LuukKoeyKorat

In the banks (ie BCEL) on the high street its not possible to change your remaining Kip back to THB or USD. Has been like that 2 years. The airport exchange booths maybe different.

:-) Nice !

Wouldn't acid melt the plastic pump gun?

Phuket....Thailand....*YAWN*

Thanks Crossy.

It is after the exit valve regulator...so its water as you suggest.

Will disconnect and drain.

Cheers!

LKK

In my restaurant kitchen I have a double head 'fai daeng' strong flame gas cooker. This morning I noticed on the inter connecting hose feeding the two hobs, that there is some clear liquid settled on the bottom of the hose. I cannot imagine that is water....the only thing I can think of is that its the propane gas in liquid form..? Any cause for concern or same experiences from anyone?

cheers

LKK

Weegee

True, I haven't read it

Good luck Thailand with your brave new world...that pretty much confirms your total naivety or confirms that you're taking the p*** out of everything else. *sigh*

I take it you haven't read Aldous Huxleys "Brave New World" Thailand had a similar type of Brave New World long before Huxley ever wrote it! you just have to read between the lines! to get the message!

Its like reading a Borat script ...

funnily enough I was watching Borat sketches today on the old Ali G show...he sure made more sense than this guy...

Good luck Thailand with your brave new world...that pretty much confirms your total naivety or confirms that you're taking the p*** out of everything else. *sigh*

'Grand Events' to promote tourism...'Special Areas For Safe Partying'......the government kiddies in office up in BKK seem to have forgotten that there is still an unsolved double homicide on Koh Tao. Really sad and embarrassing

What is going on? Bad news every day...

This is a fair point

"Consider the known fact that so many young people are graduating college, university, trade schools and not finding work. So they travel now"

It also suggests that many may not be mature enough to travel 1000s of miles away from home as they just turn everywhere into an extended students union p*ss-up. Thailand's culture being so tolerant, able to extract maximum Baht from all situations, sanook loving, lawless.... (take your pick) it is essentially a match made in heaven.

Jeez you are a bag of laughs. What's your definition of (youthful) maturity? Taking the bus into town to have a Big Mac in Leicester Square?

I'd like a safer Thailand. However, this will take many initiatives and over a period of time. Three murders in that area in two years is not safe - period. Neither is it particuarly safe in Phuket or Pattaya with crimes ranging from assaults/robbery to murder. There are bad elements on all sides of society and therein lies the problem - and the victims are quite often innocent people just on holiday. Banning parties is not the solution ….. and that is from some-one who would never attend.

I was in Vang Vieng, Laos, quite a few years ago. What a wonderful place. Then the young backpacker crowd came to float the river and get super drunk/drugged up. Crime went up, tourist rip offs went up, accidents went up. Finally the government stepped in and stopped this silliness. It's now back to being a very nice place to visit.

....except the rumour is that the 'party crowd' within Laos is now starting to migrate to the 4000 Islands. My point being that all countries on the so called SEA pancake trail need a place where the young party-going backpackers can let off their hedonistic steam - be it Pha Ngan, Vang Vieng or Sihanoukville. You can't avoid them - the young backpacker partying crowds are an integral part of the tourist masses arriving and they need catering to and importantly these are pretty much the only places where they do it bigscale. Koh Tao never was and never will be a party island - the parties that have sprung up there in recent years are simply an overspill from KPG and an attempt to 'cash in'.

Absolutely spot on mojorison!

From a long term KPG expat.

My dear Govenor, I hate to inform you, that the horse has bolted already!!

Koh Phangan is also under his jurisdiction, but here it appearently okay to continue the parties??

To much money at stake to expect more than a kneejerk reaction from Thai officials.

The FMP brings very little to the majority of the island. It serves a select few...ie the gangs that run it and sell all "the gear" hookers, drugs, and the general "dark side" elements. In general the FMP has retarded the development and progress on Phangan in an extreme fashion, (since about 2000 anyway). You only have to look at Hadrin to realise this. It is dead for 25 days a month...high AND low season, and only fires up for about 4 or 5 days at party time. The place is disgusting, and because they have designed their business around that market, that's how it will stay. Hadrin is the brunt of many jokes on Koh Phangan... outside of Hadrin we do a decent business all year round... and very little of it is attributed to the FMP... in fact quite the contrary. The Thais are funny though, because they will see 10-15000 people come in for 4 days to Hadrin they think its amazing... they are not very good at looking outside they box, and asking the simple question."what would business be like WITHOUT the party?" and the answer here IMHO, is a resounding "millions of times better".

