JML

This is simply ... crazy. There must be something corrupt going on here.

A quick Google search seems to show that the only country which has done this is Zimbabwe, and they have even stopped this ludicrous law. I hope the Thai government is not taking its cues from a country like this, despite K. Nalinee Taveesin's connection to that government (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/527183-new-thai-minister-nalinee-on-us-blacklist/page__st__50__p__4990795__hl__+us%20+government%20+blacklist%20+yingluck%20+cabinet#entry4990795).

Many small companies cannot afford to purchase a fleet of new vehicles for their businesses.

How does this affect driving cars over the border? Will there be special dispensations for security teams bringing over their own vehicles? That last is a rhetorical question, but I wonder if the law covers this.

There is a grey market out there for parts and vehicles, especially motorcycles. It is because of the outrageous taxation levels the government imposes. They fix that issue, and suddenly there will be more tax revenue coming in from vehicle purchases, not less.

Wow, there are so many great upscale bars around it is incredible. I am a bit surprised at some of the responses.

I agree with the guy who mentioned BK - although myself, I would recommend Guru.

I did not see your age, and that makes a big difference. I think from the way you sound you don't have to worry about dressing - but if you have to ask, don't bother going to any of these places.

The old standards are Bed Supperclub and QBar. Hands down two of the most popular bars for foreigners and Thais with foreign experience. They also renovated Narcissus off Suk Soi 23 - similar dance club thing to Bed & QBar. Right across from QBar is the Nest at La Fenix restaurant - outdoors on the roof. They have a giant "roll on" roof if it rains. Even has a sandy beach area, couches to lay on.

Most of the higher end bars are in hotels or high end apartment buildings. Lately, the hot spot has been Hyde/Seek on Soi Ruam Rudee. This is also where Admakers moved to - but that is certainly not hot anymore. Witches Oyster on Ruam Rudee is a great place - old wood, pub type feel, but targeted at the workers in All Seasons. Not a "hot" bar, but always good. A bit better when they had their larger menu, but still ...

Other people mentioned Siroccos in State Tower, which is pricey and very nice. Last time I was there 2 drinks and 2 beers ran about 1,600. Vertigo is also in that price range as well. Both are amazing venues, well worth your time. I have not been there in a while, but Long Table in Column Residence on Suk Soi 16 was super hot about a year ago, but I have heard it is falling (or fell) out. Still, beautiful place designed by Orbit (designers of Bed).

V9 in the Sofitel (Silom Soi 18 if I remember correctly) is a great place, mainly a wine bar and very nice. Nui's on Silom, close to the Sofitel, is also a nice place.

The Diplomat in the Conrad has completely lost favor, and I think just about died when they banned smoking. Last time I was there they had some great Jazz band. Nice, old feel to it. Was a while ago since I have been smoking stogies there.

Don't bother with 87 in the Conrad, or Spazzo's in the Hyatt Erawan. However, there are some very nice, relaxing wine/food bars down in the basement of the Erawan. Pricing is quite reasonable as well.

There are also other nice wine bars, Opus & Wine Pub for instance. I think it is the Wine Connection (Soi 30 something?) which has some seated areas to drink in a pleasant atmosphere.

The La Meridian on Suriwong has a stunning bar/sushi bar, but not sure how popular it is. Great place to take a woman though. Top of the Pan Pacific on Rama IV is a nice little venue - can't remember the name right now, but worth going to for sure. I think the Australian Chamber Sundowners is having their Commonwealth event there tonight. Good happy hour, great food, reasonable prices.

Brown Sugar is a good place, but not upscale. Not saying you won't get upscale people there. But it is an old looking blues/jazz bar.

Once you hit the Thong Lo/Ekkamai area, there are lots of places out there. Many for younger Thais. There is a new place called Iron Faires which is really hot now. But it is tiny, and even with only 2 people you might not get in without reservations. Your girl should recognize a few famous people hanging about. And no other place in BKK will you get the jazz band actually playing in the middle of the crowd. You are sharing the same space as the singer.

