I thought it was just me, but now that I see other reviews on sitejabber about the ThaiVisa forum, I can see these issues are widespread on the site.

I have had my posts deleted by these Mods countless times, and have been temporarily banned on three occasions, accused of "promoting conspiracy theories", when, in fact, all I was doing was expressing a personal opinion that was backed up with links to highly qualified and well vetted sources of data.

The site is also heavily bloated with advertising, to the point where it's almost impossible to navigate the forum on your smart phone, AND it loads a lot of cookies, and I don't think it's unreasonable to suspect there might even be malware lurking on the the site or through some of its' links... so be especially careful about that!

The thing is... This forum is actually an invaluable resource for Westerners new to Thailand since you can find answers to many questions about living in Thailand as an expat that just can't be found anywhere else. So, as a source of information it is invaluable!

HOWEVER, if you like to engage in discussing and INTELLIGENTLY debating controversial current events with other forum members, you need to think very carefully how you do that.

Just as has been mentioned by others here, many forum members are older and bitter expats who are "trolls" in the truest sense of the term.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize by the tone of their posts that they are very unhappy people who hate living here but only do so because of the low cost of living. Their posts or replies to posts are often mean-spirited, inflammatory and designed to elicit an emotional response. Resist the urge to interact with them or you will regret it!

These "trolls" seem to spend ALL of their time on the forum, with some them them literally having tens of thousands of posts/replies!

I get the impression that they spend their life sequestered in some shabby dark bedroom posting inflammatory things on ThaiVisa 24/7 for the sole purpose of antagonizing people who they will then attack in a hurtful and often vicious ways, as though they wish to make you feel as miserable as they must feel.

Thailand is such a remarkable place that it really makes you wonder how these people can be so unhappy that they resort to being such extreme trolls, but it is what it is, so tread carefully!

My view on using ThaiVisa:
1) Look to the forum to get answers to questions you have about living in Thailand, and nothing more.

2) Don't use ThaiVisa to search for information you seek; their search engine is horrible! Instead, Search on Google.com (i. E.: "your search term" "thaivisa.com")

3) Don't bother reading a thread beyond the first page. Trolls quickly derail a thread once there is more than one page.

4) ThaiVisa trolls are masterful at drawing you in to rebut their ridiculous comments and remarks. Resist the urge to do it. It will be a monumental waste of time, and will just make you depressed and have a dirty feeling from interacting with such sorry individuals.

5) If you do post your personal opinion on a controversial topic, be prepared for it to be deleted by a Moderator if he/she has a personal bias to what you have to say. If they really disagree with what you have to say, they will simply ban you for several weeks as punishment!

There are, of course, many fine people on the forum, and if you are careful, you can engage with them and have a very positive experience, but what I usually do, is discuss and debate with such people through private messaging, NOT the open forum, because if you do, it's only a matter of time before the trolls and the moderators swoop down and severely punish you!

I deleted my account on Thaivisa yesterday. Shame really because a lot of the forum is pretty decent. Visa section is generally helpful and health section is very good.

The problem is the coterie of moderators who have chosen to censor anything critical of Saint Joe of Delaware. This censorship comes after 5 years of sheer depravity mocking Trump's health, his skin color, his hand size, running with all the hoaxes as if fact. Webfact choosing news articles that are completely made up and running with them as fact. It is against forum rules to state correctly that Russia, Russia, Russia was a failure and waste of 3 years, and as we now know from Brennan's notes it was a hoax ginned up to distract from Hillary's email nightmares. It is against forum rules to state Steve Scully was a biased debate mod - even though evidence proves this to be true(he lied about being hacked on twitter and conspiring with Scarramucci). It is against the rules to doubt Jussie Smolletts story, as per darksidedog and scott he is a victim of whiteness emboldened by the MAGA movement. Mentioning the Osundairo brothers that Smollett paid to assault him will get you suspended. Then there is the issue of Ukraine-gate. Again even though Trump was acquitted the mods will censor you for stating this fact. As per onthedarkside and darksidedog's rules Trump was convicted of quid pro quo'ing in the Ukraine, and Biden definitely did not quid pro quo with the "son of a *&^% video he got fired" while helping his crackhead son in his bagman role. It is against forum rules to mention the Biden laptop, the mods falsely claim the Russians bodyhacked poor Hunter and made him smoke crack, do dodgy deals selling influence for millions with overseas enemies of America, and shag children, all a hoax, poor Hunter. And on and on and on and on.
Scott, darksidedog, onthedarkside. You are pushers of fake news. Scott and onthedarkside seems to know they are gaslighting and behaving without integrity for their own reasons, but poor old darksidedog just seems chronically dense and probably believes the rubbish he writes. You have no credibility whatsoever. No matter how many times you state Trump was personally bankrupt, guilty of this and that, you are still WRONG!
And finally, a small thank you to the pathetic coward Rimmer. You at least had the decency to say why all my posts are deleted minutes after writing, although always polite, respectful and on topic. The reason posts by the non-extreme left are deleted is because it causes the left to meltdown and derail the thread which is why they only allow the far left viewpoints to remain. Spineless, dishonest, pitiful. Grow a pair, son, just grow a pair.

