Shilo

Question: I'm starting to see stories in the Thai press that the government is trying to do something about the problem with gem dealers ripping off tourist. I'm also seeing stories that suggest that because of SARS and the drop in tourism that the gem dealers are hurting at the moment. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to get a good deal on a man's ring with a nice gem without getting hosed ??? And just how much better are the deals on gems in Thailand vs the states? Shilo

I've stayed there in the past and plan to again on one of my upcoming trips. Here is the email that they sent me when I asked about prices: Thank you very much for your e-mail.Our price as follow ; During August - October 2003 ; Standard at garden side : 700.-/room/night Superior at pool side : 850.-/room/night During November - 20 December 2003 ; Standard at garden side : 850.-/room/night Superior at pool side : 950.-/room/night Price are without breakfast. Shilo

Northwest is offering a cash/air miles deal where you can fly from my part of the US to BKK for $415 plus 20K miles. The cash part is great but it'd cost the 20K of air miles and the loss of the 19K I'd get if I pay on a different offer of round trip plus miles for $785. So my question is wether the 40K of miles is worth the extra $370? I have been saving air miles and I'm up to 65K (with 60K needed for a free trip ;D) But I've been tucking them away for that rainy day when I want to go but don't have the cash or the fares are higher without all the crap that is in the press lately. Shilo

Ron, Welcome to the board A lot of your questions have already been answered in different threads on the board. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel free to ask anything that you like. But spend some time going through the members section and you'll find a wealth of info on retiring, budgets, everything ::) And once again, Welcome friend Shilo

Ling, I haven't got the file yet but I'll watch for it ;D As for my son, I've said in the past that the only way to be truely sure that your computer is safe if you have a teenage son is to take him out behind the shed and shoot the little sucker ::) Thanks, Shilo

Off Topic, But maybe someone here on the board can help me with a problem I've got. I think that my teenage son went somewhere on the net and managed to download something onto my computer. The effect is that WMP isn't working as it should. It will play the FLB videos that I downloaded onto my harddrive (Thanks again Pete ;D) And when I went to a site that has that silly Ketchup video it played too with the link right off of the site. But every time I go to some of the link pages where they have the porno clips (mpegs, wmv, avi ect.) none of them will play on the WMP. I'm back to looking at the damned picture sites to fullfill my perverted needs :-X Any ideas on what I can or should do to correct the problem. Note: I downloaded a fresh file of the WMP #9 which I'm guessing overwrote the current files but I didn't delete the old ones first. It didn't help the problem but unless someone has a better idea, that's what I'll be doing next time. Delete the old WMP and download it again with fresh files... Thanks, Shilo

Hey guys, Northwest just started a new special ;D. No doubt because of the SARS and war concerns. I pulled this off of my travel agents web page. Her link is at the bottom of the page. http://www.angeltravel.com/Airfare/Northwe...uper_Sales.html Shilo

Thanks Pete, It works great and the quality is outstanding ;D Well at least it works on WMP now but I'm still working with my teenage son to figure out how to burn it onto a disc to pay as a DVD. Haven't figured out that one yet ??? Shilo

wally, I had already tried the help drop down tab on my windows media player and it came back with a message that I already have the latest version of Windows Media Player 9 Series and all of it's components. No update is available at this time... And I'm using a two year old computer with Windows 2000. I saw Abacus's post and I'm covered there. Windows 2000 with version 9 WMP. I think what I need is to find out which link Stricker used on http://www.moonlight.co.il/download.htm to download the codec... Thanks, Shilo

This seems like the best place to put this question. I can't seem to download the codec that is needed to view the larger version of the new video. One of the post has a link to a web site where it is said that you can download the codec but there are a lot of links on that page. Can someone point me in the right direction and tell me where and what I need to download... Thanks in advance, Shilo

Nope, just checked and it seems to be working fine for me. Good luck, Shilo

A little something that was passed on to me by one of my female friends... WHAT SEX ARE THEY? ZIPLOC BAGS - male, because they hold everything in, but you can always see right through them. SHOE - male, because it is usually unpolished, with its tongue hanging out. COPIER - female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm up. TIRE - male, because it goes bald and often is over inflated. HOT AIR BALLOON - male, because to get it to go anywhere you have to light a fire under it ... and, of course, there's the hot air part. SPONGES - female, because they are soft and squeezable and retain water. SUBWAY - male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up. HOURGLASS - female, because over time, the weight shifts to the bottom. HAMMER - male, because it hasn't evolved much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around. REMOTE CONTROL - female ! .... Ha! You thought I'd say male. But consider,it gives men pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying. Shilo

Everything will be open. But I suggest that you bring a towel ;D Shilo

jte, I always try to book on Northwest too and do my booking through AngleTravel: http://www.angeltravel.com/ I started using them after seeing a recommendation of their service on this board and have never had a complaint. Check out their site and shoot an email off to Ann. She is a Thai living in Chicago and has always taken good care of my needs. Shilo

