bender92

Let him rot....the pig should have to crawl into court.

So according to you he is guilty as charged - these are allegations. Does an allegation automatically mean guilt??

Let the courts decide his guilt or innocence before you start with the hang em high posts. After all one day a person may make an allegation against you. Would you want that allegation perceived as guilt?

But they aren't talking about guilt or innocence, they are talking bout dropping the charges. Being sick is no excuse to be let off. Lock him in a prison infirmary until the trial.

I will be doing my first extension in April in Jomtien and will be using income to meet the requirement. I have copies of my monthly U.S Govt retirement annuity statements. Will that be sufficient, or do I need a letter from Bangkok Bank also? I have been transferring money monthly from my U.S.bank account to my Bangkok Bank account to pay rent and for other local expenses. If I go to my branch here in Pattaya and ask for the letter, will they know what I'm talking about? Does the letter only state the account balance or does it have other information included?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make this as painless as possible.

You need proof of address too. They prefer a chanote.

There is no address on a Chanote.

I think chanote is the title? Mine have my condo address on them.

My proof of address has always been the electric bill or cable bill. No one has ever told me, they "prefer" something else.

Feb. this year, they did not accept my electric bill. I was allowed to copy my 5 year driving license, as it is 2 years old.

I will be doing my first extension in April in Jomtien and will be using income to meet the requirement. I have copies of my monthly U.S Govt retirement annuity statements. Will that be sufficient, or do I need a letter from Bangkok Bank also? I have been transferring money monthly from my U.S.bank account to my Bangkok Bank account to pay rent and for other local expenses. If I go to my branch here in Pattaya and ask for the letter, will they know what I'm talking about? Does the letter only state the account balance or does it have other information included?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make this as painless as possible.

You need proof of address too. They prefer a chanote.

"Thai prime minister announces end to ivory trade."

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today pledged to end ivory trade"

Prime Minister Shinawatra said that Thailand would take steps to end ivory trade"

Each sentence has a slightly diminished meaning I think.

She also might have said" There's a good chance Thailand will outlaw ivory trading when pigs begin landing at Suvarnabhumi airport.

But thank you all for coming today and enjoy your stay in Thailand"

It will end when the elephants are all dead.

You should have spent some time in Laos, it's really nice in the south.

The famous Tony signs all over Pattaya with his arms crossed could be replaced with something like this, oh no!

• Dmitry's Disco
• Dmitry's Gym
• Dmitry's Short Time Rooms
• Dmitry's Car Park
• Dmitry's Sports Bar

With topless photos of Putin.

The desk guy might just be for Russian members, they like to deal with their own people, like tours and buying condos.

Why on earth would anyone have 40,000 US$ in a hotel safe attached to a wardrobe? Absolute mugs.

Travel insurance claim????

Ikea says 'Neigh' to meatballs.

What size are you looking for? The 10 inch Onda V972 has Ipad specs (including retinal display) and all the ports Apple won't give you, but can be found for 7000.

have you a link to somewhere i can buy this.

I have just bought a ainol hero 1, its 10" and i am pleased, i use a 3g dongle.

there is a hero 2 with quad core now, also a 8.9" firwire/spark model is available, with 2048*1536 retina display, with a quad core here - http://www.mahaphone.com/product/46/ainol-novo-9-spark-firewire-quad-core-%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%AD-9-7-ratina-%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%86-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A1-2-%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%B4%E0%B9%8A%E0%B8%81

Where is the Mahaphone shop? Pantip?

like your government back home doesn't tax interest on savings? What country is that?

The U.S. gov. taxes interest and earnings at 15% - part of the Bush tax cuts for the rich.

(In America, the common man - about 80% of the country - doesn't have enough savings to earn enough interest to save enough in taxes to actually realize 'what a deal'!)

The U.S. gov doesn't let you claim it back. Thailand will refund it? Now that's a deal!

