4evermaat

Hmm... a funny one.. Someone taking the Toliet paper from the stall to save money from buying TP..hhhmmmm

Whenever you stay at a guesthouse, take the toliet paper and soap any any other replacables before you check-out. you already paid for it, right?

If you can, I would suggest waiting until the 2nd week in the New Year as all parcels are being stock-piled due to bad weather and the holidays. TNT have just emailed me that a package from Europe which should be her 2 days ago, will not arrive until 4/January earliest.

Did she send it EMS or other guaranteed express carrier? Weather delays are outside their control, and I know that FedEx/UPS usually suspends their service guarantee (at least in the states, not sure about int'l packages). The EMS is the only ones that guarantee all the time. Similar with the United States Post Office express mail.

I think you may find a problem with all tracked mail, as a signature is required

at the receiving end, and this is impossible at a PO Box.

You would sign for it when you go and pick it up. But it would scan as being arrived at desination. I would recommend NOT using a P.O. Box, but if this is unavoidable, then EMS is still sufficient.

EMS looks like the way to go. As long as its reliable and only takes a few business days, it works for me. Thanks.

Let me know how it goes. I sent an EMS package to England. Sent on Monday, it got there Thursday morning. This was 2 months ago or so.

2 more tips.

1) Make sure you use a Thailand Post in a tourist area. They will speak English and will be aware of all the services available to all countries. They even have free packing service (if you purchase a box, which is cheap) If you use one in a non-tourist area, you may get a lot of strange looks if you attempt to send non-ems package. Even when I inquired about EMS at the Lang Suan Thailand Post, they pulled out the regulations book . Imagine their look when I requested Printed Matter (Air) special rate. It took 80 minutes to sort it all out and the pickup truck ended up leaving and it delayed my package another day at that office. They may have waited if it were EMS, but dam_n. In Patong Beach, I would have been in and out of there in 15 minutes.

2) Keep your receipt. You should get 2 if you send EMS or parcel. One receipt for the payment, the other one with the contents of the package. Both should have the tracking number.

If you could keep up updated on the progress, that would be great.

In a few days....

EMS is your best choice for door-to-door tracking. Also the most costly. But it gets there in about 2-4 business days guaranteed. USA would be 4 business days. Do your best to avoid shipping on saturday. Not sure if that counts as a day. You can estimate costs here: http://www.thailandpost.com/servicerate_en.php

I believe you can ship to PO Boxes.

And track here: http://track.thailandpost.co.th/trackinternet/Default.aspx

But I found that you can also track with this:

www.track-trace.com and get quicker updates once it leaves Thailand.

They offered a registered mail option for non-expedited services, but the tracking for those are lacking, especially once the package leaves thailand.

One of my favourites was running your air con cold and not having a fridge.

I'm guessing that was an EGAT alter-ego

SC

My friend actually said he uses the fridge as an air conditioning unit. You take the vent side and use large plastic bags or plastic sheets and tape it to the fridge vent. Vent it to a window, then leave the fridge door open on the coldest setting. If you do it correctly, the room will be cool and if you are in an "all-included" apartment, this may work out well.

I never tried this; figured having a dedicated a/c unit is better in the long run

I'd have to agree with joe ekkamai: most English-speaking Thai women refer to themselves and others as 'lady. ......

I second that. The Thai women in Hawaii, USA use girlfriend often when asking about your partner. Here in Thailand, my experience has been "you have lady?" or " let me speak to your lady". I don't take it personal, as English is not their first language. Then again, I'm not a female, either.

....I can grasp awareness of body (touch, smell, sound, sight, taste, thought), but How do l grasp awareness of awareness?

...........

(It takes practice).

Practice makes the master. The key is taking action. Action makes the difference between mastering awareness, transformation, and love, and being a victim of circumstances for the rest of our lives.

I found that the 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz are the most practical and efficient tools for mastering awareness:

1) Be impeccable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best.

When we recover our awareness, we recover the ability to choose. The goal with that choice is to not use the power of the word against yourself when you write your life story. We don't attempt to control outside circumstances; the result of making assumptions and taking them personally. Instead, we take action, and continuously choose situations that best fit our life story.

