Xircal

The problem with most of them is that they run Windows XP Home edition with free AV which they naively think keeps them secure.

If you do decide to use any of them, don't conduct any financial transactions. Even if you only use it to check email, change your login password a.s.a.p. afterwards.

Google UK site which also has the link to the key in the menu top right.

Check the conditions of your plane ticket before you do anything. With most economy class tickets, the return flight either can't be changed, or if it can, it'll be quite expensive as this chart taken from the Lufhansa site demonstrates:

US$6,000 x 32.31 (current exchange rate) = 193,860 Baht / 150 days = 1,292 Baht a day.

So you'd need to hang around in the least expensive parts of the country like Isaan and the northeast. It's do-able, but you'll have to live like a pauper.

For four months, it's a little better at 1,615 Baht a day, but you'll still have to avoid the tourist orientated locations.

Probably puntuated with ads every ten minutes.

There's a USDA email address at the foot of the following report on wine export opportunities to Thailand which might help: http://www.calwinexport.com/files/Wine%20Market%20in%20Thailand_Bangkok_Thailand_8-21-2009.pdf

You could try posting the problem on Apple's Macbook Pro site if BB1950's suggestion doesn't work: https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro

As all the above posters point out poor service,high prices and two many freebies for well connected families.

On their domestic routes they need to ditch those boxed meals on the one hour trips.

The problem is how do you tell a Thai they are doing it wrong?

Yes, very much to the point especially with the well connected families issue.

I'm reminded of an article I read a while back, in 2009 in fact about the directors and their families being given 15 first class tickets every year for both international as well as domestic routes.

It's hardly surprising that they're still in the financial trouble with those kind of policies.

He must have been pretty daft, only a 40 Baht overcharge! Who would even bother complaining in the scheme of things?

Poor sod got quite a hefty fine.

That was the flagfall i.e. what you see on the meter when you first get in the vehicle. If that part of the meter had been interfered with, probably the rest of it will have been rigged to charge a higher kilometer rate too.

Considering the abysmally low salaries they're paid, it's not surprising they seek to supplement their income in other ways. The following article which dates from 2013 highlights the need for a pay review: http://www.cgmoore.com/blog/view.asp?id=784

Human trafficking on the other hand is a despicable way of earning a living and I hope the PM throws the book at them.

With QE its only going to get weaker. A lot weaker. The Thai baht is no going down any time soon, They just maintained 2% interest rate that created more strength in the Thai baht.

Not looking good for EURO.

The Euro seems to be heading north again: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-thb.en.html

I think it largely depends on what kind of deal is struck with Syriza. I can't see the troika backing down on the debt repayment issue, but they could give the Greeks more time to pay.

In any event, if Tsipras wants the country to remain in the Eurozone, his only choice will be to stay on the beaten path. Either that or get the printing press's rolling to churn out large quantities of drachmas fast.

Firefox forever! You don't have to open loads of tabs and can arrange them as tiles on one tab: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/new-tab-page-show-hide-and-customize-top-sites

Also, there are countless free add-ons, more than any other browser: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

In addition, plenty of tutorials around in case you get stuck: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox

There's even a free integrated chat utility! https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/firefox-hello-webrtc

What more could you ask for?

I use my laptop like the OP does. It's always plugged into the mains and I unplug before going to bed. Machine is an Acer Aspire 772G with Windows 8.1

I've never had a problem with it and the machine is 14 months old now.

Try Standard Chartered: https://www.sc.com/th/en/ways-to-bank/inperson-safe-deposit.html

It's just an advertising site. Placing Bangkok in 22nd place by testing just 124 hotels out of a possible 3,500 is hardly representative.

They've probably negotiated a commission on every booking made via their site. That's why the Expedia and Hotel.com buttons are visible in every 'tested' hotel.

Even worse was his excuse that he'd been working close to 24 hours without a break - probably to make as much money as possible before being discovered - which beggars belief.

It explains why so many accidents resulting in death or serious injury are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

He'll probably be invited round for a little 'attitude adjustment' soon.

This guy seems to go off the deep end if the Press doesn't nod approval to everything he says: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1422529519&typecate=06&section=

He'll probably threaten us with a new round of curfews soon.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared without trace has officially been declared an accident according to latest Press reports: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31039460

All passengers and crew are 'presumed dead' which opens the door to compensation payouts.

Youtube video stop and search tourist in Asoke area: http://youtu.be/EXsFNmeprB8

They aren't wearing caps, so maybe they aren't police but their uniforms look the same.

I'm simply amazed that when they constructed the Suvarnabhumi high speed rail link, but didn't bother extending it to Don Muaeng Airport.

I used to fly to Swampy all the time and then take a cheap flight from there to Phuket, but not anymore. It's too much of a hassle getting to DMX and after a 12 hour flight from AMS, I'm in no mood to have to argue with taxi drivers who don't want to use the meter.

Sometimes, what I read in the Press doesn't seem to be in keeping with the situation on the ground. For example, some thinktanks are worried that if Greece exits the Eurozone and then prospers, this will lead to other countries to vote for populist parties. But they don't seem to take into account the facts on the ground. Corruption is endemic in Greece. Tax evasion is a national pastime and nepotism is a way of life. Greece prosper? Certainly not on its own. The country has become a nation of parasites who love the high life as long as someone else is paying for it.

So they'll go looking for another big lender and maybe turn to Russia. But Putin has enough on his plate already with his little adventure in Ukraine. Their own financial market has already been given junk status so they're hardly in a position to finance a whole new country especially since they're unlikely to be repaid when the debt matures.

Also, Greece joined NATO in 1952 and any turn towards the Russians will get them booted out of that too. That would mean the US being given their cards to quit Souda Bay, Crete naval base which is a nice little earner for them. That certainly won't win them any friends on the other side of the Atlantic.

Maybe the Russians will step in. But Greece should bear in mind that once in, they won't take kindly to being told to quit if future relations go pear-shaped as they surely will.

Edit: corrected spelling mistake.

Pai? Thought they had a bit of bother up that way with the drug trade; not to mention the nice, friendly BiB

I'm guessing Area 51 which was the US Airforce's testing site for UFO investigations. Highly amusing though.