Come to Thailand, drink a serious lot of beer every day so as to kill off any remaining live brain cells and marry a pole dancer who fleeces your bank account and eventually stabs you, at this point you're well on your way to becoming an sexpat superstar. Next, get thrown into jail for doing nothing more than being a really nice mild mannered chap who always minds his own business, is super friendly to everyone and builds stone walls for a hobby, cough cough... congratulations, you just achieved expat stardom.

To elevate to the very highest level... get drunk, ride a motorbike into a pickup truck and spend seven months in hospital. You just became a legend and you also picked up the sympathy vote, there's not much anyone can tell you about Thailand now that you don't already know.

From there on it's all simple, just make sure you're the first to post anything mildly funny or odd about every new post, before anyone else, preferably something that also bashes the BiB and the government. Before you know it every wannabe expat will bow to the mention of your name and journalists will seek you out, anxious to write a profile piece about you, you will be revered as the fountain of not much at all but you will be da man. You may even aspire to the dizzying heights of joining the "mod clan". Forget about that - the posts are filled with ageing nazis clinging on by their spam-spattered fat fingers as they type away furiously posts such as "I've just been busted with a reefer on Koh Tao - what should I do now?" whilst banning any remaining members having half a brain cell.

The reality will continue to be a majority of 7/11 door step sitting Leo swillers. TVF will be full of deep and meaningful posts such as, "can anyone advise on the cheapest bus route between Don Mung and Pattaya Klang or is hitchhiking an option", and "is 400 baht a night possible if I don't have aircon or should I sleep in the airport".

You laugh! Some of those posters will go on to be POTY winners in years to come and when you have finally burnt through the burnt out members the management go and create a fake Yinn profile of a seemingly attractive and feisty Thai woman (an impossibility on TVF) and bait and draw in the ‘marks' or ageing geriatrics whiling away the moments that make up a dull life. And when you finally win, leave the forum for a few days and delete the whole POTY thread.

Poor old Colin (the previous POTY) watching his coveted prize turn into the turd trophy.

They're laughing at you playing you for the old fools you most probably are. Innumerable fake spam accounts by hijacking long dormant often dead members are revived and furiously spew out the usual suspect topics to get the thread started. Often they may be multiple fake mod accounts on a single thread. They are paid on commission per post so every single mod with few exceptions is in on the deception. They need the money - times are hard. And as the number of real users drastically falls away the more numerous the fake troll accounts multiply like flies on $#*! until the only real user on the thread is probably just you, talking to yourself.

Metsidead rules the roost on the US politics thread with Walking Orders/Crazy Alex/Drop Dead Senter and now Damuel Travesty spewing out pro Trump bilge whilst Rimmer runs Loiner on the Brit Brexit threads ensuring the home commentary plastic patriots keep frothing of fascist love for their home country whilst spending their meagre frozen and declining pensions in foreign climes.

You can't win in a pissing competition with the mods - SO DON'T DO IT. Oh the irony, the petty rules, the mini fuehrer's masquerading as fair minded ring masters.