.........

Also wisdom grows by expanding our awareness.

It was also said that wisdom develops when the mind is simple.

A complicated mind, which thinks, expects, and plans too much, blocks off wisdom.

The mind must be simple in order to be in the present and in order to see things just as they are.

Thinking is secondary to just being. How do we know this is true? Because 99% our primary functions that support the life process flowing through us (breathing, heart beating, digestion, etc) are all autonomous and do not need our thinking to support it. Thinking only represents 1%, yet that 1% attempts to take control of the whole mind-body relationship. But what can we do? We were already taught by the other humans the way life should be, and we agreed with the information we were given. Then we take this these images of perfection, which is stored in our minds, and attempt to make everything we perceive and/or interact with fit this image--particularly on other humans. If you are reading this however, you are probably rebelling against some of those concepts. This is a good sign that your awareness is increasing.

Because of the human mind's almost obsessive need to justify and judge everything that it perceives, many spiritual teachers have come up with techniques to SILENCE that voice in your head. Or at least ignore it. Meditation, prayer, mantras, stillness, music....anything to quiet the voice in your head. The idea behind "emptying your cup" is that the less ideas you are attached to, the more readily you can accept or at least evaluate new ideas. That's why doing your best is important. Taking action with your body and practicing the art of living lessens your mind from having to take action (conceptualizing everything it perceives). This keeps you in the present moment, without the need to judge your actions. If your actions are not working out the way you want, you just make new choices until they do.

From my point of view, this is why many people have an emotional attachment to their pets. That dog or cat reminds you of the integrety you once had as a child, BEFORE domestication from the other adult humans.

This is also why as you master awareness more and more your attachments to things (both material and conceptual) becomes less and less. Knowledge then becomes a tool of communication ONLY, no different than wrench used to loosen or tighten a bolt. The experience of the present moment (right now) is all we have. Not stored projections of what life was like (in the past) or the way life should be (in the future). The truth can only be experienced. All the great masters attempted in their own way to conceptualize this (explain with words).

........ It's not that complicated, but it does take some knowledge.

gl PLAYAS!

Or at least a little more awareness about how humans operate. With awareness of your own wants and dislikes, you never set yourself or your partner up for what you don't want. Being nice means being nice to yourself, as you cannot give something to someone that you do not have yourself.

I always recommend the 4 Agreements to assist people in mastering awareness:

1) Be immpecable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best

From my point of view, all relationships in hell are rooted in making assumptions of some kind and then taking them personally.

I have officially spent the night in Chumphon. After travelling throughout the Chumphon town (or at least a lot of it), I decided to settle on Thun Wha laen beach. I stay at the Albatross hotel. They have the 350-550 fan/air con rooms, with hot water, internet, and mini balcony and is about 300 meters from the beach. you can also get cheap monthly rate of 4000 / 5000 everything include. There are a couple of other guesthouses also with similar daily pricing, but not sure the weekly structure. Certainly not anything like Patong / Kata / Rawai beach in Phuket. Very quiet, yet chumphon town has the Makro / Tesco Lotus / Carrefour if you need it.

I'm considering moving down here. But it takes time to look for the right spot. that has everything you want.

Edit: there was another beach we went to near the Tourist Pier. I forgot the name. It's about 15 km from Chumphon Town. But there was one guesthouse that had a similar deal, called Siritip Guesthouse. They were the only ones willing to give a monthly price of about 5500 and the daily price was 500 with everything included, including air cond. All the other guesthouses on the beach regardless of how empty they were, wanted 500-700 baht, and was missing something like hot water or internet. The only ones that were taken were the beach-facing rooms. 077 521024

One mistake above. The I-Mobile i858 is currently running 2.1 and there is no plans for an official 2.2 release. The last selling price was 8,900 baht and currently I-Mobile is out of stock at most stores. Some small stores in MBK have them but they want 9,900 due to the scarcity. It is not confirmed if I-Mobile is going to get another shipment in or not. They tend to do a one-off order and when a device is sold out they forget about it.

i can confirm based on an email reply from i-mobile, they seem disinterested in updating their firmware phone. This wont matter if we could just get updates direct from google. So if you dont mind 2.1, then it may be a great deal.

they do come out with new phones every 2-3 months, so i wouldnt be surprised if their newer phones supported 2.3 or higher.

