joekicker

Have to agree totally with MM but add that the advantage of United (say) over Eva (say) is that United is part of a really big worldwide FF program that includes more than a dozen other airlines, including THAI. You get points, and you can use points, on a whole bunch of airlines worldwide no matter who you sign on with. The only reason to use Eva (say) is if you are just a shuttle flyer, to and from the same one or four places all the time, all of which are heavily serviced by Eva - AND you only want points for the upgrade, and not for travelling somewhere else for a change or holidays.

There hasn't been Orange for two or three years. The No 3 company is all-Thai and called True Move. As you say, it's "not bad".

Congratulations, sounds like getting your kid born was hard work. Good thing your wife was along to help you out. When we did our names we had a couple of things in mind. Make sure that the Thai name doesn't sound funny in English - and vice versa. For two of ours, we took an English first name, Thai middle name so they could be called either one in either language. Lots of Thais these days use a Western name, so I wouldn't worry about that. Here is your good-news factoid of the day: When you go to the amphur office to get your boy's Thai nationality, a 10-minute job, at that exact moment, your family name becomes a "Thai name". People over 18 who are naturalised Thais must take an officially approved name, but kids don't - can't in fact. Again, congrats.

kdogg your phone should work fine - just check to make sure the charger is 220V, otherwise pick up a little stepdown transformer at the mall for about 300 baht before you plug it in. You always are within 100 feet of a place that sells SIM cards including 7-Eleven shops and other convenience stores. AIS is the biggest company, DTAC works okay in Pattaya too, I doubt you'd notice the difference.

Thanks for showing how a real man would handle it, Tom. I'll be sure to bear your advice in mind.

LTGTR there's really no answer to those questions. It depends on the dealer, and it depends what he might have in the way of bargains this week. Insurance is a VERY cutthroat business in Thailand and you'll never get the best policy. Look at the one the dealer is offering, because he might cut you a deal. But be prepared to walk. A dealer does not HAVE to offer any insurance at all, it is up to you to be covered.

According to your post, you filed at 2:10 p.m. Most rain actually occurs after that. Bad joke. There are ordinary rainstorms from time to time of course, but even they are usually at night. Monsoon rain is almost always late afternoon, sometimes in the evening, i.e. rarely before 4pm.

You didn't even bother clicking on the link? Well I can't force you to look at a list of non-course driving ranges, I guess. But they are here if you actually want to know. http://www.pattaya-funtown.com/golf_pattay...riving%20Ranges http://www.pattayacity.in.th/Pattaya-Sport-Golfing.htm

Yes, both at the golf courses and separate: http://tinyurl.com/6mrpnh

You can download AVG here: http://www.grisoft.cz/filedir/inst/avg_fre..._8_100a1295.exe The home page is http://free.grisoft.com I do agree that NOT using Norton is almost as bad as using it. The problems uninstalling this horrible program are already Internet legend.

I have TOT and they don't stop me from streaming. That's an excellent tip on the high-quality format, by the way. If you don't get proper streaming, just download the video and watch it locally. Easiest way is to plug in the YouTube URL at: http://www.keepvid.com

You have to have liability insurance, there is no choice. That is for accidents of course. There is very good coverage available for accidents, 1st party and 3rd, both. (You MUST have 3rd party at a minimum). Theft insurance is difficult to impossible because of a lot of fraud and many thefts. You'd have to get lucky to get a decent policy that would really be worthwhile. There are no general policies I've ever heard of but you might get an agent to tailor one especially for you. Google thailand motorcycle insurance for good advice and commercial leads on arranging various types of insurance.

Starting in June, American Airlines is going to charge you $15 to carry your suitcase. Do you think there is a chance they will bring down their fares? This is a bad time to be an airline customer. The airlines are in financial trouble and there's only one way to get out.

I am completely impressed you can pitch in these little threads and comments, let alone a full-blown (so to speak) TR while putting smiles on the face of your lovely companion. You are the man! I'm interested in this mini-thread. I've never considered Soi 6 really great hunting grounds for couples. Of course everyone operates differently and has different experiences too. But I've never thought they were really well set up for couples along there. Nasty, nasty girls but for all that not very, er, wordly. It has always seemed to us to be more of a voyeur's heaven for her than participating. You have soapies on your list, right? Because you have SO few plans and options after all haha.

Was there something wrong with >45 baht that you didn't like?

Ruined the world of currency stabilisation, they did!! Well, anyhow, started it down the wrong road, Mr Nixon actually doing more to de-stabilise the dollar and world currencies than anyone. I just don't think that you and I are going to see stabile currencies again.

Ah, yes, the wonderful pre-Jimmy Carter days. Weren't they great? "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear..."

Um. Heh. How did you know there was sporadic pounding?

