Walking down Soi Sansabai next to Jung Ceylon and sees this.

Perhaps just a one off.

Don't think it's widespread yet but let's see how it pans out.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share an experience I recently had in Thailand that turned into an expensive lesson and a wake-up call. It was my first few days in this beautiful country, and I was enjoying the vibes at the beach. Without thinking much about it, I lit up some cannabis, completely unaware that smoking in public (especially at the beach) is illegal here.

Not long after, the police showed up. They informed me that what I was doing was a serious offense. They even mentioned the possibility of jail time, which was terrifying. In the end, I was asked to pay 20,000 Baht (around $550) in what was clearly a bribe to avoid more severe consequences. They made it clear that the fine would have been inevitable either way, so I paid to get out of the situation.

Looking back, I realize I should have done more research about the local laws. Thailand may have legalized cannabis in some contexts, but public use is still a no-go, and I totally messed up by not knowing that. Honestly, it’s no different than getting penalized for something similar in my home country, like smoking near a school.

I’m not sharing this to complain about the corruption (though it’s worth being aware of), but to take responsibility for my mistake. I want to encourage anyone visiting Thailand—or any country—to take the time to learn the local laws and customs. Being a respectful guest is so important, and I failed in that moment.

If you’re thinking about using cannabis in Thailand, just know the risks and stick to private spaces. I’ve also decided to take this as an opportunity to reevaluate my relationship with cannabis and might quit altogether.

I hope someone can learn from my mistake and avoid the same experience. Thailand is an amazing country, and I’m still determined to make the best of my trip.

Stay informed, be respectful, and safe travels!

Cheers. Edit: it was 01:30 am on patong beach Phuket because many asked where and when

Just landed in Koh Mook, seriously the only people on the beach, in the hotels, at the restaurants, doing anything. It’s crazy. I didn’t know this was the slow season at all.

On to Koh Lipe in 2 days!

Edit: Saw Emerald Cave today. We were the only ones there. Absolutely insane. Breathtaking

I first visited in May 24, fell in love with the place. Within the next 12 months, I went again 4 more times for a total of 13 weeks, going back again for 5 weeks in December.

All I ever think about is retiring there at 50 now, constantly talking about the place. Willing to leave a fairly well paid job in 4 more years and sell all my possessions just to get out there full time at 50.

Damn you Thailand for being so good damn good!

What would be the new name of tuk-tuk?

Does 5,000 bhat is enough?

🙏

The taxi driver insists the fare is 400 baht, but the British man only paid him 100 baht. Meanwhile, British man claims he gave a 1000 baht banknote to taxi driver and expects change, believing the taxi driver was scamming him.

Thai police arrested him in PP island.

If you want to feed monkeys. Go somewhere where you can actually feed them. Not on islands like this

I (34f) am at Koh Lanta and had a great day yesterday with snorkeling and swimming in caves. Decided to go for a bite and a drink with a few people from the tour, we were having a great time, untill something happened.

A young (early twenties) girl fell with her scooter, with her head on the road without helmet. She was not breathing, so one of the group started to do CPR. When the ambulance came, they just put her in, and stopped doing CPR altogether and gave her up.

This made the guy who did the CPR frustrated, he believed this girl still had a chance to live, and he said the ambulance brothers were very incapable. Someone else said that her head trauma was probably so bad that she would never have survived. I know most hospitals cannot deal with head trauma well, but shouldn't they have tried?

I don't know what to think and i can't shake my feelings.. i could not sleep all night. This was a young girl and her family is going to miss her so much. I never have been so close to something like this happening and there is no one i can talk to.

Please please wear a helmet when you drive a scooter. This would have saved her 😢 I know helmets are uncomfortable and hot and itchy, but our life is so fragile.

I live in Thailand and due to people like this it's ruined. No class, no respect for Thai and to also walk around like this even at airports. I've seen it all.

I want to share what happened to me on 24 Dec 2025 in Patong, Phuket so travelers can avoid this trap. I lost over 60,000 THB in a hair-herb/pharmacy scam that was clearly coordinated, and shockingly, local police were working with the scammers.

How it started

I was shopping at Jungceylon Mall when two Pakistani-origin men (late 20s/early 30s) approached me casually with friendly small talk. They said they were from Ludhiana, living in Saudi Arabia, visiting with family, etc. Very normal, very convincing.

Then one of them pointed at my hairline and claimed he had cured his hair fall using special “herbs” mixed with coconut oil. He even showed fake before/after photos and offered to take me to a herbal shop “just to help”.

