qualtrough

Hello,

I currently use DHL to send packages weighing 10-25 kilos to the US and other countries. I generally end up using the Jumbo and Jumbo Jr. specials . For smaller shipments I use registered airmail.

I have a few questions:

1. Does any reliable AF forwarder do better than DHL for those weight ranges?

2. Is airmail the only option for smaller shipments? DHL only becomes viable over 7 kilos or so. Under that and airmail is cheaper. I tried economy airmail but found that it is about as fast as shipping surface--which is very, very slow.

3. I would appreciate any recommendations for reliable air freight forwarders. I am looking for friendly service and someone that can be trusted.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can offer advice.

The whole Saudi gems case would make for a fantastic book or movie, or has a book been written already?

Just the other day as I was waiting at a service center I met a Thai man and we started chatting. He spent something like 15 years working in Saudi. That ended when the Saudis banned Thai workers because of the gems case. I think I have had the same converstation many times. Lots of Taxi drivers used to work there. A total shame that a handful of people who were tasked with protecting and serving the Thai people ended up costing the nation billions of dollars. Wonder just how long this guy will spend in jail....

Last two times I flew to LAX in the last year the best quotes I got were for Cathy. Excellent flights all around. Short waiting times in HK, and a very nice airport there too. Service wonderful, even the food was not bad. Departure times from BKK are nice too, something like mid-morning as I recall. Whatever you do, do not fly on Northwest or United. Repeat, DO NOT fly them, unless you are a masochist. Oh, the tales I could tell....

You don't have to visit the P.I. as the scammers operate here as well. Many years ago I ran into a guy at a bus stop who introduced himself. When he found out what state I was from he went on about how the local baseball team was his favorite, his Mom went to school there, etc. Point at that time was to get you back to their place and involve you in a game of cards that you would invariably lose. It was pretty clear where the conversation was headed to I excused myself and moved on. It is too bad because most Filipinos are good people and very friendly.

It just so happens that the Green book we had to carry around with our passports in the Philippines was sitting next to my computer here. It is called a Special Return Certificate, and had to be presented and updated every time we left and returned. As I mentioned, on the way out there was a pretty stiff fee per person. What was odd was that during the period I was waiting for my visa and work permit to be approved we didn't have to pay any exit fees when living the country! This all might have changed so I hope someone with more recent experience could let those who are interesed know the current situation.

I have always had a good experience with the Thai post, but have heard that some people have problems. Could be their local post office is a bad one. Overall I would rank the service highly. I sell things throgh the mail and only twice have had US customers say they never received a package. Gave them a refund, only to have their packages show up a month later stamped by the USPS as undeliveable, no such address, etc.! Got to give the postal people here credit. How many postal authorities deliver mail whether it is addressed in Thai, English, or Chinese?

Lived in Manila two years. The food is not the worst in Asia, more like the worst in the world. If you like rice the consistency of mashed potatoes, greasy or fried foods totally devoid of any spice, etc. you will be in heaven however. Didn't find it that cheap either. Food hygiene very poor. Found a cockroach frozen in my ice cube at a Kenny Rogers restaurant, yum. Food in markets was about twice the cost of similar produce in Thailand yet inferior quality. Food on shelves in supermarkets was frequently out of date and sometimes rotten or infested. However, if Western food is a concern it is abundant in Manila and cheaper than what you would pay in Thailand.

Accomodations in the Manila area were about two or three times the price of similar accomodations in Thailand and the condition of the properties generally poorer. Expat housing is usually completely stripped of any applicances and furniture including fridges, stoves, and air conditioners! Split type A/C is still unusual and even pricy expat housing often has noisy window AC. You will often be asked for a year lease, big time deposit money, etc. and you are responsible for all repairs that become necessary, even normal wear and tear or structural defects, etc. Landlords have all the power there. One landlord tried to hit us for something like 3000 dollars for just BS stuff. Through the intercession of company lawyers we got that down to 200-that is how worthless the damage claims were.

Crime situation is much, much worse than in Thailand. Armed guards everywhere, even in libraries, etc. I fondly remember the things my driver had to say when he met me in the morning, "Sir, my bus was robbed last night and my cell phone stolen." "Sir, I saw a man shot yesterday." and so on and so on. I used to mentioned interesting areas to visit to staff and the reply was always the same, "Oh no sir, I would not go there, NPA" or "Sir, their are bandits on the highway in that area", "The bus (ferry, train...) was bombed last week", etc. and etc. I just laugh when posters get all excited about crime levels in Thailand.

Also found that visa/work permit reqs were complicated and expensive. Had to have entire family fingerprinted (including 3 mo. old baby) and photographed, interviewed, etc. and then had a stupid green book we had to carry around with our passports when we left the country. Each time we left each member had to pay something like 2000 pesos, even though we all had year long visas and I was there on a work permit.

My company took care of all the details, but if I had been on my own it would have been a big headache and much more expensive than Thailand.

Different strokes for different folks. Some people like living there and more power to them. I am just relating my experience. Plus side is the friendly and outgoing people.

Chownah, thanks for a rational and unmagical explanation supporting a home door opening inwards. For public buildings outward opening doors are recommended for the safety reason previously stated.