Yeah, overall generally Thailand has a trade surplus. She expects more imports will increase the demand for dollars to buy them, making the baht worth less. The reason for the rise in the baht lately was (partly) because the country was swimming in dollars - simple supply and demand. I don't agree much with her, for what that is worth. The reason Thailand had so many dollars last year and early this year was because of investment, mostly stock market, mostly speculative "hot money" - and not trade per se. It still has a lot of that, too. AND of course if she is worried that Thailand is not importing enough, just check the oil bill this month. Economists are different from you and me. But what she is saying is logical in a sense that a fellow economist would cream for her. I'm no economist and you can fill a lot of texbooks with what I don't know but at least I'm smart enough I don't have to go to work every single bloody boring day in a BANK to feed my family ferpetesake!

What a bummer. The newspaper had to cut off the story JUST as she was going to explain how much of her personal gelt she has put into this prediction. Too bad. I really would like to know if she is betting her house, car, bank account.... what?

Riffs, I think you mean that you do not have a visa. You never went to a Thai embassy or mailed off your passport, right? And now you wish to go out of the country and come back and get another 30 days, am I right? You can do that, providing you don't have previous such entries in your passport over the past year. They accumulate, and you can only have 6 months out of a year, or less in certain cases of arithmetical challenge. I think it is a unanimous recommendation on this board that next time, presuming there is one, get an actual tourist visa before you come to Thailand. It's ever so much better in ever so many ways.

Not that I know or even want to know but I hazard a guess that BBL has put you in different classes. I only go to one fairly small Bangkok Bank office, but they have like half a dozen different-coloured ATM cards on display, supposedly up some ladder like Hindu rebirth. When I opened an account quite some years back, the assistant deputy whatever said she was SO proud to give me a blah-blah class ATM card, highest they have, and I would never have to be an Untouchable or even sign over my son to them. Like Gary says just above, the internal rules of any given bank can be even more obscure and silly than banking law, which already is impenetrable. I don't pay for anything at the ATM in Thailand and I pay 100 baht for overseas ATM withdrawals, this I know. But just why, and how it works, you got me. BBL likes me because they mortgaged my house and a couple of other semi-heavy deals and they made a bunch of money off me so they don't seem to gouge me, maybe that's why. Not that banks generally need a reason to gouge you. The idea that the bank charges 20 baht to put money in makes me want to puke, though. Jeez.

Must be an SCB thing. Never heard of the "out of province" charge. Half the time in Bangkok you never even know what province you're in. And what about Pattaya, which is a city without a province? There are incredibly anal rules within each bank, and each bank has several classes of card and on an on. Headache.

Well, yes, MOST bank-to-bank withdrawals aren't charged as I said. Cross-network, not cross-bank withdrawals may be charged. If I'm not mistaken, there are two (I'm pretty sure it is two) ATM networks in Thailand, and some banks will charge if you use the other NETWORK- not other banks, but the other network. So, say, if you use a Thai Farmers-Kasikorn machine with a Bangkok Bank card, they can legally charge you and sometimes or often will. I can and do walk up to an SCB bank and use my ATM in their machine inside their bank - no charge, because it's the same net. In short, you should know your bank's logo (they all have one) and try to use a machine that has that logo. A lot of people actually go for Bangkok Bank because the Kasikorn network has far fewer ATMs. But Kasikorn is popular as a walk-in bank so people like it... etc. I believe that's the regulation. I'd be delighted to take corrections. The ATM charge may seem trivial, and 10 baht on 10,000 is trival, but a lot of Thais take 200 baht out of their account which has 285 baht, and it's not so trivial for them - so I wasn't really making that particular argument here.

Bangkok Bank definitely has a per-transaction limit. I have one of those super-dooper black-and-white cards and I think it's 30,000 - something like that. BUT I can stick the card right back in and do the limit again. About the third time you do it, you have to put up with the muttering of the people behind you but if they can't do the time, they shouldn't do the line, that's my motto. Eventually I run into a daily withdrawal limit which I have set at 100,000. (I never even thought about asking them if I can adjust the per-transaction limit.) But I can go to any single machine and get that 100,000 with three or four transactions in a row, so long as the machine has 100,000 inside. Thai banks don't charge for any domestic ATM use, including almost all (or all???) inter-bank machines, i.e. if you use a Siam Commercial ATM with a Bangkok Bank card, no charge. It's a consumer-friendly regulation. They can't charge for queries such as account status and the like, and can't charge for withdrawals. If you spot a Thai ATM machine, and you have a Thai ATM card, they go together and there's no charge no matter the brand of the machine and the card. They can and do charge for overseas use, but it's a small amount. Bangkok Bank is charging me 100 baht for overseas use which is why I'm a satisfied Bangkok Bank user even though they're big and impersonal and maddening sometimes. So when I'm overseas I'm looking for an ATM of a bank that charges little or nothing, and allows a big withdrawal. I have that with a couple of banks where I have accounts, and I have sussed out machines here and there that are ATM user-friendly. All in all, I prefer transferring money, but ATM cards are damned handy and sure beat Western Union for cost when speed is important, eh? My wife and I often are in different countries and we have got to like the convenience of fast ATM use. At 100 baht for $1,000, say, I'll take than any day. WU is a tad more than that. Heck, an ordinary transfer is 1,200, 1,400 baht.