dundas

On 4/15/2020 at 5:09 PM, timendres said:

Interestingly, when I showed the Pattachote keyboard to my Thai employee, his response was "That is unusable". 555

Yep, I can understand that totally. It's what you're used to and what you're used to is probably what you've learnt on and forgotten about -- until confronted with a different layout. 

On 4/15/2020 at 6:34 PM, digbeth said:

Can you confirm that you have a physical Pattachote keyboard on your macbook, not just the key mapping in software? has the previous owner stuck on the thai stickers or get it lasered on themselves? cause if they just swap the keys around the roman lettering would be in the wrong place too.

For iOs device, you can search for Thai keyboard app with Pattachote layout 

It's the standard laptop's keyboard so it's what came with the computer when I bought it in Chiang Mai. No stickers on the keys.  It doesn't show the Thai characters on the keyboard, just the English ones. I think I was given the choice of whether I wanted an English or Thai keys when I bought it and I went for English.  It's virtual software, but it's exactly what Apple supplied. I've searched for Pattachote layout for the iPad, but didn't get very far. Buying a new MacBook Air or a new iPad was a difficult decision for me when I went for the iPad; now that I've played with it a bit, I'm happy to send it back and get another MacBook Air. 

11 hours ago, recom273 said:

Just clutching at straws, I noticed there are two different Thai keyboards available on my MacBook Pro. kedmanee and pattachote.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Kedmanee_keyboard_layout

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Pattachote_keyboard_layout

 

Take a look, your keyboard mapping shows pattachote, there doesn’t seem to be a function to set the iPad keyboard, it’s just “Thai”

 

 

Thanks for this. I looked up Pattachote and received an education. Pattachote is the newer keyboard, developed  in the interests of time/motion efficiency  and Kedmanee is the older version – supposedly more time consuming to use but still the more popular one. Once I knew that there was no easy solution to this, I called Apple, who are refunding me the purchase price of the iPad. I'll buy a new MacBook Air when this one finally expires, and I'll make sure it has Pattachote as the keyboard layout. Thanks again.  

6 hours ago, timendres said:

I have used MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Macbook, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 11, iPad 3, iPad Air, iPad mini.

None of them has a keyboard that looks like the one above.

That's what came with the product when I bought it from an Apple shop in Chiang Mai! Thanks for letting me know. 

I have a MacBook Air bought in Thailand three years ago, with a Thai language keyboard. More recently I've bought an iPad7 but the Thai keyboard that Apple supplies (or any other I can see in the App store) has a totally different configuration. 

Over the last year I have used the MacBook Air to teach myself how to touch type in Thai. Now that I've reached the stage of having muscle memory embedded in the hands (I no longer have to think about where characters are on the keyboard),  If I start to use the Thai keyboard on the iPad I will have to unlearn where everything is, and start from the beginning, and if I move between the two, it's going to be on-going confusion. 

Does anyone have a solution for this? What I would like is a Thai keyboard on the iPad that most closely resembles the keyboard on my MacBook Air. The attachment is an image of my MacBook keyboard.  

Thanks!

If you use the search term 'airasia' and 'fly though' in your browser you should find the info you need. 

Basically, if you have two point to point tickets, good luck. Assuming these are both international flights, you will almost certainly have to clear immigration/customs from your inbound flight, and check in landslide.  

If you have a 'fly-thru' ticket (both flights on the one ticket, made in the one booking), it's going to be a lot easier. 

In Australia, the Captiva is a most unloved vehicle, called 'Craptiva' by most people who were foolish enough to buy one (sold as a Holden, but from the same factories).

Holden in Australia/NZ, a brand that had 50% of the Australian new vehicle market in the 1960s, is being closed down simply because after decades of GM mismanagement no-one would be foolish enough to buy it.  It has zero value, or worse. 

The Thai factories have apparently been sold to Great Wall Motors of China. 

In sending airmail packages from Thailand to US/Canada I once calculated a failure rate (ie, truly excessive delivery times of more than 35 days or the parcel goes missing altogether) of around 2%. The tracking goes off line after it leaves Thailand, and can stay off line for an awfully long time (four weeks isn't all that unusual). Then as someone body else mentioned, once it gets through customs it's possible to see progress again. I have since learned to tell customers in US/Canada to expect that, so there's less need to hold hands nowadays than what there was in the past. 

