CMTourist

Sometimes not knowing Thai is better. That way you won't hear those nasty comments that sometimes all people will make. Even jokingly but with limited understanding you might not know the difference and get angry. I smile---they smile --I pay--and everyone is happy.

What do you do to make them say nasty things about you?

To jump in and give an example, I was once in a lift with another farang and two Thais started discussing him in Thai.

His head is HUGE!

Yeah, that's a really big head!

A really really big head!

Why do some farang have such big heads?

Then they noticed us trying not to laugh and shut up and stared at the door!

All I can say is that I live in a place with NO falang.

Without Thai I would be a dumb mute.

Plus, Thai people, like anyone else, have a lot to say.

Kinda hard to listen if you don't understand.

What's that called ?

Oh yea, uneducated ?

Clueless ?

My view is slightly different. Speaking Thai is useful for living independently its true. Many of the people who provide services to me can't speak a word of English and so I'm fairly sure it all ends up slightly cheaper than if I was dependent on English speaking Thais. Plus it means I can live here without it being compulsory to have a Thai GF.

But when it comes to conversation, Thais that can't speak English are generally less educated and have less to say.

Those who are educated and with whom you can have real conversations about subjects other than food, weather and women (even the old women who clean my apartment and do my laundry and work in the local food stalls ask me a lot about my dating life, specifically why I don't see more women!) tend to be able to speak English pretty well.

One funny thing that happened recently is that a farang who's lived here for ten years or so and can't speak Thai wanted to use the laundry lady I use, but because he can't speak Thai he has to take his 5 year old half Thai daughter to translate for him. The laundry lady thinks its cute and hilarious.

If you're a single male then speaking Thai does open up a world of 18-20 year old women who have never met a farang before but are really curious to try one out. So if that's what you're in to then its a very worthwhile investment in time as there are a LOT of them and there's no way to get them otherwise. I find them boring now with their lack of interest in anything other than Lady Gaga, but I know there are a lot of men who don't care about that.

I see where you are coming from.

Difference I guess is that where I live people do not speak English.

And come to think of it I like speaking Thai.

Comes pretty darn naturally at this point...

I've sometimes gone a couple of weeks without speaking a word of English, but that also means I've never had a proper conversation about global politics, or science, or philosophy or economics in that time. Anyone Thai who has knowledge of these subjects speaks English.

That's my point. Not whether I enjoy speaking Thai or not. But related to the OPs post as to whether its any use, and it is for some things, but, in my opinion, not much beyond that.

Now knowing how to read and write Thai is positively disadvantageous as I can read the hand painted "No parking" signs and my inbuilt sign instruction following genes kick in and I can't park somewhere I could have parked in blissful ignorance if only I couldn't read Thai!

^ You may want to consider a volume-based plan?

You will have to review the terms and conditions of your plan; maybe contact DTAC/Happy? You say you have the 70 hour, 30 day, 199 baht plan, it's not clear to me how much, or how little, of the 70 hours comes at 3G speeds, or if there is any fair-use speed-limit, or what the charges are above 70 hours. 70 hours full on at 5 Mbps seems like a boatload of giga-bytes (157.5 ? not sure that's correct)!

Edited to add: Upon further review, the call on the field is reversed. To me it looks like all the time-based plans are supposed to be speed-limited to 384 Kbps (which is a 3G speed, not an EDGE speed, BTW.) Not sure why you are getting multi-megabits per second. Maybe best to contact DTAC to sort this out before it comes back to bite you? (Note the USSD code, *3000# Send to enable 3G/384 Kbps)

Well I'm on prepaid and I've been monitoring my credit and internet hours closely for the last few days and they're not charging me any extra.

And since I'm on prepaid there's nothing they can do if they suddenly decide they made a mistake and they want an extra 5000 Baht.

Given the generally low communication skills of doctors in Thailand I would have thought an internet connection so more motivated patients can search for additional information on their condition and any treatments would be a good thing.

Assuming everyone just wants to use it to look at facebook is facetious.

Then again, that's probably a very good reason why doctors don't want you to be able to use it.

Doctor: You have a cold

Patient: Well I've just googled runny nose and it could be cerebrospinal fluid leaking out through my nose. I think you need to give me CAT scan and put me on prophylactic ciprofloxacin STAT!.

DTAC/Happy launched 3G in the Chiang Mai area last December, 2011. Typically any exisiting data plan now includes 3G; the 30 day, 70 hour, 199 baht package does as you can see. With an 850 Mhz 3G capable device you should see 5 mbps/1 Mbps.

http://www.thaivisa....-3g-now-in-cnx/

http://www.dtac.co.th/3g/coverage.php

http://www.happy.co....mid=368〈=en

I'm getting pretty close to that speed.

