Month: January 2015

It’s so sad to learn that things like this are still happening to foreigners in Thailand. Everybody finds paradise in the Land of Smiles – at first. It’s one thing to enjoy the place as a tourist. It’s quite another to live there and go native. Can you really blend in? Is what you’re seeing the real Thailand?

A backpacker who moved to Thailand after watching Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach was found hanged in his hotel room ‘after feeling pressure to come home’.

Jack Davies, 21, was found dead 6,000 miles from home, moving to the tropical paradise after seeing the Danny Boyle cult movie, an inquest heard.

The tragic globetrotter spent three years partying with fellow travellers before settling down on the picturesque Phi Phi islands, off the coast of Phuket, for work.

Mr Davies stayed in Thailand after his tourist visa expired and worked in a bar. He was said to be having the ‘time of his life’ on the idyllic islands, exploring the white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and stunning mountains. But friends said he felt ‘under pressure to go home’ to Llanelli, south-west Wales, before his death.
An inquest heard how Jack – known to his friends as Jay – had been out drinking with his friends shortly before his death in August last year.

He left his friends and went back to the K Guest house where he had been staying. Jack’s friends later found his body and raised the alarm. Emergency services rushed to the scene but he was declared dead shortly after they arrived.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2932982/Backpacker-21-moved-Thailand-seeing-Leonardo-DiCaprio-film-Beach-hanged-hotel-room-feeling-pressure-come-home.html#ixzz3QPd4YmAP
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Is Thailand Right For Me?

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Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

On 21st January 2015, perplexing notices was pasted on some of the taxis waiting to pick up passengers at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. In various versions of broken English, Thai and Japanese, these notices announced that the drivers were boycotting Japanese travelers.

This “protest” occurred in the wake of a complaint posted on social media by a Japanese educational volunteer. According to him, a taxi driver at Suvarnabhumi Airport tried to overcharge him and refused to turn on the meter to boot. The authorities immediately suspended the driver and his cronies (who likewise had no qualms about ripping tourists off) staged a boycott of all Japanese passengers.

In any reasonable society, the errant driver would have been disciplined. His colleagues would have felt ashamed of his actions and distanced themselves from his unethical practice, making it clear that he was just a black sheep who did not represent the profession.

But no, this is Thailand. It does not matter who is right and who is wrong here. As long as you’ve caused a Thai to lose face (as in this case), he may feel entitled to kill you. Refusing to take you in his cab is already surprisingly mild. Death threats are more common in cases like this.

Yes, Thais are very nice, friendly and hospitable towards foreigners most of the time. However, the moment you make them lose face in your attempts to get things straight, the savage surfaces. Take care.

Is Thailand Right For Me? (Kindle only)

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Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.