joekicker

Well, there are other passport offices. There is one out in the north end, in Nonthaburi, I know that. I'm sorry but you'll have to look them up on the www.mfa.go.th website for the exact locations. I think the one in Bang Na is the only one inside a Central store. At the website, click on "Thai pasports" then call her over, because I think the info is only available in Thai, which makes sense. There are a fair number of passport offices around the country. No, it's a residence book. ("Papers, please.") Most people live officially with their families, so several/many people may share the same book. There is one per house, apartment, etc. Most people just keep their official residences at their original home until something important like getting married, and most TG use their mom and dad's book, with an entry inside for them. It determines where the constituency/district where you vote, though, which is why so many TG head up-country for election day.

The bloody highway these days is really unpredictable. It SHOULD take 90 minutes absolute max either way on the blue bus. Make sure she squares it with the driver that he is going up the Bang Na-Trad, and can drop her at Central Bang Na. There are occasional buses that take different routes, I think, like past the airport which is not what she wants. The passport office is brilliantly organised. They don't do lines, they do groups. Does she have an old passport? I can't see the original post. (I just looked at it.) You indicate she does. If so, it's just walk right in and start the process. But if not, add 10, 15 minutes, as she'll have to show her ID card, tapian ban... I think that's all but do check to make certain -- I can help with geography but I'm not a govt bureaucrat, PLEASE check first. For sure she'll need the tapian ban (house book) especially if it's her first passport, not a lot of use going without it. I THINK (again, please check) she doesn't need it if it's a passport renewal. There are pages on the procedures at the foreign ministry website: http://www.mfa.go.th and of course it's in two languages (or more). No pics needed, they take them there, digital ones, this I know certainly. Once the paperwork is straightened out, she joins the next group at the first station, the previous group moves to Station 2, etc. Real assembly-line, cattle-car stuff, completely impersonal but faster than a speeding bullet. I THINK she has to wait a week for the passport now, unless it's an emergency, but they'll mail it if she sets that up. It's open, transparent, pretty friendly, bribe-free and about as good as a government operation gets anywhere in the world. I haven't been for a couple of years but I think it's still 1,007 baht (sic). I'm not sure if they add for the mail, which would be registered of course. We live nearby and always have gone to pick it up.

Martin, United miles are a flat fee of $35 PLUS a cent a mile, up to a maximum of 15,000 per person selling them to you, i.e. US$185 for 15,000 miles. Presumably, two people could each sell you 15,000 miles. Not certain. But not so fast. I THINK no one but family can sell you miles, but please check on that. The only times I've been involved were in intrafamily transfers/sales, so that rule sort of flew past and I might be misinterpreting, or getting it all wrong. The price I am certain about.

To answer directly, she prays for an immaculate miracle. But it probably won't work. She has to go to Bangkok, the closest place the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a passport office. The closest one to Pattaya is in the Central (department store) Bang Na building on the seventh floor. Central is at Kilo 3 of the Bang Na-Trad highway, i.e. you don't have to go into Bangkok proper, but just go up the highway almost to Bangkok, 3 kilometres before the entrance to the main expressway. Specific instructions if you're driving: Around Kilo 8, around the Nation Building, start thinking about taking one of the several off-roads to get onto the Frontage Road. That's what you want to do. Continue up the Frontage Road to about Kilo 2, when you'll see a big jeezly U-Turn bridge going over the main highway, and specifically saying "Central Bang Na" because they built it. Take the U-turn to the opposite Frontage Road, get in the left lane and prepare to turn left into Central. If you're on a bus, tell the driver you want to go to Central and he'll let you out at the closest pedestrian bridge over the highway. Or get out and catch a took-took. When you're finished at the passport office, you're already on the road heading back to Pattaya. Buses (will) stop right in front of Central if you want one. You can be back for lunch easy.

Bangkok is a big city where people don't want to know their neighbours, just like every other huge city in the world. If your neighbours start to seem to be interested in what you are bringing home -- groceries, business appliances, your blow-up dolls, etc -- tell them not to be so gawdamned nosey and bugger off! But I can't imagine they would care, unless you have a screamer who wakes them up of course.

A couple of high-profile places like this opened in Bangkok, and seemed to crash and burn. Have a talk with your Chamber of Commerce, might be one way. Or maybe just cut a deal with an Internet cafe, most of them have excellent connections and live on a shoestring.

I've heard of such laws. They are stupid. Flat statement. I don't care what the reason or reasons for them were, they are simply stupid laws. Of course almost any law that is "mandatory" is stupid, such as the "mandatory" life sentence for the Surfnafornian who "stole" a slice of pizza from someone at a sidewalk restaurant. But mandatory ID check *is* stupid.

Please. This is a friendly zone. No neigh-saying, no colt shoulders.

Air France is okay. It's a big airline, usually safe, usually leaves on time, generally gets you where you're going, all the seats land at the same time, etc. Nothing exceptional, good or bad. It works. No reason NOT to fly it if it's attractive somehow.

Yeah, I must say I find it weird, but it's 2007 and that's the kind of world we live in. People can watch foreign news, foreign sports, log into the Net any time... Used to be you went on holidays to get away from it, now you take it with you. Times change.

You moved to Pattaya to watch four TV news networks, none of them remotely connected with Pattaya, and you think people who watch sports on TV are weird? hmmm.

Excellent point. I've never seen one that was less than two-thirds the return price, and usually they are more.