On the time based one can you see how much you get before it switches back to Edge? On the data amount accounts it tells you, but I can't see for the time based ones.

I'm loving the higher speed. I can lie in bed watching lectures on the TED app by David Deutsch on quantum physics and Richard Dawkins on evolution and religion with no delay to buffer before it starts or pauses in the middle.

All I can say is that I live in a place with NO falang.

Without Thai I would be a dumb mute.

Plus, Thai people, like anyone else, have a lot to say.

Kinda hard to listen if you don't understand.

What's that called ?

Oh yea, uneducated ?

Clueless ?

My view is slightly different. Speaking Thai is useful for living independently its true. Many of the people who provide services to me can't speak a word of English and so I'm fairly sure it all ends up slightly cheaper than if I was dependent on English speaking Thais. Plus it means I can live here without it being compulsory to have a Thai GF.

But when it comes to conversation, Thais that can't speak English are generally less educated and have less to say.

Those who are educated and with whom you can have real conversations about subjects other than food, weather and women (even the old women who clean my apartment and do my laundry and work in the local food stalls ask me a lot about my dating life, specifically why I don't see more women!) tend to be able to speak English pretty well.

One funny thing that happened recently is that a farang who's lived here for ten years or so and can't speak Thai wanted to use the laundry lady I use, but because he can't speak Thai he has to take his 5 year old half Thai daughter to translate for him. The laundry lady thinks its cute and hilarious.

If you're a single male then speaking Thai does open up a world of 18-20 year old women who have never met a farang before but are really curious to try one out. So if that's what you're in to then its a very worthwhile investment in time as there are a LOT of them and there's no way to get them otherwise. I find them boring now with their lack of interest in anything other than Lady Gaga, but I know there are a lot of men who don't care about that.

From DTAC's web page on data plans:

There is no EDGE plan vs. 3G plan.

Your time based data plan has been upgraded to include 3G, at the same cost.

WOOHOO!

That's great news!

Read this for more info on this topic.

http://en.wikipedia....Traffic_shaping

I know what traffic shaping is. The topic is a different one: Does anyone in Chiang Mai NOT have a 3G data package on DTAC but suddenly began getting 3G?

It actually keeps changing from 3G to H to H+. Before it was always E. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, the DTAC version, although I read a thread here that there isn't a difference as its quad band.

Going to be a sad day when the E comes back!

I don't think "E" will come back. At the end of your current package, simply buy a 3g package.

If it's going 3g/h/h+ only means you're on the "edge" (no pun intended) of the service area of whatever tower you're locked onto. In which case you might find it's more stable on H+ in some parts of the house than the other...

The S2 is a quadband phone btw - GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS 850/900/1900/2100. About the only place it won't work is in the US TMobile's 1700MHz network...

I have my S2 on H+ on True-H, but my Blackberry's on DTAC. Haven't seen it go from edge to 3g yet (except when it roamed onto beeline in Lao) but I'm out in the sticks so I'm not holding my breath for them to upgrade this tower...

I'm not going to buy a 3G package. Been perfectly happy on E up to now.

It autorenews on the 28th so I guess I'll find out then if it goes back to E or not.

I have full bars at all times on my phone so unless the data towers are different towers then being on the edge of coverage isn't the issue.

Only explanation I have for you is that maybe your phone doesn't display "3G" unless it is on the international standard 2100 MHz. Other posters, perhaps with different phones, reported "3G" displayed while using DTAC last December in Chiang Mai.

I think one poster was using an iPhone.

DTAC's upgrade to their network uses 850, but with HSPA.

My aircard displays "UMTS" when a signal is detected, then after I connect it displays "HSPA".

Oh, and I have a so-called 3G plan with them.

It's just semantics we are discussing here. DTAC upgraded their EDGE/GPRS network to something approaching 3G, but not on 2100 MHz.

It is HSPA plus.

You're probably right- you might be enjoying a free ride until the billing system catches up.

Enjoy it while you can!

It actually keeps changing from 3G to H to H+. Before it was always E. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, the DTAC version, although I read a thread here that there isn't a difference as its quad band.

Going to be a sad day when the E comes back!

No, it is not a mistake.

DTAC couldn't get their concession provider CAT to upgrade their network to 3G....so they just did it unilaterally on their existing 850 MHz spectrum. But didn't charge their existing customers who only were on EDGE/GPRS any additional.