About six years ago, I paid more than THB60,000 for an implant (ie, extraction of old tooth, fitting of implant and fitting of crown) in Chiang Mai, the work was done over a period of about 12 months. I wasn't happy with the pricing which started out sounding very reasonable and then kept shifting upwards, plus the continued upselling pressure from the dentist, for, eg, bone grafts, which in my case at least weren't necessary. I paid for the most expensive implant offered, but to this day don't know whether or not that or the cheapest possible was provided (in fairness, so far it's been trouble-free). In addition I noticed some concerning practices, such as the dental assistants staying in the room when x-rays were being taken. If they were that careless with their own health and safety, what risks were they taking with mine? Since then I've had two implants done in Australia for not much more than THB60,000 each (fixed price: implant: $A1500; crown: $A1350, variable extra for extraction of old tooth, and x-ray), and for which I get health insurance reimbursement of just under THB40,000 per tooth. My Australian dentist sees Thailand as his competition and so prices accordingly; he guarantees his work (ie, refund or re-work) if the implant fails, and what's also reassuring (because I am in Australia more than I am in Thailand) is the ability to time visits (extraction of the old tooth, placement of implant, fitting of crown) sufficiently apart to ensure maximum chance of success. In other words, I don't think it's just about the price; other factors I would consider are whether or not the dentist guarantees their work; whether the quoted cost is fixed or variable; whether there's a reasonable time available to have the work done (and not incur expensive travel costs), whether I can trust the dentist to run a professional practice (eg, health and safety), and whether I can trust them to actually fit the implant they promote to me. 

8 minutes ago, scorecard said:

1yr 3 mths active service (conscription) in Sth, Vietnam, however I'm hoping that would not be counted as any break in time in Australia.

To be clear, I'm no expert in these matters, but as to your military service, I don't think it would be considered a break in time from Australia. Australian public servants have the benefit of a clause which says if they're paying into an Australian government superannuation fund while they're overseas, they're considered to be Australian residents (even though they're definitely 'residing' elsewhere). It's basically designed for people on the government payroll working in embassies etc, but it's also how I was able to spend an entire year in Thailand when on long service leave (but still paying into the super fund) – I was still an 'Australian resident' during that time. I assume Australian military service would be treated in a similar way. 

As for your first question, it depends. If by longer holidays you're talking about more than 180 days in a year (and I'm not sure if the 'year' is financial year, calendar year or something to do with your birthday (again, to be clear I'm no expert in this), then maybe it would be counted as time out of the country. But for periods shorter than that, as far as I know the answer is 'no problem.' 

You could ask Centrelink for more authoritative advice ... and get it in writing, if possible. 

I was 'restructured' into a job that required legal qualifications, which I didn't have. I guess it was the organisation's retirement plan for me. I lasted a year before exiting at 62. Happy that I am enjoying my life and am no longer part of that world. Yeah, and I know how fortunate I am. 

That's rigorous research. Thanks for posting the link. 

I find Thai fares are usually quite competitive between Melbourne and Osaka (with a BKK stopover); strangely they offer a much more competitive fare for this longer route than they do for just flying to Bangkok. I would rate service between Bangkok and Osaka as normally excellent (I did hear a pilot once saying something about 'hand-picked crew' so that might explain it), service between Melbourne and Bangkok is normally pretty good, too, and I enjoy the A350. Legroom at 32" is still better than a lot of other airlines (I'm talking to you, Qantas and Jetstar), and the last time I flew in a Thai 777 it was still 9 across. I hope they don't go broke. 

31 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

Innocent until proven guilty.  All facts and information not in yet.  Yet you have him convicted already.  By chance, do you hate Trump?

 

Folks, I can't say it enough.  In the U.S. people are presumed innocent until proven guilty and for very good reason.  What we have here is more akin to a lynching mob.  This entire scenario will most likely not play out too quickly.  Until then, why not uphold the principle of innocent until proven guilty?  Or are some here in favor of abandoning that concept?

