joekicker

The Thai police locked this person up on pure speculation, and the Thai police communicated directly with the IRS. I'm sorry, but there is definitely something missing in this story. The Thai CUSTOMS (not police) see people with 100,000 dollars all the time. And they do not call police about it, usually. And police don't lock people up on speculation, especially people with substantial amounts of money. Those people are WAY more likely to be influential than crooks, and if you go around locking up influential people on speculation, you aren't with the police and/or customs for very long. It's not that I don't believe the story, but there's something missing in there that would explain it and put it into the proper perspective. There's something behind this story that's unclear.

You won't sell it successfully on the Thai gold or jewellery market. Gold shops only want solid 24K gold with a Thai (dark gold) appearance. Jewellery shops don't generally buy anything - and if they do, it's for a pittance on the actual worth. Pawn shops might do you a favour. But the only real possibility is private sale.

Pokerstars works fine in Thailand as of now. Bear in mind that Thailand likes to block gambling sites BUT concentrates on bookies that take soccer bets. Thais don't play poker (or many other games) online. Almost all other gambling sites except soccer sites, and particularly those in the UK, are, in fact, functioning fine. Pokerstars is very fast as I write this at 6 p.m. - but just remember there is no guarantee that gambling sites will be up at any given moment. Any ordinary Thai Internet connection will be ... well, should be fast enough for you to play poker.

You need to do two more things. When you work on the photo, work on it as a JPG type of photo, not a BMP. There is a very big size (bulk) difference. Usually, photos come out of a camera as JPG format. If not any decent photo software can quickly convert it, as I did for what I posted below. My picture is about 30% bigger in yours in dimensions, but only about 15 per cent of the bulk (and thus time spent waiting for it to show on screen). Resize it so the biggest size is a max of 800 pixels. This one is a little small, although I bumped it up to 600. Then the second thing, put the photo (or photos) into your post. When you write a message, scroll down and you'll see instructions to "add this attachment". Put in there where the picture is on your computer, or find it by clicking Browse. Play with the system here a bit, you'll soon get the hang of it and be posting like the (much appreciated) pros do it.

Well, hell man, why didn't you say that!?! Good on you double, then. I like that so much I'm going to get you to say it again. Excellent!

It still doesn't compute. How did the IRS know the man was carrying that much money to the airport at that time? I believe that some people are held for suspected money laundering some of the time. I have no problem with that part at all, and I definitely believe the US government does that and asks other governments to do that. If you are a money launderer, times are getting very difficult. If you're not, you might get held up for a few minutes while you declare your money - at the airport, at the bank, wherever - cash or wire transfer, whatever. It's part of of the process these days. The government wants to know.

You heard of a case, did you? And the US IRS communicated with Thai immigration authorities and told them that the man's money was legitimate, because the US IRS always knows that a person's money is legitimate and welcomes foreign enquiries about it. It's a good thing the IRS answered, eh? Otherwise the man would still be in there. Sure, okay. If you say so. In the meantime, back in the real world, ONE option among many to bringing money to Thailand is to carry it in cash and/or TC. I don't personally think it is the best option, but it is possible and lots of people do it, including me on occasion. Just remember to declare it if you have more than US$10,000 or equivalent. In fact, I'd declare $5,000, but maybe that's just me.

Thailand is currently only ranked No 5 software pirate in the world, but it tries harder. You can get all the games you can play in 5 months.

Please don't think I am closely examining the teeth of this horse you are advertising. Also, I doubt you will be rushing over to the Mercedes dealer on Thursday morning with the cargo bag full of red-coloured bills you amass from this offer. However. At this price the bar makes 100 baht in cash for each bar fine. It makes additional profits, possibly substantial profits, from the promotion in a number of other ways, not least the literally invaluable goodwill. I hope you make a dazillion baht with this BUSINESS promotion and I'm sure you are glad you don't have to resort to charity or gamble on loss-leaders to move forward.

Jacko: telex? Let me guess. You are over 25.