If you want to have near-guaaranteed updates at some sort of regular interval, then stick with samsung, htc, lg, etc.

rent a motorbike 300tbh a day or car 500tbh a day...problem solved! and you get a nice trip away from all sexpats in patong!

where are you renting a car for 500 baht a day? Did you mean 1500 bhat, correct?

Now a taxi can be gotten to phuket town from patong beach for 350-500 bhat.

22,900 Baht............now in a few stores.

The desire z or the desire hd. I want to look at both, although the physical qwerty keyboard of the desire z is where my attention is most focused.

I own the EC150 and run on a Macbook for several days consistently on end. Very stable. And you (theoretically) can switch out the sim card and use hutch in bangkok. I paid 2900 6 months ago. No promotion.

The Mifi was my next choice. I may end up getting it as I like the flexibility. The Phuket Central Cat CDMA office was sold out 3 weeks ago. They said try the one in phuket town (big dish tower) or patong beach may still have some. High season is here, so they may be gone already.

Can plugging it into the USB port of a laptop at least keep the EXISTING charge (not necessarily add to the charge of the battery)?

Called Winner Telecom at MBK.

They said they gonna get the Z next month, January 2011.

Guess HTC will also offer it in Thailand. The HTC Desire is on discount now at J-Mart. They probably free up space for the new Desire (the HD is already available, nice built quality BTW!).

I also wanted to check out the HTC Desire Z. How much is it? I wanted to view one in phuket town or patong beach.

The Desire HD, how much is it?

So if a person is in "involuntary celibacy," well, any change of venue might help. If coming to Thailand gives him/her the confidence to go out and seek companionship, then he/she will probably be successful.

I glad that the trip overseas was able to help your friend recover his awareness.

For me, it was a combination of Don Miguel Ruiz's books, mainly The Four Agreements, that assisted me in recovering my awareness. The awareness, of course, is that we have a choice.

If you're still under Apple care it's definitely covered. Even if not, it's probably still covered because swollen batteries pose a fire hazard (don't worry it's rare).

I suggest you ask the same question in the correct Apple discussions board at http://discussions.apple.com, and you contact Apple service per phone.

On the phone you can get a repair ticket which you can then show to the authorized dealer. Then they pretty much have to do a warranty exchange for you. Phone numbers are here, and keep in mind Apple warranty / service is always world-wide, doesn't matter where you bought it:

http://www.apple.com...e_contacts.html

After contacting apple thailand customer service #, I marched back into the store and simply told them that I called apple in thailand and they confirmed that the warranty is available for the battery and to insist that the service shop simply call apple themselves with the serial # of the laptop to confirm warranty. She checked, and then came back with a new service contract to sign and said 3-7 business days for battery to arrive. Before, with the DVD drive, it took 2 or 3 days for it to arrive. Dont know why they didn't do that the first time.

i;m not even going to bother with the charger, as apple said that it may or may not be covered, if the bend is due to wear and tear. It still works, that's what counts. If only i had remembered to bring my spare. Didn't think I'd be away for so long. I guess that's what happens when you visit the land of smiles.

What about this new 'Optimus One' by LG - heard good reviews and it costs under 10,000 Baht.

Thanks for point this one out. I checked it out and see that it isn't a bad phone in that it includes Android 2.2 already. Not sure if there is an LG store in phuket.

A CAT CDMA USB modem is consistently you best bet for a wireless solution around Phuket.

Price is around 800THB / Mo for unlimited.

I don't know what their terms are (work permit or not)

but it doesn't hurt to bring a Thai friend with you.