Lot of politics involved with this- CAT is in hot water now over their deal with True; they favored True over DTAC.

This DTAC thing happened mid-December in Chiang Mai; maybe you just noticed it recently.

I switched to DTAC end of December and have waaaaaayy better speeds than my previous provider AIS, in my specific area.

I won't bore you with links to the numerous other threads on this topic that have appeared here in the last few months.

No, I'm online on my phone every day and it was definitely Edge all the time. In any case, the android market and downloads are so different its like night and day. Impossible to miss. Internet and email not so noticeable.

I'm tended to go with the previous poster who says its an artifact of the network upgrade that everything is open until they get billing properly synced, rather than everyone on an Edge contract gets 3G at no additional cost. If that were the case they couldn't sell upgrades!

Anyway, will find out one day if it stops and goes back to Edge only I suppose.

I'm on DTAC's 199 Baht for 70 hours prepay data plan on their Edge network and a couple of days ago it suddenly started showing 3G and H+ rather than the E I always got before and on a speed test I'm getting 5 meg DL speeds, whereas I was getting 300k before.

No notification or anything.

Is anyone else getting this, or is it a mistake they'll probably correct?

Good for dates as the girl can make the soup for you, which they seem to enjoy

Didn't really notice many changes from the early 90s to up until about 3 years ago. Yes it got bigger and there was more of everything, but it was basically the same.

I used to enjoy spending a few days at a time in Pattaya. Lots of good, reasonably priced western food and the girls were fun to have around when you went out for a drink, as if they were on vacation as well.

I noticed the vibe really changed after the Financial crisis. It seemed to become much more hard edged and mercenary and felt a lot more dangerous. I put it down to all the yaba addicts paired with a decline in income from incoming tourists. A bad combination. Haven't been for about 3 years because it just doesn't feel safe or happy any more.

And I remember in the mid 90s sitting having a meal at what I think was called Funky Chicken on Soi Post Office when a Western middle aged coupled walked by followed a few paces back by the most miserable and frustrated looking 16 or 17 year old boy I'd ever seen. So there were families coming back then. I just remember this one in particular as I felt so sorry for him. Teenage hormones raging, beautiful women calling out to him, and his parents dragging him along with them.

Hi thanks for the comments.

@katabeachbum

its a Mazda 2009 1.6 (Spirit), automatic, black, all leather, full electrics etc

in terms of finance there are 50 months left at 13093 thb a month.

@necronx99

Yep has full insurance until end of August

I'll go to Thanachart tomorrow and speak to them again, last time we didn't really get much help.

Ask the finance company what is the cost to pay off immediately. It won't be the monthly amount times the full term, it;ll be less. Although how much less depends on how much interest you have to pay when you pay off early

You and the buyer go to the finance company together. His money plus yours to make up the difference are handed to the finance people.

The finance company hand you a receipt showing its paid off and the green book for the car. You hand the green book and keys to the buyer and sign a sale and purchase agreement.

Then you call a taxi and go home.

Although a tent dealer wouldn't be able to sell on the car without paying off the finance, its still better to do it all it in person at the same time in the finance company office to be safe.

Flew in Wednesday night from Udon and because it was dark and the plane wasn't very high I could clearly see the fires on the ground below. They were EVERYWHERE!

I can't believe this can last very long as judging by the amount burning it won't take long to have burnt everything.

And this is the worst I've ever experienced. I'm not sensitive at all to air quality, yet I've woken up with a sore throat some mornings.

I can only imagine how bad it must be for people who are sensitive

I applied for a double-entry tourist visa in Vientiane exactly 1 year ago and had it flat denied. To be fair I kind of expected it though. I had about 14 months of tourist stamps and only 1 page left in my passport.

Various people kept assuring me that no one really cares and that they "know a guy who's been doing tourist visa runs for years". I just stopped worrying after about 6 months, since tourist visas seem like by far the least hassle out of the available options.

The snotty woman behind the desk just told me "too many visa - new rule - new rule" or something to that effect. She seemed to be taking quite a bit of pleasure in delivering bad news to people. I didn't really stick around to talk to anyone but there were at least 20 or so other farang hovering around the desk looking noticeably upset and/or angry.

I just briefly asked her "So what can I do without a visa? My girlfriend and all my luggage is in Thailand". Her reply was "Go back to border, they give 15 days".