Judging by their (non) actions I think that members of the Republican Party are convinced that he is innocent, innocent and more innocent, regardless of whether he is proven guilty or not. I would also be concerned about the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty' when Trump is trying his hardest to influence the justice system, ie, appointing judges on the Supreme Court that are likely to deliver favourable outcomes for him. 

6 hours ago, wendyfromoz said:

why do they have to make up all these huge, elaborate boards everytime they arrest someone.

It may not be that they're doing a lot of work. It may be that they want to give the appearance that they're doing a lot of work. 

Interesting discussion.

I didn't fill in the survey, because I think 'potentially dangerous' is a more accurate description than 'safe.' I started off in Chiang Mai in 2010 on a bicycle. After pedalling the bicycle on the road around the moat and merging (but only just) into fast moving traffic once or twice, I gave it to someone upcountry and now I ride a scooter – in Chiang Mai, I still ride a mid-size bike in my home country, have had a motorcycle licence for many years. 

A charity I once worked for found that there were large numbers of villagers in rural parts of northern Thailand with disabilities as a result of not wearing a properly secured helmet and then being involved in a motorcycle crash. Not wearing a helmet is another factor in the appalling stats for deaths on the road. 

In Thailand, I always wear a helmet, avoid riding at night, and if at all possible amble along quiet back roads rather than mix it with fast highway traffic. Plus I accept that the traffic style here is not about everyone staying in their proper place or paying the slightest attention to red lights or lane markings, it's that idea of water following the path of least resistance (even if that path is the wrong way against the traffic), so my goal is to stay out of the way.  Despite that I've had a couple of near misses that probably weren't my fault – but also proof that I still need to work on my skills.  

Something basic that I've learned from reading the posts here – the need to wear gloves, even on the hottest day. I haven't, but from now on I will. 

Maybe there's value for Australians if the procedure is not covered by the Australian health system. But for anything else, there's quite a lot of risk and compared to the Australia price, it's not cheap at all. In 2012 I had a minor (non-cosmetic) procedure done in RAM Hospital in Chiang Mai after the surgeon convinced me that I was at risk of becoming 'a medical emergency.' It cost around THB60,000 including an overnight stay, but would have been performed at no charge in Australia.

In 2013 I also had a dental implant and crown procedure in Chiang Mai – cost at the time worked out to around $A3,000, although with the current exchange rate it would be a lot more than that. I wasn't satisfied with the treatment: the dental assistants stayed in the room when they took x-rays (and to me that spoke volumes about their hygiene procedures), the dentist  kept trying to up-sell and make the procedure more complicated and more expensive (eg bone grafts) than it needed to be, and to this day I don't know if I was given the top-grade implant I paid for or just any old locally made one. In fairness, it's six years later and that implant has given me no trouble.

A couple of years ago I had a similar implant procedure done in Australia by a dentist who specialises in implants and who considers Thailand as his competition.  Unlike the Thai dentist, he guarantees his work (if the implant fails within a specified time frame, either do the job again at no charge or give me my money back). So far, no problem.  I'm now about to get a third implant from the same Australian dentist: cost for the whole procedure (extraction of the old tooth/3D x-ray/implant/crown) is around $A3,300, but my health insurance coverage of around ~$2,200 will leave me paying a total bill of about $1100.

If I wanted a cosmetic procedure that isn't covered under the Australian health system I might still consider Thailand, but for the most part I now see very little benefit in coming to Thailand for medical or dental treatment. 

48 minutes ago, Ireland32 said:

DO these guys ever discuss among themselves or have an actual

meeting or study before enacting these foolish projects

Maybe not enacting. Maybe just announcing is good enough. 

I come here twice a year and always have a current IDP with my Australian motorcycle/car licences. I've noticed lots more roadblocks lately and I've been stopped heaps of times but I've never been fined – always wear a helmet and always have my licence on the bike. 

I usually fly Thai, mostly between Melbourne / Bkk / Osaka. 

Always economy and I've never had a bad flight.  Aircraft on these routes are mostly new or relatively new (A350 or A380), seat pitch is OK, food is OK-good, service ranges from fairly good to exemplary, toilets are always kept clean. Fares between Australia and Japan are normally competitive, especially as I normally take a stopover in Thailand.