gray42

That's a good idea, el jefe. Thanks.

Thanks flying, even though you don't have personal experience with this your thoughts are helpful. I think any money sent to me will be so minimal they won't give too much of a dam_n, but just want to be safe.

I opened up a PayPal account so I can receive credit card payments and then transfer the money into my Bangkok Bank account. I think it'll be easier for my family and friends rather than dealing with multiple bank accounts or explaining to old timers how to do online transfers when they want to send me money for holidays, debts owed to me, etc.

What I'm wondering is, I know PayPal is now required to submit information to the IRS. If my family sends me money via credit card, and if a business sends me money via credit card, who's to know the difference? The payment from my family or friend could or could not be business-related and it would still look exactly the same on my record. So how does the IRS know if it's business income or not? Will they start asking me about every transaction on my account and I'll have to explain each one?

If anyone has experience with this I'd be curious to know your thoughts.

Just wanted to throw this in... I went to Top Cats in Koh Samui and had a great time catching monster catfish, carp, and arapaima. It was the low season and it was only myself and one other person there that day. I think the total bill for an entire day of fishing (two sessions) including a hamburger and a beer was almost 5,000 baht. It was fun to do, but I'm not going to make it a regular thing. No doubt if they brought down the price there would be more than 2 people fishing that day. Also no doubt if they brought down the price the fishing wouldn't be nearly as incredible as it was that day. I caught 12 fish: 9 huge redtail catfish, 1 mekong catfish, 1 giant siamese carp and 1 arapaima. ALL of the fish I caught that day were bigger than some of the smaller ones I've seen people catch at the more popular places in YouTube videos. Although I'm not keen on falang-only venues, I had an awesome day and I think the price was justified.

One more thing to add, local fishing in Thailand can be amazing if you put in the effort to find where they live and haven't been fished out, and it usually requires getting advice from Thai people. Snakeheads, especially pla chadow, are some of the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught. I live near Chanthaburi and if you ask [Thai] people were to find the pla chadow or pla chon they'll tell you the standard places... popular lakes, bridges, etc. If you fish with them a while and you're a nice enough person they'll take you to the good spots. They don't use the same methods as me (I lure fish with a rod and reel) but the biggest chadow I've seen was taken by my Thai friend using a hand line with raw chicken on the end. It was bigger than the biggest chadow I caught on a GUIDED fishing trip in mountain reservoirs. Right now I live on a river and fish from my balcony some nights for pla dook (the real pla dook with the eel-like tails) or pla gote (a type of silver catfish). Some nights I can get 12 fish in 45 minutes. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is even though it's not the freakishly big fish you catch at the pay-lakes, there's still great local fishing to be found probably everywhere in Thailand. And it's free.

Thanks bubba, I'll give them a call.

I'm going up to Bangkok in a few days and I need to buy a new 15" MacBook Pro. I prefer to buy it in person rather than ordering it. Looking at Apple's website, there's no official Apple stores in Bangkok, only iStudio, which Apple describes as an "Apple Premium Reseller". I want a laptop with an English-only keyboard and hi-res display. I'm wondering which iStudio store is the largest and most likely to have what I want in stock? Thanks for any info.

Just curious why you guys don't just buy it online from Apple? What's the benefit of having a local store order it for you?

There is still no unlock. I'm waiting for it as well. It's very frustrating.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. Makes much more sense. I got a little excited thinking I could order from abroad and avoid any import taxes...

04.11.08 cannot be unlocked as of right now. I have the same phone and same baseband and can't use my phone outside of the United States. I've been checking every day but no one has released a version of Ultrasn0w that unlocks this baseband. There are tools that you can pay for that claim to unlock this baseband, but they are fake. DON'T BUY ANY OF THESE. You have to wait until a new version of Ultrasn0w is released that can unlock this baseband.

EDIT: Gevey SIM (any of them) also cannot unlock this baseband. You have to wait. Sorry.

No idea about fishing on Koh Chang. (Haven't been there since '92)

Obviously depends what you are after, but I am having best luck using heavy flouro leaders these days. I am fishing for 2-3 kg jacks in the Andaman from a sea kayak, so not going after the big stuff.

There will probably be better info than mine around here.

Thanks koknia. Fished on Koh Chang from a private boat (not a join trip) and managed a 1kg snapper. Not what I was hoping for, but at least I caught something. I think I'll be relocating to the Andaman side in a couple months. Not having a boat and relying on these fishing "tours" is really getting to me. I don't even care about the big game fish. I just want some decent ocean fishing. 2-3kg jacks sound fun. Are you using live bait, lures, jigs...?

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wasn't thinking and upgraded to iOS 5 on my American-bought iPhone. Now I have a very expensive iPod. I hope those hackers hurry up and unlock the 04.11.08 baseband. You can jailbreak iOS 5, but the unlock isn't ready. Right now I really hate AT&T and Apple.

Apple sells unlocked iPhones in the US and here. You bought a discounted phone based on a 2 year contract with AT&T, so don't blame Apple...

I realize that. I'm just bitter. I give Apple credit for "legalizing" jailbreaking. AT&T on the other hand... they can go to

The price you see on the website is the price you pay. No added taxes, customs duties or shipping charges. (Free shipping).