It's 850 baht/mo for unlimited internet. If you go into Central Festival, CAT requires the work permit. The one in Patong beach said if no work permit, must prepay. Not sure if that has changed. I got mine almost 6 months ago.

and what is the speed?

Theoretically, 3.1 Mbps down and 1.x up. . And I've downloaded torrents, etc with this connection. The speeds are more than acceptable for everyday hi-speed use. Either that, or you pay 1-2 baht per minute at the internet shop.

I suggest buying the mifi. And if they are still running the 2 month free promotion, then definetly get it. It allows for more flexibility, especially if you have a wifi phone or will be using it for business.

Make sure you go into the connection settings and "force EVDO only". You'll know what i'm talking about when you get setup. Otherwise, the connection tends to drift from EVDO to 1x, even if evdo is readily available.

Some batteries are covered under a replacement plan.

My MacBook battery was replaced regardless of insurance running out because it was very slightly swollen at one end.

Funny, my trip to phuket alpha apple authorized repair shop in phuket town they told me that the battery is swollen a little bit and that applecare does not cover the battery. They wanted 4000 baht for a new one. I told them I would call apple and confirm that the battery is not covered under the apple care, as I thought it was.

Anyone have any specific suggestions?

this may be a good alternative to using remote rdp or pocketcloud. Would have to test it further.

I've used the desktop version for windows and it works flawlessly. I actually enjoyed it better than mikogo.

I went to phuket alpha, an official apple retailer/repair shop. They are selling the mini DVI to VGA adapter for 1040 bht. I was wondering if, for these types of parts, if i could get it cheaper elsewhere in thailand. It does not have to be official from apple. it just has to work. This adapter is used to connect an external monitor to the macbook. Thanks.

i-mobile, i810 or i858. if it comes with android 1.6, make sure you have the shop upgrade the firmware to 2.1 or 2.2, then verify it in system settings. i-mobilephone.com for specs.

Do you have the 858? I have read very good reviews except for recurring wifi connectivity problems.

I plan on getting one next week. On the way, I did check out the galaxy S. i can think of a lot of things i can do with the extra 11k baht. But it does look beauritful. The only thing holding me back from not getting another 3G 8500 or the i810 was because it only has 1.6 Android and i wanted 2.1 or higher.

Was not aware of the wifi thing. Is it a hardware thing, or software? Does it just not connect at all, or is it connect and then drop after a certain amount of minutes?

Once i buy it, hard to take it back, lol.

......

The I-mobile 858 is running Android 2.2 and is also already available, at a similar price, around 8500 bahts, but I haven't tried it.

Phil

I was told at the i-mobile shop 2.1 for the i858. Maybe they have Android 2.2. Can you confirm that it can be bought at a chain store with 2.2 pre-loaded or their technicians can load for you? I'm in phuket, thanks.

Wellcom A88 8900bt at MBK Android 2.1 capacitive screen

The A88 seems impressive. Sometimes the online description is off on a few details. I think the webmaster just copy and paste from the previous phone's details, but whatever.

I need to find a wellcom store in phuket. Is there one in Big C?

also wellcom has a mini tablet A800 with android 2.2 . It seems to be the iphone 4 clone version, similar to the i858 from i-mobile. It looks like according to the photo, that the entire desktop can be landscape, instead of only horizontal. I will try to find this in the wellcom store, if i can find the store.

If i could get Android 2.1 out of the box for the other i-mobile or in the shop, I then it becomes a no-brainer I'd have to take a look in store.

i confirmed yesterday that the imobile i858 has android 2.1 natively at the i-mobile shop. i didn't ask about android 2.2. But for me, 2.1 at least will be great for skype.

20,900 at the i-mobile shop in phuket town tesco locus. I think 16 gb model.

i recommend tmobile for phone service. prepaid internet hard to find, as all the carriers want to lock you in month to month. only usa does this foolishness. you could also do pagepluscellular, but you'd have to find a used or new verizon phone that is not prepaid phone (they closed that loophole about 10 months ago - you could walk into a walmart and buy a prepaid verizon phone for $20. and then get pageplus unlimited talk text plan for $40/mo )