For instance an oldie but goodie thshould run for 50 pages such as - Medical Insurance for Visas

The various threads on TVF regarding medical insurance are both intense, hilarious and frightening, simultaneously. One mod is doing her level best to approach things logically but the sheer weight of angst, frustration and fear is overwhelming... there's a lot at stake for quite a few people. UJ was as fixated as ever on trying to interpret the meaning of words contained in police notices, well this is past tense, that says should not will, that kind of meaningless pseudo intellectual guff.

Somewhere in the proceedings, somebody crafted a clever notice from CM Immi. And posted it, the notice confirmed worst fears that everyone would need to get health insurance. The logical ones and the naysayers were devastated. BBQ was deflated, he'd been in overdrive mode with keyboard diarrhoea and suddenly his sphincter seized up, it was funny to watch. And then the notice was detected as a fake and all posts were deleted, an investigation was launched, the culprit will be banned, a bonus in my book.

But then poster Pib did the sensible thing that nobody else had done, Pib went to CW Immi. And asked the question, will I need medical insurance when I go to renew my 8 year old O-A visa next year... yes came the reply from a middle-ranking officer, as if to prove the point they (Pib and the officer) went to see a senior officer who confirmed... all O-A visa holders will need Thai (not overseas) based health insurance to renew their visa from 31 October onwards. But many of us already knew that was going to be the case the moment this whole story was rolled out, it's the way things work here.

One poster was trying to point out that these new rules only come about because so many scammers and gamers had tried to con every past rule in so many different ways... border runs, ed visa's, language visa's, borrowed/non-existent money, you name it, people have found ways to circumvent them... said posters views weren't well-received, how dare you say suggest such a thing, I'm a fine upstanding well-regarded member of Pattaya's finest beer bars. Funny and sad.

Personally, I was thinking of visiting the former mod SBK in Bangkok at her workplace and asking her why she behaved so reprehensibly and had nothing to say when the mod/murderer in Phuket was caught, or when the duplicity of the former owner was exposed.

I am surprised that this "webfact" fellow is not held accountable by German media. As a German national, Matthias Schoenfeld should be of interest to crusading German papers and they should at the very least be asking him some questions.

Katabeachbum was the guy who chopped up and stored his wife in a drum, a true nut job!

Its all about the annual Xmas card emails.

Years ago...

Hi smokie36
Thanks for your 7000 posts this year which were very welcome.
Whilst we note 4000 of them were nonsense banter and 2250 were on the footy forum which we don't really care about the other 750 where you offered genuine and honest advice based upon your experience were gratefully received.

Cheers george

And this year's email...

Hi smokie36

We've had to close your account as whilst you had made about ******* posts on our forum over the last 9 years we noticed that on 12 separate occasions you had minor infractions of our rules.
That is about 1.3 posts per year which is obviously far too high to allow you to remain a poster on our great site.

Quack quack! Yours sincerely metisdead

Some mods. Develop a personal dislike for individuals and then go on crusades against them, we all seem to have encountered that syndrome. And yes, some mods are not into context whatsoever, every post is standalone and its merits must be judged solely on that post alone, it's yet another indicator of how shallow some really are. To fill in some of the names you mentioned:

Most of the quality posters are no longer present, some left, some passed on, some just simply gave up and who can blame them. The demographics of the site have changed enormously, the site used to be almost exclusively resident expats but now there are huge numbers of wannabe expats, three-week visitors and a whole army of Manchester based bed sit dwellers who are bored out of their respective skulls, the quality of posts has fallen accordingly and may well have dragged the quality of moderation down with it.

I think a lot of resentment towards TVF stems from the olden days when posters were genuinely helpful to each other. I can't begin to recall the number of people with whom I had PM discussions about this or that in respect of them moving to Thailand or trying to solve their Thailand based issues, none of whom wanted to post in open forum for fear of ridicule or trollism. There were others that I met and drove to hospitals to help them understand the processes they had to go through... a lot of hand holding. I don't think for one minute that I was alone in doing those things, I know many people saw the forum as a way of helping other people and got pleasure out of doing so.

So when after all of that, one or two vindictive mods with their own agendas started their campaigns against individuals it was like hey, wait a minute, you really don't get it... and they still don't. To people like Metisdead, being a mod is like being a typesetter, every character has to be in the correct location, everything is black and white and mechanical, which is certainly not what the forum was designed for.

