Gumballl

I've taken their non-stop flight a couple of times. Takes about 17 hours from JFK to BKK. The level of service is about what you would expect for any good airline. It was actually quite decent compared to other carriers I have flown into BKK, including JAL, United, American, and China Air. Personally I enjoy the on-demand audio and video that is offered. Drinks are free; the food for the most part is good. Flight attendants are nice and cheerful. Round trip if purchased thru the Thai Airlines website runs about $1089 (or thereabouts).

Btw, I have also flown Thai Airlines non-stop from LAX. The experience at JFK was a 1000 times better because LAX is a "zoo".

What has been posted is correct; you wife (or fiance) will be able to collect the visa the day after successfully passing the interview.

You might want to consider delaying booking any flight out of Thailand until your partner has the visa. In fact I would recommend that you also accompany your partner to the interview just to make sure all the "ducks" are in order. Additionally if you are present at the embassy and for whatever reason there is a problem, the embassy staff can tell you what the problem is and what remedies are available to you.

Anyhow good luck and continue posting here on TV if you have any further questions.

Why don't you pay a visit to the US Embassy in BKK (or the consulate in CM) and see what they say. If they arrest you on the spot (for tax evasion) then you will know the answer to your question. Tax liabilities or not, I still do not see your prospects as being good because you apparently cannot support yourself or your Thai wife in the US.

For MP3 you can use the good old XMMS or Beep Media Player.

Both are discontinued but still available. BMP might be easier to setup (less options) and can use XMMS or Winamp skins:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beep_Media_Player

Richard-BKK and Jackk -

Thank you for your replies. I used to use XMMS (because of its similarity to WinAmp) but occasionally it had a "hiccup" where the audio would go silent even though the MP3 continued playing. I think this occurred because XMMS was unable to share the sound card with other (Gnome) apps that used the sound card to issue alerts to the user. With Rhythmbox I do not have such a problem.

For now I think will look into DVDrip and just continue using Rhythmbox. Too bad there isn't a knock-off of iTunes that runs under Linux.

I would like to begin distancing myself from depending on Windows for managing my MP3 collection and making archival copies of my 1st-gen DVDs.

I currently have installed on my FC5 system Totem Movie Player, Rhythmbox, RealPlayer 10, and Xine.

I use Rhythmbox for playback of MP3s, but I would like something that is easier to use, perhaps similar to iTunes. The other apps that I have can be used for the playback of DVDs, however I would like something that I can use to compress and possibly re-author DVD content. Some may think that this is illegal, but it is not. Making an archive copy of a legally purchased DVD is ok.

BTW, under Windows I used iTunes, DVDShrink, and Nero.

I'm not familiar with Ubuntu, but I am with other Linux distros and also somewhat familiar with 'sudo'.

Actually that is one of the differences between Ubuntu and other distributions in that all 'administration actions (root level)' commands are done through 'sudo'. In Ubuntu, by default, there is not really a root user, but only root access which can be gained using sudo. So using the su command will not work. A 'trick' to gain root privileges is to do 'sudo su' and then your user password, though not recommended to run in this mode.

Interesting "feature" with this Ubuntu. If an Ubuntu system is used by multiple users, does each user have 'sudo' privileges?

Myself ( American ) and my Thai wife are headed to the US in a couple days. My question is when we get to immigration, are we allowed to go thru together OR do I have to go thru the US Citizen line and her thru the foriegner line ? Since her english isn't the greatest,passable but not great, I would think it would be easiest if we both went thru together ? Anyone out there had this experience they could share with me ?

Thanks in advance

My Thai wife just recently entered the US (in Seattle). We both went through the Non-US Citizen line. Fortunately for us, she was the only person immigrating to the US that morning. All other foreigners either had a "green" card or were able to obtain an entry-stamp on arrival.

GaryA -

Applications run in RAM, not on the Hard Drive. How much memory does your PC have? With most modern Linux distros, 512MB of RAM is recommended. The speedy HD you have will serve you well when accessing data from the drive.

