mister_handy

It would not be hard to trigger a bomb by phone requiring a code or a call from a specific other number; these things are "smart" now, it's not just the old dial phones where the ring was an basic electric signal down the line.

For infrequent visitors, also depends on your phone; the newest generation of phones tend to be quad- or penta-band UMTS and work almost anywhere, but with phones from home even a year old it can be a bit more challenging. DTAC and True have the advantage of using the 850mhz band for data which is what AT&T in the US uses (and most US GSM phones, so it's a safer choice for folks from the US -- if they have an unlocked phone at all. AIS uses a mix of 900mhz and 2100mhz (the former uncommon anywhere, the latter used just about everywhere outside the US, and it's a safer choice if you ha

I'm coming from the US west coast, and prefer t the evening departures that get into Bangkok in the late morning on JAL or Cathay. Because of upgrades/miles, I usually end up on a connecting American flight to someplace else in the states that then connects to Tokyo, which then switches to JAL and arrives at about 11PM. Awful schedule, but since I can upgrade a couple of those free each year to business (up to Tokyo -- still in the back of the bus from there to Bangkok), it's worth it a lot of the time.

I only use it to get US TV/Movies on my downtime on trips, but I've had good luck with WiTopia. US$70/year for their pro service.

Never been searched coming into LOS, and going on 11 years and except for 2001 (one trip) and 2002 (none) at least two trips a year. Never a search. Only place I have had my bags searched besides coming back into the US were Singapore, where they were X-raying every bag coming in then... no biggie... and Australia, where I had some food items with me that I had to run by the customs inspector and once he cleared those they did a routine X-ray of my bags. Prior to getting Global Entry was getting searched every second or third trip coming into the US (HIGHLY recommended to any US folks he

Yeah, lots of people get stuff from the government, but if you exclude tax breaks (for which you're got to be paying taxes in the first place, and most can't do more than lower your taxes to zero) most of them are either really small, or apply to really small groups, or both. The really big ones (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps) I already covered and virtually anyone who qualifies for the other forms of welfare (TANF, EITC[*], Section 8, etc) will qualify for Medicaid or Food Stamps or more usually both. [* more correctly, a large enough EITC to get money back, rather

And not all of those are collecting benefits: some have been unemployed too long and had their benefits run out, others never qualified as they did not have prior qualifying work - new grads/drop outs, people who had previously been out of the labor market for other reasons (eg newly divorced women), and those were previously doing work that didn't qualify them for unemployment benefits (eg self employed and contractors, or those paid under the table.) Total number of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits is covered by the Dept. of Labor not the BLS, and their server seems to be

Must be something wrong with me, as I've very rarely had girls try, and the couple that have tried have been laughably bad at it. Then again, maybe they can read me and don't bother to turn on the sob story: the ones I've had the best times with have been the ones who've been up-front about being professional, had some pride in their work, and knew what they were doing in the bedroom.

If you believe the members counts at Pattaya-Addicts, that number if higher than 1%. Of course, half of those could be bargirls trolling to see if someone has posted their pictures or lookiloos from the West who've never been and will never go to Pattaya... but any forum will typically have many times more readers/lurkers than posters

Would they admit it here if they weren't? Many BMs here have "admitted" it. That they were UN-happily married? Torque was claiming that most folks who are married (to TG, at least) on the forum are happily married. My contention is that such a group is self-selecting; they're much less likely to be talking about being married if they are NOT happily married. I'm sure someone here on the board has talked about how unhappy his marriage is, but my guess is that when most go South guys are more likely to either focus on the positive (eg not mention the marriage, just the beers, bars, e

* Wasn't that what he did with "When we then factor into account that some significant fraction of the people who marry actually are indeed happily married - the majority of those that I have seen who are married and posting on this forum are" -- ? -- As an aside, just thinking the girl/guy ratio, if we assume half the tourists to Pattaya are there for the girls, that's more than ten guys for every girl. If we figure an average guy is there a week, and has maybe 5 girls during that time, that would make a each girl go with an average of about 50 different guys over the course of