Again, depending on age there is also Funky Villa and Demo for the younger Thai crowd (up to about 28 - 30 yo) on Ekkamai Soi 10. They just opened a place in the same compound called Embassy which is targeted at a bit more mature crowd. Nice place, even have champagne & oyster bar on Sundays. It is quite new, not sure how it is doing yet. To Die For on Thong Lo has lost its popularity, but a nice place with reasonable prices, good food, and a great area outside to lay down on and relax.

Red Sky and Zence were also quite nice (Central World), but I am not sure about the status of those. Red Sky is a bit touristy, but might be open as I heard (but don't know) that Centara Grande is still open.

Spring & Summer on Soi Prom Mit off Suk 39 is much more of a restaurant, but could pass as a bar in good weather when you can hang outside.

I can go on, but really, check with Guru/BK and see what is happening.

I am trying to set up my home network (right now 2 computers) to connect to the internet and also connect to themselves. I need more than file sharing, and need something which would be similar to connecting 2 systems together for gaming. It is not a game, but close enough for our purposes here.

I have a dsl modem attached to a wifi router which I connect both systems to for internet. Standard.

Now I want to connect these systems together so they can talk, and access the internet as they are now.

I am also using Vista, but I can figure it out if you have XP instructions.

Can I just use a crossover cable to connect the systems together (does someone know where I can get this? Pantip?). Or am I going to need a hub? And is there something else I am going to have to change in the software?

Bonus question: Can I buy another wireless router and use that as a hub? Eliminating the need for messy wires all together?

Any answers are much appreciated!

Yes, it seems to be confirmed. A friend of mine's employee went to KL and only came back with a 3 month visa. So it does seem like non-Imm B's are shut off everywhere in Asia.

I am interested in hearing about the HK situation! Was this before October 1st, or after? I don't trust any data from before that time, since so much has changed. But if there is any confirmation on HK, then I would love to go there for a few days vacation and a visa.

As to why I need a non-Imm B?? I need it to keep my work permit. Taxin has is completely correct, the 1 year extension of stay is just too much of a hassle. I could do it, but I really don't want to have any fake Thai employees on my books. I am trying to stay perfectly, 100% legal (even my company is 100% - no nominee shareholders).

Hello Everyone,

I have not been following the boards too much because I thought I did not have a problem. Now I do.

They were giving 1 year Non-Imm B's in KL until last week. Some new law or something got passed, and now I can't seem to get a visa in Asia. I have a work permit, and already have a 1 year Non-Imm B. I have a proper business, with everything set up correctly.

Where do I go to get a Non-Imm B in Asia? Can I get one in Asia? Or am I now forced to go back to the US every year to get one? I even called my Embassy - no sympathy there. I can't understand how they are not supporting their citizens abroad, but that is a topic for another post.

If anyone knows where I can get a 1 year Non-Imm (again, I have all the documents and my work permit), please let me know.

Cheers!

So can somebody help me answer this question, or clarify my misunderstanding.

I went to a seminar last year called "Legal Guidance For Foreigners", and in that seminar, they basically stated that to do any work in Thailand, you need a work permit. The visa grants you entrance to the country, but does not grant the ability to work. The work permit must do this.

In fact, if you will remember, even the volunteers working to help Thai citizens after the tsunami needed to get work permits.

So, now we have a 3 year "business" visa which does not allow you to have a work permit. How is this possible by Thai laws? Are they now saying that you do not need a work permit if you have this kind of visa, or if you just come here "occasionally" for work?

Can "work here occasionally" and stop paying taxes? Somehow, this just does not seem correct.

Or am I just missing something with respect to this?

1. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Just don't go there to get a visa of any kind, unless you have absolutely have no other Thailand visas in your passport. They will assist "true" backpacker travelers, but not those of us who have been here a while.

Before I had my non-Imm B, I went last year and the Consulate manager was very cold, not quite rude about not giving me a 2 month visa back. Once we switched to Thai, he was much more warm (probably a nice enough guy over a beer), but no less firm. He believes (or states) he has a staffing issue, and does not want anyone, from legit business visa holders to monthly or bi-monthly extenders, going to their consulate to get a visa. He told the guy before me, a teacher at AUA, to tell AUA not to send anyone there again.

