Xircal

Forgot to add the attachment re: cheaper flights....

There are cheaper flights available. You just have to look around.

The trouble I have with this is that the customs police are usually tipped off before arrival. Who is tipping this off and what is their motive?

Yes, this aligns with my thinking as well. I think there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. As I mentioned before it's an ideal way of dealing with dissidents.

That's funny. Maybe the CEO will now learn the folly of his ways.

Microsoft does everything it can to stifle innovation and then looks at us all glumly when their own products consistently fail.

If you've got some time on your hands, have a look at this site called Why I Hate Microsoft which makes for a very interesting read.

Maybe there's more to it than meets the eye. After all, you'd think the this kind of news would have filtered through to the general Iranian public by now.

We've now had a steady succession of Iranians being arrested for supposedly smuggling large quantities of illegal drugs into Thailand, yet despite the publicity, it continues to happen. It's almost as if the poor guys who get caught for this offence don't actually know anything about it.

So maybe it has more to do with Iran eliminating its dissidents by getting them locked up, or put to death even, in Thailand. "Here you mate, nice new microwave oven to take with you on vacation". "They don't have microwaves in Thailand, so you're going to need it". Whoever plants these gifts on them omits to inform them what the unit contains.

Or do I have an overactive imagination?

go for it....you paid 17k, so try it out! you are young and able, so can tackle a few days of discomfort i imagine. first stop, phuket?.... if it doesn't look right, easy enough just to hop on the bus back to bangkok or do your own thing in phuket. at least you can tell for sure it is a scam or not..and complain to the credit card company if it was, better chance of getting a refund.

If it is a scam, it wouldn't have been a good idea to have paid with a credit card.

The OP should keep a wary eye on his credit card billings in order to determine whether or not the card is being misused.

Are you using Malwarebytes? If so, see this post: http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__3926745

Right, just phoned all the hotels (calm beach, bamboo mountain and sweet home Phuket) and we have all been booked in all paid for in full?? So acording to that, we have got all our accomidation paid for. Just wondering what to do now. Unseen travel have said we are getting picked up at 17:00 outside their office tomorrow. So we will have to go their and see.

And recommendations?

Cheers

How did you find the tour agent to begin with? Were you taken there by a tuk-tuk?

You appear to have mixed up your companies. The outfit you appear to have booked with is called "Unseen Tours". Unseen travel on the other hand is merely a travel blog by the looks of it.

I can't find a site for "Unseen Tours" though and judging from the Bangkok Scams article, it looks like one of those dubious places tuk-tuk drivers tend to take you to.

The 9 nights at the Calm Beach Hotel mentioned in your itinerary will set you back 14,500 Baht. So not much left over for the rest of the trip.

How did you book the trip?

The OP sounds a bit naive. He surely wasn't expecting to stay at all those different places in hotels over a periode of 30 days for that small sum of money was he?

If something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Reminds me of my first trip to Phuket. Some cab driver came up to me and offered to take me on a grand tour of the whole island for 500 Baht. Yeah, right....

Try China Airlines from Amsterdam. Not too expensive, food is good and service ok as well.

I prefer to arrive in one piece rather than several of them.

You're not that far away from the Thai embassy in Yangon. Why would you want to go all the way to Malaysia?

Please post a link to resource you're trying to access, gives us a fighting chance

Here ya go: http://www.thaivisa....-run-rules.html

It really makes you wonder why a sizeable proportion of the Thai population lives in abject poverty when you read news like this.

Generally, you get what you pay for. It seems to apply to most things in life.

I agree with that. Its like paying for cheap shoes you will end up suffering.

I always pay a bit more for my airlines both internal and long haul. Then I know what Im getting in general, as opposed to amateur hour.

Well, some of us are on a tight budget unfortunately. I wouldn't skimp on long haul though, but there aren't budget carriers flying long haul from Schiphol anyway.

Dear Xircal

All of your argument are based on your limited and erroneous knowledge. Much like those who believed the world was flat and based all of their arguments on this false premise.

Fisrt of all I have never entered any information of my profile, so any information is there by default. You must really revel in being wrong as you seem to have spent much of your time in doing so.

Secondly, your erroneous suppostions are based on your ignorance of the subject. What you are actually writing iis that ; based on your non-existent knowledge of the subject, you presuppose the outcome by making this statement.

jeopardise(the OP's incorrect use of a Volume Licence) that by reinstalling Windows XP Home for which the OP is unlikely to obtain a licence.

. This is just BS. You just don't have the knowledge, nor the tools, nor the skills to restore the original licence. Neither it is likely, did the 'Thai Technician. Even if he did, he chose Microsoft's least favourite option. To use a 'borrowed' VLK.

