Florida Guy

Well I just returned from LOS five days ago. I took plenty of cash with me and came back with a small surplus, but after adding up what I spent and comparing it to previous trips, it's clear the exchange rate hurt the wallet a bit. If this continues I may have to adjust the amount of fun I have on future trips ... or at least cut way down on all those lady drinks! By the way, I lived in LOS for three years in the early 70's and the exchange was 20 BHT to the U.S. Dollar the whole time I was there. Of course a LT was 100 BHT tops in those days.

Welcome aboard Snowmaan. You'll have to plan on an evening at The Blues Factory to hear some great music by ... ummm ... well, your cousin, Snowman!

You're right elef, I don't have a clue. Who knows where that site got their info. The full moon is in the 24th and that's Loy Krathong according to Thai Visa. Thai Holidays 2007 Who knows? TIT

Nov. 27, 2007 Scroll to the bottom of the page ... "future events". Loy Krathong 2007

Are you sure about that Owen? Personally I have no clue myself, but that reason may not add up. As an example, I lived in Thailand for three years while in the military but lived in a local village. The military paid me an "off-post housing" allowance as well as "separate rats" (separate rations ... food allowance). I didn't have an assigned room in the barracks and if I ate on a military installation I had to pay for the meal. But, you may be correct as I honestly don't remember whether or not they taxed those allowances. When you brought this all to light (and I thank you) I just assumed it was some compensation for the low pay we receieved in the military compared to the going rate in civilian life. Again, that was total speculation on my part when I tried to use common sense as to why they were offering this.

I always catch Loi Krathong myself and will be there for it this year (10/24 - 11/09). Biego ... I'm not sure what you mean ... Loi Krathong is always on the full moon. Actually the "first" full moon in November. (In 2001 there was a full moon on 11/01 as well as 11/30) Hacker, it would be easiest to do a Google search ... there are probably a million websites where you can read up on it.

Ditto !

LOL! Not sure if you meant emotions or emoticons. I guess they're kind of the same when you really think about it. Are you getting all emotional on us SB?

So what DOES it mean? I did a search with SSG as the "key word" and clicked on "All Forums" but came up with zilch.

Picoman ... I believe Social Security has a COLA and compensates for inflation ... IF as you say, it's still there when you get there. I have 7 more years myself and still sweat it. Here's the link by the way for anyone else who stumbles onto this thread. Social Security

Owen ... thanks man ... I just found it on the ssa.gov site. The way it reads you're exactly right. I guess I'll be on the phone for the next couple hours as I think there are quite a few buddys of mine that this will help out ... including myself. Again, thanks loads ... every little bit helps!

Owen, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I get the form every year which says, "Your Social Security Statement" on the front. In fact I just received one recently. Inside in the "Earnings Record" it shows all the years I've worked (as well as the years I was in the military) and what I earned during all of those those years. Is this the area you're talking about? Confused. After re-reading your post I might understand ... are you saying that they add approx. $1200 to the total you show as income during those military years? So if my "earnings record" shows $XXXX the actual total will be $XXXX + $1200 ??

Sounds like you have a handle on it, but FWIW, I had the same trouble most of yesterday and last night. (U.S. time)

I'll go along with that. Heck, I'd MUCH rather give those poor souls a few Baht than those a-holes outside of Mike's collecting for the "Thai Boy Scouts" ... yeah right!

Thanks MM. Yesterday BM Vaid deleted one of his controversial posts. I went to read his previous posts and came up with a blank. I then accused him of wimping out and deleting ALL his posts. I guess I owe him an apology. Thanks for the quick correction MM. You da' man!

If I click on a member's profile and then click "view member's posts" on the pull-down menu ... all the posts come up blank ... or have just a couple letters of one word. What happened? Or is it just me?

