General Reports

[QUOTE=Rick Rock; 1327045]That said, I heard two things from multiple Thai girls during my last few trips that simply sound absurd. I'm wondering if any long timers can confirm or dispel.

#1. It costs $200, 000 to open a bear bar in Pattaya, with all the associated rent, fees, permits, bribes and memberships required.[/QUOTE]I don't know, but the last thing Pattaya needs is another beer bar, restaurant, or massage shop. The place is already over-saturated with those things. But I guess some people have big dreams because I am sure there will be another one opening soon on a corner near you.

[QUOTE=Horndog 3;1326366]I have been reading reports of the hotels and motels in Bangkok are giving info to the Thai government on how many ladies a visitor to their country has invited to his room. Is this info also going to the visitors home embassy. When you go though immigration and they swipe your passport and report comes up that you are a sex tourist.[/QUOTE]They already know I'm a sex tourist. When returning to Canada they ask what I was doing in Thailand & I tell them I enjoy the company of young nude Thai women at the gogos, MPs & working on the street. They appreciate you being upfront, honest & to the point, & wave you through w / o having to be interogated.

One time they interogated me they found a list of TGs names with phone numbers, prices, what services they do, if they were worth a repeat, etc. They photocopied it and kept asking what it was about. I kept saying it was personal info.

Prostitution, BTW, is not illegal in Canada. And for all intents & purposes, neither is it in LOS. Though if you were, say, an American citizen returning to the USA, you might have a problem if they discovered what you were doing in LOS, I don't know.

R. R.

Just my 2 cents from my own experience. The remarks are a very simple generalization regarding the comments. If you are able to break them down through the language barrier it isn't exactly true?

In Pattaya, police in one district doesn't have much influence on another for example the district station on Soi 9, doesn't have a say as to what Banglamung does or what to do.

Regarding the beer bar in Pattaya, like Mr. E. Said why would a sane Farang want to open up another beer bar except to show off why he can or he just have money to blow. Some do think that they have the extra money do to the exchange rate until month after month they run in the negative. Yea it sounds right that a simple beer bar might cost 200, 000 to open? Usually you have the rent and then there is the KEY MONEY, the previlege to rent the space or building that is due each year and non-refundable. Take a space on Soi 6, on one of these typical buildings. Rent average 20, 000 baht up for a two level building and then the key money which start around 45, 000 baht up? Then you start to renovate and hired staff you should get the picture? On the Darkside, it is much cheaper to open and each day I see them open and I see them close. I make a bet with myself as to how long it will open and if a sign goes up for sale you got to be the biggest sucker to buy one or you got money to blow.

As for the police they are the same as the mafia dressed in brown. Beer bars aren't consider a legit business regardless of any requirement to get a liquor license etc. You see them come in street clothes, mamasan goes to talk, they walk around and they get their money? Those liquor carts with the big jars selling moonshine, pool halls have to pay a little tea money. Two boys in brown on a motorbike or at night a pickup truck with a bunch of cops in the back doing rounds in your neighborhood or hotel get a little tea money. A local mini-mart or hair salon doesn't pay tea money unless there is rumor they are doing something other than that. These BIB will nickle and dime you even for a local mini-mart, they will come in street clothes and ask to buy a single smoke which is illegal and bust you if you don't pay the small tea money. Not every business pays tea money that is a simple generalization by Thais but at the same time depending on the business there are other ways to get them to pay?

A recent survey in the Bangkok post with politicians concluded that Thais feel corruption is okay since it exist throughout the world along with white lies like lying about the economy to make everyone feel better? In Thailand the above is their way? Another article 2 years ago showed that the government estimates that they are loosing 200 billion a year due to corruption. The reason they call Thailand LOS is because behind the smile basically they are asking for tea money?

To end, nothing personal but you do sound naive?

LBM

[QUOTE=Rick Rock; 1327045]prs must pay these bribes. I know Thai police like many of their brothers around the world are corrupt to the bone, but is this for real?

Sorry if I sound naive, but I heard similar things from so many girls who didn't know each other, I got to wonder just how real this is.[/QUOTE]Very real. Just the way things are done here.

No one in his right mind invests into anything in those alike countries that he can't put into his mouth or stick his dick in right away.

[QUOTE=Tiger 888;1327188]No one in his right mind invests into anything in those alike countries that he can't put into his mouth or stick his dick in right away.[/QUOTE]We might all be blowing smoke up Rocks ass? Maybe a actually owner like Dr. BJ might be able to answer this guys questions?