Luckily I did not learn Thai from a bar girl, and can be very ปากหวาน when I need to really beg, so he gave me the 2 months, but told me he was blacklisting me - which I hope never has any other implications other than getting a visa from Phnom Penh. Looking at my passport with loads of Thai visas in it, I promptly had the American embassy cancel my passport and bought a new one - so other consulates would not give me the same problem.

2. Does anyone know what the list of complaints this joint chamber committe has? Where to get a look at it? Or where to add to it?

Cheers!

I believe the retention of the Thai script is a contributing factor in holding back literacy - also, how many times have you observed a Thai child reading an english text ?  Africa and India are generally way ahead in the ability to speak reasonable  english.  I understand that the monks have over the years resisted any changes to

the present system, this challenge has meant that the government of the time has been unable (or unwilling) to bite on the bullet.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you seriously suggesting that Thailand should convert to using the Roman alphabet??

There are already enough problems teaching that alphabet to those who relative few who want to learn English - imagine the chaos having to teach it to all native Thais so they can read their own language.

You have thought this through at all!

Patrick

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's not as ridiculous as it sounds. Drastic for sure, but not stupid.

It was done successfully in Turkey and Poland. In the case of Turkey it was part of a push to modernise the country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well played and quite correct.

The original comment that "retention of the Thai script is a contributing factor in holding back literacy" made me wonder. Certainly Thais on average seem to manage with literacy in Thai. Well, cheap comic books anyway.

Did the commenter mean to say that the use of phonetic spelling in Thai characters to teach English is the problem? I would wholeheartedly agree with that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, this is getting off topic, but I just had to reply. Yes the use of Thai characters completely adds to the problem of Thai pronunciation. First, a little closer to home, this method of using roman characters has been completely implemented in Vietnam (and Vietnamese has more tones than Thai) ... the French abolished their writing (which I believe to be mainly Chinese, but I could be very wrong about that) and now they have a more english looking vocab. The english in Vietnam is better than it is here ... just look at these Vietnamese kids selling flowers in BKK. I am sure there are other factors as well, but the Thai script is surely one of them.

Furthermore, let's move down south to Malaysia. They have taken the roman character set and even perfected it a bit. Words are spelled exactly like they are pronounced, like Spanish. I can read every word on every sign, and everyone will understand what I am saying. Again, look at the quality of English in that country, bordering Thailand.

Have you ever said words like "computer" or "copy" to a Thai, and they don't seem to understand, even though they usually use the same words in Thai? This has to do with the way they use Thai script to spell the english words. This reinforces the use of tones and very poor proper english pronunciation.

A little back on track:

If the government is serious about improving the language level in Thailand, drastic steps need to be taken, along with real attraction for qualified foreign teachers.

They need to stop relying on the natural beauty of Thailand ... and its women ... to attract teachers. If there is no money to be had for this ... then there must be 1,000 out of the box ways to attract teachers with some kind of qualifications to come and stay for a bit.

But I don't see them really wanting to improve the level of english and real education in the provinces, except for the wealthy that they try to appease. Can you imagine Buriram girls being educated? Where would all the Thai ... um, entertainment industry workers ... come from? Oh, right, Khorat and Surin.

I am no teacher, but I taught for a day in Mukdahan ... the school was thrilled to have a foreigner come and speak to the kids. Those that have posted about the local teachers not being speak or understand english are completely correct. If I could not speak Thai, I would not have been able to talk to the teachers.

It seems the real point of this article (to me) is that rich Thais are not getting an appropriate education for the price they are paying. That is the "news worthy" point.

Trying to get rid of "backpackers" from the teaching industry in the provinces? 1) I don't see the gov really caring about that 2) ANYTHING is an improvement from the woman teaching English from a 10 year old cartoon book (they were kids after all) ... and struggling with the pronunciation herself.

Cheers all. Personal opinion ... no more, no less.

Hi DavieA,

Sorry about the wasted trip. After your wasted experience in Penang, I am having the lawyers I am working with re-check to make sure that I don't need the WP3. Paranoia breeds success around here.

Steve, I wish I had a 60 multiple entry, I would be banging at your door to get this thing converted right now. I'm losing time, energy, money and the biggest -enthusiam - trying to make sure I get this right the first time around.

