General Reports

[Crazy4Thai]

Money withdrawal discussion. Good topic.



Any other suggestions that could save me at least $20 per week would be much appreciated.

Really curious to hear what other non tourists like BKKdog, Mr. E, and Syzy are doing.

My Visa debit works as a CC and all fees are refunded to my savings account. I set this up through an account with Fidelity. I understand that Schwaab offers a similar card. With a $500 daily withdrawal limit it saves me perhaps $12 a week.

[Sunlover2]

Is there a thread suggestion for other aspects of travel? Like should I carry cash? Traveler's checks? I would prefer to do everything credit card, but I doubt the ladies take amex And other traveling suggestions like learning Thai phrases?

Thailand is much more of a cash based economy. Besides hotels, and upscale shops and restaurants, expect to pay cash. Using credit cards is not common for small purchases like 7-11 / Starbucks / taxis much less go-go's and massage parlors.

Have pristine high denomination bills from you home currency to exchange. Exchange only enough at the airport to get you to your initial destination. The airport exchange rate is poor, far better in town.

Always try to have lots of smaller currency baht notes, and pay in exact change if possible. Trying to pay for a 50 baht street meal with a 1,000 note does not work. Negotiating hard with a street vendor down to 250 baht only to produce a 1,000 baht note does not really work. Hotels will break your large bills, and use larger bills when making small purchases at busy shops that have a cash register like 7-11.

SL.

[Banana Boi]

Money withdrawal discussion. Good topic.

Not positive these are the current amounts but AFAIK these are the Thai banks that allow the highest single withdrawal limits. I believe you also have to ensure that your home bank is set for $1000 limit as well.

Krungsri Bank: Maximum withdrawal limit 30'000 THB.
Thai Military Bank: Maximum withdrawal limit 30'000 THB.
CIMB Bank: Maximum withdrawal limit 30'000 THB.
Bangkok Bank: Maximum withdrawal limit 25'000 THB.

I haven't tried either of these suggestions below yet but definitely will try soon:

1. go inside the bank to a human bank teller to avoid the Thai ATM fee (200-250 baht) completely. The bigger bonus is there is no withdrawal limit.

2. Wire transfer money to yourself. My require a bit of calculating but may be cheaper to use a money exchange and pay their fee than to pay both an ATM fee along with another higher ridiculous fee from your home bank (for those who are not lucky enough to be from the US and have a Charles Schwab account). No Thai banks are on the global ATM system.

Any other suggestions that could save me at least $20 per week would be much appreciated.

Really curious to hear what other non tourists like BKKdog, Mr. E, and Syzy are doing.

[Crocodilexp]

10000 baht is as much I can withdraw in one go and that won't last long.

That is most the daily ATM limit from your own bank. You can call them and have it increased to 20 k or 30 k equivalent in your home currency.

Thai ATMs usually limit you to 20 k baht per withdrawal, which with 200 baht fee works out to 1%, plus whatever your own bank charges (there's usually an explicit fee, as well as a percentage they take which could be more difficult to spot). You're right that fees are high, Thai ATM fee alone is already 2/3 of the minimum daily wage here.

[Wolvenvacht]

Is there a thread suggestion for other aspects of travel? Like should I carry cash? Traveler's checks? I would prefer to do everything credit card, but I doubt the ladies take amex And other traveling suggestions like learning Thai phrases?

I carry mostly cash in big bills such as EUR 500 as that gives a slighly better exchange rate and is less bulky to carry. Hotels and upscale restaurants get paid with my credit card. I have a debit card for back-up but the ATM costs are crippling and the maximum amount you can withdraw at one time seems to get lower and lower. 10000 baht is as much I can withdraw in one go and that won't last long.

[Sunlover2]

I walked up from terminal 21 (on your right) towards nana. And found IS Pharmacy. This is bang opposite times square. They sell original see and V. 5 MG usually last me a couple of days. I just need that little bit slef confidence in the pill kind of support. LOL. Anyway at KS Pharmacy a box of 5 MG cialis dailies costs THB4200 .

I just wanted to check the price at South East pharmacy and they sell the same at THB 5500. Now this is interesting price difference.

Good you found what you were looking for, and had an easy transaction that you were happy with. How many pills came in the box you bought?

Price differences like this are not uncommon in Thailand, that is why it pays to shop around a little.

SL.