But as I said before, the young farang only behave in a way that the Thais allow them to. The things they do here, would get you locked up for the night anywhere else on earth... but the Thais not only accept it, they encourage it... then they have the narrow-mindedness to judge the farang on their behaviour... rather than enforcing the laws and making sure they don't misbehave in the first place... like is done pretty well everywhere else.... on earth.

Thanks, great update David!

My experiences with LDB were 3 years ago.

regards

LKK

I attempted to open an account with LDB (Laos Development Bank) in the past few weeks on a tourist visa. I was told that I would need to either have a work permit in progress or have a Lao person as my guarantor. If I were to have a work permit in progress, I would need to submit the work permit within a month or I was told the account would be closed. I went to two branches (Vientiane) and both told me the same thing...

All large airliners also have a compartment to store any deceased during a flight.

Do any other countries have as many dead tourists as Thailand?

All cruise liners have morgues with fridges for bodies because people die all the time everywhere.

I know its about as far away as you can get, BUT....absolutely stunning location: Tarutao NP in Satun province. Koh Adang/Rawi islands where the Park headquarters are situated (on the outlying islands) allow you to camp and/or use NP simple accommodation - small restaurant also next door.

Beautiful, peaceful paradise :-)

Great Pics Spaniel!

Well here is what the beach looked like when I first went there in 1969

Donation to "Thai Red Cross" - surely it should be a donation to the ALS charity?

Abhisit to get wet and wild for bucket challenge this afternoon
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- Democrat Party head and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge from Krungsri Consumer Co. Ltd., which vowed to donate THB500,000 to the Thai Red Cross Society if the former prime minister pours iced water over his head.

Abhisit will get soaked today at Thai Red Cross Society at 2pm, the venue is easily accessed by MRT Sam Yan Station. We have attached a map for your convenience.

Source: http://bangkok.coconuts.co//2014/08/22/abhisit-get-wet-and-wild-bucket-challenge-afternoon


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2014-08-22

I just check the Union Pay website: http://cn.unionpay.com/AtmEnglishFront_Search.html

For Lao banks, only BCEL is in the Union Pay partnership

Looks like coming into Laos and withdrawing at an LDB ATM or bank branch is your only option.

regards

I will have to check my old LDB ATM cards - if they have the 'Union Pay' emblem on them, then yes (at any Thai bank ATM with the 'Union Pay' emblem...I believe this is most Thai banks).

I was able to withdraw THB with one of my current Lao BCEL cards (no Visa/Mastercard but only 'Union Pay' on it) from a Kasikorn ATM in Udon - no problems, just a small fee of 20 Baht per withdrawal.

regards

I totally missed the point of the OP my apologies.... having written my story above I forgot to add that I arrived with my Thai missus and she opened a THB account same as myself. Thai nationals are considered as foreign nationals, and would require the same Business visa and work permit, proof of residency etc as westerners. So yes - it is possible for a Thai national to open a bank account with no problems in Laos

3 years ago I left Thailand to live in Laos and set up a business.

One of my first tasks was to find a Lao bank to open an account with to deposit cash. BCEL (Banque Commerce Exterieur Laos) was my obvious choice as it is the most 'westernized' bank with modern branches, internet banking facilities and issues Visa/Mastercard cards. However upon applying to open an account, BCEL required a copy of your B-2 work visa and Work Permit booklet - having just arrived, this was out of the question as the paperwork was still in process.

Thus I tried LDB (Laos Development Bank). Although they did not issue Visa/Mastercard cards (they do now), I was able to open a standard Thai Baht deposit account (you have the choice of THB, USD or LAK accounts), with no questions asked - no need to show Work Permit, B-2 visa, residency etc. It certainly made life easier - although I could not withdraw money oversees, atleast I had a local ATM card and my money was safe.

To my knowledge, they still are the 'easiest' bank to open an account with in Laos. However, BCEL -by far- is the best developed and customer friendly, and it is advisable to change to a BCEL account as soon as possible to have international ATM withdrawal flexibility.

As mentioned before, this was 3 years ago but I cannot believe that LDB have changed their policies since. This is probably your best choice to deposit money in Laos - get issues with a domestic LDB ATM card and 'book bank', and withdraw at LDB ATMs or branches in Vientiane or elsewhere as you wish.

regards