fivevenoms

Too true-I went to the wat with my wife and Mother-in-law the other day, and was putting my sandals down before we went in, when my wife, spying my name-brandage, promptly told me to put them in my bag. I was, to say the least, mildly confused-sandal bandits wandering about the temples? I guess one must deal with jerks in all locales and all walks of life.

(Added bonus: My friend here had his sandals stolen and replaced with cheap used ones. At least they left him a pair.....)

*sigh*

I wasn't too inclined to participate in questionable Thai myths of hypno drugs and the like, but as it so happens, my sister(s)-in-law had this same set of events happen to them. One was heading forward when some guy rubs the "mystery drug" in question onto her hand and heads towards the ATM with her. My other sister, walking behind, spies this and manages to confront the guy, who subsequently runs for it.

Do I believe in the drug in question? Not neccesarily, but neither of my sisters (in-law) are particularly given to fantastical story-telling, so I've since given up on trying to figure out what, precisely, is going on.

This IS a little strange, actually. This producer has only been working on a-list pictures for the last 10 or so years, for the most part, but $15 million for a feature film is a ridiculously low sum of money, unless it has NO recognizable stars, and they plan on producing the whole thing in Thailand. But still, trite story or not, I can see all the usual angles. "The Mysterious Orient", "The Exotic Romance", "The Excitement of Thai Kickboxing Action", "The Trip to Buy Discounted Gemstones".....etc.

Sure, exciting stuff.

This particular topic has been one that has mystified me to no end for a long, long time. I'm not sure why it happens, but I'm relatively sure it's not the diet. Since I arrived here for vacation I went through a brief and unpleasant period of gastrointestinal "adjustment", but after that was done, my toilet habits went back to normal. But, I have been eating the same thing as everybody else in the household (all Thai), and they unanimously have the constipated factor (except, I believe, Mother-in-law) as well.

Additionally, I'm no expert insofar as remedies, but lots and lots of orange juice worked for my wife. Until we ran out of OJ, that is.

I had a reasonably entertaining 1st Songkran-Was in Chiang Mai for the kick-off, and for some reason entertained the notion to stroll straight through the middle of downtown on foot-left all the water guns in Bangkok, but nonetheless refused to hand over the exorbitant sum of money they were fleecing people for up there, so wandered the streets with the drunken dancing traffic-jamming mob, had a beer, and got soaked beyond recognition.

Unfortunately, in the process, I was doused with the suspect waters of the "Chiang Mai Moat", but came out all right nonetheless-no diseases or the like yet, so that went all right. Drove back to BKK the next day, so that ruled out anthing, but went to Khao San Rd on Friday. Lot of white crap on my face, and a lot of ice cold water blasted at my head. Lots of fun, but tragically, none of my Thai family is what I would call "partyers", so I had to head home wet, white, but tragically un-inebriated. Ah well. Good times, although to those brave, brave pizza deliverymen on their motorbikes this week.....I salute you.

In my recent travels to erm, "Tourist Hot Spots" I've noticed a strange phenomenon of people who seem to be genuinely offended that few/no Thais around them speak English. It was really quite surreal. And yet, they perservere-"No, No! Cheaper! Cheaper!".......

Amazing.

It's raining hard in Minburi right now....good thing I got home. Shame about the laundry though.

Eh, I'll just start over again.

Say, you worldly expats-when does the rainy season start? I heard that it was the end of april and onwards, but I figured it's best to ask firsthand.... Should I pack my raincoat for the last few weeks of my vacation, or has this drought postponed things?

Actually (and pardon my programming ignorance here) I've always been kind of surprised (and thankful) that there aren't more problems with this sort of thing since I was under the impression that UNIX was pretty programmer-friendly, and thus you'd have more jerk-offs trying to mess around with OSX.

But then again, why bother a few Mac users when there's all those millions of juicy PCs ripe for the taking? Regardless, it may well be a publicity move for Symantec-after all, since the iPod boom more people are getting Macs.........

So why not some Antivirus to go with that shiny new computer?

Well, officially it runs through from the 13th to the 15th, so I gather you can guarantee a white-powder/water drenched monsoon of enthusiastic revelers. Some areas in Thailand will keep it going for a few more days, though. Not sure how they handle things in Chiang Mai, though.