[Hack351]

For a first trip I would be thinking 5 nights Bangkok and 5 nights Pattaya. They are different scenes / vibes and since YOU WILL want to return to Thailand good to figure out which one you prefer. An easy transfer between cities if you get bored of one or end up preferring the other. Just don't prepay your hotel in order to maintain flexibility. I normally land BKK and hit Bangkok first (quick / easy into town) then Pattaya later.

SL.

Thanks for the suggestions! I ended up booking in Pattaya for the end of July. I was worried about splitting the trip up and getting tricky. So I'll be a few blocks from walking street, hopefully it's not as bad as recent reports!

Is there a thread suggestion for other aspects of travel? Like should I carry cash? Traveler's checks? I would prefer to do everything credit card, but I doubt the ladies take amex And other traveling suggestions like learning Thai phrases?

[Crazy4Thai]

Thanks to all the seniors for the tip.

I walked up from terminal 21 (on your right) towards nana. And found IS Pharmacy. This is bang opposite times square. They sell original see and V. 5 MG usually last me a couple of days. I just need that little bit slef confidence in the pill kind of support. LOL. Anyway at KS Pharmacy a box of 5 MG cialis dailies costs THB4200 .

I just wanted to check the price at South East pharmacy and they sell the same at THB 5500. Now this is interesting price difference.

Both of them claim that they sell the original. I asked for a receipt and in the receipt it had cialis original.

Anyway I bought the stuff at KS Pharmacy.

No questions asked. Simple transaction.

Enjoy.

G.

I also encourage you to ask straight out for a generic version. You will save considerable money and get the same boost to your confidence. I bought 6 boxes of 4, 20 MG. , generic Cialis for 2000 baht. I was in Pattaya at the time but that does not matter.

[Gunners1]

Thanks to all the seniors for the tip.

I walked up from terminal 21 (on your right) towards nana. And found IS Pharmacy. This is bang opposite times square. They sell original see and V. 5 MG usually last me a couple of days. I just need that little bit slef confidence in the pill kind of support. LOL. Anyway at KS Pharmacy a box of 5 MG cialis dailies costs THB4200 .

I just wanted to check the price at South East pharmacy and they sell the same at THB 5500. Now this is interesting price difference.

Both of them claim that they sell the original. I asked for a receipt and in the receipt it had cialis original.

Anyway I bought the stuff at KS Pharmacy.

No questions asked. Simple transaction.

Enjoy.

G.

[Gunners1]

Good stuff. Thank you everyone.

When in Thailand. . you need a suppliment to keep up.

I will check it out this evening and report if it is available.

Regards.

G.

Try Southeast Pharmacy at the corner of Soi 15 on the way up Sukhumvit towards Terminal 21. Good value generics (sildenafil, tadalafil), and gels and tabs available. Proper pharmacy which appears well reviewed, with branded products too if you prefer.

[Ed Setra]

Any other place. I do not want roadside stuff.

G.

Try Southeast Pharmacy at the corner of Soi 15 on the way up Sukhumvit towards Terminal 21. Good value generics (sildenafil, tadalafil), and gels and tabs available. Proper pharmacy which appears well reviewed, with branded products too if you prefer.

[Eszpresszo]

3) Smart to stay away from the roadside stuff.

SL.

The Kamagra gel I bought on Sukhumvit last year worked great for me, and it was cheap. Don't know about the small boxes of pills. Most things I got off the streets of Thailand worked well for me.

[Intransit]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/girls-dess...041553226.html

'Girls as dessert': Thai sex scandal exposes grim tradition.

Sally MAIRS.

AFP NewsJune 25,2017.

When senior bureaucrats visited the remote Thai province where local official Boonyarit worked, the routine was often the same: welcome them with the finest food and drink and then bring out the teen girls, often referred to as "dessert".

The tradition -- known by the euphemistic Thai phrase "treat to food, lay down the mat" -- refers to the expectation that underlings lavish superiors and VIPs with local delicacies, top-notch accommodation and sex services.

Until recently the most sinister part of that tradition, the procurement of [CodeWord902] girls, was well-known but rarely discussed.

Yet a trafficking scandal involving teens, police and officials in Boonyarit's province has flung the practice onto the nation's front pages, prompting calls to root out a culture that helps fuel the kingdom's infamous flesh trade.

While Thailand is known globally for flashy red-light districts that cater to foreigners, the bulk of its sprawling sex industry is geared mostly towards locals.