Was on vacation in Koh Chang and I couldn't remember my password for ThaiVisa =) That's really good to know. I've just read so many threads about people ordering things online from stores outside of Thailand and customs basically holding the package "hostage" until additional money is paid. From what I understood they'll say the package is worth more than it's declared value and "ask" for additional duties to be paid, sometimes requiring you to pay 200%-300% of the actual value. I haven't ordered anything online from stores located outside of Thailand because of this. This is great news because maybe I just understood it wrong? Is it only personal packages that I have to worry about? As long as the VAT is included, should I be able to safely order from any online store and have it delivered to my Thai address? For example say I order a tub of protein powder or archery equipment (sorry for going off topic, but those are two things I've been needing here) from an online shop in the United States and VAT is included. Should everything be OK?

I'm heading to Koh Chang for a few days and want to go out on a fishing boat. I went on a couple "fishing tours" on Koh Samui and Koh Tao and didn't catch anything over 5 inches. At least on Koh Tao they were trying for big fish. On Samui they were TARGETING the babies. Anyway, I heard fishing can be good at times on Koh Chang and I heard especially the night fishing is productive. Do any of you have any recommendations for fishing boat services? I'm hoping to pay no more than 1,000 baht per person, but from what I'm seeing it's more like 1,300 each.

Also what types of fish are most common? Is regular mono OK or should I start tying some wire leaders? Do they typically use live bait or cut bait?

Thanks for any info...

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wasn't thinking and upgraded to iOS 5 on my American-bought iPhone. Now I have a very expensive iPod. I hope those hackers hurry up and unlock the 04.11.08 baseband. You can jailbreak iOS 5, but the unlock isn't ready. Right now I really hate AT&T and Apple.

I too am looking to buy a MacBook Pro with an English-only keyboard. I never even considered ordering online from Apple because I figured I'd get taxed to oblivion. None of you have mentioned the taxes, so are laptops somehow exempt?

Do you guys know anything about Phang Nga? It seems to be pretty close to Khao Sok for freshwater fishing and also looks to have decent saltwater fishing...

Hi Gray42,

Although i cannot personally recommend them (never used them) my Thai friends speak highly of Paknam Fishing.

Their web link is http://www.parknum.com and they do deliver by EMS.

You might have to run their website through Google translate, depending on how good you are at reading Thai.

They seem to carry a large stock and their prices look reasonable.

Regards,

Tiger.

That's a good one. Thanks for the recommendation!

Looking for some other ecommerce fishing websites that are located in Thailand. Right now I only know of www.7seasproshop.com and www.fishing-go.com. I can't find exactly what I want on either of those so I'm looking for some other website suggestions. Thanks

Define accessible and best.

I live in Nonthaburi but regularly drive 2-3 hrs to fishing spots getting up in the middle of the night (I was bitten deep by the fishing bug). I fish freshwater spots all over the country but mostly within a few hours drive of Bangkok, but occasionally get up to Kanchanaburi too. I get my saltwater fishing fix by chartering boats out of Pattaya to fish the Gulf of Thailand.

IMO Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya & Phuket are all good. The first three probably have better access to freshwater fishing (although there are some fine spots in Phuket too) but Phuket has by far and away the best saltwater fishing in the Andaman sea.

Thanks quicksilva, exactly the answer I was looking for. I know to find good fishing you need to travel at least a couple hours, so cities along the sea that aren't hundreds of kilometers from good freshwater fishing is what I'm looking for. In Samui you need to travel far and away to get good fishing, freshwater and saltwater. Phuket is definitely tempting with the great sea fishing, but I need accessible freshwater fishing as well. From the looks of a few Google searches, there are lots of swampy marshes with good snakehead fishing. Maybe I will look into Phuket... I've also heard very good things about Hua Hin... might start looking into that more seriously too. Only thing I don't like about Hua Hin is the cooler temperatures in the winter. I love the heat.

Which cities in Thailand are the best places to live if you are an avid fisherman? Preferably somewhere that is accessible to both saltwater and freshwater fishing.

I tried one of the 1 day "fishing tours" for 1,500 baht with Mr. Tu Fishing Game. To make a long story short, the crew was satisfied catching 6 inch fish. It was definitely a fishing trip for people who don't fish very much. Now that I know, I can't complain too much. Waste of money.

So......

It seems like to get good fishing from Samui, you have to leave Samui. The same service I went on the 1 day trip with offers a deep sea trip for 5,000 baht. The boat leaves at 7am and returns the next day at 4am. It says 8 hours is spent going to and then returning from the fishing spot, so that leaves 13 hours for fishing, changing spots, eating, etc. I'm thinking of giving this trip a go, but I'm a bit skeptical because of the day fishing trip. Are there any other reputable deep sea fishing services from Samui that are at a decent cost? Or does anyone experienced with fishing around Samui want someone to pitch in fuel money on a trip?

Thanks,

G

WOW! Talk about good luck... Nice fish

There's one at Suvarnabhumi, (can't remember what floor it's on!) ask at the information desk. It's 100 baht per day per bag

That would be great! Suvarnabhumi is BKK, right?

Is there a baggage hold at BKK? I need a place to store my bags for a while due to a very long layover. If so, what is the cost?