RooBoy

JIP I think you have caused yourself unecessary hardship regarding your visa. You could have just gotten yourself a B visa by running a regional office in thailand, this allows you to visit any importers/dealers/sellers/users of any product your company may produce or market, allows you to work all day long talking to your company on computer, phone, etc etc, and means you only have to leave the country every 3 months (which is pretty normal for a regional office manager).

Of course if you dont usually go home once a year to see family etc or back to the company to report (on airfares and visas paid for by the company) then its not going to be as "cheap" as running the border every 30 days...but then anyone working for a company back home legitimately would be expected to go home at least once a year anyway. Seems like you are avoiding every little cost you can, not really something a "rich" person would bother with when a grand or so a year could make things so much easier and more legal.

As for taxes, even though I am not from the US I cannot logically see how you can avoid paying regular income taxes on wages being paid to you by a US company within the US. Are they sending your wages to your Thai bank account each month? if so you are working illegally in Thailand. If you are withdrawing your wages from your US bank account, then you are being paid in the US regardless where you are located and without actually speaking to an IRS official I would surmise you fall under their juristiction regardless what vague loopholes may exist...

After reading this thread one can only come to the conclusion that you are living in a fantastic fantasy world samran

We may have a vastly superior army, but vast in general it aint!

Indonesia has just ordered the latest Sukhois as well as a couple of MI-35 multi role helicopters.

I suppose you were happy living back in the days of 32% sales tax on your TV and video, 22% on your computer stuff etc, and 17% for your mortgage.

Howard took over at 10% and brought it down to 6% or so, now its at 8.5, well deary me we had a few rate rises, as an economist you should be able to tell us how inflation works and why its been climbing so rapidly. interest free everything for 3 years ring a bell??

The old shoei helmets in paddock come from returns from all round the world, they seem to have some deal where they get crate loads of helmets that have hit the 5 yr mark and are sent back. A thai friend found out some insider info, one batch of RFR helmets they had came from Mexico!

Personally I wouldnt buy a helmet from Thailand period, but if you have to, stay away from Paddock. I would rather buy bike gear from Singapore. I think you will find Siam superbike brings in helmets from Australia, so at least you are guaranteed of standards. The date codes are always printed inside on the labels, take a look at Paddocks stock, you will get a shock!

Go to the new Big C opposite the old World Trade centre in Bangkok, up on I think the 3rd floor are all the hifi shops that used to be in Ploenchitt Plaza. There is a tech working in one, I think its Audio Design Centre or similar in name, he speaks reasonable english and is switched on.

Actually it is very amusing, and I'm sitting at my desk on a American Base in Iraq as a govt contractor. I do 4 month stints at a time and thus I have ALOT of time on my hands. Amusing tirades like this are a welcome diversion.

It's fun. And also, me personally I would never buy a time share or get into Amway. BUT I respect the people who sell it and are successful because it's a tough long road that takes dedication and discipline. It's the work ethic not the product that I respect. Simple concept really.

Oh and who is Ali G?

I would imagine selling timeshare in Iraq would be a tough long road! Did you create an entirely false resume like the other 99% of "contractors" working in Iraq?

How can you have work ethic when selling what is essentially a prettily packaged scam? Its like buying into forestation, another great MLM scam thats going the rounds.

On the topic of iraq, Have u bought ya first million yet hoping when it floats the buck will make ya rich?

Roo the <deleted> is Canadian!!!

They are all the same right??

Having avoided canada I must concede to only know about the roads from family members visits, but comments are still valid, STAY in Canada!! hehe, you can tell its too farkin early in the morning!

Why is it Yanks always think they have the answers to the worlds problems?? Talk about making the same mistake over and over again!

Do you not realise that all the things you are complaining about are far more apparent in the US?? Just the road issue is a laugh, the Thai roads I have driven on upcountry are FAR better than most back home in OZ and waaay better than US roads (and I have driven on most Thai highways and surrounding back roads). Even my US mates agree their roads are worse than Thailand generally, and far dirtier, there is far less shit thrown up on Thai roads IME.

Maybe you should go back to the US and try to help your own people, they need it more than the Thais!!

There is a really big club down on the way to Pattaya from memory, near the airfield? They fly large scale RC etc, and are very much into the sport. I am sure I saw a few Thai magazines on model aircraft, find them in a large newsagency and get someone to translate the ads for you.