Well nuts on that, then. Still couldn't hurt to look. Maybe they've moved things abroad since you bought your luggage 10 years ago, since I've got a Tumi bag (made in Thailand) and was interested in some of that snazzy ballistic nylon luggage (checked it at the store: Made in Thailand), so my guess is they set up shop elsewhere. You know how expensive that American labor is.......

So maybe I should just give it up and go look for something else to buy in Thailand....

I hear I can get a great deal on some suits made in "Only 24 hours!!!" I'm sure the tuktuk drivers can recommend a place......

Success!!

Their "10 days by mail" policy ended up being only 3 in reality, so now I've got my visa and am home free, excepting the money I wasted on all that express mail.

So thanks for all your help, Dr PP, Axel, Kenkannif, and Iopburi!!!

I'll see you in Thailand next month-you'll know me by the trail of shrill Thai women of various ages following me around yelling about things I don't understand.

Thanks again!!!

Yeah, my sister-in-law really only mentioned getting clothes there, but they mentioned it when I asked about the luggage. If it's only clothing then I'll won't bother looking, so that's that then.

But, out of curiosity, why so adamant about finding the Tumi there? From experience, or something else? Not that I don't believe you, I was just curious-Since the vast majority of it is "Made in Thailand", I thought I may have a chance of finding it somewhere for cheaper....

I've been trying to gather insight into the film industry in LOS from friends, acquaintances, and residents, but without any real insight, and was wondering if anyone here could help clear up some speculation I have about film in Thailand either working or doing business.

My general perception is is that the film industry in Thailand that produces Thai movies is virtually an indestructible nut to crack-with the exception of a few experienced freelancers from either NZ or Australia I've heard of, no farang is going to get into the Thai film industry in any way, shape, or form (either language barriers, or perhaps there is already a sizable Thai talent pool in this field already). I'm referring more to the production aspect of things (producing, directing, editing, etc) than to acting and such, but regardless, it would seem that to get a job in LOS doing any such work would either require inside connections or networking skills handed down from the heavens themselves.

That being said, I was curious as to how it would work to finance an independent film in Thailand. I can't imagine their expenses are any more than some of the HK films of the '80s and early '90s before the Hollywood influence really kicked in, which would make it seemingly possible (and desirable) to make a good quality film in Thailand without the crushing hand of huge, huge money neccesary to make anything decent in the US. In fact, some of the Thai productions I HAVE seen were of relatively low production value as is ("So wait....there's a ghost....in the air conditioner? Okay."), so as little as they would cost HERE, I'd be surprised to see if they cost much there. More to the point, what would be the obstacles in funding a movie produced in LOS with foreign money? Could you hire local crew, or would there be union/gov't policies to step in your way? If it was funded and paid by a US Production company, what kind of Visas would they need if they weren't being paid by a Thai company? And for that matter, what about equipment and post-production (editing, foley sound, etc)? How much use of Thailand's resources could one make?

I ask these questions mainly because I'm curious to find a way to escape the nigh-monopoly of major studio influence here insofar as quality film production goes, but that being said and done, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try and find a job and live with the in-laws in LOS, either. I realize this is a pretty broad spectrum of topics, but regardless, thanks for your opinion/input.

Curses! Forced to show my hand....

Actually, it's called Tumi, and here it tends to run into the hundreds of dollars. But, I was rather fond of the design and quality so was pondering getting some, even though it would be a mildly stupid investment since I don't particularly have the means to blow hundreds of bucks on luggage. Upon viewing it, my wife seemed mildly interested until she noticed it was "Made in Thailand", and told me that the price (quality?) was therefore ridiculous. Which is when my sister-in-law mentioned "The Export Shop" for goods made in Thailand at slightly more conventional prices. So I guess I'll bite. Any erm......."luggage enthusiasts" seen this Tumi stuff floating around LOS anywhere?

So, one last question for you venerable visa experts....

Any reason why I should have a non-immigrant visa over a Tourist visa?

Thanks again from me and my wife, by the way...

Hmm, I'm supposed to be leaving on the 31st. Any idea if I send it out pronto tomorrow if they'll be able to process it and get it back in time? I'd hate to have this last second wrench in my plans....