So now I am back in farang land, saving and planning to go back this summer with a legitimate visa. It doesn't seem to get any easier though. I'm absolutely convinced that they deliberately make the requirements ambiguous and information hard to find to make the shake downs easier.

I got the woman and had 2 double entry tourist visas in my passport from Vientiane. She asked me what I was doing in Thailand and I said holiday then she gave me a form that said misrepresenting what you're doing in Thailand could lead to revocation of visa, and I said to her I wasn't working.

I said I'd sold a house and business in the UK and so didn't work.

All the time I'm talking to her this stupid old fool next to me at the counter keeps laughing at everything I say as if what I'm saying is a ridiculous lie! Here's a request for everyone, shut the hell up when other people are sorting out their visa!

She said I'd stayed too many times and might not get a visa. I just repeated I wasn't working, (which I'm not and haven't been) then she took the passport and gave me the slip to pay 2000 Baht in the other building.

The next day I was expecting a single entry and the red stamp as a best case scenario with possibly no visa and the red stamp as a worst case.

Instead, I got the double entry and no red stamp!

Think I should probably go to somewhere else for my next tourist visa in 6 months though!

I'll add a single anecdotal account in case it helps as I got back last night from Vientiane.

Had about 3 years worth of tourist visas in one passport and fortunately for me it was completely full and I needed a new one just as this policy in Vientiane about limited back to back TR visas changed.

The new passport I made a mistake at Mai Sai and ended up doing two walk acrosses which meant that the stamp where they transfer the old visa on exit and write in the old passport number into the new passport had the visa type as WALK.

Vientiane was very busy, but that may have been due to the day before being a Women's day and the consulate being closed. I met a few people who hadn't known and had had to stay an extra day. I saw ticket numbers in the high 400s.

The guy at the desk I'm sure recognised me, but only asked me to clarify which hotel I was staying at in Laos.

Next day got a double entry TR with no red warning stamps or anything else like that.

I turned up late and saw maybe 100 people get their passports back. A few were frowning, but I only know for sure about one older Japanese man who queried why he'd only got a single.

Anyway, a single anecdotal tale isn't that useful, but when they add up hopefully we all get a better idea of what is going on. (Because the Thai government can't simply publish the rules!)

No alcohol to be served/sold between 6 PM and midnight, tomorrow.

Do you mean 6 p.m. today, Saturday until midnight tomorrow, Sun/Mon?

A few years ago there was talk of trucks of Iodized salt being shipped to the Northeast to address poor eyesight. Perhaps this is responsible for the increase in IQ over the last few years?

An average of 91 isnt so bad, I know some Aussies and Brits that wouldnt make the grade.

You have to remember that an average of 91 means that half the population have an IQ BELOW that (For maths geeks I know that assumes a symmetrical bell curve where the median, mean and average are the same)

I wonder what the average would be if the Chinese-Thai population were excluded?

I've heard a Chinese Thai owner of one of Thailand's largest businesses state that they won't hire Thais for middle and senior management as they're too stupid. So the Chinese Thais here certainly seem to think that the ethnically Chinese have a higher IQ

Its nice to see some numbers to confirm my very strong impression that Thailand has changed for the worse and that violence by youth is way way higher than it used to be

http://www.set.or.th/set/companyhighlight.do?symbol=CAWOW&language=en&country=US

They're losing 200 million baht a year and have a market cap of 250 million Baht. They're having to raise hundreds of millionsin new equity by selling shares to shareholders. How long do you think they'll be able to do that while hemorrhaging money?

They obviously can't borrow any more and in fact are having to sell off assets to pay back debt and cover the losses.

I wouldn't pay this company 3 months in advance, never mind 3 years!

Just got back to Chiang Mai today. Double entry tourist visa was free. I have about 3 years of tourist visas from Laos (although the initial triple entry was from London). Everybody I talked to was happy.

Weird thing was the lack of foreigners. On the first day I arrived before 8 a.m. and the queue outside never grew beyond 10 people and inside I never saw more than 20-30 people. On all my previous trips there has been 100 plus people, maybe 2-300

Picking it up the next day I arrived at 1:30 and there was literally NO-ONE there apart from one guy I'd agreed the previous day to meet and share a taxi to the bridge with who was waiting for me and talking to another person, and they'd been chatting for half an hour. I stayed in the hall chatting with them until 3 p.m. and maybe 6-7 people came in to pick up passports in that time and all of them were Asian.

As I said I have been many times and never seen it like this. I was paranoid the first day wondering whether it was all over Thaivisa.com that Laos wasn't issuing visas anymore and that's why no-one was there, but I'd missed it!