Hi all. Thanks for the replies, glad I made some of you laugh, as did some of your replies made me and my wife laugh. But having just returned from our annual four week visit to Thailand, & we've been doing it for more than a decade, I was deadly serious with my question on my post. My wife is Thai but now lives in the UK, and on our visit to her country of origin we both noticed huge changes there.
More farang deaths, drugs culture is rife, coruption is worse, even against their own, more rip-offs against farangs & their own, it seem people are more deporate to get money. Maybe it's just the recession getting to everyone.
Here's one for everyone going there, take note.
You go through the airport customs nothing to declare, clear into the airport, but watch for Police asking you stop and go with them. They ask if you have any cigarettes & drink with you, they're after your European duty free's. Any unaware

farang may hand them over, don't, remember you've cleared customs so just say no fags or drink. And if they see your duty free bag say its chocolate or sent, but don't get taken in by it.

Not seen this before, maybe you've already heard of this.
And yes the sellers did try to rip me off

but I don't get caught as I leave that to the wife

to sort out, even the police got sorted by her as I was stopped four times whilst driving from Pattaya up north to Nong Khai. Three of them pulled the old chestnuts

of speeding, & then staying in the outside lane to long, & the forth just blantantly asked for money. But my lady gave them what for.
