joekicker

Maybe, like a lot of investors, she did one hell of a lot better than that. Or maybe it's just a joke, you can't be sure.

If you wanted Filipinas en masse, you could go to where they are.

And your authority for this is what? You carried the funds. Or what? What kind of "black funds" do you think exist in the US? You made this ridiculous claim, so keep digging.

I call BS. The US does not fund Thailand, so no such threat ever was made. Tell what really happened (if anything) or admit you made it up from some barroom story.

Are you sure this happened? More importantly, are you sure this happens, i.e. that it's a scam? Guy logs on, Post number 1 is about a scam. It involves a heavily installed travel agency, so it seems to me that the people behind Joy must have set up umpteen branches to get $800. Anything is possible, but this is pretty incredible. Also, Google shows no other Joy scams. I'm just saying.

The time shouldn't have anything to do with it, and never has had anything to do with mine including an hour ago, last time I used it.

If you're going to live in Thailand you must get a Thai licence for many reasons. Otherwise, outside of a few specialty things, you definitely don't need one.

... so far as you know. Macs aren't safe. They are maybe safER than Windows PCs. But then I have a Windows PC and I have never had a security problem (so far as I know). A safe PC is turned off, the hard drive smashed to bits, and sunk in an unmarked part of the Pacific Ocean.

From the Thai Met Dept. Why indeed?

Probably a few minutes ago? How would we know? The last plot I remember that was busted was the Fort Dix attack last year but maybe there have been others I forgot or which haven't been announced. There's more than I want for sure.

Yes it is, at least in part, no doubt about that.

This doesn't make sense. The rain shouldn't interfere with the land-line Internet service, although it might with satellite. It sure doesn't interfere with mine. But if rain is causing your service to be intermittent, then rather obviously it will be "down" (not intermittent?) until the rain stops. How can a technician help if the problem is rain? Something wrong. Get a Thai speaker to check your application. They don't take that long.

Not from Thailand there isn't. So far as specific customs regs in your specific part of your country...

Or maybe not. I found that United email denser than an appeals court judgement, but I thought the dates applied to when the bookings were made, not the flights. That is, I thought if you call them now, no sweat - nothing kicks in until the month of January arrives.

jacko "perhaps" is the operative word there, perhaps? In my experience, foreign-based cheques (personal or not) are THE most "service-charged" occurrence in Thailand. I just simply don't know but you didn't fully convince me and I'm still in WTF mood. I *do* agree that Amex interest rates are, um, interesting once you regain consciousness.

This is undoubtedly true, but it's my WTF moment of the day. If you have an Amex card, you can get cash from an Amex machine. You can go to the Amex office in Bangkok to do that, but you don't have to. I'm trying to think why I would want to cash a cheque if I had a valid Amex card. And I can't.

A personal cheque has to clear. It takes weeks to clear. That is IF the bank you walk into wants to cash it at all without knowing anything about you, with the odds slim to none against you. Even a certified cheque or similar from a totally unknown person is going to take a lot of time and much trouble. EDIT: Also the "charges" for the "service" of cashing cheques will shell-shock you.

The problem with restaurants is they come and go. Seems like 50 per cent of my trips to Pattaya wind up in a place other than the one I was thinking of, that disappeared. Suthep used to be one of the top restaurants in Thailand, then it wasn't. On top of which the cooks come and go, or the owners fall out, and the quality drops out. I really hate recommending anything but HUGE and old restaurants like Nang Nual that have been around for 20 years, and even then I don't recommend anything but a try.

Google (and now some copycats) mark potential problems on certain sites when you do a search. But it's all very hit and miss. You have to protect yourself, exactly as MM states. Some decent anti-virus/anti-malware software and a good firewall (or router) are your first defences and as you state, the best software is what your mom and dad gave you.

Well, yes, in a way. But OP wanted to know of restaurants where full meals and table spreads are available. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you could read. I didn't give you five restaurants, I gave you ONE restaurant SUGGESTION. I gave you general directions where you can find many of them. If you cannot follow those directions and find another ELEVEN (not seven) restaurants, then you can't and you'll have to deal with the hard cheese.

Sorry, I thought you actually wanted to try some.

Well, that's the point. They're all over. They are beside the Orchid Resort, inside the Tropicana grounds, way up in Jomtien, at the corner of Soi 10, up by the second road bowling alley, sort of across the road from the big Foodland.... Best advice above is to see where a lot of Thai PEOPLE i.e. tourists are all eating. Look for a full parking lot, best proof they're tourists. I have OFTEN driven from Bangkok to Pattaya for dinner and straight back. Thais will drive for hours for a good meal. They are driven by their stomachs, hahahahaha I slay myself. Try Steak Bao (formerly Steak Lao) but take someone who knows Thai food. Despite the name, it's not Isan.

There are at least a dozen GREAT Thai restaurants, full-on restaurants in Pattaya. That's why so many Thais go there - or maybe vice-versa.

Someone asked Big Bill Broonzy a long time ago what a folk song was. His answer: "I guess they all are. I ain't never heard a horse sing one yet." Thai food made to taste like English food by adding, oh, A-1 sauce isn't authentic, any more than that Thai "pizza" they pour sugar and ketchup on "so that Thais will like it". Apart from obvious stuff like that, it's all authentic.

And Australian, American and Thai-French. I think a couple have Japanese, but not sure. My kids always claimed they liked the Nang Nual steak. However, for a good steak, I would usually go to a good hotel - Royal Cliff, say. Manhattan is perfectly okay, and of course there is always Sizzlers for a very dependable steak - never an adventure. ALL of that said, Thailand isn't the mecca for beef eaters. The pork is the best in the world, the chicken and seafood are top rank.