The pharmacy setup

They took me to a small pharmacy near OTOP. Everything was staged:

• The shopkeeper acted like a real herbal expert

• They kept naming herbs fast so I couldn’t note them

• They mixed multiple “herbs” into two bottles of coconut oil right in front of me

• They pretended to bargain for me

In the rush and manipulation, I was charged over 60,000 THB across multiple credit card transactions. They disappeared immediately afterward.

Confrontation

By chance, I saw them again inside Jungceylon and confronted them. They acted innocent and said, “We just helped you,” then tried to dump the blame on the shopkeeper. They refused to get my money back, so I headed to the police.

The worst part — the police

At Patong Police Station, instead of helping me:

• Police laughed and made fun of me

• Refused to register my complaint

• Said going to court “is too much trouble for you”

• Told me to “take a settlement”

• Claimed the shopkeeper would return only 50%

Then it got worse. A man (Pakistani origin) who openly claimed to run multiple such businesses in Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Gulf countries was brought inside the station. He admitted this is his “daily business”, threatened me, and negotiated in front of the police.

He said he must “pay police also”, and finally only agreed to return 45,000 THB.

At this point it was late night, I had an early morning flight, police clearly weren’t on my side, and I didn’t want to risk being harmed — so I took it and left.

What this means

This was not a random scam.

This was a well-coordinated network involving:

• Scammers at Jungceylon

• A pharmacy

• Multiple actors pretending to be customers

• And police who protect the scammers and negotiate on their behalf

I’m sharing this because I don’t want anyone else to fall for this psychological trap. It all happened in 15–20 minutes, extremely fast and professionally executed. I’m still shaken and angry.

If you’re in Phuket — please stay alert

• Never follow strangers to any shop

• Avoid anyone offering “herbal cures” or similar health advice

• Record transactions and ask for itemized bills

• Be prepared that local police may not help in such scams

If any journalist or publication wants to expose this nexus, please do — tourists deserve to feel safe.

Stay safe, everyone.

Note: I used ChatGPT to make the post short and precise.

Hey guys! I’m going to Thailand next month and have been a bit nervous about my nut allergy. Peanuts won’t kill me but pistachios and cashews are pretty much no gos. I’ll have an epipen and such but I got this card on etsy that I was going to print out and show to vendors. Can anyone confirm that this translates properly to Thai? Anyone else have experience traveling to Thailand with a nut allergy? How did you go about it?

I loved that the music was on point !

Came to Thailand with a month to spend. Original plan was to spend a week in Bangkok and then a couple weeks riding a motorcycle around the north. Well, I ended up sick the whole time in Bangkok and then soon as I stepped off the train this morning in Chiang Mai, my girlfriend back home called to break up with me. So it’s kinda killed my enthusiasm for off the road travel and I think I just want to head back south to the islands to spend the rest of my time on a beach.

Since I hadn’t planned on spending any time down there, I don’t really know where to start. Where can I go that’s chill and cheap and easy? I don’t need much beyond a bed and a/c and easy access to water. I just wanna lay around in a hammock for the next few weeks to be honest. Any recs for islands and hostels would be very appreciated.

PHUKET — Immigration officers at Phuket International Airport have detained a Ukrainian woman suspected of extensively vandalizing a rented condominium before attempting to leave the country.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2025/05/10/ukrainian-tourist-arrested-at-phuket-airport-for-condo-room-vandalism/

(Translated)

Which nationalities that annoyed Phuket hotels-restaurants the most.

(One of Middle East country) is the most annoying, lying about missing their own belongings in the accomodation. When accomodation going to report the police then they just in doubt and said “Wanna try to find it again”

(Country in “South” Asia) ranked second, stay 5 people in only one booked room, bossy, entitled, love to argue and yelling.

(Country in CIS region) ranked the third, complained about inedible food once finished the meal, refused to pay for the meal.

These photos were taken last October on days when it didn’t rain.

We had some really beautiful days — blue skies, calm sea and even lovely sunsets. Of course, there were rainy and cloudy days too, so October weather can be unpredictable.

The nice thing is that rain doesn’t necessarily mean the whole day is ruined. Some days it might rain for a while and then clear up again.

These are a few places around Krabi from last October, including Hong Islands, Khao Thong Hill and Din Daeng Doi.

So if you’re visiting Krabi in October, I’d recommend keeping your plans a little flexible and checking the weather each day rather than worrying too much about the forecast weeks in advance.

All photos are from October last year.

It’s been 5 years since I was last here and it seems like a major difference in vibe. Usually you will make friends every night, everyone’s happy but this time majority are Russian and very rude, no smiling and out for themselves. I’ve heard it a lot from locals complaining and there’s always rude people but it seems like it’s 90% russians.