How to get rid of pests like pidgeons and seagulls..

Buy bread and ratsack

pull out nice soft bits of bread

stick ratsack inside small bread pieces and squish up to hide ratsack

stick all over balcony

wait for greedy pidgeons to eat said balls of bread

watch as pidgeons explode from inside out after ingesting ratsack

Maybe guest house owner extinguished him after finding his extinguisher extinguished?

I have noticed over the years of shopping at Villa ploenchitt, that alof of the aussie imports had no use by date on them at all! Many of the items were stale and I just stopped buying their shit.

The manager at ploenchitt is a complete fukwit, I couldnt carry home everything I had in the basket one day, and couldnt stop the girl from scanning the large loaf of bread that I wasnt going to be able to carry. I said to her just reverse the scan, the POS machines are quite capable of it, Oh no we cannot do that, ok call the manager over to do it, and he tells me he cannot reverse the scan even while I am standing at the <deleted> counter! The fag manager got a right serving and I ended up giving the loaf of bread to a farang woman behind me. I was on the bike and my bag just wasnt big enough for the bread. Never mind I shopped there every week for 2 years and he knew it! They will never rise above the immoral greed that controls them, so just find a way to make it work for you!

Whats a proper Singaporean girl these days?? I love Singapore, great place to get back to reality and actually do some work when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex!!

Orchard Towers is a joke, anyone who thinks Orchard Towers is what constitutes Singapores nightlife either doesn't get out much or is too old/ugly/socially inept (or in the military) to go elsewhere I got quite a few Aussie friends working in Sing, and the places we go to for entertainment or fun are great, there are heaps of available Singaporean women, from the SPG chinese chicks to the Malay girls who are much hotter anyway.

You want to PFP go visit Geylang, do some research online before you go, heaps of variety there, and not expensive, short time no worse than going upstairs at Nana or Cowboy.

There are heaps of good nightclubs, and certain ones pull certain crowds, you can find HK chinese girls and taiwanese at certain clubs along Orchard, Lots of Indonesian and Thai mixed in with the local girls at another, Sunday night at the club under the marriot you will find lots of bartenders off duty, along with alot of SPG's.

Clarke Quay, and the area around it with an Arabic street name is a pretty happening place now, lots of new clubs. Of course its different to Thailand in so much as you wana pull a regular girl, you need to either be in Singapore every month, living there, or be able to look like you can afford to be there!

Much better idea these days is to fly into Sing, and then get a bus straight up to KL, the nightlife there is great, especially if you have someone who can hang out and take you around, just be careful you dont end up behind closed doors with a Malay girl!

Try Fortune on Ratchada - loads of old vinyl on sale there. 2nd or 3rd floor I think...

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2nd floor, you need to walk away from the computer shops along the main corridor towards the hotel end, IE Petchaburi Road end. The guys in there are pretty expensive though, sort of the wank area of audio in bangkok

If you want to fly with a reasonable amount of confidence and comfort, then go with Finnair, their flights are usually pretty fairly priced, around 5K return.

Go to the new BIG C building opposite the old World Trade Centre, up around the 4th, 5th floors are all the new hifi shops. There is a shop called Audio Design Centre, they used to be in Ploenchitt centre and had stacks of old records. Problem with used records in Thailand is the humidity ruins them, all the ones I saw had mold growing on them. You need a very good automatic cleaner like a Nitty Gritty to get anything resembling reasonable sound.

Singapore would be a better bet, higher quality old records at places like Adelphi Plaza and Roxy Plaza out in the suburbs. Prices not bad. Malaysia also has quite alot of vinyl around, but you need to know where to go as the hi-end shops in KL are spread out around a few different areas and shopping centres.

When you post your storys (true or not) your giving us all the right to say what we want and how we want. your right i do not know you, do i have the right to say what i did? heck yeah....... if you didnt want bad responces and only the good then you shouldnt have said anything at all. And yeah im man enough to admit maybe i jumped the gun, but its my darn given right to say it as i see it.

best of luck.

Once again as all others have clearly stated

wanna protect it? wrap it up!

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Who told you you have any rights eh?? Fact is you dont have the right to condemn him purely because he posted a story, you are telling us you have the right to this and that, yet you seemingly ignore his rights at the same time..

You more than jumped the gun, you opened your mouth and a bunch of trailer trash garbage spewed out!

