joekicker

Cut one of your gristle-dogs in half - or better still, in three. Drop the sections into boiling oil. See what happens to the end(s) you cut, without any other action on your part. In what way? You mean American Fried Rice doesn't exist? Or do you mean fortune cookies and chop suey really come from China?

The REAL charges are about 100-150 baht a day or a little more to run one "average" bedroom air con 24 hours, plus another 1,000 or 2,000 a month for all other electric stuff you find around a "normal" house. Naturally, your own mileage will vary according to the hundred variables from size of air-con to whether you turn the lights on and off a lot. But around 5,000 a month for electricity is fairly generous estimate for one person running no more than one air con at a time. And around 100-150 a month for normal water use, a couple of showers a day. What you might be charged is between you and the landlord of course.

I can assure you there will be a "difference in fare," which THAI calls "fuel surcharge". It's very high, so you need to get that straight before you start comparing.

600,000 baht is not a lot of money in a top hospital if you have something seriously wrong such as a stroke or serious accident injuries that requires serious surgery. And of course inflation is pushing everything up right now, sometimes dramatically. I would be looking at a million minimum - and above. And do check the part about surgery carefully, you may well need a lot more than a bed and a pert nurse.

Okay we are starting to get some explanations about the weirdness of the finance threads. A 25% increase per year means doubling in about three years. Starting at 1,000 baht, your room after four years would cost 2,441 baht, not 2,000. (After three years it would be 47 baht short of doubling.)

Jeez. How would anyone know that the person on the Internet is a "visitor"? No it's not true. Internet rules apply to everyone equally. Yes WiFi is available everywhere that a business or individual installs WiFi. The government has nothing to do with WiFi access.

Verily they are. Very available, very cheap.

Actually they didn't make me laugh but it's a damned shame you have to apologise and warn people and sort of get your hands up in front of your face for telling a JOKE. THAT part is not funny for sure. Humour is so often making fun of people and their foibles like oh, their religion or national origin - not sure why I picked those. If you can't take a joke (even a bad one) don't come to the freaking party. Joke on. any more of them n3rgt?

I'm not comparing them. I don't think you could possibly compare them. I'm suggesting why a transplanted bar featuring working girls from Liverpool might not be successful on Walking Street. Sitting around in a tiny, greasy shop sided by a seafood palace and a seafood buffet, across the street from the barbecued fish stall, part of the seafood smorgasbord serving 22,000 tourists and Thais, waiting for the two Englishmen who each evening develop a jones for newspaper-wrapped fish and heavy chips, is unlikely to be super-profitable. I wonder if you would make enough to afford the vinegar delivery. IMNSHO that is. And I *like* fish and chips, and I'm glad it's available in some very good Pattaya restaurants for the tiny few farang who want it.

Have you noticed any seafood restaurants in Pattaya? Sorry about that. Board glitch.

Have you noticed any seafood restaurants in Pattaya?

You'd do better with a book if you're teaching someone. the Se-Ed chain has lots, but almost any bookstore will have what you want.

Prices for cameras and other electronics in Thailand are reasonable but seldom a bargain, and seldom the cheapest available. If you MUST have the cheapest price, you'll probably be disappointed. If you just want to assure Madame has her choice, you will be satisfied. The thing about electronics is there is always something cheaper, especially tomorrow. My philosophy is to shop carefully and then never look back. Otherwise (I think) you just aggravate yourself.

Almost no one who posts on this board buys these, at least according to their posts. Almost everyone buys the cheapest ticket they can find, all of which have some sort of restriction(s). The restrictions are pretty well always acceptable - fewer miles awarded, only good for a few months, whatever. You are right that unrestricted return tickets are at or very close to twice the cost of unrestricted one way, no argument. In fact, that is where most mongers would lose out buying one way, because the cheapest restricted tickets are always return.

I think you'll find they use it because it has better deals this week. There is no loyalty on the three services, AIS, DTAC and True Move. Whoever has the deal du jour gets the business. All three companies have good national service BUT one company is often better than others in a given, specific place. It so hugely simple to buy and change that they do very often change. It's called "churn" in the business and can be 10% in a month.

Hey Zeus Aitch Khrighst on a crutch. You can get laid in Pattaya every month. I swear it's true.

Couple of things. By law you have to have a return ticket or funds to support yourself, and this is rarely a problem at Thai immigration. Airlines, however, often charge WAY more for two one-way tickets than for one return - and right now tickets in Thailand are generally more expensive than tickets bought abroad. It may cost $125 (or whatever) to change the ticket you have, but it may cost much more than that to buy two one-ways. Theoretically, you can buy a one-way ticket onj the Internet from Thailand outward, but they will charge Thai-agent prices anyhow. So investigate the cost benefits carefully.

Seek and ye shall find http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...l=non-immigrant Since your visa is only good for one entry, then you will have to return with no visa (30 day maximum stay plus 7-day extension maximum) or get another visa before your return - if you leave. A non-immigrant visa can be extended indefinitely IF you intend to remain in Thailand a year or more, and the paperwork the first time is fairly extensive.

I'd advise you to keep your hat on at all times. Those irony birds can ssssswwooooOOOOOOOssssshhhhh down and dump without warning, apparently. Did you consider that Pattaya has over-reached its supply for credulous and stupid people, and that the whole Pattaya scene would be better off without the total numbbrains who would cancel their trips because they read one public Internet post which said there are no girls around in September? I'm sure if Martin had time, he'd devise a test to ban people that dimwitted. Well, did you?

Here's a blurb from the Pattaya Today rag on the subject of muleing, somewhat amusing. What people want

Hard to believe. Surely you wouldn't go to the trouble of coming here and then not enjoy it?

It is very difficult to get a Thai Post box. I have had two for many years, and the only reason I keep them is the tiny, tiny cost. If the price went up, you could have them both. They do help make my life a little more convenient in some small ways but only at the price. I'd say 90 per cent of box holders probably agree. There are lots of companies around that will gather your mail for you. Personally, I haven't run across one I'd trust to be solvent enough to do it.

Do you rust easily?

It's the rainy season, which means 30 to 60 minutes of rain about 3 or 4 days out of five, usually around late afternoon. The big problem is it's the harvest month and pretty well all the girls leave and go back to help the family so it's almost impossible to get laid.

Er, there aren't going to be 14 daily direct flights between Bangkok and AC in your lifetime. Maybe a couple a week after the economy kicks back up. THAI can't even fill one flight a day to Manila except to put it on their Osaka flight - and that is everyone who wants to go anywhere in the Philippines. The Philippines signs all these bilateral air agreements because they refuse to have any kind of open-skies policy under any circumstances, for reasons no one can really figure out logically.