One sided? Against who? Dave?
Half of this thread is devoted to conspiracies of how the wife had Dave murdered… I don’t think it’s one-sided against Dave. There is a lot more unsubstantiated crap against the wife in this thread than there is against Dave.
An official document that proves your relationship to your brother might be useful when you go to the local (hualien?) police.
No visas are required for Canadian citizens, for (I think) 90 days in Taiwan. Just come and they’ll stamp you in at immigration.
Travel insurance is always a good idea in case you need medical assistance. That said, going to the hospital even without insurance is quite cheap here. But if hospitalization is required, it can still rack up. Travel insurance is advisable.
Suggest looking into taking Eva air from Toronto to Taipei
Look st Eva sir website in USA
Their website fees are very competitive and allows changes to itinerary for a nominal fee
U may want to stay overnight in Taipei as u will be quite tired from the very long journey
There are many nice hotels u can book for say 50 a day that are workable
Check out agoda.com
From Taipei I would suggest taking a train or u can take one of Eva airs many flights a day from Taipei downtown to hualian on their subsidiary
Uni air
Let me check on their website if In fact that extra leg could be discounted
It’s a 30 min flight from Taipei sungsham sirport to hualian on a 50 passenger turboprop
Or 2 to 3 hours by train
And then I suggest taking a cab round trip to the chjngshui cliffs
It’s not a good idea to drive in Taiwan if you are not familiar with driving in Taiwan
Just take caba
They are doable
Then hualian to taitung by train is a few hours and the hotels can help u book
From taitung easy to train back to Taipei or take a plane
too true
good advice
@Davesbrother The rates for renting a cab for the day are fairly reasonable. We did this when cousins visited and we knew we wanted to go to several places and not mess with parking. This might be ideal for you for different reasons. I’ll ask about the actual rate because I’ve forgotten (around NT 3,000 per day?).
I have to look up NT = CAD
Is this correct?
There is a major Buddhist organization in Taiwan With a big presence and political influence
They have a big hospital in hualian i think
Tzu chi
They do humanitarian work too
If someone in this forum speaks fluent chinese
Perhaps one can enlist their help in this noble cause
They will get good publicity even internationaly
And if their help can be gotten
They are powerful and capable
Or perhaps the local Presbyterian church or other church
Even the Mormons
A big church backing you up would be a huge help
If I wss in Taiwan I would meet up with u and take u where u need to go
Help u out but I ain’t there
And I can’t go either because I work hard to keep nose above water
I used to belong to the lower middle class now I’m in the upper low class economically
I think for Dave’s brother’s purposes, let’s explain a bit more. Please everyone correct me if my impression is wrong or too Taipei centric:
“Mandarin” (Chinese) is enough for everything official. Police, government, … Regarding general population: almost everyone speaks this language well enough to communicate.
Taiwanese I think might be needed only in very few situations, maybe if he plans to investigate something himself, trying to get first hand info from older people especially in rural areas.
English: Most people learned it in school, but very many don’t dare to use it. Doctors speak it in general, and in government offices or at police stations most of the time there is someone who can help him. It might be pretty simple English though, Mandarin might yield much better results if anything detailed or nuanced is necessary. In other places, don’t assume at all you can use it. Depends on luck.
But above all: keep friendly, and most things will be easier. Act angry, and things will get harder.
Also can someone get apple daily involved?
It’s a huge story for Taiwan and they can be a huge help
A cab driver told me that it depends on the distances travelled during the day. He seemed to be saying it tops off at around NT 4,000 per day (i.e., when you need to travel long distances). And by per day, he seemed to calculate around 8 hours.
Good advice over in these parts, that can’t be overstated. I’ve seen foreigners here have trouble with this a lot. It pays to go into things with a smile and an appearance of sincerely requesting help. Not to say everything can be dealt with a smile, because it can’t always, and local people don’t either. But people here tend to deal with confrontational attitudes with disdain and by shutting down.
It’s a small story; it was covered for a day or two and then dropped.
This would definitely bring more publicity, but could also result in lots of negative things being said about Dave in the press and online. This is a decision that should be left to Dave’s brother, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Yes it is. The current rate is about NT$23.3 = CAN$1.
Guy
Driving is okay in Taiwan if you are a regular confident driver back home. In this particular situation Daves brother should be independent of potential bad or old or distracting or self-interested driver/s. Dave needs to spend as much time going where and when he wants for as long as he wants and not worry about some driver.