LBM

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan; 1327197]We might all be blowing smoke up Rocks ass? Maybe a actually owner like Dr. BJ might be able to answer this guys questions?

LBM[/QUOTE]There are always exceptions to any rule and I believe and hope DrBJ knows what he is doing.
But he seems well connected and has been around for years if not decades.

[QUOTE=Tiger 888; 1327216]There are always exceptions to any rule and I believe and hope DrBJ knows what he is doing.

But he seems well connected and has been around for years if not decades.[/QUOTE]I might be wrong and as you said there are always exceptions to any rule but I believe his connections is throught Annies and even if not DrBJ, whether he knows what he is doing or connected he is in the end a Farang and as one he will hit a wall sooner or later even if he keeps within his element. They have no loyality except for the green back or Baht.

LBM

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan; 1327241]I might be wrong and as you said there are always exceptions to any rule but I believe his connections is throught Annies and even if not DrBJ, whether he knows what he is doing or connected he is in the end a Farang and as one he will hit a wall sooner or later even if he keeps within his element. They have no loyality except for the green back or Baht.

LBM[/QUOTE]Well, I was trying to give him the chance of doubt. I an in my shoes and will not drop my money in Thailand or a country alike.

Of course I would never consider putting any money into a beer bar in Pattaya. I was just curious if this estimate was right. Seems like a hell of a lot of money for what is at best a rationale for a visa and at worst a huge money pit. Also seems bizarre that a food stall selling a grand total of $20 worth of food a day would face a shake down.

[QUOTE=Rick Rock;1327322]Of course I would never consider putting any money into a beer bar in Pattaya. I was just curious if this estimate was right. Seems like a hell of a lot of money for what is at best a rationale for a visa and at worst a huge money pit. Also seems bizarre that a food stall selling a grand total of $20 worth of food a day would face a shake down.[/QUOTE]200, 000 [b]baht[/b] seems more like it for a beer-bar. And a food stall will probably give some free food to the neighbourhood police.

[QUOTE=Wolvenvacht;1327336]200, 000 [b]baht[/b] seems more like it for a beer-bar. And a food stall will probably give some free food to the neighbourhood police.[/QUOTE]I wouldn't even give them a grain of rice, which is why I would never invest in any country like that. But the number I was hearing, again from more than one girl, was 6, 000, 000 baht, which is around $200, 000 USD. That just sounds insane, even more than opening a beer bar to begin with.

[QUOTE=Rick Rock;1327366]I wouldn't even give them a grain of rice, which is why I would never invest in any country like that. But the number I was hearing, again from more than one girl, was 6, 000, 000 baht, which is around $200, 000 USD. That just sounds insane, even more than opening a beer bar to begin with.[/QUOTE]okay my mistake I was under the assumption you were referring to 200, 000 baht but if you are talking 200, 000 USD, that is totally insane and the people you are talking certainly must be a langauge problem between you and them. Looking back on the post I will stop because the topic isn't worth the continue time to discuss!

LBM

Yes, this is what I'm saying. The first time a girl and her mamasan were telling me about the bar I was in, which apparently just opened recently. They went on and on about all the work that went into it, and how the owner shelled out 6, 000, 000 baht to open the joint. I brushed it off as promotional nonsense, especially since it was a dump.

On a later date, I talked with an experience Thai bar girl about a lady I knew in another country who used the money she made as a working gal to open her own shop. The Thai bar girl said it was impossible in Pattaya because it costs "5-7 million baht to open a bar here".

It obviously sounds ridiculous, but who the fuck knows. I never looked into setting up a beer bar before.

China!

"Thailand alone received 20 million visitors in 2011, [compered with] more than the 12.3 million combined arrivals in the four countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam). Thailand projects 26 million tourists in 2015 while CLMV nations aim at 25 million."

China is now the largest source of Thai tourism revenue. Thailand could earn more than Bt1 billion per year in visa fees from the more than 2 million Chinese tourists expected to travel to the Kingdom.

About 2.2 million Chinese are expected to visit Thailand this year, up from 1.7 million last year. If neighbouring countries waive visa fees for the Chinese, Thailand will suffer a huge loss. Tourists from third countries may shift to destinations in Indochina and Myanmar.

...

Thailand's share of the regional tourism market plunged from 38 per cent in 2008 to 33 per cent last year. Singapore and Malaysia became key rivals, as they have developed many new attractions and continue progressive plans. About 80 million visitors travel into the region. Of them, 36 million or 45 per cent are from Asean countries and 44 million are from outside the region.

[url]http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/587195-fearing-loss-of-visa-fees-thailand-opts-out-of-common-visa-plan/[/url]