A Brit in The Orient.

I have received a few e-mails regarding any modern properties in thailand.

Oh yes there are, I have been tempted several times, but the law on ownership is extremely deep and fraught with danger.


Let The buyer Beware is certainly a major issue, that's for sure.






House like the one above and others below can easily be purchased from as little as £50,000..00 (GBP) to a maximum of £100,000..00 (GBP)


The one below which was a spectacular property indeed was offered to us fully furnished with the best of high quality top range furnishings and decoration you could possibly imagine for £90,00..00.








As you can see from the photographs the levels of workmanship and standards of design and presentation are extremely good.








I know quite a few people who are married to Thais and this makes ownership far more straight-forward and secure, the cost of living in Thailand is also ridiculously cheap of course compared to the UK.

I have also had mail asking about the human traffic trade in the orient.

Please feel free to ask the questions on the thread. It is good to let others see the types of questions asked and encourages better debate and hence a better thread.

I will always do my best to give a good response to any questions you throw at me.

Let me see what I can do with this one then and also use some of the references I have available to assist in a decent response.

Initially let us look at how young girls in this particular corner of the planet can become involved in prostitution.

Poverty.

Lack of Education.

Forced by Parents.

Gullibility.

Mothers, sisters other close relations involved in the same.

Drugs and or alcohol. (Yaaba presently being a chief cause in northern Thailand)

Family/Personal problems.

Materialism westernisation automatically creates a somewhat frenzied desire for more.

One may be entitled to consider that girls from impoverished countries such as Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh, parts of Russia have no choice in the matter .

Allegations abound that procurement and trafficking for the purpose of force prostitution are not only widespread in Thailand, but in many instances occur with the direct involvement of the Thai police or border guards. It is extremely difficult for Burmese to cross the borders into Thailand and travel any distance without the knowledge and or involvement of the official law enforcers.

The difficulty is of course in naming or making direct accusations regarding these abusers of positions, there are many on the other side of the fence who have masqueraded as Police Officers and other officials in order to simplify their evil doings.

Many young girls who have been found in brothels etc have been quite willing to identify alleged police who had been instrumental in transporting them from Thai-Burmese border points into northern Thailand towns or directly to brothels.
Where does the truth begin and where does it end?



The situation in Ranong is particularly alarming because of the large extent to which the local police and government authorities condone and at times collaborate in the systematic abuse of Burmese women and girls.
For example, a Ranong merchant stated that "anyone who hopes to win a seat as Ranong's {member of parliament} must publicly announce a clear policy supporting border trade . . . and that means easing restrictions on illegal migrant labour, and on foreign prostitutes."
Police involvement in forced prostitution persists after the women and girls are in the brothel. Brothels routinely operate with police knowledge and police protection. On July 26, 1993, the Crime Suppression Division of the police force raided houses suspected to be brothels in Bangkok.
The police found account books listing protection payments to Thai government officials. Fifty percent of the Burmese women and girls interviewed reported having police as clients. Of these, most told of special privileges the police received from brothel owners. For instance, "Aye Aye" told Human Rights Watch that police came often to her at the Dao Kanong brothel in Bangkok where she worked. They usually came in uniform in groups of two to five men and were very friendly with the owner. The police were the only ones allowed to take girls out of the brothel, and they never had to pay. "Aye Aye" had to go out with policemen on occasions. The men were in full uniform and possessed walkie talkies and guns.

Once a woman or girl is arrested, local police frequently allow brothel owners access to her in custody. Several of the young girls had been arrested previously by local police and returned to the brothel after the owner paid their fine. The amount paid by the brothel owner was then added to their debts and increased their bondage.

Another example of the depth of official involvement in protecting the brothel owners' interests was the widely-reported murder in Songkhla province of Passawara Samrit, a Thai woman from Chiang Mai, who had apparently been forced into prostitution. Her murder was discovered on November 2, 1992, the same day that Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai announced his crackdown on child prostitution. According to witnesses, Passawara was threatened by police and the brothel owner, after the brothel owner discovered her escape plans. Passawara fled to a provincial hospital for protection, but the staff turned her over to the welfare office which planned to turn her over to the police. The next morning she was found dead in the bathroom.