"This tradition became common a long time ago," explained Boonyarit Nipavanit, a district official in Mae Hong Son, a poor and rugged province in the mountainous north.

"When groups of senior officials come for seminars or work trips, there is a custom of 'treating them', which means welcoming them with food, and then 'laying down the mat,' which means providing girls," he told AFP.

"Sometimes we received information about what type of girls they liked. Sometimes officials had to prepare five to ten women for a senior to chose from. ".

- 'She is a present' -.

Boonyarit is comfortable speaking freely about the practice now that detectives have opened 41 cases into an alleged police-run prostitution network in his province.

The probe was launched after the mother of a victim fled to Bangkok and told the media that her then 17-year-old daughter and other teens were blackmailed into sex work and forced to entertain officials and cops.

Some of the victims, she said, were branded with owl tattoos by the gangmasters as a kind of ownership stamp.

Under pressure from the press, national police arrested a Mae Hong Son police sergeant accused of trafficking girls into the sex ring and charged eight other officers with sleeping with the minors.

Five administrators from central Nonthaburi province have also been charged for allegedly hiring the teens with government funds during an official visit to Mae Hong Son.

"Since this story broke, many officials feel relieved that we don't have to do it anymore," said Boonyarit.

But the so-called tradition is far from unique to Mae Hong Son.

Trafficking experts say it is widespread in a hierarchial country where subordinates -- both in government and the private sector -- are expected to pamper bosses to hold onto jobs or move up the career ladder.

"We don't have a merit system in the bureaucracy, we have to bribe our bosses," explained Lakkana Punwichai, a Thai columnist covering social issues.

The practise of arranging sex for superiors comes from "a culture that sees girls not as human beings but as property", she added.

"She is a present. She is the same as food, as beautiful clothes -- something that has a price. ".

- Protecting the boss -.

Many sex trafficking victims are too fearful to come forward when it is powerful figures who control or patronise the business -- especially in rural areas like Mae Hong Son, where social networks are small.

Local authorities are also under pressure to protect their own.

That was the case in Mae Hong Son, where police initially tried to bury the accusations made by the whistleblowing mother, who has requested anonymity and is now under government protection in Bangkok.

"She was asked to compromise the case by some (local) police," her lawyer told AFP.

In the wake of the Mae Hong Son scandal, Thailand's Social Development Ministry said it would "lead by example" as an agency "opposed to the 'treat to food, lay down the mat' practice".

Anti-trafficking police also vowed to accelerate a crackdown on the flesh trade.

Last week a task force arrested three local officials from northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province accused of having sex with teen girls -- some as young as 14 -- who were trafficked into an [CodeWord902] prostitution ring.

But experts say it is almost always only low-level pimps or officials who are punished.

"After police rescue the girls and handlers, they never expand the case," said Ronnasit Proeksayajiva from anti-trafficking NGO Nvader.

"They never investigate more about who the customers are. ".

[Sunlover2]

I tried boots at the pharmacy in.

Jasmine hotel corner of soi cowboy.

They don't sell cialis and asked me to go to clinic.

Any other place. I do not want roadside stuff.

Thank you in advance.

G.

Not a consumer of these pharma's but have read enough ISG reports over the years. My 2 cents:

1) The real thing in a legit shop might cost 300 baht per pill, where as generics might cost 50 baht per dose (gel). IMO give the generics a try.

2) The pharma in Foodland on Suk 5 was reported to have decent prices for generics. Easy to compare prices with the Soi 4 shops as they are in the same neighborhood.

3) Smart to stay away from the roadside stuff.

SL.

[Member #4698]

Although I prefer to buy my vitamin V & Cee in Jakarta or Makati in air conditioned well known chain Pharmacies, once in a while I do make a purchase in BKK at Charoen Pharmacy.

Go to the intersection of Soi 4 and Sukhumvit. Walk west along Sukhumvit towards the Marriott. You can't miss the two pharmacies on your left. They are both just past the gas station. First there is J.R. Pharmacy. This is a great place to buy Sagami 0. 02 Large condoms by the box. The 2nd pharmacy is Charoen Pharmacy. They do not stock Sagami's, but they carry genuine pharmaceutical Viagra & Cialis as well as the generics for a lot less. The choice is up to you. Just ask and they will tell you the comparative costs. I prefer dealing with the old man instead of his taciturn wife, but either way you will get what you came for at a reasonable price in any quantity you want.