Charlie H, who has in the last year assumed a swollen ego such that he interjects himself without bothering to to think about the context people have posted, instead deleting their comments or suspending them. The praise lavished on UbonJoe is ridiculous. He isn't an expert and sometimes his "advice" is incomplete or inaccurate. Other times it is lifted from comments already published and available online if people look. I suppose he gives hope to those who have no hope.

I remember SBK, who has now done her utmost to distance herself from TVF. I can't blame her as she is associated with some things that don't look too good in retrospect. Anyone remember the highway police volunteer from Kata and mod who chopped up his wife and put her in barrels? Any mention of this results in an instant suspension. Or how about the guy who reportedly ran porn sites that contained some rather vulgar content. :) And then there were the allegations of wrongdoing made about George, one of the initial owners of TVF and his disposal of the website.

The ThaiVisa real estate sales office and Thai Visa cafe in Hua Hin (Now the Busy Bee) quickly disappeared. That story makes for an interesting read. As for the facts, one never knows how much is true or if there was a vendetta against George by someone with connections. Then the sale of the Inspire catalogue to Nation Media. I don't think it is working out as planned because of the change in demographics. (More Chinese and other Asians and fewer English language speakers etc.)

Have a look at the advertising now. Very different than a few years ago. I don't think that the revenue is there, and those infomercials promoting Pattaya condos are late night telly at its finest. They are so enthusiastic over "Pattty - I - Yah" as they call it, as to cause me to think that they live in a different Pattaya than what I know of. Better yet is that current events announcer Jonathan what's his name. His blue screen "newsroom" is brilliantly done however. Every time I see him, I am amazed that he is still alive. His voice and wheezing bring to mind a Marlboro Red 2 pack a day habit.

So anyway, TVF reflects its users and demographic, many of whom are going to have to leave because they can no longer afford to live there. Other quality posters just aren't around, and others have died. When I look back over some of the people that used to post and their sudden disappearance, I am sort of saddened.

The conspiracy claims were plentiful. When a resident drunk died in my ex's building, it was a predictable reaction. He had slipped on the stone floor and severed an artery on his broken alcohol bottle. Being inebriated he just passed out and bled to death. Most residents in the building knew he drank in excess. However, on TVF it was turned into a diabolical murder carried out by ninjas who scaled the building and climbed in through his 10th floor balcony and assassinated him. When mentally ill people take a dive from a Pattaya balcony, there is rarely common sense. Instead of recognizing that the poor soul was mentally ill or had a terminal disease and wanted to end it, there is always a claim of a spectacular murder plot.

I haven't signed in to TVF for some time now, as I just can't handle it. Last week before I left for Songkran, I had a look at the website and the amount of "clickbait" crap was astounding. The use of salacious headlines and expired stories that lead to closed links speak volumes. Anyway, couldn't happen to a more deserving group as I dislike Nation Media and its boosterism of the ruling junta. Bangkok Post had refused to allow TVF to feature articles from it many years ago and now we know why.

My favourite warning from an ex mod.
"You can not call someone an idiot, even when they are"

My own personal favorite's were:
"You are being banned for replying to a post by one of our long term members in a negative fashion."
That pearl of wisdom was courtesy of blackcab.

And not forgetting:

"You are being banned for leaving a sad faced emoji on my previous post."

That was courtesy of the wannabe gangster himself, Mr. Charlie H.

A right pair of big girls blouses. Stuff 'em all!
You did what, you left a sad face emoji on a post! I can tell you my lad that we'll not tolerate that level of hooliganism around here, it's uncivilised.

That would make for a great thread, post your TVF warning notices, just to show how inane the whole thing is and how vindictive the Mods can be, here's one to get us started:

Hi chiang mai,

You have been warned by metisdead for a comment made in a topic, 64 year Dies from Heart Attack after too many Viagras

Reason: Comments - Moderation

Content: 64 year Dies from Heart Attack after too many Viagras

Penalty:

Given 1 points which will never expire.
Restricted from posting - 23 hours and 59 minutes

You are being warned for a post you made in the 64 year Dies from Heart Attack after too many Viagras topic, this is what you posted:

Physiologically impossible I'm sure but good click bait nevertheless.