If you are worried about safety why not take the train?

just look around your soi for pickups parked with big phone number signs on them. they are for rent.

there always seem to be a few around.

that or ask the motorcycle taxi guys, a few of them on my soi have pickups as well.

As T.S. notes, there are pickups and trucks almost everywhere that can be hired. In Thai they have a sign saying 'Rap Jang' which means for hire. Often the drivers are there or nearby. If you don't speak Thai bring a Thai friend to negotiate and there you go.

I also recall reading that betel is good for the gums and protects the teeth even though it discolors them.

When the British ruled Burma the Brits didn't want to take off their shoes in temples because of the spitting issue. This became a big issue in the independence movement.

This thread is nearly 2 years old

Is there a prize?

Why do thai front doors open outwards, UK and US doors always open inwards

open out is totally wrong, wrong concept no matter how you put it, the people that built their house with door open out doesn't know any better.

when door open inwards you're protecting other people, outwards meaning you want to bust someone nose

Not sure how the door swinging fits in here. If Feng Shui or magic work for you fine, but I need rational explanations. For public buildings doors swinging out are often mandated by law as in the US. In the US this was the result of the Iroquois Theater fire (Chicago) in which hundreds died, many of them piled up behind doors that swung inwards and could be opened with panicky people pushing against them.

When our house was built it was about 1 meter above the ground. I decided to use that wasted space and had a basement dug so that we had two rooms-Small rec room with bathroom, and office. We used Xypex, a special waterproof cement from Canada. Expensive but very good and excellent service from the distributors. Our lot is surrounded by swamp on either side, and the basement is definately below the watertable. Two years now and no water entry. Only drawback is that on humid days the humidity tends to sink to the bottom. However, if it gets unpleasant I just turn on the AC. Since no sun reaches the rooms they cool very quickly and easily.

I guess ignoring the only elected government there and listening to folks on TV makes much sense. Skip what a Nobel Laureate has to say and listen to folks that have business interests there instead!

What folks with 'business interests' are you referring to? If it is to me, I do not have, and have never had, any business interests in Burma, nor do I have any associates or friends with business interests in Burma. As stated earlier, I am interested in Burma and at one time did a lot or research and studying about it. That is the extent of my interest in Burma. If you have evidence that some of the anti-boycott posters have business interests in Burma please share it with us.

LaoPo, do some thinking for yourself for a moment without referencing what Aung San Suu Kyi has to say. She is not a god, she is a human being. Do you automatically follow everything she says blindly without examining any of it? Please tell me why/how you think that ordinary Burmese will not suffer from a tourism boycott:

1. If the boycott is successful it means that thousands of ordinary Burmese that work in hotels, travel agencies, tour companies, drive buses and taxis, sell trinkets, sell food and beverages, sell postcards on the street, change money on the black market, etc. will lose their jobs or find their income substantially reduced.

2. These people live in a dirt poor country. When they lose their job it means their kids go hungry, get sick and/or die, and that their lives are even more miserable.

3. For the generals it only means that they will have to adjust their income streams; cut down a few more teak trees, sell some more ya ba, dig some more precious stones, drop a mistress, etc. and etc. They will not suffer one iota.

4. The victims of boycotts are always the average people. Castro and his government have not suffered for 40 years because of the US boycott-the Cuban people have. Saddam Hussein did not suffer during the embargo-the Iraqi people did.

The Burma tourism boycott is no different-You are hurting the very people you want to help. Is that worth it to you? I can only assume that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi feels that the Burmese people will not suffer, or that their suffering is 'worth it.' If the former then she is clearly wrong, if the latter then her position reminds me of former US Secretary of State Madelaine Albright, who infamously said that the deaths of thousands of Iraqi children during the Iraq embargo were 'worth it.'

jdinasia: Would you mind sharing the pattern you detect with the rest of those following this thread?

LaoPo: "Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue." Very subtle ad hominem attack. Usual refuge of those who cannot or will not address the issues at hand.

LivinLos, Wow, what an incredible story! I find it truly amazing that someone would do that even here. Window glass isn't that bad so either he was too lazy to find the right one or just wanted to make a few more Baht. I am sure you can get a new windshield off the shelf somewhere. There is an outfit near Don Muang airport that has safety glass windows made as well. I made a partition for my Land Rover and they had the glass treated. Well, at least I think they did...

Let me share a story that I think is peripherally related to this topic.

I had a friend who dated a Thai girl who had lived in the UK with family and attended school there. She was attractive, intelligent, personable, and spoke fluent and delightful English. Unfortunately she had not obtained her degree in the UK and had no degree from Thailand, and could not find any decent job other than lowly sales positions.

Tayto, not only have I been to Burma 5 or 6 times but I have also:

• Studied Buddhism under U Nu.
  
• Studied Burmese history under Dr. Than Tun.
  
• Studied the Burmese language for three years at the graduate level (I know only the most rudimentary Burmese and have forgotten much of what I ever learned).
  
• Attained a Ph.D. in Political Science, focus on SEA, specifically Burma and Thailand.
  
