Comment by kinghtown | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kinghtown | Hacker News Reader

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One of the most visited countries in the world. We are all well aware of the reputation they have for sex tourism so anyone going there really needs to embrace the idea that Thailand isn’t quite the same as a typical western country.

I have no great interest in going (I live in Taiwan and the average review I hear for a family vacation isn’t very flattering) but if I were I would be really careful. Most people woefully lack an underground/crime IQ and don’t know how to act in certain situations, often refuse to listen to reason.

I used to work as a bouncer for years after I got sick of corporate work and every once in a while some jackass or Karen would work up the nerve to get weird with the HA guys wearing their vests or getting snarky about calling cops on local dealers who are actually not working per se but trying to unwind with a drink. Honestly, some people get it in their head that they are untouchable because they are “good people” and the cops will protect them. Most people aren’t stupid like this so going on vacation to Thailand has a 99.99% likelihood of being ok.

Like think of someone who is warned about being careful in Mexico and then they petulantly do exactly the opposite. I’m sure Thailand attracts tons of idiots.

> Most people aren’t stupid like this so going on vacation to Thailand has a 99.99% likelihood of being ok.

You don’t need to be an idiot for you trip to go bad. I used a local transportation. When getting off a Chinese tourist had lost is wallet in it. A local just took it for himself while the tourist was still in sight. The scene went too fast for me to do anything but I felt bad for the guy who will likely get charged on credit card, lost all his cash and probably ID too.

Not being an idiot in the context of traveling to developing country means a) not carrying too much cash b) not having all credit cards in the same wallet c) not having IDs in the same wallet as the above and finally knowing your credit card numbers (or have a record of it) so that you can quickly call and cancel them.

It sucks that it happens but if you take proper precaution it shouldn't ruin the vacation besides a slight annoyance...

It's also bad luck, as a counterpoint, I forgot my bag with my computer at a restaurant in Bangkok, I noticed 30 minutes later, came back and the restaurant staff had kept it for me.

You absolutely did the right thing by keeping quiet. If you don’t speak Chinese (or any local language) it is so easy to be taken advantage of. There is no guarantee, but what if you grabbed the guy and wrestled with him, trying to get the wallet off him when suddenly the thief yells to the crowd “Help! This foreigner is stealing someone’s wallet and is trying to kill me!” Then a cop shows up who doesn’t like foreigners and it could be all over. The culture in China is different, very possible that someone could have seen that you are innocent but stayed quiet, avoid the trouble plus who knows, maybe he really did steal that wallet. I’ll go home to my family and the courts can decide if he’s guilty. Like things probably wouldn’t play out that way, Chinese (and Taiwanese, Cantonese) people are incredibly decent and well to do but the perfect storm of a misunderstanding could easily turn on you.

I get that some people are entitled idiots who seem completely incapable of thinking through the consequences of their actions, but I’ve never heard Thailand described in a way that sounds terribly interesting to me as a vacation spot.

Then again, I typically describe any place with more than a few dozen people as overly crowded for the purposes of vacationing, so maybe I’m not the right person to ask.

Bangkok is arguably the foodiest city in the world, and has the best contemporary art scene in South-East Asia.

Just to name a couple things I find interesting there; your interests presumably differ.

Bangkok also feels like a real life Gotham city. They have this elevated train line running between fancy shopping centers, high rise luxury apartments and office buildings. But just below it there is miles and miles of street prostitution and poverty.

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