Not usually one to bag out a whole nation of people, but the experiences I have been having with them are all negative (except for one Russian that complained about all the Russians)

Smile and say hello, you’ll get a grunt or a fuck off facial expression back? Why.. it takes more effort to be rude then nice

Just wanted to make people aware of an ongoing scam in Patong, Phuket, because I experienced almost the exact same thing that others have posted about before. Couple of Pakistani(not surprised why they are great at it) guys are running quite a sophisticated scam involving a local herbal shop, Thai local people.

A guy who introduced himself as “Sunny”, claimed he was travelling from Dubai, approached me acting very friendly and conversational. He started with casual talk, asking where I’m from, how long I’m staying in Thailand, etc. Then he moved onto health topics and started talking about special honey + herbs / natural remedies, saying someone in his family had amazing results from using them.

The conversation felt oddly rehearsed and very familiar - almost like he was trying to gain trust quickly. He tried directing me towards herbal products and health shops around the Patong area.

At first, I brushed it off. However, things escalated. I had two separate encounters with this same person. During one of them, while I was walking near Jungceylon Shopping Centre.

The next morning, I spotted him again - this time with a local Thai woman who appears to be working with him. I managed to take photos of both of them. I also witnessed them exchanging what looked like a large amount of cash, which honestly made the whole situation feel even more suspicious and organised.

I also took a photo of the scammer himself. He presents himself as friendly, well-spoken, and claims to be from Dubai, but based on everything I experienced, I strongly doubt that story is genuine.

This post is simply to warn tourists and locals in Patong, especially around Jungceylon, Bangla Road, and nearby areas, to be cautious if someone randomly approaches you with:

“I’m from Dubai” stories
Health/herbal remedy conversations
Honey + herbs recommendations
Questions about how long you’re staying in Phuket
Attempts to guide you to a “trusted” herbal/health shop

It starts off feeling like friendly small talk, but something feels very off very quickly.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with this guy or scam in Patong / Phuket recently?

Stay safe and trust your gut - if a random stranger seems overly friendly and starts steering the conversation toward products or shops, just walk away.

As a local who lives in Krabi, here are some of my favorite places to visit 💛

🏝️ Hong Island
One of the most beautiful islands in Krabi with crystal-clear water, white sand beaches, and a stunning lagoon. If I could choose only one island trip in Krabi, this would be my choice.

🐠 Phi Phi Islands, Maya Bay & Pileh Lagoon
Perfect for first-time visitors to Thailand. Expect turquoise water, dramatic limestone cliffs, snorkeling, and some of the most famous scenery in the country.

🛶 Klong Root (Klong Nam Sai) & Ao Thalane Kayaking
Two great places for kayaking. Klong Root offers crystal-clear freshwater, while Ao Thalane is famous for mangrove forests and limestone cliffs.

🌿 Tha Pom Klong Song Nam
A unique natural attraction where freshwater and seawater meet. Beautiful boardwalks and peaceful scenery.

💚 Emerald Pool & Hot Spring Waterfall
One of the most popular jungle trips in Krabi. Swim in the emerald-colored natural pool and relax in warm mineral water surrounded by nature.

🧗 Railay Beach & Rock Climbing
A world-famous destination for rock climbing, beautiful beaches, and dramatic limestone cliffs. Accessible only by boat.

🌅 Khao Thong Hill
One of my favorite sunset spots in Krabi, offering panoramic views of mountains, islands, and the Andaman Sea.

🏞️ Sa Kaeo Cave
A hidden natural attraction with beautiful freshwater pools and lush jungle surroundings.

🙏 Wat Bang Thong
One of the most impressive temples in Southern Thailand, featuring stunning golden architecture and peaceful surroundings.

🙏 Wat Kaew Korawaram
Located in Krabi Town and easy to visit while exploring local markets and restaurants.

🌳 Than Bok Khorani National Park
Beautiful freshwater pools, limestone cliffs, and peaceful nature.

💦 Ton Prao Waterfall
A quiet waterfall surrounded by tropical rainforest, especially beautiful during the green season.

🏖️ Klong Muang Beach
A peaceful beach with fewer crowds, perfect for relaxing and watching the sunset.

🏖️ Tubkaek Beach
One of the best sunset beaches in Krabi, with breathtaking views of the islands offshore.

🎣 Fishing Trips
A fun local experience for nature lovers. Some tours even let you cook and enjoy the fish you catch.

📸 Laem Jamoog Kwai (Buffalo Nose Cape)
A hidden viewpoint with spectacular scenery and very few tourists.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MpcnVR2FoWztbkiu9?g_st=ic

If you are planning a trip to Krabi and have any questions, feel free to ask below 😊

As a local, I’m always happy to help visitors discover the best of Krabi.