming weekend. Apart from mongering activities I've reserved 1-2 days for shopping & sight seeing as well. A friend of mine has asked to buy an Action camera like GoPro or SJCAM from Thailand. I'm also planning to get one, but I've no clue where can I get it. I know it will be available in BKK. I'd be thankful if somebody can help me out with locations / shops from where I can get this item for the best price.

And to this help I can give a beer party if we meet.

[Wolvenvacht]

To follow comments on Thailand, Indonesia and China, Mongolia has introduced a complete ban on alcohol sales in stores and restaurants on the 1st day of every month; ostensibly, I believe, to try to encourage abstinence on at least 1 day each month.

And no doubt the sale of alcohol on the last day of the month has tripled.

Governments never learn. The USA banned the production and sale of all alcohol in the 1920's and that only caused the emergence of a huge black market for alcohol and a boost to organized crime.

Arguably it caused an increase of consumption of hard alcohol such as spirits and less of light alcohols such as beers.

[PapaSchlumpf]

Hell, they are looking to raise the alcohol tax yet again, not to raise revenue but to discourage drinking. I hope I am wrong, but I fear that things will be changing.

Even in 7/11 you can't buy alcohol after 12 pm.