You're obviously a moron, and it's everyones right to know!!

Agree, but in busines the S'poreans were as hard as steel.At least the Thais will listen to your argument etc.

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Lived in Thailand for 5 yrs, just left, dealt with all the close regions..

Hard as steel? or just pigheaded morons? I found the Singaporeans to be totally untrusting of everyone, specially each other (mainly chinese) so it takes quite some time and a few visits to gain their trust, then its all about profit margins, eating lunch on company money, and not letting you know when things are bad! LOL.

Thais, well I never had any problems with them, mainly because I read between the lines, and I took all the generalisations I had heard over the years about thais, and believed them, and they all eventually came true in one way or another, but I was expecting it at the time, and it worked great for me!

Not much to do with HK face to face, but have not had any problem with them business wise, they pay they get their gear. They do like to be very specific about things and love to have heaps of propaganda (IE brochures, reviews telling everyone how good the shit is etc).

Malaysia ended up being my favourite place, easy to deal with, great laid back nature when doing business, and the place has everything you could want. They will talk to you and with you about anything pretty much, and are very open minded compared to say Singapore or Thailand. My experiences anyway!

Using a courier like DHL or FedEx is the worst thing you can do, it will cost you a fortune to get the parcel. They take the value of the parcel, add the shipping fees to it, then charge you around 40% on average in "taxes".

The best way to send small items is using EMS from OZ, or Global Express in the USA, Europe has a traceable Express Mail service also. EMS Australia to Bangkok usually 3-5 days max, EMS bangkok to OZ the same time.

Another very good method is to send insured airmail, insure it for under $100.00 and it will usually get to you without being stopped at customs, and it seems that noone wants to risk touching insured items due to the ease you can claim for loss, and the subsequent shit storm that will happen inside the postal system when they have to pay out on a claim.

I sent 6 of the largest cartons from BKK to OZ using insured economy air and surface mail, and they all arrived intact without being touched. Took a month to 3 months for the different methods of shipping. Only time I ever lost a package was from Singapore to Bkk and it was sent regular mail, I told them it would get lost but they didnt believe me!

Are you syaing Tata young is a slut?? Oh my god, my dream is shattered, I thought all Thai women were sweet loyal virgins just waitiing for the hansum Farang to come and take them away to the land of A.T, I mean opportunities...

I had anodised alloy caps on my bike for 4 yrs and they never went walkabout. The theory of leaving them off in the gas station sounds more feasible!

My Thai GF is always wanting to emulate Farang women in everything they do, what she wears, what she eats, magazines, every little trend, it was getting beyond a joke, so I bought her one of these and told her this is the latest rage in Farang land, http://www.travelmateinfo.com/page002.html

I am still waiting for this new fad to take hold!

The beautiful city of Melbourne which has been a stinking hot bastard this week! The best end to Australia day was Lleyton Hewitt whipping that Argentinians arse 6 minutes before midnight, the poor sod was in agony, his legs were shagged, but he battled on in true aussie style!

How much are we talking about here?? Why dont you open an account with a large bank in Bangkok, you could use HSBC or City bank even, then just transfer the money from your OZ bank account when you need it. You wont get taxed if you send a couple hundred thou from OZ to BKK, I know someone who did it no problems, he used Bangkok Bank.

Just ignore Pvt Dickwad, he's a fekin eejiot!

The safest way for any first timer to go to Thailand is with an ATM card and a credit card for emergencies. When two mates from Singapore came up for their first time they brought up a grand Sing dollars for 5 nights, and of course never bothered to budget in the 500 baht departure tax. We got a call from the airport, no way were they gonna be allowed to leave, and their ATM cards had no overseas access!! We had to deposit the 1000 baht into the bank in the ground floor of our office building, into the immigration bank account, before they were allowed to leave, almost missing their flight..

I would tell him take a grand, take his ATM card, make sure its got the cirrus system on it, and take a credit card if he has one.

Yes its in the Abdul Rahim building, a largely useless office with largely useless staff, what do you expect?

Chased my tail for months with these idiots, stuffed up seating allocations, meal requests, screwed up refund which i have never seen, Qantas customer care office in melbourne is equally as useless, kept passing the buck back to the Thai office, and if yo are needing help with BA its even worse, because they are supposed to be one and the same office in Thailand, but the Qantas staff deny any knowledge of who BA is!!

AAAARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH