Darrel

If 20K Euros isnt worth the trouble of putting into a bank then they shouldnt be too bothered if they lose it, should they?

Who says they were heart broken over losing the money? I didn't see that in the report. The report make a big deal about the amount of cash for dramatic effect to shock people like you who feel it's a lot of money.

Hmm. If I wasnt bothered about losing something then I wouldnt need to be hit on the head before telling burglars where it was hidden. So I suppose that they were bothered about it.

I don't, but there are people who spend that much for one night in a luxury hotel. http://www.dirjourna...s-in-the-world/

I wonder how far down that list one would have to go to find a Pattaya hotel?

Let's keep this relative, they were staying in a residence probably valued over 10 million baht. It .... (20K Euros).... was chump change.

Hmm. 20K Euros is nearly 1 million Baht, or 10% of the value of a 10 million Baht house. Is 10% of the value of your house really small change that you might just have lying around? I dont think so.

Anyone who considers 1MBaht to be small change would probably be living somewhere a hell of a lot nicer than Pratumnak. Pattaya is generally considered to be a cheap destination, after all, not a quality one.

According to the article, the robbers asked where the safe was. This would seem to be a clear indication that they knew there was in fact a safe.

Maybe, maybe not. A lot of the condos I have looked at have a safe fitted in the wardrobe. It seems reasonable that many houses might have them also.

Do you seriously think only 20K of Euros and jewelry should be kept in a band safe deposit box?

Many people who live here would consider that chump change, especially people in the well-to-do Pratumnak Hill area.

If 20K Euros isnt worth the trouble of putting into a bank then they shouldnt be too bothered if they lose it, should they? To show solidarity I will also try not to be too bothered about them losing it.

Personally I take the trouble to put all my money in the bank, where it belongs, and as a result will probably never have to experience losing it. Which suits me fine.

There are over 50 non-Apple products due out in the first 3 months of 2011 that will do everything the iPad does, and more, for less money and without the need to sign away your soul to Apple. I would recommend getting one of those, especially one of the ones that will be running Android 3.0 as these will be compatible with just about everything anyone could possibly want to do with them.

Apple products, as always, run on a very closed platform the use of which usually involves paying quite large sums of money to Apple, often in hidden form as commission and kickbacks. I do not see any advantage in this, except for Apple.

That issue aside, the e-ink reader in the Kindle style is much easier on the eye (and the battery) than the backlit OLED or LCD screen of the iPad or other tablet device. But of course they are also much more limited in what they can do.

I would get an Android 3 tablet, every time, for the low cost and all-round compatibility.

I believe Sky Player is only available to the UK (someone correct me please).

And Ireland, AFAIK.

VPN is the answer, of course.

Actually I have previously mentioned the ease with which I got my visa from Birmingham. Worth mentioning again, I think. The speed was the most impressive part.

I've just got my visa back from Hull. Posted on Thursday afternoon & came back on Saturday morning. How's that for speed (and service)?

That was exactly the same time-scale as mine. Right down to the day of the week.

For those that consider 20k euros is too much to have in a safe at home, you obviously aren't in the same league as people who can afford a 8 to 15 million baht house. Maybe you are renting a room above a bar on Soi Buakhao?

I cant speak for anyone else here but personally I am in that league: I sold a house for somewhat more than 15M Baht a few months ago. But I also think that anyone with 20K Euros in cash in his house is probably an idiot or a crook or both. There are banks for that sort of thing. They are even open every day here so I see little reason not to use them.

And for what it's worth despite having sold a 15MBaht house recently, and despite having that money and more in banks for safe-keeping, I do actually live in a rented room near Soi Buakhao at the moment. And very nice it is too, thank you. And if I'm burgled the most I will lose is a couple of thousand Baht and some loose change, which isnt even locked away in a safe so no need for anyone to beat me over the head for the combination.

How long a 'holiday' would be needed to cover initial consultation, then technician work and fitting for 2 or 3 implants (teeth that is!). I have a friend from Oz who is also contemplating returning to have dental work done but doesn't have any idea how long he would need to be here in Pattaya??

Be careful. I'm told there are implants and implants.

My dentist in Europe said that proper implant procedure (which would cost maybe 40-50,000 per tooth here, or maybe 2 or 3 times that per tooth in expensive European countries) takes maybe 6 months and requires several visits. First they need to check (xrays) that your bones can stand it and that you have a reasonable chance of success (my dentist says smokers can forget it). Then they screw the titanium implant into the bone (yes, it just screws in) and put a temporary cap on it. Then you wait whilst the bone grows into the honeycomb structure of the titanium implant (months), being careful not to dislodge it. Then they check the implant is solid (xrays) and remove the cap and put a proper false tooth onto the implant. Then you have it looked at again a while afterwards, though I suppose any dentist could check it.

But watch out for the "fast" implants that some dentists will do in one visit. My dentist said she would never have anything to do with them as they fail too often but she also said that she saw no reason not to use a good, qualified Thai dentist for a proper implant, which was very fair of her considering the price difference. "Fast" implants are cheaper, she said, but you get what you pay for. My dentist said that her success rate with proper implants is over 99% for non-smokers.

Sat in dentists chair this morning in Pattaya,best clean ever ,plus one large cavity filling ,just under one hour in chair 800 Baht,brilliant

I'm curious. Did you have injections for that? When my dentist in Europe does what I call a "proper" clean and de-scale (which also lasts just under an hour) there is no way I could stand it without several injections that leave my entire mouth totally numb for hours. I've always assumed that most people are the same but have never actually asked anyone.

Fog on the.. Humber? No.

Last train to... Birmingham? No.

What you on about now?

Sorry. My grasp of geography north of Watford is a little poor.

Shortly after posting I realised that the Hull I was thinking about in Lindisfarne was the band member of the same name and not the town which I was indeed confusing with Newcastle. I will put on my Alan Partridge blazer badge and tie set and do suitable penance (and who gets the

The ELO reference was correct though, as they are a Brummie band (and Tony Hancock was born there also).

Actually I have previously mentioned the ease with which I got my visa from Birmingham. Worth mentioning again, I think. The speed was the most impressive part.

When I was looking at the Hull, Birmingham and London websites to see where to apply to I chose Birmingham simply because I found I could get there from near London more easily and more cheaply than getting to London, just in case a personal visit was needed. In the end it wasnt, so I was more than happy.

I wish I knew why people keep spouting on about how wonderful Hull is.

I sent my passport, a visa application form, 2 photos and a cheque for GBP100 to Birmingham with no documentation at all and got my 1 year multiple entry visa back by return of post (under 48 hours).

I dont really see how anything could be simpler than that but all I ever read here is "Hull this" and "Hull that". I mean, I like Lindisfarne as much as anyone my age does but I like ELO also, if anyone here gets the reference.

15000B for an extraction in Aus seems very expensive. I had one taken out by a good dentist in Europe and it cost 1000B. That one was quite loose though so maybe that makes a difference. She did it as part of a regular clean and descale (45 minutes with several injections) which normally cost me about 4000B, so 5000B for the lot.

I know that implants here are under half the price they are in Europe for the same job. I shall be having one before long, to replace the missing tooth I mentioned. Not sure where to do it though: the Pyathai place seems to be in Bangkok and I dont really want to go that far.

As far as I know all beef cattle come with two lumps of beef suet, one around each kidney. They did when I was a butcher's boy 40+ years ago anyway and I dont suppose it has changed much since then (GE permitting).

Surely any local beef butcher in a Thai market would be able to separate the suet from the kidney and sell it to you for a reasonable price? I would expect this to be much cheaper than buying imported packet suet, and probably nicer.

If I'm happy paying a Thai cafe 40 baht for a meal that Thais pay 25 baht for then it should be nobody's concern but my own.

Quite right. I certainly dont care at all about you being happy about being overcharged. That's your problem and you are welcome to it. What bothers me is me being overcharged and I wont stand for it at all.

There is only one fair system for charging and that is a set price for anyone buying the same thing from the same place. Anything else is dishonest. Those who want to pay more for something can just go to another shop/supplier who does charge more, but who charges more to everyone.

If I think I am being charged extra then I vote with my feet, normally making it very clear why I am doing so. And I would do this regardless of the sum involved be it 1000B or 1B. There are plenty of places that dont charge any extra and I just frequent those instead. In fact over the last 20 - 30 years I have noticed that this particular problem seems to have decreased.

Price differentiation is an accepted phenomenon throughout the world. If you want to buy an underground train ticket in London, it costs more if you buy it before 9:30am (9:00? can't remember now) than after. No one complains.

So in the case of access to national parks, it is price differentiation based along bureaucratic lines. Very common in most countries. It's no more out of order than having to pay more tax for a higher income.

What nonsense. Yes, you can get a cheaper ticket after 9:30 but so can everyone simply by buying it after 9:30. There is no discrimination.

The national parks thing is a blatant rip-off because anyone deemed to be non-resident is charged extra for no valid reason at all. Even the poorest visitor will pay more than a billionaire resident and there can be no possible justification for this. It is wrong, purely and simply.

The income tax comparison is also totally erroneous. Every gets charged the same sliding scale for tax and you pay according to what you earn. There arent two different scales depending on who you are. Your problem is that you fail to comprehend the difference between buying 1kg or 100kg of something according to how much you want, and being charged 50B per kilo or 500B per kilo because of who you are. The former is normal the latter is not.

What OS are you running? What version of what browser?

Pattaya has been an over-crowded sleaze-pit for at least 20 years (and probably well before). It has always had regular "clean-ups"

20 or 30 years ago it was MUCH more sleazy here and the sleaze was of far better quality. It wasnt crowded at all: you could always find a hotel room at any time of year and everywhere you looked there was empty land (and empty new buildings: that at least hasnt changed). There was much less crime though there were more arguments with baht-bus drivers owing to the "flexible" pricing. You rarely saw a farang woman or child: nearly all the farang men were looking for a "good time". There were very few farangs working in town, unlike now where one business in two seems to have a farang owner/manager. They did indeed have "clean-ups" but they were very half-hearted. There were few condos and much less traffic.

I remember at the time a lot of comments about how Thailand was hoping to broaden the market for Pattaya and attract more families, and this has certainly happened. Quite why they come here I have no idea: I certainly wouldnt choose Pattaya as a family destination but as I dont have a family its not my problem!

But the sleaze today is just a very pale shadow of its former self. This is a shame because Thailand always did sleaze rather well, compared to other countries. And the crowds of pointless farang families trooping around the shopping areas now are rather depressing, to say the least.

Actually for 2000B I would go out of my way. Quite a long way out of my way in fact. I enjoy walking and do it daily anyway for nothing so to get paid 2000B for an hour or two's walk would be very nice.

The point about ADSL is that the further you go from the DSLAM (exchange), and the thinner/crappier your line, the slower your sync speed. True will happily sell you a faster maximum speed but if the guy says that your part of town is too far away to get it then that is probably the case, until they move the exchange or give you thicker copper. Cleaning up corroded contacts etc etc can also have a good effect, for the same reason. Changing the filter also, or fitting a master filter if you have more than one phone. And some modems are more or less sensitive than others.

As you get towards the physical limit of the line between you and the exchange the connection will get less and less stable at higher speeds. The easy (cheap!) solution for the provider is to reduce the sync speed to a point where it doesnt disconnect and in the West this is often done automatically by DLM (dynamic line management) at the exchange which gives you a slower but stable connnection. They still bill you for "up to" xMbits of course.

Sounds ideal for a video sender. I would go this route for the stereo sound and ability to change channels.

You may be able to find a shop that will plug one in to let you see the quality before buying.

Otherwise just get someone to run a cable between the two, and get a Powermid for channel changing.

so for every 1000 euro you get an extra 9.50 euro for your troubles, good for you if you think this is value for money vs hassle vs extra time to get robbed.

That's right, or 2000+B extra in all. Well worth having, I think, rather than donating it to a bank. The extra hassle was zero as the money changer is quicker to change money than the bank is, and my bank branch is just a few hundred yards from the money changer and I have to walk past it to get there.

Of course you are free to squander your money wherever and however you wish, by paying more than you need to in shops or getting a bad exchange rate. I am amazed every day by the queue of people in front of kiosks of my bank (and others) waiting for change when the rate is ALWAYS better at the money changer just yards away.

Is this on all files or only some?

Try using WMP instead, just to see what happens.