The official investigation revealed that two police officers to whom Passawara initially turned for help had tried to convince her to return to the brothel and work off her "debt." They reportedly threatened to arrest her for prostitution if she did not return to the brothel. The Songkhla police investigating the murder announced six murder suspects, including two police officers and two provincial officers. In late December 1993 four of the suspects were sentenced for Passawara's murder; the two police officers received the death sentence.

Following the investigation, twenty Songkhla policemen reportedly were transferred but were not charged with any crime. Another sergeant was charged with accepting bribes from the brothel owner. In January 1993 Assistant Police Chief Pracha Prommok warned that any "policemen discovered taking kickbacks will face tough and punitive action." However, with the exception of the Passawara Samrit case, not a single Thai police officer has been charged or prosecuted for prostitution-related crimes. In a September 1993 interview, Prime Minister Chuan acknowledged that government officials continued to be negligent in suppressing prostitution; at the same time Police Maj. Bancha Netinan indicated that the police department was "cracking down on staff involvement of the flesh trade."Netinan told reporters that 302 inactive positions had been created for police officials involved in prostitution. While any effort to curtail official involvement in child and forced prostitution is welcome, Human Rights Watch believes that transfers cannot substitute for prosecution and punishment.

This inactive post scenario really annoys me. What is exactly meant by an inactive post?

I rather think they probably follow the drunken and drugged up drivers of wagons and buses, who have caused deaths by their dangerous driving tactics and do runners to Nakhon Nowhere!

OK on with the thread. I mentioned having quite a few ex-pat friends in the orient, Thailand especially, I'll do a bit of a section regarding them later on en bloc so to speak, it's probably more effective than putting bits and pieces in about individual characters.

So for now, I'll do a bit on northern Thailand in general, we took a great trip actually, left Chiang Mai, called to see an old pal in Chiang Rai, looked for another, and the Police Box where we should have turned right had gone from the face of the earth (it always used to be there )so we didn't make that connection (better luck next time). We spent the night in the really nice accommodation at Due Doy Suay, and eventually ended up in Mae Sai, which is always a pleasant little interesting border town!

We had a stroll round town, Flobo purchased a few bits and pieces like women do, and we noticed about half a dozen shady looking characters around the back of the vehicle as we were returning to the same. They moved away rather sheepishly and melted into the street crowds.On checking the rear tailgate, our possessions being inside I found the offside catch for the top door had been forced open. One guy sat in the driving seat of a taxi directly to the rear averted his eyes rather smartish when I looked directly at him. As it is they had not gained entry to the vehicle so there was no loss. I rather felt like I wanted to rearrange his looks, but thought better of it.

But it annoys me to think how we could have been badly affected with a large scale theft of our possessions.

Meandering again:- There was a good point to this story. Several days later I took the vehicle into The Toyota main agents in Mae Hong Son, the workshop manager, who spoke excellent English as a matter of fact, looked at the damage to the lock and asked me to wait in the very modern reception area of the garage. There were free coffee facilities, free INTERNET use all in all a very ultra modern set up, which could have been in any major city of the planet.

He had a technician take the vehicle into the workshop there was a glazed viewing area from the waiting room and he proceeded to carry out the repairs. It took him almost an hour. In the UK I would have expected a bill for at least £75..00. On completion and asking how much I owed, the workshop manager expressed his concern that I had been subjected to such an incident in Thailand! He stated furthermore that it would not be a Thai person doing this; "In Mae Sai there are many 'bad men' from other countries," he exclaimed.

There will be no charge.

I was quite taken aback and expressed my gratitude with a decent tip.

I will certainly find the time to drop Toyota a letter regarding this excellent service to a 'Farang' Thank You Toyota Mae Hong Son.


The Chinese Temple in Mae Sai.





Gateway to the immigration point and crossing with Burma.





Street photograph with Flobo looking around the various shops.

It never ceases to amaze me in Thailand especially, how you can be driving through mountains with no sign of life or residence, and all of a sudden miles and miles from anywhere, you come across somebody on an elephant dragging a log or something else along or like the photograph below. People standing in rivers, washing clothes, fishing, frolicking, taking a bath or cleaning a car.

Amazing Thailand.







The chappie in the photograph below allowed me into his home to take a few photographs, it is amazing how proud he was of his television, which he ran along with a light from a small petrol run generator.




He was careful regarding the mosquito net around the family bed too.

I was quite surprised to come across this old timer, wandering about a dusty highway with his stick. I gave him a few baht for the privilege of his photograph though.