It's highly likely the airline won't like that, and could even refuse to carry you. You need a visa to show you live in Thailand, or you need a ticket out. Same at Thai immigration when you arrive, although in practice they seldom ask and usually you can sneak through. The airline will not assume responsibility for taking you out if Thailand refuses to let you in, which is possible if you don't have a return/outward bound ticket. My take is that you need some serious visa work before you put your plan into action.

Very, very hot. Occasional "April showers". By seaside Thailand standards pretty dry, 50-60% humidity.

Yes. I disagree that any working person would have dodgy Internet connections. There is no need for such a thing. Location and planning will overcome any such problem, 100%. The above is one possible solution. Your location has to be in an area with decent phone coverage. That is a LOT Of leeway, but certain has its limits, too. Once you decide on location, then you can set up the second part, which is planning so that you never have dodgy connections. It's not only doable but tens of thousands have done it totally successfully without any problem along the way.

Like I said to the poster who noted Britain does not have a national ID card, the US does not have a national ID card, yet people in both countries pretty well always have ID. In your blessed Surfnafornia, the ID you refer to has nothing to do with nationality. Immigrants, visitors and most odiously and ominously illegal immigrants all are not just entitled but encouraged to carry the state ID, thus making it somewhat less than dependable as a state ID, and giving it no weight whatsoever as a national one. Not every state shares that generosity with its counterpart ID. Heh. "Respected" has two meanings, well illustrated here. I take it that in the case of the Surfnafornia cards, you mean it in the sense of "accepted". I have no idea, and don't much care, but the OP's reference story says another lady at the same time was given the same ridiculous treatment. He was in a store, not a bar. Do you think British liability laws would extend to selling someone a sealed bottle of drink? Do you think British stores train their employees to note the specific amount of intoxication of their customers in judging whether to allow them through checkout?

Nor do Americans. Nor do foreigners in Thailand have a Thai ID card. Nor do other civilised nations have ID cards. In my personal view it is a sign of civilisation that they do not have ID cards. Yet when required to show ID, pretty well everyone can always produce ID. That's why 21-year-old Brits can get served, not to mention the 72-year-old Brit in the original story, who could have shown his ID and got his bottle, except he refused. And good for him, but he could have produced ID as the store demands of everyone, and which most British sheeple apparently do for them -- produce ID.

Alan, absolutely. Some places are thick, some are literal-minded, some truly believe they are "CYA". All of them are bloody annoying and wouldn't get my patronage twice, if the first time.

Sure. Either that or the owners of the establishment decide to cover their axxes 12 different ways so they can never get busted. Either way, it's the dumb law behind it, I'd say. Well, it is their business (literally) and they can make any rules they wish and I can choose whether to give them my money depending on how they conduct their business. We still have that choice, anyhow.

Did someone say something? No? Okay, thought I heard something.

I think despite the original question that these are the two key points. 1. The punter MUST be able to dismiss any girl, at any time, and she has simply disappear. 2. And the mamasan should keep her nose out of the punter's business, and probably keep away from all punters, all the time unless summoned. These are way more important to me than whether a girl comes to me, and precisely when. So long as I can get rid of her quickly and gracefully if I wish, then I don't really care when the first one comes.

You will not work continously in Thailand with an air card. Flat statement. The only possible way this would ever work is in an area that has excellent Internet connections of other types such as modem and/or wireless ADSL. And if you have that, then you wouldn't use the air card which STILL would be a nightmare and probably undependable even in areas where Internet service is constant and dependable. If you are going to use anything involving the mobile phone to stay reliably connected to the Internet -- you aren't. Not in up-country Thailand, you're not. Doing the work you describe is ONLY reliable in Thailand with a regular, bog-standard, fixed-line telephone with either dial-up or DSL -- or better (cable, say). If you are out there in non-telephone land, you had best look into satellite, first and foremost iPSTAR from the link below. I can assure you that you will do more than enough bitxhing about THAT link to make up for what you miss from the air-card or any similar chewing-gum-and-baling-wire lashup involving a cellphone line. Try this for a possible work-quality Internet connection in areas you can't even get dial-up: http://www.csloxinfo.com/ipstar4_non_e.asp

The store, of course, will change its stupid policy -- one way or another. But it's a great illustration of why you should obey good laws, not just obey the law.

Oh, Vic? Also, don't just go by the BP schedule, they only list LIVE stuff. I'm currently watching Texas-Rice, the second college game of the weekend on ESPN, delayed about 11 hours. You might want to look at ESPN (Star has very little stuff) at their website to see what's coming up. You can search by sports for two weeks, or just go through the daily listings to see if there's something you like. Today they have football and baseball, just not live. http://espnstar.com/tvtimes/tvtimes_index.jsp

OK, time for a couple of TV watching tricks. There is a nice little program that can help you see all NFL games, called Sopcast. Go here: http://www.sopcast.com/ Download the software SopCast 1.1.2. Its about 2MB. Install it. Log in (you can be anon if you want). Next step. The NFL games stream here: http://streamednfl.blogspot.com/ or if you can't get there or have problems, some even prefer this one: http://www.myp2p.eu/NFL.htm You must have up-to-date Windows XP SP2 or later, i.e. Vista. Nothing else will work. And of course you need a bit of bandwidth. Note that Sopcast is the client, and is essentially invisible. All viewing and selection and switching is done from within your browser. Then there's a Nike NFL advert to kill for: http://www.nike.com/usnikefootball/?sitesr...anding#homepage Download it at: http://www.nike.com/nikegridiron/v3/med … spot_1.flv This one is pretty good: And the commercial Brian Urlacher hated: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8raHaAQcZDE