Chok dii khrappom!

Hi DavieA,

I hope at this point in time you are in a good mood, and not a bad one.

This is like a Muay Thai match, things are changing by the second.

The lawyer company I am working with on this did a bunch of calls to Penang today. What they lawyer told me is that I don't need to have a WP3 now ... it appears there have been too many complaints or problems or something - although that is just a guess on my part. This information came from a คุณเรือง (Khun Reung) at the consulate. I made them tell me his name so I would have someone to talk to who had a reference if I had a problem.

What the lawyers were told to tell me was that I need to bring along my "เอกสารบริษัท", or company documents with me (as the company and these documents will be completed on this upcoming Monday), and this should be sufficient for the 3 month, single entry visa.

So the saga continues. All I can say is that I am glad I paid 2000 baht to change my plane ticket, and I am glad that robsamui wrote this down. Of course, there is a chance that if I had not known, I would not have worried, and there may not have been a problem. Maybe I have put too much time into this? But we won't think about that, now will we!

Have a great one!

Thanks DavieA!!

Very much appreciate the update. I hope you get the non-Imm B single entry at the least, because with this you can get you Work Permit. At the end of the 3 months, you will then have to go back to Penang to get the rest of your year. But this is standard these days. Just pray for the Non-Imm B single entry at the minimum!!

I found out some more information:

I called the Ministry of Labor:

02.245.5801

02.246.1520

Thank god I speak Thai. They referred me to this number:

02.248.3388 - from them I got the final number:

02.245.2745 (also 02.245.3209)

The woman I talked there knew what she was doing, it seemed. She told me the WP3 (Waw Paw Saam) needed to be applied for where she was. She said it would be sufficient for the company owner to call up there, and give certain information. The the process would take 7 days (she swore, no longer than 7 days) to get the WP3. But she said the process was pretty easy.

It will help if the person who calls speaks Thai.

Mainly, I am just documenting this for other's future use, in case this becomes necessary again. Take this information for what it is worth ... some guy you don't know, speaking in a foreign language to government officials ... but I promise this is correct to the best of my knowledge and ability.

Have a great one!

And DavieA, let me know what the final outcome is, I'm rootin' for ya.

Hello Everyone!

Looks like luck was with me on this one! Thanks to the original poster, and thanks for the rest of you to give me enough doubt to change my ticket to Penang at the last moment (actually, I was under the 48 hours to change it, but Air Asia let me do it because I was only under by 1.5 hours).

I just got hold of the Thai Consulate in Malaysia with the phone numbers I listed before.

Yes, they are requiring a WP3.

Here is almost exactly what the guy told me:

You company needs to go to the labor department, and contact them about getting company validation. When they do this, he said they will get a receipt, and the receipt is called a WP3. I can take this, along with all the other stuff I had and be guaranteed a visa.

How accurate is his information? I don't know, but what I do know is that he confirmed that I will definitely be needing the WP3 if I don't want to turn my trip to Penang into a waste of time or a simple, short vacation.

Now if I can just get someone at the company to get on top of this for me ...

Have a great one!

Hi Meadish Sweetball and others ...

So what I am hearing is that Penang is out of the question to get a Non-Imm B, and I will have to eat my ticket to Malaysia (Asia Air is not famous for their customer service). There is no way I could even get my diploma, let alone the rest.

Just because this is really not a good situation I am in (having a plane ticket, and needing to complete this fairly quickly), I just want to verify:

As I mentioned in a previous post, I do have a 13 page document from the Department of Registered Commerce. This includes (along with my best non-lawyer guesses at the translations):

หนังสือรับรอง: Guarantee Booklet

รายละเอียดวัตถุที่ประสงค์: Details of Company's Charter

หนังสือบริคณห์สนธิ: Company Prospectus

คำรับรองลายมือชื่อของพยาน: Witness's Signatures

สำเนาบัญชีรายชื่อผู้ถีอหุ่น:Copy of Shareholder Record

ภ.พ.01: Tax Document from April

ภ.พ.03: What appears to be several months of these tax documents

กรมสรรพากร: Certificate from the Revenue Department

But of course, all of this is photocopied.