Anyhow, don't judge Linux with Linspire. Many folks have had success with Fedora Core, Red Hat, and Ubuntu (btw, I think this is the Swahili word for Linux ).

To see what is running on your system, run the following command (ps -ef) from an xterm and post the results so that I and others can examine why your system is running slow.

Open a 'terminal' window in Ubuntu such as Xterm and do the following (from your original instructions) and type in the following commands (without the ").

1. Change to the directory that the Realplayer was downloaded to by typing "cd /home/name" changing "/home/name" to the directory it is located.

2. type "chmod +x RealPlayer10GOLD.bin"

3. type "sudo ./RealPlayer10GOLD.bin"

It will ask where to install so type in "/usr/bin/RealPlayer"

And when it is installing it will ask questions so answer as follows:

When prompted to configure system-wide symbolic links, type "y". After that, accept the default prefix for symbolic links.

I'm not familiar with Ubuntu, but I am with other Linux distros and also somewhat familiar with 'sudo'. Doesn't one have to configure their login account to be a "sudoer"? If this is the case, then I really do not believe the OP will have a clue as to set his account up to run 'sudo'.

Consider changing instruction #3 with su -c './RealPlayer10GOLD.bin'

Suvarnabhumi Airport seems to do things back to front. At other International airports, prior to checking in, you are clearly warned to pack liquids greater than 100ml in your check-in luggage. Then you are handed a 1 litre clear platic bag to put your containers of liquids. You will fit about 5 containers in the bag.

At Suvarnabhumi Airport you check in and proceed to your aircraft's Gate. At this point, prior to opening the Gate, you are met by a group of 3 or 4 inspectors, who don rubber gloves and (with your permission) sift through your carry-on luggage, looking for containers of liquids.

The officer checking my bag found a 100ml aerosol deoderant in my bag. He missed a 90ml roll-on deoderant - which I kindly pointed out to him.

Peter

Perhaps they are doing things in reverse of other airports, but I think what Suvarnabhumi is doing is the proper way.

In the US, before one passes through the security checkpoints (before proceeding to the departure gates), the contraband check is performed. Following their clearance from the security checkpoint, passengers are presented with a cornucopia of shops that sell almost everything, including liquids and gels. Passengers can purchase "unlimited" quantities. I just hope the shop keepers are in cohorts with the terrorists.

Initially when the US banned all liquids and gels from aircraft, the airport shops were probably wailing at the injustice (and lost business) this policy created. The policy now only requires passengers to dump excessive quantities of liquids and gels at the security checkpoint and not before boarding the aircraft, thus preventing any future loss of revenues to these shops, and perhaps placating the passengers who enjoyed spending 200-300% more on everyday products.

Now it is up to you to decide which system is better. Do you prefer to put your trust in shop vendors that barely earn a minimum wage to not supply a terrorist with a molotov cocktail, or would you prefer stricter checks just prior to boarding the aircraft? I for one prefer the latter.

After reading through all those rules and regulations concerning LAGs what next ? due to American paranoia and scare mongering will all airline passengers be forced to board the plane totally naked after submitting first to intimate body searches to prove there is nothing hidden up various orifi and then shackled to their seats to stop the possibility of them hijacking the plane or worse ? I for one think that the current situation is very much a case of severe overreaction in as much as people are seeing terrorists everywhere when in fact all they are seeing in reality are people going about their lawful business (ie muslim or any one of middle eastern appearance= terrorist)

Actually it was a few Brits that came up with the notion to bring down a plane or two with their liquid concoctions. The US only performed the necessary study to determine what the maximum quantity would be needed to actually carry out a terrorist attack. Thus the US (and other countries) now have set a threshold to limit the amount of non-screened liquids onto a flight.

As for your comment concerning "people going about their lawful business", perhaps you have not kept up with recent events around the globe. There are people out their that do not respect your laws, much less any law. They just want to kill innocents and hope that they will be judged favorably in the afterlife.

