Thailand - the land of smiles or greedy people?

Thailand - the land of smiles!? But is it?

At the turn out it turned out not quite) Local people there are used to the white tourist and treat it as a tightly packed purse. Unlike Goa and Sri Lanka, there you look at you as a gimmick and everyone wants to please. All would be fine if it were not for their greed and deceit! During a month of stay in Phuket we encountered some unpleasant moments.

•     Hotel is an understatement. A hotel is a 2-3 room gesthouse. The discount for a month's stay was given to us only with the proviso that they would not clean the room. In India and Ceylon, it was easy to bargain and set your own rules. In Thailand we could hardly ask for an electric kettle, but in Sri Lanka we were given a refrigerator upon request.
•     The shoes we bought in the store were torn on the second day! When we tried to get our money back, we were told to take another pair and leave, because there was no money-back! I had to switch to another pair, which ended up running pretty short).
•     The next unpleasant thing was that the wait time for the "purchased visa ran excursion" exceeded a 1 hour 20 minute wait! Departure was supposed to be around 4am, not from the hotel, but at the place we were described on our fingers. As a result, in the morning, when the bus was over 30 minutes late, we started thinking that maybe we should have been picked up from the hotel... No one gave us a phone number for communication, the tourist tray will be closed for a long time (until about 10-11 ). We are on our last day of visas in the country, so getting to the visas early is imperative! As a result, one of us was left waiting in place, the other went to find out who was coming to the hotel. When 1 hour and 20 minutes later the long-awaited bus arrived (at the agreed location), we were so happy we didn't even swear).
•     The further away, the more interesting. The next point was about the visa. The visa for Ukrainians opens on arrival for 14 days, and we inexperience had tickets back only a month (it was back in 2014 - it was our first trip). But at the tourist tent we were assured that it was no big deal, they say there is a visa run. We paid for a trip to the border with Burma. We were supposed to come to the border, supposedly leave and come again to renew the stamp in the passport. It all sounded so easy and simple. The smallest thing was that we spent about 8 hours one way on the bus. We got to the border, and the customs said - if you let us out, we won't let you back in! As it turned out, "early land visas" do not work for Ukrainians! We had to fly to another country. The tricky part was that we went to Thailand on the last day of the visa! All the stuff was left at the hotel! We drove really nervous on the way back, because at the border, the bus was stopped in both directions by another customs officer for checks. On the way back they stopped the bus, but did not check passports of anyone. When we arrived at night at the hotel back we were already without a visa in the country) The next day we went to the tour desk on the beach, where we were sold this tour "Visa Ran. The girl brazenly replied in broken English that she was not aware of it! When we started to ask for a money back, she said she does not understand English and if we want, we can go to the police! We had to go to the police...without a visa)) We left with nothing. We went on the Internet and read there about penalties for overstaying. The remaining 14 days in the country did not really want to go sightseeing, ended up sitting on the beach) At the airport, then really paid a fine, like many others, there was a whole queue.

In the end, liked the climate, nature and the whole area, much more than Goa in India. But the people...leave a lot to be desired. They have smiles, alas, not the soulfulness as in India!