Is this really not enough? I am a US citizen, and someone mentioned the WP3 was for a certain block of countries. Are they just applying this to all now? Possible this question is rhetorical until/unless I try and fail myself. Does someone have a friend in immigration that we can ask about this?

Sorry for all the questions, it is just right now I don't have the time (and at the exact present moment) the money to waste on trips to Malaysia that don't have any benefit.

Regardless of being able to answer ... have a great one!

Thanks guys for the information! Glad I had to put off my trip until Tuesday.

For this WP3, are there Thai letters for this? What exactly is it, in case I need to describe it to my contacts. I am just hoping that this "WP" does not stand for work permit, as this would ruin the whole point of me getting the Visa first!

And second, can someone tell me how I can get a WP3? Where from (where is the labor department - I can probably find this on my own, but it is not on my list of departments I am looking at)? And who needs to authorize the distributing of this, i.e. can I do it myself, or do I have to have a representative of the company do it?

I will have 1.5 days to get this document before I go, and I would rather not trust my contacts, as I know their answer will be "we gave you everything you need". Which won't be much of a consolidation after I have flown all the way down there for a tourist visa I could have gotten from Cambodia!

Any help is MUCH appreciated.

Thanks a million.

This thread is incredible. My big mouth will flap on that as well, but after the important stuff.

First, DavieA, thanks for the offer. Not on purpose, I am now going on Tuesday night, back on Friday. It just ended up being cheaper, and I would not have to spend too much time there.

I think you might be needing that document I mentioned in my original post. I know, that it is too late for you now, but if I were you, I would bring your company's phone number, and if there are any problems see if they can fax a copy to you if they have one.

I got info from a friend of mine:

Get to the Embassy well BEFORE 10:00 AM. A 1 year Non-imm will cost 500 ringit. He suggested bring some extra ringit in case there are any other charges, but said that should take care of it. You will have to pick it up the following afternoon, after 1:00. Apparently it should be pretty easy and smooth.

But if you get a chance, before 5:00 PM on Tuesday, let me know! PM me even.

Optional Material On:

As for the rest ... what is this crap? Ok, after the first person who flamed the first flamer, the joke was up. After the second, he should know he is a moron. But now nobody who could help wants to read this thread, especially now that rodcourt (you racist, prejudiced prick!) responded ... agh, go back and beat your girlfriend. I'm a YANK, and even worse ... my mom was a JEW - does this make it worse? What IS your problem?

Rant off, sorry, I just can't stand uncalled for (and sometimes, even called for) prejudiced behavior and thought - there are ingorant people in every country, just as rodcourt proved ... it is not limited only to us Yanks.

:Optional Material Off

Thanks to all of you who have tried to help, the uncertainty in these kind of situations is never very fun.

<snip>

Please, I would like to encourage those of you who know something about the current situation, or can figure out what is the document Penang wants. Especially you, Scott, you seem to be able to find the most info on this soon. I have not booked my plane tickets yet because of this, but maybe I should just book them for Tuesday, in case I need to make an emergency visit to a Ministry somewhere on Monday. I love the fact that these Ministry's are moving all the way out to Nontaburi, nice and convenient.

I feel like this document from the Department of Registered Commerse is probably what they are looking for, but until someone can step up with some real idea, I just have that feeling like I may be wasting a trip to Penang.

Thanks for anyone who can put a real clarity on this.

Ok, an easy answer, and a question.

DavieA, any time you need to get a visa, you will have to bring photos with you. Usually 1, but for this one, stock up with 2.

Otherwise, I am the same as you, I was planning on just showing up at whatever Thai embassy the taxi driver brings me to, giving them a bunch of paper work, and kissing a$$ in whatever way it needs to be kissed.

I tried calling the Thai consulate in Malaysia. The info I have is:

PENANG

Royal Thai Consulate-General

No. 1, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman

10350 Penang

Tel. (60-4) 2268029, 2269484

Fax:(60-4) 2263121

E-mail : [email protected]

Can anybody verify this?

I love the timing on this.

All right guys, I need some urgent help on this. I am leaving next week (trying to get my plane tickets today or tomorrow) to go to Penang to get my first Non-immigrant visa. And soon after, work permit.