I think it a bit cheeky to simply stop and start clicking away. Usually in a village it's all you can do, because of the numbers, and of course, once you give one and a few see you, they are all over you like a swarm of bees around a honey pot.









Some of the roads we ended up driving along were simple dirt roads, they always give me the most interest and I enjoy finding out where they lead to.









I'll simply keep feeding you bits and pieces from the north of Thailand in general, if you have an interest in a particular location or point which may interest you, let me know and I'll open it up more for you.

The areas I am presently covering right now are in conjunction with a trip as follows:-

Chiang Mai - Surrounding areas, Mae Rim, Doi Ithanon. Mae Sai, Doi Mae, Fang, Doi Ang, Pai, and over to Mae Hong Son.

Hope you enjoy it, some great places to visit.




One of the fascinating features of roads like the one above are the number of snakes you come across, there never seems a right time for the camera though, by the time you spot one, stop the vehicle, get the camera ready, it's long gone.

Pity, but I have only ever managed to snap two or three and this last trip alone we must have spotted at least a dozen on roads like these, plus more around other places.

The two photographs I am showing you below are an area of Thailand we visited and found this most remarkable place.

I'll get around to relating some of the interesting points connected with this particular spot later, it's just that i came across the photographs and hoped you would like sight of the same.





I hope you like them both, I happen to think they are beautiful photographs.

Good man, Mathos, reading along.

Keep up the good work, it's appreciated.

With thanks

McT

I'm gad you are enjoying it Mac, it is brilliant to know that so many people are getting enjoyment from it and I have some really spectacular stuff to come yet, it should go on for a couple of months too with regular writings and photographs.


I have some fantastic photographs and will take trips into Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam and back into Laos eventually at the Nong Khai border crossing via The friendship bridge there.

There was a hotel manger at the hotel we stayed at there 'Mr Fixit' I nicknamed him, he was something else.

This particular photograph is great too! The architecture associated with the Temple is splendid, the colour agrees superbly with the lushness of the surrounding jungle I personally think. The Monk carving away on what I believe was a large piece of teak and the little dog in the foreground really finishes the same off.

I think Dutchy, old friend that I have mastered the art of reducing the size of the pictures and I am going to try it with this issue.

I hope it works for you, sorry for the delay as well.





The above shows me gaining entry to an un-manned border point and having a rummage in the paper-work. It was all in Thai though, no English.

Pity that.

excellent photos mathos. portrait of old guy with stick should win a prize.

Thanks Steve, it is quite a good photograph, I was really pleased with it when I saw it on the computer myself.

I must be getting better at taking them or whatever.


I think this one is spectacular, I'm a little pushed for time at present, but if not tonight, then tomorrow I will let you have some information on the same.

Wow! Incredible Mathos!

Thanks Aidan, yes, I thought it was superb, it says a great deal that photograph.

Catch up with some writing tomorrow or later, football tonight.



If this link works, check these out, a friend who's grand-daughter works at Nasa sent me these today.

http://www.texasjim.com/NASApix/NASA%20pix.htm

Love those NASA pictures!

Glad you liked them Linkat, I thought they were 'Out of this world' :wink:

Getting back to when I crossed the border illegally, I thought I had better explain what went one.

I had a good rummage around in the un-manned border crossing hut, but the papers were all written in Thai and I could hardly make a word out.

I did find a couple of porn magazines under the counter so to speak.

It made me laugh to think he might be one embarrassed guy jumping up shouting 'Halt who go's there' All at the wrong moment.









Anyhow I'm walking merrily along in Burma, minding my own business and looking for what might be around the next corner, Flobo shouts; "You'd better come back, there's a soldier coming and he he's got a gun."

I turned and started to walk back kind of nonchalantly, I actually thought I should start whistling or singing or something, but then he was there, stood at the side of Flobo, AK47 in his hand supported by a flashy leather shoulder strap.

I thought this will make a cracking photograph, but he didn't like me raising the camera and stuck his hand up in the air, bellowed something at me in Thai, which I thought might be prudent to interpret as;

"No photographs please, I'm camera shy."

So I put down the camera and he by now has raised the gun slightly, I acted smartish in getting back across the border into Thailand, offered him my hand, big smile, and asked him if this was the way to Bangkok.