Making comments such as "good click bait" is considered a comment on moderation and such comments have the potential to derail a topic. You are under no obligation to read any thread and are under even less of an obligation to respond. If you do respond, please respond to the topic of the thread. You have violated this rule:

10) Do not discuss moderation publicly in the open forum; this includes individual actions, and specific or general policies and issues. You may send a PM to a moderator to discuss individual actions or email support (at) thaivisa.com to discuss moderation policy.

You will not block contact with moderators or administrators. Doing so will result in suspension.

Your posting rights are suspended for 24 hours so that you may find the time to re-read the forum rules which can be found here: www.thaivisa.com/forum/terms/

Metisdead

TVF f*cks you up, metisdead and all the rest.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they have
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were f*cked up in their turn
By drunken, bitter bar stool fools,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

TVF hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coral reef.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't make any posts yourself.

//CLOSED//

Dixxheads moderators, you should also review CHOICE GROUP ASIA on google maps, this is thaivisa.com office

I was banned by the Thai Visa Forum forum a few years ago. Then I was banned again, and again, and finally I was banned forever. But that's not why I hate it. I knew it was coming, in fact, I actively helped them to end up banning me forever.

I was deliberately naughty. I wanted to discuss topics that apparently were forbidden, especially that criticising the established order that actually runs the site. I didn't like the way things were managed, some of the policies seemed corrupt, and I thought policing of the site was unfair in many instances, involving mostly other posters, not myself. So I complained, I asked why things were the way they were. I got a response from ban hammer Supreme Metisiead.

Because they are. You're banned.

Like a mafia clan the site has various levels of hierarchy, the newbies are like the soldiers who, after being taken on by an already made admin might be made' themselves if they've shown they can be trusted. Then there are the higher administrators who take care of the skippers, and then there are the Godfathers who make all the big decisions. It's organized in such a way that if you are not part of the family then you're liable to be taken care of (banned) if you step out of line, and certain fellows for certain reasons will never become made men'.

After a few of my more thought out, critical posts were removed for undermining some such policy/doctrine I decided to be silly and wrote some faux-news pieces. If I couldn't join them, I could still have fun. One-piece proclaimed monkeys had been rained out of the jungle in Samui and had taken a busy McDonalds hostage, while other monkeys tore up most of the town.

Another post I wrote claimed a pack of soi dogs in Chiang Mai, with only a taste for farang blood', were roaming wild and attacking farangs. "I went to the phone to call the police and when I came back there was just a pile of bones," said one worried resident from Wolverhampton, UK. Apparently after I posted this, numerous Chiang Mai expats phoned police asking about these mad killer dogs with a penchant for exotic meat. That's when I got my lifetime ban not before I had received death threats from TVF members who had allegedly called the cops in a state of near panic! It seemed obvious to me that my posts were parodies, meant to raise a smile but it would appear the admin staff and mods have precious little of that commodity.

The admin, mods and long-term members mostly consist of lonely alcoholic men from the far reaches of the world that have no doubt ever had much control over anything but the spiders whose legs they pulled-off, the small animals they tortured, and for a few months until finances were sorted, their procured online Thai brides or boyz. There is surprisingly a gay mafia as part of the decrpeit clan.
These sociopathic folk may have become serial killers had they not become part of the administration. So maybe we can thank Thaivisa and his generous newish owner Dan Cheesman for taking these killers off the streets and keeping them gainfully or not so gainfully employed.

They seem to spend much of their new life in Thailand hiding from their now insatiable partners, and used only to look forward to the soulless yearly Thaivisa parties that took place in dank, humorless bars around Chiang Mai an other places in Thailand, until George decided to can them for good after being exposed by Andrew Drummond.