What's the turnover rate? From what I can see, pretty high - a fair number of girls are into and out of the business in a couple (2-3) years and a lot of others have a working like under 5-6 years. ...or the hordes of package tourists, Russians, etc; I wouldn't be surprised if those were well more than half of the total numbers of visitors, especially since mongers tend to stay longer. Math fails: 1% of 750,000 as Kaiser71 has already said, is 7500. Half of that is 3750. That's only enough for (about) one bargirl in ten, which, IF my rough sense of the turnover is right

I read up on Uprima years ago. Always wanted to try it, but was never approved for sale in the US. Never found it here in LOS, and I was under the impression it had been pulled in Europe. Regular apomorphine tabs (to swallow; Uprima was sublingual-dissolving) are available in the US, but are supposed to have even worse puking side effects. I'll pass. I did try a related drug (cabergoline) once. Gave me a splitting headache for days from one tiny dose, with no positive effect. Expensive too! I'd recommend staying away from the dopaminergics.

12 months might be too short, but something like 12 months or 24 months. Some categories (eg high end Pattaya places) don't have any reviews since 2009...

It should, as long as your phone's unlocked; UK is on the same bands (900/1800) as Australia and most of the Thai networks. Not sure if 3G (HSPA, etc) data will work between the two, but basic voice calling and SMS will be no problem.

Tried to PM you but PM is not working for me or at least the messages don't show up in my saved messages. Picked up a big bottle super-cheap at CostCo for you, if you still need them please get in touch or I will leave them at FLB bar with Martin for you or in case some other local expat needs them.

Ditto the US. Could even land you in prison for a year for possession if a customs guy has a bug up his ass about it.

I can't even seem to find prednisone there.

Didn't know you could get pseudoephedrine there. You can use it to make yabba or meth and it's pretty controlled. Mostly for stuffy nose - a decongestant rather than an antihistamine.

BTW to the original poster you can get cetirizine in Thailand under the name brand Zyrtec. When it was still $2.50 a pill here in the US I would pick it up there for 120 baht per 10, not super-cheap but a lot better than the prices here. I'll be in Pattaya on the 21st if you haven't gotten someone to hook you up.

I'm just going by the map they checked when I last donated in April - the "red" zone for a one-year deferral was pretty much everywhere north and south of Manila. Doctor's standards and the blood donation people are definitely different - I've had a pair of deferrals for the malaria risk over the years (one was from part of the Mexican coast) but have never had my docs recommend antimalarial drugs. So ymmv, and my local blood centers' rules may not be universal in the US.

No question about it. But it's a separate issue. The prostitutes thing, however, would be the same one year deferral (except for the ladyboy fans) whether it's a Thai one or a local one; they don't have a question "have you ever had sex with a southeast asian prostitute?"

My local place does. I donate a couple of times a year, when I've not been on deferral because of travel a few times (but never been an issue with Thailand.) Conversation goes like this "I see you checked the box for 'Have you been outside the US in the past year?'" "Yes." "Where did you go?" "Yes, Thailand and (insert typically a couple of other countries each year)...." "Where in Thailand?" "Bangkok and Pattaya." Takes out the book with the maps. Sometimes they have to ask "where's Pattaya?" "Ok, you're fine." Not sure if Phuket is OK. I can't remember if I started donatin

Depends on where in Thailand - according to my local center, Bangkok, Pattaya and points in between are all fine and not in a malaria-risk region. Other parts of Thailand are - there's a map they go by.

Personally, I look for the following in a hotel: 1) Clean and safe. 2) Ability to book a non-smoking room in advance. 3) Convenient location. 4) Comfortable bed, and at least a double. 5) Internet access 6) Price 7) Good pool Room size doesn't even make it on there, for the most part. The smallest rooms at Majestic Suites in Bangkok are fine. Some of the hotels I've stayed at for business in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where the room is so small that the bed is only accessible from one side are too small for mongering use, although they beat the one time I was at a hotel (in the US, surp