Well he wasn't being taken in at all, obviously he didn't understand a word of English but at times like this there is universal knowledge when you simply walk up the hill ahead of him and know only too well he is taking you in.

I'm thinking this could be an ideal time to offer him a bribe, but when I turned around he wasn't very happy looking at all. I thought it best to keep my mouth shut for the time being.


He took me through a funny wooden gate and two more soldiers both carrying guns came out of a hut on the other side.


This was the gateway to the first hut and gate.



They were both extremely young looking and he spoke a few words to them and carried on his way, towards another bigger hut on the right.

I thought 'Christ they might torture me or something.'

The other soldiers were very young indeed and I was more than concerned at the size of the guns they were toting than anything else.

So I smiled at one of them in particular and said "Hey, you are Ronaldo."

He in turn gave a big smile back and said, "Ronaldo, Man United"

"Yes, Man United, you are Ronaldo"

This was great, I was making out to be kicking and heading an invisible ball about, and passing it to Ronaldo, they were laughing, I think they were actually getting ready to call for a yellow van for me.

I was happier by the minute.

We shook hands and they went to a table, both sat down, Ronaldo took off his floppy hat and commenced to thumb through the pages of a book. He didn't write anything in it or do anything, I carried on bulling them both up, took my camera out of my pocket and took their photograph.

Then I shook hands with them both, said 'Goodbye' and started to walk back towards the gate.

Caught something they shouted up the hill towards the hut where the first soldier had headed, about Farang.

I took the time to close the gate when I walked through it, Flobo was on the other side with her camera and I said, 'Get a shot of this quick.'




These are the two soldiers, note the guns, I did! :wink:

Flobo had driven the car part way up the hill behind us, she had seen me go through the gate with the soldier, She left the vehicle and followed up on foot, to see what was what. She told me later, she was thinking to herself;- What will they charge him with?

We had both been arrested in Burma back in 1991 for doing a similar thing, that is another story and somebody got shot in that escapade. We were held in a bamboo pen over-night too.


I think it was too much trouble to them to get involved in what could be a lot of paperwork for them, who knows.



So we headed back towards the town and a few more cups of the fancy tea.

All in all it was a great day. The little town looked better than ever the second time around.









Get the kettle on love.





More to follow,

I hope you're enjoying it.

great pics mathos thanks

and excellent diversion into space

Thanks Steve.

It is appreciated when a compliment comes across.

Hopefully I will get some additional material on board later this evening, I'm running late of late, a few work problems and a few late nights at the Boxing Club.

Enjoyable though.

Actually when you see photographs of areas like this it really makes me yearn for more time in those beautiful mountains

These were taken high in the mountain border area near Ban Rak Thai, A really beautiful location.





I have to admit to preferring the dirt roads to the smoothies, far more interesting. Not in the rainy season though.





Memories are regenerated when I look on photographs like these.

What a cracker this lady looked, she was a happy as a pig in muck and looked like she thoroughly enjoyed her life and what she was doing.

You're probably aware that if you right click on the photographs and save them to your picture management programme, you can view them as full screen size, some of these snaps (in my humble opinion) are really outstanding.




This is a spectacular photograph of the hills following 'crop clearance' in certain sections of the mountains, the poppies no doubt looked fantastic in their bloom as well.

I think I have some hard copies of poppy and marijuana fields, I'll have a quick look and try and sort a couple out to put on board, if not tonight within the next day or two.




This next one is a classic, I doubt most of you have actually seen a real poppy cultivated field high in the mountains, it is quite an experience.

Difficult to take photographs too, they don't like it and those Shan guys can be pretty mean if the mood takes them, or if you upset them.

Or if they take a dislike to you.

As it is, I have always got along well with them.

Reasonably well anyhow






I do have some fantastic shots I have taken over the years, and we have seen things and places out in the mountains of Burma especially, that very few occidentals have.

We've been in tight corners a good few times as well.


I'm glad to be able to share a few photographs with you and some of the tales.

I really hope you are enjoying the same.

The guys below, excuse the duplication of the photograph had been clearing a field of marijuana. Look at the joint in one guys hand.


I do have some fantastic shots I have taken over the years, and we have seen things and places out in the mountains of Burma especially, that very few occidentals have.

We've been in tight corners a good few times as well.










I will find some photographs in the next few days of fields of the stuff, it is unbelievable.