smiles793

Me too. My last major foray into DVDs was the Complete Works of W. Shakespeare a few months ago (I Kyd you not) from the BBC, about 35 DVDs, via Amazon. I doubt if this is on Pirate Bay, but even if it was I'd prefer to pay for it, as I have no problem supporting the arts.

More recently I got a Harry Potter box set at CM Airport Plaza, great fun with the kids, and plenty of language and subtitle options.

For my laptop and tablets I use an external drive anyway as I have a few apps that I ike to instal from disk.

:-) The Bicycle Thieves, I remember it from the 70's art movie circuit in London, thanks for the link.

I've never seen The Ugly American, but Brando at his best is as good it gets.

I would never have pegged you for an F and F fan!

I saw King Naresuan at Central Cineplex recently, which I enjoyed but I know it's a fairly minority taste - even among Thais.

Another Thai movie I've watched 3 times in the last few weeks in an attempt to improve my language skills is Ghost College of Fine Arts, which I really enjoyed.

Just to expand on the previous comment OP. The in-laws' car is secured against the land that was going to be passed to your wife? So, when your parents-in-law pass away, the loan is effectively transferred to your wife, and I guess that means to you. So you could find yourself in the unpleasant position of paying for your inlaws' car or losing your land and house. I wonder if the in-laws land next door is on the same chanote or not?

It's a horrible situation to be in. I would defiinitely just move out with your family; even if you do stay life will be unpleasant and the land will likely be taken by the bank eventually any way.

Hi EOW, well I was just having a bit of fun, but I really (honestly) don't know much about cars, my grooms fill them with the right kind of fuel, and I just point them in the right direction and put my foot down.

And nothing wrong with Deutsch technology, far from it, though I would say for longer trips I prefer jets (no I'm not boasting, I don't own a Lear); I came up from Bkk to CR last week on Nok Air, about an hour, 700 baht I think, new plane, and actually great service for that price point (please don't tell everybody though bcs I don't want to compete for seats).

guys, despite my immense IQ, worldwide experience, and fantastic self-earned wealth, i've never understood why my fellow gender persons get hot about re-fabricated bits of metal...is your testosterone pointing in a different direction, or is a declning testosterone count pointing the contributors towards a surrogate of some sort....

if u want to get snobbity about transport, there are two ways to go - a pied, for the few enlightened ones... bentley continental (with allowance made for aston martin) for mere mortals...

Well the passports I hold from the two different countries that I am a citizen of definitely were not linked. I know this from my dealings with immigration for my first work permit here a few years later.

A blacklist check keyed on name plus dob doesn't need to link the passports, it simply needs to recognise that the name/dob combination on a passport is on a blacklist.

Having 2 passports will not help on entry to the country at immigration because thew will link your history from the other one the first time you use the 2nd passport.

Are you sure about the second half of this statement UJ (assuming you're talking about passports of 2 different countries, not just a 2nd passport of the same country) ?

I also have dual nationality, and can't see how the two passports can be easily linked - they are issued by different countries, with different serial numbers of course, (the only thing that is the same is the name and dob, but I wouldn't have thought that this would be linked when you come in as a tourist).

I travelled on one for my first few years here (this is the one I used to use for personal rather than business trips), then switched to the other (because many immigration officials had difficulty reading the first one). But as far as I know they were never linked. I actually thought it would be great if they could link them, so that the full length of my connection with Thailand would be easily visible.

Thanks.

If you're single I would definitely go for Chiang Mai, it has a much greater range of farang-friendly services and entertainment for farangs of all ages, and I'm not just talking about the boom-boom bars (which are not exactly in-your-face or numerous in CM or CR). I'd say the same thing for farang-farang couples.

Most retirees are attracted to northern Thailand because of its affordability, and you will not be alone in needing to live within a tight budget, in fact you will be in a very large majority, and it's possible to live on a tight budget in both cities. In fact I'd say it's probably easier in CM because the higher level and greater variety of services make everything much more accessible and convenient for a single non-Thai speaking farang.

But as others have said, it's easy enough to try both, and for that matter you could try other cities too.

Oh by the way, people often say CM is getting more like Bkk, but anyone who has spent time in both is unlikely to agree!! So don't let that put you off CM.

Just noticing the date of your OP; I guess you're here already, what are your impressions so far?

yes it's common for banks here to issue a debit card with a current ("checking") account (which is sometimes called a "savings" account here).

a credit card is much more difficult for foreigners to obtain (and this is true of most countries, not just thailand) because the banks need a greater level of security than most foreigners can provide (ie you could rack up a lot of debt and leave the country, and the bank would find it hard or impossible to recover the debts).

in most countries credit cards are insured for fraud (as they are here), but debit cards aren't, because withdrawals via debit cards are limited to the amount in that account, and once that amount is reached further withdrawals are not possible.

i personally find the debit card system here to be very robust because i am notified by SMS of every transaction on my debit card account. if it's a transaction i do not recognise i can call the bank and they will immediately suspend the account. the visa debit card can also be used for many international payment and booking systems.

credit cards are a different story completely.

This has been a perennial subject on the TV teachers forum, and it has never been and never will be satisfied to everyone’s satisfaction despite Scott’s (or maybe I should say as confirmed by his) valiant recent attempts to get “objective” legal advice.

This is because each case in law is different, as each case is different, and law is open to interpretation, whether it’s the law of precedence or not. Also, because some of the contributors here seem to be driven by ideology and wishful thinking rather than reality.

A lawyer for a foreign teacher who is appropriately qualified with several years of service in an organization with a good track record in that organization (and prior) may possibly be able to obtain severance.

A lawyer for a teacher with a shorter period of employment almost certainly will not, unless he or she has made a substantial and verifiable contribution, verifiable for example by public awards of excellence, but even then it is unlikely.

A fixed term contract for a foreigner is not the same as a fixed term contract for a native in any of the 20+ countries I have worked in, including Thailand. Neither is it the same in my home country for foreigners. The reasons why should be obvious.

According to the World Bank data, literacy in Thailand as of 2010 was 96%.

This is the 2nd misleading news article republished here regarding education in Thailand in one day.

I must say i'm astonished and disgusted by the ant-Thai racism expressed here by many of the posters. The issue isn't Thai schools doing background checks, it's US administrative incompetence in letting known offenders out of the US.

The 2 music venues mentioned in the post have regular paid performances from 'resident' farangs (in addition to occasional unpaid jams which may or may not include passing tourists). The laws in Thailand regarding illegally employing foreign nationals are pretty much the same as anywhere else in the world. It's the responsibility of the employers to ensure work permits are in place.