I have a buddy who recently decided to tag along as a newbie on my October - November trip. He was worried because his passport expires in February ('07), so he would not make the 6 month rule. I read this on Stickman's site in April: 6 month rule The Thai government has made some changes to immigration laws. Foreign nationals who are visa exempt or able to obtain a visitor permit for Thailand (that's the 30 day stamp), no longer require passports to be valid for a period of six months. All that is required for these nationals is that the passport be valid for at least the period of maximum stay allowed (i.e.. 30 or 90 days depending on nationality). If the passports expiry date is less than the maximum period of stay, visitors may stay up until the expiry date of their passport. For example Americans can travel with passports valid for at least 30 days and should receive the 30 day visitor permit or should the passport be valid less than 30 days, they will only be permitted to stay until the expiration date of the passport. This is a very welcome amendment to immigration laws. I used to always think that the requirement to have 6 months left on your passport essentially meant the expiry date on your passport was 6 months earlier. I then verified it on the Delta Airlines website (since we're flying Delta/Korean Air). passport rules

I used to live there, was just there 9 months ago and will be back in October, but I can't tell you. There are quite a few hospitals in Udon. If you don't get an answer, you may want to PM Ting_Tong. He lives in Udon Thani most of the year and I think he's there now. Ting_Tong

The exchange rate fluctuates but for simplicity I just assume a rate of 40 to 1 and it gets me in the ballpark without straining my brain. Using one dollar as a base, 40 Baht is $1 ... it's easy to divide that down ... half of 40B (20B) would be half a dollar or 50 cents. So 30 Baht would be 75 cents, or 10 Baht would be a quarter. It boils down to a Baht is 2.5 cents. If you get that pretty well ingrained in your head it's easy to multiply out. It's very easy to multiply by 10's. Example: 1B is 2.5 cents so 10B is 25 cents, 100B is $2.50, 1000B is $25.00, 10,000B is $250.00, etc. 2B is 5 cents, so 20B is 50 cents, 200B is $5.00, 2000B is $50.00, 20,000B is $500, etc. 3B is 7.5 cents, so 30B is 75 cents, 300B is $7.50, 3000B is $75.00, 30,000B is $750, etc. 4B is 10 cents, so 40B is a Dollar, 400B is $10.00, 4,000B is $100, 40,000B is $1000 You now know 1000B is $25.00, so it's easy to figure out that 500B would be half that, or $12.50. Or 1500B would be $25.00 plus $12.50, ($37.50) If you get up into the 10's of thousands of Baht, the difference in the exchange rate from a base of 40 to 1 is a little more critical, but for the lower amounts, the difference of an exchange of 38 to 1 and 40 to 1 only amounts to a few cents. Example: If you take 100B at 38 to 1 compared to 40 to 1, the difference is only 13 cents. It's very simple with a bit of practice. I usually just figure 100B is $2.50 USD and it's very simple to figure it out from there by multiplying or dividing by 10.

Uhhh, I don't ever remember mentioning anything about "generic" drugs ... I said "counterfeit". You can't lose anything by simply studying up on the subject.

Before buying anything off the street or pharmacies without a prescription, you may want to do a quick Google search. Type in something like "counterfeit viagra' or even narrow it down a bit with "counterfeit viagra thailand'. You may want to change your mind.

Not true .. some exchanges take 'em, some don't ... but I try to take the newer notes anyway to avoid any hassle.

Gotta agree with you Atlanta Joe, I fly Delta out of Tampa to your fine city, then pick up Korean Air to Incheon/BKK.

Oh yeah, in case you're not familiar with that airport, it's actually located in Incheon which is about an hour (by taxi) from Central Seoul. Here's a tidbit I copied off the web about the airport itself in case you're interested. (it opened in 2001) The airport serves as a hub for international civilian air transportation and cargo traffic in East Asia. Security facilities are state-of-the-art and medical inspection equipment is also very advanced, in response to terrorist threats and various epidemics in southern Asia. As a result, Incheon International Airport is considered Asia's most technologically facilitated airport. It was recently voted the world's best airport in service and quality by the IATA.

I take the same flight every trip to LOS via Delta/Korean Air for two reasons, the best price from where I live and the best schedule. The only complaint I have with Korean Air is their food SUCKS. It's edible, but I've never once had anything even remotely exciting. Why the long layover in Korea? The airlines have been minimizing flights lately to assure full loads. This makes it more important to book early to get the best schedules. I'll be heading to LOS in October, but I purchased my tickets in February. I have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Korea. You may want to try what a buddy and I did one year. We had a long layover, but upon arrival we went to the desk and asked if there was an earlier flight we could transfer to. (there may have been cancellations since you purchased your ticket) We boarded a much earlier flight and they charged no extra for the change.