A few satang - really, not much. Now. If you deposit a million, then a few satang can buy quite a lot. But you won't get very much per unit. What you see on the bank pages is very, very close to what you'll get, even with a million. You have to remember that this is a system with trillions going through it. What is a "large amount" for an individual isn't very much.

elef that is about as misleading as you can possibly be in one line. First, there is NO limit on how much you CARRY into Thailand if you declare it, cash and TC included. If you have more than $10,000 and you fail to declare it and you are caught, you will forfeit all of it, not just the amount above $10,000. If you declare the money, you may be asked about where you got it. I have personally carried more than $10,000. Second, there is no limit on how much you can receive in Thailand, e.g. by wire transfer as suggested above you in the thread. The only thing you need to worry about is showing the money is not laundered IF you are asked. Banks in Thailand are approximately the same as the US, and will report suspicious transfers. That is based on the person and circumstances, not the amount, the same (as you say) in the US and EU.

Can't find the Bangkok delivery charge. Do they deliver for free?

Doos and the Shoes would be a great name for a rock band.

I don't mean this as an outright flame, but: If the question arose in the immigration office from an immigration officer, wouldn't it have been better to ask the immigration officer or his co-workers instead of rushing to ask farang on the Internet?

Good grief. When you go to buy a car do you only try out the Honda Civic and the Lambhorgini? IMAHO there's not a single reason to try out Adobe Photoshop to enhance some camera-phone pictures. It is hugely expensive and hugely complicated -- a program you have to learn. It is a GREAT program, but it's not for hobby photogs who want to work on a few photos for 10 minutes maximum. And when I say "expensive" I don't just mean in dollars, not that the price won't rock your world. Also, Picasa includes a nice sub-set of simple editing features BUT it is a woman-program -- it is intrusive, it demands to be in full control of all pictures, all the time. Some people think that's good, but please be aware of that when you think you're only going to take Picasa on a little test ride to try out the photo enhancing bit of it. Using Picasa for photo editing is like getting married so that you'll always someone for boffing You're going to find out very quickly there is a LOT more baggage that comes along with that. You have to FEED Picasa in all ways, all the time, in order to get that 20-minute thrill every so often. By the time the other nookie starts looking good, you are tied by all three legs like a calf at a rodeo. If you want to enhance a few photographers and get back to your life try the online programs like Phixr.com or Pixer.us or even the somewhat lame photoshop.com/express if you absolutely are fixated on Photoshop. They are free, fast and ALL THEY DO is edit photos online, using only your browser. If you want software to make phone-photos look better, try this: http://pho.to/editor/features.php

Two shay. Might be an argument to start with another airline, though.

Non-stop will be good. United talked about this 18 months ago and ended up merely making a single flight number, BFD - same number of stops. The "70K" doesn't seem like much, though. You can do a lot better than that on other airlines.

Photo Toolkit is a truly excellent utility to do photo-touchup if you're a novice or if you simply can't be bothered spending weeks to learn Photoshop. http://pho.to/editor/features.php or http://www.photo-toolkit.com/features.html It is by the extremely dependable VicMan people, is totally free, has absolutely no spyware/adware, etc. While nothing is foolproof (because fools are so bloody inventive) it is extremely simple and obvious to use. Picasa is good, but ONLY if you want to use Picasa as your main photo cataloguer. Personally, I find Picasa is very intrusive and demands to do things I don't want it to do, such as cataloguing all my family photos with my, well, my non-family photos for example.

We're back http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/bk-txtexchange.htm

I did love that REALLY fast page. Looks like they are not just re-designing but restricting their pages: https://www.scbbusinessnet.com/cs70_banking...efaultAffiliate You won't get past that (very new) page without an ID. In the meantime try Kasikorn http://tinyurl.com/3bdyan Bangkok Bank http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/We...es/FX+Rates.htm

What will make it go to 11?

Well, of course most of the payment is in baht so they've put a hell of a lot of gelt in the bank in the past couple of years.

I think the people who make appointments for the US and for other embassies are out-sourcing companies, and not connected with the visa except by the monthly payment. Who handles their phones I don't know. I have made appointments for the US Embassy online and it worked. So far as getting a visa, you have to go to embassy and be interviewed. Most wives will get a 10-year visa automagically without a problem, but they MUST be seen and interviewed in person, and of course nothing is certain.

Indeed they do. They really, actually do. Scary. I make sure I let any child I come across know better, so (s)he doesn't fall into their entrapment.