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Tourists from the Middle East

Tailor made to keep people away

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Tourists from the Middle East

To: [email protected]
I read in last week’s Pattaya Mail online that a large some of money is to be spent to lure people from the Middle East. It was with some amazement, as I have been today to the Thai consulate in Dubai to get my visa renewed as it runs out next month. I was refused on the grounds that I don’t have a residents permit for Dubai. When I pointed out I don’t have one because I don’t reside there and I work on a ship 6 on 6 off, it doesn’t matter. Can’t have, never mind that I am married in Thailand, bought my own house and try to do things above the law - not interested.
While I was there I watched another Middle Eastern gentleman being refused a tourist visa because he didn’t have a local sponsor. When he pointed out that he had never been before and knew nobody, they asked what hotel he had booked. Again he replied, first I want to be sure of my visa before I book hotels or flights. But he was also refused.
My response to the tourism authority will be either sort out the embassies or save some money; it’s going to go to waste.
Delta

Tailor made to keep people away

Sir,
I doubt I am the first to complain about the consistent nuisance caused to farang tourists by over-zealous tailors of South Asian origin. As a regular visitor to Thailand I have seen their distasteful behaviour from North to South and all points between. A simple “No thank you” should suffice but in their greed they chase and harangue customers down the street, and often insult if they are given a (deserved) hostile reception.
Pattaya does not seem to know the answer to this problem, so perhaps I could make a suggestion? In response to tourist complaints, a few years ago the authorities in Phuket made it an offence for these people to harass tourists, punishable by an automatic Bt500 fine.
Since they’ve done so, and word has got around, these people now mutter under their breath when “No Thank You” is the response, and refrain from the off-putting behaviour that I see here in Pattaya on a daily basis, where instead not one day goes by without being hassled when walking along minding your own business.
I have lost count of the occasions when I have been grabbed on the arm by one of these bandits, behaviour which in other countries constitutes assault and would permit an appropriate response.
I have my choice of destinations within Thailand, and I am sure I am not alone in saying that on almost all occasions I prefer Phuket to Pattaya, and I will be spending much more time there than here until the authorities do something to clamp down on this annoying problem.
Regards,
Harry

Home Sweet Home

Editor;
Re Even more on baht bus overcharging Vol. XV No. 42, Friday October 19 - October 25, 2007: “All you have to worry about is minding your belongings and your head as you get on and off. How much would we have to pay for such a service back home I wonder?” You are not “back home”. Continue to overpay, and in time it will be economically just like “back home”.
Dee

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