Has Stickman actually been affected by this, or is he just blowing hot air out of his rear end? I have not heard of anyone on this forum complaining about being given only one stamp-on-arrival, and then nearly 5 months later being only given a few days.

I have been issued 4 stamps-on-arrival during a 6 month (180 day) period. Was I lucky? Perhaps so... maybe because it was Songkran when I last got my entry stamp.

Could you not have paid with a credit card? Being from the US, you ought to know that if you charge something on a credit card and the product fails to meet your satisfaction and for whatever reason you cannot settle the matter with the vendor, you can petition the credit card company to cancel the charges.

If you are one of those who has trouble reading and comprehending simple instructions, or suffers from memory lapses from time to time, then hire a lawyer. Otherwise getting a K-1 for your fiance is trivial. Just download the I-129F from the USCIS website and follow the instructions.

You will need to file the I-129F at the USCIS office appropriate for the region of the US where you live (and presumably work). Later you will need to complete an affidavit of support and prove that you have monies to support your fiance while she is in the US.

The K-1 visa takes anywhere from 6 to 9 months to be approved. Good luck.

I cannot believe what I am reading. It seems that many of you insist that Thais have a right to commit violence against each other because of some cultural thing. That's a load of BS.

The OP should go to Thailand to collect his wife immediately, and then tell off the father. If the father loses face, then so what. He is just a person, not deserving of any more respect than anyone else, including his own daughter.

ah yes...the new restricted liquids rule...More bushit cooked up to keep us all in a state of fear...

I dont want to go on a rant when someone has just asked a civil question,so heres some links that show how implausible this so called "Terra plot" was.

see here http://www.interesting-people.org/archives...8/msg00087.html

and here http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/fl...labs/print.html

anyway.sorry for hijacking your innocent question but this

"Keep the world in a state of fear,and reap the benefits" stuff gets my goat.

Perhaps you come under the TROLL section with a totally unconstructive posting of this nature.

marshbags

First time I've ever been accused of said crime marshy,and although I think my post was relevent to the topic if slightly off center I nonetheless apologise fully(again).

Qtno.

QTNO, I for one will not challenge your post, however you have to stop to think that there are other ways to bring down a plane without the "boom" factor. How about a bottle of Bacardi Gold, that actually contains gasoline. That would make a nice molotov cocktail wouldn't you say?

If you entered on October 16th your six month period ended on April 15th so you are now in your second six month period and on your first entry of that period. Your experience does not prove item 4 of visarunner to be wrong.

I entered Thailand on April 12th and left on the 17th. The entry date was before my 6 month period had concluded.

Governments should pass on this offer. Just use Linux and Open Office, both of which are free. The cost of the PC remains the same unless of course one elects to use Windows Vista (which can drive the cost of a PC through the roof).

Concerning my previous post, please note that I had spent only 35 days in Thailand (with the prior 3 stamps on arrival) before receiving my fourth stamp on arrival.

Just did a update on the 90day rule

1. You are permitted up to 90 days on visa exemption entries in a six month period.

2. The six months starts from your first entry after Oct 1st last year.

3. The period is fixed it does NOT roll.

4. If you try to enter within 30 days of the end of your 6 months you may only be permitted to stay until the end of the period NO MATTER HOW FEW OF YOUR 90 DAYS YOU'VE USED.

5. Once your first 6 months is over a new period starts and you will be able to do a border run and return with a full 30 day stamp,which is NOT a Tourist Visa as many think .

6. Example for six month period : 1.10.06 to 31.3.07 , re-enter with visa exempt on 1.4.07 , or 28.10.06 to 27.4.07, re-enter with visa exempt on 28.4.07 .

I just returned from Thailand this past Tuesday (17 April), having obtained my fourth stamp on arrival within the last 6 months. The last entry stamp was good for 30 days. Thus the remarks (from VisaRunner) in Item 4 above is NOT correct.

BTW, my first entry stamp was awarded on 16 October, 2006, which is a couple of weeks into the new-regulations era. All of my entries into Thailand took place at Suvarnaboom Airport (BKK).