Here is a cute one... There was a Frenchman, an Englishman and Claudia Schiffer sitting together in a carriage in a train going through Provence. Suddenly the train went through a tunnel and as it was an old style train, there were no lights in the carriages and it went completely dark. Then there was a kissing noise and the sound of a really loud slap. When the train came out of the tunnel, Claudia Schiffer and the Englishman were sitting as if nothing had happened and the Frenchman had his hand against his face as if he had been slapped there. The Frenchman was thinking: 'The English fella must have kissed Claudia Schiffer and she missed him and slapped me instead.' Claudia Schiffer was thinking: 'The French fella must have tried to kiss me and actually kissed the Englishman and got slapped for it.' And the Englishman was thinking: 'This is great. The next time the train goes through a tunnel I'll make another kissing noise and slap that French bastard again.' Shilo

Sabai Lodge has them in the deluxe rooms. Shilo

Crelus, Contact the hotels that you are interested in directly through their email. Many will want a deposit around the high season (Christmas/New Yr) but they don't always need it at other times of the year. Right now you can book for April at Sabai Lodge, Flippers, and the RG without a deposit. Shilo

Well it looks like I got my room at the Flipper Lodge. But they were only able to set me up with a city view room instead of the sea view room that I had requested. But a few questions on the massage services: When do the girls start and when do they finish? I will be getting into Pattaya at about 2am and would love a good massage along with the extras on that first night. How many girls do they generally have working at any given time? And does the selection increase at different times of the days? And lastly, if you find one that you like, is there a bar fine type option to take her out for say dinner and a movie? Shilo

Pete, At the moment there are 23 guys using the board but if I went into the chatroom there wouldn't be anyone there. I know because I've gone in often to find no one. Is there a way to add an alert somewhere that says how many are in the room. Maybe where you show the names and number of members online? I think it is a great feature that just doesn't get enough use.. Shilo

VasH Thanks for the clear explanation. I do have the restore CD's so I'll take a look at them or visit MS. RayW What good would that do ??? I wouldn't understand his version either ::) Shilo

I on the other hand get emails with lines like this: I would like to you know I will be your willpower always but you are still have another lady will concern to you same with me and it is good for you. OK guys, any idea what the thought was behind that sentence ??? VasH, My windows came installed with my computer so I don't think that I have the CD to download the Thai script. But I have seen a free download of the script on a couple of websites. Could you explain what the download would do to my computer. I'm thinking that it would not change anything except cause the computer to recognise and print the Thai script when I recieved a message. And wouldn't ALL computers in Thailand have this system built in so that if I email a lady and enclose Thai script that I had cut and pasted into the message be readable even over Hotmail? Thanks, Shilo

Vash I gave it a shot. I sent a short message to my lady friend and copied myself. What I got wasn't Thai but that is because my computer doesn't have the Thai symbols. I'll wait to see what her reply looks like. Do you or anyone else know: if you cut and paste Thai script into an email and send it through Hotmail if the reciever will see the Thai script? Or do they see the gobblygook that I see when I send it to myself. Thanks, Shilo

OK so on this last trip I exchanged emails with one of my lady friends and now we seem to be trying to stay in touch. But it is a pain :-/ I write to her and she has someone translate and then she writes back and I get the translation of her letter. The translations are a joke ??? There has to be a better way. Suggestions? I remember someone asking about an online translator tool. Is there such a thing as a software package? Has anyone ever tried to use a Thai keyboard on there computer? What works ??? Shilo

Well I'm getting ready to go back for my 3rd visit. On the first two trips I stayed at the RG and Sabai Lodge. I liked both but I'd give the edge to Sabai for location and the RG for the better room. In both cases I paid around 1300 baht a night. I was at the RG during low season and Sabai over Christmas. The next trip will be from 4/11 till 4/20. Yep, I'm flying right into the middle of the water fight that the Thai's call New Years. But it is the only time that will work into my work schedule and what the heck, who is afraid of a "little" water ::) I don't want to stay at the RG on this coming trip because I think 1300/night is a good value during the high season but a little steep in the low season and again I just don't like the hassels of getting home at night. I got a response to my email from Sabai Lodge that the "deluxe" room will only be 1150 during the off season and I think that I could get them down to 1000 if I offer to book now and stay for my entire 7 days with them. But I'm also considering the Flipper Lodge. I like the location and I'm intriged by the in-house massage service. Can someone tell me if the rooms are that much different from the Sabai Lodge, are the massage girls very good looking, and am I a fool to be thinking about a room on Soi 8 in the middle of a water war? The price of the room would drop from 1100 (Sabai) to around 800 at the Flipper. Advice? Shilo

I just ran out of room in my photo album. I'd like to take out some of the Golf Pictures so I can add a few more for the trip report that I'm doing and have some room for some pics that I'll be taking on my next trip. Question: if I start deleting them will it have any effect on the ad that you put up for the golf outings? Part of your ad is a link to the trip report that I did on my golf outing on the last trip. I don't want to screw up you promo. Or do you think I could have some additional space?? As they say, "up to you" ;D Shilo