I have:

My current passport and stamps (of course)

A Sponsor letter from the company

A Visa Application form

And ... a photocopied:

กรมทะเบียนการค้า

ใบสำคัญแสดงการจดทะเบียนห้างหุ้นส่วนบริษัท

I can roughly translate this to:

Department of Registered Commerce (not Ministry of Commerse)

Proof Of Company Share and Registration

Again, this is just a photocopy.

Is there something else that I need? What would that be, and how would I get it?

Any urgent help is much appreciated!

Thanks!

Now that  Pattaya has shown the LEAD in the breakup of the dark forces who have for many years  caused so much negative publicity to the honour of the Thailand tourist industry Ministrys (5 Bt Buse fares confirmed by LAW) maybe common sense will now be "dictated" and Samui and Poo-ket will follow their good example.    

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't quite tell if this is facetious or not. Now I am just guessing here, but I believe that metered taxis in BKK are also the law ... I don't see the championship lead in Pattaya. I have never gotten away with paying 5 baht on one of those taxis, everytime I have tried, the driver follows me down the road yelling obscenities. Usually 10, but many of them yell at me for 20 ... I apologize, but I am not sure how your experience can be so different from mine. I was staying down the road a bit on a longer soy, and most of the time they would not even pick me up for less than 100, occasionally 80, and once 60. The mafia scene in Pattaya is quite strong, maybe just the system of roving trucks makes it seem less apparent.

I am really hoping that Phuket does actually do something about the stranglehold the mafia does have on things down there. Unfortunately, my experience in this beautiful country is that the people who lie, cheat and have the worst attitudes are usually the people driving vehicles in Thailand, be it tuk tuk, taxis, motorcycles or boats. And who does your average tourist have the most contact with in Thailand? Hotel/wait staff and ... yep, these other downstanding citizens just trying to make a dishonest living.

I also think the image here would improve significantly.

Speaking of crushed ice ... this might affect some of you more than others ...

How many of you eat fruit from the street vendors? I know I do, it consists of about 15%+ of my daily diet.

How do they keep the pineapple cold? As well as some of those other fruits they don't peel? Yep, crushed ice. If there are traces of feces on that ice ...

My Hep A shot theoretically ran out 6 months ago (I only got the first of the series ... the second should be applied 6 months after the first for a "lifetime" immunity, the first, unsupplemented by the second shot, is only supposed to be good for 2 years if I remember correctly) ... I will be heading to my local clinic to get another one today. Not sure about the prices here in BKK, but when I was living down south it was 1000 baht. The best money I will spend this month, for sure.

Slim, are you a troll??? I will take a stab at the fact that you have NEVER played a sport in your entire life.

Michelle Wie at 14 playing golf and 16 year old tennis players is exactly the same as a 16 year old girl prostituting herself to "dirty old men" as you put it.

They're all doing what they're good at

You are a troll, aren't you? Do you have any idea how much time and effort it takes to become a world champ athlete? Do you have any remote understanding? Can you begin to grasp it? I know you do not. Compared to the rest of the population on this planet, I was *extremely* good at two of the sports I chose ... and still, fell short of world class. And the number of hours, sweat and tears it took ... just be as short of world class as I was.

How much effort does it take for a young, impressionable CHILD to spread her legs for some old man for money? How much skill, how much effort does it take to be "good at" it?

The law should be there to protect innocent and naive juveniles in Thailand and anywhere else in the world.

It doesn't sound like this girl needs a lot of protection.

And just how do you think they become this way? Because of people like you who seem to advocate this type of cruelty. Just because 12 year olds are getting boffed in Thailand does not make it right for it to happen. What the heck do you think happens to these girls? That they just go on having normal lives? That there are no repercussions? There are no psycological scars? These women that are molested at such a young age that they are permanently on the road to prostitution. And THEN you on your aloof platform deem to criticize them because now they are tarts. Call them whores, and say that now they are beyond proper laws, because proper laws are for proper women.

Are you, too from a messed up family? Do you have no children? I don't, but I sure as ###### remember how impressionable I was when I was that age. Of course they want their phones, their toys. Didn't you? Can you image what it is like to be them, to be molested at a young age, and then later be told by an adult that it is ok to take the money, "We are just going to play a little game?"