Did you actually download ISO images? Or just the file-structure of the OS? The latter case would require you to make an ISO image of the filesystem (i.e. using something like /usr/bin/mkisofs).

If you do have ISO images, did you verify the SHA1 (or other) checksum of each ISO image you downloaded? You may have a file corruption problem but that is merely a guess. What application did you use to create the CD-ROMs? Maybe that could also have affected things.

I recently downloaded the Fedora Core 6 DVD ISO, and after verifying the SHA1 checksum (using /usr/bin/sha1sum) and comparing for a match with what is displayed at the FC6 download site, I burned the ISO image to a DVD-R using Nautilus under my FC 5 system. No problems at all.

Btw, I also have another notebook that runs Win XP, I am getting ticked off at MS always posting updates to their piss poor OS... and updates that require me to reboot the computer. I am thinking about ditching Win XP and freeing myself from MS and my anti-virus provider Symantec. The latter company is also a leech with their recurring subscription fees.

I've been reading with interest JaiYen17's post concerning her visa problems (see here for full thread).

I am due to arrive in BKK in less than two weeks. I entered LOS during the following dates and stayed for the indicated number of days:

16/Oct/06 ------ 12 days

23/Dec/06 ------ 13 days

09/Mar/07 ------ 7 days

Will I have any trouble entering LOS when I arrive April 12? I am a US citizen and I will be staying for less than 7 days. If the consensus is that I will have problems, what alternatives do I have? Is it possible to get a tourist visa with such short notice?

I just returned from LOS today, and I thought it would help (maybe confuse) others of my recent arrival experience into Suvarnaboom (BKK) from the US.

Upon my arrival into BKK this past Thursday, April 12, I was given a 30-day stamp on arrival, even though I have already been issued 3 such stamps in the past (see my OP above). I did not have to present any documents (i.e. tickets or itinerary) of my scheduled outbound flight. Presumably the airline already performed this check.

I still believe that the 90 days of stay within 6 month period still apply, because that is what is posted on two Thai consulate websites I visited (L.A. consulate and Vancouver, B.C. consulate), as opposed to the notion that 3 entry stamps = 90 days.

Anyhow, your experience may vary. I for one am glad that I am back home and that on this particular journey I was able to bring my wife and daughter back with me. Thank Buddha I will not have to travel to LOS for another year.

Here's the Website for the USCIS. Rumour has it that all I-129F's and I-130's must be submitted to the USCIS in the states. I heard this from my lawyer.

This is not true. I walked over to the USCIS office today on the 15th floor across the street from the embassy. There were no other customers there, so I had the full attention of the woman behind the counter. They DO take the I-130s there. You have to be able to show you've been in Thailand for at least a year, which I can. She gave me the whole packet of applications and instructions. It IS INDEED FASTER than going to the embassy and doing the K3 visa. Total processing time is about 3 months on average.

Ok, I stand corrected about where to file.

Question... It was my understanding that you were not married. Did the BKK USCIS office still inform you to file the I-130, or do you mean the I-129F? The I-130 is used to sponsor a family member (spouse, parents, siblings, etc).

Btw, just so you know, when you fill out the forms, you do not have to request a visa for your child. He/she is already a US citizen with a passport. Thus you do not have to name your child on the I-129F or I-130. You will have to name (or count) him/her when you prepare the Affidavit of Support.

It certainly doesn't happen where I'm from. Police are too quick to ticket any illegal parking.

By my place in BKK, I can't stand the parking on the sidewalk. All the time the shop owners park on the sidewalk since the street has no parking along it. I guess they could park in the sois next to the shops but that would be an extra 10 meter walk. The worst thing is that they leave no room for pedestrians to walk around.

Try to walk next to these cars with a key in your hand or even a ring on your finger. The car owner will learn very quick where not to park.

How does one produce a ticket if the airline issues only electronic tickets? Perhaps the official would be satisfied if he merely saw your itinerary on paper?