In the US interest is treated as income, the tax rate depends on your total income, deductions, etc. Capital gains are taxed lower, and most Americans do have that as 401Ks and stock in companies. I'm an average guy, not rich, and that is what I did.

so over stay 3 days and steal a camera ...7 months prison for Farang ...

Kill a British couple on the road .... free on bail for a Thai

No need for explanation ...... that is called 2 speeds outrageous justice .....

Her sentence was suspended.

I'm struggling to come to terms that some people on this page are laying blame with the couple for having the audacity to cycle on the road! The driver was driving (probably at a ridiculous rate) not watching where he was going and mowed down two innocent cyclists and they're to blame? This couple had cycled through Iran and Afghanistan enroute to Thailand, they cannot hardly be accused of being stupid tourists who should know better, can they? Or have I missed something here?

Did you see their video? They probably pushed their luck several times on the trip including such things as hanging onto trucks with one hand on steep grades. On this particular leg their luck ran out. They could have been taken out by a vehicle that had a blowout and lost control or, more likely, a van or a bus with an overworked and snoozing driver.

There is a reason why highway shoulders in other countries are not used for traveling, except by scofflaws. It is called 'safety'. They may do it Thailand, but that does not make it any safer, does it?

When in Thailand, do as the Thai do ... and die as the Thai die.

In the US, the "official" bike trail I use also runs on some highway shoulders. Never had a problem.

I felt both saddened and angered by the loss of these two bicyclists. However, after researching the 304 highway in the reported area of the accident, I came to the conclusion that the two had placed themselves into a high-risk situation by attempting to travel on the shoulder of a relatively high-speed 4-lane, divided highway. In my country, traveling on the shoulder of such a highway would have been illegal in any type of vehicle. In Thailand, I've seen motorbikes traveling on the shoulder at relatively low speeds as well. Highway shoulders are intended for emergency situations and not for extended traveling. An experienced and knowledgeable driver knows that just stopping on such a shoulder for any reason and for even a short period of time is extremely hazardous.

As a bicyclist in Thailand (mainly central Bangkok), I am constantly aware of the potential for being run down from behind by an aberrant vehicle even if were traveling legally on the road. A motorcycle cop was mowed down from behind and killed by a speeding Ferrari on Sukumvit road not too long ago. On parts of Sukumvit Road (or any road) I seek the safety of the sidewalk if I feel the traffic is too fast and potentially dangerous.

I believe these two bicyclists had placed themselves into a high-risk situation, perhaps out of the lack of an alternative route. Or was it the hubris of having traveled for so many months on potentially dangerous roads?

For intercity traveling, I have a 26 inch folding bicycle that can be easily placed into the cargo compartment of a bus and would be used only for city bicycling at my destination. Bicycling on relatively high-speed roads even within a city I also consider to be high-risk.

I tell people that the essential of bicycling in Thailand is not being in the wrong place at wrong time. Placing oneself on the shoulder of a high-speed highway in any vehicle, especially for an extended period of time, is tempting fate.

I'm forming a conclusion that a lot of the vehicle deaths and injuries in Thailand are due to the negligence and arrogance of the vehicle operators themselves, compounded by other factors such as poor infrastructure and a lack of serious law enforcement.

Have you been on that bike trail that goes from Lumpini, over the Tobacco Authority, and at least to Soi 10? It's a nice walk.

Tourists doing business with Russians in Thailand?

How naive is that?

Well, they are originally from Latvia, they are used to being dominated by Russians.

After carefully examining foreign currency accounts of many banks, I came to conclusion that it's of no use to open a foreign currency account in thailand, due to extortinately high fees in nearly every transcations you can imagine of. Here are few examples

1, Minimum Amount requirement. You must be a foreigner either working in Thailand with a work permit or a Permanent Resident. You must maintain 10,000 to 5,000 USD/other currency equivalent at all times in the account. Or else, you pay a high monthly charge.