Just need to be aware of a few things.
There’s driving in Taipei and there is driving in other places. In Taipei traffic generally follows the rules staying in the lines and following intersection and stop light guidelines. Outside of Taipei lane markings and intersections become much more flexible and vague.
Scooters will go any direction across on roads, including directly across or the wrong way down a one-way street. Keep your eyes open, don’t look at maps or your phone.
We already mentioned: involving the local press is a double edge sword. Yes, they can get exposure, BUT they can also reach their own “conclusions” and torch Dave´s reputation.
I would not recommend any new arrival to drive the cliff route. It is a bit dangerous with all the big sand and gravel trucks buzzing by.
Unfortunately, for Dave´s brother sake, a driver is necessary. He also needs someone who knows the terrain, not just any taxi driver.
Definitely!
And certified by an official Taiwan office in Canada.
I’ve known family members to come over here with birth certificates, I.Ds etc…and things weren’t accepted unless certified through a Taiwan office.
Certain things won’t be handed over or made accessible just because someone has papers with names that match up. Decisions won’t be allowed to be made either.
the following are my two cents:
Here’s the most likely scenario:
Dave’s bro goes to taiwan, visits the ching shui cliffs. Hes not able to go down to the waters edge and do a physical search for miles up and down from where the scoot was.
The police say the same things they have said. No real new search is mounted. Their story is that Dave disappeared. End of Story, who knows what happened to him. They don’t look like they care and in fact they don’t care.
Dave’s ex wife may not be all that enthusiastic or welcoming or helpful. Dave may or may not even get to meet her and his niece.
He goes to taiwan and comes back essentially empty handed. But at least he is more at peace with himself and can bring some sort of peace to his aging parents in that no foul play was discovered but possibly Dave’s disappearance will remain a mystery.
As you say the press is not particularly interested. No big body with political clout is interested and Daves bro goes to the wan and comes back and essentially end of story.
OR:
He has essentially nothing to lose if he can get in touch with the big news organizations in the USA/Canada and tell his story. They may sponsor his search. Dave’s bro can set up a youtube account. Sit in front of a go pro and tell his story. Title it “I am Dave’s Brother”
Family is important to most of us. A brother in search of his lost brother in a far away land (the east still holds some mystery to most americans/canadians) who could be dead, could have been murdered or who knows…but the brother is mounting a search for answers.
Obviously it will be a major intrusion into Dave’s brothers own life and that of his family. But if he wanted to get the publics help he has to go all out.
Sit in front of the gopro. Show pics , tell about Dave and his life in Canada, his meeting this lady from Taiwan, going over there, getting married, having a child, falling out of favor with the wifes family . Unable to find suitable work, short of cash, the shit hits the fan, he goes MISSING !!
Dave’s bro is sitting on a major news story that will tug at heart strings everywhere and could even be made into a movie.
He just needs to get his story out there. He would have to bare his soul, perhaps sell his soul to the devil as some would say.
Or
he can see if his church can help. If he can get some major organization such as a church with presence in taiwan, especially as i said the TzuChi buddhist organization. That will be huge.
The little story can become a huge story.
Taiwanese love huge stories. If the world takes notice of little ol Taiwan , suddently Taiwanese sit up and say WHOA, theres a story about little ol US??? And theres a revisting of the whole going ons.
The TW govt has to be forced into doing just about ANYTHING. Because TAiwan is its own reality. Sitting in its own world ,insulated from much of whats going on in the “real world”.
A brother searching for his lost and possibly murdered but definitely missing brother is a huge story. Guy and his bro grew up in a military family, life is NOT a beach. Little bro falls in love with a cute and exotic asian girl and jets off to a life of excitement and adventure only to all end in DISASTER and NOBODY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED and perhaps NOBODY WILL.
It’s a BIG STORY what Dave’s bro has here.
That aside. without any big organization helping out, most likely Dave’s bro is just going to go to Taiwan and hit a brick wall (not literally i hope) and not find out anything he didn’t already know. If the ex wife is not showing any signs of welcoming him over there, it likely means she won’t meet him and he won’t even get to meet his little niece. He just goes there, stumbles around and gets frustrated at the lack of anything happening because without anyone pushing , nothing will happen on this case. And comes back to Canada none the wiser.
That sadly is the most likely scenario I can see. Thank God though my vision is cloudy so huge things may yet happen.
So i say GOD SPEED and may you find what you seek.