Putting aside the moral issue of his philandery - the man lost his job, his house, and his wife and was put on a sex offenders register - so who was the victim?

What? Repeat that first sentence again ... he was married, having sex with an underage woman ... but put aside those legial issues ...who was the victim? The victims were his wife and kids, not this ass.

Ahh, how I hate insulting people behind a cowardly keyboard, but wow, you need a good look at these ideas you put out for everyone to see.

I am no bible basher, no major philanthropist. I have no problem with prostitution between two adults. I have no problem with the sexual desires of men. I love women, but even more, I think children should have a chance to be just that ... children. Why do people have such desire to pervert them so early on? Some kind of insecurity, some kind of obsession to corrupt others to be as corrupt as they are?

And I don't want to have anyone tell me I don't deserve to be here ...

ผมพูดภาษาได้เก่งแล้วนะ

I deserve to be here just as much as every other foreigner who has a valid visa does. Unfortunately, that means as much right as some of these pedophiles that come here, at least until they break the law.

Hey Guys,

Can we get a little perspective here ... we are talking a 61 year old MAN having sex with a 16 year old CHILD for MONEY. In what way, shape or form is this possibly correct? We are not talking an arranged marrage in some African Congo, we are talking a 61 year old MAN having sex with a 16 year old CHILD for MONEY. At what point is this OK?

So now some of you are denying your Western Roots and saying ... hey, this is OK, the Thais do it all the time, why is this such a big deal, why can't we do the same? Well, take a look at your skin ... are you THAI? Where were you born? What were you taught? Oh, no, it is OK because RICH Thais do it, and they get away with it. Wrong is not wrong because some people, or even many people, get away with it.

And ... now don't take this too personally, because I did not look into your histories ... but I will bet that some of the people saying "hey, this is ok, because the Thais do it all the time" ... I bet that some of you are the same people that complain and complain on this website about the "illogical, irrational, overemotional, underemotional, moronic" things that Thai people do. You are right, just a generalization ... but I have read enough of this website to see that there is more than enough complaining about how the Thais act ...

When in Rome do as the Romans? As long as it fits into what you find is correct? And then the rest ... ignore the rest? We don't entirely need to do as the Romans do, we are above that stuff ...

Nope, this is not a troll. Yep, I am imposing my foreign and western morals, predudices, ideal and beliefs on you and your way of thinking. Hey, I am not saying that the western ideal is always the right one ... but YOU ARE WESTERN and grew up with similar moral standards and structure. Obvisously, those of non-western backrounds are exempt from this criticism. Now repeat after me "Sex with children, for money or for any other reason, is ________" ... and if you can't fill in the blank with an appropriate answer yourself, give your mom a call, see what she has to say. Seriously, if you have lost perpective, ask a few of your old buddies from home, see what they have to say.

Personally, I am very glad in this case the man is an American ... at first I was embarrassed, now I am happy that we prosecute child molesters no matter where they perform the act. Wait till those big ol' rednecks and other assorted refuse we have collected in our prisons get a whiff of him.

Looking for a suggestion ...

I am a strong kid (well, over 30, not so young anymore), and speak very good Thai, and some other languages which are not so useful here. I live in BKK. Does anyone know where the best place (as of Jan 5) to head out to is? Where can muscle and language skills be used the most at this point in time (late in the game, I know)?

Khao lak?

Phuket?

Thanks,

There seems to be a few threads going on in this topic, and I would like to address a couple of those. I watched the entire episode from Railay Beach, from the white wall of water that hit Ao Nang, to the wave that came in and nailed our beach. And yes sirs and ma'ams, did I have to run. Ever see a picture of a longtail boat in a tree? You will.

As most of you know, Railay was not hit all that bad, and had very few fatalities. We were luckly. My parents and I toasted to that every night, as there were many reasons as to why I may not have ever seen them again.