1, Deposits, if you buy foreign currency from the bank to fund your new account, you buy it at foreign currency notes selling rates, not the TT rate, which is already worse than buying it from money changers, and to deposit it in your account, the bank further charges a 1 or 2 % fee, depending on the bank. If you deposit your account from an incoming wire transfer from abroad, then you pay 200 THB or 500 THB Max in foreing currency.

2, Withdrawal, is free if you re-convert it into Baht. But if you wanna wire transfer it out of country, you pay minimum charges of at least 50-70 USD and it increases with the amount of transfer, i.e. no maximum, for example, if you transfer 100K out, your wire transfer charges alone may well be 250 to 300 USD. Plus wire transfer out isn't a simple go to your bank and do it, you must be a foreigner working in thailand with a work permit and you can only wire out the amount equivalent of your salary.

So my conclusion is that, unless they really overhaul the charges structure of foreign currency accounts, you are must better off to open your foreign currency account offshore.

Bangkok Banks minimum is $250 for a savings account. No fees if you change baht to dollars, and withdraw in Baht. Works for me.

When you talk about fees for withdrawing foreign currency from a foreign currency account, are you talking about actually withdrawing the foreign currency notes? What if your withdrawal is to convert some of your foreign currency into THB and the bank gives you baht? Is there a 1% fee for that?

That's what I would be doing, usually.

15Peter20, are you saying that at Bkk Bank you can withdraw from your foreign currency account and deposit the money to your Bkk Bank THB account and there is no 1% fee?

There is no fee if you take dollars out and change to baht. If you want dollars you pay a fee.

It probably tracks you with GPS and sends your location to muggers.

Perhaps there might also be a wider range of low-calorie/non-sugar soft-drinks available here, one day ?

I popped into the supermarket while in Malaysia recently, and found a much-wider range of soft-drinks, many at lower prices.

Why might Thailand be so far behind ? Import-duties, poor entrepreneurial-skills, greedy local bottlers, or what ?

I haven't been able to find any bottles of sugar free soft drinks (basically Coke Zero or Pepsi Max) for the last month or so. Only small half liter bottles or cans, no idea why.

Yeah I was wondering why the Coke Zero had disappeared from local 7-11s ...... perhaps its classed a stimulant now instead of a soft drink. If you can ban Xanax for being a date rape drug, you are clearly one banana short of a bunch.

Plenty of Coke Zero in Pattaya, in bottles, cans, fountain drinks. McD, movie theaters...

In the other English language newspaper it was reported that the victims mother had spoken to other parents at the centre after the assault on her child. Allegedly they knew of the offenders activities against their children, but had not reported him to police as they were paid 6k baht as compensation. Appears to be no concern for other children by the parents involved, repulsive morality, but appears to be accepted as normal practice to receive financial compensation, rather than going through the judicial process.

"no concern for other children" ? No concern for their own children if they take 6000 baht to let them be raped.

Before you make the trip to BKK, try the Austrian Consul in Pattaya firdst; he is located in Soi Yensabai (South Pattaya) opposite the main entrance of Yensabai Condo.

He is taking care of a lot of nationalities and his actions are accepted by Thai govt officials.

The income statement needs to be notarized, I'm not sure anyone can do it but the US Embassy.

The Op states that they will try anything to get a BATH from you ,well no police officer has ever asked me to give him a Bath. and i hope one never does .

Also in 7 years in Pattaya i have never ever been asked for a bribe ,only once have i been stopped when i made an illegal turn and i paid the fine next day at the police station ,also its not only tourists stopped ,its mainly Thais, personally i wouldnt let tourists ride m/bikes here ,most are worse than the Thai riders ,who at least know the rules.

Or at least tourists should be allowed to rent only small bikes, not the 750 or more.

what are the benefits of having a usd currency acc.in thailand? if you want to spend any you have to change to thai.bht.if your paid in dollars and dont want to spend any put it offshore or bank in usa.

I want to convert some baht to $$ while the baht is strong and $$ are cheap. When the Baht gets adjusted down I can switch back to Baht, make some money. I don't want to send money to the US as the IRS might be notified.