At these so-called socials the members and admin could discover who belongs in their coterie, who their boss is, and how everyone looks just like them. The homogeneity is, of course, no mistake, it's bred, nurtured, and what it creates is a distillation of pure, unadulterated idiocy. The mob of today is online, holding aloft its flags, lighting its flares, and smacking down the report' button. When the Thaivisa junkies meet face to face it's not such a harsh practice to show yourself in the skin, as it seems that everyone is the same: a sickly physical weakling, barely sentient, moody, devoid of humour and always has a soft spot for fascism, war, police brutality, and hate.The new owner Dan has wisely decided to have them no more having to seen the dregs of his declining membership.

It is a little known fact' that the idea for Thaivisa was actually the brainchild of Nazi propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, after Hitler made it clear that any opinions not mirroring his own within the forum of the German zeitgeist must be met with "extreme intolerance". This was later adapted for the technological age after Nazi collaborators escaped to East Asia in the 90s.

The way the site is run is a reflection of a well known hierarchical ruling system. It's basically a dictatorship. It honours a strict regimen of censorship, propaganda, and banning for crimes against the establishment. It doesn't like critical theory, links to political analysis, links to anything really that isn't directly or indirectly financially supporting those that run the site. What we have here is a rigged game, a game whose rules we are supposed to think are for the greater good, but they're not, they're for the site's own good. Certain elements of the site are brazenly applauded, members are extolled and lifted into the air (if they've paid for it), as are certain restaurants, places to spend, things to do, anything and anyone in the gang is made a winner. But isn't it meant to be an open discussion forum? If only certain opinions are valid that's not very open, is it?

"I refuse to comment," or "I stopped looking at it as it made me so mad" is what most reasonable people I meet when I bring up the subject of Thai Visa. Indeed if they are a irregular posterand let you know it then slowly back away, make your excuses and flee as quickly as you can.

So, who are these unique people who keep using the site, who, unlike most others, stick with it until they become another name on the dearly departed list? Adoration, as you can witness in every mob, becomes addictive and competitive. Love for Thaivisa is no different from love for a fascist leader, a football team, or a ruthless religious ideology. Thaivisa becomes the figurehead. The members race to have the most posts. It makes them feel big at the parties. Oh look, it's WildCat36, that guy from Calgary who makes microwavable Toad-in-the-hole for Rimping. He's got 99,000 posts'.

WildCat, like his friends, sits in his bedroom, probably dividing his time between watching extreme *** and administering indignation on Thaivisa while haphazardly solving crimes. That is when he's not putting sausages in puddings. If he is lucky, his brethren have also woken from its alcoholic slumber, and he can call on support to back up whatever asinine remark he has left.

And Chiang Mai is at the very nadir of the Thaivisa slop. At least Pattaya knows what it is, Bangkok is often liberal, Chiang Rai doesn't police thoughts. Why are we so dull and repressive? Conservative CM with its Lanna tripe and crude pseudo-value system, which means nothing more than preserving money in its place, is alive and kicking on Thaivisa. And when there is absolutely no place to criticize, and no place for intelligent discussion, nothing can change, the status quo remains a stagnant disorder. Thaivisa is a cesspool of human ignorance, possessed by the carnage of undeveloped minds going toe-to-toe, not for politics, literature, or human rights, but for burgers and pizza.

God help us.

Oh and finally the single most toxic mod on site by a long chalk is Trumpf speller extraordinaire Metisdead - the champion thread killer of any forum on the internet not only of the thaivisa forum. His moderation is like that of a mentally challenged deranged idiot savant. His tyrannical and fanatical obsession in the Thailand News Forum borders would be funny if not so annoying and ultimately destroying the site for users and owners.

What kind of **** creates a Thai News Forum to allow people to express thoughts and opinions then set loose a Mod like Metisdead to kill the thread, ban and suspend Thaivisa Forum Members and delete posts his limited intelligence can't comprehend all in a way to steer the discussion the easy he likes it.

His obsession with fonts is either an indication he needs mental help or just an excuse to attack posters he dislikes and steer the conversation of ThaiVisa Forum Members. Must be sad seeing his hero Herr Trumpf crashing and burning so hard and so quickly.

Get out while you can.

http://www.andrew-drummond.news/unmasked-george-at-thaivisaco/

http://www.andrew-drummond.news/?s=thai+visa

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/thaivisa.com

https://thai-visa.pissedconsumer.com/review.html