1) I am planning on going back in a few weeks. When we left on the 30th, the beaches were getting cleaned up, and all the buildings were being made structurally sound again. The worst problem with the beaches now is that they are burning the boats and other wreckage on the beach. That means watch out for nails on the beach ... keep your flipflops on, and you should be fine. A photographer needed me to translate for her to interview the owner of Sandsea resort. He was expecting to be back in 100% order again within 14 days of the tsunami. And when we left, it was looking well on track. I was staying at Railey Bay at the time, and by the 29th they had a new computer already up to book reservations.

And even by the 28th we were able to order an entire fish, freshly caught. According to the owner of the Sandsea, he did not believe (opinion, of course) that the fishing boats around Ao Nang were badly damaged, just the longtails. I would estimate 80 - 90% of the longtails were decimated. Don't feel bad about tipping the longtail boat guys ... normally I never do that, but this is an exception.

Point being ... by now there are LOTS of clean, now quiet, very friendly places awaiting your business. The people there were great, best service I have ever had after 4 years of going to Railay, and having lived there for 4 months.

2) Someone said that the Thais are looking down at the foreigners partying on the beaches. Not the ones I saw, because the only way for us to get beer was to buy it on the beach, and they were more than willing to sell us beer, food, whatever, and NOT inflate the prices.

In fact, on Tonsai, not only did we get drunk, they got drunk, and the next day we helped pick up what what left of some of their businesses, even the parts which had been tossed into the very flimsy bathrooms towards the backs of the bars and resteraunts. For the first time, the flys were not so interested in the humans anymore. But that was at least a week ago now, I am sure that will be unseen and unheard by now.

If you want to help support the Thais, help them support themselves. They help each other out better than us farangs can. But they need tourist business, both from farang and other Thais. I don't exactly recommend that people head to Phi Phi yet, but there are loads of places in Krabi and Phuket which are fine, can use your business, and willl treat you very well in return. And with a lot of the perfect weather we have been having, a relatively empy beach at this time of year is something that has not been seen in many, many years.

I am no tour agent or anything like that, but if you want information on where you can stay, I can give you the names of places at different price ranges, some of which you can't imagine that there was ever a disaster anywhere near you. Just send me a message.

Oh, one word of warning ... if the resteraunt you go to does not have the dish you ordered, just take it in stride, thank the man or woman, and pick your next favorite dish.

I also did the Laptop search here in Thailand about 5 or 6 months ago. I ended up buying an Asus, a choice I was not 100% confident in, but now I am 100% happy about. It fits my needs perfectly (with a good 2 year international warranty for when I go to China or back to the States). I am not sure it will fit your needs, but let me give you some thoughts:

1) Laptops are cheaper in the US, especially for the features you get. But if you are going to live in Thailand for most of your time, buy it here so the warranty fits better.

2a) XP Pro is not for you, unless you want to network to other computers. I had XP before, and really, there were no tangable advantages for someone sitting at home 90% of the time as a single user.

2b) You do want the real XP home copy, not the fake. I can give you loads of reasons ... one of which many of the copies are designed for another computer brand (i.e. they have been OEM'd out to, say, compaq, and then you put the copy on your Acer ... for 99% there is no issue, but I had problems with my Asus until I bought a real copy ... and all problems mysteriously dissapeared ... personal experiance, unfortunately I cannot tell you what the difference really was). Plus it is nice to have all updates without thinking too much about it.

3) The Acer is a great choice. If you want to spend more money, get the IBM or the Toshiba ... but I would skip the Sony's. I know a few people with Acers, and there have been no problems.

4) If you are going to be planted about 10 months of the year, don't worry about the keyboard size or the monitor. You can get a cheap keyboard and monitor that will be better than any laptop keyboard. However, for what you are looking for, I am sure that you will get a good sized monitor and keyboard. However, you should try typing a few paragraphs to make sure that you do like it at least a little. You are paying 50,000 baht++, be happy.

5) If you are going to use the computer on your desktop most of the time, you don't need to worry about the Centrino. It has the integrated WiFi which is very nice, but its other advantages mostly have to do with battery life (chipset uses less power). If you are looking for more in the way of processing speed, you can get a more powerful processor. Of course, if you don't get the Centrino, you will curse me when you want to connect to a hotspot, or when your laptop only has 2.5 hours of life.

Just some thoughts.