• Attended meetings and parties held by the Burmese opposition in the USA.
  
• Met and chatted with members of the Burmese government in exile in the USA, including Prime Minister Sein Win and Finance Minister U Win Ko Met, who was unfortunately and mysteriously murdered not too long after that in Kunming.
  
• Met and socialized with a number of Burmese in exile in the USA.
  

Ad nauseum...(BTW-if you doubt this PM me with a fax number and I will be happy to send you some corroborating evidence in the form of photos, diplomas, etc.)

OK, does that make me an important person? No. But I think that it does establish that I most likely know as much or more than you do about Burma and Burmese politics.

I was no more a guest of the Burmese government than I was a guest of the government of any country I visited. I have never traveled with guides. The drivers owned the car and that is how they made their living. Even if they were licensed by the government, what difference does that make? Once they trusted my friend and I they told us some very unflattering stories about the government. We met their families and took letters out of the country for them as they did not trust postal authorities. Now tell me, how much sense does it make for them to do that if they are pro-government? None. I never said I travelled all over the country so I am not sure why you need to mention that travel is restricted in some areas. I never raised that topic.

I am no fan at all of the military government, but the tourism boycott is not going to make things better for the Burmese--just the opposite. Backpackers and modest travellers can make a difference in ordinary Burmese lives through the effect of their spending and the interchange of ideas and information if/when the people they meet choose to share what they think. If you don't want to go, fine, but do not tell me where I can and cannot go. I encourage anyone thinking about visiting Burma to do so and to see the situation there for themselves.

Here is the way I see it in a nutshell. Does Burma have a horrible government. Yes. Will not visiting the country change things for the better? Absolutely not.

LaoPo, I assume you want to continue the debate.

"How does anyone know he/she is talking to somone who's hired by the regime or not? Every single village or community is 'infected' by the regime."

Presumably those who speak out unfavorably about the government would not fall under the infected class and one could safely assume they are not speaking with someone 'hired' by the regime. How does it matter anyway if you are speaking to someone 'hired' by the regime? Do you really think that tourists are going to visit, speak with these hirelings, and come back with praise for the government? That's a pretty patronizing attitude.

Further to the above, should I assume that the pair of young Burmese men my friend and I hired to drive us around in their car on one trip were Burmese government agents, and that the stories they told us about Burmese government atrocities and cruelty were just some clever ruse? If so, what was the point? Reverse psychology of some sort??

I think you attribute far to much cleverness to the military. I remember a train ride in which we shared a room with two well-dressed Burmese men. During a brief chat they alleged that they were students. Their nice shiny black shoes gave them away, as well as the fact that they were met at the Rangoon station by some uniformed officers.

LaoPo, I have to ask, have you even been to Burma?

LaoPo, you asked me to start my own topic as the thread was about Aung San Suu Kyi and her plight, and then in one of your subsequent posts you continue on about the wisdom of the tourism boycott! Since you brought it up again, let me address one of the issues you raised:

"The army's tight control keeps genuine interaction between Burmese and visitors to a minimum. Tourism profits rarely reach ordinary people. The army itself is a partner in many tourist ventures, and some hotel projects are suspected to be fronts for laundering profits from Burma's burgeoning heroin trade."

Sorry, but in my experience total poppycock. Perhaps true if you are on a first class package tour, but totally untrue if you are travelling on your own. I found no difficulty, none whatsoever, in communicating with ordinary Burmese people--language obstacles excepted of course. Maybe I was just lucky in my five or six visits. Also, how can it be true that profits rarely reach ordinary people? All large hotels require hundreds of employees. Presumably even in Burma these people are paid wages. If the hotels close, they lose their jobs. And for each large government backed hotel venture there are probably hundreds of small hotels and guest houses that are not military owned. Seems to me boycott backers want to throw the baby out with the bathwater! Why don't you narrow your boycott to those ventures that are military backed instead of condeming all businesses, and by extension their employees?

I agree that a new topic might be appropriate, but will not start it until hearing from a moderator about whether or not it is appropriate to this forum.

LaoPo, Fair enough. However, as I was contemplating creating a new topic about Aung San Su Kyi and the tourism boycott it occured to me that it would not really be related to Thailand, which is what this forum is supposed to be about. Or am I mistaken?

Glad to hear you got your back back and that it is running! But promise us that if, God forbid, it does break down again you won't bring it back to the same shop!

LaoPao, why don't you get off your high horse? If Flint visits Burma, meets and shares views with ordinary people, sees some of the many historic and scenic highlights the country has to offer, why shouldn't he enjoy it? No one denies that Burma has a terrible government. The issue is whether or not visiting the country acts to prolong or lengthen the time the current rulers are in power. Nothing I have read or learned about Burma leads me to believe that a tourism boycott will in any way affect the thinking of the military, and I think powerful arguments can be made for the case that increased tourism would be a positive rather than a negative factor in the long run. You and Aung San Suu Kyi may think that, "Visiting now is tantamount to condoning the regime" but I and many others, including many Burmese, disagree. By the way, there are many countries in this world guilty of human rights violations. Would you mind sharing your list of those that we should not visit with Forum visitors?