So, please don't spout on disingenuously about illegal licensing whilst encouraging the OP to use a stolen key.

Your knowledge is limited. Just leave it at that...unless you choose to increase your knowledge.

I have walked people through the procedure many times. Give it a rest. You are using only your layman's knowledge.

Careful jiu-jitsu, you'll give yourself apoplexy. As regards your profile, I was referring to the comment made by Aikido on 2010-07-13.

But I'll leave it to others to judge whether you're of sound mind or not and whether they wish to avail themselves of your, cough...splutter, 'expertise'.

Nice idea, but to cut down on costs, one of the suggestions is to only give the astronauts a one way ticket. Any volunteers?

Try foxit as a PDF reader. It loads in 1/10 the time and is free also. You can download it at foxit.com

Too many nag screens and ads for my liking.

How do you eat a pork chop with an umbrella shoved halfway down your throat?

I surprised to read about landslides in Phuket. Wherever I look, the hills seem to be completely covered with trees and all manner of vegetation. I would have thought that would prevent landslides from occurring. Yet I read this morning that the 'link removed' went down last night due to a landslip toppling a tree which subsequently cannoned into a power pole.

Presumably that's why they don't place power cables underground.

I'd recommend Sweet Restaurant in Patong. Run by an Aussie and his Thai wife. Average price only 80 Baht and you get big helpings.

It's located in the pedestrian walkway leading to Patong Tower off the beach road.

Fell asleep at the wheel last night so to speak and went to bed. So please forgive my lack of input. So back to business.

Jiu-Jitsu,

Why is it I get the impression that what we're really dealing with here is your over inflated ego rather than any real attempt to help the OP with his problem? One of the comments on your profile would certainly seem to indicate that that is a fact.

So let's deal with some basics here. First and foremost, there are certain facts in the opening post which have to be considered. So for your particular benefit, here they are again:

Seldom do I venture outside the above comfort zones, so, when my computer was returned in a somewhat different configuration to what I was previously comfortable with, I needed help. Therefore I find all the comments / suggestions etc posted here most enlightening.

Recently my motherboard died. So I called & paid a Thai Tech to make repairs. As it is 5 years old, I was aked what I wanted, a repair or an upgrade. I chose to upgrade, & yes my machine is working faster].

Originally I had an original registered copy of XP Home on my PC, & I received regular update notifications from Microsoft. Unfortunately, the technician has now installed a copied XP Pro, along with some other programs that I'm not sure what they do. In addition IE is so old it must be the original version.

I still have the original XP Home CD, which I would like to reinstall.

Important point #1. The machine is five years old.

Companies do not keep hold parts indefinitely, even generic ones. So the motherboard which has been replaced will definitely not be a clone of the original. That being the case, the OP needs a new licence if he wants to continue using his own copy of Windows XP Home. Will he get one from Microsoft? I sincerely doubt it since the operating system has been withdrawn from the market for all but notebooks. Please read article #11 in this Microsoft document, because I get the distinct impression that you're ignoring it for some reason known only to you.

Important point #2. The machine is working faster than it was before.

You want to jeopardise that by reinstalling Windows XP Home for which the OP is unlikely to obtain a licence. If it was legal to do so, then the Thai technician could have reinstalled Windows XP Home for him using his own disc.

I'm not all that adventurous (in regards to computing) & therefore my comfort zone has limited me somewhat to

* Word processing

* E Mailing

* Photo Albums

* Music Library

Once again, some important facts here to consider. By his own admission, the OP is a novice user. He knows how to use a number of applications, but knows nought about installing an operating system. You know as well as I do that Murphy's Law often rears it's ugly head when you install an OS. There's absolutely no guarantee that the operation will run smoothly. So what's he going to do when he gets a pretty blue screen? Phone you?

You have to take these factors into account when giving people advice on a forum.

Since he now has a machine which is working a lot better than his original installation, I personally think he's a lot better off using the one he's got. He can still install security patches, download IE8 etc., etc.

I rest my case.

Wrong.

What is?

Your assertion that every Windows installation CD is the same.

In terms of an OEM version, it is.

Respectfully, I think you should read this thread again from the beginning because your comments are out of sync with the subject at hand.

As I see it, you want to help the OP install what will be an illegal copy of XP. It was only legal when it was installed on the machine prior to the motherboard being replaced. Once that component has been replaced with another one which is not a clone of the original, a new licence is necessary. This is clearly stated in the document I linked to.

So in that respect, you are being of no help at all and your only contribution is to spread confusion.

If you're only going to be in Thailand for one month at a time, you don't need a visa at all. Provided you depart within 30 days, you'll qualify for entry into the country under the terms of the visa exemption agreement Thailand has with the countries in this list

The only exception is if you arrive via a land border in which case you'll only get 15 days.