Just to check with the more knowledgeable amongst you,

I'm coming in from the US (and I'm age 27) on April 2nd, and was planning on staying with my wife's family in BKK for about six weeks to see the sights and meet my recently acquired vast family of in-laws. Mostly due to my laziness and exhaustion in getting my wife's Green Card, I figured I would come in and get the obligatory 30 day pass and we would possibly go to Malaysia (or so my wife says) for gambling before it ends and come back and get another pass when we come back to Thailand. Should I have any problems with a "border run" on this kind of visa, or should I suck it up and start sending paperwork to Los Angeles RIGHT NOW......

I'd rather not, of course, but I was hoping someone here could clarify for me...

Actually, it was a particular brand of luggage I was looking for-here in the US it's horribly pricey stuff, but every last stitch of it is "made in Thailand" so I assumed it would pop up somewhere for sale, and my aforementioned sister-in-law thought they'd probably have it at "The Export Shop". Unless one of you could think of a similar venue for such things....

Yeah, Aikijutstu (the more fight-oriented half of Aikido) is pretty fantastic to watch applied. Someone throws a punch, the other guys grabs a wrist, and *bam*.......no more fight. I don't really know if it ever made the rounds in the assorted fighting tournaments, though. Back to topic (sort of), I still don't imagine Tyson (especially now) would do to well if we could find a Thai boxer who was big enough to match him for range. Muay Thai is just more versatile than boxing, so with more "weapons" at your disposal-all it might take is one kick to the shins, Tyson could very well go down. But then again, he IS enormous, so he could have a 'sheer strength' advantage.

Of course, something else to consider, if there was the ridiculously huge cash prizes for Muay Thai tournaments that there are for boxing matches, I'm sure that eventually we'd see some er...."devoted" Thai boxers who could match their Western counterparts for size.

Oh yeah? Hmmmm.....too bad.

Actually, I think she did say that. Still, can't hurt to visit regardless.

Thanks for your help! I was beginning to think that the place was a myth.

That's precisely what I wanted to know. Assuming I've done my homework enough to tell the difference between all of the above, I should be good to go.

And on top of that, I can let my sister-in-law do all of my bargaining for me, so I don't inadvertently piss anyone off.

While I have no doubt that any reasonably seasoned boxer would probably beat me senseless, boxing isn't really very well rounded as a "fighting art" as contrasted to some other styles.

With all due respect to the aforementioned people who could knock me out with very little effort, a Muay Thai practitioner of equivalent size and experience, would probably annihilate most boxers. And yes, I too, would like to see Tyson get handed his teeth by a mixed martial artist....or any martial artist really.

After a rather long time in putting it off, it's finally time to make the trip to BKK to visit the huge network of Thai in-laws curiously awaiting my arrival (and their much-belated daughter, too, I'm sure), and the typical array of food and sights is being thought out for me as we speak. However, the one thing I've been told I MUST do is shop.

Now, in my perusal of goods in the US, my wife has informed me that there's a fairly good chance that some of the more expensive goods I've seen here that are "Made in Thailand" are possibly available at hugely reduced prices in Thailand at something called the "Export Shop". I assumed that they were either "leaked" into the Thai market or were factory run-overs or some such. Perusing the forums and the internet, I couldn't find anything much mentioning it. So, I would like to ask the more worldly denizens of Thailand if any of you knew of such a phenomenon? Thanks.

This question is fairly similar to some others I have read, but the circumstances are (of course) different.  I am heading in July to meet my fiance's surviving parent-her mother, and to go forth (a little timidly) with the surrounding ceremony of marrying a Thai in Thailand, parties and family awaiting me, no doubt-Interestingly though, my fiance informed me that it is normal for me to offer her mother a "present" when marrying her daughter, but her mother has said she doesn't want anything from me.  Which is nice, and a stark contradiction to some of the posts I have read, but I still think something to offer her Mom would be a good gesture.  They are a middle-class family in Bangkok, with family and in-laws all knit together as usual, and we are a fairly young couple in our late 20s of modest means-in fact, my fiance makes more money than I do.  We don't intend to live in Thailand, and will be returning to the US afterwards.  But since I have decided to meet her family and formalize things as best I was able, I was wondering if anyone had some idea regarding the dowry I am evidently not required to give?  What would be nice in lieu of it?  Should I bring one anyways?

Hoping some of you more knowledgeable residents can give me some insight.....thanks.